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

I am so proud of me that I stay away from the spoilers. That I really try to stand the building pressure of curiosity.

 

Finally getting around to commenting! The interaction between Teebo and Latara in this chapter is perfect. Love these two quotes:
“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!”
“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.”
AWWW. Latara saying that is extra-special, considering her change in behaviour in the second season. Also, "fur kissed by dozens of snowflakes" is a beautiful description. I'm not one to "ship" couples but you're definitely making me ship them.

Great ending to the chapter, too ("dengar!"). I'm excited to find out what has become of Wicket and Paploo and how Teebo and Latara will get involved - will this be the big showdown?

 

Uh-oh, you paraphrased the bit of Kahara's comment that I wanted to whistle about. But yeah, they'll pretty much face the villain and it's obvious right now. Other than that, yeah, it's a freaky, morbid...err...cute, romantic "breather" chapter.

You see everything! Latara is a total muggle, just like Chukha-Trok, but cultured and smart enough to try something new. At the same time, she is beginning to experience more love as opposed to pure lust and hot-and-cold silly games of the cartoon series; and this implies a deeper connection. Not only Force-wielders are capable of deep feelings and I wanted to show that.

Thanks. Most of those tropes never dived into the deeper end and I'm trying, I guess?!

There is a difference between Latara's jokes in chapter 3 and chapter 17. At this point, she's supportive and trying to encourage Teebo, basically being the missing piece to his puzzle as much as he is to hers.

U HAVEN NO IDEA WHAT MY MUST DOEN BEFOUR DA END OF APRILS. But yeah, you may have just helped me make my choice, as I had a couple of possible topic to cover and I want to utilise both my March and April posts.

See previous replies for the rest.

That, and a tiny bit of madness.

Well, me neither, but I ship them and you know it!

Thank you. I guess it's time for her to soften a bit, as that second season behaviour was downright awful, but we all go through phases as teens. Like, I was into...

...oh, wait, I'm still into them.

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalala...

The spoilers as in things at the end of my posts? Those are harmless, they're not spoilers, just footnotes. I actually recommend clicking them.

 

Chapter 18

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

---

The Duloks were in the same cave where they last spoke to Gunlaag, waiting for the last set of instructions from the mysterious hooded being. The three outcasts from the swamp faction were sitting in their own corner, at this point barely speaking to their intimidating comrades.

"Sir, can I have Logray's magic powders?" Umwak asked, as he danced around his friend, greed in his eyes. "Can I have his hanging lizard, his ceremonial wand and-and-and his staff?"

“Whatever you do, just leave Chirpa to me. And the Red Ghost. I want the Red Ghost.”

“Does it seem to me or you didn’t want her until Gunlaag pointed out that you could revenge her?” The con-artist had to dodge a rock flung his way the moment after he said this.

Gorneesh adjusted his eye patch. This hunt had been a strange experience, as he, Umwak and Umwak's young nephew Galak were trying to keep up with somewhat more bulky, blood-thirsty Duloks from the other faction. Each of their steps were like five steps of his own. Their armour made him think that his shoulder plates were nothing more than a decoration. Their rhetoric was so full of mayhem that anything he had ever said paled in comparison. For the first time since he had broken away from the scattering original tribe, he felt insignificant. His henchman’s hint at his lack of logic made him even more helpless, or so he thought.

He awkwardly approached the opposite fraction’s leader, who was sitting next to the fire and tried to pat him on the back, but changed his mind and only muttered a couple of awkward words, nearly choking on his own spit.

“Are you going to talk to your friend again, Patrash?"

Patrash just nodded his head. He was strangely calm for somebody with so much temper. He would not have had to put up with that excuse for a Dulok for much longer. And this was going to be the sweetest revenge he could have imagined, getting rid of the one who broke all the unwritten laws of their species. He never liked Gorneesh much. The fact that his former rival brought two of his own henchmen along was an annoyance of a completely different kind. He knew that Duloks with nature powers were a rare sight and that nine out of ten Dulok shamans lacked it, but Umwak's con artistry persisting now that they were allies to powerful beings was making them sick. Had he no shame to stop pretending he was capable of great deeds, or had his shtick been going on for so long that he managed to convince himself he was powerful? Both Umwak and Gorneesh seemed to him like nothing but a pair or clueless moths burning themselves in a lantern, not knowing what they wanted, or the true nature of danger. Those two were nothing like him and Kaalwar. They knew what they wanted. Massacre. Dominance. Blood revenge for their fathers’ deaths. And, in their minds, the only right way to achieve this was to wipe the faction they considered a disgrace, groom their children and take their women.

“So?” Gorneesh was waiting for Patrash’s response.

"Yes, we’ll be talking to our leader. You sure you want to come? You look tired, my friend. And you need strength for the assault. If you want to show Chirpa who’s the true ruler of this grove, you are going to need strength!"

“You’re so kind to me. I guess I can always take a nap.” The one-eyed Dulok leader shrugged, reached for his patched blanket and lied down next to Umwak. Patrash dragged Kaalwar outside, laughing along the way.

"That Gorneesh… he is nothing but a gullible coward! From tonight on, he will be just a scab on the face of glorious Dulok history!"

Once they got out of the cave, the warlord took out a pebble-like precious stone from his pouch and threw it on the ground, causing the snow around it to melt almost immediately. A ghostly vision of the hooded figure formed in the air above. Kaalwar could not see clearly, but it seemed that two Ewoks in wooden cages were hanging from the ceiling of his gigantic lair.

“Can you see us, oh, master Wanderer?” Kaalwar was playing with his nose ring and tapping his feet.

The hooded creature pointed the finger to his mate. "How are you coming along, Duloks?"

“We will arrive to the Bright Tree Village by the moment the Gorax King is at its brightest, just as you requested. My best warriors are ready to attack, kill and conquer!”

“Great, Patrash. I shall release the cursed animals the moment I....the moment I..."

"What is going on?" Patrash asked, confused. This was the first time the mysterious stranger was stuttering.

"I can feel an unpleasant wave in the fabric of the Night Spirit." The Wanderer started waving his hand, as his red eye flashed again. "My apprentice has been killed! That means Ewoks still have the Sunstar!"

"We have not even seen her since she departed to their village!" Kaalwar shrugged. “How do you know she’s been killed?”

"Lies, lies, all lies. You kidnapped her and got the Sunstar. Better confess it or I am going to send the animals in a different direction!"

Kaalwar seemed confused. "We don't need the Sunstar, master. Our tribe is proud, once we have had our revenge and the slaves in Ewoks, we would actually want to live our lives with no magic involved. Less trouble for us."

"What?" The Wanderer clearly didn't see that coming, “Don’t you want the riches, the relics and new Ewok fur vests…from white and red fur?”

"We do.” Kaalwar sighed. “We are worried about the past encounters, though, so we don’t want to imagine those vests while our prey is still giggling, making candles and weaving baskets. Patrash's father died when a wokling called a giant beast…a giant beast that was in love with him or something like that. We would not want to dabble with magic again and lose, just like we once did."

The Wanderer's hood nearly fell down and revealed his gruesome facial features, as his yellow eye flashed red again. A wave of disturbance in the magic hit him from the corridors on the opposite side of the one his prisoners came from, but he tried to stay calm.

"He is not going to bother you. While he has indeed grown up to be Logray’s new apprentice, he will stay alive only if I can shape him the way I want to."

"And Gunlaag?"

"I would assume it that he killed it as he was on his way into my lair. If you find the body, bring it to me. Once again, the animals will be set free wh..."

The ghostly figure faded away, as Kaalwar shrugged. He was hoping the Wanderer would reappear, but it was getting cold outside, as the snow was falling again. He cooled the gem down with some more snow and then put it back to his pouch. As he continued to discuss strategy with Patrash, a pair of eyes was still staring at both of them from a nearby bush.

Galak could not believe what he had just heard. He promptly returned to the cave and started shaking his uncle.

"Uncle Umwak! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Mmmmhm...Galak? What is going on?” Umwak just yawned “Let me sleep a bit more. I’m telling your mother…”

"We have been betrayed. A hooded creature unlike anything I have seen before showed itself to Kaalwar and Patrash. The master! And they spoke about eliminating everybody from our tribe! The three of us are to be executed at the Bright Tree Village, together with Chirpa, his daughters, his sister, Logray, that Warok whom they are revenging to and his daughter."

King Gorneesh laughed out loud. "Young Galak, you are so tired that your imagination is playing games with you. Why would Patrash and Kaalwar get rid of us?"

Umwak squeaked and covered his mouth with his hands. "So, that would wipe all of us men other than bratlings and uncle Murgoob away?"

"Yes. Patrash wants your wives to be the mother of his children. He probably wants the Sunstar as well. He wants everything.” The young Dulok, whom nobody ever listened to, had the future of his tribe in his hands. As scared as he was, with both his uncle and the king staring at him angrily, he continued. "There is a way out. But for the first time in your life, both of you will have to listen to each other. For real. And me. Listen to me. And swallow your pride, this one time."

The image projecting onto the wooden carvings in the lair faded away. The Wanderer shook his head. Kaalwar seemed somewhat suspicious upon learning of Gunlaag's death. The merciless Dulok warlord, full of rage, had second thoughts. Did he take it too far this time? Why did he even mention those Ewok fur vests? Ulgo, Kaalwar's father wore one when he died at the hand of Warok and his warriors. He should have instead mentioned precious stones, domestic animals, anything but that. What part of his patched-up body and mind could have made this dreadful mistake? Was Logray already aware of him and trying to invade his mind?

On the other hand, he was worried about Gunlaag's sudden demise. Sacrificing her was indeed a part of his plan, but only after he would have converted the young Ewok she and Kaalwar spoke of. She was to be choked by him, by the power of Night Spirit; after he would have been subjected to wearing his father's bones, tasting his sister's raw flesh and driving his mother into suicide or subjecting her to torture by Patrash and Kaalwar’s Duloks.

Another wave in Night Spirit, a pulsating, intense wave going up to the high, cobweb-covered ceiling of his lair, made him snap out of his torture fantasies. His would-be assassin was already there, he could sense a strong presence of mostly Light, with only dotted traces of the Night Spirit. This was to be a chore, he thought to himself, transforming an Ewok with no bad bone in his body to a dark apprentice. This was to be a challenge, as opposed to Gunlaag, who was convinced the moment he mentioned revenging Logray.

