Jal stood at the edge of the swamp, the sun shining through the steel canopy, reflecting off of his spines; the iron structures in the distance scraping the yellow sky. "C'mon!" yelled Jal to the other hunters. "Father will have my head if we're late for the festival!" The village was overjoyed at the sight of the youths' return for the frethugs that the boys had killed would serve as the main course at the celebration.
Everyone in the village came to the feast. They ate, laughed, and danced well into the night. When the moon was shining at its zenith, Chief Karesh called everyone into the Council's Longhouse for the annual story telling. "Come children," he said warmly, "Sit about the fire and hear the story of the Titans!
"Long ago, the world was ruled by monstrous titans and darkness covered the land! The titans destroyed everything that they touched. Even their own kind was not safe from their harmful ways. The titans took sides in a great war that lasted many years. They eventually destroyed each other and the darkness receded! We emerged as rulers of this world! Not all the titans were monsters however; some held great knowledge and preserved it for our use. With this knowledge our people learned the secrets of magic and with it could control objects without so much as touching them and even call forth a storm from their claws."
"Of course, Father, whatever you say" remarked Jal sarcastically.
"Respect your elders, boy!" shouted Shurk, grabbing Jal's massive arm.
"Stop!" ordered the Chief, "Let me handle this." The chief turned to his son, "Jal, step outside with me."
Jal grudgingly stood up and followed his father outside. "Jal, why must you do this every time our stories are told?" the Chief asked.
"Because that's all they are, Father: stories. You know just as well as I do that everything you talked about in there is myth," Jal replied.
"These aren't just myths! This is all true!" However, Jal had heard enough and stormed off to his quarters. "Whatever am I to do with him?" inquired Chief Karesh to no one in particular, lightning crackling between his fingertips.
The smell of smoke and blood entered Jal's snout, waking him immediately. Outside he heard the screams of women and children layered over the sound of a warrior's battle cry ringing throughout the village; it was clear: they were under attack. Jal grabbed his spear and ran outside; he could hardly believe what he saw.
A few dozen armored warriors were in the village, wielding weapons capable of shooting rays of light. "What did I tell you, Jal! It was all real! The titans have returned!" Chief Karesh shouted while sending four of the warriors flying back with an invisible blast of energy.
"Father, what is going on?" Jal yelled back
"Get out of here while you can! The elders and I can hold them off for long enough so that you and the others can escape!"
The other elders were casting lightning at the various titans – it was more amazing than Jal could have ever imagined. "Magic is real!" Jal thought. However his sequence of thought was cut short as a bolt from one of the titans' weapons nearly hit him – he could feel the heat radiating off the shot as it whizzed past his neck. Still recuperating from shock, Jal forced himself to run, the other boys running beside him.
Jal reached the edge of the village. More and more of the titans were heading towards them, but one of them stood out. This titan was not wearing armor as the rest of his kind was, but rather he was clothed in robes – the rest of the titans seemed to be following his orders.
Jal locked eyes with the titan, but before he could realize what was happening, the titan leapt into the air and landed in front of Jal. "So this is the local fauna?" the titan asked rhetorically. "It figures that nothing of value would live on this backwater planet. You should feel lucky, you waste of life! You have the honor of being killed by Darth Vulku!" Vulku reached for his sash and produced a blade of light! Jal saw the blade swinging towards him and almost instinctively let out a roar. Vulku was sent flying backwards and slammed into a nearby longhouse. "That thing is force-sensitive! Capture it alive!"
"Yes, sir!" replied all of the titans in unison as they moved to surround Jal. Seeing this as his last chance to escape, Jal leapt over the titans and made his way through the swamp. The soldiers pursued him but they eventually lost him, for Jal knew the swamps far better than the back of his paw. After hours of running, he finally rested at the foot of a great tree.
Jal stared at the water trying to piece together everything that just happened. How could he have sent that titan spiraling backwards with a mere roar? What did that titan mean by "force-sensitive?"