How Innocent

[GhostOfProtocol]

Vinsoth - 849ABY

Daniel hated having to sneak out of his own home, it made him feel like some sort of prisoner. It made him feel like his ancestors, forced to work while the "higher race" did nothing but abuse them. He'd never been told what that higher race was, but in many ways they reminded him of his brothers. To him, those were a higher race, abusing the youngest of the pack because they didn't fit in, because they had hair longer than fathers specific standards. He was the "they", the youngest of the pack of his brothers. He knew they had a fun time throwing him around until father got involved, then he'd just be chided for his long hair, his mother and brothers pinning him down while his father shaved him bald.

That was his life cycle, and he wanted a break from it. For weeks he'd been looking from his bedroom window, over the tall wall and out onto the street. He knew Vinsoth was a poor planet, he'd been raised in luxary compared to what most people on the planet had access to. He had access to a large tree just opposite his window, and he knew that if he jumped perfectly he'd be able to grab it and climb up onto it's tallest branches. He could climb through the tree and over the wall, he'd tried it once before and knew that it worked, though father had caught him last time.

This time father was away however, and Daniel grinned as he pulled himself up into the tree. He'd closed his window beforehand, hopefully mother wouldn't realise he was missing until his return to the homestead, the cobblestone "mansion" that the Drower family had occupied for generations, that would someday belong to his brothers and not him. Life was so unfair, how come the oldest brother got everything and the youngest brother didn't even get a lousy house. He kicked the tree lightly, continuing to crawl through it, across the branches.

Daniel dropped from the tree quickly, outside the wall. He moved slowly, attempted to blend in with the crowds. He was free, he was outside, grinning. He knew exactly where he was headed as well, the late home of his great grandmother, one of the few members of his family who ever cared. She'd been in his position, exiled from the Drower "mansion" by her brothers. She'd lived a good life though, lived off bread that she made herself from the small field she owned. She'd tried to leave her small cottage to Daniel, though her father had interfeared and had the will changed to the name of his older brother.

Life was so unfair.

[member="Valashu Elahad"]

 

[Matreya]

Valashu held his arms against his armored chest, the Orbalisks thrumming silently with life found there. His head , hands, and feet were all uncovered, but at present he was armored enough to survive anything save the roughest of destruction. Little to no beings or weapons had capabilities of besting the hard carapace of the insecticide like beings. Rolling his shoulders, Valashu moved from the point of hiding he held, shadows giving way to the light of the sun above.

Moving silent as death, the darkened Kensûrai swept his eyes back then forth ahead of himself. The main reason that he had come to this hovel of a planet, was the prospect of locating the Maal. That elusive of criminal syndicates was always ahead of him, feeding the masses false information so as to keep their hunter at bay. However, Valashu had studied enough to be able to calculate their current whereabouts. Despite their moving about nomadic like, he knew Raas and how he worked now. In spite of having little contact with the man.

Drawing his covered arms forward, Valashu straighted the Gauntlet of Crassus on the one arm, before channeling his energies through the alchemical masterpiece until he lifted into the skies to land atop a nearby vehicle as it raced forward. He absentmindedly was also guiding himself in the direction the Force led him. Toward a youth he knew not yet...

[member="Daniel Drower"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He entered the cottage rather slowly. His father had already looted it for everything it was worth, sold it for a profit. He was earning plenty from his loan business as it was, but his father was a greedy gentleman. His father always liked "just a little more". Sometimes it was a new droid, other times it was a brand new hanger for the family. That had happened once, mother wasn't best pleased seems as they already had one. She made him sell it on the cheap, it was one of the only arguments mother ever won against father. Anyway, the boy had entered the cottage. He liked the cottage, it was quiet and father had mostly left it be once he'd taken everything worth anything from it. Daniel sat down slowly, his mind replaying happier times. He was sat in the chair his grandmother used to sit in, a small glass of Correllian Sherry.

That woman was a laugh.

Daniel stood up again slowly, gripping a small photo album from the floor. He'd left it on his last visit to the little cottage, and he began to flick through it slowly, silently. He loved his grandmother, the pictures were happier times. He wanted his relationship with his parents back, he wanted lots of things back really. He wanted to be grown up, to work with father like older brother Elric did. Elric got to wear fancy tunics and earn money working with father, he got the second biggest bedroom in the house and his own office in the back of the staff quarters. Daniel had sneaken down into the staff quarters soon, Tumeric was his best friend.

Father had threatened to murder Tumeric if he went down there again.
Father was mean.

