Storm Chasing

[Minna Balin]

Patience came naturally to Minna.

As a bounty hunter, one often had to wait for the adversary to slip up to track them down. It took diligence to follow a trail, whether it be physical, or electronic. In a fight, it always paid to wait for the right moment to strike.

But in this context, Minna had never been able to wait. Not until now. And it was utter bliss.

For the first time in her life, there was nothing between herself, and the Force. She embraced it, for as long as she could, simply enjoying the strange intimacy she had within her own mind. There had always been something in the way before. And even as the minutes passed, and the thoughts began to crowd in again, she knew that she could empty her mind again, should she wish.

After a few minutes of acclamation, Minna sat up, propping herself up on her elbows. She felt good. Better than good. Her eyes were, perhaps, a little wet. "That was the most... in-tuned with the Force I've ever felt. As if I'd only seen it in a picture all my life, and that was the real thing."

Then, with boundless ambition, "I'm ready when you are."

- [member="Xos"] -

 

[Xos]

In time, she propped herself up and let her eyes open again. Speaking of just how it was like. He let out a low chuckle, not in mockery of course. It was simply a kind chuckle of knowing what it was like to finally feel peace, "Wonderful isn't it?" He asked rhetorically. It was what held him together, such a wonderful peace.

"I'm ready when you are."

Xos nodded his head thoughtfully, "The next step is more a matter of doing the same, but while keeping your thoughts about you. I want you to feel the force, as you did, and influence it in another way. Move the force, the air around us, a pillow. Telekinesis is one of the first steps to learning how to apply the force outside of ones own body and mind. Even if it's as simple as moving a breath of air."

He moved a hand softly through the air, which visually seemed to twirl around his hand before whiffing away softly with another gesture, "Let your body help you guide it, truly, it is not necessary. But it is an easier way to learn, to focus ones mind. Let the air move, as if you were pulling the hand of a child, no need to force it at first. Just guide it along. Yes, you will find you can force it in time and achieve powerful results, but it's easier to learn through gentleness if you want a truly in tune nature with the force."

[member="Minna Balin"]

 

[Minna Balin]

Minna sat up completely, crossing her legs as Xos set out her next challenge. Telekinesis? She could do that. It was one of the first things she had learned, thanks to a friend of the family.

"Okay," she said, steeling herself. She'd never tried to move the air before. She'd never even known that was a possibility. But it couldn't be too different than moving a pillow, or a ball. She could do this.

She took to heart what the Kel Dor said, using gentleness before force, when it came to the Force. She extended her hand, feeling the stillness of self that she had abandoned before. It came easier this time, almost like welcoming an old friend back into her mind. She didn't need to move her hand, or any part of her body, as Xos said, but for some reason, it felt right. It felt natural to project the physical into the metaphysical.

And with stillness of mind and focus of intention, the air began to move. It danced slowly around her hand, tickling her digits. She struggled to maintain focus, to keep her thoughts in one place, but she managed, and with it, she got this lesson on the first try. But she didn't stop, simply enjoying the new sensation, like she had before, lost in the Unifying Force.

- [member="Xos"] -

 

[Xos]

He watched as she once again tapped into the force, how much more swiftly and easier it came to her. How she didn't need to use motion to guide it, but that she still caused the air to move around her hand and fingers. Sensing that it was a joy to her he too felt it. It was just so wonderful to teach others how to use the force, to give them that peace when there came the chance.

​"Well done, and then, when you're ready, it can grow," he said in a low smooth voice, "A soft breeze to a wind, a wind to a whirling push, a push back to a mere whistle in the air. The same can be done with all other things, they just have their own feel, their own spirit to them almost. The air likes to feel like it's being guided, breathing can help to focus it. Rocks like a sense of solidity, water as if it were simply moving as it were before. Even creatures can learn to hear your voice."

Xos let out a breath of his own in thought, "But, take time, let it come as it comes as you are doing. The ease in which you learn, will make it all the easier in the future."

[member="Minna Balin"]

 

[Minna Balin]

"You got it," Minna said, concentrating more on what was unfurling between her fingers than Xos' words. But still, she listened, thinking about his words, measuring her own needs and ability against them.

A soft breeze to a wind.

Minna began a slow pressing against the air across her palm, and grinned as she felt resistance give way. A steadier, larger breeze curled around her hand, brushing her hair behind her head, fanning it out like a halo.

A wind to a whirling push.

