#Sol Trigger | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

midwinterhunt · 6 months ago

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how did Sol and Trigger meet?

They met twice actually! (three times? they had a few tries before they became friends)

You're getting a read more because this is gonna be a hell of a post.

The first time they met was as children. Sol was like, eight years old at best and Trigger was still a calf. Sol's mother had just died and Maul took Sol to Dathomir to attempt to train him. (he was pissed about his offspring apparently not being Force sensitive and was hoping to force it somehow.

A different place, hands no longer gentle pulled him along as he squirmed in the red light of dusk. The blue feathers of gibbits fell to the ground as a flock scattered and Sol was dragged toward a pit from which he could hear roars coming. He cried and begged not to have to do this, but strong arms threw him over the edge and he began to plummet down toward the waiting creature.

Sol found himself facing a rancor calf at the bottom of the pit, and it wasn't happy to see him.

He ran away from the monster and it chased him, roaring with agitation.

Sol found a crevice in the wall to wedge himself into where the rancor couldn't reach him. He was frozen in fear as it clawed at the stone, the whites of its eyes showing and teeth bared. Sol's own eyes widened, "They hurt you." He finally recognized burn wounds on its skin. The rancor was just as scared as himself.

Sol whimpered in his crevice, but with every second the rancor got closer. He held out a hand to try to connect on an emotional level to the beast, "Stop!" he shouted with his tiny voice.

The rancor stared Sol in the eyes for a moment and he thought it had worked, but then it became even more agitated and clawed even more to get at Sol, and it had to be stunned from above.

During this time, Trigger was injured many times and if you look at his art, you'll see those scars still.

The second time they met was when Sol went to Dathomir to deal with the whole "The ghost of my grandmother is possessing and slowly killing me" thing. It was during the Nightbrother trials. Him and the other guys were dropped off (literally) in the wilderness and had to get home on their own.

Sol pushed through some underbrush to where the ground steeply sloped down. He didn't hesitate to drop down into a slide descending the hill, but he started to have regrets when the others called for him to wait. He found out why they had yelled when he stumbled to a stop at the bottom and found himself face to face with a massive creature who growled in a deep rumble.

Sol shook his head, trying to shake off the snippets of memory playing in his mind. He needed to focus on the present or he was dead. He slowly got his feet back under him, but didn't stand. He wanted to look non threatening.

Sol stood his ground and held out a hand while keeping his eyes down. "Heyy.... buddy." His voice was barely audible. He heard his companions whispering behind him not to make any sudden moves, which wasn't going to be a problem for him. Sol's legs felt frozen to the ground.

Sol flinched back when the rancor slammed the ground and squared up before it moved forward and began to charge.

Sol trembled in his tracks, but with every second the rancor got closer. He held out a hand to try to connect his mind to the beast, "Stop!" he shouted with command and authority in his voice.

The rancor slid to a stop just in time for its fangs to press against Sol's hand and they both stood frozen for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. Sol realized green mist was dispersing from his fingers, and he wasn't sure how long this would last. He carefully and slowly stepped back, breathing out a sigh when the rancor didn't move.

"We're leaving, okay? I don't want to fight you." Especially because Sol felt confident he would lose. Although, something about the rancor's eyes seemed... intelligent? It raised its head slightly, and Sol got the uncanny impression that it had some kind of understanding. But he didn't want to risk it so he really started backing up toward the trees and bushes.

He joined the others and they skirted around the clearing. The rancor watched them intently as they left, and Sol was able to get a clearer view. It had darker skin with old scars covering it like light clouds patching its skin. It was way too familiar. But he didn't have much time to think about it as he was urge to run the second they were out of view.

These first two meetings are told at the same time in the fic and it's really quite nice how they're mirrored.

The third time they meet is in the chapter "A Boy And His Dog" which I thought was hilarious. It's just after Sol almost died from the whole Possession Incident and ended up unarmed and alone in the Dathomiri wilderness. Which is the worst place to be unarmed OR alone.

