Our Special Place

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It had been months since the Warlord had found the girl in a wreckage, hurt, wounded and yet her spirit had always stayed [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]strong[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. This realization had prompted to make her into an acolyte of sorts, to train her in his ways and see if she was worthy of the praise. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]To see if she was worthy of more than what she currently was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Currently they stood amidst the hot geysers and magma pools nearby the cabin. A thin durasteel-wrapped rope was spun across the magma, bubbles of heat rose up from the pools and in general the temperature was scalding.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Even he had a layer of transpiration across his skin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They had been training for all those months, to teach her the nature of the spirits, to give her insight in the elements and today was a [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]test[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]One of the many to come.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She had to pass from one side to the other, which seemed easy enough and yet… it would be hard. The durasteel absorbed the heat, magnified it and it would all burn the flesh of her feet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Jemmila Kyrgen"] would need to move swiftly, use the techniques of air to keep her balance and speed herself up, and use the techniques of heat to make sure she wouldn’t burn herself and fall to her death.[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

In the months that Jemmila spent with Master Ireles, she began to grow increasingly curious about the elemental powers he commanded. Even though she was his captive, he frequently expressed interest in her power and the potential he saw in her. She was a stormy woman, full of emotions that changed like the tides. She had a primal nature that was not being expressed in her current training, however useful it was. In a sky full of apprentices and acolytes, Jemmila was an aurora borealis. Lightsabers and training droids would not bring out her true calling.

Jemmila soon found that the more in touch she became with the muddy jungle planet on which she was being held, the more she felt at one with nature. She discovered the connection between the Force and the world itself. Once Vheissu was convinced that Jemmila would not flee his care, he gave her freedoms which she used to further bind this connection. She bathed in mud. She swam in the planet's rivers. She climbed the mountains, many of them inactive volcanos threatening to erupt at any moment.

For this test that Master Ireles gave her, she was ready. She was worthy. She stood in front of the rope and extended her hands. The air shimmered around her as she began to siphon the heat from the burning durasteel into her palms, using the Force to allow her body to absorb it without damage. Then like the wind, she began to dash over the magma pools.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She had impressed him with her connection to the wilds.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]At first she had smelled of [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]technology[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], her scent had been that of the modern civilization, of droids and huge capital ships, of durasteel and glasteel. In general she had seemed too restricted in her thinking and not open for the other [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]possibilities.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But that faded away with the time passed, her legs grew strong from the endless running, her feet calloused, arms strengthening during the climbing session, in everything she became [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]more[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. In the end she would be a warrior.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was a way of life.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And even now she was impressing him with her expertise in the controlling of the elements, which did not mean that he wouldn’t make it harder for her, because she was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]his[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His Acolyte and she would only be able to reach her full potential if he forced her to.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Intricate manipulation of the air currents would follow, making it harder for her to keep balanced, to move as swift as she tried. It almost seemed as if the durasteel beam grew longer in its length, she would need to compensate extra.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]If she wished to survive.[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

Sweat began to bead on her brow and the bottoms of her bare feet began to burn. Still she kept up her swift strides on the rope, continuing to siphon heat into her hands. The lava undulated beneath her graceful form, and a few hot globs bubbled up and popped so close to her skin, it sizzled. To fall off the rope was the quickest way to a certain, painful death. Her fear of falling began to creep into her head, psyching her out. The more Jem became distracted, the harder it was to pull the heat into her palms, and her soles began to blister.

Almost like a dream, the beam began to shift and extended before her eyes, and underneath, waves of lava lapped upon its surface. She called upon the Dark Side to fill her muscles with the wind, allowing her move faster. Her lithe body became a blurred shape as she moved at inhuman speeds. The apprentice could not hold the energy as long as one who had mastered the talent, and soon her pace slowed again, and her feet became charred.

Jem was desperate to cry out to Master Ireles for help, but she knew that the elementalist abhorred weakness, especially in the face of nature. From what Jemmila gathered from his teaching, mastering the elements was less about dominating them, and more about working with them and through them.

