Year Five – Day 200
Dooku is taller since his last entry over a year ago. He's grown quite a bit and seems more confident than when he was last seen. He's nine years old now and is presently floating several heavy looking objects in the air around him with little effort on his part. At least until someone interrupted his concentration with a tackle from out of no where.
Lor!
Ha! Got you!
The objects fell around them with a heavy thud. The two boys wrestle a bit in front of the recorder with Lorian coming out on top and winning the match. Dooku scowls, displeased at losing and being pinned. He shoves his friend off him with the Force and Lorian falls back on his rump.
"Cheater!" Lorian accused in jest.
Yeah well, you cheated in sneaking up on me.
Lorian comes back over and sits in front of Dooku, who is scowling over his shoulder.
Lets go do something.
I'm already doing something, Dooku replied.
What? Recording on this thing again? Its all you ever do, Yan! Come on, I discovered a new passage yesterday and I want to try out a new idea on Master Ollicu. It'll be a blast, I promise!
Dooku looks hesitant as Lorian turns to the recorder.
It'll be the best ever!
The blonde boy gets up and tugs at his friend's arm. Dooku is reluctant but after a moment, he lets his friend drag him to his feet and the recording ends with him gesturing at the device.
Year Five – Day 200B
Dooku is wearing a scowl as he dries his wet hair before he begins this entry a few hours after the last one.
Lorian is going to get me expelled. His grand idea to try on Master Ollicu got us running for our lives. Apparently the Quarren master did not appreciate having his mobile humidifier reprogrammed to emit a green mist whenever he tried to use it. He knew immediately who was responsible upon seeing us slinking about some pillars in the Grand Hall. We ran as if we had a Sith Lord on our tails.
We might as well have had one because Ollicu was clearly not pleased in being turned into a sickly green color by two younglings who apparently have nothing better to do than to pull pranks on him. Of course we were prepared to make a quick get away, what we were not prepared for is that Master Ollicu knew our plans somehow. I guess he used the Force to figure out that we simply did not vanish into thin air when we ran into the meditation room just off the Hall, because the next thing we knew the door to the secret passage opened up in front of us and this greenish ghoul with tentacles wiggling in irritation glared down at us.
One of us screamed, I think it was Lorian. It might have been me, I'm not really sure which of us yelled like a girl. We were too busy running down the narrow passage for our lives to tease the other about it. Ollicu right behind us. I knew he could have ended the chase very easily by grabbing both of us with the Force, but I think he wanted to, and very successfully, scare us into never bothering him again. We were very much afraid of getting caught by him and if I hadn't grabbed Lorian by the arm and dashed out through another door, we would have been horribly lost in the hidden passages. We haven't exactly found all the entrances and tunnels yet and had been warned by older Padawans that it was very easy to get lost in the hidden labryinth.
We found ourselves just outside of a refectory and would have run into the mess hall to escape but we both knew it would only delay the inevitable. Ollicu would have found us even amongst the throng of younglings and Jedi. Before I could even say "We're trapped!", Lorian grabbed me by the arm and dragged me over to a chute cover inside the refectory and immediately I knew what he had in mind.
"No!" I remember protesting. "That's a garbage chute!"
"I know! It's the only way to get away. He won't suspect it! Now get in!" Lor had commanded and helped me into the chute first. I cried out in fright as my feet gave way and gravity took over. I slid down the narrow chute, cringing at the thought of being covered in all sorts of food and liquid and praying that the ride would end soon.
It did, in a spectacular and stomach churning splash. I surfaced with a gasp and spitting out something green and slimy, and trying not to gag on the fact that I had consumed fetid water before coming back up. I looked up in time to hear Lorian coming down the chute and with a cry of excitement he landed next to me, further covering me in more filth. I helped him up and he pulled from the top of his head something reminiscent of Ollicu's chin tentacles and then laughed.
"That was... AWESOME!" I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster. How could he think flying through a garbage chute and landing in a trash compactor, awesome? We were filthy and the place smelled horribly!