He was crossing a wide slow river, using a stick to test the depth because he didn't feel like drowning *again*

It was going well. Sol was nervous, but keeping his footing. His stick knocked against something ahead, but when Sol tried to feel out what he couldn't find it again, so he just kept going. Sol was a little more than halfway across when something spiky brushed his leg and he froze. He reasoned that it was probably just some waterlogged driftwood, but then he some something glint in the moonlight at the edge of his vision.

Sol turned just in time to see two reflective eyes in the water lurched toward him and a jaw of needle like teeth open and aim at his face. He pulled his big stick up like a shield and the animal's jaw clamped down on it. A serpent-like neck absorbed the recoil from the strike, and a third surprise eye glared at Sol from under the beast's mouth. Four strong legs pushed forward beneath the water and Sol stumbled back and plunged under the surface.

Sol's mind was pretty evenly divided between his body's panic and his own annoyance at being thrown into water again. But through it all he managed to keep a shred of composure, just enough to wrap his legs around the animal's neck and shoulder and clamp on so he couldn't get bit. Then he yanked on his staff to twist its head. The animal turned into a roll and Sol managed to get a quick breath as they turn and he momentarily broke the surface. The two were drifting downstream and Sol was wrestling with his quickly waning strength just to keep from being seriously hurt. It was a losing battle and Sol knew it.

Sol was about to take his chances and kick away from the creature when the two of them crashed into something massive standing in the water. Sol lost his grip and tumbled between the firm yet malleable trunks, but he wasn't followed by his current foe. Sol didn't do much more than crawl to reach the bank, then he glanced back to roars of animals just in time to see a massive creature eating Sol's water-bound assailant. Sol recognized the creatures large frame, sharp tusks, and clouded skin. "Rancor..." he breathed out.

The rancor wasted no time in finishing its meal before turning its dark eyes onto Sol, who didn't have the strength to stand let alone run. "Eeaasy there..." Sol whispered. The rancor huffed and steadily stalked closer, staring Sol down with sharp intent. Almost... Almost like it was studying him. As if it was actually considering its next actions. Sol caught his breath when he recognized the look of conscious thought behind those dark studious eyes.

Sol held out on hand, "You don't want to hurt me. I'm.... just a guy. I haven't done anything wrong."

The rancor huffed, but stopped before getting too close to Sol. It shook its head and angled its face down in what seemed like a defensive pose. At this distance, Sol could see it was covered in scars and old injuries. It gave a low rumble at Sol.

"It's you..." Sol realized, "You. I saw you the other day. And you looked familiar then too. You've been through hell, haven't you? It looks like someone..." Memories flashed through Sol's head of him being thrown in a pit by his own father, "Like someone shocked and burned you and forced you to fight, even when you were just a baby. ...You're scared... of me."

The rancor waved its tusks around and growled. Sol shifted to his knees and bowed his head, then he just held out his hand. "Please, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm sorry that we've had some bad history. Please don't bite my hand off."

There was a tense and quiet moment before a moist nose pressed into Sol's hand. The skin was thick , but he could still feel the presence of hot flesh underneath. Sol looked to see the beast was calmly settled down in front of him and noted a distinct lack of magic energy flowing anywhere. Sol let out a half hysterical chuckle. He had managed to gain the trust of one of the most dangerous animals in the galaxy and he hadn't used a single supernatural power to do so.

Sol rubbed the rancor's face and even splashed up some water to wash away the blood. "There you go. You're a good boy. Can I stick with you for a while? I'm not in good shape to defend myself."

The rancor groaned and began to stand, and Sol wasn't sure he was being understood so he grabbed onto a tusk to help himself onto his feet. The rancor began to walk into the jungle, and Sol did try to follow, but he was stumbling and slow. Before the rancor got too far away it reached back and plucked Sol up off the ground, its hand easily wrapping all the way around Sol's body. "Ooooh no, oh gods!" Despite Sol's initial shock, traveling while being carried by the planet's apex predator was actually pretty effective and it felt safe.

