Exhibit 1 - Zombie

[Ulrich]

While I wasn't exactly a cosmopolitan wanderer the verdant greenery of kashyyyk was so different from anything I had ever encountered before that I was somewhat taken aback. Mandalore my home-world was a barren blasted place barely fit to hold life. Many of the works in the Sith dominion shared this desolate topography leaving me with little else in the way of experience. Sure there were plenty of videos and projections to be found on the holonet but it couldn't properly replicate the pungent smells and overwhelming presence of such teeming life. Bellow me an ocean of green leaves formed the canopy of the seemingly endless forest. The warm currents made flying easy granting ample lift to keep me aloft.

My eyes alighted on what appeared to be a clearing amongst the foliage wherein several houses were located. It seemed that the dwellings were of both Wookie and foreign design with the former being integrated into the trees around the edge of the clearing while the latter sat in the deforested center. In the clearing men and wookies holding vibroxes and chainsaws looked up spotting the large form that was circling above them. I had made sure to comm in before making this trip. People didn't react well when a fifty six foot dragon simply turned up in the skies above their village. And while most blasters and slug throwers would do little more than slow me down I really didn't want to pick a fight with the locals if I didn't have to.

Banking I got into position and came in for landing. It was smooth as far as these sort of things went and I was actually relatively proud of myself for managing to pull it off in a rather tight space. Not crushing anyone's house would do a lot to endear me with the locals. As I started to get my bearings after the landing a tall wookie wearing a translator device around his collar began to stride out of one of the buildings towards me accompanied by a small retinue of aides. It would seem that this was the head of the logging company who had put up the bounty I had come to 'collect'.

"WRRRRRRRRRRRRREWrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRERRRRRRRRRRRRR"

It took half a second for the machine situated at his larynx to translate the words into galactic basic.

"You are the Duinuogwuin mercenary who has chosen to help us with our issue?"

I nodded my head. I had told them that I was a star dragon of course. Much easier than actually explaining who and what I really was. I had also told them that I was a mercenary. This too was a lie. I didn't care at all for the measly amount of credits that had been placed up to solve this little problem. No my interest lay in the problem itself.

"Indeed I am. You can call me Ulrich. If what you wrote in the bounty notice is true then it seems that you have been having something of a problem with the walking dead around your fine hamlet?"

 

[Ulrich]

Later.

It starts with the rhythmic beating of drums. A steady cadence resounding through the night. The inhabitants of the hamlet have either taken to any high vantage armed with weapons or simply hidden themselves away to the best of their abilities. I spot the first of the shamblers. A wookie from the looks of things. Tall and gaunt with scraggly hair hanging off his emaciated form. He's followed by others , men and women young and old, the grave plays no favorites. Those who have taken to positions of vantage begin to open fire. Blaster bolts fill the night with fluorescent blooms. Some of the dead fall. Those that fall however do not necessarily stay that way however. What would be a fatal wound to the living is little more than a small hinderance to the decaying tide.

On prior occasions the inhabitants have broken and fled at this point right when it becomes apparent that their meagre cache of weapons cannot stem a flood of such proportions. This time I'm here through and their resolve holds. They keep firing switching to melee weapons as the cadavers begin to climb up the sides of their buildings. There is a tense moment as the defenders bash and hack at lifeless hands. And then there is a blaster shot fired that is different from all the rest. It comes not from those men and women trying to stave off the invasion of their home but from the line of trees. A wookie falls, the sickly sweet aroma of burning air wafting from his chest.

With this I chose to act. Throwing aside the tarpaulin that has been covering me I shed my disguise as a large vehicle and spring into action. Surging forward I trample human and Wookie corpses underfoot crushing them beneath my clawed extremities. The trees fare little better splintered and crushed underfoot. And then I spot them. A cadre of six. All Sayormi by the looks of things. Four armed with blasters with of the quartet in stance readying a second shot. The look of determination on his face becomes one of abject confusion and terror as I slam into him with a headbutt, horns goring into his torso and ribs. The others open fire with their blasters but such small arms do little to my outer defenses.

