Shaak Ti disliked Coruscant at the best of times, and while as a Torgrutan she was naturally a social individual, she also sometimes tired of being around other people at all, even her fellow Jedi. At those times she would retreat to either her room to meditate or the gardens. There Shaak Ti would talk with her master or her friends and practice her lightsaber forms. Or simply sit with her eyes closed, the atmosphere controller of the room set with the wind on high, allowing it to blow over her skin as it would on her home planet, giving her a sense of serenity that she often would have trouble achieving without more effort.
Today Shaak Ti had come here determined to meditate on her recent decision to buck her master's suggestion of the Consular Order and her entrance into the Guardian Order. For her master and the other masters to keep on harping that she could wait was one thing, but she was getting a little anxious here on Coruscant. Helping around the temple with the younglings was fine, and she enjoyed teaching for the most part. But it wasn't her real calling. Shaak Ti wanted to be out and about protecting people, not stuck here like this.
Coming upon her favorite spot in the gardens Shaak Ti was surprised and at first dismayed to find it occupied, and further by someone she had never seen before. The redheaded human female looked about 19 or so if she had to guess, certainly more than a few years younger than Shaak Ti herself. I wonder who she is, I haven't seen her around the temple. Is she a youngling from one of the training ships here to find a master, or is she a padawan who has returned with her master from a long term mission?
But what really took Shaak Ti aback were the martial arts moves the young woman was performing. It was a unarmed style which was odd enough, but it was also definitely not the style that Jedi learned prior to being allowed to build their own lightsabers, and very few Jedi kept up their hand-to-hand skills afterward.
That had always struck Shaak Ti as rather silly. Despite being a Consular her own master had made certain that Shaak Ti would never be solely dependent on her lightsaber, emphasizing her Force abilities, footwork and even a little hand to hand skills. But she couldn't say she was a master at it.
After a few moments she shook her head. Not like this young lady. The mastery of it was obvious, the speed and skill on display was like watching master Windu or Yoda with their lightsabers, something she had only seen a few times. Masters at that level had gone beyond the forms, mixing them into a synergistic whole which only vaguely recognized the original, personalized to their own styles, their own abilities.
Indeed, for something that was practice for combat the exercises the young woman was doing were rather beautiful to watch. Shaak Ti didn't know for how long she simply stood there watching, then she shook herself, and as one of the choreographed moves came to an end she began to clap slowly.
This startled the other woman, who turned to her quickly. "Ah, my apologizes for interrupting you. I am Shaak Ti, greetings. I'm sorry for interrupting, but that was magnificent. Where were you trained like that? And what's your name?"
OOOOOOO
Ranma looked at the alien woman who had spoken, given what she was wearing it was pretty damn obvious she was a woman and an alien, and Ranma felt her face slowly flushing as she took in the entire image before her. First of all, Shaak Ti had no visible hair, instead she had these large horn things covering her head almost like a hat sticking upwards slightly, which merged into larger growths hanging down from the side of her face downwards, like a Twi'lek's lekkus, and possibly behind her head too. She had some kind of thin wireframe headdress that hung between and around the growths on her head to rest on her forehead which featured what looked like teeth and a small central stone.
At first Ranma thought the horns were solid, but looking at the ends of the portion hanging down they moved slightly as Ranma watched. They didn't look as mobile as lekku, but those ends were obviously not bone or something similar. Whatever they were they framed a face marked by what Ranma first took to be some kind of odd tattoo covering her eyes, which were slightly sunken into her face, and the forehead area directly above them, with what looked like white paint. But then Ranma realized that wasn't a tattoo at all, simply the natural coloring of the woman's body.
And further, that the face that marking was on was as pretty as Twila's had been, only slightly younger perhaps, and far less… worldly, if that was the right word? There was a sort of innocence there that Twila hadn't had. Black colored eyes looked at Ranma from inside those white markings over a mouth with purple lips, though it was again obvious this was her natural coloration rather than lipstick. Her skin was a deep, vibrant red, though there were marks on one of her lower thighs and right below her elbow that resembled those on her face, only slightly lighter in color for some reason.
Ranma could see those clearly because she was wearing what Ranma could only describe as a bra and a very short skirt with a slit on both outer thighs. These were plain brown, the underwear equivalent of a Jedi's normal robes perhaps, but that didn't take anything away from their sparsity. They also framed a magnificently sculpted body. The alien woman's chest looked firm and perky and rather larger than Ranma would have expected given how extremely fit she was, with a tight toned stomach as well as powerfully muscled arms like that of a swordswoman, as should be expected from a Jedi.
The whole package caused Ranma to blush heavily, shaking her head and looking away quickly. "Why are you dressed like that?! I know you Jedi are supposed to be all non-feeling robots and all, but that's going too far!"
Shaak Ti cocked her head and quizzically. "While I have met Jedi who think like that, I can assure you I am not one of them. But why should this bother you, we're both women after all. I would have covered myself up if you were male of course, even among us Jedi such a thing is common courtesy, but we're not. And I came here to feel the wind on my face and body I see no reason to cover up."
Her black eyes widened slightly. "Oh, do you come from a planet where this type of clothing is taboo? If so I apologize, though you should probably get used to such modes of dress now. But you still haven't introduced herself, or told me where you were trained. And 'you Jedi', that is an interesting phrase. If you are no Jedi, then what are you, and what are you doing here?"
"I'm a guy!" Ranma protested, still looking away. She gestured down to her own body. "This body is just a, a Force curse. Underneath it, in my mind I'm still a guy, so please cover up!"
"You must've had a sheltered upbringing." Shaak Ti said shaking her head. Ranma gaped at her, and was about to shout something about the kettle calling the pot black.
