Private Mission to Survive

[Devlin Dara]

‘This place is horrible’ he thought as he trudged across the open expanse of wilderness with no resources but what he had been told to carry with him. He sighed the fading light of the day making it difficult to see even through the visor of his heads-up display. It provided some level of ability to see in the dark but that did not make him feel any better. He had a gut feeling that everything out here was waiting to kill him, stalking him from a distance. He had no idea if it was true or not, but it certainly did not seem like a safe place for someone like him that had very little training in wilderness survival. He stopped and sat down resting his back against the trunk of what he assumed was some kind of tree. He was tired, hungry, and out of breath. He figured his odds of survival were slim to none and he was not allowed to go into a town or village for help. His whole set of orders had been to come here to “figure it out” and to “build confidence”. Neither of those seemed practical when he was failing so miserably.

As he sat there, he used his gloved to fruitlessly wipe at the dirt that was building up on the exterior. It seemed that his gloves were only capable of smudging the layers of dirt and grime that were building up. This was essentially the worst possible scenario he could think of for himself. Alone on a planet with limited technology in the wilderness where he had to try and fend for himself like one would expect a member of the Sith to be able to do. He sighed once more the moisture building up on his helmet momentarily as he looked up at the sky and could see a clear sky filled with stars as the soft orange turned to purple with the fading sun. He could not deny how pretty the scene was but emotional responses to landscapes was not logical in a moment like this when the landscape threatened to take his life.

He placed his hand down to help himself stand knowing he at least needed to find some shelter in case any actual creatures were to come across him. He stopped for a moment staring at a mushroom that he had sat next to without realizing it. ‘Had this been there when sat down?’ he wondered to himself as he looked at it unsure if it was dangerous to eat such a thing for sustenance. If he was not sure the risk did not seem like a good idea. He sighed again as his stomach audibly rumbled as he started to walk past the tree and the mushroom and continued to look for something that would aid him. He was growing too tired to muster any sort of reasonable pace as he used the trees to help steady him as he continued on the sun falling behind the horizon at his back. It was in this moment within the quiet dark he once again felt that familiar tinge of shame that he could not live up to the perfect image of what a member of The Sith Empire should be. He wished he could think of a way out of his predicament but for all of his intelligence this experience was alien to him. Did his superiors know? Perhaps they had intentionally sent him out here to die hungry and alone days away from any sort of civilization.

 

[Lady Marrow]

The Garden had been growing steadily on this new world, a fact that Lady Marrow had been proud of, It was the size of several grand stadiums now, continuing to move outwards, with it she could feel the machenations of her former mind beginning to return to her as the bond between herself as its marrowborn and the garden were beginning to communicate once again. It wasn't the way she remembered it, she had grown since its replanting meaning that the changes to the Garden itself were foundational when it came to its structure. It seemed that meeting with the Jedi merely a few cycles ago had also had a considerable resonance with the Garden itself... But then she had met a real Sith. The beginnings of the knowledge of the universe were at her fingertips now... but before she was able to study, she needed to finish what she had begun here in this garden. ​

Going about her business was easy enough, however, as the Marrowborn moved about the intertwining roots of the shrooms that composed a veritable shaped lattice that formed tall into the shape of a statue like creature, resembling a far larger feral Kushiban, she could feel a disturbance in her forest. Whispers spoke to her of an intruder as the force called out. Many creatures wondered into her garden without such warnings, however she had been on the lookout for sentient creatures who might seek to do her and her Garden harm, while also she had been attempting to dissuade other sentient creatures from entering her garden at the request of the Jedi she had met. Having informed her that other creatures, especially children, dying within the confines of her sacred land would not endear others towards her in a manner that would be beneficial for the survival of her lands.​

Betwixt and between her worry, the Marrow born would pull her knees to her chest, her calfs and thighs fusing together to form a thicker, more muscular hind leg of a quadruped as she would in-turn shorten the length of her fore-arms. the additional mass moving to her neck as it would need to hold itself up. Her frill like dress would wrap around her form, creating a fibrous fur as her hair would twist into a mane that ran down the length of her spine. The bizarre two tailed feline esque creature that she became in moments would begin to bolt through the foliage with renewed speed more in line with the quadrupedal forms that she had taken in her inception. Still bearing the same colors and folds of that of her species, simply re-arranging her form more than shapeshifting in the truest sense of the expression. ​

It would not be long until the interloper was in sight, The filigrees Cougar-like fungal monster that haunted the man would prowl along the edges of his periphery. Not wanting to expose itself as it would weight up the weapons that appeared to be at his disposal. It took a moment to discern, but the person appeared to be male, tall, and frustrated with their predicament. However, they had been among the spores of this place for a while, If they were to fall asleep now through their tiredness. It would be unlikely that the spores that permeated the air of the place here would allow him to wake up again. So, without further adieu, the creature would make itself known to the being that imposed on her sanctuary. ​

It took focus as Lady Marrow bend her head down as her features would once again begin to separate and lengthen, leaving her on all fours to spring up to her feet and approach the man while the forms were still separating out completely. Claws were in the process of vanishing and much of what Lady Marrow used to replicate clothing was still falling back into place around her hips. As she would speak, her voice would be almost childlike, standing not much higher than 4'11 as her long prehensile tails would sway from side to side, quivering their poisoned spines subconsciously. ​

"You're not supposed to be here." Left her mouth in an almost pleasant tone. "I made a deal with the villagers that they were not supposed to come in here, and I would give them medicines. So, you need to leave or I won't make them for them." She would state again, eerily chipper and in a matter of fact nature. IT would seem that her mood was void of anger or hostility, yet. She had little reason to be, this was a sith world, but she'd yet to have trouble with a force user here like herself. But, for now she would wait for a response, humming a little to herself hoping that he would be quick about leaving her be... the thought dawning on her that this person, may have things that he would be able to teach her. ​

Devlin Dara

 

[Devlin Dara]

As he continued to walk on, he noticed a strange reading coming across his heads up display concerning particles in the air. He had thought it was just him starting to breath hard enough to fog up the visor, but he ran his gloved finger across the visor a thin veil of sediment seemed to come off. He was glad in this moment that he had a helmet capable of filtering, so he didn’t breath it whatever this was. It was dark enough now that he could barely see through the dark and thin particles of spores making almost appear like a soft light snow. He took another step forward stopping himself from stepping on yet another mushroom. He analyzed the area around him and from what he had gathered he was in a very different environment now than he had been a couple miles ago. His stomach growled again as he heard something move in the distance but failed to see it. ‘It’s okay it’s probably more scared of you than you are of it. Things kill to defend themselves when they are scared. Right, this isn’t helping’ He thought to himself.

