Hermione stumbled somewhat as she stepped through the portal, not a lot, but certainly enough that she was grateful for Harry's steadying presence...and physical bulk to hold on to. Falling flat on her face right out of the gate, that would have been embarrassing to put it mildly.…bet the reporters would have loved it, she reflected darkly straightening up and raising her eyes, turning her head slightly to thank her friend. Only to feel her jaw drop at the sight which lay before her eyes.
It can not have been that simple! Her mind screeched in protest. She stood there staring, taking in the sudden, very unexpected appearance of the startling surroundings she found herself in. A beautiful and bizarre vista stretched to the horizon before her. Magical transit is NEVER that smooth! She thought indignantly, her mind going to her experiences with other methods of magical transport. Floo travel left you dusty and dizzy, apparition felt like getting sucked through a straw and then wrung out like a dishrag, and the less said about portkeys the better, especially if Harry was in any way involved! The man seemed destined to find new and interesting ways of showing the world how magical transport was not supposed to work. Which was at least educational if still somewhat awkward to watch she had to admit. Nevertheless her eyes were without a doubt reporting that they most certainly were not in the Death Chamber of the Ministry of Magic any longer.
Stretching as far as the eye could see was a vast and very alien jungle. The sky was one of the first major indicators with clouds that glowed faintly, but allowed shining silvery columns of light to reflect down from two moons which loomed large on the horizon.
Hermione had seen many jungles and rainforests depicted on television in her life, had read many books and seen many photographs, and had even been to semi-tropical climes a time or two, but this place was like none of those. The forest, if such it could be called, which rolled away before her into the distance glowed not just with reflected moon light, but with magical and bioluminescent energy, the latter of which lent the strange wavering illumination to the low lying cloud cover. It was near impossible not to sense the former - the magic of this place. And the plants, dancing slightly in the cool night breeze…
Earth had not seen plants like these in a very, very long time, if ever. Enormous primeval ferns that reminded her of various fossils she'd seen on display at the natural history museum in London, mixed in among titanic glowing fungal trees and expansive gloriously luminous flowers, which literally dripped glowing droplets of opalescent liquid onto the spongy soil beneath their feet. All of it strange, utterly alien, and yet beautiful as well.
She spun slowly on her heel, the better to take in the wondrous space around them, briefly noting a similar look of shock and awe on Harry's face as she finished her turn expecting to find the Arch looming behind her. Instead, quite to her consternation, she only found more jungle. That took a moment to percolate through her mind before she managed a strangled "Uh-oh…" Her grin, which had steadily grown since finding herself here, dimmed rapidly as the reality of that settled over her.
Harry, who had been marvelling at their surroundings himself, turned at her worried tone and noticed as quickly as she had, the distinct lack of Archway and portal behind them and by extension, a noticeable lack of a way back home. "Uh—will this be a problem?" He asked, a grimace crossing his face as the question caught up to his brain a moment later.
Hermione blinked as her brain kicked back in, allowing her to address her friend's question after a few moments consideration. She worried her lip before speaking. "Ummmm, well yes and no? I mean, we knew going in it would not be as simple as merely turning around and walking back…" She pointed out, "But—I admit, I had assumed it would be a little more straightforward than this." She mumbled weakly.
Harry considered her before glancing around at the strange place they now found themselves utterly lost in. Perhaps he was still giddy with the excitement of beginning their journey, or of finding this place. Or maybe minuscule spores from the jungle had already started infecting his brain, as quite to Hermione's surprise, he started laughing. Finally he spoke, explaining himself in the face of her confused expression. "Since when have things ever been simple for us Hermione? I guess this means we really will have to find this 'Wandering Star' thing after all…."
He paused a moment considering, glancing over the jungle happily, before nodding firmly "This is going to be exciting isn't it? I mean just look at this place! It's just so different, but the magic—can you feel it, you can practically see it here, even without Mage Sight. I think it's everywhere here; amazing!"
Hermione couldn't help but smile fondly at her friend's enthusiasm. It was rare to see Harry returned to that same wide eyed young boy he'd been when she'd first met him. That this place had managed it so quickly, spoke to the wonder of their surroundings. She shook her head one final time in amusement, before looking speculatively at the world around them, "I wonder if this place is like Underhill is supposed to be?" She pondered aloud thinking of the realm whimsically referred to as Faery Land. "I read in 'A treatise on the Fair Folk' and 'the Nature of Realties' that it was supposed to be composed entirely of magic…"
She frowned, she hoped this wasn't Underhill, mortals who dared venture there rarely, if ever, returned. Even in the more upbeat stories. Thankfully she didn't get a chance to stew on that grim line of thought.
Something about what they had been talking about sparked Harry's interest and he cocked his head a moment before murmuring an incantation under his breath, and promptly sucked in a pained breath as he flinched slightly like he had accidentally looked right into the sun. Hermione's eyes darted to him quickly as he cursed inarticulately for a moment and then muttered a counter charm. "Harry, are you okay, what happened?" She asked worriedly, hurrying over to his side to fuss and worry over him.
He nodded briefly, waving her off gently before rubbing his temples, his eyes pinched shut at a sudden headache which had hit him. Finally he shook his head after a long minute. "Sorry, yeah, just made the mistake of trying to use a Mage Sight charm…should have known better!" He growled, rebuking himself harshly.
Hermione blinked for a moment as comprehension blossomed, before nodding hurriedly making a noise of understanding. "It must be blinding!" she said sympathetically. She imagined it might have felt like stumbling from a dark movie theatre into the sunlight if the sunlight had been magnified by ten.
Her friend just nodded ruefully, "I'll say, I gave it as much power as I usually do…WAY too much for this place. It was like getting hit with a flash bang." He muttered. Hermione winced. Recent improvements to the curriculum of the DMLE and by extension the Department of Mysteries, meant those who might find themselves out in the field amongst the muggles had the educational, if unfortunately unpleasant experience, of being subjected to some of the mundane world's less lethal hazards.
She hummed under her breath, once again turning her attention to the forest. "Do you think it would work if I did the spell at minimum requirements?"
Harry was still blinking spots from his eyes, judging by his goggle eyed expression. "Probably, just take it slow, should have done that myself like I said."
