Private Young at Heart

[William Bradley]

B R A D L E Y​

Tag: Lunara Azure ​

A man of Teyr, a man forged by battle, and the cold, coming to such a temperature climate, he felt so different that the words escaped him. William took in the air of Naboo, he had been there for only a week or so and the planet hadn't begun to feel familiar to him. He was not as young as he once was, but his newfound connection with the force brought to him a new connection to the land around him, he could not describe it, he didn't know if he ever could.​

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Striding through the lush forest, his movements made little noise, barely even a crunch as he stepped through the branch-ridden ground. He was to meet with a member of the Knights Obsideon, he was not sure what he was to learn, but he knew he had much of it. Finding the clearing which had been chosen he stood there in the solitude, the winds carrying the sounds of the animals and the smells of the trees and grasses, his senses taking in everything around him. Standing like a pillar in the wind his overcoat whistling by him as he closed his eyes taking in the rest of his surroundings, his chest rising and falling slightly as he took in the aroma of the woods.​

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The steel from his sword hung at his hip, he knew that he would inevitably have to get rid of the weapons that had so faithfully served him, whether it was for the tradition al weapon of a force user, or if it was for something that could be used to face those who did. But that is what he had made his name with, through many years of training he was a master of the art, even though he had grown past his prime, he was not a pushover, still a man at the peak of health and with more than enough strength to beat most men in their prime. Whether he would become a Knight or not was still yet to be seen, but his training had only just begun.​

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: William Bradley​

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There was a peace to be found in the forests of Naboo, far away from the trapping of civilization and society, almost a return to nature. It helped that Naboo was such a different planet from Geonosis, a planet where life seemed to teem in every inch of soil, every breath of air carries the heady scent of energy. The force surrounded them, a warm pool that you could just close your eyes and relax into, feeling the warmth wrapping around you like a warm bath, soaking into your very flesh.

The elfin blonde had settled herself cross-legged on a stone in the clearing, feet dangling in a small pool of water as she leaned back, arms resting on the stone behind her as she enjoyed the feeling of the sun warming her flesh. Fingers curling against the stone as she let out a sigh of contentment. The last few months had been filled with missions and chaos, running from planet to planet, putting out fires left right and centre. It was nice to be able to take a moment to herself, to unwind and relax…well sort of.

Lunara had never really been a woman who was entirely comfortable in nature, too many creepy -crawlies and bugs clinking around. A walk in the woods was one thing but to spend more time out there wasn't something she could understand. Why would people spend days sleeping in the dirt, cooking over a bundle of twigs? If you wanted a break, to relax, then a hotel existed, a spa if you wanted to relax. And the most important thing…you didn't need to get dirty or risk a bug crawling up your back.

Well, a walk in the woods wasn't the only reason to be out here, she was waiting for someone, a new force user. For some reason the powers that be figured that it would be a good idea for her to train a new member of the knights obsidian. Rest assured that Gerwald would suffer for this in the future.

Relaxed as she was the blonde could still feel the swirls and eddies of the force as they moved around her, every insect and creature moving through the forest a mote of light sending ripples through the force. It was almost impossible to no sense the man stalking towards her, his presence like a stone thrown into the tranquil pond of the forest. Sending shockwaves through the force, his presence like a loud shout in a quiet room.

Untrained.

The young woman didn't move, didn't even open her eyes before speaking, almost statue-like in her stillness.

"You won't need that today, unless you had designs on adopting the Sith philosophy right off the bat?"

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[William Bradley]

Naboo
Lunara Azure

"Master Azure, it is my pleasure to meet one as renowned in the Confederacy as you; it pleases me to learn that you are to train me in the ways of the force. If I might add, I half expected you to be older, do not take that to any offense, you are very wise for the years you have graced in this galaxy."