"You're not supposed to be here."

“I know I’m not. I’m lost and alone on a planet miles away from civilization and hearing voices in my head,” Hew replied out loud his mind taking a moment to process why he had spoken out loud.

"I made a deal with the villagers that they were not supposed to come in here, and I would give them medicines. So, you need to leave, or I won't make them for them."

Devlin turned his head spotting the small creature that had easily snuck up on him. Startled he yelled and fell backwards making sure to try and avoid falling on the mushroom he had seen. He stared up at the sky wondering if he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. He was not cut out for this. His mind reached out through to force powerfully scanning for any signs of technology and failing miserably. He felt alone and helpless the comforting thought of a world without technological friends only reminded him of how truly alone he really was. With a sigh he sat up crossing his legs as he looked at the creature in front of him. He had not heard or seen of such a species before and wondered if his life was in danger. It at least appeared to be a child. ‘Quick now is your chance to make a bold first impression like anyone from The Sith Empire would’.

“I am sorry for intruding upon your territory young creature. I am on a deadly mission of great importance but not by any of the local villages,” He said trying his best to swallow his fear and put on a hardened exterior. As he finished his sentence his stomach growled audibly enough to create an awkward silence.

“I am also incredibly lost, hungry, unable to go to any village, and have no idea how to survive out here” he said his demeanor changing almost immediately from his fake bold self to the desperate intellectual that he was.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

The creature didn't seem hostile, but like the other being she had met, it covered its face, making it hard to garner insight into its true intentions. She figured it was due to the spored that surrounded it, but such things were inevitable when you wondered into a multiplex of fungal life forms that sprouted and twisted in beautiful terraces. As he leaned back and nearly squashed one of her mushrooms, Lady Marrow would feel her heckles rise in outrage at the thought of the destruction of some of her flora. Fists clenching at her sides as she attempted to remain calm for the moment. He would talk for now but her eyes would follow him and his every move, ensuring that he would not harm any of her precious shrooms... She liked the one he had crushed too, it had been one of her more interesting creations. ​

Hunger was something that she understood, as the creature's stomach growled audibly, she would begin to move through the growth lines, placing foot after foot carefully between each of the plants as she would furrow for a particular species of meaty shroom. Reaching out with one of her barbed tails she would grip the tip of the shroom with her fingers as a razor-blade sharp barb would snip a sample off of the mycetic creation. Waving her hand the plant would regrow into exactly the same shape quickly as Lady Marrow would hop from her perch on the terrace garden onto the ground once again. ​

"Here, eat this... I understand it that your biological processes are informing you that you've not eaten in some time. The humanoid stomach has about a liter capacity." As she spoke she would begin to weave some of her power into the snippet that she cradled in her hands. Allowing it to branch out in every direction and grow to a size large enough that she would have to hold it in both hands. The Mushroom was light, hues of brown and of a variety that did not seem to generate spores or toxins. These passive flora were often peppered around her garden to attract animals to forrage, a trap of sorts as they would recognize a plentiful food source within the garden all the while breathing in the somnolent spores the overhanging great willow gave off. ​

"This is harmless, eat, and be full. It should sustain you in the mean time, however it will not have the complete complex nutrients your body requires to maintain its full health long term. So... where DID you come from? Are you another Marrow? Can you communicate with your mind too? I've seen two other such creatures before as well, though one came from a Garden called the Jedi... I still don't know where that is. But it's in a huuuuge place filled with giant shiny trees with no leaves that people live in! You know the kind that people build! What about you? Where's your garden?" The marrow born would begin to tangent audibly, speaking of the memories that she had seen of the Jedi Temple and the surrounding city. She understood what a building was, however when they extended as high that they were towers that penetrated the heavens, they were unlike anything she had ever seen. Only trees grew that large, and seeing as it was the home of the group, it made sense that this was their garden. ​

Soon enough she would silence herself, awaiting the reply from the creature as her eyes would veritably sparkle with the glee of gaining more insight about the rest of the universe. Surely this being with his odd clothing, far different than that of the shaper or the Jedi she had met. Meaning they too must be from another interesting world. ​

Devlin Dara

 

[Devlin Dara]

Devlin watched as the creature seemed to tense up at him nearly damaging a mushroom he breathed a sigh of relief suddenly glad he had awkwardly landed in such a way as to avoid damaging the mushroom. It was a feeling he understood if someone had hurt one of his creations or some other intelligent technology he would be upset too. He watched intently as she created a mushroom and repaired it effortlessly using whatever abilities her species was capable of doing. He looked around and finally understood. She had mentioned he had encroached onto her lands. Was all of this her creation? He looked around as he took the mushroom she offered him but paid little mind to it as he observed her and analyzed her.

“You are something else. A truly beautiful and magnificent creation. Did you learn to take on forms like this for yourself? The complexity of such a task to emulate another species is something remarkable. The amount of chemistry and trial and error involved I could imagine it taking a long time to be satisfied. So all of this is you?” He asked gesturing out into the expanse of the garden she had created. He was jealous now he wished he had done such things with his gifts but then again, he supposed that was just any advanced city.

