Indiana Beorni and the Crystal Skull

[Micah tol Powl]

THE PLANET
RHEN VAR
THE SILVER CITADEL

What was it about Jedi Temples that made everyone just leave their stuff laying about?

The young Beorni cub had started to carve out space for himself to work and train at the Citadel on Rhen Var. Voss-Ka was high in the mountains, making it akin to a 'summer home' for the thickly-furred denizen of the planet Midvinter. In comparison, the world of Rhen Var, while inhospitable to most, was the perfect temperature for the little bear. Just a little below freezing. Occasional snow showers. And a good amount of sunshine year round!

The Beorni had begun setting up a forge in the interior courtyard, just off from where [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] gave lightsaber skills development classes using Valkyri training swords. Having the forge and a smithy would allow the self-declared padabear to repair the swords as they became nicked or damaged. Not to mention make some more for them.

...or maybe make a traditional Midvinter sword of Valkyri steel.

The possibilities were endless!

But for crafts that required something other than anvils and hammers, the cub was making an art room. This meant transforming an empty space that people had decided was meant to be multipurpose. That is, they couldn't decide if it was the janitors closet (as evidenced by the mops and buckets), a coat room (as evidenced by the cloaks and robes), or a storage unit (as evidenced by the myriad of stuff that didn't fit into either of the preceding categories.

The cub had pushed a Sasori loom up against side of the room, and then shoved a small computer terminal against an opposite wall. He knew what a loom was. A computer terminal? Not so much... but he could figure out what to do with that later.

There were boxes of useful stuff, such as bolts of armorweave, that he piled to one side for sorting later. And then were stuff that was less-than-useful, such as a box that appeared to have held the contents of all the lost and found items collected in the year 844 ABY. As the boy went to pick up that box, something fell out of the bottom to clink as it bounced across the floor.

Setting the box aside, the young Beorni knelt down and found himself staring at a rose-colored crystal that appeared to have been carved into the likeness of a human, or near-human, skull.

Taking a knee, the boy scooped up the skull-shaped crystal and then held it aloft. "Alas, poor [member="Mabbik"]!" the boy declared, over dramatizing the line. And also ignoring the fact that Mabbik was a Kushiban and not human. Lowering the skull down, the boy cradled it close to his chest as he bowed his head and added, "I knew him, Harrison."

...and that was when a pink bubble suddenly popped into being around the bear.

"Uhhh...."

Clearly, at this point scientific progress had gone boink.

 

[Nyt Rito]

Nyt had been sent to Rhen Var at his Master's request, training opportunities abounding. Having volunteered to help his buddy, the Legendary Padabear [member="Kiriko"], the Nautolan youngling happened to enter just as the pink bubble manifest about the white furry bearling.

"Wooooaaaah...." he breathed, reaching a finger out to poke the surface of the bubble. It rippled from the point of contact, but did not burst. Grinning at a sudden idea, the youngling crouched low, before rocketing skyward, the Force assisting the youngling to reach the ceiling. Plummeting towards the ground, the youngling made solid contract with the bubble, feeling it bow inwards with his impact, before returning towards its spherical shape.

This.... caused an effect the Nautolan hadn't considered.... give his infamous lack of foresight....

The wall was coming to meet him. Swiftly. As the shield surrounding the cub rebuffed Nyt.... vigorously. Reflexes, quick thinking, and a liberal and creative use of telekinesis was all that kept the amphibious humanoid from becoming a permanent wall fixture.

Slumping to the ground, grinning broadly, he looked towards Kiriko. "Where'd you that!?" He chirped energetically.​

 

[Micah tol Powl]

As the Nautolan walked into the room, the bear was starting to panic.

"Ah! I take it back!" the cub exclaimed, bringing both paws up to the side of his head. "I don't know him! I never met him before in my life!"

The poke from Nyt caused the bubble to undulate, shifting the bear forwards, backwards, and side-to-side. But the bubble itself was still in place. When the youngling had jumped on it though, the Nautolan had gone one direction and the bubble had gone rolling in the opposite one.

Flipping end over end, the cub rattled around inside of the bubble until it had smacked against the wall behind him. At which time, it popped with a loud sound, and dropped the bear in a belly-flop onto the floor. As over a hundred kilos hit the ground, the room seemed to shudder with a mild tremor.

The crystal skull gave a clink as it skipped over the floor, sliding toward the middle of the room.

"It was in the lost and found..." the cub bemoaned, contemplating pushing himself up from the floor, but finding that the sensation of just laying here was preferable.

[member="Nyt Rito"]​

 

[Nyt Rito]

He blanched, once the spinning stopped, and he saw what he'd accidentally had done to his friend. Running to the China side, he looked to the skull, then back again. "Lost and Found...." he'd mutter before reaching down to (failingly) help the padabear up into a seated position.

"I'm so sorry about that brah." he apologized, patting the best on his shoulder. "I think Master Coci once told me I had, 'em-plus' control issues.... I think it's 'Adult' for how I just do stuff sometimes." he offered as an explanation. "Ya forgive me?" The youngling chirped meekly, tapping index fingers together nervously.​

 

[Dajara Boshtet]

[member="Kiriko"] [member="Nyt Rito"]

The pair of ghostlings looked at them as the two were speaking and she could see Dajara over there. The atrisian ghostling was more simple looking in the robes here of the citadel when she was walking to stick around before she bowed her head. Small, demur and focused on helping the others while her skin had a soft glow underneath it reflecting off of the snow before the pair of them were walking. She wasn't speaking with the others who seemed in their own world but the snow all around the citadel stayed here. All of the ruins that they had been able to find across the planet itself gave way for them to be able to explore across the galaxy until Dajara could be seen looking at the skull.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

"Oh, it wasn't your fault."

