Those Who Can... [Gash]

[Garrett Blade]

It was morning. Today is the first day of Gash's training. It's bright enough outside to call it daytime, though it's still quite early morning. And once Gash wake's up he'll find out what a true wake-up call is, Garrett Blade-style.

[Gash]

"Murfle."

The giant awoke face-down in his pillow with his blankets half off. He hadn't slept well at all last night. He rather supposed that it was the new bed.

Gash sat up and shook vigorously, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. The room's chrono said it was too early to do anything, but for once he actually felt like getting something done. Perhaps, he mused, he'd slept better than he'd thought.

An idea brightened his mood. He'd find Master Blade and begin training in this 'Force' stuff. The sooner the better!

He had slept fully dressed; all he had to do was stomp down the stairs of the house. He wasn't sure if anyone else lived here, but if they were, they stayed very much out of his way.

The front door creaked open and he stretched, blinking against the sun's new brightness.

[Garrett Blade]

To Garretts dismay, Gash came out of the house a full five seconds faster than anticipated.

"Bugger me, you're early!"

He was standing in the middle of the road just in front of the house, looking very disappointed.

[Gash]

The last blink was the longest. At last, Gash approached his new Master, looking slightly dumbfounded.

"Um..."

[Garrett Blade]

Suddenly, the timers reached zero and every charge in the building went off. The explosion was quite impressive despite being rather small - it only needed to be large enough to blow up the one house. Thanks to the upward blast, the houses either side were only lightly toasted. But Garrett's previous dwelling was sent soaring into the air as wood and bricks were sent orbital in all directions. The blast initially sent Gash stumbling forwards, closer to Garrett but they were both standing upright now. Two wooden boards fell just inchec away from Garrett, as well as a black and very damaged metal case. He picked them up. The board had writing in black thick paint on it which said 'THIS IS A BOMB' with an arrow on it. The black box had writing on it too - this time in white paint - 'BOMB!'

"How did you miss these on your door!?"

Then it started raining. Signs and signs and mroe signs, all related to the bomb - 'GET UP NOW!', 'RUN!', 'THERE'S A BOMB ABOUT TO GO OFF', 'GET UP YOU BIG LUG!' and so on. You could tell Garrett had been up for some time last night preparing for the wake-up call. Not to matter - at least he was up.

[Gash]

"Those were...uh...on my door?" Used to explosions and general chaos, at least to some extent, Gash merely took up a position by Garrett's side, to observe the rubble. It was, however, clear that he was going to have to get a whole lot more used to them.

"No, I guess I didn't."

[Garrett Blade]

'Well never mind then. We've got a long day ahead of us. No time to have breakfast now so we'll have to catch something when we're outside...'

He started walking away from the debris towards the main road that was just down the street.

[Gash]

Gash followed, considering Blade's words carefully as he stepped over and around pieces of his erstwhile house.

"'When we're outside?' Outside the city?"

[Garrett Blade]

'Of course.', he said, matter-of-factly. 'But don't worry - you're in safe hands with me.'

After saying this, Garrett tripped on an uneven duracrete slab and stumbled forwards several steps. He managed to stay on his feet though, and carried on as if nothing had happened.

'Come along now. We've got a busy day ahead of us...'

[Gash]

"OK, then." His Master's trip should have probably reduced Gash's estimation of him...but there was the bomb, there was that rat-thing, and De'Ville had held him in great respect.

So he followed.

[Garrett Blade]

'So tell me Gash. Am I right in thinking you know absolutely nothing of the Force beyond the fact that it exists?'

They were nearing the gates now. A small atmospheric craft was available for them to use, as opposed to walking on the ground with the land-dwelling nasties.

[Gash]

Gash scratched his chin, momentarily tangling himself in his beard. "Pretty much. Umm...things sometime miss me when they shouldn't. Someone throws a knife and it misses, or doesn't hit where it could do damage. Someone fires a blaster from three metres away, and the bolt takes off some hair. Stuff like that."

[Garrett Blade]

'Thats quite a fortunate innate freak-of-nature you've got there, you loveable weirdo, you!'

They boarded the craft and took a seat. Garrett excuses the pilot, telling him he wouldn't be needed as Garrett himself would fly the ship. Well, it wasn't really a ship as it had no top on it. It looked more like a slightly overgrown topless speeder - and no, thats not a woman with no blouse or bra on doing 45 over the limit!

'I'll be honest with you Gash. I've had many apprentices before you. The only problem is that, as you'll find out - I have a divine mind and I don't really remember much beyond the last few years. So I can't remember how I used to teach. But I think I have a pretty good idea so don't sweat it. You're in safe hands with me.

Then with a jolt the, for want of a better word, flyer took off into the sky, soared over the city walls and out into the wilderness.

'Start counting to fifty and shout STOP when you're done...'

[Gash]

For the first time, Gash felt a real stirring of unease, but quickly quelled it. He decided to settle back and enjoy the ride.

"One, two..." he began obediently, tapping his finger to the rythm his little chant set up.