He looked down at the mushroom in front of him and now suddenly felt a bit bad about it. She was offering a creation of hers as a means to help him survive. He reached up to unseal his helmet and stopped as he remembered all of the other spores around him and he hesitated.

“Is it safe to breathe here? My biological body could be harmed by breathing in dangerous spores. I would be more than happy to answer your questions,” He said wishing he had any technology on him that he could demonstrate other than his helmet. He supposed he could try and use the force too make a bubble around his head so he could breathe and not be subjected to the spores it would not be much different than using force deflection he supposed. He unlatched his helmet and pulled it off as he focused on the force to keep him safely breathing. His face was younger looking than one might expect. A brown haired 20-year-old that looked closer to 17 and soft features.

“My name is Devlin Dara. I am from the planet of Dromund Kaas and represent The Sith Empire. I can telepathically communicate when called for. My garden would be considered Dromund Kaas,” He extended his helmet out as an offering much like she had offered him a piece of her this was in a way a piece of him.

“I created this to aid me. It is capable of providing you a great amount of information on things you are curious about. All you need to do is put it on and ask,” Devlin explained having pulled up access to the HoloNet with the faint signal he could from one of the local satellites. It was all very straining to be focusing on the two tasks at once but it was the least he could offer if she intended to help him survive.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

Lady Maddy would listen on intently as the strange clothed creature would observe her, feeling his gaze she would do a small twirl. To the naked eye, it would appear that she had the form of a young girl, maybe no older than sixteen with long ruby hair that had been braided around the back and adhorned with mushroom like hair clips of a slightly lighter shade. Her skin was a sort of Zeltron pink as ridges marked her features and around her collar as if it were a shirt of some description. She had subtle curves and hips, though they were slender and lithe, giving way to a fur covered sheet that expanded down to above her shins as a skirt or dress of some description. Upon closer inspection, the clothing that she had attempted to replicate was also in part herself, simply formed to a shape she had desired to create. Laying down the back of the dress were two tails joined at the back, easily longer than she was tall and barbed at their tips with bladed spines. The tails twisted and flicked to and fro with her moods, undulating and rolling ambiantly behind her most of the time with an amount of serene grace usually reserved for how objects acted when submerged, or how smoke rose through the air. ​

The compliments were very welcome, as Lady Marrow would stand adroit on her toes, looking around the garden for examples of her craft that she could show off, but nodding as this person seemed to understand the process that had to be gone through. It wasn't as if she could simply create something she wanted by looking at it, she had to breed them. Certain formations could take years to craft, while others came more easily. ​

"Uh huh!" She would begin to exlclaim, glee veritably gushing from her at this point as she would step closer to him. One of her tails whipping a little too quickly behind her with a whooshing flit. "Look! It took me a while but i managed to make this!" She would run her fingers through her hair as it would flow like strands. Finger combing it over one of her shoulders as she would lean in, baying him to touch her prized creation. "It was really, really hard, because hair has to be thin or it doesn't look right, but to be that thin it also has to be strong so i ended up having a problem with textures, because human hair is all shiny and nice, so I had to work with something that's able to develop a natural oil, but not something that would be created too much of or else it would be gross. But it also has to hold colour as well, and be able to be moved into shapes and all other kinds of things. It took me years! to get it just right! and now it does! Isn't it gorgeous!?" She would await the appropriate level of accolades from the traveler, knowing full well her masterpiece deserved every last ounce of it. ​

But as his following questions sounded she would listen intently, albeit a little distracted, humming a little with excited anxiety about wanting to move onto some other forms that she was proud of... But she determined as a living being, and if he were to eat her mushroom it was probably a good idea to answer his question first. ​

"Oh, uhm, mostly! If you begin to feel sleepy you'd end up dying in the end, but it would take a really really long time. At least a couple of hours and then you wouldn't wake up as long as you were still in the garden. So you'd probably be fine!" She would giggle, not alluring to the fact that shed simply allow it to happen if that became an eventuality. But as he would reach out his helmet she would almost snatch it out of his hand, recoiling with it like an animal that had been given food, so the owner of the helmet would be unable to claim it back before it was thoroughly examined. She'd observe the outside of the piece of equipment for a while before putting her own head into the hole as he had, at first backwards before realizing that he was able to see through the visor at the front. Letting out ooohs as she would discover more and more new things about the piece of equipment. While, around them the entire garden would tremble a moment like a gust of wind bristling through the Myceticae. Each and every one of them would grow about a millimeter. ​

As she would find access to holonet she would think about what she wanted to ask the helmet, the first thing she wanted to see was this person's garden however. So many of these gardens seemed to have names, The Jedi, Dromund Kaas, The Sith, Korriban. It was making her think that in the end she should name her own Garden and push it to become so beautiful that she would overcome these other gardens in beauty and complexity. ​

"All right! Show me Dromund Kaas!"​

Devlin Dara

 

[Devlin Dara]

Devlin watched as she seemed to get happier and with an almost childlike enthusiasm but with the intelligence level of something far greater than an ordinary child. He didn’t take his gloves off but he did exactly what she was expecting and reached out to touch the hair she had created for herself it was fascinating. He didn’t know much in the way of botany or chemistry but he could recognize was something remarkable was standing before him. He listened entirely to her explanation although he wasn’t familiar with any mushrooms one would expect outside of those used in cooking but he figured he should probably avoid mentioning that aspect of their differing societies.

“It is fascinating to be able to recreate keratin from what you had available to you. Does that mean you also wash your hair or do you maintain it differently and use the oils to maintain its composition from breaking down to outside influences?” He asked as he watched her clearly fish for compliments and he was bad at thinking of them with normal people. Yet, in this instance it seemed his technobabble was actually helping him to connect with the creature in ways those of other species couldn’t comprehend. His stomach growled again as he raised the large mushroom towards his face keeping and eye on her reaction. She with all her knowledge could have easily poisoned the thing and he would never know.

