Back to Ossus it is then

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was pleased that he was clearly weighing up how the spar was going. Too many Padawans would carry on regardless and not consider alternatives. Or would change tack to something they were unfamiliar with and open themselves to a killer blow.

Her Padawan did neither – which was when she realised she was focused too much on thinking and not enough on doing. The Force warned her but it was too late. She found herself on her back-side and with a boot shaped pain in her chest.

It was her own fault but she didn’t mind the pain given it meant that she was at least schooling a competent Padawan.

So she separated her saber staff into two hilts and clipped them to her belt. Once she did so, she smiled. “You have done well and yes; I have seen enough to understand your strengths in this area. Now, what aspect of the Force would you like to learn?”

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

Pondering her question he placed his gloved hand up and his finger tapping his chin softly. Pyrotechnics? No, Force healing? Not yet but maybe eventually. Force persuade? Probably not yet. He pondered on what he wanted to do still looking at his master, she seemed to have enjoyed the spar as much as he did and he thought that he had done well.

"I can't really think of anything. Do you have things you would like to do? I have ideas but I don't think they would be appropraite for the topic of today. So I'm open idea that you would have to what you know well enough t teach me."

He looked at the woman as he said this putting his hands back down putting his double-bladed lighsaber back on his belt looking at his master and looking her over as he done at the beginning of the lesson, she was very knowledgeable about fighting, but now it was time to see if his master could help him with the force. He wanted someone with a mixture of both, and he knew that she could probably provide it.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel considered he had many ideas but perhaps he had too many to pick one or maybe he had one but was unsure she would approve? It didn’t really matter. She would teach him all he wanted to know over time and so what they started with didn’t especially matter.

“I have a good idea. You may have heard of Force Valor. It is an ability to increase your resolve, accuracy and speed. Once you develop further, typically when you are of a Master’s level, you can apply this benefit to your allies. Tapping into the Force, you simply increase the rate at which your capacities function, allowing your body to move more quickly, strike more powerfully, and fight with improved accuracy. Of course, as a Padawan this will tire you quickly, but over time – and certainly by the time you become a Knight, you will be able to use this for the duration of a duel.”

“But the ability is not for everyone, partly because of how you attain it. You see, to learn the ability properly, it is first important to learn how to meditate fully. So the first part of the lesson will be just that. There are many useful abilities that rely on good meditation and many Jedi overlook this fundamental building block because it does not seem to fit into a guardian’s weaponry, but trust me on this one – disregard meditation at your peril.”

“So, knowing that, do you wish to start?”

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He pondered her statement, It is definitely a good ability to have, and definitely fits with his style of fighting. To enhance his skills it would help him in a unfair fight by giving him a slightly better edge on his opponent.

"So, it's an ability meant to increase your power, accuracy, and speed. Does it do anything to help with you ability of the force? Make your powers stronger or last longer or have a better effect? Or is it purely physical? If it is It would still be a beneficial ability to have, but with me using form VI as you've seen I have made the force a very major part of my style and it would benefit me more if it helped my force abilities along with my physical ones."

He looked at his master as he asked her this placing his hands on his hips a little and standing up a little more, his low deep tone echoing through the slightly empty room. A very menacing voice but backed with kindness and the hope to help others. He thought about his other master, Shi'za and what they would have been doing now, but he shook the thought from his mind once more, he couldn't think about things like that. It was disrespectful for her and for Shi'za.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel smiled. Her Padawan was eager, perhaps too eager. He wanted it all and he wanted it now. “This is a specific ability and do not underestimate increasing the three aspects I mentioned. But, and here is the good part, by working on your meditation, there are other abilities you can access, that do enable you to enhance your known Force abilities. And also to refresh your powers if you over-exert yourself. Which is, as I say, why I do not understand Jedi who ignore the opportunity to study meditation.”

“So, you have a choice. And it is always your choice. I can suggest or even encourage, but decisions are always yours to make. It is your own path you shall walk, not mine. I am a guide but the journey is your own.”

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He nodded as he listened to his master, looking at her as she spoke thinking about what she was saying. He knew it would definitely be a good skill to use if he learned and developed it to its full potential. He nodded more after she finished and they stood there in silence for a moment as he thought of the possibilities and the benefits of the ability.

