On the River Solleu [Ask/Invite]

[Jiang Winters]

The Solleu River; a mighty waterway that wound across the surface of Naboo and cut through the beautiful city of Theed before finally reaching its end at the Virdugo Plunge. As powerful as the tremendous volume of water flowing through the river was, it was remarkably peaceful and elegant, much like the city built around it.

That was why Weisheng Tai-Shan Winters, a Rogue Jedi Knight, was seated upon a beautifully crafted stone bench on the river's edge. He liked the peaceful solitude of the river, it helped him to think and to meditate. Though quiet reflection was not the reason he was there; rather, he was admiring the beauty of the river and the city itself. He was, for lack of a better description, sightseeing. Sheng had never been to Naboo before, and was so intrigued by the planet and its unique culture and the equally unique architecture of its cities that he had decided to make a short venture to the world.

Despite the fact that he was a tourist, he did not carry any sort of recorder to record his visit. Instead, he carried his katana in its sheath upon his back and his dual pistols in their holsters on his hips. Clipped to his belt just behind each holster were pouches holding three 20-round mags apiece. Did he expect a fight? No. But he wasn't about to go anywhere unarmed.

The well-built Kasa Horansi/Gorvan Horansi hybrid held a small pile of smooth flat stones in his left hand. Each one was rather wet, as though it'd been dunked in the river earlier. As there was no-one around - despite it being early evening - he was both entertaining himself and practicing his skills with the Force by levitating the stones one at a time and flinging them at the water, attempting to make them skip along. He was doing rather well, getting between five and ten skips per stone before they began to sink, at which point he plucked them out of the water using the Force and returned them to his hand.

After a good fifteen minutes of idle rock-skipping, he decided to try something a bit harder, and sent all ten of his stones racing along towards the water at once. To his surprise and delight, each of the rocks went skipping along a good distance before splashing down for the last time. It was quite a noisy spectacle, what with all the rapid-fire splashes, and the subsequent little splooshes resulting from the retrieval of all ten rocks, which slowly began to float through the air back towards Sheng, pausing here and there as he shook them about to dry them off.

 

[D.C.]

The galaxy was one big strange thing, containing so many planets, and so many people. All these people made noise, and many people seemed to stress much these days. It was something that could affect other people to start stressing as well, and so one would find much tension in the air latetly, like the old Shade Master did. He longed for some peace, and some time for himself, away from all the troubles and serious business. He longed to get out and calm himself down, before he too would get stressed.

That was when he decided to go to Naboo, a beautiful planet with big plains and nice and gentle people. The whole aura that surrounded the planet, and that hang in the air, was peaceful, and as the Shade Master walked through the streets of theed, on a clear evening, he could feel himself calming down already. It was refreshing.

He had never visited Naboo before, but he had heard and read about the planet. As he wandered through the streets he found himself lost eventually. He did not know his way around there, and there was nobody to ask, since most people were indoors. Either at home or spending their time in some kind of cantina, and he did not bother to find anyone to ask.

It was then when he could feel another Force Presence nearby. He let the Force show him the way to this presence and he saw a Cathar male up ahead, casting out little stones over the water and using the Force on them. He walked over to the Cathar and said: "Good evening."

When the Cathar would look up to the Shade Master, he would probably not immediately recognize him as a Force User, though he should have been able to sense the strong connection between this Human and the Force. The Shade Master looked older, around 51 years old, though his eyes still reflected a young man, filled with the lust for adventure. His hair was starting to grow grey, but it was still visible that it once was dirty blonde. He wore a black leather jacket, a grey shirt, black pants and black leather boots. He had the looks of a mercenary, but those were just the clothes he preferred. Both the lightsabers that this man carried with him were hidden in the pockets of his jacket, and only his blaster pistol was visible, that was in the holster on his right leg.

"Excuse me, but what did you just do with those rocks?"

In fact, the Shade Master exactly knew what the Cathar was doing with those rocks, and he did not ask it to gain knowledge.

