Kashyyyk

[Trushaun]

((Sorry for the weak post, Work is really kicking my butt.)

 

Trushaun watched as the figure summoned two clones. While it was doing that the young Fosh collected her wits and focused. Reaching into her little sack attached to her belt, she collected a handful of seeds and threw them. They were accelerated with the Force towards the closest one. It was meant as more of a irritant than anything. The figures tripped and stumbled on their way towards the Jedi. She stood firm and prepared for the oncoming assault.

 

Fumbling a Hawthorne seed in her off hand, she ignited the lightsaber once again. The green light complimented the grass, as well as the intense glow of her tattoos. The tattoos were a sign of her Force power, she was collecting it.

 

 

Dropping the Hawthorne seed off to her left, she infused it with the Force. Almost instantly it sprouted to a small sapling. Using a high guard she connected her weapons against that of the aggressors. It was caught and easily deflected. Spinning, she cut the tree down with one easy slice, picked it up with the Force and threw it like a javelin- her intended target was the main figure whom she had been fighting.

(3)

[Roene Givrah]

((So, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have made this look like a normal duel, since it isn't, but please humor me a little. I have never done this kind of thing before. ))

 

The figure stood, foolishly grasping to pride and arrogance as it stared daggers through the Fosh's pained realm of consciousness. The presence could see metaphorical representations of the Fosh's thoughts in its 'eyes,' due to the liquidity of her consciousness, grasping for straws and coming up short. It could see her seething wound, pulsing with vitality and gripping the few paths of sensation it had left, drawing attention and overwhelming its victim in this world, where sensations magnified themselves.

 

Instead of supposition and planning however, ignorant laughter rose at what the presence thought was a feeble nature loving gesture provided by the Fosh. Its cackle filled the area with dread and its expression lit the area with nothing but confusion and fear. The aspect of the presence's supposed victory was written all over its laughing face, but its celebration was cut short by a small sapling that pierced the center of its chest. The presence's eyes widened as wood splintered, tearing a hole in the black corruption of its form and although the Fosh's touch no longer influenced the seed, her presence emitted a sense of connection between them. Her energy fed into the sapling and with roots no longer firmly planted, the tree's roots pulled outward, slowly encasing the presence within its firm wooden grip.

 

The doppelgangers slowly dissipated following the defeat of their leader, and although the presence itself seemed lost within the brambles of a newly formed tree, hidden within the Fosh's consciousness, remnants of its energy could be felt pulling through the cracks in the tree, trying to escape.

 

Trushaun's battle was won, but her wound was still deep. The blood seeping to the floor would cause her to fall unconscious. Her eyes would pull heavily upon her until darkness filled them.

 

___________________________________________

 

 

Outside the Hutt, little was heard from either the chief or the bird creature the guard had let through. The Wookiees that were told to leave were getting nervous and before long, they began to try and filter back in.

 

The guard tried to stop them from interrupting the Jedi, but after an hour or so, there was little he could do to avoid being suspicious himself. The tribe's thoughts reached out to their chieftain in his hour of need and before the guard could collect his thoughts and counter the crowd one last time, a few Wookiee's managed to work through the Hut door and into the chief's chambers.

 

There was a loud growl-like gasp that pushed through the din and immediately, all of the Wookiee's nervously waiting outside wanted to know what was going on. They tried to push past the now distracted guard as he joined the crowd heading in, but a new figure caused them all to stop in their tracks. It was their chief.

 

The chief was standing up now, a little crick in his back from lying down too long, but otherwise healthy and conscious.

 

The Wookiees were beset with tidings of feeling and a number of them couldn't resist embracing the chieftan to see if he was real.

 

The guard took a moment to look around, happy that his chief was alive and well, but a little curious as to what happened to the Jedi that was sent in to help him. His eyes were old and it took him a little longer to search for things than most, but after a few moments of searching around the Hut, the guard found the bird creature curled up on the floor of the Hut with a Hawthorn seed clutched firmly in her hand. The guard reached for the Fosh and tried to move her gently to see if she would wake, but except for the color in her face, any signs of life seemed absent.

 

The feathers of the colorful bird creature fluttered a little under the breeze of the Kashyyykian forest. Whisps of pollen caught the air and flew through the Hut windows, drawing their aura and propagating it throughout the village.

 

After a few moments, the guard looked solemnly toward the ground and whispered something at the Hut floor as if ashamed to stare directly at the Jedi on the ground. Then he slowly turned back to face Trushaun's supine figure, got to his feet and walked away.

 

A few moments after he left, the Hawthorn seed in the Fosh's hand began to sprout and the Fosh's chest slowly started to rise and fall...

[Trushaun]

Air filled the young girl's lungs once again. Slowly at first. The beating of her blood accelerated- faster and faster. Something inside her brain snapped her awake. Laying on her side, her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the light. She lay limp for a moment, gauging her surroundings. Then her heart started to beat faster and faster, along with her lungs. Trushaun inhaled and exhaled at a faster pace. Snapping to a crouched position, pain in her back knocked her to her butt. She scrambled backwards on all fours until she hit the wall behind her. Curling up in a little ball she questioned what was happening. Then it all came back to her- the chief, the sickness, the strange feeling, then the fight.

 

Deducing she had won, she noticed that there was a pool of dried blood on the floor. Examining her robe, the blood continued. Feeling her back, there was a lightsaber wound- cauterized. It still hurt non-the-less. Tears flowed from her eyes, no one was in the room. The alien was scared. What was that blackness?

