Kamoa takes the whip when it's offered, and rubs his eyes, clearly weary of the situation. None of these options appeal to him. He listens to Shisa's words, and then tilts his head as she pulls out the strange object. He lets the others investigate the object, while he busies himself with arranging the bodies in a semblance of repose. He's not sure of their burial rites, so he busies himself with finding rocks to cover their bodies. Once he finishes that, he takes out his flute from his pack, and begins to play a song. The notes are slow and lasting, blending with the night breeze. After a few minutes of that, he puts the flute away and finds a seat on some nearby rubble.

6 hours ago, SavageBob said:

"Interesting, little one. Let me get a better look at that..."

The object seems to pulse with an internal glow, despite the entire thing seemingly made of crystal. The grooves etched deep along the lines of the piece indicate that it is not a solid piece of carved stone. Most notably, however, is that the closer Zik gets to it, the more he hears a faint hum. Is it coming from the object? Shisa pulls it back before it can be taken from her grasp.

"Hey, you'll get it once we get to where we're going," she warns.

Chadrik, on the other hand, identifies the object immediately--or, at least, he thinks he does: a holocron. He remembers seeing them being made by the Jedi artisans at the temple, although the shape of this one is significantly different than any he had seen before. The faint swirling of the living Force around the object further confirms it.

The rodian's black eyes get slightly bigger at the sight of the crystal. His curiosity surges as he remembers what he knows about holocrons. He had always wanted to find out how to build a holocron. That was what he wanted to do when he would become a Jedi Knight. But then the memory of his master flooded into his mind. He remembered being shown the around the temple when he was a new padawan and how artisans fascinated him and how his master smiled at his fascination.

Chadrik tries to push back the memory and return to the present. "I think we should accept the girl's offer. What we are looking for obviously isn't here. It could be at the "last temple' that Shisa speaks of. Not to mention the fact that the artifact she offers could be a powerful object. (He winks) Just a hunch ."

Kai listens appreciatively to the dirge played by the Mirialan flutist, but refrains from whistling along.

Captivated by the glowing crystal, he listens to the child's proposal.

Not as fun as masquerading in the funny hats, but less likely to get us all killed. So there's that.

Let us accompany the young priestess to the last temple!

" Unless Bralane or Takane has an objection, it seems we're all agreed. I'm going to help Kamoa with the bodies of these men. We shouldn't leave them on hallowed ground such as this." Zik nods toward the captive. "But we shouldn't leave that one here either. Maybe one or two of you can find a place to bind him to a tree a ways away from this site?"

Zik walks over to Kamoa. "You know, Kamoa, I do envy these men in at least one respect: Now they know whether the afterlife's all it's cracked up to be. I'm glad you've marked their bodies with stones. But we shouldn't let them sully these grounds, either. Some help?" He begins tugging one of the masked forms toward the nearby woods.

Chrk-chrk-chrk-chrk... Kai considers. Tying a man to a tree, in such a desolate place, is just a coward's death sentence. And perhaps it is what he deserves..

Continuing, in a softer tone: I am no executioner.. But if we are agreed to leave our captured assailant behind, I will do the necessary. He has already volunteered to slit all our throats, given opportunity.

"Brave words for someone in no position to be brave." Bralane glares at their captive with an iron stare. "You were easily bested in combat. What makes you think any of us would be such an easy mark for someone as martially clumsy as yourself, hmm?"

Fists clenched, Bralane held their captive's gaze for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her companions.

"While I appreciate the child's concern about not wanting to travel with this scumbag, the fact that he knows our language means he is capable of communicating with us, even if we can't understand his. I am not sure we should jettison such an asset so quickly. And I certainly feel no desire to play judge, jury, and executioner at this time, even if it is probably justified. Killing a defenseless man might be convenient in this circumstance, but it does not make it right. I recommend we take him with us. I have... ways of keeping him in line."

lowering her voice a bit and motioning her companions closer

"I would also add that Shisa appears to know much more about what is going on her than she lets on. I will assume her intent is positive, but we should not blindly follow, nor believe all she says merely because she is a child. Back on my homeworld, children were some of the best pickpockets, informants, and thieves around because nobody thought someone so "innocent" could engage in such crimes."

Once the bodies are all dragged a ways into the forest, Zik rejoins the group and their captive, just in time to hear Bralane's concerns. Could the young one know more than she lets on? She's so like the children Zik used to teach with his stories back on Chalacta. But someone that young chosen for the priesthood? Just like Zik himself was apprenticed to a storyteller as a child, maybe she has some divine favor of her own, like his own link to the ancestors...

The man crouches down in front of Shisa. In a calm voice, he asks, "Little one, how far is it to you temple? I understand your disgust with the captive and why you don't want to bring him along; a single bad ingredient can spoil the soup. But if any of his friends comes looking for us, it might be good to have him along so they won't attack us. Or if we pass any settlements, maybe we can turn him over to pay for his crimes. What do you think?"

