So I'm really excited for this chapter, guys! I get to play around with a lot of things that I've been exploring for a while including Mind Healing and the possibility of the Dark, why Maul is beaten in the way he is, and... Yeah. There's a lot here.
There's also more warnings for Past Child Abuse because Sidious is like that and it's awful.
Maul's initial romp through the training room is written to: www .youtube watch?v=Jp6u-c6Fr70 - though I want to state that it's more in feel and less in tempo.
The fight against the Droids was toooooo www .youtube watch?v=lZY91ZsyHGw - warnings for this one include drug mention, sex mention, alcohol mention... It's a pretty violent song, Mr. Self Destruct, but it's a good one~
Maul was still not quite sure what was happening outside of the fact that he wanted it. Maul wanted for Plo to teach him, he wanted for…he wanted for all of them to teach him. That part of him that hungered found the idea of having so many around him satisfying in a way that he did not understand, he just knew it felt…it felt like the removal of a lack.
It felt like another tool in a box.
Maul wanted more tools, he wanted to understand, to know who he was and what was happening, he wanted so much, and they were offering… Maul wondered a bit how he was meant to earn this. He wondered what the catch would be, but Maul would find that out. He had already promised to read the book and to not hurt while he was doing so…
Maul no longer wished to hurt, so that part was easy, the book was a bit more difficult, but Maul could ask questions, he thought. They were meant to teach him, were they not? They were meant to help him understand, and he had to assume that this book…
There is good in this Galaxy…
Maul was not sure what that meant, though he wondered…he wondered if it was something that Meltch had been trying to give him. He wondered…
Maul did not even know where to begin with any of this, did not know how to ask the questions that were tickling at the back of his mind. Maul did not know how to ask about other forms of touch, about why it burned and yet did not hurt him.
Maul took a breath and then slowly looked to Tiq then, taking in the Rodian that was smiling at him, the warmth in those large eyes. There had been so much…
Maul did not know how to thank that.
"You were there," Maul said finally, watching him quietly, "the entire time. I remember your voice throughout all of it…"
"I was," Tiq agreed and that smile broadened, his eyes crinkling with it. "It's my job, Maul. It's something I wished to do, not something that you owe me for."
Maul found his brows knitting slightly, taking in the Jedi before him that was asking him for nothing and mumbling quietly, "Compassion. Weakness."
Tiq beamed, "Perhaps," he agreed, "or maybe it's a gift. Maybe it's something that you needed and something I chose to provide. It's something that I've trained for years to be able to do, and it is something that I wanted to give."
Maul took this in, thinking. Maul was not a stranger to training of course, he himself did it all the time, and he supposed that this then must be a skill, something learned and honed through constant work, but that still begged the question… "Why do you train for this? Why is it something you want?"
"To help others," Tiq answered, "because I cannot bear to see someone hurting when I know that I can help. There is the satisfaction of knowing that I have helped, of seeing someone come out of… Maul, I will not lie to you, you were one of my more difficult patients, and for you to be here… I am pleased for you. I am so happy that I could help you."
Maul took that in and found that this was…perhaps a bit harder to understand. Maul was no stranger to the satisfaction that came from hard work, and also the knowledge that he had accomplished something, but for it to be another person that mainly benefited, that… That was strange. But Maul thought it might be a Jedi sensibility. This then was easier to understand.
Though perhaps, this was the kind of thing Anakin had meant by Good.
"What do you do now?" Maul asked finally.
Tiq smiled at him, "I am…a Mind Healer, Lord Maul," Tiq answered, "I help people understand themselves, understand what has happened to them and begin to heal."
Maul found a brow slowly rising, taking this in for a moment, "I see."
"I am also the Mind Healer that was specifically assigned to you."
Maul blinked.
"I see," Maul repeated. "Tell me, Mind Healer, how precisely are you meant to help me with these things? How does this work?"
Tiq beamed at him, and Maul was beginning to notice just how often his eyes did that, "A very good question. I want…the first thing I wish to inform you of is the fact that it is, of course, not instant. We are not creating a miracle cure, we are…giving you methods and understanding that you can use to help when certain situations arise, for instance the panic attack that you had. Do you remember what you have to do?"
Maul was quiet for a moment, thinking, "Grounding, cover your mouth, breathe through your nose – the panic comes from the inability to breathe, so once you breathe you begin to settle. Cold water helps as well."
"Yes!" Tiq pointed at him, "and so you have a tried-and-true method that you can use should something like that happen again."
"A tool," Maul said softly, "a tool I can put in a box…"
"That's a brilliant metaphor!" Tiq said. "That's exactly what it is, it's giving you different tools that you can utilize when you need them. It is…it is also helping you to look back at what happened to you, to be able to settle yourself with your past and your future, to help you understand where you were and where you are going. This is…often done through guided communication, and often through talking, mutual meditation, and should there be enough trust, shared mentalscapes that can be utilized to help. Of course, these scapes are destroyed as soon as the work is done and you do not have to worry about leaving a way into your mind, but this is done much later in the healing process."
Maul was quiet for a moment, "I do not know how you believe I can do any of these things," he said finally. "I am bound. The only thing I have to give is my words…"
Maul watched as the two of them smiled at him and felt the slow rise of confusion within him.
"Lord Maul," Plo said softly, "would you permit me to remove your collar?"
Maul blinked, his hand rising to it instinctively, feeling that jolt, before he found himself asking, "For how long?"
"While you are within this cell, or the other cells you may be transferred to? Permanently," Plo answered, and there was a smile in his voice, a smile in the crinkling of his eyes, a gentle warmth that positively radiated out towards him and Maul…did not understand.
"Permanently," Maul whispered.
"Lord Maul," Plo said softly, "will you permit me to take your hands in mine?"
Maul hesitated, and slowly reached out. It took him a beat to realize that his hands were trembling, but before he could ball them into fists or to pull them back, Plo had reached out and clasped them within his. Once again there was that shock, that jolt from the feeling of those warm and dry hands clasping his, the four fingers feeling so strange and yet so… Plo squeezed, and Maul thought he might have squeezed back but he did not know.
"Lord Maul, you asked me for help in not hurting others, yes?"
"Yes."
"You asked for help in not hurting yourself?" and once again those hands squeezed, and Maul thought that if he could flush with shame he would. How often had he bit the fingers that Plo was holding? How often had he acted upon that weakness? Either way, through numb lips, the only thing he could say was,
"Yes."
"You do not want to hurt others."
"I…do not."