 

She would have to figure it out later. More tasks needed to be done. Reaching into her pouch she pulled out a small leather flask. Collecting her tears into the flask, she sealed it and put it back into her pouch. Trushaun figured she would save them for later.

 

Standing was a painful process. Collecting her self, calming nerves she fell into a trance if but for a moment. Connecting back to the Force she walked gingerly towards the door of the Chief's Hut. Slowly she walked outside. She didn't know what to expect. Hoping that the Chief was alright, and didn't disappear into the Force, would be awesome. But still, the Fosh was uneasy as she left the hut.

[Roene Givrah]

A slightly weary chief greeted the bird creature with a soft growl as she gingerly exited the Hut. He nodded slowly toward her in a gesture of reverence and welcomed her into a large embrace.

 

Thank you, the chief growled deeply, but quietly next to the Fosh's head. The light air of the morning caught the voices of the other Wookiees in the procession. They agreed with the chief's sentiment and thank you growls, similar to the chieftan's tone and inclination, were heard all around.

 

Once released, the Fosh could see that the chief was indeed very weary, but hearty and healthy. He was a few heads taller than the Fosh and looked stronger than most of the others there. It wasn't his strength that became his presence though, his age and experience showed in the way he carried himself and was the primary feeling given off by his nature.

 

The other Wookiees honored him as the embrace ended and as a group the Wookiees left to the other parts of the village. There were no more stern or mournful faces in the crowds and although the Fosh had more work to do, the Wookiees seemed a bit brighter about her presence now that their chief was returned safely to them.

[Trushaun]

"You are my brother of the forest. It was no problem. Could I bother you all for some water?" She spoke in her native tongue slowly so they could all understand her. Trushaun felt very faint-headed.

 

Although she could have used her tears to heal her back, she needed to save them for when it really mattered. She hoped she gained enough peoples love to gain some water.

[Roene Givrah]

The guard who had helped Trushaun before, read the fatigue written in the Fosh's face. It was harder to grasp by some, but when the Fosh's feet grew light and the smell of blood came to join the plants in the air, the guard bent down to stabilize her potentially fainting form.

 

As to the Fosh's request, the chief nodded silently to her and handed the Fosh a large flask, sliding it from its place at his shoulder. It was reasonably full, and considering her endurance at the moment, the chief made sure the bird creature had a firm grasp on it before he let the flask go and at the same time used his free paw to summon healers from the village to tend to Trushaun's wounds.

 

A small band of around three Wookiees emerged from the pack carrying bags of herbs with them. They looked wizened in their old age; their long white manes reaching the middle of their chests and their eyes, slightly glazed, with the experience of years laden beneath them.

 

The trio walked a little closer to the Fosh making sure not to violently jostle her and prompted the guard to turn her so her back was facing the crowd. He did as he was asked and the old herbalists, feeling the strength of the wound beneath the Fosh's robe, removed enough of the cloth to dab a freshly mixed solution into it. The herbs were meant to relieve pain and prevent infection, but the wound would last. It would scar and forever be a reminder of what the Fosh did here.

[Trushaun]

After the herbalists attended to Trushaun, she regathered her robes and collected herself. "Thank you" She chirped.

 

She hoped to her feet, and finished off the water the Chief had given her.

 

"What next?" She asked, ready to move on.

[Roene Givrah]

The chief's voice was a little grizzly from the wear and tear on his body, but the growls that he sent reassuringly to his clansmen seemed understandable regardless. His posture didn't seem fully upright, but he could hold himself up now and with the strength he had, he looked toward the Fosh and spread his arms to the west. He closed his eyes and began mumbling slightly to himself and through the chief, the Fosh could feel visions of young Wookiees being taken by large beasts; she could feel their cry as if it were her own and divine that whatever riled these beasts had to have been pretty potent.

 

Then, the chief swung his arms in a slightly different direction, toward the hunting grounds, where visions of droids and men sprang to the fore. The men were heavily armed, but were content to stay in one spot for the moment. Their compassion for the wooded lands they now shared was fairly interval, but they had numerous amounts of trophies and they stocked a large amount of inhumane machinations. The droids they had possession of seemed to be remnants of an attack that happened long ago and were reminiscent of wars fought long ago.

 

The visions were short and clear, but when the chief reopened his glazed eyes, he needed to sit down. It wasn't something he did often, especially to outsiders, but this one had expressed a willingness to help and that was above the stock of most outsiders that came to the Wookiee homeworld.

[Trushaun]

Knowing what the next task was, she headed off in the direction of the kids. The next generation of Wookiee Foresters, her brothers. Using the Force to augment her speed she took off. Knowing she spent more time on the chief than she would have liked, she rushed off.

 

She was getting prepped for battle mode. Her first real battle. She was going to save lives, and take them. It would take time to adjust to that mind set.

[Wookiee Jedi]

The space shuttle carrying cargo for the most part entered the system and made his way for the Capital city of Rwookrrorro. After it landed, Kirlocca was escorted off the shuttle by an old friend named Geyyrao, who then took him down to the Shadow Lands. The two then made a small hut for Aryian Darkfire and left him there, as he would serve out his exile upon Kashyyyk. In Kirlocca's mind, he hoped that it would serve as a reminder of himself to Darkfire and the pain he caused in his friend. After the two had left him, Geyyrao took Kirlocca to use his own personal Owool Interceptor, and than Kirlocca thanked him and told him to look out after Aryian, and than left the planet behind and headed for Coruscant.

