A shimmering stasis field of Force energy…

[H3xle]

"I'm ready!"

Dair nodded and took a deep, centering breath. He felt the icy rush of the force suffuse his whole body once again, and the sweat on his forehead and exposed arms seemed to cool rapidly as a result. He exhaled, lowering the barrier with the push of air from his lungs. He whipped an arm forward, aiming his ball towards her feet, specifically the left shin. The shin bone might bruise from the contact, but the ball's weight and how hard Dair threw should not be enough to do any lasting damage if it made it through the barrier.

He did his follow through, ensuring that his accuracy didn't wane, then he paused a heart beat and inhaled. On the inhale he brought the barrier back up into the 'point defense' format he'd thought out in his head. Training was for experimentation, and if this didn't work the way Dair thought, he would rather have it be in training and not on the battle field.

[member="Kaia Vullen"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Kaia Vullen]

As Dair threw his first ball, Kaia focused on maintaining her bubble. It took the hit and almost tore, but stayed true in the end with a little extra efford from her side. The ball bounced away and landed in front of her barrier, wobbled a little and stayed still. Kaia, however did not. She plucked a ball and leaned back to aim. Then, just as she whipped her hand forward in the throw, opened a hole a few sizes bigger than the ball to let it through. This time she threw the first ball at Dair's centre mass, with no tricks in her sleeve. She threw pretty hard for a young girl with such a diminutive size, but was it hard enough to power through Dair's new and improved barrier? When the ball passed through her bubble, she closed it quickly.

[member="Dair Cotarin"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[H3xle]

Dair couldn't help it, he grinned at the innovation that Kaia had thought of.

Rather than take the whole thing down and then back up, she was simply making holes to throw in. The drain should be less that way as it would be just like closing up a hole blown in it, rather than re-initializing the whole barrier. Dair wondered if he could do it with the way he was already altering the barrier. His way was taking a lot of concentration, as the barrier wanted to be even, it was the path of least resistance.

Dair focused on the ball, it was coming for his center mass, so he put his hands out in direct line with the ball and put extra energy into the section the ball would hit. Unfortunately, the balls impact was still the same, it drained the same amount of energy as before, it deflected the ball, but it was taking more concentration to maintain than the normal way.

Taking a deep breath, Dair relinquished the energy back into the barrier to make it completely even again. If he were a more powerful practitioner he might be able to make it work more efficiently, but at his current level he needed the concentration to keep the barrier energized. He decided to try Kaia's method, he focused his newly relinquished concentration on making a hole at the 'throw point' and threw his ball at her right shoulder, harder than before but only a little bit. They needed to test the strength of these things but he still didn't want to hurt her.

He quickly closed up the hole and found that it took less energy than bringing the whole barrier down and up again. He smiled and offered a nod to Kaia, as her innovation proved better than his had.

[member="Kaia Vullen"] [member="corvus raaf"]

 

[Kaia Vullen]

Her new way of letting the ball through was a success, and it seemed that Dair had caught on. She finally noticed Dair's own idea when he had extended his hands to meet her ball. Or rather, she got an idea from the motion he made. While her bubble was quite evenly dispersed in power, she attempted to create a little ripple in its surface to disrupt the momentum of the incoming throw. Rather than bring all her force to stop his ball, she would try to knock it aside, as she had been shown in lightsabre combat.

The ball did bounce off, and her shield maintained structure, but it hardly conserved any energy. Perhaps it would conserve more than Dair's idea of maintaining a lopsided shield. Seeing as the ripples would smooth themselves out rather than be maintained as a thicker portion. It was still a little beyond practicality, yet she was not inclined to give up on it. She just needed to make it effortless, practical, like when she opened her bubble rather than take it all down.

She picked up two balls in one hand and threw the first at the lower, right corner of Dair's shield, and the second at his centre mass. It was time she did some spot-checks on her partner's shield. Her own shield opened just in time to let the first ball out and she closed it just as the second was passing through. It was much easier to get a rapid closing and opening now that she only opened a portion of her shield.

[member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[H3xle]

Now [member="Kaia Vullen"] had begun to cause her shield to ripple. It had done a good job of deflecting his ball in a similar way to a lightsaber deflecting a blaster bolt. That made Dair think about angles, but before he could think to implement anything along those lines, he had to deal with the pair of balls being thrown at him.