She nodded before murmuring the incantation, feeding the spell the barest dregs of her power until the spell took. She, unlike Harry smiled in wonder once more. "It really is beautiful, like you said, it's everywhere here!" She exclaimed, admiring the glow of energy, feeling her senses stretch out before she drew her focus back to the present and released the spell.
It was a minute before she could persuade Harry to try again, but when he did he shared a similar smile to her own, watching the jungle a minute before releasing the spell. "Do you think we should set camp here?" Hermione asked suddenly as a thought occurred to her. "Unspeakable training manuals suggest setting camp near the apparition point when entering a new area…But it seems kind of unnecessary when there is no means of return present." She noted wryly.
Harry seemed to find this amusing, but explained himself promptly before she could misunderstand and feel offended. "Even if there were an Arch here, I have to admit I'd hesitate to set up shop too close to it. I'm not too keen to park it all right in the receiving area for a possibly inter-dimensional portal between worlds."
Hermione nodded in agreement, chuckling at his somewhat colourful description, casting her eye across the landscape once more in appreciation, before her gaze alighted on a rocky ravine across the small shallow jungle filled valley they were in, and she pointed to it. "That ravine might have some shelter in it. I'm not seeing many clearings aside from this place…"
Her friend nodded in agreement, but remained silent for a time just taking it all in, only eventually speaking up with a shrug. "Well I'm all for giving it a try if you want to head that way?"
Hermione smiled as she nodded once more, and Harry scratched his chin for a moment before indicating a path into the brush ahead of them, igniting his wand tip to cast a small spotlight in that direction. She beamed at him, casting a small permanent beacon charm should they need find their way back. Only following after him once she had ignited the tip of her own wand and cast an alert charm around them. If they were heading into the jungle at night it would be better to know if something started following them.
As they finally started off into the dim light of the strange alien forest neither noticed as a dark shape drifted low on the horizon an eerie glow trailing behind it before it vanished from sight.
Close to an hour later
Ravine (Location Unknown)
Hermione was by no means an expert on geology or geography, though she had dabbled in reading a few things about both, however she couldn't for the life of her recall hearing of a place on earth which had stone ravines so thoroughly…porous. The ravine which they had set off for nearly an hour before was basically riddled with caves. Like a block of swiss cheese if someone had somehow managed to shoot it with a shotgun without merely turning the lot of it to mush. It was almost like pumice stone on a grander scale…Some of the caves were small, and others, like the one they were currently surveying as a possible site to camp themselves, were large enough to build your house in.
It was with great relief, at least for her, that they found that the cave was not playing home to some strange foreign beast like the one they'd seen scuttling through the forest on the way here. That beast had resembled an unholy cross between a massive praying mantis and crustacean of some sort. It was far larger than most animals back home and she didn't doubt that it was far more deadly as well, considering the size and apparent sharpness of its claws.
She wondered if Harry was as relieved? She knew he never sought out danger for its own sake, and certainly didn't relish it either despite his propensity for finding himself embroiled in the biggest batch of it around. But did it come to be some kind of strange twisted disappointment when the world didn't try to kill him at every turn? She hoped not, excitement was one thing but Hermione Granger had to draw the line at getting daily doses of mind-blowing terror, thank you very much!
"So…do you think this will work Hermione, you're our camping and exploring expert after all." Harry asked sardonically. He had never had the chance to camp aside from the Horcrux hunt she knew. And that had hardly been under ideal conditions for learning the ins and outs of such things. The Dursleys of course would have preferred to gnaw their own fingers off then do something Harry might have actually enjoyed.
Hermione chuckled at his tone and nodded approvingly. "This will do nicely I should think. Good shelter from the weather will be nice for a start, not that it will likely be a major problem considering we have a wizard's tent. I didn't notice any large game trails running into the ravine, thank Merlin for that, we do not want the local fauna deciding we would make a suitable treat from what we've seen so far. Nor does it appear to flood often." She paused to consider, smiling happily to herself. "We should be safe enough here, though the manuals always said it was smartest to lay wards anyways."
Harry nodded in agreement as she'd expected he would, the Aurors were rarely required to set up shop in any one place outside of civilization for long, not in an age when apparition was so widely used at least. Thus his training had been somewhat lacking in that regard from what he'd told her. That said, she'd been able to acquire a number of older tomes for him to catch up with, ones Hermione herself had helped translate into English, back from when armies used to march with battle mages in their ranks. Number one piece of advice in those volumes she knew had always been to secure your camp and perimeter against infiltrators and wild beasts.
This cave would also provide a degree of protection from the elements, it was cold currently, but she could feel a sort of humid damp in the air which she suspected would make this place ungodly hot during the day.
They'd need a solution to that problem soon enough she was sure. UV protection at the very least for whenever they wanted to work outside during daylight…Maybe some cooling charms too? "Well I'll get the wards set up," She offered, shaking that off. "You keep watch, I didn't like the look of that…thing, we saw earlier." She muttered referring to the giant mantis beast, making a vague hand gesture which somehow managed to clearly convey the notion of 'creepy crawly'.
Setting the wards proved an easy enough task, they didn't require anything permanent just yet, as they might yet find a superior site to work with. So temporary and cast wards were more than sufficient for the moment. Later once both of them were rested and had sorted themselves out they could see to creating something more permanent. If they couldn't find any decent stone around here she'd drag out the rune plates she had bought for just such a purpose.
She and Harry spent the next ten minutes debating the merits, and seeing to the casting of, various enchantments over the mouth of the cave. She asked Harry to help with checking the wards over before they could return to where she had stowed the packs.
Ward masters had a number of methods for checking over wards, particularly those carved into ward stones. However none of those were necessary for the simple screen she and Harry had set over the cave's entrance. Though she hesitated as she considered the best way to go about asking him to help look things over one last time. Typically she would simply read it with a mage sight charm in his place, to help her spot gaps and errors, but Harry was still a bit tentative, even if his eye for detail was better, the headache from last time had just started to fade she suspected.
However, after a minute or so deliberating she decided it would still be best to go that route and managed to convince him with minimal effort to check the wards using the spell.
