Private Frozen Tears

[Syn]

He raised an eyebrow at Tempest Yore when she spoke about him being in her vision but didn't speak more of it. Where she was and what she had gone through well... it was bringing up to... tempt him to ask more and wonder. The jedi master gave a thin lipped smirk that was barely visible but as she sat down he raised an eyebrow when she almost became shocked that there was more to do. "Yes there is." He said it plainly but had an amused look on his face moving over towards her faster now... rising up the small hairs on his arms before he had a hand out. "You did well but there is something that is needed. The force will guide you a great deal but fate is a tricky thing and something my master told me... the fate of all jedi is to try and rebel against it at some point." He spoke but placed his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "You might not have been the best but you have had promise always... it is developing that promise which well might not have been some of the best as you would leave and head off before we made the best progress."

 

[Tempest Yore]

"Must I believe in Fate? Is that some Jedi Dogma? If I must then I feel it means there is no option to alter life. And I don't believe in any path being set in stone. I believe people have an innate power to produce their desired outcome. That when they tap into their power they can achieve anything. And if they give up, no matter of Fate will hand them what they do not aspire to achieve. That would support luck." He could be correct, but he would have to elaborate to explain what he means.

She felt a sense of disappointment in him surface regarding her past and how she chose to move about the galaxy. She felt she must explain.

Tempest cringed as he spoke. "Well…" she began with a sigh. "You weren't my only teacher; you know? I met a lot of people. I just felt led places, like time was of the essence for many. I always found people to help. My father did the same thing while I was very young. I was left a sizable amount of money. I researched stocks and found companies to invest in, making certain that they never did anything bad to people. I knew that I could do a lot of good with my profits. I guess my best lessons were out there, doing something, making a positive change for whomever I felt led to." She giggled a bit when she added, "not always just fighting off bug species." She paused before adding, "I just felt drawn…and there was something else." It was difficult for her to say what would follow. "I was very young, and in my eyes you stepped into the role of my father figure. And both my father and my adoptive father had been delivered harsh endings to their lives. I felt if I removed myself, then if and when something happened…to you…it could have made loss easier to endure than it had been in my past. I know that aspect of my intention was wrong to do to a loved one." She admitted, "Until a moment ago, I had not even realized I had chosen to do that to you, or that there even was any reason why apart from going where I felt lead. I still would not justify saying I was running away entirely. I feel more that being led just supplied that result."

She looked at him. She could sense that he was preparing for something to come.

 

[Syn]

He listened to Tempest Yore and raised an eyebrow at it. "You don't have to believe in something for it to be there. The force is in all life... throughout the universe. We are both masters of it and servants to its ebbs and flows. It is difficult to explain to one who can't see the force. Live long enough you will see the same auras in any number of people." He said it but remained there for a moment longer only bringing his hand up to his eyes. "When I was younger... still an old man by your definition mind you. I was brought here and saw my mother." He said it but backed away for a moment and moved a hand up to his hair. "I never realized how much pain I felt over what I did to her."

He said it but standing there for now the jedi master breathed in. "Your last part of the trial is to show what you have learned and something of a lesson to make you stronger." The jedi master stood there and faced her but didn't touch his sabers. instead dug his feet itno the cave floor... the crunch of crystal below him reverberating before he clenched his hands into fists... the force humming practically as pressure built up in the chamber. There was the pressure going around while his arms showed it first. The muscles becoming tense and rigid.. then popping outwards as veins were like steel cords, force energy making them glow white-blue light.

The energy continued to built outwards into an aura... what would have once been an oppressive aura... something to quell dissenting arguments and subjects became a pressure to hold the room like an invisible grip. His hands came up for a moment as the muscles in his chest did much the same. "Plant yourself, from the soles of your feet I want you to feel the world around you and below you... connect to the life force of the planet itself then draw it into yourself." The jedi master continued to draw it and he released the pressure to radiate in visible waves of force energy that came off of him and rolled his shoulders prepared for a fight.