Shaak Ti went on. "I hate to tell you this, but you are not a man, human males don't have breasts like these." Shaak Ti said reaching forward and poking the redhead's chest, not noticing that her finger had almost flicked Ranma's pebble hard nipple, Ranma's female body reacting to the rush of attraction she felt after seeing Shaak Ti's body. "Now could you answer my questions?"
Ranma shook her head and stared back at the woman shrugging his/her shoulders internally as she allowed her eyes to rake down the other woman's body again. Well if she's not bothered by me looking, I might as well look for all it's worth! Ranma shivered suddenly, knowing that thought was going to come back and haunt her/him in the future, but right now Ranma just hoped that Shaak Ti wouldn't notice her body's reaction. Thank god I'm not in my male body though!
Yet after a moment's silence Ranma was able to get over the sheer visual impact of the other woman and answered her questions. "Er, the name's Ranma. I've been trained in a lot of places, since I was around four or so, and I'm not a Jedi. Master Dooku found me, and he and I basically have an agreement going on at the moment, he lets me study the Jedi some and in return I let him study some of my, I guess you would call them Force techniques after we come to an understanding."
At the name of Dooku, Shaak Ti blinked in surprise. Then she shrugged. "Well if Master Dooku vouches for you that explains why you were allowed into the temple, and I guess you're not being a Jedi tells me why I've never seen you before."
Ranma cocked her head. "You're not going to jump down my throat about the Jedi knowing everything, or my techniques being too unusual or anything?"
"I haven't seen your techniques yet, only your strange exercise meditation. Nor am I such an unreasoning reactionary as that, though again I have met some masters and more knights who would fall under that category." Shaak Ti replied calmly.
"Good to know." Ranma said dryly. "But can I ask some questions now? I've never seen an alien like you." Ranma frowned. "Gah, I really don't like how that sounds, calling you an alien sounds almost racist or egotistical. I mean with the sheer number of aliens out there, ain't we all aliens to one another?"
Shaak Ti laughed shaking her head, causing her whatever-they-were to sway slightly where they hung down her chest. The sound was enchanting to Ranma and she gulped, but didn't look away. "It does, you could've said a being of your species perhaps, though many of the alternatives to simply saying 'alien' are rather wordy. Do not worry, humans are not the only ones that use such all-encompassing terms, and in terms of ego they're not even in the top five."
"The Gran of Malastare and I read about a species called the Hutts?"
"Yes those two are up there but there are also the Falleen who think because their pheromones allow them to dominate the minds of other species and a few others who believe because of one physical attribute or other that their race is superior to all others." Shaak Ti sighed. "Such thoughts are all too common."
She brightened then, moving over to sit with her back against a tree motioning the young woman to sit beside her. "As to my race, we are called the Togruta. We come from Shili, a place of high mountains, massive grasslands, forests and rolling valleys. This garden was designed as a mix of those three places."
She paused, one finger tapping her lips in an effort to hide a smile as she saw the young redhead's face contort as if she was trying to fight to keep a question from popping out. "You're thinking of asking one of two questions. One, what are the white markings on my face and body, or two what are my horns?"
"Am I that apparent?" Ranma asked, then frowned "err, transparent?"
"Common is not your first language?" Ranma nodded and Shaak Ti nodded in turn. "The second one was correct. How long have you been learning? But no, you weren't transparent at least in terms of my being able to read your facial expressions that accurately. Or you're mind, if you think Jedi can do that, we can read surface thoughts at best, and I've never been very comfortable with reading even those save in combat situations." Or when I'm haggling or at a diplomatic function, but that is technically combat by another name.
"Those questions are just the most common ones other races have for those of mine." She smiled, reaching up a finger to gently trace down the banded blue and white tentacle that hung from the side of her face down to its tip, which twitched ever so slightly. "These are montrals and lekku. The horns are called montrals, and the tentacles lekku. The montrals give my race a form of echolocation in a limited area. As for my markings, they are natural, like freckles or spots would be on a human."
As Ranma nodded in understanding Shaak Ti smiled, all thoughts of her initial reasons for coming into the gardens having left her mind at the sight of this new mystery. "Now that I have answered your questions, would you mind going back to some of mine and answering them in greater detail? Your training, and these Force techniques that Master Dooku is interested in, are there any you could share with me?"
Ranma frowned thoughtfully, pushing the thought of getting all sweaty with Shaak Ti out of her mind with difficulty. "I could, but I don't know if you're Council has decided whether or not it wants me to yet. I'd like to start with a single student my own age or close like you before trying to teach the oldsters, but just don't know if I'd get you in trouble if I tried to start that now."
This didn't even mention how leery Ranma was of giving any Jedi access to his/her abilities. While Shaak Ti's first impression had been good, Ranma wasn't about to make a decision like that quickly. Especially not when he knew he might be making it with, as one of his books on relationships called it, his 'lower head'.
"Why would you want a younger student instead of an older one? Master Dooku is one of the best lightsaber duelists in the order, surely he is well up to any challenge your training could involve."
"It's not just physical training, it's mental too, and the older a person gets, the more set in their ways he is. That's just fact, at least for humans, not certain if it carries over to other species."
She frowned thoughtfully. "I've met many older Masters and even people outside of the Order who are set in their ways, yet I've met just as many younger people who are the same way, and older Masters or Knights that are extremely flexible mentally. But that's just my opinion. Could you teach me some of that hand-to-hand combat you were using?"
"That I can do to a certain extent." Ranma said with a nod before smirking. "But what's in it for me?"
Shaak Ti frowned thoughtfully, wondering what piece of knowledge she could trade. "What exactly are you interested in?"
Ranma's libido supplied several options, the cleanest of which was a kiss, but she blushed and pushed all those thoughts aside, grateful that Shaak Ti didn't seem to read her body language very well, or she would've noticed that Ranma was still having trouble looking at her directly. Maybe her race doesn't look at one another's faces when they talk, some kind of social thing?
