Ask A Good Deed

[Thel Xeros]

Thel didn’t really acknowledge Shaw saying that he would pay him back. Just a slight nod of the head. He didn’t expect or want to be paid back. He could look after himself.

“Yes, that’s right,” he replied to Shaw. He smiled slightly at the question about the lightsaber. “I didn’t exactly tender my resignation. Let’s put it like that.”

“Indeed,” he commented, in response to Shaw’s enthusiasm about what had happened at the camp. He remained stony faced. It had taken a lot of practice to develop his abilities and it had been an arduous process.

He raised an eyebrow at Shaw asking if he could teach him something. “You’re a force user,” he asked, surprised. He hadn’t seen any indication of that.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Tender his resignation? Krel got cooler and cooler by the minute. So he had just walked out on the Sith? On his own terms? Bro was not a guy to be messed with. Shaw's active imagination had already gotten to work, wondering why Krel had left his order. Forbidden love? Naaaah. That was probably way too cliché. Betrayal? Perhaps one of his closest allies had turned on him, and Krel had been forced to leave. Shaw could come up with all kinds of imaginary scenarios. None of them really founded in reality probably.

"Yeah," Shaw nodded slowly when Krel asked him if he was a force user. Krel seemed surprised, but Shaw couldn't blame him. Shaw didn't really seem like the type. Whatever that was. More power and control, certainly. Neither of which Shaw possessed. The whole falling off the speeder and breaking his arm thing didn't really lend to his case either.

Just admitting out loud that he had the force was still an odd experience for the teenager after years of hiding it and suppressing it. "I'm from Coruscant. Parents are really anti force users and all that," he added, kinda leaning to the left with the extra weight of the cast. "So I really haven't learned how to use it. Can't even pick up rocks or anything like that." There was a moment's hesitation and then, "Soooo.. whaddya say?"

Shaw definitely wanted the answer to be yes, but he wouldn't hold it against Krel if he said no. He probably had a lot of other irons in the fire. @DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Shaw was evidently lacking in training. He had shown nothing to indicate he could use the force. Even Param had been more refined, when Thel had begun training her.

Thel paused to think. Part of him was tempted to say no. However, there was another part of him that enjoyed the role of a teacher. Though he doubted he could be quite as strict with Shaw as he was with Param.

“Hmmm, ok. I suppose I could teach you a few things. Just to be clear, are you a member of any faction or group? I don’t wish to tread on any toes, so to speak.”

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

There was a moment or two of silence that seemed to stretch out for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was probably just Shaw that was aware of it, anxiously waiting for Thel's answer. A grin split the teenager's lips as soon as soon as Thel broke the silence. It wasn't exactly an enthusiastic yes, but it wasn't a no. Shaw could work with that. Besides Thel wasn't the most enthusiastic guy anyway from what Shaw had seen. Bro was very chill. Very reserved. Liked to keep his thoughts to himself.

"I'm from Coruscant," Shaw began to answer. Not a direction answer to Thel's question but a necessary detail to the answer. "Had to leave when those razelings attacked. My parents sent me to the Jedi Order for safekeeping a few months." He looked up at Thel, wondering what his reaction might be. "Just until they can get some credits scraped together, find us someplace new to live."

Shaw was so busy watching Thel that he didn't notice the pair of eyes watching them from across the street. Let's be honest. Between the broken arm and the headache and being an oblivious teenager he probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. It was the mayor, hovering in the shadow of a twenty-four hour diner across the street. He was there one moment and then gone the next, rounding the corner or disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway. @DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

“The Jedi Order,” Thel said, raising an eyebrow. That was an unforeseen complication. It seemed a strange place to send someone for safekeeping.

“I suppose, as long as you don’t tell your fellow Jedi, we shouldn’t have any problems,” he stated, making sure to put emphasis on the word don’t. “Give me your contact details, please. I will arrange the training session.”

Thel had also failed to notice the shadowy figure spying on them. “Come on, I want to speak to the mayor again. Before we leave.”

Heading back to where their journey had started, when they arrived, he quietly entered the building which housed the mayor’s office. Moving through the hallway, he could hear voices coming from the office. The door was ajar. He turned to Shaw and gestured for him to keep quiet.

