I am the balance... [Ayden Cater]

[Thadd Zarr]

Thadd's muscles trembled as sweat ran down from his chest, into his face and dripped off his nose. Thadd's eyes were rolled back and his eyelids flickered as he hung there, completely vertical in a handstand. Time seemed to slow and blur in his deep trance, but somewhere in his subconscious he knew that he had been hanging there for around 40 minutes. His breathing had slowed to shallow but controlled breaths. He could hear his heart beating slowly in his chest. The beats of his heart seemed to be explode like depth charges under water. It was the only sound that he could hear. A dense jungle on New Plympto served as the perfect place to find balance between the light and the dark.

As he hung in the air, in his trance, his thoughts drifted to the past. His surroundings transformed and he was standing on snow. He could feel the cold plains on Ruusaan as the breeze bit at his face and cheeks. His old master, nameless to him, moved swiftly challenging his physical prowess and fighting abilities. The old man would attack, Thadd would block and deflect. Weapons made of Bone and flesh, that were their arms, fists, and legs, pounded each-other. "Remember..." The master spoke between breaths, "don't slip into the dark... nor fall into the light..." His master's gruff voice didn't give any hint of fatigue. A roundhouse kick nearly took his head off but he raised his forearms in time to catch the master's leg. "Use the anger to power your energy... but don't fall into the hate.." A punch caught him in the stomach. Thadd could barely catch his breath. He gasped and looked up at the old blue eyes, "You must find balance between the chaos and harmony... You can have neither extremes. This is our way." The Master laid a final blow, a closed-fist chop across his neck. Whether it was a vision, dream, or memory didn't matter. With the thought of the blow the master and the surroundings disappeared like smoke being blown away. Thadd fell to the ground with a *thud*. His breathing quickly picked up again and the sound of his heart beat faded out of mind. He could almost feel the side of his neck aching from the blow. A blow that wasn't actually, real. But then, what was real with the Force?

Thadd cleaned the sweat off his face and chest and sat on the ground near his sword. The ancient sword that was supposedly given to his master by an ancient group. Could it be true that some of the first force users in the galaxy had held this weapon, the Je'daii?

A sound in the distance drew Thadd's eyes upwards. Someone was approaching. He could feel their presence in the Force, burning like a fire in the darkness. Or was it the opposite, like a shadow in a burning desert?

Who was it that approached?....

 

[Ayden Cater]

Ayden sat on the stump of a fallen tree. He knew well enough to know when someone was busy with a meditative exercise. Gods knew he had done his fair share of them, when he was still with the Jedi, in another life. It was certainly not a time he spoke of. He doubted anyone could say that he had ever been a Jedi, so thorough was he in covering his tracks. Not that he wasn't appreciative of the lessons he had learned with the Jedi. It was just that he had long since learned the hard way how inflexible and dogmatic the Jedi were.

What brought him to this unremarkable planet was a favor to Tegaea. While they got thousands of applications weekly, anyone who got an in from personal contacts always got a follow-up. It didn't hurt that, according to Tegaea, this man's in had been a reclusive master on Ruusan. There were enough questions and flags in this man's file to warrant a full review. But that would be a waste of time. And in a rare twist, would have been far to round-about for Ayden's taste.

So when Thadd fell, Ayden stepped off the stump and brushed himself off. Stepping out of the trees into the clearing, Ayden stood with his arms folded across his chest and looked down. Dressed appropriately for the jungle world, Ayden wore a sleeves beige tunic with a utility belt and pants. Wrappings covered his forearms and completed the ensemble. "Well now. You come find civilization with OmegaPyre, and your first order of business is to run off. Sounds like you're looking for something."

 

[Thadd Zarr]

His eyes met @[member="Ayden Cater"] ....

Thadd looked up at Ayden Cater, came to one knee and then stood up. "Run off?" Thadd echoed the words of the mysterious master that stood before him. His voice hinted with strong defiance. Although Ayden stood slightly taller than Thadd, he kept his head held with enough pride that he could almost look eye to eye with him. He felt his blood start to singe within his viens as he thought of being controled by someone, someone always acusing him of "running off", leaving his assignment, leaving his life behind.....


*Control* Something flashed in Thadd's mind and he remembered where he was, and when it was. The cartel was in the past. He wasn't that mad dog kept on a short leash. He was in control of his destiny and life now, not the Hutts, or their scum. He couldn't loose his balance. He thought of what he was taught.

"I wasn't running anywhere." Thadd said with a heavy sigh, lowering his gaze from Ayden's eyes. "And what I was looking for was merely some... peace. Some harmony within all the chaos." Thadd waved his hand to his side gesturing at the lush jungle that surrounded them. "And this seemed like the perfect place to seek that."