"You do not want to hurt yourself."
"…" Maul was quiet for a longer moment, taking in the implications and the things that he would be putting up, and finally, softly, "No, I do not."
"We all want to help you, and one of the ways we believe we can do so is to trust you. You have been kept away from the Force for too long, trapped in a way that has been as bitterly cruel as it was necessary. We want for you to be free, Lord Maul, and one of the ways we can do this is removing the collar from you and trusting you to remain in the cells you are placed in and trusting that you hurt none of us. If you show yourself worthy of this trust there are plans to remove you from these cells, but for right now you need to get used to us, and we need to get used to you. We both draw upon the Force so differently, and you have been trained to hurt for so long…"
"It would be unwise to bring me amongst more Jedi," Maul said, his voice full of certainty. He knew it was true. He knew that he was likely to react…poorly, that he might hurt them, and most likely it would not even be on purpose. Maul did not yet know how not to hurt; he did not yet know how not to hate.
Though…Maul did not think that he hated Plo. Maul did not think he hated Plo at all… Or Tiq. Or Eeth. Or…
The names that were coming to him, the ones held behind his teeth were as surprising as they were… Maul wanted. He wanted, and to get this… But…
"Are you sure this is wise?" Maul whispered. "What if I cannot keep from hurting? Have you asked your Guards?" Maul asked, looking up at them. "I have killed two of your number, six died to the hands of my Master, and you are…you are alright with this collar being removed within your presence?"
"Yes, Lord Maul," came the answer, together and in sync, full of intensity and warmth. "We are alright with it being removed in our presence. We believe in your ability to change. We believe in your ability to not hurt."
"And we will help you with this," Plo said softly. "We will work together."
"The collar will go back on when I leave these cells," Maul said, his voice as final as it was heavy. "Until…until I can…"
Plo squeezed his hands and softly, "I wish to remove it from you entirely, to not put it upon you at all."
"It would be unwise," Maul whispered. "I do not want to hurt, and I fear that I would, surrounded by so many Jedi. I am…I am fine with this. I want this."
There was one last squeeze and Plo reached up, "Are you ready?"
And Maul closed his eyes, shifting his position, falling submissive and unthreatening, even the knowledge that they wished to take it off not keeping him from the knowledge that he was still a threat.
Maul…did not want to be a threat to them.
"Yes," Maul finally whispered, and those fingers reached.
Maul felt the soft press of those fingers, the gentle release, and the collar slipped away…
And the Force rolled in.
Maul took a breath and used that to guide the Force into him, to fill him up from the bottom of his feet to the tips of his horns. It was a comforting roar, a familiar burn, and as it swelled within him, he poured his own fuel upon it, stoking it to life and rage and power.
Maul had missed it. Had missed the Dark, had missed the power and the strength, the feeling of off-centeredness slowly shifting as Maul burned, and fed it slowly with the pain, the fear, the anger that was within him, and the slowly building hate. Not towards the Jedi, not towards the ones he had been meant to hate – but to his Master. To the one who had lied and deceived and destroyed.
It was tentative yet, but Maul could feel the ache in his joints, the press in his own hearts that suggested it would grow.
Maul would be strong.
Maul breathed out, and kept the power within him, opening his eyes to look at Plo and Tiq and the Guards that stood there, all of them those strange still-but-deep pools of power, power that Maul could see but not understand.
They had given him the Force.
The Force had freed him.
Though…Maul thought of what had led to this, thought of the choices, the pain, the…strange compassion that he still did not understand and thought, perhaps, that he had freed himself and the Jedi… The Jedi had helped…starting with a Padawan who was not a Jedi yet… Maul did not yet know how to get the Force to free him.
He was not yet strong enough.
But Maul would get there.
Tiq and Plo were both smiling at him, the gentle warmth in their gaze and Maul…wondered a bit, what he must feel like to them. If they were still pools, then what was Maul? Maul had to think, as he drew that power up and let it churn within him, that he must seem utterly chaotic. There were so many questions to ask, but this train of thought had drawn him to another one, an important one…
"Do you truly believe, Healer," he asked softly, making eye-contact with Tiq, "that you can help someone like me?"
Tiq took this in for a moment, and finally, quietly, "A fair challenge." Tiq looked at him for a moment, his gaze so calm. That still pool did not have a single ripple, no reaction to the question, no fear, no anger, nothing. It was surreal. "I have not worked with a Sith," Tiq finally said. "I have not worked with someone who…burns in the same way that you do. I will admit to the fact that there may be some things that I would do with a Jedi that I cannot do with you, but that is where the slow introduction of trust comes along. It is the ability of us both to come together and find what works. It will be a process, but I believe that it is one that we can shape together. I will help you pour out what you need to and will help you make sense of it."
Maul took this in for a moment, slowly beginning to nod, and he carefully felt the other out with the Force, not putting any pressure, trying to keep himself as nonthreatening as possible, and softly, quietly: "My Master ripped himself from my mind," he said. "This is the thing that I have lost. He reached into my mind and ripped himself from me. I do not know his name. I do not know his face. I think of him and the only thing that appears in my mind is a pillar of black, an uncompromising and formidable figure whose voice is a distorted mockery of what I once knew."
The pool that was Tiq remained still…but Maul thought…
"I was perhaps this big," he gestured to roughly just under his eye-level as he was sitting, roughly seventy-six centimeters, "the first time my Master introduced my body to lightning." And there…that…was a ripple. And Maul recognized the anger that flickered within it. "I have another question, Healer," he said, and kept his eyes locked on Tiq's, "in helping me, are you sure that you can manage it without Falling, Jedi?"
"Falling?" Tiq asked, his chin tilting up and Maul tilted his own head to the side.
"You already hold anger at the thought of my Master and what he has done to me, and you know so little… Do you truly believe that you can hold it all once I begin to 'pour out' what is within me?"
Tiq blinked.
Maul stared at him for a long moment and softly, "My Master told me once that it was a Jedi's compassion that led to their susceptibility to Falling. How they could not become true Sith because they lacked the full comprehension of the Dark, but they could Fall, and they could become close. Perhaps your compassion is a weakness you cannot afford to keep."
Tiq stared at him for a long moment, and then finally beamed at him. "A rebuttal then," he said, leaning forward, "why do you care if I Fall? Do you wish for me to Fall?"
Maul tilted his head slightly, allowing a brow to rise and Tiq laughed aloud, clapping his hands together.
