Post by Cara Drume on Aug 13, 2005 20:02:25 GMT -5
Well, here goes...
This story is based very losely on a dream I had about two years ago; it was of Luke meeting Scrat from 'Ice Age'!
I hope this counts, 'cause here goes!
***************************************************
SCRAT WARS
Starring….
LUKE SKYWALKER
And
SCRAT
Luke Skywalker wiped a thin film of sweat from his forehead and heaved a deep sigh. “Where am I?” he asked no one in particular.
Luke’s little blue astromech, Artoo-Detoo, whistled uncertainly. Despite having an excellent sense of direction for a droid, he didn’t know where they were, either.
It was nearing midday on Yavin Four and Luke was no closer to finding the ancient Massassi temple. He had just obtained permission from the New Republic to establish a new Jedi training academy in what had been the old Rebel base during the Battle of Yavin
That is, if he ever found the blasted place!
Luke had been walking all morning and still, he hadn’t found even a trace of the temple. For a Jedi, his patience was wearing thin. He had thought that the former Rebel base was just a few clicks to the north of where he’d landed. The datapad said so, and he had no reason to doubt his normally-reliable equipment. This time, however…
Luke frowned at the device in his hand and finally folded it up, shaking his head. This time, it looked like either the one he’d gotten the information from was lying, or his datapad was broken. Luke would have liked to believe it was the latter. If you can’t trust Crix Madine, then who can you trust?
At any rate, he wasn’t getting much done just standing here. So, after repositioning his pack, Luke started off again.
Artoo gave what sounded like a droid groan and picked his way through the thick roots, servos whining. He’d already been knocked over twice, and since it looked like his stubborn master wasn’t going to give up just yet, he’d probably get caught and knocked over again.
Great. Just great. If Artoo had known what was ahead, he would have stayed behind!
Late morning dragged on into late afternoon, with not many rests and too many stops to pick up the fallen astromech. Now Luke, too, was regretting taking the little droid along. It was hard enough work climbing up and over the tangled tree roots himself without having to work his domed friend free.
Besides the rough ground, there was also the humidity to deal with. Luke had never quite gotten used to the drip-drip-drip of jungles, and was starting to wonder why he picked this particular planet.
Luke gave a brief, humorless smile. Oh.
He didn’t pick it. The New Republic picked it for him. They said it would be nice for the students to have a historic place to study. Luke suspected they just couldn’t stand to let the former Rebel base go to waste. If that was the case, then why didn’t they build a military base there instead of saddling Luke with it? Besides, it wouldn’t do Luke much good if he couldn’t find it!
Luke finally stopped his march to take a breather. What with his shirt off to keep cooler, the thick atmosphere, and Artoo constantly whistling, this setting reminded him very much of Dagobah…only not as wet.
Artoo gave a weary whistle.
This time, Luke nodded. “I think I know what you mean.” Artoo was probably getting low on power. So was Luke, for that matter. He was hot, tired, sweaty, and his bare arms were covered with scratches and bug bites from a swarm of annoying biting insects that had been following him since noon. Besides that, it was getting dark. Much as he hated it, Luke had to admit defeat…at least for today.
“All right. I think I’m ready to call it a day.” Luke said, grounding his heavy pack and easing down onto a moss-covered rock. He said this not only for Artoos’ benefit, but to remind himself that even a Jedi could only push himself so far.
Artoo let out his own little ‘sigh’ and came to a stop not far from his master. He knew Luke would have had to stop sooner or later. He was just glad that it was sooner.
An intense itching sensation on his arms reminded Luke of those little biters that were following him around. After a couple well-aimed slaps did no good, Luke finally found a tube of insect repellent.
The moment the lid had been popped off, the insects turned abdomen and flew off.
Luke felt a smile creeping up on his face and smeared the goop on his arms. It didn’t smell very pleasant, but at least it would keep the bugs away.
Luke got up and stretched before freezing in place. The smile faded and his hand hovered near his lightsaber.
There it was again…that nagging feeling of something hiding nearby. The question was, what?
Luke blue eyes looked carefully around for something- anything -that would explain his alarm. His eyes saw nothing, but senses warned him other wise.
Artoo gave an inquisitive whistle.
“Just a minute, Artoo. There’s something here.”
Moments turned into minutes. Luke slowly began to rotate, all senses on full alert now. Artoo shuddered.
Skeeeeeep!
Startled by the sudden noise, Luke grabbed his lightsaber and spun around.
There sat a tiny brown creature, hiding its eyes and shivering in fear. It opened its eyes and looked nervously around.
Luke felt relief welling up in him, along with a little disappointment. “Are you the one I was so edgy about?” he asked with a short laugh. He had wanted to scowl, but the humor of the situation hit him before he could. If his senses had been heightened all for a little creature, then the must have been tired! The young Jedi deactivated his Lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.
The creature opened the other eye and lowered its paws. After seeing that Luke wasn’t going to attack him, it calmed down and scratched its ear.
