Berry In the Sky(dome with Diamonds/Food)

Posted on Tue Nov 20th, 2012 @ 11:18am by Berry & Morgo Le'Shaad
Edited on on Wed Nov 21st, 2012 @ 12:39am

2,628 words; about a 13 minute read

Chapter: Chapter II: Era's Dawn
Location: Skydome Botanical Gardens, Coruscant
Timeline: 1001 (Local Time), Day 5

OLD

Bomoor put an arm on Thane's shoulder, "I fear you may be right my friend," he replied, turning them to face the long road leading up the the Jedi temple. The building shot upwards with its great spires attached to the main body of the temple. Great steps ran out from the very front of the temple and joined onto the main road, like a great grey tongue.

"So long Bería," Bomoor hummed as the two Jedi began to walk towards it.

NEW

Berry watched as the two knights walked off toward the big mountain with all the pillars. She just continued gaping as she stood there, looking around.

Today she was wearing her usual fluttery seagrass tunic and pants, and her sandals were on flippy-floppy mode. She had her bagpack securely on her back and her belt slung over her hips, her snack supply running dangerously low. It was nice for Boomy to give her his credit chip, but…since she wasn’t going to see him again it made it almost stealing. Well, not if she didn’t use it! So she wouldn’t.

This place was sooo much bigger than Velusia. The buildings were mountains—no, trees! Silver trees, without the leaves… fat and skinny, all shiny and glittering. Were they climbable?

Her head tilted, the two short black braids shifting. Her dark eyes examined a nearby building, and her lips parted in thought. Well, maybe if she could get at least ooone grip…like on that balcony. A grin lit up her face and she scampered to a building. Her grin started to fade. Aww, the balcony was way higher than she thought it was…

She pouted up at it like it was the balcony’s fault, then walked off.

But to where? The place was so big…she looked around at the masses of beings walking, flying, slithering past her, and she closed her eyes. So many people…but where could she go to be alone? She was a bit tired of being surrounded by metal trees…

Ah, there were real trees around! Her eyes shot open and she took off down the street.

Unfortunately, it looked like she still ran into the same problem. Her neck craned as she looked up. It was THAT high??

“Hey,” she asked a nearby Neimodian. Haha, he looked like a newt. No, more like a bug. “How do I get to the trees in the sky?”

The Neimodian grunted and gave Berry a withering look. Oh great, another kid on death-sticks, “There are no trees in the sky, kid. You’re a thousand years too late for that.”

Berry stared blankly at the Big Eyes, and then grinned. “Huh? Noooo, I meant the trees! Aren’t they on a roof or something?”

The man looked up to where the green girl was pointing and squinted at the glare coming off the glass skydomes of the Botanical Gardens, “Oh, you meant those trees? Well, just buy a ticket like everyone else.” He looked back to girl, who looked on the verge bursting with excitement. Tourists.

“Oh, a ticket? Okay, thanks!” She turned to run off, but then paused and turned around again. “Uh, where do I buy that?”

"The front desk, kid."

Berry stared. “Uuhhh…okay. Bye!” She ran off for real.

A ticket and fifty floors later, Berry stood at the terrace, jaw dropping yet again.

Wooooow!! Look at the weird cone rooms with all the plants!! She made a dash to one of the cones, which ended up towering way above her like all the buildings did here. What kind of plants did they have? Could she eat them? Oh, the suspense! She scampered into the nearest cone and ducked inside.

The path for tourists was wide enough to accommodate the fattest Hutt (well, probably not THE fattest, but close). On each side were plants displayed in their own alcoves, almost like snippets from their home planets. In some cases, the plants didn’t have a planet anymore.

Berry didn’t know any of this, of course, but she knew they were beautiful and special. She always had a good feeling when she was around plants, and this was no different. What was that plant? It had pretty flowers. Ooooh, could she eat it? She reached forward and pushed against something. She pulled back, frowning. There was a screen up? Or something. How annoying!

She wandered around in the cone, excited at all the wildlife she couldn’t touch. But why couldn’t she touch it?? She pouted slightly, especially at that big orange yummy looking thing.

Then suddenly something fluttered in front of her face. However, it was the smell that immediately caught her attention. It was sweet, so sweet that she could almost taste it on her tongue. Was it honey? It smelled yummy! She turned her head and saw a purple looking flower-bug flying around. Its wings looked like delicate flower petals, and it seemed to glitter slightly in the light. Oooh, so pretty.

