Ask Rain Dancing

[Nash]

Another day. Another jungle. As per usual, Nash was lost, but her pride wasn’t going to let her admit that even if she was alone. For once, she wasn’t here because of detention. She read somewhere about rain dancers and bestowed upon herself a quest to obtain one as a pet. Nash didn’t want to tell her buddies in case they all wanted one too. No way, Nash wanted to be the cool kid with a magical chameleon dragon.

Left to her own devices, she could rap and sing to her heart’s content without any judgy glares. Nash stepped to a beat and started rhyming about her surroundings.

"Yo, stepping into the jungle, ain't no time to fumble,
Sweat drippin', humidity's thick, it's like a jungle rumble.
On Felucia where the heat's a beat, and it's never subtle,
Searchin' for my rain dancer, gotta hustle, gotta hustle.

Through the vines and the leaves, I chop away like a soldier,
In this tropical maze, where the sun never gets colder.
Each step's an adventure, each breath getting bolder,
In the quest for a rain dancer, yo, I'm getting closer.

Hoping not to be prey, avoiding the rancor's thunder,
In this gnarly path, where the jungle's wild wonder.
Each rustle in the leaves, makes my heart feel somber,
But I'm after that dragon, I ain't going under."

As usual, she had her machete out, thwacking her way through the jungle to carve herself a path. She had some vague sense of direction of where these things lurked and their nests, but for now she hoped she wouldn’t run into rancors, acklay or any other giant jungle nonsense.

Deciding she was well and properly lost, Nash paused for a moment at a clearing to tear open a bag of chips, “Man, why they always fill these things less than halfway? Hyperlane robbery..” She complained to herself as she crunched the delicious salt and vinegar crisps.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw Amaris found himself sitting in a tree in the middle of the jungle. A few months ago he would have laughed at the idea. Him? A Coruscanti wandering around the jungle? Durasteel practically ran in in his blood. But here he was. He was sitting in a tree, and he was in the middle of the jungle. If he knew even the first thing about the outdoors he never would have wandered off from his group in the first place.

They were still just up and to the left uuuhhh that way in his mind, foraging for mushrooms. They weren't just up and to the left, but he didn't know that. He had just needed a little break and to catch his breath. This was all so new to him. This environment, this life. He didn't even know what planet he was on. He just went where he was told these days.

So he'd found this nice, peaceful clearing. Perfect to kick back for a minute. have a snack, and enjoy all the new scenery. Really soak it in instead of digging for mushrooms. Shaw had discovered that he really didn't like digging around in the dirt. And it was peaceful until he heard something moving around in the foliage. Something that did not come from the direction of his group.

That was the first time it occurred to him that maybe wandering off had been a really bad idea. That you couldn't just follow street signs or stop and ask someone for directions. That was when he had decided to scurry up the tree he'd been sitting under to hide from whatever it was that was coming his way. No need to upset the local fauna, right? Except it wasn't some wild animal. It was a Twi'lek.

A rhyming Twi'lek at that! Shaw nodded his head along to the rhythm and listened. No longer in danger, he went to climb back down the tree and greet the girl. Who would have thought coming down was harder than going up? The piece of bark he'd been holding onto snapped, and he lost his footing and slipped. He ended up on one of the lower branches, kind of just hanging there sideways.

"You've got mad rhyming skills!" he grinned, unbothered by the tumble he'd taken. Hello might have been a more traditional greeting, but there was nothing traditional about hanging upside down from a tree branch anyway. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

As something dropped from the tree, Nash yelped and acted on instinct, hurling the machete full speed at the culprit. Fortunately for Shaw, his passive Jedi reflexes kicked in or maybe he twisted himself just right, but the blade missed by a hair’s breadth and stuck to the tree trunk inches next to him.

Nash squinted as she realized it was just some dude, her eyes narrowing immediately, “Yo, that ain’t cool at all man,” She said, “The hell you playing at jumping outta trees like that?” She remarked as she walked over to pull the machete out. It was really wedged in there and her greasy potato chip fingers were doing her no favors as she wiggled the hilt around, “So, how’s it hangin’?” Nash couldn't resist asking the guy with a snicker before she finally yanked the machete out, just barely missing his face on the way out.

