Dark of the Night

[Barinthus E'ron]

He was many things, looking over the datapad while he walked though there was a sound of his boots on the ground. Here on Kashyyyk he was checking out some of the areas they might be able to here. He was asked to help train after the battle of Charros... his skills with the force well had attracted some attention when he stopped blasters from a sith trap. THe small flashback of the bolts frezing in the air until someone tossed an enemy soldier itno the oath and he released them. The jedi knight himself was focusing on the force when he finally arrived looking at everythign they had. Rasu had taught him, his mother and father had taught him, his sister and Allana had been lost. He didn't want to lose more but he also practiced avoiding being attached and connected to things.

He stood there for a moment while the spheres were flying around him and he closed his eyes. Feeling the force in his body, feeling it coursing throughout himself when it extended in an invisible bubble around him. The muscles tightening under his skin, vains visible as he stood there and prepared for it. She would be here soon hopefully and not be late, a zabraki jedi padawan who wanted to learn how to freeze and stop blaster bolts. He was more then hapy to teach her, his first real student even if she wasn't going to be his padawan that would travel around with him. He would be able to teach her and they could explore the shadowlands down here. The sphere drones fired and he was holding out his hands as the bolts froze in place around him.

 

[Zavii]

The Shadowlands were quieter than usual today... there had been a fierce storm a few hours earlier that doused the earth with it's heavy rain, which was also the only thing that prevented several lightning fires from burning for longer than a few seconds. One such burn-site showed off the remains of some animal who had somehow managed to take the brunt of a strike... there wasn't much left now but melted bone and fur. The jungle's underbrush scavengers moved quickly here. As she passed the hollow carcass, a young Zabraki woman in dark green and brown robes sniffed the air and listened closely for anything dangerous. The many animals who usually hunted this part of the verdant Kashyyyk jungle were still mostly resting and hiding, unsure weather the storm would return soon or perhaps just taking a day off.

The brown-skinned girl smiled, her purple-tattooed lips curling humorously at the thought of nature taking a day off. It seemed a patiently ridiculous idea but who was she to say any different? That wasn't the only reason she smiled, however. Zavii was excited. She met a man who said he could teach her to stop blasters in midair- an incredibly useful demonstration of psychic prowess that could easily save countless lives if mastered. As much as she liked training to fight, Zavii knew that winning a conflict was not nearly as important as preventing loss, so this ability would be a welcome addition to her arsenal, as far as she was concerned.

And there it was... out of the still air she heard several small blasters fire at once a few meters away. The young woman tucked her bright hair into her hood and raced over to burst from the bushes and find the Human standing between several training drones with a handful of stun bolts suspended in the space between. "S'how long'z it take t' get that good?"

[member="Barinthus E`ron"]

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He heard her voice and had sensed her presence as a smirk played on his face. Hair slicked back and blonde, short hair on his chest that was more like peach fuzz and barely visible. The definition of his muscles before he finished straining and turned looking at her and walked releasing the blaster bolts. "Well now that depends entirely on your padawan." The blaster bolts released and impacted into the ground as he was walking to her. The look and effect of it was more because he practiced how to walk from explosions that wouldn't make him look like he was worried his pants might be on fire. He waited a moment taking in the zabrak padawan and his hands went to his hips.

The best peter pan pose he could give while taking her in and a smirk was on his face. "First part of the lesson is be ready to take a hit. Those robes you are wearing, they are going to get tattered, ruined and likely need to be replaced several times. So if you have anything precious on your or that you are attached to. I recommend taking it off, second and this is important.... when you get hit do promise me you are going to get back up. While I may want to protect my students. I can't be hovering around you at all moments of your training. Third I am Barinthus and it is good to see you safe padawan Zavii."

 

[Zavii]

The Zabrak crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow with an amused smile at how coolly the man stepped away from the frozen bolts before letting them go on their paths to kick up dirt behind him in a theatrical display topped of by a cliche hero pose. "Well crrap," she said, looking down at her clothes. "These are my favorite too... oh well, nothing for it." Without a second's hesitation she unclipped her belt, let it fall to the ground and went about shedding her tunics and pants. A few seconds later her outerwear lay folded atop her belt with her lightsaber and necklace on top of the pile, leaving the brown-skinned young woman in only her plain black underwear and sport bra.

Totally unabashed, Zavii gave the Master a formal bow with a grateful smile before stepping closer to where the drones hovered. "Thank you, master Barinthus. It's good to be back on my feet." Her hand involuntarily went to touch the little rough circle of scar tissue above her navel. "Now then... how exactly does this work? I'm pretty good with deflecting bolts back at the source, but how precisely do you stop them all together, and why not just absorb them? Is that harder to do?"

