Pathfinder

[out_of_order]

WHO: Cal Kestis, Merrin, OTA
WHERE: The city that is not Temba
WHAT: Finding trouble in Exploring Not!Temba
WHEN: Late July/Early August
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will match pose preference.



I. Meet Me in the Hotel Lobby
Exploring any place new is a bit overwhelming. The place looks more crowded for all the extra greenery in the form of trees that liberally occupy spaces even taken up by buildings. Cal's suggestion would be to find the city's center and work from there. Ideally somewhere tall would maybe get them a better glimpse of the place so they can have actually see what they're dealing with.

This is essentially how he and BD-1 can be found at the hotel. The state of disrepair is hardly anything to daunt the padawan as he has a look around within. If you don't find him inside, you might find him outside sizing up the stonework or even already in climbing progress as he scales the walls.


II. Not-So Paradise Estate
BD-1's busy scanning every new plant he comes across. There's an abundance of them around this area alone, full of flowers and fruits. Cals picked a few berries as samples, tucking them into a pouch. He'll have to pass them to an agriculture specialist later. But in the meantime it seems that after circling the place, there's really no clear way through to the building framed within.

"Well, I guess that means we cut our own," he says, removing his lightsaber, giving it a lazy spin as he activates it. Eyeing the bushes, he checks with his droid buddy to make sure he won't be accidentally chopping into one completely before he sets to work. Just have to give this hedge a quick trim!


III. There's Always a Bigger...Fish? (For Merrin)
Compared to Temba, this place is absolutely teeming with life. Even without reaching out through the Force, it can be heard everywhere, especially where the trees grow thick. "I wonder how long this place has been abandoned," Cal says quietly as he walks along. The echoes he's come across have been from a time long past, and for how vague they are it makes it difficult to really tell just how long.

His eyes trace the strange stonework that surrounds them. The overall feel of this city seems to be leaning more towards the organic, something artful to the mesh of architecture and nature that's lacking in Temba. Those toppled trees however hardly go amiss.

"Well that's always a good sign," he comments dryly, glancing over at Merrin.


IV. Choose Your Own Adventure
((OOC: Anything else you'd like to do with Cal? Toss up your own starter or ping me to work something out!))

Comments

II. Not-So Paradise Estate

[silenziobruno]

It's BD-1 who Alberto spots first rather than Cal, as he sits on a nearby giant bush, munching on a berry. He's almost always hungry, so he's not about to ignore the free food, especially when it's giant.

The little white creature is nothing like Alberto has seen before, and he jumps down the bush to follow it around and see what it does...only to spot Cal right when he's lighting up his lightsaber. Wtf.

"What is that thing? I've never seen a flashlight like that one before."

[out_of_order]

BD-1 turns to glance behind him as he finds himself with company all of a sudden. At least it doesn't turn out to be something that looks hungry. Well okay, something that looks hungry enough to try eating him. Hopping ahead, he beeps at Cal. Look! A new friend?

Cal looks over at the boy, brow arching. He hasn't seen this kid around before. Someone new? Recent enough to have found out about this new city, anyway. He smiles lopsidedly, lifting his weapon.

"It's called a lightsaber. A little more dangerous than a flashlight." He turns his attention to the bushes, pausing to make sure no one's hiding in them before he sweeps it in an upward strike, then bringing it down again a few inches to the side, shaving off leaves and branches. "...okay, this thing's thicker than I thought," the padawan chuckles, inspecting what small amount had been cleared before readying his lightsaber again.

Lobby

[usedtobesmoller]

Steve is walking around, trying to just get a feeling for this new area. He's new enough that the comparison with Temba escapes him, although it does look vaguely familiar. He wanders a bit, taking in the whole place before finally ending up near the hotel-like place and seeing someone climbing the wall.

"Hey," he calls up, hoping that doesn't startle the man and make him fall. "You alright up there? Need a spotter?"

Yes. This 95lb scrap of a man is offering to spot someone. RIP them both.

[out_of_order]

At least between the Force and BD-1 on his back, Cal's not easily startled once someone starts speaking out of nowhere. He's been picking his way along up the wall and from the looks of things hasn't started all that long ago, just beyond the level of the second floor. He glances down at the man below.

"So far, so good," he replies. "A lot of places to grip, at least. I've climbed worse. But if you're good for it..."