She didn’t help him right away, studying him for a moment. After a few seconds she decided he could pose absolutely zero threat and she sliced the machete through a branch so he would drop unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes.

“The hell were you doing in a tree?” She asked him suspiciously.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Turned out the Twi'lek wasn't one for traditional greetings either. Terrifying though? Yep. One hundred percent. There was a flash of red and the gleam of something sharp and a machete aimed for his head. "Whoa whoa whoa!" the teenager shrieked, the only words he could get out before he squeezed his eyes shut and his arms instinctually criss crossed to cover his face. Then he waited with baited breath for the inevitable blow, but it never came.

First he opened one eye and then the other and looked around. The machete wasn't even an inch from his face, protruding from the branch on the other side of his head. He could practically feel it. Shaw gulped, realizing at that moment just how close he'd come to death.

Jumping out of trees? Now that was a good idea. He should've jumped out of that tree. Maaan, that would have looked way more cool! Why hadn't he thought of that before? Instead he'd fallen flat on his back. Right on the old rusty dusty as his mater would say.

He decided honesty was probably the best policy when dealing with a fiery Twi'lek wielding a machete.

"Hiding from you," he answered, getting to his feet and rubbing his butt. Yeah that was gonna be sore for a few days. "Thought you were an animal or something."

Shaw stooped down and began collecting the pieces of jerky that had fallen out of the open bag he'd been clutching. Did the three second rule still count in the jungle? Yeah, probably. He brushed each piece off and stuffed them back in the bag. The only piece deemed irredeemable had fallen in a pile of dung. That one was a lost cause, even for him.

"You always hit first and ask questions later?" Not necessarily a bad rule to live by he supposed. Shaw just happened to be on the receiving end of it. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash quirked a brow when he said he was hiding from her. What? She was just out here innocently minding her own business and this dude cramped her style. She eyed him with her machete resting over her shoulder, cutting an imposing figure. Nash spotted the pieces of jerky, her eyes widening, “Oooh, gimme some of that,” She said excitedly, shamelessly picking up a few pieces. She popped one in her mouth without bothering to dust it off.

“Out here? Yes,” She said with a scoff at his question, “Because that’s what everything else is gonna do to you,” Nash reminded him. Her gaze flicked down towards the pile of dung that had a lone piece of jerky stuck in it, “What do you think made that?” She asked, “..Not the jerky, the pile of poodoo,” She added quickly, “It looks fresh.”

Nash stared at the pile of crap for a few moments as if she was a zoology grad student, but really had no idea what the hell she was looking at. She rubbed her chin and glanced away, “Okay, something’s probably gonna try to eat us soon,” She concluded with a tone of great wisdom.

She started to walk again, but paused. Normally Nash traveled alone, but this kid clearly survived so far, “Where are you trynna go?” Nash asked. Sticking together sounded like a good idea - mainly so she could throw the dude to whatever attacked them and bolt the other direction. Plus, the jerky was real tasty and she wondered if he had other great snacks on him. Hers were all sub par.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Of course Shaw wasn't going to tell the intimidating girl with the machete slung over her shoulder that she couldn't have some jerky. She wanted a piece of his jerky? She got it. Besides, he was never stingy with his snacks anyway so long as he had enough to go around, and he usually did since he was always hungry. He never went anywhere without some snacks.

The teenager sort of just fell into step alongside the Twi'lek without thinking about it. She seemed to know all about the jungle and where she was going. She was probably a native! His head might have almost been split in two, but at least now he didn't have to worry about being lost anymore.

"Oh you know..." His voice trailed off trying to come up with something to say. What was he gonna say? That he was out here digging around in the dirt for mushrooms like he was some kind of fungi nerd? Not the kind of thing you tell a cute girl with both muscles and a machete that could definitely do you over with that blade. Talk about losing street cred in an instant. Or... jungle cred in this case? The mushrooms were supposed to have some kind of healing property that made them useful for outdoor survival or whatever, but that just wasn't his scene.

