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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga - OT Snowed In (Ewoks | 2.5/3 ABY | Horror/Supernatural) | COMPLETE, WITH E-BOOK

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Ewok Poet, Nov 9, 2014.

  1. glitteryboots

    glitteryboots Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Nice to see Wicket acknowledging some of his negative traits at the beginning. Also, a bit random but him blowing on his hands while climbing is a really nice detail that makes the scene feel very realistic. Very intrigued by this mysterious fire in the sky now...

    The action scene is exciting and I did wonder for a second if Latara wasn't going to be okay. Great to see her reunited with Teebo, the ending is lovely. :)
     
  2. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Had a reading marathon through your fanfic thread here. You write fun Ewoks! I had to stop reading several times due to intense laughter. One time my husband even ran in to check on me. :D
     
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  3. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Oh my goodness gracious! :eek: What on Endor just happened to Paploo and Wicket?! I see why you had the trigger warning: this has got to be the weirdest, bloodiest, downright scariest chapter yet (unless 14 will be even more so...). At least as unnerving as the darkness, fire, and colored stones themselves are Wicket's sudden dazzlement (pretty stone must go immediately into the belt!) and Paploo's bizarre drugged trance before they both mysteriously disappear. Then the gurreck sequence... oh, just... eek! Good thing Teebo showed up when he did—though then to get that gentke soul's first kill on top of everything else... just. oh. my. SUS! PENSE!!

    And yes, I have a guess about the true identity of the "Guiding Star." ;)
     
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  4. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    I know I said I would refrain from commenting on comments until after chapter 14, but I need to address this:


    Nope, that would be "the other moon", the obsession major plot point of the sequel to Snowed In.

    In this case, it's just that Teebo and Wicket saw the same star, an actual star, yet interpreted the sign differently.
     
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  5. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Chapter 14


    Tags: glitteryboots Findswoman (the later of whom I am thankful for beta-reading this and helping me in my war against missing commas)

    I assume the big reveal in this chapter won't surprise most of you. At the same time, the extent to which the suspicious character would go in order to have her revenge and the fact that we still don't know who the main villain is, or WHAT he is should make this an interesting cliffie. :p


    At the same time, this is the point where I'm asking Kahara if this fits her theory on Gunlaag in any way.




    The clouds covered the Sistermoon and Tana. The stars were only peeking through the dense fog. In the darkness of secluded space under a thick woven curtain, a pair of hands spun the crystal image spinner on the large wooden table engraved with the same symbol as the curtains, some of the bottles and pots on the shelves and pretty much every other thing in the hut.

    At first, there were no results and the top-like artefact just tumbled on one of its sides. After a couple of “k’varks” and a handful more spins, a hooded figure in dim light was slowly becoming visible in the orange glass. Due to the number of abnormalities on the creature’s face barely visible underneath the hood, they looked like a nightmare; but the late-night dweller who summoned them grinned and greeted them.

    “Sorry for the interruption, my master. I had to hide again.”

    “As long as you are finally making yourself heard…” the hooded figure’s red eye flashed, “Do you have the Sunstar?”

    “That I do, my master. However, I don’t have Logray.”

    The hooded figure’s sharp teeth were clearly visible in the spinner, as they snarled at whoever was spinning the crystal. “You fool!” Don’t tell me you’re afraid to take on him?”

    “I am not!” the minion protested. “He is not here. Once he is, he will meet his demise. Nearly everybody else who can be considered dangerous is scattered around the nearby groves.”

    “Did you get rid of the Red Ghost that the Duloks spoke about? Was she capable of magic?”

    “I am sure she was stabbed to death by my gurreck. And no, to my knowledge, she had no magic powers to speak of - she was more of an animal than an Ewok, so that’s where her knowledge of animals came from. Night Spirit forbid if she ever actually learned to use the outhut when her naïve little sister brought her back from the wilderness.”

    The hooded figure stopped for a bit before responding. It had never been clear why this minion possessed such hatred for her own specimen, but as long as that hatred could be exploited, it was useful to listen to her ramble on every now and then.

    “Strange. I was almost sure she was the other user of magic…Logray’s apprentice. My vision clearly looked like a female Ewok. How could I have been wrong?”

    The minion snickered. “Logray did recruit somebody after Zarrak, my master; but it’s a he. You are not far away from the truth, though; I did not expect a shaman to still have the face of a wokling at what I understand was some seventeen snows of age…” she pulled a grimace to give her best impression of a ‘not really there’ expression, “You know what that means – he is not corrupted at all, otherwise his anger would’ve started consuming him by now.”

    “Are you avoiding telling me what I really want to know? Is he capable of magic or is he yet another con interested in remedies and potions?”

    “From what I understood, he played a key role in Morag's death. And he got rid of Zarrak by directing a bunch of flying leaves at him." She almost did not like the sound of her own confession. “Another thing I learned is that he is directly responsible for the demise of King Vulgarr of the former united Dulok tribe. He is the son of that infamous Warok; he is the one who almost sacrificed himself to save his younger sister.”

    The hooded figure’s voice was now raspy and full of anger.

    “Do King Patrash and Warlord Kaalwar know about him? They should not. I assume you plan to converge with them one more time before they attack the village and that, when the time comes, you will release the other beasts to eat Gorneesh and his excuse for an army alive.”

    “I took the liberty to modify your plan, Master, in order to kill two munyips with one stone. I sent Gorneesh’s warriors to find the Ewok hunters, while he and his henchman are with our preferred Dulok faction; so we could get rid of them during the battle and make it look like the Ewoks did it. You know how much Gorneesh wanted Chirpa? It was impossible to get him to do what I wanted, so this is a compromise…“

    “Hmmm…I like that. While you’re getting rid of the Bright Tree Village’s powerful ones…”

    “…both the Ewok hunters and the incompetent Dulok warriors will meet their demise together under the hooves and on the horns of my beasts. Once Patrash and Kaalwar’s faction has slaughtered Chirpa’s family and Warok, who is responsible for their father’s deaths and once I get rid of Logray, the remaining Ewok warriors may as well surrender to me…I mean, you. Then Patrash can have his long-desired wokling feast. If he gets his hands on Warok’s daughter like his father planned to back in the days, she will serve as a warning to others.”

    The hooded figure contemplated the idea for a while and then spoke again.

    “Your plan is glorious, but mine is even better. That wokling-faced shaman apprentice still puzzles me…I want him. I will make sure he willingly comes here. Meanwhile, Patrash’s warriors will keep you safe until Logray arrives, then you can lead him to our lair somehow. By then, I will have his apprentice become a servant of the Night Spirit and he will slaughter his own master! He will be our to-go assassin, so we don’t have to get our hands dirty anymore.”

    The minion was suspicious and somewhat offended.

    “Master, I thought I was to finish Logray! I’ve been waiting for so long!”

    “You can use as many of his tools of trade to become more powerful, and as many of his bones as you please to adorn yourself. After all, you will be the new shaman of the Bright Tree Village. Now, doesn’t that seem tempting, Mistress Gunlaag?” the hooded master paused for a bit and then continued, “Wouldn’t you love to wield Logray’s spine as your authority staff? Wouldn’t you like to adorn your new hood with his teeth? Now, lead Patrash and Kaalwar to their sweet revenge, and Gorneesh to his demise…and take good care of the Sunstar.”

    Gunlaag nodded her head, as the reflection of her master faded in the crystal image spinner. Then she covered it and put it aside, angrily spitting on the symbol on the table. She was strong enough in magic to realise she has been betrayed and that her master just changed his plans. A personal assassin? That did not sound like her master’s tactics. From what she knew of him, he never had more than one minion by his side and the idea of a young and able-bodied apprentice would have seemed more appealing to her if she had had her master’s powers as well. Whatever he just made up on spot was nothing but a trap to get rid of her in favour of the clumsy Ewok she met earlier that day and who was, as far as she knew, at the observatory.

    But the banished shaman of the former Mountain Springs village was smarter than that. After all, she never intended to give her master the real Sunstar, but a painted stone from the Yarlubb river. Something that belonged to Logray, the shaman who destroyed her life, or so she claimed, was precisely what she wanted to use to destroy him.

    Sixty snows ago, she led a young warrior and his bride-to-be to death, after they observed her tame and control her blood-thirsty animals in a cave. The Council of elders expelled her, thanks to a visiting shaman from another village who uncovered her plot and erased her from the songs of remembrance, her name never to be spoken of again. Days later, she came back with a herd of beasts and only a handful of her former tribesmen escaped being stabbed and ran over. They scattered, holding on to dear life, and never came back to Mountain Springs.

    Ever since that day, Gunlaag had been trying to find the one who saw through her. In the meantime, she was travelling from one village to another, offering her services as a fortune teller; with her faithful beasts lingering nearby in case she needed to dispose of an enemy. It was only through her former allies, Morag the Tulgah witch and a fellow bitter Ewok shaman in exile, Zarrak, that she found out about Logray; and it was only through her new master that she found out Morag and Zarrak died on the course of the past two snows.

    And now, when she was so close to her revenge that she could almost taste it, everything got more complicated and her unexpected ally was ready to ditch her for somebody who never killed out of sheer pleasure.

    “How could the master be so unthankful?” she thought to herself, “I let him know the locations of all Ewok villages on Endor, I retrieved all of Morag and Zarrak’s magical objects, and now he wants to get rid of me…”

    Her stream of thought was cut short, as she heard somebody approach the hut. She made her way out through the window, then towards the main square, as the small platform did not provide enough space for her to hide. The nearest two huts were close to each other, and she hid in the storage space in between.