He tried to recall his own transformation to the servant of the Night Spirit. Nothing came to mind, leading him to conclusion that most, if not all dark mages forget their previous life. Nothing came to mind regarding what his lean, nearly fleshless body used to be like, either. He was not a Dulok. He was not an Ewok. He was not a Tulgah, either. He claimed himself a new name, he learned all the secrets of dark rituals, but what was that he used to be before that?

Once again, nothing came to mind. The Wanderer turned around, pulled the hood over his face and started chanting, so quietly that Wicket and Paploo in their cages could not make out the words.

“I know you’re nearby, I can sense your presence. You are not here by accident, young one. I am more powerful than your master will ever be. You cannot change your destiny. Come and accept it. Join me.”

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

Galak is an old Nestle ice cream. Whatever, since no model cel of Umwak's nephew ever surfaced, I though I'd give him some sort of a name. I like that name.

The Wanderer has a name, yes. At last.

 

“I know you’re nearby, I can sense your presence. You are not here by accident, young one. I am more powerful than your master will ever be. You cannot change your destiny. Come and accept it. Join me.”

Please be reasonable and say "No!" Please!

 

Another ominous chapter. I also really like the contrast between the Dulok factions and how Gorneesh is beginning to feel helpless, despite his arrogance in the past. The comparisons between their armour, speech, etc really help that come across. I feel bad for Galak, but I'm glad you gave him a name and identity. Like you did with the Ewoks, you've really captured the feel of the Duloks. The dialogue is great. Well done.

The Wanderer is very frightening and also intriguing - even more so because he doesn't even remember his past himself. He's beginning to seem very nervous about the showdown, and I'm not surprised, since I'm sure Teebo will prove impossible for him to turn evil. Can't wait to see how it ends!

 

Teebo is not the kind to fall for that, so he will not go quietly...no worries.

Thank you. I only kept a part his name from the idea I got from Gamiel and ended up coming up with everything else myself.

They are true to how Joe Johnston portrayed them in the book where the Duloks debuted. Vile, aggressive, skinning Ewoks alive. Since they were chaotic back then - both Ulgo [Kaalwar's dad] and Vulgarr [Patrash's dad] claimed they were the king, what made them a huge threat was the sons learning from the

The quote you asked about refers to that book as well, as the book events take place long before the Ewoks cartoon, even before the comics (e.g. Wicket and Kneesaa are not present as named woklings, which implies they're still a couple of snows away from receiving their hoods) and back then, in my headcanon, the Duloks were united. The moment mentioned is when the Gru(n)dakk, the friendly giant guardian of the Father Tree steps on king Vulgarr and kills him, in order to save Teebo from being err...halved alive.

If anybody would like to read the book (I know glitteryboots read it), I am pretty sure I sent links to some of you, perhaps even more than once, but not to some others, so feel free to ask. It's out of print, anyway.

Umwak never did anything that required Force-sensitivity in the cartoon, so I am 99,999999999...% sure he's a muggle.

I had friends at elementary school who thought the pin feather was "gay". Kriff that, it's a lantern bird feather.

And you're in for ...a lot. As if you didn't know...

Just like Umwak, Gorneesh is a bit of a con type, but I've always thought that, despite his generally evil nature, there are things he would draw a line at, as he's the type who definitely wants to improve himself, whatever is that supposed to mean in their primitive world. Plus, why eat Ewoks when one can steal their harvest, as we have seen him try once?

I really liked the character in The Tree of Light, especially that one moment when he looks at the audience with a bemused, flat expression on his face; and I was confused that he never reappeared in the cartoon. Sure, many characters have nephews, but that does not mean this one was any less special.

Thank you.

The bolded part may work both FOR and AGAINST a solution...

...

Thank you, all. Chapter 19 coming up, chapter 20 will be the showdown and everything after that is the aftermath. Knowing that one of the two late commenters reads immediately and comments later, I am almost tempted to tag the other one who is a bulk-reader like me so she would still have the surprise factor present if she reads now or after 19...but I don't dare to, she's scary when angry.

 

Chapter 19

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

---

Umwak was running to the Bright Tree Village, knowing that he had to be there long before Patrash and Kaalwar would have even noticed his disappearance. The idea of surrendering to Chirpa and his Council of Elders had initially seemed stranger than any of his own plans of the past, those that would usually end up being labelled as Gorneesh’s. But young Galak convinced him. Their own lives and lives of their tribesmen mattered more than their foolish pride.

He stopped to catch his breath, his large green feet aching from running through the thick snow. There were so many things he needed to confess to himself. His entire life was a web of lies. He was not capable of magic. To this day, he had managed to learn how to make a couple of potions and most of them were not doing anything, just like his “special glasses” couldn’t do anything. He was nothing but a con artist who gave himself a traditional Dulok shaman ponytail and made a necklace out of an embalmed hand he once found in the swamp around his neck.

Never before had he felt so humiliated. Installing him as the shaman of the swamp’s faction was a consolation prize; as the announcement at Gorneesh and Urgah’s wedding ceremony caught him by surprise. For the most part, it was only his hermit uncle Murgoob who was aware of his lack of magical knowledge.

And now, caught in the trap of reliving all of his bad memories, he was proven wrong by the only being ever able to see through him - his patient and, until tonight, obedient nephew. Since when did Galak grow up so much? Could it be that the boy was smarter than him and Gorneesh, together?

These thoughts were an unwelcome distraction.

“Must get to the Bright Tree Village and beg for help…” Umwak whispered to himself, hating the sound of his own words and how they stank of defeat. “This is the only way we can save our people. The only way. Must get to Logray!”

The moment he whispered the old Ewok’s name, the hand relic came alive, broke itself free from the string it was hanging on and grabbed him by the neck, suffocating him. He tried to pull its fingers back, but it only caused his own hands to turn blue. He was losing his breath.

“Kaa’toosha!”

A ray of light flashed from a staff. The hand released the grip on Umwak’s neck and the Dulok passed out. Logray emerged from behind a nearby tree, followed by that chieftain friend of his. As the ghostly hand was now levitating enclosed in a halo, the two approached their unconscious rival.

“This is getting too complicated for me!” Chirpa shook his head. “You said that we were very likely to bump into Teebo and stop him, if we’re using this shortcut, with Warok covering the other. But I did not expect to see this. How secret is this secret road, exactly?”

Logray sat down in the snow and checked Umwak’s neck for signs of life.

“Thank Light Spirit, he is alive.” He opened his large satchel and pulled out a tiny bottle. “Chirpa, put that spear down. Help me open his mouth and have him swallow some of this. Whatever he may say once he comes round is crucial to our survival.”

“I don’t understand anything, Logray! Whose hand is this? We have seen Umwak wear it countless times before and I don’t remember it being alive, let alone turning on him!”

“Neither do I, as you can imagine. I thought he had stolen it from some other shaman, but it seems that…” Logray turned around. “Is that mooing I hear?”

A long-furred bordok was running towards them. Chirpa was ready to get out of its way, pulling the barely-conscious Umwak along; but Logray calmly stood in the animal’s way. The bordok seemed to be slowing down.

“Yago? Yago the untameable? What are you doing here?”

The animal sat down, as Logray patted it between its horns.

“You are a good bordok, Yago. And knowing that you are normally the worst of the worst in the village’s stable, I can think of only one Ewok who could have tamed and mounted you.”

Yago brushed his large head against the shaman and allowed him to access the satchel hanging from the saddle he wore. Chirpa, still holding Umwak, was looking on. Logray pulled out a piece of parchment.

“Just as I expected. Fire of the Eternal.” He stopped and looked at Chirpa and Umwak, demanding their attention. “We need to jump on the back of this animal and get home before the Gorax King is at its peak!”

They mounted the bordok, placing Umwak between them, his long, thin body hanging onto Chirpa, as if he were a mere, helpless wokling. Once Logray whispered a couple more words in the mystic language of magic, Yago stood up and started galloping. The trapped hand was floating above them in its own halo, following the twitching gem on the shaman's staff.

“Can I ask questions now?” Chirpa was slightly annoyed at the way Umwak’s scrawny limbs were poking him, but even more so at the prospect of appearing clueless. “I will start with something simple: what is going on?”

Logray took a deep breath. “Teebo wrote the note I just retrieved from Yago’s satchel. He didn’t sign it, but his writing is so messy that it could not have been anybody else. He has gone to find something, but he’s not sure what. Latara is with him, after she apparently refused to mount this very bordok and go back home. He also thinks that Wicket and Paploo are held captive at the place he is trying to locate.”

“Does that mean that Wicket and Paploo tried to find this something before him? They never attended your star-watching lectures!”

“I don’t think so. Either way…Teebo somehow missed seeing Gunlaag at her worst and unknowingly put your daughters in danger by leaving his place...Chirpa, I cannot see your face because I’m sitting behind you, but I know you’re snarling and you should not. Now, where was I? Oh, chak, Teebo was at the observatory and he figured out that the Gorax King will be at its most luminous at some point tonight and he saw the Fire of the Eternal...”

“Sorry to interrupt, sir...” Umwak raised his hand, barely managing to hold his balance on the bordok’s back. “I have something to tell you, sir.”

“I remember you calling my friend ‘old fool’ and now he’s ‘sir’?” the chieftain fumed, but Logray patted him on the back.

“Chirpa, let him be! He’s learned his lesson. What do you have to tell us?“

“Well, sir, you know Gunlaag, the Ewok witch who recruited us? Well... that creature my nephew saw talking to Kaalwar and Patrash says she’s dead. He thinks that your apprentice killed her.”

“Umwak, we know she is dead and we also know who killed her, and it wasn’t my apprentice. We also know that Patrash and Kaalwar are planning to attack us. Is there something else? There has got to be a reason you were running to our village, using a shortcut not many of us know of.”

“There is.” Umwak nodded his head and held on to Chirpa. “Gunlag’s master used her and his own powers combined to capture all the large animals and they will be released when the star you spoke of is at its brightest. Then they will then attack my tribe’s hunters who have been sent to capture your hunters...stomping and stabbing everybody to death. My people have been tricked into this…”

“…and that is supposed to happen at the same time when Patrash and Kaalwar attack our village and…oh, k’vark!”

