The power of the mind [Iella E`ron]

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander was seated in a lotus position in the gardens of the Jedi Temple in Tython, with his eyes closed, he was meditating... the daily activity that was, for a Jedi; as important as breakfast, lunch and dinner... in fact; he almost had to do it three times a day as well.

The air was soo clean, the wind was soo fresh... everything seemed just perfect. Since his arrival to the Jedi homeworld, the corellian apprentice has been training hard in order to learn as much as possible about the Force.

It was quite interesting, thanks to the training his Jedi Master gave him he could now feel the current of the lightside flowing throughout the Temple, and it was slowly filling him and even allowing him to be more focused.

The gardens of the Temple were the best place to be, the images that came to his mind while he was meditating there were still unknown and he still had trouble controlling them, but at least while he was there, they didn't consist in battles or painful visions of things that he has never seen, instead; they were still unknown but filled with happyness and joy.

In time he knew he would learn to block them, just as his Master told him when he first met him; however at the moment his main goal was to learn how to hear the soft whispers that it was trying to communicate through the images... perhaps he didn't need to learn to block them and embrace them... or perhaps he was supposed to just live with them... in the end, only by understanding the Force he could actually tell what was his ultimate destiny in the galaxy.

@[member="Iella E`ron"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

Iella's daily route now consisted of a long walk in the morning through the gardens around the Temple. This did lots of things for her and her unborn child. Gone for now, are the exercises that consisted of a vigorous run up the mountain to get the blood pumping and keep up her aerobic fitness, something she was proud to say, she could beat Syn at. Or at least that was her story. No the walks filled her body with the fresh air and heavy oxygen and the sun provided it's goodness too.

As she strolled she happened upon a man. That looks so uncomfortable, she thought as she noticed his position. She envied those that could do that, oh she could to, but she did not have the ability to sit long enough for any benefit. She walked past him for now, not wishing to disturb his meditation. But made her way to a bench near by and sat. However, she kept looking at him, and then recognised him as one of Syn's Padawans. Syn had told her a little about him, one of his older students in the force, but that was about all really.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and lifted her head up so her face met the warmth of the sun. She could sense this man's presence here now, a signature she would remember if ever they are to meet again. Gently she pushed out with the force allowing him ability to sense her too, just a courtesy call as to not alarm him if he was to discover her unexpectedly. She concentrated on the surrounds, feeling the living force pulsing, the pull of Ashla and Bogan strong today.

 

[Vexander Graves]

The images in his mind showed what seemed to be his own reflection, dressed in similar robes and seated in the gardes of a Jedi Temple... but the location was different... next to him was a man that seemed just like him but blonde, and without facial hair; both of them talking and laughing together like two brothers... twin brothers.

Almost inmediately, an unexpected presence in the Force got into his range... it didn't seem an intrusion, however, the foreign presence was definetely calling for his attention, away from the images that were new for him, a vision that was interesting and disturbing at the same time...

Opening his eyes slowly, the young man looked for the source of the "Force Nudge" and eventually met a young blonde girl... one he has never seen before, another Jedi just like him, but based on the attire she was more than just a padawan.

With a slow move, he began to stand up and stretched his muscles for a couple of seconds before bowing politely at the woman. "Greetings..." said the man while he was still looking at the floor, however, he regained his posture and looked at the lady straight in the eyes... he didn't know why she was there or who she was, the purpose of the interruption was unknown... yet he knew that it was not the way of the Jedi to talk to each other unless there was a need "...I... think we haven't met before? I am Vexander, is there... something I can help you with?" His softskills were still not honed properly, he didn't mean disrespect... however, he always wanted to go straight to the point and to be blunt if needed.

@Iella E`ron

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

She dropped her head from the sun's rays and looked at the man. "No we have not met, Vexander. I am Iella E `ron", she said with a smile. "I believe you are one of Master Syn's Padawans. A fine Master you have".

She stood now and walked over to Vexander and raised her hand to take as greeting. "A pleasure to meet you .. I did not wish to disturb your .. meditation. But I was wondering if there was something I might do for you". She looked around the area where they stood and enjoyed the sight of the gardens. "It is so beautiful here and such a fine day, maybe we could talk or practice something in your training, there is always time for more practice".

