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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3605832" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 477: Not-So-Aggressive NegotiationsStarships were such amazing things. Most beings in the galaxy seemed to take them for granted, but Tobias was always amazed by them. It didn’t matter the kind, either, Kanyak, X-Wing, or bulk transport...all of them had their own unique qualities that were simply fascinating. As it was the first time he had ever been aboard a Mon Calamari cruiser, Tobias was easily lost in the nuances of the ship.    The most notable quality to the ship that was unlike anything Tobias had ever experienced before was the air, itself. The atmosphere within was humid, to the point where, on some decks, it felt like walking through water. It was so humid, in fact, that Tobias couldn’t help but be reminded of Alraxia during the rain, and it took a great deal of effort to resist the urge to stay comfortable and simply morph to his Alraxian body. But the temperature wasn’t all that was so unique. The construction of the ship was much more like a Kanyak than anything he’d seen in a metal ship. Curves and very natural shapes formed the entirety of the ship, and Tobias sometimes found himself wondering if it was, in fact, alive.    Of course, Tobias was currently trying his best to stop being distracted by the beauty of the ship he was aboard and focus on the task at hand. This was ignoring the fact that he wasn’t completely sure what that task was, exactly. Master Ral was still aboard the shuttle, and had sent Tobias to go talk with Tokarr. The problem was, Tobias wasn’t told what it was he was actually supposed to be doing. Master Ral had dodged the question very easily more than once, and before Tobias knew it, he was off the transport and wandering the corridors of the ship to find a single person.    At least tracking him down wasn’t hard. One thing Tobias was getting the hang of was calming his wandering thoughts enough to sense presences in the Force around him. While he couldn’t quite pinpoint or track individuals, Tokarr was easy to spot as he had the same feeling from earlier...annoyance bordering on anger in such a way that it overpowered most of the other feelings that were permeating through the Force.    And now, still completely unsure of what he was actually doing, Tobias had found Tokarr. It was a sparring room of some sort, with a large, padded mat on the floor and along most of the walls. The Miraluka was currently unleashing a rather violent punishing on a padded punching bag that was roughly humanoid shaped. The thing that bothered Tobias, though, was the fact that he was able to enter the room and stand there for a good five minutes before Tokarr even took notice of him. Someone trained in the Force, even for a short time, should have known he was being watched right away.    Well, no, that was a lie.    What really bothered him was the way the air became heavy and oppressive when he entered the room, but Tobias tried to push that away as he had in that temple on Yavin IV, and so picked something else to be bothered by instead. It seemed logical enough to him.    “I was focused, thank you,” Tokarr’s voice growled at the dummy in front of him. The Miraluka still wasn’t turning around to face Tobias, but he could feel the Force shifting to focus on him slightly more.    That was also a lie. Tobias couldn’t detect it with the Force, he wasn’t that good, but he could hear it in Tokarr’s voice. But he was still unsure of what he was really supposed to be doing, and so simply decided not to make things worse by saying the wrong thing...so he said nothing.    However, that seemed to flare up more anger in Tokarr, who did turn around and tilted his head to the side slightly as if inspecting Tobias. Through the Force, Tobias could feel that this was definitely the case, “So Corentan sent you this time, hm?”    “He just wants to help,” Tobias said quietly.    Without eyes, Tokarr could not roll them, but the sigh he let out was just as effective, “Help what? Help me be a Jedi when that is obviously not my path? Help me to do what he thinks is right?”    Something clicked in Tobias’ mind and he realized a pattern in what Tokarr had been saying, “Its not about Master Ral.”    That was why Tobias was there. Tokarr kept making it all about Master Ral, using that to ignore the actual problem. Without the Jedi Master around, though, the argument wouldn’t hold for long...especially since Tobias hadn’t been told what to do and was working this all out as he went along.    “Oh, wonderful,” Tokarr pointed an accusing finger at Tobias and managed an eyeless glare through the cloth over his face, “So you come here like all the other Jedi. Self-righteous and swearing that you know what’s best for everyone. Here to tell me that because I’m not doing what you think is right, I’m evil and dark. I’d rather here that kriffing pile of junk from Corentan than an idealistic little sycophant.”    “Shut up!” there was a layer in those two words that Tobias didn’t realize he’d put in. He’d gotten so angry at the tirade that he’d actually layered his voice with the Force to make it like a hammer through the air.    It worked, and Tokarr stood there looking surprised at the sudden outburst. Tobias quickly took advantage of the silence to get straight to the point, having immediately calmed himself and now back to speaking in a more level tone, “No one has said you have to be a Jedi, Tokarr. You don’t. But you have a responsibility to not just throw away what you have learned! You can’t take what you want and throw the rest away. Have you even stopped and tried to feel the air around you? Your anger is so strong that its probably even being noticed by people that can’t even sense the Force in the first place!”    “Sithspit, don’t give me that responsibility lecture!” Tokarr stepped forward again, the anger around him growing considerably.    Tobias nearly threw his hands up in frustration but kept them firmly at his sides. His voice, however, showed the annoyance openly, “Fine! Forget the responsibility! Go get yourself, and everyone you work with here killed because you’re so caught up in your anger that you can’t focus on the job you’re supposed to be doing!”    A snarl formed on Tokarr’s face, “See? Because I don’t listen to you, I’m going to get other people killed! If anger’s so horrible, then why are you screaming at me?”    The realization of that hit Tobias hard. Suddenly the he had lost his train of thought, which was probably a good thing, and was lost in the fact that he was doing exactly what he shouldn’t be doing to try and help this man. Yelling at him was only fueling his anger and making it worse. But, for once, Tobias didn’t fall into self-pity or anger at himself. His mind worked quickly to put him back into a level headed state.    By the time he was back in the present, Tokarr was storming past him to the door to leave. However, before he reached it, Tobias said in a calm voice, “You’re only angry because you know its true, Tokarr. You can feel the darkness in you and you don’t know what to do. You’re afraid of it, and you’re angry at us for seeing that. And that only makes it grow. Master Ral isn’t angry at you, Tokarr. He doesn’t look down on you or think you’ve failed...he just wants to help you.”    Tokarr had stopped halfway through that. By the time Tobias had finished, the Miraluka had formed a fist and his hand was shaking. There was a very short second of silence and Tobias actually thought he might have finally managed it.    That hope was quickly killed when Tokarr let out a wordless growl of pure rage, turned around, and charged straight for Tobias.</blockquote>

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