Ie no alamete!
Poki tatsu mmona ieno ielo,
Setsu nako!
Tatsuie niko hala kobiyetsu!

Ie no alamete!
Mochi nakato hala kobiyetsu,
Nacha iale!
Tsuma nota kite mmoka chumiya!

Kerrick clapped and cheered along with everyone else as they watched the parade go by. Women dressed in the same Nihoman dress called eepudah (which was a more formal version of what the waitress at the restaurant wore, which was called eepudah-ha) were marching down doing a fan dance in synchronization. Their eepudah were plain white with another eepudah underneath that was splashed with every color in the spectrum. They wore their top-layer eepudah one-sleeved in order for the other one to be visible. It made them look very colorful indeed. Just behind them were a large group of men in lines wearing plain black eepudah-no (a man's version of the eepudah-ha) underneath dark brown kuze, or large trousers that men wore. The men had wooden sticks in each hand. Attached to the stick were five bells. The men twirled and flung their arms into the air to make the bells jingle a certain way. Next were young girls dressed in light green silk eepudah. They danced with parasols. After the girls were boys with white plain eepudah-no and baby blue kuze; they clanked two thick wooden dowels together in a certain rhythm. The boys passed and then men in bright red eepudah-no walked by carrying wooden sticks that held lanterns with writing on them.

Eepudah-no were essentially eepudah-ha and eepudah except for a few distinctions. One was that while eepudah-no had sleeves going to one's wrists, its width did not reach ones knees, which the eepudah had. Also unlike the eepudah and the eepudah-ha, the eepudah-no had a thinner obi with no fancy tying on the back (the eepudah-ha had no fancy way of tying the obi, but it did have a larger obi). It tied into a simple knot after layering twice around the person's waist. The eepudah-no also did not tuck in slightly underneath the obi, but flowed straight down to the ankles.

Kerrick asked Kobayashi what the lanterns the men were carrying said. Koby, who apparently seemed to know the language, answered by saying they had the word "unity" written on them.

Ie no alamete!
Poki tatsu mmona ieno ielo,
Setsu nako!
Tatsuie niko hala kobiyetsu!

Ie no alamete!
Mochi nakato hala kobiyetsu,
Nacha iale!
Tsuma nota kite mmoka chumiya!

The parade was very long. After the men with lanterns passed, more women in baby blue eepudah with pink obis walked by doing a hat dance with small hats that had flowers on them. Next were young girls and boys who were dressed in cream eepudah-no with dark brown kuze. They all had long hair tied back in a nerf tail and wore cream bandanas tied around their heads. They were doing moves of some sort with two long and thick wooden dowels that were tied together by a rope. Then many people came walking two by two. A man would be on the left and a woman on the right. The men wore black eepudah-no with golden obis and red sleeveless vests that fell to their knees. Though the vest looked light, Kerrick could see upon further inspection that it was actually made of scales of some sort. Their hair was down in a braid. The women beside the men also wore black eepudah, gold obis, and red sleeveless vests, except they were silk and not scales. The women also wore their hair down in a braid rather than a bun. Unlike the men, they had headdresses made from the teeth of some sort of animal. The headdresses had a bead between each tooth. They were all strung together by a white string and wrapped around the women's heads once before trailing down on their braids.

The crowds went ecstatic as these pairs walked by. The native spectators began shouting, "Chuuno kika!"

"This is so amazing!" Zhymmia laughed as she watched.

Kerrick nodded. "Yes, it really is. Are you enjoying it, Little One…?"

Kerrick's question faded as he suddenly realized that Vader was nowhere to be seen.

Numel and Vader strolled down the empty streets towards the royal palace as they heard the parade off in the distance.

"See? I told you we would get there a lot faster if we left the parade," Numel said.

"So why is there a royal palace in the middle of the city?" Vader asked.

"Well, from what I've read about this planet they're ruled by the royal family. You've got the king and the queen and then the younglings. I hear they have two sons, but one of the sons was kidnapped or went missing or something. It happened a long time ago."

"Huh," was all Vader said before he asked, "So are they the only ones allowed to rule?"

"Yep,"

"That's why they get the fancy house?"