 

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander looked at the girl who identified as Iella E `ron. The young man shook her hand and listed to what she had to say. Her offer was indeed interesting and extremely appreciated. He had soo much to learn that an extra session with someone with more experience would come handy... although he didn't know what she knew and her areas of experice.

Still, he was still just like a newborn in a lot of things related to the Force. He knew that almost anything would be a great addition.

"He is a great Master indeed. His way to teach the Force is extraordinary and, for someone like me, fascinating. I think that we can definetely try a few practice runs... I am not sure what you have in mind though..." the young man pondered for a moment "some telekinesis perhaps?"

@Iella E`ron

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

"Then follow me", she simply said.

Iella walked not to far away to another part of the gardens. Here, is the zen garden, etched with green fine cut grass running swirls within a white field of stones. All alined in perfection, by sentients practicing their skills of telekinesis. She smiled at the sight of it. "Lets mess this up a little", she said with some corellian cheek.

Iella focused and centered the force to her middle, she could feel that pitted sensation tightening there and forming that fist she knows so well now, she had more control over it since her self training in Silent Desert, but still she needed to do more to use it to it full power. But that is not needed here today. She pushed the force to her arms and to the palm of her hand. A natural thing to do now, and she raised her arm, pointed fingers reached for the white stones and as she turned her hand over .. as if to pick some invisible up, the stones floated in the air. She pulled them toward her, slowly and controlled until they are inches away from the palm. She turned her hand fingers facing upward and through the force she gently pushed them back. Then let them drop, not back in place and the pattern in the stones now, imperfect.

"Try it", she said. "Let me see what you can do".

 

[Vexander Graves]

The young man followed the female Jedi, who seemed as eager to teach as much as Vex was eager to learn. They walked straight to another part of the same garden, a place where he could sense the Force around... where other Jedi were lifting several objects and using them as practice in several ways.

Vexander knew how to use the Force to affect several objects around him, however, not to the degree that other padawans. Some were spinning several objects around them at once, others were levitating themselves while they were moving big boulders... and other were doing similar things to what he knew: lift smaller stones and moving them in basic directions.

Once that they were around the field of white stones themselves, Iella proceeded to display the skill in the Force she had. The young padawan could feel the flow of the Force and how she channeled it through her body; a few movements allowed Vex to see how she planned to move the rocks and where to move them. Slowly she managed to take them to a few places and eventually rearrange them in a different way.

At the moment she finished, the girl turned towards Vex and told him to try it. With his normal demeanor and his lack of verbal communication, he just nodded at her and placed himself in position. His legs were slightly split in a perpendicular way, his fists at the height of his waist and his eyes locked into the stones.

First things first, he began to take deep breaths that allowed the Force to flow through his body. A technique he now did practically by instinct thanks to the training Master Syn gave him. However, the hard part was to focus the Force in his hands and connect it to his mind in order to levitate objects.

For Vexander, the telekinesis was an ability all Jedi had to learn extensively, the uses were almost unlimited and it was a great tool. Although the Force Push was one of the uses, it could be said that it was one of the easiests applications... telekinesis was actually much more than that.

Following the example of Iella, Vex proceeded to channel the Force into his fingertips and then, extended both of his arms towards the stones as if he was trying to catch them... or push them... the Force began to tingle the fingertips just like if the hands were numbed, but they weren't... it was just the flow of the Force itself.

In the distance, anyone could see that the stones were vibrating... and moving... but not levitating like Iella managed to do... Vexander concentrated deeper, he had to be careful since a surge in the Force would perform a Push that would send them flying... telekinesis needed more control than that.

A drop of sweat ran in his forehead down to the side of his face and to his cheek, not because he was enduring physical exercise but because he was trying his best and pushing his mind to the limit to control the Force and use it as a tool... work with it... feel it...

