The Official RHS Round Robin--A*** **** versus The Naboo Royal Five Handmaidens

Aurra Sing disembarked her transport and cast an analytical glance at the Tatooine desert. It was time for the Boonta Eve podrace again. During last year's race she had just been sniffing around, looking to turn up some business. Now she had a definite goal in mind. There was a piece of hard merchandise that she intended to deliver to the assembler, Kud'ar Mub'at.

She didn't know who wanted this one, or why. At first she had been insulted to be asked to apprehend what seemed to be such easy prey-a mere ten year old boy. She quickly changed her attitude when Mub'at had told her the amount of credits the buyer was offering for Skywalker. For that kind of money, she'd gladly be insulted. When she discovered that he was in training as a Padawan, that only sweetened the deal.

A smug smile played about her lips as she make one last check of her equipment. She was ready to go.

******************************************************************************

When Ani had found that his master was to be attending a workshop on the programming and upkeep of the latest generation of astromech droids and would be tied up for the whole week, he persuaded Obi-Wan to let him have leave for a visit to Naboo. From there, it hadn't been hard to talk Amidala into a trip home to see his mother and the Pod Race. She agreed, on the condition that they be incognito.

Amidala, in her guise as Padme, was skipping ahead with Anakin. They were exploring the shops, visiting Ani's old friends, and making sure to stay clear of Watto and Sebulba.

Sabe and Rabe exchanged knowing looks and slight smiles as they watched the Queen relaxing and enjoying herself like a normal 15 year old girl for a change. The handmaidens were reluctant to constantly caution her to remain within their protection, so all five of them had conferred and with Panaka's help had come up with plans that would protect their charges, yet still allow them some freedom. Anakin and Amidala shouldn't even notice how well they were being guarded.
-------------------------------------------

NEXT!

 

Great start, Amy!

Are we going to call dibs as to avoid conflicting posts, or just jump in when an idea comes to mind and hope for the best?

I've done RRs both ways and can't say that either way works better than the other.

 

Nice start... but once they come into conflict, isn't it going to be pretty short? Or are we going to handicap the Royal Five in some way? icons/icon7.gif

 

Anakin was having a great time. Not only did have a whole week off from training exercises, but he was back home! And, as an added bonus, the two most important people in the world to him--his mother and Padmé--were nearby.

Shmi had elected to miss this morning's excursion to the marketplace, but Ani's heart was still light. Before, time had been such an issue that he hadn't gotten a chance to really show Padmé around Mos Espa. Now, he got to show off the sand-swept settlement at its best.

Pulling on Padmé's hand, he dragged her from shop to shop, stopping here and there to introduce his honored guest to all his former cronies. After filling them in on his training (making certain to emphasize the word "Jedi" every chance he got), he would proudly announce, "And this is Padmé. She's with me!"

****************************************************
Next!

 

Kitster spit out his latest sip of ruby bliel in surprise when Anakin Skywalker strode into the courtyard.

He was different. Profoundly different. And with him again was the beautiful girl -- young woman-- Padmé -- so beautiful that Kitster simply at first dismissed her as an angel, a heat-borne hallucination, nearly a year ago.

And behind them, nonchalantly, two young women casually kept a discreet distance, feigning interest in their surroundings. Friends of Padmé, Kitster figured. Or Anakin!
Luck seemed to favor Anakin time and time again.

But hey -- this is Anakin; should I really be so surprised?, thought Kitster. There was something about Anakin that was always just different than himself. He looked taller somehow -- no doubt he was, after a year of the infamously strict Jedi regimen, but it was a profound confidence that really informed his stature.

But the brush cut and braid of a Jedi Padawan framed the beaming face of the boy who was -- still -- his best friend in the galaxy. Kitster rushed forward for the familiar half-embrace and pulled sucker-punch. And as usual, Anakin caught his fist before it even mattered.

"Anakin. Out of all the places you could be! What in the Dune Seas brought you back here?!!"

"I don't forget my friends, Kitster! . . . You remember Padmé, right?"

"Of course. Hiya Padmé." Upon meeting her eyes, Kitster suddenly was at a loss for words. So he just smiled and sighed.

"Hi Kitster. How are the twin suns treating you?" she said with the manner of a girl of high station. He wondered if she was a senator's daughter, or someone else of promenence, on some greener world out there.

"With no mercy as always, milady. But I love it. Builds character," he half-laughed. His eyes fell to the young woman approaching on Padmé's left.

"Hi," she said in an accent of Basic that he had never heard before but instanly yearned to hear so much more of. "I'm Rabé." She extended an exquistely manicured hand. Her skin was darker, like his. And her dark eyes seemed so expressive, yet revealed nothing.