 

[Horizon]

Joshua was pacing alongside the river,while looking at the beautiful scenery of the Solleu River. He was looking for any site of recognition on this planet called Naboo although he couldn't decide which was more important at the time. The city or the amazing pieces of nature.....

By this time Joshua was already about half way up the waterway
and had noticed to men speaking to one another.

He had nothing better to do so he took a small crossing to the other side of the river and began to walk torwards the two strangers.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Good evening." Weisheng echoed, sparing only a moment's glance up at his 'guest'. He could sense that the Force was very strong with the man, though he looked like an older Mercenary. The man queried him on what he had done with the stones; there was no doubt that the man had seen Sheng using the Force to manipulate the stones into doing his bidding, and so he did not bother trying to skirt answering his 'guest's' question.

"Just practicing with the Force." The sable-striped feline replied, as he levitated all ten of the stones and sent them flying off at the water once more, this time in a perfectly straight line. Using the Force, he made the first stone bounce to the left and then skip back to the right again as it skipped along the water. The stone behind it performed an opposite motion, bouncing to the right and then left whilst continuing onwards, and so it went on down the row of stones, each one hopping in a fashion opposite the one before it.

He made the dancing stones hop along in a gentle arc, so they they came skipping back along the surface of the water back in his direction. They came to the bank, then one by one took flight and returned to his outstretched hand after shaking themselves off in mid-flight. After they settled into a neat stack, he set them on the bench beside him and spilled the little tower of stones over, so that they formed what vaguely resembled a row of tilted-over dominoes.

Weisheng moved to wipe his slightly dampened hand off upon his olive tee-shirt, then thought better of it and instead used the knee of his black cargo pants as a impromptu towel. The material of his pants would dry quicker anyways.

 

[Horizon]

Joshua had just stepped off the bridge and was making his way torwards the strangers when suddenly he felt something course through him like a strange new sense...

He decided to ignore it for now but was intrigued by such a strage feeling, maybe he would ask his master what could of triggered it. He was now standing next to the men and was feeling quite strange. The feeling had gotten stronger and began to thump inside his head like a heart beat...
Once again he attempted to put it away but only managed to dampen with thoughts of the matter at hand.

"Fine day isn't gentlemen? Said the darkly dressed man in a curious tone

 

[D.C.]

The Shade Master looked at the tricks that the Force-User in front of him performed with the rocks and smiled. He crossed his arms and looked, and patiently waited for the Cathar to finish doing those tricks.

"That was pretty good." He said. "Tell me, where did you learn that?"

The master wondered if he was talking to a Jedi right now, or perhaps to a Force User of some strange Force Cult. He was curious and he that is why he asked.

A few moments later someone else appeared. The Shade Master could feel a slight connection to the Force within this newcomer. When the newcomer stepped into the light, the master could see a young Human male standing there.

"Yes, a good evening to you." He said, and he nodded friendly at the young man, then looking back at the Cathar and patiently awaited an answer.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"I learned it on Coruscant, at the Temple of the Jedi Order." Weisheng replied as he rose off the bench and stood at his full height of 6'9". He turned to fully face his guest as his obsidian-striped white furred arms folded across his chest, but before he could question the man as to who he was, a younger fellow appeared and spoke to them in a curious tone. "It's a fine evening, yes." He replied, giving the young mane a courteous nod of his head in greetings.

He could feel that the newcomer had a connection to the force, but the rogue Jedi put it out of mind for the moment, instead focusing again upon the older man. "Mind if I ask for your name, stranger?"

 

[D.C.]

Quentell looked up at the Cathar and replied: "My name is Quentell Xall. What's yours?"

The Shade Master had met with Cathar before, and he knew they were big, but he had not thought about it. However, it did not make him afraid, nor intimidated him. If one wanted to make Quentell afraid or feel intimidated, one had to come with something really good, because the Shade Master usually was not afraid of anything, though he was sure this Cathar did not mean to frighten him in any ways.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Weisheng Tai-Shan Winters. You can just call me Sheng though." The Kasa Horansi/Gorvan Horansi hybrid replied, as he let one hand fall to his side and extended his right hand - which was massive by human standards - towards Quentell. "So what brings you to Theed, Quentell? You don't look like a local."

