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Zhymmia gave a scream of delight as she dove into the lake alongside Shiine. The water was a crystal clear blue, allowing Shiine to see all of the others swimming in the deeper area up ahead.
It was eight o'clock in the morning and the sun was just beginning to peak over the tall mountains. The water was freezing, but Shiine didn't care.
On the banks sat Obi-Wan Kenobi, smiling contently with Vader sitting beside him. The boy had attempted to go swimming in his nightclothes and had earned a "penalty" from the Jedi. Also, the water was too cold for him to swim in just yet. Shiine could see the yearning in the boy's eyes.
Up ahead in the deep end, Kobayashi was on top of Kerrick's shoulders and trying to knock Ooke off of Rowan's shoulders. Shiine laughed and swam over to watch alongside the others.
"So what are we going to do today?" Carh'la asked the others while Kobayashi and Ooke started poking each other and Rowan and Kerrick spluttered from the water being sloshed about their faces.
"Well, I say we swim until lunch and then go exploring," Numel suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Shiine agreed.
Kobayashi gave a yell of triumph as he defeated Ooke. "Who shall dare challenge me next?"
Ooke resurfaced from being thrown under the water by Kobayashi. He had a sour look of defeat.
"How about Zhymmia?" Shiine said to Kobayashi.
"Perfect!" Kobayashi smacked his hands together.
Zhymmia laughed and swam over, climbing atop of Rowan's shoulders. The two then began pushing and shoving and everyone watched and laughed all over again.
The roughhousing and swimming continued for about two more hours before Moeema called over to the Jedi and said Vader could enter.
Vader gave a shout of glee and nearly flew into the water, followed by Master Kenobi.
Moeema swam over to Shiine. "I noticed that you were rather defensive over the Jedi yesterday, Shiine."
"I noticed that you were rather offensive towards him," Shiine shot back.
"I'm not accusing you of anything," Moeema replied. "I know I was out of line yesterday. I tend to get aggressive when the ones I care about are hurt. I just want to know why you were so adamant about helping him."
Shiine sighed. "I owe the Jedi."
"You owe them?"
"Yes," Shiine nodded. "I've never told anyone except Kobayashi, and that was only because he saw me looking at the hologram of my sister."
"You have a sister?"
"I had a sister. A twin sister, in fact,"
"What… what happened?"
Shiine closed his eyes. "She died during the Clone Wars. She went to Ryloth to adopt a Twi'lek youngling and that's when the Separatists invaded. The town she was in, Resdin, was bombed to make a statement."
"Oh, Force," Moeema whispered. "I'm so sorry, Shiine. I didn't know."
"It's alright," Shiine shrugged. "You didn't know. Anyway, I owe the Jedi because they avenged her for me. I had enlisted in order to do it myself, but I had only fought one battle and then the Republic was gone, along with the Jedi. I… I continued with the Imperial Navy because I look at the Empire as a modification of the Republic rather than a new system altogether… but I don't see why the Jedi were eliminated. Some of them were good people, Moeema… like the Jedi who liberated Ryloth."
"I remember reading about that," Moeema said. "It was on a HoloNet report on a Satunda afternoon. I was sitting on the couch with the younglings when I saw it. I… I think Master Kenobi was one of the Jedi who led the attack!"
"Kenobi? Really?" Shiine immediately looked at the Jedi, who was laughing and playing with Vader.
"Yes, yes, he was," Moeema said thoughtfully, nodding slowly. "There was the spatial attack first… that was led by Jedi Knight Skywalker. Then there was the landing, which was led by Jedi Master Kenobi, and then Jedi Master Windu took the capital."
Shiine once again directed his attention to the Jedi and the boy.
"Stop it, Kichita!" Vader laughed as Master Kenobi splashed him.
"Little One, are you having fun?" Moeema called to the boy.
"My name's not Little One!" the boy replied excitedly.
"Oh, it's not?" Moeema asked, laughing. "Then what is it?"
"It's Anakin!"
Shiine and Moeema's laughter ceased. The two had thought he was joking! "Anakin?"
"As in Anakin Skywalker?" Shiine blurted… or at least he tried to until Kobayashi toppled off Kerrick's shoulders and sent a bunch of water down Shiine's throat.
"Yep, my name's Anakin!" the boy nodded. "Even Kichita says it's true!"
Shiine was coughing and gagging while Moeema was merely gaping. Kobayashi spat some water when he resurfaced.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," Master Kenobi said hastily. "I'll explain later."
He somewhat regretted telling the Imperials Vader's true identity, but nothing could be done about it. The boy had been blurting his real name ever since he remembered it. All of them made sure he wouldn't say it to anyone else, though.
So now they were climbing the mountains to get a better view of Changying. Obi-Wan was climbing alongside Anakin, making sure the boy didn't tire. They were in the center of the group.