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He looked at her strip down and put her clothing to the side with a nod of his head. It was more clinical and professional before he was moving and noticed the scar tissue but didn't comment about it. Later maybe but this was a lesson and she had question. "Absorbing energy is possible but large scale tutaminis can be difficult to use and requires you stay still the more you want to absorb. This is a little easier but only in you are taking your training in danger sense, in knowing how to tell incoming attacks and turning the area around you into something static, into a stasis bubble that you control." He was trying to explain it but it was possible maybe.

He walked over so he was closer but at a neutral range. Both outside of each others grasp, calm and colected with his eyes locking on hers. "You have been taught about sphere of influence correct?" He knew not every padawan knew about the old idea or learned of it. The idea of where your senses would always be, always able to check out and tune to when you had the focus of it. Some jedi could only do a few meters, others lines of sight for al that they could see and some he knew the older and stronger they were could cover entire cities or even planets to focus their minds and take it all it. "I know that some padawans aren't taught about it anymore."

 

[Zavii]

"Oh, well that makes sense," she nodded and stepped past the Human toward where the drones were hovering. "Not that I really know how to do it yet, but that's why I'm here!" She looked at the little round droids in turn as she slowed her breath to focus. The Zabrak's bright purple irises expanded as her pupils narrowed and she turned to face [member="Barinthus E`ron"] again. He asked her about prior knowledge and she took a couple of seconds to collect her already numbing thoughts before giving him an answer.

"I have... it's the smaller part of the Sphere of Awareness, the area that I can affect or shape to my will, but the actual area is different depending on the tools I use. Smallest is the space I can reach with my own body, then what I can reach with my blade, then my pistol, then Telekinesis, then my voice, and then a rifle. At least, that's what it is for me... currently." Her voice had taken on a dreamlike quality of smoothness, as she was essentially meditating already, focusing on the drones and trying to determine when one of them would try to zap her, just as she did with a lightsaber in her hand.

Of course, without the weapon she felt worse than naked. Naked she wouldn't mind, so long as she was armed. She felt like an isix cat who'd been declawed, or a lemnai under the watchful gaze of a hungry acklay. "So... how do I start?"

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He had it all prepared to explain it... totally strange that a pupil knows and understands what something is and doesn't just want to wing it.... THis was was going to be crafty as she stood there in the center and the rekai spheres were hovering around. Moving and acting like their were mindless almost but in actuality they were going on random courses to give the best in the way of random attack patterns. "A very good way to explain it padawan." He crossed his arms over his chest and motioned with his head. "We can start as soon as you are ready, your focus is on your senses. When a shot is coming at you, your mind will respond with the force. It will alert you to dodge or deflect it... You don't want to do this, you want to freeze it in place. To make it so that danger is no longer a threat but instead just something you can see."

 

[Zavii]

"Thank you," she gave the man a slight nod for his compliment on her comprehension, then she listened. The young woman's violet eyes fell out of focus, seeing everything around her without looking at anything specific, as she had learnt to do in combat. Breaths came slow and deep, and the hum of the drones around her grew louder than the background noise of leaves and birds and insects all moving around in the ancient forest. A couple of seconds passed as the little metallic balls floated in simple patterns until one of them started to emit a higher-pitched hum, the tell-tale note of a blaster charging up to fire a bolt.

Zavii didn't move at all as the little beam of blue light erupted from an aperture, heading straight for her chest. She focused on the trajectory of the bolt and tried to freeze it, tried to imagine it suspended in midair without moving in any direction. Still it came. A few inches before hitting a spot just below the Zabrak's collarbone, the bolt slammed against an invisible barrier and dispersed. A little frown tugged at her lips, she had only stopped the energy with a run-of-the-mill Force shield. A second later another droid loosed a shot aimed for the back of Zavii's kneecap with the same result. She whispered a short curse at her instinctual habit and quickly thereafter spoke another rude word, only louder, as a third droid fired a third stun-bolt right into her forearm. She went to rub it and quickly had to lean over to dodge another little energy bolt.

"Alright, stop, hang on," She lifted a hand and blinked up at [member="Barinthus E`ron"]. "What am I doing wrong?"

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He was watching her, focused on her technique... well he wanted to see it as the remotes moved around and fired off shots. SHe was experiencing what he had gone through at first as well when Rasu was teaching him... well it had been Allana who taught him really how to use the technique. Damnable woman with her.... He was getting mentally off track as she spoke and the remotes stopped with a hand gesture from him. Walking over and looking at her as he spoke offering a hand to her. "Well the first thing you did wrong is expect to do it right the time try,. While it might be able to be done.. most won't master or even be good at something right away."