Chirpa pulled Yago’s reins and the animal, still under Teebo and Logray’s spells, stopped for a moment. The great chief had finally realised something.

"Umwak, have you even seen this mysterious wizard Gunlaag worked for? Did you make this entire thing up?"

Logray was just about to assure his friend that the Dulok was not lying, but when Umwak shook his head, the shaman changed his mind, as he had put the missing pieces together.

"It's the hand! We need to dispose of the hand!"

"What?" Umwak and Chirpa yelled at the same time.

“This hand you have been wearing around your neck for so many snows — it belonged to this mysterious wizard whom Gunlaag was working for. It was originally you that he wanted to serve him, but then he realised you were not gifted with nature powers. Then he found Gunlaag, likely through Zarrak and Patrash. This hand has a life of its own and it’s been controlling the animals for the past couple of days.” Logray took the reins from Chirpa. “Yago, move! The Sunstar will help us dispose of the hand and this will also weaken this creature’s powers.”

As the lights of the Bright Tree Village became visible in the distance, Umwak managed to look up to the sky. Even through the dense treetops, Gorax King was shining brighter than ever before. From this point on, everything was a race against the time.

…

Latara and Teebo had landed in one of the dead end, on a patch of moist soil. Luckily, the lantern was in one piece, so they could look around. The walls appeared to be unusually moist as well, with light green, seemingly bioluminescent mould covering them. A row of unusually straight and rounded tree roots seemed to lead towards a light in the distance. Behind the third root, two roads were leading to left and right.

"Are you all right?" Teebo asked. “I have been thinking – you should somehow tuck that braid under your hat. It has grown too long and it could be a problem…if we end up having to run, or something.”

Latara ignored the suggestion. "This was the coldest fire ever! What do we do now? How do we find Wicket and Paploo?"

"We had Vi-Laktaar's facts to lead us underground. From this point on, it's blank parchment." Teebo shook his head and pointed the lantern to the strange roots. There was nothing about them in any of the dozens of scrolls on plant life. Knocking on them confused him even more, as they seemed to be hollow and the sound did not resemble anything he had ever heard. Not knowing what else to do, he turned to Latara who was still sitting on the ground. Before he could say something, she started talking again.

“Are you saying that we could die? Oh, wait, you said that earlier. If nothing else, I am going to be the most beautiful corpse ever.” She giggled and he could not tell if this was a joke, a strange way for her to encourage herself, or both. And then she burst into laughter. “Can’t you see that I am teasing you? The fire has no effect on me – I’m vain with or without it. So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan, the plan…you will take the lantern and take the left corridor. I will take the right one. I am pretty certain that they lead to the same place and that there are many more such corridors. If you see Wicket and Paploo before I do, use your knife to free them. If I see them, I will try something else.”

Latara frowned. “You have no weapons of any kind. I don’t want anybody to hurt you.” She pulled Teebo by the hand; he misinterpreted the gesture and helped her to her feet.

“I guess that’s how it works, after all.” she thought to herself. “I ignored his warning, he is ignoring mine.” After a silent look into each other’s eyes they parted.

As she was walking through the narrower, left corridor, she turned around solely to see him looking her way. Smiling, she pointed the lantern towards him. Slightly hunched, he smiled back and waved, his green eyes reflecting the light. She had always been aware that he was handsome for a young Ewok male, fact which contrasted sharply with his alternately awkward and unusually gentle mannerisms. Yet she seemed to have forgotten that over the course of the last few days. Instead of fantasizing about just being with him somewhere, alone, as she so often used to do, she would instead find herself wondering if she had hurt him, how he perceived this or that thing she said and how they could bond to understand each other better. And then she turned the lantern the other way, cursing herself. Why did she have to realise it was love and not lust just at the moment when they were both trapped in a twisted, underworld maze?

Her thoughts ground to a sudden halt as the lantern burned out, she proceeded with caution, touching the ground ahead of her. She was hoping she would soon see some sort of light, but there was nothing but darkness both before and after her.

On the other side, Teebo had already managed to find his way into the gigantic chamber. Just like the straight, hollow roots, this place was far beyond his knowledge. Everything he had ever read, from the teachings of Vi-Laktaar to his own master's discoveries, was suddenly meaningless. Whoever it was that created this must have had the knowledge thousands of snows ahead of his own.

He made his way towards the dark circle in the middle of the chamber. Despite his feeling of unease, he stood on it and looked at the night sky through what appeared to be the only visible way out. Just as he had assumed earlier, the Gorax King was the only star visible through the opening and it was nearing its brightest.

"Teebo! How did you get here?"

He looked to the left and saw Wicket and Paploo in their cages. Paploo did not seem fully aware of his surroundings, but Wicket was holding onto the bars and trying to force his way. Teebo ran up to the cages.

"Who has done this to you?"

"Somebody who has far worse plans for you. We are just going to become wooden carvings in the walls of this place, or so I think. You, on the other hand, are what he wants most."

Teebo looked at Paploo, who seemed to be laughing at both him and Wicket. He assumed both of his friends were still under the influence of the Fire of the Eternal.

"I need to get you out of here!" He reached for the gem in his satchel. "I think I can cut these ropes somehow. Just watch your heads."

Activating the Sunstar seemed to be taking an unusual amount of time. Usually, it would have fired by now. Teebo dropped to his knees, trying to channel energy from all of his limbs to the gem. Nothing happened.

“It…it doesn’t work!”

“Of course it doesn’t, you fool.” A raspy voice said, in a mocking tone. “It’s a painted stone from the river!"

Before he turned around, Teebo looked at Wicket again. The expression in his friend’s face was like nothing he had seen before. Seconds later, he was face to face with the monstrous being behind all of the recent events. And this being had just grabbed his wrist and scratched him.

“The sweet taste of youth, innocence and the strongest nature powers I have ever tasted in a creature’s blood. Dare I welcome you? I have been waiting for you for a while now." The Wanderer's gnarly hand drew a rounded shape in the air. "Once the light from the Gorax King shines on the black circle, my powers will reach their full potential. And you, you will be mine!”

“Never!”

---

Fustercluck much? Read this...

Spoiler

- Origins of the place the Wanderer's lair is at, his exact reasoning and his descent to the Dark side (or the Night Spirit) are not relevant to Snowed In, but they may be relevant to the future stories.

- The Wanderer's original species cannot be determined here, but it can be determined...someplace else. They may be too primitive to understand things such as Force sensitivity.

- While the Wanderer was still a "regular" being and Logray was still looked down by his people (which is implied in The Adventures of Teebo and How the Ewoks Saved the Trees), Gunlaag fell to the Dark Side and started abusing her nature powers to train animals.

- During his descent to the Dark Side, The Wanderer's right hand was severed. He retrieved it and left it in the swamp, thinking that a Dulok shaman was a likely candidate for an apprentice. He may have thought that tasting Force sensitivity in blood was a common sign of other beings like him.

- The Wanderer was wrong, as Umwak is as muggle as can be. He was also wrong about thinking that his hand would be controllable all the time.

- Umwak had the hand enbalmed and used it as a relic, to make himself look more credible. The Wanderer spent some time looking for a new apprentice, likely encountering Morag the Tulgah witch and Zarrak, Logray's first apprentice in the meantime.

- Once the Wanderer encountered Gunlaag, they agreed to work together and she became his apprentice. She was planning to change the plans once she has obtained the Sunstar. Destroying Logray in the most violent ways possible was a fantasy of hers.

- The two encountered Kaalwar and Patrash's faction of the former tribe led by King Vulgarr and Gunlaag hired them to help them out, as they had motifs for blood revenge as well - getting rid of Warok and his family.

- Kaalwar had his own doubts as Patrash's father, Vulgarr, once exiled his father, Ulgo, who claimed *he* was the Dulok king. They were still able to get over their personal differences, as they both followed the "ethics" Gorneesh's faction didn't. They also made a pact not to rely on the nature powers once they get what they wanted.

- The Wanderer pressured Kaalwar and Patrash into getting rid of Gorneesh's men and grooming their women and children; for his own reasons - he had realised that his hand will come alive on the same night as he will be able to use his powers to the maximum.

- Once Gunlaag reported from the Bright Tree Village, the Wanderer realised that the Force-sensitive wokling Kaalwar and Patrash spoke of may be more powerful than her and he infilitrated Teebo's mind pretending to be Logray, just to get him where he wants him. He also sensed Gunlaag's betrayal.

- Teebo figured out the Fire of the Eternal by himself, but he only decided to follow it once the Wanderer, posing as Logray, groomed him into it.

 

I feel a bit bad for Umwak at this point, even though he's never exactly been an angel. It's a lot easier to feel for him than it is for Gorneesh - it must have affected him that his ideas have always been presented as Gorneesh's, how he's never really been capable of magic even though he might have wanted to be, etc - and being the one to surrender is very humiliating. Maybe I'm too nice, but yeah.

So the reason for the Wanderer only using one hand is that it's somehow come into Umwak's posession. Nice link, and that leads to some wondering - did he deliberately chop it off so it'd come into someone else's posession, or did he lose it in a battle? Of course you then explain this in the fustercluck spoiler, but it was an interesting thing to consider while reading. The anticipation is definitely building up with the "From this point on, everything was a race against the time." line.

Again, the interaction between Teebo and Latara is great. I like that she's even being vain when they might be about to die, haha. Very Latara. Her realising then that she really loves Teebo sort of reminds me of the Ron and Hermione scene in the final Harry Potter, except these two are much more compatible and believable.

That's a huge cliffhanger at the end! Possibly the biggest one yet. Definitely makes me want to read on. I hadn't realised that it wasn't really Logray talking to Teebo or that he didn't really have the Sunstar. Very ominous.

