Rhaegar Dib II
Heir of the Dragons
Another roll forward narrowly avoiding lashing talons as the dragon dove through the canopy once again, fangs gleaming in the light as head snaked forward in a strike as fast as any snake Rhae had ever seen. The impotent wind as teeth closed narrowly missing his body only spurred Rhae faster. Every step was a leap deeper into the bush, every twist and turn designed to take him into thicker foliage and denser limbs in an effort to slow the dragon with more obstacles.
Sweat ran freely across his body as the exertion pushed him closer to exhaustion. A dive through a thicket, thorns tearing at his flesh as the beast slowed even more in its pursuit. Dirt clung to his form from another narrow avoidance of disembowelment as he rolled beneath a low hanging limb. Or perhaps it was a tree ripped from its berth that lay across his path. Regardlessly it was just another aspect to avoid in his race to survive.
Ragged panting escaped as he pushed himself, refusing to slow or falter. Behind him the dragon met his obstinance with an equally steadfast stubbornness. This was life or death. And the Force would not weigh in the balance here, just the tenacity and determination of mando'ad runi. Here he would prove himself while free of the Force. He would succeed or he would die.
For Rhae there was no option nor even brief musings of ill met success. Do or do not. And he would do.
It wasn't just youthful hubris that created the mental state of assuredness Rhae felt even while the dragon's breath caressed the nape of his neck while another near miss granted him a few more moments of life. No, for the twins had learned from many teachers throughout their lives.
Ba'vodu Muad pushed you to the limits, often denying you the ability to utilize the Force so that you would know exactly what you were capable of. Those lessons tended to end with us collapsed upon the ground in quivering piles of muscle to exhausted to continue yet with that glowing light within of accomplishment. Uncle DeDe teaching us the finer points that cannot be ignored, the pivot points in life, being, and even conversation. The knowledge so exact that we could know where to apply pressure to move anything while attempting to control our own mind, body, and soul in harmony. Breathe in and breathe out. Fortunately Rhae was able to learn the majority of the same through Shatterpoint.
Or the great Anubian Skorvek that often graced their abode and set Jerek on edge. The lessons learned from their guardian Sloobieboo were oft taught in the twilight, the time in which existed that was neither day or night but both yet none. Just another lesson within a lesson within a lesson by Sloobieboo.
Or their protective detail of the brothers and the droids, who were so filled with personality that one would never hazard a guess that Elvis and Cher were artificial life. Every day a lesson taught by those who loved the twins.
And then their was their buir, their mother. She was consumed with guilt at not having been their for their father, a guilt that none lay at her feet but herself. So she pushed herself to never again fail those she loved. And of course that meant we twins were smothered by an overprotectiveness and inability to trust that we could handle ourselves.
A glancing blow across his back caused him to stumble forward, the shredded limb from a massive tree smacking him across the shoulders staining him with sap from the deep rents in the branch. And though he staggered forward he kept his feet and scrambled faster as the creature roared from behind, proof it still gave chase.
Ginnie Dib was perhaps the greatest instructor he had. He learned how to filter out distractions. How to focus so completely upon a thing that any other aspect of life faded beneath its importance. Even how to push away people who loved you in an attempt to make yourself infallible, unhurtable, untouchable. He had learned how to focus all the rage, pain, and loss into power that you could wield to forge something new, or destroy a thing so utterly it was as if it never existed. He learned how to accept help and love. He had learned how to ignore help and love in such totality as to deny the truth and instead create a new truth from a different point of view.
Rhae had learned how to love and hate from his mother. He had learned how to stand on your own and how to use the emotions of others to create that which you desire most.
He had learned how to survive.
His feet hit the slick mud and instead of fighting the sensation he surrendered to the loss of total control. His feet slipped from beneath him and he hit his back while skidding forward in a slide. The dragon contorted its body in an attempt to follow his falling body in such a fortuitous moment that would allow it to claim its prey after such a long chase.
Rhae slipped beneath the massive limb as his body skipped across the muddied bog and rolled across the open clearing on the other side. Quickly he spun to his feet yet paused to look back with the wooden staff still in his hand after all this time.
The dragon had tried to slip beneath the low hanging limb too late, instead colliding into it even as the mud of the bog leached at its limbs pulling it downward. The limb, broken from impact, crashed down across the dragon's back to press it deeper into the mud. It struggled but every thrash of its body made it sink deeper. Finally it stilled and lay its head upon the earth to contemplate how to extricate itself. The intelligence burning in its eyes revealed that the dragon would, indeed, escape. All it needed was time.
If Rhae was to allow it time to escape.
Even without the Force he knew he had enough strength to drive the pointed end of the makeshift staff through the dragon's eye and into its brain. He would be the Victor and he would ensure the beast would never hunt another mandalorian again. But even as the creature stared at the youth, Rhae knew he would not be taking it's life. It was only doing what instinct told it to do. And so with a lazy salute Rhae turned away to head to where the exit from the test had grown near.