Although his words were clear, to the point, Thadd's thoughts betrayed him. The fight within to keep in that place between the warmth of the light and the cool pull of the darkness was stronger than ever. He remembered when he was younger, offworld with his family, swimming at the mouth of a river that flowed into an ocean. Its cool waters mixing gently against the warm ocean water. It was perfect. That was peace.

But Thadd's thoughts were slidding into the cold. Into rage, hate. He wanted revenge badly against the Hutts, he wanted to hunt everyone of those slimy worms down and gut them alive. And he would have his chance. But he wasn't going to be dominated by the dark or the light to acomplish that goal, he wouldn't become another slave, not even to the force itself.....


"Tell me Ayden, why are you here? You are a far way off from Fondor. And I didn't request a baby sitter..." Thadd reached down and took his sword, sheething it in its Kyrat skin case. That defiant gaze returned as his eyes as they flared up to meet Ayden's.

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Thadd Zarr"]

A smirk would have crossed Ayden's lips had he no sense, but he knew better and kept an impassive mask. There was much of himself staring back at him, daring the Corellian to make a move. It didn't seem like it was so long ago that he had been immersed in an seemingly endless see of rage. He remembered those nights, waking up screaming and finding whatever room he had been sleeping in to be an absolute wreck from his violent lashing out through the Force. But that was another life, and wasn't the important thing now.

"Seeking peace on far-flung worlds isn't exactly the way you should go about it." Ayden spoke with that tell-tale Corelian drawl, slowing walking around the clearing. "Peace is something that you should find within yourself. If you cannot be at peace there, where can you be at peace?" It seemed silly waxing of rhetoric and poetry, but Ayden knew the truth behind his own words.

"And as to why I'm here..." He turned and caught that defiant gaze with a level gaze of his own and held it, "There are a number of reasons, and being your baby sitter is not one of them. I'm pretty sure we can hire those." He chuckled and seemed to be ease on the jungle world. Despite all the words Thadd was throwing off, Ayden didn't seem keen to take any of it personally.

His jovialness seemed to dissipate though after a moment. "I read your file. I'm sorry about your parents." It was an old thing, and his words meant little, but it still had to be said. "So I know at least part of what drives you. And if you intend on extracting your revenge..." Ayden turned to face Thadd fully, locking eyes with the Nar Shaddaan. "Then I'd say there are some skills we need to sharpen. Wouldn't you?"

 

[Thadd Zarr]

@[member="Ayden Cater"] 's words rang true. Peace wasn't based on a location, but within himself. His old master would have said the same thing. Thadd listened to Ayden talk and broke his defiant gaze from the master's. He wasn't showing the respect that he should.

"Sorry about my parents...." He thought to himself. Thadd's teeth gritted. He had no idea what he was saying...

"If my mother had died with my father that would have been a kindness, a mercy." Thadd's eyes were red with emotion and stress, "Yet they tortured her... They made her scream to me so that I would carry out their gutless crimes."

He regained his composure for a moment, his eyes filled with fire and zeal. The next look he glared at Ayden wasn't one of defiance, but of determination, yearning to gain more power and exact revenge on his enemies. He bowed his head slightly. "Yes. Sharpened..... Sharp like a blade. I am in your hands master."

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Thadd Zarr"]

Ayden stood there, passively, while Thadd made his pledge. For a moment, he simply stood there like a statue. Eventually, he brought one hand up and pointed the palm of his hand towards Thadd. Without a word, he hurled a wave of Force energy outwards, not hard enough to cause serious injury, but more than enough to be casually dismissed. As the energy parted around Thadd, the left over wave struck the treeline and caused several older trees to creak ominously and at least one to emit a sharp crack.

"Let's be clear on one thing. I am not your 'master'." His voice was icy, his gaze hard as durasteel. "That is a title that the Jedi and Sith cling to as part of their backwards and dogmatic ways, used only to reinforce their ego-maniacal sense of power. The only difference between us is what I know. You will not be a slave to my whims. I will be your teacher, your mentor. I will endeavor to teach you what I know so that you might one day have your revenge."

His posture relaxed, and Ayden seemed to warm from his sudden frigid demeanor. "I don't care that your ultimate goal right now is revenge. It's hardly my concern. What is my concern is making sure that you are learned enough to reach that goal and come back alive." Ayden reached out with on hand, drawing towards him a number of rocks and bringing them to orbit around his person.