"Apologies, I absolutely should not have asked a Sith that question, it probably means nothing to you! So, let me rephrase," Tiq folded his hands together neatly, and that pool was once again still, "if I say that I do not wish to Fall, would you still wish for me to?"
Maul blinked, before frowning, thinking about that question. Maul truly did not mind the Dark, thought that it would ultimately bring protection and power to those that called upon it, and similarly could protect the ones that he was beginning to… Maul did not know, but it felt much the same as Meltch, something warm within him, something he could not name but something he enjoyed.
But Tiq had stated he did not wish to. Tiq had plainly told him it was not something he wanted, and Maul…did not wish to force something that the other did not want.
Enough of that had been done to him. He would not wish that upon anyone.
"No," Maul finally said, quietly, decisively. "If you do not wish to Fall then it is not something that I would want for you."
Tiq smiled at him, and the look was warm and soft, "And that, my dear Lord Maul, is compassion for me and what I want. Do you believe then, that this compassion is a weakness in yourself?"
Maul blinked.
"Disgusting," Maul finally said. "How do I cut it from me?"
For just a moment Tiq's face went blank, and Maul kept his presence the normal crackle, and then Plo started snickering, and the entire thing broke, the Guards starting to cackle and Plo letting out his own laughter, Tiq following directly after. Maul…did not understand this.
He did not understand how this tracked with what his Master had said…though his Master had lied about so much. Why not this?
Nonetheless, Maul still thought it had all been a very fair question, and so remained quiet and patient, watching them all closely. Finally, the laughter had died, and they turned their attention to him, and Maul said:
"I am already Dark. I am already full of Passion. Of Want. I can utilize this in a way you cannot, and will not, which brings me back to the initial question: is it not a weakness?"
Tiq hummed, "I suppose when you say weakness that what you truly mean is 'danger.'"
Maul frowned. "Are they not the same thing?"
Tiq gave a soft sound. "They perhaps can be interlinked. But I do not believe that my compassion is a weakness, and similarly I am aware of the danger. You, yourself, have issued this warning to me, and I thank you for it."
Maul blinked.
"You are right in that I am angry at the thought of what your Master has…" Tiq closed his eyes for a moment and then finally stared at him again, "he cut himself from you? You remember nothing of him?"
"I remember his Words and his Teachings and the feeling of his Lightning and the Lessons he drove into my skin and my bones," Maul answered, "but I remember nothing of the man. Not enough to point to him. Not enough to find him. I likely will be able to recognize his signature – but that is if he lets me feel it."
"Your Master was the one who taught you how to shield," Plo said, and Maul looked to him, taking in the Kel Dor's expression, feeling that soft warmth.
"Yes," Maul answered. "I will not find him. Not unless he wishes to be found. I am useless to you in this."
"You are never useless," Tiq said, and his voice was firm and hard, Plo giving an immediate nod. "Providing of course that he is not dead, it is not up to you to find him, and it is similarly not up to you to protect us from him."
Maul stared at him for a long moment, "Perhaps. But providing that he is not dead…is it not my job to kill him?"
Plo and Tiq looked at each other and there was a hesitance to the look.
"We will not stop you from being Sith," Plo said finally, looking to him. "We will allow you to make your own decisions, to pursue your own choices. Your choices will ultimately have consequences."
"Do you feel that you can kill your Master at this point?" Tiq asked and Maul was quiet for a moment.
"I am stronger than I was," Maul said, "I have grown in hate and in pain, but I am not yet stronger than him. It would not be something I pursue now. I need to learn…so much before I can do that."
"But you do wish to kill him."
Maul hesitated and then softly, "if he still lives?" Maul said nothing for a moment, drifting, and there was hate in his bones, but had that not been there before? Was this then just a retread of the feeling that had come from falling into the ice, of watching his Master stand there doing nothing to help him? Was this not just a retread of hearing that his Master had other Apprentices that were better than him?
But ultimately, Maul knew that it was different, could feel it in the gritting of his teeth, in the slow rise of something black and dark within him, and finally, baring his teeth, his face pulled into a mask of rage and hate, "I would gut him. Is that not the way of the Sith?" Maul sneered and finally looked away, shuttering the rage, keeping it down, out of the way where it could do no harm.
There was a slow nod, a heaviness to the movement. Maul wondered if they were proud of this change, or if they had changed to a different sort of despair.
Maul wondered if it mattered.
And then thought of truly disappointing them and found something ugly within him.
Maul did not like that.
"Regardless," Tiq said with a soft sigh. "You are right in that I am angry. But I have ways to channel my anger, to feed it to the Force and not let it corrupt me. If I let it corrupt me then how could I help?"
"Can I not help?"
Tiq beamed at him. "You can, but you would not be the same as me, would you?"
Maul took that in for a moment before finally giving a slow nod.
"I have seen so much loss, Lord Maul. I have been on worlds that experienced a Genocide and worked their people through it. I have been the one with the boots on the ground helping the survivors of a Civil War pick up the pieces of their lives and deciding where to go. You are right in that it is a danger, but it is one that I have decided to face, and it is one that I am more than willing to face if it allows me to help you. If you work with me on not letting me Fall, and similarly I work with you on unwinding some of that awful twisting within your gut and in your soul, I believe that we can do it. I believe that I can help." Tiq held out a hand, "will you let me?"
Maul stared at that hand, looked to Tiq, and then finally reached out and took it, squeezing. Tiq smiled at him and squeezed back.
"Now," Plo said with a smile, "I am sorry to ask you to put the collar back on so quickly, but we have somewhere we want to take you."
Maul blinked, for a moment a ripple of foreboding overtaking him, and he stared between them. "Take me?" he asked, taking his hand back. "I don't understand, where?
"I'm sorry," Plo said, "that was too abrupt of a change, and much too vague. You are not going to be tested, you are not going to be hurt. You have been lost for a very long time," Plo said softly, meeting his gaze, "and your brain absolutely needs the added stimulation of somewhere new, of being able to get used to new things. We were going to take you to one of our Training Rooms," Plo explained. "We also have another thing to discuss with you about that collar, in that if there are enough Council members together when you are in a space like that, enclosed and empty of others…we will be taking the collar off then as well. You will be allowed to train."
Maul stared at him, feeling something rise up within him, overwhelming, and he balled his hands into trembling fists. "I will…you will take me… I thought the deal was to finish the book and go to the Archives?"
"It is, still!" Plo smiled, holding a finger up, "but Teacher Yoda has stated that that is strictly for the Archives. He never said a word about the Training Rooms."