Numel laughed and nodded. "Yes, Little One, that's why they get the fancy house. Now, as soon as we get a good look at the palace, we can go find some girls and impress them by taking them to the parade."

"But everyone's already at the parade,"

"Not everyone, Lo," Numel argued. "I'm sure there are some poor damsels out there just waiting to be taken to the parade…"

Vader raised an eyebrow and then said, "You're weird,"

"I take offense to that," Numel replied before pausing.

The two had arrived at the royal palace, and it was certainly a sight. Large walls stood around the perimeter of the palace. Over the walls Numel could see the Nihoman-styled buildings with the low curved roofs. It looked like a city in itself. There were a series of smaller buildings all around a large main building. All the walls were golden and the roofs were red. Every door leading in or out was black. The golden walls glistened as if they were actually made of gold… wait, they were made of gold!!

"Good Force," Numel muttered.

"It's so pretty," Vader said, sounding awed. "I wonder what it looks like on the inside."

"Who knows," Numel shrugged. "Anyway, now that we've seen it, let's—"

Numel felt a breeze blow by him and saw a figure jumping over the walls and then realized that Vader was gone.

"What—uh—Lo!"

"Numel, there you are!"

Numel turned around and saw the rest of the group running towards him, looking panicked and out of breath.

"What are you doing here?" Rowan barked.

"I—Lo and I wanted to see the royal palace, so—but he—I mean—"

"Where is Little One?" Moeema asked.

"Well—he kind of—I think jumped over the wall…"

"What?"

"We—we have to get in there!" Kobayashi shouted. "He could be killed if he's caught!"

"What do you mean he could be killed?" Rowan yelled.

Kobayashi shook his head. "People here show a lot of respect towards the monarchs. If you dishonor them by appearing at their house uninvited it can be punishable by death!"

"But—but he's in an Imperial uniform, surely that will help!" Shiine said.

"Maybe…"

"Let's just go!" Kerrick shouted and they all ran inside with Kobayashi yelling for them to stop.

"You guys are all going to get in trouble!" he bellowed.

"We've got to get Little One out of there!" Marrax replied.

Obi-Wan smiled and enjoyed the parade as the crowds around him went wild. He did enjoy the culture on this planet very much.

Ie no alamete!
Poki tatsu mmona ieno ielo,
Setsu nako!
Tatsuie niko hala kobiyetsu!

Ie no alamete!
Mochi nakato hala kobiyetsu,
Nacha iale!
Tsuma nota kite mmoka chumiya!

The parade continued to go by. It seemed so long that it would never end. Currently passing him were people going two by two, men on the left and women on the right. With the way they were dressed and the way people treated them and Obi-Wan sensing a warrior's spirit from them, he could guess that they were the soldiers. After the warriors, women with their faces painted red began to walk by. From their cheek bones to their foreheads they had oval shaped areas painted in gold. They wore their hair in a top knot. Their outfits consisted of a red eepudah with large golden flower designs on them and a pitch black obi with a knot behind it that trailed all the way down to their ankles. They had golden hair ornaments that were essentially golden sticks with designs on top of them, such as minute trees or birds. They concealed their hands in their sleeves. Behind these women were men who were dressed similarly. Their hair was done in the same way, and they wore red eepudah-no with thinner black obis. Instead of flowers, though, they had golden dragons on their eepudah-no. The men also had face point, though the styling was a little different. Like the women, they had red face paint mostly dominating, but instead of having golden ovals around their eyes, their eyebrows were painted gold and they had three horizontal parallel gold stripes on their cheeks.

Obi-Wan had no idea who they were, but the crowds evidently liked them, seeing as they were going wild as they passed. Obi-Wan merely smiled and enjoyed the parade from where he stood.

At least until he sensed someone accessing the Force. It was the same person… and he was close. Very close.

Jifo had expected guards or at least something to try and stop them, but they somehow managed to get to the front door of the palace itself. Kerrick unceremoniously slid the doors open, nearly tripping over himself in his panic. By then the guards started calling out and running towards them. They couldn't stop, though; they had to find Darth Vader!

Jifo could admit that he had never been the most courageous of people (particularly when it concerned Vader before this incident started), but now he knew he could keep running and keep going. He had to keep going. He had to get to Little One before the guards did.

