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After traversing the mountain pass, and entering the mountain valley that would lead them to the Singing Mountains. Saurian fliers attacked. The Sisters from both clans defended the people by tossing small rocks into the bodies of the Saurians. They did not want to kill them, just hurt them enough, so that they would be looking for a meal somewhere else. Of the non-force users, it was only Andriel and Chitrah that had raised their fighting sticks, which were being used as walking sticks, to defend themselves and Erin. The rest of the people just crouched down and cowered in fear.
The hardest part with this expedition, was finding a suitable place to set up the tents each evening. If they were looking for a place only for the tents, it would not have been a problem. But they were also looking for a place where all the Sisters could practise their new moves. And they needed a place, preferably with soft ground, where Andriel and Chitrah, could train the women in self-defence.
Andriel and Chitrah had brought their practise suits, in their own backpacks, which made the packs look like they were stuffed to overflowing. Erin had seen his parents in their practise suits before, but had never seen them practise. There were plenty of girls and women in the village that volunteered to look after him, while the parents went out to practise. So when he saw them starting to throw each other around, he started to cry, because he thought they were hurting each other. They had to stop quite often to reassure him that they were only playing, and not really hurting each other. It was only after they stopped, and Andriel came over to hold him, while the rest of the women got up to try and copy, what Andriel and Chitrah had just shown them, that Erin did realise that it was only play, because the rest of the woman were also doing it. With some of the women laughing at themselves.
The next morning after they had their breakfast, and were starting to pack everything up. The Saurian fliers returned, and there was more of them. This time some of the women also raised their fighting sticks, like Andriel and Chitrah. Why should they cower, when they had the ability to defend themselves? Andriel and Chitrah were proud that some of what they taught was sinking in. The Sisters were able to drive them off, without killing any of them. After all, this was their territory, they were the invaders. That evening Erin did not cry as he sat in the lap of one of the women, watching his parents practise. The next morning, when the Saurian fliers returned in even greater numbers. All the women raised their fighting sticks, showing that they were ready to defend themselves. This time the Saurian fliers broke of their attack early. There were no longer any easy targets among them, and they never returned.
After a few days of playing Moog and Rancor, amongst the branches of the forest. The children were bored, and wanted something else to do, but did not want to interrupt Kreen with her training. They had found all the Sisters that were guarding the training area, while playing Moog and Rancor. So they decided to go talk with them. They found out that they were all sensitive to life force, like Krillgan, and that they were all healers. They were the ones who told them about the little men of the forest, and that they had nests nearby, near the top of the forest canopy. The children decided they wanted to visit the Purbole. After all, climbing a three hundred meter tall tree, is much easier than climbing the 800 meter escarpment.
As they neared the canopy, Krillgan had them slow down. He could sense that lifeforms were approaching them. Suddenly they found themselves under attack. Someone was throwing Basilly nuts and small branches at them. Krillgan's reaction was to catch them using the force, and throw them right back. No one told him that it was supposed to be hard to do, using the force like that. Ludia caught them using the force. She kept the nuts, and tried throwing the branches back with her hand, only they never went where she wanted them to. Diennu first made herself appear real small, and became invisible to the Purbole. Then she reached out with the force, to see if she could communicate with them, like she could with the Rancor. She found it much harder to communicate, believing it was because they were not as intelligent. She was able to find out why they were throwing things at the children. The Purbole that she was able to have open up to her, said that they smelt like Rancor. They were afraid that they would lead the Rancor right to them. She told the Purbole that if they continue to throw sticks at the children, then they will become angry and go get the Rancor. So the Purbole convinced the rest of the pack to stop throwing sticks. The pack had already started slowing down in throwing sticks. Because Krillgan was able to throw them right back where they came from. They did not like being hit by a stick they just threw.
Diennu asked the Purbole if they were throwing the Basilly nuts, because they contain poison.
When they were playing Moog and Rancor, they found some Basilly nuts. After they removed the outer husk to get to the hard shell of the nut inside, Krillgan told them to stop. There was poison in the nut itself.
The Purbole told her that the nuts, are food. They throw them because they are easy to throw. She asked him, how they get rid of the poison? He told her that fire chases the poison away. She asked him, how they will know that it is safe to eat a nut? The Purbole told her that the nut will tell you when it is ready for you to eat it. She asked how they will know. The Purbole was getting angry with the voice in its head. "YOU WILL KNOW!"
Diennu told Ludia and Krillgan, that they can eat the nuts, if they chase the poison away using fire. Ludia already had a small collection of nuts, but nothing to carry them in. Krillgan took off his shirt, and tied the end of the sleeves, and the head hole. He handed his shirt to Ludia to fill with nuts. Diennu told the Purbole that they can throw some more nuts, the children will not throw them back, and will not be angry with them. The Purbole had a lot of nuts. So Diennu and Ludia took off their blouses, and did what Krillgan had done to his shirt. When they had them all full. Diennu told the Purbole that they can stop throwing nuts. She told the Purbole that she knows the woman who is in charge of this territory that they are in. The children were going to take their nuts, and present it as a gift to her on their behalf. Because she also controls the Rancor. Whenever they go out to harvest the nuts, they should bring some as a gift to her, so that she will not send the Rancor after them, but will protect them.
The children descended with their improvised sacks of nuts, and some of the Purbole followed them, to see who they would give the nuts to.
Amblin-Elu had come to the training area, to see how the training is going, and to get Kreen's report on the challenge. She found her at the edge of the clearing, staring up into the trees. She asked Kreen, where the children are, and Kreen pointed up into the trees. She told Mother that the children had talked to the guards earlier today. Instead of coming back to the training area, or continuing with their exercises. The one guard noticed that they went up towards the canopy. She came back to warn us, because Purbole have their nests up there.
When Kreen first started looking into the trees, she spotted a shower of sticks that petered out, then stopped. But no activity since. She did not want to go charging up the trees, in case the children had managed somehow to communicate with them, and she showed up and upset everything. Mother told Kreen that she did the right thing. Even though as a mother, she wanted to charge straight up there to check things out. Instead she reached out with the force, to see if she could detect them up there. She was able to sense the children approaching. They were not alarmed, they seemed their usual cheerful selves. They were also being followed by three creatures. But they were too far apart to be chasing them. Probably making sure they left their area. A short time later Kreen said that she could see them, and they appear to be descending quite quickly.
A short time later Kreen spoke again, "Oh my gosh! You're not going to believe this. None of them has their tops on." Amblin-Elu could also see that all three of them were naked above the waist, which to her was not a big thing, because they are all children. They were all carrying something that looked like a sack.
When they drew closer, Ambling-Elu knew what had become of their tops. The other Sisters in the training area, had stopped their training, when they noticed that Mother, Butashe and Kreen had been staring up into the trees for a while. They had started coming over to see what was going on. Suddenly the children jumped down out of the trees. Both Diennu, and Ludia, dropped their sacks and jumped into their mothers arms. Ludia started telling her mother about encountering the Purbole, and how they threw sticks and nuts at them. Diennu made herself invisible, she just caught what was thrown at her, but Krillgan was able to catch them and throw it right back, just as hard. Amblin-Elu told her daughter that this was a good skill to have. Maybe she can get him to teach her.
After hugging her daughter, Butashe told her daughter, "It is not proper for a young lady to remove her blouse in the presence of a gentleman." Krillgan, wanting to defend his friends, told her, "There was no gentleman up there. Just me." Which made all the Sisters laugh, including the two mothers. Krillgan could not understand what they were laughing about. Diennu, and Ludia, could not understand what they were laughing at either. He just told the truth.
The children showed Mother all the nuts they had obtained from the Purbole. The Purbole had watched long enough to see. Who was the important one! Who was the one in charge! Then they returned to their pack. They knew who to give the gifts to, next time they harvested the nuts.
Mother asked them, if they knew that the nuts contained poison? The girls told her that they knew, because Krillgan had told them. Mother wondered how Krillgan knew. Butashe had emptied her daughter's blouse, untied the knots, and started dressing her, all the while Diennu was giving Mother a detailed account of her conversation with the Purbole. When Ludia saw what her aunt was doing with her cousin, she decided to do the same before her mother starts dressing her in front of all the Sisters. She whispered to Krillgan that he should put his top back on. Apparently the Sisters don't like to see them without their tops on. Krillgan shrugged his shoulders, and did as he was told. After Mother was sure she understood what her niece had told her. She found a large flat rock, and started to recreate the Purpole fire pit that was drawn in the book of Knowledge and Wisdom. She built a small fire in the centre of the large flat rock. She surrounded the fire with a ring of small flat rocks. She then started to remove the husk from the hard shelled nut inside, and placed one on each small flat rock. Other Sisters that were near, did what she did, and soon every small flat rock had a nut sitting on top of it. They waited to see, how the nut would tell them it was ready for them to eat. A number of minutes passed and nothing happened. Some of the Sisters wondered if Diennu had understood the Purbole correctly. Suddenly one of the shells of a nut snapped open with a crack. Which made everyone jump, then laugh. Mother picked the nut up, as it had jumped off of the rock. In a matter of seconds, all the other shells snapped open, which made everyone jump again. Mother said, that at least they know how the nut tells you it is ready to be eaten. Now they need some way to test it. Krillgan suggested that he be the first one to try it. Because he has Devaronian blood in him, he is immune to most poisons, and can also detect poisons in his food. This was the first time that any of the Sisters had heard this about Krillgan, including the Clan Mother.
Ludia told them that it was true, she told everyone what Krillgan had told her and Diennu about their walk to the Singing Mountain Clan's main village. How when Father Chitrah found a new type of berry that they had not eaten before, he would wait for Mother Andriel or Krillgan, to come to the bush, and test the berry to see if it had poison in it. Diennu also shared what she remembered, how Krillgan never told Father Chitrah whether the berry had poison in it or not. Mother asked them why not? The two girls looked at each other, and answered together, "Because his mouth was full of berries." This again made all the Sisters laugh, because everyone knew how much Krillgan loved his berries.
So Mother allowed Krillgan to try the first nut. He sniffed it, than licked it, and told everyone that it had no poison inside. He popped it in his mouth and started chewing it. He said that there wasn't much of a taste, but would be nice to eat if you are hungry. The two girls tried it, and agreed with Krillgan. The senior most Sisters tried it next with mixed response. The rest of the Sisters cleaned the husk off of some nuts, and put them next to the fire to roast. After everyone had a sample, some said they liked it, others said there was not very much of a taste. They dumped the remainder of the nuts on a cloak, and tied it into a bundle, to take to the kitchen in the main village. Maybe they could think of a use for them.
When the nuts arrived, the lady in charge of the kitchen, remembered Mother Andriel asking if they had any type of roast nuts, and was disappointed when she told her no. She decided to put them aside until Mother Andriel came back. She would probably have some suggestions, as to how best to use them.
When the Clan Mother had a moment, she asked Kreen and her fellow healers, to present themselves in their hooded cloaks. Along with any evidence they had of their escapades. The Clan Mother asked her sister Butashe to sit in on the session when Kreen returns, and brought her up to speed on the challenge. Butashe had only known, that Kreen and the children were banished to the training area, while the guests were here. Now she was curious to know how well they did in the challenge, and what part her daughter played.
