Ancient Ruins

[Nick Cousland]

The Ruins of an ancient city lay on the grounds of the Cousland Family Estate. They lie not far from a natural lake and deep within the ruins is a chamber protected by a powerful energy shield which no one is able to penetrate save those it acknowledges.

[Mss'kar]

”Adjusting for atmospheric entry,” the escape pod chimed as it hurdled through Bakura’s atmosphere. It streaked across the sky like a brilliant comet, leaving a trail of its course through the blue. As it closed in on the surface, jets fired from its front to slow the pod to create a safer landing. However, frontal damage caused from the skirmish it escaped would see to the propulsion system becoming unstable. The rightmost jets on the triangular face of the pod short circuited and it careened off course from a grassy plain to a positively ancient city.

The pod rocketed through a decayed wall and into one of the buildings with the look of an educational center, where it dug a deep trench into the tiled flooring. Its walls groaned in agony from the strike, yet managed to stay somewhat stable with little cracking throughout the structure. Silence then quickly settled, nothing moving immediately. Suddenly, a triangle-shaped hatch opened on the pod’s side, revealing the occupant within.

Hours passed before Mss’kar regained consciousness, where he was greeted with the smell of fresh air, cool and sweet to his nose tongues. His eyelids slowly blinked open to glance upon the moderately lit chamber, the lighting threatening to sting his sensitive eyes. Mss’kar could care less, only thinking on how he managed to land on a world and possibly near civilization that could care for him. Truly, he felt blessed.

Before he could move, a small creature slowly entered the escape pod. It was a type of rodent, but Mss’kar had no knowledge of it; to him, it was much needed sustenance. Without a second thought, when the animal was close enough, he lashed out and caught it. With only a moment’s delay he shoved the mammal into his maw and chomped down voraciously. Where there were once squeaks of terror were sounds of crushing bones and rending flesh.

Meat. Sweet, delicious meat. To even have a taste of its succulence, no matter the form, was a delicacy to the Ssi-ruu. Weeks on tasteless rations made him crave it more than ever, along with water that came from a natural source. Mss’kar only dwelt upon it for a second longer before crawling and staggering out of the escape pod. He hoped that his pod landed in a populated city where he could find aid, but one look at the state of the building he occupied told him that the place was well abandoned.

Sighing momentarily, he began to focus on survival. He immediately acknowledged a food source, for there were most likely various edible animals about the area, which would easily fall prey to his paralyzing roars and paddle beamer. Leaving the ruin brought to his view the rest of the ancient city, and their water source in the form of a lake.

Mss’kar carefully made his way to the lake, watching cautiously for grazing creatures or any of the like that would potentially be his next meal. There were a kind of lean, horned animal drinking from the lake directly in front of him, he noted as he traveled closer to the water. Luckily, he was quiet enough to not disturb them, and they did little to sense for predators. Creeping closer through a series of underbrush with determined silence, Mss’kar inhaled deeply and then unleashed a furious roar when only a few feet away from the creatures.

The deer, easily skittish and faint of heart, could not handle the terror that rose within them. With hardly a sound they dropped to the ground, their hearts burst. Mss’kar smiled, enjoying his success at hunting in such an unorthodox manner. But no matter to him, for it aided in acquiring food. Not wasting time, he secured his meal and took deep drinks from the lake. Living here, he began to think, would not be so bad after all.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Since the attempted invasion long ago by the Ssi-ruuk Bakura’s planetary defenses had been upgraded. Anything entering the planet’s atmosphere was duly noted and recorded. So when the escape pod came screaming toward the planet’s surface planetary security forces were notified but before they could track its landing it vanished off the scopes.

This was a concern and Prime Minister Cousland was called. The small explosion caused by the escape pod ramming into one of the buildings in the City of the Ancient was not noticed by anyone other than the local animal inhabitants as the city was too far from the human population for it to be noticed at least at first.


First inkling of something unusual had happened was the reaction in Cousland family estates’ stables. The horses started acting strangely neighing and acting terrified. Their hearing being more sensitive than the humans who took care of them had heard the distance roar of Mss’kar’s unusual hunting technique and they were frightened. In fact all the animals on the estate were acting like they were terrified. The head groom reported the incident immediately to Lord Cousland after first calming the horses and other animals down. Lord Cousland dispatched several servants to investigate the surrounding area to see if they could find the cause of the disturbance.

[Mss'kar]

There was some time left in the day to collect wood, Mss’kar calculated. Though he knew some survival skills, building a fire was not one of them. Still, he would try to create it, for he preferred warmth during the night than the strange lukewarm temperature of the escape pod, and cooked meat was far greater in taste compared to raw. Not hesitating, he returned to his escape pod to drop off his meal before venturing to collect wood.

