A most unusual room

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

It was his second night here among civilization, the small civilization that prospered around the Jedi academy. He had been promised tat his own Jedi training would eventually begin under the tutelage of Anbira Hicchoru, but Eldrak had still not been resourceful enough to find typical lodgings here. He was too unaccustomed to socializing to do much in the way of inquiring of others and he had not see Anbira today, so he needed to make his own place to stay.

A short walk from the outskirts of the academy he found just what he was looking for. A grass covered hill, one side of which faced away from the academy and was lined with only a few trees at its base. Noting the position of the trees, he smiled and said aloud.

“Perfect.”

He placed the few items that he owned on the ground next to a nearby stone. A Katana blade and a data-pad, it was all he had besides the robes on his back. The Katana he had found and the data-pad he had bartered for with a few trinkets that he had found at the same time as the Katana.

He walked to the side of the hill and crouched down on his knees. His hands balled into fists as he looked at the grass-laden earth in front of him. Just as he balled his hands into fists, three claws sprouted from the tops of his hands, they were composed of bone and were natural for some of his native species to have. His Original, Darth Ogre, was one that did not have them, but Eldrak did. They were for exactly what he was now beginning to use them for, burrowing and digging.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

With the aid of his natural bodily additions, it didn’t take all that long before he had dug out a fairly sizable dwelling of his own. It was very similar to the home he had taken when he was wandering the forests of this world before coming to this place.

The entrance from outside only looked to be about a foot tall, but when one got close to it, they could see that it was dug downwards and was a very sizable doorway into the hollowed out hill. It had to be for one of Eldrak’s size to be able to enter his new dwelling.

For the time being, he would have to do without a door of any kind, he was tired from the work and in no position to do all that was required to fashion one. The entrance to his self made cave was tunnel like and did not open directly into the cavity of the cave he had made, it went several meters before it turned sharply and opened into the open area he was going to make his new room.

His strong hands had packed the surrounding soil of the cavern so hard against the walls of it, they were more like stone than soft dirt, a cave in or mudslide was not likely, but tomorrow he would do more to be certain that would not occur. Besides, the weather this evening was clear enough for him not to be too concerned with that.

He took some dry leaves from the hillside into the cavern and fashioned himself a temporary bed and lied down to sleep for the evening in his self made hole of a room.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

Morning came and the only evidence of it in Eldrak’s room was the little bit of light that managed to creep through the tunnel that led to the doorway to his hole. The massive being that slept on a bed of leaves stirred and his eyes slowly opened. A gnawing feeling in his stomach told him that he was hungry for breakfast and he also realized he had much to do.

He rose from the ground and picked up his two possessions. One was his sword, which he had never unsheathed except the one time when he found it to inspect it, and the other his data-pad.

He walked out of the door and down the tunnel that led to the open air. Stepping out into the light he stretched his arms and back and a tremendous popping sound came from his spine. The monstrous in size learner was ready for the day’s events.

Some of the nearby vegetation was suitable for a meal for Eldrak and he ate heartily as he walked along looking for something amongst the trees and stream nearby the hill where he had made the hole he called home.

Eldrak needed a door he could open and close for his room and knew exactly what he wanted, he just had to find it.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

With the nearby stream, it didn’t take him too long to find what he was looking for. There were many large stones in the stream, washed smooth by the cascading waters. He trudged through the shallow briskly cool water and located a stone that was just a little larger than he was both in height and width.

He tucked his Katana into the back of his robes and bent down, taking the sides of the boulder into his hands. There were few with the physical strength to lift something of this massive size, but Eldrak was one of those few. Muscles bulged and tightened as he lifted it from its place in the stream.

He had to walk backwards back to his hole, so that he could look over his shoulder and see where he was going, and it took a little longer than the walk to find it had. He arrived at the sunken entrance to his hole and placed the boulder on the ground, stretching out some after having relieved himself of the burden for the moment.

He stepped down into the entrance and walked down the tunnel to just where it began to open up into the room he had fashioned. His hands balled into fists and the bones extended from the tops of his hands and he again began to dig. He was making a cavity and track for the boulder to rest in so that he could move it in and out of the opening, as a makeshift door, that few would be able to open.

He moved the soil and packed the excess firmly into the surrounding walls and floors and now had a cavity inside the tunnel large enough to fit the boulder into. Wiping his hands together to remove the dirt he looked at it with satisfaction for a moment before he walked back through the tunnel and out the entrance to get the stone he had brought.

Once again he bent down and lifted it from the ground, and this time he took it into and down the tunnel. It took a little extra digging and adjusting for it to fit just right and be mobile enough to move into the cavity next to the entrance to his hand made cave, but in a little less than an hour he was finished and now had a door that he could open and close.

Next he needed to reinforce the walls to avoid cave ins and come up with a way to fashion some windows.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

Satisfied with his new door, Eldrak decided to begin working on the next task he already knew how to go about accomplishing. He needed to reinforce the walls so that there would be no cave ins, while he slept or was there in his hole.