    Moments later, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her. She held her breath and curled up, trying not to move, as the other Ewok was sniffing the air. Did somebody see through her already? Was a skilled warrior she had no knowledge of following her?

    And then, unexpectedly, somebody else, a much larger Ewok than any she had encountered throughout the day, grabbed the one spying on her. She heard them argue and she was hoping they would not come back and find her. Once they rushed down the main stairway, she breathed a sigh of relief, stepped into the light again and looked around, not knowing which way to take, until she spotted the only stairs leading further up.

    “If the young lurdo is still observing the stars, perhaps I can…”

    Holding the Sunstar in hopes for an eventual battle, she arrived to observatory. A telescope was still in its place, as well as a stump with a cushion on it. Inside of the hut itself, she spotted two mugs containing what appeared to be young cheese, one of which had a noticeable crimson-red mark in shape of lips.

    “K’vark! The moment I discover your weakness, you are already gone!” Gunlaag crashed one of the mugs against the wooden fence. She was about to break the other as well, when she noticed fire rising from a distance, above the dense treetops covered in heavy snow.

    “By the Night spirit! The master has already set the trap! If the wokling is the scroll-worm I perceived him to be, he’s got to know of the oldest dark spell ever recorded!”

    How was she to deal with betrayal?

    The only thing coming to her mind was presenting herself as the victim to Logray and figuring out if there was a way to manipulate him into what she felt would have been a fair battle.

    And that was precisely what she set off to do. Until then, she had to go back to the bed she was given, so nobody would suspect her.



    Asha was sitting in a warm wash tub, with her younger sister by her side. She came round, but she was badly bruised and each single of her limbs was aching. If nothing else, there was no frostbite on her fingers and toes.

    “What a strange story. First Duloks plotting with that stranger, then the only animal to appear in days is out to get you?” Kneesaa was observing the torn fur cape, “I don’t know much about gurrecks, but this is the first time I heard of them attacking somebody like that. And it attacked you, out of all forest dwellers. It makes no sense.”

    “The animal was under somebody’s control. I don’t even know how to describe its eyes; they did not give me the impression of a creature that was really there. Gurrecks are dangerous, but they do not chase their prey like that.”

    The princess crumbled some more fragrant clay-like substance in her sister’s bathwater.

    “We gave this to Gunlaag as well; it should soothe your pain…and it smells like rainbow berries, which makes it a real treat.”

    “Who is Gunlaag?”

    “She arrived this morning; she is now resting at aunt Bozzie’s hut. A poor, frail old woman…says the Duloks attacked her village and left her for dead, then moved to the desert. Teebo did not trust her, for some reason, but I…”

    “Duloks. Assault.” Asha jumped out of the bath and reached for her spear, as foam was dripping from her body. Kneesaa was terrified.

    “What has got into you? You look…rabid…head to toe rabid!”

    And rabid her sister was, grinding her teeth and howling like a korrina. The princess had never seen her like that.

    “Gunlaag was the sad excuse for an Ewok whom I overheard talking to Gorneesh’s Duloks last night in that cave. The voice, the shadow, the posture, all of them were typical for an Ewok female! Frail old woman…chak, what a pile of steaming droppings! She’s got to be the one controlling the animals. She is dangerous beyond belief and we must stop her. Now!”

    As Asha was drying herself in a hurry and donning her fur cape again, Kneesaa was able to fill in the missing pieces.

    "What a sly creature! She did not want Teebo to heal her because he would have noticed the lack of wounds and bruises, something Bozzie...oh, k'vark. She is not at Bozzie's anymore; it was her eyes that I saw in the dark, between the huts, before Chukha-Trok grabbed me. I hope she did not head straight to..."

    “…Master Logray’s hut!”




    Footnotes
    Crystal image spinner is an object Logray used in all of his appearances other than Return of the Jedi to communicate with other shamans on Endor. though in some instances the object was shown as simply letting its Force-sensitive owners know what was happening elsewhere.

    This chapter relies heavily on The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense, where Warok first killed Ulgo, whom we earlier established as the father of Kalwaar. The later is a warlord working for king Patrash, another descendant, this time of king Vulgarr, who was stomped on by Grudakk, the guardian of the Father Tree. The wokling Vulgarr almost beheaded and ate in the above mentioned book was Malani and it's pretty clear that the plan implied by "the Master" could be used for more than just the reason stated in his address to Gunlaag. Therefore, the whole story just got...more disturbing than expected.

    The "Master" and Gunlaag also talk about Zarrak. While the "aftermath" part of the Wook articles on him assumes some things that only appeared in RPG sourcebooks and some that were never confirmed or denied, the story of his demise is correct, so it may help those who have never read about an Ewok dark Jedi before.

    Naming a villain Patrash was fun. I mean, that's just an alternate spelling of Patrasche, the name of the harmless dog from The Dog of Flanders.

    Outhut - this would be, err, an Endorian outhouse. There is another term I invented, but that will be relevant in far future as a joke, so I'd rather use this one.

    The as-of-yet-unknown master's vision was a female Ewok being Logray's apprentice, which made him and Gunlaag target Asha, as opposed to Teebo. What's this for? Some videocaster reviewing the Ewoks cartoon pilot, The Cries of the Trees, had problems figuring out if Teebo was male or female, likely due to his somewhat neutral appearance and ultra-gentle mannerisms. I thought it would be fun if these things could be misinterpreted in-universe as well.
     
  6. glitteryboots

    glitteryboots Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Ooo, another chapter full of suspense. :D I had a bad feeling about Gunlaag and wondered if this was going to be her, but it was still a surprise when her master used her name. I didn't expect her to be quite so evil (which you've captured really well, btw) and partially believed that she was a frail old woman at first! Hadn't figured that she was the one Asha saw. Very well done. The ending is amazing, one of those "gasp!" moments. Excited to see find out what happens next and how what happened in the last chapter (the thing with the fire and then Latara being attacked, Teebo saving her) is going to fit into it all.
     
  7. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Wow, these past three chapters are amazing for having really taken the whole story into some dark and scary new territory. Things are taking on distinct overtones of the creepypasta, and I mean that in a 100% complimentary way. Very, very cool. :cool:

    Any ambivalence I had about Gunlaag's true intentions is not ambivalent anymore. I confess that the bleeding heart in me was a bit taken in by her "poor, decrepit old woman" schtick at first, but I knew there must be something to Teebo and Batcheela's bad feelings about her. I went back and read chapter 9, where Asha overhears her conversation with Gorneesh and Umwak, and yes, I now begin to see how things are fitting together with her, her mysterious master, and the Duloks. Though much mystery still remains about her true intentions, her true identity, her true origins... you're doing a perfect job of revealing just the right amount at a time, and the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter is very, very effective. Logray's hut is exactly where we don't want this creepy old battle-axe messing about.

    Great notes, too. The bit about mistaking Teebo for female was amusing, but understandable too; if this (or any of the Ewoks episodes) were operas, Teebo would probably be a "trouser role" (male character played by female singer, with a female voice range). And as for Patrash, the name has connections to the Adventures of Tintin universe too: in Cigars of the Pharaoh, Patrash Pasha is the name of a Bedouin sheikh who first has Tintin captured but then releases him when he finds out who he is, confessing to be a fan of his adventures (even displaying a copy of one of "his" books). I am guessing Hergé named him after the harmless Dog of Flanders too.
     
  8. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    “Who is Gunlaag?”

    “She arrived this morning; she is now resting at aunt Bozzie’s hut. A poor, frail old woman…says the Duloks attacked her village and left her for dead, then moved to the desert. Teebo did not trust her, for some reason, but I…”

    Oh, I sense danger here! [face_nail_biting]And dishonesty.
     
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  9. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    (Reserved for the response to the above comments and the comments to the previous chapters, as I'm spellchecking the next chapter in order to post it...on a roll!)
     
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  10. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Yeah! That is good news! [face_party]
     
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  11. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Chapter 15

    Tags: Findswoman glitteryboots




    Wicket came round and opened his eyes, solely to discover that everything around him was dark. He started blindly touching the space around him. For Light Spirit knows which time that day, he silently cursed himself for not having paid attention at the campfire, when the elders were telling stories to young ones. Had he cared about it, he would have known where he was at this moment, and what was to happen next.

    Paploo was next to him and he could hear him breathing. Wicket sniffed him first, then himself and eventually the air. There was no smell of blood or pus. Nevertheless, the space they were in was full of uncomfortable, piercing stench, which he quickly attributed to fear of the unknown, in both of them.

    “Are you all right?” he whispered to his friend.

    There was no coherent response, just barely understandable moans and single words, as Paploo was still coming round. Wicket shrugged and continued exploring the underground space they woke up in, led by his senses of smell and touch. He slowly crawled in each direction, hoping for fresher air, checking if there was solid ground beneath his hands and feet and hoping that there was a way out. After having discovered three dead ends and ending up with a couple of sluggish insects smeared on his palms, he swallowed a lump. There was only one possibility left and if it would lead him to another wall, then they may have been buried alive.

    That was not a way he wanted to leave the world, seduced by a bunch of shiny pebbles for his belt of honour, with a barely-conscious Paploo by his side. He never thought about death much, but bearing the last name of Warrick was a descendent of one of the greatest Ewok warriors that ever lived and, if he was to die, he did not want to die without a battle. He did not want to die without a song to remember him by. Most importantly, being young, hopeful and hot-blooded, he did not want to die without accomplishing everything that he once scribbled on a piece of parchment at the Bright Tree Village’s swimming hole, the same afternoon when Teebo scribbled his first poem.

