Misguided Padawan [JEDI MISSION]

[Rom]

Raynor had been lying in wait on the balcony overlooking the staircase for a full five minutes, his body cloaked in the shadows of the alcove. Cursing under his breath at the idiocy of the droids, Raynor leaped from his hiding place onto the first landing only to spin around with sword drawn at the sound of many metal things hitting the floor. The sight that lay before him was too much for the padawan to handle. Collapsing against the wall in hysterical sissing laughter, Raynor looked on through squinted eyes brimming with tears at the pile of battle droids attempting to climb over one another to get on their feet, only for their arms to suddenly fall limp or their legs refuse to move. Other droids along the back were pulling at the triggers of their weapons only to look down in confusion as nothing fire. Sliding down the wall, it took the barabel padawan a few minutes to be able to look at the droids without bursting into laughter but after a few sissing fits, Raynor was able to pull himself up and head back towards the entrance, stopping every few seconds to incapacitate the droids further with either a shove with the Force into a wall or with a well placed strike of his sword.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Raynor stalked forward towards the cowering farmer cradling his broken hand, sword raised aggressively as if he was going to stab the farmer through the chest. Letting out a fearsome growl, the Barabel slammed the sword down through the farmers overalls, pinning him to the ground. Ignoring the sobbing man, who reeked as if he had wet himself, Raynor reached out into the force to signal Joss "The droidz are unable to do anything and the farmer is secure. This one iz waiting for you out-front.... excellent job Jozz!"

 

[DeathToll]

Ah! Joss got the message, snapping his head up with a breathy confirmation.

"Hmm."

Startled for a moment, some malfunctioning droids clustered at the doorway just outside Joss' location, and Joss decided to leave the Farmer a little parting gift. Striking a key as he left, the computer was set on a random selection of body parts; the guns permanently deselected, and the random body parts of the droids to suffer continuously after he left.

So too was Joss finding it hard not to laugh as he made his way back out to the front to join Raynor. Kicking a fallen droid's face out of the way of the front entrance, Joss slowed to reach the cowering and whimpering farmer - having twitched in fear from the sound of the battered empty machinery. Joss' robes were a bit smokey from the explosions he had survived, but all in all he looked about the same; Joss looked to his fellow Padawan upon arrival with a nod. He was glad Raynor was safe.

Joss stayed oddly silent, looking at the man before them and back at Raynor. He remembered the words Raynor had spoken before, saying he did not presume to know the best approach for dealing with a rouge human. And Joss smiled at that, strangely making no sense to the others in his midst. In fact, he almost looked sinister in this moment.

Well, Joss thought to himself, maybe their runaway Padawan had stolen some supplies from this farmer?

Joss looked back at Raynor, still oddly having not said one word - while the farmer squirmed beneath his pinning defeater.

 

[Rom]

Looking over in confusion at the silent Joss, Raynor cleared his throat and turned to the farmer. Flicking out his tail towards the terrified farmer, the Barabel waved the metal barb into the obese humanKs face threateningly and leaned forward while barring his teeth. Opening his mouth to question the farmer about the padawan's prescense on the farm land, Raynor rolled his eyes in disgust as the human recoiled and nearly soiled himself in fear. Regardless of how the reptilian jedi responded, the human kept crying out unintelligably.

Throwing his arms up in frustration, Raynor stalked away muttering angry curses in his native tongue, apparently leaving the interrogation up to Joss.

 

[DeathToll]

Joss found it funny, but didn't quite show it, watching how Raynor sulked away and listening to the man apparently unable to stop blubbering. He didn't even try to escape he was so afraid. Joss suddenly found himself at a loss for lighthearted fun, dropping his brow to a more serious and heavy note. His bottom lip popped out to a pout, as he eyed the farmer in disgust; how full of bile and crusted selfishness he was. This man's internal ugliness was palpable, caked on like an unwashed pig.

Joss then, after having stood there for a long minute, stepped over to the bellied farmer and knelt down over him. Reaching out a right hand, Joss nearly tore out the man's soul with the look of concentration he gave; and the man's entire face was frozen in awaiting suspense. It may have looked to Raynor that Joss was about to affect the man's mind or choke his air passages even, but then broke the silence.

"Where is the Padawan."

He stated the words simply and softly, but with a strength that he hardly ever wielded. The man nearly broke out with another round of babbling, but Joss' hand snatched a tight clasp over his jaw - wrinkling the scruffy skin in his pincer hold, Joss held his face and shut him up again.

"You posted a complaint with the Jedi... We're here."

Joss sunk his head with a look of 'duh..' on his face, as in 'don't try to kill us, we came for your sake *sswh*l*!!'. The man seemed to be a little more calm now, looking back and forth between the two Padawans. Mostly scared of Raynor, the man seemed a little more likely to speak to Joss anyway; so he nodded like a child finally willing to submit his knowledge to the cause.

