Private What the Teacher Teaches

[Arlo Renard]

Kai wandered the streets of Coruscant with no specific destination in mind. In this particular case, it was all about the journey, and his ability to resist temptation during that journey.

<Look at the people around you.> Erictho’s voice was in his head. The small rabbit-like Sithspawn sat astride his shoulders, appearing to onlookers as little more than an exotic pet. <What do you see?>

Kai’s eyes wandered, not settling on any one face for long. <They’re just people.>

<Ah. Then you don’t see them as potential food?>

<No.> Kai lowered his gaze to the ground, staring at the pavement. <I don’t see them as food.>

He called his consumption of thoughts and memories feeding, but it brought him no true sustenance. It wasn’t something he could live off of the way meat could sustain him. But he frequently felt the urge to dip into the minds of others and drink, as if it were a need he had to fulfill or die.

<Then how do you see them?>

He raised his eyes again, still darting from face to face, afraid to linger too long. <I don’t know.>

They were headed vaguely in the direction of home, apparently a subconscious choice on Kai's part. But Erictho kneaded her paws against his shoulder to make him stop. <We will keep going until you find an answer.>

Reluctantly, Kai turned around and headed back the way he had come.

Erion Justeene​

 

[Erion Justeene]

Location: Coruscant
Tag: Arlo Renard

So many people milling around heads full of their own business to even pass the Sith Lord even a momentary glance. Why would they? He wouldn't if the roles were reversed. Superious observed children throwing tantrums when they were denied a toy from a shop front or they were dragged by the hand by a very weary parent to a shop full of clothes.

But the denizen of this crowded Planet is not why he is here, no he had read something in the libraries about Sithspawn and the fact that on occasion they show up in very out of the ordinary places. Superious rarely dealt with them as he lacked the time and interest to do so.

He left them to be when he did see them, he didn't think they were worth trying to bend to his will as they can be just as ill-tempered as he was. Well, ones he had encountered in his lifetime at least. But that was in the past, and he is here to observe and find out if what he has read is true.

Superious decided to take this trip out here alone, nothing against his Apprentice, no. But he needed to keep a low profile, everyone is still up on alert after the battle that took place here, he didn't join in, he was out in Wild Space and outside the Sith airspace and communication range.

Superious wondered if he were Sithspawn, where would he be inclined to hide? Not actually knowing what to look for.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai walked to the other end of the sector. Erictho kept reminding him to keep his chin up—he found it harder to look people in the eye the second time around.

<You’re slipping,> Erictho remarked. Nothing Kai did seemed to escape her notice. <Are you feeling the temptation more strongly now? Is that why you’re afraid to meet their eyes?>

The boy didn’t respond at first. His pace slowed, eventually coming to a stop before a bridge that stretched out over a massive canyon created by starscrapers and other structures. Speeders zipped around, Coruscanti going about their business, most of them unaware of anything outside the narrow circle of their own lives.

<No,> Kai answered at last. <I’m afraid of them.>

Swishing her tail with interest, Erictho asked, <Why?>

<Because of what they carry inside them.> Leaning forward against the bridge railing, he peered down at the chasm below. <Even the ones who haven’t really done anything wrong, and probably never will—they think about things. They fantasize about what they wish they could do, when no one is watching.>

<But you are watching them.>

<Yes. I see everything.>

Erictho tutted. <Even if they did know you could see what’s inside their minds, how could they stop themselves from thinking? You must learn to accept the ugliness inside others.>

<But that’s why I want to stop.> He clenched his fists. <I don’t want to see it anymore. I don’t want to feel what they feel. That’s what you’re supposed to be teaching me, isn’t it?>

He felt Erictho’s paws padding from his right shoulder to his left shoulder. <We agreed that I would teach you how to control your hunger. But I can’t stop you from feeling hungry.>

A wave of despair crashed into Kai. Erictho nuzzled his cheek, her little black tongue licking up the stream that trickled from his eye.

<Poor little Bamarri. You remember what it was like to not be hungry, don’t you?...>

Erion Justeene​

 

[Erion Justeene]

Location: Coruscant
Tag: Arlo Renard

The problem now is, how to find a Sithspawn? Where will be a likely place to start. Superious had not a clue, but that will not be too much of an issue.

So by using the force he focused on the crowds around him, shunting those who were force-dead aside, it was a mental shuffling designed to whittle down the sense pool to find who he wanted to find. This time it is a little harder as he had no idea what he was looking for and there could be more than one Sithspawn.