As the words escaped his lips he gave the woman before him a slight bow, not wanting to be too formal but willing to give the woman before him the respect that she had gained over her years in practice in the ways of the force. The wind that blew through the forest tugged at his waistcoat, the glimmer of his sword glinting by the setting sun, his eyes drawn to it before he looked back towards the Lunara.

"Forgive me my Lady if I have brought any assumptions that today would be the training of the sword, I am always one of caution as any man of my years and seasoned in warfare should be. I understand naught of which I have been thrust into but I pray that our pairing is favorable to the both of us. A I have learned through my many years is that there is much to be taught from both master and apprentice."

His stride continued until he stood before her, his hands moved to his blet where he took off his sword, kneeling down he placed it across his lap as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath taking in the air around him before glancing up at the woman sat upon the rock before him.

Grant me guidance for I do not know for what journey I am to embark on, may the darkness within be controlled and my actions bring forth peace to my troubled soul.

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: William Bradley​

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It took the barest hint of a touch in the force, the smallest amount of her attention for Lunara to reach out and twist the ethereal currents of energy that ran around her. That energy that flowed between all living things, wrapping around her limbs and lifting her up into the air, twisting her around to face the giant of a man who she had been waiting for. He was…large, in a galaxy where she had to look up to meet the eyes of most of those she'd met the man stoop a full head and shoulders above her.

For a moment the young woman considered floating up to meet his gaze but…while she wasn't against showing off for people she wasn't ready to admit that she was a little jealous of his height. Bare feet came to rest on the stone as the elfin blonde gestured down, fingers flicking at her legs as she redirected the tendrils of the force she had wrapped around herself down to her legs, whisking that water away as she tilted her head at the man.

"A sword, a lightsaber, they're…emblematic of a Force User, the very physical sign of who you are, what you do and a powerful tool in the right hands. The focus and training aren't the worst of things to learn either but, they're not the only tool you have or even the most important one."

The soft crinkle of leaves, of twigs beneath her feet as she crossed over to William, pressing one finger against his chest as she smirked up at him. This close she could see the muscle shifting under his clothes, and he could see the mischievous light dancing in her eyes.

"I bet you're pretty good with a sword already, military-trained? See I was never any good at fighting, oh people tried to teach me to fight, sword, shield and spear but…I always used to end up dropping the blade to tripping over my own legs. It's funny, I'm the most graceful dancer you've seen but, put a weapon in my hands and I fall apart. But…do you think that you could beat me in a fight? Swords are great tools, but that's all they are."

The woman took a step back, waving one hand towards him as the wind swept up around them, lifting leaves of the ground to weave around the two of them in a figure of eight that slowly drifted down to the floor around their feet.

"I can't teach you to fight, you're already better at that than I'll ever be, but what I can do is show you a new way to fight. New skills and abilities you can use to hone your talents. The ability to see what your opponents are going to do before they do it, the ability to move faster and hit harder. To throw fire and lightning, command the elements and nature, the forces of creation around you. The ability to twist the universe to your will. To tun you from a soldier to a one-man army."

The force was so much more than that, a tool to understand the universe and your place it in, to feel the connection between all things. That would come later, the man was a fighter, a warrior so that was the best way to approach him, to unveil the mysteries of the force.

"Or…I could be full of hot air and you could just try to knock me down right now."

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[William Bradley]

Naboo
Lunara Azure

Spoiler: Uniform

"I believe if you willed it I would not be on my own two feet right now Lady Azure. I have taught myself much in the ways of how the wielders of the force fight, for ones with this connection there are a million possibilities on how to combat a foe. That is why I am here to learn, to broaden my choices, and to allow for me to learn more to the being than war."

As the woman talked before him he knew that she would not teach him as the military would teach a soldier, he knew that she was much too loose for that to be the case, she had mischief written all over her but mayhap this was the best way for the old soldier to be taught, was to learn in an uncomfortable way.