A quick side swipe disembowels another while the final two are simply trampled underfoot. Now my attention turns to the survivors. A withered crone and her more youthful guardian. Under the hag's arm is tucked a tome bound in leather and bearing Kittât runes on the front. I reach out a hand two of my claw wrapping around the grimoire. She resists though her frail body barely even registers to my grip. Her guardian assumes a combat stance indicative of the monastic practices of his people and lunges at me in an exceedingly foolish display of valor.

His fists land blows across my lower chest and arms but they are simply the fall of raindrops pattering against stone.

"Let it go you damned thief."

The old woman hisses at me.

"Rich words coming from someone who is using a stolen grimoire in order to facilitate petty raids on logging towns."

My tone is derisive. Showing the contempt I have for her small ambitions.

"I'll put this to much better use."

A swift backhand to the monk ends his ill advised assault his body soaring through the air before colliding with the trunk of a tree resulting in a decisive crack. The crone I grasp in my right hand even as my left cradles MY new grimoire. I make it out of the trees into the clearing. A quick squeeze to the hag and her spell is broken corpses falling lifeless once more. There is a moment of silence before one of the wookies in the hamlet lets out a triumphant WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR followed by a cacophony of cheering. Beating my wings I begin to rise into the sky.

"Send payment through to my account"

My last message to the people of the tiny village. The witch I let go her form tumbling to the ground. She isn't dead but given the choice between a quick end at my claws and the not so tender attentions of the inhabitants she had been terrorizing I knew which fate I would chose. It mattered little though as I now had what every aspiring necromancer needed a spellbook from which to study...

 

[Tyde]

Within the canopy of the wilds, feral beasts both large and small watched the strange ongoings below as hoards of the undead shamble into the nearby village seeking to terrorize the locals. Any creature of the forest could tell that this was an unnatural occurrence, something dark unfolding here. The power of the force drew in some other interests as well, such as the watchful eye of a small S'kytri who was hiding in the branches and waiting.

His eyes scanned the battlefield like a hawk, a small set of brilliant emerald eyes pierced the forest, finally becomming locked on the grimoire as it is fought over - the two more humanoid beings doing their best to protect it from the massive flying reptilian entity. Watching, waiting, and biding his time, the small forest wanderer holds steady, waiting for his chance. This small book - the way it was fought over - it must be of value. Tyde would simply need a moment of distraction.

Then, that moment came - a moment of complacency as the battle seemed over. The large dragon was able to talk it seemed - he was speaking to the people of the village as he was just beginning to take off. The menace had ended and that small grimoire of value was now in the claws of the dragon. The dragon was clearly his competition for this "treasure". This moment of distraction would be the chance the small wanderer had waited for.

With incredible speed, like a streak of blue, suddenly the small forest creature sweapt down from the treeline. Diving in like an eagle snatching prey off the grassland floor, Tyde tucked his wings back and pushed himself forward with the force, managing incredible speed as he dove past the dragon who was looking to the villagers as he began taking off. Tyde's fingers would do their very best to attempt to grab the grimoire in passing, his small blue body hitting the ground after diving past the dragon. He tucked and rolled the moment he made contact with the ground, a surprising amount of agility from the little vagabond. After doing a controlled roll across the grasses to soften his landing, Tyde landed upon his feet, standing still for the briefest moment to see if he had managed to grab the book.

It was then that the little streak of blue was moving slowly enough to be seen clearly. He would be an unusual sight indeed - perhaps as unusual as the dragon - a small winged humanoid boy with golden hair and oceanic blue skin. Ivory stripes covered his small lightweight frame, and his expansive wings opened back up after tucking and rolling, clearly preparing to take off in flight again. He would need to be fast to escape - after all, this dragon could fly too.