Instead Ranma was staring at the woman's forehead, trying desperately not to let her eyes wander down past her neck. And she was having a very difficult time of it. But damn is she naive, just because I'm a woman she's not going to cover up despite my not being a Jedi? I know from Dooku and the others the Jedi are sort of cloistered, celibate and all that, but that's a little much!
Back on task Ranma, think of what you want in return. "How about for now I teach you for 20 minutes and then we spar for 20, I'd still like more experience against lightsabers. That'd make it a straight up trade of training."
"Have you sparred with Master Dooku?" Shaak Ti asked, tapping the silver cylinder that hung from her belt. "And won't you get burned from the lightsaber? Even at its lowest setting it will sting badly."
Ranma chuckled, and held up a hand and forearm that was suddenly covered in the Force! Shaak Ti gaped, open mouthed and Ranma's chuckle turned into a laugh. "I think I'll manage."
Shaak Ti gaped for another few seconds then laughed, the sound once again sending a shiver down Ranma's spine. And, Ranma noticed despite him/herself, that it also caused parts of Shaak Ti to twitch slightly. Not jiggle like Ranma knew her own chest sometimes did when she laughed though. It was obvious that despite her chest size Shaak Ti's chest were quite firm. Must be because she's an alien, weird but oddly intriguing no, stop that Ranma!
Shaak Ti cocked her head, wondering why Ranma had blushed and looked away her hand over her nose for a moment. Was she going to sneeze? "I can see why Master Dooku is so interested in learning from you. Alright, let's start now."
"Are you going to exercise like that?" Ranma said her voice rather higher than it had been and still looking away, one hand over her nose.
"Yes, I routinely do so, though if you prefer I suppose I can wear my robe. Of course I do that as well when I exercise, but as I said I came down here to feel the wind on my body."
"Why not at least wear clothing like I do?" Ranma asked, getting herself under control and turning back to stare into Shaak Ti's amber eyes. Even so Ranma noticed the face those eyes were set in, how good-looking it was once again. Dammit! Need something else to concentrate on, I didn't act like this when around Lilith or Gallia. On the other hand both of them were old enough to be my mom, and Gallia didn't like me much. Ugh, might have to apologize for teasing Obi-wan damn it.
"I sometimes do of course." Shaak Ti laughed again. "You should see my young friend Aayla. She routinely wears even less than this." Shaak Ti then frowned, shaking her head.
I wish I could find out what mission Aayla was sent on, she's so young, only 16, and I don't think she's ready to be sent on a solo mission, but all any of the masters will say was she was 'uniquely suited' for the mission in question, and given how Quinlan Vos is in the hospital thanks to that accident on their last mission I suppose it makes sense, still I'm worried about her.
"Um, well if you're comfortable like that, just remember I warned ya that I'm really a guy whatever I might look like." Okay Ranma you can do this, it's just a self-control exercise think of it that way, don't react! Thank Amaterasu I'm in my female form!
"Yes, so you said, now, can we begin?" Shaak Ti replied, rolling her eyes, but as a courtesy pulling on her robe from where she had lain it on the ground nearby. Hopefully Mistress Gathera or one of the other mental healers will be able to break her of that delusion, or is she trying to make a joke at my expense?
"Okay, what hand-to-hand do you already know?" Ranma asked, moving to stand opposite the Togrutan female, much more comfortable now. "And I ain't interested in your Force abilities, just your hand to hand ones."
The exercises continued for about 5 minutes before Ranma had a feeling for the other woman's skills, which were practically nonexistent. She knew how to throw a punch and kick, had very, very good balance and body control, yet telegraphed her moves way too much, and didn't seem to understand how to move or shift from one attack to another.
"Stop," Ranma said, and Shaak Ti immediately stopped mid-swing, moving back and placing her hands together bowing slightly which Ranma returned, happy that mark of respect seemed to cross species or even the dimensions in her case. Ranma cocked her head thoughtfully staring at Shaak Ti. "What style of lightsaber do you use?"
"Why?"
"I'm trying to figure out what style hand-to-hand to teach you."
"You know multiple styles?"
"Hundreds, but the differences between some of them are slight. Other styles are designed to be used in specific situations or locations." Ranma said with a shrug. "But sometimes it isn't, sometimes it's pretty big and has just as much to do with how you view combat as how you go about actually fighting."
"That sounds remarkably like our own Lightsaber forms". Shaak Ti said enthusiastically, smiling. This was possibly the most fascinating conversation she'd had in weeks, and the upshot of getting to know this young redhead seemed obvious to her. "I use Ataru mainly. It's an aggressive style and a very mobile one as well, designed to face one opponent at a time. I'm also beginning to incorporate Makashi into my combat as well, though ."
"Interesting," Ranma said with a nod. "So something like judo or some other aggressive style..." Ranma frowned thoughtfully thinking. "What I'd like is to teach you some kind of form that you could incorporate seamlessly into your lightsaber form. Hmm… maybe Pencak Silat, that's devoted to being able to fight on odd surfaces, perfect balance and using the entire body as a weapon."
"Many Masters incorporate Force techniques into their lightsaber combat. I do a bit of that myself, though I am not experienced enough to match Masters such as Dooku or Yoda in that area. I've never heard of any that incorporate more than an odd kick or two into their styles though. " Shaak Ti replied.
For the next few moments Ranma walked Shaak Ti through several different Katas, getting her used to moving through the forms then going straight into different types of strikes from Silat and Judo, allowing Shaak Ti to try and practice them on her. She hadn't made much headway, but Ranma had been right when she noticed the Jedi Knight had extremely good body control and balance. The Katas of Pencak Silat, particularly the Javanese variant, one of many Ranma knew, were perfect for her. It would take a lot of time, but the woman had all the physical tools to master it.
