Felucia's Open Terrain

The humidity had been one thing. The heat was another. The combination of the two made for quite an unpleasant walking experience. She couldn't stop Felix's rays from beating down on the planet.. What she could do, however, was make it so that neither of them bothered her at all.

The dampness in the air had already been pushed back, but it would take a bit more focus for what she wanted next. She slowed her pace, reaching her mind out into the currents of the Force. Her will pressed itself upon the energy field, pushing it out from around her.. and as she did so, so too did a bubble of comfort stretch out from around her. The air cooled and became crisp around her, her two-toned red-and-gold hair already beginning to lose some of the frizziness that this jungle world had beset upon her.

She actually smiled, a rare display of satisfaction.

As her presence in the Force expanded outward, however, the smile quickly vanished. Her senses had brushed upon something more than just a primitive native species, an eddy swirling with emotion and underlying power. She narrowed her eyes as the translucent, protective membrane withdrew from across them.

Great.

The eddy was shifting, its traversal through the tides moving to match her vector. It was going to be irritating if it were to interfere, but simply following was doing no harm. She would allow this.

Her awareness stretched ever further out, searching beneath the currents.. And an odd resonance struck her, deep below the depths.

The smile once more returned to her face. With a direction in mind, she set off at a brisk pace..

*Being in the jungle was always therapeutic for Morgan, especially with her Mama having just left and the uncertainty regarding what the woman was up against. It certainly didn't take away the sting, but the jungle air and atmosphere at least managed to soothe Morgan's soul.

If only she could be physically embraced by the world.

She walked underneath the fungal canopy, Rush at her side, Terror tumbling along behind her. She opted to keep her clothes on, mostly due to a lack of a way to keep them secure; much as she thought it'd be amusing, she didn't want to push her luck returning to the Base without them should she lose them. She did briefly contemplate attaching them to the rathtar's tentacles somehow, producing a funny mental image, but she reluctantly decided it'd be best to just keep them on.

At least her feet were still bare, which allowed her to feel the soft ground under her toes. She had come to dislike shoes; they felt too constrictive and didn't allow her toes any wiggle room. Plus, it just felt nicer to feel things with her feet. Of course, she accepted when social, terrain, or climate conditions called for shoes, but otherwise, they stayed off.

Morgan wasn't entirely sure what today's adventure would entail. She by all rights probably shouldn't be out here long, considering she'd left without saying anything and it was still early morning. If she was looked for, she'd have been seen on the Base's security cams, so she wasn't worried about being missed. Still, she liked to give her family the courtesy of letting them know where she was going first.

First things first, locate something to eat, because she was hungry. If she hadn't let her emotions get in the way, she would have at least thought to grab some breakfast before going, and maybe also let people know she needed a jungle trip. And possibly her backpack... At least her eyes were dry again. Maybe there were some roots nearby she could harvest—

She felt it before she heard it. She turned to the side almost at the exact same time Rush did: A disturbance, a beacon of fear and anger, that was released in a small, uncontrolled wave. The act itself was accompanied by a small sting in the Force, indicating damage to the planet. And at the center of it all...*

"Kent?!" *The existence of the outburst itself was alarming, but coming from her? Well, granted, Morgan barely knew the girl at all, just that she'd arrived on the planet along with Mama and Na'an. Morgan's few run-ins with her proved the older girl to be a bit... unstable, but this?

Morgan's feet moved on their own and she found herself sprinting towards the source, legs carrying her with practiced skill and knowledge of the terrain. She hadn't even though to hop on Rush, who was easily keeping up along with Terror, but her pace was noticeably quicker than her normal running speed. Eventually, she found the remnants of some shattered wood and fungal growth on the ground, causing her to scamper to a stop. Spores danced in the air, in too great a number to be considered safe.

Closing her eyes, she centered herself, bringing her hands up to her chest, palms facing each other. She took a sharp, careful intake of breath, then released it as she thrust her hands outward and then spread them. The spores in the air followed the motions, being tossed aside and for the most part clearing the area.

Then she moved forward again, finding Kent standing alone in the center of a small, unnatural clearing.* "Kent, what are you doing?!" *she demanded in multiple tiers of disbelief. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't most bothered by the needless destruction to the forest...*

"Let go of what?" *Morgan demanded, ignoring the question as she looked about the ravaged space. Sure, not the worst injury Felucia had sustained, but certainly preventable. Beginning to step in further, she spread her arms, gesturing around at the wreckage.* "And you hurt the plants! The fungi! I feel these things," *she whimpered, arms falling to the side.

As she entered further in, stopping about five feet away from Kent, her pets also chose to enter the ruined circle. Rush, the large red akk dog, padded inward, his eyes fixated curiously and somewhat warily upon Kent. Lokay, the little black-and-red tailring on his back, merely peered at her curiously.The akk reached Morgan's side and sat obediently beside her, almost protectively, watching Kent.