He said it with a smile though and warmly looked at her eyes ignoring anything else. "It took me years with my master teaching me since I was a small child, a way to babysit me for my mother and father when they were out doing things for the silver order. She would hold me in place when I acted up or when my sister did." He said it and there was some sadness, abigael was well she had vanished again likely back to the order she joined and more or less denounced her family to be their daughter on some grounds.. but he was never clear on the whole whatever. At least Allana had just you know been kidnapped and brainwashed by the sith.

"Come on then." He stood next to her and went into a stance, feet apart and knees bent with a look at her. Holding his fists clenched for a moment. "Mimic my stance and move how I move, allow the force to go into your body and expand outwards. Feel it all, feel the wind coming from the shadowlands, the taste of wet soil, the scent of the trees, the smell of blood underneath it. Feel the mud betwen your toes, the moisture, the grit and the slickness. As you move allow it all to travel along the length of your body into your center and then reach outwards to sense the remotes. The hum of their electronics, the sound of their repulsors."

He stayed there and motioned with his hand as they started moving again and he opened his hands holding them outwards in front of himself as the remote fired and he froze the blast. Holding it in stasis with a look at her and a small smile. "Now reach out and feel it, the heat, the energy... grasp at it quickly. Familiarize yourself with that sensation, that buzz at the back of your head. Normally your won't have time to think of it, your brain will need to react faster then you can really think. An instinct instead of a process." He was waiting. "Now once you have it padawan... hold it, grasp it and prevent it when I let go from hitting me in the chest."

 

[Zavii]

The young woman smiled a little sheepishly and nodded at the teacher's admonishment. "Right, of course," she said, trying to be humble. She had never been an especially patient person and today was no different. She wasn't used to having to try more than a handful of times to get reasonably good at a new skill since most of her (admittedly self-guided, with the help of a few available holocrons) training thus far had been primarily focused on physical skills and a few of the simpler Force techniques. She detected some sadness in his eyes at the memory of his childhood, but she smiled anyway, amused at the thought of a couple of children being held in stasis for acting up.

Mimicking the Master's stance, Zavii let her eyes fall shut again and let his words guide her thoughts and senses. Stretching out to hear the Song of the forest around them, she dug her feet into the soil and breathed deeply. Soon she could feel everything around her, as if she had become a sapling tree, her roots reaching out to envelop and be consumed by the Living Force. Sensing [member="Barinthus E`ron"] as he shifted his position, she followed suit, but to an observer they would seem to move in unison. She could sense the drone's intent as soon as it decided to shoot and easily followed the bolt's path with her mind. What surprised her was the way he stopped it; not at all like a block or a punch, it reminded her of a tackle, like a snake wrapping it's body around some prey.

The bolt wasn't simply holding still, it was fighting to drive forward. Only Barinthus' will held it back. The Padawan's head tilted slightly at this new paradigm, but she followed his direction and wrapped her senses around the chained-and-tethered energy while it crackled and spat at bay. After a few seconds, she used her now-open fingers to wrap the thing up with telekinetic coils, gripping it like a hand-grenade that threatened to go off. "I have it," she whispered, trying to maintain her focus. When the Knight finally released his own influence, Zavii buckled down, visibly sinking her hips as she held onto the little streak of light. It really, really wanted to go, but she wasn't going to let it touch him. He was Silver, he was her ally. She thought of having to do this someday when it might count; perhaps saving the life of one of her friends.

What if it were Cassius, or Asaraa, or Tanasuki? She wouldn't just hold it there indefinitely, she realized. What if it's target was trapped, or guarding something absolutely vital? Again, she pictured Tanasuki, the dark-haired subject of many of her thoughts lately, but now he was holding a child. The little girl Akeela, who would herself become a Silver Jedi once she got older. She was the future, and Zavii knew that she would never let such an innocent and important person come to harm. She'd fight back. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Zavii remembered the cyclical nature of an electromagnetic field. She had learned about them years ago, how they were produced by every atom and emanated from people and planets alike. There were a great many physicists who suspected that Electromagetism was the true manifestation of the Force in the physical realm. Almost every piece of modern technology used it in one way or another. Even the blade of her lightsaber utilized an electromagnet to recycle it's own power so it could be used for more than a few seconds. So did blasters.