After twenty minutes though, Ranma stood back, smiling. "Now it's time for your part of this little deal, yes? Do you think you could find a staff for me?"
Shaak Ti stopped, letting her leg fall from a pendang, or kick from Pencak Silat, pulling her body upright from where it had been bent to one side away from where he kick had been aimed. "Yes, I can do that, though I would like to come back to these exercises, they are very interesting and I can see why you would incorporate them into your meditation."
That caused Ranma to smile and nod, though it also made him wonder. Wonder what the Jedi Council would decide about him, wonder about what he wanted to be to the Jedi, and if he really would share some of his ki techniques.
A few moments later Shaak Ti came back with a metal staff for Ranma. The two of them stood up cross from one another, and Shaak Ti activated her lightsaber, a bright green blade. She powered itdown to its lowest setting, and nodded at Ranma. A second later she was forced to step back as Ranma came in quickly, thrusting hard before spinning away into a low slash with the end of her staff, before coming up and around house move that nearly caught Shaak Ti in the side.
Fast! It was only her Force precognition that had allowed her to guess what Ranma was doing, but already in under a minute of combat the difference between their speed was apparent.
Shaak Ti parried, parried, blocked, dodged, jumped up using a Force push off the ground. In midair she tried to wrench the staff out of Ranma's hand with a Force Pull only to fail, faced a kick which she dodged, bringing her sword around in a swift arc only to have it blocked by the end of Ranma's staff.
Then suddenly the other send of the staff was pointing in Shaak Ti's face. "Dead," she said calmly.
"I don't think your staff is quite that long Ranma." Shaak Ti said smiling faintly, but Ranma simply shook her head trying to ignore what could have been an innuendo but which obviously wasn't coming from the rather innocent Jedi Knight. But she didn't pull away the staff, simply keeping it facing her head.
For a moment Shaak Ti didn't get it, then her eyes widened as she looked at the end of the staff. "Some kind of spear supposedly?"
"Something like that. Even with just a vibro knife stuck on the other hand it could become a deadly weapon after all."
"Makes sense." Shaak Ti said with a nod frowning internally at her performance. I'm too used to fighting blasters or other knights with lightsabers. I need to work on fighting more unusual weapons apparently.
With that in mind Shaak Ti grimly moved back to where she had been standing, tossing off her Jedi robe causing Ranma to blush hotly and look away. She shook her head with a laugh. "I don't understand how my body can bother you, we're both women after all."
"That's obvious, and what part about I'm a guy don't you understand?!" Ranma said with a shake of her head.
"Everything," Shaak Ti replied with a laugh. "Still, that was but the first round, and it's obvious I have a lot to learn here, so shall we get back to it."
Ranma looked back at her, her blush gone now a faint smile on her face. "A little eager?"
"When you face the reality of life or death on every mission, you would be interested in any skills you can add to your repertoire as well."
"Point taken." Ranma said, sobering slightly. She moved over taking up a set stance that had one end of the staff above her head facing backwards and the other end facing down towards the ground in a diagonal. Her hands were further apart than they had been a moment ago, and were loose where they held the staff, waiting to move along its length. "Ready?"
Shaak Ti charged, chuckling even as her lightsaber slashed forward in a lightning quick stroke. "What real enemy would actually let me have time to ready myself!?"
"Good to know you take your training seriously!" Ranma said, bringing up her staff to block her lightsaber blade quickly.
This time Shaak Ti did indeed take the spar much more seriously, using all of her tricks from all the lightsaber styles she knew as well as Force techniques of course. She moved her body reinforcing her speed and strength with the Force as quickly as she could which was quite limited in comparison to what Ranma was used to, but still respectable for a Jedi Knight of her experience. Even so she couldn't keep up with Ranma's speed, and after the first time her staff locked with Shaak Ti's and threw her back into the air she knew she couldn't handle her strength either.
This required Shaak Ti to open herself to the Force to a level she had never done before, not even in a real battle, her montrals giving her no advantage save a little more warning of Ranma's attacks than a human would have. With the aid of her mastery in Makashi she moved wildly, never stopping, always trying to look for a way to attack or disarm Ranma lashing out with Force Grabs, pushes, trips, anything and everything.
Even so, it was obvious that Ranma was handling her with kid gloves, something she wasn't used to from even most Masters. Is this what it would be like to face Masters Dooku, Windu or those of their caliber? I have so far to go!
Whereas many people would have been put off by that, chagrined, or even somewhat ashamed Shaak Ti was a Jedi, and an ambitious one. She took it as a challenge, and simply smiled, her purple lips quirking into a smirk as she tried to match Ranma blow for blow.
Occasionally Ranma would call out little instructions, telling her how to improve her footwork or to watch for repeated stylistic changes in her attack, but for the most part they simply sparred, with Ranma forcing Shaak Ti to up her game to match her. The time limit they'd decided on for their sparring went past with neither of them noticing and the simply kept going.
It ended when Ranma was able to knock Shaak Ti's lightsaber out of her hand, and before she could pull it back to her with the Force tripped the Togrutan to the ground. Not giving up Shaak Ti changed the angle of her Force Pull. Her lightsaber came flashing back towards Ranma's head, but she ducked, kneeling over her and thrusting down before she could roll away.
Not even looking up Ranma reached out, her hand suddenly glowing with Force and grabbing her lightsaber out of the air just as it was about to impact with the back of her head. Ranma's other hand still held her staff thrusting it down towards Shaak Ti's chest.
"I win," She said simply, before dropping the lightsaber, the Force shield around her hand disappearing. "That last little trick with your lightsaber though, that was pretty impressive."
