"Blood is Thicker Than...." (Noghri/ Post- Ep.III/ Jedi Purge) (Updated 4/19!!)

Wow, this is the greatest fanfic I have ever read in my pitiful, meaningless, existence! Honestly, it restored my faith in mankind! Just when I was starting to think that there were no true literary geniuses left in the world, Tenel Ka goes and creates this! WOW! I've printed the whole thing off and created a little shrine to it in my bedroom, with rose petals scattered around and candles everywhere....

But in all seriousness, it's a very good story, and she didn't force me to review it. I did this out of the goodness of my heart. Because I'm just such a nice person. Not because I felt guilty for distributing those pictures of her all over the internet...

YAAAAY TENEL KA!!

 

Yes, grovel mortal, grovel.



That was beautiful Kurt. You even got me a fourth page!



Remind me to bug you to up my stories more often.

 

Up for my favorite ass-kicking Jedi girl.

 

PHEW!

I'm so sorry it took this long to write, but life seems to be throwing curve balls at me lately. This story is kind of my baby, so it was really hard to go and update Glycerine and Crayaks and Corellians before this one, but the hard truth is, they have more readers. Anyway, on with the post! (Now this is my definition of excitement).

Oh, wait, one more thing. You'll noticed I changed the description a bit, I noticed that this story will be post-Ep. III, not post-AotC.

* * *

Two of Honoghr?s three moons were in the sky, dim and small, but still beautifully rounded in spherical perfection and glowing, pearly and luminescent, against the serene black dome of night.

Senika was checking the contents of her backpack when she heard a dry twig rustle against some fallen leaves. Her head jerked up and she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the noise, but was relieved to see only Relkivk.

?Sha?vah!? she whispered vehemently to her friend, standing as she did and hoisting her heavy pack onto her back. Relkivik gave a nonchalant shrug as he stepped up to the group.

The other members of the party had been gathered underneath the tree for nearly five minutes waiting for Relkivik, and Senika signaled through hand motions that they should get moving. The Noghri expressed their agreement and Senika smiled slightly before plunging into the forest.

Omnipar was the only forest left in the Clean Land and it protectively surrounded the village of Omniparek, which simply means, ?by Omnipar.? It was a deep and mysterious wood, with uncharted perils and untold dark regions where sunlight never reached the ground. It seemed to harbour a dislike for any creature that was not from its boundaries and few Noghri that were not from its village strayed into the reach of its ravenous branches.

Senika was not afraid of Omnipar or any of its hungry inhabitants, but she was vaguely nervous of leading her friends through it in the darkness and without any sort of path to guide her. The night was freezing, a warning of the winter approaching, and Senika was grateful for the extra clothes Malika had made her wear despite fervent protests.

She pushed aside a curtain of cobweb-like vines, the white fibers trailing eerily across her neck as she passed underneath them. The mud of the forest floor sucked at her soft hide boots, squelching slightly despite her efforts to be quiet. She could hardly see anything in the darkness, with the lights of the moons unable to penetrate the branches of the trees.

?How far until we can light one of the flares?? Senika whispered to Ichebar.

?Half an hour or so. Can you see well enough? Do you want me to take the lead?? Ichebar asked, concerned.

Of course, she did want him to lead, but it seemed very cowardly to be giving in already, so Senika shook her head.

?I can manage,? she answered.

So Senika continued to lead the group through the ghastly depths of Omnipar, with each step carefully placed and the direction constantly being checked. She led them across freezing streams that soaked her pants up to the thigh, she slogged though brambles that snagged viciously at her hair and dug into her clothes, and she felt the knots of numerous tree roots scrape across her feet, hurting them despite her boots.

The going became easier when they reached a point far enough away from the village to light the compact flare lanterns. Senika tried not to look as relieved as she felt about being right about the path. Everything in this mission seemed to depend on timing.

The expedition was going splendidly until about an hour before dawn.

They came to a clearing, which was not really a clearing, but had fewer, thinner trees, as close to a clearing as it is possible to get in Omnipar. Pale moon-light filtered weakly through the tree branches, illuminating the first threat of the night, a chilling creature Senika had only heard of before in legends told beside the fire on cold winter nights.

The monster did not see them immediatel

 

Wow, a fight already! That was exciting!

The group works together as a team really well.

 

OH GOSH!

You reviewed so soon! Thanks so much!

We'll be seeing a lot of teamwork from the Noghri soon... After all, they still have to "borrow" the shuttle off-planet.

 

Tenel_Ka

This is a very interesting story.



~Lelila~

 

Thank-you Lelila, I hope you'll be pleased with the ending.

 

Hmm... Up for this...

 

Two of Honoghr?s three moons were in the sky, dim and small, but still beautifully rounded in spherical perfection and glowing, pearly and luminescent, against the serene black dome of night.

