"There it is my young Padwan... Coruscant, home of the entire Republic and the largest city in the galaxy."
Jin Wan lifts his young student up to the cockpit window to see as the boy smiles in wonder at the sheer size of the planet. Yoda had never seen such amazing splendor in all his life, having lived on a small desolate planet with his former Jedi master, made him feel like a fish out of water here. The Razorclaw and the Republic fighter glided down into the stratosphere of the world and flew into the mass of vaporous clouds as they descended.
"Such a place it is master!" Yoda chirped with joy. "Look around may we? Want to see every level I do!"
Tinara sitting beside the enthused Padwan leans over to him and gazes out where his eyes are wandering.
"Trust me kid...there are a whole lot of things on this world you don't want to know about. Stay above the city...and never venture below. Nothing there anymore except plenty of trouble."
So'bal places him back down on the cramped cockpit floor and kneels down to the Padwan's height with a look of uncertainty.
"Tinara is right Yoda. There are even some places we as Jedi are never to venture too."
Yoda's eyes slowly bend down as the look of disappointment in his face soon follows it. The Jedi master lifts the sad green child's head up with his index finger on his chin and gives a reassuring grin.
"But perhaps after we meet the council...I could give you a small tour of the few levels we are allowed on. Maybe even a brief stop at the Republic Senate Building to give you a look on how many worlds we are responsible for."
The young Padwan's eyes light up with joy and his ears return to their full points as he grins in delight. Jin Wan takes the small boy and leaves the cockpit, just as Tinara and Mort continue to follow the fighter leading them to the hovering pad near by. The city is massive as the sun shines across the never-ending sea of buildings and moving vehicles. The glass windows on the multi-towering city reflect the sun's rays like beacons to all those visiting in the daytime. The long shadows in-between faintly show the flow of traffic and of walkways full of people moving through the busy mega-metropolis. The Razorclaw soon glides down to the circular landing pad awaiting them and sticks out it's landing struts from the front and the two back side engine ports. With a few short blasts of thrusters underneath, the ship safely lands with only a mere kickback as it rests to a stop on the pad. Tinara and Mort nod to one another in contentment of the landing and watch the hovering Republic fighter finally leave them there as it streaks away and back into space to rejoin the fleet.
Inside the ship, Yoda and So'bal wait near the side door as Mort and Tinara come down the corridor to open it up.
"Master?" Yoda says looking up to him.
"Hmm?" Jin Wan replies as he continues to look out the small window of the door.
"Wondering something I am. Can not Tinara come with us to the temple? Should like to be with her on the tour of the city later, I would."
So'bal strokes his chin in thought; his eyes glance over to the female pilot as she comes in earshot of Yoda's request and smirks at her.
"Well...I don't know my young one. She may have other plans."
Tinara smiles at both him and Yoda and places a small hand blaster into a side holder that she had strapped on.
"I'm not one to wait around for too long. But...since this is the last request of a young Padwan whom I'll probably never get the chance to see again...."
Yoda waits for her answer with great anticipation.
"Why not." She snickers as she finishes her answer to him. "I warn you though...I'm not much of a tour guide."
The young green creature jumps in excitement and laughs.
"Matters not that does...only your company do I wish!"
Tinara laughed and seemed rather flattered that this very polite young boy would be so happy to just be with her as a friend. It may have been a long time since someone so innocent wanted her just as a companion and even looked on like a big sister. A childhood she did not possess in her younger years. Tinara was abandoned long ago; she was on a world full of poverty and famine, struggling for years to make a living for herself. She didn't know if she had any blood relatives or someone close to raise her, only the streets and petty theft became her upbringing. But she knew what it was like to be a wide-eyed innocent looking at the galaxy with wonder and awe, short lived, as those days were for her, that part of her inner self never really left her personality at all.
"You're too cute for words Yoda." She giggled as she leaned down pinching his cheek.
Turning to Mort, who was looking at all of this with disgust on his face, Tinara looked at him and patted him on the shoulder.
"Ok Mort, keep close to the ship and try not to get into any trouble when I'm gone huh?"
The furry multi-eyed being pointed at her and spoke back in his alien gibberish language with an almost cynical tone. Tinara rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Yeah, yeah...me too, I know Mort...I know. Geez, It won't be like that last time...just relax."
The door flips open and the narrow ramp unfolds down to the ground for them to walk out on. As Yoda quickly runs down the path, So'bal stops Tinara just as they both get on the ramp.
"What's he talking about?""Oh..."She sighs. "You don't want to know. Lets just say I had a run in with some locals that got angry with me for taking their money...and other things."Jin Wan looks at her with curiosity, "You didn't cheat in another card game did you?"