"That lunch you made was incredible, Ben," Kobayashi said from above, making sure to use Obi-Wan's "nickname" so Anakin wouldn't grow panicked or confused again. "Where did you learn to cook so well?"
"All Jedi are taught basic cooking skills in order to survive," Obi-Wan replied.
"What's a Jedi?" Anakin asked.
"Nothing," they all said together.
Anakin grumbled and the climbing continued.
When they finally reached the top, Obi-Wan was just as awed as the others. Tall, lush mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. When Obi-Wan looked down into the small depressions in the mountains he could see rivers and streams. Everything was painted deep green, dusty brown, and crystal blue. Songs from birds filled Obi-Wan's ears and the air was amazingly crisp.
Taking in a lungful of mountain air, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and smiled contently.
He felt a hand grab his arm excitedly. "Kichita, look!"
Obi-Wan opened his eyes and followed Anakin's finger, which was pointing to a small clearing in the trees off in the distance. Obi-Wan could vaguely make out a small lake.
Kobayashi squinted and also saw what Anakin was showing. "Ah, that's Bul-san, Anakin. It's a hot spring."
"That's Bul-san?" Anakin looked at it before laughing. "So when do we get to go?"
"Well I suppose we can go tomorrow," Kobayashi shrugged.
"Where else are we going today?"
"How about over there?" Numel suggested, pointing to another clearing in the mountains. "What's that?"
"That's Isao," Kobayashi answered. "It's a jib chuuno."
"Jib chuuno… isn't that a training dojo?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes,"
Obi-Wan examined the area from his vantage point. He saw three large Nihoman-style buildings and then a small Nihoman house to the right of them. A garden was just behind all of those buildings, along with a large smooth wooden platform. When he looked intently he saw people fighting each other with wooden swords using a certain Nihoman fighting style.
"Come on," Kobayashi started to walk across the rocky terrain. "I can take you to the dojo if you like."
"How about we circle around the mountain and then go back to the retreat?" Moeema said. "I think that should be enough excitement for all of us. Then we can go to Bul-san and Isao tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me," Numel agreed.
Everyone else nodded in accordance and Kobayashi led them into a more forested section of the mountain.
The trees were monstrous. Their trunks were wide enough so that Anakin, Obi-Wan, Kobayashi, and Kerrick could all lean against one side of it. They reached so high they seemed to be as tall as the skyscrapers on Coruscant. All around him he could hear birds and animals jumping or flying from one branch to another.
"Nihoma is truly a beautiful world," Obi-Wan commented to Kobayashi.
"We take great pride in our natural wonders," Kobayashi conceded with a smile. "That is why we have laws to conserve areas just like Changying."
"Just out of curiosity, but how did you manage to ride that nook?" Kobayashi then asked. "She was clearly wild."
"How could you tell?" Kerrick asked. "I could see no difference between her and Minh."
"Speaking of Minh, where is he?" Zhymmia also inquired.
"Minh is lounging around somewhere in the mountains," Kobayashi answered. "I think it would benefit you all if explained our relation to the nooks.
"Despite popular belief, we do not domesticate nooks. We call it a taming ceremony when we bond with a nook, but they're never truly tame. We have never viewed nooks as wild mindless creatures to be domesticated. Nooks are extremely intelligent beings and we respect them for that. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're sentient, but they're close. They are our symbol of our world. They have honor, pride, courage, and wild beauty. We highly respect nooks.
"Nooks in the wild live in mountains just like these. In fact, Changying has one of the highest concentrations of nooks. They travel in packs called gajok. In the gajok, there is a nook-sama, which literally translates to honorable dragon; in other words, an alpha nook. Since the females, called nook-nami, are more aggressive than the males, nook-moko, any gajok that had a fully matured nook-nami automatically made her the nook-sama.
"Wild nooks are dangerous and quite deadly, but only if you provoke them. It's a common misconception that they immediately attack you upon sight. However, let me warn you that if you get close to them, their territory, or their young, you are not going to have a very pleasant day.
"A taming ceremony, called a nook katashi in Nihoman, is a tradition that one must do at age thirty. It has mostly fallen out of practice among those who live in the large cities, but about eighty-five percent of the population still does it.
"Despite its name, we do not seek to pacify and tame a dragon. The ceremony starts a day after your life-day. You travel out into wild terrain, just like Changying for instance, and stay at a special house where a mikio lives.
"A mikio is a respected man or woman who lives amongst the nooks. While he or she does not actually travel with the nooks, the mikio lives in the center of a nook's territory. The mikio is respected by the nooks, which means he or she is respected by us.
"The participant in the ceremony stays two days at the house of the mikio. The days are spent in meditation to prepare him or her for the encounter with the nooks. When the two days are expired, the person leaves the house and enters into the untamed wilderness. The person then sounds a call named Kakegoe Nook.
