I'll Trade You This Picture For 1000 Words -- Putting the "light" back in "light side"

OK, Here it is--Just a wee bit corny.

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SOMETIMES EVEN THE ANGEL OF DEATH GETS IT WRONG

He hadn?t really felt anything, not even a twinge. ?Hey?, he thought out loud. ?That wasn?t so bad.? Obi-Wan stood up and immediately his hands went to his torso. Remarkably he was in one piece. ?Ok, well what now?? He looked around for something, anything, but in truth he was surrounded by nothingness.

The Death Star was gone, Vadar was nowhere in sight, no Imperial troops, no Millennium Falcon, Luke, Leia, Chewbaca and Han; everything had vanished. His hand went to his bearded chin and he rubbed it hoping to provoke some inkling of what to do next.

The answer came in a cold but concise voice. ?I am the Angel of Death and I have come for you.?

Obi-Wan turned to see a rather ragged cloaked figure holding a large staff. He could not see a face nor could he sense the shrouded presence. ?I?m sorry could you repeat that? I?ve just arrived and probably a bit disoriented, did you say Angel of death??

There was no mouth but he was speaking, no eyes yet he was seeing. ?You called upon death, welcomed it, I am here to guide you to it.?

With a slight inclination of his head Obi-Wan quelled what could only be called an amused smile. ?I am afraid you are mistaken friend. You see, I am a Jedi. I do not just simply walk off into the sunset hand in hand with death. I am supposed to become one with the Force I?m quite certain someone will be along any minute to uh?to straighten this out."

Though there was no perceptible movement of air the frayed cloak fluttered around the dark figure. ?There is no mistake, when death summons you, you are compelled to follow.?

Obi-Wan?s quick laugh had a nervous edge. ?I?m not compelled to follow anything. You?d better check your records because you?ve got the wrong fellow."

The Angel of Death was silent and seemed to be considering the Jedi?s declaration. He pointed his staff at something behind Obi-Wan and announced. ?Then perhaps I am here for one of them.?

Although the situation was getting absurd he went along with it anyway and turned to look in the direction of the Angel?s staff. To his complete and utter shock the scene aboard the Death Star was still playing out right where he seemed to have left it.

Luke was looking in his direction and screaming his name. Leia was telling him it was too late. Laser blasts were flying in every direction. He looked back at Mr. Death and then towards Luke. That boy was going to get himself killed if he did not get aboard that ship. ?Run Luke run!?

Now the voice behind him was decidedly familiar. ?Well done Obi-Wan you have successfully reached out to the living from the beyond. That boy is going to need your wisdom and a little urging from time to time.?

The smile that spread across Obi-Wan?s face was now one of genuine joy. ?Qui-Gon! What in the Force??

His former master tossed back the hood and revealed himself. ?You needed a little prodding to take your first step into a larger world.?

Obi-Wan shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. ?Was the whole Angel of Death thing really necessary??

Qui-Gon quipped, ?No but it made you pay attention and amused me to no end. Now come, we?ve some old friends to get you reacquainted with.?

The two Jedi walked into the setting sun.

 

LOL, yes, corny, but adorable!

 

LOL . . . I dunno what it is about that picture--maybe it's the fact that the guy could pull his hood off and reveal a clown head or something. =

But very cute, Obiwanabi. You've revealed one of the perils of having friends on the Other Side. They can sneak up on you, pull the "I'm a spooky ghost" routine, and then point and laugh when you freak out. That's probably how Qui-Gon revealed his spectral self to Yoda--making stuff fly around the room and writing "REDRUM" on the mirror, and then laughing really hard when he finally figured it out.

QUI-GON: That's for not letting me train the Chosen One. And what are you going to to to me about it? I'm dead! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Umm . . . yeah. About time I swapped the images out . . . we'll see how long this takes me. Sometimes I find replacements faster than others.

