(Private) Meeting a master

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

Wu looked at her moving and she spoke. "The situations you might encounter in the field in a fight can vary and be even more dangerous. So jedi masters can use tis to train and how to dodge or redirect more dangerous attacks... at the higher levels though." She said it and was looking at the padawan though as the sphere was moving around and using the single stun shots. Advanced weapons wouldn 't be needed to get her itno the groove and flow of it. "There we go, feel for the attack coming, the sphere has a small crystal in for you to try and sense but this exercise is about adapting and stopping the sphere."

 

[Karraala]

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]



The young padawan hesitated a moment. But master Wu was right. Unable to otherwise locate the sphere, she had to listen to her intuition. With a deep breath, Karraala closed her eyes and let her ears relax.

There was the tug again. The young Karta'Esh turned towards it. An impulse, not unlike a twitch of her muscles, made her lift the sword. She heard the zapping sound the machine made when one of those sparks was created. She felt the spark hitting the sword and getting absorbed. Her tail started to swish back and forth excitedly. This was working.

There was another tug nearby though. Another presence on the edge of her mind. It felt much more intense and... alive than the sphere.

For a split second, risking getting distracted from the sparks, Karraala opened her eyes, looking into the direction of that presence and saw... master Wu. Somehow, it didn't surprise her at all. The girl managed to keep intercepting those sparks, homing in on the sphere in the process. When the time felt right, she lashed out with her sword.
She must have hit it, because she could hear a metallic sound and felt resistance that slipped upwards.

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

"There we go." She was looking at it and the sphere was struck as the cloaking went away and it bouned off the ground. Coming back up and hovering there... it wasn't actualy sentient more programmed but something that the darrow sphere it was based off of from the ancient je'daii observed. The thing sometimes got clever or a mind of its own and seemed to acknowledge people... though no one really know if it was just the mind filling in more then that. THe sphere kept moving around but it didn't use its cloaking device instead switching from a stun shot to a focused sonic blaster and ion paddle beamer. THe one being used to stun the body and from the Ruu with the means to wrap around a lightsaber.

 

[Karraala]

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]

When the sphere became visible again, a triumphant growl escaped her throat, a feral grin exposing her teeth for a second. The Tug jerked her sideways, Karraalas body reacting before she fully realised it. There was a vibration in the air that missed her, barely. Then another spark, but it looked different. She parried it with her training sword, but instead of absorbing it, the sword fizzled all over, the blade of light vanishing. The girl dropped it and simply slashed at the sphere with her claws.

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

Well that was certainly a way to do it. Wu was watching and she didn't judge her.. the training sphere was different for everyong and sometimes showed insight into their mindset. The jedi master held up her hand and the chevron flashed for a moment to stop the sphere and it hovered there. "An different way to go about it but it can be effective in some cases. The metal of the sphere though is likely to break you claws if you kept at it though." She didn't say it like it was meant as a bad thing but.... "So tell me what you have managed to learn so far about the expectation versus the reality of a lightsaber?"

 

[Karraala]

"Well yes, it is made of metal. It was the first that came to mind, and anyway, better to do something than to flap around helplessly." Karraala replied. "As for the light saber." She hesitated. "It is at the same time similar and different to wielding a blade of metal. It is a very swift weapon. Can it parry other weapons though?" The padawan asked master Wu. "As for my expectations, I didn't have many. I mean, I listened to stories about Jedi back home. They mentioned fiery swords, but I thought those were just normal swords that they put oil on and ignited or something." She shrugged in a quite human like manner.

"We don't have anything like this at home." Karraala bent down to pick up the lightsaber, tail outstretched for balance. "But I guess it is powerful." Then, after a moment, she added: "And dangerous." Respect for the weapon tinged her expression. "Touching a sharp blade is a bad idea already, with this... " She smirked, without showing her teeth. "It would be outright stupid." Her ears twitched amused.