"I couldn't keep up with your speed with my Force perception or my echolocation." Shaak Ti said, gasping, her chest heaving with her exertion, not even noticing that Ranma looked down at said heaving chest blushing hotly before focusing on her eyes with all his willpower. "My Force perception was telling me you could go with one of five choices for that last attack, and the one with the least probability was you're trying to trip me like that. It was a desperation move."
"Interesting," Ranma mused. "When I've sparred with Dooku he says he sees all the possibilities, then looks for that one moment where he can stop the most of them."
"Master Dooku is a blade master, I'm just a knight," Shaak Ti said with a shrug. "I might eventually be able to grow my perception of the Force to that level, but I'm nowhere near that yet."
"Don't sell yourself short." Ranma said with a laugh, standing up and reaching down with her free hand to pull Shaak Ti to her feet. "Your endurance is pretty darn good, and your learning curve too."
"Jedi have meditation techniques which heighten our ability to learn dramatically, well beyond the normal levels for our various species. It isn't anything impressive, not like that Force shield of yours. I'm beginning to see why Master Dooku is so interested in you." Shaak Ti said shaking her head.
She wiped her brow, coming away with a sweat streaked hand, which she knew matched the rest of her body and shook her head. "I think I'm done for today. Let's hit the showers."
Ranma protested shaking her head. "I'm not that sweaty, and besides, I told you I'm a guy!"
Shaak Ti frowned, clipping her lightsaber to her belt and reaching down to grab her robe in one hand while grabbing Ranma's wrist. "That joke was funny at first, but it's getting old now." Shaak Ti at first thought that Ranma really did believe she was a man, but Ranma was so mentally solid otherwise she had come to think it was some kind of joke on her or that the redhead was simply body conscious.
And the best way to deal with something like that was to face it head on. Or at least Shaak Ti thought so, since it would have worked that way for a Togrutan. Not so much for a human, and the idea Ranma might have been telling the truth about his curse didn't occur to her. "Come now, you have nothing to be ashamed about believe me. I know several human senators or wives of said that would commit murder to have your curves and that waistline."
Momentarily derailed from her protests Ranma cocked her head, allowing Shaak Ti to pull her along. "I thought Jedi were all about abstaining the flesh, disdaining the body and not caring about looks and all that."
"We do, but we still have ears. I've done several guard details on various female senators or senatorial families." She frowned. "All of whom for one reason or another were very antagonistic towards me when we were alone. Though I will say the wives were worse than the senators."
"Jealous of your looks?" Ranma quipped.
"Yes," Shaak Ti replied simply. "For one reason or another, I'm never been certain why people are so conscious about it."
Ranma looked at her, staring agog. How could anyone be that naïve!? I don't think even I was that naïve in Nerima!
Before Ranma knew it Shaak Ti had dragged them into what was obviously a changing area with several shower stalls, moving over quickly to one of them. She pulled off her breast band then let her shorts drop. Reaching out for a nozzle she pulled it off its stand before turning the water on, letting the water cascade over her head for a moment, sighing faintly as the hot water hit her bruised skin.
She did all this so quickly that Ranma had barely turned to rush out of the room by the time she was finished undressing. And when she did, Ranma's desire to run fled on its own, leaving the rest of his/her psyche to combat his/her hormones to the death. She simply stood there, staring.
Like Ranma had expected Shaak Ti's skin color was red everywhere save for some random white marks here and there. What looked like claw marks on one thigh, was the largest such, but there were others, which Ranma wondered was normal for her species rather than personal coloration given where they were.
One of them was her white nipples and areolae. They were both chalk white and the areolae were the size of a 500 yen coin around somewhat larger nipples than Ranma's female form. The other was her pussy lips, which were also chalk white from top to bottom. Nowhere on her body was a single hair to be seen, her pubic area looked as smooth looking as the rest of her. Ranma thought that made sense considering she didn't have any hair up on her head.
This coloration however made her breasts and lower area stand out even more than they would have otherwise and the overall appearance of Shaak Ti right now, as the water cascaded down her body, was easily the most erotic thing that Ranma had ever seen. Ranma couldn't stop him/herself at this point, and he just stared at first her nipples and then downwards Ranma. As she did she was hit by the erroneous thought, well her lover sure as hell wouldn't have any trouble finding her, what did that book call them, erogenous zones? in the dark!
As Ranma continued to stare and was trying to fight the urge either to reach out and touch or salivate, Ranma wasn't certain at that point, her/his brain was basically on overload from overstimulation, Shaak Ti turned, one almond eye opening under the cascade of the water. Her purple lips quirked into a smile, and she reached out grabbing Ranma quickly. "You're not going to get clean just standing there, you know." With that she pulled the shorter girl into the cascade of water coming from the showerhead.
While the water was hot, this maneuver and the touch of the water on her skin had about as much effect on Ranma's psyche as being dipped into liquid nitrogen. Oh shit! She's going to kill me! Ranma thought, as she/he felt the change begin.
Shaak Ti had closed her eyes as he stepped backwards into the rushing water pulling Ranma with her, but she opened them after a moment, staring at Ranma with a faint smile which dropped from her face her almond eyes widening in shock in their white marks as she watched the change occur. One moment the redhead was there, standing a few inches shorter than her, the next there was a young man with black hair standing there, looking her directly in the eye.
She felt it in the Force as well, a laughing sort of chuckling wave cascading over her she couldn't explain it better than that. But right now her physical senses were much more important than her Jedi senses. "What, what just…"
"I told you!" Ranma said, waving his hands in the air and moving back slightly, averting his eyes now, his hormones having died quickly under his fear. "In my defense, I told you several dozen times that I was a guy! I even described my curse! You thought it was a joke!"
"I did," Shaak Ti said with a nod, still staring at him, then slowly down to her own body, before moving backwards, covering her body with her hands as a feeling of embarrassment and something like fear rising within her. "I did. And later I might in fact apologize, but for now I'm sorry!" With that word what little self-control Shaak Ti had as a Jedi fled, her female side taking over and she screamed lashing out quickly with the Force.