Sol even started to drift around unconsciousness after a while. At some point the rancor shifted Sol to ride on it's back and he finally passed out while nestled between its back plates.

This above scene is actually what I've drawn art of that you saw!

Also as a bonus, you get also have the scene where Sol took full custody of Trigger!

Sol woke up to the sensation of falling. Good news: he wasn't actually falling. Bad news: he was dangling from a dizzyingly tall height. "Wooaaaaahhhhhh!" Sol flailed until he grabbed onto something hard a round against his shoulder, and when he craned his neck back he saw Trigger was biting down on his clothes and carrying him while climbing up a cliff. Sol hugged tighter to the tusk, "Trigger what THE FUCK?! Put me back down on the ground! Where are you taking me???!"

Sol, obviously, wasn't given an answer. But thankfully he wasn't dropped, so he counted that as a win. He just kept holding on until they reached the top of the cliff and stood on a plateau. Trigger shifted Sol from his teeth into his hands, and then just kept walking on two legs. It reminded Sol a bit of how Liithal would switch between two and four legged traveling.

They passed a few bigger boulders, and eventually came to a ring of stone spires with a crash of rancors standing in wait. Sol was finally set down on the ground, and he definitely felt like he was being stared down by a court of something else judging him. "Eeeey, buddy, this your herd? They uh, don't look like they're too fond of me."

The other rancors were all various shades of brown, and none of them had tusks or horns of any kind. It made Sol wonder if Trigger had really been born here. One particularly large female who stood in the center growled at Sol, which didn't exactly tell him what he should be doing, but he decided he didn't have space to hesitate here. These beings were strong and aggressive and would probably eat him if they sensed weakness. Sol strode forward confidently and took a knee in front of her, "You must be the herd alpha." Sol didn't know much about rancor power structures, but he could guess, and just hope they understood him.

The alpha snarled and stepped toward Sol, her eyes pitch black and reflecting Sol's own tense face back at him. Sol held her gaze until she finally stopped barely more than a foot away, and he only broke the staring contest to glance briefly to Trigger, then right back. "Hey, uh, ma'am," Sol didn't know if honorific terms would help him here, but it wouldn't hurt, "I don't have any food on me, but please don't eat me."

The alpha's eyes narrowed and a deep rumble started in her throat, and she half crouched and her jaws parted.

Alarm bells went crazy in Sol's head, ohshitoshitoshit sHIT SHIT SHIT!! He shot to his feet and threw himself forward and slammed an open palm against her nose, "I SAID PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" The alpha stopped in her tracks and studied Sol, who was shaking with adrenaline, "I didn't go through all this shit just to get eaten by Trigger's mom or whatever you are. 'Kay?"

The alpha roared loud enough to make Sol's ears ring, but she still turned away. She walked past Trigger with a chuff, closely followed by the rest of the heard, each giving Trigger a word. Sol found himself realizing they had a kind of pseudo language to communicate with. Once the herd was gone, Trigger went up and nudged Sol.

Sol looked up and looked Trigger in the eye. He could sense the determination in those grey-blue eyes, as well as an expectation. Sol had been given a responsibility, and been tested to find out if he was up to the task. He scratched Trigger's chin, "Don't worry, bud. I'll take care of you, I promise. I might just need some help learning how this give-and-take works. So why don't we start with breakfast? Let's find something for you to eat."

It didn't take much for Sol to find out that rancors had terrible eyesight. By the time Trigger spotted what Sol was trying to get him to hunt, the prey was already aware of them and bolted off. So Sol switched strategies. He directed Trigger toward an animal with strong hind legs and large head that was grazing on lichen. Just before they got into the prey's range, Sol drew his bow and shot it in the neck, taking it down with one arrow. And with that they had breakfast for an almost two ton rancor.

#sol #trigger

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