“Dying? A couple of hours?...” he said thinking out loud as he processed her words.

“A couple of hours is not a really long time. You know that helmet wont work if I go unconscious so it would probably be in your interest to try and keep me alive if you would want to know more about other gardens,” he said trying to appeal to her desire for knowledge, something he also understood. It was an interesting dichotomy the two of them had. Both were unique and evidently ostracized for the way that they were. Yet she was clearly very strong in aspects of the wild and nature and he was strong in the aspects of technology and cities. It was a safe bet if they ever tried to travel together at least one of them would be in their element.

As she spoke about Dromund Kaas the HoloNet started to play images, video clips, and provide verbal information about the city including that of The Sith Empire, the cities, and unique history. It would play for quite some time and a similar result would happen for all of the other results she would ask the device as long as he maintained a strong connection with the force anyways. While she looked up the information, he had decided to start eating the mushroom he had been given and rather quickly as well giving him a stomach ache. He rolled onto his side yawning as he propped his head on his hand realizing the double-edged sword. Even if the spores didn’t put him to sleep he would have to try and stay awake. This was going to be a long few days. He just hoped the helmet would entertain her enough to want to warrant keeping him alive.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

"Keera-tin?" She would question, nodding for him and replicating the motion with her hands for him to eat the mushroom. She had not heard of the word before for that matter, the words humans used for chemical compounds still a little beyond her understanding while her grip on their language was still young in her mind. But, from context alone it must have something to do with hair. She knew that hair and fingernails were made of the same material when it came to humans and many other animals. But there was another chemical that was used to color them naturally, leaving her at a loss as to which of the two he was referring to. "People wash their hair!? Why? Is that how they keep their hair so nice shiny and strong?" She would exclaim excitedly having learned something more about human hair. Her hair, although it appeared like hair, as he would run through the strands they would be a bit thicker than normal human hair with a texture that seemed more like dry seaweed to the touch. A feeling that it would be slippery if it were wet... suffice to say it was bizarre.​

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As he touched it, Lady Marrow would let out a happy hum at the contact and admiration of her pride and joy, moving to focus on the helm that she had been given. Though shortly after placing it on she would begin to have a couple of issues with it as he continued to talk about his potential death. LAdy Marrow didn't really see the problem, things died, and he would be eaten by the garden. Following which there would likely be a statue or two of his likeness in the garden somewhere, though its features may alter having been combined with some of the features of others that had met the same fate. Nothing would be lost, he would be alive still, in a sense. But just part of her Garden forever... But then he mentioned about his inability to help her use the helmet. ​

​

Hmmmm, he did make a point, lady marrow was having more than a little bit of fun with the toy that she had on her head, though as the images began to stream past her at speeds she wasn't able to keep up with, she began to struggle smacking the helmet to make it stop. Not quite knowing how to make them come back to her and thus only letting out vague objective noises. Wanting to take them all in one by one, she would find herself overloaded with information quickly as images videos and more fleeted across her senses as dangling tastes. Gripping the sides of the helmet with both her arms and her tail as she would struggle to remove it almost akin to a feline who had something trapped upon their head. When the helm was removed finally she would move to hand it back to the man who had given it to her... she would talk to him more about it later, but it seemed that it was needed for him to not breath too many of the poison spores that hung everywhere. ​

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"All of the... places were moving too quickly... Show me again later, ok? My spores are not dangerous in small amounts, but if you breathe in too many they'll begin to put you to sleep, and in your sleep you'll breathe more so you wont wake up. But with your... shell on, you should be safe." ​

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She would smile, trying not to convey the disappointment that she was feeling about the whole thing. But failed a little as her tails dragged a little more on the ground, her shoulders drooping just that fraction more than before. There had already been so many visotors here, and she had learned so much in the short time of being on Kushiban, after a year it was likely her garden would be complete and she would be free to roam the galaxy unless something convinced her otherwise.​

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"So, what task were you set on that bought you here?"​

 

[Devlin Dara]

Devlin watched her as she processed the information he had given her regarding what little he knew of hair off the top of his head. He supposed he could show her how to access more information through his helmet to find out what or really anything she didn’t have a basic understanding of. He watched as she sort of hilariously reacted to the helmet and started to find it difficult to remove. He had never been good with people or understanding them so he had never considered how someone might react to seeing a video for potentially the first time. He took the helmet back from her and peered into it as he listened to her explain her difficulty with the helmet and then explain just how deadly her passive spores were in the area even though she seemed to think that it wasn’t such a big idea. Could a creature like her comprehend a typical existence like his?

“I ‘should’ be safe? Noted. I do have to sleep as part of my species. We need it to recharge I am unsure about yours as you are so unique. I don’t even know if there are records of your kind existing other than you which is incredible. I can set up the helmet next time to move things slower if you want. You could even in theory anyways order hair care supplies that my species uses and search out various styles you might like,” He said still trying to appeal to her interests and let her know that he was someone valuable to try and keep alive. As she asked about his task he frowned a bit as he put the helmet on.

“My superiors uh leaders that have a higher station over me ordered me to try and learn to adapt to living out in the wilds and away from civilization,” He said realizing he might be using terms that were harder for her to understand or comprehend giving the environment she was likely raised it.