For his part Ranma didn't even try to fight it, he knew that Shaak Ti would have a Female Freak Out Moment™, and was perfectly willing to take his lumps. Her using the Force and the power of her strike took him by surprise, however. It smashed Ranma back into and through the outer wall of the shower area which itself was on the outside of the temple, hurling Ranma out into the open air around the Temple.
"Well shit," he said calmly before he began to plummet downwards. He left behind a shaking, embarrassed and rather shocked Shaak Ti as she stared through the whole Ranma had made then down at her body before quickly turning around rushing towards the pile of her clothing.
OOOOOOO
Up in the Council chamber all of the Masters sat up abruptly as they stared at one another. "That felt like Jedi Knight Shaak Ti," said Master Plo Koon. "I wonder what embarrassed her so to break through her self-control and make her lash out like that."
"I said when she was promoted that she was too young, this little outburst should prove it." Said Piell.
"I think we owe it to her not to jump to conclusions like that." said Gallia softly but seriously. Several of the others nodded. While as a padawan Shaak Ti had completed several dozen difficult diplomatic missions, and even more combat related missions with her master, master Saibot, and had only added to that series of successes in the months since. Her levelheaded nature, gentleness, and, it had to be said, good humor had won her many friends and acquaintances even among her seniors.
"I think that Ranma will be behind it somehow," Dooku said smiling faintly. "Or have none of you realized that he left almost as soon as we entered the Council chamber?"
Some of the Masters jolted, extending their senses only to realize with chagrin that Dooku was telling the truth. "Hmmf, disrespectful of him to run off like that, only more reason to be wary and keep him at arm's length, whatever you all might think he can teach us," said Master Poof.
Yoda however chuckled. "Rambunctious he is, disrespectful too, but not the first such. Come, far more easily than our current weighty thoughts solve this minor mystery we can."
As one the Council stood. With Yoda in the lead they exited the council chamber, heading down towards where the disturbance had occurred only to stop as they came to the women's shower.
"I begin to figure out what happened here." Dooku said with a laugh, a full belly laugh that earned him several bemused and wary looks from his fellow masters save those who had been and seen Ranma's transformation for themselves. Mace in particular was frowning as he kneaded his eyes.
"Makes sense, if Shaak Ti dragged her in there for any reason only to find out a second later that she is a he, well I certainly wouldn't react favorably to a surprise like that," Lilit said laughing quietly.
A few seconds later Shaak Ti herself came out, dressed in her robe and shaking out wet non-lekku. She stopped at the sight of the council in front of her, then pointed a finger back into the shower area. "M-masters, I, I apologize for my outburst, but, but that, what was that!?"
"That was a young man with a very odd…let's call it a Force related disease." Dooku said thoughtfully. "He says it's a magical one, but I think that is simply his worlds way of explaining it away. At the very least it is a sign of something unusual not certain what. Can we ask what happened young knight?" Master Dooku had not met Shaak Ti before this, though he had gathered she was a bit of a favorite for several council members.
Once Shaak Ti had stuttered out what had occurred Yoda joined Dooku in laughing, though his were little chuckle wheezes in contrast to Dooku's loud guffaws. He hadn't truly believed the curse was real before this, but Yoda could no longer ignore all the witnesses' statements about it. Fascinating feeling it was, if too short and drowned out by young Shaak Ti's panicky assault.
Shaak Ti stared at them appalled. "Masters, I do not see anything funny about this! I, I might have killed him, he's no Jedi, surely…"
"Do not worry yourself about it Knight Ti." Plo Koon said, answering the younger Jedi's concerns. "Dooku and Yoda are not being callous, believe me. Despite not being a Jedi Ranma is at home in the air, trust me, he'll be able to look after himself."
As Shaak Ti calmed down she noticed that not everyone seemed to see the humor in the situation. Shaking his head, Koth spoke up for them. "This is a sign of what I was saying. He is too chaotic and brings out the emotions of others too easily. He is a threat to the Jedi way. As for you young Ti, I think you need to work on your self-control more."
"And as I have said repeatedly." Dooku said turning on the Zabrak male, his eyes flashing, while all four of the female masters present allowed scowls to appear on their faces at his lack of empathy. "Ranma has never wanted to be a Jedi, only allied with us. And as an ally not a Jedi, our rules certainly would not bind him."
"He uses the Force, he must be a Jedi, or a threat to us. In the public's eye only Jedi can be trusted with the secrets of the Force, a fact that has served us well in the past." Said one of the other masters
"In circles we are going, Master Yoda still was speaking when felt this disturbance we did." said Yaddle, shaking her head while Shaak Ti moved forward with Gallia into the shower area. The two of them raised their hands, slowly pulling the pieces of the wall together with the Force as much as possible, closing the hole Ranma's body had left for now. A repair droid would have to be brought in to fix the wall permanently.
"Decision in ignorance cannot be made." Yoda said, his chuckles slowly abating. "Knowledge Dooku seeks, knowledge hunger blinding him to possible repercussions. Own concerns and thoughts Koon and Giiett see in this young man. Concern and worry speaking through Masters Piell and Koth. All have spoken, thoughts have been heard."
All five masters nodded, even Dooku subsiding at Yoda's tone, understanding the Grandmaster had indeed heard all their points of view and would take them into account. Mace and the other council members also nodded, though one or two were still looking dubious about Ranma.
Yoda went on. "Spoken we have for a long time, meetings, greetings with the Senate you have now."
The masters who had been sent on the Yinchorri mission all quickly checked the time, realizing Yoda was right, they'd talked for a solid three hours already. The Chancellor was no doubt expecting them to arrive shortly for the little fete he had prepared to welcome back them back after successfully stopping the Yinchorri.