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

"All of that is true." She said it but was moving around to look at her padawan and she spoke. "YOu have an idea of what the weapon can do a respect compared to some... that is good. Some might try and flourish the blade, to spin it around and don't realize how dangerous it can really be." SHe slid her lightsaber out and the small guard of it on the hilt made it almost look like a traditional sword hilt but it was still round as she activated it with the force. THe jade green blade gleaming and pulsating as she held it in her hand and extended her arm. "That respect for what the blade can do but also who wields it. Will you use it as a tool or a weapon. Something to be taken out only under the most tense circumstances or a weapon that is brought out to impose your will."

 

[Karraala]

Karraala did not fully understood what her master meant at first, but when she did, she reached for her metal sword, a delicate but sturdy weapon, made as much for swiftness and precision as she was made herself. She drew it and held it in a salute, facing master Wu.

"I swore to protect those in danger,
to follow my lord as he calls.
To draw it in justice, not anger,
to not hurt who yields as he falls.

My sword heard my oath as it met me,
I shall heed this until we depart.
Never to use it for evil,
To honour my soul with its art."

With this, she pricked one finger on the sharp tip, letting a drop of blood run down the length of the blade. "My oath is renewed."

Her whole being shone in the force with honesty. She absolutely meant what she said.

She quickly cleaned the blade before sheathing it again. Karraala looked at the master, tilting her head slightly.

"Any weapon is a tool any tool can be a weapon. It depends on how one uses it. But I seek knowledge and growth for my soul and body, not power to enslave others. Is that what you wanted to know?"

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

"Yes but it is so easy to protect others that you are suddenly controlling all aspects under the justification. A dangerous thought or small thing... it is why a jedi needs to meditate and reaffirm their views of the force or change them as they learn. My master was skilled for the most part but also highly inattentive in my training. We met only a handful of times and usually I was just told to go and study until I was given the rank of knight without much thought and even less becoming a master. I might have talent in the diplomatic and culinary fields in the order but I was also highly inexperienced and unsure of what I was doing" Still am she wanted to say but looked at her padawan with the blade and deactivared her own. "NOw lets see what we can do to get you using the force. something simple like push feather."

 

[Karraala]

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]

Karraala tilted her head to the other side. "But it is a lords place to lead and command, and the peasants place to obey. I mean, if the powerful knows better, why shouldn't he control the rest?" She looked around the garden. "I believe you that meditation is necessary to maintain the balance, to keep wise. The power and wisdom of the Jedi must come from somewhere. But if they are so wise and powerful, why shouldn't they control the rest for their own protection? I just don't understand the problem."

As master Wu mentioned pushing a feather, the Karta'Esh looked at her expectantly. "So that part of the legends is actually true? Jedi can move things without touching them?"

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

"To control someone is a slippery slope, some people will expect a jedi to solve al of their problems and in the end there are some things we cna't really solve." She said it though and it was not exactly an easy topic any of the jedi could do. a fine line between advice and aid and a dictatorship. The jedi master though was looking at her and she offered a smile. "Yes it is true, the jedi are skilled in moving things with their mind. PUsh feather is a good way to train the skill."

 

[Karraala]

"I know a saying. Give them one claw and they take the whole arm." She crouched down, picking up a fallen leaf. "Some people just can not be pleased. They are never satisfied. Will this do?" She looked over the leaf at [member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"] . "How is it done? Do I need an incantation? Like a wizards spell?" She asked half jokingly. The young Karta'Esh focused on the leaf on the palm of her hand. Instinctively, she tried to feel the tug of the force, tried to sense the leaf the same way she had sensed the metal sphere, or master Wu.

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

"No incantation but it is hard to explain." She looked at her. "I am not you padawan, how I do something can give you an idea a mindset of maybe how to approach it but connecting to the force is something that is in your mind is in your body." She said it but she was looking at her and she held her hand out pressing them to her stomach. "When I feel the force it starts here with the breath. Breahthing in the force, clearing my mind and I focus allowing it to expand throughout my body." She held a hand out and moved one of the feather as she pushed it up into the air. "Then I focus a little and allow the force to wash off of m body."

