Yavin IV Jedi Academy: Part II (open to the Jedi Order, regardless of faction)

[Micah Talith]

P O R T S H A R D R O C K

There were a lot of stories about the Warlock of Yavin. Some say he is one of the greatest Mandalrians. Others say he is a ghost. A bounty hunter that could track and find anybody, anywhere. That he had brought in more bounties than anyone else. The Guild respected him. Others feared him. Some might seem his favor while others would curse his name.

They say he rather stay with his own counsel, rather live the life of a hermit. Some wondered if he was still alive. There were many stories, but only one was of particular interest to Micah.

The story of a young Jedi Master who had been left to die in the gladiator pits of Geonosis, and the man in not so shiny armor that had saved her.

Ember Rekali.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Sabers! No! Leaping! No! Stun!” Kaili finally settled down. “Stun! I want to learn how to stun people!”

She wasn’t running circles around [member="Kira Talith"] but she damn well almost could be. The young girl took a deep breath and turned to her mother. The rain still poured down and at that point Kaili was practically as good as soaked to the bone but it didn’t matter, the excitement kept her warm!

Sorta.

Kaili shivered as a toothy grin radiated at what had clearly been her mother’s offer to train her in something. “It will be so useful! Just think of, like, how people go into someone’s room and you can just like make sure they don’t run away!”

“OH! Or how to do it on droids! Like, BAM! Perfect opportunity to pick them apart!”

[member="Kira Talith"]

 

[Quorl]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kon Uulon"]

The large bird flew down from his perch landing in the tumbled and now solid terrain. His feathers fluffed as he approached Morgana and Mara. Quorl bobbed rapidly to indicate his approval, although in his bobbing he caught sight of a small furry animal skittering about in the bushes. He watched for a momenbt before returning his attention back to the padawans. He pecked at the Mara’s hair in an affectionate manner before debating if he should do likewise to Morgana. He decided against it. “You did good,” he hooted, “You’ll be a real saber rake in no time.” Then he tilted his head off to the side examining the newcomer. His head swayed back and forth so he could get a better look. “With time, and experience comes confidence.” Quorl bounced about the little clearing trampling the earth. “As you practice the movements they become second nature, instinctual. When you can act without thought that is when you’ve mastered the blade.”

He opened up his wings and sort of waved for the assembled flock to attend to his words, “You must empty yourself of fear and anxiety.” Quorl let out a low hoot, “A house is useful not for its supports and walls. It is the space where you can live in and build a family that is of importance. So to must all Jedi create a place inside of themselves for the force to dwell…”

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

One Year Prior to Present Time...
Mark's Age: 14
Location: The Courtyard

A light rain came down upon Yavin IV. It wasn't unbearable by any means, but there were few people outside the academy itself. On the steps, Mark sat alone.
He couldn't believe it'd happened. After all the craziness yesterday, he needed a place to sit and think. He just couldn't believe that yesterday had been real. After all they'd been through together, he was gone now. Jorden was gone.
The rain on his face was almost welcome now for whatever reason. Mark couldn't believe he'd had to go and abandon him. They'd promised never to abandon each other. It was his fault Jorden was gone now.
"All my fault." He said, putting his face in his hands.

 

[Kon Uulon]

Kon looks around his surroundings before he brings his attention to Master [member="Quorl"] , saying "An excellent choice in words, Master." Kon then turns to [member="Morgana Forceborn"] , "Forgive me if I gave an unwanted opinion, but may I ask what form you used?" Kon then falls to a silence as he stands there, having nothing left to say or do to the group he had set himself in.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Then, a ship pulled down ahead of the courtyard. The ramp opened up, revealing the Talith family. Mark hadn't seen all of them in person until now, but he'd seen Master [member="Kira Talith"] around the academy sometimes. He thought about going to greet them, and at first, he decided against it in his sadness of the loss of his friend. Then, he decided to go. He would need to move on sometime, and every little thing helped.
So, he stood up and went over to greet them. The rain grew a little harder, but it didn't bother Mark too much. There were two out of the family there. Master Kira and a young daughter. Mark couldn't quite tell what age, but definitely not as old as he was. She didn't have the feel of someone trained in the force, so she obviously wasn't a padawan yet. But, she looked to be following the same path as her mother. They even looked slightly similar.
"Greetings Master Talith. I hope you're doing well today." He said. "Sorry the weather isn't very pleasant."
He looked to the young girl and smirked good naturedly.
"I swear it's not always like this."
Now, looked back to Master Talith.
"Her first time here?"
[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

P O R T S H A R D R O C K
Witchtown


There were pros and cons with asking questions about Witchtown on Port Shardrock. The pros were that you could pretty much get the information you wanted after a few glowers. The cons were that once you went into Witchtown -- well.. for a twelve year old kid, you stood out like a sore thumb.

