Private Birds of a Feather

[Arcturus Dinn]

The more Zachariah spoke, the angrier and more indignant Arcturus felt himself becoming. At least when he had been a slave he'd been taught something, as reluctant as he was, the moment they discovered his sensitivity. But Brunas? Brunas had literally seen the boy as just a slave. His hands curled into fists, and now that he was on his feet he paced this way and that to try and cool his temper. He did not want the boy to think it was directed his way, after all.​

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"Then we simply must remedy that."​

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He chewed on his lower lip in thought for a moment, then glanced to Zachariah. Where his anger briefly was, now was a measure of excitement. "Oh, the things you'll discover, Zachariah, the wonders you'll do."​

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There was still a question on his lips though. "Tell me, where would you like to focus first? The Force? Combat? Whatever it is you'd like, this first step is yours to decide and I will facilitate it however I am able."​

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Was that too much pressure? If it proved to be, then he'd take the reins. But it was very important to Arcturus that they start this out on Zachariah's terms.​

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Zachariah Conway ​

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Zaathru
With: Arcturus Dinn
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He looked at his Master.

Zachariah felt the temper radiating from his mentor, felt the anger surge from him. Arcturus knew what it was like to be a slave, he and Zachariah were similar in that way. Zachariah was unsure what was going through the head of his mentor, however he was almost certain the anger wasn't directed towards him. If anything, it was likely directed towards Brunas. Perhaps Arcturus had finally realised Zachariah had been seen as little more than a slave for years, to do as his owner commanded.

Brunas should have taught Zachariah more. Instead of a slave, they could have been a partnership. Similar to what he assumed he would form with Arcturus, less of a typical Master and Apprentice relationship and more of a partnership. Time would tell if Zachariah was correct, of course. Instead of that, Brunas decided Zachariah wasn't worth more than a glorified pilot and drinks carrier. That's all Brunas had ever seen him as, that and a punching bag when he was upset and something hadn't gone his way.

No, those were memories Zachariah didn't need.

Arcturus turned very quickly from anger to excitement, exclaiming the wonders that Zachariah would do. All of it would be because of the training recieved, the training that Arcturus would deliver. He'd never had much in the way of formal training, so anything he managed to achieve via the Force would be because of Arcturus and his ability to teach.

The student listened as his Master asked what he would rather begin his teachings with. The choice had been given to him, he could decide the path of their studies. It was a difficult choice, and it took him a few moments to decide. The Force could grant him power, but the ability to fight would prevent him ever been taken a slave again.

The liklihood of needing to fight was low though.

Zaathru was where the Dinn family, where Arcturus had power. They were the pantheons over the people of Zaathru and as a consequence, Zachariah was unlikely to come across a foe soon. The only time he was likely to need to know to fight was if Arcturus ever took him off planet for whatever reason. He'd heard stories about the galaxy at war, and he wanted to know how to defend himself should he get caught up in it.

He knew his decision.

"The Force, as far as I am aware is a tool that can grant it's user power beyond belief. For that reason, I would rather start with The Force. Not to say I won't learn to fight, but the liklihood of me being attacked here is low. Fighting can come second to The Force."

Slowly, Zachariah got to his feet. He was happy with his choice. A solid understanding of the Force would prove vital, of that he was sure. It would serve as the foundation to all future study under Arcturus and without it, he wasn't sure if he would be able to achieve any of the wonders that his mentor thought him capable of. That he knew he would grow to be capable of.

"I am ready, my Master"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He could tell that great consideration was being given to the question, and that made his heart soar to see. To know that he was taking this seriously, that he wanted to learn, meant so much. It was easy to take for granted the Force, and their sensitivity to it, but seeing someone finally able to step into it? Embrace it for the first time? There was nothing quite like it.​

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Zachariah ultimately settled on the Force, and Arcturus nodded his head. Stooping down, he swiped up two rounded pebbles, the flat skipping kind, and offered one to the boy.​

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"Would you like to make your own lightsaber, or are you satisfied with Brunas'?" he inquired, as he hefted the pebble up and down in his hand then tossed it, watching as it skipped across the surface of the water. Lifting his hand, he called it back into his palm from where it had ultimately landed on the shore across from them, the clear water separating them. It effortlessly returned to him, and he curled his hand around it.​

