A Slug in the Swamp

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni chuckled a little at KIara's mention of different children. "Yes, I suppose they are all children too."

He considered the witches question. Why was he here? Putting a stubby hand on his double-chin, the Hutt answered, thoughtful. "I guess... The Force led me here. I know, it sounds dumb. But, I was getting the strangest urges to go to Dagobah, and when I heard the rumors of the crazy old lady who lives in the bogs, I just knew I had to speak with you." Tyyni had to admit, it was strange. "I suppose the Force is trying to teach me something, and I think it has to do with you. Is that possible? I know from my studies that not all people share the same beliefs of the Force as I do. Some see it merely as a weapon. How do you see it?"

Tyyni was beginning to realize why he was here. He thought it had something to do with seeing things through a different perspective. The Hutt had led a sheltered life on Voss, under the tutelage of the Jedi, and had never experienced anything besides what was presented before him.

 

[Kiara]

"That is a question I haven't been asked in a long, long time." She scrunched up her nose and adjusted in her seating position as she thought. While she did, she drew tiny pictures in the mud, making spirals and dots about, slowly creating the universe in just a few pokes of a staff. "Everything." She stared forward at him as she spoke her answer. "Nothing. Everything, it doesn't matter. The Force is what you make of it. If it's a weapon, it's a weapon. If it's a pleasure thing, then that's what it is. Say someone wanted to make it their personal water carrier. I have no sight as to why not. Tool, weapon, pleasure, way of life, everything, nothing. That is what I see it as."

Sure she may not have given a good answer, but that was how she did things. If this Hutt only wanted her for her speech instead of training, then that was also no problem to her.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

The hermit's answer didn't give Tiny much to work with, but in a strange way, it made sense. His next question sort of went with his first.

"So... if the Force DID send me here, do you have any idea why? Do you have any... I don't know, knowledge to impart on me? Any training I can't get elsewhere? I don't know, probably not..." The Hutt had began to talk to himself more than her. He heard some form of avian in the trees above give off a shrill whistle, and Oluja looked up happily. The darkness of the forest was still there, but it felt less scary, and more mysterious. Tyyni was no longer afraid, just curious as to why he was here in the first place.

 

[Kiara]

"If is not a word you use here. It is simple because. Because the Force sent you here. The only reason it would have done that is because you wanted it, or you needed my help. Do you need to train to be a better Jedi, young one? A better Hutt, perhaps? I can teach you many things, but you must be accepting of the trials." A small grin spread across her face. She like training people - only if they were as gullible as this Hutt here.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni frowned, his large lips crescenting down into an expression close to bitterness. He did not like his heritage one bit. The last thing he wanted was to be a better Hutt. He would much rather be a normal Human than the slug that he was. But he was always open to learning new things, even when they came from... questionable sources. Tyyni's studies had taught him that the dark side was to be avoided at all costs, but there was also light in the witch. Did this rule apply to her? Tyyni didn't know for sure, but he wasn't about to pass up the chance to learn something new.

"I've been studying the Force for years now, but there are certain fields that I simply cannot grasp." To make a point, Tyyni let his mental feelers stride around him, lfting up pebbles around the hut. With a nod of his head, the pebbles grouped up over his head, and dropped into a circle around himself. He'd been practicing to use the Force on various objects at once, and he was getting okay at the practice. He could do it with small, light things, but not bigger ones.

Looking up to the bird he had noticed earlier, he sighed. "I have difficulty peering into the minds of others. Even the animals, and their brains are considerably less complex than a sentient's mind. I cannot even tell what that bird up there is thinking. Perhaps you can... Teach me that?"

 

[Kiara]

An amused smile crept up onto the witch's face. She looked up at the bird, then looked back down. "If I were to teach you that, you would start becoming corrupt with power. I've seen it happen before, many creatures who have seeked my wisdom ended up turning Sith because they could not keep a lid on their balance." After a small moment, she peered into the Hutt's eyes. "To me, there is no side of the Force that is moral or right. Light, dark, grey, void. They are all one, and if you ever try to lean against just a part of that circle, you will end up having trouble."

