....to make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven....

[Kian Karr]

ABOARD THE GNOST DURAL​

SOMEWHERE IN REPUBLIC SPACE​

​

Kian handed Soli Baris the datapad and nodded to her as she left the conference room. Kian followed her out of the room and made it toward his personnel quarters. Once inside, Kian didn't even bother to take off his antiox mask. He didn't have that sort of time. Changing quickly into a pair of gray pants and a tunic, Kian quickly left and made his way toward the central training hub. There, Kian had set aside a small meditation room for his meeting.

It was a fairly rare occurrence for the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order to come to the floating academy of the Jedi Shadows, so he made sure that when [member="Corvus Raaf"] arrived she would be greeted by Soli and lead to the training room. It was certainly not as ostentatious as the small meditation room on Ossus when Kian and Corvus first sat down and trained together, but he thought she might like it.

Jumping into the turbo lift that lead up to the top most level of the training rooms, Kian came to the room he was searching for. It was a small room, meant for a single lesson at a time, and was a large transparent dome that had a view out into the blackness of space. Stars dotted the blackness all around them. Kian settled onto the soft, padded floors on his knees and closed his eyes. The Grandmaster would be arriving soon and when she did, he hoped he would find her well. It seemed like it had been far too long since the two had spoken in private. Kian and Corvus had agreed to meet in Order to better prepare her, telepathically, for the role she now found herself in and Kian was eager to help.

Opening up his eyes and glancing into the dotted space above him, Kian smiled widely. The two Jedi had come a long way together and this would be a nice respite from meeting on the battlefield or passing each other during Council meetings.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Somewhere in Republic Space. As soon as those were given as the coordinates, you knew the Jedi Shadows were involved. Fortunately she received something a little more specific and met up with the Master of the aforementioned Shadows.

As she disembarked from her ship, she was met by the ever efficient Soli Baris. Pleasantries were exchanged as Corvus was guided to the training rooms she knew the ship possessed.

They exited the turbo lift and she was shown to a door. Thanking Soli, Corvus knocked and entered. She bowed as she saw Kian and was impressed by the view. It was very peaceful and ideal for training.

Corvus immediately settled into a cross legged position opposite him. “Hi, Kian. Just like old times. Except there’s only one cold-fish this time.” She smiled, aware of her nickname when she was a Padawan. “But I like it. And before we start, how are you?”

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian turned his head and considered Corvus's statement for a moment before responding. Kian was aware of her reputation for being "cold" as a padawan, but Kian had come to respect Corvus and knew well enough to never make the mistake of believing that false rumor. Corvus felt more than many people and because of it was forced to cut herself off from emotions on occasion.

"I'm afraid Kel Dor are not an aquatic species." Kian said, purposefully misinterpreting Corvus's statement and saying it was a deadpan voice even though beneath his mask he was smiling broadly.

"I am doing...." Kian said considering the question posed to him, "very well." Kian said nodding along with his words. "A little tired for sure, and I miss spending most of my time on Ossus, but other than that, I can't say I have anything to be unhappy about." The Kel Dor said folding his hands over his lap.

"How are you?" Kian said throwing the question back at the Grandmaster.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled at Kian's understatements on various levels. "I spend so much time travelling now - it can be a little weary - but I must not complain. I love what I do and would not change it for the world. Any world in fact. And I'm pleased we are growing again as an Order and the Republic seem so strong even without our presence. Yes, all in all I mustn't grumble."

"And I look forward to training with you again. I hold information that must be protected at all costs and therefore need your help in this regard."

She glanced around. "One of those times when people talk of something being of Galactic security and actually meaning it."

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian smiled mischievously beneath his mask. When the two had first trained together Kian had introduced Corvus to communication using telepathy and on how to protect and counter-attack with the use of her mind and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd been using these skills over the past few years since that lesson. But Kian could certainly understand the need to keep things safe and secure.

"Well then....we'd better get you prepared." Kian said and without any further warning, pushed forward with his mind. When they had trained in the past Kian had held back, he'd pushed with his telepathic will only enough to train someone who was just learning....but Corvus was no longer that younger, inexperienced Jedi. The Grandmaster was a seasoned warrior and one of the ablest of Jedi the Order had ever produced.