His gentile emerald eyes turned up to look at the dragon as the boy silently glanced to his competition for the briefest moment. The wild look within Tyde's eyes told more than any words ever could - the small S'kytri was clearly feral. If this wasn't evident enough, his complete lack of equipment, clothing, or weapons could certainly help one understand the uncivilized nature of the unusual small force user.

OOC: if this is private, or Tyde doesnt fit in this plot just let me know and i will delete this post

 

[Ulrich]

I normally consider myself something of a calm and measured individual when compared to the more popular tales of both dragon and Sith. I do have one or two weaknesses however. The first among these is my personal possessions. If I have claimed something as my property and then another decides to abscond with it it makes me 'irate' to say the least. Involuntarily I feel my claws begin to curl with barely constrained fury. This has gone from a well executed mission to a potential screwup in less a span of seconds. Eying the child I can see that it is of some winged humanoid species. Certainly not Wookie and the wings plus azure pigmentation suggest that he is not of the Sayormi people.

"Return that to me right now!"

The words are in basic and while some of my accent is no doubt beginning to creep into my words with the irritation it should be loud and clear enough for anyone to hear. The child seemed to be some sort of jungle raised primitive, he clearly had absolutely no idea what the book was or how to use it. It was highly doubtful that the child could even read galactic basic let alone the ancient Sith script. Well if the little miscreant wanted to interfere in things that did not concern him then he would have to face the consequences. I had no idea exactly what these consequences were just yet but I'm sure I would think of something when I had the thief apprehended.

I readied myself getting into a feline pose with my back legs coiling in readiness. The little savage likely had an advantage on me when it came to both short term speed and manoeuvring in tight places. I however almost certainly have the greater amount of stamina and should we come to an open space I would easily be able to outpace him with little effort. That and if need be I could probably use some kind of makeshift missile to down the lad from a distance so there was that. That decided I leaped off the ground bounding towards where the boy stood. Should he take to the air I would lift off after him. After all that grimoire was MINE.

Tyde

 

[Tyde]

The words that were nearly roared out by the dragon certainly got the attention of the little would-be-theif. The mere rumble of fury in the night air caused a large flock of flyers burst from the grasses and treeline, compelled to flee from the source of such fury. The small azure boy remained motionless however, now clutching the grimoire to his frame closely and protectively. His brilliant emerald gaze met the dragon's as he roared out his command, the small feral child's mouth gaping open in absolute surprise.



To anyone else who may not have so much at stake in the situation, this may have actually been slightly amusing. Tyde had swept in and stolen the book, fairly certain that he was merely stealing the book from one of the village's servant beasts. It was certainly of great surprise to the boy when this "beast" spoke at him like those who lived in the villages - clearly not just an animal at all. It was intelligent!



Even more strange was the reversal of their roles - here a dragon who many would assume to be feral is screaming at a wild boy who many would assume to be nonferal. The strangeness and backwardness of the situation was mind boggling to say the least.



There was little time for such a backward irony to be appreciated - only a moment or two after his demands to return the book hadn't been answered, the dragon was already coiling back to pounce upon his newly decided prey. Tyde had seen that posture before, large hunting beasts of the wild often took such a position to pounce upon their meal.



This stance the dragon had taken - it alone caused the small boy to gasp, and glance around extremely quickly at his options. Within only a few instants, the dragon had leapt, clearly preparing to capture the small lapis morsel ... Tyde could only guess that the dragon had intentions of making him into a small meal now.



The moment the beast had leapt toward him, the most unusual feature about the small vagabond is unveiled. Drawing his hands back, the grimoire firmly held in his left hand, the boy suddenly thrusts his hands out, emitting a sudden force-push that was surprisingly potent for such a small uneducated savage. The push, in the very least, aided Tyde in shoving off away from the charging dragon, bringing the boy up to full speed almost immediately as he fled the blood-hungry beast who now pursued him. The power of the force push may have even slowed the dragon, depending upon his readiness to an unexpected force maneuver.