"I have but two rules I expect you to follow while I'm teaching you. The first; I will drive you hard. I will test you to your very limits and then throw you off the cliff. If you think you can't handle it, say so and we'll find someone else to teach you." He spoke harshly, but without anger or threat. It was simply a point of fact that the coming training would be harsh. But then, the being Thadd hoped to slay was harsh. "As for the second rule... Until I say you're ready, I don't care if Grom sits his fat Sithspitting ass on a silver plate in front of you. You will not try to kill him."

 

[Thadd Zarr]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

Ayden raised his hand and emitted a quick force blast out at Zarr all in one sweeping motion. Thadd was taken by surprise and he raised his arms to protect his face, a natural defensive reaction. Thadd didn't know exactly how but he subconsciously formed a force bubble around himself protecting him from the light blast. Even so, he could feel his feet stumbling backwards slightly as he tried to regain his footing and not fall to the ground as the blast enveloped him. Like a mix between fire and cool air, the force felt amazing to his senses. The trees behind all swayed backwards, like some invisible windstorm had pushed them to their limits. At least one cracked and fell to the ground.

The Force blast was light and probably didn't take up much effort for the "master" to conjure up, but it defiantly proved it's point. Thadd had before him a powerful force user, and one that was willing to guide him on his own path. Ayden had Thadd's attention as he now paid attention to every word that he spoke.

Thadd listened to Ayden's counsel and propositions and nodded slowly. "Yes. I can handle it..." Thadd bowed his head in recognition and acceptance of the master's words. Many thoughts ran through his mind. What would the training consist of, and what would he become after the training. He could feel his heart racing, pounding in his chest. Was it from fear or excitement? He didn't know exactly but he used the fear to temper his blind excitement so as not to loose control of his thoughts. It was all in the balance... I am the balance..... "I'm not running away from this Ayden." Thadd looked more resolved and determined then ever. " I will accept the training. And I won't go after Grom until you say I am ready."

Thadd looked up and met the older correlian's eyes. A sly grin appeared over Thadd's mouth. If this training could kill him than he was going to try to enjoy every moment at the very least. "So, when do we get started old man?"

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Thadd Zarr"]


Ayden looked at his new student with approval. He had thrown up a barrier with (as far as Ayden knew) no knowledge of how to do so. The details of Thadd's former master were still sketchy, but it didn't appear that he had taught Thadd any particularly advanced techniques. Mostly it looked as though he worked on fundamentals and ensuring that the Nar Shaddaan got a measure of control over his use of the Force. That was good. Meant he could skip the super, super boring stuff.

As the young man quipped, Ayden smirked. "We get started as of right now." All at once, he jumped into the air with virtually no effort, tumbling acrobatically though the air before landing on a thick branch some twenty or thirty meters up. "We're not going to work on Mind Tricks, at least not right now." Despite the distance, his voice carried easily down to Thadd without having to strain. "Hutts are one of the few species in the galaxy to have a strong mental defense. It's practically impossible to mentally subdue a Hutt."

Ayden took a moment to sense his surroundings before he jumped backwards and disappeared into the trees. His presence within the Force seemed to fade and dwindle to nothing. Moments later, he walked back into the clearing, this time opposite the direction from which he entered. No marks could be found on his body and he did not seem at all out of breath, despite the distanced and speed with which he had to move. "To beat Grom, you'll have to be faster, quieter, and more keen than ever before. He'll have traps and hidden guards all around him. You'll have to sense everything and know all the dangers if you hope to sate your vengeance."

For a moment, Ayden went quiet. He seemed to be elsewhere, in a far off place, before snapping back to the moment. "Your first task is going to be tracking me through the forest." One hand came up, revealing the chronometer on his wrist. "You have six hours to find. Use whatever you can to try and find me." Like a switch, Ayden seemed to disappear in the Force, even as he took several steps away from Thadd. "We'll repeat this exercise as long as necessary until you can track me down effortlessly." And with those final words, Ayden leapt backwards and disappeared through the trees. "Let's get started."

 

[Thadd Zarr]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

Thadd was reaching out with the force the whole time as Ayden spoke to him. Poking and sensing every nuance and detail of the correlian that stood before him. Thadd had learned certain concepts about the force such as the basics of using his senses to see and feel anything around him, heighten his mind and open it with the force, and to stay in balance with his surroundings at all times.

Thadd looked on as Ayden preformed physical feats that were more than likely outside the ability of any normal humanoid creature. Thadd kept his senses focussed on Ayden, not wanting to break his connection, like a a target locked in his vision. But Ayden was making it dificult. Keeping Ayden locked in his mind with the force was like trying to pull a Hapen river eel out of the water, he just kept slipping out of his mind's fingers.

Then with a few final words, Ayden jumped backwards and his presence was gone. The "force lock" that he had in his mind went blank.