He fiddled with his wand a moment before incanting once again, letting out a sigh of relief. He'd used it successfully twice now, just as she had. This time his senses were not so overwhelmed as they had been on the first try. "Mage Sight" as it was called was a magical sensory enhancement charm of sorts. All magicals were to some degree or another sensitive to the presence of magic in the world around them, they could feel a static like charge on their skin from most ward schemes, you could see spells when they were cast, and a few of the more powerful magicals would manifest a visible aura when their emotions ran high.
For the most part that was the greatest extent to which witches and wizards could use their senses to interact with what was called passive or ambient magic. What Mage Sight did was intensify the body's reactions to most sensory input caused by magical stimuli. This made what before was an imperceptible shimmer in the air a glow and so on depending on the nature of the magic in question and the degree of its power. Aurors and Unspeakables received training to use this "sight" to sense the magic in environments around them, as a sort of early warning system.
Here however…It was like everything was fit to burst with magic so opening oneself to the degree one would back home would result in the same phenomena Harry had experienced earlier. Painful sensory overload.
Now, with the spell working at a minimum level Harry could see and sense through the spell much more clearly. Though it must have been far more vivid than anything he was accustomed to she was sure. The wards, they found, were in perfect condition. But they could sense so much more than that now…She'd need to experiment with this later when she had time.
He released the spell, beside her and turned to eye her curiously. "The wards are good. How are you feeling?"
"A little tired, but that will pass, just need to get some food in me and take a short rest." Hermione reported, smiling. Things had gone relatively well so far. Most of her fatigue was likely due to the change in climate she was sure.
He nodded, it was nearing lunch time back home, or at least she assumed it was. Transit had felt instantaneous, but perhaps it had not been? She speculated. Harry set about pulling the still folded up tent from his pack and unfolding it across the ground. It only took a minute after that for the tent to set up following a flick of his wand. And with that, they were in business.
Felucia
Thanium Worlds
En Route to Niango Water Treatment Facility
Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, commander of the 327th Star Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic, breathed in a deep cleansing breath as she prepared to lead her forces against the Separatists in what would hopefully be their final push in this long and hellish campaign.
They had been fortunate, relatively speaking, and until a few short hours ago the Jedi had assumed she'd need to complete her mission with her significantly depleted forces as they already stood. The 327th, despite being a high quality formation, had been embroiled in battle here on this Force forsaken mud ball far too long. The wear and tear was beginning to show in her troops' morale, discipline and equipment.
Thus when another half regiment unit had arrived before sun up that morning she had been relieved, to put it mildly. The clones of this particular group were fresh from Kamino, not a single veteran among them. Though that would not decrease their effectiveness overmuch, she reflected. Clones were professional and skilled to a man and would integrate with her current forces with minimal difficulty, so she at least didn't have to worry about that.
Regardless, she was pleased the ships carrying their reinforcements had also come carrying the long requisitioned supplies and vehicles this prong of the campaign was desperately in need of. Walkers, energy cells, bacta, rations, water purifiers and replacement parts all of which they'd done without for far too long. Not to mention some necessities Aayla was sometimes denied as the sole female … anything really, working in the theatre.
Well that wasn't entirely true, some of the volunteers amongst the medical staff were female, and she wasn't positive but she believed some of the Felucian scouts were female too. However their supplies, were they required, came via volunteer agencies and so didn't get hung up in Republic bureaucracy, where some sleemo would wonder what a clone army needed with feminine supplies, and deny it out of hand. Until some irate female commanding officer or other showed up between deployments and tore a strip off them for making them suffer…She didn't have that option though, it would look bad in the news if a Jedi was to lambast some middle level working stiff. So she had to suffer in silence…which was a depressingly common theme for the Jedi in these times Aayla had to admit even if only to herself.
This specific reprieve was particularly appreciated as it came in a time when they truly needed it. After an abortive raid on a supposed Separatist command compound, the Separatists had set about attempting to poison Felucia's vast water reserves. Not an easy task, though one they undertook doggedly in the desire of denying the Republic this world's resources, regardless of the cost it would inflict on the world's civilian and native population, to say nothing of its ecology. Thus they had dug in around three major water treatment facilities and set about doing their best poisoning the water inside. The 327th had already cleared two of these sites, and the remainder of the separatist forces, droids, mercenaries and a few platoons of regulars, had entrenched around the final facility to the north.
Today…would be a busy one, the Rutian Twi'lek reflected to herself wryly as the command walker she rode on took it's place in the convoy headed to the front lines. And a hot one as well if the feeling in the air was anything to go by. Not that Felucia was anything other than hellishly humid all day everyday, all year round.
She shook her head turning away from the command table secured to the open roofed transport walker's deck. Usually AT-OTs, or All Terrain Open Transports, like this one were fitted for the purpose of carrying whole platoons of soldiers into the thick of battle, this particular specimen however had been retrofitted to act as a mobile command post. Camouflage netting, which provided a little but much appreciated shade, and sensor jammers protected the deck where a holotable command and control rig had been assembled. Some enterprising soul among her men had also seen to bolting on extra splinter shields and sandbags to the vehicle's flanks so it was better protected against enemy infantry fire. Wouldn't do anything really if a Tank got in a lucky shot or if they were unfortunate enough for an artillery shell to land right in the middle of them, but it was better than nothing.
It would be some time before this particular column of the 327th reached the front, so Aayla was hopeful that she might get in some time to meditate and clear her mind of its burdens for a change, before she was required to once again lead her men into battle.
It therefore said something about the quality and experience of the men in the 327th that they no longer batted an eye when she took to sitting cross-legged on the walker's deck. They'd seen her prepare for battle before after all.
To most, it might have seemed a counter productive place in which to set about undertaking a calming meditation, riding on the cargo deck of a combat walker as it marched to war. But Aayla had long since come to find the slow motion of the walker's rolling stride soothing after a fashion, and it allowed her to sink into her meditation soon enough despite her surroundings.
Taking a deep breath and then slowly releasing it, Aayla extended her senses opening herself to the Force and the world around her.
As ever the frustrating shroud of the darkside hid all hints of the future she might have sought. An unfortunate handicap to any Jedi who prepared for battle in these times, but a reality the order and it's members had long since come to accept in this conflict. She like so many others had trouble remembering a time when they could see the future as clearly as they had before the Clone Wars and the decade or so preceding them.