"...Tell us what happened."

The man slowly opened up, revealing his case of recount and how he first believed that someone had only just randomly destroyed his external maintenance droid one day working on the complex's air conditioning unit panel outside. When he came to check it out, he found no one but noticed a shadow rushing off into the distance going west through that line of hills over the small river. Looking for vengeance, he rushed back inside and checked the cameras to see the culprit's face but could see nothing more than Jedi robes and a bad angle on his face.

At this point in the recount, Joss looked back at Raynor to see if he was hearing this. Still, it wasn't much to go off of, but was all they had.

But then, the man continued with new information: saying that later, after he filed the complaint, that he realized his personal compartment stash had been looted. Some equipment and food had been taken, so quickly the Padawan had used the diversion to get in and out without being seen inside. Joss even wondered if the man truly saw the Padawan leaving west as he said or if that was the runaway Padawan's skill in mind trick, still trying to get out? It didn't matter now. He was gone, and they had one weak lead again. But his story did explain why he had beefed up his security so much. Joss thought to himself, wishing these parts weren't so sparse and uncivilized so that house calls like this could be easily communicated.

Joss stood and turned to Raynor, but looked back over his shoulder to the farmer.

"Answer your door next time."

Joss clearly didn't like the man, but neither did Raynor it seemed. The guy wasn't very likable, lets face it. But moving on, they had one way to go. As well, there was the possibility of coming across those speeders. Moving in close to Raynor's position, they'd have a little powwow before they moved on. If Raynor had anything to add, now was the time; as Joss was ready to hop back on the speeder, though they might have to navigate some parts on foot. The terrain did not look so friendly over those hills, becoming denser with those strange trees after the riverbank.

The man had recovered some confidence in realizing they were done with him, and spoke out against them.

"Stupid Jedi. ...Only get involved when one of yer own loose it! Pew!!"

Finishing his curse with a splashing spit in no particular direction, the farmer still lay there almost too out of shape to get up while the Padawans still stood there. And Joss, who was beginning to boil, rolled his eyes up into the red of his heating head.

 

[Rom]

Turning back to look at the filthy human, Raynor barred his teeth one more time in a threatening manner followed by a gesture that could not be mistake, dragging his claw across his throat and then dramatically tilting his head to the side with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Sissing in laughter as the human let out a small scream of fright and vanished back into the homestead, Raynor looked over at Joss and smiled in an obviously fake happy way, "This one iz so glad to find such welcoming and hospitable people on this planet. It truly is a gift from the Force." Rolling his eyes, the Padawan braced a hand along the side of the speeder and jumped into the passenger seat, his eyes focusing ahead as he spoke outloud for Joss' benefit as well as to help his own train of thought.

"West... leading us directly to the area where those speederz were spotted abandoned. This one thinks we may have discovered the location of the wayward Padawan...." Reaching into the pack behind him, Raynor pulled out a kolto patch and slapped it to the damaged part of his tail, letting out a sigh of happiness as the cool relief flooded through the blaster burned area. Clapping a clawed hand on Joss' shoulder, the barabel sissed in laughter before saying "You're teaching this one how to use a computer so next time this one is not the one left to deal with a crazy soiled human."

 

[DeathToll]

Joss let slip a free moment of silent laughter with Raynor. It was as if Joss was punishing himself for letting a more serious and ambitious side come out, but Raynor had said the perfect thing to snap him out of it. Joss' entire frame let loose when Raynor jokingly stated his wish to learn computers for the sake of switching roles, which made it that much easier to move on and get into the speeder.

"I'm sorry.."

Joss smiled as he apologized, not only to Raynor and his joke but also to himself. Joss was not looking forward to finding this Misguided Padawan, for his own fears struck deep inside of him.

The engines hummed on and Joss seemed to hesitate, but forced himself to go; and they sped off towards the river, due west.

Slowing down after some time of passing over a small bridge and some open dips in fields, Joss was at least thankful for a short rest in the seat of the speeder, they came across a grouping of trees in between two hills which formed an obvious pathway. The Padawan's heads surveyed the area, realizing a small group of speeders parked together just a ways down on the other side of the hill. Probably a good place to leave the speeder, Joss pulled up along side the smaller personal speeders.

As their speeder powered down, Joss hopped out and walked silently over to investigate - nodding to Raynor, Joss thought he'd learn a thing or two from the central computer: possibly a navigation record or any transmission notes that was carried back and forth between the three speeders along their ride.