The two sisters had a hard time keeping a straight face when they saw the children in their hooded cloaks. They could not imagine how anyone mistook them for healers. After they presented their evidence, and explained what they did. Mother told them that they had almost lost the challenge on the first day. She told them that she thought she saw her daughter standing by the food table, but when she looked back to be sure, she wasn't there. Ludia was embarrassed, because she remembered Diennu reminding her that she had forgotten to make herself look small. Mother told them of how proud she was of all of them, for what they did, but reminded them that the challenge will continue, when their guests return from the Singing Mountains.
At the Singing Mountains, Andriel and Chitrah had told all the women, to take blankets, and spread them on the ground where they will be standing. They will understand why, afterwards. It would be impossible to explain beforehand. The Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, that had accompanied their guests, had become very close with the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, they felt that they too should have a chance to hear the mountains' song, if only briefly. They did not believe that the mountain's song was only for the people of the Singing Mountain Clan to hear. But they did believe that they had to protect the fact that there were large deposits of Dathomirite, on the tops of the Singing Mountains. To accomplish this, they convinced everyone, that they would have the best experience, if they kept their eyes closed. They were surprised by how quickly Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah, threw their support behind them. They convinced everyone that because it was an audio experience, they would hear it better with their eyes closed. They even had one of their Sisters with the musicians, to remind them to close their eyes when they stopped playing.
Andriel and Chitrah made sure that everyone had two people to hold hands with. The only exception being Andriel and Chitrah. Because Andriel was holding Erin in her right arm, Chitrah put his left arm around Andriel's back, holding both Andriel and Erin close to his heart. The people did not see the Saurian fliers when they took to the sky, when the musicians started tuning their instruments. If they had, they might have started to panic, thinking they were under imminent attack, and they had left their fighting sticks in their tents, as they were instructed. They missed seeing the Saurian fliers dance in the sky, when the musicians started to play. But they did hear the mountains awaken. They did feel the singing of the mountains in their bodies. Some of the women wept openly, but quietly, when they felt the singing. As slaves they never thought that they would experience anything so wonderful, or beautiful in their life. But because one woman, who still called them slaves, but let them know that they were worth more than any price that could be paid for them. They were able to experience something that was beyond their imagination. Erin started hugging both parents around their necks, when he felt the singing. The two Sisters who had taken charge, signalled the Sister to have the musicians stop playing, and close their eyes. When the Sister signalled back. The two Sisters reached out and briefly touched the mountains with the force. Like turning something on, then shutting it off right away. It was enough for the mountains to mix the force with the singing, and release a wave of the song. When the wave struck them, a number of women collapsed when the song went beyond the body, into the very core of their being. After the wave washed over them, everyone else lay down and went to sleep. The next morning, those that could get up, got up and prepared breakfast for everyone else, including the Rancor. The ones that could not get up, said that they could still feel the echo of the song in their being. All the evil that the Nighsisters had filled them with, was being purged from their being. Some even felt sorry for the Nightsisters. Though they could probably hear the mountains singing. They could never hear its song. If they did, it would destroy them.
Throughout that day, the wind kept the mountains singing. Surprisingly the people were not frightened by the sight of the Saurian Flyers dancing in the sky. In the valley everything was still. When it started getting dark in the mountains that evening. Everyone went back to their blankets, to sleep out in the open with their neighbours, in this most sacred place. It was the following morning, that everyone felt the mountains had released them. Allowing them to return to the Singing Mountain Clan.
The morning they returned from the Singing Mountains, the women told the Clan Mother that they were now willing to share their experience as living as slaves of the Nightsisters. The Clan Mother asked them, if they could do it that evening? The women agreed, so the Clan Mother sent out a notice of the meeting that evening, mandatory attendance by all Sisters. It was only the Sisters at the gates of all the villages that were excused from attending. Patrols continued without their Sisters, but were instructed not to engage Nightsisters. Just to continue with their patrols as if they did not see them. They were to let the Rangers track them and observe them.
After the women left, the Sister in charge of the trip to the Singing Mountains, told her Mother that she had disobeyed her, and let them hear a portion of the mountains' song. From the way the women talked, the Clan Mother suspected that she had. She asked her Sister to sit down, and to tell her what happened when they reached the Singing Mountains. The Sister started from when they entered the valley leading to the Singing Mountains. How Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah, were able to transform them from frightened cowardly women. To women who knew that they had the power in their own hands to defend themselves. The Clan Mother was surprised to hear about the reaction of most of the women, the morning after hearing the song, claiming they could not move because they could still hear the song inside of them. When she finished telling her Mother about what happened, she told her she was ready to face whatever punishment she gave her, for her disobedience. Amblin-Elu thought hard about the punishment this Sister should suffer for disobeying her. Finally she told her, that as punishment, she must share with all the Sisters, what she had just shared with her. When she was finished, she must then ask all the Sisters to forgive their Clan Mother for issuing an improper order. The mountains' song is not just for the Singing Mountain Clan, but for all the clans. They are just given the responsibility of protecting the source of the song. The Sister stood up and said that she could not do that to her. She is a good Mother, and it would be wrong to humiliate her in front of all the Sisters. Amblin-Elu told her that she was a good Mother, because she has Sisters like her who knew when to disobey her and do the right thing. She wants to be a better Mother, but can only do so, if the Sisters support her in the right way, not in blind obedience.
When Kreen heard about the meeting. She left Protector and the three children in the woods were they slept, and rode her Rancor to the main village, not making any attempt to make herself unseen. Their guests from the Frenzied River Clan had never seen her before, so they would naturally assume that she had been out on patrol. She went up to the Clan Mother and asked how they were supposed to keep her challenge, when they had a meeting that they all must attend. The Clan Mother told her that the challenge was over. She had placed them in a position where they would fail, no matter what they did, which was not fair to them. They talked about the best way to bring the three children into the temple, without actually being seen by their guests. Once they were in the temple, how to keep the guests away from them. The Clan Mother told Kreen, that the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan had asked her for permission to attend tonight's meeting, when they found out what the women from their village would be sharing. She could not say no to that request. After making sure that they were clear on what needed to be done, Kreen returned to her charges.
Kreen gave permission to the two Rancor, to go hunting. They would not be returning until it was time for them to go to sleep. She told the children about the mandatory meeting. She also mentioned that there was a good chance that some of the stuff that would be shared, they might still be too young to understand. They had to keep silent throughout the whole meeting. They could not be seen talking to each other. So any questions they had, must be kept to themselves until after everyone else left the temple, and then they were free to talk again. This was going to be hard on the children, because they were always seen talking freely back and forth. Krillgan asked if it was alright if they held hands instead of talking. So that they could draw strength from one another. Kreen thought it was a good idea, and told them that she wanted to hold hands with them, in case she needed their strength. This was not something her and Mother talked about. But she could not see her objecting.
They all put on their hooded cloaks, and followed Kreen. She told them that the hardest part, would be not getting their cloaks snagged on anything, especially the palisade. They approached the main village from the east side. This time Kreen jumped up to the palisade where it touched the cliff face, that protected the north and east sides of the village. The children jumped up beside her. She stepped down to the walkway for the archers. That was on the village side of the wall. The children had to jump down. Kreen told them to check their cloaks. Part of Krillgan's cloak wedged between two logs in the palisade. They all tried pulling it free without tearing it. Kreen used the force to help push the two logs apart, just enough so that the cloak would come free. She then pointed out where they needed to land. The children did not have to ask why. Their noses told them what part of the village they were in. After landing, they followed the cliff face to where the ledge that the temple was built on came out of the cliff face. Any one from the village, if they happened to see them would ignore them. They were used to Kreen taking the children through the village, to find something for them to train on or with. So they wouldn't bat an eye when they saw Kreen and the children climbing the rock face to get to the temple. The good thing was that the guests did not come to this part of the village. So there was no risk of them being seen by them as they scaled the rock face to get to the temple. Rather than entering the cold temple right away. The four of them just sat on the ground next to the water surrounding the temple. Letting the sun keep them warm while they waited.
At dinner time Mother sent Kreen's best friend, Tannath-Elu, to bring them some dinner, and some new ale, to wash it down. She almost panicked when she did not find them in the temple. Kreen had been warned by Krillgan, that someone had come up onto the temple's ledge. So Kreen jumped into the temple, and brought her friend outside to where the children were waiting. Tannath-Elu told them they found a nice place to eat dinner. She was going to go get her own dinner, and join them. She asked if she should bring them anything for desert. Kreen and Krillgan looked at each other, "Berries!" Tannath-Elu smiled at the two young girls and said, "Why did I even bother to ask?" Which made them both giggle. When she returned, she brought a big bowl of berries, and told Kreen and Krillgan that they had to share, and not just with each other. Which caused the two young girls to giggle again. After they finished their dinner, they piled their plates and utensils in the big empty bowl, for Tannath-Elu to take back to the kitchen. The rest of them jumped over to the temple, and stood right at the back. Everyone else should be arriving shortly.
The Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, helped their hosts carry all of the women into the temple for the meeting. When the Sister in charge of the group from the Frenzied River Clan entered the temple, and looked around. She saw the four healers standing at the back. She wanted to approach them, to talk with them. But two of her hosts blocked her way. They told her that the healers were in the stage of their training, where they were only allowed to talk with certain individuals. Unfortunately none of them were on that short list. The Clan Mother had talked to them about her, and they were not offended. They were just surprised that she could not feel the healing taking place. The Sister asked her hosts, if people normally feel the healing. They replied that most people will feel a tingling sensation in the wounded area, until they are completely healed. Then they asked the Sister to sit with them. When they sat down, she asked them if they had been healed, by the touching, and if they felt anything. They both claimed that they felt something when they were healed, but she should not worry. There are a couple of their own Sisters, who like her, cannot feel anything when they were healed. She did feel better knowing she wasn't the only one. She was about to ask them something else, but noticed the Clan Mother stand up to start the meeting. So she did not ask, and soon forgot what she was going to ask.
The Clan Mother informed everyone, that they were going to follow a different format this meeting, from what they normally do. They were going to ask the Sisters to refrain from asking any questions until the end. Only the elders and Clan Mother would be allowed to interrupt the guests, if they felt they needed something clarified. Otherwise they were afraid they would tire out their guests. She then turned the meeting over to the ladies.
One of them stood up to speak on everyone else's behalf. She started by telling everyone, that their Clan Mother had asked them, to share what life was like as a slave to the Nightsisters. "Considering we did not know any better at the time, we thought that life was good. It would even have been better if the Nightsisters had left us alone. Whenever they showed up, it usually meant someone in the village was about to die. So yes, we were afraid of them. It was a death sentence, to be asked to start training as an archer. As far as we know, only once had someone returned, that the Nightsisters had taken on a mission to be an archer. As far as the Nightsisters are concerned, none of us has ever returned, after being picked to be an archer. What we were told, was that four Nightsisters had picked eight villagers to be archers on an ambush. They ambushed a young Clan Sister accompanied by four archers. Her four archers took out four of our archers right away. When her archers noticed their Sister was having trouble handling the four Nightsisters, three of her archers started targeting one of the Nightsisters to harass her, and give their Sister a fighting chance. Their fourth archer continued to eliminate the archers from the village. The Nightsister that was being harassed, decided to attack her tormentors. She killed the archer that was targeting the village archers before she eliminated the last villager. Then the Nightsister went on to kill the other three archers. By this time the other three Nightsisters had managed to kill the clan Sister. At this moment a much more experienced clan Sister showed up with six archers, and killed one of the Nightsisters right away. So the three remaining Nightsisters were facing one clan Sister, two angry Rancor, and six expert archers. The last village archer dropped his bow and quiver of arrows, and ran for his life. He hid out in the village until he was sure that no Nightsisters had come looking for him. He was now sure that the three remaining Nightsisters were all dead, so the only ones who knew he was picked as an archer, were the people of the village, and he was sure none of them would tell." One of the host Sisters whispered to the guest Sister that she would tell her their side of the story afterwards.
