Master and Apprentice

[Hobgoblin]

A series of short stories and small wonders between Hobgoblin, Teagan s'Ilancy, and friends.



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First Lesson


Hob never used Teagan's full first name. He always called her Tak.

"Teagan s'Ilancy," said Hob into the commlink. "Come quickly, you must! To my home!"

Hob always called her Tak except for today, and maybe next Thursday if the future stayed put which it rarely did.

In Hob's experience, the use of a sentient's full name coupled with a stern or disapproving tone gave even hardened adults pause. Maybe the phenomenon was an alarm built into the psyche of the young; an alarm so effective it lingered even into late adulthood. An alarm the adult passed on to the child in memory of that effectiveness.

No one had called Hob by his full name in ages, but then, no one in the wider galaxy knew his full name. Perhaps no one ever would.

Hob knew Teagan's name, however, and he intended his summons to rouse her from whatever she might be up to and come to his home.

Hob did not live in the Jedi living quarters of Ossus. Rather, he'd placed a request with the Jedi Council that a small hut be made for him. The Council passed his request to the Alliance and the Alliance obliged him, delivering a woodcrafter to Ossus to discuss his desires. After certain discussions on the physics of structural support, the woodcrafter and Hob had come to an agreement and the work began. With droids and precision tools, the work took less than an afternoon and Hob moved in that evening, bringing only a small pack of things with him.

The hut sat under a stand of trees by a pond near the encampment's edge. Before they left, the worker droids cleared a path from the hut to the encampment proper. Though few people trod that path, enough did to keep it clear of grass and weeds. Teagan knew the way, though it was not hard to find for even a new resident of Ossus.

Most of the time in his hut, Hob spent walking around the three rooms he had.

At this moment, he clung to the ceiling.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She had been studying. Deep into the problems that her mathematical class teacher had given as homework, Teagan s'Ilancy was almost entranced. But, it was a sort of brain-breaking trance that set her to simply staring at the numbers in front of her. Master Vymes had once said that nothing made more sense than math, but right now, she was having a hard time connecting that logic to the mess of confusion that had been made manifest on the papers and in the book that rested on her desk.

With elbows set firmly upon the desktop, and her forehead propped up in her hands, the young Lupine did her best to understand. She did her best to take in the numbers and equations and fractions and proofs.

It was damn near impossible.

So, when the small comm unit chirped at her, she was quick to hit the answer button.

"Teagan s'Ilancy, come quickly, you must! To my home!"

It wasn't exactly a voice she'd expected to hear, but it was welcomed regardless, and she had vacated her seat in no time at all. Her jacket was slipped over her shoulders as she moved down the length of the home she shared with Master Vymes.



* * *


Master Hob's home was cozy, and situated in a spot that was easy enough to find. Unfortunately, it was also not built for... those who possessed a bit of height.

She stood for a moment, breathing out a long sigh as she halfway knelt, one hand going out to rap softly on the hut.

[Hobgoblin]

"Enter!" Hob's voice called out. "But quickly, you must move! Leave the door open not!"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She made a face at the voice on the other side of the door, drawing back a little bit on her haunches. The look of universal confusion spread across her features for a moment before she ventured a hand out to slowly pull down the handle. The old style latch clicked, and with a small amount of apprehension the young Lupine pushed.

His insistent tone pulled her in out of sheer curiosity, and Teagan shuffled her way inside swiftly, closing the door behind her. Another click heralded the mechanism securing her inside.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she let her eyes travel over the interior of Hob's home.

[Hobgoblin]

A scrabbling noise echoed from behind Teagan; the sound of tiny feet clicking and clacking on the wooden floor of the hut. The sound darted closer-

-and then she finished closing the door and turned around.

The sound came from a small, furry animal (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2015/03/19/chinesemammal01.jpg) whose escape progress had been wholly contingent on the door to the hut remaining open. It milled around on the rug of Hob's living room, staring confused at the being that had seemed its savior.

Then a green blur dropped from the ceiling, the large dome of a dinner platter covering in its hand. The dome engulfed the tiny animal, trapping it in darkness. A chorus of tiny squeaks emitted from the dome before falling silent.

"Hello, Apprentice!" Hob said, offering Teagan a cheerful, tooth-filled smile. The dome moved; without looking at it, Hob pinned it in place with a triclawed foot, causing the squeaks to resume. "Appreciate the swiftness of your arrival, Hob does!"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Her first reaction to seeing the animal was a telltale rumbling in her gut. She'd not eaten since the night previous, and even that had been a small kao-kao that she'd snagged while hunting. And even then it'd really been more of a snack. Too small to constitute an actual meal. She licked her lips.

Her second reaction was to look away, blinking a few times before venturing a sideways glance to Hob.

"I came as fast as I could," came the mumbled answer, followed by yet another growl of her stomach.

Her hands came around to clasp one another, and she eye-balled the bowl and its' obscured, squeaking prisoner.

The young Lupine's next words came out in a whisper; curious and just a little bit hopeful.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

Cause if he wasn't, then she wanted it.

[Hobgoblin]

"Eat!?" Incredulity fell across the goblin's features with a hefty splat.

Questioner and companion stood staring at each other for a good five seconds. Before Teagan could reply, Hob posed his question a second time.

"Eat!?"

The word tumbled out of the goblin's mouth, this time as though rolled it around his tongue to get its true taste and texture before uttering it again. He peered closer at Teagan. One of his clawed fingers began to lift itself.

The claw lifted higher.

And higher.

So high, it drew even with Teagan's nose.

And then the clawfinger mashed into her nose, not a quick boop but a firm honk. "Not for eating, this animal is! Cared for it must be!"

Hob's finger released Teagan's nose. A quick flip turned the goblin into a whirl of robes, the end result of which was the goblin presenting the coverware to Teagan. Inside the dome, the wide-eyed animal shivered small, fearful trembles.

"Your task, this shall be, apprentice!"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Not for eating...

She stared at the small creature, her own eyes wide as she watched it tremble. It certainly looked cute, she had to admit. But, it also looked like every other little woodland creature that she'd happily munched on during her outings in the forest.

Finally, her brain moved on from the thought of food, and more to where Hob was trying to push her.

There was a word that now escaped her.

"A... ahga'ona khehsa 'ima'ss'inu'... ?" The word flashed in her mind in eventual remembrance.

"A pet... ?"

[Hobgoblin]

Hob hrmphed gruffly, slightly mollified by her response. "Com-pan-ion," the small being replied, emphasizing each syllable. "Not native to this world, is this creature. Surely would it be eaten, if released into the wild it were. Find it's home, we must. This task, will Hob handle. Until find its home we do, to care for this creature shall your responsibility be."

Hob offered the dome again, pushing it a little closer to Teagan's face. The whiskered-face scrunched itself, peering at its once-savior absent the knowledge of what the larger being's intent truly was.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Carefully, as if the slightest unexpected bump might shatter the bowl and the creature held within, Teagan reached out to gently take it from him. Her eyes remained glued to the be-whiskered animal. It stared back, and settling up on its' haunches, began to meticulously clean its' cheeks before letting out the tiniest of sneezes. Well, it sounded more like a muffled squeak than anything else, but still.

It caused a dawning smile to pull back her lips, and the young Lupine finally looked to Hob.

"Does it have a name?"

Things with names were harder to think of as food sometimes, and she figured it would be best to take as many precautions as possible just in case she felt those familiar midnight stomach rumbles that often enough heralded a trip out into the woods.