Endor

[Blue but beautiful]

Until now, the crazed Ewok had paid her little or no attention at all. Caught unprepared, having seen Logray swept into the foliage by a rather large rock, Nia Shul stared in wide eyed confusion as the little fuzz ball reappeared. And he was twice as angry it seemed.
"You..whatever you are I'll squash you just like your insects!"

As if right on que, the only razor bug to avoid the Jeedai's parry returned to her hand. She caught it mid flight, it's serrated edged wings scoring a deep cut in the palm of her hand as it settled. The pain it caused in it's wake was lost on her as she brought her attention back to the peculiar little fuzzy creature who clearly had her set in it's sights.

Why had that god forsaken Jeedai prevented her attacks from making their mark on the foolish fuzz ball?! If he did not let up this time around, she was going to have to deal with him also. Although that aside, she knew deep down she would have to anyway, there was little she could do to explain the weapons she carried after all.

Nia Shul released the returned razor bug once more as a distraction while she reached back into the gelatin-like pouch she carried to loose the razor bug's slightly more deadly relative, a plethora of thud bugs.
Deceptively small as thud bugs were, they would detonate on impact, easily wounding, incapacitating and in large quantities, killing their target. She had no intention of letting this creature live, he was just another set back. One she did not need right now. The Jeedai however, she feared, might see things differently. The sooner she killed the furry infidel the better.

Cover of a stable kind was rather in short supply, save for foliage to hide in, and hiding was not on her agenda. But she would be forced to if that creature decided to harness that lightening again. What exactly was this creature? Was he a Jeedai too? They did indeed seem to come in a variety of species. She had little time to ponder that as she desperately tried to Gage weather her slight attacks would suffice enough to allow her to finish off the hairy thing.

[wraith]

Ashen watched as Nia all but dropped her cover of being a crash victim as the razor bug returned to her hand. The crazed ewok was already back on his feet and Nia already tossing the razor bug back his way. Logray's hands lifted up to the sky and bolts of lightning streamed down from the clouds surrounding Logray's body like a shield. The razor bug frying and the thud bugs after. Meeting the same fate and exploding against the aura like shield of lightning. The ewok shaman however remained unphased.

Logray laughed aloud and spoke "Send all of your insects at me.. I'll crush them all as easily as I will you and those fools of my village! MY VILLAGE!" Ashen's eyes widened slightly at the shield of force lightning about the crazed old ewok and the words he was saying. He recognized the sounds of more insects and seeing them as thud bugs watched them explode against the shield of force lightning. Something had to be done otherwise one was going to kill the other and it wasn't hard to guess which one that would be. Not that he had any misgivings about a yuuzhan vong getting what they had coming to them, but he could not afford Nia to die just yet. She was more valuable alive to the war effort and he tried to remind himself..she was a person as well.

He couldn't simply put Nia to sleep through the force but he could put her out of the fight in other ways. He caught sight of a good sized broken branch of the fallen trees behind her. He closed his eyes and focused on it through the force; both of his hands gripping the hilt of the lightsaber to keep focus through the storm. The branch lifted and flew right toward the back of Nia's head. Making sure to move it with enough force to knock the yuuzhan vong in disguise out.

[Blue but beautiful]

The strange hairy Infidel continued to shout his defiance to such a degree that Nia Shul lost track of what he was babbling on about over the sound of the lightening that now streaked the sky more often than not.
The sound of the wind whipping up about them along with the occasional sound of explosions, as the thud bugs hit the force shield at full pelt, drowned out almost all else around them.

Oblivious to the initial sound of the Jeedai lifting the large clump of branches and debris, Nia Shul turned all but too late. The shadow the branches had cast as they sped toward her had caused her to almost turn into the oncoming barrage.
Unable to duck or dive out the way, the heavy branches impacted with the side of her skull with incapacitating force, knocking the intendant off her feet.

Dark spots invaded Nia Shul's vision through the cavalcade of searing anger and pain she used in an effort to prevent falling unconscious. It was of no use however, and she lapsed into unconsciousness before her body had impacted with the rain-sodden ground.

