Unleashed

Uncharted Jungle Moon: Outer Rim Territories

The jungle was constantly alive. Animals skittering from brush to brush. The chittering of different creatures as they searched endlessly for food and mates. There wasn’t a sentient soul to be found on the entire planet. Save one. A girl, about six or so, with a tangle of raven hair that reached her mid back, bright green eyes the same shade as the lush foliage, and a tan that covered skin littered with scars of mishaps in the jungle. There were primitive tattoos down her spin that looked like thorns fanning out from the center of her back. There were similar tattoos just under her collarbone, over her hips, and on the protruding bones of her wrists and ankles. She crept through the underbrush with nothing but a small broken off dagger. She didn’t even have clothing. She didn’t really need it. She enjoyed the rain and it was never cold.

Her feet sunk into the soft mud and mosses as she slipped past colorful ferns. Her footsteps filled with water almost instantly, helping disguise her tracks even more. A nearby tree moved, its root creaking with the effort it took to slide just an inch closer to the nearby pools of water. Several bright blue flowers were sucked into fine tubes with a strange popping sound. The entire forest was alive. And the girl could feel it pulsing within her. She was completely open to the world around her. All of its ebbs and flows. Every subtle change she could feel. It was how she lived, completely entrenched in the world around her. She was silent as she moved through the world around her. The animals left her be for the most part. She could be fierce and strange things happened when she got angry. Rocks would fly around and the wind would pick up. She was a force of nature.

She passed by two skeletons that were lying in front of a broken down ship that was covered in plant life and rust. The skeletons wore rusted armor and blasters were nearby their bleached bone hands. Inside the ship she relaxed slightly. It was stuffy inside. The heavy metal plating radiated heat and kept it from being comfortable. She glanced around the slanted room before sitting down in her favorite seat on a box that had been shoved against a sloped wall. She pulled her feet up and examined them carefully for any cuts that would need tending. She didn’t see any and quickly put it out of her mind. She picked up her favorite toy and examined it. It was a simple spin top with red and yellow stripes around it. She could still recall her father explaining the way to spin it so that it kept going for the longest period. He would sit down with her and explain the aerodynamics and center of gravity and all sorts of things she didn’t quite understand but was eager to learn about. Her mother would come up behind him and slap him over the head before telling him to talk like a normal human. Then they would get into a long argument about something inane yet incredibly technical. Like power converters. Those were the times she liked best. Sitting and watching her parents blabber on about their work while she listened and absorbed as much of it as she could understand.

But then they had crashed here. And there were no talks of centers of gravity or influx manifolds or alloys. It was all about survival here. Never leave the ship at night. That was when the bigger predators came out. Never leave without a weapon that was too dangerous. Don’t eat the purple bananas things they made you sick for days. And always, always, get out of the way for the big green rhino with the spiked tail. She wished her mother and father had followed the last rule. She glanced at the door that led to the jungle and felt her sorrow climb. They hadn’t been dead for that long but it had been long enough that she felt she might go made with loneliness. Her only companion now was the furry little thing that seemed all appetite and she called Berrum.

As if knowing she was thinking of him, Berrum hopped up onto the slanted holotable, his small nails scratching against the smooth surface as he tried to remain on it. He failed and slid off to the ground with a thump and she giggled at his antics. “Berrum. You klutzy thing you.” She said picking up the small creature as it pounced over to her. He didn’t seem capable of walking normally with his tiny legs but bouncing was something it did a rather lot of. Berrum yapped like a tiny dog and licked her dirty face with his long blue tongue.

She didn’t know what Berrum was exactly. She didn’t know what anything around here was. But shortly after her parents had been killed she saved Berrum from drowning in one of the pools of water. He had been her companion ever since. Several of the other less harmful animals tended to gather near her as well but stayed back for fear of the little carnivore’s three rows of sharp teeth. She’d found that Berrum’s teeth could slice through almost anything and his jaws could crush bones with little effort. She pet Berrum’s fluffy body as she hummed the small chant that she’d often heard her parents singing. She knew that it was some sort of warrior chant from her people’s sordid history but she knew little more than that. Still, she liked it and it made her feel connected with her family and her people, both of which she sorely missed.