The boy zigzagged through the grasses, using force-pushes to propel himself and dodge quickly back and forth, his speed actually fairly incredible given his circumstances. Dude's wings remain pinned tightly against him, enabling him greater speed. Tyde was a very seasoned flyer - he knew that if he took to the air, the dragon would likely be able to overtake him. He needed to remain low, fast, and in areas that would be tight and difficult for the massive beast to pursue him.



Making a beeline for the thicker mass of trees nearby, Tyde needed to get out of this semi-clearing and into the more tightly knit forest

 

[Ulrich]

As I began my pursuit my eye was drawn to the erratic nature of the boys speeding form. I opened my senses to confirm and yes just my luck it appeared that in addition to being a light fingered little rogue he was also a force user. I don't know what exactly I had done to annoy the fates recently but it was clear that at least one of the vindictive sisters had it our for me. It also seemed that the boy had the same idea as I had when it came to his escape because he flew right towards the small thick undergrowth.

Son of a nightsister. This was going to be a pain. No point in stopping now though. I braced myself for impact and the sound of splintering wood met my ears. Thankfully my scales protected me from any gouges or splinters that might otherwise happen. The boy of course had no such issue being of a size to actually maneuver through the verdant ocean of greenery. Then the second and third wave of trees hit and things began to get painful. The mandalorians had given my species the title 'war dragons' due to the fact that we were pretty damn tough. It was true that we could take a lot of punishment but going full speed through rows and rows of jungle trees was not a fun time for anyone.

I was almost glad when our little chase ended up slamming through the barrier and into one of the nests of one of the more insidious predators of Kashyyyk. The wyyyschokk were a species of giant arachnids who could grow up to the size of a small speeder and our madcap chase had landed us right into the middle of one of their webs. Sticky strands of webbing he size of human childs arm stuck to my wings and front body. I had no time to see what had happened to the little blue miscreant but I suspected that his fate was similar to my own, wyyyschokk were very fastidious with their webs and wouldn't allow space for such a tasty morsel to get through.

Already the damn creatures were beginning to crawl towards me. You can never really know how much you hate spiders till one the size of a pony begins to try and bite your wings. I began to lash out striking here and there with my claws and tail. Around me spiders began to drop their abhorrent forms falling ruined to the jungle floor. If my command of the force was better my anger would have fueled plenty of darkside retribution but as it was I simply had to channel it in a more mundane fashion.

Tyde

 

[Tyde]

Tyde moved quickly into the forest of cover, and for the briefest moment it seemed to him that the dragon had given up as he looked around, holding the book close to his chest - this book that made his force abilities tingle.



That was, until he heard the sickening crunches of breaking trees as the massive beast suddenly slammed through the canopy after him. While the dragon tore through the branches like a wrecking ball, Tyde was only able to quickly weave through and around the trees like a delicate twine of string. A few near-misses, just avoiding the dragon's attempt to capture the small blue prey, and Tyde had been driven toward a large nest of wyyyschokk - arguably the most deadly hunters on the planet.



This was where the little would-be-theif's wild nature would actually prove advantageous. After all, Tyde had grown up in the forest. Or... At least... He was growing up in this forest - he knew full well how to handle a nest of these dangerous crawlers.



The dragon and the spiders would both lose Tyde almost immediately after crashing into the nest. Scuttling little legs walked all around Tyde as he remained perfectly still, the boy instinctively focussing in the force as he held his position. Tyde was a strange wonder indeed - some suspect that he would have been a force prodigy had he not been cast out of society so early in life. Like rare force-sensitive animals, such as the Hssiss, certain force abilities came instinctively to the small azul vagabond.



