A Stellar Expedition

Wuk felt himself making an amused smile when he heard her address him as 'Mr. Wuk'. That wasn't something he heard very often. Mostly, he was called just plain old Wuk, or Mister Tok if not the ordinary title of 'sir'. He didn't dislike the name, though. In fact, he was charmed by it.

Since all was as well as it could be with the ship, he was ready to do what she planned for him. "This way," he responded while opening the hatch that would lower the ramp for them to exit. Once it was at the ground, he stepped out and walked to the grassy surface. Mud stained a lot of the green, probably from the combination of his footsteps and the ship's landing, along with the constant rain that came down. In fact, there was a drizzle happening already.

All seemed safe and peaceful for now. Until the planet's sun disappeared, they should be fine. Wuk knew how to deal with territorial creatures, otherwise. When Jayda was ready, he led her into the wilderness where trees and animals could be used for target practice. He was very curious about those inventions of hers. They looked to be something similar to lightsabers, which were weapons he used only a few times in his life. Those times, the lightsabers were stolen, so...

"What first?" he asked, stopping.
 
She followed after him after gathering all of her items. Walking down the ramp, she noticed the small drizzle that was happening but didn't care much. It was just rain, nothing more and nothing less. Following him without question, she was not worried about being attacked. The animals had left them be and the hunter was long dead now. If anything came after them, Wuk would take care of it.

When he paused, she set her prototypes to the side gently before handing him the smallest one, her arm still holding onto her notes as she approached him.

"I need you to tell me about how the balance feels now and how it feels in your hand. After that, feel free to hit the button on the bottom and then comment on the balance and form of it." She said as she worked on her digital notes in her arms, her eyes moving quickly around as she kept her gaze on the words.

Hopefully this would work well and would not need to much adjusting. She had worked so hard to get this far and she would hate to have to start all over again.
 
Wuk grasped the hilt of the knife-like weapon tightly, his fist moving in different directions to help him determine its quality. For certain, there needed to be a wide range of sizes so that beings with big hands, like him, could handle them better. When that was all figured out, he pressed the button and watched with amazement as the colored blade erupted from the top. It didn't feel unusually heavy or light, so he considered that pretty balanced.

"No flaws that I can see," he told her truthfully, beginning to demonstrate with some movement. Wuk moved fluidly with the knife, striking at some leaves that were falling from a tree nearby.

As one final test, he launched the weapon across the field they stood in. It pinned rodent-like creature who was climbing up a mighty tree, its sliced body falling to the ground in pieces as a result of the heated laser. Wuk jogged to the scene and removed the laser knife from the tree, which had some damage where it was stricken. The weapon was then returned to its non-lethal form and handed back to Jayda.

After gesturing for her to wait a moment, he picked up the scrapped up dead animal and turned his back to her. In moments, he had devoured the creature with only chunks of fur and bone remaining. He felt rude for eating like this nearby her, but he was hungry. The blood and meat of the critter would sustain him well enough to keep on, plus he didn't want to risk a scavenger taking his kill.

"Anything else?" he asked while turning to face her again, his face having already been cleaned of any mess.
 
She took note of everything, every move he made and every comment he said. She watched as he threw the weapon, it sticking to a tree after it had sliced a small rodent in half. It seemed that her design was perfect, though it would need more size varieties for all types of species. When he returned the weapon to her she paused and watched as he picked up the scraps, blinking as she listened to him devour the creature in a small moment. Well, he must have been hungry. She wouldn't judge him, he was his own man if he did things that way, so be it.

Besides, he seemed nice enough, so what if he happened to eat meat raw? It was nothing that she couldn't handle, considering that she had worked with all kinds of creatures, some far more inappropriate than him. As she set the small weapon down she handed him one of the longer ones, speaking smoothly as she showed him something special.

"Before you turn on the energy, you have to release the cord of the whip so that it has a body to cling to." She said as she showed him the extra switch.
 
Wuk examined the second weapon she handed to him. Admittedly, he didn't have much practice with whips. He was more of a guns and blades sort, but he looked forward to testing this still. There was a part of him that was overjoyed to be holding these tools in the first place. They were so unique and he could imagine all the uses he'd have for them.