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni pursed his lips in thought. "But Master Quenladose says that the best way to understand one's needs, and what drives them, is to get into their head." Tyyni sighed, trying to think of something else, anything else. "Hmm... Well, how do you achieve such a balance with the Force? I can sense it in you, this... equilibrium. How is that possible?"

 

[Kiara]

"You do not need to reach into other people's heads until you've figured out your own," Kiara said with a small frown on her face. "as for achieving balance, I'm sure it would break your Jedi code. You must forget everything you know of the Force, and think of it as all one. Light dark, grey void, void light, grey dark. Consider it mixed all in, and with that, apply it to yourself. Do you see a change?"

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Consider it all mixed in...

Tyyni considered the hermit's words. He had often felt the presence of certain things, and people, and assigned labels to them. To forget years and years of training, for even a second, was a difficult endeavor. With a bit of a confused sigh, Tiny closed his eyes, concentrating.

The Hutt opened his mind to the life around him, trying to see everything through this new system of... blending color. He saw the trees as they were before, proud and tall, but instead of being filled with light, as he'd seen them before, they were an ambiguous grey. They didn't care about the others of the forest. They stood against all that opposed them, and that was what mattered to these trees. He felt the plants around him, all with various degrees of these Forces, but none straying far from this grey color. Focusing back on the witch, he gasped a little.

The Witch was a shock to see after all of the grey around them. Her presence was strong in all colors, bridged by hairline supports between each other. Tyyni feared if he disturbed even one piece of the equilibrium, it would all break apart. It must take an extreme amount of training to pull something like that off.

Then... Tyyni did something he disliked. He looked within his own aura.His spirit was mostly white, which he was proud of. Every few seconds, however, a spot of pitch-black would spike out of his aura, quickly enveloped by the light again. His inner fears and insecurities, further projected by his Hutt nature, fought to escape from the binding years of training had entrapped it in. Tyyni hated the dark. It kept him on his toes at all times. One slip, and the dark could escape, overtake the light. Tyyni wouldn't let that happen. If there was even a chance of that happening... Padawan Oluja didn't trust himself enough to fight the feeling off. With his eyes still closed, he mumbled. "I... I see what you mean. The world isn't black and white... But then.. What is it?"

 

[Kiara]

"It's mostly grey here, but take the whole galaxy for example and look at all of it's lively hood, it's Force. Every part of the Force is intertwined within each other, some fight against each other because they believe they're different, some mold into a grey structure of two of the sides. Some very rare cases, there will be someone with strands of the Force making a planet of colors. I can sense you've felt mine already. That is what I believe it should be. Is it? Of course not. It is what you make of it in the end, but with the mind that there is a reality behind it that no one can truly ever tell you."

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

There is wisdom in your words, Kiara. I feel like I have already learned so much." Tyyni looked around the clearing again, seeing with his real eyes what he had seen before in his mind's eye. Everything looked so much different, yet they all kept a little of their essence. The trees were still stalwart, the plants still grey, and the witch still morally ambiguous. "There is a whole range of color out there. Light, dark, in between... I like it. It means that one can always hope to become a brighter shade. A whole pallet of improvement."

Tyyni looked back up at the trees, at the same bird, who still resided in a high branch. Perhaps some day he would learn enough about himself to see into the minds of others. Until then... He was content in his studies, and his new revelations. Turning back to Kiara, the Hutt bowed. "Thank you for your wisdom, old one. But I really must find my ship before it's too dark to see." Turning back around slowly, the Hutt looked over his fat shoulder, and nodded.

The Hutt tapped into his personal Force, finding it easier than before. Something about seeing himself through a new perspective made Tyyni better understand himself, and his limitations. The Hutt wasn't perfect, neither was he terrible. He was an in-between, a shade of grey in the Silver. Using his new understanding of himself, Tiny sprinted forward, away into the underbrush, a blur in the fading dusk.