Moving incredibly slowly now, the little thief was virtually invisible to the spiders, the boy projecting a fairly impressive force cloak upon himself, in much the same way a Maalraas may. It obviously took a great deal of concentration for the boy to maintain such a force ability, however. His movements felt painfully slow, crawling up the trunk of a nearby tree to try to make his way up out of the nest. If he could just get above the canopy, he may be able to fly away while the dragon was fighting droves of spiders



The boy could feel it too - that the dragon was force sensitive, so there was a likliness that he may see through the boy's force cloak, while the spiders could not. But, the hope here would be that the boy would have time to reach the sky before the dragon could fight his way through the mass of spiders.



Ulrich

 

[Ulrich]

The wretched arachnids swarmed all around me. It was written that the wyyyschokk were one of the smarter forms of predator on Kashyyyk but it was clear that one one had ever introduced them to the sunken cost fallacy. Despite having felled dozens of the creatures more continued to pile on to my form their mandibles working to try and find a part of my skin that wasn't so well armored by scales. It seemed that the eight legged monstrosities were just about running out of expendable troops when a much larger individual almost 2/3rds of my size emerged from the undergrowth. She was vast and hairy with a greatly swollen abdomen. Smaller spiders crawled across her form almost like the small fish that attended underwater predators. There was little doubt in my mind that she was the matriarch of this particular brood.

What's worse was that her mandibles seemed large and strong enough to actually pierce my hide. I was of course magnitudes more resilient to toxins and venoms than the average human but given this bloated abomination's sheer bulk she was clearly carrying quite a bit of the noxious fluid ready to go straight into my bloodstream. The fact that I had just taken down an armature necromancer only to possibly die at the fangs of some primitive beast was galling in the extreme. My temper was beginning to raise and I could feel hot fury well up from within. The queen reached out to nudge my form with her left foreleg the twin claws on its tip dragging across my scales.

The rage that was boiling needed to find an outlet. I did something that I hadn't done in years. I roared. Truth be told I hated this sort of animal display of aggression. But in this instance it proved to be my saving grace. As I did so the energies of the darkside flowed through me and out through the sound. I had read of the phenomena of force screaming but of course I had never actually seen it in person. This time it was I who was performing it and as it turned out when it was applied to the effects to the roar of a Basiliskan like myself it was rather spectacular.

The tiny spiders all around simply dropped dead. The darkside energies frying their little minds and leaving them nothing more than inanimate husks. For the larger spiders and the queen herself it was worse. They began to flip over and writhe their legs flailing in the air as if sprayed with a gargantuan can of repellant. The bonds near me simply tore to pieces under the power of the umbral energies. The queen ichor leaking from all of her many eyes was stunned as I not wishing to let such a chance go to waste set upon her with claws and teeth.

It had once been the apprentice to a necromancer on Korriban. One of the original kissai priests who had performed the sacred rituals of Typhojem the lord of the left hand path. But one days its master had called it and the other apprentices into his chamber. There he bade them drink from a chalice which unbeknownst to the acolytes had been filled with poison. Then while the apprentices remained comatose the master had slit their throats with a ceremonial dagger collecting their lifeblood in a vessel which he then mixed with ink.

When it awoke it found itself little more than a trapped spirit bound to the very book its blood had been used to write. Since then it had had many masters but all had been either too weak or too competent to grant it what it truly desired - freedom. It needed someone who was both new and strong in the ways of force usage. And with the psychic pulse of the dragons scream it awoke to find that it had not one but two potential emancipators near it. Not wasting any time the spirit set about establishing contact with both. It would offer both a taste of the power it could grant should the force wielder serve its purpose as well as an 'incentive' to have them wanting for more.

To both it transmitted telepathically the words to a spell. This particular spell was the same one that the Sayomri witch had been using to raise corpses. The words were written within the pages it was bound to and thus the spirit was intimately familiar with them. The words were in ur-Kittât the old tongue of the sith though even one unfamiliar with the language would have trouble forgetting the phrases. It was the kind of incantation that burned into the mind of whoever heard it. Now it began to project images first to the dragon. Millions of Mandalorians falling under a tide of skeletal attackers. Mandalore itself turned into a necropolis its already barren surface scoured of all life. To the boy it sent images age and decay. His flesh rotten and wasted and his wings turned to little more than mummified skin. Worms eating at his desiccated form . But the spirit of the book could teach him how to stop that. It could teach him how to never grow old and die....


