- CASTLES CRUMBLING (A.S.) -

- 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 -

flew me to places i've never been.

"TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS," Master Quillow instructed his young Padawan over the holoprojector. Regina Sitara nodded obediently, listening to her Wookiee master repeat the words he'd been reiterating for the past twelve years. "If you're destined to find him, you will." The Wookiee seemed determined, as if he wanted to pass the same feeling to his conflicted Padawan. "And just because you don't get along with your fellow Padawan does not mean shouldn't be kind to him." The Wookiee shot his apprentice a knowing look.

"Yes, Master," Regina replied respectfully, inclining her head slightly. She wasn't surprised that her master knew what she had been thinking; the duo knew each other too well.

"Report back in a few hours," Master Quillow barked in his Wookiee dialect. And then he ended the transmission.

As soon as the small image of her master blinked into nonexistence, Regina sighed. Master Quillow was right, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like what he wanted her to do. Looking for one's rival and nemesis wasn't an adventure anyone wanted to partake in, not even a Jedi.

Sliding the holoprojector back into her robe's pocket, she focused on her next moves. Looking around, she identified the cave that she was planning on searching next. The red, dusty planet of Umbar was, by far, not the nicest in the galaxy. In fact, it was dreadful. Orbiting close to its sun, Umbar was scorching hot and very well might have been a rocky desert. Water was scarce and there was very little of it other than an occasional oasis. It was essentially a red Tatooine. Quite a pleasant place.

Regina had been here for a little less than a day. In addition to her, both Regina's Master, Autuki Quillow, and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi were on this search-and-rescue mission, looking in vain for one particular Padawan. The trio were searching this particular system for the place where his ship had crashed, to no avail. Quillow was on a different planet in the system, Glacies, while Kenobi searched Ondis. Ironically, all three planets were insanely different, uncommon for a planetary system.

Regina turned her attention back to the task on hand. Creeping cautiously toward the mouth of the decent-sized cave, the Padawan stuck her head inside, her hand on the hilt of her lightsaber. The interior was dark and it took a while for Regina's sight to adjust. Meanwhile, the girl closed her eyes, opening herself to the Force. Using the Force to guide her, Regina searched for anything living, human or not.

Nothing.

Letting out another irritated sigh, Regina opened her eyes–which had fully adjusted to the darkness of the cave–and turned around, ready to search the next hole in the side of the massive mountain. To be fair, she wasn't even sure if the Padawan was in one of these caves. It was simply a hunch. She'd found his starfighter not far from here, and considering how thoughtless her quarry was, she had figured that he might be in here. No luck so far. Maybe he was smarter than she gave him credit for.

Heading to the next cave, Regina kept her senses alert. He had to be in here. The anticipation was killing her. In fact, she even had a few lines rehearsed in her head, ready with comebacks just in case that nerf-herder decided to start a conversation with one of his irritating comments. Better to be done with it.

To Regina's relief, the next cave was not empty. In fact, there was a stone circle in the center of the smooth interior, as if someone had intended on staying here for a long time. Certainly, it appeared as if whoever had been here had just left. Foodstuffs and supplies littered the floor as if a hasty exit had been made. Suspiciously observing the disaster, Regina continued to finger the hilt of her silver lightsaber. A Jedi could only be too careful.