 homepage Fni Dni
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Yoda looked out of his rounded portal. Hmmm.. strange
vibrations in the force today. He sniffed the air,
scenting nothing but the swamp's life breath, the great
forces in balance made of the living and dying of
millions of creatures large and small. All looked as it
always looked, green, moldy and mysterious. Yet there
were great changes. The force was disturbed by the entry
of new lives, new powers into his world. Yoda considered
what he sensed... nodding soberly..
Strange this was, Strange and disturbing. The
currents of time had spoken not of this new eddy from
beyond. Great power the oldest had.. great wisdom also..
but not a Jedi.... strange....strange was his force....
its aura the brightest blue
Sought him they did. Deep concerns in the eldest ....
he stretched out his feelings into the life field around
them. Anger and resentment the young ones had. Yes.. the
sons of the elder... like and unlike the father. Out of
balance those two were ..dangerous... YET... the force
was strong with them.. ignored they could NOT be....
Yoda journeyed to meet them...
Achenar and Sirrus trailed disgustedly through the
Dagobah swamp behind their father. Sirrus, in particular,
was out of sorts.. Oh YES, Mother, what a marvelous idea!
In his head he sarcastically envisioned the conversation
"Why dont you take the boys camping, Atrus, let them
explore a new age. One with plenty of things to study! A
week out in the countryside will be good for their
character." Sirrus snorted and kicked a curious
serpent back into its tree. Its head rebounded off the
bark, and it fled without bothering to hiss. Even it knew
when it had met a more dangerous creature.
Achenar swung his scimitar with great skill... Vines,
tall grasses, and small trees lay strewn along the
pathway where he had passed... One poor crane slipped a
little too close...SQUA---AACCCKKK.... Atrus turned back
and looked back.
"Achenar?!"
Achenar contrived to look innocent, "Yes,
Father?"
"What was that sound?"
"I don't know, Father, should I make a note of
it?"
Atrus looked uncertain for a second. He carefully
examined Achenar's wooden expression. Then slowly he
nodded, "Yes, do that." Turning he moved on,
"And be careful of the local wildlife. Let us not
take more from this Age than we can give in return"
Achenar made apish faces at his back and swung wildly at
a patch of standing grass.. Something bleeped and was
still.
Sirrus strode past his big brother as Achenar looked
for its remains, curious to know what sort of creature he
had just slaughtered.. As he slowly passed he muttered
just in Achenar's hearing "Really, brother, that's
disgusting!" Achenar grinned toothily.
Realizing they were not behind him, Atrus stopped and
turned around. "Achenar, we have still some miles
before we reach the area chosen for the encampment... You
can study the fauna more thoroughly when we
arrive...."
"AAHHH..." a maniacal voice echoed out of
the reeds, "HHEEEE HHEEE HEEE.... Camp you
where????"
Atrus stared his amazement.. as the small green dwarf
struggled out the reeds. Shaking off his surprise, he
reached out to assist. The wrinkled gnome swatted his
outreached hand. "Help, I need not.. Worry not for
me HHEEE HEE"
Sirrus arched a well-shaped eyebrow. GREAT, just
great..the natives were repulsive and insane. This was
going to be hell in green... And he thought Everdunes was
bad...
"TEE HEE HEE... Follow ME!!! hehehehe ...Show
you I will.. A good place..."
The ugly green troll waddled off into the
undergrowth. Sirrus was totally unsurprised when his
Father turned and followed him... Why does he always do
that??!! These people could be headhunters.. or worse..
Amazing he's lived this long really... Sirrus knew he had
no choice, he had to follow. He comforted himself that
his dagger was close at hand.. and followed. Achenar fell
to the rear, using the cover of greater distance to
dispatch more of such flora and fauna as happened to be
in reach... When he finally sought to catch up with the
party, Sirrus snapped a vine in his face. Achenar looked
his fury...
Bad this was, dangerous people were these... Yoda
watched Atrus pick his way carefully and quickly through
the swamp. The Jedi master read what he could of this
quick stranger. This one.. many places has he been...
star traveler. The way he held himself... like Obi-wan..
From a desert home he came.. yet wise already to the ways
this world. Yoda deliberately quickened his pace, but
found he could only slow his pursuer a little bit. Only
by using the force could he escape. He was not ready to
do that. A strange impression came to him. The force
...strong in his hands... Yoda finally led them to the
safer paths where traveling was easier. To his home he
would take them... See what could be learned...
The campfire drew thousands of eyes from the dusk,
yet nothing broke into the peaceful clearing. Many a
predator had learned the hard way not to trespass here.
The boys and their father settled at equal distances
around it while Yoda scuttled in and out of his tree home
and from one person to another. He had insisted on
feeding them dinner. They most politely ate the green
slimey stew while Yoda rambled on.
"Good I found you, yes!!! Dangerous place this
is!! Good to stay here...yes My Home this is!" Yoda
offered to slosh out more all-things-dark-and-slimy stew.
Even Yoda was surprised when Atrus accepted seconds. Yoda
recovered quickly.
" Eat, eat, yes.. strong it will make you!!! HEE HEE
HEE !!!"
Atrus was quite amused by his host's comments, and
amazed that they could understand one another. For once,
he had been able to thoroughly enjoy an Age from the
viewpoint of a native without weeks of linguistics work.