Luke had hooked Artoo up to the charger and was setting up his glow-lantern when he saw a quick little shadow dart by. He glanced up and saw the creature, staring at him with big eyes. It was obviously curious.
In the lamplight, Luke could finally get a good look at his furry visitor. It certainly was strange!
From the looks of things, this was a tree-dwelling rodent. It had large gnawing teeth, tiny triangular ears, a ringed, bushy tail, and tiny forepaws that ended in wicked-looking claws. Its fur was thick and tan, with three black striped going down the side. The tail didn’t look prehensile and there was no sign of a pouch, so Luke’s guess was that it was some sort of squirrel. He’d never seen anything like it before. It was like a children’s cartoon animal.
“Hello,” he said cautiously. “What sort of creature are you?”
The animal lazily scratched an itch behind its ears and looked expectantly at Luke.
No, he wasn’t looking at Luke. He was looking at the food-pack Luke held in his hands. Luke, still watching the little rodent, set the food-pack down. “Where’d you some from, anyway?”
The creature thingyed his head curiously.
It looked so comical that Luke had to laugh. Normally, he didn’t like animals very much. If they weren’t big enough to eat you, then they were probably likely to stay away. This particular creature seemed safe enough.
After waiting a few moments, Luke’s stomach reminded him of his hunger. He opened the food pack and dug out a piece of tough bantha-jerky. He bit into it with a grimace. It didn’t taste too bad, but the texture was somewhere between string and an old boot. The survival pack chefs paid much more attention to nutrition than petty things like flavor. As a result, fighter pilots that had been on their own for a few days would often seek out some ‘real’ food; even if they had plenty of preserved rations left!
But alas, there was no eating establishment here on Yavin Four, so Luke shouldn’t complain. After all; his entire body had gotten a workout, so why not his mouth?
As he sat there gnawing on the tough meat, he saw the funny little squirrel still watching him out of the corner of his eye. Then he noticed that the squirrel wasn’t watching him. It was watching his food. Another smile tugged the corner of his mouth. “Hungry?”
The creature brightened and sniffed the air eagerly.
“I think that’s a ‘yes’,” deduced Luke. He broke off a piece of breadstick and tossed it over to the little animal. He’d heard somewhere that the quickest way to an animal’s heart was through its stomach. And of course, he didn’t want to become an enemy of this little guy. So he saw no problem with giving it a little bit of food.
The ‘squirrel’ crawled over, grabbed the bread, and dashed up a tree trunk to eat it. He took a few tentative nibbles before suddenly getting an eager look on his face and munching away at it.
Luke laughed. “If you think that’s good, than I’d hate to see what you normally eat!”
The breadstick bit was gone in no time, and soon the little creature was licking its paws and looking for crumbs. He eagerly looked up at Luke.
“Nice try. You had yours. No more.” Luke went back to his dinner and began to try and work out where the temple was.
But the creature was not so easily deterred. He bounded right up to the seated Jedi and thingyed his head.
Luke frowned. “No. Go home!”
The creature pouted.
“I said, go home!” Luke picked up a rock.
The creature’s eyes grew wide and it scampered off.
Luke sighed, dropped the rock, and went back to his work. For a while, it seemed like he finally had peace and quiet.
Then a small furry asteroid came sailing out of the treetops and landed right in Luke’s survival pack.
Luke was startled, to say the least. When he finally regained his senses, he saw the little furball eagerly sniffing through the food. “Hey! Get out of there!”
The squirrel jumped from the rock onto Artoo’s dome, who whistled angrily and shook his head. The squirrel slipped, skidded, and fell right off. When he looked up to glare at the droid, he didn’t notice the electrical charging device.
Zap!
The creature yelped and fled, but not before stealing three large breadsticks and a mouthful of nuts. He halted halfway to leer at Luke and Artoo, then scurried off into the jungle.
Luke, despite being grumpy about losing some of his dinner, fought back a laugh at the creature’s expression when Artoo had zapped him. “Artoo, that wasn’t very nice,” he scolded lightly.
Artoo gave an indignant blurp that sounded something like ‘He deserved it!’
Luke shook his head. He had quite lost his appetite by now, and his muscles were ordering him to sleep. He didn’t argue.
Before Luke could get his shelter set up, however, he noticed a new, strong scent in the air. Rain.
He didn’t even have a chance to puzzle over why he hadn’t smelled it sooner when thunder rumbled in the distance.
Luke stiffened and looked uncertainly at the darkening sky. “Uh-oh. I have a bad-“
Crash! A blinding flash of lightning, followed immediately by more thunder, interrupted his train of thought. The skies then let loose with the heaviest cloudburst Luke had ever seen.
Artoo whistled an alarm as raindrops ran down his dome and began soaking the campsite.
“Oh, no….” Luke had to work quickly if his supplies were to be saved from the rain. He set up the tent at a dizzying pace and somehow managed to keep the important things from getting too wet. Luke himself wasn’t so fortunate.