He had succeeded beyond what he had expected. No force. And thanks to ba'vodu Muad no hearing or tasting. It was a good thing he had been inspired to run before he lost all his senses to the mistake of his uncle. Of course, knowing his ba'vodu it was a purposeful act of stripping him of his senses one by one. Sure Rhae had wanted to only lose a single sense at a time, randomly rotating between senses. But this way was better.
He laughed, the sound still falling on deaf ears, as he began walking away. The end was nigh and he had only lost two of his senses. Well, three. He could no longer smell the iron flavor of blood from behind him. The slight vibration in the air and along his spine caused him to turn and look back upon the trapped dragon.
Its smaller cousins fell through the trees toward the still trapped larger subspecies of the vanquo's dragon. It was a rare opportunity for the smaller winged cousins to be able to feast upon the larger dragon. But feast it would be as dozens of smaller variants dropped from above to swarm the larger creature. Served it right. Everything was prey for something else, even if it was merely circumstances that brought about your demise. But even as he watched the larger dragon attempt to fight off the horde of its smaller cousins, Rhae smiled dangerously.
Leaping forward without thought, he swept the staff through the air, knocking a handful of the smaller winged lizards from around the dragon's head. With brief reprieve the dragon raised its head and arched its back which caused the massive limb ensnaring it to splinter in twain. The dragon looked upon Rhae who held the staff like a spear, balanced carefully in raised palm. With a flash the staff flew unerringly through the air, the sharpened end slicing through the vines restraining the dragon's wings.
Extending its wings the dragon raised its head and released a roar at its smaller cousins, a cloud of flame engulfing the lesser creatures. Closing its jaws it stared at Rhae who had helped release it from a death by the flock of its smaller cousins. Rhae stood still. He had just helped to free the very thing that had sought to catch him for dinner. However within the sentient gaze there was acceptance between two creatures who had proven their equality. A thunderous wave caressed Rhae as the dragon flapped wings to climb into the sky and out of sight.
He grinned as the dragon departed, the cooling breeze brushing his skin for only a moment more before ceasing with a suddenness that had concern flickering across his face. He could no longer feel the breeze upon his skin, nor the warmth of the sun. Pinching his arm he realized he couldn't feel the pinch of skin nor the texture of his hand. A long breath slowly exited as he calmed himself with the knowledge that he had only sight left.
And then once again he began to run for the exit that lay nearby before he was robbed of his final sense.
Adenn Kyramud
Amma Dib
Sweat ran freely across his body as the exertion pushed him closer to exhaustion. A dive through a thicket, thorns tearing at his flesh as the beast slowed even more in its pursuit. Dirt clung to his form from another narrow avoidance of disembowelment as he rolled beneath a low hanging limb. Or perhaps it was a tree ripped from its berth that lay across his path. Regardlessly it was just another aspect to avoid in his race to survive.
Ragged panting escaped as he pushed himself, refusing to slow or falter. Behind him the dragon met his obstinance with an equally steadfast stubbornness. This was life or death. And the Force would not weigh in the balance here, just the tenacity and determination of mando'ad runi. Here he would prove himself while free of the Force. He would succeed or he would die.
For Rhae there was no option nor even brief musings of ill met success. Do or do not. And he would do.
It wasn't just youthful hubris that created the mental state of assuredness Rhae felt even while the dragon's breath caressed the nape of his neck while another near miss granted him a few more moments of life. No, for the twins had learned from many teachers throughout their lives.
Ba'vodu Muad pushed you to the limits, often denying you the ability to utilize the Force so that you would know exactly what you were capable of. Those lessons tended to end with us collapsed upon the ground in quivering piles of muscle to exhausted to continue yet with that glowing light within of accomplishment. Uncle DeDe teaching us the finer points that cannot be ignored, the pivot points in life, being, and even conversation. The knowledge so exact that we could know where to apply pressure to move anything while attempting to control our own mind, body, and soul in harmony. Breathe in and breathe out. Fortunately Rhae was able to learn the majority of the same through Shatterpoint.
Or the great Anubian Skorvek that often graced their abode and set Jerek on edge. The lessons learned from their guardian Sloobieboo were oft taught in the twilight, the time in which existed that was neither day or night but both yet none. Just another lesson within a lesson within a lesson by Sloobieboo.
Or their protective detail of the brothers and the droids, who were so filled with personality that one would never hazard a guess that Elvis and Cher were artificial life. Every day a lesson taught by those who loved the twins.
And then their was their buir, their mother. She was consumed with guilt at not having been their for their father, a guilt that none lay at her feet but herself. So she pushed herself to never again fail those she loved. And of course that meant we twins were smothered by an overprotectiveness and inability to trust that we could handle ourselves.