More so if you consider the Talith eyes.

He got a few curious looks among the more stern glances from the locals as he would walk in, soaked almost to the bone and shivering. The rain had not let up. It reminded him of the monsoons back at home they got once a year or so. Teeth chattering, he would briskly walk up towards a hut of some sort that appeared to be some sort of drinking establishment.

He stood under the overhead thatched roof, shaking off the extra rain from his clothing and a bit paler than usual. Tapas would help regulate his body temperature, but like his mother, it wasn't a dire necessity to use it then.

A little bit of water never killed anyone.

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

With dedication, Laura felt herself beginning to improve. The progress was slow, but under Master Yuyo's tutelage her ability to Sense began to grow. To an untrained eye, she seemed to have above average reflexes. Her strategy was to focus on the little green man's Force aura, and try to gauge when and where he would send the puck towards her goal through pulses of thought or energy. They were hard to feel for. Her ability to sense was quite "blunt", so anything she felt came through like a finger pressing down on the other side of a pillow. And it was a lot harder to sense direction than it was to sense timing. Her timing was quite good, only ... she missed the puck with regularity.

She was still improving though. This time she lost 10-0 again, but she lasted a lot longer. Taking heart in that, there was no tantrum this time as the tenth goal went through her defenses.

"Again," said the little Master.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Kira gave another laugh, her hand musing the damp tendrils of Kai's hair. "Okay kiddo, then let's get out of the rain and into the Temple." She gave her daughter a playful push -- a daughter who was already matching her short height.

The sadness at being only five feet one.

"We can start on the basics like Force Stun -- I hope you enjoy getting a numb tongue!" she'd tease her daughter, walking along side of her as they made their way up towards the temple.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Numb tongues? It was like everyday routine to the young Talith. There was simply a few times when cables didn’t fit all perfectly inside the sockets from where they came from. Sticking thread ends in your mouth was a good way to sharpen them, by logic it should be the same for droid parts. Of course, it wasn’t, but it should be.

“Numb tongue schmongue!” She retaliated at her mother’s push. “We should try it on others!”

Why was the staircase so long? Kaili tried sprinting up but quickly found herself more tired than anything else. For a minute she slowed down and waited for her mother to get to her. Okay, so maybe tiring herself before practice wasn’t the best of ideas but you could hardly blame the kid for her excitement!

“Okay so, maybe the others wouldn’t like that. I should still get to stun you though!”

Because, you know, what kid wouldn’t want to stun their own mother?

[member="Kira Talith"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

AN INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER​

​

Some days the rain seemed interminable, and then other days the clouds just flew away, revealing a clear sky and the broad orange expanse of the planet Yavin. Today was one of the latter days, or nights rather. The shadow of Yavin IV was visible on the sunlit gas giant, and a chill had crept in through the jungle. In the warm orange twilight, Shule and Headmaster M'ti gathered a crowd of apprentices and knights into the courtyard. At a nod from the ancient Neti, Shule stepped forward to survey the group.

"We'll be covering a variety of small but very useful Force techniques today. You've all met Jedi -- or Sith -- who were capable of hiding their presence in the Force. That's a rare art, it has side effects, and some of its variants can take a great deal of concentration. What I'm going to teach you is a more traditional Jedi skill. It's less deceptive and gives you interesting options, if you can learn to guess your enemies' tactics. Also, while other methods of hiding your Force presence can be overcome by those who know what they're looking for, this one will work against me or the Headmaster in most circumstances. I'm trusting you to use this ability with good judgment and responsibility.

"It's called Force scattering. It doesn't hide your presence; instead, this technique spreads your presence out across a wide area. You can be felt, and easily -- but you can't be located within that area, not through direct senses. Others would need to, say, track the alarm of animals or something like that in order to find you. Or use sensors, or their eyes. Obviously there are many circumstances where hiding your Force presence is useless, but there will also be times when this will save your life."

He began leading the group through the necessary thought-patterns, describing what they needed to do.

"Everyone give this a try. If it works, even your best friend won't be able to tell he's standing next to you without opening his eyes. He'll still feel you -- but he'll only feel that you're somewhere in the temple complex.

"Oh, and here's the fun part, since you've all been so patient. The best way to practice Force scattering is to play tag." He tapped a Padawan on the head. "You're it."

