Carth:
Sweat beaded at my brow as I trudged after Bastila. To be honest, I had been afraid that being stuck under the Jedi woman's leadership was going to be painstaking. So far, it hadn't been as bad as I had expected, of course, Rian wasn't fully conscious yet.
She had gotten pissed and drank until she passed out. After all the trouble she put Bastila through to head directly to the ruins, the Jedi wasn't going to be delayed by a minor difficulty like that. No, Carth Onasi was a perfect pack animal. With Rian draped over my shoulder we could still head out to our destination as originally planned.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" I asked.
"I am well aware that this was a horrible decision, Carth," Bastila answered. "But it will serve Rian right if she's too incoherent to realize that a kath hound is gnawing on her leg."
"Did the Jedi teach you that?" I joked.
Bastila froze. There was a blazing inferno behind her blue eyes, but she remained calm.
"No, they did not," she replied. "Perhaps you are correct. This is wrong. We should wait for Rian to wake."
"I was only teasing," I said. "There are so few kath hounds right now that you don't even need my help keeping them at bay. Besides, I won't let anything happen to Rian."
"But there is so much room for disaster," Bastila countered. "It was a foolhardy idea. I let my emotions get the better of me."
"It happens to the best of us," I assured.
"As much as I like the close up view of your backside, pal, you need to put me down," Rian grumbled from my shoulder.
"You're awake," I noted.
"And about to be sick," Rian added.
As I felt her nose brush across the small of my back, the urgency in her voice dawned on me. I bent down and let the woman slide off of my shoulder. Rian tersely excused herself and proceeded to empty her insides over the idyllic plains.
"Carth," Bastila said.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?" I asked.
"For putting up with this," she replied.
"It can't really get much worse." I shrugged.
"I wish I shared your optimism." Bastila grimaced in Rian's direction.
Rian looked up and shot me a heavy lidded expression of hung over agony. Her short black hair defied gravity and her knees were grass stained.
I caught a disdainful sniff from Bastila as Rian stumbled over to us. The Jedi turned to gaze off into the horizon while Rian brushed herself off. I silently hoped that the first thing Rian planned on doing once we got back to the Ebon Hawk was jump in the 'fresher.
"Is she angry?" Rian asked.
"Not as bad as I thought she'd be," I replied. "What kind of stunt was that anyway?"
"There were too many voice, too much screaming," Rian muttered. "I couldn't take it. It's bad enough with Granddad and Bastila, I don't need everybody else doing the same."
"Granddad?"
"Just crazy lady babble, don't listen to me," Rian insisted a little too quickly.
"You're keeping things from me again," I growled.
"And you're so perfect?" she asked. "What about Morgana?"
"What do you know about that?" I demanded.
"Only that it's a damaged file on your personal datapad," Rian answered. "Although, judging from your reaction I think I hit a soft spot, huh?"
"Have you been snooping through my things?" Damn her and her damn curiosity. She had about as much tact as a drunken Gamorrean.
"I don't snoop," Rian snapped. "But Mission does. She told me about it. Apparently Zaalbar thinks that between him and the astromech, they can fix it."
"I'm going to have to have a word with that girl when we get back," I mumbled.
"From what I can see, I believe we'll reach the ruins a little after noon," Bastila announced. She looked at Rian. "How are you feeling?"
"Like a krayt dragon sat on my head," Rian grumbled.
"I suppose it's no more than you deserve," Bastila replied with a smile.
"I should have known better than to expect sympathy from you," Rian grunted.
"Maybe we should just head to the ruins," I suggested.
I won't lie, the thought of two gorgeous women assaulting each other sounds very appealing on a primitive level. Well, maybe on any level. But never in my wildest fantasies would I have given either woman a lightsaber or Force powers. Like back when I was an ensign my buddies would say, ladies shouldn't fight other ladies unless there's pudding involved.
"Yes. Heading towards the ruins sounds like a wonderful idea," Bastila snipped. "Are you feeling up to it, Rian?"
"Yeah, sure." Rian offered a weak smile.
Rian struggled with her own two feet behind me, while Bastila's pace was brisk. I said nothing. I had previously learned that rule number one in the Handbook for Angry Women was not to call attention to their hissy fits, because I wasn't part of the game so any input into said game was wrong.
I glanced back at Rian. "You know, it was faster when I carried you," I said. "Would you rather I pick you up again?"
Rian was walking death. The color had drained from her face leaving only jaundiced undertones beaded with sweat.
"No," she insisted weakly. "That shoulder in my gut isn't very conducive to, you know, not throwing up."
"Well, Bastila seems hell bent on getting to those ruins by noon," I replied. "You're slowing us down."
"Why noon?" Rian asked. "Are we going to have a picnic?"
Her eyes grew wide as Rian realized what she just did to herself. The mere mention of 'picnic' and the thoughts of food that accompanied the word had the small woman doubled over and emptying the contents of her stomach for a second time.
