ashwriter101

Journal of a Jedi Padawan
2011-01-24 07:00:32 (UTC)

Killer Plants- Oh Joy

"Uncle Lane said you do that a lot," Trinity coughed, waving the
dust away.
"Hey, crash landings are my specialty," I coughed, but not only
from the dust. I couldn't let her know that though. I unstrapped the
buckle and stood up. Opening the hatch I stepped out.
"Any thing else you need to tell me," she asked.
"Yeah. You worry too much," I chuckled. "We're alive, aren't we?
And look! His ship is in one piece. A new record."
She shot me a look. She was shocked and appalled at me. I laughed.
"Kidding," I shook my head, laughing to myself. I paused. "Mostly."
"How you managed to be a Jedi is beyond me," she shook her head.
"Now thats something we can agree on. So are we just going to sit
here and talk about my amazing flying skills, or are we going to find
that plant?"
"OK, let me get this straight. We are about to look for a plant we
dont even know where it is, while the fate of our friends and a planet
are on the line, and your getting sicker by the moment. How are you
joking about this and how are you remaining so calm all of a sudden,"
she demanded.
"Right now, I'm just better at hiding it than you," I smirked. I
started off in a random direction. She followed. After about five
minutes of walking we came to a fork in the road. "This way."
"How are you so sure? Its this way." She pointed to the opposite
side of the road. How she got on my nerves.
"Alright then, rock paper scissors for it."
She shot me a quizzical look. But I was serious.
"Hey, the way I see it, this is a big planet. We might as well
start somewhere," I shrugged. I wondered if she even knew how to play
the game as I balled my hand up in a fist and held it out into the
air, resting on my flat palm, fingers outspread. She did the same
thing. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot," we said together. She had
paper. I had rock.
"Fine. We'll take your way," I pouted. She led the way. We came to
the face of a cliff not half a mile down the path.
"I'm starting to wonder about your methods," she mused.
"I am too." I started to turn around but then I saw it. A snapping
plant trying to catch a bug. It was pretty big too. But it was only a
shadow. "Hold this will you," I asked. I shoved my pack to her. I ran
ahead of her and turned around. I ran, picking up speed, using the
Force like wind to push me forward faster. I leaped high into the air
and clutched the face of the cliff. I crawled up onto a high ledge and
let out a breath. "Toss it up, will you? Then get up here," I called
down to her.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Playing tag with unicorns! What do you THINK I'm doing? I'm going
to get that plant. Are you with me or not," I called back.
"Do I have a choice," she shot back.
"No, not really," I smiled. She started to climb the face but then
held on in certain places and flipped UP the the side of the cliff and
landed beside me. "Oh come on. My method was cool, did you HAVE to
outshine it, Ms. Acrobat?"
"You talk to much," she stated.
"So I've been told," I nodded. We then climbed up the face
together, actually working together to find footholds and places to
grab on to. "To your right," I called to her.
"Your going to have to jump to your next one. Its right above your
right hand," she instructed. I did as she advised, relying on her to
be right, or else my fall would NOT be a graceful one. Have I
mentioned I hate heights?
"Thanks. See? Not so bad getting used to eachother," I chuckled.
"Left, diagonal closer to me."
"Yeah. Besides the given circumstances, I would say this is fun,"
she smiled.
"Lots of fun. Climbing up a face of a cliff with a person I barely
know with no protection. Thats what I want to do on a Saturday," I
replied.
"Hey, no sarcasm," she called back.
"That wasn't sarcasm. I was trying to be sincere that time," I
said. I pulled myself up again.
"Trying. Not succeeding," she retorted.
"Hey! You stole that from me," I laughed.
"Yeah, well, its catchy. I merely borrowed."
"Your turning out to be more and more like me, Trinity."
"Still deciding whether or not thats a good thing."
"Oh, NOW you get a sense of humor," I chuckled. Taking another
step up my hand slipped and a rock fell tumbling to the ground, which
could have easily been me. I hung on tight to the ledge, just looking
at how high it was, dangling.
"ALIX! You alright," she called to me.
"Yeah. I think so. Gosh thats high," I stared down.
"Don't look down," she called.
"A little late for that." I swung and tried to reach up. I grabbed
a ledge and held onto it. Tight. I found a foot hold too and slowly
worked up.
"You got it?"
"I do now. Thanks. Lets just find that plant and get out of here,
okay," I asked her.
"My thoughts exactly."
We climbed in silence for a while. Finally we reached the top. We
hauled ourselves up and found ourselves face to face with the Reeksa.
It looked right at us. Well, it didn't have eyes but I bet it could
smell us. It had a flat head but rounded out at the sides. It was
green, mostly. But it was dark so it was hard to tell. There was a
long line cutting the head in half. When it opened the line I saw rows
upon rows of pointed spikes, which I could guess were teeth. And
deadly thorns running up its stalks.