[usedtobesmoller]

Steve nods, his spirit willing and ignoring the abilities of the body. "Yeah. I'll wait here and..."

He notices then the little robot on the man's back and pauses. It shouldn't surprise him. Nothing should, now. And yet.

"Say... Is that... Is that a real robot? Like one that can move and talk and all?"

[out_of_order]

Cal nods back, smiling then as BD-1 pipes up at the man's observation, his little antennae shifting with a hoot as he turns his head from where he hangs onto Cal's rigger harness.

"Oh yeah, he's real," the padawan laughs. "This is BeeDee-One. I'm Cal. You're..?" He looks a little familiar somehow.

Hotel

[on_repeat]

Outside of the hotel, the ARC Trooper slows on his approach, walking up next to the Padawan and his droid companion. His visored gaze also stares up at the building, hands resting on his hips before breaking his thoughtful silence.

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking..."

[usedtobesmoller]

"Oh! Sorry, sir. Steve. Steve Rogers." His ma would be so disappointed with his lack of manners.

He sends a wave up to the guy even as his eyes stay locked on BeeDee One.

"Did you make that robot yourself?"

[out_of_order]

Cal looks towards Echo, lips quirking in a smile as he sees who it is.

"Well how else are we getting up there? Way's blocked off from inside- we checked. But we figure we should have a pretty good vantage point from up there to have a better view of the city."

[out_of_order]

That throws him a little. Steve Rogers... A younger version, maybe? Although the Steve from before hadn't looked so old either. One of those alternate instances? BD-1 beeps his own confusion, to which Cal glances at him with a crooked grin and a sigh. "Yeah..." he agrees quietly before readjusting his grip as he looks between Steve and the next possible handhold.

"No, I just kind of ran into him. He's an exploration droid."

[usedtobesmoller]

"You just ran into a robot?" It's strange to him to think of that but he doesn't say so. If he did vocalize every time something was weird around here he'd never stop talking about it.

"That's...nice."

Steve looks at the wall and gets a Bad Idea.

"Is the climb up easy? Or at least good enough for a beginner? I did some climbing drills at military training but that was with a rope."

[on_repeat]

"Of course it wouldn't be so easy," the clone sighs, brow furrowing. Although he sounds slightly resigned, he's ready for the challenge. "Can't disagree with that point, however."

[out_of_order]

Cal laughs. "Well, kind of? It was more like an on-purpose sort of thing, even if neither of us were aware we were supposed to meet each other. Someone I'm traveling with used to know the person BeeDee belonged to before."

When Steve starts asking about the climbing difficulty, Cal can't say he didn't expect it, but he looks over his shoulder again, down at the man. "Um... Well, I wouldn't say this is a beginner level climb, no," he admits. "...can you reach where I am?" It wouldn't be too much trouble helping the guy up if he can manage some climbing, at least, but if that didn't work, they might have to try a different approach.

[out_of_order]

"I thought you guys were always up for a challenge," Cal quips, grinning as he steps closer to the wall. He eyeballs the overgrowth and the wall beneath it before reaching up to start getting his hands in position to start pulling himself. Looks manageable.

[on_repeat]

"Depends on who you're asking," Echo clarifies dryly. Although he feels like he's out of practice, he has to admit Cal isn't wrong. Challenges make things more interesting outside of a simulated situation.

He watches the Padawan get to it, waiting a few moments before finding another spot along the wall and double-checking it for any hindrances. Gloved hands find purchase, pulling himself up after a quick boost from a planted toe in a sizable crack.

[out_of_order]

BD-1 borbles as he clings to Cal's harness, watching as Echo starts to find his own path up. Cal chuckles.

"I don't know, I'd be up for it," he says to the droid before glancing down at Echo again. "Race you to the top?"

[on_repeat]

Pausing to hang off of where he is, the ARC Trooper looks up at the two. Initially, the head tilt is curious as to what the short exchange is about. After Cal asks, he shakes his head, a low laugh slipping past the filter of the helmet's vocalizer.

"You're on."

[out_of_order]

The padawan grins, waiting until Echo's at level with them. "All right, then."

Behind him, BD-1 beeps excitedly and hunkers close to Cal's back. What he tweedles next sounds suspiciously like a countdown, if only because it is. The intent is clear enough, and once it's over, Cal is quick to start reaching for the next position. He's definitely no stranger to scaling walls, that's for sure, but he knows that they haven't hit the hard part yet.