 

[Tempest Yore]

"Oh I believe whole heartedly in the existence of the Force, Master Syn ! Just not that all things are governed by Fate! For sure there are many inevitable truths, such as death for instance. But we can set our mind to manipulate such destiny, for example even you have tricked death! Were Fate the be all and end all of one's life path, then should we rather not be capable to have any effect upon such inevitable truths? We are by far much more minuscule in our abilities than all the garnered power of the Force combined that is in existence in its entirety throughout the Universe. If we are predestined to our Fate why can we manipulate anything?"

Spoiler

From Goggle: Fate is that which you cannot change. Destiny is that which you're meant to do. While fate is what happens when you don't take responsibility for your life, destiny is what happens when you commit to growing, learning, and taking chances. Being “destined for greatness” only comes through active and conscious decisions.

When Syn spoke about the pain of his relationship with his mother, she added, "I did not remember the events of my childhood until today. I shut down the last time the truth was presented to me, just before I learned the whole of it. Perhaps I needed to know so that I could properly face my future with this knowledge as my shield. I gain strength in knowing I survived through something once."

He stood, and she knew, 'Here comes the beat down.' Syn is an incredible hunk, and Tempest had to learn early on that sharp thinking, quick action, and evasiveness are her only hope. And that they must be presented altogether. Miss one and she is toast.

Force Enhance the cherry on top which he had taught her early on how to engage in. Tempest's mind reeled in the possibilities of what being within a place so extremely radiant in the Light of the Force could offer. She expanded her options and delved into three aspects of action to pull off her plot to endurance.

The first he would see is her rise from where she sat upon the smooth rock. She walked upon the crystal stone floor. Her thoughts had already slipped into meditation of the sensations involving this place. She reached outward to him, and she sucked into herself his own raw bridled energy, tapped straight from the Force like an energy vampire. She wove it round and compounded it into tight coils which would burst at their release. She felt the life of the planet upon which she stood, out to its moons, its sun, then the planetary system, the next star system, and finally beyond. Life was birthed. Life breathed. Life passed on to alternate evolution. And then there is Syn and she in this Holy Temple…

Tempest utilized the Force in three ways, but her plan was that he would only witness her standing there as she prepared for his move.

 

[Syn]

He could feelt he force flowing from around them and towards Tempest Yore . He could see the force and feel it even more as the jedi master didn't make a move just yet.. he had all of the time and continued to plant his feet awaiting the proper moment. The sound of blood rushing in his ears.. the evenness of his heartbeat and even Tempest seemed to be calm for the moment... she might be worried but wasn't what was the word..in a panic like she might have been years ago if there was a bug. The jedi master didn't need to strike just yet but he changed his stance... one hand going forward... foot back and crouched. He looked forward and at her but focused the force into his limbs. With each inhale of the air he was filling his lungs and then pressing it outwards like small ripples in the force. Suddenly he moved forward, one hand coming out as the energy popped and released rippling across his forearm like a way before sending itself out like a blast of energy.

 

[Tempest Yore]

One way to effect the Force is to counter its flow. Another is to redirect it's flow. It is smooth and easy when the Lightsider utilizes it. It is chaotic when used by the Darkside.

Malachia is a rather less common technique designed to reshape its waves, deconstructed its purpose. And yet, when focussed precisely and with intensive care, a reconstruction can be completed as in the generation of her Doppelgänger. Tempest the Illusionist poured her focus into this generation, knowing Syn relies on Force Sight to view his surroundings. She Cloaked her physical self since the moment she still remained upon the stone seating. She fed her projection in the Force the power to appear as if her Doppelgänger were drawing power into itself from all angles, obscuring her true physical location. She used this time to creep from the seating to stand behind him.

Her ruse was given up completely to his awareness the moment he sent out a blast of power. She had no way of countering his thrust of raw Force power. She let her projection drop at that instance, become whisked away with the power that crashed into it.

She tapped Master Syn upon the back of his shoulder, grinning up at him. "I'm ready now," she affirmed.