 

Aaaaand this is the winning image for this week:

[image=http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3838/whatthe0em.gif]
(Click on the thumbnail for a larger image . . . if you can stand to see one. )

Questions to ponder:

* "Oh. My. God. Becky, look at that thing's nose. It's so . . . BIG." What is this thing? Is it supposed to look like that? Did something happen to it?
* Does this . . . individual, have a job? A family? An amazing life of adventure? If so, does the little . . . nasal . . . um . . . protrusion, get in the way at all?
* What's with the wierd claw-like pose? Is that a dance? A threatening gesture? An attempt to freeze and remain unseen? This thing's normal posture?
* Does the thing have a life that's 180 degrees opposite what you'd expect? Is s/he the galaxy's greatest lover? A terrible Sith Lord, unmasked at last? Perhaps even the Angel of Death from last week?
* What would happen to this creature if it ventured out of its . . . wherever, and into the uniform white, male, British, not silly at all (except for Tarkin's slippers) world of the Imperial fleet? Admiral Thrawn got a job with the Empire despite being blue with red eyes. If this creature were a brilliant enough officer, would it get hired on as Admiral . . . Thingie?
* What if there had been a little slipup at Kamino, and they cloned a million of these instead? Would they make good soldiers? Would they form a very disturbing isolated colony somewhere? Would they be tragic victims of oppression?

Questions optional, etc., disclaimer.

This week's voting page

 

Sorry I disappeared on you, Ophelia. We were on vacation.

I have a story for the death picture, but not the next one...whatever it is... I'll post it as soon as it's finished.

 

Fanficfan--sorry about being slow on the draw. I'm trying to keep a lot of figurative plates spinning right now.

That was actually a very cute, if demented, little story. (And hey, I've got nothing against demented. I put the picture up in the first place.)

The shadow stopped mere feet from the cowering man. It?s free hand emerged from the long sleeves, covered in sores and boils. It reached up to pull back it?s hood.

AIEEEEEEEEE!! The Return of the Pocked Man! And he needs a jar of Eucerin. Poor fellow.

Is the "click, click" noise the cowering man trying to shoot Death, but having nothing in his blaster? (And you do mention that Kayleen is her father's speeder-fixer, so it's set in the SW galaxy. It's just all-OC.)

?I? DON?T? KNOW,? it slowly admitted.

This literally made me laugh out loud. Imagine being around from the creation of the universe, and still not knowing what to put on a "Hello My Name Is:" tag. Kayleen's right, however--"Death's" not a name--it's a job description.

Although, now that I think about it, I do have a friend nicknamed Death. And it's sort of a job description. He wiped out another college's fencing team by himself once, and the name stuck. His driver's license says "John," however.

Everyone should have a name, otherwise they can?t introduce themselves to people.

Now that is a very good point. If you're going to come for somebody's soul, the least you can do is give them your name. You know, "Hello, my name is Gary, and I'll be your demise this evening."

The cowering man forgotten by the spectre of Death.
I can only imagine him being terribly, terribly confused. People have been known to escape Death or even cheat Death, but having Death distracted and led off by a kid is a new one.

No worries, Rogue_Pilot. I've done nothing but stay here, and for someone for nothing to do, I always seem to be desperately busy. Whenever you get a chance. I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.

 

And here it is. It kind of ran away with me...again:
__________________

A pack of boys surrounded the cloaked man, throwing clods of frozen grass, and the occasional stone. When they realized he would not retaliate, the missiles became primarily stones, and the little white spotted dog who followed the man everywhere ran frantically around the ring of boys, barking madly, trying to defend her master, but unable to find a way in.

Suddenly, a whirlwind of dingy skirts and blond curls shot between the legs of the tallest boy. ?Let be, Jacob Miller! Let be! He never did you no harm!?

The boy?s stopped their taunting. Normally, a girl as small and young as this one wouldn?t manage to check their fun, but this one happened to be the daughter of the biggest, strongest man in town, and he had no qualms about knocking a few heads together if his daughters were pestered with.

In twos and threes, the band dissipated, leaving the girl, the cloaked man, and the little dog in the empty street.

The danger gone, the girl became quite companionable. ?Hello. I?m Katie. What?s your name??

?They call me Job,? The man said. His voice was like honey; not too rough, but neither too smooth. It was a pleasant tenor.

But a seven year old girl can hardly be expected to notice such things. She had knelt down to fondle the dog. She giggled delightedly as it licked her face with its rough tongue. ?He?s cute! What?s his name??