The shroud, such as it was, was almost certainly a tool of their enemy, the Sith who the Jedi knew had secretly orchestrated this war and sought to prolong it for their own purposes. It allowed their enemy to move unseen and their actions to better wound the Jedi and the Republic. The Jedi were…aware, or at the very least could guess what it was that likely drove their enemy. Vengeance, for perceived wrongs so long forgotten few remembered them well among the most learned, and fewer still among the long lived of the galaxy.
It said something about the depth of the Sith's hate for the Jedi and the Republic they served, that they had not forgiven nor forgotten their defeat so long ago. But then again, that was what it meant to be Sith. To wallow, revel and indulge in their own negative emotions to fuel their use of the Force in their mad quest for power.
Aayla shook off that reflection as she decided to stop pressing against the shroud's influence, it did no good and merely wasted her energy to beat her head against that wall. Her powers were not such that they could equal the dark side on this particular field of battle. And so she moved onto something much simpler, something even the veil only marginally affected. Sensing her surroundings. As she once more breathed in allowing her senses to dominate her consciousness she began to feel the Force within herself, then soon enough as she stretched out, within the clones around her, and in the forest and animals beyond.
It took time and patience but eventually she even began to perceive the barest touches of the Force in the metal hull of the walker she rode upon and in the air which danced and played around them.
She continued to stretch out, feeling the world of Felucia, rich as it was in the force, in it's entirety. Ahead to the north of her convoy's position, Niango a small resort city, and the water treatment plant which was her objective.
To the south, she sensed the swarming activity which was the Republic Forward Operations Base, and—
She paused, her attention flicking to something ephemeral she couldn't quite pin down. A whisper in the distance, a dark murmur on the edge of her perception, a twitch in the wind.
Aayla gave a start as a barked call from one of the clones disturbed her from her meditation, and she sighed. It was always thus, the clones did their best not to disturb her in such times, they really did, but…there was only so much one could do when working under war conditions.
She shrugged mentally and clambered to her feet, dusting herself off, soon enough they would reach their destination and it would be time to go to work. If she could not meditate, there were other ways in which to prepare.
Ravine Camp (Location Unknown)
Hermione stopped mid-bite, cocking her head to the side. She had been settling down to eat lunch with her friend, after having sorted away the supplies into the various stasis chests in the storage room and kitchen, pointedly ignoring the way Harry idly handed a small chunk of bacon under the table to his familiar, when something quite blatantly skipped across her conscious perceptions. She only had a moment to wonder at that odd sensation when a clatter drew her attention and she saw Harry staring off into space, his knife and fork abandoned on the table in front of him.
"Tell me you felt that too?" Harry asked, shaking off whatever had distracted them , before turning to look intently at his friend.
Hermione nodded slowly, trying to make sense of just what it had been that she'd felt, "Yes, though I don't know precisely what it was." She admitted confusedly. The only time she'd felt something like that before was…
Harry spared her a vaguely amused look before slowly starting to speak as he tried to put what he'd felt into words. "It almost felt like…well, kinda like someone had cast a sensory spell I guess—except it was less focused?— though a lot more powerful than any I've felt before…" He then grimaced at the vagueness of his description.
Hermione pulled out a notebook and started writing that down. "Interesting, I wonder if the local fauna has adapted to the high level of magic in the area and uses it as a…" She shook her head cutting herself off. "No, no, it's too soon to make that kind of conclusion, and besides just because we have yet to meet any intelligent species doesn't mean there are no magic users around somewhere."
Harry considered that, and nodded. "Do you think we should maybe find the source?" He stopped as he noted the slight frown which creased his friend's face.
"I'd…hesitate to suggest that right now. They may have sensed us despite our wards if what you said about their power level is correct—" Hermione ventured. "And we should be cautious here. We don't know who may be out there, if they're friendly or not."
Her friend considered that fingers drumming idly on the table, "If it was a local...do you think someone like Sirius would have gone to check it out? It's not like there's a ton of other things to draw and hold his attention around here."
Again she frowned, but shrugged noncommittally, "I suppose it's possible, Harry. He is rather reckless like that. Although to be fair there is of course the fact that he'd have no idea what was going on after arriving here, or even where he was so he'd likely be forced to seek out another magical if he hoped to learn more."
Her friend couldn't help but frown a bit at that, but had to concede her point. "I still think we should see if we can get an idea where it came from, at the very least we could see if it's getting closer to us."
Hermione paused considering then nodded accepting the argument as valid. Another notion occurred to her and she suggested a compromise. "All that being said, you aren't wrong I suppose, and I think we'd be well served to at least observe the locals from a distance if we can, before making contact. If they are hostile, well…we'll try to find the Wandering Star on our own. However it would be nice to have their support." She pondered.
Eventually she bobbed her head once in acceptance then shrugged. "Well, let us finish eating first, and then we can see about making sure Juno and Crooks are sorted. Then we'll see about, finding the source of that spell." She suggested.
"You sure you want to come along?" Harry asked, "I could handle it if you want…"
She snorted in amusement. "Honestly, Harry, we're here to explore, it's the official purpose of all this venture. If I'm not going to do any exploring I might as well have stayed home." She noted dryly.
He chuckled, conceding the point as he returned to his meal. "Alright, but let's make sure we're completely sorted before we go. I'm betting you noticed the temperature rising before we came in here, and the sun was just barely lighting the horizon then. We'll want to make sure we stay cool."
She agreed with his assessment. In here they were protected from the worst of it by the spells woven into the fabric of the tent unlike the cheap model they'd procured for the Horcrux hunt. But out there, they'd be at the mercy of the elements.
As she pondered that she couldn't help but worry about these potential natives, if they were hostile, they might have a lot worse troubles than a little bad weather…
The familiars proved easy to handle. Juno was as easy going as ever, chuffing happily as she explored the tent and cave, and Crooks was a suitably feline aloof, only briefly showing any signs of surprise upon being presented with their new surroundings during a quick sojourn outside for the sake of stretching out and familiarizing them with the sights.
Unfortunately this was where they met their first hiccup. Hermione had taken Crookshanks and went in search of her bedroom to properly sort her stuff away before they left. She'd passed through the doorway marked "Quarters and Bathroom", only to find out that those labels were both singular. There was one bathroom, albeit a delightfully large and luxurious one, and a single bedroom. With a large bed.