    “If only Latara was here with us…” Wicket mumbled to himself. “If only she was here to say ‘You and your dumb belt’ like she did back when we got rid of the wizards of the Night Spirit in the Thorn Forest. This time I would listen to her and admit that I am defeated.”

    “La…tara? Where?” Paploo’s speech was still slurred, as his jaw was half-numb.

    “She is not here, but unless she fell in some other hole, I am sure she is alive. The last thing I saw before we fell through the ground was her face, she was holding on to a tree.”

    “Land…slide…”

    “No, this was not a landslide, Paploo. Something or someone wanted us to end up here. The fire that led us to this place was not just a fire. And I would rather meet that someone and bleed to death after they have stabbed me and strangled me, than…eat worms and die.”

    Wicket bit his tongue. Despite this being one of his favourite expletives, he'd never used it literally... until now. Never before did it sound so serious, as he had said it countless times before – to his brothers, friends, fish that got away, he could even remember that he once uttered it when his little sister relieved herself on one of his drawings. This time, each single word in that sentence carried so much weight, to the point where he felt a lump in his throat.

    “Bright lights!”

    Paploo’s seemingly nonsensical war cry was followed by more incoherent babble. Wicket shrugged and crawled to the only side of their dungeon that he had not explored yet.

    He was relieved.

    A narrow tunnel was continuing onto the chamber and there were no worms in its solid walls. After a couple steps, Wicket was sure that the air was getting clearer. Couple more and he could see his own hands. A handful more and there was his shadow in front of him. He rushed to the light and made his way out of the dungeon.

    He stepped back and then, realising that there was nobody in sight, took a couple of steps forward to observe the underground structure. The chamber he just crawled into was luminous and almost as large as their village. The floor he walked on was cold and covered in a mosaic so large and abstract that he was not sure where to stand in order to observe it completely. Bizarre wooden sculptures of all possible beings of Endor were peeking out of the holes in the walls. Some of them had the very same pebbles that he saw around the large fire in place of their eyes. The middle of the chamber was slightly lower, descending to a black circle, which seemed to be right underneath a hole in its ceiling.

    Regardless of how beautiful and mysterious this place was, Wicket had a bad feeling about it.

    “These figures and shapes have got to mean something!”

    “Whatever they mean, I am glad we are alive. Now we have to figure out how to get out of here."

    Wicket turned around. Paploo crawled out of the tunnel, pushing both heavy backpacks before him. He was still somewhat dizzy, but slowly getting back control of his limbs.

    “I said that there were bright lights, but you were not listening to me. This place is…interesting.”

    For a while, they stood still, observing the mosaic and the carvings. Neither of them had anything smart to say and, at this point, they were more scared of making a mistake than ever before. And then, a deep voice that sounded like a combination of gurgling and snarling broke the silence, as a large carving moved out of the way to reveal the only resident of the blindingly bright chamber.

    “Welcome to my lair!”

    The red-eyed monstrosity that showed up before them was not like any creature they knew. It was taller than the tallest of the Duloks, but still not tall enough to resemble anything larger. More than anything else, it looked like a badly-sewed patchwork of a being, with body parts used instead of pieces of leather and cloth. Oddly enough, those body parts were covered by actual cloak made out of patched pieced of dark fur, leather and cloth; exposing only the dull and almost wood like hands and feet with long fingers and toes.

    “I will take that, thank you.” the creature said as it extended its long, gnarly arms from underneath the cloak, setting both backpacks on fire. Paploo gasped and ran back to the tunnel, solely to trip over a row of uneven stones in the mosaic. Wicket ran towards him and they both witnessed the tunnel entrance get covered by wood carvings around it. They were trapped.
    “You are not going to come any closer, cloakhead!”

    The dweller of the bright chamber did not seem to care about Wicket’s warnings. Whatever he, she or it was, it came closer and picked the little Ewok by his Belt of Honour.

    “And what do we have here…a wokling!”

    “I am not a wokling! Let me go! I am a great warrior and this is your last chance! I will…I will…” Wicket yelled, as he threw punches in the air. The creature spun him around, amused by his attempts to break free, as well as his threatening rhetoric. The gnarly fingers poked the dense brown fur a couple of times, provoking the young warrior apprentice to growl at his captor. The growl changed to a barely audible squeak as the creature’s dagger-like nails cut through the skin on his left palm. Wicket grinded his teeth and tried his best not to scream as the creature’s head approached his hand and, to his horror, smeared some of his blood onto itself.

    The red eyes stopped flashing for a moment. “You’re not the one I’m looking for. You seem to have some of it in you, but not enough to actually use it.”

    “Enough of what?” Wicket asked, but the nightmarish hooded figure ignored him and, dragging him over the floor, continued towards Paploo, solely to repeat the same ritual with drawing some blood.

    “So, you are not Logray’s apprentice and he is not Logray. You are of no use to me, though I might as well keep you...”

    The creature’s eyes flashed again, as it pointed its hands towards the walls, chanting. Two of the Dulok carvings were suddenly changing colour from dark brown to green, coming alive.

    “These unfortunate souls…they had something against my plans, unlike their peers who decided to join me. But they make for good, good servants and delightful decorations.” the cloaked menace said as the two parts of his wall of victims, now actual living Duloks with pebble-like eyes, picked Wicket and Paploo and put them in cages suspended from the chamber’s ceiling. Wicket immediately grabbed onto the bars and started shaking them.

    “You may find that your resistance is futile, my little tree rat.”

    As the creature put its right hand up, Wicket felt pressure in his throat. “You are a wokling, and a belligerent one, to say the least. I could dispose of you and your plump friend right now, but I need you.” The grip on Wicket’s neck loosened as the cloaked being continued. “I sense pride in you…therefore, I am pretty sure that you’re a brat from an Ewok warrior family, otherwise you would not be this arrogant. Do not grab those bars again! Once your fellow villagers realise that they are dealing with powerful dark magic, they will send Logray’s foolish apprentice after you…unless he is faithful enough to crawl into my lair himself!”

    At this point, Wicket and Paploo knew that their captor was talking about their best friend.

    "Yes, there is an Ewok in your pathetic village good enough to be at my side, and good enough to get rid of his own master, as well as my weary apprentice. I am going to propose something to him...”

    “Teebo will never surrender himself to a dark wizard! You are wrong!” Paploo yelled, before the creature threatened him by grabbing his throat for a couple of seconds, like it did to Wicket.

    “Silence!” the red eyes flashed, as the gurgling voice became clearer. “So, your little friend has a name. In that case, I am going to propose something to Teebo…something he would be crazy to refuse!” the captor stopped for a while. “No. Make it something he will not be able to refuse. By the time the sun rises, Chirpa and his brats will be slayed, I will be adorned with Logray’s bones, my former apprentice will be nothing a cautionary tale and your friend will be guiding those who once wanted to cut him to pieces towards my victory. And now excuse me; I have to talk to my faithful servants, Kaalwar and Patrash.”

    The hooded being stood in the centre of the chamber and summoned light from the opening above it. As an image spinner made of nothing but pure light formed in the air above, Wicket and Paploo could see the faces of two Dulok warriors, but they were too far away to hear what they were discussing with their captor.

    “So, what are we going to do now?”

    “All we can do is hope that Latara somehow found her way back to the hunters, or even back home, in one piece. And that Logray and Teebo can sense that this is a trap. ”

    As he sat down in his cage, Wicket felt something on his shoulders. He stuck his hands underneath his hood, solely to realize that, at some point while climbing the tree, he had put the strange, little backpack on and that the indescribable wooden toy was inside. Out of all the things the creature’s ghostly servants could have forgotten to take away from him, he was left with the most useless of them.


     
  12. glitteryboots

    glitteryboots Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Scary chapter. :eek: Great action and well done on making the creature so frightening. I can see this experience being a big contributor to Wicket's change in character. Very excited to see how Teebo and/or Logray will react to this and I wonder if Wicket's useless toy will turn out to actually be useful.
     
  13. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    “All we can do is hope that Latara somehow found her way back to the hunters, or even back home, in one piece. And that Logray and Teebo can sense that this is a trap. ”

    I start hoping now as well. And that Wicket does not give in to fear and anger. Which lead to the dark side. [face_nail_biting]
     
  14. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Wow, scarier and scarier! :eek: I am guessing we are now face to face with the bizarre, freakish hooded being Gunlaag was talking to, and that she's the one this being is referring to as the "useless apprentice."

    It's good to see both Wicket and Paploo standing their ground as best as they can be expected to in the face of such bizarre and twisted evil. Both have had their moments in the past of boasting about their bravery and prowess as warriors, and they do a bit of that here just because it's in character for them—but some real courage and levelheadedness are coming through too. It's a relief that they get a moment to debrief during their mysterious captor's image-spinner "conference call" with Kaalwaar and Patraash.

