An Immortal's Guidance.

[Denzein]

Taa'Sho was deep in meditation on the jungle planet of Thyferra. She was a fair way out from the Shade Enclave there, but she had nothing to fear from the harsh surroundings; the creatures had learnt to both fear her and respect her in equal measure.

The padawan she had sent for however, would find the perilous surroundings deadly, to say the least. She had specifically asked for Anner Tahnis to come find her at his leisure, for reasons unbenknowst to al but her. The general consensus was that Taa'Sho was not the type to take on a padawan, so what was his about?

She let the short lived ones speculate and gossip; she had her own reasons. Should Tahnis survive the trek out into the jungle to find her, he would learn them too.

A loud roar reverberated through the treetops, and she smiled. That one sounded hungry...

 

[Samara]

So green, everything is so damn green and hot... -complained the dark skinned male kid not long after his journey began.

His outfit was made of a pair of boots, black and resiliant pants, this time without the belt he used to carry in wich he had his tools, useful but mostly only when it came to fixing something or using a terminal, wich he doubt he found deep into the jungle. And a black shirt. His eyepatch was in the same place where it had always been, his left eye.

As suprising as it could be, this time he had a gun with him, one of those new blasters. He barely knew where the trigger was. It was given to him by Sylla, who was a bit concerned about the fact that he was going to go into a deadly jungle of death with no weapon whatsoever and virtually no knowledge at all about survival skills or jungle-dwelling. At least, she thought, it could be used as a quick and effective method to perform suicide in case of need. That way he wouldn't suffer. Much.

Fhuhfgh -he complained, blowing a lock of hair that had fallen on his face, in a lazy attempt to make it return to its original position, or if not, hoping to drive it to any other place that did not obstruct his sightline. He had to make his way to Taa'Sho.

Anner kept on walking as long as he could, but the vegetation there and everywhere was overwhelming, and he was in a terrible physical shape. He quickly became tired and adopted a more slow and sluggish way of advancing, pretending to be more careful about his sorroundings to hide his own pathetic state as he regained breath. However he was already sweating, because of both the heat and the effort. The sound of the wild beasts, or animals, or whatevers as he nicknamed them in order to make fun of something, just added a lot of insecurity to the menu as he advanced, making his way through heavy vegetation.

 

[Denzein]

Taa'Sho could feel his presence getting closer. This was promising, she'd heard of people falling prey to vast predatory dogs, or lizard-like spiders with venom so potent it could melt through steel. She continued her mantra of nature, unwilling to part with it for some brat who didn't seem able to grasp the notion of haste.

After a few more minutes passed, indignance turned to concern. What if the boy was lost? He could be being stalked by any number of vicious killers, and she didn't particularly want a padawan's death on her hands. She felt around with the force, emitting a beacon of energy, showing him where she was (if he could read it).

As she continued to meditate, a worried frown began to mark he young (in appearance, at least) face. Should he find her, she would be easier on him than first intended.

 

[Samara]

Anner could feel something, yet it was a really vague something, more like a hunch than a fully rational notion of where Taa'Sho was. He wasn't sufficiently trained in the force yet to accomplish that.

Eventually he stopped for a bit to take a brief breath, and sat on a fallen tree from where he began to look the sorrounding flora. He was a little exasperated because he had the impression no matter how much he advanced he was still in the same place, and he was almost constantly wiping the sweat out of his brows thanks to the heat, fact wich was not helping at all.

He wondered if the master was even going to be there once he arrived.

With a sigh, Anner stood on his foot once again and kept on walking, jumping over a bunch of plants that were blocking the path together. No wild bloodthirsty beast had attacked him yet, to his own relief. Not much time after that, Taa'Sho could began to hear the sound of something making his way through the jungle to where she was, and by the way it sounded it was like if the thing approaching had absolutely no sense of subtlety.

Her padawan stumbled on plants and branches alike, finally making his appearance in front of her master by falling to the ground in front of her, just after coming into sight.- Hajgh... -he complained at impact, slowly rising himself again afterwards.

Anner had a long, black hair that was long enough to fall to his waist. He was wearing black, wich was not really a wise choice for such a hot enviroment, but it suited him very well. His skin was gray and his eyes amber and black. He had an eyepatch on the left eye, horns on the top of his head and a robotic arm where his left one should be. If not very skilled at least he should have an interesting story to tell about all that. On the top of everything, he was an outragously attractive individual, and a very clumsy one too, apparently.

Sorry... It was the plants.. -he apologized blaming on the flora for his previous stumbling once he was standing again. The shape of the female was not what he had imagined and it suprised him, but it certainly resembled what he had been told. Although on a second tought, he was not the right one to start talking about other people appearances, so he kept the toughts to himself.

