Running In Love (Anisoka Fanfiction)

4. The Child of the Magma Bog

Ahsoka took us out on a speeder ride, much to my enjoyment. I gripped myself to her tightly as she drove fastly through the towering evergreens. We passed the occasional lava river, a very unusual sight to say the least, as we neared the bog. When we approached it was a sight to behold, yet also terrifying. This swamp bubbles and boiled like many bogs do, but unlike most bogs which are filled with trapped methane bubbles, this one was bubbling because of the rivers of lava that caressed it. Lava trailed down the peak of a towering volcano, pouring deep into a cave that heated the water below. "So...where is this person?" I asked Ahsoka. She walked to the very edge and, in a ritualistic, chanty way, said "The Child of the Magma Bog, so wise and so brave, please reveal yourself for we have questions today". Her voice echoed through the surrounding iron tree grove, yet no response. She repeated herself, even louder the second time. Still, no response, though there was some movement in the murky, bubbling water below. Then, she sighed before screaming "Haydar Wa'el, come up here right now. Iam livid with you, I've done your whole dramatic routine and you still won't come up here and talk to your own caregiver!" like he was someone's mom. The water began to stir and vibrate greatly. Slowly, a many-legged, snake-like creature emerged from the muck, standing tall above us. "Sorry, Lady Tano, I fell asleep...I couldn't hear you under the water" the towering creature sheepishly admitted with his low, soft voice. He was practically doing that thing where he points his two fingers together like the meme is with the emojis, although instead of fingers it's his forwardmost appendages, which are like little pointers. He looks very salamander-like, with a large array of tendrils that looked kind of like the Axolotls that Snips and I encountered on that Wild Space moon, Axo. They were pretty friendly but damn creepy. Anyway, his mouth was very wide and he had many, many teeth. His first 3 sets of limbs were like little pointers, while the others slowly got bigger and had 3-fingered hands that were both webbed and clawed. His nose was flat against his face like a Jackolan nose, though a lot less cute. He leaned in close to me, towering over us yet still looking like he was barely out of the water, and asked who I was. I said, Anakin, and before I could finish he said "Ooh I recognize the name! You trained Lady Tano didn't you?". I nodded "I did indeed...though I like to think of our time together as more of a friendship." "I was the dominant one," Ahsoka said. I facepalmed. "I didn't mean it like that." She smirked, getting some joy out of my dismay. The creature chuckled. "My name is Haydar Wa'el, though I prefer to be called The Child of the Magma Bog... I've been in this bog for over twenty thousand years, for I was raised on the other side of the volcano...and I like to keep an aura about me, like my mum...Lady Tano doesn't need to, though, she brings me food for I can't get it myself right now, I need to keep myself mostly submerged for my eggs need my skin to be moist, it is essential to their survival and the survival of my race.," he continued. I nodded. "Well, nice meeting you, but we should get going...see you soon!" I said as we walked away. "Yes, hopefully within the next hundred years you'll return!" They added before slithering back underwater. While driving back, I asked Ahsoka about a few questions. She said their species were a near-extinct race from a long forgotten world supposedly in an extra galactic nebula. Their species don't have a concept of gender and, when given the choice, all usually select agender or non binary, and this individual prefers they/them so that's what I'll use. Plo Koon was very adament about pronouns, as was Mace and Obi-Wan, though none were more excepting of the LGBTQ+ amongst the Jedi than Fisto, Saesee Tin, and Plo...and this strange Jedi that I don't remember the name of. When Ahsoka came out as bi, he was immediatly praisful and proud, and when locals, who found out, started making fun of her, Plo Koon was physically weakened by the self control it took to not unleash the force storm that raged within him (he was amazingly powerful, I quite admired his force storm thing). Plo Koon was similarly adiment about pronouns. Kit Fisto was known to take those of a LGBTQ+ gender identity shopping for affirming clothes, and, because his fashion sense is impeccable, everyone always gladly agreed. Tin was a telepath, a common trait in his kind, and as such he would often know before an individual came out. He was very soft and calm, and somehow wound up being the matchmaker for queer Jedi, because he really didn't like the celibacy rule. He shined at this because of his telepathy. But anyway, Snips went on to tell me that, some few thousand years ago, Wa'el was impregnated by another of their species they wont name, and has been incubating the eggs ever since. They keep saying they'll hatch soon, but I wouldn't know. When we arrived back at home, a nice dinner and a taunting smile was awaiting me.