Sand. It Gets Everywhere.

[Alwine Daye]

She was not bleeding. Her flesh had not been punctured. Instead it was a painful electric sensation, which took her a few moments to realize felt nothing like an actual stab. So the droids wouldn't actually kill her, just confuse her senses to think she was being placed in genuine danger.

A message inside her mind. Alwine jumped backwards at it, reminding herself that she needed to ask him about it later on. For now, she merely nodded, taking her stand again, blocking the next several attacks that came in.

She moved quickly, swiftly, like a wolf pouncing its prey. With every moment that passed, her movements became quicker. But still it was not enough. She could not reach the speed needed to both defend herself and attack in the small widow of opportunity. Not when she was facing two.

With a sudden gleam in her eye, Alwine rolled forward, passing between the droids, and broke into an earnest run. If she could not beat them, she could do something else.

Moments later she reached Caid and moved behind him without ever touching his person, the droids now having not one target but two. Whether they would have to work around him as to not hit him or he would become a target as well, it could give her the window she so direly required to come out of this with less electric shocks to her body.


[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid's eyes narrowed. No, the droids weren't designed to cause actual harm to her. Kudos to little wolf for identifying one of the many inherent drawbacks of certain training aids. While Caid was certain that setting could be overridden, it was probably a little pointless. A droid couldn't exactly be programmed with "hurt her just a little bit but not too much". It was either injure or kill...no in between.

A frown briefly creased the Sith's features as Alwine came sprinting back towards him. When she hid behind him, his gaze shifted towards the rapidly charging droids, a thin smile on his face. Very well then. If Alwine did not wish to fight the droids, he would oblige.

In one fluid movement, Caid motioned with his right hand, sending a wave of force energy into the droids that was so powerful it caused them to go flying back against the obstacle course and shatter. Before the sound of them shattering could even be heard however, Caid had turned and seized Alwine by her throat with his left hand, slamming her back to the ground. With the weight of his bare chest pressing against her own, Caid whispered. "Let's try something different then. Please convince yourself that I will hold back."

He would not. The little wolf would rise to the occasion, or she would hurt very badly.

Releasing her throat, Caid placed his left hand on the ground beside her head and jumped backwards. As his body sailed briefly through the air, one of the swords in the room was called to his right hand. There was no flourish of the blade, and the only concession he would give Alwine was the right to make the first move. "Come then little wolf."

The last phrase he uttered contained an airy undertone that would reach directly into her mind with no regard for restraining the full weight of his presence and it swelled throughout the room.

"Bring me your body."
Bring me your body.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

While it was true that she had stood behind him, she had not actually been hiding. From her spot, Alwine could perfectly see what Caid did to the droids. The hunger in her rose. She wanted to know how to do exactly that! And suddenly she flattened to the ground, Caid's hand around her neck.

Both woman and wolf struggled against the grip, but even with whatever strength she had as a Lupine, it was far from sufficient to get the big man away from her. Knees tried to hit where they could, but she was either not hitting in the right places, or it had no effect on him.

He did not have to whisper his words for her to need any convincing. She did not know the depth of him, but she knew that he would not truly hold back, would not try to coddle her.

She was still struggling for air when Caid called the sword into his hand, her own hands reaching for her throat, wondering if there would be bruises there shortly. Her mother had worked so hard to keep her body from any markings, plans that had gone down the drain when the tortures had begun. And her mother was dead.

It was a struggle, but Alwine managed to rise to her feet. Caid didn't have to add the underlying message through the Force. She would have done it anyway, launching forward with the sword in her own hand, aiming to slash his front.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Another smile briefly creased Caid's lips as the young Lupine launched into the assault. The point of Caid's actions were not simply to fight the young girl, nor were they the result of any real surge of emotion within his body. The Sith Lord's heartbeat remained as even and steady as it had been when he was idly watching her go through the warm up routine.

As [member="Alwine Lechner"] made strike after strike, Caid would not attempt to parry or stop her. Instead, he allowed his own connection with the Force to fuel his awareness, seeing things before they happened...even if it occasionally only allowed him to narrowly escape being struck. This would be the quality of Alwine's training for the duration of the time she was his student. There was no time to fall behind or fail to grasp basic concepts. In Caid's experience, the basics were best learned through diligent, rote practice. To that end, he would constantly build on each technique.