 

[Denzein]

Her eyes still closed, Taa’Sho smiled. The excuses of the young were always so very inventive; plants were not to blame for her student’s clumsy arrival. She was about to chastise him, but remembered her promise to herself. Be nice to the mortal, he only gets eighty or so years to live. They should be filled with happiness.

“The plants did not cause you to stumble, padawan. It was your ineptitude, your failure.”

She opened her eyes, taking in the youth before her. She would have found him attractive, if he hadn’t been a seedling. He wore an eyepatch, was it just some affectation or an actual wound? It would remain to be seen. The robotic arm however, that was interesting. The story would be told, in time. She continued her lesson.

“Failure in itself is not a bad thing. With it comes experience, humility and a will to do better: embrace yours now, and I can help you. I called you out here to take on a padawan, but to be one you must also be a failure. Do you accept what you are? Or should I send you back now.”

 

[Samara]

Dozens of answers crossed through the mind of Anner. But none would have served his purpose. Dozens turned to hundreds as soon as he heard the last thing she had said, but the new thoughts shared the same condition than the last ones, often, they were sharp and witty replies. He opened his mouth, and the swarm of thoughts fluttered even more.- I do, master -he said finally, without even a single trace of the ammount of things that had crossed over his head. That, he concieved as the optimal answer. At least, the shortest one, while the other ones would just have made him go backwards, althought tempting.

 

[Denzein]

The Neti stood, reaching her full height (in her current less tree-like form) of four metres 54 centimetres. She was tall, even for her race, standing almost a full metre above the average. She towered over the padawan, looking down at the short lived thing with a curious expression on her pale green face. For a moment her face gave away nothing, before it folded into a slight smile, acceptant.

"Then let us return. When they ask, you will say that you are my student. My first student. I intend for this to be a learning curve for us both."

Without further ado she turned on her heel and set a fast pace back through the bush. Where Anner had stumbled and cursed Taa'Sho seemed to glide effortlessly. She was at one with nature, and it let her pass with reverence. She did not look back at Tahnis; he knew the way back and would get there sooner or later. It was her job to teach him, not be his nanny.

++++
About twenty minutes later...
++++

Taa'Sho emerged from the dense jungle surrounding the main enclave of the Shade Order. She gazed up at the buildings with a content look upon her face. Her first love was exploration, but this made a good home to return to. She loved the Order, almost as much as she loved Tamerlane... But that was not a train of thought for now. She waited at the enclave's main gate for Tahnis to emerge, leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. She yawned, tired. She needed to photosynthesize...

 

[Samara]

The full height of Taa'Sho was frightening, to Anner it was almost three times his size, if not four. She looked way less menacing while sitting. He had to rise his head up as if he was to look the sky to be able to see her face while standing at her side.

He nodded to her words, however Taa'Sho walked away right afterwards, without even looking back. Just like that, leaving Anner alone again in the jungle- ... -his face expressed what his words couldn't.- Whats the point of making me go into this jungle, tiresomely, to later abandon me again after two or three words? -he thought to himself, a bit confused, a bit enraged, feeling he was somewhat fooled by the Neti.

Not many seconds passed after that, and he soon found himself trying to catch up with the giant steps of his master. Where Taa'Sho glided effortlessy, Anner stumbled again and fell to the ground, for he was one with the clumsiness as opposed to her. First he was guided by her sight, at second by her sound, and finally by nothing at all. Thirty minutes passed before he arrived at the enclave's main gate, getting rid of the vegetation that had been trapped in his clothes.

Ffffffffhh... -he sighed, annoyed by the number of green things he had attached to his shirt and pants. He then looked at Taa'sho, walking towards her while leaving a smooth and decreasing trail of leafs behind him.

 

[Denzein]

As Anner emerged Taa'Sho smiled, straightening up. The padawan was faster that she had expected. This was good, it showed that he learned from experience. She had not told him but she had chosen upon meeting him out in the jungle for one very specific reason; she wanted to see if he spoke his mind to his superiors.

The answer was no. this was not a particularly bad thing for now, but he would have to come to trust her in the end if he ever hoped to achieve knight status. He would find her a notiously hard person to please, being a perfectionist with eternity to perfect in.

"You seem to be good at not getting eaten, padawan. This is good, I don't intend to train some Rancor snack. Let's go inside, you look tired. We can talk about ourselves while you recover, if you wish. We'll be doing it at some point later on if not now, anyway."

 

[Samara]

Trust me -said Anner, not precisely in a good mood after all the walking- If i had found a Rancor back there, i wouldn't be here now. -he finally managed to clean himself from the leafs as he reached Taa'Sho, however he did not comment about his physical state, not denying it either.- You made me go into the jungle to see if i was eaten? -he then asked incredulously, while wiping sweat out of his brows again. In one hand, he doubted any big time carnivore would find him that tempting, he didn't think there were many chances of that happening. But in the other hand, that was creepy.