Being far stronger than the average being, Mss’kar was able to approach a tree of moderate size and manipulate it with little difficulty. Few hard presses against the trunk caused it to moan and crack loudly, and then a final shove would mark the end of it as it fell on its side. Mss’kar proceeded to remove its branches and snap off the larger portions of the trunk which would serve as a perfect fire.

Gathering his materials, he quickly headed back to his makeshift camp, again checking for any wildlife that could be considered consumable. Finding none, he focused on only returning. Once there, he began to set up a fire pit and skin the deer with his razor claws. However, his first attempts at creating fire were fruitless. Sighing frustratingly, he looked around for something to make a useless example of. Yet, a different event caught his attention; that of several footsteps approaching.

Truthfully, Mss’kar would have preferred to be found. Then again, he did not know how dangerous the inhabitants of the world were, and if they would perceive him as a threat. Instead of greeting them outright, he decided to assess them from a distance, exiting the ancient building he resided in through the hole his pod created and following the sound of the moving beings.

Mss’kar halted just before a corner where he believed the sounds of footsteps and mutterings lay just beyond. He carefully peered around it, observing the humanoid beings with some interest. Noting they did not acknowledge him immediately, Mss’kar attempted to edge closer to them, but incidentally leaned too much of his weight against the decayed wall he hid behind, and heard a loud crumbling of stones as it toppled and fell against another building. Nearly frightening himself, he backed away from the wreck with haste before bolting from the scene altogether and returning to his camp.

[Nick Cousland]

The hovercar containing the servants sent by Prime Minister Cousland to investigate the crash arrives and comes to a stop near the edge of the ruins. The car lands and the servants get out. Pulling out their blasters they quietly enter the ruins keeping a close eye on each other.

You can tell that they are nervous, because they still remember the events that happened at the Manor when Camulus attacked Master Cousland.

As they move deeper into the ruins, they suddenly hear a loud crashing noise and as one, they turn to see a large wall suddenly collapse. Amidst the dust and debris, one of them catches sight of a very large tail.

They all take off in the direction that the creature ran off in, in the hopes that they can discover if that was what caused the crash.

[Mss'kar]

Mss’kar ran as quickly as he could, albeit with a hint of subtlety. His thunderous footsteps may attract more attention, and he did his best to quiet them as he moved. Twitching nose tongues caught the scent of the beings that followed him and told him they did not trail far behind. He could smell their anxiety, their slight shiver of fear of the unknown.

He hoped that the corner he took along another ancient building would aid him in hiding, as the day began to darken into night. Mss’kar gingerly placed himself against the stone, thinking erratically on the prospect of being found, captured, and possibly slain. His thoughts then went to self-defense and the paddle beamer at his side, but cursed the fact that his aim was on the inaccurate side.

The footsteps were closing in, and there was almost no hope for him. Mss’kar caught more whiffs of the group’s emotions, noting he nearly felt the same way. Yet, being reminded of the fear brought to him an epiphany that could possibly save him. Smiling grimly, he waited for the others to approach.

”Here goes nothing…” Mss’kar told himself as the shuffling of feet was more audible than ever. He then threw himself around the corner, praying that they were caught off guard. With his held-in breath, he unleashed a fearsome and tantalizing roar directly into their faces along with gaining a more predatory stance, talons upraised and seemingly searching for flesh to rend. Mss’kar kept up his terrifying charade for a long moment, greatly desiring them to scurry away for good.

[Nick Cousland]

The four servants continue their pursuit of the unknown creature. As they move deeper into the Ruins of the Ancient City, they become more aware of their surroundings and realize that night is soon approaching. As they round a corner, they catch sight of something extremely large and multi-colored. One of the servants suggests that it might be a Ssi-Ruuk, but another one says its too large to be a Ssi-Ruuk.

They finally arrive at what appears to be the area around the creature's campsite. As they enter the are, they are surprised when the creature steps out and with talons extended, roars extremely loud at them. One of the servants gets hit full blast from the roar which sends him flying into a nearby ruined wall.

The others terrified by what happened, rushes over to their fallen comrade. They pick him up and all of them scurries away from the creature, in total fear for their lives. The guy who got blasted mutters something about being hit the same way when Darth Camulus attacked the Estate.

All four servants make their way back through the Ruins the way they came and board their hovercar and speed off back to Salis D'aar.