So when Kian's mind surged forward it did so with the intent of smashing through her mental defenses. It wasn't a barbed attack meant to inflict pain, such as the type of psychic attack a Sith might use, but it was the sort of attack one would use to battering through a mental defense and take any information one wanted by force.

Kian's mind was forged into a spear meant to dive deep into the Grandmaster's brain and he put his full force behind the blade thrust.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was not expecting the attack but whereas once upon a time she would have panicked at the intrusion, now she took it in her stride. The Force warned her a split second before her mind was breached. Her defence hadn't changed since the days he'd first learned the ability from the Kel-Dor. It had merely improved.

In her mind's eye, she protected her memories and emotions with a liquid. Like a giant bubble really that surrounded her mind. It was flexible and viscous. So when the spear struck, the liquid coated the weapon and gave with it's probing but simply did not burst. The bubble was deformed but intact.

The wall she used to hold emotions in and keep other's out had been on filter-mode. A Jedi empath had taught her how to allow emotions in and out by means of 'opening a few windows' but now she put the shutters up. And the wall was inside the bubble. And she remained vigilant. This sort of attack was similar to a duel, each side looking to probe for weaknesses. But Corvus was looking to learn to defend better and so chose not to counter the attack.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian smiled beneath his mask. Corvus had been practicing her telepathy, that was good. He had been worried that with all her duties as Grandmaster she would have allowed her abilities to atrophy and he was glad she had not. Kian pulled his attack back and divided it. Four tendrils now struck at her mind from differing angles and varying strength.

The attacks came like the strikes of a Eerm, the native serpent of Dorin. Each attack would strike and retreat and then another would strike and retreat. It was a means of testing for weaknesses in her defense, a way of pushing her to her limits and keeping her on her toes. Today's lesson would be an exhausting one....for them both.

But Kian had to wear her down. Today's lesson wasn't about defending your mind from attacks, it was about evading attacks and protecting information. No one could defend indefinitely....eventually everyone's bubble would burst. So what did one do when that happened. That was the lesson Kian would be teaching her today. What to do when your defenses failed!

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

To Corvus her approach was much like Soresu – it was about defence first at the expense of attack.

But whereas she’s been using a saber for over two decades and had been a Soresu practitioner for over ten years, in terms of defending her mind she was relatively inexperienced. She’d fought a gate-keeper on Prakith, but otherwise had little experience.

So it was inevitable that Kian breached her defences, attack after attack wore her down, shifted her attention so often that finally a strike penetrated her bubble – and it quite simply burst.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian's eyes, closed up until this point, slowly opened and he regarding the Grandmaster. Small beads of sweat dotted the Kel Dor's brownish, orange skin. Truth be told, that had taken him a bit longer than he expected it would going into the training session. Kian wasn't holding back as he had in the past, and it was a testimony to the Grandmaster's skills that it was that difficult to break through.

"Very good, Grandmaster." Kian said smiling behind the mask. "Your already wearing this old man out." Kian said chuckling a bit. While certainly not old by human or Kel Dor standards, Kian was older than several of the prominent Jedi of the Order....a fact that was often pointed out by the young lady sitting before him.

"You were able to fight against my attacks for some time, and I suspect that under dire circumstances your resolve would be set even firmer." Kian said laying his hands on his knees. "Plus, I still have attacked the inner wall of your mind, behind which you would likely have the information I would want." Kian said nodding as he spoke.

"But if this were the Sith probing your mind, they could break you with much weaker telepaths." Kian said planly. "Because they would work in conjunction. Multiple minds attacking, coordinating and alternating. When they would become weary, they would bring in fresher minds to attack." Kian said shaking his head.

"Under such a barrage of assault, no one could withstand it." Kian said and waited a moment for that to sink in. No one could build a wall, or a bubble, strong enough to withstand such attacks.

"What seems like many years ago now." Kian said turning his head to the side and glancing out at the stars. "I told you that you could defend your mind using evasion." Kian said, knowing that Corvus would remember the lesson.

"Telepathy alone is limited, but there is a technique that allows far greater advantages." Kian said.

"I am talking about art of the small." Kian said turning back toward Corvus. "Have you worked with it at all?"

