Foreign Lands [closed - Gash]

[Salem Ave]

In the black night sky, something shimmered. Any spark of light was enough to draw attention on Kirrek, given that the planet was almost permanently engulfed in darkness. This particular light was the sign that a ship had just entered the atmosphere. The small passenger vessel trembled slightly as it cut the thick outer atmosphere, though its course ran smooth once it was beyond the rolling clouds that covered the sky. On board, Salem Ave turned from the view port that looked over the twilight landscape. Curiosity had the better of him. “Tell me morrre of your ssspecies and home, Gash.”

[Gash]

The giant turned his shaggy head from the lack of view presented by the window. Matted hair flew out like a brown halo; he patted his beard back into place, ruminating.

"Anaki are just another species, Master. We usually blend in with the mix of peoples that fill the spacelanes. If someone really notices that, despite our size, we're more or less stock human, they assume we're enhanceds."

[Salem Ave]

“Yourrr sss-ize is your only differing characterissstic?” Salem inquired, showing a hint of surprise in his expression as his brow furrowed. “And what of yourrr homeworld? Is it equally dull?”

[Gash]

"I don't know if there are other differences between Anaki and humans, Master. All I know is that they move much the same.

"As for the planet..." Here a spurt of unusual intelligence kindled a spark in Gash's eye. Unusual, at any rate, for him. "Why do you think I left? It's one of the most boring places around, once you've settled dominance issues."

[Salem Ave]

It was odd to think, but Salem could think of no other reason why Gash had turned his hand to the cause of the Circle. “Borrredom is why you are here, then?”

[Gash]

"Well, I started fighting because I was bored...and then I saw De'Ville fight. So here I am, doing weird things and hoping to learn weirder things."

[Salem Ave]

Though it wasn’t the best reason Salem would have chosen for Gash to become a Dark Jedi, it was better than… well, nothing. Yet, still vaguely confused, “What do you drrraw on then?” he asked, “… to fuel the Darrrkside.”

[Gash]

"Oh, I'm usually mad for one reason or another," he said, would-be-cheerful. "People talk down to me because I don't speak as well as them, and things like that. I'd like to be treated like I'm normal for once, y'know?"

The seat pinched him and he shifted uncomfortably.

"When do I get to learn about fire, Master?"

[Salem Ave]

The reply Salem gave was perhaps one of the biggest causes of frustration amongst students in any field, in the entire galaxy. “When you arrre ready.”

Just as he spoke, the vessel they were traveling in began to tremble slightly. The landing gear had begun to descend and within minutes, a single, more powerful tremor rocked the ship – signaling that they had touched down on Kirrek. Salem stood and motioned for Gash to follow as he made his way to the exit ramp.

As they stepped out into the eternal-night, Gash was greeted with a most impressive view – they had landed at the edge of a hill. Some distance away, the Cabal stronghold loomed ominously, while down in the valley below the lights of a small town flickered.

“How many people do you think are down there?” he asked, pointing at the nucleation of houses, all primitive in design. The community was easily no larger than a couple of hundred people in size, not including the herd of cattle they reared.

[Gash]

He scrutinized the town dully, from beneath huge, shaggy brows.

"Maybe two hundred? I don't know...it's small enough that I could destroy the place singlehandedly, small enough to defend alone..."

He wheeled, confused by his own tangent, to face Salem.

"But defence-wise, couldn't they just go into that castle? What's in there anyways? It feels dark, like Onderon did."

[Salem Ave]

“Sss-ome frrriends of mine,” Salem replied darkly, the irony of the suggestion that he had friends not beyond him. At least for now, however, the inhabitants of the Cabal stronghold were of no importance to him or Gash.

“In a moment of panic it would be unlikely that more than fifty of them would make it to the cassstle… and even if they did, who’sss to sss-ay that the castle ownerrrs wouldn’t turn them away? But that isss beside the point,” Salem concluded, waving a cloven hand dismissively.

“Now I want to tell me how many you know are down there…” he continued, hoping that Gash would note the difference in this request.

[Gash]

He nodded grimly, looking from the village to Salem and back to the village. Garrett had had him tell the differences between minds, and of course he'd been practicing...

Taking a seat, he picked up a twig about a foot in length and stretched out to the Force.

"There's one..."

And he made a mark on the ground.

"And two..."

The fifth mark, in time-honoured tradition, closed off the four before it. By the end of it, there were one hundred seventy-six tick marks on the ground in front of the kneeling giant. He had to count them twice.

"A hundred sixty-seven, Master. I think some of them are away..."

[Salem Ave]

Salem look at the tally, impressed by Gash’s attention to detail. “Therrre is a trouble maker in the village. More than once he hasss disrrrrupted our lives and the lives of those around him. See if you can find him.”

[Gash]

The giant eyed his Master askance, fiddling with the twig between immense fingers until it turned to dust. The obvious question - obvious even to him - was why such a person had been allowed to stay. Maybe just for training Apprentices, and wasn't that a heartening thought?

"OK..."

He began sorting through the minds, trying to feel something of each of them. This took longer than the counting.

"There are four angry people," he said at last. "I can't tell if they're normally angry, or if they're just being angry for now..."

[Salem Ave]

Gash, it seemed, had chosen to look for those irritated by the trouble maker, rather than finding the culprit themselves. “You arrre looking for a boy. A young boy,” Salem explained. “No doubt he isss supposed to be tucked away in bed at thisss time of night…”

[Gash]

Oh...glee. Maybe a bit of malice. Hm. For whatever reason, the giant had pegged a troublemaker as an angry sort of person. Hm. Hm...

He'd always found it easier to sense happiness than anger, and this was no exception. Only two people were that happy just now, and one of those had the requisite desire to do something evil, in a childish sort of way.

"Found him," Gash reported in tones of great satisfaction.

[Salem Ave]

“Excellent. Now I want you to ssshow him the error of his ways. I want you to inssspire in him rrregret for everything that he has ever done… and drive him to whatever act he must commit as a result of thisss epiphany.” Revenge, self-sacrifice- Salem did not know what the boy would do with the weight of his actions on his conscience. He had, after all, been the cause of famine in the village, among other things.

[Gash]

Now this was something new and fascinating. Gash, in his career as a Dark Jedi, had rarely consciously done anything to the minds he sensed. In fact, he couldn't remember a single instance.

Not that that meant anything...

Frowning, he tried to project his voice into the boy's head. It was like swimming through some very thick mud, and it didn't go well, but after a little while "You've been bad" became a simple feeling of foreboding, and that seemed to work well enough.

[Salem Ave]

“The power of sssuggestion is an important one. It will be one of yourrr most valued tools, as you grow in power, allowing you to manipulate whomsssoever you choose, even Force users.” Salem motioned for Gash to walk with him, as they began the descent towards the village, so that they could watch first hand what would transpire as a result of Gash’s tampering. Salem suspected also that the closer they got, the easier it would be for the giant to affect the mind of the boy.

[Gash]

That was true, but only to a point. As they approached, Gash attempted to continue to exert that influence - it seemed like the right thing to do, after all. The problem was that it took a lot of his concentration, which kept flip-flopping between affecting the boy's mind and the situation at hand.

To be precise, the trail in front of him. Luckily, Gash wasn't walking directly behind Salem. When he tripped, he didn't manage to take out his Master. The lump of clothes and hair protested loudly as it bounced down the hillside.

Shaking his head like a Pomeranian shaking one of those little rubber chew toys that always fly up and hit you in the face with the force of a Magnum bullet, Gash stood. Seemingly unaffected, he reached out and found the boy again. This success was accompanied by a wave at Salem, a stubby finger pressed against a temple, and a thumbs up.