Maul hesitated and finally laughed aloud, before reaching for the collar, snapping it around his neck. "I see…let me get ready please?"
"Absolutely," Plo said and he was smiling, "no rush whatsoever."
Maul moved to throw on his tunic and thump his boots on his feet, bouncing on his toes to get used to the feel, working his way through the knots and the buckles of his tunic and then his belt and turned to look at them.
"The Guards will escort us, and, as the Night Cycle is finally upon us, there shall be very few stragglers within our halls. Eeth, Yoda and Mace will be waiting for us there, and we will remove the collar upon our entrance."
Maul took all of this in, feeling a rising excitement bubbling up within him.
"Thank you," he said softly.
"Of course," Plo said, and he stood up with Tiq, and for the first time since Maul had been transferred to this cell…
The doors opened for him.
Maul was not truly free, not yet, but he was taking steps to get there, and for right now as he finally took his first steps out into the halls of the Jedi… Maul thought that he was getting there.
Maul looked to Plo and Tiq, felt the presence of the Guards form up on either side of him, their lightsaber pikes held up in warning, symbolically igniting the blade pointed down.
It was not a direct threat, not yet, but it could be.
Maul approved. He also could not wait.
Tiq had a lot to think about.
Maul was right in that he was absolutely going to be one of his more difficult cases, and he was also right about the danger. But Tiq was also highly trained and highly experienced, arguably the best Mind Healer in the entire Order – and he did not wear that title lightly. Tiq had several tricks of his own and methods to keep himself from…Falling.
It was interesting that Maul would consider a Fallen Jedi as something different than a Sith, though it made sense. The young man had grown up in the Sith arts, trained in them until they pulsed within his hearts and in his lungs. It was much like being a Jedi. You could leave the Order, but ultimately you took those lessons with you.
Tiq…did not like a lot of the lessons that Maul was taking with him.
Tiq did not like that most of Maul's anger at his Master seemed to be in the form of Betrayal, and not understanding fully that what his Master had done to him was wrong. Though, perhaps, there was an interlinkage.
Tiq knew that what had triggered the initial episode had been…had been a little girl named Ahsoka, a child that had been treated in a way…
Ahsoka was taller than Maul had indicated.
Ahsoka would have been older than the child who had been introduced to Sith Lightning.
Tiq wondered a great deal what had triggered that introduction, what had… Tiq thought that eventually he would find out.
As it was, Tiq was able to walk behind Maul and the Guards standing to either side of the Zabrak, Plo leading the way. Tiq stood a little off to the side in order to not truly be behind Maul, always in his peripheral vision so he would not surprise or otherwise startle him. So, he would not be a threat, and Tiq could observe Maul and his reactions to where he was and where he was going.
Tiq knew that Maul had not been outside of that cell, had not been able to see the Temple from the inside, and so this would be something that Maul desperately needed. To be able to examine everything quietly, to be able to take in his surroundings and know. They were taking Maul into their heart.
There was a lot of trust in what they were doing, and he knew that Maul knew that, could see it in the way Maul was working on keeping his gaze mostly straight ahead, not looking around…
But frankly that was not what they wanted.
Tiq pointed off to a statue to their left, Maul's attention immediately drawing towards it, "Jedi Master Horuntorus," he explained, "he was known as the Protector, it is why we keep him near our prisons. It is where he would want to be." And that, of course, started Plo on pointing things out, immediately catching onto what Tiq was doing, the two of them guiding Maul through what he was seeing, letting him take it in.
And now that Maul knew he was able to look he took it in like a sponge, those golden eyes darting whenever Tiq could see them, taking in everything around him. As they finally entered the main hall, mostly empty at this late hour – and the ones that were there knew not to approach – they walked him to the center of it and waited patiently so Maul could slowly turn around, staring around at everything, taking it all in.
His gaze went to the wide windows, his eyes narrowing slightly, then shifted to the towering statues and the tapestries, before finally looking down at his feet, taking in the carpets, the marbling, and finally, softly, "It is…very open."
That…had not been what Tiq had expected he would say.
Though he found himself humming softly, "It is," he agreed. "Not at all like Sith Temples I am assuming," he smiled, before he found a creeping suspicion rising. "Your Master has taken you to Sith Temples has he not? Or are they too…dangerous?"
"Sith Temples are dangerous to those who are not Sith," Maul replied, "to the ones that have no power over them, but I am a Sith. I was taken in many."
Tiq nodded slowly, trading a glance with Plo. Plo was the one who softly asked, "Out of curiosity, is your comment on practicality, or defensibility?"
Ah, now that…was a good question.
Maul frowned at him. "Are the windows ray shielded?"
Defensibility.
Amazing.
Tiq understood on one hand why Maul would absolutely be thinking of ways to attack the Temple, but there was no hostility or intent in the question, and similarly Tiq thought that it wasn't because Maul wished to cause harm… Maul was someone who had been trained in the art of being a weapon. Tiq thought that it was from - tentative though it may be, and probably not even truly aware of what it actually was - but it was from concern.
Very interesting.
There was also a potential likelihood that Maul might be interested in helping them increase security once he actually was taken out of his cells and was fully trusted. He could tell by the way the Guards looked at each other, the brief burst of interest from the both of them, that they were thinking the same.
That might actually be very helpful, to have a Sith perspective, to have someone who had trained in being their enemy, to help them reinforce their borders. As it was, there was an answer and that was – "Yes," Tiq said. "While a lot of this Temple is built with open air and openness in mind, to influence and create trust, we do work on protecting our people. The windows are a…"
"Bluff," Maul said softly, looking to them.
"Yes," Tiq said, "That is a good way to look at them. They attract attention but spending a great deal of time attacking them would get you nowhere."
Maul nodded, his expression satisfied, and he looked to the statues on either side of the door, "and I suppose those would act as a sufficient barricade if necessary…"
Tiq nodded in agreement. "They would if it became necessary! Though the Temple has not been attacked in a very long time. Either way, we would be quite safe."
Maul hummed, not saying anything for or against that statement, and returned his gaze to looking at his surroundings, though now Tiq was quite certain that he did not appreciate the art or the openness. Tiq rather thought that it was simply finding more avenues, more escapes, more means of protection.
What an utterly exhausting mindset to take.
An understandable one, Tiq absolutely understood why he would have it, but still so exhausting.
Tiq…definitely wanted to give the one before him some paint, or clay, or something that he could create. He thought it would be a good exercise for him and be good to broaden his understanding. Tiq would ask him if he had ever painted before. But later.