[Roene Givrah]

The trees around the village breathed with new life now that the chief wasn’t plagued. Their leaves and branches filled with euphoria and their bark glowed with a faint amber hue. Creatures that made their homes within and around the trees, welcomed the serenity. Their sounds teemed in the atmosphere and joined with the Wookiee’s as the morning light began to peek through the canopy. Serenity was met at a cost however. Wookiees pleased at their chief’s recovery, were still mournful of their own loss. Parents called aimlessly to the wild in the hopes that their cubs would make it back and the threat of poachers loomed ever near. It was a worthy peace, but a tenuous one at the moment.

 

They looked upon the departure of the Jedi with hope and anticipation. Her presence was enough to divine the chief back to good health and they trusted that she was capable of bringing this terror to an end.

 

_____________________________________________

 

Meanwhile, as the Fosh dashed through the trees, the smell of ash became more pronounced. It rose into the air, mingling with that of the plants and other animals. The ground was turning a pale charcoal black under her feet and the air seemed to thin as Trushaun drew near the westward forest wall. Particles of ash fell from raised branches and smoke billowed out from the folds of the trees. It was a natural cacophony, ignited by the crackling sounds of branches as they fell from their homes and crashed to the forest floor. Although the fury of this fire was no longer as pronounced, there was every indication that even with its dying breaths, it was claiming the forest.

 

Animals made strangled calls through the smoke in a fruitless attempt to contact the other side, but their sounds only succeeded in adding more to the crescendo of pain felt within this wound.

 

The path of the Wookiee cubs wouldn’t be easy to find in this mess, but a few recognizable predators wandered off from the fire in small groups. The first group was a band of large ape-like creatures. Their arms were longer, they stood taller, and their faces were a bit more menacing, but they bore a striking resemblance to the ape family.

 

The second band was a small group of large predatory felines. Their fur was matted and dirty. They were covered in ash and they looked regretfully for a moment at a large tree that used to be standing not five feet from where Trushaun met them.

 

Both bands of animals followed trails that contained many different tracks, but they went in opposite directions. Their anger was visible in their actions, but they avoided Trushaun when she arrived and continued down their respective paths. No other obvious predators were visible, but other animals were struggling to make it from the corpses of their homes and find better places to live.

 

It was unclear how to motivate the predatory species to move more toward the deeper forests, but the Fosh would have to think of something to make them leave or finding the Wookiee cubs and bringing them back would only be a temporary solution.

[Ary the Grey]

Ares finally awoke, laying where he was for a long while, thoughts still racing through his head. He had no idea where he was, and the Force gave him no clues, other than the general lack of other presences nearby. Memories started to return to him, memories of the battle. He had not come out of a cloning cylinder, so he knew he had not dies, but then...what?

 

Still mildly confused, he slowly rolled over, the pain and bruising from the fight taking its toll on him as he did so. He wasn't prepared for it, he wasn't in a battle frenzy where such pain would merely fuel him, and he stumbled as he left the bed, falling to his knee and grasping his side, more annoyed and frustrated than anything.

 

Slowly he rose, and left the small hut, the surroundings of the forest floor of Kashyyyk meeting his gaze. And that was when he remembered: he had failed. The Dark Lord was dead, and Ares had been defeated in battle. Fury rose within him, unbridled anger like he'd never felt before, even in the heat of the battle with the Grandmaster and his Exorcist.

 

From miles away, the sight was magnificent as thousands of birds took to the sky, while minutes later the soft shockwaves of the tremendous Force scream he'd unleashed died out among the thick trunks of the wroshyr trees.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hours had passed. Ares repaired his armor the best he could through the Force, and now the only thing left for him was the climb upwards. Whoever left him here had given him his weapons, perhaps out of pity as the forest floor of Kashyyyk was a dangerous place, but Ares wouldn't need them. All he needed to do was find a Wookiee settlement, which would be high above him.

 

So he began to climb.

 

 

---------–------------------------Edit 10 march 12--------------------

 

Ares finally reached the upper reaches of the branches, and by good fortune found a decent sized Wookiee village, complete with a small spaceport. It was a simple matter of twisting their minds to get what he wanted. As his Wookiee shuttle rocketed off towards the sky, the entire village, as one, jumped off the nearest high dive, their furry bodies raining down towards the forest floor.

[Trushaun]

Trushaun observed the beasts from afar. Smoke filled her lungs and she choked on it. Coughing, she climbed down and stalked the animals for a little bit. Surveying the damage, she realized she couldn't do anything more. What was done was done. It was time to focus on what her task was - finding those cubs.

 

(PM's.)

