[fic] Storytelling

[The Betrayer]

Rwookrrorro, the great capital of Kashyyyk.

 

The Wookiee known as Lorokyyr stepped out of his hut, closing the door as he went. He flexed his muscles and yawned. It was another early morning. Later that day, he would have to go hunting, but more pressing matters await now. He checked his door again, to make sure if it was closed. He then walked to the center of the Village, waving at the Wookiees he met as he went. He arrived in the Village Center, the platform that contained the Chieftain’s hut.

 

In the Village Center, Wookiee children of various sizes and colors were expecting Lorokyyr. When he arrived, the children cheered.

 

Lorokyyr smiled at the children.

“Greetings children. What has happened since we last met?”

 

One of the children, a redhaired tall Wookiee raised his hand.

“Loro! My father has killed a Giant Kinrath! Have you heard?”

 

Lorokyyr has indeed heard. In fact, he was part of the hunting party that killed the Giant Kinrath. For now, however, he feigned ignorance for the child.

“That is amazing, Jawkoro! Could you tell us the tale of your father?”

 

All of the children and Lorokyyr himself now stared at the young Wookiee named Jawkoro. Jawkoro climbed up on a wooden crate.

 

“As my father was strolling the Shadowlands alone, hunting creatures to feed the village...”

 

Lorokyyr continued listening to the youngling, despite the hyperboles of the child.

 

“...a Giant Kinrath jumped from the air and managed to catch him by surprise!”

 

Jawkoro jumped up and down on the wooden crate on all fours, imitating the Kinrath. The children were scared, but they listened on.

 

“My father, being a wise warrior, brought out his sword, and jumped at the Kinrath.”

 

Jawkoro now assumed a stance of a soldier, grabbing a branch from the ground, pretending that it was a sword.

 

“Alas! The Giant Kinrath gave fierce resistance and my father thought he was going to die!”

 

The children continued listening to the tale of the Jawkoro, none of them showing even a bit of boredom.

 

“The Giant Kinrath had my father pinned down. It was about to eat my father, the great Grokoro, alive! It opened its mouth, and green saliva spilled down on my father.”

 

Jawkoro opened his mouth and roared. Slobber filled his mouth and dripped to the floor, adding to the amusement of his audience.

“My father would not be defeated. He reached out to his sword, grabbed it, and stabbed it into the stomach of the Kinrath!”

 

Jawkoro used the branch he was holding to imitate stabbing movements.

 

“The Kinrath retreated, shocked at the wound it now had at the stomach. My father jumped again, cutting the head of the Kinrath! The Kinrath’s blood flowed down to the floor, and my father returned to the village with his prize. The body of a Giant Kinrath.”

 

The younglings clapped at Jawkoro as he bowed. Lorokyyr clapped as well.

 

“That was an interesting story. Thank you Jawkoro! Now, gather around younglings...”

 

The attention now focused on Lorokyyr. Everybody sat around him. Lorokyyr needed no crate, he was tall enough to be seen by the younglings.

 

“This is the tale of Rothrrrawr, one of the greatest Wookiee chieftains. This is the tale of his duel with the great Shadowcreature in the Shadowlands...”

[machievelli]

read

[The Betrayer]

Lorokyyr deepened his voice, attempting to show authority and call the attention of those who he told his story to. I am getting too old for this., he thought, as the children stared on with their eyes. Their eyes. The look in their eyes, the satisfaction, made all the long morning worth it in the end for Lorokyyr, great storyteller. As the darkness of the morning enveloped the village, slipping it into a dark trance, the old Wookiee told his tale.

 

"Don't be a fool Rothrrrawr! Your life is more important than your pride.", said a female Wookiee voice to me, the tone of her words resonating inside my skull. Your life is more important than your pride. Her words mocked me, but she meant well. She was my wife after all.

 

"You do not understand, Mallaykam. It is not my pride that has been challenged this fateful day, but the honor I possess as chieftain. I must go." Did I really believe what I was saying? Was I really able to draw the line between honor and pride?

 

Tears ran down the face of my wife, making a sight that can make the greatest of Wookiee tremble, as I have done that day. That sight haunts me up to this very day, and will haunt me until the day I die.

 

I bent over and picked up the blade from the wroshyr table beside me, carefully avoiding the eyes of the woman I love. I grasped its hilt with my left hand, while my right begun feeling the blade under its furry paw. It had been so long since I used it, Bacca's blade, the last time brought much suffering to my people. I prayed it wouldn't happen that day.

 

I began pacing to leave my hut, opening the door and stepping out. I did not face my wife nor bid farewell to her, for I shall return, and farewells are forever. I closed the door of the hut behind me, catching a glimpse of my wife sobbing and on the floor. I clenched the hilt of my blade tighter now, for I knew whatever land that rested outside my hut was not a safe one.

 

I walked down the familiar paths of the village I lead, and have lead so well in the past. I saw faces - curious eyes, wanting to know where I will go next. Some of them smiled at me. I did not return the gesture. As I walked near the village center, a familiar crowd blocked my way, the group that has shamed me in the past. I did not show weakness to the unwelcome gang.

 

One of the Wookiees stepped forward and smiled a vicious smile, unlike any other I have seen in the past. The Wookiee was Shorevge, and his band of wookiees smiled like he did.

 

"Move over, traitor, and let me past. Today, I shall prove myself worthy of the title I have held for such a long time.", I said to him, a fierce determination in my voice. I will not stop my personal crusade on their account. No, I would march on without their approval.

 

"You will die, foolish Lorokyyr, and I will scour the depths of the Shadowlands for your corpse. Once I find it, I will return here and claim the mantle of chieftain you no longer deserve." The grin that was once on his face turned into a hostile frown. He stood aside, and the wookiees he lead did the same, making an isle for me to pass by. I walked on.

 

I walked on through the crowds of children asking me where I was going. I walked on through the elders of the village who wished me luck in my quest. I walked on through my village.