Ask Museums Are Wormholes

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Ruzaan answered ahead of Lemon. That was fine. Lemon was too busy gazing into the eyes of the Pyke.
His whole helmet in full.
It’s so cool!

Credits, spice, everything nice, Lemon skipped beside the Pyke; Lemon on his left, Ruzaan on his right.

“Where’d ya get the metal head?”
She asked half a second after Ruzaan’s question.
She almost finished with “Metal Head” but remembered this was a Pyke.
...In a maze…

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

He was starting to regret this. Already the Togrutas were hounding him with questions, and they’d barely even walked a few feet. He was wondering whether or not to just not give them the credits, but he wouldn’t go back on a deal. Especially not one that he made, and one where it ended up with him getting out of here. He would simply have to deal with the deal.

“Credits it is.” Just get me out of here!

“I was told there were credits to be earned here. Beings to shoot. But nooo, they took away my blasters and I had to spend credits instead of getting them!” He huffed, looking down at the Togruta boy. “Try taking a lightsaber away from a karking Jedi. They wouldn’t have let it happen. I shouldn’t have either.” Then he caught sight of the girl looking at him, and he scowled.

“Metal head? It’s called a helmet, child.” Tysjor crossed his arms. “I got it on Kessel.” He thought it best not to elaborate on how exactly he’d obtained it— these children bore a striking resemblance to the other members of their species that worked for the Pykes there. Too bad it’s in the slimy hands of the ISC now.

“How long have you kids been in here for?” he found himself asking as they turned a corner. “You better know the way out. Because if you don’t get us to the exit soon, you’ll be a rancor’s dinner.” He didn’t have a rancor, but he assumed that they would get the message.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Calling a Pyke a "metal head" wasn't a good idea, but fortunately it seemed that this one had been relieved of his blasters. Ruzaan simply blinked as the helmeted man mentioned taking a lightsaber away from a Jedi; he was here with Lem specifically to not be a Jedi, so anonymous he would stay.

Another corner, another choice, another left turn. Ruzaan had no idea where the exit was and he Pyke seemed impatient, but with each loudspeaker announcement his desire to not press the Button of Shame grew. "We've only been in here about 10 minutes" he said, both oblivious to the actual time as well as unaware as to if the Pyke would find that number 9 minutes too long. "I'm told this place grows on you the more time you spend in it, though?"

@Die Shize @Sicadorito

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

The Togruta had never seen a Pike, not quite.

Eyebrows dance as the two Togrutas and the one Pyke advance.
Leh’Min cocks one brow, the other now, back and forth as if not knowing how.
Really, she’s just so intrigued by this Pyke’s speech that—

“Woooooow so it’s a children’s helmet?”
Eyebrows are bouncing now; sarcastic.

“Been here only about 5 minutes,” Lemon chimed, both her and the other Togruta at the same time.

“Yup!” Lemon agreed, pointing up.
There was a bush yonder, reminded her of someone, made her ponder.
It looked almost like a face; twigs and leaves so sophisticated and symmetrically in place.
“I hear if you spend too long in this maze you’ll end up looking just like Bush Jade!”

“ASSISTANCE NEEDED. ASSISTANCE NEEDED. SERGEANT KI’DUT IS STUCK IN THE MAZE. HELP!”

“Hum?”
Lemon expressed, looking at her friends—though the Pyke would surely put that claim to the test.
“Maybe they got pushed into a bush by Jade..?”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

Say that again and I’ll gladly save you a spot on my ship next time I need more slaves. It took all his self control to not say that out loud as the girl wiggled her eyebrows at the comment she thought was witty.

“Five minutes or ten minutes, it doesn’t matter to me.” The children were clearly lying, but so long as they got him out, he didn’t care. He glared at the boy. “This place might be growing on you, but the only thing that’s growing on me is the idea of getting out of here. And who the kriff is Bush Jade?” Maybe it was some new Togruta fad.

The loudspeaker suddenly rang across the field, announcing the failure of a certain Sergeant Ki’dut. Whoever it was, they had certainly been confident when signing up for this whole mess, having even written in their rank. But public shaming aside, the rescue team was surprisingly quick. A speeder flew over the hedge maze and lowered itself somewhere at the far end of the field. When it rose up again, a purple and black armored Mandalorian was standing on top of it, waving and blowing kisses to everyone in the maze below him.