What she told her, was that this was the first patrol for this Sister. She had five militia members not four. One of them had just started training as a special archer. She almost said Ranger, but remembered at the last moment, that no one outside of the Singing Mountain Clan knows about Rangers. When their Sister realised it was an ambush, she sent her best archer for help, because she knew there was another patrol nearby. Unfortunately they arrived too late to save the Sister and her four archers. They arrived just as a Nightsister had delivered the deathblow to their Sister. The Sister who arrived to help had jumped off of her Rancor, and killed the Nightsister that was delivering the death blow to her Sister. Her presence was enough of a distraction, so that the Rancor that had bonded with the Sister that was killed, managed to kill one of the other Nightsisters. The Sister had instructed her militia to ignore the enemy archer, and to synchronise their arrows on one Nightsister at a time. She kept the other two Nightsisters so well engaged, that they were forced to decide, whether to defend against the arrows, or defend against her. After they were turned into living pincushions, it was relatively easy to finish the last two Nightsisters off.
The woman continued, "Sometimes there was no rhyme or reason to why a Nightsister would pick a villager. Most of the time they picked women. On the occasion they picked a man, it was usually because they tried to seduce the man, and failed. When they selected the women, they would say that, "You're too pretty, or you're too ugly. You're too fat, or you're too skinny." The most common was that you are prettier than they are. If you look at all our faces, you will see that we all have scars from where we cut ourselves after we married, so that they would not think we were too pretty. Now there were some Nightsisters that have given themselves over so much to using the dark side of the force, that their faces were so twisted and distorted, that there was no sign of beauty left. No amount of paint could hide their features. Even the village Rancor looked beautiful next to them." This comment made all the Sisters laugh.
"The only ones they were not allowed to take as archers, were virgins, not matter how beautiful they looked." The Clan Mother asked, why was that? The lady responded, "The most precious commodity we could produce in our villages, for the Nightsisters, was baby girls. The village was required to notify the Glass Mountain, as soon as a baby girl was born. They kept meticulous track of all virgins, until they used them in one of their Bonding Ceremonies." This surprised all the Sisters, because they thought that Nightsisters could not bond. The woman went on to say, "We know that you have Bonding Ceremonies. We don't know what you do in them. But we are pretty sure that they are nothing like what the Nightsisters do. We are required to ask permission, if we want to get married, just like in all the clans. Only the Nightsisters will not allow you to get married if you are still a virgin. They make you come to their Bonding Ceremony. They start every bonding with what they call, "The Raping of the Bride." They dress you in some flimsy garments, before their ceremony begins, then two Nightsisters grab you, and drag you into their temple. There, a male slave is waiting for you. When the Nightsisters' Mother signals to start, he starts ripping the garments off of you. He has to be careful not to do it too quickly, or he will be beaten afterward. After all, this is for the entertainment of the Nightsisters. After he has ripped the clothes off of you. The two Nightsisters force you down on the special platform they had made for this. They have you pinned down with one firm hand on your upper arm. With their other hand they reach down and grab you just inside the knees. Forcing your legs apart, so everyone can have a good look at your place of secrets. When the Nightsisters' Mother signals him to proceed, he forces himself into you, while the two Nightsisters are still holding you. He has been told to be rough with you, at the same time as taking pleasure in what he is doing. If you struggle too much, or cry too much, they will instruct another male slave to have sex with you, after the first one has spent himself. The best thing you can do is lie there and take it. After he's finished, you cannot go and clean yourself up, or cover yourself with anything. You have to spend the rest of the evening naked. Serving them their food and drinks. All the Nightsisters want to see the bloodstains, when you serve them. Some of them will even touch your secret place to see if you are still bleeding. After that, any Nightsister can ask any male slave to have sex with them. Only they have to do it right there in the temple, and they have to try and seduce him while everyone is watching. Their standing as a Nightsister can go up or down, depending on how well they do. The male slave they most want to seduce, is the male slave who just raped you. They want to be the first to get his bloodied horn inside of them. They are considered one of their best seductresses if they can do it."
"You have to understand that all of the male slaves are controlled by three women. The Nightsisters' Mother and her two lieutenants. For a Nightsister to be able to take a male slave or two, to her room between bounding ceremonies, she most prove herself to these women. Showing she is a good seductress is just one of those ways. If she can't prove herself, then the only time she will be allowed to have sex with a male slave, is during the bonding ceremony. Sometimes, if they think the man you want permission to marry, is handsome. They will also take him to the same bonding ceremony, to rape him. They will give him a potion before the ceremony, which is supposed to make his horn of manhood hard, and keep it hard for a long time. He is naked right from the beginning of the ceremony. They will not signal your rape to begin, until they start seeing his horn get hard. He has to stand by the Nightsisters' Mother, so it is easy for her to see, and so it is easy for him to see his bride being raped. After she has been raped, two different Nightsisters take him and hold him down on the platform. While the first two hold the bride so that she can watch her groom being raped. The Nightsisters' Mother is usually the first to pleasure herself on his horn, then the two lieutenants, after that the female slaves that are on the mountain, are forced to pleasure themselves on him, before any of the other Nightsisters are allowed. If the Nightsisters think a slave is taking too long, they will tie her up and beat her later, at their pleasure. So the female slaves usually fake that they have received pleasure. The whole idea for the Nightsisters, is to see how many women can have sex with him before the potion wears off."
The women went on to point out, that all of the women there in the temple, had been raped by the Nightsisters. The virgin young ladies that did not have anyone to marry, were also raped, when the Nightsisters thought it was their time. They were then called widows, because they had no husbands. Often, these widows would sacrifice themselves, by taking a married woman's place, in being trained as an archer. It was believed that the Nightsisters did not look too closely at the women they picked. So if the right amount showed up the following day for training, they were happy." What the woman did not say, was that the couple whose wife she replaced, felt obligated to make the widow's last days as pleasurable as possible. Especially when you consider that her only experience with a man up to that point, was being raped before the Nightsisters. So the husband would take her to his bed, as if she was his wife, so that she could know pleasure from someone who loved her. To show her how much he appreciated her sacrifice on their behalf, and on behalf of their children.
She sat down and another woman stood up. "As bad as what the Nightsisters did to us, what they did to their own was worse. After I had been raped, and sent to their kitchen to retrieve refreshments for them. I saw a girl in a pretty outfit. Her body had only started changing, she had probably only experienced a couple of moon cycles. She was one of them. The Nightsisters' Mother was talking with her. She told her that if she did a very good job seducing the male slave she had picked for her, he would not hurt her. But would be gentle with her. She asked her Mother, how she would know she did a good job? Her Mother told her, that if she is able to remove all her clothing, without him touching her, than she knew that she did a good job. If not, he would punish her, and she would have to do whatever he asked of her. The girls had witnessed many of the women from the village being raped, that was part of their training, but they were never allowed to witness their own being raped before their turn. She was then made to stand on the platform and wait for the male slave to be sent to her. Her waiting was part of the entertainment, so the Nightsisters could see the nervous energy building up in her. The Nightsisters' Mother then went and talked to the male slave. She told him that he had to make sure that she did not get a chance to remove all of her clothing, before he ripped the last few pieces off of her body. He had to make her experience as painful as possible. Or she would strap him to the two pillars, and beat him to death. He had to wait until she had taken her seat on her throne in the temple, before he came into the temple, and the show could begin. He was allowed to pull her hair, choke her, slap her anywhere on her body, and grope her so hard that he bruised her young mountains. So the poor girl was setup. After tearing her clothes off, and making the initial penetration, he was constantly getting her to reposition herself, to try to give their Mother the best views possible. He knew that if he pleased the Mother, she would protect him. If he did not, he could expect to take a walk off of the top of the mountain someday soon, by the Nightsister he was raping. One time he had the girl on all fours, while he entered her from behind. He had a handful of her hair, and was pulling her head back as far as it would go. He also had her raise her one leg, as high as she could, so everyone would have a better view. If she cried, or refused to do as she was told. The Nightsisters' Mother would have her two lieutenants grab her and strap her to the two pillars. Her own mother, if she was still alive, would be ordered to beat her in front of everyone. Because she had humiliated her, and was an embarrassment to all the Nightsisters. If her mother was not alive, then the Nightsisters' Mother would do it herself. After the beating, she had to dress, and the whole show would start all over again. Sometimes with a different male slave. You have to remember, that all Nightsisters believe, there is no pleasure without pain."
After she sat down, no one moved in the temple. Everyone just sat their letting everything they heard sink in. After a few moments, the Clan Mother stood up and addressed everyone. She told her Sisters, that given this testimony, they need to rethink their strategy concerning, the Nightsisters' archers. They will discuss this at their next meeting. She asked if there was anyone there, who had a question. The only ones who had questions were Ludia, and Diennu, they had never heard of rape before. But they knew they could not ask anything until after everyone else was gone.
The Clan Mother thanked all the women for being so brave, that they were willing to share something that personal. She told everyone that there was tea and sweet treats waiting for them in the dining area. Mother Andriel had also made them something she calls nutbutter, from roasted nuts. She would like everyone to try. When the Sisters carried the women across the water, they would hug them before letting them go, and thanked them for being there.
The Clan Mother pulled the Sister aside from the Frenzied River Clan that was responsible for all the women. She asked her, if she would share their testimony at the next Council of Mothers. Since they were now members of her clan. The Clan Mother would give her voice as being witness to the testimony. Being a Clan Mother from a different clan, it would give the testimony that much more weight, and could have a bearing on future proceedings. The Sister agreed. This was something that the Council needed to hear.
After everyone left, Ludia, and Diennu, started asking Kreen about all that they heard. Kreen asked them to ask Krillgan, she was sure that he could help them understand, the little he knew, and let them know what they would have to wait to learn. Krillgan did not fail her. The girls were satisfied with his answers. Then they asked Kreen, how long they would have to wait, until they were old enough to learn about the bad stuff, and the good stuff. Kreen told them that when they were old enough to be allowed to attend the Bonding Ceremonies, then they will be close to the age, when some of this can be explained. What Kreen did not tell them, is that they would not be allowed to attend a Bonding Ceremony, until they had started showing signs that they had reached puberty.
The next day when Amblin-Elu and Butashe asked Kreen, how she answered the children's questions. She told them that she let Krillgan answer them. She reminded Mother about how well Krillgan had explained what the Rancor were doing, when they first brought Protector to the Herd Mother. Amblin-Elu stopped her, before she shared what Ludia had revealed. When the two mothers pressed her, she shared exactly what Krillgan had said. Then she told them what she said about how old they would be, before they started learning more details. The mothers were happy that their little girls were still innocent.
