Private The River Sings

[Inanna Harth]

Which was more dangerous, Lao-mon or Kashyyyk?

Inanna had grown up on the Shi'ido homeworld, where nearly every other species was a predator willing and able to kill her in any number of gruesome ways. But there was hope to be found in the knowledge her parents gave her. They taught her the monsters' weaknesses, gave her the tools to defeat them.

But Kashyyyk was unknown to her. She didn't know what she was looking at half the time, let alone how to deal with it. Yet here she was, heading down into the Shadowlands.

This was supposed to be a similar trip to Akiva, with her and Resh venturing into the wilderness to practice the skills they had learned from Master Avis. But as the elevator descended, sinking deeper into the impenetrable darkness, Inanna began to have second thoughts. Maybe this was a little too advanced for them.

Who was she kidding? Resh had already been in his first skirmish on Lazerian IV. Inanna hadn't been with him because she wasn't qualified to fight, and considering the fear she felt now, it wasn't hard to see why. Every unfamiliar call of an animal in the jungles made her want to transform into a plant and just sit there until the danger passed. She couldn't avoid the triggering of her instincts, but she was doing her best to control them, even if only for her apprentice's sake. And her dignity.

At last, the lift came to a stop. Their Wookiee guide uttered a low growl, gesturing for them to get off. Inanna stepped down onto rich soil, smelling ozone and plant life and disturbed earth. It was humid; you could see the water droplets floating like mist in the air, suspended on the narrow, faint shafts of light that just barely penetrated the forest canopy high above them. "Well," she murmured, glancing over at Resh. She wanted so badly to give this boy a chance, to foster his interests and bring out the best in him, even if it meant scaring herself into an almost primal state. "What do you think? Is this... the kind of thing you're into?"

Resh​

 

[Resh]

This was now the second time Resh had been to Kashyyyk, and in a relatively short span. Their first visit had been much more jovial, taking part in local celebrations with the Wookiees. But today, they were scratching beneath the surface, quite literally. Inanna seemed very committed to Resh's training, particularly when it came to the regimen they started with Master Avis. Resh appreciated it, as it was by far the thing he showed the most promise and interest in.

The many strange sounds they heard on their descent into the Shadowlands vied for the Palawan's attention. He seemed more intrigued by them than afraid, as if such an instinct were absent from his young and inexperienced mind. To him, it was all much nicer than the sounds of war that filled his senses on Lazerian IV.

"What do you think? Is this... the kind of thing you're into?"

Resh stepped down, his feet squishing a layer of malleable peat moss. He breathed in, "Hmm… Yeah. I guess so." The life surrounding them was vibrant and dense, but also intermixed with darkness. In a way, it sort of reminded Resh of himself. And in a way, he found sympathy in that. "So where are we going?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"So where are we going?"

“Not too far,” Inanna replied. “Just far enough to find a creature bigger than a Kowakian monkey-lizard, practice on it, and move on.”

If there was nothing else to keep them there, she would start walking, trekking through the thick underbrush. Kashyyyk was verdant in a way that even Lao-mon wasn’t—everywhere they looked, there was life in one form or another. Where other Force Users would become overwhelmed, Inanna’s sense seemed to improve in such surroundings. She was a far cry from being able to pick out individual beings amid the sea of sensation, but at least she could feel something for once.

It wasn’t long before they encountered something big enough to count. Unfortunately, the wyyyschokk was already dead when they found it. The giant arachnid lay on its back, legs curled up, yellow blood splattering the foliage around it. “Gnarly,” Inanna muttered, looking the corpse over in an attempt to guess what had killed it. “I don’t think it fell to its death, though the trees here sure are tall.”

Deep slashes scored its body, the wounds at least semi-fresh. Inanna held up a hand, her fingers morphing to fit the shape of the claw marks. “Something big killed it. We probably shouldn’t linger here too long.”

Resh​

 

[Resh]

That seemed agreeable enough to Resh. He followed his master as they began to hike deeper into the undergrowth, finding himself to also be preoccupied by the sheer volume of life energy down here. The further they went, the more dense it was. Even for Resh, who was entranced by nature, found it a bit overwhelming; Especially given his hesitance to utilize the Force in its full capacity.

They soon came across a very large, and very dead, arachnid. Resh studied it with morbid curiosity, his nose wrinkling at the stench. Inanna tried to gauge the size of its killer by morphing her own hands to fit the gash wounds in its thorax. Resh's eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion, "Too big," He admitted outright. "Have you been down here before, Master?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

With the possibility of encountering a large predator now looming over them, Inanna and Resh got moving, heading away from the mangled corpse.

"Have you been down here before, Master?"

Inanna hesitated. Resh was already understandably on edge after finding the wyyyschokk, and she didn't want to frighten him even more by admitting that this place was just as unfamiliar to her as it was to him. "No," she finally answered. "But I did my research, talked to the guide, and I'm semi-fluent in Shyriiwook. That's the language of the Wookiees." She shrugged. "If all else fails, I'll just—"

She broke off, feeling a vibration in the ground beneath their feet. It was staccato, like a drum beat. Thud, thud, thud...

Resh would probably sense the terentatek long before it appeared. Huge and hulking, it lumbered toward them with surprising speed, a silhouette covered in jagged scales and spikes. Inanna used the Force to push her Padawan out of the way of the charging beast, while she leaped in the opposite direction. The terentatek crashed into a nearby tree trunk, the wood cracking and splintering against its hard skull.

It shook its head and roared. Sharp teeth gnashed, saliva glistening in the darkness. "Stay back!" Inanna called out. She was already beginning to change shape, growing larger, sprouting claws, wings, fur and fangs. But she needed time to complete the transformation, and this monster wasn't going to wait before it charged again...

Resh​