He closed his new door behind him with a strong shove of the stone from out of its slot and walked back to the stream. There were plenty of smaller stones along the shores of the stream to do what he wanted to with. He began to pick up stones and toss them back toward the entrance to his room, after a couple of hours there was quite the pile of them scattered about and heaped in front of the entrance. Small flat rocks, round ones, oblong shaped ones and square like ones all included.

He walked back to the hole and began to line the walls and ceiling of the tunnel and cavity with them, forcing them tightly into place with his strength and making them close enough together so that any pressure from outside would be stopped by the pressure of the stones fitted together so tightly. He left a small opening in rocks in the top center and in two places on the walls. There he planned to place windows once he came up with a way to acquire either some regular glass or transparent durasteel.

He also lined the floor of the tunnel entrance with stones while lining the floor of the main room itself with ore dried leaves, leaving an extra large pile of them for his makeshift bed. By now the day was drawing closer to darkness and he didn’t feel like digging out the windows yet, he wanted to get his hands on the glass for that, but wasn’t sure how he was going to go about getting his hands on some, be it plain glass or transparent durasteel.

He was hungry and hadn’t learned much today but at least he was well on his way to having a place nearby the academy that he could call his own. He walked back out the door, closing it behind and went to the steam where he washed himself and drank. The next pressing thing to do was to get some food. He had no money and nothing to barter with, so his options were limited to either being a leech and go to Yog’s hoping someone would give him a free meal, or he could again eat some of the vegetation here in the woody area a quarter mile from the academy as he had for breakfast.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He had decided to stop by Yog’s B&G after eating some more simple vegetation to sustain himself. He needed to come up with a way to acquire windows for his new home and thought maybe something would turn up for him there by chance of luck.

On his way to Yog’s he stumbled across a landing platform and he started talking with a few of the people wandering about there. It turned out one of them was making a round trip run to what was referred to as the battleground for the Jedi vs. the Sith.

Eldrak was very interested in learning more about this place, even though he thought it might be unwise for him to go alone. He had no fear though and his natural curiosity won out over his misgivings. <a href=http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11707>Off to the battleground</a> he went, making arrangements with the pilot heading there to drop him off then pick him up a few hours later.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

The day was nearing an end as Eldrak made his return to his edge of the forest room here on the grounds of the Jedi Academy. His day’s <a href=http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11725>adventures</a> had been interesting and had also yielded him something that he had needed for his room. He now had the making for windows so that his little hole could have natural light during the day.

He approached the entrance to his room and moved his stone doorway aside, stepping inside. He pushed the door back into place and set the transparent durasteel remnant he had found on the battleground down for now. He would take care of their installation tomorrow.

[Grimya]

:: Grimya pads around the halls, sniffing around and exploring this new place while Soolin was off tending to other things. Her nose eventually leads her outside and to a most unusual door. It was different from the others, made of stone. She presses her nose against it and sniffs, smelling the scent of freshly dug earth. Curiosity gets the better of her as she scratches at the stone with a paw and turns around in a circle ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He had a restful sleep, the dreams didn’t bother him as much now as when he didn’t know that most were the memories of the one he was cloned from, but now that he knew, he could cope better, even though many of the memories he saw in his dreams were violent and disturbing. He saw them as a lesson, a lesson in what he had chosen to combat…..evil.

He had just begun to stir and rouse from slumber when he heard a sound at the door. It was a scratching sound. It was almost completely dark in his hole since he had not installed the windows that he had acquired the day before, but his eyes were accustomed to the absence of light well enough that he could see faintly. There was no food or anything lying about that should attract an animal to this place and he found the sound curious because of this.

It continued after a short pause and Eldrak decided to go and check to see what was at his door. With a mighty heave, the boulder for a door, rolled back into the recess he had dug and he was greeted by a white wolf standing there looking curious.

Eldrak could see the creature did not look aggressive and he knelt to a knee and offered a hand below the wolf’s nose slowly.

[Grimya]

:: Grimya sniffs the giant's hand, then sits. She looks up at him, and Eldrak can feel a ripple in the force as she reaches out to touch his mind ::

[Hari Rendale]

Hari wandered about the ground surrounding the Jedi Order on Arcan, familiarizing herself with the grounds.

You never know when you have to run. Like most of equatorial Arcan, it was temperate and heavily forested. The terrain rolled gently, and the going was easy.

I'd nearly forgotten what the forest was like... her thoughts trailed off as a white wolf passed by her, a good twenty meters away. It's head was held low to the ground, as if looking for something. Hari held her breath in wonder at the magnificent creature. The wolf picked up her pace, more sure of the scent in the crisp, clean air. Filled with curiosity, the 15 year old followed.

Strangely enough, the wolf began to scratch at a boulder that had clearly been moved by unnatural means. A few minutes later, it rolled aside, revealing a huge green...

