Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I got a hate review! :D Someone doesn't like my story! It's been too long since I've gotten something like this, I was beginning to worry! So I'd like to celebrate this by doing a public response, of course. *clears throat* Lord of Grief (cool name, by the way), I have just a few things to say to yoooooouuu~
1. It's my story, I write it however I want.
2. Relax bro, it isn't like this is canon XD Does AU not ring any bells?
3. Yeah, it's romance :) Don't like it, don't read. I'm sure you saw the summary as you were scrolling through the site. You could've easily just said to yourself, "Oh? A story with a plot I don't agree with for whatever reason? Well, I guess some things just go that way, time to move on." But the fact that you DID decide to leave a review explaining how this romance could never possibly work is just too damn hilarious! XD
4. Please do come back again, I haven't felt this giddy in quite some time ;3
And now that I got through all that, enjoy the chapter everyone! (Especially you, Lord of Grief. Thanks for the "support", bro)
...
The tension in the underground cave was so heavy, some even found it suddenly hard to breathe. The natives watched in silence as their leader and his guest slowly approached the intruder, clutching onto their ancient weapons as tightly as they could. Their eyes constantly shifted back and forth, waiting for this mysterious monster to make a move. The elder daughter had warned them of the deadly creature, describing to them how effortlessly it had killed the younger daughter.
The natives were sure that the leader would not take so kindly to the death of one of his children.
Grievous wasn't paying attention to any of the natives, instead focusing his glare on Zipps, who stood awkwardly next to the native leader. The Kamarian scratched the back of his neck, lowering his eyes. He could tell that Grievous was not happy with him, and personally, Zipps couldn't blame him all that much.
After all, the insect did kinda ditch the guy.
"You stupid bug..." Grievous snarled quietly, clenching his remaining fist. He began to stomp towards the poor Kamarian, who yelped in fright as he hid behind the native leader. The leader sighed, and held out his hand to stop Grievous.
"You will not harm our guest, creature," he stated in an impossibly deep voice. The general halted his movements, getting a good look at the man in front of him. The native leader was a tall human male, with skin as dark as night who stood well over seven feet tall. His red robes covered his legs and feet, giving the illusion that he was simply gliding instead of walking. His black eyes bore right through Grievous's golden ones, they demanded respect and authority. He was bald, his hairless head glowing. A small goatee decorated his face.
Grievous knew this was a man he could respect, and if he played his cards right he would get respect as well.
"I am no creature," the general claimed, rising to his full height as he returned the leader's look of authority. "Do not judge me by appearance, you will regret it."
"Buddy, it ain't a good idea to anger this guy," Zipps whispered to Grievous, trying to warn him. "He's kinda scary, mate."
The two "giants" held their stare off, not even blinking for the longest time. The natives watched in anticipation, wondering who would be the one to back down. They had full confidence in their leader, but the strange foreigner obviously had intelligence as well.
They were thrown a huge curve ball when they saw the leader laugh. The leader just laughed... He never laughed. The foreigner was confused as well, he didn't know what to make of this.
When the leader was finished, he smirked at the general. "Obviously your words speak truth, my friend," he decided with a nod. He patted Grievous's metallic shoulder. "What is your name, foreigner?"
Grievous hesitated, unsure if he should trust this man. Before he could speak, however, he was cut off by the annoying Kamarian beside him.
"Why, sir, this here is the great and powerful General Grie-"
"Qymaen," Grievous answered, slapping the back of the bug's head. "Qymaen Jai Sheelal."
Nodding in satisfaction, the leader turned towards his people. "This foreigner called Qymaen is not our enemy!" He announced to them all, gesturing his hand towards Grievous. "Instead he, along with the insect called Zipps, shall be our guests!" He turned back to the Kaleesh cyborg, extending his hand in offer of friendship. "My name is Mantu Ikka," he introduced himself.
Grievous returned the handshake. "It's an honor," he said.
"Father!"
A sudden burst of anger erupted from the middle of the crowd, and a woman pushed and shoved her way through it towards Mantu Ikka. Grievous's eyes widened, then narrowed as he recognized the girl as the one who had escaped him earlier.
Mantu Ikka sighed. "Eilla, calm yourself." He ordered in a stern yet fatherly tone.
"This monster is the one who murdered Riula!" The woman protested, jabbing her finger towards Grievous. "Surely you won't allow such an act to go unpunished?!"
"Consider him pardoned," Mantu Ikka said. "He is our guest, I expect you to treat him as one."
"My sister, your daughter, is dead!" Eilla growled angrily. "Do you not feel anything, Father?"
"I shall mourn in my own time," the leader said coldly. "But it was her own foolishness that led to her demise. And the foolish will never survive here. You know that, Eilla."
The woman clenched her fists, her silence dangerous. Turning to the general, she spat in his direction, then stormed off, disappearing through the crowd. Grievous stared after her, not sure how exactly he should react. Part of him wanted to tear the wretch's head off, but his blood lust had already worn off after meeting the leader.
Mantu Ikka sighed, and shook his head shamefully. "I am sorry that you had to tolerate that behavior, Qymaen," he apologized. "Eilla has always been very close with her sister, Riula's death shakes her very soul."
"It is nothing," Grievous assured, briefly reminded of his home world, Kalee.
"But let us not have heavy hearts," Mantu decided. He threw his hands in the air as he addressed his people. "In honor of our guests, tonight we shall have a feast!"
As the crowd cheered, Mantu Ikka turned back to the cyborg. Looking at his robotic frame, the native leader sucked air through his teeth. "I assume you do not need food, my friend." When Grievous nodded, Mantu thought for a moment. "Then you shall sit with me at my private table, and we will have much to talk about."