“I’m finally out, baby! Sergeant Ki’Dut is OUT! Vivo the hippo!” he whooped as the speeder headed back to the entrance, leaving Tysjor staring.

“Please tell me you two are not going to press that button.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan shrugged as the Pyke asked who Bush Jade was; probably a Gamorrean Rock star, if he had to guess. Lem contained more unique sayings and throwaway phrases than anyone he'd ever met, so he wasn't about to figure her out over the course of this hedge maze; even if they spent weeks inside.

Which, unfortunately, was looking like a possibility. Ruzaan was somewhat confident that they were closer to the edge of the maze than when they'd met the Pyke, but given the fact that this was a maze, that was no guarantee that they were anywhere nearer to the exit (navigation roll: 10/20).

Another right turn, another left, another unique saying from Lem. Ruzaan began to wonder if they were ever going to leave this place, but that was a preferable alternative to following in the footsteps of the Hippo man and pushing the Button of Shame.

@Die Shize @Sicadorito

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

“WOOHOOOOOO!”

Lemon raised a hand and waved at the man.
Turns out the man is more a Mandalorian.
Purple black beskar standing atop a car.
Shouting something about vivos and hippos.
Lemon knows what a hippo is but has no idea what vivos are.

Pyke said something about a button which pricked the ears of this kid called Lemon.
Taps a Togruta on the lekku and a Pyke on the leg— nope, decides to leave the Pyke alone instead.

“OH I LOVE BUTTONS!”
Look at the arms on this kid, how they flap up and down!
Does a spin, a reverse twirl, kinda dancing now.
Sixteen years old and knows her tricks.
But right now she behaves more like a girl who’s only six.

“BUTTONNNNS.”
And that’s what you call a Lemon that takes off a'runnin’.
“VIVO THE HIPPO, SERGEANT KI’DUT! HUM'WHAT!? I DUNNOOOOOOoooooooo—"
Voice fades away as a Leh’Min’Ayd makes her escape but really she just wants to play by getting lost in a maze.

She's about eight meters away from the team when they find her catching her breath with her hands on her knees.
"I...feel dizzy...went too fast...got lost...spun around...landed on my ass."

Spoiler: Dice Roll

Result: 8
Reason: how far can a Togruta go?

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

At first glance, these Togrutas had seemed trustworthy. They looked like they knew what they were doing, but it was starting to dawn on him that they had as little of an idea as to where they were going as he did.

It was only made clearer when the girl suddenly ran off and collapsed. What the kriff?

“Does your friend always act like this?” The boy had more patience than anyone he’d ever met. “If it were up to me she’d be in a—” The thought occurred to him that it might not be the best thing to say in front of a pair of children, so he cut himself off.

He walked right up to the girl and passed her without saying a word. If the Togrutas weren’t making much progress in the maze, he would make his own. But right when he turned the corner, the end of the bush path was yet another green wall. What was worse, he noticed that he’d stepped on some kind of plate, and the bushes suddenly began to shake. Before their very eyes, the group would see that the entire area they were in had shifted, and what had been a dead end was now another path that led to three separate locations.

WHY does this maze even EXIST?

“Anyone got a flamethrower?”

Spoiler: Roll

Rolled 5 for navigation

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan's eyes widened as the pressure of this awful maze finally got to Lem... or maybe this was normal for her. He shrugged in response to the Pyke's question. "Your guess is as good as mine" he replied, wondering if he'd ever see Lem again given the terrifying nature of the maze which sucked all life from its inhabitants. Fortunately, Lem didn't get very far, and soon the three were united again.

After helping Lem to her feet, Ruzaan followed the Pyke around the corner, discovering not one but two nasty surprises in the maze. One, there were pressure plates that rearranged the layout of the maze. "They're cheating!" Ruzaan exclaimed, incensed by the dirty tactics.

The second discovery also included a pressure plate, which Ruzaan only noticed after hearing a soft click as he stepped forward. With a cry of alarm, he felt himself get catapulted up and over a hedge and away from the group. He landed hard, the wind getting knocked out of his lungs; definitively lost and separated from the others. (Roll: 2/20)

Ruzaan let out a colorful stream of curses in Togruti, hurling his button up and as far away as he could. If that was how this place was going to play...