 

*skids into the thread, out of breath, to review before anyone else calls her scary*

I caught up on the last three chapters (I love the way you use the thread title for announcements, btw -- that was my cue to come and bulk-read before "the big showdown") and here are my not-extensive-at-all comments:

Chapter 17
Never tell me that I'm a mush writer again -- Latara counting how many times they kissed in the middle of that mess has got to be some of the most glorious mush I ever read

Seriously though, more growing up/maturing from these two in this chapter. Teebo figuring things out and going in full hero mode is a joy to read -- except that he doesn't have the Sunstar. Uh oh

Chapter 18
So the villain-only chapter was a "let's all happily stab each other in the back" fest Honestly, I've never seen such a disorganised motley collection of villains, each one with his own agenda. The "we'd rather not use magic anymore" was the cherry on the cake for me -- and, I imagine, also for the Wanderer, albeit for different reasons.

Despite the comical effect of his coalition cracking at the seams, the Wanderer is genuinely creepy. The passage where he ruminates about his origins and can't even remember what species he belongs to gave me goosebumps.

Chapter 19
And now the hand coming alive took the whole story to a new level of creepiness I'm confident that Logray will manage to destroy it on time, but I suspect that the evil thing won't go away without a fight.

Latara "I'm vain with or without [the fire]"

And now Teebo faces the baddie, and he's in trouble... What happens next?

PS: Oh, and I still want to know how Malani's gift will come into play

PPS: I also expect that Berry will have something to say about this situation.

PPPS: What if... Ah, never mind. I'll wait for the showdown.

 

In before the showdown!

Ahem.


Ch 17

Yipes. That's... not good. Now I'm wondering about the animals mentioned later -- the ones that were all missing during the hunt, I think. That could be a bit disastrous. [face_scared] (Which is to say, nice job bringing the bad guys' plot together. )

Really liked Teebo's declaration and the giggling, hysterical reaction -- seems very plausible given the life-threatening situation they were just in! Very plausibly awkward and does the double duty of showing their actual feelings for each other, and their reeling at what just happened in the fight with the gurreck.

Love how they're still bantering a bit, even here. And, of course, aww! Very cute here.

Liked the explanation here; I'm not sure if I had put together that that was the Fire of the Eternal. (Yes, I am easily distracted. I'm pretty much the ideal mystery reader, because I remember just enough to go "hey, that's clever" when the clues reappear in the finale. _) But it's also fun to see Teebo trying to explain all of this Force-shaman-y woo-woo stuff to Latara, who is as far from that as you could get.

Also appreciated her "screw destiny" reaction to Teebo's foresight that she'd be happy without him, and the two of them both trying to get the other out of danger. Too bad they're both stubborn as mules. But still, there seem to be a sign of maturity in that they don't descend into losing their tempers -- just realize they aren't going to convince the other and move on. I think this may be a difference from who they were a few days ago!

Can't disagree with her assessment of the situation. But then Teebo has probably never heard the uncertain-future talk. That's going to be an expensive lesson, I'm worried.

"Dengar" is a great curse word, though... Somebody must have met him.



Ch 18

Liked the realization throughout this chapter that Gorneesh, Umwak, and Galak are out of their depth here. They aren't nearly as hardcore as Kaalwar and Patrash, they just wish they were. And now it's becoming something they can't ignore any longer. Already said this in PM, but I like how it's taken their cartoon silliness and incompetence, and kept those qualities against the more dire situation here. So now they are dealing with the possibility that they have actually gotten themselves into a plot with consequences this time.

This is both extremely creepy, and a bit ironic -- in that even while these Duloks are planning all of this slaughter and abuse on the Ewoks and other Duloks, their Master-thingy is already planning to kill them off too (or so I think?) So they're in the same sort of ignorance, also thinking they're bad (well, they are) when this eldritch creature has malice beyond their more everyday and short-sighted nastiness.

Then there’s the rather surprising and intriguing echo of the Ewoks’ generational conflict when Galak, “The young Dulok, whom nobody ever listened to” has to confront his elders and try to convince them of their peril. That was unexpected and cool – I do love it when the characters who aren’t expected to be capable of development, suddenly are.

Though I suppose we shouldn’t expect a major change of heart or anything , still it seems like they might almost be in a position to gain a little practical wisdom here. And maybe even just a bit of understanding of the value of their lives as they are. Maybe. That this even comes up at all just feels quintessentially Star Wars – the power of choices and belief mattering no matter what or who you are.

Good question! Like how this emphasizes his out-of-place nature in the environment of Endor. The Wanderer might or might not have come from there, but he’s become kind of an imbalance in the system and just seems very alien, even to this strangest of moons. (I like the name you picked for him; it works really well for the type of character he is.)

Ch 19

So, Galak was successful – or at least in convincing Umwak and Gorneesh. Whether it will do them any good remains to be seen.

Really enjoyed the characterization of Umwak here; he’s a silly, small-minded con man and a giant coward, but he becomes rather sympathetic in trying to avert the crisis that he got himself into. The hand from the swamp strangling him is simultaneously disturbing (yuck!) and interesting in its sense of consequences coming into play. He’s been playing at the shaman game for so long that he probably half-forgot where that thing even came from, and now the game is over one way or another.

Chirpa and Logray’s confusion at the “monkey’s paw” turning on Umwak is an interesting scene as well. They know he’s a charlatan, so they never took a second glance at what he was carrying around. Oops!

I like Logray’s assurance that Yago is a good bordok (just as he is a terrible riding mount most of the time.) Reminds me of someone I know assuring me that a particular cat is “a good cat.” (He is, indeed, a good cat. He’s exceptionally good at being a cat. Being a cat that doesn’t periodically take a swat at people unfortunately seems to be beyond his abilities. But no one can doubt that he is very happy being a cat and adores humans in his own odd and unpredictable manner.)

Logray is great here – also in his little side notes about Teebo’s handwriting being too messy to be anyone else’s and chiding Chirpa about getting snarly, even. Anyway, I love how this has Umwak being served a bit of humble pie, but Logray accepts his turnabout without the “I told you so” or judgment that I’m sure must be tempting. All those years of Umwak being a regular nuisance can’t be easy to forget, but he’s willing to put them aside – especially since other things are more important now.

Okay, and now it’s into the Dark Side monster’s lair. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

Latara has the most entertaining coping mechanisms in the face of danger!

*sigh* Alright, you two. Be that way. I suppose it’s not much of a story if you sensibly wait for backup…

This is so endearing; Latara has grown up a lot through the recent events and it shows here. She’s developed the awareness to have real compassion, the kind that’s necessary to make a relationship work. And of course the timing is inconvenient. At least he’s not going into a carbonite block or something.

Right?

…



The detail that Paploo is showing odd behavior (laughing) is suitably unnerving. I can’t remember if he’s still under some kind of influence or not. Could be the stress too, as we’ve seen with Latara. Either way, I can just imagine how worrying that would be.

Eep. Now the return of the creepy vampiric habits of the Wanderer. (Ick, ick, ick! ) This is so not good…

 

The moment he whispered the old Ewok’s name, the hand relic came alive, broke itself free from the string it was hanging on and grabbed him by the neck, suffocating him. He tried to pull its fingers back, but it only caused his own hands to turn blue. He was losing his breath.

“Kaa’toosha!”

What I like about your story telling is also the huge level of surprise. I never saw THAT coming.

Activating the Sunstar seemed to be taking an unusual amount of time. Usually, it would have fired by now. Teebo dropped to his knees, trying to channel energy from all of his limbs to the gem. Nothing happened.

“It…it doesn’t work!”

“Of course it doesn’t, you fool.” A raspy voice said, in a mocking tone. “It’s a painted stone from the river!"

Before he turned around, Teebo looked at Wicket again. The expression in his friend’s face was like nothing he had seen before. Seconds later, he was face to face with the monstrous being behind all of the recent events. And this being had just grabbed his wrist and scratched him.

“The sweet taste of youth, innocence and the strongest nature powers I have ever tasted in a creature’s blood. Dare I welcome you? I have been waiting for you for a while now." The Wanderer's gnarly hand drew a rounded shape in the air. "Once the light from the Gorax King shines on the black circle, my powers will reach their full potential. And you, you will be mine!”

“Never!”

The Wanderer is even more creepy and equally well written.

Oh and thanks for your side explanations of sources and ideas. It is very appreciated!

 

Since I am paranoid about the markup screwup reoccurring, I am responding to everybody other than Kahara in one comment and to her in the next. This time nothing will eat that comment, either.

Before anything else, so I won't repeat it throughout: THANK YOU.

You're not too nice. While Umwak may be sly, he's not evil.

The sliding scale of villains in the story probably goes like this.

The Wanderer - Absolute evil, evil that denies good. Does not reveal any emotion, has only one major weakness (not knowing who he is), body morphed in god knows what ways into god knows what, some strange take on vampirism and apparent ability to taste midichlorians...anything else?

Gunlaag - A psychopath who wants to revenge those who saw through her previous bloodbath schemes, able to betray the one above her and manipulate those below her. Capable of more lying than a battalion of Umwak clones.

King Patrash - Like his father, completely blood-thirsty, ruthless and somewhat fascist, with his idea of "better" and "worse" Duloks.

Warlord Kaalwar - Capable of some reasoning, can see something is wrong; but too much up below his green and into the "art of war" tail to know what it is. Obviously as blood thirsty as Patrash.

King Gorneesh - A wannabe evil guy who is capable of sadism, anger, forgery, betrayal, but not manslaughter etc, though he wishes he were.

"Shaman" Umwak - A con man with a bunch of complexes who will lie, a lot, just to remain relevant.

Galak - A confused teenager grown up in a violent culture that breeds more violence.

And Kazak can probably be stuck somewhere between Kaalwar and Gorneesh. There is something about him that indicates ambition, the bad kind of it.

This will be known...in the next months.

"Very Latara". Perfect way to describe it. I LOL'd. In her mind, everything she says makes perfect sense and she is so NOT going to apologise for most of those things.

I wanted Harry to fall in love with Luna, so I'm not a H/H person, but EVERYTHING is more believable than Ron and Hermione.

That's one of those "gotcha" moments. Gunlaag told The Wanderer that she has the Sunstar and though she was roaming around to get it when Chukha-Trok grabbed Kneesaa in the dark, I placed the revelation AFTER Teebo was already gone with the dupe "gem".

I may have been an unintentional troll. O_O

Wait, there is somebody who doesn't think you're scary?

And I am glad you did, as the surprise factor is a big deal.