"Dooku too should go, to being laying groundwork for the addition to the Arming Rights Law."Dooku managed to suppress a wince with difficulty, but nodded, and Yoda went on, returning to the subject of Ranma. "Search for him I will, make my own assessment of Ranma I will."
The other Masters looked at Yoda in surprise, but one after another nodded their heads. Yoda's ability to see to the heart of the matter was well known, as was his ability to read people.
That the Council would abide by Yoda's recommendation didn't have to be stated aloud. Only two of them had the standing to even argue with him, masters Windu and Yaddle. And neither would, having been strictly neutral up to this point on the issue of Ranma and his future in relation to the Order. Mace was still guilt-ridden about the deaths that Ranma and Dooku's intervention had stopped, while Yaddle found him a fascinating subject for further research among the holocrons she so enjoyed.
The diminutive Grandmaster nodded at them all then turned to poke Shaak Ti in the leg with a cane which another knight had delivered to him during the debate on the political ramifications of Dooku's agreement with the Sluisi and Mon Calamari. "Knight Shaak Ti help me in this to apologize for her overreaction she will. Told you male he was, should have listened rather than assumed you knew better."
That thought sent a reverberating clangor through Yoda's mind, the Force trying to tell him something and he looked away from them all as he sent his sense out into the Force, trying to figure out what it was trying to tell him. After a few minutes he nodded imperceptivity. Open I must be to being proven wrong, assumptions we have made, discard them we must. His lips quirked imperceptibly. Only wish do I, knew which assumptions were wrong. Will think on this further later.
Shaak Ti frowned, then remembered all of the clues that Ranma had given of it is true gender, as well as the fact he kept on saying it nodded. "Yes master, I'd already realized that I was overreacting, it's just I could not stop my body reacting first."
"The mind rule the body it should, not the body the mind." Yoda said shaking his head. "Still, physical reactions surprise can be brought out. Now, come. Chaotic fulcrum we must find."
The knight followed the grand master through the corridors of the temple silently for a few minutes, then asked, "Master Yoda, what do you mean when you say chaotic fulcrum?"
OOOOOOO
Ranma continued to fall through the air of Coruscant leaving the upper levels where the Temple resided well behind, his hands spread out to either side, his eyes closed as he felt the rush of the wind all around him, luxuriating in it. Dooku had been correct, Ranma was as at home in the air as anyone else could've been on the ground, a master of midair combat, moving through the air as easily as a fish through water. He bounced off several suspended traffic lights, hopped off a honking airbus, and kept going, rolling over one air car to fling himself up off the back of it, flying down through the traffic towards what looked like a large kilometer wide stone roadway of some kind.
Looking at it he did some mental calculations in his head, thoughts moving as fast as lightning. Can't get over there unless one of those air cars swerved in this collection, nothing to push off, though I guess I could use a Moko Takabashi to push myself along. No, best keep that as a reserve, I've only used it once so far, and I doubt any of the Jedi were in a position to wonder how I did it, they certainly didn't question me about it yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. Faced with no alternative Ranma kept falling for a time, as more and more of the sunlight was occluded by the giant, monstrously huge complexes all around him.
Ranma noticed there was more traffic down here, a lot more, and it included several starships, small ones admittedly, moving up and out as he watched. There were also more pedestrian dominated cross-paths all around, and eventually Ranma was able to smack himself off of one car, startling a young couple of some kind and fling himself toward one, grabbing onto the side and flipping himself upwards onto the side of the road.
Only to have to immediately kick back out into it the air to dodge an oncoming truck skimming along the path's concrete, its horn blaring angrily at him. "Fucking Hong Kong driver!"
With that Ranma continued his fall, though this one lasted far less time, and he bounced off a few cars before digging into one cars roof with his fingers and then peering over the side. "Don't suppose you'd mind dropping me off somewhere would you?"
The driver, a rather disreputable looking fellow of a species Ranma hadn't seen before shrieked, and hit the brakes trying to throw Ranma off but it didn't work thanks to Ranma's having dug his fingers into the metal of the roof. "Nevermind then!" he shouted, and leapt off to the side, grabbing the underside of a passing car and hanging on as it continued on its way.
He hung there for several moments until they passed what looked like a small landing pad, where he dropped down onto it, quickly moving to enter the building as he noticed several partitions along the edge of the pad opening up. Two androids of some kind stood there, their heads cocked to one side as he passed them by. "Sorry, wrong ride," he said blithely as he passed them, and quickly entering the building before either android could figure out what to do about him.
This building was some kind of living area, the corridor Ranma entered line with interior garages, then a wide staircase leading up and down. Ranma headed down, figuring what he wanted would be further down as he pulled out a communicator he had scavenged along with the cortosis metal in his ki space. "Tune? Can you hear me?"
From the other end of the com his droid replied quickly, it's sounds indicating an affirmative. "I seriously need to figure out how to understand you better." Ranma muttered shaking his head. "Don't suppose you could tell me where I am now?"
The low irritable sound that Tune replied with was definitely not an affirmative, and Ranma shrugged. "Nevermind, figured that'd be impossible. Remind me to go shopping with you later to get one of those wrist pads that translate your noises into speech. In person I can figure out what you're talking about, but over this communicator, no chance."
Tune replied in the affirmative, sounding almost enthusiastic about the idea causing Ranma to smile. "Anyway, if any of the Masters ask you where I am, they might not they don't seem to think critically like that, just tell them I've gone to look for some fun."
That caused Tune's tones to become discordant, irritable and worried. Despite not having been with Ranma for long, Tune had a very good idea about what his new owner thought was 'fun'. Ranma however merely laughed and told him not to worry before closing the connection.
