-From a general perspective-

Suye was sitting on the side of her sleeping bag next to Ahsoka's sleeping, defenseless form. She was watching over the poor padawan, while the others were also resting around the hastily placed camp.

Ligo declared that they would rest for a while, to allow their new companion some time to shake off at least some of the negative effects of a long-term hibernation. It was not going to be a long pause, as this place was creeping the hell out of everyone, and they didn’t exactly plan to wait until the owner came back.

On the other hand, realistically speaking, the so called “owner” of this place could have left weeks ago… This deep underground, there is basically no mentionable air movement and the footprints left behind in the dust wouldn’t have been covered up at all. It is a lot harder to read footprints in this current environment than it first meets the eye.

Malle walked over to Suye and sat down next to her on the sleeping bag. She glanced at the young togruta with a somewhat worried look in her eyes.

Suye shied away a bit from Malle’s brazen intrusion into her own personal space. She didn’t like how comfortable the tall togruta immediately became in her spot, but she couldn’t really say anything looking at her worried expression. She probably just wanted to check on the youngling.

Most intelligent races were inherently defensive towards their young, but togruta being a race that kept quite the amount of their animalistic instincts to the present day were a lot fiercer in this aspect.

Suye knew better than to stand between these two. She only wished that Malle would have notified her about this. They could have swapped places… She grumbled to herself while pulling up her knees in front of her chest resting her chin on top of them.

Malle checked Ahsoka’s sleeping form one more time, and when she seemed satisfied with whatever she saw, the woman leaned backwards and stretched out her long legs in a relaxed manner. This further annoyed Suye, as the woman obviously didn’t show any intention of leaving.

She sighed silently and resigned herself to her fate.

-Why are you sighing?

Came the amused question from her left.

Her eyes snapped towards the intruder, then she looked away and grumbled something unintelligible.

Suye knew, that Malle knew, that she didn’t like it when she invited herself to her spot, and that it was nothing more than an attempt to further amuse herself even by asking that stupid question. She was not going to play along with her games.

To her absolute shock, Malle, instead of bugging off as she usually did in such cases, this time sat closer to her, in fact so close that their tights were touching one another. Her heart skipped a beat as she tried to move away only to realize that there was a wall on her rightside...

-Wha-what are you doing?

Asked Suye in an unusually high tone of voice while being trapped between Malle and the wall. She was clearly panicking.

Malle, seeing her fidgeting and panicking over such a stupid thing, couldn’t hold a straight expression any longer and burst into a fit of giggles.

-Haha, you are such a pure thing… sweet god… I was merely teasing you!

With that, she patted her head and gave her a one-armed hug that seemed to further annoy her companion.

Suye was exasperated by the outcome, and she dropped a mountain of complaints on top of Malle’s head, while still trying to do all that in a whispering way, to not disturb the resting padawan anymore then necessary.

-You… maa! You know that I hate it when you tease me… and I don’t like to be touched in the first place…

She said while finally pushing away Malle. Even Suye’s patience had a limit, after all.

Seeing that Suye was getting angry for real, Malle immediately retreated back to the edge of the sleeping bag.

-Alright, fine-fine! I am sorry… giggle… You can hug me back as revenge if you want! I won’t fight you, promise.

-You… just shut it, already… leave me alone!

-Okay, fine… giggle… you are no fun…

-Then why are you laughing so much?

Asked Suye while pouting.

Malle raised an eyebrow as she looked at Suye, with confusion.

-That’s, are you serious?

-No.

Came the immediate answer. Which left Malle mouth hanging in the air, wide open.

-Eh?… Wait, was… was... did you just made fun of me girl?

-…-u deserved it...

Still, Suye’s face flushed red as she couldn't handel Malle's stare. Eventually she looked aside in frustration.

Malle was surprised by this. Their newest member actually just managed to pull her leg… it was highly unusual. Suye was a good natured lass, with an honest and shy but also caring personality.

Malle honestly couldn’t figure out her for quite some time, even after they were working together for months. As the only females on the crew, they were stuck in the same cabin and same living environment most of the time.

Malle quickly realized, that Suye was really a shy and introverted girl. And that confused her.

She couldn’t understand for quite a long time. Why would such a person ever wish to join a space excavation team? That sort of scenario seemed like a nightmare for an introverted person as she was. Well, her opinion naturally changed after witnessing the wonder and genuine curiosity mirrored in her eyes whenever they went out on a field adventure.

Also, maybe it was not as out of place as she first thought… after all, in this line of work, you wouldn’t, often run into complete strangers who want to talk to you.