 

[Jake]

A deep chuckle came from behind the enclave gates. Though his considerable bulk could easily be obscured by Taa'Sho's immensity, Tamerlane was still every bit as intimidating as his plantlike companion. He emerged at her side, taking shelter under a handful of branches that provided wonderful shade from Thyferra's languishing heat. His sharp gaze scrutinized her new Padawan. Tamerlane had insisted that he not been given one; instead, he would find his own apprentice, when and if one came along.

"How else do you expect to improve your survival skills, hatchling?" Tamerlane bellowed, laying one taloned hand against his soul mate. Knowledge is slow in its advancement but lucrative in its wake." A lightsaber hung at his waist, glittering as a shaft of hot sunlight caught the ornamented hilt. Tamerlane looked down at it, appreciating the nostalgic wave of memories it brought.

"Back when we were Jedi, we faced horrors unlike any mere animal that this jungle could provide to kill you. Remember the crawling chaos of the Maw, Taa'Sho? We went with Ruddflo and Urrywukk there, do you recall? Both of them were killed by the beast before we managed to vanquish it together. Horrible creature, that one." The avian's feathers had ruffled. He used the Force to neatly groom them.

"But enough about us and our exploits. Don't be pretentious, dear." He winked at the tree lady's high face, illuminated by the sunshine that crept through holes in her canopy. "What are you going to train the newborn, then?" The Dreamer turned to face Anner, inspecting his eyepatch. He was temped to pull it back and whap the Padawan in the face, but that might've been rude...

 

[Denzein]

On Tamerlane’s arrival the Neti cracked a grin. She hadn’t told him where she was intending to meet Anner, but she knew that he would know instantly where she was intending to anyway; she loved the jungles and he was the one being in the galaxy who could rightly claim to knowing her.

When he put his hand on her she shivered slightly; the movement was barely perceptible but spoke volumes should it be detected by either of the two figures. She gave Tahnis an encouraging look, meant to say “Stand up to him, seedling”. She wasn’t entirely sure if the message would get to her new padawan, but it would at least be interesting to see how good he was at reading expressions. She was so curious about the short-lived one… It was most unseemly.

Tamerlane brought up training: at last, a topic applicable to present company. She coughed daintily, and fixing Tahnis with another stare. She was looking deeper than she appeared even now however; she was watching the force energy coalescing around the padawans head. Such a good lie detector, the force.

“Padawan Tahnis will be taught what Padawan Tahnis wishes, for now. That way I can understand you better… So important, understanding. What will I teach you first, seedling?”

 

[Samara]

By being taught, maybe? -he replied to the walking bird that just appeared in front of him, and walked besides Taa'Sho. It looked like they knew each other, and a few seconds later when Tamerlane spoke, he was certain of it.- It would be much better if i was taught "look, this plant is dangerous, this animal may look innofensive but its a deadly carnivore" If learning about nature was the subject. Throwing me into a jungle and waiting to see if i get devoured would teach me little to nothing. I could do that myself. The only thing i would experience from it would be the thrill of being lost, wich i already experienced, thanks a lot. -said roughly to Tamerlane, using him as an indirect-direct way of saying the things he had not liked from Taa'Sho's experience.

He turned then to Taa'sho, more calmly while talking to her than to the unknown walking bird- Thank you for your concern master -he said, but given his previous anger it could have been a rethorical comment as well- I would like to be taught how to control better my... -he spaced out for a few seconds- ... gift. -said finally, remembering the words of Sylla, and looking up the eyes of the Neti.

 

[Denzein]

(OOC: Sorry for the mahoosive delay, me and Words had a "misunderstanding")

Taa'Sho nodded in the general direction of Tahnis. The padawan had spoken up this time, perhaps she had been to hasty in damning the seedling? It would remain to be seen.

The padawan had no right to complain, however. the child might not understand the essence of the trial now, but Taa'Sho had high hopes that they would finally realse its purpose before the end. Her only reservation was that a normal lifespan was so short that she was unsure of whether the seedling would ever attain such a level of enlightenment.

No matter, there was training to be done. The Neti smiled at her companion through eternity and turned away from the pair. She had a bad habit of forgetting to tell people to follow her; Tamerlane was used to it but she doubted the padawan would catch on seamlessly. Another lesson to be learnt, not taught.

As she walked, she spoke. She was trusting that her padawan was only a step or so behind her; she wasn't raising her voice for a pupil who was slow on the uptake.

"Tell me, Anner... What do you understand about your gift at this very moment?"

 

[Samara]

However, all that Anner thought was that Taa'Sho lacked manners. And he was somewhat right. He watched her back as she started to walk again without saying anything else, waited a few seconds and sighed before catching up to her, first running, then walking fast. She was a huge giant walking humanoid plant, while Anner was alround 1,70 and had short legs in comparison.