"Just... hanging around," was the non committal answer he ended up giving her, a call back to her clever "how's it hanging" comment. He ducked under some low hanging vines. "What about you? What are you doing out here?" Even if she was a native, he had to imagine this was still the middle of nowhere.

Squelch.

Shaw froze in place and slowly looked down. Then he cringed. He'd walked right into another pile of dung. "Oh kritt-" he grumbled, hopping on one foot over to the nearest plant to try and wipe his shoe clean on its stalk. The piles of dung were getting bigger and more frequent. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash’s eyes narrowed as the dude brushed off the question and gave a vague answer. He repeated her own lame joke from earlier, “Look man, I know you’re completely full of-”

Squelch.

The guy stepped into some very appropriately timed crap. Nash grimaced as she looked down where he stepped, reminding herself to watch her own steps carefully. While he scraped his shoe off, she looked over at the multiple piles of poo that got frequent and larger. She may not have seen a raindancer, but honestly these doodoo piles looked several times bigger than a rain dancer itself.

Without warning, there was a loud roar that made the ground tremble and the trees shake. Nash had only heard of rancors and had never seen one before, but if she had to guess what one sounded like, it would be that. She blinked stupidly for a moment, looking around, “Eenie meenie money moe -” It was abundantly clear Nash had no sense of direction right now, “Moe!” She finished as she pointed at a path and bolted off in that direction.

“Come on, Monkey Lizard, let’s go!” She shouted over her shoulder to the tree hanging guy as she ran away from the roar.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

More dung. Terrific. And on his starfighter ones too! He knew he shouldn't have worn them into the jungle. Live and learn he supposed. He'd know better next time. Suddenly the ground shook beneath his feet, and Shaw, still on one foot, had to cling to a nearby sapling to keep his balance. An earthquake would have been enough to freak the teenager out, but that sound?? That roar?? That was the loudest nope I'mma scoot Shaw had ever heard in his life.

"I think we should get out of here," he spoke up. The biggest no duh statement and a conclusion the Twi'lek had already come to. There was a flash of red, and then all that was left in her wake was a few swaying plants. Girl was GONE. "Wait up! Do you—even pfff—know where—you're pffff—going?" Shaw called after her, interrupted every few seconds by a different branch or vine sent swinging in her wake that would whack him in the face. He didn't know much about navigating the great outdoors, but it was a pretty safe bet that anyone who chose which direction to go by playing eenie meenie miney moe was probably just as lost as he was.

Shaw didn't know how far they had run or for how long. He just followed the red lekku bouncing ahead of him and tried to avoid getting hit in the face by foliage as much as possible until they came to a stop in a hollow, where the muddy earth sloped down into a depression beneath the trees. It felt isolated. The teenager didn't hear any more roars. No loud thumping behind him like they were being chase. Just a gentle lapping of tongues against water. Then he felt eyes on him.

There was a watering hole up ahead and gathered around it several small furry creatures with large eyes and brown hair. Their feet were bare and their little arms hung at their sides. Round green eyes stared up at the two newcomers. "Eeeep!" one of them made a sound, the most curious out of the group. It hopped a little bit closer and sniffed the air.

"Aw ain't they the cutest?" Shaw whispered, still catching his breath from all that running. He spit out a few leaves that had ended up in his mouth from all those branches that had hit him in the face. "Ch ch ch... come here little fella!" Shaw inched closer to the creature and held out his hand. "We won't hurt ya—"

Before either the little creature or Shaw could reach the other, an enormous, four fingered clawed hand swept out of the jungle and yeeted the little thing. "EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeppp!" it wailed, its cry growing more and more faint and distant. The rancor had caugh up with them. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash stared vacantly as the guy went to pet some random mysterious forest creature. She almost warned him that it wasn’t a great idea, but the prospect of this going sideways sounded far too entertaining. Nash stood there and watched, wondering if the ‘cute little fella’ was going to turn into a ravenous monster that bit the teen’s face off. Unfortunately Nash didn’t get the chance to see the conclusion as something far worse happened in the form of a rancor arm bitchslap.