[Mss'kar]

His eyes were nearly closed for the entirety of the scare. Mss’kar did not want to see death if his tactic failed, instead accepting it as a surprise. What was equally daunting was the success of his last resort, managing to scare away the beings, made evident to him by no blaster fire, and only the scuffling of feet. He then opened his eyes slowly, and then in an instant when there were none before him.

Mss’kar chuckled lightly, enjoying his momentary feelings of happiness. However, as night began to settle, he suddenly felt the chill of grim reality. They would return at some point, and with more of their kind to flush him out and exterminate him for reasons he could not fathom. Sighing, he returned to his camp, pondering on what could be worse than perishing on a foreign world.

In an attempt to rid himself of pessimism, Mss’kar started on creating a fire. The building he inhabited was home to some parchment that could have aided in his project, although now too old and withered to be of any true use. For hours he toiled with sticks and utilizing them together to promote friction to generate heat. The basic education his mind held knew no more techniques of fire building, leaving him frustrated and nearly incapable.

Mss’kar knew that the time to cease his efforts was now, for already the sky began to brighten. All night he worked, almost endlessly, taking breaks here and there and eating some of his deer. The most he achieved were puffs of smoke and the brief smell of burnt wood, yet, no true fire. With only the flanks left of his meal and exhaustion setting in, Mss’kar decided to try no more and sleep in the pod. Crawling inside, he shut the triangular hatch and locked it as a precautionary measure. With nothing left to do, the Ssi-ruu drifted into slumber.

[Caitlin Windancer]

The ruins were of Bakura were reminders of the ancient inhabitants of the planet a people long gone or at least that is what most people believed. The mystery of who those ancient people were persisted even onto current times. But the current inhabitants of Bakura all agreed that those ancient people were long gone. And they would be wrong….at least some of those who had lived and helped built the city that was now in ruins did still exist and some even still lived in the confines of the ruined city having never left it when the others had decided to leave Bakura. But then again these inhabitants were of a shy and wary nature that they were rarely seen. Violet was one such. The only indication of her presence is the glow of light surrounding her. In fact that is what most people only saw was that tiny glow of light. Fairy lights they were called which made sense since they were made by a Feyri or Fairy in basic.



Violet watched from a nearby hiding place the Ssi-rui’s actions since his crash landing in her sector of the city. At first she was afraid of him but watching him she realized that he was just a lost and lonely being. She could feel his fear when the ruins were invaded by the Cousland family servants. Though while his roar had sent her quivering in fear behind a nearby statue. She sensed from him fear and she saw that he didn’t attack the humans but rather waited for them to attack him as if he was resigned to fate and was expecting to die. She felt his relief when the humans left the city in fright. She couldn't help chuckle to herself at the sight of them fleeing. She couldn't do anything like that she wasn’t big enough or even scary looking.

She watched in sympathy while Mss’kar tried to light a fire then finally gives up in frustration and climbs into his pod to sleep. She crept out of her hiding place and flew down to look at his fire pit to see if she could figure out why he was having problems. She hovers over where the fire should be but isn't.

She rescued the unburnt scrolls dragging them away and hiding them. She then replaces the scrolls with twigs and sticks that she gathers. When she arranged them to her satisfaction she got out her tiny flint and steel firestarter tongs. With one or two tries she had a fire going then she gathered some edible roots and berries; laying them in neat little piles as she feeds the fire then banks it so it will still be lit and going when Mss’kar awakes. After her work is done; Violet flits up to the entrance to her dwelling place tucked out of sight behind a stone carving in the roof of the library. From there she could watch in safety. She was curious what the large one would do when he saw her work.

[Mss'kar]

Mss’kar had slept well into the day, thoroughly exhausted from the recent events. His mind desired to perceive it all as a dream, restoring confidence in his subconscious, enough to allow him to sleep well and relaxed. He did not want to wake up, fearing that what he attempted to think was a dream was reality. Though it was freedom from slavery, it could mean death at any moment.

His eyes opened lazily, gazing upon a wall of the escape pod. Mss’kar closed his eyes once more, wanting to refuse the sight. Yet, after some minutes, the Ssi-ruu slowly sat up and stared outside through the hatch’s viewport. He expected to see nothing but evidence of his futile efforts to create a fire during the night, however was greatly surprised to see thriving flames.

Quickly he opened the pod and crawled out, suddenly overjoyed. Something must have sparked it to life, he thought, something he caused. Mss’kar did not spend time pondering on it, instead savoring the great warmth brought on from the fire that combatted the cold weather of the planet. He shivered with excitement, pleased grunts escaping him as he drew closer to the fire.