Becoming one with them.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]By then Vheissu would be bending through his knees, fists planted in the dirt of the earth and studying her forms, every move made was seen and pushed away for future reference. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]In general she wasn’t doing all that bad, she was actually doing so much better than he had done when he was only a youngling, her stance was almost impeccable, the heat transfer working as good as it could with her level of competence. Yet Ireles couldn’t help but snarl when he felt the scent of her burning skin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Sloppy, sloppy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The elementalist breathed out slowly, let the rage dissipate into the air and calmed himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Still better than I was.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] He would remark with a smug expression.[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

Don't choke. Don't choke. Don't choke. Jemmila winced as she padded quickly along the beam. She felt the Force energy flowing through her as she kept her palms forward, drawing up more heat. It was working. The soles of her feet still sang out in a chorus of pain, but as least they wouldn't burn worse. She cursed her lack of physics knowledge. It would probably come in handy using a power like this.

Without it, she felt like she was trying to paint in the dark. She called upon the winds to push her along. One gust swelled up so powerfully it almost blew her off the beam, and she lurched diagonally, her arms windmilling around her. Luckily she caught her balance and scurried forwards. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore she saw grass and rocks. The end was near!

Then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she vaulted herself off the beam and onto sweet terra firm. Thank the Maker it was over.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Vheissu snarled as he saw her fall to the ground, tears streaming, whines. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Weakness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was one of the few things that he could never accept, he faced away from her for a moment, letting her have her moment of weaknesses without soiling her honor even more than she already had done herself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Shadows passed his expressions as he studied the beam, studied the pool of magma, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]felt[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] the heat churning against his skin and making the transpiration dissipate before his very eyes. Heat, scalding and burning for even him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Too much?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Never.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“A warrior does not cry.” Vheissu would state flatly to his acolyte, still not deeming it worthy to watch her tears. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“A warrior does not get a chance to heal from his enemies in the midst of battle.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Finally then the Elementalist looked at her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Are you a warrior, Jemmila Kyrgen?”[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

Jemmila's feet were so blistered she could barely walk. Her hands were red from the heat she had to harness. Her adrenaline was still spiking from her near fall. When Master Ireles called her "weak," the storms began to brew. She scowled at him while the entirety of her eyes, the whites, the pupils, blackened like primordial mud. How dare he call her weak for letting a few frightened tears fall? Despite her injured soles, the capricious Hapan climbed to her feet.

"I would like to see you do better, Master Ireles," she spat. Then she became an unhinged harpy.

"Aarrrarrrrggh!" Jem cried, letting out an animal growl of rage. In the next moment, she flung herself at her Master and beat her burning fists on his broad, tanned chest. To Vheissu it probably felt like a baby bird beating its wings against him, but it was still deeply satisfying to her.

"You better fething believe I am a warrior!"

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And there was that ferocity that made her so endearing to him, how was it that this girl was able to swap so quickly from a weak little bird to a warrior in heart and spirit? In his young years he could not remember himself being such, but it had been so long ago.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Colored visages never made for objective views.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His big hand wrapped itself around her neck as she continued to pound his chest with her little fists, he squeezes just a little bit, just enough to [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]remind[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] her who she was dealing with. She wasn’t in the presence of her old Master, the girlish bureaucrat that couldn’t even control his own apprentice, even if he had tried.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Then Vheissu snorted and pushed her away from him, the wind ushering her into the ground and beckoning her to stay there.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Better[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], girl?” the Master Shaper would slowly whisper, undoing the leather straps that held the sheaths for his knives and dropped it to the ground. He sniffed into the air, feeling the heat radiating and then he was off.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His feet carried him to the beginning of the durasteel bar, smoldering magma and fire attacking his skin as Vheissu started walking, bare feet touching the steel and holding. No tears, only the smoke and transpiration evaporating against the heat.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]In the middle of the bar he halted, his eyes meeting hers as the heat was transferred from the bare soles of his feet and then radiated away from all his bare skin into the air. She would receive a wave of heat from him too, as he transferred all the fire away from him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That is until their eyes met, because then he smiled and let go of the shaping control. Soles immediately started burning and scalding, he resumed his walk, every step which should be pure agony to the Warrior and he pushed on with no regard for himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And at the end of his short journey, those burned, blackened soles stepped on the clean dirt and mud of safety and her Master would simply say.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Better?”[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

A giant hand squeezed her slender neck. Master Ireles snorted like a beast and then pushed her away. Rising to her challenge, the warrior dropped his weapons to the muddy ground, and began to stride across the durasteel beam with ease. It suddenly dawned on her. She had been doing it all wrong. Her feet were the conduits of the heat, not her hands. How could she have overlooked such a simple thing! Master Ireles turned and met her gaze, his determined expression morphing into a smile.