“DAMMIT!” Nash yelped, deciding she didn’t care if the teen saw her use the Force. All of a sudden, she pulled a bunch of the furry creatures into her arms with the Force, handing a group of them to the guy, “MAYBE IT’LL DIStRACT IT!” Nash said as she hurled a furball at the rancor that started to emerge. There was a shrill ‘EEEEE’ but the rancor was temporarily distracted by a snack. She started running again, hurling the furry beasts one at a time like missiles at the rancor’s face as a makeshift weapon.

Nash may have been a badass Sith, but she couldn’t take on a rancor. While she was running, she accidentally tripped over a root, landing with a thud on her stomach. She groaned in pain, the massive rancor still a distance behind them while it was chomping on the fur missiles she chucked at it. Nash looked down to see her foot entangled in the mess of roots, stuck where she was, “Shitshitshit,” She growled, fully expecting the other teen to keep bolting. No one was a hero out here. Nash drew out a knife and tried to hack away at the roots that were hardly budging.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" but perhaps more importantly "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

For the second time that day Shaw found himself hot on the heels of the Twi'lek. This time instead of branches he was dodging one fluffball after another, trying his best not to step on any of the creatures even if their fates had already most likely been sealed. She was tossing them back like they were bridal bouquets, and Shaw was not going to look back over his shoulder to see if the sixteen foot maid of honor caught them or not.

Momentum was on their side until the Twi'lek tripped and hit the ground with a thud. It was something Shaw would have done, and as it was he just managed not to trip over her. The remaining creatures scattered on impact, scurrying into the bushes and disappearing. They'd learned their lesson about stranger danger the hard way.

Heart pounding, Shaw stooped down to help the Twi'lek up. "Come on—watch it! Watch it!" he yelped when she almost cut a couple of his digits off with the knife she was hacking away with. Leveraging his weight and his upright position, he yanked some of the roots back and freed her foot. "Let's go!" he urged, pulling her to her feet.

The pair of teenagers ran and ran until they came to the mouth of a large cave, half obscured with overgrown vines. Shaw didn't think twice, plunging between the vines and into the darkness. What followed was silence. Only the sound of their own labored breathing. "That was sooo messed up, dude," Shaw said aloud, referring to her choice to sacrifice the little animals, voice barely above a whisper as he peered out of the cave to see if the beast had followed them. He didn't see anything. Didn't hear anything. "But you might have just saved our butts." Come to think of it, he'd done something similar once to a rat, but he was pretty sure it had survived.

Shaw turned around to check out their surroundings. There was a foul odor in the air. "What the kritt? It smells worse than a Hutt's bathhouse in here!" On second thought... He took a good whiff of both of his pits, just to make sure it wasn't him. Nah, he was mostly good. Then another thought occurred to him. He looked over at the girl. Was it...? Naaaaah. Couldn't be her either. We're talking about a whole other level of rank. He took a couple steps forward into the cave and kicked at something long and white. "What is all this stuff?"

Bones. It was bones. Lots and lots of bones. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash was genuinely surprised when the dude actually stopped to help her with an actual rancor charging after them. For a moment she paused to vacantly stare at him. It was as if everything went into slow motion and she just stared in stunned silence watching him look like he was straining through constipation as he grabbed a hold of the roots and pulled with his might. What an absolute hero! She was surprised and impressed. With the internal sound of a record scratch, she was back to reality and springing to her feet thanks to his help, having lost all her furry ammo in the ordeal.

She scrambled into the cave the guy spotted and practically yeeted himself into, grimacing as she followed him in. Nash scowled at the guy as he judged her for using the fur missiles, “Look, I didn’t see you doing anything useful against that rancor,” She shot back, but her expression softened when he admitted it helped them. Nash cleared her throat, “Yeah well..thanks for helping me after I ate shit back there,” She muttered, “I expected you to keep running.”