    And there, in the middle of it all, is the undescribable wooden doohickey, right there on Wicket's own person... do I sense brainwheels starting to turn behind that little red hood? Will this most unlikely of objects turn out to be be key? (Cf. Kneesaa's pendant in the episode with the Rock Wizard...) [face_thinking]

    Very cool description of the underground lair and its furnishings. Such an eminently un-Endor-like place, which must have been part of the disorienting effect on P. and W. The gravity of the situation notwithstanding, I couldn't help but smile when Paploo tripped on the uneven floor tiles—that is an experience I had many, many times with the wacky floor tiles in the Friedensreich Hundertwasser-desiged train station in Uelzen, Lower Saxony, Germany (with which AzureAngel2 is no doubt familiar). Tripping over floor tiles when rushing to make your 5-minute train connection is almost as scary & disconcerting as tripping over tiles when face to face with unknown, eldritch, subterranean enemies. :p
     
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  15. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Soooo. I finished my re-read of this story last night, caught up on the chapters I'd missed and watched some bits and pieces of the cartoon -- I still need to catch up on the series -- and now that I read it in a single go I appreciate it all the more. The truth is that I was a little lost with all the characters upon my first read, but now not only am I able to place them better but I really like how you develop them. Specifically:

    Wicket, Kneesa, Teebo, Latara and Paploo -- You do a fantastic job at contrasting their personalities and the way they seek to come to terms with the fact that they're coming of age vs actually growing up. Between Wicket who is expects to be perceived as a grown-up overnight, Kneesa who never got not to be mature, Teebo whose mind is far away in the stars and colours, strong-headed Latara and Paploo who realises that it's time for him to stop being the permanent tease/prankster, this is a great little character study where each one can be seen coming into his/her own. I adored the scene where Wicket, Latara and Paploo decided that enough is enough, we won't take anymore bullying and we're leaving the hunt, and this sentence:
    ... summed up wonderfully the moment when they realise that to be grown-ups, they must start behaving as grown-ups and friends and not as bickering children. Another excellent moment of "now let's behave like adults" is Latara saying:
    And, well, the end of chapter 13... [face_love] There's just one word in my notes: AWESOME!

    Other characters I particularly enjoyed are

    Asha -- a great, no-nonsense, strong female character that I'd like to know more about (okay, I know, I'll watch the cartoon)

    Little Malani -- you really capture that childish streak in her very well, her running around the room in Wicket's party, how she just goes on playing with her doll when Teebo sneaks out of the window, how she behaves as the responsible grown-up when the smaller woklings go on a rampage. And then there's this awww factor with her, hugging Teebo in her sleep and telling him how much she loves him. Simply adorable. But I think there's more to her than meets the eye -- she saw Wicket's birthday gift in her dream, and that toy is going to end up being important, no?

    Gwig -- poor little thing, getting sent on errands all over the place like that! That was a nice way to mirror how our protagonists are growing up and not letting people trample all over them anymore.

    Gorneesh and Umwak -- another nice mirror effect to the Ewoks, with Umwak seeking recognition for his achievements and Gorneesh failing to acknowledge him in the slightest. Somehow I sense that this is going to be their downfall.

    Latara's parents -- wow, her father is some piece of work! Somehow I suspect that she'll stand up for her mother when she returns from this adventure (oh, and she has Berry on her side now :D )

    Head Elder Kazak -- I found him so unpleasant from his very first appearance, slimy, sneaky, authoritarian, yuck! A Dulok wannabe really. And what was that with the questionnaire? He's getting way too personal here.

    Speaking of personal, another character I didn't like from the go was Gunlaag -- she just asks too many personal questions in chapter 11 -- and I see that I was right *snarls like Asha* And when we get to chapter 14!!!! other than the nice parallel with the Sith master/apprentice/betrayal bit, can I also add that this divide-and-conquer strategy is just TOTALLY BALKANS? :p

    As for that creepy master/shaman/wizard/all-around bad guy, I'm impatient to find out who he is exactly. As Findswoman said, his lair is as un-Endor-like as it gets, and I'm confident that there's an interesting backstory to how it came to be.

    And now I'm waiting for the next chapter, to see what Wicket will do with the toy that "has a pair of wheels and a tail". What in the Galaxy is that thing, anyway? [face_thinking]
     
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  16. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Thanks. :) Can't reply to any of these things you said, as all three happen to be..revealing. [face_whistling]

    Wicket is not a Force-sensitive (has traces of it, according to some people, but basically, no); so neither he nor Paploo can fall to the Dark side or, as Ewoks say, the Night Spirit. Don't worry about the poster boy of Endor. ;)

    Yes and yes. ;)

    Awesome that you noticed that their bravery and prowess is present even in situations like this. Since they tend to be like that in the cartoon and Paploo in Return of the Jedi and Wicket, to a certain extent, in Battle for Endor; I thought that it would be unrealistic if they were outright scared.

    And up, Kalwaar and Patrash are on a conference call with this...whatever it is. :D

    Lalalalalalalalalalalalalala...[face_whistling]

    Were there any eldritch enemies at that station in Uelzen, too?

    Just kidding, I never had the experience myself, but a friend of mine used to trip over tiles in our historical main street regularly and it was incredibly funny. I'm glad the moment didn't turn out to be narmy, which can often be the case when a random incident occurs in the middle of a serious scene.

    Yay, you're back! :) Missed you in this thread. [:D]

    Now I am reasonably curious to know what bits and pieces you have watched. Findswoman watched the whole of the first season and is on to the WTF, campy second season and I'm pretty sure she thought it was good. :D

    Thanks for that comment about contrasting their personalities. I thought they were pretty good as characters in the cartoon and, if applicable, ROTJ, so the idea of coming up with how they were like in their most akward age

    Thanks. I hope the age difference in terms of how these two are reasoning is still visible, as Latara is roughly two years (or "snows" :p) older than Wicket.


    I liked that myself, too (Surprise...not! :p) And I had a picture of it in my head, with that creepy pulsar visible in the sky and scary treetops, the animal carcass and all...

    There is going to be more of that near the end of the story, but what they will bond over will be...well, you'll see.


    All you need to know about her is in the episode named, well, Asha. She is basically a female Ewok Tarzan/Mowgli.

    Re: the toy...[face_whistling] [face_whistling]

    Other than that, I interpret her as Force-attuned, something she might have inherited from her mom, who, as Findswoman suggested, has some sort of an ability, but nothing too significant.

    ....finally, somebody noticed this! YAY!

    This is present throughout the cartoon and, ironically, there is an episode where Umwak belittles his nephew the same way Gorneesh belittles him.

    Cannot reveal anything more about this now. But I do acknowledge that he's a horrible dad.

    That's what he is..perhaps he and Gorneesh would make sweet music together, if only they had a chance to. :p By the way, I have plans for him for err...the fic after the next fic, the one that happens after ROTJ. Stay tuned.

    DREEEEAM OF BALKANISATION!
    DREEEEAM OF BALKANISATION!

    His backstory may remain vague in this story, for the purpose of the next one; but yup, he and Gunlaag could be interpreted as major Sith wannabes/knockoffs in some way. Also, just like in the case of Gunlaag, I used the *basics* of @Gamiel's prompt to create this...abnormal Endor Frankenstein GMO freak.

    That is basically a reverse of whatever is the thing that appears in The Magic Chalk, children's nonsensical classic written by Zinken Hopp. In that genius little book, there's an object that clearly does not exist (a "cuprobe" that has to be "molished"), but a troll manages to create it magically for Sofus, the character who requests it for the heck of it. In this case, we have the object and it's nonsensical per sé, but we have no idea about its name.

    Here is the only reference in English that I could find (from How Picturebooks Work)...it's pretty funny!

    [​IMG]


    Next chapter coming right up.
     
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  17. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Chapter 16

    Tags: glitteryboots Findswoman (beta)

    Trigger warning:
    Character death, pretty bloody overall.




    Kneesaa and Asha had almost given up searching Logray’s hut. There were no signs of Gunlaag, though the crystal image spinner wrapped in the edge of the curtain of the canopy bed was a clear sign that somebody was there, and so were the foot marks leading to the window, with some snow still scattered on the opening itself.

    As her sister was looking around, trying to find a proof that Gunlaag had been there, Kneesaa took the spinner in her hands.

    “If only we knew how to use this thing. But if Teebo could not work it out, how can we?” She spun the artefact around the table again, but nothing happened. “Where is he, anyway? Batcheela says he’s not at home yet, Gwig did not find him at the observatory…”

    Asha was not paying much attention to Kneesaa’s loud thinking, as she spotted a hole in the wall, with a mask tilted to the side uncovering it. She looked inside with one eye closed and then put her hand in, but there was nothing.

    “Whatever used to be in this hidden place is no longer there! And the one who took it knew what to look for and where; otherwise the whole hut would have been a mess.”

    Kneesaa shook her head. The only thing that could have been important to the point of everything else remaining in place was the Sunstar. And she saw that gem bring the worst out of those who wanted it at any cost.

    “There are only two possibilities - either Gunlaag is going to take it away with her or attack us, or Teebo saw something alarming and went to take care of it himself.”

    Asha leaned over the table. “Do you know something that I don’t know?”

    “He had visions of multiple futures. He interpreted one of them as the one where he would die and he was very worried about it. Knowing him, he would sacrifice himself if that meant everybody else is going to survive. He tends to overestimate his abilities.” Kneesaa frowned and shook her head.

    “So, assuming that he is reasonable and did not do this, we need to find Gunlaag! Didn’t Batcheela say that she’s sleeping at Bozzie’s?”

    “Then why did we come here?”

    “Calm down, you are not thinking clearly. Of course that we assumed she would be here because this is where she could do most damage! How are you going to run the village someday if you constantly question your own decisions?”

    Asha was trying not to be too hard on her delicate younger sibling. In situations like this, her frustration with Kneesaa’s naiveté and occasional helplessness was the last thing she wanted to surface. As they were running towards Bozzie and Paploo’s hut, she regretted that she had not convinced her sister to stay at home. At the same time, sore muscles and the burning sensation in the soles of her feet were worrying her. What if she was not fit enough for a battle, after such an exhausting and painful day?

