Star Wars: Jar-Jar Binks

Star Wars: Jar-Jar Binks

All SW characters and related characters are © George Lucas and LucasFilms

All plants and animals are © The Gungan Frontier and Learning Lucas

Prologue: Training

About ten years before the Phantom Menace, eight year old Jar-Jar lived in Otoh Gunga with his mother and father. His mother was a foot soldier in the Gungan Grand Army, and his father was a bishop at the Otoh Cathedral. Jar-Jar learned everything a boy his age needed to learn from his mother: how to hunt, swim, climb, read, write, and manners most importantly. When Jar-Jar went to school, he had a lot of friends who would hang out with him in the Otoh Gunga Gardens after class; but as he got older, poor Jar-Jar would get clumsier, and that's when the older kids started to play pranks on him.

After everything from parent conferences to fighting back didn't work, the school bullies started beating Jar-Jar up, and the Gungan boy had almost no friends. Jar-Jar's mother, Ziza Horra Binks, saw no other alternative to Jar-Jar's problem, but to enroll him in warrior training.

This story takes place after Jar-Jar was released from the city mediglobe from a major beating that left him almost eyeless…

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"Yousa cwazy, Ziza." Her husband scolded. "Hesa never gonna make it! Hesa gonna kill 'imself."

"Hesa not, Olmars." Ziza insisted. "Now yousa hush, yousa attractin attention." Ziza and her husband were in the mediglobe waiting room where other Gungans were awaiting treatment or release. Some were staring at the couple inquisitively, others were reading magazines, or paying attention to a Cantina Radio on one corner of the room.

"Jar-Jar issa too young." Olmars sneered at Ziza's idea. "Yousa can't put 'im in trainin."

"Hesa needin to be brave." The mother advised. "Dat's sometin my could never teach 'im, and yousa know dat. Dis issa probably da best ting wesa can do for 'im."

"Binks?" a nurse called from an open door, looking around the room. Ziza stood up, her armor glinting dully in the artificial lights in the ceiling. "Yousa son issa ready to leave." The nurse herded the little Gungan boy to his parents. Jar-Jar timidly clung to his mother as she knelt to hug him.

"Can wesa go home, mama?" Jar-Jar squeaked. Ziza nodded, picking up Jar-Jar from the ground and into her strong arms, looking at his bruised face.

"Wesa goin home, Jar-Jar. Yousa no worry."

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"Yousa actin lika baby, Jar-Jar." Olmars lectured as the family walked back to their bubble house. Jar-Jar, still in his mother's arms, looked at his father like a gullipud cornered by a yobstrimp. "Yousa gotta make dees bullies stop. Dis issa fifth time dis week."

"Mesa sorry, papa." Jar-Jar moaned. "Mesa didn't see dem comin."

"Well next time, yousa mama not gonna be dere to save yous. Yousa gots to stand up for yerself."

"Olmars." Ziza interrupted, turning her head sharply to him. "Yousa go easy on 'im. Deysa sneakin up on 'im when mesa find 'im. Jar-Jar issa lucky dat dey didn't poke hisa eyes out." Upon hearing that, Jar-Jar hugged Ziza's neck in fear. Ziza rubbed his back in reassurance.

"And another ting." Olmars growled, watching his wife in disgust. "Yousa too attached to Jar-Jar, Ziza. Yousa can't be dere for 'im all da time, and hesa gonna up and leave when hesa older. Hesa can't be dependen on his mama."

"All da more reason to send Jar-Jar to trainin." Ziza smiled at Olmars. Olmars turned to look at a school of daggart that were swimming past the transparent walls of the buildings. Jar-Jar lifted his head to look at his mother.

"Trainin?"

"Yousa mama gonna send yousa to become a warrior, Jar-Jar." Olmars told his son over his shoulder. Jar-Jar's eyes lit up for a split second, then were filled with horror, and he looked back at his mother.

"Mama! Mesa no wanna go to trainin!" he squealed, grabbing her so tightly that he could suffocate her. Ziza finally stooped to put her son back on the ground as they were about to enter the main square.

"Oh, Jar-Jar, yousa no baby no more, yousa young man. Issa time to become grown up and responsible. One day, yousa gonna go into battle, and not know what to do. Yousa needin to learn dis." Then she looked up at her husband, who had stopped by her. "Issa also da law."

"Issa is," Olmars nodded, "Mesa agree with yous dere, but hesa too young. Hesa gotta be ten."