Soaking wet and grouchy, Luke scrambled into the tent and frowned at the inclement weather. Water still dripped into his eyes. He wiped them off, blowing water and air out through his nose. A plaintive whistle reached his ears.
Artoo was peering into the tent, sounding mournful.
Luke moved aside and allowed the dripping droid to enter the small tent. It was a tight squeeze, but Luke wasn’t about to keep good ole’ Artoo out in the rain.
Artoo looked about as grateful as a droid could get as he rolled in. Sometimes he wondered if Luke kept him because he was useful or because he was his friend.
Not this time.
Luke somehow managed to get into dry clothes and get to sleep, the pit-a-patter of rain making a soothing sound on the thick, rubberized canvas.
The rain had stopped by morning, which was a great relief.
Before turning in for the night, Luke had been able to figure out exactly where his calculations had gone wrong and was able to set off in the right direction the next day. Unfortunately, the others had been so far off that he’d be delayed by at least another twenty-five hours.
His estimates for time were right on. Luke again had to stop and set up camp for the evening; which was a challenge because the terrain was even rougher than it had been the day before. Artoo squealed and moaned so much that Luke wished more than once that he had left the little droid behind. And more than once, Luke could have swore he saw that little fuzzy thief he’d met the other day, leaping from tree to tree and mocking him.
The young Jedi was inclined to grumble as he again set up the tent. The ground was muddy- even soggy –from last evening’s rainstorm, making it difficult to get the stakes in firmly. And the rain had brought out a whole host of new insects. Luke swatted at them. “Why can’t this be a little easier? All I’m trying to do is what Yoda told me.”
Then the ghostly voice of Yoda echoed from the past and into his thoughts.
“ I cannot train him. The boy has no patience….”
“No, no. There is no ‘why’…”
Luke’s grouchy mood faded away. It was soon replaced by the feeling of one who has just been firmly but gently scolded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the Force flow around him; feeling it like the warm touch of a kind old friend.
Yes, master Yoda. I understand now.
His impatience fading with his anger, he continued with his work.
Luke’s peaceful rest was snatched away from him when he woke suddenly, looking uneasily around.
It was early morning. Light was just beginning to stream in through the tent’s canvas, giving the interior and soft pink glow. It seemed like nothing could disturb this peaceful morning.
Luke’s feelings told him otherwise. Of course they had done that with the Skittery Creature as well, so he wasn’t sure he could trust even them. His hand inched toward his left hip, where his lightsaber-
His lightsaber was gone.
Luke almost tore the tent apart, looking for his weapon. Did it come unclipped while he was asleep? No. Was it in the food stores? No. His backpack? No. Did Artoo have it? No….
Luke’s heart sank. His lightsaber was gone! His special Jedi weapon that had saved his and others’ lives countless times. The lightsaber he had built in Ben Kenobi’s old hut. And he had lost it!
No, that’s impossible, Luke told himself. He had too strong a connection to his weapon to just misplace it like a child might misplace his toy.
That left only one possibility. Someone had stolen it. That was why Luke had awoken so suddenly.
But who? There was no one around but him and Artoo. And he knew for a fact that Artoo hadn’t taken it. He was too loyal for that. Besides, where would a droid hide a lightsaber?
Luke took several deep breaths to calm himself. He was overreacting. After all, it was only a tool.
A tool that defined him as a Jedi, that is!
Artoo whistled, asking if he could help.
Luke gave a brief smile to his droid and shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he answered, guessing the droid’s question.
That’s when he heard it. A soft, chittering giggle, coming from the treetops.
Luke froze, listening. That sounded awfully familiar…
On a hunch, Luke walked out of the tent and looked around. What he saw almost made his jaw drop in disbelief.
The squirrel-thing from the night before last was sitting coolly up in the low crotch of a tree, holding Luke’s pilfered lightsaber between its paws and laughing at him!
That was enough to make even a Jedi angry. “Hey! Where’d you get that?”
The squirrel grinned maliciously and rubbed against the weapon, running his paws along the polished grip.
Luke frowned, taking a deep breath to calm his rising anger. “That’s mine. Give it back,” he ordered firmly.
The squirrel wrinkled his nose and stuck it in the air, turning his tail towards Luke. He turned around just long enough to stick out his tongue.
Luke was aghast at the cheekiness of such a tiny creature, but also aggravated. It wasn’t bad enough that the creature pretend to be friends and then steal his food. It wasn’t enough that the creature had stolen his lightsaber.
That furry little devil was mocking him!
“You little..”
Artoo-Detoo, hearing the commotion outside, rolled out to see what was going on. He squealed a string of droid curses at the creature and whipped out his ‘zapper’.
The squirrel suddenly realized that Luke- and his droid! –were very much annoyed with him and would likely do him bodily harm. The frightened furball stuffed the saber in his mouth, turned tail, and skittered into the tree.
Luke’s eyes widened for only a minute before he jumped up and grabbed the lowest bough. The Jedi swung into the tree with a grunt. All right, then. If the creature wanted a race, then a race he would get! His eyes scanned the branches before spotting the striped thief and taking off after him.
