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Hera first made this climb years ago, back in her activist days. Not even that long after she'd first left Ryloth. Back then it had only been months since the start of the fires that had ripped through Veron's rainforests, destroying the ancient Gazaran cities and settlements that had spidered among the forests' high branches and dense foliage. The Empire had claimed the fires were the result of natural disasters, part of the planet-wide cataclysms that it had come to help the local population combat. But where there had once been lush rainforest and Gazaran homes and schools and temples, there was now an Imperial base, a construction yard, a supply distribution center, a prison. The winged Gazaran were forced to either migrate to the existing settler trading communities, among Rodians and humans and other species that had migrated to the planet over the years, or retreat to the mountains and more temperate forests. One option put them directly under the control of the Empire, the other indirectly, as outside their rainforests the Gazaran couldn't survive without imported food and water.

Which was where Hera and her contacts had come in, bringing supplies to those Gazaran still living outside the settler communities, giving them a way to avoid the Empire. And, later, recruiting those who were willing to inform them of the Empire's activities on Veron. It was a network she'd continued through the tumult of her early years off Ryloth. Despite what they had been through, the Gazaran were friendly, gracious, and always glad to see visitors. Being among them was the closest Hera had felt to being home on Ryloth, something she especially looked forward to after months of Stormtroopers and sleazy cantina patrons.

It might be why she's not complaining about the hour they've already trekked, along the slopes of a moderately tall mountain, nor about the hour of hiking they still have to go. The ground is mostly dry soil and pale brown clay, with little sign of plant life, though in the distance ahead of them, a few trees sway in the breeze. The sky is half clouded, half bright with sunlight, nearly cut down the middle as the clouds blow west. Hera can no longer see the Ghost behind them – they'd left Chopper back with it, all other systems powered down to avoid planetary scanners. And even still, they'd landed far out of their way, to ensure if the Empire were to come across it, this wouldn't lead them to the Gazaran.

But that has meant hiking. Hiking with loaded packs, and a crate between them that bobbles along in its little antrigrav field.

So while not complaining, Hera does slow for a few seconds, and reach to take out her canteen.

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"If it wasn't likely to be a downpour, it might almost make this walk feel cooler."

He shakes his head in rueful amusement.

"But that's not the same as flat-out cold, so hopefully we'll get lucky and it'll at least wait until we hit the settlement."

"We always have our heat packs."

But nonetheless, her pace picks up again. "And it's been a while since we've spent time like this, off the ship."

"It has been a while," Kanan agrees, half-turning to look at Hera, even as he matches her pace.

"I guess it's a good thing the timing worked out."

Especially for the Gazarans.

"It doesn't seem like they could take much of a gap in supply lines at all."

"They have some friends in the towns in case things get really desperate."

She reaches out to steady the bobbling crate. "But it's a big risk all-around. And there aren't many outsiders that know about this settlement. What the Empire would do if they found it..."

Well, Hera's not sure. But what she's seen from Imperials who think they're not being watched tells her enough.

"More terrible things than we can count, probably. And they'd leave nothing behind, just like always."

Even if (some of) the people remain, the spirit is just . . . gone. Or so fundamentally changed that it's hard to see what you were before.

Anyway.

"And I know you can't tell me, so I'm not asking, but I hope the regulars can get back to their rounds soon."

"I do, too."

She lets them climb in silence for a short while, as she listens to the wind tossing the dry soil beneath their boots, whistling between the slopes.

Then -

"But if I had the time for it, I wouldn't mind coming here more often."

It's a big 'if,' one she knows will never come to pass.

Edited 2018-04-18 02:13 (UTC)

"It is good to be somewhere that doesn't have too much Imperial presence. And the Gazarans seem really nice," Kanan agrees.

He figures that's probably not Hera means, but it's what he has to contribute at this precise moment.

"I probably wouldn't mind, either, if it ever comes up."

At first, Hera merely nods.