In this moment, Caid was attempting to draw out the anger that seemed to always exist just beneath the surface of her presence. He wanted to see if it would overpower her, or if she would be driven to frustration and simply quit. The advent of both would be tantamount to weakness in Caid's eyes, but he could only stamp out weakness if and when it was clearly identified.

Not to worry...they would return to her passive use of the Force in combat scenarios, but rising frustration almost always clouded the voice of the Force. Further more, she was not yet ready to wield her aggression as a true weapon. That required more finesse with the Force. A finesse he was attempting to teach her with every lesson.

 

[Alwine Daye]

Had she known or realized he was tryin to tempt her anger out, she would have laughed. Alwine rarely found herself struggling to let it out; it often seemed that one of her biggest problems was keeping it under control. After all, her predicament on Stewjon would not have happened had she been able to keep her emotions in check.

But she did not know.

As she continued to slash forward with the knife, it wasn't long before the growling began to form in her throat, a form that no human vocal chords should ever be able to produce. The wolf knew that it wasn't time to come out, that shifting now would spell out potential death, but it still scratched at the surface, urging the woman's rage, pushing it forward to hit harder, move faster, to remove any shred of mercy.

Alwine's anger easily rose within minutes, snarls joining in on the growling as she could not lay a single hit. Her moves began to become clumsier as she added more raw strength to every attempt, and between the sounds, human screams of frustration could be heard as well.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Eventually, Caid tossed the sword he'd been holding aside entirely. For several minutes, the Sith allowed the young girl to relentlessly pursue him. As Alwine's efforts reached the point where her frustration and exhaustion completely eclipsed any possible training value, Caid held up a single hand, attempting to arrest her movement completely with the Force. "Enough."

Hypothesizing that it would take Alwine a bit of time to cool off, the Sith Lord would maintain his invisible hold over her body as he spoke. "Little wolf..." Caid did not use the nickname in any type of patronizing fashion. "You are so consumed with anger and frustration that you are exhausting yourself. Now I'm not saying that you being angry is a problem. Any strong emotion can fuel your connection to the Force, granting you the ability to employ and master many fantastic feats. However, if your emotions control you and force you to become reckless as you just were, your effectiveness is completely nullified."

Releasing his hold on the girl, Caid called the weapon back to his hand. "Now...this time breathe and allow the Force to flow through you, to whisper to you. Doing this in combat is no different than doing it seated on the ground. As you told me you strive to do yesterday, clear your mind. Let the concerns and stings of the outside world melt away...they do not matter. You have to live in the present and focus on the task at hand. If you must use anger, let the Force turn that into energy, power. Do not let it cloud your mind."

Caid offered only a single nod to indicate that Alwine should begin.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

No sword. He wasn't really expecting her to stop just because he chose to throw his sword away. Alwine pressed forward, trying to use his lack of weapon to her benefit, but it was of no use. Again and again he evaded her, bringing out more anger and frustration from Alwine.

And then...

Alwine's mixture of screams weren't even close to either human or wolf as she was suspended, unable to move. You did not lock a wolf like that! Her jaw snapped and bit in the air, trying to break free of the invisible bonds, but it was of no use. It took her time to cool off. A lot of time.

Staring at him as the sweat poured down her forehead, the glare on Alwine's face was open and still steaming, though there was no more oomph behind it. Caid spoke, an there was little she could do but listen, even if all she wanted to do right now was claw at his face.

The hold on her released, the wolf fell to the ground in a mass of limbs, too exhausted to rise just yet. Caid gave further instructions and called the sword back to his hands.

Alwine made an attempt to rise, but her muscles refused to cooperate with her. After a few tries more, she merely shook her head.

"I require.... A break..." she spoke, her voice rough and dry, the request taking even herself by surprise.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Silver-green eyes merely watched Alwine for several moments after her request for rest. The Sith Lord could plainly see that she had spent...well...all of her energy in just the first hour or so of training. When compared to her lengthy session yesterday, he found it intriguing. He wasn't exactly surprised, however.

Still holding the sword idly by his side, Caid stepped forward. Kneeling down in front of Alwine, his bright gaze glanced at the sheen of sweat that adorned her exposed flesh. Casually, Caid moved his hand forward towards Alwine's shoulder. The movement was gentle in appearance...clearly he meant her no harm. "Allow me."