Bastila had stopped ahead of us. A frosty air of impatience seemed to emit from the Jedi. I reached over and put a hand on Rian's shoulder.
"You finished with all that?" I asked.
"I should be in the bathroom right now," Rian moaned. "The tiled floor in there is so nice and cool."
"You've got no one to blame for this one but yourself, sister," I said. "Now come here."
"No sympathy for the devil, huh?" Rian muttered.
Before she could protest, I scooped Rian up into my arms.
"I can walk!" Rian argued.
"Just like you could when you had your brains leaking out of the back of your head on Taris," I retorted. "Now shut up."
Rian sighed and wiped her mouth with the back of a hand. "I'll try not to puke on you," she grumbled.
"You know, those bags under your eyes match your irises." I snickered.
"I might've gotten upset by that if you weren't so damn ugly yourself." Rian's head lolled against my shoulder.
"Remind me to keep upwind of that breath of yours."
"I hate you."
I trotted up to Bastila who watched me with a blank expression. She spared Rian a glance before she focused on me again.
"She is in no condition to venture into those ruins," Bastila noted.
"Why don't we just head to the ruins and see what condition she's in when we reach it," I suggested.
"Very well," was Bastila's terse reply.
We walked in silence save for the crackling energy of Bastila's ignited double sided lightsaber. Rian was content to sulk while I hauled her worthless hide to where it was needed. I had to admit, there was something funny about a pouting "Jedi" with grass stained knees.
Apparently, the look on Bastila's face didn't unnerve just me, because the kath hounds kept their distance. As we progressed, Rian eventually took to sipping water from a canteen. Her recovery had begun. Soon, she'd want something small, like crackers or toast, then she'd be ready. As long as Rian didn't pull something stupid, like trying to inject some kolto directly into her temple, I figured everything would be alright.
By the time we reached the ruins, Rian was walking. Bastila had slowed considerably to match the other woman's pace and I desperately hoped that, that meant that they had come to a truce.
"I don't feel comfortable venturing into those ruins with Rian in her current state," Bastila admitted.
"What do you think we should do?" Rian asked.
Her voice was so earnest that I nearly gagged on my own tongue. Tatooine had just been flooded, they were being civil! If T3-M4 were there, I'd have had him make a record of it.
"I suppose you could try some healing meditation, but that could take a few hours," Bastila replied.
"Too long." Rian stuck out her tongue. "Maybe if I just drink some more water?"
"Ruins aren't exactly known for having accessible lavatories," Bastila said dryly.
I gnawed on my lip until I tasted blood. I wouldn't laugh. If I laughed, they'd remember that I was there and then I'd be stuck with Frosty and Belligerent again.
Rian shrugged. "I'll make due," she decided as she took a healthy swig from her canteen.
"I've never seen an architectural style like this before," Bastila mused. She ran her fingers along the ridge of a hieroglyph, her brows furrowed.
"It looks to me like a cross between Ancient Cona and Traditional Ando," I offered.
Bastila looked at me sharply. I heard Rian chortle and I turned to glare at her. She raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I demanded. "I had to pass some general education classes at the academy in order to fly."
"Architecture?" Rian laughed.
"It was my required art course," I answered hotly. "Besides, it was easy because my dad spent a few years as a contractor."
"Isn't that kind of cheating?" Rian asked.
"What?" I spluttered. "You've never had your old man help you out with things?"
Rian's smile fell. "I don't know, I guess," she muttered. "What about you, Bastila?"
"Relationships with family members are fraught with powerful emotions," Bastila replied mechanically. "Such extremes are to be avoided. Anger and hate are the worst, but even love can lead to folly."
"I take it that's a no?" Rian snorted.
"I was a little girl when I left my family for the Jedi Academy," Bastila said.
"Wait a minute," I said. "You mean to say that the Jedi separate children from their own families?"
"Are you saying that your military academy didn't separate you from yours, Carth?" Bastila snipped.
"I was old enough, not some damn kid," I shot back.
"Let me get this straight," Rian interrupted. "As a Jedi, we're not supposed to love, not feel emotion, yet be able to tell what good is so we can uphold it?"
"You sound confused," Bastila replied.
"So we're just supposed to automatically know what 'good' is," Rian continued. "If it's written as so in the Master Jedi Rulebook, then it must be so? Don't fight because you love and believe in something, but because some green wrinkly chump in a robe tells you it's right?"
"His name is Master Vandar and you will refer to him as such," Bastila hissed. "Emotional entanglements can be dangerous. They can impair rational thought; they can lead to outbursts of uncontrollable emotion. As a Jedi, you must be above such things."
"You don't sound very convinced," Rian said.
"Ladies," I interrupted. I ignored their dagger like glares and continued. "It looks like Rian's well enough to go into the ruins now."
Rian snarled at Bastila and the Jedi woman nodded sharply.
"I believe Carth is correct," Bastila sniffed. "Let's proceed."
As Bastila stalked towards the entrance, Rian made a face behind her face. I felt a migraine coming on and shook my head in resignation. I should have expected as much.