"Let's get out of here," I had said and sloshed my way toward the door. I was thankful that the water only went as high as our waist. I did not want to swim any more in this foul stuff than I had to. "When we get out of here, I won't ever complain to Master Naki about taking a bath again."
"Haha," chuckled Lorian from behind me as we climbed up to the small ledge that was the door alcove. He stopped laughing when we tried to open the door and it wouldn't budge and I could sense that he was starting to grow worried that his brilliant plan of escape was not so brilliant after all. "Um... you don't see a control pad do you?"
"No," I replied with heavy concern. How were we going to get out of here and when was the last time the compactor compressed the garbage? As if to answer my unspoken questions, we heard a grinding noise in the background. I met Lorian's gaze as he met mine and we both knew we were in serious trouble.
I seriously did not want to become a Jedi pancake and because of my thoughts of coming to such an inglorious end were quite vivid, I panicked. I did not panic in the same way Gorek panics, clutching at my hair and stomping my feet. No, I simply just froze in place, breathing heavily. I was petrified and Lor could sense it. My fear of being smashed under a pile of refuse did not help him either and the next thing we both knew, we were banging on the door, calling out for help, praying to the Force that someone heard us.
The sound of groaning and twisting metal and squelching liquid and whatever else was in here with us, added to the noise of the walls slowly compressing together. We gave up trying to call for help and turned our backs to the door, pressing them as far as we could to flatten ourselves. The alcove was not very wide, only less than half a foot in depth and it wasn't enough to safely press ourselves into to avoid the closing walls. There was also the problem of the trash being compressed in our direction. If we weren't flattened, we would surely be impaled instead!
"If we survive this, we are not doing this again!" I declared as my imagination played against me and I envisioned myself being impaled by forks that some absent-minded Jedi had accidentally thrown away rather than setting it with the rest of the utensils and trays for washing.
"Agreed!" Lor concurred next to me. As the walls drew ever and frighteningly closer, I remembered closing my eyes and turning my head away, not wanting to witness my own death. I could hear my father, whom I can barely remember now, shaking his head and regrettably commenting on my end. It went something along the line of 'It was probably fortunate then, that we had given him away if he managed to bring shame by getting himself killed on Temple garbage.' I wanted to please my parents so much, that I knew they would be ashamed and disappointed if I died this way.
And then, suddenly, everything stopped.
Tentatively, I opened one eye to look and saw the walls had desisted in their attempt to turn us into Jedi pancakes, just inches after passing the threshold that was the alcove. We glanced at each other and wondered what had happened. Had the machine broke? Did it realize there was something alive down here? Did someone realize we were down here? Our questions were answered when the door that we were pressed up against suddenly opened and we both fell unceremoniously backwards and before a pair of clawed, green and hairy feet.
I looked up from my sprawled position at a derisively serious face of our Grand Master. He leaned on his cane and his ears twitched ever so slightly that to anyone who didn't know him, would think he was irritated. But I knew him well enough to know he was amused.
Very amused.
"A wonderful smell, you two have discovered, yes?" he chuckled, finally showing the amusement I knew he was feeling. Quickly we gathered ourselves up and I tried to make myself as presentable as possible for the venerable Jedi Master, but I knew I reeked horribly. The wrinkle of his nose indicated as much. "To the showers you two shall go, then meditate on what you have learned from this. Tease Master Ollicu, you shall no more."
"Yes, Master Yoda!" we both said in unison. He prodded us on our way with a tap of his cane and we hurried as quickly as we could for our creche. We did not hear the end of our misadventure when we got back to the creche. Master Naki was waiting for us with a clean set of clothes and towels and lots of soap, and a very long lecture.
Dooku reached for the comb and started combing his hair back as he continued his tale.
I never felt so relieved in having a bath before until now. Master Naki had ushered us both into the community showers, not wanting us to track our new found filth through the creche common room. She made sure we were alone first before she had us strip out of our dirty robes, in which she hesitantly took and held by her fingertips before discarding, and ushered us into a stall. The cold water was a relief and the nerf-smelling soap bar was far more pleasant than what we had been covered in.