    The sight of another seemingly empty hut puzzled them.

    “I have a bad feeling about this.” Kneesaa whispered to Asha, as she raised the lantern in the air.

    Once the entrance chamber was illuminated again, nothing looked much different. Kneesaa was still shivering, for reasons Asha could not understand. She shrugged, pulled her sister by the wrist, as they moved towards the central chamber. This space was taller and wider than in most Ewok huts, as this was the place where the Great Chief himself lived before having married. Two lofts were rising above the dining area, which was often the centre of many celebrations in the village, at the times when the Council was not willing to lend their space.

    “They could be sleeping. Either that or the danger is closed than we may realise. Give me that lantern, I’m taller.”

    The whole chamber looked like the site of a battle. A bunch of utensils were scattered across the floor and there was some split milk close to the remains of the fire pit. Half of the large dining table was charred and the other half was turned over. The little stumps reserved for guests were tumbled and, as Asha took another step, one rolled her way, as if somebody had been controlling it.

    “I was wrong. The danger is right above us.”

    The two sisters looked up, as Gunlaag emerged from one of the lofts, welding the Sunstar, right above them. Her eyes were glowing yellow and she was nowhere near weak as she had appeared to be earlier that day – in fact, her body was as muscular as Asha's, despite the age.

    "It took you a while to figure me out!”

    "What have you done to Bozzie?"

    "I am playing a little game of hide-and-seek with her! Since she was so kind to me, I counted to ten before I started looking for her."

    "You monster! Using another woman for what? Target practice?" Kneesaa stepped out, irritated, even though she could see the warning glow in the Sunstar. "Gunlaag, drop that! I am sure we can solve this with diplomacy!"

    Just as the princess said that, Asha pulled her back. They narrowly escaped a blast from the Sunstar that passed by and reduced Bozzie’s favourite chair to ashes within a blink of an eye, the force of the blast causing both sisters to hit the wall. As Kneesaa managed to get up, she noticed that Asha lost consciousness again.

    "This is my way of diplomacy, white fur!" Gunlaag laughed.

    White fur? The last time Kneesaa heard that was back in Morag's lair, some snows ago. She was now completely sure that Gunlaag was a witch of the Night Spirit and not a random being who heard of the Sunstar powers. And that witch was now aiming the gem at her, manically laughing at her powerlessness.

    “What do you want?”

    "Surrender yourself to me and bring me the leader or the Council of Elders and nobody will be hurt!”

    “Do not listen to her!” wept Bozzie from her hiding place, “She said that somebody called Patrash will execute both of you! A different, bloody faction of Duloks is on its way here!”

    “Oh, there you are, the bossy lady who so conveniently stopped the callow buck from uncovering me too early, making this far more fun than it would have been otherwise!”

    Gunlaag turned towards the firewood storage chest and noticed a red cloak peeking from it. Kneesaa used the opportunity to jump on the remains of the dining table, toss her grappling hook towards the board holding the loft Gunlaag was standing on and swing to the space below the loft.

    Seconds later, another blast shook the entire hut.

    Kneesaa was close to screaming. She feared that the intruder might have burned her aunt alive. At the same time, a look at Asha lying unconscious across the chamber was a clear sign that everything was up to her. She never wanted to fight, she believed in words above action, but this time, the responsibility she had was far more serious than anything on Kazak’s to-do lists. She swallowed the lump and took a deep breath, somewhat relieved when she heard her aunt panting. Footprints in ashes were leading towards the largest window in the hut. Bozzie had to be hiding under the curtain. She had to react fast, knowing that Gunlaag was right above her and about to fire again.

    The beam she was hanging on to looked somewhat rotten. If she had weighed more, she would have been able to swing and pull in order to bring the loft down. Unfortunately, she was as light as an adolescent Ewok could have been. She looked at Asha, then at Bozzie’s feet now clearly visible under the curtain. They needed her. The whole village needed her, as somebody had to lead the people in case her father did not come back before the blood-thirsty Duloks attack. At the same time, dying together with her aunt and sister if the whole hut collapsed down and dragging Gunlaag down with them seemed more honourable than being tortured, decapitated or dismembered by Patrash and his savage warriors.

    Kneesaa looked at Asha for the third time, hoping for a miracle. Instead of her sister coming round, something else happened: the moment from right before their mother’s death under the feet of a hanadak flashed before her eyes, the moment when Asha gave her a tiny gem she had been wearing on her hood since then. There had been so many times when she would have cut herself on it, and master Logray once claimed that it was sharper than a woodcutter’s axe.

    She didn’t have to think much longer. She tore the gem off her hood and started cutting the thick leather ropes holding the loft boards in place over the support beam. She could feel Gunlaag walk right above the place where she was cutting.

    “You cannot hide from me, white fur! Neither can you, busty braggart! I don’t even have to wait for Patrash to finish the two of you off. If I do so myself and leave the feisty one for Duloks to have their way with, I will have much more respect! And then…” Gunlaag stopped in the middle of her grandiose, threatening speech, as she noticed the curtain was moving. “I see a pair of plump, grey ankles.”

    "Closer, closer..." the princess thought to herself, "Lean over the balcony, aim at Bozzie…” she was counting Gunlaag’s footsteps, nervously looking around the chamber. She could swear she saw Asha blink and move her arm towards her harness, but when she looked closer, the arm appeared to be in the same place as before. It must have been her fear, once again, the fear that she had to ignore, so it wouldn’t have gotten the best of her.

    “It’s time to end this game of hide and seek…for this is the game where I am always the winner!”

    “Now!”

    What happened next was unimaginable come a day or two earlier. Kneesaa pulled the beam supporting the loft and then swung to the left in the last possible moment, letting go off her grappling hook and landing just an arm length away from the whole structure that was collapsing. Gunlaag fired from the Sunstar towards the curtain, but she lost her balance, aimed upwards and hit the ridge holding the straw roof instead. She fell through the loft boards and the main support beam dropped on her, winding her. Bozzie emerged from her hideout and dashed through the window, screaming. As the bundles of reeds were crumbling from the roof, Asha got up, as if nothing had happened to her, and ran towards her terrified sister, pulling her out of the dining chamber to the safety of Paploo’s backroom. As they leaned against the wall and pulled their hoods over the faces, the entire hut filled with dust.

    Once they could see again, they walked back in the central chamber, which was now full of broken wooden boards, covered in cobwebs, bird droppings and massive piles of straw. They carefully stepped into the rubble, trying to find Gunlaag and the Sunstar.

    Kneesaa was looking at the night sky through the remains of the roof. “Aunt Bozzie will never forgive me this!” She picked a piece of what appeared to be one of the clay sculptures she and her cousin made as children, solely to throw it back.

    “T’hesh! She will forgive you everything that you could have done in the past and present and everything you could do in future. You just saved our lives! You’re…the greatest warrior among the non-warriors that I have ever seen!”

    As Asha stepped forward to hug her sister, a hand grabbed her from the nearby pile of straw and tripped her. The other hand peeked out, holding the Sunstar. But this time, the Red Ghost was not to be fooled. She grabbed the knife out of her harness and started stabbing through the reeds.

    "Get it out of her hands! Quick!" she yelled.

    Kneesaa jumped and managed to grab the gem. It was still in one piece. Relieved, Asha delivered one final stab through the straw, sending a splash of blood to her own face, upon which she could clearly hear Gunlaag’s voice.

    "I hate you..."

    Her mouth slowly filling with blood and foam, the witch of the Night Spirit was trying to cast a curse, but she was no longer able to. As the daughters of the mighty Chirpa pulled her out of the rubble, Chukha-Trok entered the hut, with Kazak, Deej, Warok and Lumat following him.

    "The yellow eyes! It was her at the main square! And to think that I could have caught her before she…wait a moment, did you kill her? By the Father Tree!”

    Deej Warrick pushed the simple-minded woodsman out of the way.

    “Are the two of you all right? Bozzie woke us all up, but…we had no idea that…that…”

    “That we would slay her on our own and save the Sunstar?” Asha smirked, “Kazak, what do you have to say now?”

    The head elder was doing his best to pretend he was not surprised.

    “There is no time to waste! If those Duloks are really coming our way, we need to tell Chirpa and Logray to hurry up!”

    “Are you saying that you don’t know what to do in case of an actual battle?” Lumat interrupted him; but Warok stopped both of them.

    "I know! She has the same powers my son does…if we placed her next to that …top…in Logray’s hut, maybe something would happen!"

    "Good thinking! She is still alive enough to get it going. But we have to be quick! To Logray’s hut!”

    With Gunlaag's hand on its translucent surface, the crystal image spinner spun around until Logray’s face appeared in it. Head elder Kazak pushed everybody else out of the way.

    "Logray! Please, come back!"

    "We are less than a day away from home. What is going on? And how are you using this? Where is my apprentice?"

    Kneesaa stepped forward.

    “I…I just killed somebody. Or maybe Asha did. Her name is Gunlaag and it’s her remaining powers that made this thing spin..."

    "Gunlaag?" Logray's calm voice suddenly turned to yelling, "The banished shaman of the Mountain Spring village! K'vark, this is worse than I thought! Was she after the Sunstar?"

    "We saved it. But a joint Dulok army is about to attack us and Gunlaag's master, whoever that is, is out to revenge you!"