She fainted into the grass with a soft thump.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

Not being familiar with the ways of the Force since losing his memory, Eldrak had no idea what it was that he felt touch his mind, but there did seem to be a warm sensation that accompanied it, as well as some kind of mental tug, but he had no idea how or even what it was, he looked at the creature curiously and lifted his hand just a little higher to scratch under its chin. It seemed a gentle and kind wolf.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something, it was as if someone had been watching and suddenly wasn’t any longer. Eldrak raised his head and smelled the air. There was a being here, one he did not recognize the smell of, but they had either ducked out of sight, or fallen out of it. He wasn’t sure which.

“Should we go investigate?”

He spoke to the wolf not expecting any kind of answer.

[Grimya]

:: Grimya sniiffs the air too, and trots in the direction of where she heard the sound. She stops a distance and sits, looking over her shoulder as she waits for Eldrak to follow ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

To his surprise the wolf appeared to have possibly understood what he had said, or maybe it was just coincidence that the wolf had also caught wind of the scent and decided to check its source out at that precise moment.

Eldrak stood from his kneeling position and followed behind, able to tell that the wolf was heading directly for the source of the visitor’s scent. It wasn’t very far from the entrance to Eldrak’s room that they found her, lying on the ground but not looking as if she was hurt. Her chest was still rising and falling as she breathed peacefully.

“What have we here?”

He said as he looked to the wolf, wondering if there would be another reaction that might hint it understood him.

[Grimya]

:: nudges at Hari's hand with her nose and looks back over at Eldrak ::

[Hari Rendale]

Hari stirred, sitting up and rubbing her head. She blinked a few times, and looked up at the huge looming green...

...and fainted again.

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

His eyes enlarged as she opened her eyes and looked at him, she was okay, but no sooner had she come around than she was out again.

Eldrak crouched down near the girl and picked up the hand that the wolf had nudged. It was still warm, and Eldrak could see no injuries. If he were more familiar with the species he may have noticed that her color wasn’t quite normal and realized what may have happened but as it was he was clueless.

Her hand was tiny within his own, but he did not put any pressure on it, just held it within his own wondering what he could do to rouse her.

“Maybe I should take her over by the stream and get her something to drink?”

He said to the wolf again, not so much expecting a reaction as debating with himself what to do.

[Soolin Anjhurin]

:: Soolin raised an eyebrow as she walked upon the scene before her. It seemed that Grimya had found a friend in the giant that knelt beside the fallen girl ::

"What happened here?"

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He had just started to move his arms slowly underneath the girl’s legs and back and was just starting to lift her off the ground when he caught the scent of another approaching, then she spoke and Eldrak was already facing her.

He looked down as the small frail being in his arms and then back up at the new visitor.

“I’m really not sure, I just found her this way. She woke up briefly and then passed back out. I was just about to take her for a drink from the stream over there.”

His head tilted to the side in the direction of the nearby stream.

[Soolin Anjhurin]

:: Looks up at him, somewhat astonished. She had encountered many beings in her travels, but none quite so imposing as this giant. Yet Grimya had not deemed him a threat and she moves closer ::

"Allow me ... "

:: holds out her arms ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

Sheepishly he nods and gently places the unconscious girl into her arms, still confused as to what is happening and why she is seemingly sleeping.

[Soolin Anjhurin]

:: carries her over to the stream and sets her down beside the water. reaching into a small pouch, she uses a smelling salt to revive the girl ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He follows quietly and watches with curiosity, keeping a little bit of distance because he feels in some way that he may be responsible for the girl’s condition. The guilt of his feeling shows on his face.

[Hari Rendale]

Her face wrinkled as her nose took in the scent of the salts, and Hari shook her head back and forth. She sat up.

"The last thing I remember was this huge green..." she paused.

"I'm Hari. Who are you?"

[Soolin Anjhurin]

"My name is Soolin. Don't be alarmed, he's not a danger."

:: glances over her shoulder as Grimya sat nearby ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He could tell by her voice that he was responsible for the condition he had found her in, there seemed to be traces of fear and doubt within it. The pangs of guilt stabbed him even harder and he quietly turned and started to head back towards his hole in the ground for a room.

[Hari Rendale]

"Thats good. He could scare the pants off anyone if he wanted to." Hari stood up. Her fear was replaced by curiosity. For some reason, she trusted this woman. Soolin felt honest.

"Hi there wolfy." The young woman admired the beautiful animal for a moment.

"Green... person! Hey!"

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

He slowed in his pace some and picked his head up from its drooped position to turn and look back. He raised a big hand and waved, flashing a light smile before he turned back around and kept going on his way to his home.

[Grimya]

:: Grimya reaches out to touch Eldrak's mind again, sending him the same feeling he had felt before ::

[Eldrak Gruuhl]

There it was again, that itchy feeling in his mind that he didn’t recognize. He scratched the back of his head as he continued walking along back towards his room.