Luc Jenson's short story: Wookiee Hunting Party

[LucJenson]

Story behind the creation of this: Cerulaine started the Truth Game and the question to be answered was "If you were the opposite gender for one day; what would you do?" Of course I pulled a twist onto this seeing as it never specified that I was human. So, enjoy.

A Wookiee Hunting Party

I do believe I am a Wookiee (Pronounced Woo-Key) female boasting the height of 6'9". Dark brown fur and a silver-white stripe from the back of my head to splits at my lower back to my legs. Indeed, a perfect Wookiee in my mind. Well than, what does a female Wookiee do? Why that's simple! We are the tallest beings on the planet Kashyyyk (Pronounced "Cash-Eeek) so that makes us the prominent beings on the planet. Sure there may be predators on the ground floor but we like our forts up in the trees. Torches with trails of smoke trails rising above them in waves which tells me that the sun must be out. I can't quite tell immediately as my front door leads out onto the walkway but the tree that hosts my house is also so tall that it blocks out the sun at this particular angle. Today was the sixth day of the new month and that meant it was time to do some hunting. In my culture of course we're all abnormally tall and aren't born without a built structure so when under attack, when hunting, or just simply training, all Wookiees were able to bare arms. So I go and grab my Wookiee bowcaster - a large metal crossbow that shot green laser bolts - my pauldron and bandoleer before heading out to hunt. I leave my platform and make my way down a ramp to the platform just below my own where I meet up with three fellow Wookiees who I would be hunting with. We greet each other in Shyriiwook (Shreewook), our language and without a ready check we quicken our paces towards the final ramp down to the ground level of Kashyyyk.

There are large ferns around us as we finally reach the planet floor and we all start to run through the tall brush and jump from side to side past tree trunks and up over roots that dart out of the ground. A puddle here, and tuft of grass there, the feeling under my feet is a cold earth which is due to the lack of sunlight touching the ground through the canopy above. Though area's get strong beams from the sun above there aren't many in a clustered area until you leave the forest itself which leaves you on the beaches or in a flatland which was left behind by the removal of our forests by intruders. We finally see what we had left for; Up ahead in a small clearing is a large Bantha, colossal animal which is coated in a dark, thick, woolen coat. It's defense was merely to charge and hope to trample whatever it hit to death but we know our prey and this hadn't a chance to stop us from getting what we came for; it. We split up and readied our weapons, the wool that it was coated in was so thick it could very well survive more than a few shots from the same direction so by splitting up we could hit it at all sides providing a form of cover for everyone while also burning our way through it's wool before we finally hit it with the final shot. I make my way to lie against the trunk of a nearby tree hiding the white stripes on my back which would obviously show up in the darkness around.

I wait for the rest of the hunting party to take their positions and we watch for the signals for a ready check than at the same time we all pull out from out cover and start to open fire on the Bantha. It without a doubt is surprised but it's reaction surprised us all, it didn't stall, instead it charged towards one of the members of our hunting party and unfortunately caught him off guard as he was crushed below the Bantha; a sight no one needed to see. We all chase after it, anger in our hearts, fury protruding from our eyes. We push forward following the running Bantha and I notice one of the members trip and fall back but we push on, they can catch up without trouble. I notice up ahead is getting brighter which means we must be leaving the forest. However, what happened next we did not expect. As the Bantha passed through the last row of trees a small group of Blastails pounced out from the tall grass and landed along the Bantha at different angles pulling it down to the ground. Now a Bantha we knew we could take down, but Blastails were felines that, when together, were difficult to hit because of their agility and numbers. However we have to kill them because outrunning them at this distance was very unlikely.

As the Bantha draws its last breath we watch in the painful moments that followed the last breath as the Blastails turn their attention to what was left of our hunting party. I sling my bowcaster to my back and jump at the nearby tree trunk and start to climb followed closely by a few of the other members. We know Blastails can climb too but slower than us and as soon as we reach an outstretched branch we can start to fire upon the Blastails as they continue to slowly climb. I pick up my pace which could be risky if I make a simple mistake I'll be joining that Bantha down below. As I pull through a thicket of branches I hear a tearing sound but don't have the time to check what it was from. I'm the first to reach the long, thick and rounded branch which I pull myself onto and don't waste time on preparing the bowcaster. I pull it back to my front only to find that as I had climbed up the tearing noise I had heard was the strap of the bowcaster ripping which means that my bowcaster, was down below on the forest floor. I turn to hear a few blaster shots go off and I bark a loud command as I beckon my fellow ally for their spare blaster which she gladly gives. There'd be no point for her to keep it when it's not being utilized. I turn, point the blaster down the trunk and the group of us start to open fire at the Blastails. I call for the party leader, Tspic (Ts-uh-pii-ké) as he's the only member left who was trained in the arts of Ryyk blades (Rick blades) since our other member trained in the arts tripped and fell behind. He looks over and notices the two Blastails nearing the branch we were on. He moves past me preparing for his duel with the Blastails and I return my attention to the remaining Blastails on the trunk of the tree. As I feel we are nearing victory we hear another Wookiee call but it was distant. We look down and below was the member who had tripped and fallen behind. We return the call with a welcome and picks my bowcaster up and starts to fire on the lowest Blastails. As the last one falls back to the ground I order the two fellow members to my right to climb down and provide backup for our now recovered member in case there are more threats nearby. We really don't need to lose another member of our tribe. After I watch them start to make their way down I turn back to Tspic (Ts-uh-pii-ké) and he has already thrown one Blastail off to its crushing fate below and I rush forward as he falls back with the last one on top of him trying to claw at his face. I smash it on the snout with my blaster and he stops attacking him just long enough for him to throw it over. I help him up and we make our way down to the ground floor once again where we all regroup.

The battle was over; and so was the hunt. Tonight there would be plenty of food from the Bantha alone but the added Blastail meat would just seem to add to our already rising fame for a strong tribe. I send two of the three of us back to the tribe where they'll get some more tribe members to come and help us take the added kills back to the tribe where they'll be skinned and the meat will be prepared for our tribe. The day was coming to a quick close; and the feast was all that was left. The standard entrance for us victors filled with loud music, roaring, and lots of hugs and friendly growls followed by a moment of total silence for the memory of who we had lost today. Two Blastails were brought forth as tribute to his family so they could be provided with enough meat before the next hunt. Their family would not be participating in a life threatening activity such as hunting until the next male was born and raised to prevent the loss of their name. With the moment of silence and offerings put behind we returned out our festivities late into the darkest hours of Kashyyykan light cycles. Tomorrow would be another day to go through, one with unpredictable events under the forest canopy of Kashyyyk; the forest planet.

I really want to read this, but the wall of text is ouch.

Please format this into paragraphs so I can read it XD.

[LucJenson]

I broke it down as best I could without splitting fluent parts. Enjoy.