The chase was on!
The squirrel, seeing that he was being chased, increased his pace. Now, instead of skittering, he was leaping and bouncing from limb to limb, turning once in a while to leer at Luke.
Luke kept pace fairly well with the creature, though he was surprised that something so scrawny could go so fast. His slight respect faded with the creature, who had gained quite a lead, paused to throw leaves at him! This only increased Luke’s resolve. He continued to scramble up after it.
Before long, the creature reached the canopy. It gave a lazy yawn and glanced casually over its shoulder at what it thought would be a discouraged human.
Quite the contrary. Luke was less than two feet away!
In a panic, the creature looked around. Nowhere! He had nowhere to go! He was trapped!
Luke’s head, slightly tousled and with a few leaves sticking from his sandy hair, soon popped through the canopy and gave a satisfied grunt. “Gotcha!”
The creature gave a tiny “EEEP!” and backed up. He wobbled on the thin branches.
Luke, rather wobbly himself while clinging to branches that were very unstable for his weight, tried to breathe carefully and not disturb the branches too much. “All right, you little furball. Now I’ve got you.”
The creature quickly hid the saber behind his back and gave a toothy grin.
“Nice try. Hand it over.”
The squirrel pouted, held the saber close and shook his head.
“This is ridiculous,” muttered Luke. “Give,” he commanded, calling to his weapon with the Force.
The little furball felt his ‘prize’ slipping from his grip…and he knew what was causing it. In a lightning-quick move, he hissed and slashed at Luke’s extended hand with his claws.
Luke yelped and pulled his hand back, releasing his grip on the weapon.
And, unfortunately, the tree.
Luke landed hard on his rump, but had been able to slow his descent enough so he wasn’t hurt with more than a bruise. He wearily looked back up at the tree.
The little creature bounded so where he was just out of reach and began an infuriating ‘victory dance’. He held the lightsaber high above his head and kissed it repeatedly. Then he sneered at the fallen Jedi and laughed in his face.
Luke shook his head and looked away. He could try again when he’d taken care of his hand. From the looks of things, those scratches weren’t deep enough to cause any damage, but they’d just reached a tendon and nicked it. Besides that, it was bleeding profusely. Luke pressed his artificial hand on top of the wound and went to look for his small med-kit.
As Luke sat bandaging his maimed hand, he watched the little creature examine his weapon. For some reason (probably to annoy him), the squirrel had decided to stay a while.
Currently, the creature was sniffing every nook and cranny of the weapon. He was trying to figure out of if was good to eat. He finally gave in a nibbled the rubber grip.
Luke laughed as the creature coughed and spat the grip out with a look of distaste.
Angry, the squirrel began banging the weapon repeatedly on the tree limb. When it had finished with its tirade, it began sniffing around the blade emitter and shroud. He looked into the blade emitter with one eye.
Luke felt his stomach churn. Uh-oh. If that little creature decided to fiddle around with the buttons, things could get pretty gruesome.
Fortunately, the creature turned the saber around and lowered it again, with the top pointing in the opposite direction. After thingying his head in confusion, the creature once again banged the weapon against the tree.
Zhzhzhzhrooowmmmmm! A laser blade of pure green burst from the hilt.
The creature was instantly mesmerized by the hypnotizing green glow. It swung the saber back and forth, grinning stupidly.
Luke tied off the bandage and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t play with that if I were you.”
The squirrel-thing ignored Luke and continued to watch the glowing laser sword. He looked at the blade from as many angles as he could, then thingyed his little head twice. His paw inched toward the pretty glow, wondering…
Zhappp!
The squirrel yelped and danced with pain, letting the saber fall…
Right into Luke’s waiting hands. He laughed at the creature’s sounds, but couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for it. “I told you to give it back,” he reminded. He clipped his saber back to its rightful place on his belt.
The…whatever-it-was screamed and hissed with rage and pain, chattered a string of what had to be swearing at Luke and Artoo, then bounded off into the trees, nursing his fried paw.
Artoo gave what was unmistakably a laugh.
Luke finally reached the Massassi temple before midday, and happily looked around at the ancient ziggaurat which would soon house, he hoped, new students. New Jedi for the New Republic. A sense of accomplishment swept through him. He really hadn’t done that badly, had he? Sure, he had been delayed and had some rather unusual misadventures with that thieving furball, but he was still in one piece. Aside from the bruise on his backside and a sore hand, he was none the worse for the wear for being lost, scratched, aggravated, and falling from a tree.
Artoo bleeped a question.
Luke smiled at his droid. “Yes, Artoo. We’re home.”
Artoo whistled loudly, turning in happy circles.
Luke dug the comlink from his pocket and prepared to send a long-range message back to Coruscant to inform them that’d he’d found the Temple and was ready to begin settling in.
Neither Luke nor Artoo noticed the pair of buggy eyes hiding in the shadows. They were buggy, angry, and bent on revenge.