This would make his research much easier. There were too
many species to get a complete catalog in a lifetime of
study, but if this elderly creature remained friendly a
good overview should be completed in mere days, weeks at
most. It was just as well. His sons were quite
uncomfortable. As Atrus watched Achenar silently and
slowly dump mud out of his boots, he felt a twinge of
guilt. They had not expected this sort of outing, he
knew. But since he had need of their skills and Catherine
seemed to have lost patience with them, a lengthy
botanical outing had seemed perfect. They had been
patient and obedient to his will, but it was clear they
endured only because they felt they must. A sense of
frustration came over him. If only his sons would take
the joy he did in these marvelous extremes! This Age
teemed with life! Everywhere the sounds and smells spoke
of a richness, a complexity of design no mere man could
hope to create. This primitive landscape had been the
most complex Age he had yet linked to. The variances in
landscape and lifeforms included what he had written, and
yet exceeded his expectations beyond any imagining. There
was a curious sense of power in the air of this place
that defied his efforts to analyze it. Dagobah Age was
unique.
As the evening wore on, he quietly asked the old one
about his life. Yoda tried to say little, but even from
what he let fall Atrus learned much. The Old One plainly
came from an old culture, and one that knew of great
traveling. This Yoda spoke of traveling between worlds,
of ships that traveled the stars, of empires that rose
and fell. Atrus took notes of it all. The idea of these
spaceships were especially interesting to him. How was it
done? Was it a form of linking? Metal craft using large
amounts of power...?
Yoda and Atrus spoke until the exhaustion overtook
them, cautiously answering and not answering each others
queries, learning ever more about each other. Satisfying
it was to find so like-minded a one. It had been so long,
thought Yoda.
By morning Yoda's viewpoint had changed. Help, he would.
Train these young ones to the old ways. Respect they MUST
learn, or dark would be their path...
Atrus was delighted when the wizened creature agreed
over their breakfast of scrambled eggs to show them his
home. He also spoke of tutoring the boys in this force of
his. Atrus assigned Achenar to take notes of the Old
One's cultural beliefs, while he and Sirrus cataloged the
flora and fauna respectively. Achenar was not anxious for
the assignment until a chance comment let him understand
there was power to be gained, then he was all cheerful
acceptance. In fact, he was in a hurry to get started,
sooner learned sooner out of here, Achenar figured. Soon
Sirrus and Atrus moved out of sight into the paths
preplanned by Yoda. Achenar turned and faced his tutor.
"So, when do we start?" he asked.
"Hee hee hee.. Now good is, " Achenar
suddenly found himself up a tree.
“Whaaa????” He fell in the swamp..
SPLOAASSHH
That was Achenar's first lesson...
Achenar was upside down balancing painfully on his
hands. As the blood rushed to his head, the Green one
squatted in front of him swatting him with his cane when
his attention drifted. Achenar had lost patience long
ago.
"Anger, Impatience, Resentment, the dark side
are these! Rid your mind of them or control you they
will!
"how will this help me do those tricks of
yours?"
Yoda swatted him on the nose.
Achenar collapsed and impulsively tossed a boot at
the old shaman troll. He wasn't really surprised when it
hit HIM in the head..
"Respect you must learn! Or Teach you I will
not!"
Achenar apologized.
A harsh screech exploded through creeping vines. A
sound of things scurrying to the undergrowth sliding to
the otherside of trees flying out of reach. News like
this party got around quickly! Even Yoda was dangerous
these days. Sprained cranes, squished lizards, and
horrified batbirds announced their progress as through
the marshy swamp the boys stumbled along exhausted. Their
Father had remained at the camp finalizing the week's
discoveries. Sirrus huffed after Achenar. Upon his
brother's back he watched the bouncing figure of Yoda.
Achenar ALWAYS got along with these primitives, he
muttered to himself.
He leaned on a branch and paused to catch his breath.
It was then he realized that the eyes of a tree ray*
peeping at him from the other side of the tree. He
slapped at the rotten old trunk only to have it collapse
under his hand. The hole tumbled into an old cave made as
much by creepers and decaying lifeforms as rock. YUCK!!!
there wasn't a surface not covered in slime. So this is
where the dinner came from. Sirrus felt nauseous as he
watched all the motion. A light appeared at the other end
of the tunnel. A man formed in a Maintainer suit and
walked toward Sirrus. Sirrus took out his long dagger and
delighted in the sheen of it. It seemed to glow red. The
figure paused... then turned and ran..... Sirrus laughed
and gave chase...
Above him Yoda rested next to Achenar and shook his
head. He could not teach these two. He feared they had
learned too much as it was. He felt the nexus of the
force grow dark as Sirrus attacked his better self... and
won. Yoda sighed... reminding himself that his real hopes
lay on a planet far, far away....
At last the journals were complete, Atrus sighed and
relaxed into the curved wall of Yoda's house. They could
go home now. Hopefully Sirrus and Achenar had learned
much from this vibrant age. That Dear Old Sage had spent
so much time with them. He smiled as he thought what
tales they might have to share with Catherine. He began
packing to leave....
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*tree ray.. looks like a manta ray but rests in the
branches of the swamp trees. Yes I saw something like it
in "Empire Strikes back"
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