They kept walking and the smell got worse. When he mentioned it smelled worse than a Hutt bathhouse, Nash scoffed, “No it doesn’t, trust me..I’d know,” She said, shuddering at memories of being around entirely too many Hutts. She watched him smell his own pits and then look at her, “Dude, it ain’t me, okay? It’s..” Nash watched him make the discovery for himself. They were in the cave of yet another thing that was likely to eat them. Question was - was it home right now?

Nash was nervous and when she was nervous, she rapped. She started tapping her hand to her thigh to a rhythm, whispering some verses. She was sure to include a few jabs at the guy since he thought she was the smelly one.

"Yo, listen up, stuck in a cave, bones everywhere,
With a dude in distress, smelling like old underwear.
Skeletons chillin', like they're waiting for a beat,
In this funky cavern, where the air ain't so sweet.

He's a damsel in distress, where's his shining knight?
I'm the rapper in the dark, shedding rhymes so bright.
But the smell's like a mix of Hutt asscrack and despair,
I'd rather fight a wampa, in the freezing cold air!

The stalactites above, like icicles of fate,
I'm a hero in training, gotta navigate.
Gonna explore with this dude, even with bones in my face,
Just gotta keep rapping, at this hectic pace!"

She stopped rapping for a moment as she spotted a path that led deeper in, “It’s.. an underground tunnel system,” Nash whispered, “I wonder where it leads..” She muttered as she used her eenie meenie miney mo strategy to pick a path and step into it. It was dark and she couldn’t see anything, so she took out her EZPhone and used the flashlight feature. This was probably a horrible idea, but what else was she gonna do?

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Is that what that thing was?" A rancor. He'd hear of them, probably seen a couple of them online before. Never seen one in person until now. He shivered a little at the thought. That thing could have ripped him in two! Swallowed him whole! Used his bones to clean its teeth! Listen to him. Was. Like the rancor was dead or something and not out there actively searching for them as they spoke. It was probably still hot on their heels. Maybe this was its den. Did rancors make dens? He had no idea.

He turned to ask the Twi'lek, but she was... rapping? Yep. That was definitely what she was doing. Full on rapping. Girl had a beat going and everything. She was rhyming again to boot. Girl had mad skills for sure, but uuhhh now? "You okaaay?" Shaw asked in a small voice, a little afraid to interrupt her if he was being totally honest. When she plowed right in to the next verse, he decided to wait it out. She wasn't having a seizure or anything like thar. She made way too much sense. Then he noticed a couple of drum mallet sized bones and snatched them up. Can't beat em? Join em! He could overlook the underwear and damsel in distress comments for now.

Shaw tried to match her tempo on a nearby rock but only made a couple of strikes before he noticed some fabric hanging from one of the bones he held. Speaking of underwear... "YUCK YUCK YUCK!" He flung the undergarment to the ground faster than the Twi'lek had tossed those fluff balls over her shoulder and wiped his hand aggressively on his pants. Some of these bones were sentient. Could confirm.

Eenie meenie miney mo had kept them alive so far, and it wasn't like they had a lot of other options. That rancor was still outside. Shaw followed a couple steps and to the right of the Twi'lek, the light from her smartphone helping them navigate the path. Shaw would have pulled his phone out too but didn't want to run the battery down. "Soooo," he began as they walked, "You a professional rapper or something?" He was gonna be psyched if she was and would definitely have to catch a selfie before they parted ways.

Eventually the path opened into a small cavern, where two other paths split off in opposite directions. One to the left, one to the right. Between them lay several pools of water. Bioluminescent plants sprouted along the ceiling of the cavern. The largest pool gave Shaw an idea, and when he thought she wasn't looking he knelt down to splash both of his pits with water. Just a a little extra precaution. His body spray needed a little help in this muggy climate he wasn't used to.

Something reflected in the water caught his attention, and he looked upward. "Are those... are those plants glowing?" He didn't realize that he sounded like a child, hazel eyes wide and staring up at the plants. He'd never seen anything like it! It was amazing! @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash glared when he asked if she was okay and tried to throw off her groove. Did this guy not appreciate art? She ignored him as she ventured deeper through the tunnel. At some point the dude picked up some bones and began to jam with her. Nash started to smile, rocking to the beat, “Now that’s what I’m talking about, playa!” She quipped, returning to dropping some lines. Nash jumped when he started flailing around screaming, “Will you keep it down?!” She hissed. Then she saw the underwear, “EWWW!” She screeched louder than even him, scrambling back into the guy and almost taking him right off his feet. After all, she was built like a truck.

