Wookiee Rage
The golden-furred wookiee felt good, knowing that he had returned to his home once more. It had been far too long since Frreral had returned to Kashyyyk. He looked as far as the eye could see at the beautiful night sky, as the stars peppered the sky above him, the cool fresh air delighting his nostrils as he breathed it in. He could feel the vibrancy of life as it flowed around the planet, as nature had found its own balance with the wookiees and the dangerous Shadowlands.
The wroshyr trees stood tall and proud, as its leaves shook gently, making soft sounds and whistles in the air reminding Frreral of what he missed of his home. He even met members of his family before he met with the Chieftain, Freyyr, to discuss what the situation was.
It appeared that groups of promising warriors and even veteran warriors had gone down into the Shadowlands for hunting—but all of them never returned. Soon even small searching parties were sent out, but even they didn't return. Whatever had been found in the Shadowlands had certainly caused many wookiees never to return—and that even included Frreral's father.
Breathing deeply, Frreral prepared himself as many other wookiees accompanied him, guiding him down into the Shadowlands. For years, the wookiees had fostered a great relationship with the Jedi, and now Frreral—one of their own—returned to aid his brothers, and prove that the relationship with the Jedi had not been forgotten.
One of the wookiees, a younger dark furred guide, informed him that they were approaching the final descent.
Frreral nodded and breathed deeply, centering himself as he felt the tumultuous vibrations of the Force. The Dark Side seemed to thrive in the Shadowlands—and it seemed to be a lot stronger and ranker than he had remembered during his previous treks into the dark place. He moved one furry paw towards his belt—the only visible sign of clothing— and unhooked the lightsaber that rested there.
As the lift shuddered as it touched on the ground, Frreral looked at his companions, all of whom were carrying bowcasters, and nodded. "Thank you for the lift, brothers," he said, as he left the lift and nodded to them to leave.
They wasted no time in making their way up. It seemed that this was something that called for the strength of more than a wookiee. A wookiee Jedi seemed a natural answer.
Frreral began to tread through the dark covered forest, passing through the murky puddles of water and the desiccated remains of hunts from centuries past. He felt the waves of the Dark Side surround him, and ignoring it was all he could do to suppress a shudder. This place is rank with the Dark Side, he thought. I better tread carefully, there's no telling what could have become twisted in this power. I feel nothing but disturbances in the Force.
He passed through a rocky dale, and tread through, sensing nothing but elusive presences. He knew there were small primates that hung around the area, but they were harmless. What bothered him was that they all seemed to be drawn to him, almost as if he were a pillar of light in the darkness around them. More importantly, they seemed to be fleeing away from where he was heading, which led him to believe that he was on the right track. Yet, he could still feel a dark presence that forced him to suppress his fears and to ignore the tingling feeling he had at the base of his spine.
He paused for a moment as a scent wafted its way towards his nostrils, causing his primate-like face to scrunch up into an expression of disgust. He instantly recognized the scent: decomposing bodies. He walked up a bit further before he noticed a pile of decomposing wookiees. Oh sith--, he thought as he was cut off by a loud piercing growl and a large and heavy arm sent him flying into the nearest trunk of a large wroshyr tree.
As he collided with the trunk, he shook his head and realized his lightsaber had left his hand. He also noticed a large, green, bipedal and heavily armoured creature that stood before him. "Great," he moaned, "it's a Terentatek." He rolled over to one side as the creature came at him, eager to crush him. He closed his eyes and felt the familiar cold tingle of his lightsaber in his hands, as his eyes snapped open once more and a golden blade came forth from the hilt.
Frreral couldn't help but smile.
The Dark Side creature couldn't care less about the wookiee's weapon and grin, as it charged towards him once more, eager to tear its teeth into his precious body.
Calling on the Force to spring him high over his foe, Frreral leapt over the creature, spiraling around and arcing his golden blade to slice into the creature's hide, causing it to scream out as the precious thrumming of the lightsaber made its glorious song.
Rolling off to the side, Frreral quickly rose and ushered the Force into his hand and sending the creature crashing into the nearest tree, while he continued to repeatedly hurl the Force at the creature, wearing it down.
The creature screamed, and clapped its hands together, sending Frreral flying into the corpses of his comrades.