    Gunlaag was coughing faster and faster and her hand on the table was getting stiff. She did not have more than a couple of minutes until her last breath.

    “You must not wait for us!" Logray ordered. "Deej, Lumat, I trust you. Wake everybody up. To arms! Also,get Teebo to…”

    “We don’t know where he is!”

    “He took a bordok and went…somewhere! I had forgotten about it…” Chukha-Trok scratched his head, “I gave him my axe, in case he needs it. He claimed that great danger lies ahead!”

    Logray was angry. “You should have stopped him. He’s not experienced enough to deal with who I think is behind Gunlaag! Warok, you are the only one who can glide in this awful weather! Tonight is the only night of the winter that the Gorax King is not hiding behind Tana…the only night when it’s pointing to the Fire of the Eternal!"

    “What am I to do?”

    “Go to the glider launching site and take the telescope with you. You should be able to see an unusually bright star. Stare at it, and you will see the fire burning. Follow that fire if you want to stop your son. The Wa…”

    Gunlaag coughed for one last time and fell down, with her eyes wide open. The image of the village shaman faded away from the crystal spinner. Kazak spit on the corpse and looked around at the four warriors.

    “And what are you waiting for? Go and organise our defence! All of you!”

    “Not me. If you hadn't bullied my son for the past couple of days, he wouldn’t have thought that he needed to save us. I am hereby choosing to disobey and do what Logray said.”

    Warok turned to Kneesaa, who just nodded her head, and then ran out, leaving the Head Elder wondering.




    Footnotes
    Bozzie and Paploo's home was never depicted in the cartoon series, but since Chirpa married quite late in life, I would assume that he previously lived with his sister and, until the later was killed/passed away, brother-in-law. Therefore, it has to be a nicer place.

    Lumat does not speak when Kazak is present, probably because it's hard to outdo that particular rear-end opening.

    Kneesaa's inability to tell who actually killed Gunlaag is there for a reason.

    Fire of the Eternal is my fanon. Logray did not have the time to explain things to Warok, who is not a Force-sensitive; so he dumbed it down. Basically, on that specific night, the star (Din Pulsar of the Din Nebula, aka Gorax King of the Gorax King's Heart) is visible in the sky and the Fire of the Eternal needs to be lit in a specific place, for certain purposes. Obviously, those who studied "magic" are more than aware of it, which is why Logray is worried and why Teebo decided to investigate.
     
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  18. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Oh my, what a showdown! Amazing decisive action under pressure by both sisters, especially by Kneesaa in using her hood gem to cut down the support cords from the loft beam and bring it down on this horrid adversary's head. Asha's compliment to her is right on—she's definitely got more of the warrior spirit in her than she probably ever gave herself credit for! =D=

    Gunlaag's death is definitely a major victory in the village's ongoing conflict against this unknown evil. It wasa gruesome death, but it was no less than she deserved for all her creepy, backhanded ways, especially her abuse of her hostess's hospitality and trust. And yellow eyes... that's never a good sign in this universe, though I suspect we as readers might know more about the significance of that eye color than the Ewoks do at this point! (With the possible exception of Logray, of course.) Of course, her creepy hooded master is still out there, so the battle's not over yet. At least we now know the first syllable or so of his name, though! :D

    So many intriguing cliffhangeresque details in this chapter too. You've now got me very curious about (a) Kneesaa's uncertainty about whether she or Asha actually struck the killing blow, (b) what the rest of "Wa..." is (did Gunlaag choose, in her last gasp of breath, to stop the image spinner just at that moment?), (c) what Teebo is up to, and (d) whether his dad will be able to stop him (and indeed what he makes of those cryptic directions given to him by our favorite blue-robed shaman). Bated breath!

    And finally, this chapter prompts a few reflections on Bozzie. She's portrayed in the cartoon as such a meddling old mother avian, always wagging her finger and scolding... yet it's nothing short of heart-wrenching here to see her in such circumstances, chased mercilessly around her own home by this sadistic old witch—especially when she yells out to her nieces not to trust Gunlaag's words. Of course, true to form, I could see her beefing mildly about the condition of her hut once the dust has settled a bit (cf., in the Sunstar episode, the way Logray says "Well, you [list of all the dastardly things Teebo did], and almost got us all killed"). But of course she'll forgive them in the end—they did nothing short of save her life. :)
     
  19. glitteryboots

    glitteryboots Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2015
    This is awesome! Great action scene and lead-up. The pace is perfect and it didn't feel like it could be happening anywhere, but really felt like it was happening in the hut - little things like referring to Bozzie's favourite chair and Kneessa worrying that she'll be angry about the damage worked really well. Gunlaag's death is justified. It's also great to see the girls saving the day. ;) I wonder if Asha was really unconscious or pretended to be, since Kneessa thought she saw her moving, and if that's relevant at all.

    And of course this really leaves everyone dying to know what happens next... :eek:
     
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  20. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    A-WE-SO-ME-NESS!

    These two girls rock and they make a dream team - one pretending to be dead while the other brings the house crashing down... that was a great bit of indirect character interaction and a very-well paced scene. And that awful Gunlaag witch :eek: got what she deserved. Oh, and Kazak too. He has every quality in the book, doesn't he?

    Of course it ain't over until the fat lady sings and the boys are out of the clutches of the master, so I still want to know what's up with the [face_whistling] toy and what Teebo and Latara will come up with to save the day.
     
  21. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    glitteryboots Chyntuck Findswoman

    It may be about 4 litres of Pepsi Max I downed in the last 24 hours (close to the limit, eek) or the fact that I love, love your comments; but I have to leave this placeholder again before I edit it:

    THANK YOU. [face_love] [:D]

    I have a rough s-word for the dates of publishing the remaining chapters, so look at the OP. This also means the next chapter is coming sometime on Sunday and that the big showdown, how conveniently, will be either half-posted or completely posted on April 26th. There is a lot of aftermath after that, so yeah, not over until the fat lady (Bozzie? LOL) sings. :p

    This comment shall be edited within the next 24 hours, but I had to thank y'all, because I COULD NOT EVEN.

    First of all, thanks for proof reading et cetera, once again. @};-

    The hood gem idea literally came out of nowhere. Given how metal in general is something Ewoks cannot quite grasp yet, I can imagine that other things, such as Latara's green pendant, are precious stones that they only wear because of the aesthetic appeal. That would also explain why Logray's thoughts on such a hood ornament* (which may have come from one of the lectures he and Chirpa held, like in The Three Lessons) dwelt in the back of Kneesaa's mind.

    Gunlaag basically fails at being anywhere near acceptable. While I do understand sympathy towards some villains (e.g. the legends version of Grievous' backstory is making me sorry for him to a certain extent, that stuff is SCARY!), I intentionally wanted her to be the kind of slime, waste that nobody would ever be sorry about. She was not manipulated into anything, she was born evil. If Romba is a kind, sweet Ewok who wanted to revive Nanta (aka Corpsey) in the Battle of Endor, it's likely that his grandfather, a survivor of the massacre Gunlaag initiated, was kind too and that the Mountain Springs Village Ewoks were so good that Gunlaag herself was an anomaly.

    I think Logray may not be aware of that particular sign of dark side powers, as he struggles to envision who is exactly coming to Endor in near future. However, yes, that leaves many concepts open to speculation and I am expecting that Ewoks will be finding out more and more about the coming evil, thus making the Rebel Alliance the last thing they were not informed about. That and the exact power of what they're dealing with, of course.

    As for the hooded master name is a word that appears many times in the story. Now you'll go through the concept notes and find it, I bet. :p The thing is, he is not exactly like the prompt I got from Gamiel, I changed him a lot, so yeah.

    http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/37 [face_whistling]

    As opposed to what I said about Gunlaag, I did want those familiar with Bozzie to feel something for her. She is mildly annoying in the cartoon, has the same dramatic streak as her brother taken up to eleven

    OF COURSE, she will mention that they wrecked her beautiful home at one point or another. She may bring it up at some unrelated celebration in ten snows' time, she may bring it up a week after the events of chapter 16, but she will do it. :p

    * I know this means something completely different over on TVTropes, but I could not resist.

    Thank you. [face_love]

    Asha did black out for a bit, but then she figured out how to use that to her advantage. Not only that it's relevant, it's one of the most important details in the chapter, so...you're cunning, as usual.

    As said to Finds above, the chair might pop up as a conversation subject when we're least expecting it. My paternal grandmother used to do this a lot. When I was 13, she mentioned something I said at seven that shocked her. Maybe she was secretly Bozzie.

    THANK YOU![:D]

    You said rock. And they're in the stone age. This is...accidental, but absolutely perfect.

    Thanks for the comment on the well-paced scene, this is always one of my main worries!

    As for charming Gunlaag, see above.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The last panel will matter in future, by the way. Not in this fic, not in the next fic, but in future.

    http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/20 [face_whistling]
     
  22. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Note: Most of these were written up while re-reading chapters that I had already read once. Just saying that so the sequence of events and my possibly mixing things time-wise makes sense. :p And this is all just 12-14 so far.

    Ch 12


    Enjoyed the conversation with Logray and Chirpa.




