Star Wars: Alani Bo

by rickell.perry17x

What is the force? What makes it different in certain cultures? Alani Bo is a Neti on a search for the answer the force and the galaxy itself. They want to know everything they can about the galaxy. Where did each being come from, and how has it changed over time? What items have been lost to time, and what can be done? It's going to be a long journey. May the force be with you.

3. Chapter 3: Surprise

Chapter 3 Surprise

52ABY, 1st Melona, Atunda 9

I don't know what's more beautiful, the Flora of Energy or the Forest of Brightness.I love the feeling of the bright forest, but the Flora of Energy stands out with its intriguing story behind its source.
Flora of Energy is a dome-shaped garden. Huge in comparison to the meditation den. We have a lot of Flora we tend,and our garden is almost like its own ecosystem.A couple of the Flora are mutated by unification. A skill that I have only seen done once or twice. It's something Tuk told me is not often done because it's seen as "unnatural" to the course of nature by other Neti. I've always wondered what the Maior Neti meant by "natural." Tuk tends to use the word differently from how other Neti uses it. It seems like not all Neti thinks the same. Tuk is a prime example of this; after all, he was the one who did...
Tuk stands with his hands behind his back like a school teacher. I feel his gaze as he asks in an instructive tone, "Alani? Are you listening to what I am saying? I asked, when does one ever know everything?"
His old eyes are at ease, ready to hear my answer. I stand up straight, meeting his gaze, ready to answer.
My body tightens up as I respond, "When one truly accepts, thy knows nothing."
After answering, I noticed how it felt rehearsed or ingrained in my being. Tuk looks at me for a moment to smile.
He turns towards the big tree in the middle of the dome. He says, "You know the answer by heart, but you have yet to experience it. I only hope this will help you in your endeavor, Alani."
What he said felt good, but I'm unsure what to feel as well. What did he mean by "He hopes it will help my endeavor?"
Tuk walks down the stairs to the central tree. In the dome, there's one path leading to different layers. Certain plants need tending more often than others. I pause halfway from the final step and still feel uneasy about what Tuk said.
Tuk seems calmer than before but says with slight firmness, "Alani, hurry along, my bud. We must tend to the Flora in the Sied (Z-E-I-LO) section." His head turned to me while his body was still forward on the path.
I wake myself up from my thoughts and feelings. I say eagerly, "Oh, coming, Maior Tuk!" He was a little bit closer to the entrance, so I walked faster to catch up. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Sied room is meant for Flora, who needs the most attention. They are also really, really chatty. They can be very boujee about how often they are watered and what they get fed.
The dome rooms are organized by Sied (Z-E-I-LO), Qoni (ZE-KIO-NU-LA), and Jif (SHU-E-RE) maintenance.