"You were just kidding about feeding me to the Reeksa, weren't you?"
I didn't say a word.
"Alix? Weren't you," she asked again.
"At the time, no."
"WHAT?!"
"Hey, you annoyed me. But I'm starting to change my mind. You find
the root. I'll handle the Reeksa," I ordered.
"Alix?"
"Yes Trinity?"
"Be careful."
"You too." I nodded. A killer plant. Oh great.
So far, it was asleep. So far so good. May even get this thing
without waking it up. I told her to be careful of the vines. We watched
our steps and found a peice of Reeksa root. It was big and it would do
just fine.
"Go ahead and dig it up," I nodded. She chopped away at it. After a
minute or two, nothing went wrong. But when I looked up I saw a vine
slamming down on top of Trinity. "Look out," I called. Knowing it was
too late for her to move, I jumped and pushed her out of the way. I
panted, suddenly finding myself winded. I muffled a cough so she
wouldn't hear but I could feel my lungs and stomach tighten in a knot.
"Get up, Alix. Get up now. Don't let anyone see you like this. You're a
Jedi and right now everyone needs you. You cant give in to the pain. Get
up," I hissed at myself. I forced myself to my knees, just in time to
miss a snapping head. The pain was suddenly unbearable in my head, my
throat, my stomach, my lungs, my muscles, and my skin. I just wanted to
fall to the ground, curl into a ball, and make the pain go away. But I
forced myself to ignore all pain. I had to focus on now. My sickness
could come second.
"Alix, are you alright," Trinity asked me.
I wanted to tell the truth, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine. How about you?"
"I'm OK," she nodded.
"Good. You get the root, I'll watch your back," I nodded. I managed
to whip out my lightsaber and activate it just as another vine was
trying to slam down on us. Every breath was a painful effort. Moving my
fingers was near impossible. And fighting this thing in my condition was
impossible. I bit my lip and hid a cry of pain from that simple act of
moving. "Alright, come and get it you piece of salad," I taunted it
under my breath.
As if in response, the plant's head came down on me, mouth open,
showing off its razor sharp teeth. I swung my lightsaber in a quick arch
and took off its head. It still snapped on the ground though. I placed
on foot on top of it's head and stabbed it through. Green goo oozed out,
but it stopped. But there were more heads. I ducked, dodged, and sliced
at the vines that came at us and the heads. But one of them caught me
and slammed me against the cliff wall. I cried out in pain, a sharp cry.
I then sliced the vine and ran at it. A little longer and I heard a
hopeful and bright voice.
"I GOT IT," Trinity shouted proudly.
"Great job. Now lets get out of here," I replied. We backed out of
its reach. I then collapsed on the ground, weak, and in almost
unbearable pain. I couldn't hold it any more and I started to cough up
blood and black bile. Trinity tried to run to my aid but I yelled at her
to stay away. "NO! Don't come any closer to me. Stand back," I ordered
as coughing fits broke up my voice.
She did as she was told. As my coughing fit subsided I just rested
on my hands and knees, unable, and unwilling to move. "Are you OK to
make it down the wall?"
"I think so," I nodded. I found the strength to stand, thinking of
how badly Lane and Sylis and the others needed that root. But not two
seconds, did I stumble and fall. I hit the ground hard, which shot yet
another wave of pain through me and I coughed some more.
"No, you're not." She fumbled through her bag.
"What are you," I coughed, "doing?"
"Luckily, I came more prepared than you," she replied. She pulled
out a rope. It was long too! Hundreds of meters. She tied it to my belt
tightly. "Lean over the edge."
"What? You can't hold my weight. Not this steep," I shook my head.
"Who said I was going to?" She looked to the beast, calmed it, and
tied it to the stalk so it wouldn't thrash and it would hold me. She
then walked over to the edge with me.
I stared open mouthed at her. "And you're smart too? Can you get any
better?"
"You tell me," she smiled and eased herself over the edge, climbing
down. Using every last ounce of my strength, I propelled down the rope.
My way was quicker than hers, but without gloves, it burned my hands,
nearly making me fall a few times. "So what do you plan to do with this
root?"
"Use it to extract a cure. Make a treatment. Then send Byrec and
Starlor to look for the cause," I explained.
"Shouldn't they be doing that while we're here?"
"Someone has to watch over Sylis and Lane. Who did you think it
would be? Trixie?"
"Well why not?"
"She hasn't been with us long. She isn't used to what we face
everyday. She panics almost easily. She'd break under the pressure."
"Then why is Uncle Lane engagged to her?"
"Beats me. True love, I guess. First sight of her in a resturant and
he was in love, or so he said. After the first date, which was ruined
thanks to an assassination attempt, he perposed. It was a shock to us
all. What he sees in her, I'm not sure. But he really does care for her,
whether she panics easily or not," I explained as I propelled down the
rope.