    Chirpa's warmth and concern comes through very clearly, and Logray's responses were interesting. They are old friends talking, perhaps a little more seriously than usual as seen with discussion of Bozzie -- but there's also the worry of the unknown danger that their tribe is facing. Logray trying to explain the mysterious Force-related visions to Chirpa was one of my favorite parts of this chapter. Chirpa is no wokling and he knows this is important to the shaman, but he's just not able to totally comprehend everything. The uneasiness of both with the encroaching danger is palpable. I like the disconnected way that Logray perceives the Sith and the Death Star -- the "Somewhere where it’s colder than at home, somewhere where there is no ground beneath your feet and – ultimately – somewhere where no rules exist!" A fairly chilling prospect to begin with, but then we see how it is and isn't like anything they've seen before on Endor. Local Darksiders and creatures, yes, but they've never had Sith or anything on quite that scale.


    Teebo hearing Logray emphasizes that this is a dire situation, since it's apparently not an everyday occurrence for him.


    The sense of urgency throughout his section is done very well. I liked the little side note about Malani trying to return his poem while he's rushing off into peril. :p Teebo's brief encounter with Chukha-Trok was also a favorite part of this chapter. I keep forgetting about Chukha-Trok and I'm not sure if this is the first we've seen of the two interacting, but it's very interesting since they have the feel of polar opposites. Chukha-Trok is very much a "here and now" person, which probably doesn't make it any easier on him to see all the "woklings" rushing about. Still, he shows a grudging (at first) willingness to give Teebo the benefit of the doubt, and gives him the ax. Had to smile at Chukha-Trok's thoughts on the kids these days.


    Asha returns but Teebo is already gone before the warning can be given (of course.) You can never gather all these kids in one place. [face_laugh] Let's just hope they manage to stay in one piece.


    Ch 13


    The warrior instinct talk had me chuckling. Is that why some people can never ask for directions? Much is explained! :p Maybe this will be a good experience for Wicket and the others in realizing they have to learn and practice things rather than relying on things to fall into place. And Latara is showing a lot more maturity already than I remember from earlier. I'm sure that at the beginning of this tale she would not have resisted the urge to give an "I told you so", but here she instead takes responsibility for her share and encourages everyone to focus on the present.


    Wicket's Guiding Star incident still shows a bit of overconfidence, but there's a definite change throughout these chapters which is fun to watch as it progresses. I really like the unnatural feel of the trouble they stumble into. If Paploo and Wicket had listened to their instincts they'd run the other way. I'm wondering why Latara was less affected by what lured them in -- less gullible, furthest away, or just not as susceptible for whatever reason? I could see the trap playing on latent needs for something (such as achievements.) Wicket is still preoccupied with his belt, and it gets him in trouble here. As to the others, I am reminded of a certain quote about fools and those who follow them. ;) Latara watching them disappear is definitely a moment of shock!

    By the way, I looked up the gurreck and wow. I wouldn't want to tangle with one of those! They may normally be unaggressive but they're deadly in strength and armament as we see. In the control of someone unscrupulous they're definitely scary. Kudos on the fight scene and maintaining the pace all the way. Teebo's arrival was well timed, and his ambivalent reaction to the animal's killing seems very in-character. It's not something he'd be happy about even though it had to be done.


    Ch 14
    Gunlaag cursing and trying to get the strange artifact to work was a great detail. Reception on those malevolent artifacts is horrible. :p I had expected that she was in on the plot somehow, but her being a dark side apprentice came as a surprise. My crackpot theory (no, really, it's total crack -- read on!) had been that she was actually a Dulok. Her reluctance and protests at them bathing her made me suspicious that there was some dye or something she didn't want disturbed. (Far-fetched, I know, but some depictions of the Duloks look more Ewok-like than others and a disguise seemed just barely possible.)

    Nice echoes of the traditional master and apprentice rivalry among the Sith. Although physically distant, Gunlaag and her master are formed by the same malfunction. The misinterpreted vision shows how much expectations affect what beings can see in the Force, which seems very realistic.

    I see they're already planning to dispose of Gorneesh and company. The retirement package on this henchmanship is not much of a bargain. ;)


    They're rather grimly detailed in their plans for the Ewoks there... they just couldn't let it go without some aspiring cannibalism. Eww. In a way, this stuff is the weak spot, though. All these awful allies are focused on a million little pieces of very specific and tailored vengeance. The master-creature seems not so much affected by grudges, which might make him more dangerous since he's just holding the others' strings so far. On other hand, you get what you pay for and this guy was not paying much. "Blood and vengeance shall be your pay! Umm, I guess we could throw in a gift certificate?" [face_laugh] I suspect his taste in employees will come back to bite him. Gunlaag is a slippery character, though a bit one track minded with her creepy little Logray (and now Teebo) fixation. The background of her resentment for Logray is really unsettling -- yeah, you're bitter because you got caught feeding people to the monsters? Cry me a river. o_O But then that's just the kind of egocentric creepy that wound her up where she is today. It was nice to see Asha and Kneesa figuring it out at last. They aren't oblivious, just having a very busy week. :p

    Ch 15

    Wicket developing a sense of his own mortality is an interesting thing given his usual act-first, deal-with-consequences-later style. This section was very good at showing his thought processes. He's beginning to see a little further ahead than is his younger self's habit. But that too carries the problem of not getting bogged down with fear. This section really stood out when reading:

    The chamber is definitely hazardous, but it sounds rather interesting visually. Makes me wonder how he managed to create those sculptures -- it had to be something nasty, I think. The detail of the pebble eyes is so disturbing, especially when it turns out they stay that way when the decorations come "alive." And the inhabitant is just as spooky as his surroundings. All that patchwork-ness just emphasizes the sense of something very wrong that accents his threatening behavior.

    Seriously, the blood thing. So creepy. Ugh. And apparently it can taste or smell Force-sensitivity rather than relying on Force senses. That's just great for everyone concerned, I'm sure. ;)
    Count me among the ones who are curious what the deal is with Wicket's mystery find. Just a strange but useless item, or something more useful?
    Ch 16

    I like that we start with this conversation, in light of the later developments.


    It's nice to see Asha's doubts disproved in the end, and I think she's glad she brought Kneesaa along by the time it's finished. But it also highlights the personality contrasts that we see throughout. Kneesaa's still protesting that surely they can negotiate right up until the point where it's no longer possible. Asha would rather dive in and attack before Gunlaag has a chance to prepare.

    This was so creepy. I wasn't sure if Bozzie was going to be found alive for a minute there. The suspense and pacing throughout the fight was great and the outcome seemed uncertain right up until the end. =D= And wow, don't mess with the Ewok sisters. They'll cut you. :p More seriously, it will be interesting to see more of the fallout of this and whether they're able to help Teebo -- who seems to be headed right from the frying pan into the fire.
     
  23. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    After reading your update and having so many brilliant fanfic authors writing even more beautiful comments, I can say only: "Wow!"

    This fic is a surprise from every angle. And each time I enjoy another update, you manage yet to surprise me again. I will never see Ewoks as small, fluffy bears again. But as cunning warriors. Like the Wookies. Thanks!
     
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  24. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Reserved for the two comments - basically:

    [​IMG]
     
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  25. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Chapter 17

    Tags: Findswoman (thanks for beta-reading, too!), glitteryboots




    Latara and Teebo, recovered from the series of events that reunited them, went on to examine the corpse of the gurreck. Still exhausted from the long chase, Latara was sitting on her side, sniffing, picking through the animal’s fur and looking at its hooves, while Teebo knelt in the snow, his hands on the gurreck’s forehead, his eyes closed. After a couple of minutes, he suddenly jumped backwards and screeched.

    “Teebo, what is wrong?” Latara turned around and grabbed her companion’s hand.

    “This animal was possessed by the Night Spirit and I knew it from the moment I saw it chase you from across the grove. But…things seem to be worse than I thought. I never felt the darkness and the black more than I do now. It’s unpleasant. It’s so dark that it drains the colours out of everything around us and blurs my visions of the future!”

    She was trying to be careful this time. “Can you describe that in a way that somebody with no nature powers would understand?”

    “Gurrecks are not known to attack Ewoks unless we enter their territory and they normally don’t run that fast, because of the shape of their hooves. This animal, however…had all of its soul sucked out of it. The trees say that it’s been wandering around Endor for quite a while.”

    “So, how did you kill it? Are you…that powerful? I have never seen you wield anything bigger than a plain carving knife.”

    “I don’t really know. My gift helped me aim at its neck and I concentrated on not hitting you the moment I threw the axe; but at the same time, this animal would not live to see the morning, becau...”

    “But it would kill me before that?” Latara smirked, “Are you trying to present this as an act of mercy for the animal, as opposed to rescuing me?” She pulled her hand from Teebo’s and brushed it against the snow. He pulled a strange face and, for a moment, she feared that he would snap at her.

    “No! What else do I have to do to explain this to you? Nothing in this world matters to me more than you do! I love you!”

    Latara’s angry pout turned to a smile. She then giggled, in a semi-teasing, semi-hysterical manner. Teebo looked at his feet and then awkwardly smiled back at her. With her fur kissed by dozens of snowflakes, even amidst fear, she looked more beautiful than ever. Three nights ago was happening all over again, in the worst possible moment. And this time, he blurted out everything that was on his mind without any preparation for it. How could it be that she did not believe his words, when he was straight to the point, for once?

    “You have a huge snowflake on your nose.” He managed to utter, swallowing a lump.

    “No, I don’t.” she leaned on him, “You want to kiss me again and you were looking for yet another of those romantic situations. Right?”

    “R-right.” he almost frowned, just as she pressed her lips against his and whispered. “T’hesh…for once. Please.”

    This time, the kiss was brief, but intense. Once again, the snow was falling just like three nights before, but the animal carcass, the pool of its blood, stench in the air in its proximity, a mishmash of footprints and the unusually large and bright star in an otherwise starless night sky were painting a completely different picture.