[on_repeat]

Getting into position, Echo shifts, realizing BeeDee is counting down once he hears the tweedling notes fall into a familiar pattern. Every muscle in his body tenses, ready to go right as the droid finishes the phrase.

And just like that, the ARC Trooper also climbs, finding the next closest handhold. Not too bad - not yet, anyway. It's different from scaling clones and offline cannons, but principle is the same. (although not really)

Still, he keeps pace with Cal, sometimes behind, sometimes next to him again.

fish?

[noch]

This place feels different to her than Temba does, even if she can't put her finger on exactly how. It's weird here. Ancient. A little wild. And there are just so many trees everywhere, encroaching on the strange stone buildings, and not the leafless, twisted kind that she's used to on Dathomir. She's a little fascinated by them, honestly, along with pretty much everything else in this place—it almost takes her back to her childhood, when she could spend hours running off to explore Dathomir with Ilyana.

She keeps one eye on their surroundings and the other on Cal as she walks alongside him—it's impossible for her not to notice how comfortable he seems out here, with BD-1 riding along on his back, chirping happily. But isn't this pretty much exactly what he did every time he ventured off from the Mantis? She kind of regrets not going with him before now.

"Perhaps we should go another way," she says, her expression thoughtful. The toppled trees look recent to her fairly untrained eye, since the edges of the cracked trunks still look sharp and unweathered, so whatever creature massive enough to do this kind of damage could still be around. She can't help but add dryly, shooting Cal a Look, "As you seem to have a talent for angering wildlife."

[out_of_order]

It's a nice change of pace, doing this for a bit of fun and without having to worry about getting spotted and shot at or having something humongous chasing you. He grins as Echo keeps pace with him for the most part.

There are narrow, horizontal ledges that wind around the building, and Cal assumes they're a rough demarcation for the floors within. He grasps the first one, hauling himself up and onto the next portion of wall. Vines creep across things more eagerly from here on up, both a helpful handhold and tricky terrain to cross.

...wow I just realized I totally forgot to specify where on the map they were. PFFff. The Corridor.

[out_of_order]

After being stuck on one planet for a long while, it's hard not to be at least a little eager to explore somewhere new. The scenery here is definitely more pleasant than Bracca or Dathomir, and they could take their time looking around. It's a refreshing difference.

Cal has to wince at that comment and the look accompanying it, turning towards Merrin with his hands up. "Not my fault most of the wildlife I've ever come across just seems naturally territorial," he says in his defense. "I'm sure some of it was due to being aggravated by Stormtroopers." Not that he can really rely on that reasoning when some of the places he visited had an absence of Imperial presence.

Meet Me in the Hotel Lobby

[demjiin]

Kaz had been exploring the hotel already, using the little mag lite flashlight (way better than a Bone Light) he'd picked up on Coruscant. The 'thunk' of his cane punctuated his steps right up until those stairs ended on the fourth floor.

[silenziobruno]

Foolish of BD-1 to make that assumption because Alberto is almost always hungry. But he doesn't try to touch or grab it, he's learned that small things can have a really bad temper. He just waves a hand at BD-1 as if to say hello to the droid before it runs away. Not like he knows what a droid is; Omega explained the general term to him but not what they look like.

And Cal is right, the kid is new and very curious about what is going on with the people here in this city. He smiles back at the other man and doesn't bother hiding his curiosity.

"Oh, wow! Ah, It's a sword. Made of..light?" That part is still strange, but he's clearly impressed by Cal's weapon. He moves closer enough to see what Cal is doing, but not enough to get in the way. He likes all his limbs intact, thank you very much.

"Where did you find it?"

[usedtobesmoller]

Steve doesn't fully understand what Cal means about the whole BeeDee thing but he nods anyway to be polite. At the answer to the climbing he nods again but this one is more pensive and considering. Steve looks at the wall and seems to be really thinking about whether or not he can make it. But at the end of the day this is Steven Grant Rogers. So...

"Yeah. I can make it."

And up he starts in his 40's, leather-soled shoes and with the upper-body strength of a preteen. But what he lacks in proper equipment or muscle he makes up for in bloody-mindedness. Slowly, he starts making his way up.

"Not...that hard..." he huffs.