Stray Cat Rock Part 2 (Aika Kawakami)

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

"We will begin by opening your senses, having mental shields is good but you have to be able to lower them in certain areas at will nd this is a good place. Sift through their minds and don't force your way in. Surface thought the small things we think about all the time are often more telling then what we can hide. Try to focus on one person and then another." Matsu stood up and moved a little to the side to be in the clear while staring at all the others around them. She looked up and floated a little to sit on the awning while opening the parasol. "Now let us see how you have been doing and then join me up here."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

Her eyes followed Matsu as she rose to the awning, nodding slightly to her. "Sift through their minds for surface thoughts. Right. Got it." Exhaling deeply, Aika attention returned those around her. Truth be told, she was still not confident enough to completely lower her shields. Rather than that, she created a small gap in her mental barriers. That would allow her to control the rate at which the thoughts flowed into her mind. Not wanting to mess up in front of her mater, who she so rarely saw these days, she focused herself intensely.

Looking to the woman just a few feet away, Aika examined the thoughts on the surface of her mind. "She's thinking that she doesn't need sweets, but wants them." Her head snapped to the left as the thoughts of another nibbled at her. "He's worried about having to speak at the next session of the Senate." Her head snapped the other way completely, hearing more thoughts from her right. "Oh my... Well, he'll be... entertaining a lady of the evening tonight." As she continued to look about, thoughts began to become more and more visible to her. The grin across her face said all that needed to be said. Aika was happy to show off for Matsu, even if it wasn't much. It meant something to her.

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

She was doing very good at that and it was impressive. She was learning more and more as their time went on and now well now as Matsu sat there and took in what they were thinking about she patted the awning for Aika and spoke. "Alright then you are doing good now try and sift through more while preforming a task. Split some of you attentions." The jedi master opened the parasol to let them be in the shade while she twirled it. The small clicking of the handle while she turned it and kept the blade locked in place. "There are many things you should be able to preform, small and simple tasks while searching the minds. When you enter an unknown situation this could save your life."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

Her eyes simply remained on her master as she began to twirl the parasol. It was strange. This was similar to previous exercises they'd done together, yet, it felt different at the same time. It wasn't something she could possibly explain, no matter how hard she thought about it. She gave a small nod in response as she mumbled to herself. "Split my attention..." Her eyes drifted towards a small chair a few feet from her, as well as the trash can right next to it. Still, Aika was a bit unsure of what her master actually wanted her to do, but doing nothing would only make her look silly.

Exhaling heavily, her eyes shut, putting her concentration into what she was doing. Focusing on the chair and trash can, she visualized them rising into the air and rotating in place. Her hands rose slightly, the objects in question rising from their positions a few feet into the air. Once there, she began to spin them slowly. Jest as she was ready to lower them, she began to hear the thoughts of others around. Small mussing about her being a Jedi. Aika's eyes opened up, her head panning about to look at hose around. There were more than few who had stopped what they were doing, staring at her. Oh boy...time to end this.

She allowed the chair and trash can to return to the ground, though they were facing a different direction. Feeling a bit out of place, her arms crossed over her chest before turning her eyes back to Matsu. "Perhaps I shouldn't have made such a show about it.." A nervous laugh slipped from her lips.

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

Matsu sat there watchign and she was nodding in agreement. hearing what some of them were saying while she wanted to offer advice or direction but dividing your attention should be natural. Choosing what to focus on should be her choice while the chair and can were rising. Matsu stopped spinning the parasol and gave a nod of her head in approval. Not taking anything away from the girl who was showing great improvement. Then Aika was done and speaking as Matsu resumed twirling the parasol lightly. "Oh a show is never a bad thing, as a jedi you will learn your powers have a price. For some seeing them displayed inspires hope other jealousy. It really all comes down to how you are at the end of the day. We live outside the Republic, we help them, we aid them we take up the sword to protect them so making a small showing of your growing power is not that bad."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

Was she really being told to show off? That was certainly a first, and even more so just not in her nature. Nonetheless, she nodded once more. "Okay. So, being a show off with one's powers is a good thing.... In moderation, of course." Clasping her hands behind her back, she kept her eyes on Matsu. If for nothing else, then to simply avoid the odd stares of the people around. Even without looking at them, Aika could feel their eyes watching her. Suffice to say, the feeling wasn't exactly pleasant. Exhaling deeply, she tilted her head sideways. "So, what's next on the menu, Ike-sensei?"

