The common room of Shiraya's Sanctuary was supposed to be a place for Padawans to relax between lessons.
At the moment, it had become an arena.
Kuhbee sat in the middle of a loose circle of students, surrounded by the crumpled wrappers of an entire pack of chewing gum. His cheeks bulged as he worked the enormous wad from one side of his mouth to the other.
One of the Padawans leaned forward eagerly. "Come on, Kuhbee. You're a Wookiee. You've got huge lungs."
Another nodded seriously. "You could probably break the Sanctuary record."
Kuhbee narrowed his eyes. There was a Sanctuary record? That changed everything. "Rrrrgh." He gathered the gum against his tongue, took an enormous breath through his nose, and began to blow. A small pink bubble appeared between his lips. The Padawans leaned closer.
It grew to the size of a fist.....Then a head.......Then a training remote......Someone started laughing.
"Keep going!"
Kuhbee did. The bubble swelled outward, wobbling gently as it expanded. Soon it was large enough that Kuhbee could barely see around it. A few Padawans scrambled backward.
"Kuhbee, that's huge!"
"Don't stop!"
Kuhbee's eyes narrowed with determination.
Bigger.
Bigger.
Bigger.
The enormous pink sphere now filled most of the space directly in front of him, its surface stretched dangerously thin.
That was when a calm voice came from the doorway. "Would someone like to explain what is going on here?"
Every Padawan froze. Kuhbee's eyes went wide. A Jedi Master stood in the entrance, arms folded. For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then...
POP!
The bubble exploded. Pink chewing gum snapped backward across Kuhbee's face, ears, forehead, shoulders, and chest. Silence filled the common room. Kuhbee slowly lowered his paws. Sticky strands of gum stretched between his fingers and his fur. One of the Padawans snorted. Another covered their mouth. Within seconds, the entire room erupted into laughter.
The Jedi Master sighed. "I'll go get the hair clippers."
"...Rrrrrrrg!!!!." Kuhbee slowly turned toward the Padawan who had dared him to chew the gum in the first place. The Padawan stopped laughing. Kuhbee growled. The translation droid on his belt wheezed urgently, <Run you fool!!>