The wookiee rose and sent out a warcry as he rushed the creature head-on.
The terentatek did the same.
Anticipating the Dark Side creature to swipe at him, Frreral lunged and curled his body as he rolled on the ground, narrowly missing the creature's swing. As Frreral rose out of the crouch he spun about and swung out with his blade, catching the terentatek through its plated chest, the scent of seared flesh began to waft around the pair.
The creature screamed as it felt the hot bite of the blade tear into its chest, as slash after slash made its way across its chest.
Frreral continued unabated, arcing his blade in a horizontal circle, slicing off both of the beast's arms and driving the golden blade into the chest of the terentatek, ending its life and howling screams.
He felt the shuddering and pass of the creature's life, and felt a void open up in the Force, dissipating some of the Dark Side around the Shadowlands. "I bid you adieu," he said softly—or what would be considered softly for a wookiee—as he deactivated the shaft of golden energy.
He felt a small stinging pain as he hooked his lightsaber to his belt and noticed he was bleeding. He had been pierced with the bone of one of the fallen wookiees when he had been sent there via the terentatek's Force shove. He noticed that the blood had begun to mat some of his fur where he had been pierced.
He shook his head. "Seems you landed a powerful blow yourself," he said to the fallen beast. His head shot up as he felt several powerful tremors in the Force—right behind him. He realized then that the terentatek had not been the cause of deaths—a warrior would have handled the creature. The presences behind him had to have been the cause of deaths of the wookiees. And those presences were obviously feeding off of the Dark Side energy within the Shadowlands.
He spun about as quickly as he could, his lightsaber found its way in his hand as the golden shaft of energy shot forth. He suddenly found himself flying away quickly, but he managed to steal a glance at what those massive Force presences were: three deformed humanoids with malevolent grins widely spread across their gruesome features.
Aberrations of the Living Force, he thought as he crashed against a rocky outcropping. His lightsaber left his hand and deactivated, falling somewhere around the pile of corpses. All air exploded from his lungs as his vision went black for a moment, only to regain itself as his eyes noticed the three forms staring down at him.
He heard one of the voices speak in a strange dialect—almost as if it were Mandalorian or something else. Another voice—identical to the first—replied instantly. There was something subtle about this one, almost as if it had control over the other two—and yet their presences were familiar. Frreral couldn't be sure where he had known them, but he knew that killing them would be a favour he should grant.
He would have to act first and quickly, especially since he could feel their desire to feast on him. He felt for control of his hands—which seemed perfectly fine—and shot them up, sending the three flying back and far away from him.
On instinct, he rose, growling in anger as his lightsaber found its way back into his hand. He ignited the blade and poised himself as the three leapt at him head-on. Death was becoming a reality he couldn't face yet.
If he were killed now, the Order wouldn't know what kind of threat these creatures were—and it was possible they were fellow Jedi who became test subjects for some cruel Jedi-designed viral weapon. Frreral knew that if he were to die, another Jedi would be sent here and would probably join the same fate. The wookiee knew that he wouldn't let that happen. He'd make sure to take these creatures down with him, if it came to that.
They revealed their claws as they came flying at him.
He brought his lightsaber up; he would kill them if necessary—and it seemed too likely he would have to face that reality.
And in a blur, he arced his blade around him, only to watch the three figures go flying away from him, where one of the hapless creatures were sliced in half by Frreral's golden blade.
A dark-cloaked figure leapt out from the shadows and slashed at one of the fallen humanoids with an emerald coloured lightsaber, as it thrummed its song of death, shearing away an arm of the final beast and decapitating it in one final stroke.
Frreral poised himself for an attack and merely said, "thanks for the help. Who are you?"
The calm and gruff voice replied, "What is it with you wookiees and trying to kill me? I am no enemy—I mean you no harm. I am an old ally of the Jedi." He chuckled softly before adding, "no pun intended."
"That still doesn't answer my question," Frreral said fiercely, surprised that this figure understood Shyriiwook.
The cloaked figure turned around, a hood over their face and deactivated their lightsaber, clipping it to their belt. With both hands, the figure removed the hood, to reveal an old dark skinned man that bore a strange resemblance to Cyrin Jace. He had a snow-white goatee and smiled when he introduced himself. "I am Jolee Bindo, who are you—and what in the blazes were they?"