 

[Syn]

The jedi master was working to track her.. she was smart and her presence in the force shirted.. redirected... changed but her scent was there. Sharper... Tempest was in some ways prone to habits and one would be scented soap. He felt her behind him and turned with his body ready. Uncoiling it like a spring as he used the force like a backhand to start the fight. Cushioning it for a moment to bleed off the power of the blow before he was moving with the force in his limbs. The dust from the crystals in the cave kicking up before he was stepping around faster then most could see. "When you are confronted with an opponent using power to try and overwhelm you. Redirecting it, can be dangerous... a small mistake can cost you.. however use it. Reverse it and allow the power to be used then let it roll off of you."

 

[Tempest Yore]

At first his barrage of energy was overwhelming. But it was not something he had not done before. Unlike the previous lesson however, he was unrelenting in his disbursement of energy. Tempest rolled it off to the sides of her body. She stood between the flow like a dividing wall. She closed her eyes and redirected the flow of energy back towards him. It remained raw and unformed. At that point she still hadn't drawn the Force into herself to give it purpose. Even standing in it and avoiding it was physically draining.

When he gave direction she wondered if fighting through it were actually more difficult than what he instructed she do. She felt what he described as more like Tutaminis. Crumbling under the weight of his onslaught is not an option, so she did focus harder. Tempest bowed her head slightly and thrust her hands out before her. She drew in the Force which he fed her.

But what should she form it to do?

Tempest gave the Force a purpose as it was returned towards him. She spoke with an ethereal voice which echoed, "I am Jedi." Tempest displayed a compounded wave of blinding white light between them, and intended to push distance in between herself and Master Syn as the light dimmed.

She knew he would likely not relent, but would push her to evolve. She did not accept less from him!

 

[Syn]

He was watching her in the force and she stood at first like a bastion in the middle of it and let it roll over her and around... rebounding it which he followed it. Much like when fighting Domino their strength and powers were similar with small differences so they often rebounded. He felt her building power and energy that was coming as his body moved... he didn't think.. he didn't give it a thought he allowed his body to move him away as perceptions changed to him and time was almost literally slowed down as he rebounded the energy into the cavern. using it intwo ways for the fraction of a heartbeat as the blood pumped through his body.

First he warmed himself up to an almost fever level with the force.... then he repusled the force with a blast of coldness using art of the small to go to the molecular level and absolute zero. The expansion of the universe, the progression of time couldn't actually be stopped but it could be slowed to the point of nearly. The jedi master moved using the warmth of his body to stave off the effects and why he rarely used skills like this outside of serious fights. The sensation of icy spreading across his body as the cells tried to freeze to match what was around him. He moved behind tempest and came out of it as she created a blinding force lght in front of herself.

Steam was rising from his body... the force there when he was looking down and brought a hand up to try and grab her with one hand at the shoulder and pull her into a bear hug designed to limit her movements. "Impressive, few jedi can make a powerful enough force light to go against the darkness." THe jedi master said it but was preparing as his body moved again to prepare itself with a counter attack aimed against tempest with more repulsive attacks.

 

[Tempest Yore]

Into the Light she created she felt the Jedi Master become enveloped by the energy she conducted between them and then he simply vanished altogether. Where he went from there she could not sense. She truly had no time at all to focus on locating him, as it had merely been a second in time.

She was still reaching out ahead of her, searching for Master Syn across the cavern when he pulled her own trick on her by appearing behind her. She wondered how he had moved so very quickly. She was still drawing in the power he fed her and redirecting it towards where he had just been standing. Then he gripped her in a bear hug and she felt like she would be overloaded with his energy.

She understood he wanted her to experience something she never had before, and she was not about to fight against him in his lesson. She did not figure that fighting him off is what he truly wanted for her to do. His grip was very solid. She could have freed herself, but at great bodily expense to them both.

Tempest stiffened, and instantly began panting as she felt the energy he generated heighten throughout her body. All she could safely do is try to expel it from her being, raw and pure as it was. She tried to relax through the experience, but her muscles spasmed in his wake.