His intent was to rebuff her strength with some of his own vitality. This was not something he did lightly or for most people that he did not know fairly well. It certainly was no kindness either. He would do this once, giving her another chance to prove she was ready for his continued instruction. If not, he would leave her to refine her techniques on her own...likely for several days.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

The realization that she was utterly spent after a very short time compared to the day before had not gone unnoticed by the woman. She did not even need to reflect on it to know why. Feats of the body were simple, and she could go for hours. But once she had to use the Force to do it, even passively, her energies depleted at a much quicker rate. She hoped this was but temporary, that it would cease as soon as she was more accustomed to making such a conscious use of it. Otherwise she would remain useless, and that would not do.

Her eyes followed him as he crouched next to her, a hand suddenly on her shoulder. She said nothing though, not certain what it was she was neither allowing him or not to do.

But she felt it.

The wolf felt it.

Chocolate brown eyes opened in amazement. She felt like an empty mug of mead being filled, that was the only imaginary she could use to give words to the sensation. It took only a few moments before she blinked, able to push herself up on her elbows.

"Why?" she found herself asking, and wondering if it was another thing she could learn how to do. She was a full mug again. The first few drops of the new energy she spent though, were in reaching her hand out, calling a bottle of water to her hands. Her throat was still parched, and she needed to end the thirst.

With a satisfied grunt, she tossed the bottle aside and rose to her feet. It was easier now to clear her mind, easier than it was when they started. Was this before it was a drop of his own vitality that she was using? Was it such quick advancement? She wasn't sure. She would ask later, if she was not too wiped.

The wolf inside Alwine bowed its head to the woman for the split of a moment. That was the moment she attacked again, her motions fluid now, in control. Not perfect, no, she was still far from it. Yet the striking difference between now and moments ago was hard to miss.


[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Similarly, Caid felt part of his own vitality drop off. Closing his eyes, briefly, the Sith re-centered himself in the Force. When Alwine had the strength to push herself up on her elbows, Caid stood to his full height, gazing down at her. "Because we are not done. Now get up and do better, little wolf."

Patiently, Caid waited for Alwine to re-hydrate. Mere seconds after she had tossed the bottle aside, the diminutive girl sprang to her feet and immediately pressed forward an attack. Caid, momentarily lost in thought at watching Alwine was very nearly caught completely by surprise. It was all he could do to bring the sword around in an awkward, downward orientation to block her strike. Taking a step back, the Sith settled into a rhythm of closing and opening the gap as he parried and attacked. His intent was to see how well Alwine adjusted to changes in space, orientation, and his own fighting style.

The contest went on for some time. Granted, Caid had the greater amount of experience fighting with the Force on his side, but the purpose was to give Alwine her own experience in using the Force to aid her combat prowess. After near thirty minutes of continuous exertion, Caid parried Alwine's weapon into a high-guard barely before unleashing a force push at her abdomen with his free hand. Lowering his sword arm, Caid raised his left hand, a thin smile on his lips. "Enough. Much better. Grab some water and then join me on the floor."

There were yet more basics to cover for this particular deny. Unbeknownst to Alwine, however, she would be able to select the next topic.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

She did notice the nearly. She was too busy coming forward, trying different angles. Every single lesson that her brothers had taught her over the course of years in the darkness of the forests behind their cottage sprang to life as she pushed forward, the calmness of the vitality given to her by Caid aiding her only slightly less than the Force was. It was a dance, not of swords, but of ability, and while Alwine was very much aware that she was following the flourish and not leading it, it would be hard to miss the pride on her face as she continued step after step, move after move.

The woman knew that Caid was holding back. Had he wanted to, he could've flattened her to the ground again with ease. Well, perhaps slightly less ease than yesterday, yet ease nonetheless. Her method, now that she flew with it, weren't as brute-fully as previous. No, instead, the woman relied on making use of her size, her agility, and her speed work, her sword aiming for a plethora of cuts rather than a single beating to the head or neck.

And then she was pushed back.

Another growl erupted from her throat in surprise as she was sent backwards, the sword flying out of her hand. She managed to keep her balance, but just barely.