The girls took Mother's advice, and asked Krillgan to teach them how to catch and throw. Andriel was not very pleased when she found out, who they were playing catch with. They would pick Erin up, using the force, then they would throw him to someone else. Who had to try and catch him as gently as possible, than throw him back. The three of them learnt two thing from this. First, do not play catch with Erin, just after he has eaten. Or the first person catching him, would end up wearing everything he just ate. The second thing they learnt, was that if they were not gentle in catching him. There was a good chance he would bring up some of the food in his stomach on them. When Andriel first saw what they were doing, she tried to put a stop to it. But Erin started crying, he liked it when they played "Hashsh" with him. So Andriel reluctantly let them continue. After playing catch. Krillgan went up to his mother, and asked her if she was having another baby. Andriel smiled at him, and told him that she wondered how long it would be before he noticed. The girls were excited with this news, and asked her permission, so that they can tell their mothers. When they ran off, Andriel gave Krillgan permission to tell his father. She watched as he ran up to Chitrah and told him the news. Chitrah put down what he was working on. He raced down the stairs, and went up to his wife. He took her into his arms, and kissed her.
"Are we starting our own clan?"
Andriel kissed him back, "Maybe."
On the way back to their village. The group stopped at the town to rest. They found Sisters from the other clans there. Remembering their promise to the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan. They showed them the fighting moves that they had just learnt from the Singing Mountain Clan, and offered to teach them, if they were also willing to teach other Sisters, even from other clans. The other Sisters readily agreed. So four Sisters from the group stayed at the town to teach them, while the other two escorted the women home.
When the Sister in charge of the group, returned home. She went to her Clan Mother right away, and reported everything unusual she observed while with the Singing Mountain Clan. The Clan Mother called the elders, and asked her to repeat everything. When they heard that the Builder was called Father Chitrah by the Singing Mountain Clan, and his wife was called Mother Andriel, one of the elders said she may have read something like this in a prophesy, long ago. When the Clan Mother implied that her authority does not apply to the Builder, even though everyone believes that he is a member of the Singing Mountain Clan. The elders asked the Clan Mother to get out their copy of the book of Knowledge and Wisdom. She also told them about the healer that can heal just by touch. Then she remembered that the Clan Mother had mentioned that the Builder and his wife, are both warriors, and the Singing Mountain Clan has changed all of their fighting styles because of them, even though they are not force users. She mentioned that the women that were former slaves, believe that the healer that helped them was a man that spoke with a voice of a child. The Singing Mountain Clan has three very small healers, one of them healed her by touch. Could it be that a hermit healer has come with the builder and his wife, and is sharing some very powerful healing techniques with the Singing Mountain Clan? Their elders poured over every prophecy they found in their book of Knowledge and Wisdom. With the information the Sister shared with them, there were a number of prophecies that could relate to them, but then again, they might not. They did not know enough about the Builder and his wife, and this healer. They showed the Clan Mother the prophecies they found, and the questions that she would need to ask the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, at the next Council of Mothers.
By the time the next Council of Mothers took place, all the Sisters in all of the clans had learnt the new fighting techniques. The Sister, like she promised, testified about what she heard the former slaves describe, as their life as slaves to the Nightsisters. After she finished, the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan stood to say that she was the witness for this Sister's testimony. All the other Mothers commented on how unusual this was, and how it gave the testimony greater weight. The Clan Mother from the Frenzied River Clan took this opportunity to start asking the Clan Mother from the Singing Mountain Clan, the questions that her elders asked her to ask. Instead of responding, the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, asked all of the Sisters to leave the room. She spoke to her own Sisters, and told them that they knew what to do. Then she asked the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan, if she brought her book of Knowledge and Wisdom? When the other Clan Mothers saw were this was going, they each stopped one of their Sisters, and asked them to go back to their main village, and retrieve their own book of Knowledge and Wisdom, and bring it back right away. All the Clan Mothers crowded around the Frenzied River Clan's book of Knowledge and Wisdom, and started looking at the prophecies in question, debating whether they apply to the Builder and his wife.
Outside of the room where the Mothers were meeting, a Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan saw a scavenger lizard, and fried it with force lightning. The Sisters from the other clans were surprised to hear what sounded like a woman's scream. The Sister explained to them that it was a Nightsister that was screaming, because the blast of force lightning hit her, as well as the creature she controlled. When they found out what their assignments were, they were eager to cleanse their compounds of the Nightsisters' spies. Unfortunately, they did fry some none scavenger lizards as well. This made them feel bad when they did not hear the woman's scream.
One of the Nightsisters, had managed to get her lizard, all the way into the room where the Mothers were meeting. She thought the clan Sister gave an accurate depiction of what life was like in their territory, and could not understand what they were concerned about. She thought that all the clans did the same thing. Didn't they also have Bonding Ceremonies, and don't their slaves have to ask their Mother for permission to marry? What was the big deal? She did not like that the Mothers had all crowded around the big book. Now she could not hear anything they were saying, and she could not see any lips, to read them. She was afraid to move from her relatively safe location. Especially because she could hear other Nightsisters scream, as their lizard has been discovered. She knows it is an important discussion that the Mothers are having. She also knows that when her Mother finds out she was in the meeting room, and failed to get any useful information, she would not hesitate to have her stripped and beaten.
When a Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan re-entered the room where the Mothers were meeting, to report that all of the compounds had been cleansed, she thought she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye. She stayed close to the wall, and quickly moved to where she thought she saw the movement. As she approached she saw some movement again. This time she saw it was a scavenger lizard, and it was trying to get close to the Mothers. She was behind it so it could not see her. It was crawling over some nice carpeting, and around some nice pillows. None of which the Sister wanted to damage with force lightning. So when she was ready, she lifted the creature using the force, and blasted it with force lightning when it was clear of everything. The Mothers all turned and looked at her, when they heard the woman's scream.
When they saw what the Sister had fried, they conducted a thorough search of the room, to make sure there were no more creatures there, being used to spy on them. Amblin-Elu thanked her Sister for coming in when she did, then asked her to wait outside and make sure they are not interrupted. The Mothers went back to looking over the prophecies, with Amblin-Elu pointing out which ones apply to Andriel and Chitrah, from what she knew about them. In this way the other Clan Mothers knew, that she believed that Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah, were the couple in the prophecy. Which is why she did not consider them to be under her authority. She even told them about hurting the couple by mistake, showing them the potion she used, from the Frenzied River Clan's book. She also believed that the Nightsisters' successful attack on her caravan, was her punishment. This pushed home her belief, because the other Mothers knew that both she and her sister lost their husbands in that attack. She also brought out copies of Kindell's prophecy for each of them, telling them that this was something that she had recently found out, and the elders believe that there is enough fulfillment, that it can be added to their book. It is unusual in prophecies, because it was written, not by an elder or a Clan Mother. But by a Sister in love with the subject in the prophecy, and refused to marry him when he proposed, so that he could fulfill his destiny. She also added that the Sister was killed in a Nightsister ambush, shortly after she wrote down the prophecy. The Mothers questioned her about the third person mentioned in the prophecies, with the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan, asking if this third person was related to the healer she heard about, the one who could heal just by touch. Now all the other Mothers wanted to know about this healer. Taking their focus off of Amblin-Elu for a while.
At this time the Sister sent to retrieve the book of Knowledge and Wisdom of the Red Hills Clan, entered the room, handing the book over to her Mother. The Mothers than poured over this book comparing prophecies. They found one prophecy that according to the way it was written in this book, could be applied to the Builder and his wife. Where the way it was written in the Frenzied River Clan's book, they were not sure. It was quite late in the day by the time they stopped analysing the second book, but the Mothers refused to retire for the day, until they heard about the healer.
Amblin-Elu started off by telling the other Mothers that Andriel and Chitrah were forced to marry. The planet they lived on was controlled by the Sith Empire. They are force users, similar in belief to the Nightsisters. This caused a stir amongst the Mothers. They could not imagine an Empire, controlling a large number of planets, run by the Nightsisters. They were told that the Sith Empire had been at war with the Republic and their Jedi Order. Now the Mothers had heard about the Republic from political exiles, and when the exiles stopped coming they assumed that they now controlled the area of space around their planet. They had also heard about the Jedi, and that their beliefs were much like the Misty Falls Clan, only more fanatical. Which would put most of the clans at odds with them. Amblin-Elu told the Mothers that at present there is a peace treaty in place between the two warring sides, which they are both trying to use to rebuild their forces in preparation for the next conflict. Since a large number of Sith were lost during the previous conflict, they are forcing couples to marry who have a good chance of producing force using offspring.
"When the Builder and his wife found out she was pregnant, they did their best to hide the pregnancy from the Sith. Neither one of them wanted their child to become a Sith. After the child was born, they were forced to flee their planet. Hoping to find a planet where the Sith would not find them. Where they could raise their child in peace. As the child grew older, they realised the child would need to be trained in the proper use of the force. They were cornered on a planet by an agent of the Sith. The Force intervened on their behalf. In the process of the intervention, the child received the ability to heal by touch. After their deliverance, Kindell's Captain found them, and knew that he had to bring them to Dathomir, to fulfill the words of the woman he loved. A number of Sisters in the Singing Mountain Clan had dreams and visions that a healer was being sent to us, including myself. You can imagine how surprised we all were when we discovered the healer was a little boy."
The Mothers sat in stunned silence for a long period of time, then they all started asking questions at once. She described him as being good natured, and kind hearted. A little mischievous at times, but when things were serious, it was like speaking to a little man. She described how he was the one who suggested that he eat the leaves that were used to counteract the poison given to the men of the village, so that the healing produced by his touch, would be more effective, because his healing touch was only slowing down the effect of the poison, not reversing it. This from a boy who hates eating vegetables and salads. By doing that, he was able to arrest the effect the poisons were having on their bodies, and minds. He actually saved their lives. The Clan Mother from the Misty Falls Clan, told the council, that her healers were surprised that any of the men were still alive. Considering the poisons they were forced to ingest, and how much time had passed before the Singing Mountain Clan was able to start treatment, to try to counteract the effect of their poisons. That their minds were functioning at all, indicated to our healers that a very powerful healing agent had been administered to the men, along with the antidotes. They informed the healers of the Frenzied River Clan, that what had been done was already beyond what they could do. They were disappointed that the healers from the Frenzied River Clan could not enlighten them as to what had been done, because they did not know themselves. Only that a male healer, that spoke with the voice of a child, was brought in to assist the Singing Mountain Clan's healers.
Amblin-Elu confirmed that the Singing Mountain Clan was training Krillgan to be a Sister. The other two small healers the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan asked about, were not healers, they were just the friends that Krillgan played with, and trained with. She also shared her dream, telling them it was the most detailed of all the visions and dreams her Sisters had. They heard how in her dream she was told to protect the healer's family from the Nightsisters, and she was not to harm the parents in any way. Then she told them, as Clan Mothers, now that they know of her dream, they were also responsible to help her to protect them. They all acknowledged that they heard that in her dream as well.
After discussing what they each need to do. With the Clan Mother from the Frenzied River Clan, receiving permission from the other Mothers to let the Sister that brought this to her attention, be present when she shares this with her elders. They then talked with the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, about letting the Builder share his fighting techniques with all of them. She told them that she had discussed this with Father Chitrah, and he was in agreement. He does not want these techniques being used were Sisters will be fighting Sisters. What he has already given permission for, and what we have already shared, is how to use these techniques when applied to the sword. So that they can be used against pirates, slavers, and Nightsisters.
