The Madness of King Wook

Maxims Tionson

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Max was used to working with other Jedi, Jedi he had never had chance to work with before and it was nice that he was always able to find another young Jedi ready to go out into the Galaxy and do whatever it took to help people. In this case the people they were helping were not humans but rather Wookiees. The tree-dwelling inhabitants of Kashyyyk had been out of the loop as far as the Galactic scene was concerned for a long time, even though one of their members had been instrumental in the Rebellion against the Empire and, later, against the First Order.

One thing that had never changed throughout the years however was the complex relationship that the Wookiees of Kashyyyk had with the world itself. The wildlife of the planet was almost beyond what most people could comprehend as it went well beyond what most planets dared to produce. Wookies would test themselves against the champions of nature on the planet and yet live in harmony with the ecosystem, by and large.

It was rather inspiring that such proud warriors could learn to be so in tune with the natural order and balance.

Still, sometimes things went wrong and differences cropped up. Anomalies that needed to be addressed and sometimes the Wookiees asked for assistance from those they believed could help. A member of the Sagwanth tribe of Wookiees had gone into then trees to hunt for food one day and, upon his return, he had been driven to a kind of madness. The Wookiee had used his claws as weapons as he lashed out at his fellows before hiding away.

The tribe knew that the member would be, had to be, labelled as a Madclaw but what had driven him to the madness in the first place was their concern. So they had contacted the Jedi and requested that someone take up the task; find the Madclaw Sagwanth and find out what had driven him mad in the first place. Standing in the centre of the village, Max released a long breath and let his nerves leave him by engaging with the Force as he spoke to his ally.

"I have a bad feeling about this Padawan. Keep your wits about you."



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Larana Basai

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Larana wasn't nearly as experienced as the Knight that accompanied her to Kashyyyk; in fact, this was all rather new. In the months since she had joined the ranks of the Jedi Order, she hadn't been permitted to leave Ajan Kloss. It was also the first time that she had been away from her fellow Padawan, Kalen. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that his presence had provided her with a sense of security, one Max couldn't quite replicate. Of course, she trusted him as a capable member of the Order, but he too was unfamiliar. This all seemed to tame her usual adventurous spirit and she found that she was suddenly much more content to follow behind him relative silence.


Her eyes wandered to the structures, built high in the trees, connected by ropes and bridges, and to the forests beyond. The Wookiee's home world was beautiful, much like the forests on Ajan Kloss, but she knew better than to think that it wouldn't be dangerous for them beyond the walls of the village. It would be best for her to keep close to Max, though the child in her ached to climb and explore. This was her first real mission as a Jedi Padawan, and she wanted to make a positive impression, both with the villagers who hosted them and with the Knight who oversaw their assignment.

His words broke her attention away from the treetops and thoughts of suppressed childhood desires back to reality, blue eyes rested on him and her hands tucked neatly behind her. When he had finished, she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and nodded once to show that she understood his warning. "Yes, of course." She moved from behind him to stand at his side, awaiting patiently for the village chieftain to come and greet them.

From above, some of the villagers had gathered to witness their arrival, but their whispers she couldn't understand as their language was completely foreign to her. Instead, she took another calming breath and watched as a nearly 2 and a half meter Wookiee, whom she could only assume to be their chieftain, approached the two of them. "Master Tionson," she spoke without averting her gaze. "Does the Jedi Order have good relations with the Wookiees?"

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Maxims Tionson

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Did the Order have good relations with the Wookiees?

Eh, time to find out he supposed.

Taking a step forwards, the Jedi Knight bowed to the Chieftain and hoped to the Force that the Padawan had the good sense to do the same. In the end though it might as well not have mattered as the Chieftain immediately waved away the bowing with one of his massive paws before clapping Max on the back lightly.

Lightly for a Wookiee, which meant Max had to use the Force to enhance his strength and durability just to stay upright, even if it was only a slither of the Force.

<<"Master Jedi! You and your Padawan are going my tribe a great service; there is no need to bow! Come!">>


Shrugging a little bit, Max followed the Chieftain as they were taken to the great lift that would lower them down to the forest floor where the Madclaw had fled.

"So this... Madclaw... do you want us to attempt some mind healing on him?"


The Chieftain looked conflicted for a moment.

<<"If you can confirm his madness was an exterior force beyond a shadow of a doubt...? Yes, that would mean a great deal to us. If you cannot then we must know the source.">>
A small pause before, <<"And we would accept hearing that the Madclaw's madness will no longer endanger himself or our tribe.">>

Grim.

Max nodded and stepped onto the lift with Larana, not saying anything as the lift began it's journey down. When they were far enough away to not be heard he sighed a little bit.

"Do you have any experience with the mind arts?"




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Larana Basai

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She understood barely a word that was spoken between the Chieftain and her fellow Jedi, but what little she could interpret told her that the situation was grim. It wasn't hard to read their tones or facial expressions, but she offered no hint that it concerned her and instead stood silent beside Max on the lift and nodded her head when appropriate. It wasn't her place to speak up and, even if it was suitable, given the circumstances, she wouldn't have known what to say. This was all so unfamiliar to her and there would be a lot of lessons learned before the two of them would depart Kashyyyk - it was admittedly both exciting and a bit unnerving.