She was ready to pounce on him and try to claw at his face when she noticed the smile. Alwine's head cocked to the side in the same wolf-like manner it had yesterday. Orders were given.

This time though, she walked to where the water was, emptying two bottles before returning to Caid, seating herself on the floor in front of him, her breathing still hard.

"Is this a time for questions?" she asked before he had a chance to say a word.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid could not suppress the smirk that slipped across his features. With a shallow nod of the head, he replied to Alwine's question. "Yes little wolf, but one question at a time." He half-expected the young woman to rattle off twenty questions at once in rapid succession if he did not specify. For one so unfamiliar with the Force, questions would be natural and an important part in her training. As much as Caid needed to teach Alwine the basics, he also needed to be ready to explain any concept or ability that she saw or felt but did not understand.

If nothing else, teaching did require a great deal of patience. Every single thing he did had to be with purpose and direction. It was a challenge that he relished.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

Even with this there were rules, instructions. Alwine almost laughed, but kept it in instead. She'd find the time to point this out to him. Perhaps he would laugh as well, though he did not seem like the kind of person who did much laughing. Alwine waited a few moments, allowing her breathing to calm down a little bit further.

"When I fought the droids the first time, you pressed words into my mind," she said, knowing fully well that he'd know what she meant, but also needing to put it into her own words, "It is not the first time someone has done so to me, but I am assuming that it is a simple thing to do. Is there a way I can block others from being able to do so to me?"

It was quite simple. Alwine loathed the word pressing into her mind. Perhaps it was because she didn't quite know how it was done or what its limitations were, but every time she'd had it happen to her, there was no way for her to defend against it. And that, was not good. Presently, the little wolf thought, knowing how to block it was more important than knowing how to do it, if the two weren't exclusively linked.


[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Structure existed in all things. A concept that Caid was happy to elaborate upon to the relatively free-spirited wolf. Then again, Caid was as yet not aware of how...pervasive such a thing had been in Alwine's past.

As the little wolf finished her question, Caid offered a simple response. "Yes. Kill them." Caid's expressionless mask held Alwine's gaze in silence for several moments before he smirked slightly. "Alternatively, you can indeed close your mind off to them. First - what you're referring to is known as telepathy, a communication of thoughts or ideas with the mind. In order to close off your mind, you either have to separate it from the Force which I don't recommend, or place blocks, obstacles in your mind that another has to overcome to reach into it."

Pausing for a moment, Caid made a motion with his hand. "The concept is not overly complicated, but understand that any mental defense can be broken down with the requisite force. Even an experienced practitioner cannot hold out forever against all odds." Considering something for a moment, Caid offered a suggestion. "Like most things with the Force, the only thing you need do is visualize. Visualize your mind as a steel trap. The moment you feel an intrusion, draw all of your thoughts to the very center of that trap and imagine the Force pushing back against your would-be foe. We each have distinctive auras in the Force. They can be manipulated, shaped to our protection or forced outward to influence others."

She'd picked a particularly difficult subject to explain, and the only way to develop an affinity for the technique was routine practice. A practice that she couldn't even really do solely on her own.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

Kill them. No, that was not a sufficient answer. She would not kill her brother. She would not kill Caid. Perhaps things would be different in the future and she might have to kill Caid, but she would under no circumstance do such a thing to her brother. To any of her brothers. She was just about to protest the answer when Caid resumed speaking, telling her that she could close her mind off. There was a word for it - telepathy. Alwine squinted her eyes, half sure that she had heard the word itself spoken before, but she could not give it placement in her life. But it did not matter. She would remember this word, an important word, that would server better than the alg-something.

"All physical blocks can be broken down as well," she noted in response to his claim regarding the matter. "In that way, it does not seem to be so different."

Again with the visualizing. She comprehended why this was important, how this helped build the foundations of abilites with the Force. But it was still slightly harder than just making a move with her sword wielding arms. Alwine had little time for fantasies in her life, and most of them had to do with the death of her mother and the safety of her brothers. Other than that, she had learned to observe, to glean from what she saw. But you couldn't see the exact things that went through people's minds.

They each had distinctive auras in the Force. Alwine nodded again. It was like scent, then, but not through the nose. A Lupine couldn't always tell if someone was in a room with them, not by using their eyes. But with their sense of smell... This, she understood greatly.