When he asked if she was a professional rapper, Nash pondered and then answered, “Uh, obviously. You’re in the presence of the legendary Lil Nash X,” She said proudly, “I’ll drop some ill beats for you any day, my man, just stick around. You’re in the presence of a rhythmic genius,” Nash said shortly before she collided with a low hanging stalagcite. Grumpily rubbing her head, she kept walking.

The inside of the cave was actually beautiful with pools of water and bioluminescent plants. It briefly reminded her of the forests on Umbara. Nash heard some splashing and looked over right in time to catch him giving himself a pit wash. She had no reaction other than a raised brow, “Why you so worried about being rank? Did you fall in rancor turd?” She teased.

When he asked about the plants, Nash nodded, “Yo, wanna find out if they’re edible?” She asked cheerfully. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed some glowy mushrooms and started munching on them. You only live once.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Whoaaa." Shaw reached a hand out to steady himself against the cavern wall, taken aback by the Twi'lek's solid frame. He looked her up and down and blurted out, "Girl, no cap you're built like a truck!" That was Shaw. Always saying whatever came to mind. This time he actually did a little recovery work, holding his hand out in defense. "Respectfully." Could you tell a girl she was built like a truck respectfully? He didn't know. He'd find out. Possibly the hard way.

Lil Nash X? He'd never heard of her, but it was a big galaxy. He was finding out just how big day by day. Just because he was from Coruscant, the center of the galaxy, didn't mean he was up to date with everything. Especially since he'd been stuck on Jedi spaceships a lot lately. Maybe she was some new up and coming rapper or a popular local artist. "No need to gas yourself up to me," he said, ducking under the stalactite she'd just smacked face first into. He didn't seem to register that she said. "That beat eats. Think I could catch a selfie later?"

Someone who'd spent more than a handful of days outside in nature might have cautioned Lil Nash about eating mushrooms she knew nothing about that were growing from a ceiling in a cave, but not Shaw. "How do they taste?" was the only question he had. The thought that they might be poisonous or toxic or dangerous never even occurred to him. He stood up and grabbed one for himself, breaking off a large piece and popping it into his mouth. He was always up for a snack.

Chewing, he said inbetween and over bites, "They're kinda—kinda—rubbery!" Rubbery and hard to chew, even harder to swallow, but Shaw was stubborn and managed it in the end. He had a feeling Lil Nash was stubborn too. Eventually it slid down the gullet, and then the strangest thing began to happen. Not to him. Well, maybe to him, but he was looking at Lil Nash. At first he didn't know if it was reality or if he was tripping, but then a big grin spread across his lips.

Lil Nash's neck had begun to gradually glow. It was faint, probably wouldn't have even been noticeable out in the sunlight but it was here in the cave. How it was possible he didn't know. He just knew that it looked cool. Magic mushrooms was an understatement.

"Hey! Hey, look at your neck!" he pointed and then eagerly gestured for her to come closer to the pool to see her own reflection. "Over here! You're glowing! Looks kinda... blue!" He ran a hand along his neck. Still felt like the same old neck. "What about me?" he asked excitedly. "Am I glowing too?" @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash turned to look at him when he blurted out that she was built like a truck. Likely he was expecting a solid punch to the face. However, her mind drifted back to those days of posing as a boy back on Nal Hutta to escape trafficking. Back then she used to be called scrawny, shrimp, weakling, porg. She was shoved around as the dainty little boy when she tried to join those smuggling rings. It took years to bulk up and get to this, “Aww, you really think so?” Nash asked with a bright smile, genuinely flattered by the comment. This wasn’t just some beauty she was born with, she worked for this.

“Let’s take a selfie now, bruh, who knows what’s gonna eat us,” Nash threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in for a selfie, giving a huge smile with her filed teeth from having posed as a male twi’lek for so long.