Perhaps focusing on all of them was the problem... perhaps he had to do something else... Slowly, the young man placed his attention in just the first rock making the rest of the stones to come to an halt. Nevertheless, the first one slowly began to raise at his command and levitated around a meter above the ground. Once he knew that the stone was in the air and stable, he proceeded with the second one... One by one he began to levitate them... the process was still hardous but it was different... it was easier than to work on all of them at the same time.

Eventually, the young man managed to place all of them in the air... it took him a couple of minutes since he worked with them individually, however, the order of the products do not affect the result... Or it did? Slowly, the young man began to move two of the stones... the ones in the corners... he exchanged them between each other in the line and once that they replaced both of them with each other, he moved with the other ones...

More minutes passed by, however he eventually managed to move all of them to other positions and once again, faster than before, he managed to lowered all of them without dropping them; he finally managed to perform what Iella did.

A smile showed in his face as he leaned a bit and placed both of his hands in his knees... he began to take deep breaths to regain the air... the man was sweating a lot at the feat "Well... that was ok... I guess..." Regaining the composture and streaching his body, he looked at the sky and closed his eyes "...took more than expected... but I think I got the idea..."

It was definetely different than a push, but he knew that mastering this would allow him to control the Force to perform stronger pushes with the Force and to even levitate bigger things. The sole idea of it excited him, and to work on the tangible objets was more beneficial than just thinking in the visions that he experienced over and over about things that he didn't even know. "I hope that you are happy with the late results?"

@Iella E`ron

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

Iella smiled as she watched Vexander move the stones around the garden, he is a quick study and talented with the force. She could sense his strength and his abilities, being a little older then most students, his understanding of concepts come much quicker and that followed with an ability to work a problem. She knew this one would train privately to get to where he wished sooner rather then later.

"Vexander, that was great, a very fine start", the she smiled as she watched him fighting for air. "Try again, and follow me. This time I want you to clear your mind of all thoughts, then place in your mind one single stone from the garden", she said, as she did the same and reached through the force to one single white stone and again, her hand and fingers worked as if playing with the stone in her physical hand. She positioned the stone in the air over the garden two meters over the ground and waited for Vexander to do the same.

"Once you have done that .. bring up a second one", she said as she did as she wished him to do.

 

[Vexander Graves]

The compliments of the Jedi Knight were quite refreshing... especially since he was still regaining air. "Thank you..." said with a soft voice and still gasping. Still, it didn't take him long to be ready for the next test.

Noticing the steps taken by Iella, the young man proceeded to clear his mind completely... he isolated all the noises and feelings, including the presences that the Force brought him from other Jedi around the whole garden practicing and instead just focused in a single stone, one that was almost in front of him a few meters away.

In his mind, everything around the rock became black, and the white rock shined like a lone star in deep space. This time, the young man just extended just his left hand instead of the two of them, and he pointed at the rock with his whole palm extended at it. With a slow wrist movement, he place his palm upwards and levitated the stone two meters off the ground just like his instructor did.

This time, doing so was easier... faster... perhaps it was due to the fact that he was extremely focused in just one... still, as soon as he felt comfortable enough, he added another stone to the black space in his mind, the one that was next to the one that he was levitating... slowly, he also tried to levitate it, he tried to raised it two meters above the ground performing the same movement he did before but this time with his right hand.

Once again, the process to do so was faster, and he actually managed to do it without the effort that he took before. Another smile, more like a smirk showed up in his face "Haha!" said with a sense of joy "I got this."

Knowing that most likely another lesson was in the works, Vex just waited for further instructions from Iella and remained with the two stones in the air levitating both with his hands.

@Iella E`ron

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

"That is better!, less energy to expend", she said smiling. Then her fingers began to more, as if she had two invisible small stones in her hand and she rotated them. The white stones suspended in the air above the garden began on rotated around each other, slowly. Iella did not need to do this with her fingers, she could use the force easy enough to produce the effect, but this was to demonstrate to Vexander what he should be doing through the force. She stopped her fingers but the stones kept turning a little faster now.

She centered her focus on the stones more now, pulling the force through her body to her hand and out to them, making them spin around each other faster until they blurred, she could feel the mini vortex forming within the center of the stones and she knew that if it was a large group of stones that the air within the vortex would be removed.