"..forty-nine, fifty. Stop!" He looked over the side, and his bearded face quickly grew a bit doubtful. "This doesn't look too inviting, I must say."

[Garrett Blade]

'Oh stop worrying. FREEFALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

Garrett cut the engines, allowing the craft to plummet towards the ground. At 40 feet he reengaged them and the ship regained stability at three feet. They landed on top of a large collection of boulders in the middle of nowhere. In the distance they could see smoke from the city - most of the population was awake now.

'Right. Now before we catch breakfast, you'll need to be able to sense the force, since you're going to help me...'

[Gash]

"Uuuh...

"Umm....

"How do I do that, again?" Gash scratched his head, thinking that perhaps Master Blade had already described this to him and that he'd simply forgotten.

[Garrett Blade]

'Ah, this'll do. Okay...'

Garrett walked from behind a rock holding a small animal with a vicious set of sharp teeth. it was about the size of an astromech droid.

'Now I want you to focus all of your attention on this little fellow right here. Shut out everything; me, the ground, the sky, the surrounding landscape, the ship, the rocks; everything. Imagine that this is the only thing in your life at this very moment and concentrate with all your strength on it. Try to feel it with the Force. You need to do more than just see it or smell it or hear it - you need to know its there without seeing or hearing or smelling it. But to start with, focus everything you've got on this beastie boy...'

The Master held out the small animal in front of his apprentice, who was standing a few metres away, upside down by its tail.

'...Some find this easy; others find it difficult. Take your time.'

[Gash]

Gash frowned, contemplating the...thing...being dangled before him. He was supposed to feel it without seeing it. Thus, he closed his eyes. He wasn't supposed to hear it or smell it either. His thumbs screwed themselves into his ears while hit fingertips covered his nostrils.

"Are you there?" he mumbled, trying to get some sense out of the ordinary. "Are you...mmm....are you there, little fellow?"

After some minutes of failure, he had what amounted to a brainwave. His only visible manifestation of Force potential so far had been in dealing with threats, and while the critter was far from a threat, perhaps if he thought of it as one he'd have more success.

This time he thought he felt a flicker of something or other. Maybe. He opened his eyes, looking to Blade for confirmation.

[Garrett Blade]

'What are you looking at me for!? Either you felt something or you didn't.'

He took out a blindfold.

'Here, try this. You look ridiculous in that stupid pose! Now try it again. This time, try to determine any changes. Thats how you're going to realise what it is you're looking for.'

This time, Garrett casually broke the creatures spine, silently.

'Anything?'

[Gash]

Gash put on the blindfold, thick fingers fumbling with it for a moment before succeeding with the knot.

'Here, try this. You look ridiculous in that stupid pose! Now try it again. This time, try to determine any changes. Thats how you're going to realise what it is you're looking for.'

"Uuh..."

He did feel something different, actually. He felt safe, which was simply bizarre. It took him a moment to realize that he'd tagged the thing as a threat, so maybe...

"Um. You killed it, didn't you." He tried not to say it like a question, hoping that Blade would get a better impression of his new and disappointing apprentice.

[Garrett Blade]

'Very good. So you should know what it is you're looking for when you're trying to sense this creature. For now you'll probably only be able to distinguish what something is if you've encountered it before, but at advanced levels you'll be able to identify unknown creatures before they're even within visual range. Practice is whats needed now. Give it a go. This dead thing here is a Kobold Rat. So whenever you get the same...we'll call it a feeling...as you did with this creature, you'll know its a Kobold Rat. Though I doubt you'll find them off-world. Now...'

Garrett went behind the same rock as before and emerged with two more Kobold Rats. He gave one to Gash and kept hold of the other one. Standing about ten metres from him, he shouted to his apprentice.

'No need for blindfolds this time. I just want you to sense that the one I've got is further away from you. The feeling from yours should be more intense. Can you sense it?'

[Gash]

"Yes!" He did a ridiculous little hop-skip to the side, noting how the senses continued to change. "Yes, I can! This is great!"

[Garrett Blade]

'Very good. Now, can you tell me how many there are behind that boulder over there?'

He pointed to the same boulder he'd found the three Kobolds behind.

[Gash]

The blindfold made things much easier, but even so exercising this new skill was difficult. He could sense the one he was holding much more strongly than pretty much anything...

Except, he realised with a bit of a start, Master Blade.

"Um, this rat's getting in the way." He snapped it's neck and threw it aside, and immediately things got a bit 'clearer'.

"You know," he said finally, scratching his head, "I don't think there are any more behind that rock. There are two behind that one over there, though."

[Garrett Blade]

Getting in the way...hmm...interesting.

'Very good Gash. Thats very good! You're off to a promising start. Now, time to put your new skill to practical use...'

Garrett returned to their craft momentarily. he began rummaging through the small cargo compartment...

[Gash]

Gash observed Blade closely. A certain apprehension ran through him; after all, enough of even the Kobold Rats could be dangerous, and there was no reason to suppose that this place was anything but deadly.