“You see my garden is in these large metal gardens all of them across the galaxy. If there are creations like this…shell then I can interact with it similarly like you can your garden. Out here for me is like being in a barren place where things cannot grow or be added to your garden. Imagine being separated form your garden and where all your creations die or cannot exist. Well my superiors felt like me living in that environment was beneficial to my growth but I am not doing well without it or learning to survive without it like they hoped,” He said trying to find a reasonable way to explain his predicament using the terms he had picked up on that she had been using.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

She had to think about the things he was saying for a moment, the thought of there being products that others used for their hair was enough to expand her mind exponentially. Of course! there were so many chemicals in the universe that these humanoids had already twisted and created to their own ends, to make themselves prettier, to make life more convenient for them, it made sense that they would be proud of their hair too! Marrow had seen how they'd primmed up their hair with gadgets flora and shiny baubles, peacocking and playing with their shiny hair in order to draw the attention to others to the changes and effort that they put in.​

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But as he would continue, it would seem that he was sent here with a task, survival was something of an expertise of hers when it came to the wilderness discovering poisons, toxins and the like. She would deliberate the matter, as it seemed that this creature was from the outside world, while she was stuck looking after her garden and the groves that surrounded it. In recent days Lady Marrow had been moving to a nearby village with the attempt to make contact with the locals, helping them to grow their homes in return for baubles and the like which appeared to be interesting to the diminutive Kushiban. Trade was a new concept to the young creature, but now it seemed she was able to teach another creature like herself about trading.​

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"Mmhmmm! Oh! We could trade?! I could teach you how to survive on a planet like this! And in exchange, you have to come back and bring me hair products after you get back home. See! That way you get what you need, so your master doesn't kill you, or so you don't die here. And, more importantly! I get the hair chemicals the other people make!"​

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Lady Marrow had a bizarre set of priorities, but such was the nature of getting the girl this worked up in the scheme of things. Death meant little, all things were fertilizer in the end. It didn't matter how soon that inevitability would be. But the thought of her hair being shinier than normal in the interim was something deeply exciting. And this person was needed to be able to do it.​

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"So! The first lesson!" She would explode with glee, assuming that he would have already accepted the terms as she would acquire three different spores from the air, allowing them to land in her hands and grow into four separate mushrooms. One which was red, another with red and white spots, one that was blue with yellow stripes and one that was plain white but seemed to produce a somewhat pungent mucus like substance. Two of these mushrooms were loaded with levels of toxins that could put a wookie out for a couple of days... and would likely kill the creature before her.​

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"Which one of these is poisonous?" She would proclaim, as he had still yet to eat the shroom in his hands, Lady marrow would control it to wither away into nothing i his grip, it was too late for that now. He would have to go hungry until he was able to complete this task. She wouls lay the three shrooms down on the ground, as the mucus under the plain grey one would begin to cause discoloration in the plants around it. Though it was subtle.​

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"You have to think of it like psychology, all living things want to stay alive as long as they can so they can reproduce, but there is always something that wants to kill it, for food or territory. So, how do they survive? Some things have weapons, like you humans. Your blasters, your blades, ships, armour houses and technology at its heart ensures that you all live long lives, and reproduce safely. But in the wild things are different, purer. Their weapons are claws, teeth, shells, digging, flying... and finally poisons!" She would giggle looking down at the three of them.​

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"Typically, as poisons use complex chemicals, they tend to create bizarre effects on the organism and the world around them. One of these mushrooms is lunch and the other three will probably kill you. Which is the good one?" She'd laugh again. Sitting cross legged on the ground and musing over each of the four as she would flow the force into them allowing them to grow larger and larger. Until each of them was the size of a medium sized melon.​

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Devlin Dara ​

 

[Devlin Dara]

“Trade?” He asked wondering what it was that she could possibly want all the way out here. Not to his surprise it seemed she was interested in the hair care products that we had on other planets. He could let her know that the villages had plenty of it to trade for but he wasn’t sure where that would leave him the grand scheme of things. Truth was that he really wasn’t keen or wanting to learn how to survive in a place like this, he would rather just avoid a place like this all together. He sighed about to answer her when she had started to begin. Perhaps she was smart enough to realize that he had no real choice in the matter although with all the food he ate he could probably survive the rest if he had water.

As she produced and created the mushrooms he looked over the four different types that she had conjured. He wanted to just assume all of them were and avoid mushrooms altogether and find something less risky. That would be the safe bet anyways but he wondered if her knowledge was purely related to fungus. He scratched the side of his helmet trying to think before she had started to explain everything to him.

“I suppose that makes sense there is a natural food pyramid or hierarchy to all things in the wild and even more so on a case-by-case basis. The higher up on the hierarchy or food chain the more dominant you are and less likely to be affected by other creatures but that doesn’t means that a mushroom couldn’t kill something higher on the list. In face it would only be natural for things lower on the list to form natural defenses against all the things that would threaten it that exist higher on that list,” he said rationalizing what she was trying to tell him so that he could understand and try to commit it to memory better.

“I’m guessing the plain red one is the safe one…the other are just too different or alert any predator of them to the danger of risking their life to try and eat it,” He said not feeling completely comfortable with his answer although he was pretty sure he could rule out the snotty mushroom. He was starting to feel concerned about the trade just how much hair care product were they expecting for this training session? Did they have an idea of value and currency? He assumed not and would have to try and find a way to not only get a lot of hair product but to also ship it here and hope they didn’t die upon delivery.

“Wait, have you always taken this form?” he asked curiously as he young child like demeanor.

“It would seem likely to me that if you were trading and observing my species you would take a larger more mature form for easier communication, travel, and longer hair?” he asked curiously.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

​

After listening to some of his exposition, Lady Marrow would be impressed with his deductions. It would seem that he had good instincts when it came to these things, Although he had chosen the plain red of the Mushrooms, Lady Marrow would between them dubiously, picking up the bluish one and taking a bite of it herself, immune to the effects of the toxin that would normally ravage the body of a regular organic. She was already a toxic creature in her own right, and the force within her would render the toxin inert as she would approach the plain red one he had chosen. ​

​

"I have to admit I'm a little impressed with you. The important thing to remember when it comes to toxins in the natural world are two things. One, is that seldom is an entire thing toxic, i could have made the entire other red mushroom bright pink or green and it would not have mattered. However, something speckled like this red and white one here... The fact it has the white little dots means that there are multiple chemicals for coloration in play. Other things like if other plants don't seem to grow around them, are there too many dead insects or animals nearby are indicators of poisons." She would continue, passing over the flat red mushroom. Happy that he had made the right answer, it wasn't rocket science to survive in the wild. ​