Now he was really at a loss for words.

 

Bless Rabé, Amidala thought. Her handmaiden had completely diverted Kitster's admiration. One of the nice things about being Padmé was that sometimes that could happen -- another pretty girl could come along, and be considered equally worthy of attention. And that was very, very good.

She felt Ani's small fingers on her wrist, and shot him a look. "Sixteen," she mouthed at him.

He grinned at her rogueishly, but moved his hand. Somehow or other, she'd convinced him to agree to treat her as a friend until he turned sixteen. By then, she figured he'd have outgrown his crush and moved on to someone closer to his own age, and would forget entirely. In the meantime, she wouldn't have to give up his friendship -- which she treasured more than anyone (except possibly Sabé) suspected -- because of an awkward, flat-out refusal.

"Rabé," she said, "Ani was going to take us out into the dune sea to see some of the canyons. Would you care to join us?"

 

Darn! I have an idea for the next part but I have to get to my core class...I don't suppose I could call dibs on the next part? I'll have it up after class...

 

"Us?" Rabé question.

"Yes, Us. Sabé, you, me, and I'm sure Kitster would like to join us." Padmé answered.

Rabé stole a quick glance at Kitster, whose blantant adoration was starting to get unsettling.

She really didn't have the time to be dealing with a kid's first pangs of puppy-love.

"Well, it is a very kind offer, but-"

"Of course, Rabé wants to go with us, Padmé" Sabé interrupted, "How silly of you to think she wouldn't."

Annie (the little punk) led the way out of Mos Espa with Padmé close to his side. Sabé and Rabé followed at a slight distance, exchanging words.

"Oh, it's kinda cute." Sabé commented. watching Kitster as he gaped at Rabé. "I should think you would be flattered. I bet he didn't have much use for girls, but then..." Sabé's voice adopted a far-off tone, "He beheld you, and lost his heart."

"Don't be so dramatic--Hey! Where did they go?" Rabé asked, alarm filling her voice. She scanned the horizon but 'lil Annie and Padmé were no where to be seen.

Rabé's raised voice shook Kitster from his love-induced stupor.

"I think they went in that direction" Kitster commented inclining his head to the right at a pair of footprints.

"We'll just have to follow them, they can't have gotten too far away." Rabé turned to face Kitster, "Go back to Mos Espa and tell Panak- No don't tell him, tell Eirtaé um, we may be a little late."

"Rabé don't you think it would be a better idea if Kitster and one of us followed the tracks and the other went back to Mos Espa...he does know the terrain." Sabé suggested.

"Yeah!, Come on Rabé, let's go!" He said pulling on her arm and leading her away. "This is going to be sooo wizard! and to think I was going to just waste my day playing balf with Wald that girl with the weird metallic teeth and that mean red-headed kid"
**********************
um, do with this what you will...
I tried to get in a "yippee" reference too, but it just didn't work.

 

Anakin noticed that Rabé didn't look too happy at the thought of going along with them. She hadn't much liked him lately, though he didn't remember doing anything to upset her.

Well, at least not really upset her. There had been that business with the womp rat tail in her shoe (well, a piece of a womp rat tail, anyway), but that had been in fun. Though Amidala hadn't thought it was very funny either, come to think of it.

He shrugged. "Come on, Rabé... it'll be fun. I'll show you a rock that looks just like someone's face. For real!" He tried to think of something else that a lady like Rabé might be interested in -- he knew that Amidala was interested in just about everything, so she was easier to please -- but was drawing a blank. "Hey, Kitster, I bet you know lots of places Rabé would want to see."

Kitster was no help. His eyes were just glassy. "Jundland Wastes?" he suggested vaguely. "Or the racetrack?"

For a fleeting moment, an image came into Anakin's mind, racing through the canyon last year. His eyes took in everything, even as he passed it in an instant. A woman, high on the cliff face. There was something wrong with her skin, and a glint of the suns caught metal on her head. Then she was gone.

"Anakin?" Amidala asked. "What is it?"

He shrugged. "Just thinking about the racetrack," he said. Kenobi had told him that most things his mind told weren't worth listening to, let alone visions from the Force. He didn't like to look like a naive padawan by trying to sound like a Master having visions, so he duly ignored most of them. Including this one. "I think we can go a little further out this time. I have a speeder."

Amidala smiled. "Oh, and here I was looking forward to another eopie ride."

Warmth flooded Anakin as he remembered the last one, and he knew he was blushing. Amidala looked quickly away. "I don't think Rabé would like it much," he muttered.