Sneaking up to the door, he peered through into the room. The mayor was sat down at his desk, taking a holocall from a familiar figure. The Toydarian bandit he and Shaw had encountered earlier. So, what do we have here.

“It would have helped if you told us one of them was a force sensitive,” the Toydarian snapped at the mayor.

“I had no way of knowing. Anyway, the older one of the two is leaving the village. I spoke to him. We have nothing to worry about. Our racket is safe for the time being.”

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Don't worry. I gotchu, bro," Shaw said. He started to raise his arm to playfully salute the older man but cringed when he remembered that his arm was in a cast. How could he forget a thing like that? Guess he just got caught up in the excitement. "I won't tell a soul." He meant it too. He hadn't told anyone about meeting Lil Nash either, another Sith. She wasn't even an ex-Sith like Thel. She was an active Sith. She had shown him a few hand to hand combat moves. Now Thel was going to help him learn how to use the force.

Shaw pulled out his dataphone and gave Thel his contact information but not before the teenager insisted on showing Thel his screensaver too."Check it out!" It was a picture of Shaw crouched down with a bunch of Ewoks around him, a big grin on his face. It was obvious that he was very proud of the picture. "Aren't they just adorable??"

Once Thel had Shaw's contact info, the teenager fell into step alongside him. "Why do you want to see the mayor again?" Seemed to Shaw that everything was settled. The toydarian had gotten away, and any bandits that Thel hadn't beaten up had been scared off. What Thel had said back in the doctor's office about the mayor acting suspicious was fuzzy in the teenager's memory. That concoction Doctor Hathgard had poured down his throat had really done a number on him.

Back in the mayor's office—or eavesdropping outside of his office to be more precise—Shaw would find out exactly why Thel had wanted to double back. The mayor was crooked! He had been conspiring with the bandits this entire time! Had he sent them out to fight the bandits hoping the bandits would dispose of them? So this whole thing had been a trap?

"What about the other one?"

The mayor laughed. "The boy? Pffft. Don't worry about him. He won't be a problem even if he stays." Shaw couldn't help but be a little offended at that, but he bit his tongue. "Once the bounty hunter or whatever he is is out of the way we can resume business as usual."

Shaw looked up at Thel and mouthed, "What should we do?" @DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel took Shaw’s word that he wouldn’t tell anyone. Even if he did, Thel wasn’t tied down to one place. So, finding him wouldn’t be easy.

He remained stony faced when Shaw squeed over the Ewoks. “Yes, sure they are,” he commented, sounding completely unenthused.

“Just a little chat. Nothing important,” he replied, when Shaw asked about the mayor.

He had thought there was something strange about the way the mayor had acted when they returned. He didn’t suspect their involvement in a conspiracy with the bandits.

“Your phone, set it to record and pass it to me.”

Upon receiving the phone, he gently levitated it into the room. Keeping it low to the ground and out of sight, he then moved it close to the desk.

“What do you mean you’re unhappy with our present arrangement,” the mayor growled at the Toydarian.

“You’re pocketing too much of the money that we rip off from the businesses in your village. I want more. Especially considering the fact I’ve just lost a lot of men because of that bounty hunter you sent to us. I demand compensation!”

The mayor grimaced. “I suppose I could advance you some credits to compensate for the losses you suffered. Meet me at Bothote Falls, at midnight.”

“You got it.” The hologram fizzled out.

“Don’t mention the recording to him,” Thel whispered to Shaw.

Waiting a few seconds, he then slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

“Hello. Interesting conversation you were having.”

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw did as he was told, opening up his voice memos app on his dataphone, hitting the red record button, and handing the device off to Krel. Shaw just hoped he knew how to use it. Sometimes older people were lost when it came to technology.

As soon as the office door swung open, the mayor spun around to face Krel and Shaw. His face went as white as the long beard that hung from his chin, and his eyes widened. "You—you were eavesdropping!" he accused before realizing that he had bigger problems. His knee jerk reaction hadn't done him any favors.

"I mean—bounty hunter!" He glanced at Shaw, not sure what to call him. Finally he settled on, "Teenager! I am so relieved you are here! Th-that was the bandit leader just now! He's been threatening me! Threatening to pillage the village and carry off our women and children in the night unless I pay him a ransom. He's angry. Very angry that I sent you two to deal with his men!"

