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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3782678" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 518: Lessons of ExperienceDrawing on the Force was something that could be described as a strain, but it wasn’t physical. It was a mental strain from the constant concentration that was required, but it could develop into a physical strain and eventually cause the user to black out...or worse. One of the most important things that Jedi were taught was learning to manage this strain and deal with the effects to the point that it was negligible.    Of course, Tobias had in trained for barely over a standard month. Despite previous experience with the Force thanks to his parents, he still had many, many years of learning ahead of him. While he was able to draw the Force to him and let it push his legs faster to keep up with the amazing speed Venda was moving at, Tobias couldn’t maintain it for long.    Feeling the strain in his legs and his head, Tobias called out what was supposed to have been Venda’s name, but instead it just came out as an odd, somewhat scratchy groan that she may or may not have heard. And, just a few seconds later, he stopped running, though having not taken into account the speed he was running at, momentum continued to move him forward...and Tobias went to the ground face first before rolling painfully for a good twenty meters.    When he came to a stop in the dirt and grass, Thyferra’s sun had set. Tobias lifted his face out of the ground and, ignoring the scratches, bruises, and scrapes that now covered his arms, legs, torso, and face, looked forward into the darkness to see a distant figure that was likely Venda.    Tobias sighed...and dirt escaped his mouth along with the air of the sigh, itself. Thank the Force no one had seen that...    Feeling the adrenaline fading and exhaustion taking over, Tobias’ mind wandered from the task at hand. He didn’t have the experience to focus on his job yet, either. And so, he just let his head drop down onto the surprisingly hard ground, closing his eyes and allowing himself a series of long, deep breaths.    “Toby!” Venda’s voice jolted Tobias back into the moment and caused him to jump up from his odd, face-down position in the dirt to see the human woman was only a meter from him, briskly jogging to him and kneeling to help him to his feet, “Are you alright?”    As Venda took his arm and helped him up, Tobias managed a shrug that caused his shoulder to ache for some reason. Trying to dust himself off, he mumbled, “Been worse...”    At that, the first response Venda used was to roll her eyes. She didn’t let go of his arm, either, as Tobias was swaying slightly and she was sure he’d fall over without the support. This, however, she didn’t mention. Instead, Venda decided to address the problem, “It is important to slow down before stopping.”    It took a very long circle for Tobias’ head to look up and meet her somewhat critical gaze being leveled on him, but he did his best to keep a neutral look on his face, “I’ll keep that in mind.”    There was no sarcasm in his voice. If Tobias had more experience in another area of life, say...anything involving the social aspects of life, he would have inserted sarcasm there. But he was too much like Marix in that aspect, and while he damn well knew what sarcasm was, actually applying it to a situation was easier said than done. At least he tried, though...and there was no one to tell him that trying wasn’t good enough.    There was, however, no time for Venda to respond to that. The first thing Tobias noticed was her eyes go noticeably wider. Then, barely a second later, his did, too...because, he assumed at least, Tobias felt the same thing in the Force. A sharp, almost painful screaming of a non-voice in his head to tell him to move right now!    Venda didn’t just let go of his arm, but she pushed Tobias hard to the ground, diving the opposite direction at the same time. Twisting as he fell, Tobias watched a red blaster bolt fly right through the air they had occupied...and then he hit the ground hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of him.    While Venda was jumping up to her feet and identifying the direction of the attack, Tobias was on his back gasping for air and calming himself as best he could. Deeper instincts were helping him remorph the scrapes and bruises, and by the time they were gone, he could breathe again...though Tobias felt a bit light headed still.    Snap-hiss!    Tobias’ vision came back into focus to see Venda’s green lightsaber jolt back to life, turning their once-black surroundings into a dimly, green-lit area. Scrambling up to his feet, Tobias saw a blue light moving towards them.    Tokarr.    Of course it was Tokarr.    “The hell is he coming back for?!” Tobias grumbled as he pulled himself up to his feet and fumbled on his belt to remove the lightsaber yet again, “Wasn’t he running from us?”    Venda spared a glance to the younger Tobias and tried to not stare at the splotches of dirt stuck to his cheek and clumped all through his already-messy mass of black hair, “He has changed his mind, it would seem. Feel the Force...he is...unstable. We have to end this before he gets any further.”    