2 Years ago-Naboo

Naboo's scenery was striking. The trees, lakes, grasses...

It was mind blowing compared to, say, a hundred straight miles of sand.

Dawn liked it here. Maybe I'll stay and not run for my life every other week...

Yeah, right.

But it was nice, nonetheless.

((OOC: Completely open))

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Standing, Dawn set of for the lake. Arriving at the water, she peeled of her shoes and waded in.

"Not to bad," she said. Going in deeper, she felt her feet leave the pebbles.

Oh no.

Her head hit water then.

Is this drowning?

She opened her eyes a slit, then flung them open. The water was clear. Though her lungs burned, she didn't want to leave this paradise of green and blue, tropical fish splashing orange and yellow in random spots.

(Character in play: Nidalap Jinn)

"Whoa..." Nidalap breathed as he approached the beach. It was his second week living on Naboo, and so far he much preferred Telos...but the beautiful scenery and amazing beaches could do a lot toward changing his mind. Plus, the inhabitants just seemed so much more charitable than those of Taris or Telos, which was definitely a good thing for a 16-year-old living alone on the planet.

It was the first time he had come to the beach; it was hard to find time to when he had to provide for himself, and as an orphan since the age of 13 he was used to it. He had a job and bought his own food himself, and had no time for schooling or anything else. Thus, it was always a treat when he could escape the pressures of life and just enjoy the scenery.

He reached the edge of the water and threw his head back, letting the cool morning mist blow into his face. He released a huge sigh, expelling his troubles with them, then closed his eyes and let himself fall backwards onto the cool sand.

A commotion reached his ears, and he glanced out to the water to see that he wasn't alone. There was a girl out in the water, an unfamiliar face, not surprising since he had little time for social matters. He watched her for a moment and was about to lie back down, when the girl went under.

Nidalap sat up and waited for her to surface, growing increasingly worried. Finally, he slipped off his shoes and plunged into the water, going after the girl. He was a strong swimmer and quickly reached the spot where he had last seen her, his eyes questing about.

Looking up she saw a shape.

Well, hello. Will you come down? She pushed the thought gently at his mind.

Nidalap was startled by the voice in his head and stopped his rapid movements for a moment. The voice seemed to guide him to somewhere, and as he followed where it came from he saw the girl. Taking a deep breath, he plunged under the water, heading for the girl. I wonder if she's okay.

Seeing his expression, she laughed inwardly.

I'm okay, who are you? Through the force, she extracted oxygen from the plants, pulling lightly on the cells. Forming bubbles, she swallowed one, like taking a breath.

Did she just...read my thoughts? Nidalap grew more cautious. There was apparently more to this girl than met the eyes. His mind flashed to the amazing feats he had seen Jedi do on Telos and Coruscant and Taris last year, and he began to wonder. Deciding to test her, he tried once again to speak to her with his thoughts. I am Nidalap. Who are you?

Dawn Skywalker. Do you need to breath? She pushed a bubble to him.

Skywalker...now that was a name Nidalap had heard. After all, who hadn't heard of Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Master who had saved the galaxy several times over. Did that mean she was a Jedi? Nidalap took the bubble and, recalling what he had seen her do, swallowed it and felt air fill his lungs. How are you doing that? he thought at her. Are you a Jedi?

No, not yet. I'm a Padawan. Though I have no Master. I just kind of... do this. Flipping once, she dove deeper, motioning for him to follow.

A Jedi Padawan! Nidalap had once tried, long ago, to become a Jedi Padawan. He had almost ended up joining the ranks of the Jedi Warriors under Bandit. But things hadn't quite worked out, and Nidalap had lost contact with the Jedi Master and the Jedi as a whole. Sounded like she might have been in a similar situation. Nidalap, curious now, followed her deeper underwater, gazing around at all of the exotic plants and creatures. Perhaps it wasn't so bad here...he may as well get used to it, since it didn't appear as though he would be leaving any time soon.

I like it here. She twisted around a fish.

It's clean, not touched by man's hand... pure.

Yeah...it's definitely different. Nidalap's eyes followed a particularly bright-colored fish as it swam through the seaweed. Have you lived on Naboo for long?

No... Dawn seemed to shut down, blocking her mind. I just got here...

Oh, me too. Nidalap said, eying the surface. I've been here for about a week. On an impulse, the teen used his arms and legs to propel himself upward, lurching out of the water as though he were breaching, and then allowing himself to fall back down to where Dawn was. He was feeling...somehow energized, whereas before all he had wanted to do was relax and recover from this period of transition.

Come on, I'll show you something! Turning, Dawn impulsively used her legs to propel herself through the water rather fast.

Intrigued, Nidalap followed her, his powerful strokes enabling to catch up with her. As he pulled even with her, he thought, Where are we going?

You'll see when we get there! She laughed in her head, speeding up to a blur of silver, like a dolphin.

Nidalap continued to follow Dawn to wherever she may lead. It occurred to him that this was a rather strange situation...he had just met her, hadn't even said a word to her (though they had thought quite a bit back and forth), and already he was following her to who-knows-where. Perhaps he should be a little suspicious, but he wasn't in the slightest; she was a teenager like himself, and she was a Jedi in training...and besides, he could take care of himself. He had done it for 3 years...

It's okay, I won't eat you. You'd give me a stomach ache. She pointed ahead to a brown shape and surfaced, revealing an island.

"Whoa!" Nidalap said as he broke the surface and beheld the island. "I've never heard about this island. How'd you find it? Have you been to Naboo before?"

"No, I found it this morning." Dawn's voice is light but slightly mature. "Hey, Nidalap, who are your parents?"

The question caught Nidalap off-guard, so he hesitated for a second before providing her with his usual response to questions like that. "I don't have any." Hoping to discourage that line of questioning, he turned towards the island and started swimming that way, yelling over his shoulder, "Come on!"