The darkened courtyard exploded into action.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Shule Windspeaker"]

Hylo wasn’t really all that patient, but for a chance to play tag? Yeah he was. He liked games, and he knew he could run amok in this particular class. To have fun while learning? Yeah, sign Hylo up. Excitement had already caused a few flowers to bloom in the youths hair and he was ready for anything. Tag! What a fun game. He listened to Shule’s instructions and sat on his hands to avoid fidgeting.

Focusing on his presence he thought for a moment and tried to expand it. That is when Shule tapped a Padawans head and said he was it. Hylo ran off quickly into the wooded area nearby. He felt more comfortable in green areas. Once he got into the woods he cradled his hands together and expanded the aura around him trying to take up as much space as possible. Once he was confident he had done it he put his hands to the earth and grew the trees around him melding them to create a little hide away to keep himself safe while he concentrated on being big, at least in the sense of his force signature….

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Shule nodded to himself in approval as Hylo's presence swelled and diffused through the temple complex. He could still feel Hylo from the ways in which the Force warped to make the trees into a shelter, but there was no question that the boy had picked up the knack for scattering. And being able to exercise his wild talent at the same time was exactly the kind of split focus Shule was aiming to teach through the game of tag. Then again, Hylo's past was longer than his appearance suggested. His file was immensely interesting, and very threadbare. From what Shule could feel of the plant surge in progress, the only reasons Hylo hadn't reached Knight yet were bound up in his, well, childishness. He could barely hold a sabre, didn't entirely understand the weapon's purpose, had no combat-related abilities to speak of...

He grew plants. Sometimes he was known to dance. That was all.

But then again, who was Shule to judge? By the standards of Ithorian nature priests, perhaps Hylo was much more advanced than Jedi indicators would have suggested.

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Shule Windspeaker"] [member="Hylocereus"]

One again I was on the planet of Yavin, this time catching up on some more Force techniques. [member="Kian Karr"] was out somewhere, though whether or not he'd come to the planet too was beyond me. My Force Sense in general was still crap -- I could only sense when people were a few feet away, and that was it.

But I was hoping that this could help me. Oh, don't get me wrong, Double Kay knew a heck of a lot more than I did, but even he didn't know everything (even though he liked to pretend otherwise -- or, wait, was that me?). In any case, I was standing next to the Windspeaker fellow, for once wearing a shirt whose sleeves didn't go down to my wrists -- rather, they went down to my elbows, so that when I moved my arms the tiny light-pink scars from my injections played Peekaboo.

I watched the little kid run off, followed by a few of the other Padawans, before turning to the older Jedi. "Run that by me again? My Force abilities aren't all that great, unfortunately." That was all the explanation he would get in regards to my Force Connection. Only Karr knew the real reason why it was still so difficult for me to use the Force: my addiction. The A Vrassa had deadened my senses, and while I was slowly getting better, I was still nowhere near the level of the Padawans of my age -- or younger.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"That's how I learned, kiddo." Kira said with mischievous smirk, catching up to her daughter on the steps. An impish light flickered withing the bright blue eyes of the petite Lorrdian Jedi Master.

"But that means, buck-a-roo -- you get to eat what you dish out." Yup. Only way to learn is to feel how it felt herself. That's how Kira taught every single one of her previous padawans.

They would continue up the steps, damp of clothing and hair but otherwise in bright spirits.

"Okay, lets find a place to change into drier clothes and then we'll get started." another gentle nudge would usher Nohei into the temple, but not before a tiny boop of the tip of her daughter's nose with the tip of her finger.

 

[Digo Odel]

[member="Shule Windspeaker"] [member="Hylocereus"] [member="Roshki Belawiiks"] [member="Kira Talith"]

The Jaunty Umbaran was not the fastest, strongest or prettiest hunk of junk on the rim but its pilot always kept a deal even if he had to take a few bumps to do it. The ship slowly lowered onto the flight deck outside of the local academy and let out billows of steam as if sighing in relief. The ship entered a loud cool down mode and shortly after the strange being in obviously self made and maintained armored flight suit shambled down the boarding ramp.

With bright yellow eyes that showed an intelligence beyond what his unappealing visage proclaimed possible he began making his way around his ship to do a post flight check before delivering his cargo. What cargo could the homely creature have reason to bring to a Jedi academy? He brought eopies, well...eopie products would be more correct. He was hoping to keep his customers and maybe find a few more in the process. With that in mind he completed his checks grabbed his eopie order forms as well as his cargo manifest, then began looking for someone who could make an order legitimately.