"Hesa can do it, mesa know it." Ziza explained, looking at her husband's stone face. Jar-Jar looked between them; his parents could win arguments with anyone, but when they argued with each other the fight usually lasted for days. Finally, Ziza stood up, waving a hand in the air in futility. "Okieday, let'sa discuss dis later. Issa getting late." Without saying a word, Olmars walked into the square without them. Ziza growled after him, taking Jar-Jar's hand and walking into the square.

"Hesa tinking hesa some Jedi talkin to mesa like dat…" she muttered to herself. Jar-Jar blinked up at her.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nutin." Jar-Jar smiled and hugged his mother's hand as they walked home.

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That night, Jar-Jar lay in bed listening to his parents argue about his fate. Jar-Jar was nervous about warrior training, but it would make him just like his mother: strong, brave, respected, wise…the list could go on forever. Jar-Jar lay in bed, clutching his pillow. Tomorrow, Ziza would take Jar-Jar to…where were they going to train? In Otoh Gunga? Or the warrior's capital city Sugo Natai? Sugo Natai, that was where the old traditions lived, everyone spoke the old Gungan tongue, and they were very war like. Going there would be pretty scary. Or maybe they would go to the surface, where the Naboo lived. Now that was scary! He had never seen a Naboo, and he didn't wish to either.

Jar-Jar started to hum to himself to get him to sleep. How could he leave home? He knew he was leaving Otoh Gunga, but if only he knew where. Ziza said he would need to get some sleep, because tomorrow would be a long journey, and they wouldn't reach their destination until nightfall. He really didn't like the thought of leaving all of Otoh Gunga behind; it was the only world, the only galaxy, he'd ever known. Well, as long as his mother was with him, Jar-Jar wasn't afraid of anything. She'd be there to help him. She was a true warrior, and everybody loved her. She'd make Jar-Jar a warrior yet! With that thought, Jar-Jar went to sleep humming his song.

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Jar-Jar woke up that morning to his father shaking him awake. Ziza had a bongo ready, and they were headed to the surface. Jar-Jar had jumped out of bed and clutched his father in absolute fear. The schoolyard stories about the Naboo had scared him to death in the past: that they were Gungan children eating monsters who lived in huge cities that were made out of the bones of poor defenseless animals. Olmars had to pry Jar-Jar off him to get the Gungan boy back on the floor. Jar-Jar got dressed for the day, had breakfast, and joined his mother at the bongo bay where she had rented a bongo for the trip.

Jar-Jar climbed in the passenger seat of the bongo, and peeked over the window frame at his father, waving his four-fingered hand. "Bye papa!"

"Yousa try to learn sometin, Jar-Jar." Olmars smiled. Olmars gave his wife a last minute hug as she boarded into the bongo. She activated the membrane shield, and backed out of the docking bay and into the waters surrounding Otoh Gunga. Ziza looked at Jar-Jar, who was studying the waters outside the bongo.

"Jar-Jar," Ziza began, thinking of something to keep her son busy through the trip. "How many fish can yousa name?"

"Uh…" Jar-Jar began, looking out the membrane at all the fish swimming by. "Dere's some daggart over dere, and…uh…" His father taught him all about the animals on Naboo, on the surface and under the water. Jar-Jar was especially an expert on birds. "Dere's a school of Goopie Fish, and dere's some Faynaa…" Ziza wasn't paying attention, she was just piloting the bongo through the waters until they could reach land. After an hour or so, they reached a land bank, and the bongo surfaced, scaring some mott that had been wading in the water. Ziza beached the bongo on land, and deactivated the membrane to step out. Jar-Jar got out and splashed in the shallow swamp water.

"Mama, wheresa are wesa?" Jar-Jar asked, looking around and listening to the sounds of the surface. Birds, chubas, bugs, animals; they all were familiar, yet they seemed alien to the Gungan boy.

"Wesa on private property." Ziza explained, walking out of the swamp and onto the muddy beach. "But wesa no stayin here, wesa going to da mountains up dere." She pointed to the distance, where Jar-Jar could barely make out a foggy cliff side.

"All da way up dere?"

"Issa not as far as yousa tink. Now, c'mon. Da landowners gotta kaadu waitin for ussen somewhere…" Ziza started walking into the forest before them. Jar-Jar ran after her.

"Mama! Wait for mesa!" Jar-Jar hollered, running into the strange, green wilderness. He took her hand into his as they walked through the underbrush. Jar-Jar had never seen so many strange plants in one place, not even in his mother's herb garden. Despite her warrior status in Otoh Gunga, Ziza Horra Binks had kept a garden full of plants and flowers. Jar-Jar didn't learn most of their names, but he liked the little yellow flowers that Ziza kept in her bedroom, and the suma plants that filled the air with a heavenly smell that made the entire household smelling like spring. Ziza stopped planting suma when it mysteriously became infested with clodhoppers, and had to rip out the sweet smelling plants from her garden.