Kamoa removes himself from the conversation, having already stated his thoughts on the matter. Instead he wanders the temple grounds for a while, until he can find a nice quiet spot, and settles down. He curls his legs under himself and closes his eyes. He lets the familiar sensation of the Force flow through and out of him. The eddies and swirls of energy move about him, as if a churning pool was around him, and he reaches out with this thoughts, attempting to steady the flow. He is unable to bring an even flow to the energies at first, but with time, he finds he can slightly dampen the Force's influence on the objects around him. His mind continues to reach out, finding ways to cause the removal of the Force in targeted locations. This allows him to redirect the flow around those points, and in a way, insulate them from the effects of the Force as well.

Eventually, he opens his eyes, and finds the night to be close to dawn, but not there yet. The pre-dawn grey of approaching light, caused by the ambient rays curling around the edge of the world, poke through the canopy of trees above him. The fractured patterns of branches and leaves, now visible to the back lighting, make him smile a bit in remembrance to another time on another planet. He gets up, and makes his way back to their grouping to catch some sleep before they move out again.

Takane simmered quietly during the discussion of what to do with the prisoner. It was true what the others said; he likely did not deserve to live, and tying him to a tree would be the same as cutting his head from his shoulders.

But neither option was truly justice. They were outsiders here, and their grasp of the situation was tenuous, at best. She could not speak the language, she did not know if Shisa was translating truly. She didn't expect the girl to be lying, but she had no way to know for sure. "We cannot leave him here to die. We have confiscated his weapons, we will bring him with. When we are done, we can deliver him to a judge to face fair trial." She looked around at her companions. "I can stand guard, if needed."

Chadrik moved away from the bound man and closer to his companions. He listened to the bent of the conversation with an intriguingly earnest look. After Takane speaks, Chadrik pipes up. "Well, it seems that most of us would rather take him with us than kill him or leave him behind. I don't mind taking a turn guarding him during the night. Just don't let Phoon help any in that. However, I don't think Shisa is going to let us take him. She seems to be pretty set in her ways."

Shisa looks at the group with a faint frown, seemingly thinking about something. She shoots a disproving look at the prisoner, a (slightly) less disproving look at the rest of you, then sighs and droops a little.

" You outlanders have some strange customs, " she says. " If it's really that important to you, I'll travel with you and that man as far as Gilgal, which I think is pretty close by. You can leave him with the magistrate or whatever it is you want to do. I won't stay there long, but if you want this, " she waves the object, " you'll need to take me as far as the Temple. "

She pats Phoon, muttering something to him in her language, and the moves away from the standing group.

Zik purses his lips and nods. "I have no doubt this man would escape if we tied him up and left him in the forest. It would be exile, not death. And I don't have much faith in the justice system these days." Zik rubs his wrists, scarred from the Imperial binders he was forced to wear when being held for treason. "But carry him with us we shall."

The storyteller yawns and sets the fusion lantern back on the ground, then curls up in its aura of warmth. "The sun will be up soon, so we should get some rest. I saw Kamoa go off to meditate, so Takane, I think you called first watch, then Chadrik? I can take third. With another watch by Bralane or Kai after that, we can at least get a few hours of sleep."

He curls up and yawns, then says, "Did I ever tell you the story of the baby sand panther who wouldn't sleep? A long time ago, there lived a mother sand panther and her cub, whose name was Kulumbu Yeye. Every night before the mother went to slee…" Zik's eyes droop closed, and his breathing slows as deep slumber overtakes him.

Bralane unpacks what little gear she has and makes a small campsite. The air is damp and chilled, but she has slept in worse back home. Before turning in, she walks over to the captive, and looks him dead in the eyes. Averting her gaze in a sign of defiance, Bralane catches his chin, firmly without being overly harsh.

"Look me in the eye when I speak to you. Because you followed my orders, because you did as you were told, you lived. Many of us here" Bralane waves to the party "considered your crimes to be worthy of capital punishment, and they are probably not wrong to think so. But you need to consider these facts: We left you alive because we are not like you. And because of this fact you have chance to atone for your misdeeds in life. This is not to say you can escape without punishment, for true redemption requires that you admit wrong doing and serve time to recompense those you've wronged."

"But also hold no illusions, prisoner; if you think you can escape, if you think you can warn your friends, if you think you can somehow take us out in our sleep... You. Are. Wrong." Speaks Bralane in her rich voice that brooks no argument, letting those last three words hang in the air before continuing.

"I have no desire to end your life, but if you make any further move that is deemed harmful to my companions, myself, or especially to that child, your life is forfeit. I would hope you consider what I have said and see how your wrong choices in life have brought you to this crossroads. I further hope you will consider the path forward that leads to redemption, not destruction."

With that, Bralane leaves the prisoner to the custody of Takane, and returns to her mostly uncomfortable 'bed' in an attempt to get some sleep.

Skaaawk! I shall sleep with two eyes open! Kai warns the captive, gazing intently at him with both sets of eyes, menacing.

Wake me for the last watch. I must rest, but I will be watching.