Tyde

 

[Tyde]

The boy's movements were slow - agonizingly slow, but any faster movements would risk loss of concentration and the end to his blending into the environment. Each hand moved, grasping higher on the branches to pull himself up, the top of the canopy his finish line.



It was then though, that he stopped. The dragon's ferocity and tenacity were both nothing short of incredible to the little would-be-theif. Tyde had never seen anything, not the greatest of beasts or warriors, kill so many spiders so quickly. Truth be told, something inside of the child stirred - the little force prodigy was actually awestruck at the wondrous power and strength of this intelligent beast. He could speak to villagers, something Tyde couldn't even do - but he was also more powerful than any beast that Tyde had seen.



Torn inside, strangely enough Tyde didn't want to see the fall of this incredible force using warrior beast, despite the fact that he was both pursuing and trying to kill Tyde. The small blue morsel ultimately wanted to help, but against a matriarch spider he had little he could think to do other than flee and hide. That was, until the dragon let the power of the dark side flow from him like a wave, in all directions.



His wild emerald gaze would suddenly widen as the dragon emitted the first force-scream Tyde had ever witnessed. The power of the force scream was so very intense - the edge of the wave destroyed and eradicated almost all of the spiders immediately. Those not fortunate enough to be immediately torn apart by the scream immediately would only survive to have the resonating darkside energies rip through every fiber of their being, exploiting weaknesses and breaking their bodies down. Tyde could feel it, within the force - after the force scream, the only two creatures left alive in this nest were the dragon, and Tyde.



It was then that the scream wave passed through Tyde. One would expect the small frail boy to be torn apart like everything else, but instead the boy remained motionless, closed his eyes, and let the power of the force flow through him, each cell in the boy's body sampling the deep powerful dark side energy. To the small vagabond, it would be like sampling a brand new flavor, his unique mind processing the dark side feelings that flowed through him. The scream was like a powerful symphony with only dark side instruments, and the child was just beginning to understand the tune.



It was then that the book reached into the boy's mind with its words, along with its images. Tyde, strangely enough, wasn't taken aback by this at all - After all, the little vegabond was particularly attracted to force sensitive objects - and this sort of communication was the only sort of means that would usually work on the unusual little S'kytri.



With the strange and unusual nature of the wild boy's mind, the words would be lost immediately. It was the images and the intent that had managed to find their way to the azure child's heart. Within the unusual little wanderer's spirit was a perfect mixture of light and dark energies. While sentient beings struggled with concepts like "right and wrong, good and bad, etc" Tyde knew no such concepts. This allowed the strange child to access both light and dark side energies, without committing his heart to either one. Each power, each ability, was like it's own separate flavor on a buffet, and Tyde had a natural instinct - he wanted to sample every flavor. The dragon had just given him a sample of a flavor he had never experienced - some thing he would likely spend hours in the future trying to emulate - the force scream. He didn't realize yet the extreme level of emotion necessary to accomplish such an ability. Oddly enough, respect for his opponent was overtaking Tyde, even as the book pleaded to the child.... Asked that he learn the power of the book.



Tyde was quite gifted, and he could actually faintly sense the dark side energies that the book was sending to the dragon as well. The words of course were lost to him, but the intent was (very vaguely) understood. The dragon clearly wanted power - more power than he even had now. After baring witness to such incredible power, the respect that Tyde had gained urged him to allow such.



Tyde looked down at the book now as it offered him a choice. Tyde could see the images of himself decaying, dying, and feel the intent of the book - an intent to live on without limits. Tyde reflected upon this for only moments before deciding upon his fate. Tyde concentrated, his palm upon the cover of the book. Much like the book had, Tyde sent images to the spirit within the book, images of himself decaying one day, just as the book had.



