Good Relations With The Wookies, I Have

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Kashyyyk had been an unknown to Zacharius up until about a day ago. He'd heard tales of the Wookies, but their homeworld had never been something of much interest to him.

He decided shortly after arriving that he enjoyed the untamed nature of the world, though he was not too keen on the beasts that lived within its mysterious forests. His vessel had been forced to settle down into the Shadowlands; the party of mercenaries he had agreed to join for this venture had said it was the safest route given their reasons for coming to the forest world.

If this was the safest route, then Zacharius was truly an idiot for joining this venture.

The last of the mercenaries that still drew breath, a Nikto engineer, screamed at him from a break in the treeline. Zacharius felt his heart thundering in his chest, and his blood firing through his veins as he charged toward the screaming alien.

Dim white moonlight broke through the dense upper canopies, casting the small glade of open land in a washed out glow. Zacharius brought his pistol to bear on the large Nexu beast that had seen fit to sink its teeth into the Nikto's scaly throat. The sidearm barked twice, and two thin beams of cyan light flashed from the barrel and into the Nexu's exposed neck.

The beast tore its jaws open with a scream of surprised agony, and then slumped to the ground with a wet thud. Zacharius approached the lifeless beast, saw that its chest had grown still, and allowed himself a moment's respite.

"That looks rough," he said through a wince as he observed the Nikto's wounds. Crimson vitae spilled from the alien's throat in tiny red rivulets, and his eyes were hazy and terrified. Zacharius hadn't finished retrieving his first aid kit from his belt when the Nikto died.

A moment of frustration came over the boy, but he let it pass. Now was not the time to let his emotions get the better of him. Determined now, Zacharius searched the Nikto for any useful goods, found a few credits, and rose to his feet.

The Shadowlands were dangerous for the Wookies, and it seemed to be certain doom for a lone human. He could only curse himself for choosing to believe the pirates' promises of a quick payout. Even still, he could not consign himself to the luxury of accepting his fate; he had survived far greater tests in the past.

"I'd like to live long enough to regret this decision," the youth murmured as he strode into the darkness of the trees.

 

[Epistor of Phasekion]

~ Location: Silver Rest ~ Objective: Carry out the dare ~​

~ Equipment: Tunic / chlamys / discus ~ Tag: [member="Zacharius"] ~​

This is not a good idea, Eustachya thought as she saddled up her kybuck in his stable. Still, she tried to calm her restless mount, cooing, "Shhh-shhhh. We will be fine, Haemon." Curse her competitive nature, a symptom of the natural athlete she had been on her birthworld, for allowing her to accept Jeshi's dare so enthusiastically. Earlier in the day, the Cathar padawan of Master Taske had approached Eustachya during the daily exercises that her own master had tasked her with while absent in the Seswenna Sector. Apparently a game had been circulating the Rest for a long time, only going dormant for periods which the elders seemed suspicious of the padawans' activities.

The rules to this daring challenge as he said them were simple enough: When the sun begins to set, make your way out to the Shadowlands. You only need set one foot into it and then you can come home. Don't bring your holo communicator, unless a master or knight tries to locate you with it.

Set on her path, and after sinching the saddle to his underbelly, Eustachya lead Haemon out into the courtyard with a hand on the side of his neck. Horizontal rays, dimmed and cast by the setting sun, glinted off the few remaining snow patches left on the manicured lawns from the Life Day ball. Eustachya swung herself up onto the kybuck and, before continuing, rose her headscarf over the back of her head. "Proago ((onwards))," she urged in her native tongue while also giving both of Haemon's flanks a soft nudge with her sandled feet.

~ . . . ~​

The buzz of can-cell wings periodically sounded overhead, as the insects hurried back to safety of their burrows. The padawan tied to hide it, but she was too nervous to. She recalled from a mandatory class on Wookiee culture that the lands she sought were used both for rites of passage and exiled; her own exile on Sargus Novis still haunted her too often for her to not be frightened by such a notion. But then she also remembered that seeing a can-cell flying above was good luck. Maybe...?

No. Tonight was not the night to test the local belief system. If she failed to catch a glimpse, her nerves would only unravel further.

Eventually, she came upon the Shadowlands. She said, "Katecho ((hold fast))," pairing the order with a pat of Haemon's neck and guiding him with her legs into a sideways stop. Pivoting her torso, Eustachya pushed down the hood and squinted into the gradienting darkness.

 

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The sound of crunching branches made the hairs on the back of Zacharius' neck raise. He dared not step walking lest he let his tail know he was aware of its presence. Instead, the mercenary drew in a few deep breaths, and focused all his attention on the sounds around him. He heard the squawks of distant birds, the clicking of insects in search of partners, and the squeals of the amphibians fighting over territory beneath the grassbeds.

A few moments passed before he heard the cracking again. His ears twitched as he picked up on the sound. Zacharius span on his heel, kicking up mud and dirt as he turned upon the source of the sound. His sidearm was whirring as it centered upon four beady eyes imbedded in a triangular face. He made out the flash of long claws, and two rows of teeth far too big for the creature's mouth before it pounced at him.

The pistol spat forth a stream of shots that all seemed to meet their mark, given the way the beast shrieked and slumped back into the shadows. The creature was wounded, but it certainly wasn't dead.

"Must be that last one's mate," Zacharius mumbled to himself as his blood thundered in his ears. Adrenaline gave him a laser focus, but he wasn't about to go hunting the wounded beast down. Instead, he contented himself with breaking in a dead sprint toward the direction he'd seen the Jedi village when coming to land at the edge of the forest. Logic would have dictated that he head for the ship itself, but the Shadowlands were a dark and confusing place. He had no idea how to find the vessel, but something within him simply knew that running in this direction would lead him to safety.

Such optimistic thoughts were quickly quelled as Zacharius noted the rapid shifting of the bushes behind him. The wounded Nexu was not done hunting yet, but it was not yet brave enough to make for another attack.

"If you keep coming after me you're going to end up like your mate!" The mercenary snarled at the beast out of pure frustration, though he expected little by way of reply from a non-sentient creature.. He was rather fed up with this deadly game.

[member="Eustachya"]

 

[Epistor of Phasekion]

~ Tag: [member="Zacharius"] ~​

The heart of darkness must have been this. Not even Pasiph or Rhoda, the bright twin suns of the Novis System, could pierce the thick canopy, or so thought Eustachya upon assessing it.

Something rustled in the brush far off, quickly calling the padawan's attention. She sighed when it ceased soon after--it had likely only been the wind or a small, harmless critter. Underneath her, Haemon's course, brown fur bristled. "We are safe only looking," she leaned down to say, voice slightly hushed as to not draw anything out of the shadows. "Just a while longer, boy."

Suddenly, a string of high pitched shrills echoed around her, bouncing off the evergreen and carrying on the breeze. The Sargus Novian rose her head in attempt to find the source of the noise, but then snapped it back to her mount. "Oh n--!" she began to herself, meaning to continue on to calm the frantic kybuck. But she was too late; Haemon ran directly into the Shadowlands, in the direction he perceived was away, not towards, the sound of potential danger.

It was not an issue for Stach to stay on his back, but when she spotted before them a hanging branch that Haemon would barely just be able to pass under, she was forced to drive to the side. Wet mud ribboned around her as she groaned and rolled to her back, watching Haemon disappear into the darkness. "Malaka," she cursed as she struggled to get to her feet.