Dust in the Wind

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela slowly returned the smile and nodded. That was true. Most Force users she had seen focused on strength and power, to engage directly in the battle. Not to flow around it, which was a superior option. "Thank you. Your words hold wisdom and I will seek to understand it and apply it well."

She had been doing that, she realized with a moment of reflection, in a way. It had led her here. "That is how I arrived here, following the promptings of the Force."

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu gave a nod of her head to that, the force often led a person to where they needed to go instead of where they wanted to go. It helped for those who trusted in it and in her time she had found the force as a river was fine... Its course was set but you could make ripples with stones but the flow would stay the same just going around. "That is the best course and in combat unless your trying to be firm and grounded, able to fight like a guardian. Be as water and allow those attacking you to tire themselves out until you can get away."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela nodded, still considering, and trying to picture how she could approach fighting the way she approached travel. Act on instinct honed in practice then. Keep all options open. Let go of her will. It clicked. "For even rivers wear down mountains, even if all the water they hold would break and run off its side if thrown against it in a moment."

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu gave a nod of her head. "Water can defeat fire, wash away mountains and carve a path though everything. Even tossing a rock into its path will not stop it, the water will go around and over eventually even through it. Its ripples can go on further then most will live to see and yet it can bring a great deal of life to everything it touches. The majority of jedi treat the force as a gift and it is but I have learned parts of it that go deeper. It is why my students travel deep into the core. There are worlds there the jedi ignore and have chosen to let remain hidden in the mists."

Matsu continued to smile as she spoke and stood up straighter letting her robe come off a little to show the severity of tattoo's she had. Across most of her body except the neck and she continued to moved. "Your training gear when you wear it preferably should be a sarashi and pants. It will be used to give you a good amount of movement and we will be heading to a world where the jedi leave their brothers in the temples for years at a time. IF you want to learn how to flow like water it is one of the strongest places to do just that."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela nodded, listening and picturing the Force as a river, seeing how through its flow, life could be changed and affected for the better, or if used improperly, for destruction. It was a very apt metaphor indeed. She gave a bow of her head.

"Where can I find these for training gear then?" Was there a store here? Or some other supply depot?

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu gave a nod and motioned. "Follow me." Matsu led the way through the halls and area until she got to one of the rooms and started opening drawers to get parts. The armorweave bodysuit for training and just about all purposes was worthwhile she Matsu laid it out with a saber. "This expeditionary suit is quite useful for protection. There is a utility belt and training sabers ready for use."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela followed, intently studying the areas they walked through trying to form a mental map, and then watched as Matsu began assembling a uniform. She nodded, and ran a quick hand over the armor weave suit. She gave a grateful nod, and slipped her pack off, frowning at the stitches that were on the borderline of tearing free. So be it. Hopefully she wouldn't need it after this anyways.

"Thank you. I am very grateful for these." She quirked a half-smile to her pack. "That's the best shape any of my equipment is in, except my lightsaber."

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu looked at the equipment and gave a nod of her head. She understood worn equipment and it wasn't such a terrible thing when it came to certain things. Slowly Matsu looked at the pack and she smiled. "We could fix that, my research group does hand stitching and mends the clothing for the rest of the order." She continued to smile and moved looking at the standard packs. "We have ones you cna use and make it all quite helpful. We'll head off into the jungle."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela nodded, "I would appreciate it. It has carried me through many rough journeys." She turned away from it to examine the standard ones and picked one up, examining it before giving a satisfied smile. It was a good pack. She picked up an armorweave suit, utility belt, and training saber, examining them closely before quickly pulling the suit on over her tunic and buckling the belt around her waist, and clipping the training saber to it. She placed her real saber into the pack and slung it over her shoulders. "Ready to depart, then."

How often had she thought those words to herself over the past few years? More than she could count, or even wanted to consider.

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu gave a nod of her head and picked up the pack looking at it while she grabbed a small case under several smaller boxes. The kimono's were for the entire order and as she moved them and placed it under her arm. "I'll work on it when I have the time for now you are more then welcome." Matsu began walking out as she brushed her sides and walked towards the jungle with a smile. "The jungles of Voss are very fun and interesting allowing for quite a diverse amount of training in different area's of the force and saber combat."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela nodded, surprised at how relived she was that it could be fixed, It had been her home for so long now. Strange, how little the physical shape of an object meant if it could be a home.