What a beautiful beginning to a very exciting post. I usually hate action because I can never follow it, but this was great! I loved the man vs. nature dynamic, and it was certainly interesting to see Senika fighting. I wonder: Did she really kill the Vralok before Relkivik stabbed it, or was he humoring her? If that kind of behavior is a pattern, I imagine there is going be conflict in the future when Senika catches him. Great post, TK, and I'm so glad you updated!

 

Up.

 

LadyMaireadThanks! I'm hoping my action scenes flow better now, beause when I was reading back on some stuff in Between Pirates and Princesses some things seemed confusing. I think one of my biggest challenges in writing is trying not to be melodramatic and runnging things together smoothly. And there's a nice bit of Relkivik/Senika action in the next post!

 

Chapter Five: To Distant Blazing Stars

A short time after the encounter with the Vralok, the sky began to lighten and the trees abruptly ended, ending the portion of the trip through Omnipar and greeting fields of Nogrhi bakt, one of the few crops grown in the Clean Land. Here they paused to eat, and then to rest.

Senika found it hard to sleep, after she was done the first watch, with the warm sun overhead taking away some of the chill from the breeze, and the warm golden straw of the grains crop that was nearly ready to harvest. She lay on her back with her arms behind her head, gazing up at the brilliant blue sky that matched her eyes, watching the enormous cumulous clouds drift lazily by. Her muscles were not overly exerted from the long walk or the fight with the Vralok, having been strenuously exercised every day of her life with explorations, play-fights, household work, and her general energetic habits. To top it off, she felt mildly invigorated from the successful battle and for the upcoming one that evening.

At some point, however, sleep must have overcome her, because she found herself prodded awake by Sakhisakh as the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. With a yawn and a stretch she was alert again, chewing on a strip of smoked meat that Ichebar gave her for supper as the group continued their trek.

Nightfall found them a short ways from Nystao and they reached the interior of the city an hour or so earlier than they had planned. Ichebar, Bakfulor, and Mapeshka had all served terms with the Empire before, and knew the regulations formerly followed at the garrison.

They slipped through the backstreets of the city, avoiding being seen and quiet as vrelts. When they at last crept up to the back gates of the garrison, they discovered a new development, and paused for a moment, hesitating.

?Ichebar,? Senika whispered, creeping up beside him, ?You said there would be Noghri guarding the gates. Those are Imperial troops!?

?I realize that,? he answered indignantly, ?Which should make things much easier for us. They are only humans, so??
Ichebar seemed to realize what he had been about to say and stopped abruptly.

?I?m sorry, Senika, you know I meant to say Imperials,? he said quickly, looking at the sad, disappointed face, ?You are on a much higher level than most humans.?

?Yeah, yeah,? she muttered, not in the mood for pity, ?So the plan still persists? Jump them and then the Stokhli??

?Try to do it quickly. It could be bad news if they send word to Coruscant ahead of us that some Noghri have stolen a ship. If it were Noghri we were fighting, they would not report the incident for the shame of it, but Imperials??

He let the words hang and Senika nodded in agreement.

?Hustle people,? she ordered, ?Get on the roofs, knock ?em down, then steal their passes and get inside.?

The Noghri nodded and split in different directions. Senika climbed deftly up the side of a nearby house, gave her self some running space, then sprinted forward and leaped over the gap between the roof of the garrison and the building.

She landed without a sound, and crouched there for a moment, regaining equilibrium. She narrowed her eyes in concentration, creeping across the metal shingles towards the edge of the roof. She found her Stokhli spray stick in her backpack and silently removed it. With the weapon clutched tightly in her hand, she peek cautiously over the side.

The eerie white armor of the Imperial trooper shimmered slightly in the moonlight, a prime target for Senika?s attack. She smiled vaguely, then launched gracefully into the air, executing a neat forward flip and aiming her feet to hit the soldier squarely in the back. The blow hit him precisely where she intended, and the soldier dropped with a sickening crunch.

?Next time,? Senika muttered to herself, ?Try to watch your back.?
She smiled, then swiftly retrieved the soldier?s pass card and nodded to the Noghri that were approaching the door.
She stepped up and swiped the access card, then spent a tense

 

Another exciting post. I do hope that Noghri girl is alright! I also hope Senika isn't going to have an angsty guilt-fest over the fact that someone was injured during her first mission. It wasn't her fault! *hugs Senkia and glares at TK*

Alright, so I suppose it isn't really fair to glare at you for something you haven't done yet. Consider it pre-emptive glaring. Anyway...

She had never seen anything quite so beautiful, or quite so mournful. Honoghor was barren, a light-green and brown wasteland where only kholm-grass grew. But space was magnificent, cold and pristine, as she saw stars that had never been so clear and the three moons of Honoghor in startling detail.

Lovely. Really just lovely. I love reading your posts because there are these moments when everything seems to grow still and beautiful.

Very nice, and I'm quite impatient to see what happens next!

 

Excellent post.