Suddenly, the entire planet seemed to stiffen in her senses. She got to her feet and hurried to the door of her home. Something was about to happen. Something momentous. Berrum rushed out of the wrecked ship as her eyes scanned the horizon. In the distance she could just make out some sort of ship slowly descending towards land. She barely even recognized it as a ship though. It didn’t look anything like the one her and her parents had used. This new one was more angular and had a dark grey color to it that she found rather dreary. Still, her curiosity soon got the better of her and she started running towards where she had lost sight of the ship.

Berrum was nowhere to be found but that was normal as he was small and camouflaged easily. She began to slow down as the forest told her that strangers were nearby. She skirted the area they were in, catching glimpses of several men. One was wearing a robe the color of dirt while the others all wore more practical things. One of the men had two long things coming from his head, one of which was wrapped around his neck while the other hung down his back. Another man had a large scar running down his face. The man in the robe turned to look in her direction but she had already slipped off to a new spot.

Suddenly she heard a shout and Berrum’s loud barking challenge. She saw the other men closing in on Berrum and quickly stepped out of her hiding spot. Berrum was still barking. “Berrum!” She scolded. “Stop that, you’re scaring him,” she added spotting the younger boy sprawled out in the mud. He was wearing similar robes to the one man and his head was shaved to show purple tattoos across his scalp. Berrum jumped down from his perch and hurried over to her where she picked him up from the ground. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” The boy blinked at her in clear confusion and the other men looked equally confused.

“Who are you?” The one with robes asked stepping in front of the others who had blasters trained on her. “Can you understand us, child?”

She suddenly felt very exposed and shifted backwards a step. She didn’t pause to think as she dropped Berrum and fled as fast as she could back into the jungle brush. She heard shouting from behind her but didn’t pay attention to the words. She had, in fact, understood them. Her parents had used that language on occasion when talking to some of the dockworkers they met on their travels. But it had been so long since she heard it she wasn’t certain if she could make the right sounds to be understood. Plus, there had been so many of them. She didn’t even know what made her show herself to begin with. It was hardly the smart thing to do. That wasn’t how one survived here.

She finally stopped running when she reached her home and collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath that her sprint had taken from her. Berrum nuzzled against her arm and she pet him absently as she glanced behind her. She could feel them off in the distance. They were loud and abrasive to the world around them. But they were far enough off that she felt safe they wouldn’t be able to track her.

She glanced at the sun through the open doorway. It would be dark soon. They couldn’t possibly be foolish enough to go outside during the night. It didn’t matter how many of them there were. The jungle would devour them if they dared challenge it after the sun went down. “Berrum,” she called to the small fuzz ball “let’s lock up.”

It only took a few moments for her to get behind the only working door and secure it but when she glanced out of the small fogged over window she noticed that it was already dark outside. The sun faded fast here.

She curled up in her bed of blankets and clothes thrown into a pile and closed her eyes. Berrum snuggled into the curve of her body and promptly started snoring. She smiled at the small creature before forcing herself to relax so that she would sleep. The first several nights after her parents had died she couldn’t sleep. No matter what she tried sleep just wouldn’t come. Even now it was hard but she eventually drifted off to a light doze. Even asleep her mind picked out the changes of the world around her. It was the disturbance in the jungle that made her sit up and look out the window.

It was still dark. And something was wrong. She bit her lower lip uneasily as Berrum whined and hid behind her arm. She shouldn’t. It was one of the rules to not go outside at night. But still, every nerve wanted her to investigate. Finally, she got up and slowly unbolted the door to her room. She snuck out, eyes constantly scanning and ears prickling at every slight whisper of noise.