**********
Oh, and before I forget, I haven't been around the RHS thread for awhile, but I didn't forget about the possibility of Dancing Handmaidens. So, when I downloaded an animation program, what better way to practice than http://members.aol.com/fernwithy/vadersmask/anhm.gifThe Dancing Handmaiden (warning, she's never going to be on Solid Gold).

 

i hope this is good. and for continualities sake this comes after Yane's post which in my head is after JediGaladriel's post. (um, i edited cause i had indented the paragraphs not double spaced. it looked all jumbled up and icky.
**************************************

Padme and Ani were walking somewhat fast. It seemed to Padme that they had taken a wrong turn or two, or three or four she thought dryly, from the main street. It was also clear to her that they were lost. Oh, Ani tried to appear to know exactly where he was but she could tell by his overt glances this way and that, that he really had no clue as to their whereabouts. So much for Jedi calm she thought and nearly giggled. He really did look rather sweet and cute trying to pretend to be tough she thought as they hurried along, he a little ahead of she. Indeed, some things had changed since Ani had last been on his home planet.

As they made yet another turn, Padme's blood suddenly froze. She gave a slight shudder before catching herself. They were now hurrying down a street alley and Padme was just a little afraid. This street was different. It had a feel of absolute evil to it. She could feel eyes watching their progress down the street. Eyes coming from every dark shadow and window. Every dark place. Eyes in faces on beings intently waiting for them to make a mistake, to slip, to fall, to stumble, to... Stop it! You're behaving like a baby. These are crazy thoughts. You're just scaring yourself. Think of Ani With that last thought Padme hurried up to Ani's side so that they were shoulder to shoulder. She walked with her head held high and her shoulders thrown back. She was the epitome of royalness, except for her eyes which held a threat of pain unimaginable to any who dared move towards them.

Then Padme stumbled due to a hole in the street. Stupid, why weren't you watching the street! she thought as she fell forward. Ani was to surprised to react in time and she hit the ground. Hard...

******************************************

[This message has been edited by jeditictac (edited 02-10-2000).]

 

Oops... my bad. Serves me right for waiting several hours between reading a reply and writing one. Ignore mine.

 

Cool dancing HM, JediGaladriel! Come back to the RHS when you can!
***************************************************************

Sabé cleared her throat and watched for a moment as Kitster dragged Rabé off toward the desert, furiously suppressing a desire to giggle. As Rabé glared back at her for a second, Sabé permitted herself a quick grin before turning back toward the city.

"She'll be fine," she told herself, a few chuckles escaping. She knew she'd be in for an earful later that evening. Even though Rabé had a gentle, soothing voice, she did know how to add a bit of bite to it when necessary.

Sabé sighed. Yep, she could certainly look forward to quite a scathing later! Recalling the sight of the nearly bursting-with-amazement Kitster, she decided her later rebuke was worth it. Besides, the kid now had the memory of a time spent with a beautiful woman to cherish through his "growing up" years.

The town still a bit distant before her, Sabé's mind wandered to another smitten youth--Anakin. She puzzled a bit at the Queen's willingness to string the boy along with the whole "wait until sixteen" policy, leading him to believe he had a chance to court her. As Queen, it was expected that any suitors would be, at the very least, well-educated, though Naboo had no restrictions on prospective suitors specifically. Anakin's chances had improved somewhat upon his acceptance as a Jedi Padawan, but still..... This was another puzzlement. Sabé knew of no Jedi who had married. Perhaps there was some sort of rule against it. She wondered why Anakin's master permitted the boy's interest. Perhaps he thought as Amidala did, that it was merely a boyhood interest, and that it would wane as he grew older. "Oh well, it's none of my business," she thought, though she did secretly like the kid. "Maybe things will change!" She decided to wait for her next chat with Amidala to see...

The settlement now before her, she moved to find Panaka....

 

Yané sat silently in a room, tinkering with some spare machine parts that were strewn on a table before her. She looked up cooly when Panaka burst into the room.

"Where are they?!" He demanded.

"Who?" She asked twisting some sort of doo-dad on her creation.

"Rabé and Sabé! They were supposed to check in five minutes ago."

"What?, they don't get five minutes leeway?" She commented looking up at him briefly, "Calm down, will you?"

Panaka sat down at the table and fingered a shiny metallic bolt nervously, casting frequent glances at the door.

"Where are Eirtaé and Saché?" He asked Yané, suddenly.

She nodded her head toward a small door to her right.

"What are they doing?" He demanded.

Yané shrugged her shoulders screwing on another doo-dad.

"But they are supposed to relieve Rabé and Sabé!....Now where are those two?" Panaka said raising his voice.

"I told you, they are in the antechambre" Yané asked quietly taking the bolt Panaka had been fingering away from him.

