The Footsteps of a Master. (Zasz)

[Evil Hobgoblin]

A few days after the training session Hob had held with his three apprentices, a note in a flowing script arrived at Zasz's room.

Zasz:

You are invited up to the top of Bast's main tower at 12:00 today to speak with Hobgoblin on matters concerning the universe at large. If you can arrange to attend, your presence would be greatly appreciated.

Master Hobgoblin

The note was accompanied by a knock on the door, but when Zasz opened it, no one was there.

[Zasz Grimm]

Upon opening the door, he realized no one was there. Hobgoblin had summoned him. It wasn't that strange, but it did not carry a 'My apprentice' ring to it. Odd. He closed the door behind him as he stepped out into the hallways of Bast Castle and began his trek to the top of the tower, the main tower, as the note said.

He was ascending the stairs towards the top of the tower. What would this meeting entail for Zasz? He reached the top of the stairs as he let his hand fall to the door latch and he twisted it, slowly opening it.

"Master?"

[Evil Hobgoblin]

"Come Zasz," Hob called. "Come and see what I see."

The dwarf was standing by the edge of the tower and gazing out over the desolate plains of Bast. It was lonely and windswept up in the tower, but the view stretched as far as the eye could perceive.

"Do you see those craters down the way?" Hob asked. "I have called them giant's feet, for they do look like the footprints of giants to me."

The dwarf turned and gazed at Zasz. "Your ideals are in line with the truth of Dark Jedi ways. You are strong in the Force. But still, you exist in a world of mortals. It is time to begin your path to true Mastery of the Force and ascend beyond. Are you ready?"

[Zasz Grimm]

He to stepped by Hobgoblin and looked out over the top of the tower, and down to what Hob called "Giant footsteps". They did indeed look like footsteps of giants. Zasz turned and looked at his Master, Hobgoblin to listen.

Zasz had been around for a rather long time, and now, it seemed that what he had wanted was finally coming to him. He remained silent until Hob was finished and then gave him his answer...

"Indeed I am, Master."

[Evil Hobgoblin]

"Good. Good."

Hob's eyes lifted to the sun that hung in Vjun's hazy sky. "Have you ever sent your perceptions inside the heart of a star, Zasz?"

[Zasz Grimm]

"No, Master Hob, I have not..."

He looked downwards to the Dark Dwarf, then slowly to the sky to look at the sun, curious as to what he was getting it...

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob inhaled and exhaled softly. "You have the power, Zasz. Today, you will see the universe the way a Master sees it."

The dwarf sat down on the floor of the tower. He set his cane beside him and bowed his head. "Come, Zasz," he said. "Follow my lead. Sit, and join your mind with mine."

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz nodded downwards to Hobgoblin as he sat down next to him. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment or so. He let his mind think, flow through the force. He was coming to a peak of his process and he awaited Hob...

Whatever it would be, he waited...

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob reached out and opened his perceptions to Zasz. It was a link Hob had worked on many times, and thus his entire life and secrets did not flood unbidden into his apprentice's mind. What flowed in instead was a sense of Vjun.

It was not merely the castle Bast, although that was in there. Zasz could sense the entirety of Vjun;, from the spirits that roamed its wastes to foundations beneath the castle, and from the planet's deep core to the acid and lava boiling across its surface. All life, no matter how small, scurrying, or insignificant was there, and even the weather patterns were present. And all of it somehow related to the tiny alien in the tower, and through Hob, they related to Zasz.

"Concentrate."

The words drifted gently across Zasz's mind and then the vast picture of Vjun in Zasz's thoughts began to expand. No longer was Vjun the only source of attention; now the entire solar system was of interest. Bast's moon swung in a prescribed oval that seemed alterable with only a mental nudge, and the gravitational fluctuations that held the planets in their orbits were just fuzzy glass cases, seen through with ease.

The enlarged picture refocused its concept of things, sharpening until it pierced through the glass case that held the system's sun together, through hot flashes and raging torrents of nuclear fusion into a blindingly bright place at the center of the star.

Hob held Zasz's attention there for a moment, then gradually began to draw away, allowing Zasz to shoulder the effort himself.

[Zasz Grimm]

Zasz's breathing was slow, almost rhythmatic. He watched through closed eyelids at his surroundings. He saw everything as Hob let him see. A new perspective was given to him. He looked at everything in a new light, a new sense if you will. And then he felt something. During it all, Hob had been guiding him and he was there, watching the star, feeling...

Hob had been guiding and watching.

But now he was by himself in this area. He breathed outwards again, his concentration remained strong as he watched the flares of bright fire-light. He imagined his own image of his own self there, inside of the sun, watching over it, toying with it....

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob quietly withdrew his perceptions all the way, allowing Zasz to shoulder the entire effort.

A minute passed. Ten minutes. A half hour; an hour. Eventually, Hob knew it was time and he sent Zasz a mental prod.

Zasz's perceptions returned to the tower top and he opened his eyes. "And what is the universe to you now, Zasz?" he asked.

[Zasz Grimm]

"Glorious! It's huge! I felt so small in comparison, yet I was wielding it. I was in the sun, I felt it's power! The universe holds much for all...."

His face turned to Hobgoblin as he was still imaging that he was there, the flames were in his hand and he was bending them to his will. He grinned and brought himself back to reality..

....This is how Hobgoblin sees things everyday. Everyday...

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob nodded, his eyelids blinking heavily. "A grand thing of beauty, the universe is. It should be shaped and molded, by weeds not overrun or by Sith torn asunder. In everything, the Force is. Carefully manipulated, it must be."

His eyes slowly fell onto one of his hands, which he lifted, palm upward. A fireball spontaneously burst into existence, growing bigger and bigger until it was as big as Hob himself. In spite of its size, the fireball tamely followed Hob's hand as the dwarf gently swayed it back and forth. "Such strength is dangerous, Zasz. You know this- you have seen it misused. Your inheritance, this great power is. When choose to use it you do, choose wisely."

[Zasz Grimm]

..."I shall, believe me...I will."

He watched Hobgoblin with interest as he moved the rather large ball of flame back and forth. It was roughly the size of the wielder, and it was a great sight to look upon. To know that you could control all the elements of the galaxy...

...Anything could be yours....within reason....

[Evil Hobgoblin]

"Excellent," Hob said.

The fireball abruptly vanished, leaving only heated air in its place. The energy that Hob had used to hold it together, he let dissipate back out into the world around him.

"Tomorrow, we will leave Vjun," he said. "And we will complete your understanding of the Force and what it can do. When we are finished, we will return, and then you will be ready."

Hob got up and began to walk out of the tower. "On your way down," he told Zasz. "Listen. Listen, and you will hear the footsteps of a Master."

[Zasz Grimm]

"I shall be prepared, Master."

As Hob dissappeared he stood up and looked out from the top of the Tower. He would relish in his meditation of what he did earlier today. He would take another visit to view the universe. To feel the sun that was beating down upon Vjun. He looked around and turned, heading for the stairs. He also thought of what Hob was going to take him to do. They would be leaving tomorrow...

Hobgoblin was long gone as he came to the stairs and he descended them. As he was doing so, he did hear footsteps. And they were of a Master.

They were his own.