"Kakegoe Nook is a loud nook cry that members of a gajok sound out to each other. Each call is unique to the nook that sounds it. This also is true for each Nihoman who sounds the call. The reason for this is because the call itself is extremely specific. You have to make a specific vowel in your mouth to give the sound, but a Nihoman can never make the exact sound. It is close enough, but it varies vastly between people. In nooks themselves, their subtle differences are done to identify each other. The differences are in the pitch, volume, and tone.
"A Nihoman person learns this call when he or she is fifteen. It is learned in another ceremony called by the same title. It symbolizes that the person is halfway to the taming ceremony.
"When the person makes the Kakegoe Nook, every nook in the area will hear it and answer. The nooks will begin to circle all around the person, calling out to each other and the participant. The participant must continue to call back. The nooks will know the person is not part of their gajok, so many of them will leave. However, there is a large possibility that a nook will become interested in the person and will land. Since the person is making a nook cry, it will not immediately attack.
"The person then stands very still as the nook inspects him or her. Most of the time this is done by growling, sniffing, and opening the mouth and snarling. Nooks constantly test each other member in the gajok this way. This is the first test, called the Lei. The Lei is the nook's testing of the person's courage. If the person does not waver, the nook then tests the person's loyalty. This is the second test, called the Boqin. In the Boqin the nook begins to roar the aggressive cry and extends its claws towards the person. If the person tries to attack the nook, they will either be killed or the nook will leave, depending its temperament. If the person does not react and remains faithful to the nook, not attacking at all but obediently waiting for whatever is to come, the nook will calm itself.
"The Boqin is where many injuries occur. A nook's temperament varies greatly, particularly with gender. A nook-nami is far more aggressive and hard to read. One can think she is just testing him and then she suddenly attacks. A nook-moko is far easier to understand, which is why many people tame male nooks."
"If the nook chooses you, how is it people choose to tame male nooks instead?" Carh'la asked.
"It depends on the area you chose to look for nooks." Kobayashi answered. "In Changying, there are more female nooks than males, but in other areas males have a higher population, many a time because the females get into deadly fights with each other over territory and being the nook-sama.
"Now, if the person passes the Boqin, the nook does one final test by flying away and sounding the Kakegoe Nook. The person has to respond and follow the nook as far as possible. I have heard that many nooks lead their followers to the edge of a cliff and see if the person actually jumps to get to them. It is very rare, but when it happens, over half of the people don't go through with it, and I can't really blame them, because you still aren't sure if the nook accepts you or is just playing with you.
"This final test is called the Honghui. Those who pass this test become a tengfei deshi if it is a male nook who accepted them or a longwei deshi if it is a female nook. This is the second stage of the taming ceremony.
"The nook that accepted the person then takes the person to its gajok. If the nook-sama accepts the person, then the person becomes a full-fledged longwei or tengfei and flies the nook back to his or her home.
"In the olden days people would live or die by the results of the taming ceremony. If a nook did not choose a person, they were considered not worthy to live and would perform a ritualistic suicide. If a nook attacked a person, they were not to defend themselves. Nowadays, the tradition is far more lenient. If a nook attacks, you are entitled to defend yourself. Many a time the mikio comes to your aid as well."
"Wow," Jifo blinked. "That's some ceremony."
"Indeed," Obi-Wan agreed.
"Yes, and it creates a mutual respect between the person and the nook," Kobayashi nodded. "Minh is a perfect example. He lounges around in the royal stable but he is allowed to go whenever he wishes. It is out of respect and mutual friendship that he remains and helps my brother. Only out of respect for my brother does he fly for me. That is why I had to take something of my brother's and present it to Minh before we left."
"Isn't it true that chuuno kill nooks?" Shiine asked.
"Yes, it is," Kobayashi answered. "They are the only ones allowed to do so and it is only in their special coming of age ceremony. They must kill one and only one nook in order to prove their worthiness as warriors. Many a time the nook is selected by its own nook-sama."
"Wait, nooks take part in the ceremony?" Rowan sounded bewildered.
"They do," Kobayashi confirmed. "A mikio approaches the nooks' gajok and the nook-sama selects a nook to fight the warrior. If the warrior kills the nook sent then the gajok departs. If the nook kills the warrior, the mikio leaves and the warrior is devoured. Warriors are the only people on Nihoma who cannot go through a taming ceremony."
"That makes me glad I'm not a warrior," Jifo quickly said.
Kobayashi laughed. "Yes, there aren't many out there who choose the path of a chuuno, but those who do and survive are hailed for their strength and courage. It stays with them forever. Women who are chuuno wear a nook-tooth headdress and men use their scales as armor."
"So how could you tell the difference between a "tame" nook and a wild one?" Marrax inquired.
"You said something about her horns," Obi-Wan prompted.