Though he didn’t particularly like the sound of that, Tobias nodded. Then the Force was screaming again, and Tokarr’s form could be seen just meters away, blue lightsaber ablaze and up as he charged in.    Quickly, Venda took a step in front of Tobias, sweeping her green blade upwards and literally batting Tokarr’s downward strike back upwards. But that didn’t stop Tokarr’s forward momentum, and much like Tobias had done earlier, Tokarr kept moving...straight into Venda.    The Miraluka plowed into her shoulder first, and suddenly her back slammed into Tobias’ torso. He had a very short moment to be glad that he had yet to activate his own lightsaber, as it would cut Venda in two, before being dropped to the ground on his back...again.    While Venda fell to the side, she was up in a flash, as was Tokarr, who had dropped to the ground right at Tobias’ feet. Tokarr, too, was up quickly, and when Tobias looked up he could see a bright white flash as the two lightsabers collided again.    Thinking, for once, Tobias didn’t just jump to his feet and get in the middle of the two very deadly weapons. Instead, he crawled away just a couple of meters before pulling himself up. This gave Venda room to actually use her skills without worrying about cutting Tobias to pieces...and Tokarr...well...Tokarr didn’t seem to care who he cut.    Now on his feet, though, Tobias activated his own lightsaber. A blue-green blade shot to life as a perfect mix for the blue and the green that were already spinning, swinging, arcing, and colliding in front of him. It was an amazing light show in the dark, but a show it was not.    This had to end.    To protect others...it had to end.    The igniting of Tobias’ blade was enough to get Tokarr’s attention. The Miraluka had no eyes, but Tobias felt a slight focusing of the Force as he was ‘looked’ at. It faded slightly as Venda pressed an attack, and then Tobias made a decision.    With Tokarr being pushed to Tobias’ right, losing ground from his defensive position thanks to Venda’s superior lightsaber technique, the Miraluka had his hands full. So, Tobias took two steps to his right, then one large step forward as he brought his lightsaber across in a long, horizontal arc that would slash Tokarr straight across the back.    There was a flash of intense pressure in the Force that seemed to originate from Tokarr, and then, somehow, he ducked under a similar strike from Venda while at the same time shifting his blade to his flank and inverting it. The blue blade amazingly caught Tobias’ strike, despite the fact that Tokarr was, literally, holding the weapon over his shoulder. This surprise for Tobias was enough that Tokarr flipped his own blade upwards, throwing Tobias’ up and away and causing the young man to lose his footing.    But Tokarr’s swing wasn’t just a defensive strike.    He continued it, turning it into a long, vertical slash that was fast enough and close enough, thanks to Tobias’ sudden stopping of Tokarr’s retreat, to Venda that she had no way to pull her lightsaber back in to defend herself.    In a horrifying moment, Tobias’ eyes watched the blue lightsaber cut deep into Venda’s right shoulder, slice straight down her chest diagonally, then leave her body at the left hip. He could see a long, black scorch mark where the lightsaber had gone, but it was the cry of anguish and violent wracking of the Force from Venda that nearly caused Tobias to get sick.    Venda dropped to the ground without any more than that cry, her lightsaber falling off to the side and deactivating automatically thanks to its safety mechanism. Tokarr’s head spun around to look, eyelessly, straight at Tobias. A haunting sneer formed on the almost-human’s face, and then he started to run again. He ran south...farther south...like a coward...    And Tobias just stood there in shock. He could see, to his left, Venda on the ground, a slight smoke rising from the lightsaber wound and a disturbing feeling of emptiness in the Force from her. To his right, towards the south, he could see the blue lightsaber disappearing into the black of the Thyferran night.    She was dead.    He’d killed her.    And it was Tobias’ fault.    It was Tobias’ fault.    Part of him wanted to collapse to the ground there and just cry. He was still a child, so much younger than the years would say he was. Tobias did not understand why he people seemed to be so happy at death...and was left in shock at what had just happened in front of him because of it.    But there was another part of him that was taking control.    It told him that Tokarr was running away.    It told him that there was a city to the south.    And it forced him to make a decision.    A long, quivering breath escaped Tobias as the thrumming of his lightsaber continued at his side, and he managed to allow himself one more look at Venda. That was his fault. He’d tried to stop something with so little experience that he’d not thought about actually letting her handle it. And now she was dead. Now she was dead...    Tobias looked south, no longer able to see the blue lightsaber but able to feel the almost-tangible darkness that was most definitely Tokarr. And then, with a deep breath, Tobias drew the Force to himself...    And he ran south.</blockquote>

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