Lost in the Woods!

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Location: Kashyyk

Eliza was lost. She was lost in the jungle and running for her life. The girl was scared beyond anything she'd ever known, screaming as she pumped her arms and legs furiously. From behind her she could hear a saber cat growling and panting as it traversed the loose vines and dirt.

"Kark!"

She usually never swore, having been taught many manners in the orphanage on Chazwa, some by the cane. Her lungs were burning and her legs were tired. Tears began to well in her eyes and she ran straight into a branch that clipped her head hard and drew blood.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Then she slipped, hitting the edge of the woods and twisting her ankle. The forest gave way to a waterfall, about a hundred feet high from the river that ran below. She turned, and drew her blaster pistol, unsure of what to do.

The cat came closer.

She wussed out, holstered the pistol and jumped. Her body flailed and her hair streaked behind her as she plunged all the way down the waterfall, all the while wailing in fear and euphoria at the free fall...

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

Tiny crunching of the thick strong branches of the Kashyyyk forest gave noise from the heavy set of feet that supported a large Wookiee, who's single arrow suddenly pierced and gave death to the tiger on chase. A tiny growl signaled a brother of her clan to come and pick up the cat, and trading remarks wrestled each other. In short, the Wookiee wanted to find out what went in the water just moments before the kill.

This hairy beast, weighing far more than the average female Wookiee fell from branch to branch, and began to climb trees down to the pond below. The travel was quick, in only a few minutes she had planted her feet onto the moist soil and looked into the water with dull blue eyes. A strange deep purr echoed over the surface, seeking out living creatures of the intelligent type.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Eliza didn't fare so well when she hit the water. Her boots hit first and then she flopped, smashing her face on the ponds surface. The hundred foot drop plunged her deep down under, air bubbles and equipment floating to the surface as her backpack ripped. The weight of it was drowning her. Through the last of her breath she fought it, cutting the straps with a knife and kicking off from the bottom.


"AAAAUUUUU."

She drew the fresh Kashykk air in as her head splashed through the surface, lungs begging for air. Her face was badly bruised, even a little bloody from a cut above her left eye. A rock had hit her on the way down.

"Help!"

 

[Wrrlykam]

The bubbles at first mixed in with the rest of the water, giving little notice, and just as the Wookiee turned away to give a strange purr of confusion, her ears picked up the voice of struggle. Quickly her eyes darted back at the creature. Without a warning, or so much of a preparation, she dived into the water.

Thick powerful strokes quickly made the beast close in to the alien creature. She yanked a single limb to the muddy land, doing her best to be gentle but very frantic in her quick adventure.

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Ellie collapsed on the bank, panting and coughing up water. Her hair was soaked and slicked back to her head. The gear still bobbed in the water and she felt the flush of anger heat her face, turning it bright red. That was the last of her stuff, and now she had to fish it all out.

"Ugghhhhh!"

She growled, before flipping her hair back, and rising from all fours ton stand with a wobbly gait. The woman who'd saved her, or thing rather. It was a Wookie, what looked like a young one too. Never forgetting her manners she lowered her eyes and bowed, letting her arm go out to her side.

"Thank you."

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

The Wookiee stared at the alien in concern for a long moment, finally letting out a tiny roar of confusion, mixed with a slight anger that her old crossbow had gotten wet. A proper translation, if the alien could understand her, was, "You do not fall in water or you will drown! You have lost many items of yours and I have risked mine for your life!"

Giving another growl of two, the giant beast looked down at the alien to check for damage the best way she could. Check for screaming.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Eliza had barely any grasp on Shiriwook, but she got the general idea of the Wookie woman, frustration. And lots of frustration. Eliza's face grew even redder as she took the stern talking to and lowered her head. She wasn't even sure why the Wookie woman’s anger affected her but it did.

"I..I'm sorry. There was a Saber Cat and I was running and then."

She pointed to the cliffside.

"I got cornered so I jumped. I didn't know what else to do. I've never been in Kashyyk before, I was just delivering some datapads for quick credits and decided to wander the forest a bit."

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

Wrrlykam's eyes trailed up to see what the alien meant. Unlike some Wookiee's, she knew a lot of basic and a few other languages. It helped out, especially now. Otherwise, she might have wanted to kill the alien for trespassing on land. Slowly the beast waddled back into the water, bit by bit picking and pushing items into the nook of her arm to save them before they got too ruined.

"You are a very stupid alien for letting a Cat chase you. You chase Cats! You aliens need to learn how to live here before you try to steal our stuff."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Eliza's face contorted in anger as she translated the language and put the pieces together. She felt a hot feeling flush through her pores, and her face turned a shade of cherry red as her vengeful anger took the fore, changing her from innocent little girl to hellion.

"Hey cool it! I wasn't even stealing anyhting! I was just looking around after I completed my job!"