Her eyes found the form of the sleeping togruta, and she smiled lightly.

Well, this tour proved to be an obvious exception in that regard.

Malle shrugged her shoulders, then started to pull off her boots. One by one laying down over the sleeping bag, while pointing a taunting look at Suye.

-Its too bothersome to unpack all my stuff for a quick break such as this. We will have enough space if we use yours. I will help to pack it up later…

She said condescendingly, as if it was she who was giving Suye a favor and not the other way around. Such a shameless person… Thought Suye, while sighing feeling defeated.

Alas... that was Malle…

-You can lie down next to me when you are done moping about… the others are already gawking at us after all… We shouldn’t give them more reason for fantasizing. I would hate to cause them too much of a disappointment, after all.

She winked in Suye's direction, who froze as she registered her words.

With that, she looked up with a pair of large doe eyes, and blushed fiercely as she realized that every man in the camp was looking at her expectantly.

Seeing her horrified expression, Malle snorted loudly, failing to suppress her amusement. She soon felt Suye's flustered eyes refocusing on her once again. She was angry, alright. However, she has long since decided that she will help her grow out of that debilitating shyness of hers. At least to some extent.

Therefore, she could only giggle silently, while said girl, unable to stand the others gazes any longer slowly and extremely hesitantly laid down next to her, over the sleeping bag…

-I hate you…

Was the only thing Suye whispered over to Malle, who, hearing the complaint, only giggled louder than before.

 

About an hour later, the team was standing as one, and preparing to penetrate deeper into the caves. Ahsoka was also up and ready, at least as much as she could reasonably be.

Suye and Malle, the other girls in the adventuring party which saved her, have given her a complete set of spare clothes between the two of them. Which she was now wearing. Her original clothes were still drenched, not even mentioning that they were not exactly made with cave excavation in mind. This place was cold!

She was extremely grateful for the warm clothes she received, even if they were a bit large for her… she had no reason to complain.

What she was less happy about was the fact that the team decided to continue their excavation.

They were not exactly swimming in credits, as Malle explained, and it was not affordable to escort her back to their ship and climb back down into the cave system.

Time was of the essence, based on what Ligo, their leader, stated, and splitting up the already small team was out of the question. They were on Korriban, one of the deadliest places in the galaxy, not in a park on Coruscant! Clarified Bamadal, a man who had an uncanny resemblance to your average clone trooper both in looks and bodyshape.

Still, what bothered her the most was not the necessity of cave exploration, the real problem was that she couldn’t get anymore information from the ongoings of the war. Before she fall asleep earlier…

Okay fine… before she practically collapsed, her rescuers told her about the dreadful events that led to the death of a ridiculous amount of Jedi… The betrayal of the clones, as they said… she couldn't believe it… but she didn't sense any lie in their words either. Why would the clones betray them? It was surreal… She wasn’t ready to accept it, even when she felt it to be true…

Unfortunately, these people were living far from the core, and they didn’t really care about which distant politician or military leader “ruled” the galaxy. The reality was that it had little to no effect on their everyday lives.

It was at these times, when Ahsoka realized how large the galaxy truly was, and how distant a war could feel from a certain point of said galaxy, while on another one it was raging on with a never before witnessed intensity.

Anyway, she accepted that she would tag along with the explorers. Of course, because she had no other reasonable choice, it was relatively easy to accept it.

Luckily, sleeping, even for a short time, has helped her tremendously. Thanks to her force reinforced meditative sleeping state, she has successfully reinvigorated most of her weakened body, and by eating and drinking enough water and food, she was now feeling positively less horrible.

It was at this time, when Ligo stepped forward and spoke to the people.

-Cough, cough… well, attention please. I have reevaluated our situation, and with the addition of a new recruit.

He nodded in her direction.

-I calculated that we have enough supplies for another two days of exploration. Ergh… that means we have about one whole day to find something valuable, then we will have to pack up and start our way back towards the ship. And yes, I know that it is only five hours on foot to get to the ship from here. However, we are on Korriban, which means things rarely go without complications. That’s why I would rather have half a day of spare supplies, then not have it. Are there any questions?

Silence.

-Fine, then get in line, and move. Bamadal goes first, then Malle, me, Tano, Suye and Qaghr.

With that, the silent column of people began to move deeper through the ever so mysterious corridors.

 

In another part of the same cave construct, a pair of yellow eyes opened monotonously. Deep yellow eyes sitting on an expressionless face. Purple lips parted, giving way to a cold, almost robotic voice.

-I have found people. There are six of them heading this way.

Kalifa bounced up from her meditative position and shouted with disbelief.