Harry had, upon seeing that, sighed explosively, and offered to take the bullet such as it was, and transfigure the couch should it be needed. She was grateful for his willingness to sacrifice for her. But also a little appalled with both herself and the Department. Herself for not checking to ensure the tent was suitable to their purposes beforehand and trusting the Department quartermaster to actually know what he was doing. That had apparently been quite a mistake.
In the end she had suggested switching out who got the bedroom each night, though she'd been unable to get Harry to agree to that in the time they had. The trail of magic was slowly fading so time was a commodity they risked running short on in this matter. She opted instead to delay any further discussion until they got back.
She and Harry spent a good fifteen minutes simply memorizing the area around their camp so they could safely apparate back to camp upon demand. This amount of time was largely to reassure herself as she was fretting about what they might encounter out there somewhat. Then they had applied the charms and spells they felt necessary to ensure their safety here. Sunblock spells, bug repellent spells, cooling charms etc.
The first apparition was exhilarating! The thrill of exploration and discovery had settled in her bones, becoming more real and she could tell the hope of maybe someday finding his godfather had somewhat settled in Harry's. It seemed to lend them both energy beyond the norm...or that could just have been the frisson of magic in the air feeding their excitement, either way it was a welcome addition to the sights before them as they went on. The first vista they encountered when they arrived at their destination only added to that. Maybe it was the magic laden air, or the bizarre beauty of the world stretching before them, but she could swear that each time she closed her eyes and simply drank the world around her in, that any weariness washed away.
Their first apparition had taken them up rather than over. Though Harry insisted he was able to sense the rough direction of the magic's source when he immersed himself in the Mage Sight spell it was only a tentative direction rather than a specific location, so they made a short hop up to the top of one of the large fungal trees to try and determine a rough system of directions. Hermione was very relieved when the "Point Me" spell seemed to indicate that the sun was rising from the East. Some things at least seemed to carry over from Earth to this world. One less strange thing to try and cope with at least. The magic seemed to be coming from the North so that was the direction they started off in.
Over the next half hour or so they had to stop repeatedly as Harry felt for that brief glimmer of magic they had sensed. Slowly but surely honing in on the source as they hopped closer and closer. It was a testament to the power of that spell, that they had sensed it so strongly so far away!
Still, they were cautious in proceeding, picking their destinations on the horizon carefully in the hopes of avoiding any unfortunate accidents. They were just too unfamiliar with this world's terrain. It was becoming uncertain as it was, just how far they had travelled after a time and as to whether or not they were actually getting closer.
Hermione was in fact beginning to get worried when they made yet another jump, and Harry once again sank into the effects of the sensory spell. However this time when he came out of it he smiled up at her before clambering back to his feet from where he'd sat himself on the ground. "Well I think we're almost there, If I'm right the source of our not so little sensory spell is on the other side of that mountain." he said indicating a peak relatively close to their own position.
Mountain may have been a bit generous, some particularly fastidious souls might insist on calling it a knoll or perhaps a foothill, but it certainly qualified by the standards of someone who had mostly only seen those within the lower UK, like Harry.
"How can you be certain?" She asked curiously, not so much doubting his thought process as wondering how he'd reached his conclusion.
Harry just smiled in amusement. "You try it, tell me what you see when you look over there." He suggested pointing again. She had spared him a mildly exasperated look, but gamely played along.
She uttered the spell and as she felt the Mage Sight settle over her senses she saw immediately what it was he was referring to.
She had never experienced such a thing as being able to literally sense another of their kind at such a distance before, to her knowledge no one had. But here, in this place? Where everything was so steeped in that ephemeral force that was magic, here everything seemed to radiate, to echo. It was strange, and beautiful even as it was confusing seeing as Hermione had not seen Harry flare like a light as this presence seemed to do. She wondered at that, was this being just that much more powerful than they, or was something else at play?
This being here however, whoever they were, Harry and Hermione could feel the echoes of their actions from literally miles away. Sharp and fast. She could practically see them from here, feel them, taste them. She paused to assure herself of the source's location, and had to agree with Harry's assessment. It was there, on the far side of that foothill in the distance.
"I see what you mean," She agreed, trying hard to remain mature and upright in the face of his amusement only to give in when he waggled his eyebrows at her. She made a face at him which prompted them both to laugh. The excitement they felt so far was intoxicating.
She was excited true, but she was still Hermione, so she took her time as they began to prepare for the next jump. She and Harry collected themselves once more, making sure they were focusing so as not to accidentally splinch in their enthusiasm as they approached their destination, and then made their next jump.
Even Harry arrived with a crack at their destination, something which more than anything told her just how excited he was. Over the last couple years Harry had more or less rid himself of the loud telltale sound of apparition with plenty practice. Something she was mildly jealous of if she was going to be honest. Upon arrival she eagerly cast her eyes about and proceeded to blink in surprise a moment later.
Stretching off away into the distance below him was a large jungle covered plain. A jungle which very clearly was burning. How had she not noticed the smoke before? Had she merely mistaken them for clouds at their previous distance? Vast swathes of the jungle and undergrowth had been cleared before the flickering lights of fire, and columns of thick billowing smoke reached high into the sky above them. But there was more, she could tell that the moment she focused on the magic about her, even before her eyes processed what they were seeing. How she'd not sensed this before their arrival she did not know, however…
These fires were not natural occurrences, these were the fires of battle, something she had hoped never to encounter again after the Battle of Hogwarts. She could almost hear the emotions filtering up from below even at this distance due to the magic about them how, she did not know, but the experience was so far out of the norm for her, she found it overwhelming. They practically shrieked, grating horribly on her senses, loud and insistent. She fought the urge to retch, stunned by the hammer blow against her senses, and the pit that formed in her gut.
And there, she could see it now, down among the trees. Flashes of red and blue light, like that of rippling waves of spell fire bounding back and forth across the field, the occasional flare of white light and fire heralding an explosion.
Her confused stupor was disrupted as something large roared close overheard, causing her to duck in alarm as a large white and red object flew above them before then gliding low over the field below to join others of it's kind, strange craft different from any she'd seen back home, circling the field like vultures.