Though his face was invisible, Job?s smile was evident in his voice. ?Her name is Belle.?

Katie furrowed her brow, but before her perplexed question could be vocalized, a voice called, ?Katie! Katie where are you? It?s time for dinner! Da?ll be angry if you don?t come soon!?

?Oh!? Katie cried, her question forgotten. ?I forgot! That?ll be my sister calling me for dinner. Would you like to come? I think we have some chicken tonight. Usually, we just have potatoes, and maybe some rice.? She said it cheerfully, as though potatoes and rice were the greatest food in the world.

Job held a great staff, taller than he was, in his right hand, but before he could finish his protestation, Katie had hold of his left, and was pulling him to where the voice came from.

For anyone who would have cared to look, the comparison of the two hands - the large and small one - would have been an interesting study, at the least. Both were extremely thin, emaciated, even, and both were tanned to a pleasant nut color. The only noticeable difference, in fact, was the size, for Job?s was immense, and Katie?s was effectively swallowed by it.

The mismatched companions met Katie?s older sister at the door. Lizzie was a tall, attractive girl with long brown hair, whipped into the barest hint of curl by the incessant wind, skin dyed a comfortable nut brown by the sun, and deep green eyes. She narrowed them at the sight of Job.

?Katie, what?s this??

?Your sister was kind enough to save me from your pack of local boys, and then invited me to come to dinner,? Job explained for the girl. If it?s not convenient for you though??

?Oh, no!? Lizzie hastened to reply. ?It?s just that Da like?s warning if there?s to be a dinner guest. It?ll be no trouble at all, though. Katie, hurry and wash up: the food?s getting cold.? She made way for Job, who laid a hand on the doorpost before entering, and another on his chair, before sitting.

He never removed his voluminous hood, throughout the meal, but rather, brought the bits of potato and chicken inside it?s dark recesses. He was a silent man, rarely speaking unless he was spoken to, and then, in as few words as possible.

Finally, though, Lizzie and Katie?s father asked if he was staying long.

?I never stay long anywhere; I?m just passing through.?

?Why?? Katie asked, with the lack of tact characteristic in young children.

Her father and sister looked at her in consternation, but Job answered readily enough. ?I never stay, because no town has use for a blind beggar.?

?You?re blind, then?? Lizzie asked gently. She had a soft spot for all things he

 

That was a very sweet retelling of the "angel in disguise" myth. I liked Job's decription of how he missed the stars the most . . . the ability to see those is something those of us with sight take for granted, and I imagine that someone who had gone blind would miss them.

The family you created was very real as well--Katie's impulsive rescue of the strange man and her unwitting insensitivity is making jokes about what it must be like to be blind are very believable for a seven-year-old.

I also liked the idea that the village's bridge had been washed out, and that they were cut off from the major town where they got food. The "miraculous" freezing of the river was a nice touch.

The spectral appearance of Job, the story's moral about compassion, and the deep-winter setting give this story a kind of Christmas Carol feeling. Maybe you should hang onto it, consider elaborating on it some, and re-post it in its own thread around Christmas time.

 

Only a day late (and a dollar short), this weeks's winning image:

[image=http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/389/jedi9lv.gif]
Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

Questions to ponder:
* Well, she looks like a Jedi . . . but is she more (or less) than she appears?
* Is she actually creating that glowy thing, or just looking at it? What is it?
* If she's making that thing glow, how is she doing it? Do you need the Force to do that, or is it "all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense?"
* Whoever and whatever she is, she's someplace reeeeal dark. Where is she? How'd she get there? Why isn't there a lightswitch?
* That glowy thing looks so pretty and harmles . . . is it? Or could it be a weapon of some kind? (Pre-packaged Force lightning?) Could it be something else unexpected? A communication device? A toy? A type of living creature?

Questions = optional

No one seemed inspired by the poor big-nosed thing, although people are welcome to post about it later. Whatever it is.

I actually already have the next voting page up (No! Yes!!):

This week's voting page

 

Aha! I thought of something for this picture. If anyone remembers the picture of the glowing green stone, this is a continuation of the one I wrote for that:


It wasn?t much, but at least Aristine could see a little bit now. She had assumed the brown robes of a Jedi, so that she wouldn?t be as noticeable here. But in the cave, she was tempted to take them off. They were cumbersome. She was used to serviceable clothing that allowed you to move a bit more freely than the heavy, coarse material of the robe did.

