Weeks after the events of Nur:
The open fields of Bogano were peaceful at first sight. The luscious long grass, and curious Boglings hopping around peacefully. The cool breeze and warm weather mixed with the harmony of the planet added on to the natural beauty of the world. It masked the deep horrors of the beings which only cared about their next meal, which crawled around the crevasses of the planet.
On the surface, Merrin stood firm and experienced the beauties of the planet. Deep in the distance behind her, the Mantis was visible. She closed her eyes and breathed in the clean air, at a peace which she had never felt on her home world. She took pride in the fact that this planet was untouched by civilization, and that she could witness the naturalness which occurred before her.
The sounds of movement beside her did not affect her. She knew what it was. She turned to the noise and saw a hand grab hold of the edge of a pit, which led to a small pocket of land underneath the surface.
"Did you find whatever you were looking for, Cal?", Merrin asked her companion sarcastically.
Cal peered over the edge of the rock, and BD-1 squeaked back, and he and smiled. He pulled himself up easily.
"You know we don't ever know what we're looking for. We just kinda…roam." Cal explained, as he looked back at BD-1.
BD immediately lost focus and jumped off Cal's back to sprint over to a strangely formed rock and began scanning.
Cal looked at Merrin, "See? We just…find stuff.", Cal smiled.
Merrin chuckled, "More like he finds stuff and you follow."
He shrugged, "After years of being stuck on a place like Bracca, it's fun to explore a place like Bogano."
Merrin looked down at the grass. "The freedom", she thought. It was newer to her than it was to him. The ability to just go out and live was so new to her. She would never show it, but she was slightly timid here at first. In an unknown land, with no understanding of how the rest of the galaxy functioned, she found herself wary on this world. Not because of fear of getting hurt, but rather the fear of the unknown. She knew she could handle herself, but she still felt slightly out of place among the group with her inexperience of the galaxy around them. That was until Cal came along. Once they first arrived, only Cere left the ship to find food. Once Cal fully healed, he quickly offered to gather their rations. On his very first exploration since landing, instead of going out and sprinting through the wetlands which he could easily navigate, before he even made a motion towards the exit, he looked to Merrin, and asked if she wanted to come with him. The memory played through in her mind.
Merrin paused at the question. It surprised her.
"Don't worry. It'll be fun.", Cal reassured her, back on the Mantis.
Her mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out. She instead gave an awkward nod and firmly placed herself by his side, ready to explore this world for the first time.
Cal sensed her cautiousness. He grabbed her hand, "Come on, you'll be safe. I promise.", he told her gently. BD-1 positively beeped reassuringly on his shoulder.
She looked him in the eyes and nodded. They went through the ship's door together out into the wilderness of Bogano.
"Hey Merrin, are you ok?" Cal asked from a few feet in front of her, waking her from her daydream.
She looked up, "Yes. Why?"
Cal smiled, "Just didn't want you to fall asleep on me."
She rolled her eyes and kept moving forward, following him.
"Shouldn't we be looking for food.", she asked him.
Cal, without turning back to look at her, "We've found enough food in the last week, that it would take Greez the rest of my life to cook it all."
"Three weeks actually, but yes we have an abundance.", she told him.
Cal smirked to himself. Her understanding, or lack thereof, of sarcasm was amusing. In the meantime, BD-1 came running back to them from his own exploration.
"When should we head back to the others?", Merrin asked.
Cal looked at her, then thought to himself. "We have an hour or so before the sun sets. We can hang out here a little longer. Unless you wanna go back now?", Cal asked her.
"No, I'm in no rush.", she said as she bent down to examine a small red flower. "I happen to enjoy our explorations."
"Me too." Cal smiled. He noticed her interest in the small things on this planet. The luscious plants, the wild creatures. Cal looked beside him and found a rock he decided to sit up against. He sat down to rest, and BD-1 plopped down beside him. Cal rubbed BD-1's head, in an affirmation of approval. He looked back up to Merrin, who had noticed him resting on the ground. She walked over to him and sat down in front of him. She did not say anything. They only enjoyed each other's company. Years of being alone, and now with a group of people who cared for each other equally. The feeling warmed Merrin's heart. Greez the sarcastic pilot, Cere the understanding and compassionate leader, and Cal…
Cal. He was the one that interested her the most. In her first time ever encountering him, she had mistaken his courage for stupidity. She looked back, at that moment in the cave on Dathomir. Malicos had manipulated her and her fears. The lies he spread, caused her to foolishly attack Cal and bring upon him the entire Nightbrother clan. To her surprise, he pushed forward. Not only that, but succeeded through every test he faced. Only too late did she realize the truth. Malicos was the one who had defiled her world and its secrets.