~Lelila~

 

Senika found it hard to sleep, after she was done the first watch, with the warm sun overhead taking away some of the chill from the breeze, and the warm golden straw of the grains crop that was nearly ready to harvest. She lay on her back with her arms behind her head, gazing up at the brilliant blue sky that matched her eyes, watching the enormous cumulous clouds drift lazily by.
Your writing really is beautiful.

And poor Noghri girl! Hmm . . . someone getting hurt this early on doesn't bode well, does it?

 

LadyMairead: Awww!!! Thanks LM! I had this dream the other night where I was just sitting on the moon without a suit, but still being able to breathe, and looking at the earth, sun and planets above me. It kind of reminded me of that.

Admiral_Lelila: Thanks!

The_Standmaiden: Don't worry! I just needed conflict in that last post! Thank-you so much for the comments!

 

Up! ... because this one's your baby, Katie!

 

Up!

 

Up again. [rant] It's so ridiculous that people can't recognize quality writing when they see it. This is so original, and yet where are all the readers? There's more to life than mush![/rant]

 

PHEW!


Sorry about this one peeps!

I wrote a post, then I erased it, then I wrote it, then I erased it.... Damn Relkivik and developing his character..... ARGH!


Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, I'll try to get the next post intelligible as quickly as I can.


*cheers because she's nearly done stupid stupid "Sell-OUts"*

~TK

 

* * *


The trip from Honoghr to Coruscant was a four-day journey, because much of it was through the uncharted and treacherous star regions between Honoghr and the Perlemian Trade Route. This series of jumps took nearly three days to accomplish, but as soon as they reached the Perlemian, they could make one fast jump to Coruscant.

Senika had gleaned this information, and any other scrap of knowledge about the ship, from Ichebar. The ship was a Corellian freighter, easily piloted by two people and inhabited by ten. It was a fast ship, Ichebar told her, though she couldn?t compare it to anything, so she didn?t know. The cabins were clean and tidy in military style, but the ship still had a strangely cozy feeling.

After Senika found that Sakhisakh would be fine, thanks to Beytakilena?s nimble fingers and deft hands, she set about exploring more of the ship. The cockpit she?d already been introduced to, and was wary about lingering in because of the multitude of buttons and flickering lights to brush into accidentally. The ship was oval shaped, with two main hallways running from the cockpit to the ramp along the outsides. On the inner part, there was a large recreation room, with diagnostic boards, food-prep units and a large table with a holo-game board. There were four cabins with a refresher and two bunks apiece, and an extra fold out two incase of extra occupants. Near the back of the ship, Senika found, there were escape pods, and ladders leading to dorsal and bottom gun turrets.

Satisfied with her inspection, Senika retreated back to the quarters she was sharing with Sakhisakh, Pirakash, and Relkivik. Relkivik, who had been accompanying her on her explorations, trailed her into the room and promptly dove towards the left side bottom bunk.

?Hey!? Senika exclaimed, ?I had dibs on that!?

?Not until you earn it!? Relkivik replied with a jovial smirk.

Senika cocked her head at him and then hefted herself easily to the bunk that had been pulled out of the wall above. The cabins were small, with two bunks (one fold-out and one regular) on either side in little alcoves, with cupboards beside each for storing possessions, and the door to the tiny refresher opposite the door used for entrance. The space in between the bunk alcoves was only a meter or so, which didn?t leave much room for fighting or whatever Relkivik was insinuating.

Senika hung her head over the side of the bunk, looking down at Relkivik, with her two long braids swinging like pendulums that nearly touched the floor.

?Earn it how?? Senika asked curiously, smiling at her best friend.

?Duel, of course,? answered Relkivik with a mischievous grin.

Senika began to see the plan he?d doubtlessly been forming in his head.

?You want to try out my dagger you mean,? she said knowingly.

Relkivik nodded, the smirk not leaving his face.

Senika began to smirk as well. She coiled her body for a jump, then sprung from the bunk onto the floor, grabbing for Relkivik in the same motion. He dodged too quickly, as she knew he would, so she went for the dagger in her belt. With the handle solidly gripped, she jabbed forward, putting Relkivik on his guard.

Noghri daggers had never been intended for hunting animals. Most of the prey Noghri lived off of for millennia had been taken down with arrows, darts or through some sort of trickery, like a guffla jump, where a Noghri hunter would clothe himself in vralok furs and stand up wind from a herd grazing on a cliff. The herd would get a scent of the vralok furs and panic, running blindly towards the cliff, where they plummeted to their deaths. Other Noghri would be waiting at the bottom for this event, and would quickly proceed to chop up and preserve the meat. This method was able to keep entire clans fed through a winter in past generations.

The dagger therefore, was never a needed tool for getting food. Instead, it was used in warfare, tribe against tribe, clan against clan, Noghri against Noghri. The patterns and combinations it could be us

 

Yay! Another posty! You're awesome, Katie!

 

*sniffle*

 

UP!