Hunger soon set it, and Mss’kar saw it as an opportunity to cook what was left of his deer. Acquiring one of the larger and more intact branches, he impaled the remains with it and buried the other end, leaving the tip and meat in the air and over the flames, close enough to roast the meat at an even pace. After some time the smell of frying meat began to fume, and Mss’kar found it highly appetizing.

Once the meat seemed done, and the Ssi-ruu unable to contain his temptation, he removed the deer and spike from the fire. The venison was sizzling instantly after its removal from the heat; music to his audio membranes. Although intelligent enough to understand heat and its properties, Mss’kar cared little for it currently, and immediately began feasting voraciously on the exquisite food he considered a delicacy.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Violet dozed while she waited for Mss’kar to wake up from his sleep. She started awake when he opens the pod’s hatch. She yawns and leans forward to watch. Her wings flutter back and forth as she watches him. His joy at seeing the fire made her efforts all worthwhile. Really for someone so big he was really rather helpless when it came to taking care of himself. “Well if no else would it was up to her to help him until he could make it on his own.”[/i] Violet thinks. “It was only right.”

The humans wouldn't help they would be too scared of him. Only looking on his outward appearance and not looking at his heart. Unlike the Cousland servants Violet recognized Mss’kar for who and what he was. Being as old as she was you learned a few things about other cultures and races. Not that she had met that many but her cousin Robin Goodfellow was a great traveler and told her stories of his adventures and those races he had met. He had shown her pictures of them too.

The large one below her was an Ssi’ruu and not just any Ssi’ruu with his coloring he could only be a Keeramak. If the legends were true it was her duty to help him survive so he could save his people.

But the first thing he needed to learn was how to make a fire and keeping it going. And how make a preserve his food. This was going to be tricky to do without letting him see her but she had to do it.

With that decision she fluttered down a little closer to get a better look and see just what he would need. Well he would need to hide until he could learn to communicate with the humans enough to let them know he meant them no harm. She flutters about a tiny violet glowing light to unless you looked real close and fast. A faint scent of violets follows after her.

[Mss'kar]

Though terribly hungry, Mss’kar had paced his consumption. Having to go on with little food in his early days, he knew the value of provisioning what he had. It took quite a while for him to dine of the venison, and he enjoyed every morsel. After nothing was left of the meat, he laid back awhile and stared at the fire and munched on some curiously laid berries near him, pleased with its warming heat during the cold day.

Mss’kar’s predatory instincts had caught something flit about in the very corner of his eye. Looking toward the ancient supports for the tiny light he believed he saw, he only managed to catch a flowery smell. Though sweet, the Ssi-ruu could not help but feel like being watched…as if the natives returned, this time with blasters. Without delay, he hopped back into the pod and locked it, somewhat forgetting the fire that still burned fervently.

Hours seemed to pass, and Mss’kar did not notice any attack coming his way. As a precaution, he glanced out the viewport for a long minute. Seeing nothing, he slowly opened the hatch and crawled out, still examining his surroundings. Another amount of minutes passed before Mss’kar deemed it safe, and decided to return to the lake for water; between the meat and stress, thirst was building greatly, and needed to be sated.

Once at the lake, the Ssi-ruu lowered his maw into the water and drank the cool liquid. Mss’kar reminisced on the very recent event of the mysterious light that apparently flew away over his head; again, he was not sure what it was exactly. His thoughts trailed to droids, but the smell his nose tongues caught radiated organic origin. Shrugging mentally, he decided to dismiss it as a trick of the light and his senses playing with him. After his drink, Mss’kar returned to his makeshift shelter, thinking on preparing lunch.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Violet watched with interest the Large one’s actions. She had a sense of accomplishment when he found and ate the berries she had picked for him. Despite his size he really was rather helpless about taking care of himself. She watched as he suddenly looked around then crawled back in his escape pod. She sensed his loneliness and fear. Poor thing he really needed a friend. Well she would be one until he could look learn to look after himself. She waited patiently for him emerge from the pod dozing a bit while she waited.

She started awake when he did finally emerge from the pod and headed to the lake to get a drink. She fluttered out of her hiding place and quickly fluttered around trying to determine what he needed before flying off and gathering some wood for his fire. She added some sticks to the fire and fanned it so the flames started up again.

She then went off to gather some more fruit. She hurries not wanting to be caught in open. She quickly gathers some more berries and head back to the inside of the library she cautiously enters and drops the berries near the fire then flutters back into hiding. The only evidence of her presence is her small glowing light and the sweet smell of violets and of course the berries that she picked. She peeks out of her hiding place and waits for him to return.