But then, as the silence sets in again, as there's only the wind, and their footsteps, the stretching shadows and the ache of her pack strapped tight against her shoulders -

"Have I told you -"

She takes a breath, again reaching out to steady their crate.

"- about where I grew up?"

Kanan checks the crate quickly to make sure he's not the one overbalancing it, then looks back at her.

"Not a lot, no. Do you want to?"

"We're not doing much else at the moment."

With another quick smile to him, "Though there's always practicing Twi'leki."

Kanan doesn't wince, just offers --

"We can try to do both at the same time? You'll probably have to repeat yourself a lot, though. Fair warning."

"I think that might be too much to think about right now."

Especially for Kanan - she'd rather not have him be too distracted, at the moment.

"And I'm guessing you don't know that much about Ryloth's geography?"

"Mountains, deserts, forests in the middle latitudes."

Kanan grimaces.

"So not very much, no, just broad outlines, if that."

"That is a broad outline," Hera allows, though she's still smiling slightly.

"My home was in the Tann Province, in the south east quadrant of Ryloth. It's mostly sparse desert - the largest city nearby was Nabat, about five hours away on a good speeder."

Edited 2018-04-18 02:48 (UTC)

"Mostly desert?"

Kanan tilts his head a little, considering.

"Was the rest mountains, or some kind of prairie, or . . . "

You know, another obvious landform-type. Maybe taiga? (Probably not taiga.)

"There were grasslands in a few spots, especially closer to Nabat."

She glances past him, down along the dusty slopes they've been climbing. "And mountains in the desert. That's where our home was."

Edited 2018-04-18 17:06 (UTC)

"How high up?"

He suspects not very, but at the same time maybe height and the clear sky above would have been the first thing to make Hera dream of going even higher.

Hera shakes her head.

"We built into the mountains, not on them."

"Did you like it there?"

It's a milquetoast sort of question, but at the same time, he's genuinely curious. People leave places they love all the time, for a lot of reasons. People also leave places they hate, or dislike, or don't feel anything about at all.

Hera shoots him a look. Before she can stop herself, before she can shake off the natural suspicion that comes when anyone asks her that question.

But after a few seconds, she answers, "Yes, I did."

"I liked the creche," he offers, catching her look. "I used to wonder, sometimes, if I would have liked wherever I came from as much, or more."

He shrugs.

"I don't anymore. But home seems to be different on each world, along with family units, so -- "

"No, I'm sorry." She looks away again.

"It was just something the Hutts used to say about Ryloth. That we hated it, that we sold ourselves just for the chance to leave."

She's more than once had others assume this was why she'd become a pilot. Strange to think she couldn't love more than one thing at once.

"Of course they did."

Do Hutts do anything that isn't horrible? Kanan's not actually sure he wants an answer to that question, but if he had to bet he'd say 'no'.

"I bet a lot of people want to buy that idea, too, as if it scrapes the guilt off."

It's true, but Hera doesn't feel like dwelling on it. She'd like to avoid talking at all about the Hutts - but she knows that's unlikely to happen, if she really tells this story.

Still, she presses on. "I liked the desert. Even when things were hard - I felt like I had everything. It was always busy somewhere inside, in the main hall or in my parents' rooms. And if I wanted quiet I could slip downstairs, or wander outside to the canyons nearby. I could climb out a window and onto the mountain, and look at the sky. And when I got older I could hitch rides into the city."

With another look to him, "That's when I was there - we couldn't always stay there, especially during the war."

"It sounds like you had everything," Kanan says, thinking back to holos he's seen, and stories he's heard -- even things he's witnessed on many of the other worlds they've visited -- about what makes children seem happy. "Deciding when to be alone and when not to be, having that kind of freedom . . . I can see it."

He looks over at her, then, mouth quirking down at one corner.

"They knew where to find your father when you were there, given it's the home of the Syndulla clan?"

A family home is a hard thing to lose, or so he's seen.