"This is a handy trick to learn and use within our environment. In a combat situation, it is good to be able to use everything available to you, anything at all. Dust, sand, stones, crates, tool, metal shards, ... whatever. All can become weapons to aid you". She waited for Vexander to try.

 

[Vexander Graves]

The young man nodded at the Knight. Iella's was quite knowledgeable in the use of telekinesis and she was also a good instructor. Vexander decided to follow the steps taken and what he was now seeing in front of him...

With a different move but with almost the same results, the young Padawan concentrated as much as possible in order to gather more stones to the two that he already had levitating. Once that he felt comfortable with the amount levitating, he started to move both of his wrists in a clockwise direction... consequently; the rocks began to do the same...

The air around the rocks began to flow faster and harder as Vex moved the stones in a similar way that Iella did, eventually they were successfully catching up with the speed she attempted... however, anyone could notice that the movement, although circular, was still slightly clumsy... not because he was trying for it to be like that, but because, eventhough his skills were improving, he was still learning to control the Force in such levels.

Once that the rocks were succesfully spinning around creating a small tornado of dust around and elevating it, Vex continued in the process "Like that?... I think that hitting someone with this would knock him out in no time." Vexander smiled, such technique had it's applications in combat.

@Iella E`ron

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

"Indeed yes that is it. As you grow stronger in this .. you will find that you can use just about anything to your advantage", she said with a smile. Iella focused her mind more and sensed the environment around her, she could see through the force all the living force embedded things around them, every blade of grass, every stone in the garden .. all life and features. She centered her middle and held her hand firmly up. She used the force to bring up a wall of stones and as each one rose to meet the two already spinning, she created a spinning wall from the ground up in the air .. the whole wall spinning fast and the air rushed out of the centered of the vortex. The air around them hissed.

She continued for a little longer before severing the connection and letting all the stones fall where they may. "This ability has far reaching possibilities, practice this Vexander, along with push and pull, you can use your environment with those also".

Now the cheeky Corellian stood there with him, "Now one last lesson, you need to put all the stones back into a pretty pattern, we must not leave it in a mess", she grinned. Iella walked over to a garden bench and sat and watched what he would come up with.

 

[Vexander Graves]

The young man smirked as Knight E´ron gave him one last lesson before the instruction could end. Dropping all the stones to the ground in an irregular way.

With a lot of concentration while reaching at the Force, the young man proceeded to use the telekinesis he now knew in each of the stones individually... each one of them began to move and to levitate above the ground almost a feet above the ground.

Slowly, the stones began to move while Vex used his mind to sort them in a specific way, it was not that he couldn't move them faster, it was more that he was trying to carefully arrange them.

After a few minutes, each one of the stones were setup properly and all of them were in lines... one next to the other until an image could be seen:

Perhaps not that fancy but it was something different from the patterns that someone could see within the Gardens. He hoped that it was good enough for the Jedi Knight.

"There, it is done. Do you like it?"

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

@[member="Vexander Graves"]

Iella smiled as he finished. An interesting pattern he had created with the stones and had shown great strength with the use of the force.

"I think that with your training and intelligence you will become a very great Knight soon enough", she said turning to him. "I have no doubt of that, just remember to constant seek training and even take yourself off to train by yourself to further your knowledge".

She was starting to feel a little fatigued now and would have to go and rest. "Vexander it was a pleasure to meet you, and May the Force be with you always. For now I must go and return you to your Master". She smile and bowed with respect.

 

[Vexander Graves]

The young man smiled and bowed respectfully as a deep sign of gratitude towards the Jedi Knight. Although he had to practice a lot, he knew that such lessons were the beginning to master the Telekinesis... true, his main priority when he joined the Order was to learn other things... but the Force was vast, and it's ways so interesting... he had to learn further and to increase his skills.

"Thank you Lady @Iella E`ron. I will return to Master Syn. This lessons will remain in my head and I will take them to my heart."

Regaining his composture, the young man began to take his leave. "May the Force be with you"