 

[Syn]

She was relaxed and that was important... the jedi master maintained his focus but he spoke to Tempest Yore . "You are doing well, you have skill, you have speed but you are still thinking about your actions... still relying on the brain to send messages to your body. it slows your reaction speed and costs you precious time." He didn't release her yet but focused the energy. "The energy you are feeling, that you are drawing in can overwhelm you if you are not careful but it is much like anything... it comes down to how you handle and deal with it." He let go and stood there for a moment then moved quickly with a similar speed to before. Standing back in front of her with steam rising off of his shoulders and chest.

"Now I want you to channel that energy not outward as a release but inward... into your body, into your form. Allow it to empower your limbs to move with the guidance of the force as opposed to your brain." He said it and remained there almost perfectly still like a statue but spoke. "Once you have managed to do that... you will focus it to speed up your body.. make yourself warmer... almost feverish." He was looking at her and finally moved forward. "Once youhave that expell the rest in a focused burst... see the atoms around you... see the friction between everything and slow it down with the chilled energy you expell. You body will be able to move normally through it."

 

[Tempest Yore]

Master Syn had halted what Tempest was doing to give her additional direction. It is not easy to wrap her head around what he asked her to attempt. She figured the only way to even begin to understand it, is to try to accomplish exactly what he directed. She had not witnessed him do anything, just seen the physical end result. He was standing before her, she fed him energy, and then he was behind her all in an instance. Whether or not Master Syn had just teleported from one place to the next, she is unsure. But she is determined to succeed in accomplishing what he directed, and to find out the result.

Tempest had easily remained caught up in channelling the power of the crystal cavern, the result from the previous lesson. She returned to the full focus of that state once again.

'Internally' she thought. Her mind latched onto the concept of internalizing the Force as Master Syn had instructed. It was very different a thought, and when she had it, it was so strange.

She has no idea what it does!

"It's almost unnatural, and yet…the state, how it feels, it's so perfect. It is like the way things should be…" '…the Force to guide me.'

The cave grew deathly silent. She noticed the air surrounding them holding suspended ice crystals, and she marveled at their luminescence. 'How is this so…?' her mind drifted, but her eyes caught sight of the mist coming from her own breath, and she figured the development simply a wave of arctic air coming from outside. 'Perhaps it is sunset.'

'How terrible of me.'

"I am sorry. I just cannot focus."

She noted next steam radiating off of herself and even Master Syn. 'That is a terrible sign of how very cold it must be outside now. It will be a long and perilous walk back to the ships!'

She apologized again for not being able to concentrate, and he didn't respond to her. "I had it for a moment. It felt so strange. What do you generate from that Force focus, master?" she asked, and he did not respond. He hadn't moved at all in fact, and she knew he must be very disappointed in her. But then something additionally odd occurred, when he blinked, he did so incredibly slowly. Tempest bridged the gap between them, as she could not take her eyes off of him. 'What is happening to him?' she wondered. 'Could it be the cold air getting to him?' She felt rather warm herself.

She felt concerned for her Master and everything she was doing was intentionally dropped, —although she wasn't exactly aware that she has been doing anything at all any longer.

She asked him, "Are you alright?"

She wanted to tell him what she saw, but she would wait till he seems more himself. She pulled a sustenance bar from her pocket and would share it with him. She had no idea what she had done, or that what she saw was in fact the result of her being in an altered sense of Time, and that it had nothing to do with anything he did at all, but entirely with herself!

 

[Syn]

He could feel her doing it.. the coldness came to him but he was heating himself up to try and maintain it. The slowdown worked counter if you could maintain your internal temperature which he needed to do as Tempest Yore moved quickly and came out of it looking at him. "I am fine." He said it but he was looking at her and brought his hand out to touch her shoulder as the steam was rising off of them both. "You were able to do what I tried to teach you but you might not fully understand what you did. It is going to take some training and potentially practicing it with others so you can get a feeling and understand it." He said it with a look on his face though while he remained there and moved to her eye level so he could look in her face. "It can feel surreal though... nothing moving around you and the cold that wants to sink into your bones... but only the small flicker of heat keeps it away. Just remember to maintain that heat otherwise you might lose control."