@Die Shize @Sicadorito

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

A leaf blows against a leaf and a Pyke passes a Togruta by with nothing said.
You are so rude!
One may exclaim.
Not Lemonade—too busy gazing at a Pyke’s helmet-head.

One Togruta helps another Togruta to her feet.
One Togruta dusts herself off and wastes no time giving another Togruta a high five, doesn’t miss a beat.

There was a green wall dead ahead that blocked all access.
This kid really didn’t care about any of this, granted.
Lemon was quite content staying in this maze till Christmas.

-CLICK!-

There’s your ticket.

“GASP”
Lemon gasps.
She can’t believe her face.
All around her dancing brows and wild eyes is none other than…
“BUSH. JADE.”

The bushes shake and it kind of causes a Togruta girl’s heart to quake given her last encounter with Bush Jade.
Something about mayhem and chaos and a whole lotta nonsensical nonsense that made less sense than cents buys Ithorian toothpaste.

"What the hett?"
Is all Lemonade can say as she stepped on a pressure plate.

Then one Togruta flies away as another Togruta screams for her newfound friend to please stay.

“WAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIT”
Is all Lameonade can exclaim as her own arms and legs flail through the air like the horrid branches of an airborne Bush Jade.

Only this Togruta does not go the way of the dodo.
She comes flying back down like a ninja in a dojo.

Only it’s not a Togruta that a Togruta lands on, not this time.
No, it’s the helmet and the head of her new best friend: the Pyke.

Spoiler: Dice Roll

Result: 11
Reason: scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pressure plate?

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

For once, Tysjor actually agreed with the kid.

“They’re cheating, alright. This is un—” But when he looked to the side, the Togruta boy had disappeared, and a scream was all that the Pyke heard. He looked to the other side, but the girl was gone too. Good riddance on that one.

But before he could make it any farther, there was another scream and something crashed down hard on top of him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Karking—” He threw whatever it was off, getting to his feet again as he turned around to look. Of course it was the girl. “Watch where you’re going, you fool!” But it was him who wasn’t watching, because the moment he stepped forward, he felt his foot press down on another plate.

But this one didn’t catapult him up, and nor did it shuffle the maze again. In fact, he felt no change, and not a thing happened. That was, until he looked up.

Floating above the far end of the maze was a large screen, and on it was an image of a Pyke surrounded by bushes. He moved a foot, it moved one too. He stretched out a hand, the mirror Pyke did the same. Kark no. This was comparable to the button. Maybe it was even worse.

“NOOOOOOOO!!”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

snap-hisss! Ruzaan ignited his double-bladed lightsaber with malicious intent; the hedge must die. It would be so easy to just begin aggressively trimming the hedge to let its owners know exactly what he thought of this place (Zero out of Five Stars!), but before he could begin venting his wrath he reconsidered the idea. He was supposed to be taking a break from being a Jedi, so that meant that he had to solve this stupid maze without his lightsaber and without the Force.

The twin blue blades disappeared, and Ruzaan returned his lightsaber to his belt, out of view of casual passerby. He'd have to solve this on his own. A determined look etched itself on the Togruta's face, and he turned abruptly and began marching with purpose.

He took three steps before he was falling through a hidden trapdoor that opened up beneath his feet. AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh....." his voice would gradually disappear. "oof!" He'd found the bottom.

"There's tunnels...?!?!"


Roll: 5/20

@Die Shize @Sicadorito

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music IC

“SABADAAAAAAA—”
The little lemon screeched upon landing on a Pyke of all things.

“—AAAAAAAAHHHH!!”
Our Little Lemon continues to scream as said Pyke gives her a farewell swing.

-FLING!-

There’s your flying Lemon again.

Lands in a bush, and we all know how a girl feels about bushes and their names!
She liked them at arm’s length, okay!?
Liked ‘em in a maze!
BUT A GIRL DOES NOT LIKE BUSH JADE!

“HELP MEEEEEEEEEE”
Leh’Min’Ayd screams like a shattered glass of lemonade

Leaves scratch and twigs lash.
Branches curl like squirmy worms.