[Trushaun]

Her tasks had been completed, or started so that the wookiees could work it out for themselves. The young Fosh collected her things and said goodbye to her new friends. The wookiees considered her a friend, but warned her not to take advantage of their friendship. With a nod to the village, and a handshake from the chief, Trushaun boarded her shuttle and left for her next calling. Manaan. There had been a call out to all Jedi to re-form on the water planet. There was a Jedi Shuttle that was sent to pick her up. Minutes later, she was airborne and in the atmosphere.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca arrived within Kashyyyk's system a few seconds before the shuttle did. The short time allowed for him to send a transmission towards the surface, contacting his old friend, Geyyrao as he was calling in perhaps one last favor. After the shuttle arrived in system, the Jedi Grandmaster lead the shuttle down towards the surface near where Geyyrao would be waiting for them. After both landed, and Geyyrao promised to keep the children out of sight and within a difficult place to reach. He felt it was safe to leave the children on the planet, only because of their Force potential had not developed yet into something worth tracing, nor where they strong enough yet to be found within a crowd of Force energy, especially on the Kashyyyk jungle floor. Kirlocca left the system, for perhaps one last stop before he made his way to Coruscant and then to Lehon.

[Kitt]

Kitt's presence above the planet was small and insignificant, even if he was openly using the Force. There was just something about Kashyyyk that made the Force seem to teem with life. It could be the Wookiees, or their highly coveted fauna and flora that are so closely protected. Either way, Kitt always felt a certain peace about the planet below him. Taking his small starfighter down, reaching out for the first time a long while with the Force, attempting to feel out a potential place to start, as Kirlocca was very vague with his words of where he would find Geyyrao, or the children. As he set the ship down and began to walk around, allowing for the Force to guide the former Jedi Grandmaster to where he might find the children.

 

******** 8 Hours Later ********

 

Kitt was tired, frustrated, and maybe even a little hungry by this point. Keeping most of his thoughts bottled up, as he held a slight fear that opening up to them could force him down a path of admitting he was wrong to leave the Jedi. With his arms and legs tired, and the temptation to use the Force in a flat out depletion to reach his goal would almost serve him no purpose, as he would need time to recover, and Kitt would just rather not have time to spend with the children if he was intending to cut them off from the Force. As hope seem to begin to fade away and thoughts of returning back to his ship entered his mind, Kitt spotted it. It was a small out-coving on a Wroshyr tree. Barely noticeable to anyone who was unaware of the Wookiee exile way of living. Slowly moving towards it, Kitt was welcomed by the sounds of growls and grunts of Geyyrao, and the soft sound of children, perhaps playing care free. With a final climb, Kitt had made it to the hidden place with the children. Taking a single moment to observe the tree in full, taking notice of the many booby-traps set in place by Geyyrao, whom as Kitt remembered was an excellent warrior within his own rights, and began to maneuver around them towards the door. After a few minutes of struggling to get around, Kitt found himself standing face to face with Geyyrao. Somehow the Wookiee had heard him moving around outside and met him at the door. Had the Wookiee not recognized him, Kitt might have been stabbed rather quickly with a ryyk blade. But instead, Kitt found himself in Geyyrao very strong hug, which forced Kitt to speak up.

 

"Hello Geyyrao, long time no see."

 

Geyyrao, much like Kirlocca at times, could be very silent when he wanted. But he always kept his face readable, and Kitt was able to tell that Geyyrao knew why Kitt was here. Without much of a single word uttered, the Wookiee opened the door and allowed for Kitt to enter. With a quick sight, Kitt could see all of the children gathered upon the floor playing with some Wookiee toys, hand made by Geyyrao no doubt. In a very quiet voice, Kitt spoke to Geyyrao only.

 

"I'll allow for them to play. I can sever the Force without them taking any real notice..."

 

It was in that moment that Kitt began to wonder if he was doing the right thing. Kirlocca and Fett were so convinced that it was a good idea, Kitt on the other hand felt like he was here to steal a very strong potential future from the kids, regardless of what path they might so choose. If he was at all still apart of the Jedi Order, he might have openly declared that such a move was a declaration of war against the Sith, which might be exactly what Kirlocca wants. It could also be that Kirlocca just wants to remove such a potential abuse of power, or a possible new future Dark Lord. But since Kitt was not apart of the Jedi Order, his felt voice opinion held no weight. With a sigh, Kitt decided to get his task over with.

 

With hands lifted, Kitt began to outstretch the Force towards the children. Much like the skill of Battle Meditation, Kitt wove through their Force patterns, slowly and surely find them all separately and differently within the Force. He then began to rise up within them, and to enclose them all within a wall of light. The imprisonment of the Force within another. It was considered the ultimate punishment by Jedi and Sith alike, and sometimes, yet very rarely, found to be an action of grace. Making the wall of light permanent, Kitt began to lower his hands.

 

As he finished, Kitt could immediately could feel the lack of Force energy within him, as such a move was very draining, no matter how quick it took. Spending only a few minutes to talk to Geyyrao as he allowed for some of his energy to return, Kitt then made his way back towards his starfighter, and perhaps back to a life without the Force with CorSec himself.

[Qaela]

Qaela studied the orb of vibrant green that hovered out in space before her. This was where the Jedi had taken her children. This was where the Jedi committed an unspeakable atrocity against them. Now she was here to collect the pieces and take them back to their Clan. They may never be leaders among their people, but by the darkness, they would be feared and respected even if she had to beat it out of her Sisters. They would certainly face an uphill battle without the ability to perform spells, but her name and strength would give them protection and status. At the very least, the Jedi wouldn't be able to take them and hide them away.

 

The Jedi were vile creatures, hypocrites to the end who preached peace and honor while lashing out at those who even might one day come to oppose them. Well, at least one of them might not be that way, but she wasn't completely sure how far he would go. Yes, he had so far seemed to keep his word, but she would have to see if he would willingly allow her to leave with her children or bring the Kirlocca to justice. She still wanted to see to that and would make every attempt to see to it as soon as her children were safe.