 

[D.C.]

Quentell took Sheng's hand and replied: "To get some rest. The galaxy of today is full of tension and stress, and Naboo always seemed to be the calming and beautiful planet. I find it refreshing to visit this place, and during my stay on Naboo I figured, why not paying Theed a visist?"

The Shade Master grinned and then asked the same question to Sheng: "And what about you?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

"I've heard about Naboo's beauty several times in the past, and I finally decided to take a look for myself. I'm glad I did, it's very peaceful here; a pleasant change from virtually everywhere else in the galaxy." Sheng replied, giving the man's hand a brief shake that was rather firm by human standards. He let his hand fall to his side afterwards, while using his other paw to adjust the old-fashioned rimless spectacles perched atop the bridge of his nose. While it would be a simple matter to wear contacts instead of glasses or to undergo an operation to correct his somewhat poor vision, he found contacts to be uncomfortable to an intolerable degree, and he did not want to risk losing his eyesight over a botched operation.

He then turned to the second newcomer, and offered him a friendly smile as he extended his hand to him as well. "And what is your name?"

 

[Horizon]

Seeing the man offering his hand Joshua met his hand with his own.
He griped his hand lightly and smiled back and replied...
"Joshua Bailo. Its a pleasure to meet you."
He examined the cathar with great curiosity. He had only seen a one cathar in his lifetime and this was during when he lived on the harsh planet of Narshadaa...

 

[D.C.]

"Tell us, Joshua, for what reasons did you come to Naboo?" Quentell asked.

The Shade Master, who did not look like a Shade Master, folded his hands behind his back and looked at the young man in front of him, wondering where he came from. He examined the young man and he wondered which faction this one was alligned to, certainly not the Shade Order, otherwise this young one would have recognized Quentell Xall as a well-known master of the Order.

Quentell could sense the Force flowing through this one, and he wondered who he was dealing with. However, he could also sense that his Force Power was still raw material, so he would not be much of a threat.

Quentell smiled at the young man who introduced himself as Joshua Bailo and patiently waited for an answer.

 

[Horizon]

Hearing the other man beside him speak it sent echos through his mind.
Joshua felt the force ripple from him and this made him wary of his presence.
"I'm here simply to get away. I'm taking a weekend here to relax from training at the temple on courscant." Joshua looked back at the him thinking of who this man was....

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Hm, that's odd." Weisheng commented softly, though it was not directed at Joshua nor at Quentell as it was little more than a mental observation that was given voice instead of being silenced, as it should have been. Indeed, it did seem odd to him. Bailo did not strike him as anything beyond the rank of padawan, and yet, he was here on Naboo, countless lightyears away from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Assuming that particular institution is the same as the temple Joshua spoke of, that is.

He folded his furry arms across his chest and looked down upon Joshua, paused a moment, then explained himself. "Sorry if that sounded... Curt. It's just that when I was around your age, I was rarely allowed to leave the Temple without first notifying my Master, and as for leaving Coruscant? Definitely not, not without my Master." Naturally, his comment revealed that he was, in fact, a Jedi. Or more accurately, had been a Jedi. His clothing and the lack of a lightsaber would clearly show that he was not a Jedi anymore. Or it would just signal that he was trying to avoid drawing attention to himself; Jedi did have a tendency to be trouble magnets, after all.

 

[D.C.]

Quentell looked at the padawan and said, after Sheng had spoken: "Same here."

Those words might have come out of the blue for these two people, and they may be surprised that Quentell said those two simple words. But the fact was, that Quentell once was in the Jedi Order as a padawan, but never made it beyond the rank of padawan, that is, within the Jedi Order.

