The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Hunt on Kashyyyk: Burohanaa Village

Grandmaster Yoda sat still as a statue, listening.

There were the immediate sounds that pricked at his ears; The brushing of leaves high up in the canopy of the wroshyr trees. The shuffle of Wookiee feet as they walked across the wooden walkways that hung high above the dense darkness of the deadly Shadowlands. The chatting of Gray Jedi consult Sahrea Shan to the three younglings who accompanied them.

He could hear Captain Zak directing orders to his small squadron of troops. The song of an Agr as it perched itself in a tree above the hut he was meditating in. All this he knew. He needed to go deeper.

He took a breath and blocked all of these sounds out. He stretched out his consciousness farther and lower, into the depths of the forest floor, into the dreaded Shadowlands.

The Shadowlands was a place of darkness and untamed nature, where only the mightiest Wookiee would dare venture, but even he did not tread alone. It was full of dangers beyond one's imagination.

Yoda could sense all the life that filled the region. It was constantly shifting, abuzz with energy, yet Yoda sensed something dark down there, something... ancient.

He sensed the fear that surrounded it, the adrenaline as everything in its path fled away for dear life. The way it skirted around trees like they were twigs. The vibrations in the ground as its massive body slunk along in the foliage. This must be the creature that had been terrorizing the nearby Wookiee villages. What was it though? He cleared his mind, trying to get a good sense of what this creature might be. His brows drew together as he concentrated.

He focused, each second more intensely than the last, making his ears wiggle slightly. He relaxed his mind after a moment.

It was of no use. With all those lifeforms roaming about, it was impossible to get a clear view of what they were dealing with. The elderly Jedi rose stiffly to his feet. He stretched his old bones before walking out of the hut, his cane clicking on the wooden panels.

"Hello Master Yoda." Sahrea Shan said pleasantly as he joined them. The Gray was in her usual Echani-like armor. Behind her stood two younglings and a padawan. The pair of initiates were close to becoming padawans and Master Yoda wanted to see how they would act outside of the Jedi Temple. This seemed like an easy and relatively safe first mission for the blossoming Jedi.

One was Ura Nahzalem, a young Twi'Lek with pale purple skin and a big smile. She wore brown and white robes and blue bladed lightsaber hung at her waist. She was an excitable young one, always eager to dive in to the next topic even if she hadn't mastered the first. She was happy and optimistic, never failing to have a good outlook on the situation, her masters have noticed.

The second, the padawan, was Caleb Dume, dressed in dark blue and white. The oldest of the three, he was a human male with light skin and dark hair. He was a hard worker and loved to study. He was prideful though, something they hoped he would outgrow. He would make a good Jedi teacher one day, that Yoda was sure of. Now that he was a padawan, he would need a master. The best way to see who would be a good fit for him would be seeing Dume in action.

The final youngling was the one Yoda was most interested in seeing today. He was a Wookiee named Gungi. Yoda chose him for this mission because he felt that seeing his own people would be a good learning experience for him. So far Gungi seemed excited to experience how his people lived. In return, they received him warmly, proud to have one of their own as a member of the Jedi Order.

"Good evening consult. Children." he greeted to them with a grin. "Anything new to report?" Shan asked him.

"Not quite yet. Mysterious, this creature is. Moves unlike anything I've seen before, it does." Yoda said.