 

Without thinking, she tried to stretch out with the Force and sense her children, but she could sense nothing. Either the distance was too great, the planet was too saturated with life, or, worst of all, whatever had been done to them had cut them away from her ability to sense them entirely. Whatever the reason, she had no way of knowing they were even there and that this wasn't a trap. Why Starlisk would have to go through such a rouse to ensnare her was a mystery because he had had multiple opportunities to harm her and not taken them. Maybe he was truly an honest man, but if he was, he would be the first she had ever met. Everyone betrayed everyone at some point, it was inevitable. She could only wait and watch while the Jedi worked the controls and hoped he knew where to land.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin could never get over just how vibrant Kashyyyk was in the Force. There was so much life there that it was almost empowering, and he reflexively expanded his consciousness to engulf the world, letting the sensation of the balance of life and community of the world embrace him to the point where for a moment he lost himself. And there, just at the bottom of it all, deep within the mighty forests, there was the dark, predatory edge that nature often held. Here, it was strong in the Shadowlands, a reminder of the dichotomy of nature and now it could be fierce and dangerous without being cruel. As Onderin pulled his consciousness back into himself, that dark edge lingered and he realized that it was the same thing that he felt in Qaela.

 

He raised an eyebrow. Nature was balance, and just as the tremendous life force of Kashyyyk had darkness shrouded at the base of the mighty trunks, so too would there always have to be dark siders to balance out the Jedi. But on Kashyyyk, the Shadowlands and the vast canopies existed in harmony, part of one enormous and complex ecosystem. Perhaps the solution to the struggles of Sith and Jedi was not eternal war at all.

 

Bringing himself back to task at hand, Onderin opened a comm channel back to Ilum and his R7 droid that accompanied his E-wing there. "R7, can you link to the Jedi archives and send me information regarding the wookiee named Geyyrao?" he asked as he started his approach to the planet. The droid warbled a response--it had already established an uplink with the archives to give it something to do while it was waiting for him to return. Soon a set of not-especially-specific coordinates popped up in the feed as well as a warning that Geyyrao was isolated and very well defended. He lived in exile and took great precautions to protect himself and now, Onderin supposed, the children. Hopefully, the Jedi Master thought, he will know who I am and there will not be an unnecessary confrontation.

 

Soon he brought the shuttle down in what seemed like a random enormous tree branch with a basic platform built onto it. "It may not look like much, but I think the place is somewhere around here," he said to Qaela. "The archives weren't very specific about where Geyyrao lives, but they did mention that his place is well-defended. Maybe you can find your children in the Force now that we're close?"

 

He lowered the boarding ramp and disembarked, but didn't really have any clear direction of where to go. He reached out with the Force and tried to find some sort of clue.

[Qaela]

Qaela was fascinated at the exotic sense of life that she felt here. She had not expected this planet to be so. . . alive. Everywhere she had been on other planets had been full of stone, metal, and synthetic materials. This place was more natural, far more like what she grew up around, yet utterly alien. She had never dreamed of trees growing this large and wondered how much protection the trees could offer if they were burrowed into and turned into bunkers. Would that kill the trees, or were they large enough to take such treatment if done sparingly? And what was that lovely, temptingly sweet sense of darkness she felt far below? That place was calling to her, inviting her to come down to it. Surely survival there would make anyone strong and more capable than ever.

 

She decided then and there that if it were ever possible, she would return to this planet with some of her Sisters and see about carving a niche out in that darkness. Dathomir could be harsh, but she didn't think they had much to match what she felt here. There were creatures from below that would make absolutely wonderful servants and the effort of taming even a small portion of this place would be worthy of many great and long songs. There was no need to mention this to the Jedi, he might object to her people eventually colonizing, even if they would do everything to keep their presence here hidden.

 

She walked out onto the impressively large wooden planks and tried to search for her children. "I can sense nothing," she said at last. "Either we are too far or they are not here." She did not dare give voice to the fear that they couldn't be sensed at all after what happened to them.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin frowned. He had rather been hoping Qaela would be able to find her children, but it was quite possible that the life on this world was simply too great and that it drowned out her Force sense. He knew personally that in places thick with the dark side, it clouded his Force senses so badly he was almost useless.

 

But here, he had two advantages. Firstly, he believed it was the will of the Force that he brought Qaela here to reunite her with her children, so that she could experience a little bit of grace and forgiveness from a Jedi. Secondly, if there was anything he knew how to do with the Force, it was commune with a large number of minds. He hadn't tried before what he was going to attempt--not exactly--but using Battle Meditation was a starting point, he thought he might be able to get a good starting point.

 

"Allow me a moment, then," he said, then right where he was he dropped to sit cross-legged on the enormous tree branch. Closing his eyes, he opened himself to the Force, again expanding his awareness much as he would with Battle Meditation. Instead of just breathing in the life around him, however, he focused, seeking intelligence. There were an enormous number of animals in the area, he quickly realized, most of them just out of sight of the newly arrived shuttle and its passengers. He examined their density and population, and felt the berth they had given the ship. There were a couple other places, too, that they stayed clear of, disturbances or areas of danger. Maybe powerful predators' nests. Maybe one of them was Geyyrao's abode--he was probably the most dangerous predator out here.