​

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

She probably looked fresher than she felt - for mentally and physically Corvus felt weary. His words buoyed her but he was right, she'd last against a foe in a duel, but not if captured.

She shook her head slightly. "Of course I've heard of it but I couldn't tell you any specifics about it. I mean I know it's about shrinking your mind and Force presence and I've known of it being used in healing. But how to achieve those things? I have no idea."

"But something tells me I'm going to find out. And...is there any chance of some water." She smiled at Kian - training with him was always special.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian smiled lifted his datapad to his hand, punching in a series of codes. Within a few moments, a serving droid entered the room and brought over a tray with a pitcher of water and a glass. Kian gave Corvus a moment to have a glass before continuing.

"Art of the small is about shrinking your force presence, your mind, and your focus down to the microscopic level." Kian said lifting his hands up in front of him and moving them closer together as he spoke.

"Art of the small has applications that are far reaching and really quite expansive." Kian said. "I have used it since Grandmaster Grayson taught it to me when I was a young Knight. At the time I was just getting started with the Shadows and I wished to learn it for its stealth capabilities."

"But over the years I've come to learn that it has vast benefits to the defense of the mind." Kian said, "Others use it for a variety of things. Both light and dark."

"I want to begin with centering yourself....and then begin to hone your focus down....and down...and down." Kian said, his voice soothing despite the fact that it was coming out of an antiox mask. He pulled a small pot from the satchel next to him and sat it down in front of Corvus. "Like hitting the zoom on a microscope I want you to focus further and further down on this flower. Go beyond its appearance, beyond its surface all the way down to the compounds and chemicals....to the elements themselves."

"Picture the smallest thing you can imagine.....and then take it further."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus took the water gladly. She was in danger of getting a headache and the water certainly helped. She sipped it gently but soon had drained the glass and took a refill.

As ever, Corvus looked for reference points as she listened to Kian speak. She’d used Abilities with similar characteristics albeit not identical. Certainly her work with Force Valor here she’d experienced the Force down to a cellular level as she’d used to it enhance speed, power and agility was relevant.

But for now she did as Kian asked. She was used to a whole variety of Meditation techniques. This time she began as if she were entering Emptiness. She emptied her mind and allowed the Force to flow through her. She became oblivious to her surroundings and almost joined the Force in as much as anyone could see her corporeal body but they’d not be able to detect her with the Force – and indeed, Force based attacks would not affect her.

But she did not enter the state as deeply as she usually would; instead she opened her eyes and focused on the flower. Initially she saw it for what it was, its natural beauty, its scent and reaching out a hand, she felt its texture.

Allowing the Force to guide her, as she did when she learned Force Valor, she then entered the flower via the Force, initially seeing the various components, the cells, the chemicals that made up the living thing. But she went further, to what made up those cells. Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulphur…she could see them all.

“I can see…elements…it’s…amazing.”

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

"Very good." Kian said, his eyes closed as he too focused down deeper and deeper toward the flower. Kian remembered the time he trained with Kiskla Grayson on this art and the use he'd put it too ever since. Kian hadn't ever bothered to push his work with healing or blowing things up, as some did with Art of the Small, but rather in hiding himself. To him, Art of the Small was the ultimate technique for hiding ones presence from others....as well as guarding the mind.

"You could break them apart....if you so chose." Kian said shrugging. "I've seen Sith who use Art of the Small to destroy.....and Jedi who use it to heal." Kian said, "But what I am here to teach you is how to use it to hide....both yourself and your mind."

"Right now you can see those elements....you can imagine the infinitesimal size of them.....but your presence in the force has not diminished in the least."

"I want you to shrink yourself down....shrink down your presence in the force to that small, microscopic size."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Whereas she had an obvious reference point before, now she had none. How do you shrink yourself down? Or rather shrink your presence in the Force down?

And like so many Padawans before she doubted she could do it. And therefore success was denied her.

She shook her head. She had, at least, the benefit of two decades of training as a Jedi and could therefore immediately spot her own failure.

“Trust in the Force,” she said out loud. “It will never let you down.”