They also belonged to a squirrel with a fried paw….
THE END
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Whaddy think?
This story is based very losely on a dream I had about two years ago; it was of Luke meeting Scrat from 'Ice Age'!
I hope this counts, 'cause here goes!
***************************************************
SCRAT WARS
Starring….
LUKE SKYWALKER
And
SCRAT
Luke Skywalker wiped a thin film of sweat from his forehead and heaved a deep sigh. “Where am I?” he asked no one in particular.
Luke’s little blue astromech, Artoo-Detoo, whistled uncertainly. Despite having an excellent sense of direction for a droid, he didn’t know where they were, either.
It was nearing midday on Yavin Four and Luke was no closer to finding the ancient Massassi temple. He had just obtained permission from the New Republic to establish a new Jedi training academy in what had been the old Rebel base during the Battle of Yavin
That is, if he ever found the blasted place!
Luke had been walking all morning and still, he hadn’t found even a trace of the temple. For a Jedi, his patience was wearing thin. He had thought that the former Rebel base was just a few clicks to the north of where he’d landed. The datapad said so, and he had no reason to doubt his normally-reliable equipment. This time, however…
Luke frowned at the device in his hand and finally folded it up, shaking his head. This time, it looked like either the one he’d gotten the information from was lying, or his datapad was broken. Luke would have liked to believe it was the latter. If you can’t trust Crix Madine, then who can you trust?
At any rate, he wasn’t getting much done just standing here. So, after repositioning his pack, Luke started off again.
Artoo gave what sounded like a droid groan and picked his way through the thick roots, servos whining. He’d already been knocked over twice, and since it looked like his stubborn master wasn’t going to give up just yet, he’d probably get caught and knocked over again.
Great. Just great. If Artoo had known what was ahead, he would have stayed behind!
Late morning dragged on into late afternoon, with not many rests and too many stops to pick up the fallen astromech. Now Luke, too, was regretting taking the little droid along. It was hard enough work climbing up and over the tangled tree roots himself without having to work his domed friend free.
Besides the rough ground, there was also the humidity to deal with. Luke had never quite gotten used to the drip-drip-drip of jungles, and was starting to wonder why he picked this particular planet.
Luke gave a brief, humorless smile. Oh.
He didn’t pick it. The New Republic picked it for him. They said it would be nice for the students to have a historic place to study. Luke suspected they just couldn’t stand to let the former Rebel base go to waste. If that was the case, then why didn’t they build a military base there instead of saddling Luke with it? Besides, it wouldn’t do Luke much good if he couldn’t find it!
Luke finally stopped his march to take a breather. What with his shirt off to keep cooler, the thick atmosphere, and Artoo constantly whistling, this setting reminded him very much of Dagobah…only not as wet.
Artoo gave a weary whistle.
This time, Luke nodded. “I think I know what you mean.” Artoo was probably getting low on power. So was Luke, for that matter. He was hot, tired, sweaty, and his bare arms were covered with scratches and bug bites from a swarm of annoying biting insects that had been following him since noon. Besides that, it was getting dark. Much as he hated it, Luke had to admit defeat…at least for today.
“All right. I think I’m ready to call it a day.” Luke said, grounding his heavy pack and easing down onto a moss-covered rock. He said this not only for Artoos’ benefit, but to remind himself that even a Jedi could only push himself so far.
Artoo let out his own little ‘sigh’ and came to a stop not far from his master. He knew Luke would have had to stop sooner or later. He was just glad that it was sooner.
An intense itching sensation on his arms reminded Luke of those little biters that were following him around. After a couple well-aimed slaps did no good, Luke finally found a tube of insect repellent.
The moment the lid had been popped off, the insects turned abdomen and flew off.
Luke felt a smile creeping up on his face and smeared the goop on his arms. It didn’t smell very pleasant, but at least it would keep the bugs away.
Luke got up and stretched before freezing in place. The smile faded and his hand hovered near his lightsaber.
There it was again…that nagging feeling of something hiding nearby. The question was, what?
Luke blue eyes looked carefully around for something- anything -that would explain his alarm. His eyes saw nothing, but senses warned him other wise.
Artoo gave an inquisitive whistle.
“Just a minute, Artoo. There’s something here.”
Moments turned into minutes. Luke slowly began to rotate, all senses on full alert now. Artoo shuddered.
Skeeeeeep!
Startled by the sudden noise, Luke grabbed his lightsaber and spun around.
There sat a tiny brown creature, hiding its eyes and shivering in fear. It opened its eyes and looked nervously around.
Luke felt relief welling up in him, along with a little disappointment. “Are you the one I was so edgy about?” he asked with a short laugh. He had wanted to scowl, but the humor of the situation hit him before he could. If his senses had been heightened all for a little creature, then the must have been tired! The young Jedi deactivated his Lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.
The creature opened the other eye and lowered its paws. After seeing that Luke wasn’t going to attack him, it calmed down and scratched its ear.