The one Clan Mother asked her, "What if we all promise to stop the territory challenges, as they now exist. Could we be trained then?" The other Mothers asked her what she was proposing. She was thinking that there must be a way that one Sister can test herself against another Sister, without them beating each other to a bloody mess. Since that is what most challenges seem to be about lately. Protecting the territory has just become an excuse. Amblin-Elu told them that when Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah practise their fighting technique. They wear these special suits that make them look like they are very fat, but it protects them both. Because Mother Andriel is like a child first learning how to use the force. She has no control. The Mothers doubted they could find a material like that, that could protect them against a blow enhanced by the force. One Mother speculated that it would be nice if they could find a material that absorbed energy like water does, but in a solid form. Another Mother suggested that they hold all challenges under water, without the water element being allowed to be used. Now this sounded interesting to the other Mothers, but where could they take place. They asked Amblin-Elu, if she could talk to the builder about this. Maybe he might have some suggestions.
Then they asked her if they could arrange to have groups of their people visit the Singing Mountains. The Sisters that have heard them, keep telling the other Sisters that they have to go hear them for themselves. The women from the village that went, want to take their husbands. Believing that they will be changed in an important way. Now people in all of the clans want to go. Amblin-Elu proposed, that for the entire month, after the second planting. All territory be considered neutral territory, except for the Nightsisters. She then told them how many people from each clan they could comfortably accommodate. They would like every Sister who comes to them, be willing to give some sort of demonstration, since their Sisters will be giving demonstrations as well. She would also like some input, in setting up friendly, but challenging competitions, so everyone can be entertained. All the Mothers were for it. It would also give members of a clan, the opportunity to visit with another clan, without the threat of a challenge. Over the years this evolved into a yearly festival time. Sisters that went to other clans went from demonstrating fighting techniques in a dance style, to dancing with fighting moves being incorporated. They went from wearing Rancor body armour, to wearing colourful costumes, with ribbons and feathers, to try to show off their body movements. The elders got involved in approving the costumes the Sisters wore. Reminding them that they represent the clan when they dance, and children will be watching. They don't want to force embarrassed parents, being asked by their children, to tell them what they saw. Sisters from all the clans would get permission from their Clan Mother, to go visit Mother Andriel throughout the year, to get her help in coming up with costume designs.
Ludia, and Diennu adopted Father Chitrah as their surrogate father. Because he was their personal trainer when it came to the Martial Arts, and because they spent a lot of time at Mother Andriel's home. They stopped calling them Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah. They just called them mother and father, like Krillgan did. Andriel and Chitrah preferred it that way. Andriel would try to organise outings for their family day. That involved Butashe and Amblin-Elu to be with them. Butashe loved them, and was always sorry when her sister did not show up, because there was a clan situation that required her attention. She thinks her older sister is still grieving her husband's loss, but at the detriment to her relationship with her daughter.
One morning Krillgan told Ludia and Diennu, that he wasn't feeling very well. Ludia ran right away to get her mother. He was a healer, how could he be sick? Amblin-Elu sent her to go get Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah right away. She asked Krillgan to describe what he was feeling, while she checked the different points on his body that might indicate he was fighting something. There was no swelling in his neck or armpits. When she looked in his mouth, there was no sign of inflammation. Yet he complained that it was like a pressure had built up inside of him, and he did not know how to release it. She asked him if he had healed anyone recently, and it might have affected him. He told her that no one had needed him to touch them for a long time. When she heard that, she sent Diennu to the kitchen, to get a clean empty bowl.
While she was gone, Ludia showed up with mother and father. They asked the Clan Mother what she thinks is wrong with Krillgan. She told them that Krillgan's problem, was that the clan was healthy. They asked her to explain. She told them that the little creatures in Krillgan were always producing the healing oil, it was their waste that they gave off from living. Krillgan has not needed to use it for a while, so now he has too much in him, and it is making him feel sick. Now they have to find a way to get it out of him. They can't cut him to bleed him, because the wound would heal right away. When Diennu returned with a bowl, Amblin-Elu put it under one of Krillgan's hands. She then asked him if he could cause the oil to come out, from under his fingernails. Krillgan concentrated on the one hand. When he gently touched it with the force, then released it, it was like he was massaging his fingertips. Oil started seeping out from under his fingernails. After a few drops came out. He told Mother that he was starting to feel better. She made him keep going. She wanted to see how much he could extract by doing this. Drop by drop, he started filling the bowl. When it was a third full, Krillgan said that he did not think he had anymore to give. Amblin-Elu hoped his body naturally held some back in reserve.
Ludia and Diennu looked at the oily fluid in the bowl, and asked what it was? Chitrah told them it is Kolto, only it wasn't pure, he could see some discoloration. Probably from Krillgan's own body fluids, which would have come out with the Kolto. Amblin-Elu asked if he knew what should be done with it. He told her, that on other planets, apothecaries take small amounts and mix it with other healing oils, probably plant based, and keep it in small vials to be used in an emergency. Andriel had some injected into her hand when she had some bones broken (He did not want to tell them he was the one who broke them.) It started healing her hand right away. He was able to apply some topically, afterwards, to help with the healing. Amblin-Elu asked if that meant that her Sisters could carry a vial of healing oil, and have the benefit of Krillgan's touch, without Krillgan having to be there. Chitrah told her that that was correct.
After making sure Krillgan was feeling better, Amblin-Elu carefully carried the bowl of precious oil, to elder Yma's home, where the healers normally meet. She has the largest collection of herbs, both fresh and dried. Maybe they could come up with their own recipe for a healing oil. She could see all the Clan Mothers wanting to have a supply on hand, if they could. She was sure that together they could get the Great Canyon Clan to make up a large quantity of small glass vials.
After their Martial Arts class with father. Kreen used to come by and spar with them. Father kept a watchful eye on them. To make sure that they did not get carried away, but for the most part, he thought it was good for them. Kreen did it, partially because she found they were better trained than her own instructor, and partially because she liked playing with the children. She did not notice that Krillgan had developed a crush on her, but Ludia and Diennu knew.
At first they thought it was okay, but later they started getting jealous. They cornered their mothers, and asked them if this was normal for boys to behave like this. Neither one had any experience with boys, so they all went to Mother Andriel.
Now Andriel was expecting to deliver in the next few days, so she was kind of waddling around her home. When they asked her what she thought of the situation, she smiled having had some nephews in love with her. She thought she would have some fun with it. She sat down, and asked Ludia to go upstairs and get Krillgan, he was playing with his father on the computers. When Krillgan came down the stairs, his father and Erin were right behind him. Andriel asked him, if he liked Kreen? His cheeks went dark right away, so she had her answer even before he said yes. Then she asked him if he still loved Ludia and Diennu?
This made both girls turn red.
Krillgan said, "Of course I do."
Andriel asked him, if he let them know? He looked down at the ground, and started rubbing the toe of one shoe back and forth.
"I did not know that I had too."
"How is a person supposed to know you love them, if you don't tell them, or show them? I think you owe Ludia and Diennu an apology. I also think that you need to also give them each a kiss on their cheek. The next time you see Kreen, you should give her some flowers."
Krillgan went up to each girl and told them that he still loved them, and he was sorry if they thought he had stopped. Then kissed them on the cheek like his mother told him. They each told him that they still love him, and kissed him on his cheek. This brought a smile to all the parents' faces. Then Chitrah came up to Andriel, and told her that he still loves her, and bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Erin also came up to his mother, and told her that he still loves her, and Andriel had to lean forward so that he could kiss her on the cheek. The girls went home with their mothers feeling quite happy. They were no longer jealous. He had said he liked Kreen, but he said he loved them.
A few days later Kreen showed up just as they finished their martial arts training. Krillgan disappeared then reappeared with a small bouquet of flowers. He went up to Kreen, and told her the flowers were for her. Kreen was touched, no one had ever given her flowers before. She asked him how Ludia and Diennu feel about this. Krillgan told her that they know he loves them, and he would pick a whole field of flowers for them, if they asked him too. She knew from their smiles, that they were not hurt by this.
Suddenly Krillgan looks at Chitrah. "Father, I think mother is having the baby." Krillgan suddenly takes off running. With the two girls right behind him. Chitrah looks at Kreen and asks her what he just said. "He said that he believes Mother is having her baby right now."
Chitrah yells, "Krillgan wait. I need you to boost me so that I can run faster."
But Krillgan was already out of earshot.
"I'll help you run Father Chitrah." So the two of them took off running, with Kreen helping him, just like when they went to hear the Singing Mountains. The healer intercepted Krillgan, and asked him where Father Chitrah was. Krillgan suddenly realised that he had left his father behind. He turned around to run back and get him. Then he saw Kreen helping his father. He pointed to them so that the healer could see them. Then they both ran back to Mother Andriel's home. The healer went into the bedroom, and told Krillgan to wait in the main room with his father. Just after Chitrah and Kreen arrived, Ludia and Mother appeared in the door.
Mother noticed the small bouquet of flowers, still in Kreen's hand, but a little beat up from the run. She asked Kreen if someone had given them to her. Kreen said yes, then looked down and noticed they were damaged. Mother asked her if she would like her to weave them into her hair. Kreen did not expect this from Mother, but said she would really appreciate it if she did. So Mother had her sit down on a chair, and spread the flowers on a table, so she could pick them up one at a time. She asked Krillgan if he knew how to make tea. He said he did, so Mother told him to go make tea for everyone. Chitrah also got up to help him, it would give him something to do.
While she was braiding the flowers in Kreen's hair, she told her that she still remembers the first time someone gave her flowers. It felt real special. Kreen asked her if a boy had given them to her. She said no, her best friend gave them to her, and helped braid them into her hair. "Now here she is."
Just then Butashe, and Diennu arrived. Kreen liked this side of Mother, she made her feel special, at the same time as making her feel like she was part of the family. She wished she had the chance to see more of this side of her, and less of the Clan Mother side of her. She can be a very intimidating woman.
Butashe went into the bedroom than came back out. She said that it will be a while yet. Suddenly Chitrah came out of the kitchen.
"Has anyone seen Erin?"
Krillgan ran to Erin's bedroom, and opened the door. Erin was inside playing on the floor with the wooden blocks that his father had the carpenters make for him. Krillgan asked Erin if he wants to bring his blocks out to the main room and play, because they have company.
Erin asked Krillgan to help him take all of his blocks out to the main room, because there were too many for him to carry by himself. Chitrah felt much better when he saw Erin coming out of his room with Krillgan behind him. In his mind he went, "Everyone present and accounted for."
Andriel was much more relaxed this delivery than she was the last one. She was more used to how quiet the healer and the elder were. They were also more relaxed, because the last delivery went well, and they do not anticipate any problems with this one. When it was time for Andriel to hold onto somebody, the elder went out and asked Mother if she could help Andriel like she did last time.
