When Sith Beat Jedi To The Prize (Of The Chosen One)

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel had intended never to go to Tatooine again. The entire experience the first time he was there was hot and miserable. The only good point, so far as he was concerned, was meeting Andronikos. But as luck would have it, his ship ended up deciding to need minor repairs. Nothing too bad, but it did require him to land somewhere to get the parts he needed, because of course, the bit that went was something he didn't have spare parts for. The only planet within reasonable range? Tatooine.

It didn't take long for a Force-sensitive boy to catch his attention. One strong enough that he was surprised the Jedi didn't already find him. Well, their loss was his gain. ...Once he pried him loose from Watto, anyway. He suspects he actually had an easier time of it than a Jedi would, although he's not going to hang around and give one the chance to give it a shot. At least, unlike them, he's willing to come to Tatooine from time to time so Anakin could see his mother. Probably not more than a couple times a year or so, due to it being best to go there when they're at least vaguely in that part of the galaxy anyway, but it's far better than 'sorry kid, we're never bringing you back'.

Of course, there is one tiny problem with this whole thing. He's never had to raise children before and doesn't know what he's doing. With the ship safely in hyperspace and not due to come out of it for a good long while, enabling him to do things that didn't involve sitting in the pilot's seat of the ship, he's in the lounge area. Time to figure out what he's doing. "Have you managed to get any kind of schooling? Like from someone you know, sitting down with you for an hour here and there as time permitted to teach you things like how to write?"

May as well figure out what he needs to teach besides how to use the Force consciously instead of unconsciously drawing on it.

Comments

[neverwantedtobesith]

Yes, probably best to take off while Garth'zel is still having his moment of 'did he just--'. Once he's shaken himself out of his moment, he gets himself a drink. One stronger than he originally intended. Albeit not as much as he wanted.

At least the food's ready by the time Anakin appears, even if Anakin's is warm at best. (Meanwhile, Garth'zel's more or less finished. He's not waiting on you to appear before starting on his share, child.) Garth'zel also learned from the previous time and didn't make as much, sticking to an amount he's reasonably certain Anakin can better handle.

[imaperson]

Anakin's hair is completely sodden, water still making little tracks down his cheeks and neck and his hands, not just his fingers, are wrinkled up. He wouldn't care if his food is burnt and cold because he has just gotten to play in more water than he's had in a year. So warm-ish and well cooked is just fine with him.

And he'll just inhale his food, stopping about mid-way to being finished. "Thank you." For the food.

[neverwantedtobesith]

The food is fine. Just not hot anymore.

"I think you forgot to dry off," Garth'zel comments dryly. Promptly followed by "You're welcome, although given that I'm responsible for you, I do rather need to feed you. Even if that's something a certain someone else apparently didn't get."

[imaperson]

Comparing anyone's food to their mother's, when they love their mother and have good memories of her food. It's going to be 'just ok' to him for a while.

"I'm mostly dry. I didn't know hair could get so wet." So he hadn't saved towel for his hair. "Could make me cook for myself." Anakin shrugs a little. It's not a critique, just him stating.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"You'll find that hair likes to hold onto more water than it really feels like it should be able to," Garth'zel says, amused. "Longer hair makes it worse."

[imaperson]

"That's probably not good in the cold right?" Because he is feeling chilled, more than normal. He's still eating though - he'll worry about being cold later.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Right," Garth'zel agrees. "That's when you really make certain as much water is out of your hair as possible before going outside. No one wants to get sick or have suddenly frozen hair."

[imaperson]

Anakin pushes his hair off his forehead for a moment. "I've never seen anything frozen." He's heard of it, of course, but he's never seen it.

"Can your hair freeze? I mean. I'm warmer than something frozen?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Mmm, there's places on Hoth with volcanos, but those are few and far behind. There's ice and snow everywhere, and being outside at night is asking to freeze to death. So yes, it's possible for your hair to freeze when wet in places like that." Along with other things without enough protection. Hoth is officially on his list of planets he doesn't want to have to go back to if he can avoid it.

[imaperson]

Anakin shivers at the idea and makes a 'uck' sound. "Some of the pilots talk about liking ice and snow." He clearly thinks those people are crazy. "All planets like that? Really hot like Tatooine or really cold like Hoth?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel shakes his head. "My own home planet is fairly temperate overall. It's also a world known for its agriculture among people who bother to pay attention to it. Food is grown there with some going to feed the local population but most of it gets shipped to other planets and moons who either can't produce enough or can't produce any like Nar Shaddaa or Coruscant."