-What!? More people, here? R-really? I… well, I didn’t expect that…

Barriss opened her eyes in wonder as she asked.

-That seems highly unlikely… could they have been teleported here as well, and stuck?

-No. I heard that they were planning on heading back to their ship about a day later.

Stated Lily.

Nizzal stepped closer and placed a reassuring hand on Lily’s shoulder. Who as a result started to stare at her suspiciously, not knowing what that gesture was supposed to imply.

Nizzal awkwardly lifted her hand, coughed, then stated.

-Then, I suppose that we have a new goal. It is time to get our legs moving, girls. We shouldn’t let Lily do all the work after all. Still, I will have to ask that you direct our way… your “eyes” are everywhere, after all. It is a lot easier for you to find a safe path across the caves. Okay?

Lily looked at her, then nodded.

-Well, that’s a relief, thank you.

The four of them quickly stood up and began to head in a direction pointed out by Lily.

They had been walking for a while when Nizzal asked another question.

-By the way, Lily, did you see that Sith anywhere in the caves since he left?

Lily shook her head, denying it right away.

Nizzal sighed, then added.

-I was afraid so… I wonder what his plan is. He has clearly gone out of his way to plant a force based teleportation technique trigger in the jedi temple’s storage of all places… And all in the form of “that” particular lightsaber hilt… it was a lure meant for me… without a doubt.

Kalifa chirped in as she listened to her personal monologue.

-Meant for you? Why is that?

Nizzal stopped for a second, then said.

-I… know the person who that belonged to… did I not mention it already?

-Hmm, maybe…

-Anyway...

Nizzal continued her earlier thoughts.

-But the better question is, how did that Sith, place it in the Jedi temple… I mean fair enough the Chancellor had free access to the temple, he could have arranged it quite easily… hmm, maybe that was the case, I could be overthinking this.

Barriss jumped into the conversation, stating in a half bored, half amused voice.

-Based on what I observed from your behavior in the small time frame of which we have known each other. That seems to be a very likely possibility.

Nizzal blinked.

-Oh yeah? And pray tell, how did you come to this conclusion?

Barriss sighed.

-Ninety percent of the time, you are sitting in a corner alone and looking out of your head. I would think that you are gazing at the clouds, alas, we are in a cave.

Nizzal was surprised by this. However, she shook it off and said, annoyed.

-That is exactly because we are in a cave. What else am I supposed to do here?

Barriss shrugged, dismissively.

-I don’t know. You could do what Kali does, for example. She is constantly tugging on my clothes…

There was a horrified gasp in the darkness.

-No! Y-you promised that you won’t tell anyone!

Shouted Kali. Her voice was heavily laced with embarrassment.

Barriss giggled as she listened to her flustered reaction.

-Calm your sass, Kali, I think that at this point we should just drop the pretense game… it would be better for each of us, don’t you think?

There was a yes whispered from everyone except Lily, who probably wasn’t sure what she meant.

-And in fact, I think that it is quite normal to fear the darkness, especially in such a cursed place as this. What is not so normal is to not be affected by it at all… Just like those two over there…

With that said, she rudely pointed in the face of Nizzal and Lily. Her smile strained as her mask crumbled, allowing them to take a peek, of her true emotions, of how afraid she actually felt in this place.

-Well… you could give us few advises on how to handle it better… if you don’t mind… that is...

There was a desperation leaking into her voice, while her eyes were constantly darting around in the darkness, just like Kalifa’s were. The shallow light that the lightsabers provided gave their imagination fertile ground, and it was working in overdrive to fill the darkness with terrible monsters that were only waiting to rip them apart.

Surprisingly, Lily was the first to answer. She told them in a matter-of-fact way why she wasn’t disturbed by the environment.

-I can see in the darkness, and this place reminds me of my home.

There was a long silence stretching between them after that statement.

Kalifa, with a shaking voice, broke the creeping silence at last.

-Remind me… to never visit your house… oh, no offense of course… It’s just a difference in…in perspective, I guess? Ugh… sorry…

She added the last part dejectedly. She had already realized that she had messed up with that.

Barriss asked this time.

-And what about you, Nizzal?

She took some time to mull over her answer, then eventually said with a sigh…

-I guess I have seen worse. There is a darkness in my mind that goes deeper than any cave on Korriban could ever hope to.

There was another, even longer silence, engulfing the four of them.

Eventually, Kalifa snapped.

-For fuck’s sake… the both of you are pathetic conversationalists…

Barriss added with a strained deadpan voice.

-I wholeheartedly agree.

-…

-…