She moved slowly towards the ruckus. It was closer to her home than she had thought. Much closer. She saw an orange glow in the distance and as she crept closer the body of one of the large predators. This one looked like a huge monkey with fangs the size of her forearm. Its ten black eyes were glazed over with death and its barbed tail was sliced clean off. She climbed up a nearby tree to peer down at what was happening. The boy from before was clutching his arm while the others were gathered around.

She could see a terrible gash in his arm and her was rocking in pain as tears streamed down his cheeks. Sweat was beaded across his bare head and she could already see the puss building around the edges of the wound. He’d been struck by the poisoned barbs of the creature’s tail. It’s usual method of killing. “Easy, Malak. Let me see the wound,” The other man in the robe said soothingly.

“Master, I feel like my skin’s going to fall off!” ‘Malak’ said through grit teeth.

“It looks infected,” the man with the strange head tentacle things, said.

“Its too soon for it to be infected,” another snapped.

She let herself drop to the ground and their heads instantly snapped over to see just a glimpse of her as she darted into the underbrush. “That girl’s creepin’ me out,” the short-tempered one said in a sort of warning.

“We have more important things to worry about,” ‘Master’ said calmly. “Malak, remove your cloak. I need to see the wound better.”

She ignored the group of them. All of her attention was focused on the ground a short ways away, just out of the light of their glowsticks. She found what she was looking for after a minute. A large moss patch with tiny orange flowers growing in it. She pulled a piece up from the soft ground, careful to take the roots with it.

Without a sound, she slipped into the clearing that the fight with the predator had made and that they were still clustered inside of. They all jumped when she walked past them to kneel next to the injured boy. Without a word she pressed the roots of the moss to his arm and picked up his free hand and pressing it against the moss. “Keep it there till the sting is gone,” She ordered. She glanced at them before getting up and walking towards the tree line. “Stay inside at night.”

Before they could say or do anything she darted away. Everything seemed to be righting itself and the feeling of wrongness was disappearing. She quickly made her way back home and into her room where she locked the door to wait for the sun to rise. It was against her better judgment to venture out at night in the first place but now that she had she wasn’t about to tempt fate by going out again.

The rest of the night passed quickly and as soon as the sun rose fully she was outside looking for food in the jungle. Berrum yapped happily by her feet as she made her way to where she knew she would find safe fruits to eat. She sat on her knees next to a bush full of tiny orange berries while Berrum pounced on small insects. She smiled as Berrum crunched on his insect breakfast happily. “Such a happy thing you are.” She said popping another berry into her mouth.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she spun around with a gasp, her hand grabbing her knife instantly. ‘Master’ was standing there with his hands up in a sign of peace. “Easy, youngling,” he said soothingly “I just wished to thank you for aiding us last night. Malak felt much better after the moss was applied.”

Her eyes scanned him quickly but saw no obvious weapons. She gave a brief nod but didn’t loosen her grip on her knife. Berrum growled a bit and crept up between her and ‘Master’. The man smiled kindly at them, “I am Jedi Master Nalar. What’s your name, youngling?”

She hesitated, shifting from side to side nervously, “Revanari.”

He nodded a bit and crouched down next to her, “Well, Revanari, are you here all alone?”

She nodded a bit, “Mama and Papa died.”

His eyes visibly softened, “I’d like to help you, Revanari. Living out here all alone is dangerous.” Berrum snarled. “Mostly alone,” he corrected glancing at the irate animal in front of him. “And I would imagine it gets rather lonely out here,” he added softly.

She looked down sadly, her grip on her knife loosening a bit. He smiled and gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you some clothes and decent food. You’ll feel better after that.”

She nodded in agreement. “Berrum,” she called and he instantly leapt onto her lap where she picked him up and cuddled him in her arms. Master Nalar got to his feet and Revanari followed him. Berrum licked her face and burrowed into her arms as she played with his long fur. The entire jungle quivered. Something monumental was happening and nothing would be able to stop it. It was like watching a boulder rolling down a mountainside.