[imaperson]

Anakin files that away. "What's more common? Temperate or extremes?" He says 'temperate' as if it's a strange word to him, and it is, one he's guessing at the meaning of but figures it to mean 'in the middle climate wise'.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Temperate. Planets like those are considerably less of a pain for people to live on than ones like Tatooine. Or Hoth. Ortolans had settled on Hoth, but I believe they've given up now as it's apparently too cold for even them to want to deal with for an extended amount of time." The extreme cold probably broke their equipment too often or something; he doesn't know, just knows that in his time, some were making a go of it, apparently, now they're not.

[imaperson]

"Are there other kinds of extremes? Other than hot and cold?" It doesn't dawn on him there can be hot and wet and cold and dry. He just wants to know about the planets and the systems. All of them.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Mm-hmm. Depending on what they are, they may or may not make a planet worth settling. It depends on if whatever resources the planet has are important enough to make the effort worth it. But generally, it's easier to just pick a planet that's capable of being mostly self-sufficient to live on." There are entirely too many potential variations for Garth'zel to list out, child.

[imaperson]

"That's why sometimes moons are settled instead right?" He's mostly going off pilot talk and things he's overheard - practical knowledge of how settlement worked didn't factor into what he'd been educated on, and if people settled on Tatooine for kirfs sake...

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Yes. A planet that's a gas giant obviously can't be settled, because there's nothing to settle on but they may have moons orbiting them that are livable. Said gas giant planets may also have something worth harvesting, giving another reason for setting up on their moons; to provide a base of operations that spare people the need to build a space station to get their work done from instead." Garth'zel may be starting to wonder why he opened up this line of discussion. Kid, eat your food.

[imaperson]

He's eating! He's just going to talk between swallowing. "Do you think anyone can ever visit all the systems in the galaxy?" He has no idea how many there are out there, how many systems or planets - more than he can count, he's sure.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"I don't think it's physically possible, no. Even if one was a member of one of the longer-lived species out there, instead of the century or less our own tend to live for." Sorry kid, you're going to need to pick and choose which planets you go to.

[imaperson]

"I'm going to try to see as many as I can." It's not a question, it's a sharing of plans, said with the confidence only young children are capable of.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Well, before you do that, you need to one, finish eating your food, and two work on learning how to use the Force properly with me," Garth'zel says dryly.

One thing at a time, kid. Focus on the practical first, then the 'pie in the sky' things.

[imaperson]

"I thought I might eat slower." So he knew when he was full instead of done, to avoid a repeat of the night before. "I still don't understand what the Force is." He'd been listening as Garth'zel had explained, of course, but that didn't mean he understood.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Eating slower is good," Garth'zel agrees. "Along with not talking while your mouth's full." Just tossing that one out preemptively.

"The Force is an energy field that binds everything together. It has both a Light and a Dark Side. One can't exist without the other. As much of the Jedi may wish otherwise." Don't let him get started on that. Just don't.

"You need the Force to live. Any world that doesn't have it is a dead world. That's not to say that all dead worlds are void of the Force, mind. There's plenty that are dead simply because they're outside of the zone in a solar system where planets are capable of sustaining life. Too close to the sun and you get a ball of molten rock. Too far away, and everything's well below freezing temperatures."

[imaperson]

He doesn't talk with his mouth full. Often.

He understands 'energy field' or a type of energy field anyway, so he can sort of start to wrap his brain around what the Force is, but he still doesn't really understand. "What's the difference, between Light and Dark?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel's lips twitch. "You may regret asking that once I get into the philosophical parts." He's just giving you fair warning.

"The Jedi would say the Light's good and the Dark's bad. Which... they're not entirely wrong. Given the Light Side tends to feel warm while the Dark feels cold, it tends to be fairly easy to tell which side is being used. Along with telling you which way a person tends to lean towards using due to the way their presence in the Force feels.

"The Light Side tends to be easier to use when in a state of calm. The Dark Side, however... it relies on emotion. Things like hate. Anger. Fear. Negative emotions, which while yes, there is power and often a lot of it in them, the cost isn't necessarily worth it."