Jem winced from the acrid odor of his burning flesh, fighting the urge to try and help him. She had grown fond of Master Ireles after all these months, despite his specific demands of her. Or perhaps because of them. His return journey on the beam was a painful one. He was showing her how to endure pain without tears. Without self-pity. Jemmila had not been on the battlefield yet, but she gathered that there was no place for crying or snivelling. She wiped away her tears with a dirt-smeared hand. When he finished his journey, Jem wordlessly regarded him with a monumental amount of respect.

“No,” she answered with a smile that warmed up her face like the primal heat that emanated off both teacher and pupil.

“This is better.”

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They stood in the shallow spot of a river, a few days had passed and this had allowed both of them to recuperate from their last trial, from their last training session and the exertion that had surely followed after that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Remember.” the warrior would counsel her, feeling the water softly stream between his legs, the liquid brushing his skin and reminding [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]him[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] of all that he had learned in the past. “At the end of it all, we do not control any of this.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They did not dominate the earth, no control over the flame was exercised, the wind only came when coaxed and water could only be guided.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Slowly his body moved, arms making intricate patterns and the water started to move, wrapping itself around its guider.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“We are merely the catalyst, the spark that lights the fire. We begin the reaction, but in the end we can only guide it towards our goal. Nothing more… nothing less.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Swift movement and Vheissu [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]pushed[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], all of that water that had been hanging around him in the air would suddenly rush out towards Jemmila.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]React fast as the wind.[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

Despite the wounds on her soles, Vheissu was determined to press on with her training, and she gave no arguments. She was relieved to find their next training session took place in the cool and soothing water of a shallow river. Jemmila gratefully waded into the river. The water felt amazing on her burned and blistered feet. The mud was cool as it squished beneath her toes, cradling each one with softness. How had she overlooked Nature's beauty all these years? Training with Master Ireles had opened up her third eye, and it saw how connected everything was to the power of the Force and the natural world. How all life moved as one with the Force. It was transcendental.

With lips slightly parted she watched Master Ireles shape the water with his bare hands. As it danced in his palms, his mastery of it was evident. Suddenly a cold gush went rushing towards her like a small tidal wave. Her reflexes kicked in and she used the Force to fill her body with the energy of wind, dodging to the side in a blur. She didn't avoid it completely however, and as she whirled to look at him, she found herself drenching wet, her training clothes clinging to her form.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Vheissu rolled his eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Again.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There was a difference between him and the many other souls screaming for dominion in the outer reaches of his being, most of which came back to the single-handed burning fury and focus that dominated his entire being. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Few if anything could blunt that resolve[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And wet clingy clothes hugging a frame was not one of those things, sadly. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Once again he started to move his hands, intricate gestures creating a web of water around his body that flowed from one position to another and then just as swiftly as the other time he [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]pushed[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] the tendrils against her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She would need to redirect the currents and take control over them.[/SIZE]

 

[Zola]

The water rose up to meet his fingers, a lattice of droplets swirled around him in defiance of its own nature. As she watched him dominate the element, she could see in her mind's eye how useful the water would be against foes. Flash floods, water spouts, torrential rain, a frozen wall. Water could be a powerful offense and defense. Master Ireles had warned her there was war on the horizon. The foes were the Children of Mandalore. The Hapan apprentice wished to be a part of it. It would be the true test of her new skills. She was also fiercely protective of Vheissu, and if he went to war, by the Maker, she would go with him.

She attempted to mirror Master Ireles' technique, and surprisingly the more she connected herself to the element, the more it began to respond. Nature was eager to serve, if it knew you would protect it, just as it protected you. That mutual unspoken agreement was one of its secrets. Jem weaved a small wave which rose up to meet Master Ireles' sudden gush of water. Two waves clashed like soldiers on the battlefield, and once the moisture subsided, Jem found that she had successfully thwarted his attack, with only a minor drenching this time.

Her hand flicked out, playfully splashing her mentor as she savored her success.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]