[member="Valashu Elahad"]

 

[Matreya]

Leaping high into the air, Valashu gripped his bow from his hip,.quickly snapping into place like the master archer he was. Near instantaneously a Mando Reaper arrow was notched, then loosed. It took the man he saw by surprise, piercing the mans back before protruding out the other end. Before he was even able to shout, Valashu landed on his back, driving him into the ground. A concentrated jerk of telekinesis snapped the man's neck, before another arrow was drawn to the bow's cable. Sweeping the area, he growled low in his throat, this man had been Maal for sure, but he was alone.

Where his comrades were however, Val had no idea.

But then he found out. They had seen the fall of their brother, and now they were readying themselves. Two were carrying... a bomb! With a flourish they charged toward a nearby home, while Valashu had the others to contend with. An arrow found loose facial tissues, before Val found his bow shot from his hands. Which led to his hands finding the handles of his Ra and Isley specials, drawing the hatchets free of their sheaths along his lower back. Flipping both with a flourish, he planted one blade in the neck of a man, between the plates of head and chest, then the other cleanly sliced through the joint of a mans elbow.

Spinning in place, he slammed the hatchets simultaneously into another man's torso, mid waist, and upper. Releasing both he then spun to focus a blast of telekinetic pressure at the last two, who were both slammed into the nearest walls with sickening crunches.

At that he called to his weaponry, then ducked into the home. His senses quickly picked up on.. a young boy, and his family within. The two soldiers stood however, with a detonator in hand, ready to die so long as Valashu was killed as well.

[member="Daniel Drower"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He bolted upright, picture album falling from his hands, clattering against the floor. He heard something violent happening outside his grandmother's cottage. He shook his head, why were people fighting outside the house of a dead woman, it wasn't fair on the dead woman. He stood up, just in time to see a male enter the home. Did he have a bow and arrow? Why was a man with a bow and arrow attacking a child who was on his own? Daniel had so many questions, and obviously no answers. He was just about to speak when two other males entered, one with a thermal detonator in hand. Both of them looked ready to do some damage.

Daniel did the first that that come to his young, nieve mind. He ran and hid behind the door to the main sitting room of the cottage, using his bodyweight to hold it closed while screaming for father. It wasn't like father would hear him, but father would be good to fight the bad guys, father was a violent person. Just a shame father was off planet and away from Daniel. The young child breathed lightly, stepping back into the main hallway, muttering to himself something about manning up and facing his fears. Looking up slowly, he eyed the three men who had invaded the home of his dead grandmother.

"Ge...Get out"

He ran towards them, arms outstretched. It wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done, run towards the man with the bomb. His brothers would laugh when the found out how he went, how he died. His moment of ido..wait, what? Daniel opened his eyes, all three men had fallen backwards against the wall, the two "thugs" unconcious. He'd unknowingly accessed the force, his nieve mind was confused. He stared right at the man with green hair.

"Who are you? Why...Why did you bring a bomb to my home?"

Yeah, he was worried. Wouldn't you be? And yeah, he called it his home. The man wouldn't know any different, and it deserved to be his home. His father had stolen it from it by editing his dead mother's will. He wanted it to be his house, all the happy memories in the house that were better than those in his own house. Though Tumeric was a happy memory, Tumeric was a great person.

[member="Valashu Elahad"]

 

[Matreya]

Valashu held the barest of tk barriers in place when the Force warned of it, protecting him from the explosive energy. The child had extended a large burst of energy, enough so that he threw two large men back, and yet seemed as if it did nothing to him. As if he had the largest storage of energy able to a kid. A small sound slipped free, "Huh." But then a small jerk of telekinetic snapped the necks of both men, to which Valashu too was unaffected - though his being caused by raw power and experience.

A gesture lifted the bomb, while also opening the door behind him once more. Next the large weapon was moved out then placed down a distance away. All the while his gaze never left the kid. While in his own universe, Valashu had not been aged enough to be a teacher, nor had the experience when it came to the Force. Here however, he quickly learned, thriving in a place where his will drove his actions, and not the commands of another... And yet he still never, not once, took an apprentice.

The kid was a perfect age to be taught as well, great for what would become his perfect weapom. He was kind of scrawny, but muscle would be earned. His power was unkempt, uncontrolled, but that control would be taught. He was rash, and spoke when it was not a smart idea, but that was called courage.

This kid would be his student, "What is your name, young man?" Valashu asked, ignoring the question he asked.

[member="Daniel Drower"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Drower kept his eyes on the man. He was kind of cocky, but damned powerful. He'd carried a bomb by not even touching it, you heard the crunch of bone where he snapped necks by not even touching them. In a way, Mr Green Hair seemed like someone you wanted on your side, in many ways he'd just saved the life of a kid he didn't even know. Yet, Mr Green Hair was rude. Who just ignores a person's question, father had taught how that was one of the rudest things you could ever do.