For a few moments it seemed like Quentell was in thoughts, but then he said: "I might not be your master, young one, but let me teach you this. Never go out alone again, for if I was a Jedi Hunter, I would have killed you by now. Lucky for you I am not. Don't ever say you are with the Jedi in public again, unless you are sure that you can defend yourself, but even then it would not be wise to just go around telling strangers you are a Jedi. You have much to learn it seems."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Weisheng began to nod in agreement with the message conveyed to the young Jedi by Quentell - even though he was rather pleasantly surprised to find himself within the company of two fellow Jedi, even though he had made it a point to avoid the company of such fellows over the past few years since his fall into dishonor - when much to his dismay, the round armless spectacles perched atop the bridge of his nose popped off, and fell to their doom. Despite a last-second effort to snatch the glasses out of midair, their unexpected tumble was rather fast, and they reached a shattering end upon the smooth stone tiles of the ground.

Sheng sighed and frowned as he looked up to the faces of the two men near him. Both of their faces were rather blurry, and while he could still make out their facial features and recognize them, everything beyond the two was rather difficult to make out. At first, he didn't seem terribly concerned, and he reached for a pocket on the thigh of his pants and fished around inside it for a moment. He normally kept a small hardcase with spare glasses on his person, in the event he lost his glasses. Unfortunately, he had not brought his glasses. After stooping to pick up the still-intact rims of his glasses and to pick up the shards - which he sent flying into a nearby trash bin via the Force - he turned to his temporary companions and smiled faintly.

"Hm. Well, it was nice to meet you two, but I'm going to get a killer headache if I don't go and fetch my other glasses. Good evening. May the Force be with you both." He bid them with a cordial smile and a small bow of his head, before the imposing white-furred Kasa Horansi turned on his heel and padded off. He left the bank of the river and climbed a set of stairs back into the streets of Theed, and began the trek back to the spaceport where his ship was docked, and where his other spectacles were located.

 

[Overseer]

The shuttle set down on the landing pad on Naboo and people began to pile out. As to be expected it was relatively crowded onboard, there wasn't much space to move around. The people left the shuttle and hurried into the city of Theed. All but one. The one that no one wanted to get to close to, which made the trip as uncomfortable as it was.

Garev waited until everyone else had vacated the ship before he stood from the floor. His skin pale and cracked, blue scars covering most of his exposed upper body. He walked off the shuttle and began screening the crowd. Since his "return" to the galaxy, Garev had only wished to speak with those connected to the Force.

He saw a Cathar, who had a strong connection to the Force. With his hood over his head he began to approach the Cathar.

 

[D.C.]

After the Cathar was gone, Quentell crossed his arms and looked down on the padawan. However, he quickly turned into the direction Weisheng had gone into, he remained silent. He was very calm, but he was aware of something. Something he felt through the Force, something familiar.

Without saying anything to the padawan, just shooting a quick glance over to him, he walked after Weisheng to try to see what was going on. He wanted to confirm his thoughts.

When he arrived at the spaceport, just a few moments after Weisheng got there, he saw a hooded figure. He knew it for sure, this had to be him. Quentell walked closer to Weisheng and the hooded figure who was approaching Weisheng, and when he got close enough, the Shade Master suddenly said: "Long time no see, mister Uluc."

If this was not Garev Uluc, Quentell's former apprentice, than he would simply excuse himself and move on. If this indeed was Garev, then this could become interesting. Garev once was Quentell's enemy, and Quentell was a Knight back then. Some time later Garev joined the Shade Order and became Quentell's padawan. He was Quentell's first padawan, and the Shade Master had always wondered where Garev had gone.

 

[Overseer]

Garev turned towards the being who called him by his last name. After all the time he had spent 'away' from civilization he was surprised that someone remembered him.

He turned to see none other than his former master Quentell Xall. Placing his right hand over his chest, Garev nodded, "Likewise Sir Xall", in response to his greeting. "I knew I was lead here for a reason, but I had not expected to see you here." He stated simply.

Garev never really knew why he did anything anymore. He simply drifts and goes where the Force leads him.