Then Cal came. He stood strong for his selfless goal. Even through temptation of power, he confronted Malicos as the odds were stacked against him. She remembers that dual clearly. Malicos's barrage of attacks were almost unbeatable. Almost. Cal had managed to not only counter them using his swift agility, but the strength in which he returned blows was impressive to her. Never backing down, Cal went blow for blow with the dark Jedi. When she saw Malicos gain the upper hand, and when Cal was helpless to what would have been a killing blow, she felt something call to her inside of her. An urge, or rather a push to aid him.
"Is that what the force is?", she thought. Merrin remembered her conversation with Cere some time ago. How connected was she to the force?
Cal noticed her deep in thought again. He was deeply curious. He wished to know more about her. To him, she was a very interesting person. She rarely showed her emotions, but recently she had begun to change. In a good way. She looked happier.
"What was it like on Dathomir?", he asked bluntly.
Merrin looked at him, and she dug through her memories "It wasn't special. After I lost my sisters and Malicos came, I spent most of my time alone, serving Malicos's bidding, hoping that one day I would be able to avenge them."
She paused, "Sometimes I would go to the temples and ruins throughout Dathomir, to remember them. But once you came, I realized that the best way to remember them was to live, rather than serve.". She continued to meet his eyes. "I'm sure you know what it was like to be alone."
He looked away, "Yea, I guess we both do."
She waited before she returned a question, "How did you get on Bracca? Did you find a ship?"
Cal hesitated. The memories of that day still ached. But, he trusted her. In the weeks they had known each other he had not discussed his past other than how he met Cere and Greez.
"I was young. A child. Me and master Tapal were stationed above the planet of Bracca on a Republic Star Destroyer. I had just finished one of my last training sessions with master Tapal. Then, something happened. A message from the Republic."
He stopped, trying to gain the confidence to speak more.
"Our troopers, from orders of the Chancellor, betrayed us. They attacked us. We made our way to the escape pods, but on the way there I lost my lightsaber. I was defenseless, and master Tapal protected me. When we got to the pods, I couldn't get the door open fast enough, and as it open, the troopers gunned him down. He tried to get back up, but the blaster bolts…kept coming. He fell back into the pod. In a fit of anger, fear, just rage for what they were doing, I lost control. I managed to slow down the troopers just enough for us to escape.", he struggled to finish.
Merrin could sense the anguish in his voice, "I'm sorry, Cal."
Cal shook his head, "It's not your fault."
"It is not yours either.", she tried to comfort him, understanding the guilt he still faced.
Cal's face trembled, "He died, right here.", Cal looked down to his arms.
Merrin understood now. Cal's only family he had died in his arms, looking into his eyes. She had experienced loss, but her sisters didn't die in her grasp.
She stood up and moved towards him to be as his side. She placed herself down and placed her hand on his. His hands were tight together, clasped in a tight grasp.
"Cal, you'll never be alone again. You have Cere, Greez, and me."
Cal stayed silent. "I did not mean to cause you pain.", Merrin explained.
"You deserved to know. I mean we are all in this together aren't we?", Cal came to. His spell of sadness drifted away in her presence.
The Jedi and Nightsister remained there, in the peace of the open fields. BD-1 jumped onto Cal's lap, notifying them of the time with a sequence of beeps.
"Yea, we should probably get back to the Mantis now. Cere will be mad at me.", Cal said as he stood up. He offered Merrin a hand.
She grasped his firm grip, and stood along side him. She pondered at his statement though. "Why will she be mad?", Merrin asked him.
"Well, I've been kinda behind on my meditation lately. I told her this morning before we left that I'd be back in enough time for training."
"Cal…", Merrin said in a slightly joking attitude of disappointment.
"What, we were busy. We can say we fought off a couple Oggdo's and got sidetracked", Cal explained his lie.
She chuckled, "Whatever you say, Cal."
The took their time on their stroll back to the ship, taking in the view one last time for the day. Cal could see Cere standing outside of the Mantis, clearly upset with his timing.
He tried not to make eye contact as he and Merrin aimed for the ramp, but Cere wasn't having it.
"Cal!", Cere shouted.
He paused and turned her way. "Where were you this afternoon?"
Cal looked at Merin, then back to Cere, "We were out looking for food? Then a couple of Oggdo's attacked us, but don't worry we were fine." Cal attempted a smirk.
Cere frowned, "Cal you are a terrible liar."
Merrin tried to hide her laugh as she brought her hand to her mouth. BD-1 didn't hold back as an abundance of beeps and squeaks erupted from the little droid.
"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we continue your training. Merrin can manage herself for once on Bogano.", Cere said sternly.
Cal nodded in defeat, and he followed Merrin into the Mantis, ready to put them each to rest inside the Mantis for the night.
"She sure showed you.", Merrin teased Cal.
He looked over to her as she sat down on the couch. He smirked at her joke.
"Oh well, just don't miss me too much tomorrow alone out there.", he teased back. "I'll let BD tag along so you won't be lonely."
Merrin smiled and thought to herself, how true his statement was,