Kobayashi smiled. "When a nook is newly tamed, just after flying its new partner back to his or her home, the person files down the nook's horns slightly in order to prevent injury. Wild nooks' horns are far longer and sharper than tame ones."
"Don't the nooks mind?" Ooke asked.
"In the beginning they're a little irritable because of it," Kobayashi admitted. "But a wild nook naturally files down its horns while a tame one doesn't have that luxury most of the time. Eventually the nook grows accustomed to the practice. With nook-nami, people often tie decorative bead necklaces to their horns."
"So… since we're on vacation, Minh is on vacation, too?" Numel ascertained.
"Exactly,"
"But then how are we going to find him when we need to leave?"
"You sound the Kakegoe Nook. That cry is used to identify each other. Nooks have extremely good hearing, so Minh will hear me when I call for him. He is familiar with my cry."
"Fascinating," Shiine muttered.
Obi-Wan enjoyed the conversation until he sensed a wild presence nearby. He stopped walking along with Anakin, and everyone else noticed.
"What's wrong?" Moeema asked.
"Something's nearby," Obi-Wan said softly.
Suddenly a deafening ear-splitting shriek was heard to their left and an incredibly strong gust of wind nearly knocked everyone off their feet. A set of blue wings were seen and then a nook-nami suddenly appeared. She growled and looked at them, her yellowish eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Nobody move," Kobayashi instructed in a strained tone.
The dragon sniffed around them and opened her mouth dangerously and let out a roar loud enough to leave Obi-Wan's ears ringing. The roar was the same shriek as earlier.
"What does that mean?" Obi-Wan whispered.
"That's a warning cry," Kobayashi yelled. "Let's get out of here!"
Everyone scrambled and tripped over themselves to follow Kobayashi. Obi-Wan hazarded a glance back at the dragon to see her watching them and snarling but not pursuing.
They ran up and down slopes and between humungous trees until they reached the edge of a cliff and saw a large lake. They were back at the lake retreat.
"Thank the Force," Obi-Wan muttered, gasping for air.
"You weren't joking when you said the females are more aggressive!" Numel panted.
"Is everyone still in one piece?" Carh'la asked the group. Everyone muttered in reply.
Moeema suddenly jerked into a stiff standing position. "Where's Little One?"
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan looked around wildly, only to see that Anakin was nowhere to be found. "Stars' end,"
The group ran back as fast as they could. Kobayashi led them on the same path they had run just minutes ago. Trees passed by in a flash as Obi-Wan used the Force to increase his speed. Why, oh why, did Anakin have to be so impulsive?
Obi-Wan reached the area where the dragon had been and searched around frantically. "Anakin! Anakin!"
He heard laughter to his right and a roar. "Ah, blast,"
Kobayashi and the others finally arrived, wheezing.
"That's not a good roar to hear while we're around," Kobayashi said between gasps.
"Why is that?" Obi-Wan asked.
"That's the Kakegoe Nook," Kobayashi explained. "And I believe she's calling all of her gajok to this spot."
"Oh, wonderful," Obi-Wan groaned. "Anakin, where are you?"
His question was answered when he saw another female dragon enter the area once again. Anakin was sitting on her head.
"What—Anakin get down!" Obi-Wan yelled.
"But she says I can do it," Anakin pouted.
"Who says that?"
Anakin patted the dragon's head.
Obi-Wan sighed when he suddenly paused and took a second glance at the dragon. "Wait, you're the dragon I flew here!"
The dragon looked at him for a moment before covering him with saliva after a nice big wet tongue licked his entire body.
The first female dragon that had threatened them earlier walked into the small clearing, glaring at them viciously. Obi-Wan suddenly had an idea and looked at Anakin, who nodded encouragingly.
Using the Force, Obi-Wan managed to calm her down.
This was when he finally realized why Anakin had tamed his dragon so quickly. Blast, these dragons were Force sensitive! No wonder they were so intelligent!
That also explained the dragons' liking for Anakin and Obi-Wan specifically.
"Anakin, get down from there, the others might get hurt!" he said.
Anakin immediately leapt off the dragon's head. "Why?"
"Uh…" Jifo pointed wordlessly in horror as the larger dragon—the one who had threatened them earlier—reared her head back to bite.
"Run!"
The group immediately sought refuge in the thickly forested area once more, though the trees were so large they were spaced well enough to let a dragon pass between them. However, the dragon did not pursue them. She merely let out her warning cry once more and then flew away.
"I suppose that's her territory," Obi-Wan said in a conversational tone.
"You'd better kriffing believe it!" Kobayashi yelled back as they frantically rushed back to the retreat and inside the retreat, needlessly slamming the door shut behind them.
Sighing, Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's arm and led him to his bed. "Sleep. Now."
Anakin grudgingly complied, muttering, "Spoilsport,"
Obi-Wan left the room as Anakin's roommates filed in. He then went to his own room and collapsed on the bed.
What a day.
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