“OH MY GOODNESS THE PAINNN”
Wait, good riddance, that wasn’t the line!
“THE LIGHT. THE LIGHT. THE LIGHT.”
Not today!
Apparently today the light wasn’t very bright.

Meanwhile, a Pyke screams toward a viewscreen, tinted mirror image helmet-clad, and, oh MY, might that be a faint “AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.....” in the distance?

Finally, a lemon wiggles free, only…as she walks back toward the Pyke…it’s still like looking through shrubbery.
“What the hett!? Wh-Why can’t I seeeeeeee!?”

Fingers peel like a Sith’s flensing knife peels—
Anywho a lemon could see a Pyke but all anyone else could see would be a floating bush.
Looked like a bush, for all intents and purposes, but behaved more like a drunk who got stuck in a bush.

A girl steps forward, backward, can’t shake the bush off covering her entire body, so just kinda walks around, hoping to bumble-bump into somebody.

“HELP! HELP! I AM A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN BEING EATEN ALIVE BY BUSH JADE!”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

Tysjor realized that the camera was still on him, and that he was probably giving whatever son of a bantha was watching a good show. Well, this Pyke would not be made a laughingstock, and as soon as the thought entered his mind he studiously refused to look up again, instead at the running bush that was also a girl.

“For kark’s sake!” He grabbed onto the bush girl and dragged her along, toward the faint scream that he’d heard. For once, he was actually able to find it, and he saw that there was a giant hole in the ground. He peered over to take a look, and when he looked down, he saw the boy.

“Well, well. If it isn’t our little friend.” Normally he would have laughed and moved on without a care in the world, but maybe it was something about this maze that made him rethink it. They’d all been stuck here and humiliated for long enough, and even if these kids hadn’t gotten him out yet…

He looked around, didn’t find anything. The tunnel was too far below the ground to pull him out with only his hands, and there was nothing that they could use as a rope. But then he heard the whir of an engine, and his head turned up. A purple and black armored Mandalorian looked back, and even through his visor Tysjor could tell that the man was smiling.

“Su’cuyr, fellas! It’s your trusty hippo to the rescue! Grab on, kiddo.” Sergeant Ki’dut tossed a rope into the tunnel for the boy to grab onto. When the kid was up, the Mandalorian would turn to bush girl and the Pyke, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye as he sniffed.

“You know— I was watching you on the screen. The dedication, the loyalty, the passion! I haven’t seen anything like it! If only there were more beings like you in the galaxy…” He started to sob, and Tysjor exchanged a glance with the Togrutas before looking back at the hippo.

“You going to give us a ride out or not?” The man immediately stopped crying and waved them aboard the speeder.

“I almost forgot! Of course. Hop on.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

This place should be illegal.

Ruzaan had managed to avoid almost certain harm thanks to his Jedi training, but it was still a rough landing. He had half a mind to just stay prone on the ground for a few moments, processing the strange series of events that had led to him falling down this hole. Then he felt something brush against his hand, tickling ever so slightly like a bug of some sort.

A glow rod was cracked to shine a soft green light on his surroundings; hundreds of eyes glinted, and hundreds of legs came into view.

Spiders.

Ruzaan wasn't actually certain if he needed the Force to jump out of the hole, ignoring the rope and hauling himself up and over the side of the trapdoor until he was scrambling away from it. "Nopenopenopenopenopegetmeouttahere!"

He didn't even care that he was getting on a Rando Mando's speeder along with the Pyke; Lem was there, and that was good enough for him.

@Sicadorito @Die Shize

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“For kark’s sake!”
A Pyke cried like a guy fighting for Kark Sake!
“WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT”
Leh’Min had never even MET Kark Sake!
“I AM NOT BUSH JAAAAAAAAADE”

The person dragging her was not paying attention.
“I’M LEH’MIN’AAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYD”
Nope, not happening, Kark Sake’s Pyke wouldn’t listen.

They’re at a hole now, our brave adventurers.
There wasn’t much about this hole, not to her.
A giant hole in the ground, plenty of those before.
A kind of window, it was round, also a kind of door.

“Hey hey hey please turn me around!”
Unfortunately a Lemonade was facing the wrong way.
"UP—no—stop!—nope—wait—DOWN!"
Got turned about, saw a purple head, it had a black face.

