The gray, seafoam eyes gifted to Adai Seth opened at each their different paces as sleep was literally shaken from her by an impatient hand. The forest was back and the morning upon them, as the Padawan axiously glanced around to try and recall just where she was. The hand didn't release itself from her shoulder until she removed it herself and stood up, shooting a harsh and tired look at one of her captors.
He just gave her a sarcastic glance in return, before turning and speaking with his fellows in that elegant language of theirs.
It was tons more pleasing to the ear, she noted, than Basic. But... the reason she could only pay attentioned to the sounds of it in the first place was because her brain couldn't automatically understand the syntax. Well, that was her reasoning at least.
She rubbed her head, which still hurt a little from the crash, and as well as the rest of her, from sleeping on the floor. Luckilly, it never got too cold at night. Adai glanced back over to the flet where the solemn group of eight had been the evening before, and noticed they had gone. Where did they go? She peered over the edge to see if they were on the ground, but found they were nowhere to be seen. She suddenly had the impulse to meet the three she had interacted with the night before. She wanted to know who they were, why they were here and why they were treated much the same as her save for the bondage.
But then she remembered why in the Force she was here in the first place: to get fuel, get back to her ship, and to get off this planet before they gaveher presence too much thought.
Adai sighed and gave a look to her captors that exaggerated her impatience and confusion, and a moment later they broke up and headed down the ladder; her in the middle. They still considered her to be a potential threat? But that was only natural. Just the technology and destructive potential within her simple weapon was awe-inspiring as she compared it to their primitive weaponry... with her skill as a Jedi-in-training, she could probably take out scores of these guard-type warriors before even getting a scratch.
Only a few months before, her Mistress had introduced her to the art of throwing one's lightsaber for a long-range attack, and guiding itby means of the Force. Though it took her a few weeks, Adai eventually began to master the basics of the art, and could even throw her own lightsaber in a wide arc and return it to herself, catching it by the hilt. It was a thrilling discovery, and just the thought of practicing again made her want to return to Coruscant even more; no matter what the consequences.
Adai walked along, in between her captors in a single file line through the towering trees as the golden light of morning fell on them like a warm summer rain. She inhaled deeply, and delighted in the fact that she could smell no chemicals or pollutants in the air: just the folliage and a sweet aroma from an unseen source. As they trod along in silence, small, white flowers began to dot the ground, and the sweet smell grew in intensity. The trees were growing in girth as well.
Just the sheer beauty of the scene made her nearly forget about R4 and the Jedi star fighter up in the mountain. She wondered if the synthetic alloy would begin to rust if she let the tiny vessel sit in the ice for too long... no, those things were built for harsh climates and rugged terrain and such. The Jedi Knights used them for transport on most of their missions, no matter what type of planet they were being sent to. Well, usually.
Anyways, the small company walked without halting for nearly all morning, until seemingly out of nowhere, the forest broke away and a valley of breath-taking beauty appeared before them. Adai glanced behind them for a moment, and saw the mountains she hiked down from looming in the distance. They had to be at least thirty miles away. Turning her attention to the scape before her, she saw more towering trees, though like nothing she had ever laid eyes on before. These trees were enormous: two, three hundred feet tall, some twenty-five feet in diameter at the base. The white flowers were everywhere now, their delicate scent lightly lingering in the air around them. Her captors were speaking again, and a phrase caught her attention. Something in the Force told her that it was the name of this place: Caras Galadhon. But it would still be another good thirty minutes before they crossed the wide openess of the valley and reached the other side.
And, well, that's what they did.
As soon as she stepped into that wood, she felt different. Adai didn't know what, (she would probably have to meditate on it) but she knew she felt different. The feel of the forest itself was almost dreamlike... old, whimsical, sad. The gold of the daylight didn't reach the forest floor so much as a mysterious silver glow from countless lanterns in buildings in the trees high above. There was a rich, green grass and moss that carpeted the forest floor like an emerald velvet: moist and cool from the occasional shower. But structures began to appear. Some built a man's height off the ground on a thick branch reaching out from one of the trees, accessable by an elegant and winding staircase that hugged the trunk of the organism it was built upon. Thenshe started seeing more. And more. And larger buildings, some in clusters, and some located high in the canopy. Soon they were walking on a path paved with silver stones, and other people of this bizarre and wonderful culture were seen more often. They bore uncanny resemblance to her own race, Humans, but there were sublte emotional differences she could detect through the Force.
Their path grew wider, and she saw more folk: some of them glanced up from their quiet, soft conversations to look up and gaze upon her with a subtle and gentle scrutiny that made her almost melt and cringe at the same time.
As they continued to walk, Adai saw the greatest tree of all that she had seen so far. It's staircase wide enough to acommodate five people, shoulder to shoulder. A silver lantern was hung at every post on the staircase. They began the slow and steady climb upwards into the canopy of trees, and when they got far enough, Adai saw that there seemed to be a whole other community built far above the ground. There was a network of buildings and homes, and bridges strung between them. But up and up they climbed, until finally, at last, they came to a great platform in the crown of one of the trees. The thing was shaped like a thick ring, with guards everywhere. She suddenly felt intimidated; truly intimidated by something just then. A presence, or something... but it intruded her mind, and she didn't like it. At all.Adai immediately threw up her sheilds in attempts to keep whatever it was out, but suddenly...
...She appeared.