"It definitely would come in useful, I definitely will mediate and help it develop, it would really increase my physical and force ability for when I would need it. I understand that the path I take it my own and your only here to guide me, It is a fact I learned before and I see it blazing every day as I wake up and work towards a better tomorrow, that this path is my own and that the people around me are there to help me develop and help me along my journey."

He said this looking at her his eyes focused and burning with enthusiasm to learn and to help others, his one true passion was helping the people that have helped him, and the people that need it. He wants to do all in his power to help, and if that required learning more, all the better. He knew that his role was to help and not destroy, it was burned deep into his soul ever since he was younger, and his determination stemmed from that teaching.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was pleased that he’d understood and accepted the benefits of a course of action that many action-oriented Jedi would baulk at. Meditation was a core Jedi skill – even Sith understood its value and relevance.

Once he had finished talking, Sorel put her hand in her pocket and drew out a small object. “It’s a focusing crystal,” she explained as she handed it to him. “Put it in your pocket. It will help you draw on the Force when you meditate. Once competent, you can pass it on to someone you think will benefit from it as you will have.”

She then gestured that he sit down and she immediately sat, cross-legged in front of him. Then she closed her eyes.

“First you will need to meditate deeper than you have ever before. But start as you usually would, clear your mind of all thoughts and emotions. Immerse yourself in the Force. Feel it all around you. Feel it flow through you. Become so entwined that you cannot tell where you end and the Force begins.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper but carried through the Force so that he heard her clearly – and her cadence and tone added to the process of meditation.

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He looked at the item as she gave it to him, examining it while she taught him that it was a focusing crystal. He nodded softly as he slid it into his pocket and watched his master drop down cross-legged into a meditation and explained what she wanted him to do to begin learning this skill.

Sitting down across from his master he closed his eyes, his mind slowly becoming blank getting rid of all thoughts as he sat there. His emotions slowly began dropping away his body breaking down into the energy of the force as he cleared his mind of everything. He went with the flow of the force around him his mind becoming even clearer as he sat there, getting pulled deeper and deeper into the force until he and the force where one twisting and turning and dancing with one another as he fell deeper into his mediation. He kept his mind clear of all thoughts and enjoyed the feeling he was having with the force, it was like it was a small child dancing with his energy.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

As she sensed his connection to the Force develop to a point that she was confident was sufficient to progress, Sorel spoke again. And once more it was slow, calm and gentle.

“Now, feel the Force flow through you. Through your arms and legs. Through every fibre of your being until you can literally feel it flowing through your veins. Then, through your connection, tell the Force to raise your hand. Not through your conscience thoughts directly to your own body, but using the Force itself.”

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He nodded softly after listening to his master and focused his mind on the force that he was feeling running thorough him and tried to get the force to lift his hand. The force began to respond and his hand twitched but it wouldn't move up, he focused more trying again and he felt his arm move up but not all the way like he wanted. Taking a deep breath and calming down he focused on the energy flowing around him and touched it softly and then through his connecting asked it to raise his arm, like a question more then of a command and felt his arm raise up in the air, almost if he was asking his master a question and he gave a brief smile at this fact as he then asked to put it back down and it complied.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel smiled in tandem with her Padawan. Too many tried to command the Force, to use it like a tool. As the Sith did. Success tended to come from considering the Force as an ally, as something that aided the Jedi’s actions as opposed to something commanded by the Force user.

And that was how her Padawan was able to use the Force to control his body. “Excellent,” she said, the excitement clear in her voice, albeit she kept her tone calm and her volume just above a whisper. “This is how things like Force Speed work, expect they are quite simple in application. You simply need the Force to raise your pace. Here, you are allowing the Force to boost all of your motion, from reflexes to your strength.”

Her voice was a little louder now. “Please stand and remaining in this state, let’s spar again.” She did not expect the results to be perfect or even instant, but with practice over time, he ought to be able to boost his fighting prowess through meditation and sooner or later be ready to taught Force Valor properly.

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He nodded softly listening to his master as he used the force that was flowing through him to move his body, first in a sitting position and then using it to stand up and face his master. With the energy he put his hand on his saber and wrapped his fingers around it closing it into his palm and moving it behind his back opening it, the purple glow coming out of both ends. He slowly slid his foot back still using the force breathing slowly and feeling everything he was doing as he slightly nodded towards his master once more.

"I'm ready master, on your mark we'll begin."

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel checked the power setting on her sabers before connecting them and then activating them with twin snap-hisses.