With a small tuck and twist, Zavii turned the bolt around and gave it a push. Unknowing, uncaring and unperturbed, the beam hissed through the air and hit the remote that had borne it as though she had used her lightsaber to smack it back. Violet eyes opened after a buzz and a thump to see the little metal ball in the grass, trying to reset and return to it's task. Zavii laughed and looked at the blonde man to her left with an ear-to-ear grin after looking at her own hands and asked "Was- was that right?"

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

She was doing good while he stood there and then she turned the bolt and sent it back at the remote with a look on his face. "Well you didn't do bad but I'd be careful about breaking some of the engineers and artisan's gadgets. You don't want the area around your bunk to be designated as under construction... or your hot water in the fresh to suddenly be on the fritz so you only have cold water." he said it mostly as a joke while looking at her and patted her on the shoulder in good job. "Well done though, you have taken your first steps into this... now lets see if we can get you better at walking it. If it helps think who you want to protect with this, civilians, your fellow jedi, your family." It can make it easier but don't give into anger and hate... That won't help you in this situation.

 

[Zavii]

The Zabraki Padawan laughed again at Barinthus' answer and relaxed her stance, standing a bit taller. When he told her to try again she nodded, eyes still sparkling with mirth as she reset herself into a neutral ready stance. "Yeah, that's what I did before... but i'll try and hold it still this time." With a deep breath and a large circular motion of her arms, she got into a hand-to-hand fighting stance with her front hand forming a tight fist straight out and down near her knee and the other curled halfway into a looser Soresu point where her outward-facing palm covered the front-facing side of her jaw and neck.

As soon as she nodded, a drone shot a bolt right at her. With a sharp inhale, the young woman took hold of the bolt and- acting on instinct, spun and threw herself into a reverse-butterfly kick, causing the light blue bolt to veer around, under and then over her body as if she had taken hold of and thrown a person by their arm. Just the same as the technique had been designed for, the energy beam arced over Zavii and slammed into the earth just at the same moment that she did. "Kyk, sorry," she darted her eyes up at [member="Barinthus E`ron"]. "Muscle memory."

With a nervous grin, she stood upright and took her stance once more. Another bolt shot out and this time Zavii shot out a hand and stopped it with a small grunt of effort. The energy cracked and spat mere inches from her outstretched hand, but she held it back for one, two, three seconds! Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she grinned. "I'm doing it! OW!" the bolt had lurched forth and soaked into her ribcage. "Damn! I definitely need to practice this more..." With that, the brown skinned girl stepped over to her clothes and took a moisture tab from her belt, then sat in the grass and rubbed the spot where the last bolt had hit. "That last one must have hit a major nerve or something... Just give me a minute, Master."

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He looked at her and was moving with a nod of his head.. she was getting it and then she was dodging and one was flying behind her as he moved. Backing up when it splashed itno the water and mud sending it up into the air. THe jedi knight moved around keeping track of her when she got back up. "it is alright." Moving then though to get itno a more clear line of sight away from her until she was finished. A shot to the gut that wasn't deadly usually stung though when she sat down and he joined her. Sitting for a moment as he pulled some fo the food and water from his thigh pack. "You are doing well, progressing ahead of schedule even though you will be tempted to use this in the field, in battle... which you can be remember that you are still learning it so don't abandon your other skils with dodging and a saber." He looked at her and took a drink before checking out some of the parts they had. He pulled out a small patch for bacta speaking. "Lean back, we'll put the patch on and you'll start feeling better. Don't want to have it said I left you to sit around hurt." He looked at her and held the patch in one hand looking towards her stomach.

 

[Zavii]

"Right," the Padawan nodded briskly. She definitely wouldn't use this new technique as her first choice in a fight, but with more practice that could easily change. When [member="Barinthus E`ron"] produced a bacta patch she leaned back to rest on her elbows, giving the Human clearance to cover the burn on her lower chest. "That'll heal better than the one below it," she remarked in reference to the bullet scar that marred the skin over her otherwise perfect abs.

Once he finished his treatment, Zavii decided to lie back on the cool grass and fold her hands under her head. "So, Master, you said earlier that this skill is similar to Tutaminis. How similar, exactly? I haven't learned how to soak up energy yet, but it's one of the things I definitely want to master at some point."