[attomemhuhvoo]

Atto lay low, allowing the Twi'lek to pass. When he felt there was enough distance between him and the stranger, he slowly crept up from the foliage.

The dulok and Y-eskii-ill continued on their way. Drawn by the scent of charred metal and the unmistakeable odor of death. Atto pulled his shirt up around his mouth. Scent tasting corpses was not palatable to say the least. They pressed on.

There was a depression in the forest floor, heavily choked with vines and other growth. Atto cut through it all with a quick couple of passes with his saber. Crossing through a flowering valley, they soon came upon what they sought. The wrecked freighter.

Atto's ears perked at the sound of numerous raspy growls and mutterings. Stilting across the burned hull, was a group of yuzzum. They poked their spears here and there, and tore through items thrown from the wreck with no regards or respect for the dead inside.

"Scavengers... gotta get rid of them before I can check this out." He nodded to Umwak, who at seeing the funny long legged creatures, seemed to puff up almost twice his size.

"You ah..dealt with yuzzum before? How willing will they be to cooperate?"

[Matlalihuitl]

Umwak ignored the stranger and continued on his journey with the jedi padawan. Suddenly, Umwak smelled the fragrence of rotting corpses, which seemed to not bother him at all. Then he took notice of the small pack of Yuzzums. He puffed up his fur, pulled out his knife, and tip toed towards them quietly.
"Atto, Yuzzum are the most stuborn and dumbest creatues in the forest. Yet they can be very dangerous and violent if not careful." Umwak said as he let his fur puff up some more. He then ran towards them, screaming and yowling hystericly and then pounced on one of the Yuzzums.
"Hand over your weapon Yuzzum and tell us your buisness here?" Umwak demanded as he shook the Yuzzum.

[attomemhuhvoo]

At the sight of the dulok, the yuzzum panicked, dropping their spears with terrified shrieks. The leader tried to be brave under the duloks grasp, not wishing to appear cowardly in front of his subordinates. Still, the leggy creature WAS scared, as was proven by the knocking of his reed thin legs.

"No bisssnes, only looking..only passing through." The yuzzum lead scout babbled, handing over his spear to Umwak, who glared at him with reddened eyes.

Atto noticed that the yuzzum had a small box wedged into the side of it's ratty loincloth.

"Hold him Umwak, he's got a piece of the wreck on him."

The y-eskii-ill padawan hoofed it over to where the dulok had the yuzzum in his firm grasp. He avoided the fluff ball's parted, wide mouth of needle sharp teeth as he plucked the box from his straw colored body.

"I'ts not nice to be sneaky", he scolded, waving a finger in the creatures face. He pocketed the object then turned to explore the wreck.

What Atto saw disturbed him. Examining the most well preserved bodies, he came to a frightful conclusion. These people were murdered. Dead well before the crash.

"Nia!!"

"Umwak!! We've got to go back!!"

[wraith]

For a moment the exiled ewok shaman stopped and looked upon the fallen Nia's form. "White blood? What is this thing..It is not one of the first invaders.." Ashen did not waste any time. While Logray was distracted he ran forward toward the corrupted ewok shaman; lightsaber at the ready. The sounds of his footsteps brought Logray back from his pondering

"This is your trickery!" he shouted and extended his hand forward another bolt of lightning Ashen's way. Stopping him in his tracks and raising his saber to redirect the bolt to the energy blade; absorbing harmlessly into the energy matrix. It's only effect a slight brightening of the blue blade. Though if it had been enough it might have exploded. Enraged by the counter of his attack Logray unleashed another . His fur whitening slightly as the stone around his neck glowed "DIE!" he shouted another bolt came at Ashen. Taking the hilt of the saber with both hands as not to lose it to the force of the lightning. Bringing his saber down to the ground as he knelt upon a single knee. Logray's fangs showing in a sneer as he felt he had won a laugh coming soon after.

Ashen watched the glowing stone and Logray. He released the saber and shoved both of his hands forward toward the form of Logray. A mighty push of the force sent him back though the brush and down the hill behind; stopping his attack.