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]
[[so sorry]]

"Moderation is key, we aren't above being human Aika. There is ego and sometimes I have seen students and padawans get frustrated because they have talents they never get to use." Matsu remained still for a moment before she looked off towards the buildings and to Aika before she winked and looked up into the air flying upwards. "We'll fly." Matsu let the air over her robes while they fluttered and she headed off towards the skyline. "Now come."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

(No worries)

"We'll fly, she says.. I swear, she makes that seem like such a common thing.." A small sigh slipped from her lips as Aika watched her master rise into the air. It wasn't like she couldn't fly, it was more like the way it had been said struck a nerve. As if there was a slight hint of cockiness within the woman's voice. Nonetheless, Aika wrote it off. She'd never felt such a thing from Matsu. Shaking her head slightly, she removed the thoughts, believing it to be herself simply reading into things too deeply, as she normally did. But even so, one thing continued to bother her. When did she begin to question her own master? Had the way things seemed to be going created a inherent distrust of her fellow Jedi? It was question which could lead to any number of answers. Yet, still one that she needed to find..

"Right behind you, Ike-sensei." Aika's feet left the ground as she began to levitate, floating higher up to catch up to her master.

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

Matsu looked back a little as she heard Aika and smiled at the turning a little and floating backwards a little quickly letting the force guide her but more focusing on what she was doing to make sure Aika was safe. The skyline led them through the district and up higher to one of the buildings before stopping to just hover for a moment. The sun on her skin before she looked and beelined it towards the senate building with speed going through and staying under the speeders. The large dome becoming her goal when she landed on it and stood there for a moment with a smile turning to see Aika coming while she walked a little on the roof. "Is everything alright Aika?"

 

[Aika Kawakami]

Keeping up with her master proved such a challenge.. Aika had become good with flight, but keeping alongside Matsu almost seemed unrealistic. She glided through the skies, glancing downward every once in a while. It was the first time she'd been at such a height without at least a speeder being under her. Yet, the freedom felt so amazing. Certainly, it was unlike anything she'd imagined before.

Moving along beneath the speeders, so as to stay out of traffic, she sped up slightly, her attempts to catch up to her master being in vain. Though, finally, Aika was able to close the distance between the two. Though, by the time she'd caught up, Matsu was already standing atop the dome that was the Senate building. Stumbling only a bit, she landed upon the building, only a few feet from her master. And just in time to be questioned as well...

"No, Master Ike. No problems at all. What would even cause you to ask such a thing?"

Then came that voice again.... "Maybe you should quit with the lies while your ahead. After all, if you think your own master can't see through you, then you really are deluded.."

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

Matsu focused and remained quiet for a moment not wanting to press to much. Last time that had been done Aika shut down a little bit in regards to her old master and now they were standing here on the dome of the building while Matsu held and joined her hands behind her back. "Oh no reason just seemed like you had much more on your mind and usual. Your abilities are more in control you have bloomed into a socialable member of the order and your talents have greatly improved. I am glad to see it and you are proving in some ways much wiser then me. Knowing what to question and what to ask about things." Matsu wondered more what was going on in her students head but was still refusing to pry deeper then what came off the surface. It wasn't her place to read private thoughts

 

[Aika Kawakami]

Though they were short, the moments that followed seemed to last a lifetime. There they stood, high upon the roof of the Senate building, one of the Republic's most recognizable sights. However, for the first time since the two had begun their journey together, between them was nothing more than utter silence. The only sounds are those of the speeders zooming about, and wind blowing just enough toss their hair about lightly. Just a few feet away, Aika simply stared at her master, not a single word came to mind in that time.

Where as, when they first met, the two could essentially finish the others thoughts, time and experiences had change them both. For the first time, it felt like to her that they were on separate paths, being pulled into complete opposite directions. Honestly, she didn't know what to make of the feeling. Regardless, her lips curved into a grin as her head nodded. "All thanks to your guidance, Ike-sensei. Had it not been for you taking me on as your padawan so long ago on Illum, I'm almost positive I wouldn't be here now. I might have returned to Onderon to my family, and left behind what would have been a failure at the life of a Jedi. Or perhaps I'd have sought knowledge from a source outside the Republic... Actually..."

"Ask her. Don't pretend you don't want to know. After all, what's the worse answer you could receive?"

"..Master Ike, had you not taken me during that trip, what do you think would have become of me?"