Now, the small boy's images shift to memories, each memory flashing through very quickly. Despite his innocence, Tyde was wild, omnivorous, and had to fight for survival. The images that wove through the tapestry of energy were of his latest kills. Most of the meals were livestock that belonged to small local villages. Others were random forest scavengers, birds and the like. Tyde seemed to be suggesting one thing - something strangely wise beyond his years - Tyde was part of the life cycle, and intended to stay that way. He killed to survive - one day he too would have to fall. It felt unnatural to do otherwise.



At this point, the boy would take an action that would most likely be the last thing the dragon would expect. Climbing down the tree, the force no longer concealing him, Tyde slowly approached the dragon, though he remained vigilant and safely distant.



With the book still clutched to his chest, Tyde stopped, glowing emerald eyes looking up at the mighty beast who had just destroyed an entire nest of predators with his powerful force scream. Tyde gently set the book on the ground, and pressed it toward the dragon with his right hand before leaping back away from it.



Tyde transmitted force energy now - a message... Much like the book had just done. It seemed the little vegabond was an amazingly fast learner. The energy was strange - mixed, like a cocktail of lightside and darkside energies. There were no words, no evidence of speech patterns - it was clear now the boy's mind lacked the capacity for speech. Instead, images and emotions flowed. Some of the most amazing force feats Tyde had ever witnessed flowed through in these images - force lightning, force invisibility, even teleportation. They all seemed to pail in comparison with what the child had witnessed - the force scream



Bowing his head in respect to the dragon, the boy backed away from the grimoire, offering it to the beast. Tyde remained vigilant, should the dragon still choose to attack, but oddly enough he seemed to respect the beast now - enough to return the book.



Ulrich

 

[Ulrich]

The spirit of the book was shocked at the thoughts projected to it by the small orphan. To the Sith race death was the ultimate thing to be feared. They knew that what awaited them after they had shuffled from the mortal coil was the endless reaches of the nine hells. The manuscript bound ghost did not want to free itself from the literary shackles simply so that it could depart for the great beyond. It wanted to find a living body to inhabit so that it might enjoy the pleasures of the flesh once more. The wild boy was a remarkably fast learner given how easily he picked up on telepathic contact but it appeared that he had rejected the spirits gifts. Well he was still in luck. The boy had bequeathed the tome to the dragon which was more of a risk. Perhaps the spirit would be able to possess the beast given time but it was more likely that it would bargain something out with him. It was then that the spirit of the book became aware of something nearby. Not physical like the dragon and the boy but a spectral presence like itself.

In the darkness a colossal form began to emerge. Like the living dragon it was but almost half again as big. The spectral dragon opened its mouth and the spirit of the book felt itself drawn into the ghostly jaws. The dead could not die, but the spirit of the book would in the millennia to follow pray that it could so that it might be free of the ethereal dragons gullet. The ghosts of Basilisk had their own plans for their living descendant.

To my surprise the child hadn't taken the chance to keep fleeing. I rose my head up from the carcass of the mother spider. Ichor dripping down my face. Thanks to the sheer amount of food I needed I generally went out to hunt for myself but only under the absolute worst circumstances would I ever choose to ingest a giant spiders flesh willingly. Simply biting the damn thing had left a taste in my mouth that was beyond foul. After this I would have to go find a river to wash myself off in and maybe gargle fresh water for a good solid half hour. The child actually laid the book back at the ground at my feet.

I searched my feelings and sure enough it seemed that the force scream had purged whatever animosity I had felt towards the child. Given the state of his existence it was clear that he had been left out in the wilds to fend for himself far away from any sentients. I understood what it was like to be surrounded by beasts. The child was raised by animals and so was I. Both my mother who had little more in the way of intelligence than most pet species and the Mandalorian who were the sort of beasts that walked upon two legs.