"So how did you get here?"
"Lane found me. Your uncle is a great man. I needed help because I
was having Imperial troubles and my evil uncle was after me. Lane found
me and helped. After that, I guess I just stuck around, feeling like I
owed him. Still do. Never paid him back," I shrugged.
"What about Sylis?"
"Sylis? She fell into my pocket one day when I was walking in Endor.
Said she was chased by a big bird that would love to eat her, so we took
her in. I had originally taken to her, and she had taken to me, but an
old friend of mine who had been staying with us said I couldn't keep
her. So, to get around the rule, I let Lane keep her. Wouldn't make much
difference anyway," I said. I coughed hard, feeling my body tremble with
every forceful heave.
"You ok?"
"Would you stop asking that? I'm still fine since the last five
minutes you asked me," I told her.
"Sorry. Its just... you look really weak."
"I am. I'm dying, actually. What do you think? I don't look too bad
for a dying girl huh?" I chuckled.
"Not bad at all," she laughed. There was a long silent pause. "You
really think we're going to make this in time, don't you?"
"Remember how I said we weren't going to say die?"
"Well yes, but even you must have your doubts. I can sense them all
the way over here," she replied.
I sighed and stared at the rock as I propelled down. "I have my
doubts, yes. I'm not fit to be up. I should be laying down, drinking
water. I was certain this trip would be the death of me."
"Then why did you come if you knew you were going to be sick?"
"I had to pay off my debt to Lane somehow, right?" I smiled over to
her. She smiled back. "Besides. I'm Queen of Kegan. I promised my people
I wouldn't let harm come to them."
"An awfully big promise to make," she noted.
"Yes, well, I mean it. As long as I'm here, I'll do everything in my
power to help who I can."
"You might not need to worry about that for long."
"Look, I'll tough this out to my last breath, and then some."
"Wish I was like you then."
I looked over to her. She still climbed down while I had the rope.
Her face was hard to read but her tone gave it away. "Why?"
"Why? You're perfect! Funny, brave, loyal, smart, witty, noble,
talented, determined, strong, compassionate, and bright spirited. Even
in the face of death," she mused. "Besides. You've got looks on your side."
"Ha!"
"Why are you laughing at me," she shot me a confused look.
"I'm not laughing at you, Trinity. I'm laughing at this."
"I don't understand."
"Everything I do, you seem to out match three times better. You've
got the perfect looks that any guy wants, you're the perfect Jedi, and
you seem to have a lot going for you. I was," I paused unable to get the
word out, "jealous. I was jealous of you, Trinity. Besides, Sylis
adapted to you very very quickly, along with everyone else. And Lane
just adores you."
"So you were jealous of me?"
"And you were jealous of me," I laughed. "Now you get it?"
"Yeah. You know... I think we did this all wrong," she said as we
hopped to the floor, finally free of the cliff face.
"Want to start all over," I finished.
"Yes. Hi, my name is Trinity," she held out her hand.
"Alix. Nice to meet you. You seem like a wonderful person and I
can't wait to get to know you better," I laughed.
"And you seem like a very noble Jedi. I'd be honored to learn a few
of your tricks," she smiled.
My laugh faided. "You mean it?"
"Uh huh. Would you?"
"I'd love to," I grinned. I was about to shake her hand when I
suddenly pulled back. "Sorry. Still sick here."
"Oh, right. Lets go find that cure."
"Lets," I nodded in agreement.
Okay, so maybe Trinity wasn't so bad after all. Maybe we could be
friends. She was a lot like me in ways, and she was learning. Besides,
it'd be great to have another person to help pull pranks on Lane. Oh
yeah. I could tell this was going to be a good friendship.
We ran through the forest and finally got to the ship. We took off
quickly. Thats when the pain hit me 10x worse than what it was facing
the Reeksa. I cried out and fell to the floor. I laid down and checked
my breathing. I was way off normal.
"Trinity... get me some water, please," I asked hoarsely. "Oh, and a
bag too."
She nodded and found what I needed. She also helped me to a chair
that she leaned back. I drank the water thirstily, never feeling
quenched. My tongue felt dry and swollen in my mouth, with a bitter
taste in the back of my throat. My body was weak and every inch of me
hurt, especially my throat. I kept coughing into the bag, so I didn't
spread anything, and in case I needed to loose my lunch. It burned with
that acid feeling like I was going to.
"Hang on. We'll be at Kegan shortly," Trinity told me, piloting. I
smiled weakly, still dabbing myself with cold water. But I was still so
hot and so sweaty I might as well have been near the lava rivers of
Mustafar! Thats when I let the blackness consume me and I fell asleep.
May the Force be with us.




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