The Qoni Flora tends to be more reserved. The times I tend to them, they don't say much. I think they are wary of other beings that aren't themselves. They grew to like me, at least some of them.
Feeling curious as I usually do, I ask Tuk, "Which flora in the Sied section will we be tending?"
Tukis still looking straight ahead as he answers calmly, "I will be tending to the Spa-oon flora." Those Flora tend to require the most care and attention. It seems they appreciate being tended to by others.
The Spa-soon flower is on the middle left side of the central energy tree. The central tree provides energy, shade, and some nutrients for all the Flora in the dome. From what I was told, the tree was once a has been about 2,000 years since the tree has been here. I wonder if Tuk knew of the tree when he was a young Neti. The tree's name is Arbol Verde, and we see this tree as sacred to our culture.
We tend to plants to make sure everything is going alright. From time to time, some plants need to be watered or even spoken to. Well, communicating with plants is something I only do really because some of them are lonely and need a conversation. Tuk inspects the Spa-oon flora to see if everything is alright and if any of them are rotting from the inside.
I stand awed at the Arbol Verde size alone. It's fascinating how huge Arbol Verde is. I hear something familiar from the left side of Arbol Verde. It doesn't sound like another Neti, but it sounds like a...flora? The Flora feels like it's calling and pulling me in its direction.
Saying, "Alani. Come."
It is like a strong magnet pulling me to something smell is familiar, but for some reason, I can't put my finger on it. The voice is coming from the Qoni section in the Flora of Energy. I started walking to the Qoni section entrance. When I got there,I finally recognized the voice of the 's For-shoo! But wait,how did For-shoo get into the Flora of Energy?The Qoni section mostly contains large Flora.
I close my eyes, focusing on where For-shoo is calling me from. I sense where For-Shoo's essence is located. Trusting my instincts, I walk with my eyes closed toward the source of the pull. The closer I get, For-Shoo's scent and voice become more potent. I walk to the point where I hear For-shoo say, "Kij (JU-SHU-LA) OOn (VOO-NU) Stoov (Z-CH-VOO-KEN) Fi- (RE-LA) Byn (SU-IP-NU)." Oh, sorry, in our language, it would mean, "How our paths have crossed."
It seems like this is For-shoo's way of saying hello. I open my eyes, realizing For-shoo is right beside the Low door entrance. For-Shoo hid behind a dark purple floral stem. I don't know how it got here,though. I crouch on the floor behind the purple Flora to get closer to For-Shoo. For-Shoo is still as bright as ever.
I ask For-Shoo confusingly,"For-Shoo. How did you get in here?
"Place Time Movement conceptions of one mind. Reality is." For-Shoo's answer has a relieved and euphoric scent.
I don't quite understand what For-shoo is trying to say. Maybe movement is different for Harbinger flora. For-Shoo keeps calling for me when they're near me, but why?
Feeling perplexed about what For-Shoo told me, I say, "Why do you keep calling for me?"
For-shoo releases a smell with no scent, saying, "Bond, we are."
I hear Tuk walking inside,calling me.I only have a couple of moments to decide what to ask For-Shoo.
I ask For-Shoo rushingly, "Will you survive if I pull you out of your roots?"
For-Shoo gives the same answer, "Bond we are."
I take that as a yes.I see the opening slit in the dome where the roots are coming from.I grab onto a couple roots,trying to pull them apart, but they are too strong. They don't feel or taste like normal roots. It's almost as if...
"Alani, what are you doing behind the purple plant? I was wondering where you were. I should've known you were going to go adventuring."Tuk says to me from behind.
I turn around quickly with a shaky smile. Trying to sound convincing, I say, "Oh, nothing, MaiorTuk. I just... heard the Flora talking about how it needed plucking done. So...I came to do it myself. I didn't want to bother you since you were already tending to the Sied room."Tuk squints his eyes as his face is slightly turned to the side,somewhat viewing me from above.
Tuk says in a peculiar tone, "Hmmmm, what do you have behind you, Alani?"I start to get feels like heavy water just slammed down in the middle of my stomach.
Swallowing heavily, I say, "It's just some icky heeds in the plant. I was going to throw it away."My face feels strained,holding a fake smile for so long. I waited to see the reaction and decision Tuk would make. Hoping he would trust me to tend to the Purple Flora.
Tuk still faces me with his eyes slightly squinted and head tilted but answers, "Well,alright,but be careful JuJus are around. When you're done,come back to me near the center of Arbol Verde."
Feeling relieved, as my shoulders untighten and plop down a little, I say, "Of course, Maior Tuk,Iwill meet you at Arbol Verde." Relaxing my initial smile as I said that.
Tuk walks away slowly. I wait for Tuk to be far enough where he can't see what I'm doing. He walks to the opposite side of Arbol Verde and blocks his sight. I turn back around, crouching down to For-Shoo.
Feeling rushed, I say to myself, "Now, it is time to start changing my hand into a sharper branch, but I don't know if it will be sharp enough for the collective roots. In the worst-case scenario, it doesn't work."I shrug my shoulders.
I close my eyes as I hold my right hand near my face. I visualize my fingers fusing to form a sharp edge on the bottom side of my hand.
Understanding the weight, length, touch, and even smell to achieve the correct transformation.I feel my fingers fusing, creating a wooden blade with a swirling design on my forearm to portray the blade is as long as a medium-sized cutting knife. Shapeshifting my hand felt like I was tapping into something ancient in my core. For-Shoo's roots were as thick as the branches of an Arbol Verde tree, so I considered cutting enough of them to be able to pull For-Shoo first, cutting two roots at a time was difficult to get accustomed my hand as the knife instead of assisting with a knife is two different things. It took so long for a couple of roots cause I had to focus on almost every part of my arm I was using to understand the cutting rhythm. I got used to the cutting feeling after the 10th root and felt For-Shoo getting looser.I cut 4 more roots and told For-Shoo I was about to pull them out of their For-shoo in my hand, I pulled as gently as I ,it wasn't too hard to pull them 's alarming is For-Shoo had no immediate smell of was no reaction I could feel from For-Shoo. Flora usually are in pain when being pulled from their roots.
Looking at For-Shoo,I ask with concern, "Are you alright?I just pulled you out of your roots. I would think it would hurt you,let alone being alive without your roots."
For-Shoo says in a sweet scent, "Energy, bond, dependent."
"Energy?Bond?Dependent? What does that mean" I ask this with some confusion and wait for For-Shoo to answer.
For-Shoo doesn't reply. More importantly, where am I going to hide For-Shoo? Time is not on my side,but I have to think of something. Hmmmm... I got it. I can place For-Shoo in my chest. Hmm... Maybe creating an internal biome could help For-Shoo ... Can't think about that right now. For now,carrying For-shoo inside my chest and turning my hand back is more my hand back to normal was easy, but opening my chest was a little difficult.I had to visualize the feeling of opening my chest. It felt weird like someone was peeling open my chest, but it didn't hurt. The bark was peeling back and I felt itchy all around my body. I place For-Shoo inside my chest on a little platform of roots. As I seal up my chest pouch, I'm at ease placing For-shoo somewhere safe.
I have a big smile and say to For-Shoo, "I hope we enjoy our time together!"
I stand up from behind the Purple Flora. I see Tuk standing, staring up at the vastness of Arbol Verde. He admires Arbol Verde as though it brings him peace and a bit of pain as well.I arrive next to Tuk, looking at him, saying, "We done here?"
Tuk is looking at Arbol with his arms behind his back. He says flatly, "Yes,we are."
I ask, "Is there anywhere or anything else we have to do to go?"
Tuk looks back at me, lowering his eyes, and says lightly, "For today, no, other than the artifact I promised to show you. We can wait for that if you would like?"My eyes lit up when he said artifact.
I say with unexpected excitement, "YES! I want to see the artifact pretty please!" I have a huge smile,and I get closer to his face,emphasizing my enthusiasm.
Tuk's startled by my excitement and leans back a little from says ina shocked yet relieved tone, "Alright, alright, let's head there now, my bud."
We get out of the Flora of Energy and start heading to the Forest of Brightness. I only notice on the way that it's dark was a pretty night.I have never seen where our artifacts have been kept,but I knew it was somewhere obvious. We arrive at the front entrance of Flora of Brightness.
Looking into the forest, Tuk says, "You must not tell a single Neti that I showed you the location of the artifact storage."
I look at Tuk and see how serious he is about this. Reassuringly, I say, "Of course, Maior Tuk, I would never Tell them. They're all Brubby anyways."
Tuk looks at me and pats my head as he says, "I know you wouldn't." He has a smile as he says and does that.
We enter the Forest of Brightness and reach its center, where all the paths can be taken are shown. Tuk walks to a flora positioned almost in the center of the are six pathsin total, three on one side of the Forest of Brightness and three on the first overall shape is a circle, but two sides of this circle are just Forrest.
Tuk writes a symbol with his tree trunk. I'm familiar with the symbol, but I don't really know its meaning YET.

