Jax observed the town as they walked through the market, giving a nod when Jek suggested that they head to the outskirts of the town, as that was where transportation to another town was likely to be found. He did not stop as the other man left to obtain some food from a stall in the market. He knew that he would catch up, so there was no reason for him to stop, although he slowed his pace just a bit, taking more casual strides as he walked through the market.<br/><br/>As he had suspected, Jek soon returned with a fruit in hand. He suggested that Jax’s plan seemed solid and that they would figure it out as they went. “Alright,” he replied, glad that he agreed to the plan. As they continued, they eventually made their way out of the market. “Yes, it is quite large,” he agreed, continuing to head towards the edge of town. Like Jek, he hoped that they would be able to find a cantina in the next town, as they were great places to find a variety of people with plenty of juicy gossip and, once you go past the drunken exaggerations, valuable intel.<br/><br/>As the finally reached the outskirts, there were several options for transportation, ranging from individual speeder bikes to droid-driven speeders, as well as a few speeders with organic pilots of varying races and… integrity. He guessed that there were so many different options because this town seemed rather well off, so they attempted to cater to all kinds. Opting for the choice that did not involve a pilot, he selected a speeder bike and, after paying the cost to rent the vehicle, he hopped on, waiting for Jek to choose his ride before starting the engine and leaving the town behind.<br/><br/>There were two routes they could take from here to reach their destination, each leading to different stop in between. As they traveled, he listened to the Force, allowing it to guide their direction to the town they were meant to go to. When he felt that he knew their path, he altered their course slightly to the east. He felt something else through the Force. He wasn’t sure he would call it a disturbance, though.<span style="font-style: italic">“The feeling I had before,”</span>he used telepathy to reach out to the other man,<span style="font-style: italic">“It is stronger now. I believe our encounter is not far off,”</span>he explained, although he still could not tell who it was, nor when it would occur, only that it was growing ever closer as they raced towards their destination.<br/><br/>He said nothing more for the remainder of their travel to the next town. After more than an hour, they finally reached the town, coming to a stop at a small shack outside of town that appeared to be the hub of transportation between this town and the next. The selection was smaller than the last town, but still had a few different options for transportation. As they had paid previously, they only needed to drop the speeder bikes off with the attendant before they were on their way.<br/><br/>As he had gathered from the transportation establishment, this town did not seem as well off as the one they had just left, but it seemed nice enough. “Shall we look for the cantina?” he asked, looking towards Jek as they walked into the town. He could have asked the transportation attendant, but he thought it best not to give away their whereabouts, just in case. Luckily enough, it was pretty easy to find the nearest cantina, and after looking to Jek and nodding, he led them into the establishment and took a seat near the edge of the bar, where they could hear various conversations, talk in relative privacy, and they had a good vantage point for observing the room, and the entrance.<br/><br/>----------------<br/><br/>After An had heard that she knew where the Force Sensitives were, she seemed ready to go, heading to the edge of the roof, ready to get this over with and move on. Aeris had hesitated to mention the presence of Jax and Jek to her, but she thought that she would have to tell her at some point, and it was better to tell her now than to risk her finding out some other way, so she had ultimately told her. She watched as An stopped in her tracks, spinning around to face her. She could feel anger rising in the other woman and she winced slightly at the growing force of the emotions.<br/><br/>She could hear the venom in her words as she spit them out, knowing that the emotions were not directed at her, but also feeling them all the same. She continued to speak with the same anger as she stalked across the roof, finding a small creature to take her anger out on. Aeris almost felt bad for the little vermin as the poor thing had never known what it was running into. Then again, it was vermin and causing problems for the locals, so better it than a person, she guessed.<br/><br/>After taking her anger out on the small creature, An fell to a knee and Aeris crossed the roof and knelt next to her, feeling her sadness and vulnerability through their bond. She fought to keep her emotions in check as An moved to a seated position and she sat next to her, sighing. “I know how you feel,” she told her in a gentle voice, uncharacteristic for the Sith she had become. She placed a hand on her shoulder, “If you aren’t ready to face him, or you don’t think you should, I understand,” she went on, somehow managing to reel her own emotions in, for the sake of the other, “Once we get what we came for, you can take them and go back to the ship.”<br/><br/>She paused for a moment before speaking again, “But I can’t,” she added, biting her lip to hold back the things she felt, “I can’t let him go again. I’m not that strong,” she almost whispered this before taking a deep breath and patting An’s shoulder before standing back to her feet. She had never been that strong. The only reason she had ever let him go was because he was not there that day. If he had been, wouldn’t have mattered what anyone had said, she would have gone to him. It was selfish, she knew that, and maybe it was wrong, but she didn’t care. She hadn’t then, and she didn’t know.<br/><br/>Her clenched hands trembled with barely contained emotions as she fought them back, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, banishing her emotions and temporarily blocking out any external emotions, including those of An. When she opened her eyes, they held a look of almost cold determination. “Let’s go finish this. When it’s done, I’m going to find them. You can decide whether you want to come or go back to the ship. I won’t stop you either way,” she replied before jumping off the roof and stalking off towards the edge of town without another word, her footsteps as silent as she was.<br/><br/>Upon reaching the speeder vendor, she demanded a speeder, without a pilot, insisting that she wouldn’t need one. Upon hearing that they came as a pair, she narrowed her eyes, “You will give me the speeder without the pilot, or you will find the pilot somewhere between here and the next town; although, I can’t guarantee you will find him in one piece,” she insisted with a mirthless smile, to which the nearest pilot let out an<span style="font-style: italic">‘eep!’</span>sound before ducking his head, as if this would somehow spare him. “O-of course,” the man finally yielded under her intense gaze, and just a hint of Force Persuasion laced in with her words.<br/><br/>In the end, she got her speeder—sans pilot, as requested—and after hopping into the pilot’s seat, she waited for An to join her before speeding off toward the next town over, where she had felt the Force Sensitives prior to the arrival of the two Jedi. As she drove, she couldn’t help but wonder why Jax and Jek were even here to begin with. Were they on a mission? Had they known that she and An were here? Had the Force led them here? She had no answers and thinking about it gave her an even more intense feeling of restlessness, making her want to crawl out of her own skin.<br/><br/>She moved just a little in the seat, trying to make it look as though she were simply repositioning after being in the seat for a little while, rather than squirming to prevent her emotions from getting the best of her. She still kept herself blocked off so that these emotions wouldn’t transfer to An. They were strong enough that they felt like they would soon crash down on her and overwhelm her, swallow her whole. She didn’t want An to have to deal with her crap storm of emotions when she had her own feelings to work through.<br/><br/>Instead she clenched her jaw, squeezed the steering controls more tightly, and floored it, racing off towards the next town at the vehicles top speed. This gave her a little bit of a rush and maintaining control of the vehicle at this speed gave her something to focus on outside of her own mind, which was a welcomed change. She only hoped it wouldn’t bother the other woman. Then again, perhaps she would also welcome the change of pace.