Tython grand prix

[Nightmare Moon]

Out in front of the temple on Tython Rathru was waiting for several people to arrive. Today he was going to host class on force speed but to do it he desired a little bit of assistance from Della Frey another knight who was famed for her speed. As Rathru preformed vertical push-ups holding the weight of his body on one hand he recalled her reputation. Dell had earned herself the title of 'rabbit girl' amongst the padawans and even some knights and masters who though it was a rather humorous and apt description.

Rathru thought this was somewhat ironic as one of his pupils was in fact himself a rabbit. Della was proud of her speed (and with good reason) but not even Rathru knew If she would be able to beat a true lagomorph whose natural abilities were bolstered with force speed. It would be an interesting experience for those involved and a good way to make Tano push himself into using the ability as it was normally very difficult to get past the padwans short attention span and inability to focus on a single task for a long period of time.

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

Tano was starting to get use to the heavy weights of the vest that his master, Rathru Spawn Slayer, had given him to work on his strength and endurance. He had also taken to heart the task he had been set and practiced his telekinesis not only at night, but at every chance he could get. It had been hard at first, the rocks and logs he had set as a challenge for himself wobbled at first but he had gradually started to get the hang of it almost without his noticing. A message had been sent out to him from Rathru requesting his presence and he sped off at once to meet him. Luckily it was only out in front of the temple so he didn't have very far to travel and he made good time. He saw his master doing one handstand push ups that looked extremely hard, especially for one as big as him. He turned his fur the color of the duracrete he was standing on and tried to sneak up on him.

"Hey!" He shouted in surprise, turning his fur back to its usual sunny yellow, "You called? And wha'cha doin?" He started walking around on his hands, a task made hader thanks to the vest, but he didn't mind the extra challenge.

 

[TweedPawn]

Della was once again silent in her approach. She looked much healthier these days, her weight returning to the proper level of a girl her size. Her cheeks were fuller and her muscles were returning. he had a request from Rathru for her attendance at a meeting of sorts. Her mind was distracted with the burdens of raising a youngling, but Della decided to bring little Erica along.

"Are we meeting your jedi friends?" the child said with a scowl.

"Yes, we are. I think you will like them, in fact." Della replied. She knew very well of the Imperial child's distrust of the Order.

"Why?"

"Because one of them is very much a gentleman." Della continued to where the meeting place was. There was a strange rabbit-like creature with Rathru. It caused Della to give Rathru a questionable look, expecting an answer as to what this was about. In the meantime, it would only be proper to introduce Erica.

"This is Erica Xaden. She is a youngling under my care, but not of the Order." Della said. She placed her arms around Erica as the child looked up at the Maelibus and clung onto Della. Della gently reassured the girl.

"This is Rathru. You can watch us Erica. I just want you to spend time with us." Della looked up at the golden figure before her.

"Been practicing, have you?"

 

[Nightmare Moon]

"Aye - tis important to keep both ones body and mind honed lest they grow idle and fail when you most need them."

Rathru brought himself to a much more upright position.

"Greetings Della and well met to the little(er) one. You seem to be in a much finer state than when we last met. It is good to see that you are recovering from the ordeal"

Rathru motioned to the small rabbit like padawan.

"This is Tano. He is a padwan under my care and today I wish to teach him the basics of force speed. Of course I could simply do so myself but it seems a rather wasted opportunity to simply let the chance fly by when you have expressed the desire for greater opponents on the race track. And Kushiban seems to be the ideal competition for one quick as yourself."

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

Tano sat down as he saw the two people approaching, however, he had an itch in his left ear and raised his back paw to scratch it. He was interested in the two and stared avidly at Erica wondering well, he wasn't quite sure what he was wondering about just yet. However he gave off the impression that he was highly curious about something. He was so focused that one of his ears started to twitch. Then he got the bright idea to try and make her smile because she seemed uneasy, and who could blame her when Rathru was around? He flapped his ears over his eyes and changed his coat to a sky blue and when he raised his ears, his eyes changed to the same color as his fur and made a derpy face hoping to get a smile from her.