A simple head nod acknowledged the question, while Drower crossed his arms behind his back. "Always remember posture", father had told him so many times. Though it was usually mother who pulled him up on it. A good posture was a good sign of respect, and the Drower family was all about respect. Respect and gloating really, that was very much how the Drower family got by. They used money to buy whatever they wanted, and to some degree it actually worked.

The green haired man was brash, perfect for talking. He was kind of muscular, very good for fighting. His power was kempt, controolled, he could teach control. He was rude, and spoke when it was not a smart idea, but that was called courage.

"My name is Daniel Drower, I'm surprised you don't know me from all my father's press work. Now, if you excuse me, I believe it rude to ignore a question. Who are you mister, why did you bring a bomb to the house of my dead grandmother?"

[member="Valashu Elahad"]

 

[Matreya]

Valashu chuckled, failing at keeping the uninterested appearance, "Does it look like i brought the bomb? No, they did," Val gestured with his thumb at the deceased, "-I was hunting them and they came here." At that Valashu let the poison within his body, filled heavily by the Orbalisks, burn causing pain and aggression of impossible to bear levels. Instantly the result was obvious: veins began to pop out all over his body as he fought to keep his body under control, and the air around them began to thrum with energy. It was as if a literal vibrating could be heard.

"I can tell you bear some kind of talent, one you dont even control you yet, but one I can hone. So, i bear upon you this offer. Come with me, be my student, and i will not kill your family by leaving that bomb out there."

[member="Daniel Drower"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

"My family are no-where near here, the only people you'd kill are me and you"

He watched the man slowly, studying him, trying to understand his offer. He had no power, he was just a kid. Yet, to some regard the man was offering him a way out, a way away from his father and a man who could help him becomme powerful. He looked up the man lightly, planning his next move. The man could just take him and kill him, Daniel knew that was always a possibility. Yet, the man could also be telling the truth, he could help make him powerful.

"How do I know you won't just kill me?"

[member="Valashu Elahad"]

 

[Matreya]

The thrum in the air never dulled, as the Orbalisk venom continued to boil his blood, causing excruciating pain, which flooded more power. A smirk graced his lips, "I am a hunter. Kop'ad Beroya. I will find those I seek, especially your family." Valashu said, then turned on his heel, "No more needs be said, either you follow, survive, save your family, grow in power, or you stay and the bomb outside blows this house to pieces - you with it."

At that he exited back the way he came, turned his gaze upward, and smiled. The boy would follow. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. At that observation he then once more drew his Compound Bow, arched an arrow skyward, then felt the cable connecting with his belt begin to draw him skyward. The powerful magnet-hook combination would let the retractable cable hold his weight easily.

Once atop the nearest building, Valashu drew back his hood, exposing his face to the weather, though still obscured by his Mask. Hooking his bow back to his hip, he folded his arms and waited. The boy would not have seen him jerked upward, thanks to the door closing behind him as he moved, and so now he would see what kind of tracking senses the boy possessed.

[member="Daniel Drower"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He listened to the man slowly, then watched him leave. The man was right, the bomb would kill him, blow him to bits. He didn't care about his family, they could die, but he cared about himself. He left the house moments after the green haired man, breaking into a sprint as he heard the bomb behind him detonate, blow his grandmothers house to bits, sharp bits of tile raining down into the hole the bomb, the detonater caused.

Daniel looked back, sweat raining down his forehead. He had two options, either go home and take the wrath of his father, or go and find the male. Go and find the man with green hair and see if he was being legit, see if he had a power that he could teach to Daniel. He thought about it for a moment, before catching his breath and contuining to move. He had to keep moving, he'd made his choice now he needed to act on his choice.

He had no idea where the man went, but what left Daniel thinking. He wouldn't run off, that wasn't his style, not after what he said. The man was testing the young child, testing him to see exactly what he could do, what power he had and how he could shape it. The two thugs flying back wasn't an accident, Daniel had made that happen, he'd made those men fly back and that was him, that was all him. He had a power, the man was testing that power.

He kept moving, closing his eyes. He felt something, faint but something. Whatever the hell he felt wasn't natural, it scared him, but it was a part of the test. He was meant to be scared. He was meant to be anxious, he just needed to follow his gut though, follow that feeling. He'd find the man, he was slightly, mostly sure of it. It made sense, though he wasn't sure why or how it made sense.

He kept moving.

[member="Valashu Elahad"]