She looked to her friend, and found him standing next to her grim faced. He merely nodded, indicating a spot below them, before gesturing more pointedly with a finger. "There, down among the trees. I can see them in Mage Sight…it's like a beacon." She nodded absentmindedly, staring numbly at the devastation below them. Part of her was yelling that they should get away, that it was dangerous there. But another part could not tear itself away from watching.
"Merlin, I hope that Sirius isn't here…" Harry murmured. "I know it's been years, but if he got involved with the locals and drawn into their war..."
She blinked, and the pit in her stomach clenched in an icy fist. However unlikely it was, if he were to lose his godfather again, when there was a potential chance to get Sirius back…It would destroy him. She fervently hoped that the Potter Luck didn't extend to Sirius Black in this case and the older man had for once managed to avoid getting into trouble.
"I need to go and check Hermione. I need to make sure he's not there," Harry said standing up straight and focusing down to the battle. Hermione found she couldn't deny him this, and straightened up beside him. Harry's course was set the moment that thought had finished crystallizing in his mind, she knew. She found herself hoping desperately that his godfather wasn't caught up in the midst of what was clearly a titanic battle…
"Let's go," She croaked, then cleared her throat. "Let's make sure to keep a shield up just in case, and we'll need to try and be quiet." She admonished weakly, still feeling ill as the emotions and sensations washed over her from below. He nodded, clearly relieved she had accepted this and proceeded to visibly steel himself. A few moments later and they were down on the field itself, among the trees skirting the worst of the fighting. She had followed him through the apparition, trusting him to guide her in close to their target.
As worried as he was Harry had been trained well she knew, by brutal experience in the last war, and by the Auror instructors in more recent years. He knew as well as she, that in this kind of environment they would be in serious danger should they be seen. He erected a series of mobile combat shields around himself, then turned to Hermione ensuring she was outfitted with the same. Unspeakable training tended to lack in that field after all, so ensuring she was as well protected as he was paramount in his mind, he wouldn't let anything to happen to her.
Then they added a linked disillusionment charm to the ensemble and a notice-me-not spell. In times past they would have relied on the protection afforded by his invisibility cloak, however in the brush and detritus littering this area the cloak would be less than reliable, prone to snagging and showing their movements as clearly as if they weren't under it. That wasn't even considering the fact they were no longer twelve and small enough to both fit under it safely. The linked Disillusionment they were using instead would keep them invisible from everyone except each other. Hopefully it would be enough.
She readied herself a bit, knowing what was to come next and carefully made her way along in Harry's wake closer towards the source of that magic energy. Soon, as they picked their way through the underbrush the trees began to thin and she found herself having to duck low as the occasional stray bolt of crimson energy flashed overhead. She couldn't help but shake her head at this foolhardiness, this kind of thing was precisely what they needed to avoid if they were to survive this expedition, and yet here they were.
Assuming they didn't get blow apart in the crossfire, she'd need to relax after this rather badly. Already her nerves were raw and aching from the tension and she could swear she could feel her own blood humming through her veins the closer they got to their goal.
And then she saw it, as she neared edge of the tree line with her friend. Hunkering low in the brush behind a half shattered fungal tree, she could finally see the field of battle properly. Two armies, battling amongst the ruined and scorched remains of the fungal forest around them, facing each other across the boggy, stirred up mire of the battlefield.
The side facing them, the source of the red flashes of light which she now began to understand were not magic, but some new and creative method of killing, of the sort mundane people everywhere managed to dream up all the time. Machines, no, robots thousands of them. Great war machines crawled across the landscape, surrounded by slowly marching droves of skeletal infantry robots, and hulking beetle like monstrosities. All stiffly moving onward despite the withering blue fire coming from the side nearest themselves.
Which brought her attention to those closer at hand. Here again were war machines, equally massive in size, but of a different and distinctive design from those across the field. These squatted low to the terrain on powerful mechanical legs, massive guns roaring defiantly at the oncoming mechanical horde. But it was not these which drew her eye the most.
No, there hurrying about between the walking fortresses, were soldiers, clearly organic in nature judging by the fluidity of their movements in comparison to their enemy. Every one of them clad in white armour, spattered with mud and stained by ash. Glimpses of yellow heraldry affixed here and there to their uniforms. They carried weapons which included everything from low profile, short barrelled weapons to bulky long guns that required two hands to hold properly and even one or two hefting heavy rotary barrelled affairs that had to be slung underhanded to use.
Once again her attention was broken by one of the low flying vehicles overhead as one of them swooped low over the field blue and green bolts of light stitching through the machines across the open no man's land in between them. She couldn't help but watch stunned as a green lance lashed out and carved one of the hulking robotic war machines in half, which then exploded in a shower of debris casting many of the skeletal robots into the muck about it, shattering whole ranks of them in the waves of concussive force.
She had to shake her head sorrowfully as she huddled down behind a particularly big tree stump next to her friend. It was just typical of their luck, that the Veil would drop them on a world at war…That was the way things worked for them after all. Although she had to grudgingly give points for creativity to fate this time. Judging by the magical atmosphere here she would not have expected to run into an organic/machine war straight from some muggle sci-fi film.
It was also about par for their luck that the one magic user they'd sensed since coming here would be right in the middle of this mess, she noted with a grimace!
Which once again reminded her why she was risking life and limb mucking about in this lethal mire with her friend, and she once again turned her attention to helping Harry find that magical source which had drawn them here on the off chance Sirius might have been lured into their company…
And that was when they saw her.
A woman, as that what was she had to be with a figure like that Hermione noted with a brief flash of wistful envy. Though she was clearly unlike any woman Hermione had ever had occasion to see before. Not because the woman was tall and lithe, clearly athletic, like so many others really. No, the first and most incongruous thing the duo picked up on about her was this: she was blue.
Not blue as though she had painted her skin in some sort of primal war ritual, no. Her skin was actually blue, Not only that, she had tentacles! Growing out of her head in place of hair! Two long appendages which hung behind her lying against her back. Hermione's mind was screeching protests at the mere notion of it! A near human species of blue alien ladies, somewhere the universe was laughing at her she was certain.
This female alien, whoever she was, also happened to be perhaps the most oddly clad person in Hermione's field of view. Whatever she had expected a magic user to be wearing into a combat zone of this nature, it certainly was not...that.
Good grief she thought to herself bemusedly, it's more like an exercise outfit than any kind of armour. Tight, form fitting pants, possibly leather, with a shirt of the same material that bared all of her midriff and more than a little of her cleavage.