She padded after it, mesmerized. Something flickered brightly out of the corner of her eyes, something that said “DO NOT TRESPASS,” but Berry didn’t see it, surprisingly. Then suddenly she was somewhere she had never been before.

A lush jungle was before her, and she felt like she was right back home. The humidity spilled from the alcove into the area where she stood, and Berry grinned and walked on.

Distantly, the heels of someone’s boots clicked across the granite tiles. A Chiss female pressed a blue finger against the button of her headset, her other hand shoved into the pocket of her dark green uniform.

“Yeah Kert, I’m going down the Carni-plants wing to check it out. Seems to be a malfunctioning force-field.”

“Pleeease, Jeena.” A fuzzy voice from the small speaker hanging from her breast pocket pleaded, “Use the correct name will you? Carnivorous Plants Wing—”

As the Chiss rounded the corner she laughed, “I’m a security guard, Kert, not a tour guide.”

Her speaker let out a long suffering sigh, “Right, OK. Whatever, Jeena.” He said drily.

Ahead, however, as the security guard neared the Carnivorous Plants wing, she heard a rustling of leaves. Jeena narrowed her eyes as she came to a stop by the entrance to the humid, domed terrarium. The ‘DO NOT TRESPASS’ signs had been pushed passed, and to the side, the square box built into the frame of the door was sporadically shooting sparks. At least she knew which generator box had malfunctioned now.

Carefully, the Chiss un-holstered her blaster pistol and pushed the button of her headset, “Kert,” she said seriously and quietly, flicking the blaster to stun, “I think we have an intruder.”

Her companion was quick to sober as well, “Crap, I’ll send security.” He said hurriedly, pausing to laugh nervously, “And Sith, who’s idiot enough to intrude into the Carnivorous Plants wing without working force fields? You think we’ll be saving the plants from the intruder, or the intruder from the plants?”

“Kriffing hell, how should I know?” she hissed quietly, frustrated. Some people were just stupider than stupid.

The Chiss carefully stepped across the threshold of the entrance, the humidity of the place hitting her like a wall. Pointing the blaster in front of her, her eyes cautiously flicked from bush to bush.

“Hello?” she called out tentatively, a bead of sweat rolling down the length of her blue face. As she cleared one bush after the other, she wondered whether she’d have to pull out a half-devoured tourist again from the grips of a giant flower, “Hellooo!” Jeena shouted again.

Berry continued staring at the little purple bug-flower on her arm. How cute! The bug had friends? She sat down on a mossy log in the small clearing next to the alcove border and smiled as several more flower-bugs alighted on her, causing her to giggle.

The part-Aquar turned her head over to where she heard the lady voice. “Are you here to join us?

Following the girl's voice, the blue-skinned guard gingerly pushed aside a stray branch with her foot, revealing a rather young looking girl. Completely alone. Sighing, the guard looked over her trespasser with dismay. What kind of parent left their child unattended in the Carnivorous Plants exhibit?

With greenish-yellow skin and a grass-fiber tunic, the girl sat on a rotting log (to complete the swamp setting), completely oblivious to the gigantic purple flower that was drawing itself to its full height, preparing to strike. As it did so, a "butterfly" landed lightly on the girl's nose, completely transfixing her. By the looks of it, the Lipi flower had taken advantage of the malfunctioning force-field to send its luminous purple petals, imitating butterflies, as bait. Probably hoping to lure a couple crunchy birds into its waiting jaws. Instead it'd gotten this.

"Hey, little Miss! You're trespassing on a restricted area. It's dangerous for you to be here!" the guard declared, eyes flicking back and forth from the part-Aquar, to the huge and hungry flower behind her.

Berry laughed. “Huh? What’re you talking about?” She popped one of the flower-bugs into her mouth and crunched down on it, to be suddenly met with a weird acidic taste. She spat out the crumpled purple thing, her face screwed up I disgust.

“EWWW!! Blech!” She stuck out her tongue, a grimace on her face. “Nevermind, don’t join us!! EW.” That was so gross! She frowned at the flower-bugs on her arms and brushed them off, then turned to the huge flower, waggling a finger at it. “You lied to me about how yummy you’d taste. I don’t like it.” She pouted, apparently the spell broken due to bad taste.

As if in response the large flower about her size opened up, releasing a megaton version of honey smells and pheromones into the alcove. It felt like they were walking on clouds of sugar and sweetness, and a white hazy mist started to form around them.