He listened to her words wisely and he sat there, his lips pursed slightly underneath his mustache as he looked down upon the woman with his eye, the eyepatch on the other doing little to actually obtrude his vision. From afar he might've looked like an old man far from his prime, but from as close as she was to him he was much more than he let himself appear, mayhap it was all a way to deceive those he may come against, or it was just the way he wished to appear to the world.

"Whatever you have in mind for me I will learn with passion for whatever this is to learn can be useful, to the littlest grass to the tallest tree there is nothing that does not affect one another in this galaxy. As it is in all things I must be made to master the small things to understand the larger things that goes with harnessing and using the force as a true user would."

With what little he had learned during the days of his in the force, he reached out and felt the current of the force that flowed around Lunara as if it was a tranquil river, the leaves that she pulled around the pair following this current that she was weaving with her connection. Even when he shifted his focus he felt the grass and the dirt connected with this energy that enveloped him and everything around him, it still boggled his mind that he was amiss from so much for as long as he knew, that there was a whole nother part to the world then what he could perceive with his normal senses.

Rising back to his feet he placed the sword he had laid across his belt onto the rock that was behind his newfound master and he looked down at her.

"I am eager to learn the way in which you control the world around you so, I will be the best pupil you have ever had if you would allow me this honor."

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: William Bradley​

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"In the end, it's not so different than a war, you have your resources, your tools. It's all about how you use them, when and where. Some tools are only good for one purpose, some are good for many, but they're all tools. That's the most important thing to remember."

The blonde took a moment to cast her gaze around, pacing over to a nearby stone so she could settle on it, lifting bare feet off the ground as she gestured at her boots. Floating them over to her so she could slide them on before looking up at the giant of a man.

"If you were on a mission to resolve a dispute between two groups of warring villagers you already have a myriad of tools at your disposal. You could talk to them, you could pick a side or slaughter them both. All the force provides you is another tool. There are Masters who spends decades in meditation, who understand the ways of the universe at a level the rest of us can only ever dream of achieving. Yet, they can't understand the nuance of human interaction, they might be able to describe how stepping on a leaf here can cause a storm on the other side of a planet but they fail to understand the love of a mother for her child. It's only ever a tool for us to use…a useful tool but a tool nonetheless."

Standing the blonde crossed her arms over her chest, white teeth working at the soft flesh of her lower lip for a moment before shrugging.

"You're eager enough, so let's see how this goes."

A delicate hand gestured down at the ground, lifting a shell, floating it in the air between them as Lunara took a step back, a small smile on her lips as she raised a hand.

"When I was growing up we didn't really have a lot of toys or sports equipment so we made do with what we could find. How do you feel about a game of catch, only you can't actually touch the shell."

A small flick of her hands sent the makeshift ball arcing through the air towards him. Not too fast, not too slow, as if she'd thrown an easy underarm throw. The man had to have potential if he was being sent to her for training but then…you never knew. Better to discover just what he was capable of, what he knew now. He'd have to be able to sense the object in the force and to bring the right amount of force to stop it without destroying the delicate shell.

Control was a better test of ability than raw power.

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[William Bradley]

Naboo
Lunara Azure

With a grim look of determination, William nodded softly towards the young Master. His brow furrowed as he prepared himself, his eyes watching the shell as she lifted it up into the air, her influence over the force moving it between the two. His eye followed it as it made its way towards him, a soft easy throw as if it were a father throwing a ball to his son.

Focusing his mind, the grim man reached out in the force and caught the ball, slight cracks appearing on the edges as he did, but it was intact for the most part. A deep sigh of relief escaped his lips as he looked towards the blonde his brow furrowing as he held it up in the air.

"Every tool requires some sort of mastering though, you can use a hammer as a hammer, and have a good time all day long, but you master the hammer the craftsmanship is enhanced beyond belief. The force seems to be more than a tool, at least from what I gather, it is more of an extension of life, and some are given the ability to alter it, or bend and weave through it to their will, to allow for them to control what is, for all purposes, unexplainable. To push their body beyond limits, to catch things without touching them is all simply unbelievable. We are in a galaxy where the likes of Light and Dark is skewed and people with this, gift, roam like womp rats on Tatooine. Most of the normal people can't even believe the stories that come from these galaxy sheering conflict because most have never seen one before."