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"Telekinesis. The art of manipulating items, moving them, crushing them. Exerting your will upon anything and everything you desire."​

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He opened up his hand, showing the pebble he'd just thrown. "Have you ever skipped rocks before, Zachariah? I only remember doing it once or twice as a child myself..."​

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Still, today they'd be learning how. Skip and retrieve, a simple pressure free way to learn the most basic of Force skills.​

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But first, Zachariah had to find out how to do the most basic thing of all: make the pebble levitate.​

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"The Force flows through all things, through you, through this pebble, through the ground at our feet, and birds up in the sky. It connects us, binds us even, and we are belonging to those few who can manipulate it to our advantage. I want you to focus on the pebble in your own hand, Zachariah, lay it flat on your palm and sense it, its weight, its size, its place upon your hand. Focus, breathe deep, and really... focus. Until you can sense more than just its physical state."​

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Zachariah Conway ​

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Zaathru
With: Arcturus Dinn
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Zachariah nodded.

Arcturus asked him if he wished to craft his own lightsaber, or if he was okay with the weapon of Brunas Drace and he nodded. In time he would craft his own weapon, something that would indicate his freedom from the clutches of the Slave Master, but he wasn't stressing about it for now. He had a weapon that worked, and he was okay with that.

The student listened as the Master explained telekinesis to him. The art of telekinesis was something he had seen Brunas use thousands of time, it was something he had witnessed used upon him hundreds of times, but it was never something he'd properly learned how to control. He'd once managed to make a plate levitate for a few seconds but that was about the extent of his telekinetic skills.

He listened as Arcturus asked if he'd ever skipped rocks before, and he shook his head. As far as he could remember, he'd never skipped rocks. He'd definitely not skipped rocks with Brunas, before that he couldn't be one hundred percent and he didn't want to lie and say he had when he couldn't be entirely certain if he had or not.

Zachariah felt his mentor press the pebble into his hand.

As Arcturus spoke, Zachariah listened intensely. The explaination of the Force wasn't too disimilar to those he had heard previously. The Force flowed through everything, all Zachariah needed to do was manipulate it to achieve his goal, which was causing the pebble in his hand to levitate. It seemed simple enough, but Zachariah was sure it wouldn't be.

His eyes shut, and he took a deep breath. He focused on the pebble resting on his palm. Arcturus had explained that he needed to feel more than just it's physical presence and that's what he attempted to do. He took another deep breath, and felt out in the Force for the pebble in his palm. He sensed something there, in the rough shape of the pebble.

Easy. Now all he needed to do was make it float.

He'd hoped it would be as easy as just focusing on the particles under said item moving, but that didn't seem to be working. After a few moments of trying that, he took another deep breath and decided to focus on the actual pebble moving instead of things around the pebble causing the pebble to move. He wasn't exactly sure how much science could be applied to the Force.

The young boy opened his eyes after a few moments, and saw a small pebble levitating in front of his eyes. He looked down and the pebble in his hands was gone. It was presumably the one in front of his face. Zachariah smiled, and as he did lost focus on the pebble for just long enough as to cause it to clatter to the floor below them and crack.

"I would say that was not too bad for a first attempt?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus was a patient man. Maybe if they were further into their Apprenticeship, if Zachariah had been learning under him for quite some time, he might have tried to hasten the boy, if only to ensure that he wasn't overthinking things, or doubting himself, to see that he could act on instinct, but right now? When he was making his first tumultuous steps? No, Arcturus waited, and he watched, and he sensed the flickers of the Force as they drifted around the boy. He did not interfere, in fact he quite blatantly refused to interfere.​

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He simply observed.​

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Pride welled up within him when he saw the pebble first begin to hover, just inches from Zachariah's hand. Then more, and more, until it was levitating before the lad's face. It fell only when his eyes opened and he realized what he had done, but by that point in time it did not matter.​

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"Fantastic" he said, with a grin, "You did far better than I expected, not only did you sense it laying there, but you also found a way to manipulate it, to see it lifted from your hand. And you did not even need further prompting... I see a fine future for you, my boy."​

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The pebble had cracked, so Arcturus gestured to the floor.​

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"Raise a new one, bring it to your hand, it's time we skipped rocks."​

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One successful levitation and they were already putting it to good use. Well... use, how good or useful it was depended on who you asked. Arcturus would argue it was indeed incredibly useful, for it was facilitating some carefree time. A chance to have fun while further expanding the boys ability to draw upon the Force. Plus, recalling the pebble from further away would be no simple task.​

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He didn't point that out though. One thing at a time.​

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Zachariah Conway ​

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Zaathru
With: Arcturus Dinn
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He was proud of himself.