The shrooms took effect almost at once and she freaked initially, feeling up her own neck. Nash felt as if she were on a cloud, the plants all around her that much brighter. It felt as if she was floating through the galaxy, flying on the edge of a supernova.

“You’re…” Nash began, “Where is your face, dude?” She asked stupidly. Shaw’s head began to change shape and melt into a liquid before reforming again. Nash stared in wonder, both horrified and fascinated, “Damn this shit’s better than what I smuggled back on ‘Shadda,” She blurted out before she could stop herself, “I mean what? Who said that?” Nash added on in a lame attempt to retract what she admitted.

“You know, the galaxy ain’t fair man,” Nash began, “All us little people always get the shaft. Like you got all the big senators, the Jedi grandmasters, the Darth Razes…all these fantastical people just running everything. But somehow it’s us little folk out there cleaning up the messes. We left holding the bag. We left running the errands,” Nash ranted, “It ain’t right. I was born with abilities just the same and yet I’m here in a cave with.. Wait dude what’s your name?” She asked as she completely tilted her head to look at him. His head was now where his feet were, so she had to tilt herself to make eye contact again.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Wait, for real?" Shaw didn't know why, but he had just assumed she would blow him off about the selfie. He had a goofy smile on his face as he pulled out his phone and snapped a quick selfie with the rapper. "Look at that lighting," he said, checking out the picture. "No flash needed." The bioluminescent mushrooms had cast both the teenagers in a bluish greenish glow. Dare he say the photo almost looked professional? No. No, it didn't. But he liked it anyway.

"Hey, your teeth are sharp!" He'd zoomed in on their faces. He hadn't noticed until then because well, he hadn't really seen her smile. Coruscant was a melting pot of different species, and one of his best buddies that he'd run around with had been a Twi'lek. Shaw looked up from his phone and over at Lil Nash. "I thought only dudes filed their teeth!" Blurting out the first thing that came to mind as usual.

"My face?" Shaw echoed, reaching up to touch it. He ran his fingers over his eyes, rubbed his nose, and pinched both cheeks. Yep. It was all still there! Or was it just a figment of his imagination? His fingers tingled, and then he wasn't sure if what he was touching was real or not. Did he have a face?? Had he been walking around his entire life without a face, family and friends lying to protect him from the truth? Edging up his hair on the weekly, keeping that hair line nice and clean for nothing? Wait! His hair! He looked horrified. "MY FADE!"

The teenager shuffled around to stare into the pool, hoping to see his own reflection staring back at him. Hoping to see a face! He did. Eyes. Nose. Cheeks. Lips. Hair line. It was all there and all in the right place. Well, mostly. It was kinda... wiggly or something. But it was there. He breathed a sigh of relief and started laughing. "I shoulda known you were messin with me!"

While Shaw continued to stare at his own reflection like he was as beautiful as Narcissus or something, Lil Nash went off on a tangent. Shaw listened, poking and prodding his own face, but nodding along to what she said. It made sense. As much sense as anything could make to him at that moment. After all he wouldn't have been here either if it weren't for Raze and all the others like him, right? "The system's rigged!" he agreed loudly, with all the animation and enthusiasm of someone ready to start a revolution. Like he had a clue. He didn't know the first thing about politics or how to go about sorting the galaxy's problems. Never kept up with politics. Never cared to.

He looked over at Lil Nash when she asked him what his name was. He had to think about it for a moment. "Shaw." Yeah, that sounded right. She looked like she was still trying to find his face, her head tilted to one side. "Shaw's my name. Hey, my face is up here!" He waved a hand in front of his face so she could find it more easily, except that he didn't. He waved his hand about a foot away from his face and to the right of it. He just didn't realize it. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash shrugged vaguely at the comment about the teeth, “I used to pretend to be a dude,” She said simply, “Long story,” She said simply before they started tripping.

“Shawwwwwwwwwww,” Nash said very slowly, her voice echoing and trailing off. She could see the name escape her mouth and float away as if her words were a stream that could fly through the air. She giggled to herself as he pointed out where his face was. Nash slowly turned to look, but didn’t see his face. Instead she saw what looked like a giant mutant bear.