A glancing blow across his back caused him to stumble forward, the shredded limb from a massive tree smacking him across the shoulders staining him with sap from the deep rents in the branch. And though he staggered forward he kept his feet and scrambled faster as the creature roared from behind, proof it still gave chase.
Ginnie Dib was perhaps the greatest instructor he had. He learned how to filter out distractions. How to focus so completely upon a thing that any other aspect of life faded beneath its importance. Even how to push away people who loved you in an attempt to make yourself infallible, unhurtable, untouchable. He had learned how to focus all the rage, pain, and loss into power that you could wield to forge something new, or destroy a thing so utterly it was as if it never existed. He learned how to accept help and love. He had learned how to ignore help and love in such totality as to deny the truth and instead create a new truth from a different point of view.
Rhae had learned how to love and hate from his mother. He had learned how to stand on your own and how to use the emotions of others to create that which you desire most.
He had learned how to survive.
His feet hit the slick mud and instead of fighting the sensation he surrendered to the loss of total control. His feet slipped from beneath him and he hit his back while skidding forward in a slide. The dragon contorted its body in an attempt to follow his falling body in such a fortuitous moment that would allow it to claim its prey after such a long chase.
Rhae slipped beneath the massive limb as his body skipped across the muddied bog and rolled across the open clearing on the other side. Quickly he spun to his feet yet paused to look back with the wooden staff still in his hand after all this time.
The dragon had tried to slip beneath the low hanging limb too late, instead colliding into it even as the mud of the bog leached at its limbs pulling it downward. The limb, broken from impact, crashed down across the dragon's back to press it deeper into the mud. It struggled but every thrash of its body made it sink deeper. Finally it stilled and lay its head upon the earth to contemplate how to extricate itself. The intelligence burning in its eyes revealed that the dragon would, indeed, escape. All it needed was time.
If Rhae was to allow it time to escape.
Even without the Force he knew he had enough strength to drive the pointed end of the makeshift staff through the dragon's eye and into its brain. He would be the Victor and he would ensure the beast would never hunt another mandalorian again. But even as the creature stared at the youth, Rhae knew he would not be taking it's life. It was only doing what instinct told it to do. And so with a lazy salute Rhae turned away to head to where the exit from the test had grown near.
He had succeeded beyond what he had expected. No force. And thanks to ba'vodu Muad no hearing or tasting. It was a good thing he had been inspired to run before he lost all his senses to the mistake of his uncle. Of course, knowing his ba'vodu it was a purposeful act of stripping him of his senses one by one. Sure Rhae had wanted to only lose a single sense at a time, randomly rotating between senses. But this way was better.
He laughed, the sound still falling on deaf ears, as he began walking away. The end was nigh and he had only lost two of his senses. Well, three. He could no longer smell the iron flavor of blood from behind him. The slight vibration in the air and along his spine caused him to turn and look back upon the trapped dragon.
Its smaller cousins fell through the trees toward the still trapped larger subspecies of the vanquo's dragon. It was a rare opportunity for the smaller winged cousins to be able to feast upon the larger dragon. But feast it would be as dozens of smaller variants dropped from above to swarm the larger creature. Served it right. Everything was prey for something else, even if it was merely circumstances that brought about your demise. But even as he watched the larger dragon attempt to fight off the horde of its smaller cousins, Rhae smiled dangerously.
Leaping forward without thought, he swept the staff through the air, knocking a handful of the smaller winged lizards from around the dragon's head. With brief reprieve the dragon raised its head and arched its back which caused the massive limb ensnaring it to splinter in twain. The dragon looked upon Rhae who held the staff like a spear, balanced carefully in raised palm. With a flash the staff flew unerringly through the air, the sharpened end slicing through the vines restraining the dragon's wings.
Extending its wings the dragon raised its head and released a roar at its smaller cousins, a cloud of flame engulfing the lesser creatures. Closing its jaws it stared at Rhae who had helped release it from a death by the flock of its smaller cousins. Rhae stood still. He had just helped to free the very thing that had sought to catch him for dinner. However within the sentient gaze there was acceptance between two creatures who had proven their equality. A thunderous wave caressed Rhae as the dragon flapped wings to climb into the sky and out of sight.
He grinned as the dragon departed, the cooling breeze brushing his skin for only a moment more before ceasing with a suddenness that had concern flickering across his face. He could no longer feel the breeze upon his skin, nor the warmth of the sun. Pinching his arm he realized he couldn't feel the pinch of skin nor the texture of his hand. A long breath slowly exited as he calmed himself with the knowledge that he had only sight left.
And then once again he began to run for the exit that lay nearby before he was robbed of his final sense.
Adenn Kyramud
Amma Dib