They had a training room to get to.
Maul turned to them and Plo gave a nod, and once again began leading them through. Maul took in the tapestries, eyeing them with a critical eye that Tiq suspected had nothing to do with the craftsmanship… He wondered how Maul would view them, whether as a bind or as a blind, something to use as a distraction while the rest escaped. Plo once again took up quietly guiding Maul's attention, telling him history and where things had come from, what their meaning was. Maul took this in actively, and Tiq hoped that if nothing else Maul was enjoying the ability to learn, that this was filling a need.
They finally made it to the elevators that would take them to their destination and Maul hesitated, looking to it, his hands momentarily fisting. Enclosed space…outnumbered…
"To the back," the Guards ordered, and Maul followed instructions, "back against the wall," one of them said, and Maul did so, putting his back to the wall and the Guards approached, standing on either side facing him. Plo and Tiq both entered as well, placing themselves in the other corners so Maul would not feel threatened or crowded. He relaxed slowly, and Plo pressed the proper button, sending them up to the Training Room specifically for the Masters.
They figured that Maul would be craving a challenge, would be craving the ability to run and to jump and to weave through obstacles, and this one would give him that. It would also give him more options when it came to sparring, should he wish for it.
Tiq was admittedly very curious to feel how a Sith fought and used the Force in general, to feel how he called it to him and utilized it. Tiq had a feeling that Maul would not let it flow through him, which meant that Maul must somehow command it.
This, too, seemed as though it would be exhausting.
Though, Tiq had no real idea, and certainly was not sure that he could tell Maul to simply give up all of his training and the way he linked with the Force. Not without providing an alternative he could use, and Tiq wondered a bit about Maul and his ability to come to the Light Side. If Maul had burned like this his entire life, then the quiet tranquility of the Light Side would likely be considered antithesis to the Zabrak and potentially of no value. It really depended on Maul, Tiq supposed.
Tiq could foresee a lot of conversations on the nature of the Force in his future.
If nothing else, though, Tiq was very aware of the fact that if Maul decided to change, or made a choice either way, Tiq thought that Maul would follow it through. A person did not get through what Maul went through for as long as he did without having an iron will. Whatever Maul had decided made it worth it, Maul had followed his Master through torture, unimaginable cruelty, and a level of desentientization that would have killed most children.
Tiq thought of how young Maul had to be when Sith Lightning was applied to him for the first time, thought of the way he reacted to touch as though he had never been held, and had to hold back a grimace.
The elevator stopped, Plo walked out first, the Guards with Maul went second, and Tiq took his place at the rear again.
The Training Room was just ahead.
If nothing else, Tiq could not wait to give Maul the ability to have fun, because frankly he thought that this was what it would be – weapon or no, Tiq thought that Maul would have fun.
This was of utmost importance, and Tiq found himself smiling as the door opened, and Plo led them inside.
Maul was not sure how much he enjoyed Jedi architecture.
It was open and bright and there were so many avenues of destruction, of pain that he could see. Maul understood that it was meant to be a Temple, but he thought it was almost more of a palace. Something opulent and open, something meant to show off.
The Temples of the Sith were ultimately nothing like this. Filled with traps and guile… Though, Maul suspected that there might be many hidden tricks and traps within the walls, Tiq had stated that the windows were ray shielded after all, which did ultimately come with the idea that there were other defensible things hidden, in which case he could appreciate the subterfuge.
Though he supposed the massive amount of Jedi within would be a deterrent in and of itself. The Sith since Bane had never had the numbers to pull off such a thing. Their entire methods were in secrecy and subterfuge.
And ultimately, Maul's opinion likely did not matter.
What he was really interested in was the training rooms, to the point where even the long elevator ride had not been much of an upset. To be able to leave that lift and come directly to the room in question… Maul followed Plo as he opened the door, and the first thing Maul's gaze did was fixate upon the three people waiting.
Windu, Yoda, and Eeth all sat there in the middle of a…the room was larger than Maul had initially expected.
Maul found his gaze immediately flitting around, taking in the large climbing walls, the ropes, the pillars, and platforms that were woven through the rafters, the beams to walk on and the targets lined along the wall. A wall of weapons that were obviously meant for training was along one side and Maul could see probe droids that would likely fire lasers, and even a few droids that looked like they were for either hand-to-hand, or saber combat.
Maul kept moving out of long practice, not falling victim to the need to gawk around himself that he wished to.
Ultimately, the three men in the center, as well as the ones that were around him, were more important than any of their surroundings.
They were the ones that would remove his collar. They were the ones that would set him loose to… What?
Would they have a way that Maul was meant to train? Would they have guidelines or requests to make?
Maul was willing to take on the challenge.
He had a feeling this might actually…
This might be interesting.
Maul came forward to stand before the Jedi there who all gave him signs of acknowledgement and welcome, nods of the head, smiles, their expressions warm and inviting. Maul…was still unused to such a thing. But he nodded back the same. Eeth approached him and Maul held very still for a moment, before taking his own step forward to meet him. Eeth smiled, before lowering his head slightly towards him. Maul hesitated, for a moment not understanding the gesture, and then remembering with a jolt, a feeling of horns locking with his, the talk of it being a traditional Zabrak greeting, the…
Maul held a shudder back, taking a step forward, and pressed his horns against Eeth's, closing his eyes against the rush of warmth. His body still screamed for this contact and Maul did not understand, but he kept it there until Eeth pulled his head back, stepping away.
"Welcome, Maul," Eeth smiled. "This is the Councilor's Training Room," that smile turned into a grin, "What do you think?"
Maul paused, made a show of looking around, turning slightly on the spot, and finally, simply, "Adequate."
The delighted laughter was…strange. And now that Maul had managed to get it, he did not know what to do with it. Maul lowered his head slightly, and that was when Eeth held his hands up carefully, keeping them open and farther away at first. Maul understood it was to keep him from reacting poorly and Maul, as much as he hated it, welcomed the fact that Eeth was not crowding him.
"May I?" he asked, and Maul nodded, tilted his chin back and let Eeth remove the collar.
Once again, the Force rolled in and Maul had to close his eyes to work it through his veins and his hearts, letting it beat within him.
Maul opened his eyes, feeling a wellspring of anticipation building within him, feeling the rush within.
Maul was ready.
"What would you like to do first?" Eeth asked.
Maul was less ready for that.
Suddenly the Training Room that Maul had implied was so much less than the Sith seemed much more impressive. Maul did not know.