 

[Karraala]

The young padawan took a deep breath of the clean air in the garden. Next, she exhaled slowly, focusing on the air as it left her body, letting all tension go with it. Just as she had learned in training.

There was the tug, clearer now as if it was the only tension in her body now, even though it was only in her mind. She followed the tug, becoming more aware of the leaf in her hand now, of master Wu standing right next to her, of the quiet metal sphere she had battled minutes earlier, resting on the ground. She also felt the plants around her. The insects in the grass, the birds in the trees. This however, was not what she wanted right now.
With an effort of will, and each new breath, Karraala narrowed her focus, away from the trees, the grass, even away from master Wu, until only the leaf was in her focus. She felt the tug connecting her to it. On an idea, or maybe an instinct, she attempted to tug back on the tug, to tease it into a different direction. She felt the leaf tipping over in her hand, flipping over and off her palm.

Karraalas eyes opened. She had not even noticed closing them. Her ears stood bolt upright, as did her tail. "Did I do that?" She asked excitedly.

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

THe jedi master was watching her and she wasn't going to rush it... the longer it took only meant she was allowing the force to come to her. THe jedi master felt it, a brush in the air and her senses tingled though while she was moving but then she was holding out her hand as the leaf turned over and the padawan came out of it for a moment. To ask if she had done it as the jedi master looked at her and focused the force to pull her energies upwards and move the leaf to keep t in the air. "Yes but don't lose your focus."

 

[Karraala]

"Oh of course!" Karraala exclaimed. She took a deep breath again to calm herself down and refocus. Her mind grasped for the leaf once more, trying to both feel it and move it at the same time. She felt like the time she tried to catch a little bird without crushing it.
It was quite delicate work. At the same time, the exercise caused a deep calm to come over her. Maybe it was the focus, maybe it was the feeling of being connected with all of her surroundings in a way she never had felt before. Without even realizing it consciously, the girl started to purr.

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

Wu was looking at her and she moved her hands to keep the feather up in the air as she listened and felt her padawan in the force. She was sinking into it herself as she felt the area around them and the jedi master nodded. "You are doing well." She sent the feather up inot the air and moved slowly around her padawan to test it and get her to practice control and direction. Letting her send it towards her master as the small jedi master breathed outwards.

 

[Karraala]

[member="Wu Yeoh-Mei"]

"Thank you master." A satisfied and proud Karraala followed master Wu's instructions, forgoing the leaf for the feather that the short human provided, fully engrossed in the 'game'.

She even attempted playfully to let the feather orbit around Wu Yeoh-Mei's head, tail swishing eagerly. She had noticed that her control over the feather had grown since the start of the exercise. The young Karta'Esh also noticed that she started to feel drained. Not physically, she was still ready to exert herself. But she was not used to focusing with this intensity for this long.
Nonetheless, Karraala worked as hard now as she did at the start of the exercise, trying to hide her mental exhaustion in order to not disappoint master Wu.

 

[Wu Yeoh-Mei]

[member="Karraala"]

She looked at her and nodded. "You are feeling it aren't you? Exhausted and tired... mentally but your body doesn't protest if anything it might seem like it has nervous amounts of energy. THis is one of the objectives. FOr the younglings and children it teaches them how to work their mental muscles, their stamina for focus compared to just being physical." She moved around though and held her hand out ready to keep the feather in the air with a smile. "When you are ready we can take a break and let your mind relax."

 

[Karraala]

"That sounds like a good idea, actually." The girl smiled with her ears. With one last conscious effort, she let go of her connection to the feather. It felt good to relax her mind. The Karta'Esh sat down on the grass, stretching her arms for a moment before settling down, supporting her weight with the arms stretched out behind her. Karraala looked up at master Wu. "Have you trained many padawans before? You seemed to know exactly what is going on with me." She tilted her head, gazing relaxedly at the human woman through her slit pupiled eyes.