With a slight cry of exertion, Den leapt up one more time as his lean muscle convulsed with exhaustion. Slumping to the ground slightly, the Padawan groaned and looked up – body stilling at the towering sight before him. Standing firm, tall and powerful in its own presence, was the right boot of Fives – resting flat on the step, one down from its partner.
Force, it was huge. Not as world-shatteringly massive as last time but even so… even like this, it emitted an invisible power to it, ominous in its warning – a warning Den was all too happy to listen to.
There was no chance he would be approaching it while Fives remained unaware of him – he could conjure up more than enough images in his head of the clone suddenly moving and bringing that boot square down on top him to dissuade any notions of getting closer. Instead, he simply tilted his head back, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted directly towards the sitting trooper.
“Hello?! Look down! I’m below you!” He kept going, shouting out various pleas, even trying out Fives’ name. Nothing. The two soldiers remained stuck in their casual conversation, paying him not the slightest bit of heed. The only response he got was when Fives lowered a hand halfway into Den’s latest cry for help, instinctively sending the little man sprawling onto his back in fear… only for the gloved appendage to reach out and rub absent-mindedly against the clone’s shin – dealing with some phantom itch behind the armor, no doubt.
“Dammit…” Den whispered as he looked around again. He was too quiet – he had to narrow the distance further. Despite the reluctance to get too close to these conversing titans, he pumped himself up and, with a grunt, deftly leapt upwards, rolling onto the surface of the next step with fine, practiced grace as he steeled himself and glanced up again.
He was right next to it, he could feel the power behind every idle shift of Fives’ boot. Force, this was unnerving – not helped at all by a glance further up the stairs the revealed Echo stretching his legs a little; those lovely boots, one lifted slightly off the ground, exposing the dusty sole, just one drop away from smearing Den across the surface of it…
The Padawan shook his head. “Fiiiiiives! Echooooo!” He tried shouting again, only to find his words easily drowned out. His throat was getting a little raspy, and Fives’ highly animated retelling of his run-in with Commander Cody’s men wasn’t helping. Loud voice, waving hands… the little Padawan was completely off the two clones’ radar.
With a frustrated growl, he hopped back, making just a little bit more space between himself and the two giants, more for peace of mind than any practical reason. He did have another idea in mind – an old classic, that had helped him grab Master Plo’s attention on quite a few occasions before.
With a quick motion he unsheathed his lightsaber, paused, and then unsheathed another. He wasn’t used to dual-wielding yet, but given his natural aptitude for faster-paced, lighter movements, he was happy to acquiesce when his mentor had suggested this. And in this instance, twice the blades, meant twice the chance to actually draw the clones’ attention.
There was something… impertinent about this. Powerful blades, attuned to the Force itself, with a pair of specially-honed kyber crystals serving as their cores… now being used as glorified glowsticks that Den was desperately waving around for attention. Weapons, capable of easily slicing through metals struggling to get a pair of allied troopers to so much as glance at him…
At least until a passing glance from Echo finally alerted him to the small visual anomaly. The titan looked down – stern, emotionless helmet staring right at Den for a solid five seconds before the ARC trooper gently nudged his partner’s side.
“Uh… Fives? Is it the sleepless night messing with my eyes or is there a tiny man next to your boot?”
Fives rolled his eyes, lazily glancing towards his brother. “Yeah, I’m not falling for that one, Echo— oh… There is.”
________________________________________________
Art by @ZarynScribbles over on Twitter, commissioned by me and Nesciens and featuring Clone Troopers Fives and Echo.
Make sure to check out the story based on this piece – “Slippery Slope”, written by Nesciens and me.
Force, it was huge. Not as world-shatteringly massive as last time but even so… even like this, it emitted an invisible power to it, ominous in its warning – a warning Den was all too happy to listen to.
There was no chance he would be approaching it while Fives remained unaware of him – he could conjure up more than enough images in his head of the clone suddenly moving and bringing that boot square down on top him to dissuade any notions of getting closer. Instead, he simply tilted his head back, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted directly towards the sitting trooper.
“Hello?! Look down! I’m below you!” He kept going, shouting out various pleas, even trying out Fives’ name. Nothing. The two soldiers remained stuck in their casual conversation, paying him not the slightest bit of heed. The only response he got was when Fives lowered a hand halfway into Den’s latest cry for help, instinctively sending the little man sprawling onto his back in fear… only for the gloved appendage to reach out and rub absent-mindedly against the clone’s shin – dealing with some phantom itch behind the armor, no doubt.
“Dammit…” Den whispered as he looked around again. He was too quiet – he had to narrow the distance further. Despite the reluctance to get too close to these conversing titans, he pumped himself up and, with a grunt, deftly leapt upwards, rolling onto the surface of the next step with fine, practiced grace as he steeled himself and glanced up again.
He was right next to it, he could feel the power behind every idle shift of Fives’ boot. Force, this was unnerving – not helped at all by a glance further up the stairs the revealed Echo stretching his legs a little; those lovely boots, one lifted slightly off the ground, exposing the dusty sole, just one drop away from smearing Den across the surface of it…
The Padawan shook his head. “Fiiiiiives! Echooooo!” He tried shouting again, only to find his words easily drowned out. His throat was getting a little raspy, and Fives’ highly animated retelling of his run-in with Commander Cody’s men wasn’t helping. Loud voice, waving hands… the little Padawan was completely off the two clones’ radar.
With a frustrated growl, he hopped back, making just a little bit more space between himself and the two giants, more for peace of mind than any practical reason. He did have another idea in mind – an old classic, that had helped him grab Master Plo’s attention on quite a few occasions before.
With a quick motion he unsheathed his lightsaber, paused, and then unsheathed another. He wasn’t used to dual-wielding yet, but given his natural aptitude for faster-paced, lighter movements, he was happy to acquiesce when his mentor had suggested this. And in this instance, twice the blades, meant twice the chance to actually draw the clones’ attention.
There was something… impertinent about this. Powerful blades, attuned to the Force itself, with a pair of specially-honed kyber crystals serving as their cores… now being used as glorified glowsticks that Den was desperately waving around for attention. Weapons, capable of easily slicing through metals struggling to get a pair of allied troopers to so much as glance at him…
At least until a passing glance from Echo finally alerted him to the small visual anomaly. The titan looked down – stern, emotionless helmet staring right at Den for a solid five seconds before the ARC trooper gently nudged his partner’s side.
“Uh… Fives? Is it the sleepless night messing with my eyes or is there a tiny man next to your boot?”
Fives rolled his eyes, lazily glancing towards his brother. “Yeah, I’m not falling for that one, Echo— oh… There is.”
________________________________________________
Art by @ZarynScribbles over on Twitter, commissioned by me and Nesciens and featuring Clone Troopers Fives and Echo.
Make sure to check out the story based on this piece – “Slippery Slope”, written by Nesciens and me.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Macro / Micro
Species Human
Gender Male
Size 2184 x 1687px
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