After a few minutes, Ziza spotted a reigned and saddled kaadu chewing on some blumbush. "Dat must be it." She sighed in relief. "Whew, mesa wouldn't want to walk up dere again." She jumped into the saddle, and hoisted Jar-Jar up into the front, and on her lap. She spurred the kaadu lightly with one foot and it traveled in the direction of the mountains.

"So, mama, whosa gonna train me?" Jar-Jar asked as the kaadu sped from a walk to a trot.

"Hesa good friend of mesa. Wesa grew up together, and hesa bombad best soldier in da Grand Army. Yousa like 'im, Jar-Jar; hesa nice guy…once yousa get to know 'im, dat is."

"Huh," Jar-Jar huffed in thought, "mesa hopin hesa like kids…"

"Sure, sure. Hesa papa himself; hesa granda actually."

"Oh." Jar-Jar nodded. He lay back against his mother's chest, and relaxed. She wasn't wearing her armor today, but she was wearing a comfortable tunic and dress pants, all a pure white. She was very beautiful in it, but she didn't look like a warrior in her tunic, she looked like any other person. That wasn't how Jar-Jar saw his mother at all, not as another person, but as the best dang soldier in the Grand Army. Sure, there was General Ceel and General Sydewynder and even Boss Karayna of the High Council, but Ziza Horra Binks stood out over them all in Jar-Jar's eyes. There was nobody like his mother.

The journey was longer than Jar-Jar thought it would be. They had to stop a couple times to eat. Ziza had picked some plants and fruit along the way for them to snack on. As they heard Nyork hunting in a nearby creek, Ziza realized that it might have been a mistake to not bring her spear. So, she and Jar-Jar caught some Nyork by hand and yanked the meat out of the shell with their foot-long tongues. By the time they reached the foot of the mountains, the sun was starting to set and the sky was slowly bleeding a deep red. Jar-Jar sat in the saddle of the kaadu while Ziza took the reigns of the war animal and walked it up the cliff side. The climb was long and quite steep, and it took longer than the walk there.

Jar-Jar looked at the view of the forest that was getting bigger and bigger from the climb up. There were trees as far as the horision, and no sign of Naboo cities. Well, even if there were cities of those mean ol Naboo, Jar-Jar wouldn't be scared cause his mother could fight a million of them. Birds flew in huge flocks, animals herded in the forest clearings, small animals waded in shallow ponds, predators stalked their helpless prey…all the sights were overwhelming! Jar-Jar had never seen so many animals in one place! Not even at the city zoo.

There was barely any light to travel by as they finally reached the top of the cliff. Surprisingly, the entire mountainside was full of grassy fields and dented with hills, blemished by several forests and small ponds and mudholes. In the distance, Jar-Jar could see a strange building that looked like a big box with a strange wooden roof. It looked like a Naboo building…a primitive living quarter. Was it inhabited by Naboo, or one of those scary outlanders? Maybe it was an outcast's hideout, or even…

"Wesa here." Ziza announced to Jar-Jar. "Why don't yousa go see if anybody's home?" Jar-Jar nodded, and jumped off the kaadu. Not smart, he fell face first into the grass. He stood up, and dusted himself off as he ran for the house.

" Hey! Issa anybody here?" Jar-Jar called as he neared the threshold. Some lights blinked on in the windows and the front door opened. Out stepped a Gungan woman in warrior armor and leather headflank. She looked like the traditional warrior from Otoh Gunga, but she was rather old by the look of her face. The old woman looked at Jar-Jar strangely, then saw his mother walking the kaadu behind her, and laughed with a smile.

"Ziza! Issa been a while." The old woman greeted, then she noticed the kaadu and shook her head. "Dere she is. Oh no, hesa not gonna be happy tomorrow."

"Whosa?" Jar-Jar asked. The old woman looked at the small boy standing next to her.

"And whosa dis?" the old woman asked. "Yousa son?"

"Uh-huh." Ziza nodded. "Dis issa Jar-Jar Binks."

"Binks…" the old woman muttered to herself. "Binks, Binks…dat's ringin a few bells, but mesa…well, why don't yousa two come in and make yerselves at home." Jar-Jar ran right inside as Ziza and the old woman walked into the house and closing the door behind them. The old woman's husband, the man that would train Jar-Jar, was going to meet them at the landing sight, but the kaadu ran off before he could get going, and was searching the jungles for it. He would probably be back by later tonight, so spending the night wouldn't be a bad idea. Jar-Jar found a staircase, and wandered up it to find several upstairs rooms. He ventured around until he found a room with two cots piled with blankets. Jar-Jar, assuming that this would be his bedroom, jumped onto one of the beds closest to the window, and snuggled inside the blankets. He accidentally fell asleep a few seconds later.