A few minutes later Ranma exited the building, which was indeed an apartment complex of some kind, middle-to-low for what was called Senatorial City, which made it pretty ritzy in comparison to the rest of the planet, but not nearly as much as the best housing, which was always near the surface. On Coruscant that was the rule, the closer you were to the top of the planet (the word 'surface' really had no meaning on Coruscant in this context) the more important and rich you were.
Ranma of course didn't know anything about that, he thought what he was seeing was pretty opulent all on its own. The sheer size of the apartments, the fact they had interior parking areas, the cleanliness of the interior of the building all pointed to this being a decent high-rise, and would have anywhere else but Coruscant.
The area was remarkably clean outside despite being so far down into the bowels of Coruscant he couldn't see the sun any longer. Okay, maybe I didn't fall far enough? And why the hell am I not feeling anxious anymore? Weird. Still, I ain't about to complain.
He continued to walk through the streets for a time, noting that down here the only aircars seemed to be heading upwards or side to side far away from the walkways, where the traffic was minor but near constant. There were a few traffic lights hovering in the air here and there directing those aircars, reminding Ranma of a sci-fi movie he'd once seen, something about a runaway air-taxi being chased by cop cars? He couldn't remember the movie it was, but that chase scene had amused him a lot.
Ranma continued walking, heading downwards whenever he could noticing with each passing level that the ground began to get grimier the denizens around him seedier looking. Good, now if I were a gang how long would it take me ta jump on a lost tourist or rube?
About an hour later Ranma was finally jumped by a gang of toughs, having smacked into one of their shoulders as he passed. Having surrounded Ranma before the impact the others tried to grab Ranma and pull him into an alleyway nearby, only to fail miserably as Ranma simply lifted two of them up into the air slamming them together while kicking out, catching one of them in the chest throwing him several dozen yards away down the dimly lit corridor.
The fourth, the one who had been behind Ranma tried to run, but he turned quickly, reaching out to grab him by the scruff of his neck pulling him back. "Now I could hurt you like I did your friends, but I instead I'm gonna give ya the opportunity to answer some questions first. Sound good?"
The alien was a smelly little creature from a species Ranma hadn't seen before, with wrinkly skin and wide eyes in a face that looked deformed almost. He squealed and stuttered, trying desperately to get away, but found Ranma's grip on the back of his neck was like a clamp. Ranma held him there, and eventually the being got himself under control. He answered, "W-what do ya want ya scriver! Y, you're not with the Bloods are you, this is Dawn Dagger turf, ya don't know who yer messin' with!"
Eesh, Bloods, and Dawn Dagger's? Gangs, they remove your imagination when you join. And that accent, yeah, I'm seriously gonna try to get rid of any hint of my old one, Corellian is fine, country bumpkin Corellian not so much.
"No I'm not with you the Dawn Dagger's or the Bloods, and honestly I wouldn't be proud of that name if I were you. I'm not here to muscle in on your turf or whatever. No, I'm wondering where I should go to find some games of chance, dice, cards or something like that. In particular where I could find some rigged gambling games."
The little alien looked up at him in surprise. "Rigged, ya mean ziggered? Why'd'ya want ta know where der ziggered games're? Most'd want ta comp where the better games are. Heh, fer that'n yer 'bout 30 levels b'low where yas should be."
"Rigged," Rama replied firmly then he smirked. "The more rigged the better. And if it's also a place where they have some underground fights that's even better." After all, if I'm going to rip someone off better make it the right sort.
After a moment his captive turned his head from staring up at Ranma's face to stare at its three fellows, who were all lying were Ranma had put them, then back up at Ranma and began to smile. "I's knows just da place. Though it's a bit of a stutter, and we'll pass through some lands, ya comp?"
"Not at all, but you just lead the way man, and maybe I'll let ya bet on me when it comes time, you comp?" Ranma said, with a faint smile.
With his new 'friend' leading him Ranma made his way through what amounted to the middle of Coruscant's currently living sectors, those areas of the planet which were used and lived in by sentient people, the sections in other words which had power for lights and everything else. His guide told Ranma that below that zone were areas no one sane went, deep caverns of ancient buildings crushed below the weight of those built atop them, burying them and the ones below as if they were layers of the planet's crust.
They were attacked four more times on their route, three times by other gangs and one time by what Ranma thought was a druggy looking for some money for his next hit. His guide said something about the man being a 'srived out spicer' and Ranma didn't inquire further. Every time Ranma dealt with them quickly.
After dealing with the attacks, Ranma would go through their pockets, stealing anything of value, credit chips and weapons, then tied them up using their own clothing, before leaving them hanging by the nearest lights bare-assed naked. At one point this meant hurling them over to a traffic control light, but Ranma felt that was simply a little humiliation added to the pile.
Eventually they came out from the smaller walkways into a wider area or at least wider than most areas this far down, and without any air traffic in it either. The lights in this area were better than most of the ones in the area which Ranma had just made his way through, but they were overshadowed by the blazing neon sign over a large gateway, some name or other in common Ranma guessed. He still couldn't read the local language. Speaking one took him a far shorter amount of time than learning how to read and write it.
"Zat's Fireball. It sells itself as da best gambling in 50 sectors, but it's a kriffin' hole in da ferro-crete compared ta the stuff sunward. It's also run by Fuego the Knife, so ya'd better believe the games're ziggered." The rat-like alien muttered.
He looked at Ranma, shaking his head, having lost some of his courage since it had been quite a while since the last time they'd been attacked. "Yer maxed out, but he's got well, rumors say Fuego's got some animals in dere that could tear yas apart. If yas play it straight as ya can, let the house keep its creds and only skin other marks, you'll get out alive though. Fuego knows not to make too many meatbags disappear, even down here, what with the big J right sunward. At least I hope so…" At the end he trailed off a little, looking even more worried.
Ranma shrugged. "We'll see."