The Imperials entered the hallway, which had ornate gold carpeting. The walls were bright red and golden chandeliers hovered overhead. Occasionally there would be wooden furniture with golden accessories decorating the sides.

Jifo kept his ears attuned to his surroundings. Vader had to be around here somewhere!

Kerrick led the group when he abruptly turned a sharp right into another cavernous hallway claiming that he had heard something. They ran for a short while, hearing the echoing sounds of the guards following close behind. It wouldn't be long before they called the reinforcements and surrounded Jifo and the others.

Although as soon as he saw what was up ahead in that hallway he knew it wouldn't matter.

Up ahead stood a man dressed in a gold eepudah-no with a red obi that had golden decorative designs on it. At the collar Jifo could see a red eepudah-no underneath the golden one, and a black one beneath that. The gold eepudah-no had actual gold sewn into the fabric and was designed like a robe. Half of his hair was done in a top knot while the rest hung down, reaching halfway down his back. He wore a golden band around his forehead with the design of a dragon on it. The dragon's eyes were made of rubies. The man wore a necklace with kasumis—highly prized misty blue jewels found only on Nihoma—between each link. The man wore a ring on each pointer finger, one was a band made completely out of gold while the other was a golden band with a kohaku—an extremely rare red jewel that was often clouded with black impurities.

They had run right into the King of Nihoma. Even worse was that Vader was standing right in front of him without showing any sign of respect.

"Hi," Vader said in a friendly tone. Jifo could feel his legs beginning to give way… he was going to drop dead right there, he just knew it.

The king, however offended he may have been, simply raised a curious eyebrow. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see the palace," Vader replied. "It's so pretty here. Have you lived here your whole life?"

Jifo was very tempted to beat his head against the wall.

"What sort of a question is that?" the king replied, sounding a little surprised. "Of course I've lived here my whole life. Who are you?"

"Um, Lieutenant Lo," Vader answered awkwardly.

Rowan, who had been standing in utter horror along with the rest of the group, stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Forgive us, Your Majesty. The boy is not well."

"I can see that," the king said. "Who are you?"

"Commander Rowan Chupa-Pau, Your Majesty," Rowan replied, still bowing.

Jifo and all the others then bowed and introduced themselves.

"How did you get in here?" the king asked.

"We… we followed the lieutenant, Your Majesty," Rowan responded. "We were fearful of his safety. The boy has a very bad tendency to get himself into trouble."

"I can see that quite clearly," the king nodded before looking around. "But where has that lieutenant gotten off to now?"

Jifo closed his eyes and moaned.

Down the hallway, everyone heard voices echoing. The security guards immediately ran over there and Jifo heard them call out "Your Majesty." Since the king was with them, then the only other "majesty" would be the… stang. Kriffing, kriffing stang.

The king led the group as everybody ran to the other hallway. There stood a woman dressed similarly to the king. She wore her hair exactly as he did except she had golden hair ornaments with chains holding precious jewels hanging off them. She had the same exact head band going around her forehead. She also wore a black eepudah, then a red eepudah over it with a golden eepudah finally over that. The large obi was black on the edges and red in the center with a golden dragon going across it. The knot for the obi on the back was done in such a way so part of the obi would trail down her legs and behind her. She wore golden earrings with kasumis dangling on the end, and had a golden choker with a pearl on it. Like her husband, she also had a ring on each pointer finger: a golden band and a golden band with a kohaku sitting on top.

This was the Queen of Nihoma.

She was currently facing Vader, looking a little surprised. Vader was talking to her curiously, asking who she was.

Now Jifo knew he would drop dead.

"Why—I'm the Queen of this planet!" she answered him, sounding shocked.

The king immediately stormed over to Vader, who backed away quickly, looking startled.

Force no, please no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Jifo though continuously. Things couldn't possibly get any worse if Vader made the power go out.

Thankfully, the queen stepped in for them. "It's alright. Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Lo," Vader replied.

Before anybody could react, Kobayashi rushed forward. "Lo, let's go."