Good Merlin woman. What, do the magicals around here believe in leaving a good looking corpse? She asked in disbelief.
Despite the woman's rather...incongruous appearance, she apparently managed to fit right in with the soldiers around her, which greatly confused both humans hunkered down in the bushes. If Harry's expression was anything to go by she wasn't the only one confused by all this. The blue woman and the soldiers near her were all hunkered in the mess behind one of the heavy walking tanks as it continued to fire at the robotic army across the way. None of them seeming all that concerned by the apparent robotic apocalypse going on around them, nor by the occasional bolt of red which skipped off the armoured hull or whined overhead.
What was more Hermione soon came to realize, when Harry leaned in to murmur an observation in her ear, not only did she fit in. Somehow this woman who, frankly to her eyes, looked more the part of professional...dancer or fitness, instructor, was in fact the one in charge. It was all there Harry explained to her, in the way the soldiers gathered round her, the way they tilted their heads and interacted with each other, the way she seemed to read the flow of battle and guide the men around her.
Hermione couldn't help but wonder who in the universe runs an army like this? Surely it's absurd even to the locals?
Harry for his part couldn't help but watch this series of events in fascination, with the seemingly humanoid soldiers pulling a clear but costly victory out of the fray, until it reached it's conclusion. As finally, whatever had been discussed by the strange woman and the soldiers in the meantime, had apparently been sorted out.
Harry and Hermione both wanted to yell out to the woman as she strode purposefully towards the front lines. To warn away someone who seemed so woefully unprepared for war.
It was then that they were met with yet another surprise, as if the day hadn't been full of them already. It still managed to shock both into silence. The woman had started towards the frontline at an almost leisurely pace before, quite suddenly, she blurred into motion. Dashing about at an incredible pace, far in excess of what they'd expect of a fit woman of her apparent stature she was rushing forward towards the enemy before leaping into the air as a pair of silvery shards in her hands ignited and what for all appearances seemed to be blades of purest azure and viridian light sprung forth. Her titanic leap brought her arching down among the closing ranks of the robotic forces to land with a crash and a blur of blue and green light.
As the machines around her began to collapse in piles of molten, dismembered metal, Hermione couldn't help but think, What in the name of Morgana's saggy bottom is going on around here? She was quite surprised when Harry started to laugh, and she realized to her mortification that she had asked that aloud.
Close To Half An Hour Later.
Felucia
Thanium Worlds
En Route to Niango Water Treatment Facility
Aayla settled in on her haunches, taking a sip from her canteen as she stared across the field watching the Separatist forces retreat in disarray back towards the water treatment plant in the distance. Her forces were dogging their progress with heavy fire as they pressed on towards the objective. She winced in mild sympathy as a mass driver shell landed among a squad of separatist regulars. Not all the enemy forces were machines.
Yesterday had been busy, sure enough. And true to predictions, today was looking to be about the same. Story of her life lately she noted dryly to herself… She and the clone forces at her command had raided the local Separatist leader's stronghold the previous day. However the cowardly Gossam leader of the Commerce Guild, Shu Mai, had long since fled, leaving a trap in her wake. They had managed to avoid the worst of it but that mess had still left them wary and cautious, she felt certain that the enemy would have some sort of surprise waiting for them at Niango as well if only to spite them a few more clones…
Successfully purging and reversing the sabotage at both Gar Hau and Jaizo however was still a positive in her mind even now. Something she felt a great deal of satisfaction at achieving, with good reason.
This battle like so many before was proving far more difficult than Jedi of the modern age had come to be accustomed to. In the past they would have quite easily sensed traps and sabotage on such a scale. Now however, with the dark side confusing the matter…
She shook her head tiredly, pushing to her feet. These thoughts were unusually maudlin for the Twi'lek female, even considering her state of exhaustion. And she couldn't help but wonder if the dark side was behind the growing sense of disquiet she'd felt over the past day. Or was it simpler than that? Perhaps it was merely a side effect of the knowledge of what horrors the enemy had planned for this world?
Try as she might over the last few minutes since the end of the latest skirmish, she couldn't shake the feeling of eyes watching her though. She'd done everything she could over the last couple hours to dispel the feeling up to and including dispatching an increased number of patrols to watch their flanks for any scouts which might be observing them or hidden squads of droids waiting to ambush the advancing Republic forces.
Whatever it was however, was not easily discernible in the Force. Nevertheless it was there, a persistent nagging feeling which prickled the skin at the base of her lekku. Needless to say this worried her. If she was being watched, and yet the enemy still managed to avoid detection they were likely utilizing the method the Sith orchestrating this war used to move unseen.
She grimaced at that assumption, she had no intelligence as yet suggesting any Sith were present in this theatre, a mercy albeit a small one, Count Dooku was dead, killed in the battle above Coruscant five months ago**. Ventress…was missing, and had not been seen for a long time. It was unknown whether she was dead or alive.*
Grievous of course was not a Sith, merely an advanced Cyborg, so she was reasonably certain he would not have elicited this response from the Force, even if he were so inclined to lurk in the bush…Which he probably wouldn't be, instead tending to prefer leaping in with reckless abandon to destroy anything in his path.
The remaining possibilities were even more remote. Word from Mandalore was that Savage Opress had been killed in the fighting there, and his brother Darth Maul had vanished soon after. Good riddance Aayla was quick to think on the matter.
Aayla barely spared the notion of the Dark Lord of the Sith himself being present a moment of scorn. Such a being was hardly likely to be squatting in the bushes on Felucia watching her during what was, in the grand scheme of things, a minor conflict in this war.
She shook her head again and sighed tiredly, biting off one last piece of her ration bar before packing it away. It did no good to dwell on such things, she would be cautious, but devoting too much additional thought to this would dull her focus. Focus she needed for the battle to come. Still…Was it just her or had the jungle fallen bizarrely quiet?
Felucia Underbrush
Near Niango
Harry was nervous, Hermione was nervous, and judging by the woman's body language Blue Lady was nervous too. Said blue lady had clearly become more agitated the longer they watched her, though Hermione had often wondered over the past half hour why they hadn't returned to camp - far away from the war zone - once they were relatively certain Sirius wasn't around.