She crossed her arms, spitting some extra water from her mouth as it coughed up out of her lungs.

"I don't know how to hunt, I'm just an Spacer trying to make money to feed myself. Exploring is my hobby."

 

[Wrrlykam]

After picking up most of the things from the surface and lowers of the water, the Wookiee gave them back to the alien owner and stood towering on the muddy grounds. She didn't know what to say anymore, other than her disappointment which was still fuming at the top of her throat. After a long moment of silence from her, she started to walk off.

"You go home. I will fly you to destination."

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

"Wait!"

Ellie struggled to keep up, holding all her stuff in her arms, no rucksack in sight. As she trudged behind the Wookie she was trying to shove things in her pockets. she still had her Westar which was a good sign. A blaster was her lifeline in this crazy galaxy.

"You said you chase the cats? Can you show me how? Are they worth anything?"

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

The Wookiee turned back to the girl with a small growl, giving a huge snarl to her facial expression. "Stealth and trees. I do not have time for training aliens. You go home, we train when village is safe." Without waiting for a response, she turned back and went heavy footed to her village in the trees, waiting for the moment to climb up and grab at the branches.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

"When Village is safe? What?"

Ellie dropped her things, grabbing a branch and climbing up behind the wookie. She was horrible at it, not a good climber by any means, but she could keep up. As her muscles burned she kept after her, her curiosity burning bright from within. she wanted to know more, to help the person that had saved her.

"Tell me what's going on? I wan't to help!"

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

An anger was clearly rising in the Wookiee's tone as her growls became rougher and more daring. If any translation was available, it would simply be "HMPPH!" The hairy beast pulled herself onto a quick ledge, where the sight of a skinned Saber Cat was roasting on a fire, it's teeth already gone to help make weapons or decorations. Half the village was burned, and even this single ledge could see that. "I take you home now. Get to great purple ship."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

As Ellie Caught sight of the village half burned she stopped and her Jaw dropped. Indignation rose to her throat and she stomped her foot, hand dropping to her Westar-35 pistol. something horrible had happened here, something she was not going to tolerate. She'd been mixed up in the underworld, seen slaves killed and folks beheaded. They almost always had done something absolutely horrible.

But here? A village burned?

"No!"

There was more to this story than she knew.

"What happened? Who attacked your village!"

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

At the clear outrage of the alien, the Wookiee turned with a small scowl. After a long moment of consideration, she walked to the great purple ship, that looked an awful lot like a largely modified B-wing from nearly eight centuries ago. In short, it was a piece of junk held together with ancient technology on a docking station of wood. "We ride in ship. Show you who did this. Then we ride you to home. Deal." The last part clearly wasn't a question, but an order in a polite outraged Wookiee sense.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

Ellie at this point knew she hadn't much of a choice. The wookie was stronger and as the ol space story went, Han solo her idle had always said, "Let the Wookie win."

So that's what she did. her things weren't that important. She still had a ration bar on her somewhere and her blaster, so she was good for now. Everything else was rather easy to replace and rather cheap too. Instead of whining or throwing a tantrum any longer she followed the wookie to her ship and got in.

Without even asking she took the Co-Pilot seat and grinned.

"This things is nice! What class hyperdrive does it have?"

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

The seat was very large for the alien, as well as the controls. It looked like the whole place was torn apart and put together with bigger materials. Despite it being so old and so broken apart, it didn't have a touch of scarring scratching or dent, if anything it was just dirty and written in Shiriwook. The beast strapped herself in with the spine-like leather belt and flicked on a few buttons to activate the warm-up. She didn't bother putting on the massive helmet on the dash. "GBp-629. Hold tight. It does not handle like a maneuverable."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Wrrlykam"]

"Nice, don't worry I’ve flown what are literal boxes with engines."

Ellie flipped a few swtiches, working off her very basic, but horrible knowledge of the language. She was a natural pilot, it ran in her blood. Years of piloting dirty run down freighters for the Chazwa Shipping company had given her a basic rundown of pretty much every hunk of junk on this side of the galaxy.

As they lifted off, she kept an eye on the power capacitors, noticing they were not where they needed to be.

"When's the last time you tuned up the engines? You got a ton of fuel and power spikes going through this thing. You really need to look that over, or this things gonna blow!"

 

[Wrrlykam]

[member="Eliza Raxis"]

She let out an annoyed huff and yanked the ship to the side. It nearly flipped all the way, right toward the open skies. She pressed forward, shooting forward into it. "I don't have time to explain. It helps it dodge. Leave my ship alone. We show you." Forwarding into the deeper of space, exiting the atmospheres, the ship shook and cradled like it was going to burst into pieces at any given moment.

Above, just where she managed to pull out, sat a grouping of small Bounty Hunter ships, each fit with well designed plasma cannons of their own kind. There seemed to be a battle going on not too long ago, or maybe these were just ships that were waiting.