"And what about me?" Zipps asked, speaking for the first time since Mantu introduced himself.
"Sit with us as well, if you so choose." The leader told him.
...
The Jedi Temple was in ruins. Entire halls that once stood so proud were now reduced to rubble. Bodies of Jedi were scattered all over, their faces stretched to permanent, silent screams of horror. The clone troopers who had killed them were searching the bodies, picking off those who weren't dead just yet.
It was a gruesome sight.
However, a shadowy figure darted past the soldiers, determined to find any surviving Jedi. He ran through the halls, using the force to silently eliminate any lone clone trooper.
'I knew Palpatine couldn't be trusted!' The Jedi thought. 'I knew it!'
Gritting his teeth, the Jedi scouted out a small band of clone troopers. Needing to release his anger, the Jedi ignited his lightsaber and threw himself between them, slicing through them without any mercy. He stared at the mess he had just created, and he sighed. 'This is too crazy,' he thought.
The Jedi managed to avoid any more trouble as he made his way to the Jedi Archives. 'Maybe I can find survivors there,' he suggested internally. 'But what if...' He shook his head. 'No, don't think of that. I gotta try.'
The Jedi finally arrived at the archives, and after determining that there was no danger in the area, he darted into it. There were no bodies he was aware of, and no clone troopers hanging around. Still, the Jedi kept a firm grip on his lightsaber, using its blade to light up his surroundings. The Jedi's eyes cautiously moved from side to side, ready to take action at a moment's notice.
Taking a risk, he called out, "anyone there?"
Silence.
He tried once more. "Is any Jedi in here?" He hissed. "I mean you no harm, feel free to come out."
He waited. No one came.
Sighing, the Jedi's shoulders slumped in disappointment. 'No survivors here,' he thought. 'Shame...'
Turning to leave, he foolishly tripped over a body he had failed to notice before, nearly killing himself with his still ignited lightsaber. Cursing under his breath, the Jedi glanced at whatever tripped him.
What he saw made him choke.
There she was, sprawled out with a large stab wound through her gut. Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted, cold hands loosely holding onto her own lightsaber.
The body of Jedi Master Shaak Ti.
The Jedi stared at the body of his fallen comrade, unable to believe what he was seeing. "It... It can't be..." He whispered. He slowly crawled over to her, lifting her head and setting it on his lap. "Shaak Ti..." He rasped, tears beginning to form. "Why..."
"Check the archives, there are bodies here!" A clone trooper suddenly ordered, cutting off the mournful silence. The Jedi heard clone troopers approaching fast, he knew he didn't have much time to escape. Standing up, he looked at the body of his friend one last time, before turning around to leave.
He froze.
Something in the back of his mind commanded that he should turn around, and wordlessly he obeyed. He glanced back at Shaak Ti, and he couldn't help but grin.
"I knew you were tougher than that, my friend," he muttered, scooping her up in his arms. With Shaak Ti in his hold, Coleman Kcaj ran off, leaving the clone troopers with nothing but an empty library.
...
"We rarely have foreigners visit our tribe," Mantu Ikka explained as he took a sip of his wine. "Our world is small, we haven't developed fully compared to others in the galaxy."
"How do you even know of the galaxy if you never left your planet?" Grievous asked, watching the leader closely.
"From our first visitors, from when I was a small boy, no older than three years of age," Mantu said, stabbing at a strange bit of meat with his fork. "They taught my grandfather, leader at the time, everything about the galaxy."
"And who were they?"
"I believed they called themselves 'Jedi'," Mantu said with a nod of his head. "Yes, definitely Jedi." As he confirmed this, the leader had a small bowl of dipping sauce levitate towards him. Grievous watched this, nodding his head slowly.
"Does that explain the use of the force?" Grievous questioned, leaning in.
Mantu Ikka nodded. "My father, as the Jedi explained, was gifted in force use," he told the general. "It was passed down to me, and to my eldest daughter, Eilla." He took another bite of his food. "And what of you, Qymaen?"
"Depends on what you wish to know."
Mantu thought for a moment. "I would not expect you to tell me everything, but..." He paused. "What are your relations to the Jedi?" He chuckled. "You have a certain aura around you, you know a lot about them."
Grievous hesitated. "My relations..." He repeated under his breath. His mind drifted to Shaak Ti, the love of his life. "It's complicated," he finally answered.
Mantu Ikka nodded. "You may tell me your story in time, my friend," he said. "My people should have already provided rooms for you and your friend, you may rest for as long as you need."
"Sounds great, but after me fourths!" Zipps suddenly piped up, speaking for the first time since the food arrived. Grievous watched Zipps's messy eating in disgust, while Mantu Ikka chuckled.
"I'm glad you enjoy our food, Zipps."
Zipps nodded. "It's delicious!" He praised. "Although, where do you get the meat? I didn't see any animals on the surface."
"This cave system spans across the whole planet," Mantu explained. "And they are full of insects that provide all that we need. Their flesh is our meat, their water is our water, their blood is our wine, and the genitals of the males are a delightful delicacy."
"Well they certainly are-" Zipps halted his speech. He looked back at his food. "Did you say insects? And genitals?"
Mantu Ikka nodded, and Zipps glanced at his food, then at himself. Then at his food, then at himself. Slowly, he stood up, and cleared his throat. "I'm, uh..." He murmured. "I'm just gonna... Step outside for a bit." Not looking back, the Kamarian bug bolted out of the dining room, looking for something to wash the taste of insect from his mouth.
...
Aaaaaand done! Woo! I did it! Also, how do y'all feel about that Shaak Ti part, huh? ;D Like it?
Anyway, I really do hope that Lord of Grief guy comes back, but until then... Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!