“Are you sure that’s your face?” Nash asked quizzically. The mutant bear opened its mouth wide and roared. This roar didn’t sound friendly at all, and she stared dumbly as the thing began to rise up on its hind legs.

“Shaw are you seeing this? Or is this just me?” She asked, fascinated. It was entirely unclear if this was real or a hallucination.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Of course it's my face!" Shaw snickered, waving a hand in the vague direction of his face again. "I think I'd know my own face after all these years." Then the teenager followed her gaze and actually looked where she was looking, and yeaaaah. She was right. That was not his face.

The other face had a long snout and large fangs. It roared loudly, and Shaw felt something wet land on his neck. Yuck! "Bruh do not yell in my ear like that!" he told the bear off, sticking his index finger in his right ear and wiggling it around to regain some hearing. "You spit all over my neck." He wiped the saliva off and grimaced. Now this time he knew that was not him smelling. "And your breath smells nasty. When was the last time you-"

Before Shaw could finish that question the mutated bear had swept him off his feet with one swipe of his massive paw and sent Shaw flying across the small cavern. @Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash got her answer when Shaw was casually yeeted across the cave. Fortunately she was from a swamp planet and tripped balls often enough to still function under the influence. When you ate out the garbage like a trash panda, you had to find creative ways to go on vacation. Instead of looking towards him and the trail of rainbow that followed in his wake like a very old school meme from well before she was born - holy shit she was really tripping - she instead focused on the bear.

Charging up the Force throughout her body, she used the distraction as her window of opportunity. She swung in full force with a solid punch, slamming into the face of the bear hard enough to smash a part of its jaw in. While the thing began to reel, Nash prepared to duke it out with the bear with her fists, completely forgetting that she had a Sith blade on her back.

“YEAH COME AT ME, BEAR! GOLDILOCKS BOUTTA TEAR YOU UP INTO SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE PIECES! LEMME TAKE YOU TO THE WRECK-A-BEAR WORKSHOP!” She rattled off an endless supply of shit-talking, bouncing around on her feet like a boxer as if expecting the bear to throw punches.

roll: 15/20

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw hit the wall with a thud and slid down the cavern wall at a cartoonishly slow rate, flopping onto the mossy floor where he remained slumped, staring across the cavern with a dumb, vacant expression on his face. Lips parted, eyes glassy, limbs spread, mind blank.

He was shook. Like real shook. If it hadn't been for the mushrooms, he would've been in a lot of pain. The bear's paw had smacked him right across the stomach. Bruises, sore ribs, and the stomach ache of a lifetime were probably in store for him when the effects of the mushroom started to wear off. Possibly earlier than that. For now he was just kinda... numb? Out of it? Definitely out of it. He really wasn't sure how he'd ended up on the other side of the cavern, and it really hadn't registered yet that that thing he'd been talking to was a bear.

Meanwhile the mutated bear was fuming. Its jaw had been smashed in and its roars of pain and anger came out kinda garbled. It might have been a pitiable sound had it not been for the fact that it was actively trying to kill the two teenagers and get fat off their remains. The unnatural sound paired with Lil Nash's clever clap backs roused Shaw a litte blink, who blinked a couple times and made the discovery of a lifetime, shouting, "BEAR!" You know, like Lil Nash hadn't noticed.

Slowly and with a lot less difficulty and pain thanks to the magic mushrooms he'd consumed a few minutes ago, Shaw got up and charged. Running full speed ahead with no real plan, no weapon, and no experience dealing with bears or any kind of animal for that matter, he used a small boulder nearby as a launching pad.

The goal? Land on the bear's back and restrain it by the neck. Because he was definitely strong enough to restrain a bear. The result? "I GOT IT!" he yelled out to Lil Nash, arms reaching out to grab ahold of the bear in slow motion. The problem? He misjudged the distance by a lot and flew past the bear and to its right by a good two feet, arms grasping at nothing but air. He hit the ground face first and slid several feet before coming to a stop. @Sreeya roll 7/20