    “So, now we kissed as many times as there are fingers on a hand." Latara giggled and then changed her tone. "Let’s go find Wicket and Paploo!”

    "Tell me what happened again."

    "The hunters have expelled Wicket. Paploo and I followed him, we got lost and…at some point, they were gone. They just…disappeared underground upon approaching a strange fire."

    Teebo thought for a bit and then shook his head. “Sadly, I was right. I didn’t want to be right.”

    “What do you mean?”

    "I'm pretty sure that one of our enemies, those who caused the animals to disappear, is dead. That is what I wanted to tell you before we kissed - the gurreck was out of control because its master was killed." He took a deep breath. "It was an exiled shaman named Gunlaag."

    "K'vark! Yesterday Romba spoke about a shaman who manipulated animals, somebody from the village his grandfather came from, but Wunka didn't take him seriously." Latara shook her fist and angrily pulled 'Berry' out of the gurreck carcass, continuing to stab it in snow around her, "Did you meet her? Was she in the village?"

    "She was there today. I noticed that things she was saying did not make sense and she did not allow me to heal her injuries, claiming she was modest."

    "That roothead...wait.” Latara stopped stabbing the snow as she noticed something on the carcass itself, “Did you see this piece of fur on the tusk? K’vark, that looks like Asha’s cape! What if this animal killed Asha before it attacked me?”

    "There would be flesh and blood all over its fur. This animal was indeed sent by Gunlaag to kill Asha, but Asha escaped unhurt. If the beastmaster hadn't been killed, it would have never attacked you, as possessed animals take orders, like slaves."

    “Let me get all of this straight: Gunlaag is the one who sent the gurreck to kill Asha, but how did she start a fire on the other side of the forest? Unbelievable…maybe.”

    “She didn’t. She is somewhat of a cross between Umwak, Gorneesh’s shaman…and me. I know this may sound silly, but I have no other way to describe a beastmaster who dabbles in so much con artistry. The same way I am apprenticed to master Logray, this Gunlaag is apprenticed to somebody far more powerful than her. And whoever that creature is, it’s somebody aware of Fire of the Eternal!” Teebo stopped for a moment, grabbed a handful of clean snow and swallowed it. “Sorry, I talk too much, my throat was getting dry. Either way, Fire of the Eternal is in some way similar to that passage of the Otherworld used by the Stranger in the battle of the Thorn Forest…”

    “Oh. Thorn Forest. That means we actually kissed four times, if kissing you on the cheek counts.”

    “Latara!”

    “Never mind, continue.”

    “As that passage of the Otherworld opens only when the Sistermoon crosses the closest of the other moons of Tana and both are in line with Endor itself; Fire of the Eternal can be lit only when Tana, the other planets around other suns and stardust in the Gorax King’s Heart constellation do not stand in the way of the Gorax King star itself. According to Vi-Laaktar, the greatest Ewok star watcher, who was the shaman of our village hundreds of snows ago, this happened only once and he observed it. It takes…it takes a really powerful shaman to light the Fire of the Eternal and manipulate it. Unlike most other fires, it’s cold and…colourful, as opposed to common reds, yellows and oranges.”

    “Eecha waa ma! I saw it and it was pretty…intense. I can only imagine how it feels for somebody who can hear, feel and taste colour, like you and…if I am guessing this right, master Logray!” Latara hugged Teebo once again, “Does it drag you? Attract you in some way? Do I…have to stop you from doing something stupid?”

    “Some Ewoks, like you, don’t have any kind of a reaction to it. Some Ewoks, like Wicket and Paploo, act like they inhaled fumes from burning specific herbs. Those of us with nature powers can be affected in many ways far serious than I have the Sunstar with me. It will protect me from any bitter colour experience. Other than that... I am consciously walking into the trap set by…whoever it may be. I don't want to drag you into it. Go home and bang the gong, get help. Wicket and Paploo must make out of this alive and I will provide all the distractions necessary for them to escape!"

    Latara smirked. "Teebo! Are you suddenly with Kazak and thinking that a woman has no place in..."

    "No! I just think that all of this is too dangerous for somebody I care about!"

    "I can take care of myself, lurdo. Did you forget how I knocked down a Yuzzum when you could only hurl a lame two-headed Skee?"

    "Of course I didn't...but some of the futures indicate that you will be happy, without me.”

    Latara was confused. She never bothered to listen to Teebo’s visions before, but this time, the strange tone of his voice and lack of the usual gleam in his eyes were a clear sign that this was not a result of him being just a mere dreamer she was smitten with. She pulled him close to herself and ran her hands through his fur.

    “I don't want anybody to harm you. I want to be by your side. And if you think that dying at the hand of this evil creature is your destiny, I want to change your destiny.”

    “The right future must emerge from the pool of all possible futures. Usually, the ones calling out louder than the others will end up being it. This is why I believe I will die. I talked to Kneesaa about it. If I indeed die, do not pester her to tell you what happens next, otherwise you will ruin the beauty of your wonderful future.” Teebo stopped, losing his bordok cart of thoughts. Latara waited for a couple of minutes and then coughed and nudged him. Only then did he continue. “How about this: I face the one behind all this and you set Wicket and Paploo free?”

    "Why can't we just sneak in and save them, then wait for Logray to come up with something that does not require any sacrifice? Why would he have to see us?" Latara protested.

    “It was written. I am almost sure of it! Let’s go. I think I know how to get into the lair. Follow me!”

    Latara shrugged. In her mind, this was no time for heroics and, though not even the slightest bit capable of nature powers, she thought that there had got to be the way to prove Teebo wrong and alter the future by defeating the mysterious villain.

    “Teebo, you are as mad as a blasé tree goat who chewed on some niiice herbs, if you know what I mean?”

    “Just follow me!” Teebo took her hand. He dragged her to the bordok waiting for them and scribbled a note. His messy signs looked messier than ever. Once done, he put the piece of parchment in the satchel hanging from the saddle. Latara stood by as he looked at the animal, spoke calmly to it in a language that resembled Logray’s chants and then placed his hand on its forehead for a couple of seconds. The bordok turned around and galloped away.

    “There. Yago now knows the shortest way home possible and, once he’s returned to the village, he will head straight to the Council hut! They will know where to look for the three of you…” Teebo turned around and noticed Latara’s angry stare, “…all right, the four of us.”

    They wandered around the grove for a while, until Latara stopped and pointed to a clearing.

    “I am sure that this is where it happened. As you can see, the soil is sort of…plowed through. The tree over there bears the marks of my knife.” She shivered, as Teebo hugged her.

    “While we cannot make the fire reappear just like that, there has got to be a way to di…”

    Just as he said that, the fire started burning from the middle of the clearing, this time with no pebbles around it.

    “Forget what I said. This is going to be less complicated than I thought. At this point, we are very close to the point when the Gorax King will be so bright in the sky that the Fire of Eternal has a mind of its own. Nobody is controlling it right now. We need to jump.”

    “You did not tell me about this! Why jump into the raging fire?”

    “Don’t worry. As I told you earlier, it’s cold.”

    Seconds later, with one loud “dengar”, they jumped into the fire, falling right through.




    Footnotes
    Roothead/root head is actually a Dulok insult. I like to think that Latara is the one to pick up such things.

    The Battle of the Thorn Forest occurs in the second season episode of the Ewoks cartoon series, titled Night of the Stranger. A creature referred to as Stranger uses the Sunstar in a Stonehenge-like temple to open a passage to the "Otherworld" and brings a bunch of other freaky, skeleton-ish wizards of the Night Spirit with him. In the very beginning of the episode, two moons cross each other's ways and Logray implies that it's a night when something will happen. While the forest moon of Endor is close to the actual gas giant (whom, once again, Ewoks call "Tana") for them to notice it, it is indeed aligned to the other two moons and the planet itself.

    Related to the above, yes, Latara gives Teebo a kiss on the cheek in the said episode, but it's often overlooked and ignored in favour of their fully-blown liplock in The Tragic Flute.

    If you read chapters 14 and 16 again, it will be clear to you that Teebo does not have the Sunstar, but a painted stone from the Yarlubb river, coloured in violet and yellow to resemble the legendary gem. Gunlaag had already taken the actual Sunstar at the point where he went to grab it. Yikes!

    Teebo is wrong about what Gorax King's Heart is, sort of - it's a nebula (as previously said, the Din nebula), but with the Ewoks' primitive science, that is understandable.

    Vi-Laaktar is a fanon character, I will elaborate on him at some point.

    "Did you forget how I knocked down a Yuzzum when you could only hurl a lame two-headed Skee?" - This is a reference to a scene in Sunstar vs. Shadowstone. After Morag's Yuzzum servants start attacking Logray, Teebo stands up to it and, while looking somewhat heroic and very, very angry, he only gets a two-headed skee (a ratlike-creature) out of the way. Seconds later, Kneesaa and Latara yell "LEAVE LOGRAY ALONE!", jump on the Yuzzums and knock them down, like true action girls.

    "I want to change your destiny", "Unbelievable, maybe...", "Follow me", "Just follow me" - Try to guess where these are from.

    One of Teebo's Force powers is animal friendship and the Ewoks cartoon portrays him as the gang's beastmaster.

    Yago is a name made up on spot, because I wanted somebody, anybody in this story to have a name connected to one of my favourite sitcoms - Aquí no hay quien viva.

    Dengar is an Ewok battle cry. And yeah, I know.