One with Nature

[Dune Rhur]

It was time to move the exercise along. His students had reached out to the Force and it to them. Ra and Alema both did so comfortably enough and this was good. A Jedi should be totally at ease in the flow of energy.

He reached a hand out towards the stones around them. At his bidding the fist-sized chunk of rock floated past the learners and to him. It was effortless for the Bith as it would one day be for them. Dune let it hover their for a moment.

The gestures were not strictly necessary but they served as a focus. Much like a meditation crystal which some believed could work within a lightsaber. Not so as they had different properties. But again the hand movements often served to help a learner.

Dune didn't need them per se. He did so for the benefit of the two he had brought with him. It would be easier for their minds to grasp as if they were physically picking up the rocks. His cupped palm simulated holding it for them to see.

Now he simulated passing the rock to Alema....

 

[Lief]

No words were needed in instruction. She felt the Force stir around the Jedi Master in a way that spoke of raw usage as opposed to opening oneself to its flow, and opening her eyes revealed him to be levitating a rock that was larger than her hand. Somewhat intimidating for her first attempt in front of these strangers, but a technique she had been practicing for some time now. It ought to come to her relatively naturally, so long as he did not ask her to move one of the boulders taller than she.

He wouldn't do that, right?

With an exhale she quieted her mind and turned her attention to the rock as it was brought toward her. Like the passing of the torch, it fell to her to sustain its lofty position. The gesture she provided was minimal, a very slight lift of her left hand brought the rock under her guidance. She had once been told that the size of the object did not matter so long as you opened yourself truthfully to the Force. There were limits on this of course, pulling Super Star Destroyers from space, or planets, was a ridiculous notion. There were far more factors involved there.

But rocks? And ordinary objects that only had to fight with basic gravity?

Another small breath, before she attempted to move it. Her hand remained firmly in place, though her eyes betrayed her as she looked to her right where Padawan Ra sat and directed it toward the white-haired girl. It was not as smooth as the transition between Master Rhur and she, truth be told with all of the moving around she hadn't had time for telekinetic practices, but she did not drop it. And that was something, right?

[member='Ra'a'mah'] [member='Dune Rhur']

 

[Riamah]

As Ra sat there, a rock a little larger than her own fisted hand floated past her head. [member="Dune Rhur"] had called it to him, allowing it to hover in the air in front of him. She watched as he passed it to [member="Alema Ziveri"] and then as the little girl moved it to her.

This is seemed to be a game similar to ones played by little children. Where a circle is formed and the ball passed randomly to others in the circle. Knowing there WAS a child present, Ra took no offense at having to play the game.

When the rock was in front of her. Her looked at it with her golden eye which took on a lightly whitish glow as she took it from the girl with the Force. It became more steady in its flight and Ra motioned it along the path and back to Dune.

She gave them both a small smile and waited for their master to take the rock again.

 

[Dune Rhur]

The exercise continued now a little faster or slower. Each time they went around the circle something changed. He didn't want their focus to drift and to depend upon route memorization of a pattern. Now he added a second stone to pass off to the youngling.

She could handle multiple objects. Dune had no doubt about that even if perhaps she did. This would also help inspire her confidence. Ra on the other hand seemed to have no lack of that.

Unlike his students the Master was able to divide his attention between the exercise and them. He wanted to see how they handled things. Too the Bith wondered just how and why Ra was so good already. Her skills were akin to Alema's three or four years.

Adults typically didn't learn as fast as children. Certainly their ability to perfect said skill was greater. However this was all too fast in his estimation. A talk was going to be in order with the older apprentice about these 'other sources'.

 

[Lief]

From there the exercise only picked up. Soon the rock was passed at a more sporadic pace, then another was introduced. At times the young girl worried that she would not be capable of keeping up, which made the rocks tremble with uncertainty every so often. She never dropped one, though she came close on more than one occasion.

Usually on her first go around with a new thing to focus on.

She did not give up though. She did not become frustrated. Each time she stumbled she picked herself right back up. A small inhale of breath, her mind emptied and focused on the task. It wasn't that she couldn't inherently focus on more than one things, but the pressure of having to do so in the presence of two strangers who outranked her? It felt like a test, though she knew it wasn't.

Soon she was getting into the flow of things, and while no two rounds between them were the same, nor easy to guess, she became a little more self assured. She didn't get ahead of herself, though. She didn't try any fancy tricks, or say anything between the passing of the rocks. Her face remained a picture of concentration.

[member='Ra'a'mah'] [member='Dune Rhur']

 

[Riamah]

After passing the rock and sometime multiple rocks around for a while, Ra started to get bored and a little irritated at the game. However, she kept her face passive and neutral, hiding her emotion inside like she usually did.