Sighing, the woman set to work. A steel trap. She knew what those looked like, though she had never inspected one close enough to learn of its mechanics in detail. She supposed it didn't matter too much. All she needed was to hold the image in her mind the way she kept her mind-ears open to the Force. In other words - through practice.

"And if I wished to be the attacker?" she found herself asking, even though it had not been her intention at all a mere few moments ago, "will this mental steel trap do the job in that case or would I need something more?"

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid offered a simple response. "No - that is only a defensive technique. It's a simpler mental manipulation because you're only really manipulating your own mind. A mind with which you are intimately familiar." Pausing for a moment, Caid thought of the best way to respond to the rest of Alwine's question.

"Arguably, forcing your presence upon someone can be simple or difficult depending on your intent. In simplistic terms, it requires mostly just flooding the Force with the collective thoughts and energies that make up your being. From there, you can direct the sum quantity of your presence at a specific target so long as you can sense them."

In the event Alwine was talking about a literal brute force attack on a mind, there was only so much Caid could say. "Forcing your way into someone's mind is done much the same. The reason only experienced force practitioners are usually successful is because they've had the time to develop their strength. If you have not strength, you will not be able to influence anyone to do much of anything...let alone force your way into a guarded mind."

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

Mental manipulation. More words that made sense both together and apart, but still new to the mind of the young wolf. She found herself wishing that she could write this down, but she also knew that this would be futile. Her education on that department was lacking as well and she had little intention of struggling and asking for spelling in front of Caid.

Flooding with the Force. Something inside her understood what that meant, but she had never actually attempted this. Did not have the tools before now to understand that this was what must be done to get what she wanted.

Strength, guarded minds. So much information. The wolf inside Alwine gave a small yelp at the flood of information. Wolves were not meant to put so many words for things. A wolf knew, or did not know. A wolf did, or did not do. Humans were more complicated than that. She needed time to think and to reflect.

"And if I wished to reflect my own words into someone's mind?" she found herself asking, again, treading even further from earlier subjects she wanted to touch, "could you hold entire conversations like that?"

And there it was.

If she could have entire conversations like that, through the minds, by telepathy... Then the wolf would have more freedom to be a wolf. Communications would no longer be limited.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

"Then you merely focus on that individual's mind and speak your words. While it may sound simple enough, the complication comes in doing so without throwing them into the target's brain like darts. The inflection of tone and giving true character to your words does take a modicum of time to develop. Otherwise - your words could end up being perceived in a much different manner than you intend."

Motioning between himself and Alwine, Caid extended the offer to practice on himself. Give it a try, little wolf. The sound of Caid's voice in Alwine's head would not be unfamiliar, but he'd registered some level of...discomfort on her part with the activity in general. Also yes - you can indeed carry on an entire conversation in this manner.

In fact, Caid had recent met a woman that had no choice but to rely upon inaudible communication.

[member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Double post...

 

[Alwine Daye]

So control of such communications had to be learned. Alwine nodded. She did not wish to throw her words like darts, merely to see if she could do it at all. Caid told her to try, and confirmed that people could hold entire conversations like that. Still, the flash of uncomfortableness ran through her body. She still did not like it, and the steel trap did nothing, mostly because she had forgotten entirely about keeping it passively there. She would most definitely have to work on that.

With a sigh, the little wolf closed her eyes, needing to switch one sense off again so that the others would be stronger.

Mind, she had to focus on Caid's mind. Alwine snarled as she tried to do it, tried to quiet herself and her surroundings enough to get it done. But she could hear too much now, the sound coming from the air ducts, Caid's breathing, the droids working in other rooms. She growled, sticking her fingers in her ears, trying to shut it all out.

Find Caid's mind. He was offering it, posing no attempt at blocking her out. She had to do this. If the woman could manage to do it, wolf would know it too. The wolf would be even more free than she already was.

Like a river. No, not like a river, her thoughts were all over the place. She couldn't pin it, couldn't bring it down until- there! Or at least, she thought it was there.

LIKE THIS? Alwine screamed into Caid's mind, her question accompanied by telepathic snarls and growls. No. She couldn't hear herself, but she felt something was off. She tried again, but the words would not form, the link she had conjured sending forth only the sounds of the wolf.

[member="Caid Centurion"]