Yeah, "not-extensive", my A-55...

...series droid.

Your combo of mush and morbid stuff works for me. I just tend not to gush when there is too much of it, because I know there's dark stuff waiting to attack in the dark.

1) There is going to be more of this where it comes from, but only when it's relevant to the plot. In my headcanon, these two are on the different side of the spectrum and that's fun to write. It can be both romcom-ish and serious, depending on the reader and the exact moment.

2) Latara is totally in-character. As glitteryboots said, this is very Latara.

Some of her interesting quotes:

Paploo: "How can you watch a show at a time like this?"

Latara: "Well, it's better than watching you, Paploo!"

...

Kneesaa: "I don't see why you don't like your new scarf, Latara!"

Latara: "Really, Kneesaa? This is a blue scarf with green stripes. I wanted a green scarf with blue stripes."

...

(while four of them are on top of a single glider)

"We're too heavy...WHO'S GETTING OFF?"

...

(After a villain who creates totems out of creatures kidnaps Teebo)

Wicket: "Come on, I think I know where Teebo is! And our stuff."

Latara: "My stuff? Lead the way!"

...

(to a Dulok)

"Whom are you calling plump...swamp breath?"

...

(to her own siblings)

"You little barf-eaters!"


Michael Reaves (yup, THAT one) wrote her as a complete bastard, but not even Paul Dini made her 100% sugary cute, so she will cry and be kind in the same episodes where she's a deadpan snarker. I think her character paved the way for evil-cute types like Dot Warner.

Glad that you spotted that moment! While Kaalwar is, as I have said, too much up his own A-55 probe droid, he is a warrior, and a cunning one at that, so he has started to doubt the Wanderer.

The sliding scale of villains is also the sliding scale of funny, so he is the one who is absolutely never funny. Happy that it worked.

His species will be known in the next fic, but there's a subtle hint in a common, repetitive description of him that makes it not-so-much of a secret. The problem is that the explanation is a different story, one that's about 4500 words long.

You are crushing on her. K'vark.

And yeah, part of her personal growth is poking some fun at herself.

about the first three rows...and once the chapter 20 has been posted, I demand to know what the fourth thing was, or I'll send you videos of me singing. That's worse than death, they wanted to employ me for the purpose of psychological warfare.

I am not good at deep courtseys like ms. Eskari, so imagine that I got the ends of my legging-jeans hybrid, tried to bend and then screamed "EEEK, MY BACK!"

You, out of all people, are surprised by horror? That means it worked.

That part was what I predicted you would quote and I was right. It's almost like I wrote it for you/thinking of you, in some way, so...SUCCESS.

They take long to write, so it's cool that people read them and get to learn about the obscure Endorian weirdness they didn't before.

http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/314

Yago may or may not be related to Baga, given Baga's stuborn attitude. I just realised that.

At this point, Umwak is cornered and he has to make a choice that may hurt his low self-esteem even further, but in some way, in his bumbling oaf mind, he will be a hero. And that may or may have not motivated him further...

The way this goes, I will have to write the Wanderer's whole back story. Not that I did not intend to elaborate.

Umwak is dumb enough not to realise that the hand has purpose beyond "looking credible enough for a shaman's trinket"; therefore he possessed not danger at that moment.

You may talk about it as much as you like, as I know what you mean and vice-versa.

Once Luufi comes to play, but from her appearance in Nuv as well, she is everything they are, so yes, at some point, they truly are one and it's experiences like this that make them grow.

Teebo did remark that they were a good team in The Raich and then he clumsily tried to invite Latara on a dance for Father Tree knows which time that day, but this time they really are a good team.

http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/297

 

Glad about that! (same as what I said to Chyntuck)

There's one thing about the Wanderer that may look like an useless detail...let's say that it will be important. I am playing with the same concept twice in chapter 20 and hmmm...let's say that it may have something in common with the second Harry Potter novel. Not saying what, of course.

The gurreck also...fits. Literally. You'll see.

Thank you. I like writing them and I like writing them according to their age.

I am easily distracted too, so you have no idea how much I am frustrated about the gift-fic you got from one certain Vegetable. It demands concentration and I am not as think as you confused I am!

And Latara listens and comes up with logical responses to mysterious stuff, so while she's not a Force-sensitive, she stopped dismissing these things as nonsense.

Precisely. The other obvious factor is that "convincing the other" few days ago would have been the equivalent of "I'm drunk. Please, date rape me! Then we will both be cool!". Fridge horror, anyone?

I believe I mention the original WTF comment this was derived from somewhere, but anyway...I was in a Drawception game and this happened.
https://drawception.com/viewgame/jFWGEexXw5/iggi-azelia-doin-what-she-does-worst/

I can't look at that without laughing, so I had to create a GFFA equivalent of it...not to mention that those goats chew on stuff in their sleep. O_O

Well, kriff your plot bunnies.

Oh, wait, bunnies LOVE kriffing.

DARN. It's too late.

A typical SW fan (a young male) prefers Duloks from The Adventures of Teebo to those of the cartoon series, so the idea of having them clash against each other just presented itself in form of two passionate three-eared Endorian plot bunnies CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED.

Here it is...the list of "who is out to get whom".

The Wanderer did not want to get rid of anybody explicitly, as his main objective was the Sunstar and any kind of a random feud and bloodbath, while he's at it. He does not think killing muggles is fun, as that's too easy and it does not make him powerful.

Once Gunlaag informed him of Logray, the rightful owner of the Sunstar, he decided to get rid of him at some point. Since Gunlaag wanted to wield Logray's spine as her staff and whatnot, he was ready to let her have it.

Once he realised Gunlaag is likely betraying him, he decided to get rid of her and when it turned out that Teebo is the former precocious über-beastmaster that Patrash spoke of AND the "clumsy apprentice" who defeated Zarrak and helped Logray defeat Morag, he got a new idea: to have Teebo kill Gunlaag, Logray, Malani, his own father and sister and eventually drive his mother to suicide.

Yes, the above essentially implies that Patrash and Kaalwar were to be rid of as well, because why should Kaalwar or Patrash murder or eat anybody from Teebo's family if he can do it himself, to become a tr00 darksider?

It's unclear what he wants Teebo to do to his friends at this point.

Gunlaag wanted to get rid of Logray, who uncovered her massacre in the Mountain Springs village, which prompted the survivors of the massacre to banish her. If she can become the new shaman AND chieftess of the Bright Tree Village while she is at it, why not? She already killed most of her former villagers, so she's just tired of killing more, it's tiring, you know?


Patrash wants to get rid of...
- Gorneesh
- Warok, who - imagine this - went after his kidnapped daughter and got all men of the village to join him
- Malani, because his father originally wanted to eat her, so why wouldn't he?
- Teebo, because he was the precocious wokling who befriended the creature who stepped on his father. Never mind the fact that Vulgarr held him in the air and wanted to slice him in two, from his little crotch to the top of his little skull. Cutting woklings in half is hip.

...and he cannot get rid of Teebo because the Wanderer ordered him not to.

He's a classic murderer. He most likely wants to groom Gorneesh's wife and a mother of four Dulok bratlings, Urgah, into being HIS breeding machine.

Kaalwar wants to rid of Warok, because Warok accidentally killed his father, Ulgo (who wore an Ewok fur vest ). He needs to wait in line or create a Warok clone at this point. The rest is a result of tagging along with Patrash, who has more power than him.

Gorneesh wants to get rid of...
- Chirpa - because he supposedly poked his eye out, which he didn't, so he made it up to be more credible in Kaalwar and Patrash's eyes
- Asha - because she defeated him numerous times, during her fourteen years as a feral Ewok
- Kneesaa - maybe?!

Umwak does not want to get rid of anybody, but he definitely wants pretty much everything from Logray's hut.

Galak is a designated tagalong who simply had to listen to the adults, as he appeared to have no rights before his beautiful awakening (as if...).

This has got to have been his face all along, all his life, before this very moment. The best "not amused" face ever, twenty-seven years before the Grumpy Cat became a celebrity.

And yes, that really IS him, in his only onscreen appearance in The Tree of Light.

Of course. While Galak may learn a lot from it as he was initially smarter than both adult Duloks and Gorneesh and Urgah's precocious/toddler children; the others will probably return to their jerk selves next week...if they survive, that is.

And whoa, that was a REALLY nice thing to say.

Read the comment I made in response to Chyntuck - and then spend hours, days, weeks, months trying to figure out what I meant.

Yes.

(Isn't my response annoying? )

Many people list him as their favourite character in the cartoon; there is even somebody on Wook who claims he's the best character in the whole of GFFA; so...he's interesting because he's incompetent.

The idea of him half-forgetting is interesting, too!

Exactly. That hand could've been the key to all of the Universe's secrets and they wouldn't know it, because Umwak, the bumbling oaf, had it hanging on a piece of leather rope, around his neck.

Sounds like my dog. She is exceptionally good at being a dog - as in, when you see her, you won't think she's an aardvark. Her jumping on random strangers' lap and such...does not make her any less of a "good dog".

Logray is not Latara pre-Snowed In...or Bozzie at any given time.

http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/247

She is also an artist, so she has her own take on the term "exquisite corpse".

They will.

Yes, to all of that. Also, the extended description of how pretty she thinks he is was not related to the fact that he's my favourite character and ridiculously adorable compared to the rest of the main cast. Once you see why it was there...OMFT.

I cannot say a word here, but once you see LALALALALALALALALALALALALA ....you'll know that you LALALALALALALALALALALALALALA.

Asha woke up at the right time. Let's see if he is capable of that, too...

Teenage boys? Needs more herbs. To be spicy, y'know...

 

Chapter 20

Tags: @Findswoman (my HERO who beta'd this despite being super-tired), @glitteryboots

Trigger warning:

Spoiler

Violence throughout. Torture.

---

“There is no such thing as never.” The Wanderer laughed. “I am very persistent. Remember earlier today? When your caring master reached out to you and his word echoed in your head? He told you to be careful because there are powerful wizards who can reach out to foolish young apprentices, too.” He mockingly immitated Logray’s voice. “He loves you and respects your powers so much, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he?”

Teebo’s green eyes suddenly flashed yellow.