​

"Plants are easy, although animals can be more difficult, another thing to remember is that most animals have a single method to survive in the wild, a tried and true ace in the hole which they will attempt to use every time. Poison is a risky one, because it relies on the creatures around you knowing that you're toxic. But, plants and animals which blend in to their surroundings or hide or fight or the ones which obviously use camouflage to survive, are often safe to eat and hunt... mostly" She would finish, having given her little tutorial on how to eat in the wild, the next step would be learning how to track, however that would be for another day.​

​

Her student however, would ask about her size, to which Lady Marrow would look a little annoyed at, bringing attention to the fact she had not yet grown to her former full height since the destruction of her prior garden. Growing was a long process, and it would be almost a year until she was reach her former full height. It was somewhat of a touchy subject. Though for now she would crouch down on the ground, planting all four of her limbs as her body would begin to flatten as the force would flow through her body. Her colours and textures would not alter, however the shape she was taking would as she became more and more like a mighty large lizard. A flightless lindworm with two long tails stretching out behind it still ridged with mushroom formations which replicated scales. ​

​

Her tongue would whip out in the air as she would once again move to shift back, the entire process taking about half a minute to put her skirt back and ensure that everything was indeed back in its place. All aside from her hair, which was now rather everywhere as she would begin to finger comb and move it back into an approximate position to where it was before. ​

​

"I, can look like lots of things, thank you very much! But I am still growing!" She'd pout. "My garden back on my home planet got destroyed... So I've had to begin again. We have a sort of... bond. It's hard to remember things while its repairing itself again... I don't... think im meant to be this small. I remember being taller... and smarter... "​

​

Her thoughts would linger as her words would drift off, the garden itself would tremble for a moment at her introspection. A thousand yard stare burning a hole in the ground in front of her with her gaze.... she wanted it all back.​

 

[Devlin Dara]

"I have to admit I'm a little impressed with you…”

“Thanks, and yes that makes a lot of sense. Among my species I am considered of above average intellect and I am sure you are a prodigy among your kind as well or rather the paradigm progenitor of sorts a true master of your craft,” he said taking the mushroom from her and placing it into his pack and continued to listen to her as he remained seated his legs crossed like listening to a teacher. He would follow along with the lecture it was all pretty basic knowledge that made a lot of sense. It was ultimately stuff he had chosen to forget in order to make room for more important information that had been relevant in his daily life.

He could see her mood change with his line of questions concerning her and her size. He watched as she effortlessly transformed into another creature all together and then transformed back. As she reformed into a female humanoid he felt that he had to look away as her ‘clothes’ reformed just out of instinct. He waited until she started to talk once again and turned his attention back to her and listened to her as she explained why it was such a sore subject. He looked up at her as she stared at the ground obviously upset.

“I’m really sorry to hear that. I understand how you feel. It’s not exactly the same but when I was a child I was kidnapped from my home…my garden and I was forced to do things I was good at but didn’t want to do. I then was taken to my new garden of Dromund Kaas where I was forced to grow up a certain way and follow certain rules. I always wondered what my life would have been like if I hadn’t been taken away from my real garden. I know its not exactly the same but if there is a way that I could help you regain the garden you once lost I would want to help you. For whatever reason it was destroyed you seem like a curious, intelligent, and genuine creature,” He said bringing his knees up closer to his chest as he talked about his past and trying to relate it to hers and let her know that he truly understood.

“What is stopping you from making your garden as large as it was before? Time? I can imagine it would take a long time to build what I assume was a magnificent garden. If I can assist you would you be willing to help me? We could be friends,” he suggested wondering if she was familiar with the concept of friendship or if they had only learned to socialize on a trade for trade basis.

“Oh…and how much haircare product were you thinking?”

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

Lady Marrow could not understand a number of the words the man before him spoke, blinking a little distantly at terms like 'intellect' and 'prodigy'... Such words were often both too complex and too niche to have made them into the common vernacular of the Marrow girl as she would attempt to understand the sentences he was speaking from the context around him and the tone of his voice, which helped a little. The man was excited, positive, open with his gesticulation and the like so she was relatively certain that the words were intended to be positive. Intellect was a word that seemed a little like intelligent, something she had heard in the context of other life forms which were able to think. Prodigy however she was stumped on along with a couple of others... but the abstract thematic of the intent was conveyed just fine as she would nod with an excited fervor. ​

​

Rising form her lizard form she would twirl as to show off her skills, bathing in the applause and accolades that she was beginning to expect others to afford her. She was four for four when it came to other Sith considering her to be a marvel, something beautiful, gorgeous... a prode-a-gie! She was beginning to believe such things more and more now, though it seemed that her new friend had undergone matters of hardship themselves. To be stolen from one's garden was a devastating loss, Lady Marrow clutched pearls as she would visibly recoil at the thought of the matter, her stature lowering as she would shrink with an almost animalistic empathy. Though it seems that he was able to root a new one on the Dromund Kaas place. ​

​

But the man would seem to land upon the root of the problem. She would nod again a little slower and more in a deep kind of introspective thought, attempting to chose her words carefully so not to convey the incorrect expression, such topics welled with emotional response in the mean time as they were recent wounds. She hadn't expected the ship she was on to crash, though she also hadn't expected to kill the others upon the ship either. ​

​

"After I ran away with my praetorian seed, one of the crew on the ship i had stowed away on planted the seed in an act of kindness. I was overjoyed that they wanted to help me grow my new garden. But such things grow very quickly in the dark as I began to tend it. I had kept it as something not unlike a small tree within the ship, but, one night it began to gestate while we all slept, eventually its spores put all the crew to sleep, and my garden grew to envelop the ship and everything inside of it... They all died."​