 

[Tempest Yore]

He informed her that she had successfully accomplished for the first time the skill he intended to teach. She understood the method she initiated to do so and purposefully burned it into her memory. She noted things which occurred which she hadn't before, how everything around her living and inanimate seemed more clearly defined, visually, along with her cognitive understanding, as if she could see how things were actually fabricated.

"Is this skill meant for healing?" she asked him.

She also attempted to memorize just how incredibly unique were the nature of the effects, which should help signify success or failure of further tempts at the skill. "What Force Power had I just managed?" she asked him, for he hadn't yet informed her.

There was a grave sense of warning to his tone, added to the fact that he stooped down to her eye level. Tempest froze when she heard him speak, staring back into him to perceive the feel of his urgency. All manner of her usual vibrancy vanished from her facial features and was replaced with an air of utmost seriousness. "Master Syn ?" Tempest swallowed hard. "More critically, what occurs if I should lose control?"

 

[Syn]

"it is called the art of the small and yes you can use it for healing Tempest Yore but also for many many other things with enough practice." He said it and she became serious which was good he wanted her to understand the urgency of what she could do and what she was practicing or fgoing to practice in the future. "Losing control can be a mixed bag... on the one hand your focus could become so acute you are trying to fnavigate through molecules to where you were and your body will wither... will become weak. Or you could unknowingly focus to hard and someone walks in front of you shifting your focus to hurting them." He said it but knew that those were hard... "If you are in the middle of the technique I showed you then you could become hypodermic and sick." He stayed there but was proud of her and he let it show while one hand went to his belt and slid a compartment opened. He pulled two sweet pints out for the pair of them and the spoons were there as he offered it. "You did good though so a reward for passing your trials Knight Yore."

 

[Tempest Yore]

Tempest listened to Master Syn explain the hazardous outcomes which errors in this Force Power are likely to produce. ”It sounds terribly dangerous to fool around with such powers requiring incredible focus.” She thought she shouldn’t like to study it alone!

He pulled out an offering of his own, an unexpected treat. She broke her sustenance bar in half and stuck his half into his ice cream tub. She saw a problem with consuming ice cream in such a frigid a place like this. Unless... ”Will we be walking back to the ships heated by the Art of Small?”

Tempest isn’t a fan of sweets but would oblige considering the occasion as he declared her a Knight. Her visage instantly beamed. She didn’t feel any different than minutes ago. She had imagined her trials would have transpired quite differently. She long ago imagined she would become instantly filled with more power in the Force, as if it had not been a long and tedious journey!

”I want my official announcement before the Order, you know,” she said with a big smile on her face. ”And a party to celebrate,” she added, knowing her Master to be not very inspired on either customs.

”Thank you for sticking with me,” she said, ”especially since I have not been very conventional about it all.” Maybe things of her nature would change.

 

[Syn]

The jedi master looked at her and nodded. "Yes we are returning to the ship." A party was... questionable. He had seen her through the trails.. something meant to be a spiritual awakening to show how much you have grown and reverence towards the force as its connection to you has grown. A party seemed more new age hippy things where everyone could be special and participate. He was certain she knew better his opinion but didn't say anything going into one of the tunnels with a look on his face as he took a bite of one of the pints with the spoon that came with it. Then the bar she had produced. He was going up it with a look though towards her and brought his hand out to pat her shoulder. "You may not be conventional but you have an understanding of the galaxy few do. You hopefully know how to be practical compared to dangerously idealistic."