When that didn't elicit a response from the other two, he decided to try something else. "This is all your fault! If you had dispatched with the bandits like I asked... but you led them right back to me! Right back to our village!" He licked his lips. "But it's not too late. He wants me to meet him up at Bothote Falls at midnight to deliver the credits. You know the place. I marked it on your map, remember?"

How could Shaw forget? The mayor had marked it all up with bright red sharpie. Now he realized that it was because he hadn't wanted them getting lost on their way to their prearranged deaths at the hands of the bandits. "You could go in my stead! Ambush him! Deal with these ruffians once and for all and save the village!" Now he was trying to appeal to their sense of morality. Or maybe their pride.

Shaw wondered what his plan was once the toydarian was dead and he and Krel went their separate ways? Would the mayor skip town too or would he bring in some new lackeys and go right back to business as usual? The teenager looked at Krel. He would let the older man take the lead on this. Shaw would just kinda hover near the doorway in case the mayor decided to make a break for it. Maybe Shaw would be able to shove him over with his cast or something. @DMCK

 

[Thel Xeros]

Thel could see the colour drain from the mayor‘s face when he opened the door.

Almost as soon as they stepped into the room, the elderly man was scrambling for excuses. Thel didn’t say a word, letting the mayor squirm.

“Deal with those ruffians. That would be the same group of ruffians that you’re running your little racket with,” Thel said derisively.

The mayor stammered, unable to muster a response. “So, when we’re out of the way, it will be back to business as usual for you and your ruffian friends,” he stated contemptuously, placing emphasis on when he echoed what the mayor had said to the Toydarian.

The mayor’s face dropped and he stared down at the desk. When he eventually looked up, his face was one of pure venom.

“You think you can threaten me, you imbecile. I’ve been mayor of this village for longer than you’ve been alive. I own it. The law answers to me. Your lightsaber is no good here.”

The mayor hopped down from his chair and circled around the desk. “Perhaps, I am using the bandits. Maybe, I am siphoning money away from the stall holders and shop owners here. What’s the problem? I’m entitled to it. There’s no generous retirement package for running a place like this.”

The mayor’s face had gone red and veins bulged on his forehead. It was as if years of dissatisfaction was pouring out of him.

The mayor then turned his attention to Shaw and began to shuffle towards him. “As for you, you’re not even old enough to know how life works. You’re not fit to judge me,” he growled, waving a finger at the younger man.

Seeing an opportunity, while the mayor had his back to him, Thel levitated the phone to his hand and clipped it to his belt

“I want you out of my village. And before you think of using that lightsaber, you don’t want a bounty on your head. Hurt me, and you’ll both be wanted.”

Thel paused, glancing over at Shaw. “Ok, we’ll leave. Trust me though, things will catch up with you eventually.”

They had a recording, which was all Thel had wanted. “Come on Shaw.”

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"Now get out of my office!" the mayor spat with venom. It might have been a little more intimidating and impactful if Thel hadn't already turned to leave and Shaw had followed after him. It kinda felt like the mayor was just trying to pretend that he was still in control of the situation. "And don't ever come back!" Totally overcompensating.

Outside of the mayor's office, Shaw turned to Krel. "Soooo what now?" he started to ask, but the older man just gave him a look. Oh. Why hadn't Shaw thought of that before? He was the tech savvy one out of the two of them. At least he assumed he was. Krel struck him as a flip dataphone kinda guy. He probably texted with one finger too. It really bugged Shaw when people texted with one finger. Now that his arm was broken, he supposed he would be texting one handed for a while.

Anyway. Back to the matter at hand. He pulled his dataphone out and pulled up the recording Krel had taken of the mayor's conversation. "This is called airdrop. It's when you send something to all the active dataphones in the area via—" But one look at Krel told him that he really didn't care for an explanation.

All the dataphones in the area with their airdrop feature turned on would receive the recorded memo. Those that didn't have the airdrop feature turned on would get it forward to them by those that did. It wouldn't be long until the whole town knew what the mayor had been up to. The people of Keitum would decide what to do with their beloved mayor.

As for the bounty hunter that wasn't really a bounty hunter and the padawan? It was time for them to part ways. Shaw had a Jedi Knight waiting (probably impatiently waiting) for his return, and Krel had... whatever it is ex-Sith do waiting for him.

end @DMCK