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

That was something... Matsu took a brief moment to think about it as different ideas played out over her head. She was certain talk of failure would not fit. Aika was a good jedi... in the terms most defined jedi with but from her studies she had learned much about the different force orders and variety of jedi. None were the same even masters and student being able to adapt which was why now when she spoke it came with a smile. "If I had not met you Aika you would still be a good jedi, your powers might have manifested and been cause for alarm but never doubt you are a jedi. Not because you like the hum of your blade or the feeling of the force but because you want to have the galaxy be better. Others can say what they want but few are willing to put the needs of others above their own."

She kept a small smile on her face. "Not many do it, not many are willing to do it more then once if they have and it goes for all jedi. So what do I think would have happened to you Aika. I think you would have been just as great. Just a willful and talented as you are now more so even maybe, not you would have found a teacher who is wiser then me but I don't think you would have found what you wanted outside the order. Maybe but not likely there are few traditions that have lasted for so long and even less that are open enough to welcome everyone." Now Matsu just leaned back a little until she was sitting on the roof and letting the wind brush along her hair with the sounds of speeders in the background. "Your always so curious and that is wonderful."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

"I see..", mumbled the young knight as she watched her master take seat upon the dome-shaped roof. Without realizing what she had done, Matsu had driven the conversation in route that had crossed Aika's mind before. One thing was for sure, she was unlike any other Jedi within the Order. While some saw that as a good thing, it always seemed there were many others who felt that she was more of a burden than an asset. That only posed another question in her own mind. What exactly was she to the Jedi? What did they see her as? Or better phrased, why did they keep her around? After her previous master disappeared and her training came to a complete halt, it would've been easier for them to remove her. Instead, they simply seemed to ignore quite, young girl always studying. Yet, here she stood..

Brushing the hair from her face, her gaze turned to the speeders racing in all directions, even as she spoke. "You said my powers may have been a cause for alarm. How would such a thing be true. Am I, in reality, that much different from others? Or is it that simply that my focus was always in places that drove me to learn more?"

@[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

@[member="Aika Kawakami"]

"Your abilities make you unique, there are many jedi who can read minds it is easy, there are few who can do it without lots of practice. Few I have taught like to study they prefer just to be the one twirling a saber. It is why I enjoy having you with me. Lots of fun things to have and I may have misspoke but never doubt yourself. That is the only cause for alarm with you, your sense of self worth it seems to be the biggest problem. You think to much maybe and doubt yourself. We need to work on that. You are a going to be a good jedi, never let anyone tell you different, don't let them see you doubt yourself."

For a moment Matsu sat there and then spoke. "Or if you must do this. When you wake up smile, pretend your confident in yourself and have the answers you need. That your able to do what the galaxy needs, fake it and then do it the next day and the day after that. As a job because the galaxy needs jedi Aika, it needs one who aren't like me who are able to unleash dangerous techniques on others, ones who are not ready to fight at a moments notice." Matsu looked up. "You do that every day and maybe eventually you'll believe it."

 

[Aika Kawakami]

((So sorry! This one completely slipped by me!))

Unique? That was a word she found constantly thrown around when her name came up in conversation. Still, she thought nothing of it. But it was as her master said, her telepathy and telekinesis came so naturally to her. And to use such little effort, Aika could best most who considered themselves a master at the art. But that was neither here nor there. Her gaze returned to Matsu, a solemn expression upon her face as the words sunk into her ears. Truthfully, she had little doubt in herself these days. She knew what she was capable of, and knew that others could only dream of reaching her level, and knowing there was still a peak they hadn't reached. That thought alone was what made the relationship between the two so interesting. Matsu was relaxed, a jack of all trades. Aika's mind easily wandered, and the majority of her focus laid in her own specialties.

"It's not myself that I doubt, Ike-sensei. With your help, it'd be crazy to believe I was still below the others in my class. No, it's something else. Something I hope you've sensed at well. Things are...unstable, at best. The Jedi, the Republic as a whole, isn't what it once was. It's like a never ending echo within Force. Surely, you haven't been death to such a thing?"

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Aika Kawakami"]

[[that is fine I have limited time on an old computer]]

Matsu gave a nod of her head to that, she wasn't one to judge the state of the Republic with all going on because she couldn't do that. She continued to listen to Aika and nodded her head while she patted her students shoulder with a soft smile on her face. "No I doubt I could be the death of the Republic, the people wanting to bring up the past and judge for situations they look on from the outside would say so but there are many things wrong in the galaxy we need to try and help." Mats gave a nod of her head though more while she held her hand up and just let a small swirl of force energy come out. "But I will hear your concerns Aika, there are many things we can all discuss."