Chapter Five: Yeep and the Gorax
He wasn't one to get tired easily. But running after the creature was making him tired quite easily. Legolas supposed Arella was worse off, as she was human and had less endurance than an elf.
"Hey, wait up!" Arella shouted. Legolas skid to a halt and bent over, gasping.
"Your blade's gone, Arella. You can always get a new one." He gasped when she appeared next to him.
"It's not that." Arella gasped. "If we need to defend ourselves we have no way to do it." Legolas nodded and straightened up. There was a sudden chattering noise to the left, causing them both to look up, startled. A furry little creature, about one meter tall, was sitting on a fallen tree about ten feet away. And it was holding Arella's vibroblade.
"Hey. That's mine." Arella stated. The creature said something in its language.
"You mean, like a trade?" Legolas asked. Arella gave him a look as the creature walked over to them. It handed him a pine nut and said something else in its language.
"It wants to give you this pine nut in exchange for your vibroblade." Legolas told Arella.
Really?" Arella asked as she snatched the nut. "This for that, huh? Did I mention that vibroblade took longer for me to grab than it took it to grab that pine nut?" Legolas shrugged.
"Would you rather be gunned down by twelve Nikto bounty hunters on Coruscant or exchange a pine nut for a vibroblade on Endor?" He asked. Arella glared at him and Legolas grinned widely. A sudden shadow was cast over them, as if the clouds had moved over the sun. The creature raced off as Legolas and Arella looked up. What they saw was not a cloud over the sun, but a 30 meter high monster standing over them. How they hadn't heard it, they didn't know. What they did know was that they needed to run. And fast. Arella bolted back to the ship seconds before Legolas. The creature roared and crashed after them.
"We'll never reach the ship in time!" Legolas shouted. There was a familiar chattering sound, but they did not stop to see if the smaller creature was back. Legolas suddenly cried out when he felt his feet leave the ground. Arella skidded to a halt and screamed as she too was picked up. The monster regarded them with what could have been interest.
"I know this is mighty unhelpful, but, I think this thing is a Gorax." Legolas whispered shakily. Arella did not reply. She stared at the Gorax with wide, fear filled eyes as a blur jumped off of a branch and thrust something in the behemoth's neck.
"Hey, it's... what's that furry thing called?" Arella asked. Legolas shrugged as the Gorax roared and dropped his two captives. Legolas grabbed a hold of a bough with one hand and Arella's shirt sleeve with the other.
"Grab a branch!" Legolas exclaimed. Arella reached for a bough, all to no avail, as the monster crashed back the way it had come. The furry little creature chattered in what could have been triumph. Legolas was a little busy making sure neither he nor Arella fell about 80 feet to the ground below.
"I got it! Let go!" Arella shouted. Legolas relinquished his grip on Arella's sleeve and was relieved to se that she did indeed have a good grip on a bough.
"Now, let's get back to the ship. I've had more than enough danger for one day." Legolas whispered. Arella nodded her agreement.
****
Legolas and Arella strapped in before taking off.
"Where to now?" Legolas asked, clearly hoping that Arella knew a safe place to go with civilization. Arella thought for a moment.
"Ithor. It's in the Ottega System." She told him.
"Mid Rim?" Legolas asked.
"Yeah." Arella replied.
"Coordinates?" Arella bit her lip.
"No idea." Legolas bit back a groan. Fortunately, he knew a planet they could go to in the mid rim that he knew the coordinates for, and, hopefully, they could find Ithor's coordinates there.
****
It was a familiar sounding chatter that woke them both up a few hours before landing on Naboo.
"What was that?" Arella whispered. Legolas unbuckled and went into the back of the ship. He froze when he saw the furry little creature trying to open a can.
"Hey, what're you do9ing here?" Legolas asked. The creature looked up at him before turning back to the can.
"What are you?" Legolas asked. The creature said something in its language.
"You're a Teek called Yeep, huh? I've never heard of a Teek before." Yeep said something else and Legolas looked over his shoulder.
"Hey, Arella! The furry little thing followed us onto the ship! He's a Teek and he calls himself Yeep!" The reply of "Great! Just Great! Why don't we pick up another stray on Naboo and Ithor why'll we're at it!" made Legolas grin. He turned back to the Teek and took the can.
"Here, let me help you with that." Yeep watched in interest as Legolas dug around in a cupboard for a can opener. He found it and opened the can before handing it back to Yeep.
"Careful, its sharp." He warned.