"I meant Rabé and Sabé!" Panaka shouted.

"Did I just hear my name?" Sabé asked walking calmly into the room.

*************

 

"Sabé! Where have you been?!?" Panaka screeched like a dead owl.

"Oh, I was just out, taking a walk in the desert. If you can't tell, I AM all sandy. Heck, I have sand in places where the sun don't shine!" At that, she takes off her boot pouring the sand out and onto Panaka's feet.

"Don't get fresh with me missy!" responds Panaka as he eyes his shoes and steps to the side while flicking the sand back at Sabé. "Where's Rabé? Where's the Queen? Why am I wearing this ugly outfit? And whatever happened to my good dialogue? Explain, Woman, explain!"

Sabé rolls her eyes while still emptying out her boot and moving it to where Panaka now stood. "In the desert. In the desert. How the heck should I know? And, look at who's writing this! You expected something better?"

"Well, why did you just leave them there? I thought you were supposed to stay together!"

Continuing to empty her boot, she eyes Panaka warily and shrugs. "I felt a little LUV connection going on. Rabé and Kitster make a cute couple, don't you think?" She grins evilly.

Before Panaka has time to get another word in, Yané looks up from her doo-dad and quips, "Not as cute as you and Ric Olié! Now THAT's a love connection if I ever saw one!"

"Shut up, Yané! No one ever asked you! At least I'm not in love with Jar Jar Binks!" Sabé retorted haughtily with an evil gleam in her eye.

"Jar Jar..? Ugh!! Grow up! As if!" she says as she screws another bolt onto her doo-dad. Sabé just shrugs and proceeds to take off her other boot and empty it onto Panaka's other foot.

Meanwhile, in the Tatooine desert... "Curses those children! Where's that boy? I want to skewer him alive! I want to suck out his blood with my unusually long fingers. That's what they're for right? Well, anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, I remember! I want to pull out his fingernails. I want to cut off his toes, roast them, and put them in my salad." She suddenly notices the the boy and an unknown female emerge from behind the face in the rock. "Aha! There's that punk Anakin! He's with a girl! How does that punk get a girl? I want to pull out her hair so that she is as ugly as me! No one will escape the wrath of A**** ****!!!! No one!!!!" She laughs evilly. "Bwa ha ha ha ha! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Hmm. I think I'm over-doing it on the 'Bwa ha's'."

**************************************
Sorry, but you all should know by now that it is impossible for me to actually make a serious post. <EG> Special thanks goes to Yané of Naboo for not only letting me use her computer (My roommate and her boyfriend are having a "LUV connection of their own...) BUT for dictating all of A**** ****'s dialogue to me. You go, girl! <ggg>

[This message has been edited by Saché of Naboo (edited 02-12-2000).]

 

"What is that strange silhouette up there on that cliff, Annie?" Padmé asked the punk Annie.

He looked up and shrugged, "That? Just one of the locals I guess."

"Oh, Ok!" She said brightly.

a few minutes behind..."Do you know how to play balf, Rabé? I mean, if you don't, I can teach you...that is, if you want me to. Wow, this is really wizard! Isn't it Rabé? Hey look, I think I see them! Yep that's my pal Annie all right!" Kitster rambled on to a very very very very tortured Rabé.

Rabé sighed with relief.

Meanwhile back at the other place...Sabé finished pouring the sand out of her boot and tossed it nonchalantly aside, narrowly missing Panaka who stooped down, dejected, burrowing his head into his hands.

With genuine sympathy, Sabé patted him on the back before taking a seat next to Yané at the table.

"So what's that doo-dad there, Yané?" She asked pointed to the doo-dad Yané was holding.

"This doo-dad?" Yané asked holding up the doo-dad, "Oh, just some doo-dad I've been working on while Saché and Eirtaé were hogging the antechambre." <aside>antechambre is their polite term for toilet</aside>

"Oh, how long is it this time?" Sabé asked with a knowing smile.

"Three hours, about, give or take oh say, an hour." Yané mutters while screwing a shiny metallic bolt onto her doo-dad.

"As doo-dads go, Yané, that one's pretty snazzy." Sabé complimented her, staring at the shiny parts of the doo-dad.

Panaka moans, muttering under his breath, "Think happy thoughts, I'm a winner, people like me, I'm good at my job, the queen appreciates me..."

Just then, Saché and Eirtaé emerge from the "antechambre" looking quite polished.

"All yours Yané," Saché says flippantly, while Eirtaé gasps as she realizes that she has chipped her newly applied nail polish.