Then the lumbering mass of tentacles known as Terror entered behind him, making a single roll before reorienting himself and shuffling along on his tentacles to sit behind Morgan. Instinctively, Morgan put up a hand, as though to discourage him from thinking of Kent as a snack. The rathtar only screeched a brief defensive protest but otherwise sat still.*

"I'm not!" *Morgan groaned and pressed her palms against her temples, lowering and shaking her head. She had to calm herself, put priorities straight; her frustrations were only making Rush even more distrustful of this stranger. Sighing, she looked up, explaining evenly,* "All life is precious. And you just..." *She gestured around with an exasperated look.* "... blew up! That's not good! You gotta control that stuff!" *Lowering her arms, she concluded with a whimper,* "You can't just blow up the plants..."

*A corner of Morgan's brow twitched as Kent completely disregarded not only the value of natural life, but Morgan's admonishment for her lack of control. And then got her age wrong. Her brow twitched again and she grit her teeth, grunting,* "I'm. Eleven." *She closed her eyes and relaxed her jaw, taking in a deep breath through her nostrils and exhaling it through her lips. Her eyes reopened, the emerald orbs focused sternly upon Kent.*

"Look. This isn't what Jedi do! They don't just lose control and blow up in the jungle like this! Even if they're upset! They have to control themselves or they'll fall to the dark side! You don't want that, do you?" *Morgan certainly didn't, and certainly not on this planet. She didn't know much about Kent so far, but her impressions were... pretty negative. The collapsing in the hangar, the tear-stained face in the gardens, and now this...* "And I thought I cried too much," *she murmured aloud unwittingly.*

*Morgan might have sympathized with Kent's story a little—after all, she herself had been upset at Mama's departure so soon—but she also understood the call of duty. But to be fair, Morgan also knew basically nothing about Kent other than she had just been picked up at Nar Shaddaa and brought to Felucia. On top of the apparent inability to control her emotions, there were also the signs of a proud streak... That, and she didn't understand familial relationships, judging by how eager she seemed to want to pry Morgan away from Mama literally just after they'd reunited.

... maybe that had been a sign in and of itself.

Kent then went on to apologize, which... didn't exactly appease Morgan, but at least it was a nice gesture. She wasn't exactly sure how the older girl perceived that something else was wrong with Morgan; if anything, Morgan felt like she'd forgotten everything else and all her negative feelings had shifted to focus directly on Kent and her actions. She took a breath of her own and sighed.* "I always come out here. It's where I have the most fun. And how I relax." *She looked sideways at Rush, whose gaze was still focused skeptically upon Kent, though not nearly as intensely as before. She smiled at him and gently stroked his scaly neck affectionately.*

*"Messed that up"? But she didn't— Okay, she kind of did. Morgan tried to avoid looking around at the destruction and found that easy when she picked up on something else within Kent. The mask of anger and fear had seemingly until now hidden a deeper emotion: Loneliness. Dejectedness.

And as ever, wariness of Morgan's pets. Morgan usually relished such reactions, but that seemed a little inappropriate here, so she only shook her head and answered,* "No. Rush will only protect me if someone else tries to hurt me. Same for Terror, but he isn't allowed to eat people. And Lokay likes anyone." *She indicated each pet in succession as she spoke: First the akk with a pat of her left hand, then the rathtar behind her by pointing her right thumb over her shoulder, then the tailring on the akk's shoulders as she reached out to stroke his back.

She hesitated a moment. Kent... was honestly in a similar position as Morgan right now. Except Morgan had more family than just Mama, as well as plenty of friends, sentient or otherwise. Not to mention the entire planet. So why was she feeling a touch lonely?*

"Stupid empathy," *she muttered to herself, forcing a smile at her attempt at humor.* "Don't go, Kent," *she said in a louder voice.* "It might be dangerous. You can come see the jungle with me if you want." *A small gurgling sound brought her hand to her abdomen and a touch of pink to her cheeks.* "... and we can find food too."

"Of course! You gotta realize, the jungle is dangerous, but I'm safe out here. Especially with these two big guys here protecting me!" *She indicated the akk and the rathtar, beaming.* "Besides, I can protect myself too if I have to. I'm fast, I know how to make the animals listen to me, and if that doesn't work, I can just use my—" *She trailed off, right hand patting her right hip then her sternum, seeking items that weren't there.* "... oh. Right. I left my whip and lightsaber in Mama's room..." *Grinning confidently, she shrugged.* "Oh well, doesn't matter! Like I said, these guys!" *She pointed at the pets again, then lowered her arms.* "Besides, it's pretty out here. Maybe it'll help you relax too! Just... promise me you won't hurt anything else." *She would have giggled, but she was mostly serious.*