Private The Curious Nature of the Force [Ishani Sibwarra]

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Art of the Small is one way of accomplishing this, yes, although the skill itself is an umbrella term for several additional abilities one can perform through the Art of the Small, such as being able to wield the elements around them, to manipulate and create a cloud of fog, for example, seemingly out of the very air itself. It targets the very molecular structure of our environment and even within our own bodies to produce the desired effect...-And requires a great deal of practice to master". Caedyn replied, giving a bit of a lengthy yet simple explanation over the Art of the Small. He himself had never considered his ability to conceal himself in the Force to be a part of the aforementioned skill, as opposed to his ability to practice Alkahest that most certainly required the Art of the Small to manipulate the minerals and materials that he crafted with.

"My experience and practice of concealment aren't quite as technically difficult as the Art of the Small" Caedyn admitted, giving an indifferent bob of his head to one side whilst also shrugging noncommittally. "The method that I have learned over time is to focus on the presence of the Force that surrounds and penetrates us, and rather than shrink it down as done with the Art of the Small, I instead seek to divert the force itself away from my body, almost as though making myself a rock within a stream; the water flows around me but not through me, thus making my presence indistinguishable from other Non-Force Users..." his words faded out quietly as he studied his Padawan while Ishani Dinn seemed interested in the pillar of knowledge.

Unlike many Jedi Holocron, the shrine did not activate in response to her use of the Force but rather her shear movement, detecting that there had been someone standing in front of it and producing a holoimage of one of the shrines Gatekeepers, this one being that of former Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. They were each programmed to imitate legendary Jedi from the past and alternate between these identities with every new instance of being activated by sentient life.

"Greetings my friend. What knowledge do you seek to learn?" the Gatekeeper asked, the words themselves programmed within its vocabulary and not actually a true recording of the former Jedi Master, unlike many Holocron.

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani quickly jerked her hands back as the Shrine activated, projecting a holographic image of a man. It was impossible to not know who it was: Luke Skywalker, the epitome of what it meant to be a Jedi. For a moment, she felt an intense shock, but it was short-lived. The hologram asked her a question; it was not a recording made by Skywalker so much as it was a programmed persona, probably created centuries after Skywalker’s death. She was pretty sure she had played as a similar facsimile in a hologame one time…

Hiding her disappointment, Ishani turned toward Caedyn. “A rock within a stream, huh? I guess that makes sense.” She paused, as though gathering her thoughts, then said, “I’m going to try it.”

She didn’t know how else to make clear her intentions, or begin a lesson. Taking a seat on a nearby rock, she let her hands rest on her knees. The hologram of Luke Skywalker stood still, awaiting a question. Closing her eyes, Ishani opened herself to the Force.

The world as seen through the Force is often described as transcendental, but for the first time in her life Ishani saw it more as a series of distractions. She felt assaulted by life, bothered by the swirls and eddies of energy all around her. It was as if she were sitting in the middle of traffic, with horns honking and the sun beating down on her as she stalled in place. Perhaps this perspective was to her advantage, because from the moment she began she wanted nothing more than to block out these energies.

It took some time and concentration, but she started to push the veil apart. It felt as if she were parting curtains, preparing to open a window and air out a stuffy room. She even took a deep breath of “fresh air” when the distractions finally faded away into background noise.

“I’m an island unto myself, deserted, untouched…” she murmured, opening her eyes just a little. “It’s supposed to feel that way, right?” She wanted to make sure she wasn't screwing this up.

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn was always rather surprised when students would take to a skill-set or ability as if they'd been practising before some time. With Ishani Dinn , this was one of those times, although it was never a bad thing to find a student taking the initiative and being engaged within a lesson. While she did so with an almost nervous question, Caedyn had expected much more need in the beginning than a simple 'am I doing this right?'.

"You're off to a great start Ishani, nothing to worry about" he replied with a smile, soon moving over to where she had taken her seat upon a rock. Caedyn on the other hand chose to simply seat himself upon the loose sand of the ground itself, giving his Padawan a little height over him. "It will take a lot of practice to perfect, and is easily something you can practice within meditation which should also help build upon your general control of the Force itself" he encouraged her.

At present, he could feel the effort that she was placing in distancing herself from the flow of the Force. "At this point in time, as your just beginning, exerting your time and energy in the Force can be a trigger which might give away your presence in the moment; With regular practice however you'll be able to perform this skill naturally, with little to no effort at all" The same could be said for every skill or ability, yet this one, in particular, meant having to avoid and monitor how much exertion and energy output you were using, while using the skill.

"Every time we reach out with our senses, we open ourselves up to detection from others. Every use of the Force creates an echo or a ripple effect where others may detect. Naturally, when using this method of practice requires experience and ease to use without investing too much of your energy, and thus giving yourself away".

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Huh,” she murmured. “If you wanted to be really stealthy, wouldn’t it be best not to use the Force at all?”

She understood the idea of practicing to get better, but if it was true that every action in the Force sent out ripples, it seemed only logical.