Sitting up, the young cub settled back into a lotus position - legs crossed and his muzzle in the crook of one paw - as he looked over at the crystal skull. He wasn't really all the certain just what had happened.

"Ya forgive me?"

The Beorni just blinked, turning his round head up to see the Nautolan acting shy, head down, pressing his fingertips together. Reaching out with both paws, the cub pulled the other youngling in for a literal bear hug. After all, bears gave the best hugs. Not always the easiest to breathe in, because of the fur and the whole rib crushing strength, but definitely the best hugs.

When he'd released Nyt from the hug, rather than getting up, the young Beorni just rolled forward until he'd popped up on all fours. Walking, like an actual bear, back toward the crystal skull, the boy saw he wasn't the only one interested in what had happened.

Leaning his head over closer to Nyt, the cub asked, "Is it normal for people to glow like that?"

[member="Nyt Rito"] | [member="Dajara Boshtet"]​

 

[Nyt Rito]

After being released, with only minor bruising to his ribs, the youngling would stretch slightly, as if trying to clear out room for air to return to his lungs. With a grimace, and a mental note to never anger the cub without a significant headstart, he began following the padabear.

Intent on the skull, his curiosity got the better of him. It wasn't until he heard the other youngling speak, did the Nautolan register he'd picked the skull up, and that there was a third entity in the room.

As that pink 'bubble' manifest around Nyt, much as it had done to the Beorni, the youngling looked between the skull in his hands, and the apparent 'ghost' in the room.

Once.

Twice.

On the third double-take, it kind of clicked. Whispering, a note of fear hiding in his voice, he leaned back towards the cub. "If.... if she is a ghost.... and I'm holding a skull...."

An audible swallow could be heard in the quiet room, before the youngling let go of the skull, and began running away, the bubble popping as he released the skull. After passing the threshold of the room, he chances a glance back.

The ghost wasn't following. Inching cautiously back to the door, the Nautolan peered back in. "You.... aren't a ghost.... are you....?" He asked, a faint sensation of sheepishness threatening to overtake him.


[member="Kiriko"] | [member="Dajara Boshtet"]​

 

[Micah tol Powl]

A... ghost?

Like, a spirit ghost?

"Oh, I don't think she's a ghost," the cub opined simply, his head tracking with the small Nautolan as Nyt ran out of the room. Nyt was usually running. Kiriko didn't know how he did it.

But, ghosts? Ghosts were something he could sort of understand. Beorni were taught to be mindful of the Spirits, which was also their name for the Force. He communed the the Spirits all the time. But, he wasn't really getting a spirit-y sort of vibe from the glowing lady. He was getting more of a person-y vibe from her.

Plopping his butt down on the floor, the cub looked up at the glowing figure. "Are you a ghost, Miss Lady, Ma'am?"

Sometimes it was best to go straight to the source with these questions.

Though... that pink bubble had appeared around Nyt when he'd picked up the skull. Was it something about that gemstone that was doing that?

[member="Nyt Rito"] | [member="Dajara Boshtet"]​

 

[Dajara Boshtet]

[member="Nyt Rito"] [member="Kiriko"]

There was a look at the two of them as she could see Dajara moving forward. The ghostlings were there but she wasn't a ghost.... though saying that she was a ghostling might not ease their minds when her voice came out soft. "No I am not a ghost, I am a ghostling. One of the padawans from the order." She said it while offering a small look on her face to welcome them as she was motioning towards the skull. "But I take it you both found something interesting yes?" The other ghostling with her was moving around though to look at them. The pair had seen the bubble that formed in the force and as she stood on her tippy toes with the delicate and pointed feet Dajara she could see was more drifting and guiding around.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Not a ghost, a ghostling.

"Oh, I can see how that's different," the cub remarked in reply.

Wait, how was that different? Well, anyway, she said she wasn't a ghost. So there was that. She also noticed the bubble that the crystal skull produced when Nyt held it. And when Kiriko had held it. "What do you think it is?" the cub asked curiously, as his attention shifted back to the crystal carved icon.

"A bubble..." the bear said, talking aloud now as he thought about. "Do you think it's supposed to be a shield? or a trap?"

He could see it going either way there. He'd certainly felt trapped when he'd been inside, but it had also bounced Nyt off of it. So he could see it being protective at the same time.

[member="Dajara Boshtet"] | [member="Nyt Rito"]​

 

[Nyt Rito]

Timidly re-entering the room, before clearing his throat and striding forth with feigned confidence, the youngling 'just happened' to keep the young Beorni between himself and the ghost.....ling...​

​

Peering over the furry-brah's shoulder, Nyt pondered the same thoughts of his fellow youngling. "I don't, ya know, think it's like, a trap.... Cause, when either of us dropped it.... the bubble popped.... But when I totally flopped on it, it was like, *Ptchooom*!" the young Nautolan made a sound-effect, before clapping one hand off the other like skipping a rock across water, signifying how the bubble propelled him away.​

​

"So.... Brah.... I'm totally thinking shield." Nyt said with a nod of certainty. Then.... the thinking began. And when the thinking began, the ideas formed. And when the ideas formed, a grin grew. And when the grin grows on that youngling's face, only badness can happen.​

​

"Brah.... brah..... dude-brah...." He started excitedly, hands fanning the air as he could hardly contain the self-perceived brilliance of his idea that just came to mind. "I should totally hold it, and like, you throw stuff at me in the bubble! Like, I dunno, snowballs, or rocks! It'll be awesome!"​

​

The grin clouded over for a moment, as he looked to the cub, "Just... uh... careful of using sharp things, in case, ya know, they bounce back...." The grin returned moments later, as the youngling looked between the skull, and the other occupants of the room. "So, does it sound like a plan?"​

​

​

[member="Kiriko"] | [member="Dajara Boshtet"]​