Arcturus was pushing him, of that he was certain. He didn't mind it though, honestly he was glad of it. He was finding that he worked better when being pushed, when being expected to make someone proud. Weirdly, he was finding he had a reason to push himself harder.

The young boy closed his eyes once again, feeling out with the Force. He had been instructed to bring a pebble to his hand from the floor and then skip it across the water using the Force. The first step, he realised, was just an expansion on what he'd done previously, except instead of lifting the pebble from his hand he was lifting the pebble from the floor.

Skipping it, he wasn't entirely sure.

Feeling out in the Force, the student felt for a small pebble. Once he'd sensed one that appeared the shape he wanted, he took a deep breath. He focused once again on forcing the pebble to lift from the ground, focused on getting it to rise. It took him a few seconds of focus before he felt the pebble lift from the floor. He felt the pebble rising to his hand, and he took a grasp of it.

It was slightly smaller than he expected it to be, but that wasn't a bad thing. He was impressed at himself, and he assumed the grin plastered across his face proved that to Arcturus. He'd gone from having very little idea how to access his abilities in the Force to lifting pebbles into his hand. It didn't seem special considering what he had seen people do but that didn't matter, he was still proud he'd managed to do it. He thought it would take him so much longer.

"Use the Force to push it away, right?"

Zachariah closed his eyes once again, and took another deep breath in. He felt out in the Force once again, and prepared himself.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He'd noticed rather quickly that Zachariah was very quiet in his celebrations, for reaching such milestones was most definitely cause for celebration, quiet in general. Answering only when he felt he had to. Arcturus knew that he couldn't keep trying to fix things, that pushing the boy toward a state of excitement would do none of them any good, but still it was something to monitor. He hoped that Zach soon realized that he was free enough to speak as he wished, and to take up space in a room. To exist.​

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Rather than pushing him to talk, Arcturus keenly observed. It took a few seconds and then the pebble was rising, all the way up from the ground to Zach's hand. A tiny waver mid way through, but beyond that? It was a smooth ascent.​

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Just as smooth was the stone he'd brought into his hand's surface was. Small, but that shouldn't hinder anything. The important thing was that it was more flat than round. That it provided plenty of surface to touch the water.​

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"Partly," he said when Zach made his quiet query. "The idea of skipping rocks is that you find a way to throw it by which it can skip across the water's surface, it strikes and rises back into the air several times." Drawing into his own hand a rock, he turned sideways so that his non-dominant hand faced the water, then drew back the other, tossing it with a flick of his wrist as opposed to a heavy handed throw.​

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He didn't even use the Force, he tossed it in the way he'd learned as a child and watched as it caught the surface of the water and bounced along to the other side.​

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"You can use the Force to make your toss stronger, or hit a specific spot on the water's surface, but mostly we're going to be using the Force to recall back that same exact pebble." Force Sense, Force Pull, the idea here was to get him learning a second power without even realizing it.​

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Zachariah Conway ​

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Zaathru
With: Arcturus Dinn
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As his Master gave the instructions, he nodded along.

It seemed simple enough. He was to skip the pebble, find it in the Force and recall it back to him. On paper it wasn't difficult, however in practice Zachariah expected it was going to prove to be a challenge. He was branching out to new skills quickly, not that he minded, he quite enjoyed that he was getting to master abilities that Brunas Drace was too scared to teach him.

The young Apprentice closed his eyes, feeling out in the Force. He wanted to know the exact dimensions of his pebble, so that he could find it again upon skipping it out across the water. He spent a few moments, just feeling out in the Force and once he was comfortable he proceeded to skip the pebble, watching as it bounced along the surface of the water a few times before sinking.

Right, okay. He hadn't expected for the pebble to sink. Now he was going to have to locate it from under the water. That added an extra layer of difficulty he hadn't been expecting. He assumed there were probably hundreds, if not thousands of pebbles at the bottom of the water he was going to have to try and sort through to find his exact pebble.

