Eighteen months before the instigation of Order 66

Chandrilla, Core region

Autumn leaves tumbled around them as the pair of them rolled down the hill together. Small animals, disturbed by the pair of tumbling bodies, made startled noises and vanished further into the undergrowth.

Above them, a huge and hairy figure roared with laughter, bouncing down the slope in great leaps and bounds to catch up and join them both at the bottom. He carried two bandoliers, wearing one and holding the other in an outstretched hand, the heavy weight throwing his centre of balance around as he leapt down after them both.

At the bottom, their inertia spent, Srah and Gyyhuunamung came to a halt, tangled in each others arms and laughing hysterically at how silly they must have looked to anyone else that had been watching them.

Rhyydonning came to a stop beside them, adding his own booming laugh to theirs and resting his hands on his knees as he tried to recover his breath between hoots of laughter. After a minute it looked like the three of them might recover, before Gyyhuunamung chortled slightly too loud and they collapsed once more into hysterics.

It continued in such a manner for several minutes, huge peals of laughter from the two Wookiees and their human friend pausing only for a few seconds on occasion as they recovered their breath, before one of them would start the whole process off again.

Eventually, worn out beyond the ability to do more than chuckle, the three of them collapsed in the leaves, Rhyydonning abandoning his brother's bandolier nearby as he slumped down beside the other two.

"That was really silly," Srah informed the pair of them eventually, trying to appear a bit more authoritative than her current disposition allowed her to pull off successfully.

[You insist on playing such games,] Gyyhuunamung reminded her, reaching up to lovingly tousle her hair as he did. For a moment their eyes met, and lingered, before he jerked forward, landing a lick-kiss on her cheek before rolling away and pulling himself laboriously to his feet.

She grunted, not entirely in annoyance, as she wiped her cheek on the sleeve of her jacket, pulling herself to her feet as well. Rhyydonning treated her to a pitiful look and made gestures indicating that he needed a hand up.

Not fooled for a moment, but in a good enough mood to be willing to forgive her potential brother-in-law for his laziness, she grabbed his hand and hauled, nearly pulling herself over in the process as the more massive Wookiee lumbered slowly upright.

Both Wookiees towered over her, their greater size and physical strength being something that had originally drawn them together. Their physical similarity, coming from the fact that they were twins, extended to the patterning of their hair and musculature, and it had been of immense value when pulling scams to have two figures that no one could tell apart around, especially when they came from a species that had recently started being sold into slavery.

Srah could tell them apart of course; different temperaments had crept into them, and her talent for the Force, however unfocused, was enough for her to pick up on the differences in their mentalities. Even if it hadn't been for Gyyhuunamung's strong feelings for her, echoing her own in return, she would have easily told them apart.

Gyyhuunamung had got as far as their speeder, and was sitting on the bonnet, tuning the strings on his yhitto as the other two staggered over the join him. The main drum-like body rested on his lap while the strings extended out from the centre like the spokes of a wheel, starting long and spiralling inwards as they swept around the body, until the last, and shortest, string was right next to the longest one. The little handle for winding up the internal motor lay untouched, and the ornate multi-pick rested in its holder, leaving Gyyhuunamung using only his claws for plucking at the strings.

That mastery of the musical instrument native to Aounam was one of the major differences between the two brothers; Rhyydonning couldn't carry a tune to save his life, and only the most basic of his brother's refrains stuck in his memory. Rhyydonning's greater mastery of visual arts compensated nicely for this though.

As the other two settled down, pulling the food out of the packs on the speeder's back seat, Gyyhuunamung began to sing, the air a Wookiee love song, rescored for the yhitto and the tempo shifted to a slower pace. It was a wandering tale, one that Srah had liked when she heard the original version and had loved once Gyyhuunamung had applied his brand of magic to it. He had practically dedicated it to her the first time he had sung it, drawing a crowd in the spaceport despite the late hour.

Now he sang it again, with only the three of them to hear it, in the glowing sunlight above a field of tumbling leaves.