Dair redoubled his concentration on the barrier, the two balls impacted with dull thrums and fell almost leadenly to the ground as Dair's barrier absorbed the kinetic energy of them. He felt the drain as before, though without holding the shield in an uneven manner the drain seemed to be easier to take.

Dair had to think of a way to help Kaia check out if her ripple method was truly workable, he assumed from the success of the tactic before that she was going to do it again, so Dair took his last three balls and opened a hole large enough to allow the three balls to exit on their slightly divergent trajectories. The first one was straight for Kaia's chest, center mass. The second one was thrown slightly lower and a little harder, in order to hopefully ensure that the balls struck close together in both time and space. The third one he held for a half heart beat and then threw slightly lower again. He then closed up his barrier and used the next portions of time to think about angles.

Master [member="corvus raaf"] had specifically instructed them to make a semi globe. Angles would help to deflect an assault better, as long as you were able to reorient the angle appropriately. If you didn't, the flattened side would present nothing in the way of deflection and it would be brute power versus power. That was not a smart way to play it, so Dair dropped the angles idea. Perhaps when he was more advanced he could revisit it.

 

[Kaia Vullen]

It worked the first time, but now came the true test. With a upwards swipe of her hands, she made a a set of larger ripples to strike the two first balls, which were both deflected up and to the sides. However, it left the shield weaker in it's wake and on the third ball tore a large hole, without really losing much momentum and bounced off the floor before clocking her straight on the chin. She was a little stunned, but it was also a eureka moment where she understood the danger of her plan.

Coming to her senses, she quickly rose her shield again and picked up a few balls. She would have to be more careful during such bombardments, perhaps the easiest way was simply to hold it; to trust in the Force that protected her. If her faith and concentration did not falter, then perhaps her shield wouldn't either. Unwavering belief, it was worth a try.

She quickly opened a hole in her barrier and threw three balls at Dair's shield; one she threw at the lower right periphery; one one she threw at the lower left periphery, one she threw straight for his forehead, and with considerable precision too. She would test his peripheries again, and try to hit him straight in the noggin. She didn't throw too hard, but as hard as she believed would be needed to penetrate.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Dair Cotarin"]

 

[H3xle]

Dair saw the first two balls come in, and he focused his concentration on hardening the barrier. The periphery balls struck and bounced from the barrier, but Dair had neglected the third ball, either not seeing it or believing that his barrier was hardened enough to withstand it.

The energy washed from Dair as the first two balls hit, then again as the third ball hit and penetrated the barrier. He looked up as he felt the barrier breach, and got a rubber ball right between the eyes. His hand snaked up and snatched the ball out of the air. He brought his other hand up and rubbed the red spot on his forehead for a moment as he focused and closed the hole in his barrier. He was smiling approvingly at Kaia, for it was a blow well struck.

He lowered the barrier for a moment to grab a couple more balls. Having three in his hands he took a moment to aim, then threw the first ball at the lower right corner of her shield, the second one at the top left portion of her shield and the third one at center mass. Doing as she had, checking the peripheries of her shield.

[member="Kaia Vullen"] [member="corvus raaf"]

 

[Kaia Vullen]

Much like before, Kaia chuckled a little bit when Dair got hit on the forehead. It wasn't as ridiculous as with the sponges, but still kind of funny when one got such a good hit. It was all in good spirit, and she returned his smile.

She strengthened her barrier for the incoming balls. She believed in it it, trusted in the force behind the shield. The first two balls were deflected, thudding against the barrier and bouncing off to each their side. Kaia expected the third one to be thrown at her centre somewhere because it had started to become a pattern, and she was prepared. Kaia reinforced the centre mass momentarily, exhaling as she could feel the drain of the hits. The third ball thudded and bounced off as well, and Kaia grinned triumphantly. It had become easier to deal with both the impact and the drain as they were practising, yet they had a long way to go yet.

Kaia picked up three new balls within her barrier, two of which had been thrown by Dair and penetrated earlier. It was time they were reunited. This time, she threw the three in rapid succession. All of them aimed at roughly the same spot. This was to see how well it would hold up against a barrage of focused hits.