"It was you!” He pulled out the axe from the strap. “You wanted me to leave my duty and come here, at your feet!"

The Wanderer was calm.

“Know what else? I like anger. You are most certainly angry. Go ahead. I can even help you. See, you are holding that axe backwards. If you want to kill me, you need to hold it right.”

Teebo looked at the blade of Chukha-Trok’s axe. It was facing him. He turned it around and it turned itself back. And again. And again. Whatever was going on, it was not making much sense to him.

…

Yago galloped up the stairway to the Bright Tree Village, carrying Logray, Chirpa and Umwak on his back. The guards were nowhere to be seen and there were no lights in any of the huts – the Council of Elders had already evacuated the elderly and the woklings.

“Dengar, Ewoks!” Deej Warrick’s voice echoed from the lookout post, as a couple of other older warriors swung from a vine.

“A Dulok!” Chukha-Trok ran towards the bordok and then stopped, realising he no longer had his axe with him. “Somebody help me, he’s got our chief and our shaman!”

Chirpa looked at the woodsman. “Umwak is with us. So is this…”

“Floating hand?” Lumat asked, pointing to the strange relic in a halo, that seemed to be following Logray to his hut.

“Chak, the floating hand. We need to destroy it.” The shaman didn’t even turn around, Chirpa and Umwak followed him, the latter holding on to the chieftain’s shoulder. Chukha-Trok remained behind, holding Yago’s reins.

“I don’t understand anything.” The woodsman shook his head and then he remembered something. “Logray…hey, Logray! I gave my axe to your fair-forelocked apprentice. He was upset and he took this very bordok…”

Logray stopped.

“What?”

“He said that great danger lay ahead of us and he went…somewhere. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Bless your spirit, Chukha! Sometimes you just need to keep your mouth shut. You should have stopped him. You…” The shaman stopped for a second. “.You…big…strong…burly one. You are just what we need. Come here. Quick!”

…

The Wanderer laughed. Teebo was still not succeeding at turning the blade of his axe around, getting angrier and angrier and snarling “k’vark” after “k’vark” each time he failed. Wicket was no longer trying to set himself free. Instead, he kept on swallowing lumps, wondering why his friend could not complete this simple task. As quietly and unobtrusively as he could, he swung his cage to the other.

“Paploo. How about we try to swing our cages and jump on this worm-eating lurdo?”

“Close your eyes and dream of nice things! Tee-hee!” Paploo yelled, as loud as he could. Teebo turned around for a moment, not realising his friend was still under the influence of the Fire of the Eternal.

“Silence, you up there!” The Wanderer’s eye flashed red, as he directed a single purple bolt towards the bigger cage.

“What? What is going on? Help!” Paploo screamed as he felt sharp pain. “Where am I? What is going on?”

“The Fire of the Eternal brings out strange things in people and emphasizes the worst of them.” The Wanderer pointed to Paploo again. “You were likely annoying before this; otherwise you would not have ended up completely unbearable after breathing some of the fumes. And now, you are distracting me from the task at hand! I am going to dispose of you this very moment, so I could finish what I have started.”

…

Logray was holding the Sunstar in his hands, leaning on his staff and chanting with his eyes closed. Chirpa and a very confused Umwak were holding onto him. The later could not help but stare at the large, bright star in the dotted corner of the sky that had just happened to be visible through the window. It seemed to be getting brighter every moment. He was trying his best not to panic. The Ewoks already knew he was a coward, but he was still holding on to the little bit of pride he had left.

Chukha-Trok lay on the hut floor before them, wrestling the ghostly hand. Sweat was dripping from his brown fur. He was getting tired.

“This thing is trying to kill me! How long will it take?”

“Hold on for a bit more.” Chirpa barked. “Even I can feel the Sunstar taking my energy. It’s working!”

The woodsman bit the hand, solely to discover it was bitter.

“This does not even taste like…old meat.” He spat and wiped his mouth.

“Just keep on distracting it!”

…

The red eye flashed a warning again. The Wanderer extended his hooded arms towards Paploo’s cage, his left hand peeking from the robe. The frightened Ewok put both of his hands on his face.

“Goodbye…friend!”

“Wicket…Teebo…anybody!”

At that moment, the axe flew towards the Wanderer, narrowly missing his left hand and cutting a large portion of his right. The hooded villain lost his balance, and the purple ray he aimed at Paploo hit one of the wooden carvings in the chamber’s wall. Paploo peeked through his hands.

“He told me to close my eyes, didn’t he?” Teebo extended his hand to grab the weapon that found its way back to him. “Well, even when he appears ‘annoying’ to you; his words were clear to me. He did not want to see me in pain and I most certainly did not want to see him in pain.”

The Wanderer looked at Teebo. He could swear that the young Ewok’s eyes were flashing yellow for a moment and he thought the transformation to the Night Spirit was going to be simple. One step forward was followed by three steps back. He remembered Gunlaag saying that this shaggy wokling had beaten Zarrak by attacking him with flying leaves, but he did not expect him to be in control of much larger objects.

The hooded wizard had to change his approach. And he had to change it fast.

…

The hand dropped to the floor. Chukha-Trok stopped wrestling it and poked it with his thumb. Nothing happened.

“It’s dead. Logray! It’s dead!”

The old shaman stopped chanting. Chirpa and Umwak let go of his shoulders.

“Sir, does this mean it won’t attack me again?” the Dulok stuttered, casting another glance at the sky. The star seemed to be blinking.

Logray directed the Sunstar at the hand relic. The gem reduced it to ashes.

“This hand will never attack anybody again!”

“Does this mean I got it…tired?” Chukha-Trok caressed his own arm muscles, winking.

“I don’t think so. We were trying for longer than I had expected.”

He went silent.

“Logray? What is wrong?”

“Whatever this creature is, its arm has just been cut off. The axe…oh, k’vark. Chirpa...I am exhausted, otherwise I would do it myself. Go outside and tell Lumat or Deej to bring me Batcheela and Malani, unless they were taken to the old abandoned huts...”

“But..are you thinking that Teebo might…”

“We have no time. Also, get your older daughter. Once the animals have been set free, I am going to need her.”


…

The Wanderer was standing between the cages and the black circle. He was no longer able to spin the axe other way and cause the young Ewok to get angry. Teebo was pacing nervously from side to side, the bloody weapon in his hand.

"The vision that appeared in my prophecy pool did not show such an eloquent youngster. As a matter of a fact, you looked like a girl.”

"Maybe your prophecy pool has been poisoned!"

"Speaking of prophecy pools, of course you know what they are. You have seen one before, in Zarrak's hideout. Remember Zarrak? You killed him. You have it in you. You are as bad as me!" the Wanderer yelled out loud.

Holding onto the bars of his cage, Wicket gasped. He was re-envisioning the moment Zarrak felt into the Realm of Spirits, never to come back. For the first time in many snows, he was worried that his best friend might have a vile side to him, — a vile side that could change him from the kindest Ewok he knew to a monster.

"I don't kill for fun. Zarrak tried to get rid of me and then…”

The Wanderer cut Teebo off mid-sentence.

"Do you remember Morag, the Tulgah witch? She considered you to be about as significant as a munyip dropping and then, your silly wokling games led her to her demise.”

“Morag was evil until her very last breath. She tried to take my Master down with him! My friends…”

Once again, the Wanderer interrupted Teebo.

"You also got rid of my previous servant, Mistress Gunlaag!"

"I did not! She was very much alive when I left the village. I feel and know that she is dead, but I did not kill her."

The young shaman apprentice was enraged, not realising that the dark wizard was lying and that Gunlaag herself had betrayed him previously. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment again.

"You knew she would die! She might have not died from my magic…still, it does not change anything. You knowingly pushed her into a death trap!"

"You have contributed to it, nevertheless. Now, kneel before me! I am not here to change your destiny, I am your destiny.”

Teebo shook his head.

"I said kneel before me! Your fellow villagers are in for a bloodbath, your master will not survive and he won’t be able to teach you all he knows, if he ever wanted to, for that matter. I am your only way.”

"Know what my friend up there in the cage would say? Eat worms and die!"

Wicket and Paploo looked at each other.

The Wanderer walked towards the black circle, which was now completely illuminated by the starlight through the hole in the ceiling.

Teebo snarled and, just as he was about to close his eyes, concentrate and throw the axe again, he noticed a lean shadow on the wall. Seconds later, Latara was running towards the Wanderer, with a knife between her teeth.

“Latara, no! Don’t!”

“Who’s this little tart?” The Wanderer laughed.

“Whom did you just call a tart?” Latara snapped and dropped the knife, then tripped over it and fell down, about twenty steps away from her target.

“That’s the oldest trick in the scrolls…” Paploo frowned and shook his head. Unexpectedly, Wicket gestured to him to keep quiet.

Latara got up, grabbed her knife and then realised her braid was stuck in a crack on the tiled floor. The dark wizard cackled with amusement, as she tried to pull it out.

"So, what do we have here? A young Ewok female with a hunting knife? I don’t even have to taste your blood. You are the worst of the worst. No single trace of anything in you. If Light and Night Spirit were food, you would have starved to death long before birth."

“If a being’s heart needed to be full of love to pump blood, you would have been long dead yourself.” Latara fumed. “And I would do anything for love.” With one swing of her knife, she cut her braid off. “See?”

"This does not look good." Paploo looked at Wicket, who did not even turn to him.

The Wanderer was pleased. Latara was just what he needed, — a backup plan out of nowhere, since nothing else he tried had worked. He turned to Teebo again.

"How foolish of you, young Ewok! You first jumped into a raging fire and then you exposed this…entertaining friend of yours to something she won't survive." No answer. "I can sense that you and this girl are more than just friends and that you would trade anything for her. So, how about you join me and she lives? Her skin for your loyalty?"

"Don't listen to him!" Latara managed to mutter, as something seemed to be suffocating her. “As I said earlier, I will be a beautiful corpse!”

No answer.

"Fine. Then she will die.” The Wanderer hissed.

Latara screamed, as her captor dropped her on the black circle and started chanting, his hand reaching upwards, to the pulsating star in the night sky. Seconds before he could act, Teebo jumped from the other side, in front of his beloved.