​

She would say, as she would create from the marrow around her, six mushroom formations that would take vaguely humanoid shape, mostly humans, men and women with kind expressions on their face. Their idols could be seen around the garden in hidden places, frozen in time in poses that she could remember if one cared to look. But Lady Marrow would look back to her great tree, the shroom like willow tree which towered in the center of the makeshift woodlands. The heart of her paradise where she had crashed into a lake. ​

​

"I landed here and began to grow it again, its repairing nicely, i've only been working on it for a couple months now and it's already gotten this big. It grows on its own but... Its messy, I need to shape it to form, trim it into shapes and structured, beautiful things. Otherwise it would just be... everywhere. Makes it hard to think when its like that"​

​

She would frown at the thought of the uncontrolled chaos of a neglected Garden, she had remembered that in the early days, learning that mental blocks were often a result of certain areas in the Marrow being strangled by others, She needed to control the direction, least it impact her in a rather visceral sense. She didn't understand any longer the relationship between the gardens form and her own mind beyond the fact that she needed to make it grow to be like she was before... Her awareness on that matter was, scant. Maybe she used to know it? But if she did, that memory was destroyed with her old garden along with so many other memories. But then the mention of hair care snapped her out of her daydream...​

​

"Oh, just one will do... one of each." She would smile with a nod, thinking she was doing the man some kind of favor, no clue on how many brands of different products existed in the world beyond her own. She had never gone shopping, could never afford to and the places she had grown up in were never high on the produce, especially not to her. But she would await yet another response, hopeful at her reasonable request. ​

 

[Devlin Dara]

He listened to her as she explained how she had come to leave some other planet that she had set up a much larger garden in. He supposed this was after the previous one was destroyed or close to being destroyed at the time. He thought about that terrifying scenario on the ship and what they must have gone through. He looked towards her current garden wondering if this was something that was doomed to repeat itself over and over. The more power and control she seemed to take over the more threatening she became and the larger the garden the harder it would be to defend. As she explained that she had only been working on it a couple of months his eye twitched a bit, it was already this big in such a short amount of time. He thought about her predicament if her garden grew wider it be more of a threat to everyone even her.

“I’m sorry I wish to know more about your kind as a human I can’t really comprehend some of the things you would experience or what some things mean. What is a praetorian seed? I assume it is the seed from which you can create new gardens and regain lost memories, similar to a form of reincarnation or a uh…regrowth?” He asked curiously trying to grasp the whole picture and try to understand things from her point of view as well as he possibly could. He could imagine a cycle of living where he became more mentally adolescent and less intelligent until he could regain lost knowledge and intelligence. He would think the whole process to be frustrating and annoying but if it was the cost of a pseudo form of immortality it might be worth it.

“Have you ever thought of growing your garden more vertical? I can imagine the wider it grows the more the locals could grow to see you as a danger. Also, the surface of a planet no matter how large it is, is still limited. You could create caverns under ground and grow safely below or create structures similar to what my kind refer to as buildings and create hanging gardens or lattice working. That would be beautiful and you could keep yourself and your greatest creations safe from anyone that might try to harm it,” he said becoming invested in the creativity one could have with powers like her. He wished he could have such freedom to control the metal that the technology was encased in but he could only work with things that had programs and electricity. As he pondered the possibilities, he got his answer.

“Right one of each…,” he said making a mental note and his brain had to do a quick rewind to what she had just said.

“One of each?!” He repeated falling back onto his back suddenly feeling a migraine forming as he became motionless on the ground next to the mushroom he had protected earlier. There were easily thousands of different brands across the galaxy maybe hundreds of thousands. It wouldn’t be impossible if he did a mass order to the planet using his powers. That would take so long though. Maybe the city on this planet and its products would be sufficient? Would she know the difference? What if he just got her the raw materials to make her own instead and a few examples? His mind raced wondering what he had gotten himself into as he laid there.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

She would nod as he asked for a little more information about her and how her species operates, though he mentioned that he was a human in the same breath which threw the girl for a loop. She had questions now, was he not a marrow born like her? She hadn't paid much attention to his face under the helmet when it had been handed to her, figuring that due to him being able to speak through the mind like herself that he too was something akin to herself. Lies were not something she had come to understand yet, nor deceptions, even if they were made by her own incorrect assumptions. However, she seemed very disappointed at the realization. ​

​

"W-wait... human? You said you had a garden, and agreed when I asked if you were like me. I... I don't understand? I thought you were a Marrow too. " She would confront head on, not wanting to allow these thoughts to linger. However her disappointment would eventually move to a dull ache, as he would certainly explain himself in response which would bring him to what he had said earlier. He wanted to know more about her, but she found it hard to put a lot of the processes into words. How could she describe the bond she had between herself and her garden to a creature who has not felt something like that before? ​

​

"As for things, the Praetorian Spore or Seed is a Queen strain of the seed, it contains the genetic information of the whole garden, as opposed to the drone spores which grow expanding tendrils which link to the organism. This whole garden is a single plant, technically. It's the Marrow. It gave birth to me when it got big enough on my old planet to take care of it. And If i should perish, I think i would be seeded again so long as the Garden exists. We share a bond... like a parent and child. I can hear it in my mind, feel what touches it on my skin... that kind of stuff... Its how i found you." She would sigh, giving some of what she had figured out. It stood to reason that was what had occurred, when the ship had crashed it had taken some time for her to regenerate here, although her body was not completely destroyed, she was certain the spores of the garden had healed her rapidly. ​

​

"So they call us Marrow Born, cos we're born from the Marrow Garden. On my home planet whenever people saw me they would point and shout Lady Marrow before they would chase me. I guess I just assumed that's what people call me. I was so young then, but it seemed to stick. The Marrow seems to take on the... memory of the bodies it devours, adding them to itself so that it can make things like them, I can feel that it ate more than a couple of lizards before it made me, and when I bought it a couple of the neighborhood kids, i quickly found myself becoming more like... well, this." ​