Instead, they had settled in and watched, disbelieving at the woman's actions until the fighting had ceased. From there matters had become somewhat more...complicated. If the fighting was over, the danger had passed for the most part, at least in theory. Perhaps now was a good opportunity to see about safely introducing themselves was the unspoken question passing between Harry and Hermione?
Not that it'd be easy, the snarky skeptic in Hermione's head declared, this was after all a woman in the middle of a war zone, escorted by an army on the march, even a fool could tell they'd likely take poorly to a strange pair stumbling out of the bush on their flank wanting to meet their leader…
And if Hermione was any judge, Harry would find it very hard to resist asking to be taken to said leader.
They'd have been out of there already in all likelihood had it not been for the soldiers swarming through the trees or the way the woman had taken to eyeing the brush in their direction at odd moments, despite their efforts to conceal themselves. In the past half hour or so, they'd had to dodge three patrols of white clad soldiers she'd dispatched to the flanks. Being both held in place and forced onwards alongside her forces if they wished to remain undetected. It was disconcerting that even if she apparently could not directly detect their presence, she still knew on some level that they were there. Perhaps she could even pursue them if they apparated away? Hermione wouldn't put it past her after the way the woman had almost literally flown across the battlefield.
Hermione and Harry watched warily as the woman paced a few steps closer to the tree line, her eyes darting back and forth suspiciously. Hermione noted absently that one of the soldiers, one with a significant amount of yellow heraldry on his armour, and a strange visor over his eyes, was conversing into some sort of holographic device which projected a small glowing figure in light before him. She could tell Harry had noticed it too and was frowning at the man, a perplexed furrow creasing his brow. Whatever it was it seemed to have ratcheted up the man's tension by the end of the conversation, and he marched stiffly over to a band of his companions, before speaking with them.
Hermione shook her head, drawing her eyes off the woman. As important as she was, the soldiers merited her caution as well. A justified change in tact it turned out as soon the woman had called out to them in a strange tongue Hermione naturally didn't recognize, causing them to draw near to her.
Harry shook his head wearily as she led them purposefully towards the brush, and patted Hermione to try and get her moving so they could maybe move out of the way. Whatever it was she had sensed from them, clearly it had been bothering her enough that she had finally decided to investigate personally. It wouldn't be long before they closed with them at this rate.
The woman tromped through the brush, the soldiers tense and uneasy as the followed. Hermione couldn't help but note the difference in their demeanour when compared with her observations earlier. There was an odd…discordance to their emotions, what strange echoes of it she could still feel in the magic around them, and they had become stiff in their movements.
Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that something had them unhappy, and uncertain. Was it just her and her friend's presence and the unease it had created in their leader, or were they worried about a trap? Or was it something—
The woman was less than ten feet from Hermione when the lot of them, the two humans in the bush and their pursuers both, were startled by a bird breaking cover a couple meters away. Cawing madly as it fought desperately for altitude.
But their eyes, unlike the woman's were soon on the soldiers instead of the bird, and Hermione's stomach clenched as she saw the weapons start to rise, she had but a moment to realize the weapons were not tracking the bird, but woman before them.
And as the woman too began to turn something causing her hands to stray to the...sword? hilts at her belt, Harry began to move. Hermione, admirably, was not far behind him. Neither of them could have told anyone why, then or later. They knew nothing of what was really going on, they just knew that this woman, so recently in command of these soldiers, was about to be fired upon by her own men.
Harry was already moving, his disillusionment falling away first as his wand came up and a shield began to rise as the first bolts of blue energy streaked out. First one, then another and another struck and the woman jerked, her surprised pain and confusion already ringing through the air around them and then the shield was up, soon accompanied by Hermione's own, her own concealment spells breaking as her focus changed with Harry's own.
The woman was falling, as the shields rippled under the barrage. The soldiers startled by their sudden appearance staggered back in shock. Nevertheless both newcomers knew, on some basic level, they couldn't fight these turncoats right now. The woman was injured, and their shields had taken far more of a battering than either one expected from the soldiers' weapons fire.
Hermione kept her wand up murmuring additional incantations to intensify the defences between them and the attackers and reinforce the damaged field already in place. Almost at the same time, Harry's arm fell and he flicked his wand sideways at the woman where she lay, a silent stasis spell enclosing over her with a flash, the soldiers regaining their composure with admirable speed, weapons coming back up.
They needed to move fast Hermione knew, Harry's efforts had likely stalled death's hand, but soon enough if they did not escape in time, regardless of any stasis charm she would die. Harry didn't didn't give the soldiers a chance to regroup whilst they focused on the swirling nimbus of energy the two newcomer's efforts had created between them and the soldiers. He moved using Hermione's shield for cover as he began firing a string of heavy bludgeoning hexes at them. Flinging several through the air and battering the others to the ground as they tried to stand strong under the rain of invisible blows.
Using the distraction provided, Harry quickly ducked low scooping the woman up in his arms, pausing only to summon her fallen weapons into his hands, and confer quickly with Hermione via silent glance, and jerk of his chin, before turning on the spot and disapparating away. It was not hard for her to guess his destination, there was only one place they could go after all, and she followed a moment later.
As silence fell over the little glade and the stunned and bruised soldiers got back to their feet, one, the commander of this ill fated and despised little venture clambered to his feet and asked the obvious question. "Okay, what the Kriff just happened?"
* I am aware of the novel in which Ventress died saving Quinlan Vos from Count Dooku. I have chosen to ignore this bit of canon, as cool as it was.
**Best estimate based on information I scraped together from wookiepedia and various forums.
Acknowledgements: First and foremost much thanks to my beta's for this chapter Temporal Knight and Mordreek. Without them this story would not be possible. Second of all, this story was born from the enjoyment I gained by reading 'Last Second Savior' by Plums and 'Sword and Magic' by Bluminous. This story despite a similar beginning will be somewhat different from theirs of course. And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you for the WONDERFUL response you all provided to the Prologue. It was deeply gratifying to see that kind of enthusiasm for something I poured so much work into.
A Request: One of my Betas is not actually a Star Wars fan (I know, GASP!), though they were kind enough to suffer through the beta process for me. I prefer to do my work with two betas if at all possible. So if any of you out there are available for such things on a regular basis and willing to help out, please let me know!