Thats a tricky question -he replied, physically tired of running around- I guess i understand I can move things around whenever i feel like it, its not tiring or complicated. Its almost like moving a limb or breathing. You don't actually "know" how you do it unless you study anatomy, but still you know how to do it... Its hard to explain. -he said, moving his hands in gestures as he explained, althought Taa'Sho wouldn't see them unless she turned back.

 

[Denzein]

Taa'Sho knew what Anner meant; once an application of the force became fluent to you, it was no longer an effort to attempt. Several of her favoured techniques were such, it was a fortunate thing that the force worked this way.

"You already have explained it to me, padawan. Now tell me, shed some light on your applications of this telekinesis. What are your limits, can you use it on yourself yet? Some others call this technique force speed..."

She kept walking, entering the main courtyard. Here she stopped, turning once more on her heel and looking directly into Tahnis's eyes. The courtyard was large; as good a place to train mastery in the force as any.

 

[Samara]

I don't know... -he said after making an effort to give a useful answer.- I've never tried, i never thought it could be useful, we had elevators and other kind of things for those purposes back there. -when they arrived at the courtyard, Anner was thankful that Taa'Sho's giant steps had finished. He stopped as well and used the time to rest his body, raising his head once again when Taa'Sho turned around to see him- I could do it since I was born -added, in a attempt to give Taa'Sho all the information he could.

Later on he began to be aware of the force. Unbeknown to him, he had a permanent conection to the dark side, just as every other individual of his species.

 

[Denzein]

Taa'Sho thought for a moment; the art of enhancing one's self through the force was a valuable skill, and something she herself used frequently. Her padawan should be ready to use this power at a moment's notice... Taa'Sho had found her starting point.

She looked around the courtyard. There were several trees, many bushes and almost every patch of wall was covered by some form of creeper vine. Perfect. She reached through the force to her photosynthesising companions, teasing them off their walls, and out of the ground in which they lived. She caused them to blossom in a matter of seconds, growing so fast that many of the other Shades in the courtyard stopped and stared at the Neti.

The plants weaved in and out of eachother, creating barriers, webs of vine, walls of solid wood and tearing up the flagstones beneath their feet; making the ground perilously unsteady going. She looked back at Tahnis, gesturing to the makeshift obstacle course that now occupied the courtyard.

"You will make your way through the obstacle course, starting and ending here. I will time you, and we will see just how much time we can shave off your original lap through the use of the force. You might even learn how to preserve your energy, and pace yourself..."

She let the subtle hint at her displeasure of the slowness of her padawan's walking speed sink in, before continuing. A slight smile was playing about her lips.

"Do not use the force the first time around - although I doubt that you could. after each lap you will meditate here for two minutes before going again. I will help you to unlock your force potential while you do so. Now, when you're ready..."

 

[Samara]

Anner observed the whole show amazed. All doubts he could have had about Taa'Sho's power vanished completely by the time the plants were making an obstacle course. That was amazing in words he could not even concieve, the plants blooming in seconds, growing by only the will of the Neti. He got so abstracted by the visage of what just happened, that he missed half of Taa'sho's words.

Anner nodded to her words, and stood still pretending to be thinking over something. The truth is that he was recovering his breath. A few moments and when he felt recovered and better, he started to run through the course. It was not a sprint run, rather like a resistance run. He knew that if he runned too fast he would get tired before even completing the track. He stumbled three times before reaching Taa'Sho again, but survived the obstacle course only with small bruises and a little cut in his organic arm, showing a small drop of blue blood from the last time he fell.

There... -he said breathing fast- ... It is... done... -he leaned foward, putting his hands on his knees while doing so. His physical shape was terrible.

 

[Denzein]

Taa'Sho giggled as her inept padawan returned to her, betraying the fact that although she was over one and a half millennia old she still had an immature and impulsive side to her personality. She was still young, for a Neti, and she hadn't relinquished thatyouth merely because she was part of the wider galaxy now. She sat cross legged on the floor, all of a sudden a much less intimidating height once more, and motioned for Anner to join her.

"Sit. You were slow; but no matter. Your shape will improve as you train with me, I promise. You'll run rings around athletes before I'm finished with you. Your time was two minutes thirty eight seconds. Today I want you to get that own to a minute."

She let these words sink in before continuing. It might seem to the padawan that she was asking the impossible for now, but she knew that would change as he learnt force speed.

"Shut your eyes, and push everything material from your mind. Focus on those things that strengthen your resolve when you are angry, upset, joyful or determined. Think about them, and let them strengthen you now; not your resolve but your body. Let them empower you into moving faster than you think possible now. When you're ready, go again."