Chapter 1
“You’re born with honor, you live with honor, and you die with honor.” The words of my father burned in my head as I watched what I imagined to be the smuggler ship Saede had secured passage on enter hyperspace. Of course it could have been any ship but I like to think it was that one leaving the system with Saede and my honor.
“Whoof, Whoof, Whoof, you were fooled by a human cousin,” chortled Sorra. “She has left you here and taken your honor with her for a ride.” Maybe it was anger or depression, or fear that caused me to turn and casually break Sorra’s nose with a hard slap to his face. Sorra had never even left the tree city of his birth, he had not even ventured below the sixth level of the jungle below us, and he had not even completed his right of passage yet to reach adulthood. But something in me had snapped and I could no longer stand here under the gaze of my father.
“I need to be alone for a while, I’ll return to the house later.”
“Look what you did to my poor Sorra’s nose”. My aunt shrieked at me. She held his head in her hands like he was still a child. She coddled him too much that’s why he hadn’t attained adulthood yet. With a growl she started toward me.
“Leave him be Shirra”, my father said as he placed a restraining hand on her. “The boy has a lot on his mind.” He hadn’t called me boy since before I had reached adulthood. His words stung but not as much as his eyes, so I fled. I ran past family and friends shouldering them aside in an effort to escape my disgrace. However far and fast I ran, I couldn’t escape it though, it would haunt me for the rest of my life. When I stopped I found my self at the end of the platform on which our tree villages are built. Standing there starring into the black of the jungle I could her it calling me, my one chance to regain my honor. A scent stopped me though; I knew he would come just as he knew where to find me.
“So brother you have lost your honor and hope to regain it by being rude.”
“You know nothing of what I intend to do.”
“Oh, I don’t do I? It was my father who lost his honor and regained it in the manner you are contemplating. I know you better than you know yourself. Come away from there and walk with me brother.” Borro was a short wookie with light gray coloring to his fur and deep set brown eyes that carried a haunted look of a life lived in continual pain. He was my blood brother, as children we dreamed of being the first wookies to enter the lowest level of the jungle. After the death of his father he and his mother came to live with our family. Since my father was the elder of our city it was his responsibility to care for widows with adolescent sons, unmarried daughters, or no sons at all. Borro did know me better than I knew myself, but in my state of mind I didn’t want to admit it to him.
“Leave me be” was the best I could come up with.
“Let’s do it together, brother. We always dreamed of reaching the floor of the jungle. I will not let you do it without me. As a blood brother you can not refuse me this request.” He was right; I couldn’t regain my honor without killing my brother. But still I sought a way to accomplish my goals.
“I wish you to be the witness to my regaining my honor. As my blood brother you cannot refuse this request. So you must witness my death and tell others so the stain on my honor will be lifted.”
“Fine brother you win, lets go ahead and jump, and when we land I will go and tell all I see that Greenbacca was the bravest wookie I have ever met. He jumped into the depths of the jungle without a thought of whether he would return or not.” Borro grabbed my arm and began running towards the edge, dragging me along. “Come brother let us throw away our lives for your honor, it will be grand.” Seconds before we reached the edge I was able to pull my arm out of Borro’s grip. As Boor skidded to a halt he exclaimed, “Not so sure now, are you brother? Come walk with me and we will discuss the right way for you to regain your honor. The only way for us to figure that out is for you to finally tell me were you have been for the last ten years.”
“Ten years, was it really that long brother? I can barely remember half of it. But I can’t forget it every time I talk. Whenever I hear my words spoken back at me I feel like I’m caught in some cruel joke that will never end. When I think back to what I did and what was done to me, I no longer feel anger just a detached feeling of loss. A part of me is gone and will never return. I’m not the same wookie that left you and my home so long ago.” With a heavy sigh I turn and walk back towards the center of town, towards home. I had been back on planet for a day and I still had not returned home, because he would be there. Just as he had been there today and I couldn’t face him yet.
“Ah, so you have chosen the long and painful death, perhaps we should go back and jump it would be easier than facing your father.” As always Borro new my mind and could say the right thing when I needed to hear it.
“Do you know what Psychological Behavioral Analyses and Conditioning is? At least that is what they called it. I only use their words because I can think of no other words to describe it. For months after I could not even eat or use the ‘fresher without being told too. They studied me to find my weakness and then they exploit them. I thought that I had no weakness, I was the largest and strongest wookie there, but physical strength had nothing to do with it. It was like growing a worshyr a tree, whenever I grew a branch in a direction they didn’t want they just burned it off. So slowly I grew the way they wanted.” I turned the corner and stared at my home, a flood of memories hit me as I slowly walk up to it. I remember the day Borro first came to live there, I remember the night when he snuck into my room and we became blood brothers, and I remember walking out on my father and vowing never to look back. Here I am breaking that vow because of Saede. I wouldn’t even be here on this planet if it wasn’t for her and I wouldn’t be stranded on this planet with no where to go if it wasn’t for her. I guess now I had no choice but to face my father.
Continue on to Chapter 2
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