Minna felt the wind's need for direction, as if she were sticking her hand out the side of a speeder. It needed a path. If she pushed much more, there would be nowhere for it to go. So she gave it a direction, forward. It began to funnel, until it pushed, a surge of energy and wind that nearly pushed away her own hand as it did the pillows in it's path.

A push back to a mere whistle of air.

Minna felt her own power wane, the air beginning to lose coercion from the blast, but instead of fighting for control, she let it fall dormant again, until it danced across her fingertips once more.

And she breathed.

In.

Out.

In.

"I've never been able to do that before," she said, a bit in awe of what had just happened. Of what she had done. "It was like the meditation, but... better. Like there was all that energy, but it had a place to go this time. I was telling it where to go. Me!"

She was a bit giddy, which was probably normal.

- [member="Xos"] -

 

[Xos]

Xos felt joy again as he watched the wind increase in power and then swiftly back to so a light movement. It was splendid, moving with her will together, just as it should be. She spoke again, that she hadn't done it before but how now it had gone much like the meditation and she had felt her own ability do it. She was clearly incredibly happy about it which only made Xos happy as well, he clapped his hands together, "Wonderful, truly wonderful!" he responded happily. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone happy like that, but it never made it any less enjoyable.

He let out a breath, a feeling of accomplishment. Whatever she knew before, she knew more now. Maybe she could have learned it from someone else. Maybe she'd have learned it on her own eventually regardless. But this was the path the force chose. To him, he was no different then its pawn, and so far, he had accomplished the will of the force, to help this woman learn.

"Now," He said leaning his arms against his legs and leaning forwards, "What is it you want to do from here? Whether to simply practice, or leave to apply it elsewhere, or try something else? It is up to you where you go from here? There are many things one can do once they know the basics of the force. And once you've mastered meditation, everything from there on out is just a matter of learning how to apply it. At least when it comes to the light and the neutral side of the force. I cannot speak for the dark, I have never delved into its power."

[member="Minna Balin"]

 

[Minna Balin]

Minna was listening. She was. But something had awoken within her. Something that begged to be fed, to be cultivated, or risked overgrowing everything else that was her. She'd never felt the Force like this before, and it was absorbing much of her attention.

But when answers were offered, questions grew.

"I'll meditate whenever I can, trust me," Minna promised, too earnestly. Her eyes searched his, adjusting her rebreather.

"What do you know about the Dark Side?" It was an honest question, one that Minna had been thinking about recently. All she knew was the polarization. First Order propaganda and the talk from her one Jedi friend. It was tough to suss out what was true, and what was exaggerated. She wanted to know the truth.

"That's what I want to know. What is it, to you? To the Baran Do?"

- [member="Xos"] -

 

[Xos]

She agreed to meditate often, that was splendid, it was ever so helpful. And what helped him obtain peace. Even if it perhaps didn't have as permanent effects for others in that regard, it was still a good practice. And then came an unusual question, she asked about what he knew about the dark side. He breathed in slightly at the thought of the question, and then hearing as she finished what her question was.

He let out a breath, looking to the side in thought about it. It was not an easy one to answer, the force was complicated. Even just the light-side on its own was. Incorporating both was ever so much more complicated, especially when it came to the dark side. Finally returning to face her he answered in the words he could best work out at the moment, "The dark side is what it is. Neither light nor dark is good nor evil, think of the light like patience, peace, and conscious thought. And then look at the dark, the dark is anger, fear, and instinct. I've heard people criticize the dark for it's tendency towards anger, but anger in itself is not evil. It upsets peace, which is what we strive for. But I believe somethings deserve to be hated, like the way slaves may be treated. The dark side is dangerous because it focuses so much on what a person feels emotionally rather then what they think. Adrenaline compared to calm."

There was a pause for a moment, a practical answer, almost scientific in its view really, "But, while I may say that, it is indeed very dangerous. The light side does not fall easily because it is so intentionally light, and most of the time when a person is calm and patient, and takes care of preventing themselves from losing to hatred or greed, then they become good people. But when someone seeps themselves in the dark side its like giving into adrenaline permanently, which just like the dark side, damages the body of most species as well as the mind. I don't blame people who use the dark side, and sometimes my own students have used it here and there. But we don't treat it as a disease like some do. We do not teach the dark side here, we teach the light, and we teach how to mitigate our emotions. Not to get rid of them, we can feel anger, but we cannot let it control us like, for instance, many Sith may do. It's powerful, like adrenaline, and like adrenaline it can be useful. But it's also very destructive and dangerous, and if one does choose to wield it intentionally, one should be very careful with how they tread it."

[member="Minna Balin"]