He turned when Rathru introduced him to Della, and changed his fur back to its usual sunny yellow hue. "Hi," he said, trying to put some seriousness back into his demeanor but failing miserably at it. His ear suddenly started twitching uncontrollably and he steadied it with one of his paws, "Uh... Sorry about that, they do that sometimes, anyways as master said I'm Rath- uh Tano." He felt extremely embarrassed at his fumble. While he could understand and speak basic fluently, it wasn't his first language and he still sometimes stumbled on words. However, he was feeling extra twitchy today at the expectation of a good race.

 

[TweedPawn]

Della stared dumb founded at the rabbit before her. Her nose twitched as she gave a skeptical rabbit-like expression at Rathru.

"Um, Rathru. I thi-"

The rabbit suddenly spoke. Della's face went stark white and she froze like a statue, her gaze fixed on the small animal before her. It certainly wasn't winged like the rabbits at home. Then it changed color. Della kept frozen stiff and at a complete loss of color.

"Oh, I've heard of Kushi. They're adorable." Erica giggled and reached out to pet the bunny.

 

[Nightmare Moon]

Rathru having been on many battlefields and having killed and banished entities that many others did not even believe in let alone faced in combat knew what the symptoms of shock looked like. Rathru knew that in many places including his home Iego rabbits did not talk let alone change their fur colour very often and that Della unless given something for her shock and informed as to what was going on would probably come to the conclusion that Tano was in fact a devil possessing the body of a rabbit.

It was not as silly an assumption as one may think. Rathru's ribs were still aching from where a smoke demon had punched him several weeks previous during one of his slayer missions. Tano while being rather hyperactive and impatient was evil by any means and certainly not the vessel for a darkside entity.

"Hold fast for a second Della"

Rathru went to an old canvas bag lying on the grass slightly away from the gathering. There he pulled forth a large sturdy looking vial filled with a turquoise coloured liquid that seemed to produce a faint glow.

Brewed from mushrooms that only grew in the deepest caverns of Iego and guarded by terrible beasts and guardians and only ever harvested by professionals who had trained for years the spirit was certainly one of the more potent in the galaxy. In the Maelibus tongue the drink was called "Thasgol Uldan" or 'world shaker brew' due to the effect that it had on those who drank it. It was said to rival even the might of the legendary 10 dark cocktails of the Sith.

Heading back to Della vial in hand Rathu opened the top of the vial and carefully poured a single tiny drop in the direction of Della's gaping mouth before replacing the cap.

Looking to Tano and Erica Rathru took a commanding tone

"Don't touch that! It WILL kill either of you"

Back to Della again.

"Don't worry Tano's species are simply a more intelligent breed of rabbit - it's not the work of dark magic."

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

Tano felt good inside to have made Erica smile, and laughed to himself at Della's reaction. He let out a soft purring as he let Erica pet him on his head, however, he stopped abruptly when Rathru mentioned something about him being a rabbit. His fur changed to a shade of red that showed his indignation at being referred to as a rodent and looked up at his master.

"I'm not a rabbit, why does everyone keep thinking I am one? I look nothing like one!" he said indignantly, then he looked over towards Della wondering about her shock, and calming down, fur changing back to its usual hue, he figured he should apologize to her after all it wasn't every day that you saw a creature who could change its color at will, "Uhh, sorry if I startled you, I was just trying to have some fun."

 

[TweedPawn]

Della suddenly felt something knock her senses straight. In response, Della started rapidly stomping her foot as she felt something like fire engulf her mouth and nose. She finally let out a deep breath and steadied herself. She still wasn't sure how to respond to the rabbit. Well, it claimed not to be a rabbit. It certainly looked like a rabbit.

Oddly enough, the others were not startled. They seemed used to the rabbit.

"Um, yes...of course...not a rabbit." Della's face twitched. She felt the warmth of whatever Rathru gave her spread to her cheeks and make her dull-headed. She felt sleepy and a bit heavy. It mudt have been a "stiff drink", as the Galactics said.

"Um, it's quite all right. Really. I'll be fine. So, Yes. Training. Speed. Um, what do you know already?"

 

[Nightmare Moon]

"Of speed itself I would wager a good deal. In the arts of force speed I would say next to naught. This is of course the reason we are gathered here today."

Rathru's gaze went to Tano.

"I shall demonstrate the use of force speed with my blade. Attempt to comprehend my actions and then set yourself up at this line."

Rathru's monstrous blade sliced a mark in the dirt.

"For afterwards you shall be challenging Della at what she does best. Race!"

