The Ancient Homeland

19

   You'd spent the last few days recovering pretty nicely, passing the time by thinking of ways to owe Cal. The necklace Cal had bought for you lay concealed and close to your heart; you didn't necessarily want Cere to be getting any notions that would only make your face heat up and your mouth to start to splutter out random and untrue explanations.
   Since your slow recovery, now were able to walk around for a limited time. And even though it was short, it still made you exceptionally cheerful, to say the least. Cal had been gone periodically while you recovered as well, helping the Resistance fighters and searching for a Wookiee chieftain named Tarrful; which Cere had filled in the gaps about the Wookiee while he was out. Clearly, he was rather hard to find from what you picked up on. Along with that, Cere had also told you they were going to replenish their supplies and whatnot on their somewhat headquarters-ish planet, Bogano sometime soon. And apparently, again, according to Cere, it was one of the safest options because of it being an undiscovered planet of sorts..? You weren't quite sure, you absolutely liked learning, but your attention had already been captured by diving into the dusty tomes that had been stashed away in the bowels of the ship; you had done some exploring, and to your utmost enthusiasm, the books contained a detailed account and record of the Gray Jedi.
    In the main area, you sat now, hunched over the withered and brittle pages of the second volume, having finished the first the day prior.
With every turn of the frail pages, a new cloud of dust would settle over you, causing you to let out a cough and provoking a tiny sneeze from Boogie.
Boogie had also decided to finally come out of hiding, having explored all of the ship's nooks and crannies with excitement. Undoubtedly forgetting about you and everybody else as he got used to his new surroundings. Boogie was now curled up and around your neck, his tiny paw grasping to the chain of necklace for some unknown reason. He seemed to be reading with you as well, but you knew he was only staring at the pictures in mild interest.
    "Y/N... Reading again?" Cere's voice splintering the serene lull, prompting you to jerk slightly at the interruption.
    "Of course!" You said with a grin once recovering, glancing up at her for a moment before curling over the text once more in attention. You could hear Cere's playful scoff, almost sensing the roll of her eyes that went along with it too. Boogie made a noise in annoyance at the interruption, making it known that he didn't want to be interrupted by his scanning the detailed portraits and illustrations of the Gray Jedi. You chuckled softly at the two of them before delving into the book once more, allowing the information to surround you like a current.
A cloak of content wrapped around you as you read, the information seeming to just be soaked up by you. 

"The governing body of the Gray Jedi are the Council of Balance, comprised of seven members, rather than the Jedi Council's twelve, which is due to The Founding Seven. The Founding Seven were..."

    You were interrupted once more by Cere's voice, this time it was a boisterous and crucial tone aimed toward Greez.
   "What would the Empire be doing with tree sap??" Her voice rang out. You once again could almost feel Greez's, 'do I look like I would know?' look. The question revved up your curiosity though, so you bookmarked the page you were currently on and set the tome aside. You swiftly stood up, wincing just barely at the sudden but now dulled pain that flared up, and tiptoed towards the cockpit, interest at it's highest.
    "Oh yeah, I totally know why the Empire wants the Wookiee's tree sap!" Greez bit back sarcastically, making you grin slightly at his antics.
    "What about tree sap?" You queried, urging Cere to turn her body towards you to explain. 
    "Cal reported via comms that the Empire has vaults full of tree sap. BD-1 has scanned some of them for some info but it's still unclear as to why in the hell the Empire would need tree sap of all things..." Cere trailed off, her eyes looking distant in thought as she turned back to her computer, biting her nails as she did so.
   A million possible explanations ran through your mind at the odd issue... But none of them were sufficient enough for a solid explanation.
   You sighed and shrugged your shoulders, mumbling to nobody in particular, "Hell if I know..." Cere had turned her attention back to the computer and Greez staring out to the wilderness in front of him with an indifferent look.
    "I'm gonna get some fresh air, " you murmured, once again, to no one in particular.
   "Ooo... While you do that I'll get dinner together! Cal should be back sometime soon." Greez announced eagerly, sending a look towards Cere for confirmation at the last bit.
  Cere seemed to sense the look, replying immediately with a sigh, "Yeah, I'll ask 'em..."
   She then proceeded to call out to Cal on the comms to get an answer, and you stayed for only a moment, silently hoping in vain to hear Cal's voice. You heard a muffled reply, too muffled to make out, so you decided to make due on your statement from before and turned around hastily to head out to the open hatch.
    "He'll be here shortly!" Cere called out, compelling you nod and hum slightly in affirmation.
   
    You stepped out to the open air, the humid air a fresh feeling that graced your skin. Crates once again cluttered off to the side, Greez put them out since they always had little space inside the Mantis, and you sighed gratefully; your back beginning to get sorer by the minute.
You took the wooden seat graciously, relishing in the change of scenery before you.

****ANNOUNCEMENT****
Okie dokie, starting tomorrow I will be taking a break due to the fact that I will be on a trip to Russia for 12 days, and I'm really sorry that I can't be updating and believe I want to be but I won't have the time and the chapters just wouldn't be good if they were hurried and sucky. But don't worry!! I will be back! I pinkie dinkie promise. (I don't break those)
The next update will be Thursday, February 27th, and then we shall be back on schedule!
I'm sorry if this is an inconvenience :(
But I love you all my smol lil beans and stay healthy and be safe please and I love you you precious beans :D ❤️❤️❤️❤️
p.s. I hope you like the chapter :)