Breathing in deeply the man focused his attention back on the shell before he went to throw it back to the younger blonde. He swirled it slightly with the force, his eyes watching it as it turned and swam through the air. Slowly, he turned it around and began to push it back towards her, his attention focused on not taking it too hard before he watched it shoot out like a bolt of lightning towards the woman.

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: William Bradley ​

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The sound of the shell spinning through the air was akin to a bullet, a loud crack as it tore through the air. Lunara could see chips flaking off the shell as it closed with her. A hand rising to meet it as the corners of her lips turned up into a small smile, not malicious but teasing. The man had caught the shell, using the force to control it and stop it before sending it back at her. The blonde wouldn't make things quite so simple though, her hand extending till it was held facing the shell like a dagger.

It was almost a dance, her body bending gracefully as she span, hand held out, leading the shell as she wound tendrils of the force around it like strings that she could use to direct the shell. Dragging it around her like a slingshot, never stopping or pausing as she moved. The flick of a finger released all the threads of the force she'd wrapped around the shell before letting it drive back towards the man as she offered him a challenging smile.

"Everything is a tool, the hammer, a shell, people or even the force. Life creates the force, sustains it and rives it but how we use it, how we manipulate it, that's what makes it a tool. We choose to aim it, to use it…or we don't. Something this vast, well there are countless people with countless different opinions. Some people say that the force doesn't just exist but is sentient, that it has a will of its own that guides your actions. Other's think that it always seeks to bring itself back into balance, like a bowl of water. Me…I don't like thinking that someone else, something else has control over me and my actions. My actions, my choices, no-one else, nothing else."

"The force does allow you to move faster, to hit harder, to twist the very fabric of time and space, bending it to your will; But, so do other people. A soldier with the right drugs and enhancements can move just as fast, hit just as hard. A scientist given time can find a way to bend the universe in a more stable and controlled way. Imagine if I summoned a storm now, the strength of the storm, the direction and control all depends on me, on my emotions and state of mind. If I slip even for a moment it could spin out of control. A machine has no such problems."

A sigh escaped her lips as the woman shook her head, strands of hair brushing over her shoulders like a cloak as she took a step backwards.

"Never think for a moment that it's mystical or some force that moves you, makes you greater than anyone else or absolves you of guilt. The force is just the force, that we can wield it is an accident of birth, nothing more, nothing less. We're not the destined heroes of lore, we're not the chosen. No more special than anyone else in the end."

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[William Bradley]

Naboo
Lunara Azure

The grizzled man watched as the graceful blonde caught the shell in mid-air, and without a second of hesitation threw it back towards him, speeding like a ship shooting into hyperspace. William stared the shell down as he narrowed his eyes, controlling his breathing he slowed the shell down to a stop. The jagged edges stopped near inches before his face as he looked back towards the woman.

"Everything may be a tool, but some are definitely better than others no? You have to learn how to shape and mold some tools to best perform the task at hand, mayhap create a new tool altogether to deal with the challenges that one may face."

The man's eyes slowly fazed out as he draw his perception from the point on the shell to the world around him, the forest was still alive, the shell still floated but he was using his connection to also feel around him, he could do this before meeting Lady Azure, but it was much harder to do multiple things at once. He knew that with time he would slowly learn to become a more proficient user with his connection to the force.

He heard the young woman's words for what they were, a defiant roar against the choices that the cosmos may lay upon her, that there was a will that the force bestowed upon the people it touched, or some sort of balance that it strived to create. He did not know the answers to this himself, and he doubted many did.