The lightsaber still active Ashen brought it's hilt back to his hand through the force and pursued down the hill. Logray at the bottom recollecting himself. The grass and foliage that had touched his shield on fire or burned completely. The rain thankfully was dealing with that. Unseen by either combatant was the gaze of a black raven. Perching atop of a branch watching and waiting..

[Blue but beautiful]

At first she felt nothing, saw nothing, nothing but the black anyway. A deep unending abyss into which Nia Shul just seemed to tumble. For the most brief of moments, she wondered if this was what it was like to die dishonorably? She was not entirely sure what had happened to cause this either.
And that was when an white hot pain ignited her nerves, burning the image of the oncoming barrage of foliage firmly into her mind again.
The jeedai!

The source of the searing pain seemed to resound from the base of her skull and indicate that she was very much alive, albeit somewhat incapacitated at the moment. And bit by bit, moment by moment her senses returned.
The damp smell of the forest floor, marred only by the scent of charred debris as lightening scorched whatever it struck.
She could not hear what was being said between the Jeedai and the strange diminutive creature, but as her vision returned somewhat blurred, she awoke to witness what seemed to be the end of the fracar.

The ewok had been sent tumbling across the clearing and down a mossy bank. Nia Shul could not focus, so could not be sure if he would return or not. If he did and she was able to gather her wits, then she would have no choice but to kill him. He had directly challenged her after all.

The injuries that Nia Shul herself had suffered were minimal, save for what could be a costly concussion. But the Ooglith Masquer she wore was far worse for wear. It now oozed watery white blood from it's wounds sustained in the collision with the branches, and if it were unable to heal it's self, it would surely detach it's self as it died.
Such creatures may not have prevented the Jeedai from realizing who she really was, but this was just another annoyance as she could have utilized such a creature further along the line. A day of annoyances, that was what this had been.

She knew she did not have much time to ponder anything as she lay perfectly still, all except one arm, as she reached for the dagger-like coufee she had concealed along side the gelatin pouch that had contained the razor bugs.

[Matlalihuitl]

Umwak held the shaking Yuzzum still and let Atto take care of what he saw. Then it was what Atto said that shocked Umwak, to go back? Then he took notice of the dead bodies, they didn't look burned or cut up from the injuries of the ship, but they seemed to have been killed by someone.
"Let's go!" Umwak said as he dropped the Yuzzum and began to run back.

Meanwhile, a giant awoke from his sleep from all the noise the Ewok shaman had been making. His single eye opened slowly as he yawned. Then he sniffed the air and smiled.
"Humans..." He said to himself as he bagn to walk towards Ashen and Nia Shul. Vix's stomps began to shake the earth as he moved closer and closer towards them, suddenly he stopped. Vix hid behind a large group of brush and trees, and stood there. The forest was still and the hungry Gruton made his move. Vix began to run towards the two and made a grab for Nia.

[Blue but beautiful]

As if things could not get any worse, Nia Shul became aware of steady vibrations thrumming through the earth beneath her like footfalls. No...not like footfalls, those were the vibrations from something walking. What was more, just from it's blurred outline she could tell that whatever it was, it was a huge hulking creature. And it was headed straight for her.

Nerves flared to life with pain at the sudden movement of limbs as she willed them to take her weight. Unfortunately she could manage little more than to get to all fours as the onset of the concussion took profound effect. A dizzying sickness whirled about her head and her vision blurred more so as she threw herself out of the creatures path just as it made a grab for her.

She was not sure where she had landed, but she now held the coufee firmly in one hand. She might not be able to kill that thing, certainly not in her state, but she could perhaps injure it enough to prevent it from grabbing at her again.
Nia Shul thought then, that it was fortunate none of her subordinates were here to see this...she may have not been high in her caste, but she certainly did not need failure to take her any lower. And this was looking desperately more and more like a failure.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to steady herself into an upright position, all the while remembering that pain should be embraced, not a cause for hindrance. And the pain was exquisite after all...it was the concussion that could cause her to falter. No matter, she would do this one way or another.