To assure her safety, he kept a good distance from Jayda so that he wouldn't accidentally harm her in this testing procedure. Then, using her instructions, he did some practice throws with the laser whip. It didn't attack anything; he only demonstrated the fluidity and response time it had. By his standards, it was more than decent. In the hands of an agile, acrobatic person this weapon could be so very deadly.

With a grunt, he attempted to strike at an approaching flock of birds. He snapped it at them several times, able to injure a few and kill a couple, all of which fell to the ground with severe burn damage. The rest of them scurried away as quickly as they could, leaving their fallen brethren behind. Wuk was impressed with himself. It made him want to get a whip of his own just so he could get better at it.

"This one's brilliant," he complimented, making sure it was switched off before handing it back to her.
 
Jayda was more than happy to see the whip working so effectively. After all, there was plenty of things that could go wrong with the device as it was not just creating a straight forward lazer, it was a flexible one that swooped and flexed as if it were light fabric. The practice hits were rather fluid and smooth, not showing any glitches in the lazer movement. The attacks were even better, taking out the birds instantly from the sky with some rather sever burns.

Smiling a bit as she took her notes, she grabbed onto the weapon and set it to the side as she looked over to him. If he liked it then she was certain that it would be a hit as soon as she got to the final stages of development.

"If you ever wish, I'll make you one when I've gotten a finished product." She offered as she grabbed the last weapon.

The tests did not take much longer and the last weapon was a simple sword like one, though it's length made it much longer than the average light saber. Heading back with him leading the way, she followed him with her notes and prototypes in her arms. This had been a great study, and certainly was getting her on a straight track to the final item. It would still be a long while before she finished her tests, but she knew that her employer would wait for perfection, that was all she was willing to give.
 
Wuk Koth felt a rush of excitement from testing out the new weapons for her. Along the way back to the ship, he gave her his word that it would all be kept secret. Revealing to anyone that she was creating a new collection of deadly items would put her in some of the worst danger. It was no wonder they had to be so cautious about people targeting them...

Fortunately for them, the ship was left undisturbed. The droids were still working on a few issues, but would have to stop soon since the darkness was approaching. As well, they'd be needed to help tidy up the inner areas of the ship. Things were still out of place because of their entanglement with that bounty hunter.

With Jayda, Wuk made it back inside. The rain was picking up outside, he noticed. His clothes were damper than he realized, which annoyed him a little. Getting wet was never a problem, but having wet clothes was a peeve. Walking around nude wasn't socially acceptable, though.

Along with them, the robots were secured in the ship. They got to work cleaning up after their space duel while Wuk made way towards his room. He felt that he might as well stay there from now until morning. "Unless you need me right now, feel free to alert me at my door in the future. I'll respond to you with haste," he said to the Omwati.
 
Jayda was happy to return to the ship, the rain having gotten heavier and making her a bit concerned about her prototypes. She didn't want them to get ruined after such vital tests, it would ruin future experiments. Stepping into the ship, she noticed that she was mostly wet, though her weapons were fine. Watching the droids follow them in and the ship lock up, she the turned to Wuk as he excused himself to his room.

"Alright, I shall call you if I need anything." She said simply before she made her way towards the lab.

Her weapons were given a small check before they were returned to their protective cases and then locked in the lab for safety. It wasn't that she didn't trust Wuk, but if someone got onto the ship in the night when they were asleep, she did not want them wandering around her equipment and getting all nosy. With that done, she went to her room to clean up. It was a rather lush room for a travel ship, even had it's own bathroom. Stripping out of her wet clothing and stepping into the shower, she seemed to relax a bit as the heat consumed her.

"Hmm...This is nice." She said to herself before she heard a rather noticeable increase in the rain patter on the ship.
 
The rain was getting harder pretty quickly. On this planet, he wasn't surprised. Rain was so common that it could change behavior at any time without any sort of warning. The weather wouldn't bother him, though. In fact, he thought the oncoming storm comforting. Nature was a symphony of beauty that very much pleased his senses.

Wuk had changed out of his armor, gear, and protective clothing. If he needed to fight any intruders, there were plenty of other options in the ship. He was always prepared by hiding weapons in different areas, plus he was confident in his fists. There were times when Wuk was even deadlier without the use of a weapon because of how hard he could throw a punch.