Krillgan came out of the kitchen with a plate of biscuits that he had put nutbutter and berry jam on. Everyone liked the berry jam on the nutbutter, and thought that the biscuits went well with their tea. Chitrah had poured some of his tea into a saucer, so that it could cool down quickly, so that Erin could drink it with his biscuit. Now all they can do is wait. Kreen did not know if she should be there, but she also did not want to leave. She could see that they were all trying to be calm, but would explode if called upon. Butashe, Ludia, and Diennu, all told her that the flowers in her hair look very pretty. She assumed it was true, but it could also be that they were looking for something to say. They had all gone through a few more cups of tea, before they heard the sound of a baby crying in the bedroom. The elder came out, and told everyone that it is a beautiful, healthy baby girl. She asked them to be patient for just a while longer, before they will be allowed to enter the bedroom. Everyone congratulated Erin, on having a baby sister. Erin got up to go into the bedroom to see his sister. Krillgan was fast enough to stop him before he reached the door. He told him that mother was not yet ready for them to see her. First she has to feed her, then they need to clean her up, because this was very hard on mother. Erin went "Oh!" than went back to playing with his blocks. When the elder said they could go in, Krillgan picked Erin up so that he would have a better view, without having to climb onto the bed.
When Butashe noticed Kreen was keeping back, she asked her to come along. Kreen said that she was not family. Butashe told her that she was just as much family as she was. When Kreen realised that this was true, she was happy to go in with everyone else. This time Chitrah was not shocked to see a pink baby girl. He went right up and kissed his wife and sat behind her to support her. When Erin saw his sister, he asked his parents what her name is. Andriel looked at Chitrah, who reminded her that it was her turn. Andriel said that her father's mother was called Aliyanna, and she liked that name. Chitrah told Erin that his baby sister is called Aliyanna.
A couple of months later everyone in all of the villages heard a loud boom in the sky, followed shortly by a second one. When they looked up, they saw two ships coming down out of the sky. All non-Sisters ran for cover. All Sisters went to where they could best defend the villages. They had never experienced a pirate raid in the middle of the day.
Mother thought something was not right. They were not crisscrossing the sky, looking for a place to land. They were heading straight for a landing. From their current course, they looked like they would be landing somewhere North, Northeast of the main village. That was not an easy area for a Rancor to get around. So it was best to head out on foot. Butashe had already grabbed her bow and a quiver of arrows. She was also belting on her Dathomirite sword, and had slipped a dagger in each boot. Mother had her sword and daggers. She found Kreen's mother Kiranna, and Kreen's friend Tannath-Elu, not too far away. She told them to grab their bow and arrows, and to follow them. Kreen, Krillgan, Ludia, and Diennu, saw them leave the village, and decided to trail along behind them. Mother believed the first ship touched down on the small open field at the base of the mountain pass leading to the valley that takes you to the Singing Mountains. They approached the clearing with great stealth. The saw a human male on his knees holding the body of a human female. A human girl, probably a little younger than Diennu, was standing beside him with her arms around his shoulder crying. These were not pirates. The three aliens standing over them where sad by what they saw, two of them holding shovels. Mother ran up to the group, with her three Sisters trailing behind her. She told the group to look after their dead, and they will take care of the living. The startled group froze until the primitively armed ladies had passed. They had not even heard them approach. After they left, the Zabrack couple selected a place at the edge of the clearing, and started digging a grave. Kreen, Ludia, and Diennu watched from the bushes.
Krillgan when he saw the ship, he stopped dead in his tracks, and mumbled, "The Captain's ship." He quickly scanned the area. He saw that the woman was beyond his help. No one else appeared to be injured. So he hightailed it back to the main village, with Kreen, Ludia, and Diennu wondering if something was wrong.
Mother and the Sisters saw four armed men get out of the second ship that had settled in a small clearing. About a kilometer northeast of the first ship. The first two men were wearing body armour. Mother warned Kiranna, and Tannath-Elu to aim for exposed flesh. Butashe, being a Ranger would take out the second two. Mother had her Dathomirite sword ready, in case they were spotted, and she needed to deflect blaster bolt fire. When she gave the command, all the Sisters fired. Tannath-Elu took out the first pirate with an arrow through the forehead, between the eyes, just above the brow ridge. Kiranna took out the second pirate in body armour. Because he was partially blocked by the first pirate. She put an arrow through his right eye. Butashe took out her two pirates with clean shots to their chests. The ladies quickly jumped over the dead bodies, and boarded the ship. They made their way to the front of the ship and pried open the door to the bridge a small amount. They identified three targets. One of them was speaking on a hand mike to another ship. Mother traded Tannath-Elu, her two daggers, for the bow and arrows. Kiranna, positioned herself to open the door all the way, when signalled. So she would be out of everyone else's way. When the man stopped talking, and put the mike down Amblin-Elu shot the man that had been talking with an arrow thru his throat, to keep him from talking. The door to the bridge flew open and Tannath-Elu, and Butashe dove through the doorway, tossing a dagger at their selected targets. Doing a front roll, than coming to their feet. Two clean kills with daggers buried in their foreheads. Mother had jumped over both of them, while they were in their roll, pounding an arrow into the chest of the man she had shot in the throat, with her hand. Butashe and Tannath-Elu retrieved their daggers, and went door-to-door on the ship, to see if there was anyone else. They found no one else, so they returned to the bridge and informed Mother.
Krillgan found both parents at home, and told them that it was the Captain's ship, but no sign of the Captain. Chitrah looked at his son. "The Fenelar Phoenix is here?"
He ran upstairs to the rooftop patio, to retrieve all the equipment he kept stored there, not just his computer. He did a quick check that used to be routine years ago, to make sure everything was there and working. He went back downstairs, and asked Andriel, who had just finished nursing Aliyanna, if she was coming. Andriel really wanted to see the ship again, but thought it was best, if she stayed home with the children. Krillgan help boost his father's abilities, as they both ran back to the ship together.
When Mother returned to the first ship, she did not like that they were planning on burying the lady with just what she had on. She was worried that some of what she was wearing could contaminate the soil. She asked the grieving man if she could prepare the body for burial. The man said yes, and let her take the body from him. She asked him if she had a favorite outfit she liked to wear. He led them into the ship, to the first officer's cabin. He told them that his wife and daughter shared this cabin, because his cabin was not big enough for the three of them. He pointed out his wife's clothes. He did not know if she had a favourite outfit, except what she was currently wearing. He did say that she looked good in everything she wore. He told them that they could get water from the bathroom, and left closing the door behind him.
Now the other three Sisters had followed Mother into the cabin. Mother had laid the woman's body on the bed. While her sister and Tannath-Elu undressed her, Mother looked at the garments the grieving man pointed out. She found a pretty blue dress that looked like it was made from natural fibres, and decided to dress the woman in that. Kiranna found a container that looked like it would hold water, and went to the bathroom. She found soap, a washcloth, and differently sized towels. She grabbed everything, then tried figuring out how to activate the water. She hit a button that started water flowing out of the showerhead instead of the tap like she wanted. She filled the container, then tried stopping the flow of water, but could not figure it out, so she left the bathroom. Thinking, what a complicated way to live. As soon as she left the bathroom, the water stopped flowing, because of the no waste feature in the water control system. The women bathed the woman's body, but did not let her hair get wet. The only indication they had of how the woman died, was the traces of blood they found coming out of her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. After they dried her body, they dressed her in the blue dress that Mother had selected. They laid her in the middle of a white sheet of bed linen. Then taking a corner each, they carried what looked like a sleeping woman, outside.
Chitrah and Krillgan, showed up as the Sisters approached the top of the ramp. Chitrah ran up to the human male, and asked him where the Captain was?
"I'm the Captain."
This was not the answer he was expecting. He ran partway up the ramp, so his head was in the ship.
"Computer?"
"Yes, Chitrah?"
Everyone but Krillgan was surprised that the computer knew his name.
"Where is the Captain?"
"Captain Chrashan Warman, and his crew have left the ship. I believe it is because I could no longer detect First Officer Dreshelle Warman's vital signs."
"Computer, where is my Captain."
"Your Captain Richard has retired and transferred all the codes to Captain Chrashan, including all my security codes."
"Thank you, computer."
Chitrah started to turn to go back down the ramp. "Chitrah?"
"Yes computer?"
"They are a good crew!"
Everyone was surprised to hear that comment. Especially Chitrah. He did not believe the computer had the computing capability, nor the memory capacity, nor the software to make that type of subjective comment. He wondered if the Captain had imbedded it in the Computer's memory, just for him.
Chitrah went up to Captain Chashan, and apologised. He had to know for sure that they were the legitimate crew. Then he saw the Sisters carrying the body in the bedsheet, coming down the ramp. Chitrah was even more embarrassed and backed out of the way. Mother sent Kreen and the children to go pick wildflowers and place them around the body. They were able to pick enough to make a small nest around the body. It looked pretty, and the wildflowers gave off a nice scent. The Zabrack couple had finished digging a grave. It was just over a meter deep. But should be deep enough to keep wild animals from digging it up. Mother had everyone step back. To let the Captain and his crew take over burying their dead. The Captain knelt beside his wife's head and started crying, his daughter knelt beside him and buried her head in his chest. Everyone could hear her sobbing. The Captain held his daughter close to his heart, until she stopped crying. Then he bent over and kissed his wife on her cheek.
"Goodbye my love."
Then he stood up. His daughter also kissed her on the cheek.
"Goodbye mama."
Then she stood up, and stood beside her father. He put his hand on her shoulder, and drew her gently to him. The Iktotchi and the Zabrack couple. Took the bedsheet and folded it up over the body. They then lifted the shrouded body and placed it in the grave. The Zabrack couple took their shovels and started covering the body, filling in the grave. Mother selected a large rock from the pass that looked like it had a pointed end. She remembered that when the last political exile buried his servants, he used a large rock to mark where he buried them. She figured that people who buried their dead, like to use rocks to mark where they put them. She lifted it by herself using the force, and carried it over to the grave. The crew quickly got out of her way. This was their first indication that they were dealing with force users. Mother rotated the rock so the pointed end faced down. She let go of it at the far end of the grave. Everyone felt the rock impact with the ground. It wasn't going anywhere.
Ludia and Diennu, went up to the girl and gave her some wild flower plants. She did not know what to do with them and just dropped them over the grave. Ludia and Diennu told her she needs to plant them so that her mother will always have wildflowers growing over her. They got down on their knees to show her how. She got down beside them. She thanked them for being so nice to her and her mother. They told her they understand. They know what it is like to lose someone you love. They told her that they both lost their fathers. They were also killed by bad people. The girl introduced herself, telling them she was called Rasha. Ludia and Diennu introduced themselves. Then they pointed at Krillgan and told Rasha that he was friendly for a boy, and gave her his name. Then they told her the young lady standing beside him is also nice. She is their instructor, and her name is Kreen.
When Kreen and Krillgan realised that Ludia and Diennu were talking about them, they went up to the girl to say hello. Mother took a cue from her daughter and started introducing herself and her Sisters to the Captain. His crew came over, and he introduced them to the ladies. He told them that the Iktotchi male is called Grimm. In his language Grimm means happy. His family name is also Grimm, so he is happy, happy, or very happy, depending on how you want to interpret it. The Sisters thought he looked quite serious. They wondered how he looked when he was sad. Mother asked him if he could see the future. He told Mother, that as an engineer, he can only see when something is going to breakdown before it does. So he can repair it before it breaks. Mother was a little disappointed. She was hoping he could see more of the future then that. When the Zabrack couple came over. The Captain introduced them as Kran and Elibet Vreemen. They had heard Chitrah's name spoken by the ship's computer, and asked him how long has it been since he has been on the ship. He said it has been years, his wife would know how long. It was this ship that brought his family to this world. Then he asked them if they knew what this world is called. They said the ship's computer said it is Kindell's World. Chitrah told them that it is very important that they not alter that name in the ship's computer. Captain Chrashan said that Captain Richard had said something similar, when they took over the ship. He said that there are certain planets that he gave special names to, and they were not allowed to alter those names.