Though…Maul was taller now. He could feel it, knew it, his horns were longer… A more basic warmup would probably be good, in order to gain control of where his limbs were and learning how much his actual reach had improved. There were mats to his left as well as pillars that seemed to promote running along them to the climbing wall and working one's way up.
That…didn't seem like a bad place to start. But Maul also recognized that he wanted to get more of a challenge, and weapons training was one of his favorites… Maul frowned for a moment, thinking, and then finally tilted his head to the mats.
"I have a request," he said finally.
"Yes?" Eeth asked.
"If I seem to be getting complacent with anything…add something else. A drone or a droid or throw me a training weapon if…if I am permitted. All three if necessary."
"Are you sure you wish to react to what we choose?" Tiq asked.
"Yes," Maul answered. "I do wish to…" he frowned, "I got taller. I think the first thing I need to do is get used to it, but from there I find it more…challenging to react."
"And you want a challenge?"
"How long has it been?" Maul asked. There was a pause there, and Maul felt a brief burst of anger at the pause, at the expectation of weakness. Maul opened his mouth before they could, before there can be any platitudes, any comments to calm him. Maul wanted his anger. "I know it has been months," he said without inflection, fact. "How many?"
There was a pause, Maul thought it might be surprise, either way…
"Three," Tiq answered. "It has been three months in the coma. It was three more with us before that."
"You have been with the Jedi for six months."
Maul thought that through for a moment.
Six months.
Six months before he found himself renouncing his Master. But Maul had spent those three months in his own head. Maul had had all of the pieces to know that he should, that his loyalty, his… Maul did not regret the choice. Maul had cut his hearts out too many times. He had none left to give the ghost of his Master, the one that had torn himself from him, ripped himself from his mind and thrown him away.
Maul would learn.
Maul would learn and he would burn.
"How did you know it had been months?"
Maul blinked, coming out of his musings to look to Plo, before bringing a finger up to his horns, pressing against his forehorn.
"Oh!" Plo gave a call, "Forgive me my ignorance, I understand how that would be a good marker. I had not been aware that they grew that quickly, and I have known present company for a very long time."
"They grow very quickly when you're young," Eeth said in explanation, grinning. "They slow down a bit as we get older."
Maul took this in, noting it down in his hearts.
Another tool. A tool his Master never gave him.
Even now the fact that his Master had worked so hard to take so much from him was obvious. Even the one thing that Maul had true claim over, his own body, had been marked and branded by his Master, the way it worked had been kept from him. Maul had always worked hard to be sure that he knew exactly where his limits were at all times, knew how his body moved and responded in every situation… But there was this gap in his knowledge that Maul had not even thought to look for. Though now that he knew it was there…
Maul needed to fill that gap.
Maul needed to fill his box.
As it was, "Six months…" he said roughly, drawing their attention. "That is more than enough time to stagnate. I welcome a challenge."
"Very well," there was a nod. "We will make sure to give it to you, but we will give you the opportunity to warm up first."
"Thank you," Maul said with a nod. Maul did not mind if they wished to watch him train. Maul was used to the steady gaze of his Master.
If they wanted a show…Maul would give them one.
"I am stronger in hate and in pain," Maul had said, and Plo had listened to that and a part of him had found himself momentarily saddened.
Maul asking about defensive capabilities, looking around not in any sort of appreciation for the art that was on display but instead thinking of it all as barricades and weaknesses, traps and binds… Plo had wanted more of an opportunity to talk Maul through what they did have as defenses, to hopefully set that twisting mind at ease, but ultimately as Tiq pointed instead to the objects of art and the tapestries, Plo figured that it must be a different method of appeasement. The sort where a distraction was offered, to give him a different perspective and a different focus, to get him to start thinking of what was around him by their actual purpose, and not as a weapon.
Maul needed to learn to think in these ways if he was going to make any true progress in bucking his Master's influence fully.
As it was, they could give him an opportunity to stretch, and to challenge himself in a way that he likely needed.
It had been a long time.
Plo also had to admit to being curious about how a Sith trained, about the way he would work his way through their training rooms, and ultimately how he would feel. That burn, that snapping, crackling fire was beginning to gather within Maul's core, held there strong and so sure… He wielded it with an ease of long exposure, of the way of most Knights, and even some Masters.
Maul had called himself a Sith Lord, claimed that his Master had appointed him so before he was sent to Naboo – young as he was, failed as he was, he was a Lord of the Sith.
This was about to be very enlightening.
And then Maul moved.
And the Dark rose up to meet him.
Maul threw himself into a leap, bouncing off of one pillar's surface and onto another, all liquid grace and stunning acrobatics, the Dark a crackling wave that burned within him. He pressed off of one side with hands, to land on the second's vertical surface with his feet, and then dove back again. He caught himself on the lip of one of the platforms, swinging himself up into a handstand and easily perched there for a long moment, slowly pushing the limits of his flexibility, of his control, raising himself on a singular hand and letting his legs fall into a split above him, holding, holding, and slowly going farther and farther, before finally seeming to be satisfied, and flipped off the edge.
A Jedi would have slowed the fall.
Maul embraced it.
Diving down, almost challenging death and gravity and every power that came against him, he rolled, and the sudden forceful burn was like an explosion of heat and flickering fire, catching himself before he landed, changing it into another roll, and once again kicking himself off into a series of twists and spins.
Length and breadth of his limbs, Plo reminded himself, watching as the Zabrak was sure to land on a singular limb at least once, and there were those moments of stretch and twist and Tiq's comment on a lack of spine had never seemed more appropriate.
And that burn was beginning to brighten.
It was chaos and it was strange, because as Maul seemed to blaze brighter with it, as he allowed himself to crackle with it, finally moving back to leaping between platforms and utilizing the Force to propel himself up and up and spun through a hole in the net that Plo hadn't been sure he could fit in, but he did it so well, and that was ultimately the thing that shocked him, because Maul thrived off of that chaos.
"Probe droid?" Eeth asked, humming, his head tilting.
"Two, I think," Yoda said.
"Should we give him a weapon?" Plo asked.
"Do you think he'd take it as an insult?" Mace asked.
There was a pause.
That burn exploded then and Maul lifted the pillars he had been leaping on, guiding them across the room and repositioning them with an ease that belied their size and weight.
Plo tilted his head. "Insult."
"Two it is."
The two probe droids came to life with a crackle and a series of whistling beeps, Maul's attention drawing to them sharply.