Superious focused more closely on the ones that interested him, he made sure they didn't feel him peeking into their minds or snooping around their force signatures, many were not sensitive but still, that didn't stop him from prying. Then he withdrew, his presence returning to where he was. There has to be a thread he hasn't tugged on yet, a presence he couldn't pick up.

A smaller street away from the very large crowds will narrow it down, as soon as the crowds are dispersed Superious had exited the area already, reaching out a little more, searching for a strange signature, it is out there, he just has to find it. He never actually actively looked for something through the force in this way, but since it's something he has no visual lead on, he can only look this way.

Then there was something outside normality, outside the box, it felt in despair, uncertain and strong, so he grabbed onto that and began to follow it, once he had a lead, he will not let it go. The narrow alleys were not a bother to the Ubese, as smaller spaces felt better than being too out in the open and exposed

As he neared the source of the unusual presence, Superious finally let his fiery presence be felt by the Doppelganger once in range, or at least in the periphery, not too out of range but far enough not to be immediately seen, only felt.

 

[Arlo Renard]

The sudden appearance of a foreign presence jerked Kai out of his wallowing. He turned to face the source, and spotted a figure standing at the other end of the bridge. An Ubese, judging by the mask they wore. He could tell nothing else about them except that they burned in the Force, like shadow and flame.

Kai’s first instinct was to run. But where would he go? He couldn’t risk leading the Ubese back home. So far the man hadn’t done anything, just stood there… menacingly. Looking right at Kai as though he expected something from him.

<Aren’t you a Jedi, Kai Bamarri?> Erictho’s voice was still in his head. <Jedi don’t run from Darkness.>

Kai stood his ground, but he didn’t dare approach the Ubese. <All right, you’ve made your presence known,> he said. <What do you want from me?>

Erion Justeene​

 

[Erion Justeene]

Tag: Arlo Renard

Ah, so he had the .... boy's attention. The source of the odd presence was a boy? No that's not it, he was something else entirely, but what could not be determined. Superious was told many years ago not to jump to sudden conclusions. Because if he did, the encounter would end badly for him, not the other person he overestimated. So for now he assessed the situation, not prodding too far into Kai's aura but not too far in that it was overwhelming. As soon as he had pushed as far as he was willing, his signature retreated again.

Soon enough the boy spoke, but not with words, but with a thought, Telepathy, which took Superious off guard, but only briefly. It didn't bother him, he tried learning the same, it ended with a popped vessel, trying to force the ability. So the boy has a language after all.

<"What I want, depends on how well you can answer questions and react."> He replies sharply, as he began to formulate a question that had piqued the curiosity that led him here. <"You are different to the every day sentient on this planet, you register differently in the force, why is that?">

 

[Arlo Renard]

Under other circumstances, Kai might’ve been delighted to meet a fellow telepath. Here, though, it only made the stranger seem more unsettling.

What’s more, the Ubese had asked a question Kai couldn’t answer. Feigning ignorance wouldn’t do him any good. Luckily, he did have a prepared lie—one that was rooted in truth.

<Despite the way I look, I am not human,> he replied. <My unusual presence in the Force is due to my species.>

Erion Justeene​

 

[Erion Justeene]

Tag: Arlo Renard

Superious was not a Telepath but he did attempt to try his hand with it, but this was not the time to remember that incident. Most things from that time was a little muddied. Clamping the memories back behind a wall, he focused back on the strange boy in front of him. There was hesitation, and surprising for the Ubese is that he wasn't impatient, he usually would bark at them to hurry up and speak. But, he went for honey, rather than vinegar approach. It worked wonders on Thierry, who did as told better when Superious is calmer and patient.

Ah, he thought as much, Humans have a linear presence but not Kai, his was blobbier and far more colourful. With his first question answered he promptly moved on to the next one, a more narrow one that will give the Ubese a better picture of what this boy was. Throughout the encounter, no Lightsabers were drawn because there was no need to threaten in a civil conversation

<"I thought as much, but the pressing question now is, what Species are you?"> He pressed on careful not to sound forceful.

 

[Arlo Renard]

<A Bamarri,> he replied. <From Chaldea.>

It was true, but not the whole truth. He was a Bamarri, but there was much more to him than that now.

<This one won’t stop asking questions,> Erictho hissed in his mind. <His curiosity may be too much for us…>

The doppelganger visibly stiffened, but said nothing, waiting to see how the Ubese would react. Kai hoped to make him lose interest and eventually leave him alone.

Erion Justeene​