"That was brave child. Foolish but brave none the less. In the future I would recommend weighing up the risk and reward a bit more before making such a high stakes gamble."

With a claw I reached into my mouth feeling the fangs there. Much like lesser reptiles such as crocodiles I was constantly losing and growing new teeth and one had become a bit loose from chomping down on the arachnid matriarch. Getting a hold of the tooth in-between two claws I pulled and it came out easily. About a foot in length the tooth came to a sharp point easily able to pierce thick hide. I laid the now at the ground near the boy.

"So you don't go home entirely empty handed. Make a knife or spear out of it if you want or even just sell it if you ever decide to make a foray into civilization. You probably don't understand exactly what I'm saying anyway but I suspect you will get the gist."

Tyde

 

[Tyde]

Completely unaware of the ethereal creature who was devouring the tome's tenant spirit, the boy was completely distracted in his interaction with the dragon.

The wild boy's emerald gaze widened as the dragon offered the tooth to him, his mouth falling open in awe at what he was being given. It was a rarity indeed, and the boy seemed to recognise that, a wide smile finding its way to the corners of his lips as he laid eyes upon the large treasure.

Tyde approached and grabbed the tooth, holding it up triumphantly for a moment. He seemed quite excited by the trade strangely enough - most outsiders would have considered it a very one-sided trade, to the dragon's favor. But Tyde quite loved the tooth, quickly holding it up and pressing an edge of it into the corner of his mouth, as if this massive tooth was somehow one of his. Arching his head back while holding the tooth in place, the boy let out the most fierce "force scream" he could muster

"rrrrrraaaaawwwwwrrraaawwwrrrRRRAAAAAA!!"

The small azure feral child exclaimed, though of course no force scream emitted around him, the moment lacking the needed emotional dark intensity. Tyde stood for a moment, looking around confused at the lack of results he'd achieved. Not only was the attempted force scream not the least bit effective nor destructive, much to the small force weilder's dismay it likely would have come off as cute more than anything else.

Tyde seemed to reflect for a moment, before looking back at the dragon. This beast was different than the villagers, certainly more instinctual. Tyde had never been able to deeply connect with any of the villagers because their minds simply worked differently - they were beings of civilization, order, law and community. Tyde was a wild boy with no concepts of such things, his mind worked on instinct, desire, and emotion, much like an animal. But this dragon was some sort of unique wonderment, a perfect blend of civilization and the wilds. Perhaps, somehow, he would be able to receive Tyde in the way that some animals could.

Closing his eyes, the boy showed a surprising display of trust, seeming intent on concentrating to convey his intents to this larger more powerful force weilder. The dragon could of course attempt to kill the little wanderer at this very moment, turn the little blue morsel into a meal... But one had to wonder if he would be missing out on some thing more. After all, what was the little indigo savage trying to convey? Could it be of use?

What Tyde would emit within the force would come through more like instincts than thoughts - this made it clear immediately why the villagers always failed in attempted communication with Tyde - they lacked the connection to their baser instincts to feel out what he was transmitting. To the overly civilized, it would be something to easily dismiss.But perhaps this dragon could receive the instinctual intents and sensations, as some of Tyde's animal kin had in the past

Emotions of force energies would flow from Tyde, much like he and the book had shared their differing energies. He looked into the force, pulling back up the feelings he had experienced, adventuring the nearby ruins recently. The ruins were ancient, and parts of them Tyde was unable to access himself.

More specific energies began to flow. It felt like an ancient place, strong in the force. Strangely enough, a mixture of both light and dark side energies. Tyde focussed on the energy that reminded him of the dragon. It was a powerful dark side energy. Perhaps a holocron, or another tome? It could be hard to distinguish with the raw emotions being transfered through the force this way. It seemed like the small feral boy was trying to tell the dragon of something else that he'd discovered ... Perhaps nearby. Something powerful in dark side energies.

Ulrich