-From a general perspective-

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

  Ligo decred that they would rest for a while, to allow their new panion some time to shake off at least some of the ive effects of a long-term hibernation. It was not going to be a long pause, as this pce was creeping the hell out of everyone, and they didly pn to wait until the owner came back.

  Oher hand, realistically speaking, the so called “owner” of this pce could have left weeks ago… This deep underground, there is basically ionable 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 envirohan it first meets the eye.

  Malle walked over to Suye and sat dowo her on the sleeping bag. She g 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 fortable the tall togruta immediately became in her spot, but she couldn’t really say anything looking at her worried expression. She probably just wao che the youngling.

  Most intelligent races were ily defeowards their young, but togruta being a race that kept quite the amount of their animalististincts to the present day were a lot fiercer in this aspect.

  Suye knew better than to staweewo. She only wished that Malle would have notified her about this. They could have sed pces… She grumbled to herself while pulling up her knees in front of her chest resting her 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 rexed mahis further annoyed Suye, as the woman obviously didn’t show any iion of leaving.

  She sighed silently and resigned herself to her fate.

  -Why are you sighing?

  Came the amused question from her left.

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

  Suye khat Malle khat 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 py 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 toug 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 panig.

  Malle, seeing her fidgeting and panig 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 panion.

  Suye was exasperated by the oute, and she dropped a mountain of pints 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 pce…

  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 siggle… You 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 ughing so much?

  Asked Suye while pouting.

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

  -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 member actually just mao pull her leg… it was highly unusual. Suye was a good natured ss, with an ho and shy but als personality.

  Malle holy couldn’t figure out her for quite some time, even after they were w together for months. As the only females on the crew, they were stu the same and same living enviro most of the time.

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

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

  Also, maybe it was not as out of pce as she first thought… after all, in this line of work, you wouldn’t, often run into plete 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 ying dowhe 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 ter…

  She said desdingly, 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 feelied.

  As... that was Malle…

  -You lie dowo 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 disappoi, after all.

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

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

  Seeing her horrified expression, Malle snorted loudly, failing to suppress her amusement. She soo Suye's flustered eyes refog 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, uo stand the azes any longer slowly aremely hesitantly id dowo her, over the sleeping bag…

  -I hate you…

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

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

  Suye and Malle, the irls in the adventuring party which saved her, have given her a plete set of spare clothes betweewo of them. Which she was now wearing. Her inal clothes were still drenched, not eveioning that they were ly made with cave excavation in mind. This pce was cold!

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

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

  They were ly swimming is, as Malle expined, 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 pces in the gaxy, not in a park on Corust! Crified Bamadal, a man who had an uny resembo your average e trooper both in looks and bodyshape.

  Still, what bothered her the most was not the y 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 colpsed, her rescuers told her about the dreadful events that led to the death of a ridiculous amount of Jedi… The betrayal of the es, as they said… she couldn't believe it… but she didn't sense any lie in their words either. Why would the es 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 politi or military leader “ruled” the gaxy. The reality was that it had little to no effe their everyday lives.

  It was at these times, when Ahsoka realized he the gaxy truly was, and how distant a war could feel from a certain point of said gaxy, while on another o was raging on with a never before witnessed iy.

  Anyway, she accepted that she would tag along with the explorers. Of course, because she had no other reasonable choice, it was retively 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 dire.

  -I calcuted that we have enough supplies for awo 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 plications. That’s why I would rather have half a day of spare supplies, then not have it. Are there any questions?

  Silence.

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

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

  In another part of the same cave struct, 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 pnning on heading back to their ship about a day ter.

  Stated Lily.

  Nizzal stepped closer and pced 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 s 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 dire 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 pn is. He has clearly go of his way to pnt a force based teleportation teique trigger in the jedi temple’s ste of all pces… And all in the form of “that” particur lightsaber hilt… it was a lure meant for me… without a doubt.

  Kalifa chirped in as she listeo her personal monologue.

  -Meant for you? Why is that?

  Nizzal stopped for a sed, then said.

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

  -Hmm, maybe…

  -Anyway...

  Nizzal tinued her earlier thoughts.

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

  Barriss jumped into the versation, 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 e to this clusion?

  Barriss sighed.

  -y pert of the time, you are sitting in a er alone and looking out of your head. I would think that yazing at the clouds, as, 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 stantly 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 ced with embarrassment.

  Barriss giggled as she listeo her flustered rea.

  -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 pce 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 pce.

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

  There was a desperation leaking into her voice, while her eyes were stantly darting around in the darkness, just like Kalifa’s were. The shallow light that the lightsabers provided gave their imaginatioile ground, and it was w in overdrive to fill the darkness with terrible mohat 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 enviro.

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

  There was a long sileretg between them after that statement.

  Kalifa, with a shaking voice, broke the creeping sile st.

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

  She added the st 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 aheually 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 pathetiversationalists…

  Barriss added with a strained deadpan voice.

  -I wholeheartedly agree.

  -…

  -…