Chitrah asked them what happened. They told him that two pirate ships had jumped them in another system. They were trying to get them to land on a planet. Instead they were able to jump to this system. The computer said that this planet was safe for them, but not for pirates. Unfortunately the two pirate ships were concentrating their firepower on their front laser turret, which his wife was operating. They were able to breach the casing, exposing the turret to the vacuum of space, causing the ship to seal it off. They were not able to get into the atmosphere and unseal it fast enough to save his wife's life. There is still a much larger ship out there. One that they cannot take on, on their own.
Chitrah told the Captain that he was a field computer technician, and has already run static and dynamic tests on all the equipment on his bridge, before.
Mother was wondering, if there was any branch of science that Chitrah was not familiar with. The Captain asked him to talk with Grimm. Maybe he could help him with the repairs that need to be done to the ship. Grimm asked the ladies if the pirate ship that followed them down to the planet's surface got away. Mother told him, that it was sitting in a clearing, about a kilometer away. He asked if he could be taken to it. They might have some parts that they could use to repair their ship. Mother turned to her Sisters and told them to dispose of the bodies. As they ran off, Mother told Grimm that she could take him there herself. Chitrah asked if he could come along. Mother told him he was welcome.
When Krillgan asked to come along, both Mother and Chitrah suggested that he show his new friend around, they were probably going to be there for a few days. So Krillgan, Ludia, and Diennu, took Rasha to show her their village. Krillgan found that he could boost her abilities just like he could with his parents. Rasha was surprised that she was running faster than she had ever done in her life, and she wasn't tired. Kreen was surprised when Mother said that she could go with her. She thought that Mother would want her to babysit the children.
As they approached the pirate ship, Grimm saw that it was an Aavman Extravagance 11-S Luxury Yacht. That had been converted by the pirates into a gunship. It was common for the pirates to convert Luxury Yachts, because they were easy for the pirates to commandeer, as they have little to no defensive capability. It was very hard for pirates to get their hands on the real thing. So they have to settle with a poor imitation, which is usually enough to frighten most freighter captains to surrender without putting up a fight, if they don't have a fast ship.
Grimm asked Chitrah if his equipment could measure the size of their gun turrets. A couple of them look to be about the same size as the one they lost. Chitrah told him he could scan them, and have their measurements to within half a millimeter.
They boarded the pirate ship which looked like a flying box to Chitrah. When looking over the electronics on the bridge, both men ignored the blood stains. They discussed what would be compatible with the Phoenix, and whether it was worth attempting an upgrade. When Grimm found where all of the manuals had been stored. Doing upgrades became a very serious prospect. They went outside to inspect the ship's drive systems. When they were first jumped by the pirates, the pirates tried taking out their drives. So the Phoenix's drives took some damage. It was only when they entered this system that they concentrated fire on the forward laser turret. Grimm believed that this ship's drives were close enough, that he could fully repair the Fenelar Phoenix.
When they arrived in the village, Ludia and Diennu assured Rasha, that the Rancor would not try to eat her. She was their friend. Krillgan took her to introduce her to mother, and asked her if there was some good clothes for her to play in. Andriel saw that what she was wearing, was comfortable for a ship. But would be destroyed with the way the children played. She asked Krillgan to take Erin, while she took Aliyanna, and all the children followed her to the seamstress's shop. Krillgan let Erin ride on his shoulders, so that he could pretend he was riding a Rancor. Rasha noticed that all the children called the Devaronian woman mother, so she did as well. At the seamstress's shop, most of the women stopped what they were doing. They loved watching Mother Andriel work. They always seemed to learn so much just by watching her.
Of course Krillgan had to stay outside with Erin. The only time he was allowed inside was when mother was making something for him, then the girls had to wait outside. He enjoyed playing with Erin, who wanted to wrestle with him on the only grass spot in the area. It wasn't long before all the girls came out, followed by Andriel holding Aliyanna. She had a little package in her hand, and told Rasha that she would keep her outfit in her home, so that she could change when it was time for her to go back to the ship. She took Erin by the hand and left. Now the children could go wherever they wanted to. There were so many interesting things they wanted to show Rasha.
Back at the Phoenix, Grimm went over with the Captain and crew, all the things they found at the pirate's ship that could be used to upgrade the Phoenix. As always the Captain had the final say. Using Chitrah's computer, he showed them the gun turret he wanted to install. He was looking to replace the damaged dual laser canons, with a quad turbo laser turret.
Now a laser canon is a bit more powerful than a turbo laser. But four turbo lasers are more powerful than two laser canons. The dimensions were virtually identical, and the power cables that connected to the gun turret could easily handle the extra load. It did not take long for the Captain to approve that change.
The upgrades to the bridge's electronics was a harder sell. Grimm had to enlist the support of the ship's computer, by describing each electronic component along with all of its connections and their ratings. The computer told the Captain that all of the components the engineer is recommending is well within the ship's tolerance for those components, and would have no known negative impact on the ship's overall performance. The computer estimated that there would be between a two to five percent increase in overall efficiency and performance. For bridge components, that was a lot. The Captain finally agreed. It meant that he would have to be on this planet, longer than he wanted.
He was nervous being around women who could lift up rocks larger than a man, and drop them where they wanted to, with relative ease. Three or four well placed rocks, dropped on his ship would leave him permanently grounded.
Even though he appeared to be suave. The only woman he was ever really comfortable with, was his wife.
That evening when Rasha returned to the ship. She was bubbling over with excitement. She could hardly wait to tell her father all about it. The first thing Chrashan asked her, was whether she had anything to eat. She told her father that she had dinner in the village with the children. They waited for her while she changed back into her ship's clothes, than they helped her run back to the ship. Her father asked her if she really ran all the way to the ship, from the village. He did not know how far away the village was, but he doubted his daughter could run from one end of the ship to the other without being a little winded. She said yes, the other children helped her, it wasn't very hard at all. Then she told her father about meeting a nice Devaronian woman who has two small children. Everyone calls her mother. She sewed some clothes for her so that she could play with the other children without wrecking her clothes. Then the children took her to a jungle, where she jumped from branch to branch. They were able to make it all the way across the jungle without touching the ground. They showed her a huge field of wildflowers. She hopes that mommy's grave looks like that someday. They even picked some and put them in her hair. She still had some flowers in her hair, but most of them were blown away from her running.
Chrashan was a little concerned about his daughter, he had never known her to exaggerate before. But saying she had a whole bunch of flowers in her hair, when he could only see two. Climbing up and down a mountain in an afternoon, when all the mountains he has seen around here would require at least four days of climbing just to reach the top. Being able to cross a jungle without touching the ground. All this in one day? He felt his wife's death had affected her more than he expected, and he did not know how to help her.
Chitrah overheard the whole thing. He could see the look of doubt and concern on the Captain's face. What was worse was that his daughter could also see it. He could see tears starting to form in her eyes. He had to do something. He called Rasha, he hoped that was the girl's name. She came up to him. "You're the man that our computer knows." Chitrah whispered to her, "I believe everything you said, except about the jungle. There are no jungles around here, there are only forests. Don't worry about your father not believing you. I will try to help him see the truth. You just keep on having fun with the children." Rasha felt much better, she was glad that there was one adult that believed her. "Thank you!" Her father asked her what Chitrah wanted to talk to her about. She told her father that the nice man told her that there were no jungles around here, just forests.
"I did not know. I thought it was a jungle because there were so many trees."
Then she went to her cabin before her father could ask her any more questions. It was strange being in her cabin all by herself. She could still smell her mother, like she was still there. She started crying because her mother wasn't there for her anymore. She was sure her mother would have believed her.
Chrashan went up to Chitrah, he wanted to ask him why he spoke to his daughter, and only corrected her about the jungle, when the whole story sounded so farfetched. But he did not know what to say. Chitrah invited him to have lunch with him in the village. He needed to get away from the ship for a little while, and trust his crew to do their job.
Crashan felt embarrassed, "You think I am supervising them too much?"
Chitrah nodded his head yes.
"Do you promise me, that no one is going to drop a big rock on my head?"
Chitrah laughed and said he promised. So Captain Chrashan agreed. Chitrah told him that if he has electrobinoculars, he should bring them. They have a rooftop patio on their home, and sometimes the things you can see are spectacular. The Captain promised he would bring his.
The children were waiting for Chitrah, to help him run back to the village. He told them that they needed to walk and talk first. He told them that Rasha's father did not believe any of the things that Rasha said she did today. It is important that Captain Chrashan believes his daughter, and that Rasha has the confidence to continue to talk to her father. So he told them what they need to do tomorrow, and who they need to ask to help them.
When everyone was in agreement, they ran back to the village.
Rasha was surprised to see the children, when she opened her cabin door. She was awaken by someone knocking on it. They told her to get dressed. They would stop at the village for breakfast. Father Chitrah has outlined what they are supposed to do that day. Rasha remembered that the computer called the blue man Chitrah. Maybe he was going to help her father understand that she was not lying. She was all excited, and dressed quickly. She knocked on her father's cabin door. When he got up to answer the knock on his door, he saw four bright eyed children looking at him. His daughter told him that her new friends have come for her. Is it okay for her to go with them, she will meet up with him later that day.
There were too many of them to say no to. So he said she could go. He had been hoping to talk to her about exaggerating, before Chitrah came for him. He decided he would have to do it after they both returned to the ship. He went back to bed after he closed the door. It was still too early for a civilised man to be up.
When he finally got up and dressed for breakfast, he was surprised to see that his crew were already up and working. They were finishing the dismantling of the damaged gun turret. Grimm had told him that most of it could be used as spare parts for the other two turrets. Captain Chrashan told them that they would be on their own for most of the day. Chitrah had invited him for lunch in the village. He was still not used to reading the facial expressions of Iktotchi and Zabrack, but he could swear he saw relief etched on their faces. He had his breakfast, than he went outside to his wife's grave. He wished that she was here to help him with their daughter. He was sure that she would know what to do.
He did not know how long he had been kneeling beside his wife's grave when he saw a man's shadow. He looked up and saw that it was Chitrah. He stood up.
Chitrah told him that he has arranged a ride for them, and reminded him about his electrobinoculars. When he came back out, Chitrah took his jacket off, and asked him to put it on, just to be safe. He did it because Chitrah asked him. He wondered, what wearing Chitrah's jacket, had anything to do with safety. When they came around some bushes he found himself face to face with a Rancor. Well it wasn't really face to face, it was more like face to navel. He froze, the Rancor sniffed him and did nothing. Chitrah grabbed him by the arm and told him to come along. He did not know how to talk with Rancor or he would introduce him.
The Captain realised that he came really close to embarrassing himself. Any more surprises like this, and he would have to start wearing diapers to be safe. They both climbed aboard the cart, then the other person in the cart signalled the Rancor that they were ready to go. As they were riding along the Captain asked Chitrah why the Rancor sniffed him, then left him alone. Chitrah told him, that because he was wearing his jacket, the Rancor smelt his herd smell, so he was not to be considered as food. The Captain paled, if he had not been wearing Chitrah's jacket, he would have been lunch, instead of going to lunch. How was he going to tell his daughter about this, without her thinking he made it up?