​

She would end, resulting in having informed the Sith about the regenerative properties of the garden and how the Marrow Born grow, albeit from the perspective of someone who had been through it rather than someone who had observed it more scientifically. Sadly the Lady had never meet another of her kind proper that wasn't from a large city like the Jedi. However, it seemed that the man had some interesting ideas, Growing under ground was difficult, it was very hard to shape root structures through the earth itself, and damaging them would hurt the plant making it a delicate operation. But it was certainly something to think about. ​

​

"My garden is already very layered on top of itself, many Marrow Gardens grow much larger than mine. My original home was underground in some caverns, it starved the garden for space which caused it to condense and become more efficient. It's about one third the size of other Marrow gardens but much higher in density." She'd smile in the affirmative, somewhat proud that she had managed to still keep it together and looking nice with all the challenges that she'd had. ​

​

But when it finally came to her payment for all of this his response seemed fine, until there was a massive emotional response of exasperation and almost panic at the idea of their being one of each. The entity collapsed under the weight of the task, prompting lady marrow to let out a small 'eep.' Keeping away from him for a moment she would begin to meekly move closer looking down at him in part to ensure he had not hurt her blooming shrooms, but also for his own safety. "Um, are you ok?" Her voice a little unsure on the whole matter... what had she done now?​

Devlin Dara

 

[Devlin Dara]

Devlin listened as he noticed she had seemed disappointed as her demeanor changed while he spoke. Had he said something that would upset her? He had hoped not as he listened to her and saw her standing above him apparently curious about whether or not he was okay or not. He was full but growing tired but the conversation was far too interesting and now he felt like he had to back track a bit in order to correct himself. He sat up into a seating position again making sure that the mushroom was still safe from his antics.

“I am sorry for the misunderstanding. To my knowledge Miss Marrow you are the only Marrow Born I have ever heard of. The other species out there may have not even heard of your kind yet as such you are a new and wonderful discovery and a testament to your kind. I am a human we share a physiology similar to animals…blood, muscle, bone, and so on. When I was referencing a garden I first mentioned it as my home I was trying to compare it to something you could relate to. For us other species what you refer to as a garden we refer to as a home or at least that is the best interpretation I can think of,” I say as I clean the ground in front of me to show to soil and dirt as I start to use my finger to draw.

“I now know you are incredibly smart so I will do my best to educate you on my people and the differences between a human, a home, or even organizations like the Jedi or the Sith. You see we don’t share minds and live but only one life for the most of us so we are individualistic. As an individual we have free reign to do as we please to try and grow ourselves and we must because we live a very short time…” I say explaining the structure of most species and the societal structures and moral beliefs between the Jedi, the Sith, and any other thing she might be curious about.

“So that man you met before who said he was a Jedi was an individual like me that is part of the Jedi order but his home could be anywhere,” I said trying to give an example based on the context clues of what you spoke about before.

“As for your garden. On our home planets like Dromund Kaas we have big buildings made of concrete, steel, and other materials in order to expand upward instead of outward. Is it possible to set up such foundations using wood and roots so your garden can grow making buildings such as this?” I asked curiously before being reminded about the hair care product as I looked up at you noticing your hair.

“And I am sorry to potentially disappoint you but getting one of each hair care product would be close to impossible. You see there are hundreds of thousands…I would say there are more hair care products than there are visible stars in the sky right now,” I explain to give you an idea of how large of a task that would be.

“I suppose I could bring you back many or even the base chemicals. Ha or just take you to a mall and let you pick whichever ones you wanted,” I said thinking out loud as I raced through the options.

Lady Marrow

 

[Lady Marrow]

The explanation was appreciated, Lady Marrow's face could be seen assembling an ephemeral puzzle as her eyes would dance in retrospective thought. The Jedi hadn't lied to her, neither had the creature here, the lies had been her own assumptions of the world and others. In truth, she had never seen another Marrow Born, however, she knew that she was able to touch the thoughts of her garden as well as alter her image at will. When another touched her thoughts she had figured that they too were a similar entity, it was her only point of reference to what she was as a being... though if that was wrong, maybe there were other things that would seem more special the more people she met...​

​

It became apparent that Lady Marrow was woefully unprepared for this big wide universe, she needed to gain a better understanding of things as they were here, her primal, borderline tribal understanding of the universe in its modern state was too narrow minded for the greater world beyond her garden. She needed someone to instruct her. Which, as Devlin would begin to exposit it began to dawn on her that he just might well be in a position to be the kind of teacher she needed. He was embroiled within this new synthetic worlds that bordered her primal hive. So, she would begin to hungrily absorb the information he offered, learning the distinctions between gardens and the modern structures that it seemed that humans used for their homes. ​

​

On her home planet, she had seen small houses that weren't more than a couple of square meters in any direction. Little more than caves or burrows for people on a family to family basis. It seemed that these gigantic towering structures were the natural evolution of those. It was almost alien to the girl's ears. At this point, the hair care products meant little to her, simply waving away at the problem as though it was nothing, she would move to sit in the midst of one of her nearby toxic beds, hunkering down as she would rest her elbows on the knees of her crossed limbs, laying her head in her hands as she would stare at the stranger, playing with strands of her hair absent mindedly as she processed. ​

​

"It's... fine " She would begrudgingly admit. "But i know... very little about this... world. About any world.... You could teach me instead? I think... i think im going to need to know all of this stuff. "​

​

Depending on his answer, she would begin to get prepared for the lesson, the garden veritably trembling with excitement. The Marrow Born would have never expected it, but it seemed that making these contacts, developing relationships with people was an incredible tool to gain insight into the world. Far more efficient than ever devouring creatures and learning the natural world from their DNA and exploring their bodies when they were dead. Cooperation seemed to be a vessel for far more knowledge than death. Although, they weren't necessarily mutually exclusive. ​

​

If he decided to teach, the Gardens increased growth over the next couple of days would be exponential, covering massive ground in short nights as large steps were taken to restore what was lost. ​

Devlin Dara