Kobayashi got on his knees in front of the king and queen and placed his hands on the ground, making them face each other. He then lowered his torso until his forehead was touching the floor. "Forgive us, Majesties,"

"Kobayashi, why are you bowing to them like that?" Vader asked before gasping and covering his mouth. Kobayashi stiffened.

"What did you say his name was?" the queen demanded.

"I—I'm sorry, I—his name is—Romi—I mean—" Vader stuttered, not knowing what to do.

"What is his name?" the king nearly bellowed at the boy.

Kobayashi shot to his feet. "Don't yell at him!"

The Imperials all gaped. What was Koby doing? He was yelling at the monarchs!!

I'm dead, we're all dead, we're all going to die, we're all crazy, I'm crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy… Jifo thought, his mind whirling.

The king and queen were too shocked to say anything until the king motioned to the Imperials and said, "Throw them out!"

The guards immediately moved forward. Nobody expected Vader to react the way he did.

The boy immediately widened his stance and held his hands out, palms open. He watched the guards warily with narrowed eyes. Kobayashi gave him an odd look before jumping to his feet. "No, Little One, stop!"

Vader jumped and looked over at Koby before slowly lowering his hands.

"I order you to tell me your full name," the queen said to Koby.

"My… my name is… is… Lieutenant Kobayashi Beillane." Koby said, sounding defeated.

The king and the queen gaped at Koby for what seemed an eternity before the king told the guards to stop. The queen merely walked towards Koby slowly and then hugged him, giving a cry of joy.

As for Jifo and the others, they were all just completely bewildered—including Vader.

"Huh?"

The next thing they knew, the king was hugging Kobayashi as well. What was going on?

"Oh, Kobayashi," the queen said, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"What in the bloody blazes is going on here?" Jifo said before he could stop himself.

The others were too shocked to correct him.

"This—this is our son, Kobayashi Beillane, Prince of Nihoma," the king said, wrapping an arm around Koby who looked thoroughly miserable.

"Prince?"

"Koby, is—is that true?" Moeema asked.

Kobayashi muttered a yes.

Vader watched Kobayashi very silently before saying, "We can stay here with Koby, right?"

Kobayashi immediately perked up before his parents could reply. "Yes, of course you can, Lo. Guards, return to your posts."

The guards looked at the king and queen uncertainly before the king dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Yes, you all can stay here as long as you like."

A young woman wearing a simple red eepudah-ha with blue flowers on it entered the room. Her hair was done up in the traditional Nihoman method. She went down on her knees and bowed to the ground in a similar fashion that Kobayashi had done earlier.

"She will show you to your rooms," the king said, motioning towards the woman.

"But—but what about Koby?" Vader asked.

Kobayashi put a hand on Vader's shoulder. "I'll catch up with you in a little bit, Little One. I promise."

Whew, I had fun describing the parade. :-P

Here's a translation for the lyrics to the parade song:

V. 1:

Ie no alamete! Today we celebrate!

Poki tatsu mmona ieno ielo, Together we come unified now and forever,

Setsu nako! Never divided!

Tatsuie niko hala kobiyetsu! Come feast and dance!

V. 2:

Ie no alamete! Today we celebrate!

Mochi nakato hala kobiyetsu, We join hands and dance,

Nacha iale! And sing joyfully!

Tsuma nota kite mmoka chumiya! Rejoice for we are united!

Now! I have a challenge for my readers/reviewers! I'm going to give you a handful of words (mostly from the song) and I challenge you to create a song in the native Nihoman language. You can have some freedom in creating a few new words for the language, but try to use mostly the words posted below. I'll post whatever you send to me through a review and then everyone can vote on it and whoever wins gets their song in the story! Here are the words:

Ie: Day
Ie no: Today
Alamete: we celebrate
Poki: Together
Tatsu: we come
Mmona: unified
Ieno: now
Ielo: later (ieno ielo put together translates to 'now and forever')
Setsu: divided
Nako: never
Tatsuie: you come (informal)
Niko: feast
Hala kobiyetsu: dance
Hala: run
Mochi: we join
Nakato: hands
Nacha: sing
Iale: joyfully
Tsuma: rejoice
Nota: because/for
Kite: we
Mmoka: united
Chumiya: are
Kika: hail
Chuuno: warriors

Happy composing! Please review!