 

[Tempest Yore]

"Master Syn , you always tell me about life through the eyes of one reserved for strict composure. It saddens me greatly, but I must liken your personality as having evolved based on the fact that you never had a childhood." Tempest had some hard knocks, but the guilty eventually evolved a conscience and regret over what they did to her. They did try their best to uphold the ruse for her sake, and tried to give her the very best. Master Syn on the other hand wasn't so lucky. Tempest knew his seriousness resulted from his witnessing the worst which could come out in people. She also saw his resilience, and the honor he deserved for surviving his past. "If you ever were a teenager you would have been bored with it faster than you physically matured to conquer it. I however, don't have the chance to live forever," she added matter-of-factly. "unlike you. I cannot deny what I have been told, that no matter my age upon my death, even should I live to see one-hundred, my life among you shall likely seem far too short for what I hope to accomplish. Who can say what my future holds? I shall treat every mission as my last. By all that is holy, I am determined to consider each event as if it were my last hurrah!" Tempest shall have her pomp and circumstance!

She had matured a great deal since she first came under Master Syn's tutelage. "Maybe there will be something yet that you will value to take away from knowing me. Maybe I can impress upon you something that will give you cause to remember me by with fondness," she added with a flair to her tone.

"Here we are inside a cave immensely fortified in the Light of the Force. You showed me the Art of Small herein, and I in return, hope to coax you to express the emotion of your being in the art of dance."

Tempest tapped her wrist band and music resonated all around them. Tempest cocked her head with a smile and she beckoned him to dance with her.

And as the first song finished the second began. To this one she would twirl and cascade across the crystal floor all on her own, ever so uplifted by the tempo, her spirit transformed.

 

[Syn]

He listened to her speak and Tempest Yore brought something up that he didn't like to admit might be true... he hadn't had a childhood but he never looked upon that with regret... he didn't lament or brood about what he had never had or covet.. he didn't envy that which some got and he hadn't. No he had accepted it... he matured in his environment.. so when she said she would teach him something the jedi master raised an eyebrow under his sash but was prepared to let her... if he wanted to teach he first had to be willing to learn as well. Each student had taught him seomwthing to make his training methods stronger when she started dancing to music. He was watching her in the force as he moved towards her and well he knew how to dance... sort of. He had with his bride a couple of times.... but he was looking at her and she had done well.. she had made him proud. "Who wants to live forever." He looked at her and moved his hand to take hers and dance, slower but more as a pair and unit. "Liife for humans contains substance you will learn, the small victories, the tiny defeats all of the reasons. You are creatures of substance and desires, able to twist and bend compared to many others." He was looking down at her and brought one hand to her shoulder to guide it. "But you are gaining insight."

 

[Tempest Yore]

Who wants to live forever? he asked.

"Maybe if someday love finds me, I will most certainly like to dwell in it for the longest time possible." She is still young, and love is certainly not something she chases after, nor something she aspires to generate out of nothing. She feels, if and when it shall evolve, then she shall simply have the responsibility to honor and nurture it while it is her's. She has her flighty teen-side, but on the most part, also a good sense of reality about her when its called for.

Tempest danced often enough to have learned how to glide gracefully as she moved. She listened to his conversation starter, and took into herself the message he wanted her to know, but where she wants to go right here and now held no words. Maybe he would sense that, she would try and show him how to let go of his inhibitions. She closed her eyes and followed in the series of footsteps as he led her along. The music uplifted her spirit as if it was blessed by the light of the Force itself. It was simple, not as complex as performed by a full symphony orchestra, but it carried emotional intent through to her being.

She is, and ever was, very free spirited. She held no other ties to this day, to any living being who could match the relationship she holds with Master Syn . She always felt psychoanalyzed by him, from day one. Who else would dare be brave enough to step up to the plate and explore the depths of her character as much as her Master bore upon his own shoulders? Along the way during their few years as Master and Padawan, every aspect of her being that ever held her back, or raised fears and questions within her, he learned it all and helped her through it.

She recognized the weight of a seriousness, that while it is deeply warranted, it gripped hold of him so very often, she wanted to give something back to him, to relieve him of that burden for just a little while. Within what safer place could such be attempted?