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His stomach woke him up that morning. As he sat up, pain crashed into his stomach like someone punched him. After groaning for a few minutes, he got up and made his way to the stairs. He felt awful, mostly because he slept in his clothes, which were made of itchy xosha grass his mother weaved for him. Also, it was a warm summer night, not a good night to sleep under a bunch of blankets; Jar-Jar was sweating so much he stank. It was probably the worst night's sleep he ever had. Who exactly lived here anyway?

As he finally came down to the end of the stairs, he noticed that Ziza, the old woman from last night, and an old man, were sitting at the table having breakfast. The old man was just a couple inches shorter than the average Gungan, and a dark weathered color. He had short whiskers hanging from his nose, and had some of the biggest mussels Jar-Jar had ever seen on any Gungan in existence. Was this the man who was going to train Jar-Jar?

Finally, Ziza noticed Jar-Jar and chuckled. "Well, yousa up, finally." She announced. All eyes turned to Jar-Jar, including the old man's whose were tinted with aggression. Jar-Jar shied his head away for a split second, then looked at the old man timidly as the Gungan smiled warmly at him, and the aggression vanished.

"So, wesa meet at last, Jar-Jar." The man greeted. He extended a hand for the boy to shake. Jar-Jar hesitated, then walked over to grab it.

"Issa nice to meet yous…uh…whosa…"

"Tarpals. Captn Norlo Tarpals." The Gungan introduced himself, shaking Jar-Jar's hand firmly.

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Tarpals pointed to the direction of the fishing hole, just to the left of the house a few meters away, so Jar-Jar could get started. Jar-Jar took off running; his warm up was to catch something, preferably a Goopie fish, for tonight's dinner. Tarpals watched him run off with a chuckle: the kid wasn't half-bad, a little naïve and innocent, but had some mussel on him. It would take a while, but he could teach the kid how to develop a backbone.

As Jar-Jar front flipped into the lake, Ziza came out of the house to stand by Tarpals. She crossed her arms as she watched the ripples in the lake spread.

"Hesa have potential." Tarpals reported to her, "But, uh, hesa needen some social skills. Teamwork issa big factor in da army."

"My know." Ziza nodded as the ripples disappeared. "Da kids at school had made 'im shy. Issa gonna be hard, but my know yousa can turn 'im around."

"I'll try." Tarpals half-frowned. "Issa maybe easier for mesa, since mesa gots a student in trainin already."

"What?" Ziza blinked at Tarpals. Tarpals turned his head to look Ziza in the eye.

"Mesa gots a student in trainin: A boy, bout Jar-Jar's age. Theysa should get along fine."

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Below the water of the fishing hole, Jar-Jar spotted lots of daggert and tiny faynaa that were too small to eat him. Nothing that could be considered a meal. There was Goopie fish down here; Tarpals said so. Jar-Jar kept looking, finding more daggart, a couple chuba, more small fishes, nothing that could make a meal. This was getting boring quickly; there was absolutely nothing worth hunting to eat down here.

As he started to head back up to the surface, he noticed a huge figure swimming straight for him. It looked like a huge fish as big as Jar-Jar. The Gungan boy panicked and swam for the surface. He jumped onto the bank, and shook himself dry. He looked back at where he last saw his mother and Tarpals, and they were gone. They went to sit on the cliffside and talk. Good, they didn't see him. Maybe they wouldn't know he was here hiding from that huge fish. Jar-Jar looked back at the water for any sign of that monstrous Oope of a pond fish. Then, something popped a muddy head from the surface, and looked around. Jar-Jar blinked at it for a couple seconds then realized that it was a Gungan boy covered in swamp mud. Jar-Jar smiled, and waved to him with a smile. The boy in the water noticed him, and looked him over curiously. Finally, after a few moments, the boy swam over to Jar-Jar, and shook himself dry.

"Heddo." Jar-Jar greeted with a friendly chirp. "Whosa are yousa?"

"I'm Doyce." The boy said with a deeper voice than Jar-Jar's. "Howsa bout yousa?"

"Mesa called Jar-Jar Binks."

"Nice to meet yous, Binks." The other boy smiled, shaking Jar-Jar's hand. "Yousa from Otoh Gunga?"