But then she heard something. It was a scrabble, like a dog?s feet on a hard floor. She froze. Whatever it was was just outside the tiny circle her Force light threw. She tensed. And suddenly, a soft, lizardine voice hissed from the darkness, ?If you usssed the Forcccce, you would be able to sssenssse me.?

?Who are you?? Aris called.

With no hesitation, a lizard, perhaps two feet long, stepped into the light. It had dull brown scales, but it?s eyes were a bright, glowing green, glittering a bit in the uncertain light. ?I am Jedi Master Thryssst?

?Master Thryst?? Aris repeated. ?I?ve never heard of any Jedi by that name.?

?Nor have the Jedi,? Thryst replied. ?I have been here, out of touch with the Jedi order, for hundredsss of yearsss. They do not remember my exisstencce.?

Aris narrowed her eyes. Thryst seemed very familiar to her. Like she had seen him before?But the only lizard she?d seen recently besides the diminutive Jedi was the giant stone one on the planet?s surface. Aris thought hard, and then said slowly, ?It?s you. They made that giant stone dragon of you.?

?Yesss. The people who carved it missstook me for a god, dessspite what I told them, and insssisssted upon carving that great ssstone monssstrosssity.?

?I think it was beautiful,? Aris said.

Thryst did what only could be described as a sniff, and said testily, ?You are untrained and ssstupid. That?sss why I am here.?

?What?? Aris was taken aback by his assertion.

?I am here sssolely to train you.?

?What if I don?t want to be trained?? Aris persisted. She didn?t like when people made assumptions about her. ?My mother trained me well enough.?

?Pleassse. You could not even tell I was a sssentient being, rather than a dumb creature. But if you insssisst?Will you accept my offer to become you massster, in the way of the Jedi??

Aris thought about it. She fully believed her mother had trained her quite well. But on the other hand, Master Thryst was right. If she had a better mastery of the Force, she would not have been surprised by his presence. ?All right,? she said finally. ?You can come along and try to train me. But I will not, under any circumstance, wear these robes ever again.?

Thryst flicked his tongue out - A gesture of pleasure, or satisfaction? - and said, ?Agreed.?

 

Rogue pilot,

I liked thisss very much. The picture was actually a very small part of the scene...

Whatever it was was just outside the tiny circle her Force light threw.

You wove the light into the story rather than weaving the story from the light.

I also thought the girl in the picture looked out of place; not quite comfortable in Jedi garb. you definately captured that too.

 

First of all, I like the name "Aristine." Not often a fanfic name catches my attention, but that one did for some reason.

The bit about the voice speaking out of the darkness, taunting her that she would have sensed it if she'd used the Force, startled me and freaked me out a little. (Not often writing can actually spook me.) It's a cool idea that this creature has been sealed in a cavern for so long . . . he seems to be happy there, since he doesn't immediately beg Aristine for rescue.

I'd think twice about accepting an invitation of teaching from a weird lizard in a cave, but in quest-type stories, the wisest people are generally not what they appear. Hence the "strange old hermit" Ben Kenobi and Yoda's zany "Mine, mine!" act. (I still can't help suspecting that he enjoyed that. It had to be a cheap thrill after centuries of decorum on the Jedi Council, and 20 years sitting alone in the mud.)

Thread Note:

We've got the FFA going on right now, as well as fanfic trivia and several other challenges. Plus, we seem to have hit the summer vacation doldrums. A lot of boards are barely moving. Thank you so much to those of you who are reading and replying, , but thread users are few and far between right now, and it doesn't seem to make much sense to run a new image challenge every week. So I figured I'd try every two weeks for a little bit, and see if the extra downtime allows people's creative juices to regenerate. Once school starts in September, I'm either going to need assistance maintaining the thread or go to a significantly longer challenge cycle, anyway, whichever seems more appropriate.

In the meantime, there are still 5 images up on the voting page to choose from, and a lot of older images that some people had expressed interest in, but couldn't get to "in time." (They don't expire, but people sometimes feel funny about posting something that seems out of sequence.) I'll continue to monitor this thread and respond if/when people post.