“Su’cuyr, fellas! It’s your trusty hippo to the rescue! Grab on, kiddo.”
“Who the hett’s Sue Coyr, fella—oh wait did ya say hippo, kiddo?”
Leh’Min tilted her head, confused by whatever the hett he said.

A girl is aware that she appears more as a bush than a girl.
She looks between the leaves and branches in her curls.
Not hair, not this gal, just tangled tendrils called lekku.
She has two new friends, a fellow Togruta, a Pyke too.

“Sabada, let’s get the hell outta— WAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

A girl falls down a hole.
A girl falls, a girl falls down.
A girl falls down a hole in the ground.
A girl falls down a giant hole in the ground.

She’s screaming the whole way through the hole, till she makes no sound.
Like a bull to the slaughter, a bush to the lumber yard—cold, cruel, hard, dark.
Granted, she has two new friends to keep her on her feet and keep her planted!

THANKS AGAIN.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sicadorito

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

Hippo man didn’t have to say it twice. Tysjor climbed in along with the boy, finding a nice and comfortable seat near the back of the speeder. He didn’t think twice about that jump— he’d seen too many weird things already to be concerned with something like that. But where was the girl? Peering over the side, he heard another scream as her voice seemed to grow distant again.

And there she was, at the bottom of the tunnel.

“Can’t even watch where she’s going,” he muttered to himself as he reluctantly got out of his seat to help. The sooner they could get out of here, the better, but Sergeant Ki’dut was already on it. Alright, then. He sat back down, crossing his arms as he watched and waited.

“Climb the rope, kid! Don’t worry about it. I myself fell down at least four times.” He sounded like he was bragging, and Tysjor couldn’t understand it. But he didn’t understand any of this maze anyway, and so he just let it be.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Just as Ruzaan was getting into the speeder, Lem was getting out. She was too far away for him to reach with his arms, so he made the snap decision to catch her with the Force. His new friend would feel the Force curl around her as Ruzaan began to slow her descent and lift her back up out of the hole...

...only for the fall to resume as Ruzaan jumped in alarm, his concentration broken by the sudden appearance of a spider crawling into his robes. "GAH!" (Roll 7/20)


@Die Shize @Sicadorito

 

[Leh'Min'Ayd]

Spoiler: Music IC

Fast forward from a maze to the four corners of a flying speeder thing.
“CAN YOU PLEASE TURN DOWN THE MUSIC?”
Backseat little lemon—Leh’Min’Ayd—queries kid.

“OH YEAH SORRY I’M A HUGE FAN OF HIP HOP”

“Hum I dun think that’s hip hop.”
Finger on lip. Bites it. Uncertain.
And it sure ain’t Gamorrean Rock.

“Su’cuy, my man, sick helmet!”
Points at the Pyke.
Sitting on the right.
“Come in purple black by chance?”

“Thoughts on museums and mazes?”
Ruzaan on Lem’s left, trading gazes.
Next Lem broadcasts to the group.
“What else do ya guys wanna do?”

@Sicadorito @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Tysjor Maspat]

After they had painstakingly found their way out of the maze, the girl had the gall to ask what else he wanted to do? Tysjor was suddenly tempted to throw her back into that maze to find her way out on her own. If her friend tried to stop him… well, he’d have to throw him in too. Even if that meant he would be subjecting the Togruta boy to the most painful torture of all that no one deserved.

“Kark mazes. Go home, that’s what I want to do!” Instead, he glared at the child before looking at the Mandalorian who had just complimented him on his helmet.

“At least someone has some taste,” he muttered under his breath before responding. “Nope. Helmet’s for Pykes only.” Crossing his arms, he would wait until the Mandalorian brought them back to the starting point, where he would be the first to get off the speeder.

“‘Eyyyy! Look who’s back!” The Herglic was beaming at the trio. Just looking at him made the Pyke’s blood boil. Even if he wasn’t the one who had designed the maze, he played a part in keeping it here. Tysjor stormed up to him, practically jabbing a finger in his face.

“You’re lucky I don’t have my blaster to shoot your karking head off your body. Because if I ever end up in this hellhole again, you’re the first one I’m going to find."

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Die Shize