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn chuckled softly, nodding in amused agreement; "I can understand why you'd think that yet even without consciously using the Force, we are still bound to it by our force sensitivity. For example, hopefuls that the Jedi Order sends their Jedi Seekers out to search for can often be sensed by their presence in the force even despite not knowing how to use it".

Jedi Seekers were Jedi whose job it was to discover young force sensitive's, going out into the Galaxy to meet with them (or their parents/family), in order to offer a place for them within the Jedi Order. For many people, the idea of younglings being enlisted into the Jedi Order had been something of a controversial subject, and partially why many people did not trust the Jedi.

"When you are able to control the Force and separate yourself from its flow with relative ease, your presence in the force is diminished to the extent of energy your exerting. With enough practice, this will become natural and much more difficult to track" he explained himself, his method of drowning out his own presence in the Force.

Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Right,” Ishani murmured. “Hopefuls.”

She could remember a time when the sight of Jedi Seekers wandering her homeworld had brought her nothing but disgust. Chaldea was overflowing with Force sensitives, descended from Jedi heretics who had first colonized the planet a thousand years ago—and most of them had been raised to believe that their ability to use the Force was something to be suppressed.

Ishani had been one of them. In many ways, she still thought the way they did, even though she had rejected the most sacred tenet of her family’s religion. She still looked at the Jedi with a certain amount of healthy suspicion, even though she was here being taught by one of them. Curiosity had motivated her to seek him out, but would curiosity be enough to continue with her studies?

Would it be enough to prevent her from running back into her mother’s arms, accepting whatever penalties her father insisted upon, so long as she wasn’t left a single mother on her own?

But all this had nothing to do with hiding one’s presence in the Force. Or maybe it did.

“Let me make sure I understand,” she said. “What you just taught me, what I’m doing now—it’s making me look like a normal person with no Force powers? Or does it make me look like I’m dead to the Force? Or… uh, is it just hiding my aura?”

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

“Let me make sure I understand,” she said. “What you just taught me, what I’m doing now—it’s making me look like a normal person with no Force powers? Or does it make me look like I’m dead to the Force? Or… uh, is it just hiding my aura?”

"You're making yourself out to be a civilian. A Non-Force User" Caedyn replied.

The concept of the method making her Force Dead was something that had also crossed his mind when he had first learned to perform the ability, yet to his knowledge, you couldn't simply make yourself dead to the force. There were special materials with Force Dead properties that when combined with the manufacturing of weapons or armors could provide protection against all Force Abilities, but not the living.

"We are part of life, and therefore the Force flows through us. We cannot change that, so unfortunately making ourselves dead to the Force is out of my hands. At least to my knowledge, in any case," Caedyn explained.

Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani nodded her head at the clarification… and couldn’t help but smirk grimly when Caedyn said he thought making a person dead to the Force was “out of his hands”.

“Uh, I was really asking if it was possible to look like you were dead in the Force, an illusion rather than the real thing… But I know it’s certainly possible to cut yourself off from it.” She rubbed the toe of her shoe in the dust. “It’s considered an ideal state of being where I come from. My father did it, and I probably would have done it too if I had stayed there.”

But nobody ever wanted to hear about it, and most of the time Ishani didn’t feel like talking about it. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “What’s next? Should I talk to the fake Luke Skywalker now?”

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"True, people can cut themselves off, but the Force can always be rediscovered provided the person is prepared to relearn and recover their connection to it. My understanding is that being cut off from the Force lasts only as long as the person wishes to remain cut off" Caedyn answered. Although the subject of her father had certainly piqued his curiosity regarding her homeworld and history.

"You haven't mentioned your father before now," he said, sounding interested and enthusiastic to know more about his Student; "Do you mind if I ask why he cut himself off from the Force?".

Many people over the generations of Jedi and Sith had done so, some due to failure in their line of service, others out of resentment for acts caused by fellow Force Users, and then some out of fear for being discriminated against due to their abilities.

"If you're interested, you can talk to the Gatekeeper there. Otherwise, we can carry on with another exercise in mind".

Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishani Dinn]

She braced for the usual sort of reaction. Disgust. Disapproval. Scoffing, wincing, and pitiful glances toward her. You poor thing. Nobody ever seemed to realize that they were reacting this way to her family, her home. Things that she still loved, in some way. No matter how much she tried to distance herself from who she used to be, every rejection of Chaldea always felt like a rejection of herself.

“Because we’re—because my family are Potentiates,” she replied. “The Potentium runs Chaldea. They believe the Force is too dangerous a power for mere mortals to possess, so they encourage believers to cut themselves off from the Force. There’s a whole ceremony that goes along with it. I’ve seen it done.” Such rituals were attended by friends and family members as if it were a wedding or similar celebration.