It wasn't the little girl's fault and Ra took it in stride. She knew what it was like teaching and playing with them and just how much patience was needed. She was beyond a child though and wanted to move past this foolish game.

During the exercise though, she didn't try to impress either [member="Dune Rhur"] or [member="Alema Ziveri"] with extra antics or displays of power.

 

[Dune Rhur]

This was a test of patience as much as it was of skill. A Jedi should have both in abundance. Ra needed to learn this being as she was new to it all. [member="Alema Ziveri"] showed determination and patience enough to impress the Master.

The young Twi'lek had great promise. There were many years ahead but a strong Jedi she might yet make. Best not to overwhelm her with all of that. Just let everything progress according to the Force.

"Ra, I want you to pick up some extra stones, like so," he told her.

The Bith summoned more stones and began to juggle them. Half a dozen now.

 

[Riamah]

Allowing [member="Dune Rhur"] and [member="Alema Ziveri"] to continue with the little rock game, Ra turned her attention to doing as her master wanted.

She closed her eyes, centered herself, finding peace within her and the Force flowing around the rocks. Opening her eyes, she deftly picked up five fist sized stones and floated them over to her. Slowly she got them moving in almost circular fashion, but even this feat was difficult to accomplish for her. Drawing in a sixth like Dune proved futile and she dropped all of them to the ground in front of her.

 

[Lief]

The young twi'lek stared between the two of them, in awe of what she was witnessing. They were... juggling rocks? Alema could not even juggle with her hands, much less the Force, and the sight before her had her bottom lip lower just a touch.

Oh how she hoped the Master would not turn the same task to her. There was no way that she could replicate it.

Swallowing back her trepidation, she straightened up her posture and instantly felt a little better. She focused on the next rock which came her way, its path between she and the Bith a little more shaky than it had previously been.

But she couldn't let her nerves show on the surface. She had to keep them under control, even if they quivered within.

[member='Dune Rhur'] [member='Ra'a'mah']

 

[Dune Rhur]

Ra's circle of stones dropped and it wiped her smug self-satisfaction off of her face. Mission accomplished. Pride was something that had led many students astray. It was best to curtail it before it got too much.

[member="Alema Ziveri"] on the other hand showed trepidation. Not through her carefully school expression but I could feel it.

"Don't worry about us, Alema, focus on your own tasks. He gestured for Ra to begin again albeit with less stones.

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a slightly irritated sigh, Ra again attempted to pick up the stones in front of her. She heard [member="Dune Rhur"] tell [member="Alema Ziveri"] to not worry about what he was teaching her and to concentrate on her own task.

The stones five stones in front of her rose into the air and Ra got them moving in a circular motion, but not the intricate juggling Done had done previously. Trying to weave them around each other, she missed, the stone hitting each other and falling down again.

Trying again, she got the motions in quicker and they lasted longer, but in the end, the rocks crashed again and again.

While no longer a child, Ra felt like laying down on the ground, kicking and screaming in frustration. Keeping it hidden from at least the girl, she felt her master would pick up on her feelings easily.

 

[Lief]

Focus on her own task? She could do that. With a very slight nod, and still the ever present silence which seemed to stretch over the young Twi'lek, Alema quieted her mind for what had to be the thousandth time today and began to once again take control of the grouping of rocks which were sent back and forth between she and Master Rhur. No more quivering of the rocks, no more trepidation, the young girl finally seemed to take it in her stride and each new motion to the rocks was done with confidence.

Until the rocks Padawan Ra was juggling came tumbling down with a large crack. That made her jump, and in turn her own rocks fell to the floor between she and the Master. Alema swallowed, eyes widening for a brief second... Could she lift them on her own? All of them?

There were so many which had been moving through the loop, that she had never had to consciously focus on in the collective, that it was somewhat daunting. One by one she raised them and passed them back to Master Rhur, to resume the cycle... There were no rules in this game that stated she had to lift them all at once if they fell after all. At least none which had been stated.

[member='Ra'a'mah'] [member='Dune Rhur']

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune looked over at the sudden clatter of rocks and felt the outpouring of frustration from Ra. Truthfully he wouldn't have even needed to feel it to see that she was ready to lose her temper. It was all going according to plan. He spoke to her in his gentle and patient way.

"There is no Emotion, there is Peace," he recited "Breathe deep and clear your mind of your anger. Begin again when you have. You must learn to not let your emotions control you."

He turned his attention back to [member="Alema Ziveri"] who also had dropped her stones. The youngling looked a little bewildered at the numbers being handled. The Bith smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry about the number of stones nor how big they are," he told her "Two stones is not so very different from one, three stones from two. A rock the size of your fist or the size of a bantha. It's all up here."

