Private Binds All Things

[Aaran Tafo]

Location: Coruscant Park

As the rays of light slowly broke over the horizon he inhaled deeply through his nose, letting the revitalising rays of the sun wash over his face as he sat cross legged, facing the dawn. Beside him lay a giant lumbering beast of immense size, softly panting, as its head turned from side to side, great snuffling noises rumbling from its nose as it took in the various scents.

Here in the park, the nose of the average human could trick itself into thinking that it wasn't surrounded by a city, with all the various scents that such a place implied. But for a Lurix, it was but a veil covering up a greater bounty that lay just beyond the trees.

But Luach was well used to it. The sights, the sounds of the big city before were overwhelming, but after some time, they adjusted remarkably well. Instead their focus was mainly on the newcomer. The newest Padawan of rather unusual heritage and style.

Granted, Daisy was not the first Atrisian Jedi Aaran had met who favoured a physical blade over a lightsaber. But at least this one was of a far gentler temperament than Ishida. But if he heard correctly, the other albino samurai had tempered herself considerably since last they met.

“Apologies for pulling you out of bed so early, Padawan.” He said, head tilting forward slightly, as the great beast at his side regarded her curiously, head creeping forward on the grass, inspecting the newcomer more closely..

“But I always felt that this kind of training works best earlier in the day.” Since this was more of a philosophical debate than it would be something as mundane as katas or physical conditioning. That could come later. For now he wanted to get a better grasp of who he was dealing with.

“Now you’ll forgive the openiness of the question. But I feel it is always a good one to ask to get a good grasp of an individual.”

“Padawan tell me. What is the Force to you?”

Ichika Masudo

 

[Ichika Masudo]

Waking in advance of dawn wasn't unfamiliar to her, and the sleeplessness caused by her excitement at moving into the Temple had resolved as she settled in and became familiar with her new residence in the weeks since. So too had she adapted to her new schedule, so that when she sat in the grass with her new Master as daylight broke, in the cool early morning air, her focus and thoughts were clear.

"There is no need to apologise, Master. I often wake early; it's the most peaceful part of the day."

Even with the panting and snuffling, and the din of noise in this sector of Galactic City in the early hours... much of the sector was still asleep. Quiet. Not feeling so strongly.

"What is the Force to me?" She blinked, and tilted her head down, thinking on the question. "It's..." she lifted her head after a minute. "...in almost everything, encompassing everything, connecting..."

It was why she, as an old thought experiment was concerned, might know for certain whether the cat in the box was alive or not, without looking in the box.

"...and why I can feel, and not just see," she smiled, regarding the large beast for a few moments, rather enormous compared to her one spukamas and two okameinko, back home on Atrisia, all three of whom she missed, "that your pet is curious about me."

Aaran Tafo

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[Aaran Tafo]

Oh thank the Force, he got a morning person.

There were few things harder to deal with than a grumpy Padawan woken at dawn. Not that he could particularly blame them for being upset. Teenagers always needed more sleep and always needed more food. At least that was how it was when he was Daisy's age. Endlessly hungry and always wanting to sleep. His blood ran hotter then, eager to fight the good fight, to test himself, to reach ever further to the pinnacle of power.

He smiled softly as nostalgia threatened to overtake him. Youth truly was wasted on the young.

"I imagine he is." Aaran said, reaching over to pat the flank of the giant beast beside him. Who was slowly inching closer to Daisy, shuffling along the ground slowly in order to not scare the much smaller humanoid. Despite his great affection for those humanoids who were much smaller than him. He always found they got rather agitated whenever he bounded up to them looking to say hello.

It took him a while to catch on that they were in fact running away in panic and not inviting him to chase them in a game of tag.

But slowly, inch by inch, he would shuffle closer until his head, whose size was equal to Daisy as she knelt across from her new Master. Giant soulful eyes staring at her, pleading, hoping that perhaps she'd be a new friend.

"And yes, the Force is in all things, binding the universe together." He said, holding up a hand. "Gravity, Electromagnetism, the two Nuclear Forces and The Force itself." Listing off each of the fundamental forces of the universe on each finger. "The last of which interferes enough with the first four that I'm barred from the physics department in Coruscant University." He said, chuckling slightly.

Goodness they had a fit when he let them study him in depth as he showed off some of the more mind boggling techniques such as Tutaminis. Turns out that turning into a room temperature organic superconductor was enough to cause some professors to walk out and take up religion.

The administration still hasn't forgiven him.

"But as a follow up question then Padawan. If we understand that the Force is in all things, what is it that holds us back from fully understanding it?" He asked, leaning forward slightly as he placed his fist under his chin, giving her an enquiring look. "It is when we are in a place of calm that we find ourselves able to best connect with it. To gain an inkling of an understanding of its mysteries."

"Do you know why that is? Why is it that when we seemingly distance ourselves from the Galaxy that we can best feel the Force that binds it together? Therefore becoming more connected to it than ever."

He was leading her to something clearly, but he wanted to better get a grasp of his new Padawan, to try and figure them out. To see where she went with his probings. The manner in which one answered questions told one quite a bit about someone.

Ichika Masudo

 

[Ichika Masudo]

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She laughed a light laugh with him, a sweet sound, soft like her voice on most occasions.

"I didn't know things like that could happen!"

What other hijinks had her Master gotten up to? Would she ever do such a thing? Improbable. When he continued his questions, she listened intently, thinking about what he was bringing forth. How she would answer it. She nipped at the inside of her lower lip for a moment.

“Because its voice is quieter than the galaxy around us,” she started, “It’s the same with the body. It will tell you how it feels, if you stop and listen before it forces you to notice how it feels, with pain.”

She had been taught to be aware of herself. She glanced at Luach again, close enough that he could nudge at her with his big snout, and lifted a hand, but then paused… how did you pet a beast so large? What did they like? This certainly wasn’t a cat. She peered at the beast curiously.

Aaran Tafo

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