"Kriff!" the guard cursed, turning away and slapping her hand in the crook of her elbow. Instantly, a sheet of plasticlear shot into her hand from her sleeve. Immediately, the Chiss guard held it to her face, feeling the plasticlear mold to shape around her nose and mouth, filtering clean air to her and ultimately protecting her from the white cloud of pheromones coming her way.

Berry glared at the flower with a pout and scolded it. “Don’t you try to trick me again! I don’t like that!”

The plant quivered, a strange tongue-like entity starting to emerge. Maybe brute force would work.

" Get down, girl! " Jeena the guard shouted, not even waiting for the girl to hit the deck before she aimed and shot, a bright green energy beam shooting out and grazing the main stem of the purple Lipi flower. Almost instantly, the plant shrank in pain, its lolling tongue snapping back into its mouth. Frantically lunging forward, the Chiss guard gripped the green girl's forearm and yanked .

“Heeeey,” Berry whined, pouting at the guard. She pushed the guard away and scampered back to the plant, still glaring at it. “Don’t do that again, okay?”

The plant cowered and was as docile as a real leaf.

Berry grinned, patted a large purple petal, and then walked back to the guard. “Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked as she stuffed one of the flower bugs into her belt pocket. “This place is dangerous, y’know.”

Unbelievable. Reaching to touch her headset, Jeena spoke, her voice weary, "Kert?"

"Jeena! Security is on their way now. Are you hurt?" came Kert's voice from the speaker, a little frantic.

"No, I'm not hurt. But call off security." The female guard looked at Berry for a moment before brushing a few strands of her ink black from her damp forehead, "It seems that our 'intruder' is just a kid with a penchant for doing things..." she trailed off, stepping towards the part-Aquar girl and abruptly sticking her hand in the girls pocket, fishing out the Lipi plant's stolen purple petal bug and holding it out before the girl's face— shooting her a reproving look, "...that she shouldn't be doing."

Pocketing the Lipi flower's petal bug, she brought her hand away from her ear and crossed her arms, "Now girl, where are your parents? This place is off limits to all except staff. I am supposed to be here. You are not. "

Berry grinned at the guard. "Yeah my parents are at home." She bent down and fished around in the moss for another flower-bug. "Hey do you know where I can find some food? That flower wasn't very good..."

The guard huffed, "By all rights I should have you arrested," but looking at the girl, her expression softened, "but if it's food you want, you'll find it on the second level. It's a giant salad bar with the biggest exotic vegetarian cuisine selection in Coruscant." she re-holstered her blaster pistol and patted the green girl on the shoulder with a wry smile, "You can't miss it."

Berry paused, her fingers still under some dry moss. Wait...

"SALAD?!!!" The part-Aquar shouted, staring at the guard in disbelief. Exotic food?? She was already drooling, and her brows knit as she asked the guard urgently, words tumbling together, "Where do I go? How do I get to the second level? Ah!!" She bolted out of the alcove and hopped into the restricted area.

The guard inhaled sharply, smothering back the urge to run in after the girl. Calmly, very calmly, she made her way through the skydome and stepped into the hallway from where she came. Turning on her heel, her face twitching, Jeena paused and inhaled deeply, pitching her voice to be heard.

"Hey kidddddddd." she crooned, wincing slightly at the thought that she probably sounded like a pedophile, "I'm going to the salad bar right now!" she continued in a sing-song voice, leaning back and forth on her heels, "And boy am I hungry!" looking in the general direction of the rustling bushes she raised her voice, "And wow, you know? I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from eating allllll of it. So if you're not out of the bushes and following me in five-seconds, I'm going to eat it all, hear me?"

And with that the guard began to slowly walk away, making sure he click of her boots were audible, a wicked smile on her face. Thank the Force that she had a couple wee-sized rascals at home. She knew kids, and kids required strategy. Dearest Kert—wonderful husband that he was— simply wasn't the father he fancied himself to be. The milksop gave in at the slightest puppy-eyed look from Kella, or the tiniest tantrum from Pietro.

3...2...1...

Berry burst out of the bushes, a leaf in her hair as her eyes boggled. "Hey!!" she yelped as she scampered after the guard. "You can't eat them all! That's not fair!" With a burst of speed she zoomed past the guard—to be faced with a wall. "Hey where is it??"

"At the end of the hall is the elevator. Here, we'll go together, eh?" the guard said, practically jogging to the end of the hall. Walking wouldn't be fast enough for the part-Aquar.

Berry grinned and continued running down the hall, an "Okaaaaay" left behind in her wake.

The Chiss guard shook her head and smiled.

((OOC Hanh: Congrats to Nguyen for her first JP ever!!))

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