Luke had hooked Artoo up to the charger and was setting up his glow-lantern when he saw a quick little shadow dart by. He glanced up and saw the creature, staring at him with big eyes. It was obviously curious.
In the lamplight, Luke could finally get a good look at his furry visitor. It certainly was strange!
From the looks of things, this was a tree-dwelling rodent. It had large gnawing teeth, tiny triangular ears, a ringed, bushy tail, and tiny forepaws that ended in wicked-looking claws. Its fur was thick and tan, with three black striped going down the side. The tail didn’t look prehensile and there was no sign of a pouch, so Luke’s guess was that it was some sort of squirrel. He’d never seen anything like it before. It was like a children’s cartoon animal.
“Hello,” he said cautiously. “What sort of creature are you?”
The animal lazily scratched an itch behind its ears and looked expectantly at Luke.
No, he wasn’t looking at Luke. He was looking at the food-pack Luke held in his hands. Luke, still watching the little rodent, set the food-pack down. “Where’d you some from, anyway?”
The creature thingyed his head curiously.
It looked so comical that Luke had to laugh. Normally, he didn’t like animals very much. If they weren’t big enough to eat you, then they were probably likely to stay away. This particular creature seemed safe enough.
After waiting a few moments, Luke’s stomach reminded him of his hunger. He opened the food pack and dug out a piece of tough bantha-jerky. He bit into it with a grimace. It didn’t taste too bad, but the texture was somewhere between string and an old boot. The survival pack chefs paid much more attention to nutrition than petty things like flavor. As a result, fighter pilots that had been on their own for a few days would often seek out some ‘real’ food; even if they had plenty of preserved rations left!
But alas, there was no eating establishment here on Yavin Four, so Luke shouldn’t complain. After all; his entire body had gotten a workout, so why not his mouth?
As he sat there gnawing on the tough meat, he saw the funny little squirrel still watching him out of the corner of his eye. Then he noticed that the squirrel wasn’t watching him. It was watching his food. Another smile tugged the corner of his mouth. “Hungry?”
The creature brightened and sniffed the air eagerly.
“I think that’s a ‘yes’,” deduced Luke. He broke off a piece of breadstick and tossed it over to the little animal. He’d heard somewhere that the quickest way to an animal’s heart was through its stomach. And of course, he didn’t want to become an enemy of this little guy. So he saw no problem with giving it a little bit of food.
The ‘squirrel’ crawled over, grabbed the bread, and dashed up a tree trunk to eat it. He took a few tentative nibbles before suddenly getting an eager look on his face and munching away at it.
Luke laughed. “If you think that’s good, than I’d hate to see what you normally eat!”
The breadstick bit was gone in no time, and soon the little creature was licking its paws and looking for crumbs. He eagerly looked up at Luke.
“Nice try. You had yours. No more.” Luke went back to his dinner and began to try and work out where the temple was.
But the creature was not so easily deterred. He bounded right up to the seated Jedi and thingyed his head.
Luke frowned. “No. Go home!”
The creature pouted.
“I said, go home!” Luke picked up a rock.
The creature’s eyes grew wide and it scampered off.
Luke sighed, dropped the rock, and went back to his work. For a while, it seemed like he finally had peace and quiet.
Then a small furry asteroid came sailing out of the treetops and landed right in Luke’s survival pack.
Luke was startled, to say the least. When he finally regained his senses, he saw the little furball eagerly sniffing through the food. “Hey! Get out of there!”
The squirrel jumped from the rock onto Artoo’s dome, who whistled angrily and shook his head. The squirrel slipped, skidded, and fell right off. When he looked up to glare at the droid, he didn’t notice the electrical charging device.
Zap!
The creature yelped and fled, but not before stealing three large breadsticks and a mouthful of nuts. He halted halfway to leer at Luke and Artoo, then scurried off into the jungle.
Luke, despite being grumpy about losing some of his dinner, fought back a laugh at the creature’s expression when Artoo had zapped him. “Artoo, that wasn’t very nice,” he scolded lightly.
Artoo gave an indignant blurp that sounded something like ‘He deserved it!’
Luke shook his head. He had quite lost his appetite by now, and his muscles were ordering him to sleep. He didn’t argue.
Before Luke could get his shelter set up, however, he noticed a new, strong scent in the air. Rain.
He didn’t even have a chance to puzzle over why he hadn’t smelled it sooner when thunder rumbled in the distance.
Luke stiffened and looked uncertainly at the darkening sky. “Uh-oh. I have a bad-“
Crash! A blinding flash of lightning, followed immediately by more thunder, interrupted his train of thought. The skies then let loose with the heaviest cloudburst Luke had ever seen.
Artoo whistled an alarm as raindrops ran down his dome and began soaking the campsite.
“Oh, no….” Luke had to work quickly if his supplies were to be saved from the rain. He set up the tent at a dizzying pace and somehow managed to keep the important things from getting too wet. Luke himself wasn’t so fortunate.