Of course, Lorian couldn't be serious about the whole thing and started joking as we suds up. "A wonderful smell you two have discovered!" he cracked up in his poor imitation of Master Yoda. I glowered at him when he pushed his soap bar in my face. "This thing smells just as bad as the garbage."
"It smells better," I countered. "Though I wouldn't mind what Master Naki uses."
"Sssh! She doesn't know we snuck into her rooms," Lor reminded me and I took a moment to recall another of our misadventures where we had been eight and had dared to trespass into our creche-masters domain to see what it was like. We had discovered Master Naki kept a colorful avian for a pet and Lor had made a comment in which the bird repeated, repeatedly. It also happened to include my name. I had managed to quiet the creature and we got out before our creche-master returned to find out what was going on. I still think that the beast ratted us out cause every time we see it perched on Master Naki's shoulder, it would repeat the same comment and ending with my name.
'Don't be such a Neimodian, Yan!' Master Naki never inquired as to why the avian kept calling me a coward. But I think she knew and because of that, I simply rolled my eyes at my friend and scrubbed furiously at the filth all over my body. When we were done, Master Naki dressed us and sent us back to the creche and to our small rooms to meditate. Which is what I should be doing right now instead of this.
The sound of fabric moving is heard off-screen and Dooku looks over to see what it was. He frowned as Lorian came into view and sat beside him.
You shouldn't be here.
I know, but I can't meditate and I see you're not either.
I will be after I finish with this.
Dooku gestures at the holorecorder and wrinkles his nose at Lorian.
You still smell.
You smell like nerf.
At least I don't smell like yesterdays leftovers and who knows what else was down there.
Maybe we should go raid Master Naki's perfumes?
NO!
Dooku's shout startled Lorian and he stared at his friend strangely. The taller boy quickly apologized for his outburst and began to explain.
I don't want to get in trouble twice in one day. Maybe you should just go and ask Master Naki for another bath?
No way! Besides, I'm clean though maybe not as squeaky clean as you. You're skin is red.
Dooku looks down at his exposed arms dubiously and then sighs softly.
I had to get it off. I still feel dirty.
You alright, Yan? You never had a problem with being dirty before.
That was before taking a swim in garbage, Lor.
I suppose. Come on, lets find something to do and if Master Naki shows up, we can say we wanted to meditate together.
Dooku shook his head at his friend and gave him a look that suggested Naki would not fall for such a fabrication.
She knows we don't like to meditate, so that won't work. Besides, I'm not feeling all that well anyway. I think I swallowed too much of the garbage stew.
Ewww. You should go to the Healers just in case you swallowed a dianoga.
He gave Lorian a dubious look and the blonde boy broke out into a fit of giggles.
What's so funny?
It took Lorian a few minutes to stop laughing and with tears in his eyes he replied,
Just a thought I had, of you swallowing a dianoga.
Ha ha, very funny. I'm serious, I'm not feeling all that...
He didn't finish the sentence before he shot up to his feet and bolted for the refresher. The unmistakable sounds of someone unloading their stomach contents could be faintly heard in the background. Lorian got up a moment later when his friend didn't come back and he could be heard off-screen.
"Yan? You alright?"
No reply.
"Ewww! Master Naaaaaakiiiii!" Lorian could be seen running across the recorder's screen as he hurried out. "Yan upchucked a dianoga!"
"I did not!" Dooku shouted miserably from the refresher. Lorian returned with Master Naki a second later. Quietly she could be heard speaking to the young boy.
"My goodness, you didn't swallow anything in that compactor did you? Come on, lets get you to the Healer's Ward..."
"I don't wanna die, Master," complained a miserable Dooku as he's carried out of the bedroom, Lorian tailing right behind them both, looking concerned.
"I doubt you will, youngling. You probably ingested something disagreeable and which Healer Ioyna can't fix."
"She'll have to operate to remove the rest of the dianoga, Yan," teased Lorian and the silence that followed suggested Dooku was glaring daggers at his friend. The holorecorder shut down a second later.