"Lie down!" he pushed her to the ground and held her down, just as the reddish-purple blast hit him in the face. He dropped to his knees and bit his tongue, not wanting to give his enemy the pleasure of hearing him weep. Surprisingly, some blood came out. His jaw was feeling too small.

“See how you’re kneeling before me now?” the Wanderer growled, as Teebo lifted himself up.

"What happened to his teeth? And his ears?" Paploo asked Wicket. Their friend’s teeth indeed looked larger than before, with visibly sharp fangs, and his ears were no longer as droopy and rounded.

The Wanderer’s eye had stopped flashing. It was now burning bright red. He did not expect Teebo to survive a direct hit with – in his mind – only minor consequences.

"Since you won't surrender and become my servant, you will die the most painful and humiliating death possible!"

Teebo starred into the red, not looking away. A thought crossed his mind.

“It’s a gem! If only I had the Sunstar…or anything I could reach it with. He has no eyes; the gem helps him see and breeds the life into him…”

"The Gorax King’s Heart will help me feed my gem’s powers! And you figured this out too late. And it's too late to surrender!

"Not like I would!" the young shaman yelled, no longer surprised that the enemy was reading his mind. He pushed Latara away, preparing to make his last stand. The Wanderer laughed again.

"Your girl will have the most memorable experience of seeing your demise. If I let her live and tell others, they shall bow to me out or sheer fear of ending up like you! Not to mention that you won’t be, as she says, a beautiful corpse. You will be a pile of burning flesh and broken bones!"

The Wanderer pointed his finger again. Teebo first dropped to his knees again, then fell down, disarmed, no longer able to hold the axe. The mysterious energy channelled through the red eye-gem was getting under his fur. His vision was getting blurry, his skin hot and his breathing heavy. He reached for his pouch, only to find that it was turning to ashes. Another pile of ashes went into his mouth from the top of his head. He had nothing to use against the enemy.

"No!" Latara cried, and then she felt the stone axe fall underneath her foot. With the last bit of hope, she aimed towards the Wanderer, but missed him, as she tossed the axe too far.

"You really do throw like a girl! Too bad for you! Even worse for him!" the monster pointed his staff at Teebo's eyes and fired again. "You will live for just as long to hear your friends scream in agony as their flesh turns to wood…but you won't be able to see it."

Wicket and Paploo watched what was going on below them, horrified. Then the diminutive Ewok saw the axe land right below the cages.

"Paploo, can you swing as hard as you can, only one more time? You are heavier; you could break free and then reach for that axe.”

Paploo asked no questions. Wicket had been wrong so many times that night, but this time he had to be right. He swung one more time and, seconds later, he was on the floor, his cage in pieces.

“Now aim at the rope holding my cage!" Wicket yelled.

Paploo was shivering and his throat went completely dry. He dropped the axe once. Then he threw it again.

This time he cut the rope. The other cage crashed on top of him. He bit his tongue chopped through the bars to get Wicket out.

"W-Wicket, w-what are you going to do?”

"Don't worry about me! Just be ready to do what I say once the time comes!”

"But..."

"Please! Just do it!"

Paploo nodded. Wicket reached for the bag hidden under his hood and pulled out the brightly coloured toy. He ran towards the black circle, pushing the toy ahead of him.

"Hey, worm-face! I'm coming for you!"

The Wanderer turned around. How had his prisoner escaped? Teebo was lying next to Latara, barely breathing, no longer a threat to him. He decided to go after Wicket.

“Whom did you call a worm-face, you tree rat?”

“You. You are a worm-face! Come and get me.”

The Wanderer ran up from the black circle, only to land straight on the wheeled toy heading towards him. He fell down on the steep surface. Seconds later, Wicket jumped on top of him, with the axe.

"Your lame prophecy pool said nothing about me defeating you! This is for my friend!"

He smashed the Wanderer in the chest. The dark wizard let out a barely audible squeak. There was no blood.

“Latara was right! You truly have no heart!” Wicket managed to mutter, before the Wander started wrestling him. They fell to the black circle.

“Don’t let him raise his hand!” Paploo cried from the top, as Latara was standing there, screaming.

“The red gem…your knife…” a weak voice, mixed with sighs, whispered to her. She looked to Teebo. He was still alive.

Latara ran towards Wicket, who was still sitting on top of the Wanderer’s chest. She was scared. The Wanderer’s eye was flashing on and off, as Wicket was trying to keep his hand down. And then, the hooded head turned towards her.

“Get away from here, tart. You are blocking my starlight!”

“Wicket! Now!” Latara pulled the knife from behind her back and managed to reach her friend.

“Now it’s really the time for you to eat worms and die, monster!”

As the Wanderer began to reach towards Latara, Wicket stabbed the red eye-gem with the knife, cracking it. Its colour went from flaming red to pinkish, and then faded away to white.

" You're nothing without your gem.” Wicket yelled. “Nothing. Nothing but a corpse long eaten alive by the Night Spirit! Coward!"

Without further thinking, Wicket grabbed the axe and hit the Wanderer in the chest again. The ensuing explosion threw him upwards and backwards to the remains of the cages.

Moments later, the whole construction started rumbling, as in the middle of a quake. With the Wanderer’s body gone, his lair seemed to be falling apart, too. The walls were crashing down and the previously small hole in the ceiling leading to the black circle kept on widening.

"We have to get out of here, quick! Paploo, Latara, get Teebo out!”

“No, the two of you should come here…the circle is the only safe place. The starlight!” Latara yelled, picking up the gem from the pile of ashes. Wicket and Paploo slid down towards her.

The rumbling sound kept on getting louder, as the wooden statues were crashing down. A cloud of dust was rising up towards the ray of starlight. The underground chamber was collapsing.

As the dust settled, there was only silence. The three young Ewoks covered in dirt and sawdust were standing on a cracked circle in the middle of what looked like large crater, holding the body of their unconscious friend.

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

A reminder: the black circle is in the centre of the gigantic chamber, on a decline.

Chukha-Trok is the manly man among the Ewoks. While he is brave, I never interpreted him as particularly bright. The scene in Asha's introduction episode where he falls into a trap, is a clear sign of that.

Logray needs Kneesaa's energy for the Sunstar to destroy the Griagh (and itself) in Shadows of Endor, which implies that there may be some things "muggles" can do in order to help a Force-sensitive.

How can Umwak notice a pulsar pulsing? For some reason, on that particular night, it's pulsing less. That could make it brighter, as it sends more constant light towards the forest moon of Endor. I am not an astronomer and I cannot think of a combination of anomalities that causes this rare event to happen, but it's possible in GFFA, full stop.

The Wanderer's tactics for having Teebo slip to the dark side are pretty obvious to us. But the Ewoks never dealt with them before!

In case this was not clear: the Wanderer's ghost hand dies when Teebo severs the arm it was attached to in the past. This allows Logray to destroy the hand.

The Wanderer saying “Goodbye…friend!” to Paploo is a nod to the Ewoks cartoon episode Sunstar vs. Shadowstone when Morag the Tulgah witch says the same to Logray.

Teebo's Force jump to protect Latara with his body is something he has not done before and may not do it ever again.

The disgifuration power is likely what the Wanderer used on himself and, while it's a fanon power, it may be similar to the non-canon Alter Image Force power, with some aspects of Force drain. There will be a fanon post mention of it, no worries.

Oddly enough, the starlight, in combination with the red gem, creates a Force barrier around the black circle.

There are two parallels in this chapter:

- Teebo remembered to use his axe on the Wanderer's arm when Paploo, still under influence, yelled at him to 'close his eyes'; as that reminded him of how he directed the same axe at the gurreck to save Latara, earlier that night. And since levitation is one of his main powers in the cartoon, next to animal friendship...yeah.

- Wicket saw Latara trip over her knife and that eventually led him to a realisation that tripping over the weird toy with wheels might be extremely effective.

And yes, you were all right about the toy from the very beginning of the story. Nobody knows what it is, but it's great! So is the stealth mini-backpack it was in.

 

Oh this is so über-awesome!

My highlights:

How the sheevy-sheever Wanderer brought his own doom upon himself -- by pulling Paploo out of his drugged-like state, by splitting his attention between Teebo and the others and boasting about how he's going to roast and scramble them all, by dismissing Latara as a worthless girl, etc. That's what happens to you when you're such a conceited megalomaniac!

I particularly liked the way that he kept the axe flipping around in the beginning -- it showed how mean and petty he is, but there was also a childish element to it that placed him on the same level as the young Ewoks and made his demise at their hand very credible. I also adored the Palpatine effect and the parallel with "that" scene from RotJ -- up to and including the collapse of the cave to mirror the explosion of the Death Star.

Next: Latara and her best friend Berry. She proves in this chapter that she's a smart girl and something of a natural-born leader, with the way she adds all the pieces together and figure out how to 1. get rid of the sheever, 2. save everyone. Like Findswoman I found the moment when she sacrifices her braid very moving and her "who are you calling a tart?" comment was soooo Latara, I don't even have words for it.

And then: the "worm face" versus "tree rat" confrontation between Wicket and the Wanderer (fantastic insults, by the way ) Wicket finally comes into his own and takes down the Wanderer without worrying about what will happen to his belt Also, great use of the toy!

And now, to a more prosaic level: Chukha-Trok isn't the sharpest tool in the drawer, is he? "He's got out chief and our shaman" And then the poor man Ewok is made to distract that creepy hand while Logray tries in vain to destroy it. As a side note, I'm curious to know what Logray needs Batcheele and Malani for? (Asha I have a pretty good guess.)

Last, but not least: Teebo. How he struggles to summon his powers while avoiding the darkness -- that was very touching. The moment when he manages to chop off the Wanderer's hand by "letting go" and closing his eyes was the height of cool. The moment when he leaps forward chivalrously to protect Latara... just awww I also loved how you used this scene to explain his physical transformation. And the final tableau, with the three friends "holding the body of their unconscious friend" was just heart-wrenching. It's lucky that I know he'll be around for RotJ, because I'd be very worried now.

And now to see the aftermath! Like Findswoman, I'm sure that many things will still be revealed, and I'm mostly, exceedingly curious to know more about the Wanderer -- if he knows Logray well enough to imitate his voice and fool Teebo, it must mean that there's a backstory to be explored there.