[member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[H3xle]

After Dair closed up the hole in his barrier, he settled down into a deeper stance. The back and forth had reached an expected level, almost a routine, and Dair knew that had to end. They were both becoming superbly comfortable with the barrier, manipulating it to test what they could and couldn't do with it. He saw Kaia's barrier withstand all three of his balls and he nodded in approval. He sank deeper into his meditative concentration, deeper into the icy depths of his connection to the force, and he sought a deeper connection to his barrier.

Kaia threw her balls, fast and hard in quick succession. He could see that her aim was superb, they would all hit within a square inch of each other. They were spaced apart enough to let one hit and fall out of the way before the net one would hit, otherwise the first one would hit and possibly foul the others with the ricochet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He made the barrier in his mind and around him more firm in the moments before the first of the hits. He wasn't going to let any of them through if he could help it.

The first ball hit, and the world slowed. Dair did not see with his eyes, as he had closed them. A dangerous thing to do in battle, though he could see with the force. In the view of his force sight, he saw the ball hit the barrier, rings of force re-verb emitted from the spot as the ball dropped away. The second one hit in almost the same spot, more re-verb rings and the barrier wobbled over the smooth surface as the second ball dropped away. Dair fed more energy into the barrier, letting the force guide him. He let the e-verb from the first to shots continue around the barrier like ripples in a pond, and one returned to the origin just as the third ball hit. The ripple of the barrier robbed the third ball of inertia, hitting it just so so that its momentum turned into a spin. The ball rolled up and over the top of Dair's barrier, spinning off behind him.

Dair exhaled and opened his eyes. He looked from Kaia to Corvus and nodded almost solemnly, though his smile was still there. He felt that they were both becoming quite proficient in this battle, and soon the rubber balls wouldn't cause them to sweat at all.

[member="Kaia Vullen"] [member="corvus raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled at their progress and at an opportune moment held up a hand to indicate they should stop.

"We could progress to blaster pistols, but given your good-natured competitive spirit, probably not the best idea. So instead I'm going to set you an even harder task - but one within your capabilities. Remember...never complicate things. If you think it will be hard, so shall it be."

"What I want you do do is this," she momentarily closed her eyes and both hands came up. Instantly both Padawans were surrounded by an individual Force Barrier. "You see, you don't have to surround yourself."

"Now, practice putting a Barrier around each other."

[member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Kaia Vullen"]

 

[Kaia Vullen]

As the rubber ball part of the training seemed to be coming to an end, Kaia exhaled and let herself relax completely again. Tensions from the training fell off of her like bags of sand and she made a little sound of relief before turning her full attention on Master Raaf's next task for them. Now that the tensions had been released, the Force could again flow through her freely. Perhaps it was in part due to Dair's presence, but the flow of the Force felt colder, more refreshing than usual.

Never complicate, simplicity is a certain strength, this much had been established. She smiled especially at the comment of their good-natured competitiveness. If they were as competitive with the blasters as they had been with the rubber balls and sponges, someone would get stunned, and stunning hurts. The task they got instead, -harder, but within their reach- was one Kaia immediately desired to know. She always wanted to protect others, and this was just the skill. As she was surrounded by Corvus' protective field, she reached out a hand and touched it from the inside, curious as to how it would feel.

When their task was clear, Kaia gave small bow in understanding and turned to face her training partner. She grinned wide and reached both hands towards him. She imagined a bubble starting at Dair's centre and expanded it out of him rather quickly to a decent size before making it solid. Then she held it, trying to adjust the size of the bubble just right so Dair wouldn't be too cramped. It felt strange, but she believed she could stop anything. She would have to, Dairs very life could hang in the balance of her ability and Kaia would not fail him.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Dair Cotarin"]

 

[H3xle]

Similarly to his partner, Dair relaxed and let the barrier he had been holding up collapse. He rotated his shoulders an then arched back, a medley of cracks resounded as Dair released the tension in his spine and shoulders. Of course, the cracks sounded more like that of an iceberg collapsing off of a glacier than the normal bone pops of people not endowed with the gift and curse of such an icy theme. He turned slightly and watched [member="Corvus Raaf"] as she spoke.