"I have 6 Hours?" Grunted Thadd to himself. "Judging by that show of acrobatic physical ability and his apparent stealth through the force he could be a kilometer away by now." Thadd scratched his head, "Or directly above me grinning to himself." Thadd shot a glare up at the tree that loomed over him. There was no one there obviously. This was going to be more of a challenge than Thadd had anticipated. But the thought of the challenge was motivation in itself. Thadd plunged forward into the jungle, in the most obvious direction first.

--------------------

Thadd knelt down on the spongy moss covered ground, observing and scanning for any signs of Ayden, there were none of course. Hours had passed and Thadd was slowly convincing himself that this training session was setup for failure. This was a master of the force that could no doubt be anywhere right now. "This is a waste of time. Why is he putting me through this wild tauntaun chase!.." Thadd's frustration was growing as he seemed to yell at the trees around him.

Balance... Thadd thought to himself. Ayden was a master of the Force, imagine what he could do, things that other beings without the force couldn't dream of achieving. A thin smile formed on Thadd's mouth. The force is indeed a powerful tool. How many warriors and soldiers would give everything to control such power. If he were patient however, maybe he too could achieve such control, such balance with the force, one day.

Thadd calmed himself once more and thought of what he might be doing wrong. I can't find him in the force... he is hidden too well. Thadd closed his eyes once more to see if he could sense Ayden's presence, he could not. Ayden was in perfect control of his force presense it seemed. He had felt no ripple for some time now. And he leaves no trace, no foot steps, no broken tree branches, no bent blade of grass.... Thadd had been observing his surroundings making sweeping search patters around where Ayden had apparently "disappeared" several hours earlier, but found no evidence that anyone had passed through the jungle. What am I missing?...

An idea came to his mind. I may not be able to sense him. And he might be moving so stealthly that he leaves no phyiscal trace of his presense either. But there is no fish that swims without rippling the water around him.... Thadd remembered the "stealth snakes" that lived in the lakes of Nar Shaddaa. Evil creatures that were almost invisible to the naked eye. The only way the children playing in the lakes could sense them approaching, preventing one of their deadly bites, was from the rippling surface of the water as they swam. No fish that doesn't make a ripple. Thadd repeated the phrase in his mind as he closed his eyes and sunk himself into the force as much as possible. A trance like state came over him, everything around seemed to be amplified, the sounds of insects fluttering by, small creatures scurrying through the leaves. Every creature was radiating in the force, part of the force. Ayden was merely a fish hiding in the "lake." He felt the force like a sea around him like the smooth flowing of the water of a still lake. But then there was something... a ripple. Was it a larger creatures, or Ayden. No it is neither. Not caused by Ayden himself, but by the creatures around him that could sense, feel, ans see his presence. They were causing the slightest ripples in the force. Thadd could feel their anxiety as they scurried away.
Where was it? ..... Not more than 20 meters away, to his rear. Perhaps Ayden was following him the whole time, doubling back to so as to never be caught by his predator. Thadd kept his mind completely still trying not to cause a change in the force, something that might tip off Ayden that he suspected where he was. If he really was behind him....

Thadd knelt down to the floor once more, picking up a medium sized rock that barely fit in his hand. He focussed on the ripple once more, trying to sense where the center of that ripple might be. There.... He might have him.....

In once sweeping motion Thadd turned around, hurling the rock and pushing it forward with an acceleration of force speed. The Melon sized rock hurled forward like the giant bullet of a slug-throwing cannon. It closed the 20 meter gap within a second, slicing through the smaller trees and limbs that block its trajectory. Thadd opened his mind, focusing on the area, maybe that would be enough to pull his prey out of its hidding spot. I've got you now old man....

 

[Ayden Cater]

The rock whizzed through the air with tremendous speed. Whistling audibly, it shrieked between the trees. Branch and leaf were sundered as it crossed the distance to its target in a heartbeat. As it tore into a bush, the leaves suddenly rustled violently. A moment later, flock of birds burst through the foliage and carried up and on through the air. Just as it appeared as though that was all that existed behind the bushes, a brutish creature burst through. Twigs and leaves clung to its ordinary brown fur in clumps as it stretched open its mouth in a mighty roar.

In the trees ahead of Thadd, Ayden stood on a branch overlooking the scene as it unfolded. Despite the time being practically up, Thadd had exceeded his expectations. It was simple bad luck that such a creature had approached. It amazed him how quickly the Nar Shaddaan caught on to the test. Even though he was sure to be frustrated, Ayden could tell that Thadd was going to turn into a powerful tracker, and soon if this pace kept going.