They watched those Sith eyes burn, and there was a flash of a grin, and then he dropped down through the netting again, and he taunted the droids. Maul dipped and twisted and slid between their view, moving between the pillars he had rearranged, cartwheeling, and twisting around the lasers that were sometimes shot whenever he stayed in place for just long enough to tease it out of the droids.
Maul definitely would have thought a weapon was an insult.
And then he vanished.
One moment he was there, leaping between the pillars, and then he was just gone, completely winked out.
For one moment it was like when he had lost himself, lost his mind, and Plo felt his heart leap into his throat. And then he remembered the fact that Maul could cloak, could hide so well and there was that momentary thought that Maul could have just used the opportunity to leave, to escape…
But then there was a flash of horns, a flash of red, and Plo came to realize as that flash paused to look at them, that it was absolutely meant to be seen.
Maul was still here was the message, he was not trying to escape…
Maul was hunting.
They relaxed, watching, waiting, wondering what Maul would do, how he would defeat the droids that had switched to a more defined grid search, scanners whirring.
There was no sign of him.
Maul had just vanished, a whisp of smoke, a flash of red and black and then nothing.
The probe droids continued their grid, continued their search, before finally coming together once again, beeping at each other, trading information, trading signs.
For a moment they spun in place, and then they began to separate, their scanners sweeping to either side.
And then Maul was there in the netting, tunic taken from his shoulders and held just so, and then he fell directly on top of the probe droid beneath him, catching it within the tunic and easily sliding around the bolts, spinning in midair to throw the probe droid into the other, that was still so close – too close – the two droids colliding with a crackling buzz.
Maul didn't move to replace his tunic and singularly didn't look like he would stop moving, and there was such a burn.
Maul was fire.
The Dark Side was fire. Crackling, chaotic, and yet for as much as Plo wanted to think that it would eventually snuff, that Maul could not contain it for long, it seemed to just burn brighter, purer, with a ferocity and a…
And a Joy.
Plo had never thought that the Dark Side would be something reacted to with Joy. Plo had never thought to think of what it would feel like to someone who had grown up with it.
Plo had never thought that the Dark Side could be so sustained.
The sound of a hand-to-hand combat droid whirring to life as the two probe droids remained down caught Maul's attention, and they watched that spark flicker and shift, and get much…Darker. Maul watched as the Droid approached, punching those padded knuckles together, and Maul tilted his head, and there was that less…pure fire, that less pure joy, shifting instead to something almost dangerous.
Fire was beautiful, could give heat and light and life, but there was no doubt that fire could hurt, fire could burn out of control and destroy and cause terrible, terrible devastation, even now, even here…
But Maul was a controlled burn came the realization even as he once again teased the Droid into attacking, keeping his hands behind his back, dodging backwards, stepping, and sliding and generally letting his own footwork guide him out of harm's way. He ducked and twisted, utilizing his flexibility once again, and when he seemed to tire of that he switched to actively messing with the Droid. Diving between its legs, leaping up to temporarily face it upside-down, falling into a pike and kicking up into a handstand that sent him into another back handspring and finally launched himself forward, head lowered, spine in complete alignment.
Crack
Went the plating covering the Droid's internal circuits as Maul's horns pierced through it,
CRASH
Went the sound of it dropping to the ground and Maul pulled back, rolling his shoulders, and softening the lock of his spine, twisting to catch hold of the padded fist that had come towards the back of his head, hoping to catch him off-guard. Maul retaliated with a sharp hit underneath the arm, hitting it with such controlled precision it came right off.
He then used the arm to beat the Droid repeatedly.
Well.
Why not, Plo thought.
Maul continued to use that Droid's arm as a bludgeon, beating it down, before throwing it into the face of another that had approached, following after it, leaping up in the air and bringing his feet down upon its shoulders, using the Force to give himself the weight he did not have, flattening it down onto the ground and leaping off of it, flashing into a split-kick that shattered the faceplate off of one Droid and sent the other reeling back.
Maul fell down into a crouch, before twisting through the two remaining hand-to-hand Droids, finally lifting his own fists up, and that fire burned, controlled furious burn, and one fist was planted in the already dented chestplate, popping it, and then the other reached up to grab at the other Droid's head and slam it into his knee twice, before twisting it up over his head and slamming it back onto the other Droid.
So much broken scrap.
The crackling hum of a training saber came to life then, and Maul tensed, and that fire suddenly turned…sharp.
The Joy guttered, winking out as he took in the approaching training droids. Maul's gaze turning calculating in a way it had not before, the Fire being strangled into something more…serious, something more deadly.
And that was interesting.
They did not have a double-bladed training saber in this Training Room.
It was a mistake.
But the tossing of two sabers was hopefully a good enough compromise.
Maul caught them, igniting them, for a moment taking in the blue and the green that burned in his hands, and then he looked to the Droids.
The salute he gave was mockery incarnate.
And then once again he was moving.
Maul danced through Jar'Kai like he was born for it. And that was how Maul performed Jar'Kai, Plo realized, almost a dance, a taunting series of movements that caught and encouraged the Droids to begin moving through their difficulty settings as they reacted to him, as they should.
Their stances got stronger, their movements more refined, even as Maul caught sabers and brought his foot up into their faceplates, danced between them, waiting until he thought they were actually enough of a match for him, and then that fire caught, burned, and Maul moved away from Jar'Kai.
Maul wielded Juyo as though it was made for him.
In battle, in an actual match, Plo could see where some of his weaknesses were, the way he was just a touch too aggressive, just a bit too sure of his own skill, but as it was… Maul's Dark rose up in a wave of power that was transferred into every single movement, every single repost, and attack, and Juyo was ultimately about attack.
Maul burned bright enough to overwhelm most opponents, the Dark a powerful, and steadily heading towards awful sensation, oil-slick and threatening. It was strange, seeing something that had once been so full of a bright and powerful joy shift to something so utterly not.
But Maul was still, Plo thought, having fun.
It was just a different sort of fun, one where he seemed to relish in the moments when the two Droids genuinely threatened him, where they almost landed burns to skin, but never quite managed it. Plo could see as he watched just how Maul had managed to take both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and work to overwhelm them, separate them. Maul eventually decided to work on picking them off, on winning, and began working to separate them.
Power and crackling energy and leaping from pillar to pillar, taunting the Droids and getting them to over-extend, bringing feet into play more than once, sharp, and powerful kicks that sent them stumbling.
The difficulty was still increasing, and Maul's presence was turning more focused, more Dark, more dangerous.
That fire was starting to spread.