The jungle intrigued her though. She had never actually been to a world with jungle before, but she had heard stories and seen holovids. "I do not know much natural history of this planet, I must admit. Is there anything within the jungles here that sets them apart from others?'" Not necessarily even anything dangerous. Ancient ruins, rare birds, many thing like that. "Or makes them particularly useful for training purposes?"

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

"There is always history in things even in the mundane. THis world hold many darker secrets and has been steeped in mystery to the order for centuries but there is always ways to get those secrets." Matsu gave a small grin and held her head up while walking until they had gotten itno the woods and into a clearing under the canopy. "We'll start with your senses, here where the dark presence can be stronger you'll be able to with focus pierce it and sense around the planet."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela tapped her fingers on her palm, studying the jungle around them. That was something she had overlooked her entire life. Everything had a history, and it was all worth knowing,

She could feel the darkness here though, seeming to press in around her in a dark cloud, leaking through the underbrush and coiling around tree trunks. This would not be an easy place to trust the Force, or even connect, she feared. She slipped into its flow though, reaching, probing, stabbing at the darkness trying to find a way through. Sweat began to drip the back of her neck, sending a chill down her spine.

This wasn't working. She had to stop and think. No. Stop and trust. Be the river. She let the Force guide through the darkness, sluggish and suffocating as it felt, feeling for weaknesses and brighter areas.

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu looked upon her padawan and could see it on her face. The struggle to connect while she moved slowly around and reached out with the force. Her body was wrecked, broken and torn from fighting and sickness. With a look at Jeela she moved and stopped behind her while reaching up to speak and hold a hand to her head. "It is okay, focus on the force and the sound of my voice. There is no emotion, there is peace and here in the storm of darkness one can find piece. The eye of the storm provides much danger and much protection at the same time."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela stiffened slightly in surprise as she a hand on her head. In this dark storm, she had not heard her approach. Everything was chaos, but she focused in on her voice, using it as an anchor. Things settled a little,and she did not seem to be buffeted as much. Storm it! Why was this so odd? A little darkness should be so difficult for her to master.

There is no emotion. There is peace.

She lie tout a long breath she had not realized she was holding, and let the tension drain from her body. The storm ceased. It raged on, but around her. Its tendrils snapped and reached out for her, but did not strike or shove her anymore.

Danger was here in the eye, she said. What lurked here that she was unaware of?

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu kept her focus on the girl and remained smiling at that, she was getting it. The eye of a storm could be many things but it was usually both calm and the most chaotic. It is what brought the jedi master into her place of peace and why she also tried to teach them to be safe and careful. "Now we are going to go on a walk, to a realm where you can learn much in mere seconds and see the galaxy has many dark secrets. Count to seven and when you reach the end join me beyond shadows."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Jeela frowned slightly. What did all of that mean? It was very cryptic. She wasn't entirely sure whether the walk was literal, metaphorical, or both. That was a difficulty in studying the Force. Everyone used metaphors and they weren't always easily discernible as metaphor. No doubt there was a lesson there as well though. There were lessons everywhere!

She began counting though, slowly, and I rhythm with the pulse of the chaos around her. Strange how even this chaos had an order to it, a beat, if one paid close enough attention.

Six...
Seven...

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

Matsu had been counting with her and focused, the mind walkers had taught many things but none more important then this and when the count reached seven she and Jeela would be elsewhere. One of the planets hidden away from before and covered in overgrown vines. Matsu stood there now more focused and ready as she spoke. "This is what I meant, welcome to a world where time has less meaning and the only limitations are what you make of it."

 

[Jeela Tillian]

Jeela, eyes still closed, tilted her head sideways, confused. Something had changed. She was sure of that. She didn't know what though. She had reason to believe though that her view of the Force was about to be radically changed though.

"Is it permissible to open my eyes?"

Those last words were something she didn't even know how to begin to understand, That was what it meant to learn though, wasn't it?

 

[Matsu Ike]

@Jeela Tillian

"Yes it is." Matsu stood there and she clasped her hands behind her back while having a smile on her face. "This is the realm beyond shadows, a place in the unconscious mind you are able to come to and find answers... sometimes or commune with those who have come before. There is even secrets buried deeper in the world then some let on and this realm visits a planet lost for eons in perfect orbit in the Maw. It let it contain its own slice of time."