I feel something underneath me shift. Like the earth is moving. I feel flustered and move my body in a wide position to balance myself.
Tuk walks back to me calmly, saying, "Relax, no need to be 's just technology you're not familiar with."
While panicking, I say, "What do you mean relax!? What if the ground is crumbling underneath us!? Would you like to explain what is happening?"
Looking forward in the forest,Tuk says mischievously, "You are about to find out,my dear bud."
I start panting,waiting to see what happens. The ground starts lower if something is pulling the ground down.I scream, closing my eyes in a curled-up body-standing a couple of moments of seamless movement, I noticed nothing was happening. Just me embarrassing myself. I open my eyes and adjust my body to stand up to how I normally stand.
As I adjust myself, with my voice sounding raddled but recovered, I say, "Ehem, nothing happened. I knew this was an elevator, of course. I was just testing you." Tuks hand is over his mouth, and I can see the ending creases of his mouth that would shape a smile.
Tuk turns back to the forward position and says sarcastically, "Of course, Little bud." The ride down felt so long.
We arrive at a door opening up to a straight hallway down to another big door. I think the hallway was made of some type of steel. It had a grey color and small little round things on various parts of it. It was fascinating, but why don't we have this in our village? How long has this been on here? We walk to the door, and Tuk says a phrase, "Perception is Key." The door opens.