He told her that while tapping his temple. With a nod they began the exercise again. This time he added in another rock....

 

[Riamah]

Grumbling under her breath at Dune when he quoted one line of the Jedi code to her.

"There is too emotion. Ugh."

While Ra remembered their​ conversation where he first told her the code and they talked about it at great length, she still didn't feel it totally applied to her.

Letting out another sigh, but with less heat it than the one before, she closed her eyes, cleared her mind and tried to push the irritation away. Eventually the heat of her frustration faded and she once again felt the calm of the Force around them. Opening her eyes at this point, Ra reached out and picked the stones up again.

Having much more personal control this time, Ra got them flowing, weaving and was juggling them more easily than she had before. Giving [member="Dune Rhur"] a not at all smug smile, she beamed at him.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Lief]

The Jedi Master's words were in truth a comfort. Alema had been taught similar by a teacher back on Tython, who had first introduced her to the concept of telekinesis. The size of the object matters not, only your will to lift it. Could it be true? Were they not proving the exact same thing right now, by lifting so many, moving so many?

Padawan Ra's frustrations startled her. While she did not look to be new, given her age, she realized that these days students came in all shapes and sizes... Was she just as new to this as Alema? Newer? Who was to say.

All that she knew was that Master Rhur's patience knew no limits. He recited off the code, though she snubbed it almost instantly, before resuming the exercise with Alema. Turning her sights and attentions away from Ra, Alema lifted the final rock and continued to pass them between she and the Master. He added another rock, sneaky... She had noticed, and yet it felt no harder. Part of her wished to test herself, not with the juggling technique... No, she wouldn't even know where to begin with that, but... Somehow. Something to stir the pot again.

She couldn't bring herself to ask, though, so she remained quiet and at the leisurely pace which had been set.

No need to rush things, Al... The Master knows what he's doing.

[member='Ra'a'mah'] [member='Dune Rhur']

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Good, Ra," he said after she gathered herself "Emotion yet Peace."

He returned the smile and gave a nod of approval. Now she was beginning to see the truth. You were always stronger when at peace. You could focus on the task with all of your energies.

Dune turned a cheeky grin to [member="Alema Ziveri"] as he added another small rock. Less than fist sized this time. Just to show her that she could do it. The Bith saw the question in her eyes.

"What is it, Alema?"

 

[Lief]

Another rock was added, and she inhaled a slow breath. No longer seeing them as individual objects, she moved them as though a conveyor belt, one cycling construct that she powered with her mind. Perhaps not the point of the exercise... Or maybe it was. Maybe he was intent on showing her that size and number did not in fact matter, just your will.

The Bith saw the question on the tip of her tongue, though Alema did not know if she could speak and keep her focus. She had never really tested it. So she slowed the rotation of rocks as best as she could, swallowed back her uncertainty, and finally opened her mouth.

"Forgive me, Master Jedi, but I feel too comfortable with this exercise as it stands. I was wondering if there was a way to make it just a little bit more... Unpredictable?"

Rocks trembled, but they did not cease. How she managed that she did not know.

[member="Dune Rhur"] [member='Ra'a'mah']

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Certainly, Alema," he said with a playful grin.

Then he extended a hand and lifted her off the ground. With a twist of his hand she would find herself boots over tea-kettle. The Bith's grin widened. He began to move her in a slow circle.

"Shall we begin again?," he decided to add a variable for himself. The Bith stood and performed a hand-stand, kipping up onto his hands. With that he levitated the stones and began to shuggle them to her.

[member="Alema Ziveri"]

 

[Riamah]

Only paying a little attention to [member="Dune Rhur"] and [member="Alema Ziveri"], Ra looked over to see them both upside down. Her own stones came crashing down again and she while she tried not to laugh, she found herself doing it anyway.

It wasn't a mean thing, just one full of humor at seeing what was transpiring around her. Having the feeling that she was going to regret her reaction, Ra fully expected to be turned upside down as well and included in the exercise. It would put it in a new perspective for her.

 

[Dune Rhur]

And true to her expectations, Ra would also find herself boots-over-tea kettle. Dune was always an equal opportunity kind of being.

"A Jedi shouldn't need something as minor as being right-side up to use the Force," he said in mock solemnity.

He was struggling to contain his mirth behind his usual stoic mien. This was why it was fun to training younglings. Now he was beginning to remember that. They managed to remind even the most serious-minded of fun.

"Now juggle, Ra," he told her "Upside down."

[member="Alema Ziveri"]