Butterflies and Hurrikanes

[Juggerduck]

Wild Space
Hurikane
An Unnamed Ridge Overlooking an Unnamed Canyon


The nameless life forms marched slowly, in perfect step, to an unheard cadence. There were twenty two of them, lined up in pairs.

Seated on the edge of the ridge, his back to the precipice, Thid Qaal sat cross-legged, his clawed hands in his lap, his scarred flesh uncovered but for a loin cloth beneath the midday sun. On the ground next to him lay his amphistaff, stiff and unmoving, while two hundred yards away sat his Yorik-trema air skiff, the Plague of Fear.

The storm-voice of the Force blew through Thid Qaal like a tempest, assailing his mind. It was ceaseless. He could hear the individual molecules moving in each life form that marched. He could calculate the weight of the stone to his right, the skull of the lead figure that stepped closer to the edge of the canyon, the mountain that they stood upon.

The Trickster Goddess had chosen him well, for this was a merry jest. Were he not in such exquisite agony, he would have smiled.

Now though, he was busy controlling the movements of the crystalline life forms before him. Three steps, two, one, and the first pair went over the edge. Thid Qaal began counting, not turning his head to see them fall. Adjusting his senses in the Force he turned down the ever-present din and focused only on hearing the ground so far below.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine.

The rock and crystal forms hit the ground, shattering into hundreds, thousands of pieces. The Yuuzhan Vong felt their life forces go out, like a pair of candles confronted by a determined breath.

Two more stepped to the edge.

There was probably a reason for what he did, but Thid Qaal did not contemplate it. He was content for now to drown out the constant song of the Force, distracting himself by bending the will of these crystalline beings and studying the sounds they made as they died.


[member="Tsuki Aihara"]

 

[Tsuki Aihara]

The girl hugged her cloak tightly against hey body, the rough material agitating the bare skin of her arms, leaving angry red marks behind as it billowed about her. That was the least of the Padawan's worries however. With tempest-like winds came torrential rains, the likes of which would spell disaster for the girl. Searching for a crystal for her saber would certainly take her to less hospitable areas of the planet, if such even existed...the rain would only make negotiating such terrain even more difficult.

The young girl had heard of the fabled Hurrikaine crystals before, mostly from stories about the old Jedi master Mace Windu. Some said he was given them by a species native to Hurikane, who were living stone, and the crystals grew on their bodies. Sounded like a load of poodoo to her. Instead she trekked through the canyons and up the rocky cliffs. But still, her search had yielded nothing...

Finally heaving her body over the last ledge of a cliff the girl rolled over onto her back, panting, not caring for the cold rain that peppered her face. "Why I was sent here to find my crystal...I don't know." she panted. Unbeknownst to her only meters away sat a Yuuzhan Vong, sending those very species that couldn't possibly exist to their deaths.

[member="Thid Qaal"]

 

[Juggerduck]

As the rain began to descend in earnest Qaal turned his head away from the creatures he was sending to their deaths. Flexing his cramped leg muscles, he rose in a single movement to his feet. Waiving his hand, he dismissed the crystalline life forms, breaking the trance he'd subjected them to. They began milling about uncertainly, unaware of exactly why they'd lined up. Spotting the Yuuzhan Vong, the all began moving in various directions away from the Darksider whilst also striving to remain clear of the cliff's edge.

"Someone is here," he said aloud. "Just on the fringe. Not to be bent. I can smell your thoughts." He sniffed the wind-driven rain, felt each individual droplet running down his nearly-naked form. "The light shines within you. Come forth; let us dissemble."

[member="Tsuki Aihara"]

 

[Tsuki Aihara]

Tsuki could hear the gruff voice of someone else nearby. The thick sheets of rain however, made it impossible to see the speaker. The girl rolled back over onto her stomach and stood up, muscles aching from her strenuous climb.

'Fringe? Not being bent? Smelling my thought?' the girl thought. 'What the hell is this guy going on about?'

"Uhm hi?" the girl called into the rain, walking towards where she heard the mysterious voice. "If we're uh...dissembling...mind telling me what the hell your talking about?" The girl would push through the heavy rain, and out of the thin fog appearing before the Vong. She yelped and took a step back, the slightly horrifying alien before her surprising her....the slightly creepy environment hadn't helped.

[member="Thid Qaal"]

 

[Juggerduck]

The rain began to taper as the indigenous lifeforms of Hurikane continued to scatter. He held out his left hand, and his amphistaff/lightsaber shot up, snapping deftly into his grip. He neither ignited its double blades nor gave the unique creature a command to slacken or coil. He simply held it at the ready in the event it was needed.

"What I mean?" he asked. "You pulse with the Force. You, with your soft lines and curves. Not to be bent to my will with mind tricks. You are unsure. Testing. Dipping a toe into the miasma. Have you come here to fight? I've fought with your kind before and won." The statement didn't seem to have any threat implied; it was as if Qaal were simply making conversation. He sensed a drop of rain running down the young woman's neck. It rankled.

"I need control," he continued, though his voice was softer, as if he were talking to himself, before raising his voice again. "Yuuzhan Vong are invisible in the Force. I am a beacon. A lighthouse. A nova. I can feel your blood, woman." He held up his free hand, and the rain stopped. "Did I do that?" he asked. "Can you prove I did not?"

[member="Tsuki Aihara"]