 

Obiwanabi: Thanks.

ophelia: Also thanks. I kind of invented it based on ancient Greek names. And I've had Master Thryst bouncing around inside my head pretty much sinc the green stone picture. I just haven't been able to persuade him to come out yet. He's a lizard. Of course he's happy in a cave. I don't think he was locked in there, though. He just happened to be there at the same time she was. Glad you liked it.

 

No sure if it's threadomancy to post here after almost a month, but a bunny bit for the current pic. It's not a complete story, and I may even continue it if the right inspiration comes along. But for now...


Lightsaber in hand, I cautiously crept into the darkness of the cave. It was pitch black, not just dark, there was no light at all after a few paces. No light at all. I briefly considered activating my saber, but if the Sith knew I was here then I didn?t want to make pinpointing my location any easier. Besides, I didn?t need the light to see by, I just want it.
My childhood fears of the dark rose up in me and I almost lit my lightsaber then and there. I quavered on the edge of indecision for a moment, let them spot me, I finally decided And my hand tightened on the grip, so carefully crafted to fit my hands. The desire for light saved my life, even as I brought the saber up and tapped the activation stud a burst of lightning erupted from the darkness. The still growing silver blade caught most of the assault, only a single tendril slipping through my hurried defence to ground itself in my arm. Gritting my teeth against the pain I parried another blast of the dark energy. Then another. And another. Seemingly endless torrents of Dark side power were pouring out of the deepest shadows, and I was only barely staying ahead of the attacks.
I didn?t know how much time had passed. Seconds? Minutes? Hours?
Finally I stumbled, over extending to catch a blast that wouldn?t have hit me anyway. The next strike hit my chest. The air in my lungs was burned out, my heart stopped beating and my brain slowed to a crawl. Dimly I felt my back hit the floor, followed closely by my head.
I must have blacked out completely because the next thing I saw was my attacker standing over me, a ball of crackling Force energy held ready.
?Who are you? Why have you come here??
I was speechless, by the light of the energy ball I could finally see my attacker. She?s beautiful. She wore plain robes, very similar to a Jedi?s, but I barely noticed them. The beauty of her face held me prisoner.
?Who are you?? More threatening this time, and I could feel a hint of the Force behind her words. But it wasn?t the Force that compelled me to answer.
?I was once a Jedi. Now? Even I don?t know. My name is Aren.?
?So you don?t know what you are and your name is Aren? How very insightful,? she sneered. ?Why have you come here? What cause have you to invade my sanctuary??
Why had I come? Thought creased my forehead, oh yes, that?s right.
?I heard rumours of a darkness spreading from these caves. I came to find the source of it.?
?And you think that source is me??
Given that display of darkside power, yes. But my mouth wasn?t saying that. ?Of course I don?t think it was you. But perhaps you could help me find it??
Something flickered across her perfect face, satisfaction? before it settled back into the slight contempt that she made so appealing.
?I think I can help you find what you seek,? she purred. ?In fact, I already know where it is, I?ve been trying to find a way to stop it.? She gestured deeper into the cave, ?it?s further down.?
Something inside me twitched, NO IT?S NOT. IT?S RIGHT HERE! IT?S HER!
My hand sought out my lightsaber, but she was faster. Before I?d even rested my hand on my blade, hers was at my throat. ?You wont need that,? her voice was soft and gentle, but now that I knew what was happening, now that I could feel the subtle hint of the Force pushing me into her grip, I could resist it. But I needed to play along in order to survive.
?No. Of course I wont need it.? I withdrew my hand from the blade and slowly pushed myself to my feet. ?Shall we go??

 

YAY!!!!!! The thread isn't dead! It's only really really sick....

That was a really neat little clip. It never even crossed my mind that the person in the picture could be evil. I like this point of view. Please continue it!

 

So, are we getting a new image soon?

 

Well hopefully Ophelia doesn't mind me doing this, but this is the most voted for image for the last 6 weeks....

[image=http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/8679/burningstructure3qk.gif]

Let's keep this alive even though Ophelia is MIA

 

ophelia has a new job, which probably accounts for her absentee status.