"Uh-huh." Jar-Jar nodded. "How's bout yous?"

"Yep. Born dere, and livin dere. So, whatsa city boy like yousa doin up here on da surface?"

"Mesa trainin under Captn Tarpals." Jar-Jar explained as Doyce turned back to the fishing hole. "Yousa too?"

"Yep." Doyce answered, stretching his arms over his head as he kept his eyes on the shadows under the water. "Mesa been warmin up for da past couple days, catchin meals and critters. Yousa no look like yousa gots da stomach for dis by da way yousa panicked back dere."

"Oh, my gots plenty o stomach." Jar-Jar informed. Doyce looked back at Jar-Jar with a challenging smirk.

"Heh, an attempt at wit, issa dat what dat was?" Doyce pitied.

"Na-uh, mesa just sayin…"

"Shhh-shhh." Doyce hissed, stooping low suddenly, watching something below the water. Jar-Jar was silent as Doyce crept into the water, then stood still, watching. Jar-Jar noticed the huge shadow swimming just below the water, and recognized the shape of the huge fish. Doyce was gonna catch that fish by himself? It would take three warriors to bring that huge thing out of the water. Suddenly, Doyce ducked quickly into the water in the speed of a blink. Jar-Jar watched in suspenseful silence as he waited for Doyce to come up. There was a pause for a few minutes, then Jar-Jar felt someone watching him from behind. He turned to see Tarpals and his mother looking at the fishing hole just like Jar-Jar was only with less concern. Finally, Tarpals looked at Jar-Jar.

"Yousa meet Doyce yet?" he asked.

"Yep." Jar-Jar nodded. "Hesa bombad nice."

"Hesa fishin?"

"Uh-huh." Jar-Jar looked back at the water, and a couple of bubbles rose to the top of the water, disturbing the stillness. "Hesa gotta biiiiig fish. Mesa never see nutin like it."

"Hmmm." Tarpals thought to himself. Then, Doyce exploded out of the water with a hunting cry, and dove back in with a titanic splash. He surfaced half a second later, swearing to himself. "Watch yousa language, Sydewynder!" Tarpals called to Doyce as the boy swam back to the bank. "Specially when yousa round mesa!"

"Mesa sorry, Captn Tarpals." Doyce smiled sheepishly as he came back on the bank to stand by Jar-Jar. Ziza looked at Tarpals in surprise.

"Sydewynder? So dis is Sydewynder's boy?" she asked, smiling at the muddy Doyce Sydewynder.

"Yes." Tarpals nodded. "Da kids a genius. Hesa catchin critters by outsmartin dem. Issa de most remarkin ting mesa ever seen." Doyce smiled and put one hand behind his head with pride.

"Well, mesa no liken braggin but…"

SPLASH! Jar-Jar disappeared into the water. Doyce watched for a second, blinking curiously. After a few moments, Jar-Jar and the huge fish leaped out of the water with the fish beside him then kicked it hard with one foot and a shout, and the fish was beached on the bank, flopping a few times, then it was still. Doyce's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Yousa tooke eater!" Doyce cursed. "Dat's da fish mesa was drivin up here for days!"

"Issa bombad big Goopie fish." Jar-Jar agreed, swimming to the bank by the fish. Tarpals whistled at the sight of the fish.

"About five feet long. Howsa get so big, yousa boys tink?" Tarpals asked them. Doyce looked up at Tarpals.

"Metinks dat issa feedin on da bubble spore growing justa down river from here. Issa making lotsa da fish fat in dat river." Doyce looked down the fishing hole where it opened into a river that flowed into a huge forest of trees and ferns. "Issa good eatin for da preditors, too."

"Well, letsa get dis ting inside." Tarpals suggested, grabbing the dead fish by its gold yellow tail. "Issa be good eatin for ussen." Ziza helped him drag it a couple feet until Jar-Jar lifted the head off the ground and carried it in his hands. Doyce watched in amazement.

"Geez, yousa sure strong, Binks." Doyce commented in surprise. Jar-Jar smiled as Doyce as they walked.

"Mesa mama teach mesa good." Jar-Jar giggled. Doyce blinked, and continued to follow them.

"Social problems, eh Ziza?" Tarpals smiled as Ziza. Ziza frowned a little.

"My dunno." She shrugged it off. "Maybe hesa didn't crunch Jar-Jar up first." Tarpals looked at the two boys trailing behind them side by side, and couldn't help but smile.

"Theysa gonna do okieday, metinks." He assumed to Ziza as they hauled the fish up the porch.

The Beginning

(Next time: Gungan Dashers)