 

He started to focus in turn on these places, and, eventually, he brushed a consciousness. His eyes popped open. "I think I have a lead," he said. The trick would be mapping what he had felt in his head to actually navigating the trees and branches. "Let's go this way." He started making his way down the branch.

[Qaela]

Qaela shrugged and began following the Jedi. She had sensed him doing something in the Force and for a few brief moments, worried that he might be sending some sort of signal to allies lying in wait. She dismissed this when she realized what she was doing and mentally berated herself for not doing the same. Being among the Sith so much had caused her to start thinking like them instead of a Nightsister. Sith were almost always too direct, too brutish, and two quick to destroy what didn't immediately bow to them. Here she was surrounded in a plethora of life with possibly millions of sets of eyes, ears, and noses to aid them, and she was following a Jedi's hunch.

 

At least there was one good thing that came out of being around the Sith. She was able to form spells much faster and with far more ease than her Sisters could, and she didn't need all of the ritualistic movements to do it. As they walked, she expanded her awareness to find an appropriate new servant to do her bidding. There were plenty watching the strange creatures walking through their world, so it wasn't hard. Once she found one that was tracking them based on scent more than sight, she forced her way into its mind. Once there, she ordered it to start hunting anything that had a scent similar to hers and the Jedi's. There couldn't be too many humans around, so if there were any, the creature would lead her to them. If they were her children, then great. However, if Starlisk had set up a trap, it was likely there was at least one human among them and she would be aware of it before she stumbled into the ambush.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin could feel Qaela start to work within the Force as well. No doubt she knew some techniques that might help her find her children or Geyyrao. He didn't examine what she was doing too closely with his own senses--he was too concentrated on feeling his way toward the consciousness that he had picked out. He had no reason to be suspicious of her when they were working toward a common goal, especially one as important to her as this.

 

The real challenge proved actually navigating the treetops. They weren't the kind of convenient flat surfaces that wookiee communities would sport, although even those tended to be built with a wookiee's arboreal mobility in mind. Onderin had to call on the Force to leap between branches from time to time, making his way slightly downward toward his goal. Here again he relied on the guidance of the Force, trusting that the path he was taking would eventually get him to the goal.

 

A few times he landed, looked down, and thanked the Force that he wasn't afraid of heights. The vertical drop was similar to that on Coruscant glancing down between miles-tall buildings. He knew there were a lot of people even on Coruscant who had never gotten used to that, even though there were modern safety measures there ranging from handrails to repulsor nets. Here, there was no such technology, and a misplaced step would almost certainly mean death. But Onderin had been a fighter pilot, and the Force had made him all but fearless as long as he was working toward the right goal.

 

Eventually, he stopped. "We must be getting close, but I don't see anything..." he said. All that was before him was simply more forest, and it didn't look any different than the forest behind him.

[Qaela]

It would have been a wonderful trip except for the worry that Qaela felt about her children. Nervousness was not something she was prone to, but she couldn't help it now. She had been so worried for so long and now it may be that she could have them in her arms in half an hour.

 

Darkness help her if whoever was watching her children decide to put up a fight because she would melt them from the inside out no matter what Master Starlisk felt. That she cared what he thought at all outside the scope of whether he might try to kill her or take her children away also worried her, but she couldn't think about that right now. All that mattered was getting her children back.

 

Working her way through here was not too far different than some of the jungle and dense forest training she had been forced through, though none of that was on the same scale. She had definitely worked up a sweat and was breathing heavier than normal, but some of that might also be the anticipation. She managed to keep up with the Jedi, both following him and on occasion leading them elsewhere. The original creature she had taken over had proved insufficient for the task, so she released it and found another, and another. Multiple creatures had come and gone from her consciousness, but each one got her a bit closer. Relying on the Jedi to get to the general area, she would use the local animals to narrow it down more precisely.

 

At last, the Jedi seemed to have come to the end of his path. He may be lost, but he had done enough for her to find a creature that had tracked the scent of both human and what she assumed were the native sentients. With her eyes half closed, she smiled and said, "You don't see anything, but I do. There are many creatures on this planet with extraordinary senses, including the sense of smell. All it takes is a little effort to force one to show us the way." She lifted her arm and pointed off slightly to the side. "There, not two hundred meters, is a place that reeks of humans and what I assume is Wookiee."

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin smiled. He had been wondering how Qaela had been doing her tracking, and it seemed she was delegating the task to the beasts themselves. A different approach from his own, but a solid one. The Jedi had their own tricks for beast control, but he had never taken the time to learn them. He had always been much more interested in the minds of sentients, how they thought, how they reasoned, and how they made decisions in battle.

 

He looked along the path she had pointed out. "Let's check it out," he said. "Be on guard, though. I hear Geyyrao takes precautions." With that in mind, he started forward, senses on alert. It didn't take long for him to find a few snare traps. Then there was a tripwire and something higher-tech that seemed to use an invisible laser. He wondered how lethal the traps would be if triggered... he doubted the wookiee would take unnecessary risks when he had small children in his charge.

 

Still, he decided to steer well clear from actually triggering anything. Soon, he, too could detect the wookiee's presence in the Force close by. He was still having trouble actually seeing any sort of entrance to a dwelling, however. The wookiee seemed to know a few things about camouflaging entraces on top of his other skills.