This time she decided to take the lead and, allowing the Force to flow through her and speed her motion, she cycled through a standard training combination. Over and over she went, speeding up slightly with each repetition. She’d been using the Force power for some time now and it was second nature – to relax into the spar and trust the Force to aid her pace and reflexes.

All that there was to see was how fast her Padawan could go beyond what he was naturally capable of.

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He started deflecting her blows easy enough not noticing the slight increase in her movement and speed, but as they progressed he noticed her getting faster and faster with each rotation of her moves increasing the rate in which the strikes where landing on his blade. Keeping calm he continued to keep up with her slowly using the force to increase his speed along with hers and matching up with hers, he continued parrying and blocking her attacks for a while. Even though he had the force helping him with his speed he knew that her experience would outmatch his and he would be overwhelmed soon enough by her speed, but until then he continued to match up blocking her steadily increasing attacks.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel could feel the Force around them and although she’d only just met her Padawan, she knew instinctively when his drawing on the Force was waning. The Force was like a muscle. Regular use allowed for more prolonged access and greater power. But unlike bodybuilding that saw changes in days, weeks and months – the Jedi measured progress in years. Yes, there were incremental daily improvements – but a Master and a Padawan were not equal. That was not to say that a Padawan could not defeat a Master in battle – history was full of such examples. But these were few and far between and often relied sloppy behaviour by the Master.

But with prudent application of the Force, a Padawan could easily escape a Master in battle if needed. Yet here and now, Sorel was teaching and her Padawan learning. So as she sensed his ability to fuel his actions via the Force diminish, she eased off and eventually stopped.

“For now you have learned what you need to know. Constant practice is what is required now. No more and no less. In time you will find not only your pace improve but your power, your ability to perform acrobatics and your sense of your opponent’s moves. And once a Knight, we can work on the next phase – the ability to share these gifts with allies. To boost their performance too.”

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He nodded looking at his master after he opened his eyes and stopped his touch with the force.

"Well master, It's time to live in the moment, my Knighthood is a while ahead of me, and I have a lot to learn from you, so Don't get to antsy with the future and focus on the here and now."

He gave her a light smile, turning off his lightsaber and breaking the serous attitude he had been showing the whole lesson and his time on Ossus. He only really every acted like this with someone he felt like he would be spending more then a brief conversation with, and someone he enjoyed spending time with. She happened to be someone he felt like they would be learning for each other and he enjoyed his lessons with her, she touched both sides of his interests, his interest in the force and his interest in lighsaber combat. He looked down at her giving a slight chuckle, he was going to learn a lot.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was not a proponent of the Living Force, but she always understood the value of the present, of not getting distracted by a possible future and instead focusing on what was pressing for her attention.

“So, our first couple of lessons draw to a close and we are faced with a decision. Or rather, you are. I said before, this is your path and although we will work together and learn from each other, I anticipate you will make many of the decisions with regards our time together. So tell me, what should we do next? A mission? An exploration of a famous Jedi site? More training? You decide.” She smiled as she spoke – this was no test, merely a way of expressing that she expected him to take control of his journey to Knighthood.

[member="Rukya Rexus"]

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He placed his right hand on his chin stroking a pretend beard, Which will never be, sigh. He thought before shaking it out of his head and thinking about what he wanted to do. A awesome adventure full of mystery and discovery? Or a trip to a ancient Jedi Temple to learn about the past of the Jedi order. Or even another training lesson just as eventful as the one they just had, it was a hard decision and he knew he had to pick a good one. He continued stroking his pretend beard until the idea flashed into his head, his choice.

"In the words of Rukya Rexus, we will be.... going on a ADVENTURE! I don't want to know anything else, just make it fun and give me something to learn. Make it a jedi adventure as well no boring adventures here."

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was pleased that he didn’t rush into a decision. Choice was both a blessing and a curse. It was good to be given free reign, but that meant making a judgement call to choose one thing above all others. Even if, in the fullness of time you would get to do all the things you wanted, it was hard to pick one above all of the options. Sorel knew the dilemma well.

But she suspected that, in time, the decisions would become easier. With focus came direction. And with direction came certainty. Soon, Rukya would be entirely clear about his goals and what he needed to accomplish to reach them.

But for now? “An adventure it is. I recommend you get something to eat and a rest. Tomorrow, we embark on an escapade. A Jedi one – the best kind.”

Spoiler

I’ll set a new thread up tomorrow

[member="Rukya Rexus"]