His tone softening Rathru directed his next comment to Erica.

"Do not be alarmed at what is about to happen next. Simply stand back and no harm will befall thee."

Activating his own force speed Rathru surged out to one of the trees and at an almost blinding rate used his blade to sever the trunk in half horizontally - a killing blow to most any natural creature.

"I shall demonstrate again in case you missed that one"

Another surge and this time a tree was split in half vertically - an even stronger blow than the first.

"Now Tano prepare yourself and remove your weights for you shall be running against knight Frey and I expect the full extent of your effort poured into the task."

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

Tano watched with awe and started getting giddy with excitement as his master demonstrated the power of using the force to increase his speed. He was eager to try it out himself, as he had had experience running away from creatures as big as Rathru, though admittedly they were no where near as fast. His eyes lit up when Rathru told him he could take off his training gear and he did so happily feeling lighter and faster than he had though possible.

"That was quite impressive master," he said as he let his weights fall to the ground, "But I don't think you've seen what I'm capable of."

He bounced off the ground feeling light as a feather, then zipped around feeling as though he was barely touching the ground. The sensation put him in a state of such ecstasy that he laughed out loud feeling the pure enjoyment of the wind through his fur. However, he wasn't looking where he was going and crashed full force into a nearby tree. Dazed, he stumbled back towards his master as the world spun about.

"Owwch..." he said shaking his head, "Uh... yeah... I'm ready whenever you are."

 

[TweedPawn]

Della was not in her best condition, but the Force was already at work to remove the fuzzy feeling from her head. She gave herself a couple of shakes and a hop while Erica giggled at how silly Della looked. Della took her place to the starting line and watched the talking rabbit ready itself.

"Okay then. Never trained an...uh...I haven't trained much. So bear with me. But if it is one thing I know and that is speed. I'll go easy on you, to encourage you, but you better be ready for the run of your life. I want to see your mettle. Meet me back at this spot after looping around that tree." Della did a few stretches to work out the right of the booze from her system.

"Ready."

"Steady"

"GO!"

She darted like a comet. She did not need to out pace Tano right away. Della wanted to see his skill set. Della herself was light footed and agile. Very few could match her. Even fewer had seen her at her limit.

Erica gasped as she watched Della take off. She had no idea that the Snamreg was so quick. It excited her to see Della run in such a way. She recalled Della mentioning that the drugs on Xaden affected her speed, Erica understood why now.

"Come on Della! Beat him!"

 

[Nightmare Moon]

Rathru stood arms folded and face neutral - not giving any indication as to which side (If any) he wished to win the contest. The rabbit like human had longer legs but the human like rabbit had four of them.

Games were an important part of honing ones skills and learning survival tactics in the wild each one was merely a practice session for whatever one was to face be it predator or natural hazard. Of course what Tano and Della were training to match was not a product of nature at all but a perversion of it worked by those whose fear and greed had eroded all forms of morals and ethics that they had once possessed.

Rathru wondered If perhaps he was becoming somewhat obsessed before dismissing the thought. The Sith were practically at the Jedi's door and with an enemy at the gate it was lunacy to let one's thoughts ever stray too far from their presence.

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

"Come now," Tano said getting excited that the time was finally here, "I like a good challenge"

Tano readied himself in much the same way as Della, feeling light and limber he waited as she set the mark. However, he was surprised at Della's speed she was much faster than he suspected. He wasn't too worried though as he sped off keeping pace with the speedy human. He was having a blast, he let his enjoyment fill him and as they rounded the tree and on the last stretch he put on an extra burst of speed, one that made it feel as though he was skipping across the land like a stone skipping across a lake.

 

[TweedPawn]

It was excellent to see another love running as much as she did. Not only that, but they were naturally quick-footed as she she was. She watched the trainee arch and bend in order to cover distance. It really was a marvel the way swift animals could bend their bodies to run. Della's mind slowed the movement and saw how Tano's body was designed for quickness. She could see the way his heart would beat to keep the blood flowing and supply oxygen to the rest of the body. She saw the flexibility of the joints. Even the feet splayed out when they hit the ground to gain more traction.

She was matching him, however. It was very easy to do so. Tano may have been naturally gifted with speed, but Della had been training her entire life for sprinting. She was in her element, and the Force was also honed in her to be even faster. Just one burst would be needed and she would cross the finish line.