The lift descended towards the forests floor and her attention finally was drawn back to Max who had waited until they were far enough away to not be heard before he spoke to her. His question caught her off guard and she looked down at her feet for a moment while contemplating her response. Larana hadn't considered how it might have impacted her usefulness in a situation such as this, but she had battled some with her wild spirit and inability to connect with the force in a way that others seemed to do without trouble. It was something she had worked tirelessly on, but hadn't quite overcome; her mind always seemed to be overwhelmed with thoughts and other distractions. She worried Max might be disappointed, but it wouldn't do either of them any good to be dishonest.

"It's something that I've admittedly struggled with." She let out a heavy sigh and a look of disappointment, placing her hands behind her back. "Is it something that will be required of me while we are here?"

When the lift touched the forest floor, she stepped off of it and waiting for him to do the same. Her eyes shifted to the structures in the trees once more, admiring them from below before they'd traverse into the dense foliage and beyond the safety of the Wookiee village. Larana hoped Master Ris hadn't been mistaken about her readiness to travel outside the bounds of the Jedi Order.
 

Maxims Tionson

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Languages through the Force was one of the tricks that Max had picked up over the years but the language of the Wookiees was actually one he had picked up during his years as a cop. People always liked to blame the local wookiees for exceedingly violent crimes so he had gotten used to asking them questions. It was literally the only good thing he could take away from the most disgusting form of racial profiling he had been pressured into being involved with.

The mind arts of the Force were subtle and numerous and so very tricky to get right. Max himself had a passing knowledge of them but he would never deign to call himself a Master of them or anything even remotely similar. He grimaced a little bit before shaking his head slightly.

"It's alright."
he assured her, "I have a passing knowledge of them and, with some luck, we may be able to muddle through regardless. The madclaw we are hunting; they want us to find out why he went mad and one of the easiest ways to find out is to ask him."

He chuckled.

"Except he's mad."


Reaching the forest floor, Max stepped off from the lift and looked at the area around them. Somewhere there was a clue as to where the madclaw had gone after he himself had disembarked from the lift and where there was a clue there was a way to track! Max had been a cop and he knew how to track people down on the mean streets but, well, he was kind of out of his depth here. Looking around the forest, he blinked a few times.

"... Force, it all looks the damned same. How am I supposed to find a clue to track if everything looks the gods damned same?"


Before he could complain further, he called out in alarm and mild pain as something impacted the back of his left hand. Cursing, he ignited his lightsaber in his right hand and cut through a flower - which had just spat a dart into his left hand. Staring at it, Max tried to lift his left arm and found it unresponsive.

He stared at it blankly, somehow instinctively knowing that his left arm had been temporarily paralyzed by the venom.

"This forest hates me."




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Larana Basai

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Larana had spent a great deal of time in the forests behind her home on Andara; they had been her sanctuary. For this reason, she was no stranger to survival tactics or even tracking, though it seemed now that they were perhaps her only useful qualities. It was a realization that upset her some but, at the very least, it meant that she wouldn't be entirely useless. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for Max's arm which now dangled at his side, unresponsive, after a rather strange looking flower spat a dart into his hand.

"It's just unfamiliar, Master." she reminded him, taking note of the flowers unique color and petals. "Remember, we are unfamiliar to it too. Nature can often be hard to understand, but it's not impossible. It just takes some extra time and patience to find our place within it." Larana offered him a reassuring smile, turning to evaluate their surroundings for any signs that might help her find the direction in which this madclaw might have run.

Max wasn't entirely wrong - everything did look the same. There wasn't a clear path that would lead them without effort to their target, but subtle differences in the foliage around them provided enough hint for her to determine his general direction. There were areas in which the assorted flora had been disturbed, petals ripped from their steps and pushed into the soft mossy forest floor. On the trees around them, small pieces of bark clung to their trunks in unnatural ways, indicating that they had been removed by force, likely by their target as he stumbled into the forest. They only needed to follow these patterns to find him.

"He went this way, by the way." She motioned beside her into the forest, choosing an area where the foliage had been disturbed the most.
 

Maxims Tionson

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Seriously?!

Max didn't often lose his cool but he was beginning to think that Kashyyyk was going to be a massive problem for him. He was a bit of a city slicker and he was going to need to break himself of that bias if he was going to be doing missions and the like on Kashyyyk. Scratching at his beard with the hand that still worked, he smiled ruefully at Larana.

"It's spitting at me, Basai."
he noted drily before shrugging as best he could with only one responsive arm, "I'll take it under advisement but I think I'm going to need to spend some more time here before I feel comfortable NOT cursing the forest."

Thankfully it seemed that Larana had some skills at tracking that he, rather obviously, lacked and they were soon on their way. Following the Padawan and her ability to actually track where the madclaw had gone after leaving the lift, Max frowned a little bit as he pushed out with the Force, expanding his perception of the life around them.

It was only because he was trying to get used to the extended senses that he was able to feel the cluster of creatures slightly off to the side from their 'trail'. He held out a hand for his ally to slow and whispered to her.

"There's a nest nearby... we need to try and be very careful getting around it."


He really didn't want to deal with whatever it was inside the nest with only one arm.



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