 

So Onderin decided that there wouldn't be any surprises. "Geyyrao!" he called out. "This is Jedi Master Onderin Starlisk! I'd like to speak with you!"

 

There was only silence a moment, then something subtle shifted somewhere and a wookiee voice could be heard. Onderin had picked up some Shyrriwook due in part to his frequent interaction with Kirlocca. He wasn't really good with it, but he got the sense that Geyyrao was asking him what he wanted in a not-too-friendly matter.

 

"Kirlocca sent me here," he answered at a lower volume to match that of the wookiee. "It concerns the children."

 

Finally the wookiee stepped out of what looked like some hanging moss that must have concealed a doorway. He had his bowcaster leveled at the two of them, but lowered it after a moment. Finally, he gestured them inside.

[Qaela]

When Starlisk mentioned traps, Qaela's suspicion rose to another level. Her horror and anger rose with it when she thought of why someone "protecting" her children would use so many defenses to keep others out. Clearly this was a paranoid creature, even if they were right that someone would be coming after the three. She only wondered what sort of condition this creature kept her children and whether they were in cells or just perpetually kept in a drug induced coma.

 

She kept her eyes open to avoid traps. She had no problem allowing Starlisk to go ahead and made sure to follow in his footsteps just in case. Let him be the hero and get his leg ripped off by a particularly nasty trap wire or snagglevine. She had led him close enough, if worse came to worse, she could get her children on her own. He meant nothing to her, nothing at all.

 

"Fracking hell," she muttered quietly. She hated lying to herself, even within her mind. No matter what he called himself, this was an ally and she had to watch for allies until the alliance was over. She would never go as far as to call him one of hers and sure as darkness not part of her Clan, but he was definitely an ally. Betrayal of allies without very, very good reason was perhaps the singular Sith trait she hated the most. This one was Jedi, but he had caused her no harm and possibly done her a great deal of good. Like it or not, she would owe him if he came through and she had only a few ideas of how to pay. None of them were exactly what she wanted to do, either, especially since a lot of them would likely involve betraying Furion. She didn't give a bucket of rancor drool for the rest of the Sith, but she wouldn't betray him, not without a very good cause.

 

She didn't trust herself to speak when a furry near replica of the Kirlocca appeared from the foliage. Qaela didn't trust herself to speak or do anything but tense up in preparation to defend herself with extreme prejudice. It would be more than a pleasure to flay this one alive and gain herself an heirloom blanket for her three children. She would follow the lead of the Jedi until he did something that clearly indicated betrayal.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Even without the Force Onderin could have detected how on-edge Qaela had become. He imagined he would be, too, in a similar position. She didn't know what state they were going to find her children in, nor what lengths Geyyrao had gone through to keep them isolated and protected from those that might come after them. Personally, Onderin suspected that they would be well-kept, as safe and well-nourished as a wookiee could make them. Whatever had led Kirlocca to make this decision, it had been with what he believed were the children's best interests in mind.

 

The Jedi Master nodded and approached the dwelling, which was carved right out of the tree. When he stepped inside, he found it more spacious than he had thought at first. It was warmly lit and well-kept, decorated mostly with furs and other natural elements, though with a definite technological aspect. The wookiee clearly was an experienced hunter, but also had a technology-oriented side with what appeared to be a computer terminal and some modern utilities. It was quite unlike any other home Onderin had been in, but he found it somewhat comfortable.

 

Geyyrao quietly led them through a couple of rooms to what appeared to be a nursery. In it were the triplets, apparently napping. Immediately Onderin reached out with the Force to touch their minds, making sure that he had not misunderstood Kirlocca and wondering just how thoroughly they had been cut off from the energy field their parents wielded. What he found somewhat surprised him. There was something strong there, something he couldn't quite place. Not the presence of the children, per se, nor even their own Force sensitivity. Instead, he found what he could only describe as a barrier, a construct seeming to form a layer between them and the Force.

 

He stepped aside so that Qaela could enter the room, trusting that she would detect the same thing while trying to figure out the implications, then took Geyyrao into the next room so that she could have a moment with them. There he started to explain the situation to the wookiee as well as he could....

[Qaela]

Qaela found that she could not focus on the structure that they were led into. The veins in her neck were pulsing so rapidly that she could physically feel them. She could sense nobody else in the place excluding the Wookiee, though there was some sort of chilling presence further in she couldn't identify. Fear began to clamp her through tight as they headed closer and closer to the uncomfortable sensation and she began to have suspicions that terrified her.

 

When they entered a fairly normal looking nursery and she saw three infants sleeping quietly, she nearly collapsed. What did the Jedi do to my children? she thought desperately. They were covered in the perversion of the light like some wretched beacon of sanctimoniously Jedi paragon of self righteousness. What she had once sensed in them was smothered in the scorching brightness that send chills up her back and yet seared her heart. There were traces of the familiar, comforting parts of them that she had once cherished, but even those seemed perverted by the light that walled them off. This was completely unlike any spell she had ever encountered on Dathomir.

 

Fighting tears, she slowly walked up to them and stroked their cheeks gently so as not to wake them. They were her children, that much she did not doubt, but they were not the babies she had left on Dubrillion all those months ago. The Kirlocca had done something to them that changed their very nature and created a block that she could not get through. The familiar bonds she once had with them while they developed within her womb were almost entirely shattered. She knew now why she couldn't sense them out in the forest: their signatures were like strangers to her. Only when she was this close could she see through the screen of light to the beautiful children that she was so intimate with from carrying them for the five months of her hastened pregnancy.