"Of course I did." She winks at him. "How else did you think I was able to get this ship?"
The two walked down slowly and Jin Wan laughed at the thought of her fleeing for her life after cheating the poor sole of his vessel.
"So you snared his command codes, ran for the ship and left the guy stranded on a nameless planet."
As they stop at the bottom of the ramp, she turns around and holds his chest with one hand.
"First of all...it wasn't a nameless planet, it was on Tatooine. Second of all...I was trying to get Mort out of debt since he nearly had a run in with the Hutt clan. And thirdly...I wanted this ship no matter what. So ya, I cheated...how was I supposed to know the guy had someone watching me the whole time. I decked him and ran for the ship...simple."
She walked away with a proud grin and Jin Wan shook his head again in disbelief.
"Why are you so hell bent to get into trouble? I seem to recall a time we almost got caught by the Nebula Circle at one point."
Still walking down the pad, Tinara didn't have to turn her head far to talk to him as he soon came up beside her walking at the same pace.
"Pfft!" She razzed. "The Nebula Circle...please. That gang got taken out taken out by their rivals The Black Sun soon after our little run in. If we didn't swindle them for all their loot, someone else would have. Serves them right for being so stupid..."
Grabbing her by the arm in a forceful manner he spins her around to face him and glares at her with seriousness.
"This constant danger you seek will not help your life any Tinara. I woke up during those days...looking for the adventure, trying to find excitement and the foolish recklessness that nearly got us killed so many times. Those cravings showed me a dark nature I don't think any one should wish upon themselves...not even on you. This will only lead to destruction for you...its time you woke up as well."
"This is who I am So'bal." She said removing his hands from her. "You found out where you belonged...and I found my place in life."
At the end of the landing pad, Yoda jumped and waved at the two of them as a hovercraft came down near the edge and waited.
"Transport is here! Come...come!"
The two quarreling lovers stared at one another for a brief second and then returned walking to the eager Padwan waving at them. They both put on a different face to shake off the tense moment and laughed at the small boy trying to get their attention.
"Ok, ok, Yoda...calm down now. Its time you behaved like a Jedi."
As they boarded into the craft, a smaller hovering round droid was staring at them in the distance. The object was too small to be seen by the naked eye and well far enough to stay hidden in the blend of the cityscape. The round black droid with a raised slender antenna pointed it's embedded camera like eye at them, its reflective lens showed them getting into the transport and taking off into the mass jumble of traffic. The small device quickly followed in pursuit and still managed to keep back enough out of sight. Inside the transport, watching the traffic and quick moving city scene, was the small Padwan looking at it all in awe. But suddenly, his happiness left his face; he could feel the force calling out to him again as if to warn him. A look behind his shoulder soon revealed nothing was there, nor too was the small black pod that was trying to follow them. He turned around deep in thought and wondered what it was that the force was trying to speak to him about. Jin Wan hadn't felt anything as he continued to sit there staring out at the city as the came closer to the Jedi Temple. As the taxi continued to zoom down towards the Jedi home, the hovering black droid appeared again from behind a building near by and watched them descend to the temple.
As they landed on the ground, at the foot of the Jedi building, Yoda stepped out first and still looked at the sky above. Jin Wan and Tinara soon followed and tried to gaze up to where the Padwan was looking intensely.
"What is it? What do you see?" So'bal asks.
"Uh...not sure am I." The small boy replies quietly.
Tinara kneels down to his eye line and stares up like he does, "If your looking to see where our landing pad was...forget it. It's too far up to even get a good view of."
"Yes...yes..." Yoda now says sighing and shaking off his troubled feeling. "The landing pad...looking for that I was."
Jin Wan So'bal snickers at his young apprentices odd behavior and guides him towards the temple's stairs.
"Come on then Yoda...time to meet the council. They await you with great interest."
Both Jedi walk up the stairs and head for the main entrance, other Jedi walk in and out of the building as well and are dressed in the same clothes as they are. Tinara stands up and slowly walks up the stairs to join them both. But as she gets half way up, she looks around and stares to the sky where Yoda was previously looking again. This time her eye manages to catch a glimpse of the black droid looking down, hovering in it's place in a most suspicious manner that it makes her increase her gaze. The round device suddenly spots her looking at it and quickly flies off back into the heart of the city traffic again. Tinara gives a concerned look as she turns back to continue walking up the stairs. Yoda's laughter and calling of her name made her snap out of the serious mind she was in and quickly joined the happy little Padwan as he entered the building.