His hunched form made his massive body seem smaller than it was and his baragwin vibro blade made him look more threatening than he ever could be but that was the idea. He didn't know that the feeling in his gut was the force when he began his walk to the training grounds in the distance but then if he did it wouldn't have been eopies he was thinking of...or would it?

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili smiled at her mother. If one small moment of being stunned herself meant that Kai could exercise the same method a few dozen times on her mother repeatedly then it would be worth it to be sure.

But first things first, dry clothes and puffier smiles! They were not getting anything done in these damp rags even if it didn’t really bother Kai in the slightest. It was the mother’s orders and the young one couldn’t really do much but comply. The pair got themselves redressed and for the first time ever Kaili got to experience the uncool touch of robes as they covered her entire being.

A beige-brown thing that just felt so... Out of style. Not that it truly mattered, but the idea that she could be wandering around a campus just like this in clothes that had arms cuffs which could be used to smuggle a small horde of kittens in it wasn’t one that seemed all too tempting. No, she would stick to her jackets and actually comfortable clothes.

The girl hooked her saber to the belt and stepped outside to meet her mother. Her smile had turned into a smirk as she walked up to the short blonde that had raised her.

“If you send me here and make me wear robes like this I will never forgive you.” She chuckled. “Now come on! Let’s find... Whatever it is we need and then get to work!”

She would give her mother a stunning performance. Eventually.

[member="Kira Talith"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"] [member="Hylocereus"] [member="Digo Odel"]

"Run that by me again? My Force abilities aren't all that great, unfortunately."

With a nod, Shule went through the instructions again. Force scattering was a fairly intuitive technique once you knew what you were doing. "...and that's how it's done," he concluded. "Stretch out to the Force and see if you can feel how the other students are doing it."

He didn't know that the feeling in his gut was the force when he began his walk to the training grounds in the distance but then if he did it wouldn't have been eopies he was thinking of...or would it?

His attention turned to an unfamiliar and subtle presence -- ah. The eopie salesman, right on schedule. Shule sent out a mild thought, something that Odel might interpret as instinct or telepathic guidance depending on his state of mind and his self-awareness. Either one would lead him to Shule in the courtyard.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Hey! There ain't nothing wrong with the burlap suits!" Kira would teasingly joke to her daughter, giving her a light smack on the back of her head in mock affront.

"I'll have you know I had one robe for eight years!" she told her, following up the Gibbs smack with a musing of her daughters damp hair. Kira was an orphan and part of the Jedi Order for the bulk of her life; material goods were not something she coveted. What small bits of item she did have she cherished; her blue dress, her lightsaber the rock collection -- but she was never keen on credits. This was also why she still was very frugal when it came to purchases, much to Soliael's displeasure.

Waste not want not after all!

"It worked fine -- besides," she gave a little wiggle of her hips. "All this movement!"

A half snort chuckle came out of her.

"Come on, we can go to one of the overhanging gardens." It was as close to being outside as they could get without being in the jungle. Open balconies with an overhanging cover that would keep them dry. Considering that the Jedi Temple was covered in Jungle moss and vines, it made for a pretty neat atmosphere. There were various carvings along the stone walls from millenia past, each telling a story. There was much history here, and Kira enjoyed it.

"Stunning people has as much to do with getting a solid foundation on how a body works and their nervous system. Not everyone is the same nor does the Force work in the same aspect -- much like we can't use the Force on Hutts."

"However," she would continue as they would walk along," What is a common feature with all sapients?" at least, the ones that are known. The answer of course, was some sort of nervous system. Electric pulses would drive actions and motions. Much like droids with their circuitry.

But Nohei had to figure that one out herself.

 

[Digo Odel]

[member="Shule Windspeaker"]

He paused for a moment and scanned the area for a moment. Whether his facade of dim witted awe slipped or not he couldn't say but for a moment his sharp mind let down his defenses as he felt a distinct pressure to turn toward the blond man and the youths with him. Intuition? Instinct? Something more? He couldn't say but somehow he knew that the man could help him.

He turned toward the group of students and called the name master windspeaker to the fore of his mind. His shambling gait was not what most species called fast but he felt he was making fair time and using his long powerful arms to walk in such a setting would be positively indecent.

He drew near and decided not to interupt but remained in plain sight so the man could deal with him when he was ready. It would be a shame to interupt students in their learning. With that thought and a natural humility he waited close by patiently. His next delivery was nearby in Levantine space so there was no rush and [member="Seydon of Arda"] was nothing if not a patient man.

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]@ Hylocereus