Dressed in nothing but a pair of black pants, he sat on his bed with a dim light clicked on. There was a nasty scar across his chest that was obviously a failed killing blow. Other than that, he had just little scratches here and there from other fights he'd gotten in. His muscles were very impressive, bulging in his arms in a way that might scare someone from one look. That was fine with Wuk; he had a hard time being gentle. Hurting innocent people accidentally with his brute strength was a flaw of his that he despised.

Silently, he was recording some words into his personal journal. He liked to keep track of the details of everyday, in case he might die and someone wanted to learn about him. It was also a way of warning people of dangers he'd witnessed. Aside from all that, Wuk also had a paranoia of losing his memory. With this little book, perhaps he could restore it without much help.
 
Stepping from her shower, Jayda found herself getting a bit paranoid as the rain increased. It wasn't that she had an issue with rain, as she had just taken a shower, it was thunderstorms that bothered her. The loud noises bothered her and the lightening flashes reminded her of a rather traumatic childhood experience. Locked out of the house by mistake by the nanny in the middle of a thunderstorm. She hadn't gotten hurt, just terribly ill after it. Her parents had been so angry the woman lost her job and probably never found work as a nanny again.

Walking over to her closet, she pulled on a light nightgown that went to her knees and had a wide open neck that showed off her shoulders. Now clean and dry, she moved over to her bed and made a move to slip into it to rest up. She pulled out a book of some kind and started to read quietly, enjoying whatever story it was that she had picked up. Though as the rain got harder she got more distracted, constantly looking around as it got harder.

Suddenly, a loud boom of thunder filled the air, that kind of noise cleaning the forest and almost shaking the ship. Most would not think much of it, it was just thunder and they were safe inside...Jayda however.

Well, let's just say her scream had been heard all over the ship, startling the droids even.
 
Wuk was writing the last few words of his entry when the clap of thunder and Jayda's cry happened. The scream sent a chill up his spine. Omwati had such tuneful voices, even their screams of terror sounded like eerie instruments. He didn't let that slow him down, though. Immediately, he was out of his bed to spring into action.

The Zabrak tiptoed to his door with a vibroblade in hand, the door sliding out of his way when it sensed his approach. Wuk was under the impression that Jayda was in danger, or maybe an animal sneaked in to terrorize her? Either way, he was ready for it.

Once her door moved aside so he could walk in, he searched around the room with the weapon ready to slash. This wasn't what he expected... She was still in her bed, watching with scared eyes. There was no sign of danger at all. By now, he would have picked up the scent of any creatures that crept on board. At this realization, he loosened his stance and blinked at her.

"What frightened you?" he inquired, less softness in his voice this time because he was in attack mode beforehand.
 
When Wuk arrived, Jayda had hidden herself under her covers, wrapped up in a tight bundle as she shook with fear. She only peaked out of her bundle as the door opened, seeing him armed and looked around with a tense stare before he calmed a bit and looked to her and asked what was wrong. Flustered about this, she was blushing a deep blue before she finally said anything.

"The..thunder." She said as she looked at him. "I've never...like the noise...and lightening frightens me." She explained as she sat up a bit, still bundled up.

She seemed a bit of a mess, even though she had been cleaned, some of her down sticking up from her fright and her cheeks a deep blue. Letting the blanket slip she sat up a bit more as she looked over at him. She was embarrassed that he found her like this, no many knowing of her strange little fears. Hopefully he wouldn't think she as strange or try to make fun of her.
 
Thunder and lightning... He'd forgotten that sometimes, it frightened others. For him, it was no problem at all. He actually got urges sometimes to run through storms just for the rush. Frailer folk like Jayda were more skittish, though. Also, he guessed something traumatic had to have caused such a phobia. That was the best explanation for someone making such a sharp scream.

Rubbing at the side of his neck, he set his vibroblade down so it could lean against the wall. Wuk was trying to think of something he could do to help while he walked closer to her bed, stopping at a reasonable distance so she wouldn't get uncomfortable. This was her room and she was dressed for bed... He didn't want to be too inappropriate, as much of a treat it would be to see her in full view.

"Um... Well... Is there anything I can do to help?" he offered slowly, since he couldn't think of any specific way of assisting. The weather couldn't be simply turned off and he didn't have any kind of sound barrier.
 