He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath in.

Up until that point, he'd only been sensing in the Force for things close to him. Now he was expected to use that same power but for things a fair few metres from him. It took him a few moments to compose himself, another deep breath, before he began to feel the pebbles at the edge of the water. He took a third deep breath, and reached out even further.

Eventually, he was feeling those pebbles under the water. Now he just needed to locate his pebble. He was fairly certain he remmebered the dimensions of the pebble he had cast into the water if he could find it. He spent a few moments feeling out in the Force, even dropping into a cross legged sitting position as to get comfy. He would find his pebble if it took all day.

Then he felt it, it felt exactly like the pebble he had tossed. He focused all of his energy on levitating it, like he had when it was in his hand. He opened his eyes and watched as his pebble broke through the water and into the air and he let out a little smile. He'd managed to locate his pebble and raise it, now all he needed to do was move it.

Zachariah took yet another deep breath, and closed his eyes again. He reached his hand out, focusing the majority of his energy on bringing the pebble towards him. The rest of his energy was being spent on keeping the pebble in the air. It took a few moments, but eventually he felt the pebble moving, and when he opened his eyes he saw the pebble coming towards him.

When he finally felt his fingers close around his prize, he smiled.

"Brilliant"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

It was a strange sense of pride which washed over him as he watched someone find themselves within the Force for the first time, and he witnessed their first tumultuous steps into something brand new and arguably harrowing to understand. Yet here Zachariah was, quiet as all hell but persevering, nay more than that he was flourishing. Yes it took him some time to quieten his mind, to feel it out, but that did not matter for he soon had the rock skipped, and even then he carried on without prompting, figuring out for himself how to sense the pebble, how to draw it back.​

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Arcturus crossed his arms over his chest, which was slightly puffed out, as he watched the whole display, and once the pebble was in Zachariah's hand he gently reached out and fussed his curls. "Brilliant indeed," he chirped, reaching down a hand to help him back to his feet, "Now, how did that feel? Does the Force readily come to you, Zachariah, or are you finding it difficult to draw upon?"​

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There were methods to help, but quite frankly Arcturus liked it when people found their own way, their own.. muse, so to speak.​

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"Shall we go again?" he inquired as he drew his own pebble back into his hand and prepared to skip it. "Together, alright? One... Two.... Three."​

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Arcturus skipped his pebble again, hoping that Zachariah followed suit. He was pushing the boy further, making him act without thought, adding a timer to hasten his steps without forcefully pushing.​

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Zachariah Conway ​

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Zaathru
With: Arcturus Dinn ​

Zachariah followed suit.

He cast his pebble out into the lake, seconds after his mentor had cast. Whilst he focused on recalling his pebble to his grasp, he also thought about the question his Master posed to him. How was he finding his abilities to access the Force? He was having to work for it, of course, but that was likely down to the fact he'd never done it before.

"It does not come readily, nor is it difficult. With more practice, I believe I would be able to call on it with ease, however I have had limited experiences tapping into my potential. Every time I recall this pebble however, I find it easier to do the next time"

Zachariah held up the pebble in his hand, as if to prove a point. He'd almost subconciously recalled the pebble to his hands. Yes it took a little focus but he wasn't lying, he genuinely was finding it easier with every skip of the pebble out onto the lake. Every time he recalled it, the pebble came to him just that little bit easier than it had before.

"I believe with practice, I would be able to do this without even thinking"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Already Arcturus could see the improvement in Zachariah's form, and though he didn't immediately comment upon it he kept it in the back of his mind. As much as the kid might have thought he was struggling now, it seemed quite the contrary to his Master. He was probably right though, being at a neutral point seemed about where he was at. He didn't seem to be straining, but the first few tosses weren't effortless.​

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But then, whose was?​

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"I see a fine future for you, my boy" he stated, as he skipped and recalled his next rock. "We've only been here a short while, and see how more readily it returns to your hand? Most take weeks to adjust to it. I'm proud of you, Zachariah. I wish to teach you how to protect your mind next, if that is okay with you? Not today, I don't want to push too far too fast, but... Soon."​

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It was almost time to bring him back to the Temple, he knew. He wondered if Zachariah was ready for that though, there'd been so much going on for him lately, maybe he'd relish a little extra time here in the relative quiet.​

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Zachariah Conway ​