“So like, uh, my dad is… well, he really hates Force Users, both Jedi and Sith. More than the average Chaldean, I would say. He learned how to hate them during the Civil War, when the Sith and the Jedi sided with different groups of terrorists and revolutionaries…” She trailed off, sighing. It was hard enough to explain this stuff to an outsider, let alone a Jedi. “My dad is also the headmaster of the Chaldean Academy. They teach the students how to live without the Force, or how to use the Force to deprive others of it, if that makes any sense. It’s almost like a military academy crossed with a seminary. You either vow to completely abstain from the Force, or you come out a mystic warrior with the power to defend others from Force Users across the spectrum.”

Well, that sure did sound like you approved of it, Ish. She scratched her head. “Uh… what other exercise did you have in mind?”

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn Arenais wasn't particularly knowledgeable about the Potentium, nor Chaldea itself, so as he listened to what his Apprentice had to say about her Father and her Homeworld, Caedyn had to consider what sort of feelings and experiences such an upbringing might have brought for Ishani Dinn . While his background was one of encouragement and support for Force Users, particularly light siders by his family and then the Je'daii and the Force as a whole during his teenage years, it was obvious that their experiences were vastly different. Despite this, he did not appear to respond to the news with shock or overbearing sympathy, but his expression remained a neutral one and he spoke with a sense of understanding when regarding her people's views.

"There are many numerous peoples out there that share similar beliefs towards Force Users, regardless of what side or Order they are aligned with. This is why the Jedi are feared and resented by much of the public despite their attempts to serve and assist. The Force truly can be a devastating power when in the hands of those who, while their intentions may be pure, still lack self-discipline and respect in that which they're capable of wielding".

There were times in Caedyn's own life where he had felt uncertain about his own place in the Galaxy as a Force User; perhaps more instances of this, than her wished to admit. The truth was that being a Force User, even the smallest of decisions or actions can create a ripple effect and cause consequences for the user, or those they simply pass in life and move on without realizing the impact and relevance of their influence in the lives of others.

"Thank you for sharing that" Caedyn added, offering Ishani a brief smile with appreciation; "It's nice to know a little about where you've come from". Sharing something personal as she had with him would hopefully continue to bridge the gap between the pair as time moved on; To encourage Ishani to trust and know that she could confide in him without fear of judgement.

"As for what I was thinking we could try next, I wondered whether you had ever tried to meditate while still in motion. For example, using a lightsaber and performing repetitive movements, becoming synchronized with the Force and yet still remaining present and aware of your surroundings and those nearby?".

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Yeah,” she muttered. “I know.”

Perhaps her response sounded curt, but his answer was nothing she hadn’t already heard, no conclusion she hadn’t already drawn. If she thought any differently, she wouldn’t be here.

Where would she be? In Chaldea, undergoing the ritual to sever her Force connection? Or spirited away in some secret Sith hideout, awaiting the day when they would conquer the galaxy? She wasn’t sure. Had she ever been certain about any of the paths she’d walked?

What about this one, the path of the Jedi? Well, it was less stressful than that of the Sith, at least. This whole trip was practically a spa day compared to those Sith survival expeditions.

"Thank you for sharing that. It's nice to know a little about where you've come from".

“Uh-huh. I’m very very interesting,” she said, spreading her arms as if to take a bow. After he explained the next lesson, she said, “Moving meditation? Sounds like riveting stuff. When do we get to the part where I shoot fireballs out of my hands, or use the Force to… I don’t know, craft my own private castle in the desert, or something?”

Caedyn Arenais​

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn couldn't help but give a horse laugh, rolling his eyes in response to Ishani Dinn 's forced enthusiasm. Sarcasm at its finest. "As boring as the concept may sound, moving meditation is a good foot in the door to becoming one of the finest duelists among Force Users with enough dedication. Not to mention an unstoppable force when confronted by Non-Force Users!" Caedyn pointed out, correcting her attempt to be humorous.

"Normal Meditation requires peace and a stationary seating as you know, however moving meditation requires repetition in order to fall into a consistent trance, and when obtaining this trance-like-state, you can then proceed to spar with a partner and allow the Force to guide your every move and action, anticipating your opponents strikes, and truly harnessing your environment and all possible option that could be utilized while maintaining your defence and composure within combat training" Caedyn further elaborated, something of a smirk growing as he sounded to almost be disproving the girls presumed intellect and attempted humour.

"Precognition is a skill that is heightened during this training exercise, and your overall connection to the Force becomes easier to grasp, learning to connect and commune with the Force while still performing everyday actions. It helps us to learn to multi-task, you could say. To listen to the Force while also maintaining your concentration and state of sentient awareness....-After significant practice, of course".

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Dueling.” Ishani made a face. In every lightsaber training exercise, she had always been too shy and afraid of actually hurting her opponent to do well. Even when faced with fighting or dying on the battlefield, she had relied heavily on trickery and the Force to survive.

Caedyn thought he was funnier than her, with his jollity about taking down NFUs with the power of moving meditation. She nodded along vigorously, smirking all the while.

“Are you talking about Force Forms? Force channeling and that sort of thing? I remember reading about that. It’s Consular stuff.” She probably did fall into the category of a Consular, if not a Sentinel. She was certainly no great warrior.

Caedyn Arenais​