Sitting there a moment as he stood before her, she looked down at the floor for a moment. She didn't want to be alone, not when a storm such as this was happening right outside of the ship. No, the droids would be much help either, they could not understand such fears as this, most people barely understood. Looking up at him again she fiddled with her blanket as she pulled it closer to herself.

"Do you think...You could possibly stay? I mean, just for a moment." She asked as she looked at him. "I just...I'd rather not be alone with the thunder going on. I don't mean to bother you if you were resting but...I'll admit that I'm not much for keeping quiet when scared."

She felt bad for bothering him over something as foolish as this, but there was little she could do. She would never be able to sleep with the storm raging outside of the ship and thunder raging the skys. It also didn't help that her room was rather dark and shadowy, only fueling more minor fears that sat in her heart. There was no way to avoid it. Looking back down at herself, she tugged on a bit of down as she waited for his reply.
 
Fortunately for Jayda, he wasn't dead tired at the moment. Even if he was, he'd probably tough it out to sit with her. He wasn't a heartless creature, plus it seemed counterproductive to leave her here to scream some more. More than likely, that would keep him awake anyway.

Wuk looked to a chair sitting in the room and went to it, then dragged it towards the bed so that he'd be seated nearby. The chair was smaller than he realized... Obviously, it was built to suit someone smaller, like Jayda. The way he looked in the chair could be compared to how an adult looked sitting upon a child sized classroom chair. Luckily, it was sturdy enough to support his weight.

Perhaps, some conversation would help take her mind off of the storm? He wasn't the type to initiate such talks, but for this time he was willing to try.

"No need to be embarrassed," he started, having analyzed the behavior of her body language when he walked in before. "I have fears too, but they are more... Complicating. More so than thunder and lightning for sure."

Wuk paused for a moment, displaying half a smile. Talking out loud about himself was difficult, usually. He wasn't the most open individual in universe, especially since enemies could use his weaknesses against him once found out. She could be trusted, though. He hoped...

"I'm afraid of losing my memories. Losing myself in general..." That was all he cared to explain for now. His reasons were very private and caused unbalanced emotions that he'd have a hell of a time dealing with. At the least, he hoped he could ease her a little by saying that even a big guy like him had fears.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" he then asked, even though that same offer was made earlier. Wuk just thought maybe there was more he could do from here. Perhaps she had a soothing method he could try for her. Omwati loved music, he recalled. If only he had a good singing voice...
 
The Omwati looked over at him as he explained that she shouldn't be embarrassed and that eve he had fears. Blinking a bit as he explained his she found it a strange, yet understandable fear. To forget ones self would be like losing your whole life, not even with the memories of your past to be of any base. It would be as if starting over completely. When he asked if there was anything else that he could do she shook her head a bit and just wrapped herself up in her blankets a bit more.

"Well, I'm alright...though you don't look too comfortable there in that chair. You're welcome to sit on the bed. There is plenty of room." She offered as she sat there. "And your fear...your fear is one that makes much more sense than mine. Unlike your's mine is random and without real support for it. So...I don't think it is a strange fear."

She was silent for a bit as she looked down at herself once more and then sat up a bit straighter to look at him again. Now that she was looking at him, she noticed how he was only in a pair of pants. It seemed she had bothered him when he was resting, a small feeling of guilt filling her chest. He was very strong though, and she took notice of the rather large scar that ran over his chest. Even with those marks she could see the detail and strength of his muscles, bulging a bit as he moved around, even the slightest flinches.

"Are those your battle scars?" She asked him rather quietly as she focused on the one on his chest.
 
Compared to his fear, hers was childish. He disagreed about the level of strangeness, though. His was so specific and unusual, while hers was common enough throughout all age types. Wuk decided not to add to the subject; they should talk about something else. The fact that they could relate to each other in even a small way was progress.

Shrugging, the Zabrak got out of the small chair to join her on the bed. Truthfully, his rear was beginning to feel sore on that limited space. Sitting closer to her wasn't at all unappealing, too. It definitely sounded better than shifting awkwardly in that chair the entire time he conversed with Jayda. Wuk sat at the edge with his body turned slightly so they could have eye contact, one bare foot on the floor while the other was brought upward so he could balance his knee on the mattress side.