"We could progress to blaster pistols, but given your good-natured competitive spirit, probably not the best idea.So instead I'm going to set you an even harder task - but one within your capabilities.Remember...never complicate things.If you think it will be hard, so shall it be."

He chuckled a little bit. It was true, they had been pushing each other fairly hard and that could lead to bad things with stun blasters. He didn't regret it, however, he knew that she had helped him to strengthen this skill and he helped her in the same way. A harder task, but one within their capabilities. They could now engage barriers about themselves with little issue, and more practice would simply make it more effortless. So, what would make it harder if not stun blasters?

"What I want you do do is this," she momentarily closed her eyes and both hands came up.Instantly both Padawans were surrounded by an individual Force Barrier."You see, you don't have to surround yourself."

Dair grinned as an eyebrow arched for his hairline. This was a very useful part of the skill. A part of his mind was along the same lines of [member="Kaia Vullen"]'s. He could use this part of the barrier skill to protect people. However, another part of his mind knew that the possibilities for it were more numerous, and present in his mind was the fact that Master Raaf had previously said that barriers stop things in both directions. Dair could use this to keep an enemy from hurting anyone, so long as his concentration kept the barrier effective.

"Now, practice putting a Barrier around each other."

Dair nodded and turned to Kaia, seeing her as she turned to him and thrust out her hands towards him. She projected a barrier around him with an ease that was startling. Dair focused, pushing his mind through the icy bath of his connection to the force and out into the force. He sought out Kaia on the other side of the barrier. He visualized a similar barrier around her, though one that was not nearly so large as the one he had needed to put around himself. He visualized it loosely, lest he manifest another ice ring or something even worse. He would have to find out what that was all about sooner or later.

Dair felt as his barrier came up around Kaia, it was a lot harder for two reasons. He wasn't used to using the barrier this way, and his mental muscle memory was fighting it a little, but the barrier around him was also dampening his projection of the force power past it. Taking a deep breath, Dair half closed his eyes and focused on making the barrier around Kaia strong, despite the drain he was experiencing.

 

[Kaia Vullen]

Startling ease, indeed. Force Abilities had always come easy to Kaia, but they deteriorated just as easily if she did not practice. Perhaps her Miralukan Force Sight was part of why this came so easy to her. She could, in a sense, see the fluctuations her manipulation of the Force created. It was not just imagining to her. However, maintaining the barrier was still strenuous. Their barriers were not yet put to the test, but it was good to feel that they had progressed in some manner.

As Dair's barrier rose, she felt the inside going distinctly chilly. The hairs in her neck stood on high, but it was not uncomfortably cold inside the barrier at all. She looked to Corvus as if asking what came next. Would they just hold their barriers? Would the barriers be tested? Would they test each-others again an this time from the inside?

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Dair Cotarin"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was so pleased with their progress. "You've both done remarkably well in such a short space of time. What comes next is practice. In time you'll be able to call the Barrier up quicker and hold it for longer."

She smiled at them both. "There is nothing more to teach, the rest is down to you." She bowed to them both. "Feel free to carry on or join your next lesson. Me, I'm going to speak to some Younglings about astrophysics."

[member="Kaia Vullen"] | [member="Dair Cotarin"]

 

[Kaia Vullen]

As Corvus signalled to stop, she let the barrier collapse. Their efforts had paid off and now all they needed was to practice, practice, practice. Kaia bowed to Corvus and Dair. "Thank you Master Raaf, Dair Cotarin."

She looked at Dair and smiled, "If you ever want to practice again, find me. I'll be happy to throw things at you again." Kaia had more sessions today too, she hoped they would not be quite as strenuous as this one had been. Still, it was all worth it in the end. Next was a lesson in telekinesis.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Dair Cotarin"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Kaia Vullen"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

Dair smiled as he released his barrier. He took a deep breath and nodded to his Master and then to his fellow padawan.

"If you ever want to practice again, find me. I'll be happy to throw things at you again."

"Likewise, Kaia. I look forward to training with you again!" Dair said and bowed. He then turned to Corvus and bowed. "Thank you, Master Raaf." He said to his Master.

After a few more pleasantries, Dair moved away. He found a secluded spot in the pavilion and sat in a meditative position. He didn't have anything scheduled, so he would meditate for a while, just like when he was younger.