Soaking wet and grouchy, Luke scrambled into the tent and frowned at the inclement weather. Water still dripped into his eyes. He wiped them off, blowing water and air out through his nose. A plaintive whistle reached his ears.
Artoo was peering into the tent, sounding mournful.
Luke moved aside and allowed the dripping droid to enter the small tent. It was a tight squeeze, but Luke wasn’t about to keep good ole’ Artoo out in the rain.
Artoo looked about as grateful as a droid could get as he rolled in. Sometimes he wondered if Luke kept him because he was useful or because he was his friend.
Not this time.
Luke somehow managed to get into dry clothes and get to sleep, the pit-a-patter of rain making a soothing sound on the thick, rubberized canvas.
The rain had stopped by morning, which was a great relief.
Before turning in for the night, Luke had been able to figure out exactly where his calculations had gone wrong and was able to set off in the right direction the next day. Unfortunately, the others had been so far off that he’d be delayed by at least another twenty-five hours.
His estimates for time were right on. Luke again had to stop and set up camp for the evening; which was a challenge because the terrain was even rougher than it had been the day before. Artoo squealed and moaned so much that Luke wished more than once that he had left the little droid behind. And more than once, Luke could have swore he saw that little fuzzy thief he’d met the other day, leaping from tree to tree and mocking him.
The young Jedi was inclined to grumble as he again set up the tent. The ground was muddy- even soggy –from last evening’s rainstorm, making it difficult to get the stakes in firmly. And the rain had brought out a whole host of new insects. Luke swatted at them. “Why can’t this be a little easier? All I’m trying to do is what Yoda told me.”
Then the ghostly voice of Yoda echoed from the past and into his thoughts.
“ I cannot train him. The boy has no patience….”
“No, no. There is no ‘why’…”
Luke’s grouchy mood faded away. It was soon replaced by the feeling of one who has just been firmly but gently scolded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the Force flow around him; feeling it like the warm touch of a kind old friend.
Yes, master Yoda. I understand now.
His impatience fading with his anger, he continued with his work.
Luke’s peaceful rest was snatched away from him when he woke suddenly, looking uneasily around.
It was early morning. Light was just beginning to stream in through the tent’s canvas, giving the interior and soft pink glow. It seemed like nothing could disturb this peaceful morning.
Luke’s feelings told him otherwise. Of course they had done that with the Skittery Creature as well, so he wasn’t sure he could trust even them. His hand inched toward his left hip, where his lightsaber-
His lightsaber was gone.
Luke almost tore the tent apart, looking for his weapon. Did it come unclipped while he was asleep? No. Was it in the food stores? No. His backpack? No. Did Artoo have it? No….
Luke’s heart sank. His lightsaber was gone! His special Jedi weapon that had saved his and others’ lives countless times. The lightsaber he had built in Ben Kenobi’s old hut. And he had lost it!
No, that’s impossible, Luke told himself. He had too strong a connection to his weapon to just misplace it like a child might misplace his toy.
That left only one possibility. Someone had stolen it. That was why Luke had awoken so suddenly.
But who? There was no one around but him and Artoo. And he knew for a fact that Artoo hadn’t taken it. He was too loyal for that. Besides, where would a droid hide a lightsaber?
Luke took several deep breaths to calm himself. He was overreacting. After all, it was only a tool.
A tool that defined him as a Jedi, that is!
Artoo whistled, asking if he could help.
Luke gave a brief smile to his droid and shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he answered, guessing the droid’s question.
That’s when he heard it. A soft, chittering giggle, coming from the treetops.
Luke froze, listening. That sounded awfully familiar…
On a hunch, Luke walked out of the tent and looked around. What he saw almost made his jaw drop in disbelief.
The squirrel-thing from the night before last was sitting coolly up in the low crotch of a tree, holding Luke’s pilfered lightsaber between its paws and laughing at him!
That was enough to make even a Jedi angry. “Hey! Where’d you get that?”
The squirrel grinned maliciously and rubbed against the weapon, running his paws along the polished grip.
Luke frowned, taking a deep breath to calm his rising anger. “That’s mine. Give it back,” he ordered firmly.
The squirrel wrinkled his nose and stuck it in the air, turning his tail towards Luke. He turned around just long enough to stick out his tongue.
Luke was aghast at the cheekiness of such a tiny creature, but also aggravated. It wasn’t bad enough that the creature pretend to be friends and then steal his food. It wasn’t enough that the creature had stolen his lightsaber.
That furry little devil was mocking him!
“You little..”
Artoo-Detoo, hearing the commotion outside, rolled out to see what was going on. He squealed a string of droid curses at the creature and whipped out his ‘zapper’.
The squirrel suddenly realized that Luke- and his droid! –were very much annoyed with him and would likely do him bodily harm. The frightened furball stuffed the saber in his mouth, turned tail, and skittered into the tree.
Luke’s eyes widened for only a minute before he jumped up and grabbed the lowest bough. The Jedi swung into the tree with a grunt. All right, then. If the creature wanted a race, then a race he would get! His eyes scanned the branches before spotting the striped thief and taking off after him.