What a strange world.
It was a beautiful ride, it was also farther to the village than he expected. He told Chitrah that his daughter said that she ran all the way back to the ship from the village, and did not look winded.
Chitrah did not want to tell him that he did it twice yesterday. Instead he told him that the Sisters can run much faster than they were presently moving. The trip from the ship to the village was just a short jog for them. At that moment two Sisters ran past them, coming from the direction of the ship. The Captain had never seen a human move so fast on their own, and there were two of them, like they were out for a morning jog. Chitrah told the Captain that the Clan Mother must have asked them to get something from the pirate ship.
The Captain asked Chitrah if the Clan Mother was the tall beautiful scary woman. Chitrah laughed, and said that she was the one, only she wasn't so scary when you get to know her. She seems serious because she carries the whole clan on her shoulders, but she really has a gentle heart. The Captain laughed this time, "It almost sounds like you are setting me up." Chitrah assured him that he was not the matchmaker in the family. When they reached the village, the Captain and Chitrah climbed out of the cart. The third person unhooked the Rancor, than the Captain could swear the person said thank you to the Rancor using their body.
Chitrah led Captain Chrashan to his home. Inside he introduced the Captain to his Devaronian wife and two small children. The Captain knew that this was not a coincidence. He asked Chitrah's wife if she sewed an outfit for his daughter yesterday. She told him that of course she did. What she was wearing would have been torn to shreds the first group of bushes she forced herself through. She showed him his daughter's ship clothes, saying that she changed there that morning after they had breakfast. He then asked her if the children call her mother. She said that they do and they call her husband father. The adults call her Mother Andriel, and they call her husband Father Chitrah. She asked him if he would like something to drink. They have hot tea, cold new ale, cold regular ale, and some chilled fruit wine. The Captain asked for new ale. Andriel told him that she would bring him a mug upstairs.
When they went upstairs, Andriel stepped outside and told the Clan Mother that he asked for new ale. By the time Andriel went back inside. Mother had returned with a mug of cold new ale. She handed the mug to Andriel, then returned to her post outside. Andriel took the Captain his mug, and told her husband that his tea would be ready in a minute.
Chitrah pointed out a mountain to the Captain, and asked him how long it would take him to climb it. He told Chitrah that on his own, it might take him four or five days. With a local guide it might only take him only two.
A short time later Chitrah saw the signal that he was looking for. He asked the Captain to look through his electrobinoculars, he could swear that he saw people on top of the mountain. The Captain got out his electrobinoculars and zoomed in on the mountain's top. He had stood to make sure he had a clear view. He almost sat down again when he saw his daughter Rasha waving at him. Chitrah asked him who was up there. The Captain said that he just saw his daughter Rasha, but that was impossible, he had just seen her that morning. Chitrah asked him who else was there. He looked again. This time he saw all four children waving at him.
To Chitrah the Captain turned pale, it was like he saw a ghost. Chitrah asked if he could have a look see. The Captain handed them to him and sat down, saying it was impossible, they were all outside his door in the morning.
Chitrah waved his hand. It was his signal. If the Captain had not been looking down at his feet he would have seen a ball of force fire going up into the air, just outside of the house, then bursting when it was intercepted by a water javelin. When Chitrah sat down and handed the electrobinoculars back to the Captain, he told him that they did it in good time today. Could you believe that the first time the three children climbed that mountain, it took them almost half a day. Today they did it in record time, and they have a non-force user with them.
The Captain looked at Chitrah, "Are you saying that this is normal for them, to climb that mountain in such a short time." Chitrah reminded him that he said that this was the fastest they did it, so it could not be called normal.
"But how?"
"The three children are training to be Sisters. So they can run up and down mountains faster than a mountain goat. His daughter on the other hand, is one of a handful of non-force users that Sisters can share their force power with. So that they can run, jump and do almost anything as well as a Sister when a Sister helps them."
The Captain was dumbfounded, "Are you saying that everything my daughter said she did yesterday, she actually did."
"Yes, except for the jungle part. She was jumping branch to branch in the forest, just like the other three children." The Captain drained his mug. Chitrah asked him if he would like another. The Captain said that he did not know whether he wanted something stronger to drink, or something weaker. Chitrah laughed, he told Captain Chrashan they were having cold cuts for lunch, so he would recommend that he stick to the new ale.
A short time later Andriel, Amblin-Elu, and Butashe came up to the patio, with cold cuts of roasted meats and cheese. A fresh loaf of bread, hand sliced, with sliced fresh vegetables on the side, and a tray full of mugs of new ale for all of them. Andriel went back downstairs to get Aliyanna, and Erin followed her up.
They all seated themselves and Andriel made a small sandwich for Erin. Amblin-Elu told the Captain that she hoped their children did not startle him with their antics, sometimes they can be a bit of a show-off. He told them that their children doing it did not startle him. It was his own daughter doing it with them that startled him. Butashe changed the subject, and asked him to tell them about his wife. He told them how they met, than fell in love. How they wanted to wander the stars together. How proud they both were when Rasha was born. His wife named her. Her name can be translated as female antelope, or female goat. "Today she is living up to her name." He said his wife would be tickled pink, knowing their daughter could do this. He saw from their expressions that they did not understand the expression. He said that his wife would have been very pleased, and probably jealous if she could not do it as well. Amblin-Elu told him that his wife probably could have done it as well, because many things connected with the force seems to be hereditary, and his daughter did not get it from him. He looked at them with wide eyes. She explained that they touched him with the force earlier, but he did not respond.
After everything was cleared away, and they were sitting around sipping tea. Rasha suddenly appeared on the ledge surrounding the patio. "Wow. That was fun." Chrashan asked her how she got up there. She told him that she jumped up. He got up to look how far she had to jump. When he looked down, he saw the other three children. They waved, then they jumped up to either side of him.
Chrashan hugged his daughter, "I'm sorry I doubted you. Everything you said sounded impossible to me." "That's okay daddy. I'm glad you believe me now. Everything would be impossible if my friends didn't help me." Then she went up to Chitrah and kissed him on the cheek. She had tears in her eyes when she said, "Thank you father. You helped us just like you said you would."
"Your welcome."
Chrashan was also grateful that Chitrah had set him up. So he could be reunited with his daughter. Andriel asked the Captain if she could come out some time and have a look at the Fenelar Phoenix. The Captain said that he would love to have her see his ship. He was afraid that it hasn't changed much since she was aboard. He recommended that she wait four days to let the crew finish installing the new gun turret over the staff lounge, and clean it up. Rasha asked her which cabin she stayed in, when she was aboard. She told her that she shared the first officer's cabin with Krillgan. Rasha said that she would be sure that it was nice and clean for when she came aboard. Andriel told her that she heard that she did a good job keeping it clean right now. Rasha turned red. "It was Mamma that kept it clean. I'll try and do as good a job as she did." Andriel assured her that she will do as fine a job, as her mother. When Andriel did get a chance to go aboard, she had a look at the style of clothes Rasha's mother wore. Then she had an idea. When she returned to the village, she took out some of the off world material she kept in storage. She had Rasha's measurements, so she sewed her a pretty dress, in her mother's style. She burnt all the scraps, telling the other seamstreses that it would not be right for them to have some of that material when no one else on Dathomir could. They asked her about the dress. It looked like it was the right size for Diennu. Mother Andriel told them that it was for Rasha. The material would not be important to her, just the one who made it. The seamstresses agreed. Still they would love to have a peek at everything Andriel kept locked away.
When Andriel presented it to Rasha, she told her that here in this clan, they take one day in a cycle to spend time with their family. She was hoping that once every cycle she would wear this dress, and have her father wear a nice outfit, and then they could have a special dinner together. Rasha had to try it on right away. Everyone told her she looked beautiful. She took it off so that she could ran back to the ship without damaging it. Where she put it on for her father. She told him what mother suggested that they do. Now he understood why everyone called her mother. What a wonderful Clan, having two good mothers and one good father. Chrashan told her that they should start that evening. Rasha ran outside in her dress, and told her friends that she was going to stay on the ship for the rest of that day. So she and her father can have their special dinner together. They told her that that was okay, they would come back and play with her tomorrow.
When everything with the ship was ready, Chrashan was surprised at how reluctant he was to leave. He promised Rasha and her friends, that they would return. Since he was planning on coming back.
Andriel gave him a list of planets where he could find good tea for a very good price. In case he happened to be in the area. They gave him some casks of new ale, regular ale and fruit wine. Chrashan was able to use one of the Captain Richard's contacts, in the book he gave him, to get it all bottled. The bottling company kept half of the product and the other half was given back to the Phoenix.
The new ale was sold as Clan Brew, the regular ale was sold as Clan Hard Brew, and the fruit wine was marketed, as coming from the Singing Mountain Winery. They were accepted on the market as a premium product with limited distribution. Which meant that collectors and speculators got involved sending its price soaring. Whenever the Phoenix returned with new product. It was already sold before they started filling any bottles.
Now Mother had told the Captain, that she could help him for a while as he departs the planet, in case the large pirate ship was still waiting for him. She had instructed him not to go straight up because the Saurian fliers would attack his ship. After clearing the trees he needs to go out over the ocean before going up into the heavens.
The Captain let Kran take the pilot's seat, since next to Dreshelle, he was the best pilot on board. As they started gaining altitude over the ocean. Kran told the Captain that it looks like they have two escorts.
Amblin-Elu had made two force copies of the ship. It was easier to make a copy of an object than of a human. She was using all her concentration, and was connected to the ship by the force to do so.
The pirate ship was waiting for them. The Captain kept his ship a beam of them. It meant his ship was a bigger target, but all his guns could engage equally. Grimm took control of the Captain's station and piloting the ship. The Captain took control of the new gun turret, while Kran and Elibet took the rear two. As soon as the pirate ship came within range, he opened up. He was surprised to see the two shadow escort ships fire when he did. He thought they were just an optical illusion to fool the enemy. Because the two shadow ships were made out of the force, what they fired was force energy not lasers. The pirate's shields were ineffective against force energy, and the ship's hull started taking damage right away, from the first salvo. The pirate captain, being a coward at heart, decided to flee the battle rather than engage. He would have to tell his bosses that the two ships escorting the freighter were inflicting serious damage to his ship, and were taking no damage from his guns. They would have to try and get the freighter again, when it was alone.
Amblin-Elu had felt the force energy leaving the ships when they started shooting. So she knew the pirate ship was still up there, and tried maintaining contact. All of a sudden she started feeling strange, Chitrah noticed, and started yelling, "Break contact, break contact!" So she released the ship. They had to sit her down on the ground because she felt woozy. She asked Chitrah what happened. He told her that he believed that the ship was preparing to jump to hyperspace. If it had, than part of her would have gone with it, and she probably never would have been able to get it back. There is a connection between the force and hyperspace. The Rakata in their force powered ships were able to take advantage of it. If she had not let go, she might have become a force ghost in hyperspace. There are enough stories of encounters to show that there are some out there. She asked what would have become of the rest of her. Without the force to protect her, she would have gone insane and bled to death at her next moon cycle. She thanked Father Chitrah for saving her life. From the way she felt, she believed that everything he said was true.