"A tool in one hand maybe like a child's toy in another, it depends on the wielder to most efficiently use the tool, to hone in what it is best used for, for a craftsman to speed up the process of hammering in a nail into a piece of wood, or for a lockesmith, using his tools to aid someone in getting back into their house after locking their keys inside."

Nano 2021- 330​

 

[Lunara Azure]

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Wearing: This​

Tagging: William Bradley ​

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The blonde tilted her head to the side in an acknowledgement of a point as she considered the man for a moment, blue eyes dancing between his grizzled face and the shell before she held a hand out towards him. The pale flesh of her palm caught the sun's light, the warmth soaking into her flesh before she reached out with the force, tendrils of power weaved a web around them. Gracefully first one, and then another shell rose into the air, slowly starting to spin around the pair with a sibilant hiss.

"You're not wrong but tell me, if the purpose is to get into the house which is more efficient, the locksmith's tools, or a sledgehammer. If I attack you with all these shells, will you stop them one by one? Or use one move to wipe them all out. You're speaking of the force as an instrument, a fine set of tools that can be used and you wouldn't be wrong. But not every master of the force has chosen that route to power. Some prefer such overwhelming power that none can stand against them, that they can crush everything they see while others, others prefer such a delicate touch that you would never know that they've done anything."

With the movement of a single finger, the web of shells grew closer, sparks flying as they glanced off one another, loud clinks as they wrapped themselves around William.

"There's no right answer, and no wrong one, no right route to power or the correct use of it. A tool, in the end is just a tool. No matter how exquisite and capable it might be, the force is no better for at opening a door than a set of lockpicks. They'll both get the job done, and both will leave a mark which the right person can see. You're not wrong, it's upto the craftsman to pick the tool that is best for him, however, not all craftsmen are the same. Not all seek the same form of artistry."

The woman's eyes glittered like diamonds, cold shards of ice that shone like frozen shards of ice trapped within her gaze as she raised a hand.

"Which type of craftsman are you?"

A fist closed, a web closed as the shells came pelting in at the man.

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[William Bradley]

N A B O O
Lunara Azure

The man had grabbed the hilt of his sword, his grey eyes furrowing as he watched the graceful woman in front of him. Williams's eyes followed each of the shells as they rose up and began to tangle into a web in front of him, Lunara's words hitting his ear as he took the information in. The shells slowly began to clash against one another, the sparks spraying across the ground.

He took a step forward with his right foot, letting his other hand come down to the hilt of his sword, his eyes slowly closing as he took a deep breath, the words of his new master continuing to flow into his ear as her last question hit him and he opened his eyes looking towards her.

In a flash it was all over, he was now mere inches away from the blonde, the shells laid broken in half on the ground behind him, his sword now grasped into his hand. He had channeled the power and energy of the force into his body and had increased his natural speed and precision in mere moments. He felt as if every cell was moving at twice the speed of normal.

Slowly he sheathed the sword in its scabbard as he looked down at the shorter woman. "I do not know which type of craftsman I may be, but I pray you will guide me as far as your abilities are concerned. We have only begun and I have already learned more than I would've on my own, and this I thank you. I pledge to make you proud of the man I pray I can become."

Standing before his master he heard the voice creep into the back of his head, Just Kill her, she is weak, you have her at your every whim. He shook the voice from his head, a clear look of distraught now coming into his face as he placed a hand on his forehead, a soft gah escaping his lips as he began to feel his head throb in his hand. The pain began to overwhelm his senses as he stood before the woman his vision slowly turning white with pain.

The man struggled to stand as he placed his hand against the boulder for support as he kneeled down, his left hand still pressed against his temple. The veins in his neck swelled as the pain rocked his frame, his head in pure agony as the spirit inside fought against him. He fought with all his might to push it down, but this was a battle that William might lose, his use of the force draining him more than he had before. His mind focused on winning this fight, but the will within him was not so weak as to push over from a little amount of push. William just needed to hold on. He just needed to hold on.