[Matlalihuitl]

Vix had missed his target and stopped himself from crashing into a tree. He made a turn, a bit too quick. He slipped at his turn and fell next to a near by tree.
"Ow..." He said as he rolled into a ball and made a grab for his injured leg. He then looked at Nia and Ashen and tried to slash his claws at them.

[wraith]

The shake of the ground stopped Ashen in his tracks. His head turning back in the direction he had left Nia and to the presence that had arrived and it was pissed. Logray had run quickly into the brush to escape at the first footfalls now that Ashen was distracted. The bird up above in the branches squawked alertedly. Looking back to the sounds of Logray's retreat briefly and back as he saw the huge shadow of the thing they had awoken. Was this a Gorax? From what the people at Salfar's and the ewoks had told him they were rare and this was far from their lands, but they had been known to come down to the forest in search of food when they felt the need. Whatever it was it was going for Nia.

Of all times in the galaxy why now?! he thought to himself as he rushed back toward Nia. She was already up again and evading the thing's swipe at her. He stopped in his tracks as he looked up to the beast. No that wasn't accurate. He sensed sentience from it. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be just curious as it made a second slash at Nia and him. Ashen called the force through his feet and rushed ahead away from the big guy's claws. He took Nia up over his shoulder rather quickly Damn Vong's more trouble than she's worth. he thought to himself as he rushed a distance from the 35 foot thing one eyed thing. This was a creature no one at Salfar's had told him about and he most certainly had never seen in his life. What he did know about it however is he felt terrible rage at Nia and himself..for being human. Great..

"We mean you no harm!" he shouted over the rain for him to hear. If he could understand him. Hopefully Nia wouldn't do anything stupid like be a typical yuuzhan vong and go right on the straight on the warpath..

[Blue but beautiful]

Nia Shul had been half way to standing when the Jeedai had rushed her. What's more, he had taken it upon himself to attempt to carry her out the way of the 35ft creatures swiping claws. A sentiment, she did not appreciate in the slightest.

Knowing fine well that the ruse was up, she attempted to free herself from his hold. Her head still not wishing to cooperate, in terms of clear vision or orientation, was not a help in this at all. First of all, all she could seem to manage was a well placed knee to the Jeedai's torso in an attempt to dislodge herself. When that did not prove effective enough her actions became a tad more aggressive.
Coufee firmly in her grasp, she made a wild slash at the jeedai's back cursing as she did so. Stabbing might have made him drop her, but the risk of death then would be higher, and he was worth more to her alive than dead out here. Oh death would come to him alright, perhaps by her own hands, but not yet.

35ft creature or not, she wasn't going to let the local wildlife come between her and escalation.

[Matlalihuitl]

Vix only laughed at Ashen's words, he understood him well and he was quite capable of speaking basic himself.
"Oh, then what make's you think I will harm you?" Vix asked as he laughed while trying to get up from the ground. He slipped again and landed on his leg.
"You're here for something aren't you human?" Vix asked agrily.

[wraith]

Ashen hoisted Nia a bit more over his shoulder to keep himself from dropping her at her flailing and what he felt was an attack. Looking over his shoulder briefly acknowledged that. She was holding a small weapon. It did not look like an amphistaff; the weapon he was more use to seeing them wield..of course he was more use to seeing them in their living crab armors than in this fake skin that bled white. He knew it had to be another seperate creature. Yuuzhan Vong's blood was black.

"The only thing I am here for is to stop the dark ewok shaman that's been terrorizing this place!" he shouted over the rain to the one eyed being. Ashen could still feel Logray's powerful presence but he was quickly getting away. What was this creature doing before they arrived he wondered? How could he even sleep through this kind of weather the question that came to Ashen's mind rather jokefully. "We did not mean to disturb your rest!." he called again as he prayed to the force Nia would pass out again to avoid any further incident with this hulking person.

A sharp pain suddenly came on his back as though a knife had suddenly cut across him. He gave a sharp hiss of pain and resisted the instinct to let go

"Stop it you crazy bitch do you want to die here?" as if he had to ask..Truthfully he had no idea what was going on through Nia's head but whatever it was she was simply adding to this already heated situation.