CHAPTER 3

Nothing seemed to make the pain go away. The reek continued to buck and shake his head in an aggravated way. He reared up again and this time lunged forward and stomped both fore limbs directly on the base of the statue. Sensing the solid object as a threat, he swung his horned head and repeatedly head-butted. White powered rock exploded everywhere. The head of the statue, an image to the Skakoan deity, the Albino Cyclops, was oversized and grotesque. It began to teeter in the wind after each of the reek's head strikes. There was a popping sound. It came loose and toppled forward, exploding into rubble on the ground centimeters from the reek.

All at once, the onslaught of onlookers froze. Like a blue and silver wall of ocean water held back by an invisible wall, the entire crowd was just staring blankly, not knowing what to do. The Weequay stopped dead in his tracks as well. Everyone was in a kind of shock. From the back of the arena the Skakoan with the ornamental face plate stood up. He raised his right arm and made a fist. He made an incomprehensible sound in his language and even with the monotone vocoder processing, the rage and intent was obvious. The crowd of onlookers transformed into an angry mob again, this time with a blessing from their spiritual head.

The two intruders assessed their situation. Behind them, the reek was angrier than ever. The crowd in front was advancing. The Albino Cyclops lay in ruins, its head separated and broken into a thousand pieces. Without looking, Kibol raised the green saber and batted away a blaster bolt fired from the Weequay that got too close. There was only one way to go now … down.

"Alright Ween, follow me." He jumped down the hole he made earlier and decided he'd do the whole thing in reverse. From the underground cavern he gazed up and saw Weena's upper body silhouetted by the orange sky. Come on, it's safe, the tunnels are clear. "Weena, just jump! I'll catch you"

"Alright, hold on, Kib." Her silhouette disappeared. It didn't reappear. He tried to imagine her getting up the nerve to jump down the hole … but this was Weena. Worry crept into the back of his mind as the roaring of the crowd became louder and the seconds ticked away.

Anger. That's all the reek's hormones would let it feel. He needed to hurt something. He stopped shaking his head and looked up to see that same shape with the flapping hair and the long flowing skirt. The motion offended the reek, added aggravation to his pain. The figure started running away from him. He positioned his head and charged. The thing wouldn't escape this time.

Just as Kibol was considering jumping back up to the surface to see what was going on, the light from the hole went dark. Weena darted down the shaft, hands raised in the air, feet first. Kibol reached out with the force and slowed her descent. She touched down with a puff of dust. She then had to jump to the side as more dirt and rocks fell from the shaft. The light from the hole had blacked out entirely. There was growling and the sounds of struggle. They both peered up to see one of the hind limbs of the reek kicking and squirming in the opening.

"Looks like you jumped down just in time." He said as he helped her stand up. She stood a half of a head shorter than him. The stared at each other in the dim glow rod lighting in the tunnel, speechless, not really knowing what to say next. She broke the silence.

Dusting off, she walked up to him and faked an exasperated look "Ween?" She hated the contraction of her name.

"Kib?" he retorted. He hated all alternate forms of his name, except the short affectionate one she'd used. A smile breaking through his serious face, he said "At least it wasn't Kibby like my mom calls me, I hate that. I would've had to strike you down."

"You're lucky, she used to call me Weenie.. And Jedi or not, I can still kick your butt."

They traded grins and enjoyed the temporary respite.

Their banter was interrupted by thumping and muffled shouts from above. He took her hand and the pair ran at a steady clip down the tunnel. "That thing'll block our six for now."