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He looked at her and sat there bringing his legs up, arms over his knees and speaking while his back was towards her face. He leaned forward a little. "It is similar to it in the manipulation of energy, you want to know how to use it, how to feel it and how to control it. When you touch it, most will be burned, when you hold it, your mind will be telling you that it is even hot with a telekinetic grip." He didn't need to look at her though but stayed there stretching out while he went forward and smirked. "It is strange doing this padawan. Alaana and Rasu my master would do this with me. After our lessons.... well mostly we didn't have mud and truth be told she never would have taken off the robes as you did. She was remarkably stubborn like her mother but..." He trailed off and turned to look at her. "So enough about me, tell me about yourself. I have not met many of the new ones nor spoken to some in a long time."

 

[Zavii]

The Zabraki Padawan listened to [member="Barinthus E`ron"] while he described what it was like to absorb energy, but frowned when she didn't get an explanation of the technique itself. Didn't he think she was ready to start training that skill too? Then again; this was just for a day, as far as Zavii knew. Tomorrow, Knight E'ron would probably have something more urgent to do, or somewhere else to be in service to the Order. For a moment she wondered what happened to people who were never chosen by a Master, but her idle thoughts swept away as the Human kept talking.

She pointed her purple eyes in his direction while he spoke about his Master, cut himself off and then asked about her. "'New', ha!" she forced a laugh, "I don't think I can count as new by anyone's standard anymore. I've been with the Order since I was a little girl." She sat up then, and started to unfold her shirt and tunic to put them on. "Now here I am almost thirteen years later, hoping I'll find the right Master to teach me, but It's not easy. Some of them are on totally different paths from what I intend to take, Some of them have no interest in training someone who's not brand-new to the Order, for whatever reason. One knight I honestly thought was going to be a good match; he went so far as to take me off world, only to loose me in a city on some trade port and eventually disappear without communication. Now that was a weird week."

She stood up and started to slip her pants back on, then finally her belt, clicking the buckle together and reattaching her lightsaber. "I don't know what the deal is, why I haven't been given priority after all these years. Maybe the Grandmaster already has somebody in mind, but is waiting until the right moment to introduce me... maybe their Padawan hasn't finished the Trials yet. I don't know. I just..." she paused for a moment, picked at a piece of bark on the side of a young worshyr trunk, "I just want to get out there and explore the Galaxy, you know? I want to see and do things that nobody else can. I want the full experience. That's all."

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He was looking at her and following, full body pointed towards her and tracking each movement as if he was giving rapt attention.. which he was. Hearing her story, her complaints before rising up when she seemed done and moving towards her. More of a fluid movement that would denote a little more to him then human... few understood what his father was and he and his sister well he stood in front of Zavii and spoke looking at her. "Well if it is exploring you want padawan simply ask me. I have neither student nor want to stay in one place. There is an entire galaxy to explore out there and people to help. One cannot change the galaxy from just the rest."

A smirk played on his face though as he stood there and put his hands behind his head leanign back. "Besides, chance to practice my whole wise master routine... maybe.. I am not certain explaining how things work when it is easier to just do them... I am not sure if I can get my point across really." He was looking at her though and started walking back with a turn of his head. "Do you want to come with me padawan. I am heading into the shadowlands to explore and practice my skills, if you want to have a master I can only offer but cannot force you." He said it and pulled his small thigh pack to himself with his sabe ron his belt quickly.

 

[Zavii]

The Zabrak nodded at [member="Barinthus E`ron"]'s answer, saying he was available and willing to take her on as his own apprentice. "Remind me to sync your comm number later," she said. "I hope you'll understand if I want to be sure that you're the right person. After last time I feel like I can't be too careful, unless I'm assigned a Master by the Council." She gave the Human a gentle and warmly apologetic smile.

"But for now;" her tone shifted and she let the band out of her hair, shaking it free, "let's go exploring! I haven't been through the Shadowlands since my Hrrtayyk ceremony with the Wookiees, back when we were still moving from Voss."

Zavii's eyes lit up like a nova and her posture shifted, relaxing into a slouching prowl as she flashed her teeth in excitement. "Lead the way." she practically growled, already starting to bounce in an effort to get her heart rate up.

 

[Barinthus E'ron]

[member="Zavii"]

He held a hand over his heart in feigned hurt over the right person answer. He wasn't upset and udnerstood her wanting to be careful but it still wasn't exactly what he had hoped for with the first girl he asked to be his padawan.... Kind of made him want to go and write in his journal after crossing out her name with all of the hearts around it.... He snickered to himself a little with a small look though before they were all moving now. He could feel some excitement as the hairs ont he back of his neck were raised and his instincts to hunt were there. Nostils flaring a little when his eyes gleamed in the low light of the shadowlands. He had investigated and searched out many of the places but there were even further and more ancient places one could find. "There are rumors that the shadowlands hold a massive beast something that has a maw the size of the trees themselves."