Tentative Steps

[Ariel Tull]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Ariel's lips fell a bit. What had she gotten herself into? 'Physical exhaustion'. 'Circuits'. 'Distract'(ions).

"Allright." She replied in a soft tone. She stood up and began to stretch, pulling her arms over her body, then reached for her toes. Some stretches to the side, and then Ariel was off. Heading to the edge of the room she began to lap it, passing the only occasionally chucklesome Jedi Master and using him as a reference point. The training room was a good size space, but it still wasn't exactly a race track. Ariel wasn't the most physically fit of Jedi Padawans but training the body was still an important part of most every Jedi's regiment. Jogging wasn't that bad, but she still felt it more weary than usual. From lifting the weights perhaps? She wondered if the tiring was physical or mental as she continued. Trextan would come back after a while, maybe ten laps, or fifteen or twenty or thirty. Who knew. She was hoping he'd get his circuit pieces sooner rather than later.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan had nothing groundbreaking planned. In the cupboard he'd found a few kettlebells and hand weights. Some hard boxes were set out for more dynamic activities. The youth wasn't entirely certain that putting her through her paces was the best option, especially when he caught Jacen raising an eyebrow at him. Was the Jedi Master trying to suggest the same thing he was thinking himself?

Once everything was laid out he decided that it was too late to change course. It would be worse to flip flop about and not deliver a coherent session. Ariel was in for a good thirty minutes of exercise. Enough that by the end she would find just the act of standing a rather arduous act for a few minutes.

“This isn't quite the same as trying to do it under extreme stress,” he would explain. “But it's not the worst approximation. So no time for taking breath let's go straight back into lifting the weights with the Force and see how you fare.” There was little emotion coming through in his demeanour. He simply instructed and advised as they went. It would be clear, however, from how closely she was watched that he was weighing up the padawan and considering the best course for the rest of the session.

[member="Ariel Tull"]

 

[Ariel Tull]

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. Twenty. The Jedi padawan kept going and stealing glances at her new teacher, as he pulled out kettlebell, jumping boxes and hand weights. He arrayed them around the room, though looked as if he was not entirely sure of what he was doing. Ariel was a bit upset at the lack of purpose in his steps, felt as if [member="Trextan Voidstalker"] was wasting her time. As she made another lap around the Jedi Marshall however she remembered that the training a bit impromptu for the both of them. Ariel scowled a bit, but kept jogging. Another five minutes passed. Another ten. Thirty minutes in total, before Trextan began to speak.

No time for taking breath? She screamed internally as she skidded to a stop, then held out her hand in the direction of the weights she'd lifted. There were no closed eyes, only an outstretched arm and a quickly reddening face. The weight rose at a quicker pace, and even went higher than it had previously as Ariel's face continued to go red. It was shortly followed by an thud however, as it dropped to the ground and color returned to the padawan's face as she began to breath once again.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Ariel Tull"]

"There we go," Trextan replied. For the first time he noticed Jacen look at him deliberately. It was a look that demanded he return the gaze. A shadow of understanding passed between father and son.

"Nothing to be disappointing about," Trextan added with a smile. "Take a moment, take a breath. In answer to your question 'how do you do this under stress?' Well at I can't remember your exact words, but anyway... the answer is practise. If you feel that utilising the Force when you're pushed to your limits is something you want to learn then you have to find a way to make practise reflect reality."

He grinned this time, combing back long hair with his artificial hand. Little gestures like that were becoming more and more natural with the arm. At first every time he'd caught himself doing something normal with the arm he had found himself anxious. It had taken a long time for his mind to believe that the arm was really a part of him. It wasn't so old that it felt like his own flesh and blood however.

"Thoughts?"

 

[Ariel Tull]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"This is gonna suck." Ariel said in reply as she caught her breath. "But I guess it's better." A pant. "To learn now then when I can't afford to." She took a moment to breath. Her tone wasn't spiteful, or even really trying to complain, but just honest. The realization of what she was doing, what she was training for had begun to impact.

"So do we just train until I pass out, or what's next?" She asked, looking up at Knight as she continued catch her breath.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Ariel Tull"]

"No, I think that's enough for now," he said. "That was probably a bit too much but we got to see how much of a difference that makes. And you're quite right. We bring practise as close to reality as we can."

His features screwed up slightly as he considered what he had said. "But I suppose that begs the question: what reality do you see for yourself as a Jedi? And yes.. I should have asked that first. What do you think you want to work on more and...well...be as a Jedi?"

 

[Ariel Tull]

Ariel thought about what [member="Trextan Voidstalker"] said. What did she want to do? The redhead took a deep breath and waited a moment before answering.

"I read a report once about a Jedi Knight stopping a spice supply line. It was pretty redacted, but from what I could tell a smuggler was convicted and there was a lead on some big wig spice pusher called 'Big Ice' or some crap like that. I thought it sounded familiar, so I looked at the archives and found an article in the Coruscant Tribune, maybe ten years old. Talked about some guy in witness protection getting shot on the way to court. Was supposed to testify on a crime lord called 'Big Ice'." Ariel told the story as her voice grew softer. She shifted her head and stole a glance at the Jedi Marshall, carefully observing his posture.

"We got the Sith out of Coruscant, but a lot of people out there are still dealing with the same problems. I could probably spend a lifetime on Coruscant and not fix half the problems on the streets. But I want to try."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Ariel Tull"]

Trextan listen to her story with a somber expressing, but once she was finished he looked genuinely pleased.

"Good," he stated. "We've been trying to do more of that work. Jacen's been worried that the Jedi have spent too much of their time fighting wars and not enough helping people."

He looked off to one side and twisted his lips as he thought about this.

"So... Two things are important to note. Sensing intention and motive are very useful. We'll need to work on that. Secondly when a Jedi turns up criminals typically run away or surrender. But... If they're feeling brave they'll shoot at you. A lot."

Trextan pulled down at the collar of his robes on his left side. There was a puckered scar just above his collar bone. "Got that one looking into some abductions with another Justicar on Prakith."

 

[Ariel Tull]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Ariel looked at the Knight as he presented an old scar, and thought of the old story it entailed. Trextan was young, but between his scars and prosthesis it seemed he'd already done quite a bit of living. She wondered how much that sort of living would damage his spirit. How hard was it keep up hope after seeing so much? She suspected she'd find out eventually.

"It sounds like the best thing to do would be to not look like a Jedi?" She asked. "Not act like a Jedi? Would you" she paused for a minute. "Maybe carry a blaster? Hide your lightsaber?"

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Ariel Tull"]

Trextan didn't know what both Ariel and Jacen were thinking almost exactly the same thing together. Jacen had sacrificed most of his relationship with Trextan to fight in the wars, to do what he had felt was right. He was concerned what Trextan would have to give up.

Trextan canted his head from side to side. "That depends. Yes, I've done that a few times. And it was quite a hefty blaster too," he chuckled, referring to the Occluder handcannons they used. "But sometimes... Sometimes people want to see a Jedi walk around them. See one of us and see that we're not afraid to be there. The Justicars always have a white shoulder pauldron to show who we are. It's a bright obvious target, but it's also a statement."