And then one of them managed to land a burn on the inside of his wrist.
It wouldn't have worked to cut it off should it be a real lightsaber, Maul's maneuvering too quick and his repositioning too dexterous, but nonetheless…
Nonetheless.
That fire coalesced, sharpened into something that could only be described as black and death and hate, and Maul exploded.
This was apparently what he had been waiting for, the moment when they actually posed something of a threat to him, the moment they were actually a challenge.
And Plo had never felt such hate.
But he also noticed something. For as much of a power it had brought him, and Maul reeked with power in a way that he had not before, it made him…sloppy.
Single-minded.
That…
Was interesting.
Even as Maul was able to overpower them back and back and back, able to fend them off and destroy their attempts to crush him, there were more openings, more instances when… Maul was drawing entirely upon Hate.
Mace made a sound, one that drew Plo's attention, watching as Mace stared at Maul with a look that hadn't been there before, something that spoke of recognition.
"That is what he felt like when he fought me," Mace said, his voice thoughtful. "That power, yes, but also that…tenacity. He over-extended, that's what finally let me beat him, because he was so angry and so focused on destroying me that he didn't pay attention to what he was doing."
There was a pause, the whole of them taking this in.
"It's reckless…"
Maul suddenly seemed to draw even more power to him, and Mace's brows raised slowly. "That…is stronger than before."
And then Maul reached.
That hand came out suddenly after he successfully disarmed one of them, the other getting his boot directly in their faceplate, and he brought that hand up.
The Droids lifted with the movement, both of them trembling, trying to break out as Maul's hand rose, that hate erupted…
And the two Droids were crushed as Maul's hand balled into a fist, dropping to the ground a beat later as he released.
Maul stood there for a moment, seemed to register there was nothing else coming, followed up by realizing what he had just done, and dropped to his knees, the training sabers falling to his side untouched and deactivated, bowing forward until his head touched the ground.
Plo felt something twist within him.
That…was something they needed to work him out of. Plo couldn't stomach the submission.
Maul remained there, the tension thick, when Yoda gave a soft hum, walking forward and rapping his gimer stick against the broken droids, drawing Maul's attention slowly up. "Beaten, I'd say these are, hmm?"
Maul looked from Yoda to the Droids, and finally tilted his head, before frowning. "I…" he took a breath. "I apologize."
Yoda waved his stick, "A long time it has been, caught up in your own strength you were. No surprise, no surprise…" Yoda shook his head. "Impressive it was."
Maul frowned, looking at the Droids, before he shook his head.
Yoda raised a brow slightly, waiting patiently.
"It has been a long time…" he finally said. "I have lost sight of my own strength."
"Stronger you are?"
"Yes," Maul answered, the word certain. "Much."
There was a slow nod and Yoda huffed. "New droids we can get, accidents happen when one is learning. No issue this is."
There was a pause as Maul took this in, his eyes shifting minutely. Yoda was patient, easily waiting him out.
"…New droids?" Maul asked softly. "You do not fix them?"
There was a pause and Plo found a burst of interest coming to life, walking forward to gain Maul's attention.
"Can you fix them?" Plo asked.
Maul inclined his head. "I am experienced in Mechu-Deru. If you would like, I can repair them."
Yoda waved his gimer stick in open invitation, taking a step away.
Maul took a breath, centered himself, released it, and raised his hands once again.
This then, was another tool of the Dark Side that Plo had not expected. It was also immediately noteworthy that when Maul stated 'experienced,' he perhaps should have stated 'proficient.' Plo's focus soon changed from what it felt like in the Force – an oddly symphonic sort of pulse that grew and shifted to something more melodic the closer to completion it became – to the sight of the parts that were stripped apart, the slow bending and rearranging and reshaping of them until the Droids were pieced back together again, resplendent.
They activated at a wave from Yoda, the two of them picking up their sabers and returning to their idle position against the wall, where they deactivated.
"Impressive," Mace said, "for all your talk of experience, I have not seen anyone more skilled in it."
Maul blinked, looking a bit like he did not understand the statement.
"Strong you are. Full of much lighter emotions you are when calling upon the Force for such a purpose," Yoda noted. "The way you called it before, your initial warm-up… Your Master, felt like that has he?"
Maul was quiet for a moment, his brows furrowing, looking for a moment as though he could not think of a time.
That was a good question, Plo had to admit. It opened up the question of whether that was simply something that anyone who tapped into the Dark Side could reach, or whether Maul, due to his unique upbringing, was somehow more attuned to it. A Nightbrother, already Dark Aligned, trained in the ways of the Sith since birth.
"I believe my Master felt similar when utilizing his Lightning."
Maul could not have driven the breath from his lungs faster than if he had punched him. Plo remained standing out of a mixture of Jedi calm and the knowledge that Maul would perhaps react poorly. It did not stop him from taking a very slow stuttering breath in, and slowly breathing it out, fighting for the calm that he needed. Yoda had not said anything, the slightest rounding of his eyes the only hint of the pain that he knew Yoda would be feeling. The silence was omnipresent, and Maul was beginning to shift, his head instinctively bowing lower, before softly, quietly,
"Was my answer not satisfactory?"
Plo took a breath, going to take a step forward, wanting somehow, desperately to communicate to Maul that it… It was not his fault and that question, the confusion within it…
Yoda gave a soft sound, shaking his head, and took a step forward. Maul stared at him evenly, no flinch in expression or in body, watching Yoda as he took that step, so he was standing directly before him. "Too tall, you are," Yoda said gently, softly, "to my level, will you come?"
Maul blinked, looking uncertain for a moment before Yoda tilted his head up towards him, leaning in such a way to bring his forehead close. Maul brightened in brief understanding before very gently, very carefully lowering himself, so his horns were pressed against the wrinkled skin.
"Satisfied with your answer I am not," Yoda said gently, "your fault it is not. To take joy in your suffering…a terrible thing this is. Stronger you may think it made you, but your pain…joy it does not bring me. Joy it does not bring us. Care for you, we do."
"Compassion," Maul said softly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Yoda smiled. "A weakness you may think it is, but your life…too much pain it has been. Unbalanced it has made you. Gentleness, compassion, you need. A great asset you may find that it is."
Maul said nothing.
Before,
Quietly.
Softly.
"I do not understand."
"Teach you we will. Know you shall."
"…Yes…Teacher."
Plo could breathe. Plo looked to Tiq, who was looking very pleased, and knew that he likely had a very long list of things to talk about. Plo could not wait to help.