The chase was on!
The squirrel, seeing that he was being chased, increased his pace. Now, instead of skittering, he was leaping and bouncing from limb to limb, turning once in a while to leer at Luke.
Luke kept pace fairly well with the creature, though he was surprised that something so scrawny could go so fast. His slight respect faded with the creature, who had gained quite a lead, paused to throw leaves at him! This only increased Luke’s resolve. He continued to scramble up after it.
Before long, the creature reached the canopy. It gave a lazy yawn and glanced casually over its shoulder at what it thought would be a discouraged human.
Quite the contrary. Luke was less than two feet away!
In a panic, the creature looked around. Nowhere! He had nowhere to go! He was trapped!
Luke’s head, slightly tousled and with a few leaves sticking from his sandy hair, soon popped through the canopy and gave a satisfied grunt. “Gotcha!”
The creature gave a tiny “EEEP!” and backed up. He wobbled on the thin branches.
Luke, rather wobbly himself while clinging to branches that were very unstable for his weight, tried to breathe carefully and not disturb the branches too much. “All right, you little furball. Now I’ve got you.”
The creature quickly hid the saber behind his back and gave a toothy grin.
“Nice try. Hand it over.”
The squirrel pouted, held the saber close and shook his head.
“This is ridiculous,” muttered Luke. “Give,” he commanded, calling to his weapon with the Force.
The little furball felt his ‘prize’ slipping from his grip…and he knew what was causing it. In a lightning-quick move, he hissed and slashed at Luke’s extended hand with his claws.
Luke yelped and pulled his hand back, releasing his grip on the weapon.
And, unfortunately, the tree.
Luke landed hard on his rump, but had been able to slow his descent enough so he wasn’t hurt with more than a bruise. He wearily looked back up at the tree.
The little creature bounded so where he was just out of reach and began an infuriating ‘victory dance’. He held the lightsaber high above his head and kissed it repeatedly. Then he sneered at the fallen Jedi and laughed in his face.
Luke shook his head and looked away. He could try again when he’d taken care of his hand. From the looks of things, those scratches weren’t deep enough to cause any damage, but they’d just reached a tendon and nicked it. Besides that, it was bleeding profusely. Luke pressed his artificial hand on top of the wound and went to look for his small med-kit.
As Luke sat bandaging his maimed hand, he watched the little creature examine his weapon. For some reason (probably to annoy him), the squirrel had decided to stay a while.
Currently, the creature was sniffing every nook and cranny of the weapon. He was trying to figure out of if was good to eat. He finally gave in a nibbled the rubber grip.
Luke laughed as the creature coughed and spat the grip out with a look of distaste.
Angry, the squirrel began banging the weapon repeatedly on the tree limb. When it had finished with its tirade, it began sniffing around the blade emitter and shroud. He looked into the blade emitter with one eye.
Luke felt his stomach churn. Uh-oh. If that little creature decided to fiddle around with the buttons, things could get pretty gruesome.
Fortunately, the creature turned the saber around and lowered it again, with the top pointing in the opposite direction. After thingying his head in confusion, the creature once again banged the weapon against the tree.
Zhzhzhzhrooowmmmmm! A laser blade of pure green burst from the hilt.
The creature was instantly mesmerized by the hypnotizing green glow. It swung the saber back and forth, grinning stupidly.
Luke tied off the bandage and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t play with that if I were you.”
The squirrel-thing ignored Luke and continued to watch the glowing laser sword. He looked at the blade from as many angles as he could, then thingyed his little head twice. His paw inched toward the pretty glow, wondering…
Zhappp!
The squirrel yelped and danced with pain, letting the saber fall…
Right into Luke’s waiting hands. He laughed at the creature’s sounds, but couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for it. “I told you to give it back,” he reminded. He clipped his saber back to its rightful place on his belt.
The…whatever-it-was screamed and hissed with rage and pain, chattered a string of what had to be swearing at Luke and Artoo, then bounded off into the trees, nursing his fried paw.
Artoo gave what was unmistakably a laugh.
Luke finally reached the Massassi temple before midday, and happily looked around at the ancient ziggaurat which would soon house, he hoped, new students. New Jedi for the New Republic. A sense of accomplishment swept through him. He really hadn’t done that badly, had he? Sure, he had been delayed and had some rather unusual misadventures with that thieving furball, but he was still in one piece. Aside from the bruise on his backside and a sore hand, he was none the worse for the wear for being lost, scratched, aggravated, and falling from a tree.
Artoo bleeped a question.
Luke smiled at his droid. “Yes, Artoo. We’re home.”
Artoo whistled loudly, turning in happy circles.
Luke dug the comlink from his pocket and prepared to send a long-range message back to Coruscant to inform them that’d he’d found the Temple and was ready to begin settling in.
Neither Luke nor Artoo noticed the pair of buggy eyes hiding in the shadows. They were buggy, angry, and bent on revenge.
They also belonged to a squirrel with a fried paw….
THE END
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