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]

"You'll improve with practice," Garth'zel says before nodding at the bowl. "The bowl next."

Time to work upwards in terms of size.

[imaperson]

Anakin exhales. Not a success, not in his mind. But not a failure either, even if there had been a false start. Failure would have been not being able to manage in his task at all during this lesson.

The bowl is larger, but he's sure now he can in fact lift it, and he focuses less on if he can lift it and more on trying to lift it steadily, smoothly, without it wobbling. He doesn't quite manage it would any wobble, but it's better.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"The same principle of what you're doing applies to whatever you're lifting, no matter the size," Garth'zel says, falling into his 'instructor' voice without really noticing it. "Now that you understand how to do this, you'll be able to lift larger things such as boulders with about the same amount of effort. That said, something large enough is likely to need to be a group effort."

"I once lifted a large starship from the swamp it had been rusting in for centuries with a couple of other people. It took all three of us. Once it was in the air, someone else kept it there, since he was waiting in the cockpit for us to pull it free from the ground to make sure the muck had time to get out of places it wasn't helpful to be in." Of course, then they had an interesting time getting in the ship, given its distance from the ground.

[imaperson]

Anakin hears the change in voice but he doesn't understand the meaning behind it. And what Garth'zel is saying is very neat but he doesn't see much use in just being able to lift things up and down.

Instead, remember his accidental throw, he tries to push the bowl to one side, being partly successful, but also tumbling it over so it's upside down. Anakin glares at the bowl as if it is the bowl's fault, not his, for a long moment before managing to flip it back over and pull it back to were it had been, then puts it down. Smoother. Less hard.

"Why did you need to get the ship?" Talking now that he's not concentrating.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"The shuttle that had been our ride crashed. Hard. There was fire." He shakes his head a moment later. "It was a good thing for us that other ship was out there in the swamp. We would have had a hell of a time getting off the planet without it. And the size meant we could take some refugees with us without things becoming cramped."

[imaperson]

"Did the pilot crash it or did someone shoot you down?" Because that was a hard crash. He was curious about Garth'zel's life, wondered if any of the refugees had stayed with him, but he doesn't ask. Maybe later.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Both," he says dryly. "We'd been shot at, resulting in taking damage, but Koth and I managed to keep it in the air long enough to make it to the swamp."

[imaperson]

"Lucky for you the swamp was there." Anakin looks back at the table, and settles on the bowl, turning it upside down, then starts trying get the fork to stand up on it. It's tricky, trying to balance the fork upright on it's tines when forks don't easy balance that way, and he ends up spinning it like a top a couple times before getting it to stand up.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"We were," Garth'zel agrees. "That swamp made for a good place to lose pursuers long enough to get the ship we found fixed up enough to get out of there."

[imaperson]

"What is a swamp really?" He's assuming water because Garth'zel mentioned rust but otherwise, he didn't know what it was. And water didn't seem like a place to lose people trying to find you.

Once he gets the fork balanced, he puts it back and he scans the table for something else to play with. There's a pot lid he starts trying to balance on it's side next.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"A mess," Garth'zel deadpans. "There's a lot of water. And mud. Various plants suited to that amount of water. Along with animals that do well in that environment. Unfortunately."

Damn arachnids.

[imaperson]

Garth'zel seems to not like swamps but Anakin thinks he'd like to see one, full of water and mud. He's never seen mud either.

The pot lid is easier to get onto it's side, and he tries to make it spin, finding it easier to motion with his fingers to imagine how he wants the lid to go.

"How long did it take you to fix up the ship?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

He's spent entirely too much time in them to be very fond of them at this point.

"A few days. It was a good-sized one." He makes a face. "The hyperdrive worked all of one time. And the main weapon did the same. At least both did what they needed to long enough for us to get out of there. Once we got somewhere, Koth was able to have his crew finish getting it fixed up properly."

[imaperson]

"Sometimes you only have to get it to work once." He's got the the lid spinning at a good clip, enjoying being able to get it going.

"So you kept the ship?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel quirks an eyebrow at the pot lid but doesn't say anything.

"We did, yes. Once the Omnicannon was fixed, it was very helpful for fighting the Eternal Fleet. As in Koth started counting how many ships it took out and gave up at about twenty. That was with one shot"

[imaperson]

It's not like he has toys on board.

"Wow. Wizard." He was going to have to remember to tell Kit if he saw him again. "I've never heard of a cannon like that."

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel hopes to change that. Hopefully, the kid will at least attempt to play with them like a normal human child.

"I hadn't either. Apparently, it's something that was unique to that ship specifically for fighting that fleet."

[imaperson]

It depends on the kind of toy, really. Although educational toys he'd actually like.

"Probably good I haven't heard of it, isn't it?" People fighting in space and slavers using threats of it to force surrender...

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Probably," Garth'zel says with a nod. "Although at this point in time, I would be... very surprised if it still existed. Although I'm not sure how that cannon would have worked against regular ships. It would destroy one hit by it directly for sure, but I'm not sure its effects would expand like that with them."

[imaperson]

"What made those ships different?" He slows the lid until he has it steady, frowning at it, before making it roll forward a little, then motions it forward more.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"They were some sort of advanced technology that no one's seen before. I honestly don't know how modern technology would compare to them. One would hope that after over three thousand years, ships that could counter them what weren't the Gravestone would have been built." Seriously, he has no idea where they're from; those ships came from nowhere so far as everyone was concerned.

[imaperson]

"Huh. That's weird. None of you were worried about were it came from?" Because that was just spooky. Very spooky.

The lid runs an object, stopping and Anakin tries to push it to roll over the thing, but he can't quite get it to, and he makes a face at it.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Considering the Empire of Zakuul used the Eternal Fleet to crush both the Republic and the Sith Empire in less than a year, we wanted to know where they came from very much," Garth'zel says dryly. "Given the Gravestone was the only thing we found that was remotely even a match, we had to make ourselves not worry too much about its origins. Even if we did want to know that. But it was overall a problem we could set aside."

Given they had a war to fight.

"What are you doing?"

[imaperson]

"Still a creepy thing."

He rolls the lid back a little and tries to roll it forward again but it only bounces. "Um..." Playing really. "Practicing?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Try not to send that bouncing off something it shouldn't. Like me," Garth'zel says dryly. "I need to get you real toys to play with, not things that belong in the galley."