Closing her eyes, she looked up at the transparent dome that kept the space out and the air in. With a small amount of effort, she could see her own reflection, using Force Sight. She could see her own aura. It was a typically Light-sided aura and would be visible to those that looked.

She did not want to diminish her use of the Force but merely reduce its visibility. Applying the laws of physics as she saw them, she simply imagined that aura – the Force signature – becoming denser. And increased density meant reduced volume. Slowly but surely she saw the Force aura shrink, but the reduced size grew brighter. The smaller it got, the brighter it became.

Finally it was an infinitesimal size but was like a beacon that could be seen for literally miles. “Well I wanted to be a candle in the dark,” she mused. “All I need to do now is work out how to turn the brightness down.”

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian watched as [member="Corvus Raaf"] went to work on shrinking herself down, and he quickly became aware of the vast brightness of her force aura. Corvus had managed to make it small, but had also made it a lantern of force light, burning brightly to any force sensitive around. That would not do.

"That didn't quite work, did it." Kian said chuckling.

"It isn't enough just to shrink down your force presence.....you need to shrink yourself down as well." Kian said, hoping he was making things clearer for the Grandmaster.

"There is more to you than just your force signature....there is your consciousness, the you in your head. Take your focus and shrink it down as well." Kian said and began to do as he was saying, his signature slowly fading away until there was seemingly nothing before her. Kian sat there, physically visible, but his force signature would be gone....as if it had never been.

"Our bodies are but flesh, Grandmaster." Kian said smiling. "Who you are exists beyond your body.....and it is that which you must shrink down." Kian said, feeling himself immersed among the atoms and the elements around him. He felt as if he were one with the very floor he sat upon and he could see the utter vastness of the universe in those microscopic specs.

"All around us is a river of microscopic life, Corvus....allow yourself to seep into that river.....allow its current to draw you in. For you are part of that river.....you are made up of the same elements you feel around you....and once you accept it, once you see it, it is easy to let yourself be swept into it." Kian said, realizing that the metaphor he was using was similar to the one he had used when he first taught her about telepathy, all those years ago.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled faintly. “No, it didn’t quite work, did it?”

So she watched Kian, observed his technique and listened to his words. And she nodded and put into practice what he was sharing with her.

Slowly she felt herself withdrawing in. Using her usual water metaphor she was the ocean, vast and wide and then she became a river, entering the mouth and reducing in size proportionately. Then she searched for a tributary, a side river, slower moving and much smaller. On and on this went until she reached a trickle coming from a rock at the brook’s source. And from that small flow she was an individual drop and then, finally one atom.

She felt infinitesimal yet knew she was occupying the same body. Looking up, with her Force Sight, she saw no aura betraying her Light-sided affiliation. Instead she saw what she did when she looked at a typical person. Organic? Yes. Force-User? No.

And so she looked across at Kian. “Better?” she said.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

"Much better." Kian said smiling and nodding approvingly. "With time and practice you will be able to do it as second nature....as with most things." Kian said smiling beneath his mask.

"But for the purposes of today, the main concern we have is protecting your mind." Kian said. "In this state, your mind is so infinitesimal that it makes it virtually impossible for another to break through your mental defenses.....because you don't need to defend your mind but simply continue to hide it." Kian said, explaining why this would be useful for her to know.

"The only way they would be able to try and test your defenses is if they themselves are masters of Art of the Small, and even then it would be an exhausting fight on both sides....."

"This ability has greater applications, but you will have to work at it for a time before you are able to take it further....and truth be told, it isn't something I will be able to show you. My use of it is singular in nature." Kian said, referring to the use of Art of the Small as a camouflage and mental defense.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded as Kian spoke. She was always extolling the virtue of practice - for hours spent equated to competence. She would make time to ensure she practiced this aspect of the Ability. If she had time to develop its practical uses beyond that was debatable. It was certainly a powerful Ability, but she believed that a Jedi is better to be a Master of a set number of Abilities rather than a jack-of-all-trades.

She was actually feeling quite tired from her short efforts so far and could quite imagine what Kian meant when he said two combatants utilising this Ability would tax themselves before a conclusion was reached.

She sipped some more water. "You always make learning seem so straightforward. It's a true gift you possess. So...what's next for you?"

[member="Kian Karr"]