The tall birdman lithely pulls his light frame up into the lower branches of a nearby tree, flexor tendons involuntarily tightening his taloned grip, as he settles onto a suitable perch for the night. Ruffling his feathers for added insulation, he folds his winged arms and hunkers more deeply into his winter cloak.

His eyes all close, despite his threat, and he is out before he can even learn the sand panther cub's name...

Chadrik walks to the other side of the prisoner and sits down. Leaning against part of the building that appeared to the Shisa's home, he fell asleep. When Takane woke him for his turn he sat closer to the prisoner. He took out the head of a an old B1 battle droid that he carried in his backpack and began to tinker with it. The voice modulator was out again and he tried to fix it. Unfortunately, the battle droid's voice did make some noise half-way through his watch unexpectedly. The prisoner turned over with a snarl and then returned to sleep (if he was sleeping). The cool air of the night whistled past the group as they lay motionless and whisked its way towards Gilgal. Did it bring tidings of what had occured in the temple?

Sleep, for those who could, is not as restful as one could hope, but it is not plagued with nightmares or premonitions--just a mournful vacancy.

Morning comes, not with warming sunshine and birdsong, but with a chilling mountain mist and the silence of the dead. The mist isn't thick enough that one could not see across the old temple grounds, but only the very edges of mountain forest are visible through the milky gray of the mists. What little sky that is visible is nothing but the light gray of clouds, guaranteeing a dreary day, if not a storm later.

The prisoner has not moved from his spot since last night, though he seems to have regained some of his composure. He is sitting on his knees, still as a statue. His eyes are closed, but it is impossible to tell if he is asleep or not.

Shisa is curled up around her traveling pack and wrapped in a tattered blanket near the fusion lantern, though Phoon is notably absent, and even those that kept watch are surprised by his disappearance.

Rousing for the final watch, Kestrel Kai peers into the predawn mist, though the prisoner is his primary concern. At some point, he notices Phoon's absence (When did that happen?) , and observes Shisa shivering beneath her threadbare covering. Removing his cloak, he gently drapes it over the slumbering child.

The sunrise is unremarkable, a barely perceptible lessening of the darkness. When his companions begin to stir, he crows reveille: " Koo-ku-Toooo! Koo-ku-Toooo! "

Kamoa, apparently not feeling very sunshine and rainbows this morning, finds a nearby branch, rolls over from his bedroll, and throws it at Kai. He mutters something about the butcrack of dawn, and where he can shove his crowing noises, then tries to go back to sleep. After a minute or two, he sighs heavily, and gets up, apparently giving up on the allure of sleep for now. He glares at Kai one more time, and then goes about his morning ablutions. He stretches, and begins several gymnastic katas to warm up and limber his joints. Finally, feeling at least awake, if not exactly rested, he glances around, noticing the absence of Phoon. "Hey, where is the Fluffy One?" He glances over at Shisa as he asks. "He playing the longest game of fetch this morning or something?"

(OOC: Yes I know butcrack is spelled wrong, but this website is weird about it's profanity filtering, so I'm trying to circumvent it where I can. )

Woken by Kai's crowing, Shisa rises, rubbing her eyes. She hears Kamoa's question and answers through a yawn: " He's getting breakfast, obviously. "

Zik stretches and rubs his eyes. Reaching into his pack, he pulls out two field rations and walks over to the captive. He places one before the bound man. "One man's body isn't big enough to hold both hunger and vigor at the same time. You should eat." The Chalactan bites into his own ration bar; it's chewy and a bit salty, but edible.

He returns to the fusion lantern and sees Shisa stir . "We should head on to Gilgal soon," he says to her and the others. "As soon as Phoon gets back, I'd say."

Chadrik slumbered on through Kai's screech and Kamoa's response. He had stayed up past his guard time working on the B1 head, and he was out cold.

Kamoa sits down next to Shisa and offers her a bit of rations. "So, what was it like in the temple? Were your lessons interesting? " He munches on his bit of food, waiting for her response.

Chadrik's snoring drifts over from a few meters away, and Zik smiles. " Someone's going to need to wake that one soon. Hey, Kamoa! Sing us a Mirialan sea shanty? "

Zik then offers another ration bar to Shisa. "Do you have anything to eat? These aren't great, but they'll tide you over till we reach Gilgal at least."

Quote

Oops! Sniped by KFF!

Shisa takes the offered food, groggy and yawning. Her dissatisfaction with the rations is apparent with her first bite, and the tastelessness seems to banish her sleepiness, so she soldiers on with breakfast. " It was fine, I guess. They didn't start training you to be a priestess or priest until you were older, but they took a lot of orphans in. I may have exaggerated a little when I said I was a priestess, " she says, sounding a little guilty, " Mostly, they just taught us regular things, like how to speak different languages and maths and stuff, and had us doing chores around the temple. " There's a long, thoughtful pause, and she gains a remorseful look, before she speaks again, voice a whisper: " I hope the others got out okay. "

She quickly finishes her breakfast, then stands. " Phoon should be back pretty soon. Bonewolves like him are really, really loyal, and I heard they can track a spider in a snowstorm. "