After some time, it was clear. These were hunters of a small clan, foreign to Dantooine. Even by observing the markings upon the speeders, having been prepared for the hunt, and the dangling trinkets; Raynor most likely had come to the conclusion before Joss even began tinkering in the computer. They had either been here for some time, or had not come from the main space port; probably was dropped by their own ship somewhere out in the plains. But these speeders had been left here for some time. ...Curious.

There was only one direction to go, in after them. Joss looked up at the almost hidden pathway into the next area. He worried they'd have to face this group next in a tree heavy ambush friendly zone, but his heart sank when he realized that it was probably much worse. What if the fallen Padawan had already found the hunters?

 

[Rom]

Reaching out with his senses as they came to a stop, Raynor jerked his head up and stared towards the pathway before them, his eyes narrowing before he darted forward, his hand coming to rest on the hilt of his sword. Casting out his mind to Joss, the barabel padawan sent the message "This one smellz death and can feel the life force of a human ahead. Be prepared, it could be the padawan we're looking for." Using the rocks and trees as cover, Raynor moved along the passage until he stumbled into a clearing, only a slight nudging of the Force preventing him from falling onto his face. Looking around at the sound of weeping, the reptilian jedi paused before bowing his head. Hanging from the trees with vines wrapped tightly around their broken necks hung two of the three hunters.

Blaster bolts scarred the trees and the wood surrounding the clearing along with the tell-tale marks left by a lightsaber. The hunters in the tree had been partially dismembered, two arms and a leg lying on ground beneath them, weapons still clenched in now dead hands. Looking at the base of the tree, Raynor moved forward towards a man who was huddled into the depths of the trunk as far as he could get under the tree, gripping a knife tightly and weeping into the dirt, clearly traumatized by what he had seen. Looking towards Joss helplessly, the barabel tried to reach out towards the man's shattered mind to send soothing thoughts and emotions in a continuous roiling wave, hoping to calm him down. As the man slowly stopped weeping and looked up into the two padawan's faces, he sighed with relief before looking over at their clothing. Crying out in fear, the man dropped onto his belly and tried to worm his way back under the trunk of the tree, begging them not to hurt him and yelling about his wife and kids.

Backing up slowly so as not to frighten the man, Raynor leaned over and softly whispered to Joss, "This one thinkz that you might appear less frightening than this one does..."

 

[DeathToll]

It was tragic, and so vague as to whether or not the soul survivor was allowed to live, hid from the fight, or was forced to watch his fellows strung up so harshly. Joss stood with planted feet, as hardy as the trees behind them; weighted down by the emotions that overwhelmed him in this fresco of stained darkness.

Joss almost teared up, at first feeling the mens' deaths as if played back before his eyes. But then, a warmth swelled over him; his clenching fists sent up a streak of heat that filled his entire being. He but stood there, still. His dropped features hung with his hair over his face, questioning how this Padawan could dare come to this.

Rapidly blinking back out of his dazed stare, Joss processed Raynor's words as it all became clear. Joss was allowing the survivor's emotions to fuel his own, and the combination was not good. Joss frowned even more, unappreciative of the effects that so easily overtook him. Yet, he nodded in regards to Raynor, still looking forward, and kept to the mission.

"..."

Joss stepped closer, oh so gently with an empathetic anger across his face; trying to find the words while holding back what he felt he could not control. He held lifted palms in surrender, slouching to reach a kneel before the tree's safe-haven.

"It's oh... Please. ...We just... I-I..."

Joss was having a hard time with this, trying to get in an explanation between the man's pleas.

"We'll leave you be. I promise. We just want to find the one who did this. Can you help us? Can you tell us which way he went?"

When Joss realized that the man was calming down but still not answering his questions, he felt conflicted... and couldn't help but think that maybe this runaway Padawan also felt conflicted. Joss hoped that it was for this reason that the man was left to survive. Maybe the Padawan, maybe 'Ferus' couldn't kill this last man out of a conflicted heart?

"I'm sorry... about all that you've been through. I am sorry about your friends. Please... We need to find him."

The man whimpered, finally gesturing further along a curved hillside off in the distance. Joss' neck elongated as he looked in that direction, seeing a strangely carved out hillside but nothing else. He looked back at the man who held the pointing gesture, then looked back. There! So subtly, in the right angle of the west to north facing curve, he could see what looked to be a cave entrance. It was small, possibly infested, and could even be home to some crystals should the internal conditions be right.

Joss looked back to Raynor, pushed off of his knees, and stood to face their destination; their last stretch to the finish and that final conflict. And there, a shiver crept up Joss' spine - his head wavering to the most minute degree. The cave awaited...