 

What a showdown. Even though I don't fully understand all the rules of the SW universe yet I knew things were getting serious when Teebo's eyes first flashed yellow. The axe turning around doesn't seem threatening at first, but it's actually a very cunning tactic and begins to get worrying as it goes on. I wonder if Paploo is really still under the influence of the Fire of Eternal when he makes his nonsense comment or if he somehow knows subconsciously that it's actually good advice - since it's what helps Teebo first break the cycle of fighting the axe.

I still feel sort of bad for Umwak, so I'm glad he manages to hang on to a bit of pride and isn't totally humiliated. Chuka-trok biting the hand is gross, but a visceral detail. It's also nice to see the generations of Ewoks working together from a distance, despite not knowing it, when the hand is destroyed.

I was pretty confident that Teebo isn't capable of becoming truly evil, but it's still tense when the Wanderer was trying to trick him and even more so when Latara appears. I also love the moment she cuts off her braid - considering how vain she became in the second season that is a meaningful action and an emotional moment. Her "If a being’s heart needed to be full of love to pump blood, you would have been long dead yourself.” / “And I would do anything for love.” quote that goes with it is perfect.

Teebo really is a true hero when he jumps in front of Latara. This makes their relationship so much more special - that they've been through something like this together, and also that someone like her still loves Teebo when he isn't stereotypically attractive anymore. His change in appearance is what saved her life, too, so that must also be special in a way despite being a reminder of such a horrible experience.

It is horrible, too - poor Teebo. It's the perfect showdown and explanation for his change in appearance, though, and after reading this I'll appreciate that a lot more. Great to see Latara have a part in the fight after the Wanderer mocked her, and of course to see the young Ewoks work together so well as they often did in the cartoon. I like that Wicket's personality is still showing through here, too - "Hey, worm-face!". And I knew that toy would come in useful. He is really a hero for once here, too - they all are. This is a great quote: "Nothing but a corpse long eaten alive by the Night Spirit! Coward!"

Great ending, too - the stillness and silence after the chaos. In all of this I'd forgotten that the Duloks are still planning to attack the village - they still have to defend themselves yet! Can't wait to see what happens there, how the younger Ewoks get home and how their fellow villagers react, and of course I also want to know what happens next for our favourite Ewok couple.

 

And here I am with the short comment for now. This climactic chapter has so! many! things! that I can't hope to catch them all. That creepy hand! Not a fun job to take care of that by any means. As others said, it's great to see everyone in the cavern work together at the end, and Latara's "Who are you calling a tart?" combined with braid-cutting was a great set of moments -- the almost-silly moment that becomes immensely effective ferocity when directed. Really liked that it wasn't just Teebo versus the Wanderer (and this is also seen earlier with Gunlaag's demise, come to think of it.) And I'm fascinated by this explanation for why movieverse Teebo looks so much more feral (almost wolfish, really) compared to cute little cartoon Teebo. It will be interesting to see how that change plays out, especially in light of ... uh, something spoilerish.

 

Sorry that I'm a lacking commenter...let me try to make up for that now.

Is it weird that Latara's statement:

reminds me of Empress Theodora's purported statement that purple was a good color for a funeral? It's definitely a royal kind of thing to say, and there goes Latara being a classic warrior queen archetype. Either way she's a badass. (Unlike the earthly Empress Theodora, who was generally an awful person, although that quote is pretty awesome

The Wandererer is/was/possibly is again? definitely a nasty opponent for many reasons that one does not need to list here. I'm going to assume he was actually destroyed...although given he was a ghost, doesn't that leave open the possibility that he could return in another form?

The unresolved matter of Teebo...well, that's scary. Like @Kahara pointed out, it's probably the best explanation for the difference in appearance between how he appears in ROTJ versus the cartoon.

Great teamwork by the foursome, which proves that it sometimes takes a team to defeat a great evil. It's a common theme seen throughout many stories, from ancient myths to current stories including SW. That was also the predominate theme of the cartoon series from what I remember. It's also what binds the Ewok society together. Great stuff.

 

Your story managed to wipe away my prejudices about Ewoks completely. They are more then a fluffy plot device to win a battle against the Empire. Thanks for correcting my thoughts. The last chapter was really thrilling! So many things went on there! Wow!

 

Chapter 21 and 22 are in development hell (!); so until I have managed to make some sense of those -- hopefully one of the next days --- I'm squeezing in some replies.

General (major) comments:

You said that once before, but now that you said it twice, it's OFFICIAL. [/quote]

Are they Pokémon now?

I first read your comment on a day I had fever and I was like: "OMG, leiamoody finally commented! Woooo!" It made me very happy.


The sexAy, manly man, testosterone bomb TOM BERINGER WILLY THE GROUNDSKEEPER Chukha:

TUT-TUT. WOMEN THESE DAYS. He's, like, husband material and stuff. IF THERE WERE CANS IN THEIR WORLD, HE WOULD BE OPENING CANS. HE HAS THEM MUSCLES. HE'S A LUMBERJACK AND HE'S OK. ETC ETC.

I mean, while in Caravan of Courage he obviously dies a brave Ewok, I have never seen him use his brain beforehand, same goes for the cartoon. He's all brawn, all about simplicity. With this amount of characterisation emerging, one can safely say that, when he gave Teebo the axe, he assumed "KID, THIS IS +10 IN TERMS OF MANING UP!"

So Chukha. Very masculine. Wow.

All jokes aside, the generations thing is something that happened unconsciously, so I'm now surprised at myself.

As what-even-ish as it may seem, I think Chukha kind of...enjoyed it.

---

The Gadgets (Go, Gadget, Go!):

---

The Face of the Band:

Wicket is all about being subtle and calculated.

Yeah, right.

I guess this is the moment where everybody is cheering for the belt to be completed?

The insults are from the cartoon, all of them...only one character in my stories so far had the honour of my creating insults for him. Pardon, two. There's also Artoo saying "kriffslider" in She's Gone.

His use of a "Chekhov's gun" also played a role in a bunch of cartoon episodes (notably, the first two and The Curse of the Jindas), so that was in-character.

---

The Druggie Not:

His behaviour parallels Asha's from the chapter where Gunlaag dies. While he WAS under the influence, when exactly did it stop?

---

The Braid:

While I did not have that on my mind at all (I was going for parodying "the equisite corpse" in art and turning Latara's previous vain statements into something deeper), I like the idea.

Silly? You...you guessed that my primary inspiration for the scene was Jo March selling her braid for a good cause. Not silly at all! Spot-on!

I didn't have a VCR as a kid, and I guess the films never got my attention when they were on TV...the whole idea of a 1980s jock in a letter jacket and a backwards baseball cap (right) is off-putting; but now I may as well change my mind and have a looksie, just to see what you're talking about.

And nope, NOBODY calls her a tart. This was not the first instance of slut-shaming towards Latara in this story and writing her off just because she happens to be a pretty girl.

First there was Weechee after the party, when he claimed that she and Teebo were meant for each other.

Then there was a couple of hunters, one of whom she knocked unconscious.

Now it's the Wanderer.

Nobody has yet stated the obvious - that she is not a tart, so...that may come next.

There was a way to use her (and Wicket's and Paploo's) arrogance in a good way; the same way it was possible to make nice folks like Teebo and Kneesaa a bit tough when necessary. And in Latara's case, this serves as a good intro to her operating a freakin' blaster in Shadows of Endor. She had to show that there is a working brain under that pretty little hat at some point.

Channelling Meat Loaf. I know that there was lyrics of Amanda Lear's Follow Me used on purpose in some of the previous chapters, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY I DID THIS.

And yup, both Latara and Wicket are pretty poetic in a rare instance where Teebo isn't. Even that's subjected to teamwork.

(See above, in both cases.)
---
The Sheevy Sheev aka Wanderer:

So, y'all think this sheevy sheev is a lot like the other sheevy sheev? Daaaarn. Given the time he spent referred to as "XYZ" in the story, I am glad that he turned out to be an actual character.

---

The Teamwork:

Bingo. That is precisely what was meant to be shown here.
---

The Dark Side Moments:

In the simplest way possible: unless the species' eyes are naturally yellow, yellow eyes = dark side.

Once we get to watching the Prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith in particular; you will see how that particular moment and Wanderer's offering to trade Latara's life (yeah, right) for Teebo joining him are an important part of the entire mythos.

---

Misc.

He deserved to be useful, for the first time in his life. I think he'll be remembering that very night for years to come; as, in my fanon, he simply has to survive the explosion in Shadows of Endor.

The 'ship

DON'T LET 'EM WICKET/KNEESAA SHIPPERS READ THIS. THEY WILL HUNT US DOWN.

Seriously, these two are now unbreakable...which means they need to grow to understand changes in each other even further and that, once that's gone, there may be plain romantic tropes going on, e.g. UST/BST.

---

Teebo's permanent change of appearance:

Now, some of you might have guessed it so far - but this is what motivated me to start writing this story. I may be going too far, but in Joe Johnston's horror book, the lead character has explicitly BROWN fur; and this is THE Joe Johnston who sketched and designed the original Teebo for ROTJ and is perfectly aware that he is grey and black as an adult. Therefore, the cartoon production team knew they were working with a brown Ewok who just happens to look differently as an adult.

In Shadows of Endor, Zack Gialongo goes for grey and black stripes...as well as a jaw vs teeth issue; so that made me think that something happened and it had happened not long before the story takes place.



Then I noticed that:

- Latara has a whole new hood, with a fake braid thing resembling a braid.

- Wicket no longer has his belt of honour and is wearing a bag instead.

- Both Kneesaa and Latara use knives, with great precision.

- Kneesaa's gem is completely different.

And slowly, bit by bit, the story came to be...now I totally wish the cartoon and the comic were canon again, so somebody would need to explain things and then, err, they would run to me.

---

The Speculation:

Definitely "was". He might have done more damage in the past, but this definitely IS his end.

It has.

Aaaaand...we have the winner! "Backstory" is the word.
---

Things yet to happen:

The sheer horror of the fact that Patrash and Kaalwar are on their way there. Stay tuned.

This will be expored once the backstory comes into play.