When she inquired about his scars, he looked down at his chest and then back at her. It was a habit involved with every moment somebody brought those marks up. "Yes, most of them are. Others are from punishment for acting out of line," he answered her, then smiled a little. There was a way about his smile that softened his typically intimidating features. "And, some are from picking my fights poorly. I was reckless when I was young."

Wuk noticed that her eyes mostly focused on the large one, though. One of his hands pat at his chest, that smile still on his face. Even though the tale behind that scar was heartbreaking, he later learned to laugh at it instead. "That one's from my ex-girlfriend, believe it or not."
 
She stayed in her spot as Wuk joined her on the bed. He only sat on the edge of the bed but she assumed that it was much more comfortable compared to that tiny chair he had pulled over before. Moving slightly over to that he would not need to turn so much to look at her, she looked up at his face as he started to talk about his scars. She was surprised to learn that not all of them were from battles alone, but then again he was such a strong man, she doubted that he had gotten that from just picking up training in young adulthood. He must have practiced nearly all his life for this.

Noticing his smile, she was surprised to find that he had a rather soft face like that. It seemed he spoke of them fondly, though she would never understand the fondness of an old injury reminder. Not that she was the type to fret over her looks, but if a scar carried bad memories she wouldn't want to ever see it. As his hand patted at his chest, her eyes went wide as he explained it's origin, blinking several times as she looked up at his face and then back down to the scar.

"An ex? I had no idea that relationships could be...like that." She said slowly as she leaned in a bit.
 
Wuk made a small chuckle at her reply, not at all surprised by the look on her face. Starting to train for combat as a child was traditional for his people, so he wore many marks that had been there since those old days. Fortunately, most of the older, more minor ones had faded as he aged. The one across his chest was so nasty, though. It was a heart wrenching reminder at times, but he couldn't afford to be so burdened by those emotions. Wuk aimed to be strong and to prevail over all of life's struggles.

"She always was emotionally unstable. She kept me around because of how well I could handle her anger. Anytime she threw a punch at me or yelled in my face, it wouldn't hurt. It got out of hand, though. She discovered she was Force sensitive, and became a victim to the dark side, I guess. During her transformation, she tried to kill me. I haven't a clue where she is now or if she's even alive."

Sharing that part of his life was never a big deal. The day that woman attempted to slay him was traumatic, yes, but enough time had passed for him to not mourn it any longer. Wuk didn't miss her, and his twisted sense of humor allowed him to laugh at the memory. It was that 'breakup' and several other life threatening situations that taught him how to stare into the face of danger and taunt it.

"Anyway. That was a long time ago. It troubles me no more," he assured Jayda, in case she might get too compassionate. Wuk didn't need it. Her concern was a lovely thing about her, though. In truth, he rarely met women as sweet as her. For certain, she was prettier than any females he laid eyes on at the cantinas. That feathery hair looked incredibly soft, and her eyes...

Wuk cursed in his mind; he was starting to stare!
 
It made her so sad, to hear his story, and it made her wonder if working for her new employer would be such a good idea. Then again, if Wuk had been hired by then he must not have held a grudge about it. She would have said something like how she felt bad for him, but he seemed as if it was nothing more than laughable now. Well, at least he could get over something so traumatic in his life to be able to laugh at it yet another day. She however did not have the strength to do such things, then again, her pain seemed a whole lot more fresh than his probably was.

"I'm sorry to hear that...Though I suppose it is good that you have come to accept it. I know many people could not do that...I know I could not do that...I probably never well." She said softly near the end before shaking her head a bit. "Anyway, I'm rather glad you survived and moved on from such a thing. If you hadn't I probably wouldn't still be here." She said lightly, seemingly starting to clam down a little but.

Then thunder struck.

It was a sudden thing, but being so thin she was also bound to be quick. Screaming at the loud boom she jumped from the bed and skittered right under it, blanket going with her and being the only thing to show that she had moved at all. Shaking a bit, she his herself in the blankets and didn't dare to peek outside of her cocoon. She was terribly embarrassed by her actions in front of him but she was even more terrified of the damned storm. And to think that she had almost thought it had calmed once again.
 
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