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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3391582" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 441: LessonsMaster Ral watched Tobias silently as the young man walked to him from the entrance to the temple. There was something in the Omwati’s eyes that Tobias couldn’t pinpoint, and the Force didn’t help one bit. Sure, Tobias was no expert with the whole Force thing just yet, but Master Ral had a way of keeping his emotions extremely well hidden...or not there at all, he guessed. The lanky, blue humanoid was the epitome of a scholarly Jedi, Tobias realized.    Tobias did, however, feel the Jedi Master reach out and touch him with the Force, which was as uncomfortable as always. Something about that bothered him to know end and always had...even when it had been Jyren just teasing him. Something about getting into his head like that just felt...wrong. He hadn’t ever bothered with the why to that.    Despite the fact that the Omwati was standing calmly with his hands at his sides, Tobias felt like the stoic expression on that blue face made up for the lack of crossed arms. When he was within a few meters, the Jedi Master finally spoke up, “You are injured.”    Suddenly worried that he’s missed something, Tobias followed his Master’s gaze down to the hand that held the ancient, metal sword. It was then that he noticed the grip was covered in a deep red that was sliding down the rest of the weapon. Quickly, he switched the blade into his other hand and lifted his left to look at his palm. Two scars ran across his palm and there was a rather large bruise in between them, and while they weren’t that deep, they were still bleeding enough to be...disturbing. Tobias had the same aversion to red coloured blood that his mother did.    “I...” he trailed off, shaking his head then looked up to the Omwati’s face, “I don’t know how this happened.”    “You were careless,” Master Ral said simply while he reached out and placed his hand over Tobias’. In a moment, Tobias felt the Force flowing through the wounds and closing them...something that was completely unnecessary since he could morph...but then again, he wasn’t about to morph in front of anyone that didn’t know he could. Then, returning his hand to his side, Master Ral added, “You failed, Tobias.”    The young man looked worried and slightly panicked for only a few seconds before looking down to the sword in his right hand. He sighed and shook his head again, “I didn’t have time to find the right object...I just...”    “What you retrieved was not important, Toby,” the Omwati’s answer shocked him, causing Tobias to look up with wide eyes, “It is how you retrieved it.”    There was silence, then the Jedi Master seemed aware of the surprise that was emanating from Tobias. In the same calm voice, he expanded on the somewhat cryptic statement, “Before you entered that place, I told you that the only danger you would encounter in there was what you took with you. The only thing you took with you a glowrod I currently cannot see on you anymore. You return to me, barely ten minutes after you entered, drenched in sweat, your own blood from a wound you admit not realizing you had, and radiating a fear through the Force so strong that every animal anywhere near us has fled.”    Opening his ears first, and into the Force second, Tobias confirmed that this wasn’t an exaggeration. He could hear nothing nearby, and only feel himself and Master Ral...the wildlife that always populated the moon had all but vanished. Realization finally starting to hit him, Tobias jabbed the ancient sword down into the sand at the edge of the lake before letting himself fall down next to it and sigh heavily, “I’m sorry.”    In a much slower motion, Master Ral moved to sit in front of his young apprentice. He soon was also in the sand, cross-legged and as serene looking as ever...though, for once, Tobias could detect a hint of concern from the Omwati. After a few more moments of quiet, the Jedi Master asked, “Normally, an apprentice would be left to contemplate the events in that trial by themselves to come to an understanding of why they failed. You must understand...it is not an easy test. Most do fail when faced with it. But this...” the Jedi Master’s head tilted to the side very slightly, “I feel this situation is different. Tell me, Tobias...what happened in that place?”    For a moment, Tobias couldn’t help but feel those words sink in. But he shook it off more quickly than usual and spoke towards the ground, “I saw my...my father...” he shook his head then quickly corrected himself, “My biological father. I don’t remember him at all...I just know that he tried to kill billions out of some twisted wish for revenge and I was just a pawn in his plans.”    Reaching up, Tobias pushed some of his unruly hair out of his face and looked at the sword...while trying to ignore the red streaks all around the hilt, “He wasn’t...real. It was just a vision but...he taunted me...laughed. I don’t even remember his voice but I knew it the second I heard it. And he kept taunting until I...I grabbed whatever I could find a swung at him. But he stopped it,” finally, Tobias looked up to his Master, “He wasn’t real. He’s been dead for a decade but he...he had a sword and he stopped me. He tried to kill me. I just...I panicked. I threw my glowrod at him and...and I ran.”    “You have a strength in the Force that is not often seen, Tobias,” Master Ral said after Toby had finished, “It would not surprise me to learn that both of your natural parents were also strong in the Force. You must understand that while our bodies die, we join with the Force. We do live on...everything does. Those strong enough in the Force can, essentially, hang onto to this reality. But that does not mean they can regain their physical form.”    “But my hand and...he blocked the sword when I swung it at him...” Tobias was still trying to make sense of everything but, for obvious reasons, not succeeding.    Master Ral, who had obviously been going over what Tobias had told him, seemed to be working out everything.  It didn’t take long before he asked, “Tobias, you said you threw your glowrod at him, correct?”    Not sure what that meant, Tobias just nodded. Though now he was looking at his Master with interest, wondering where this was going.    “Did you pick it back up?”    Stopping and thinking about this a moment before he answered, Tobias went over the events. It had shattered first...then he’d scrambled for it...and throw it after. He still didn’t understand where Master Ral was going with this train of thought, but said, “It...broke first. I fell and it shattered. I picked it up and ran to the room you told me to find and that’s when I uh...threw it.”    At that, the Omwati master simply nodded, “The cuts on your hand weren’t deep enough to be from a blade. Not only that, but you could not have received them while holding that sword. Could you have cut your hand while on the fragments of the glowrod when you tried to pick it up?”    A look of surprise washed over Tobias’ features and he replayed the events in his mind again. He had felt a pain in his hand, now that he thought about it, but it had been so minimal at the time...overshadowed by the fear that was gripping him. He didn’t even notice it...    “What about the sword?” Tobias asked after another moment.    Master Ral leaned in slightly and carefully placed his hand on the metal’s edge. After a quick inspection, he said, “If this blade hit another, it would have shattered. The metal isn’t strong at all and its thousands of years old,” he paused a moment, and then before Tobias asked the obvious question, Master Ral answered it, “The Dark Side is strong in that Temple. It was once a home to the ancient Sith. Illusions can become more real, especially when you let your fear grip you.”It was hard not to nod at that. It was true, of course. Quietly, Tobias mumbled, “So I’m right back where I started.”    “No, Tobias, you aren’t,” as Master Ral spoke, he got to his feet again. Once up, he extended a hand down to help Toby up, “You must learn from what happened today. Do not pass it off as a simple failure...every failure teaches us something both about the Force and ourselves. Find that, and you can turn a failure into a success.”    Tobias took his Master’s hand and didn’t complain at all about being helped to his feet. Once he was up, the Omwati Jedi gave him a simple nod, then turned and started the walk back to the Great Temple. Tobias watched his Master walk off for a moment, going over what had been said.    Then his stomach rumbled.    Shaking his head, Toby reached down and grabbed the sword, seeing no reason to leave it behind, then headed after his Master. Not only was he exhausted from what had happened...but he was starving.</blockquote>

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