 

She searched her feelings and found, to her surprise, that there was no hatred or anger over what happened. Even the barely controllable rage that seethed beneath the surface was silent. She did sense that almost blasphemous love she felt for the three sleeping infants in front of her, but that wasn't the most prevalent emotion. No, what she felt the most was defeat, loss, and fear. Her children had been restored to her physically, but emotionally, she feared that the damage done was irrevocable. She could not link with them as she once could, not with the horrible bond of light around them perverting their Force presence.

 

After many minutes, she could not longer hold the tears back and let them flow. Her legs could not hold her up, so she slowly sank to the floor beside the cribs. With her face buried in her hands, she wept in utter despair.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin spoke with Geyyrao for a few minutes, enough to get a clear picture of what had happened and confirm that it had indeed been Kitt that had been here to perform the technique on the children. He was surprised that Kitt had gotten involved in such a thing--it seemed unlike the Jedi Master to use such a harsh punishment on the defenseless. On the other hand, Kitt hadn't really been a part of the Order, and it was possible that he was willing to do something that Kirlocca asked him to do without letting his own philosophy get in the way. The whole situation was entirely regrettable, and it made it even harder for Onderin to do the right thing.

 

He returned to the nursery to find Qaela on the floor in tears. From what he could feel in the Force from the triplets, he honestly couldn't blame her. He was glad to feel that she had not given herself over to anger, but he had rather hoped her joy at being reunited with her children would overcome her sorrow at their condition.

 

Onderin lowered himself to the floor beside her, sitting cross-legged once again. For a moment he said nothing, simply remaining silent and sharing in her grief, though his personal grief was less for the children and more for what had brought the Jedi Order to this point. After a minute he stirred. "We've come this far, and it's not over. This barrier can be removed," he said. "I am going to find Kirlocca and someone who can reverse this effect, and I already know where to go. You can come with me and bring the children, or if you wish, you can stay here with them.

 

"They will feel the Force again, Qaela. I'm going to see this through."

[Qaela]

The presence of the Jedi was strangely comforting despite what he represented. Had he been a Sith or even one of her own kind, the weakness she was displaying would become an opportunity to attack, as well as it should be. But for a Jedi, perhaps it wasn't. At least, she didn't think it was. If Starlisk wanted to kill her, he could have done so many times over now. He could see her in this weakened state and it probably wouldn't give him any ideas of her weakness. She could be grateful for that much, at least.

 

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands and tried to compose herself. What he said seemed impossible, but then, he was a Jedi and this was a Jedi trick. She would have to trust his knowledge here because this was something she didn't believe any of her kind could break. Perhaps Furion could, but she would rather try to get the Jedi to undo their work than risk the Sith accidentally damaging them in the process of breaking this light barrier. Plus, it would be best to owe Furion as little as possible because he was a man who would collect his debts. So far, Starlisk didn't seem to want anything except for her to refrain from fighting Jedi. If that was all he demanded, it would be a small price to pay. If he wanted more. . . she would cross that path when she reached it.

 

"I will not leave my children here in the care of a creature who would stand by and allow this to happen to them," she said with no room for disagreement. "I will accompany you with the three and we will go and meet the Kirlocca and this other. I will watch them undo their vile work or I will bathe in the blood of their still beating hearts." She meant that, too. There was something exquisite about holding the beating heart of a vanquished enemy and allowing their hot blood to pour over her face. These creatures deserved that fate, but she would stay her hand for the sake of getting her children whole, and because she gave her word to this Jedi.

[Onderin Starlisk]

He didn't exactly like her reasons, but he had offered her the choice and it didn't matter to him how she came to her conclusion. Geyyrao, of course, had nothing to do with this whole process except that his care was the safest place Kirlocca could think of for the triplets. Onderin suspected he knew next to nothing about the Force nor the magnitude of the punishment Kitt had inflicted upon the children. What's more, he would have no choice but to stand against her if it came to her physically confronting Kirlocca, and at that point she would be unlikely to succeed. Hopefully, her concern for her children would keep her from doing anything suicidal.

 

At any rate, there was one unique challenge that came with her choice. "We're just going to have to figure out some way to get the children back to the shuttle," he mused aloud. Some of the maneuvers they'd had to pull in order to reach this place had been acrobatic to say the least, and their difficulty would be compounded by the presence of all the extra weight. He considered for a moment. "Nevermind, I'll bring it here." Suddenly he wasn't sure if he trusted Qaela to be alone with Geyyrao, especially given how she had made her feelings clear about how she saw his role in all of this. "Geyyrao, come with me please, I could use an extra hand."

 

The wookiee seemed slightly confused for a moment, then followed him as he left. As soon as they were out of an earshot, he explained the rest of the situation to the hunter and his reasons for bringing him along. Then they started back to the shuttle, the wookiee having no problem keeping up with Onderin. Whereas the Jedi used the Force to leap among the branches, Geyyrao used brute strength and claws, being able to literally climb trunks as fast as Onderin could leap.

 

Not having to commune with the Force and attempt to find his destination this time, the trip was relatively short, and soon he had powered up the shuttle and maneuvered it slowly and carefully back to the wookiee's abode. He put it in idle and both waited outside for Qaela to come out with the triplets, assuming she had been waiting for their return.