 

[Rom]

Glancing up at the cave and trying to suppress the shudder that was going down his spine, Raynor bowed his head for a moment to try and reign himself in before exhaling deeply. "The Dark Side is very strong inside that cave. This one believez we have found the right place." Pulling his sword up out of it's sheath, the barabel paused to drop a kolto patch next to the panicked man to treat a lightsaber burn along his leg before walking forward into the cave, his hood pulled up and his cloak wrapped tightly around himself as if to fight off a cold that only he could feel. Blinking twice to adapt to the low light of the cave, Raynor looked on with awe at the glowing crystals along the wall, trying to ignore the slight tug at his mind towards the end of the cave. A feeling of danger slowly started to encompass his mind as he moved past the crystals deeper into the complex.

Whirling to the left at the sound of a large creature skittering past, Raynor looked on as a kinrath paused around the bend and seemed to consider the pair of padawan's before raising one leg and gesturing them to follow before moving slowly down the tunnel. Turning to Joss, the reptilian jedi quirked his head to the side and whispered "Is this one going mad, or did the bug just tell us to follow him?"

 

[DeathToll]

The dark moisture filled cave was indeed tugging at Joss as well. He could not help but to try and wave off whatever that heavy feeling was, as if he could swat it away like some smoke.

"...Ya."

Joss also thought it was strange how the creature curled its appendage in that come hither manner, and even noticed a couple other bony limbs creeping out into sight from other kinrath. They were all holding back when any would expect to be ambushed by now. Joss had yet to look at Raynor directly since they neared the cave, streams of sweat beading over his face. It had nothing to do with climate or worry, but instead was just how Joss had imagined this in his dreams. Had he not already known what the runaway Padawan looked like, Joss might have freaked himself out already as to predicting a face similar to that which he had dreamt. Thankfully, this was not the case and was just about the only thing going for him at this time.

Joss looked over towards the ground at Raynor's feet, as if to want to look at Raynor and directed a shrug of his shoulders at him and a point of his head to signal his readiness to join Raynor in their advancement through the cave. In this dim light, Joss' and Raynor's faces alike would not be so clear; which is exactly what Joss hoped when taking a moment to lean up against the cave wall. A dark green glow lit up the side of Joss' face as his arm wedged there, wondering how he could be of any use against such an aggressor as this lost Padawan. They were supposed to bring him back, be the light where there was none ...as Joss had put in his own words to his Master. But then his Master's words echoed through his mind.

' ' How far must a Jedi go to protect others? How far must a Jedi go to stop those who seek to harm? How far must a Jedi go to preserve life, inevitably at its very expense. ' '​

Joss remembered, he pictured the dead bodies hung from the trees outside. He heard the man's cries, the one survivor's fear, and soon Joss' face had melted into a hardened state. His glistening sweat stained cheeks shook with his tightened neck, and he found himself unable to hold his disdain for this Padawan. There were so many reasons for this Padawan to be...___ Was it necessary? What was the answer? Preserve life... at its very expense...

Joss came to at the scurrying of the kinrath, jolting into action. There had been many opportunities to loose themselves even since they just entered, and Joss did not want to fall prey to some game. He took off, uncharacteristic of himself, into a sprint after the insect-like-creature and turned corner after corner - feeling as though the atmosphere thickened with each turn ...until, he came to face it.

What Joss saw then, he could not believe; skidding to a halt over some loose gravel with a balancing wave of an arm over his head, Joss counted them at a stand still. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. There were five of them, kinrath, all gathered around the lone figure; all lit up by various neon beams of light in the black haze. The main cove was lined with crystal clusters, hanging spikes of rock, and jutting formations of wet and even slimy stone. As well, some eggs were nestled besides the heat of some of the crystals, but Joss only held focus for one.

He was there... He was waiting... And Joss, so reluctant to face this finality and growth as a human being, could not stand the sight of him... He could not stand the sight of himself, standing there one day...

 

[Rom]

Feeling the conflict and turmoil roiling like a wave inside his fellow Padawan, Raynor reached a clawed hand out and clasped Joss's shoulder. "This one is with you, Jozz. You are not alone in this fight." Narrowing his eyes as he looked into the center crystal cave, the barabel allowed his fear and anger to fill him before accepting them and pushing them outward into the force. There could be no mistakes in a place so filled with Dark Side energy and he could feel his own innate nature struggling against the bonds he imposed on himself.

Looking out across the main cave, Raynor quickly assessed the situation. Standing in the center of a circle of kinrath stood the wayward padawan. While the Kinrath appeared to be calm and peaceful, the darkness surrounding them indicated that all the padawan needed to do was make a gesture and the bug-like creatures would be on the two padawans like a pack of wolves. Keeping his composure as best as he could, Raynor reached out with the force and began to exude feelings of calm sincerity, hoping to calm the clearly wrathful padawan down. "This one meanz you no harm, Ferus. We are here to help you, if you will let uz."