"Finally!" Yané exclaims as she hopped off her chair, "Here, hold this for me, will you?" She said handing the doo-dad to Eirtaé, who accepted it as if it were a dead pitten.

"What's this here doo-dad, Yané?" She asked.

"Oh, that? It's a lightsabre I've been fiddling around with." Yané responded.

"What!? I thought only Jedi could build lightsabres!" Saché exclaimed with shock.

"Any fool can build a lightsabre if they know how." Yané said shrugging her shoulders.

Yané goes into the antechambre and re-emerges five minutes later looking not as polished as Eirtaé and Saché but much happier as she had been waiting for three hours, to use the, you know, "antechambre."

"Here's your doo-dad, Yané"

"Nah, you keep it" she said walking back to the table.

"But you built it, it's yours."

"What!? You think I built just one! You two were in there for three whole hours!" Yané said, insulted that they did not appreciate her full genius. She pulled a couple more "doo-dads" out from nowhere,"Maybe we can spar later." She said igniting one and whipping it around in the air, narrowly missing Panaka's head.

"I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet." She said apologetically.

Panaka just groaned.
**********************
um, now back to more serious posts, I guess.

 

What!? Speechless after my last post? I really don't blame you but...write something!

 

<suffering from side-splitting laughter...>
"Must....try.....to.....post......"
<more laughter>

 

What? Still speechless?! I'm warning you, I'm close to writing another post and it won't be pretty.

 

Meanwhile...

Rabé's painted on half-smile was beginning to fade faster than an ice cube on a Tatooine noonday. She had endured a good two hours of Kitster's excited rambling, and it was taking all of her proper upbringing to keep her from screaming at him.

"...and then, one day, I was fetching a part for the evaporators, and you'll NEVER guess what happened..." Kitster rambled on, oblivious to his audience's silence. "Wow! I still can't believe it! How totally wizard! I'm with an angel...." his thoughts raced through his mind at a pace only slightly less than his speech. "...and THEN..."

Suddenly Rabé froze. Something strange, a feeling of unsettling foreboding, crept up her spine. Instinctively, she reached for the small blaster strapped just inside her boot...

 

Whoops. Overlapped posts. I'll change it.

"Is that Kitster?" Amidala asked, glancing over her shoulder.

Ani didn't bother to look. "Yeah. He's about a hundred yards back. Rabe's with him. She's annoyed at being stuck with him. And she thinks I'm a punk."

"Don't be silly."

He shrugged. "I was hoping they wouldn't catch up. But Kit just spotted us."

Amidala sat on a rock to wait for them. "Somebody ought to tell you that telepathy can get irritating pretty quickly."

He turned and gave her an evil grin. "Not always."

She blushed, suddenly wondering what he'd seen in her mind. She racked her brain for images and dream-fragments... which brought the worst of them to the surface.

Ani laughed aloud. "Sixteen," he said.

"You keep that up, it's going to be twenty-one."

"Gotcha." His face suddenly paled. "Rabe's on alert," he said.

Instantly, Amidala's guard went up. "That woman on the cliffs... "

"I think so... "

"You said she was just a local... "

"Probably she is. But not one of the nice ones. Most of them aren't."

"Your Majesty!" Rabe called from down the cliff. "Get down out of blaster sights. There's someone out there!"

[This message has been edited by JediGaladriel (edited 02-15-2000).]

 

Aha! I guess my threat worked!
Great additions.

 

So, where's the next threat?

 

(Threat? No threat....<G> )

Rabé pulled out her blaster with mind-boggling speed, at the same time shoving Kitster behind a rock with one foot and dropped down next to him.

"Hey!" he started, but was silenced by the look on her face. No spoken reprimands were needed.

"Drat!" she seethed at herself for slipping with the "Your Majesty!" call. "We're supposed to be incognito!" However, she saved any further self-criticism for later, knowing that protecting Amidala was the most pressing issue right now.

Noting with alarm that the figure on the cliff had disappeared from view, she flipped open her communicator.

"HM3. Alert! Stealth and armed report to location signaled. Signal sent--silent beacon activiated! HM3 out!"

 

im a dreadful writer myself so i dont think i'll contribute to the story but it's so cool so far cant wait to see the next installment

 

Startled, the Saché, Eirtaé, and Yané pounded on the door to the "antechamer" to alert Panaka.

Mumbling something about how this had better be good after having to wait 4 hours to get in there, Panaka's annoyance quickly changed to concern once he saw their anxious faces.

Strapping on his blaster, he raced for the door. Noting that Yané had paused, he looked back. "What?!???"

She flashed the easy grin that had so often tried the good Captain's patience. "Just grabbing the doo-dads. Never know when they could come in handy!"

Take 'er away.....