Ask Ajan Kloss Aggressive Meditation

[Ke Eoto]

@Giran Latt, @Izel Thral,

The jungles of Ajan Kloss,

It was fairly early morning when the Blood Carver Ke Eoto found his fellow Padawans Giran Latt and Izel Thral with little to do. The broadcasting that put their entire Order into gloom of rumination was still fresh in their memories as various knights and padawans begun to look into themselves to find an answer as to how to approach the problem and solve it. Although Ke Eoto himself was dealing with the situation rather well compared to some of their colleagues, having faith in the perseverance of their ancient order and already making peace with future that will most likely have him wandering through the Galaxy and revealing he was a Jedi only when necessary, he saw that Giran and Izel were more troubled with the implications of the broadcast. So he proposed that the two would join him for a little meditation exercise, and it seems that they agreed that it would do them well, or gave into the incessant croaking of the alien, as the three of them were now making their way through the jungles in the valley their temple sat in.

The Blood Carver made little sound as he moved through the vegetation of the jungle, and spoke little during their journey as well, outside of what he told them before they departed, that he wished to show them how he meditated away from the temple, surrounded by the woods and nature of the planet. So he was leading them towards his meditation spot, clad in his tan and brown tunic and robes, his hands and feet covered in protective wrappings, leaving barely a suggestion of a foot print as he glided over the jungle floor supported on his large claws. In one hand he held his tribal vibrosword, its blade elongated and slender like its wielder, although hidden in its scabbard sheath as he moved it lightly back and forth to brush aside the vegetation on their path and allow himself passage. His other hand was held up, willing the Force as a telekinetic limb to move away larger branches and ferns to suggest them out of their way.

"Not long noow."

Ke Eoto broke the silence, reassuring the other two padawans that their journey would soon come to a stop. They were somewhere about half an hour to an hour of walking away from the temple.

 

[Giran Latt]

The last few days had been... Difficult for Giran. He'd been disowned by his family, not that they'd talked to him much anyway but it had still stung. Now his adopted family had essentially had war declared on them. He'd had a crisis of faith the previous day and completely broken down in front of his master and teacher. After that, he'd promised himself he'd get stronger but that hadn't settled his emotions. In fact it had stirred them up: His anger at his own weakness, frustration at his inability to do anything and fear for his fellow jedi. He had to get stronger.

He'd almost refused when the blood carver had asked him to come and meditate but meditation allowed self improvement and that's what he craved right now. So he found himself trekking through the jungle following behind his fellow padawan. He liked Ke Eoto he had a confidence that Giran just could not emulate.

"Not long noow."

Ke Eoto's words brought him out of his brooding.

"Where are we going K? If you wanted to meditate we could've just sat in the garden or something?"

The truth was he was getting frustrated at the ease his friend was navigating the jungle. He himself had already tripped multiple times and was making at least three times the noise as Ke Eoto.

he needed to be better than this.

 

[Izel Thral]

Normally Izel enjoyed exploring the jungles of Ajan Kloss immensely, the planet was so much like Thyferra that she rarely felt away from home even when she was lightyears away. But this time the Vratix was uncharacteristically quiet as she followed her fellow Padawans towards Ke Eoto's meditation spot. She had been so excited at the prospect of becoming a Jedi when she first learned of them, but it seemed she had been unprepared for all the hardships that came with it.

Her failure on Ifrane had shaken her faith in herself, to the point where she began to question everything she was doing. And this business with the Hutt bounty on lightsaber wielders had just made things a thousand times worse. Her Master had counseled her to be patient and remain calm, to not let these events get to her and to keep up her meditations. But meditation had recently become much harder for her as well, especially after the recent meeting where she felt humiliated by having her propositions be roundly rejected.

She just had to get away from the temple for a while, and Ke Eoto's offer had been appealing. If nothing else the jungle might help her to focus more easily. She looked up at the two Padawans in front of her as they spoke. "The temple is much too busy right now with everything going on," She countered Giran. "I think I prefer it out here. There's a certain serenity in nature that's hard to recreate outside of it..." She looked around, antennae twitching as she listened to the calls of the various creatures around them, and tried to lift her spirits.

@Manufactorium @TRook

 

[Ke Eoto]

@Giran Latt, @Izel Thral,

"Is special medi-tation."

The Blood Carver replied cryptically to Giran's question, looking back from time to time whenever he heard the other padawan almost tripping on a root or a fern, making sure he doesn't fall into some poisonous brambles by accident.

"It helps me, maybee it help you too. And yes, I come heree when temple too much."

Ke Eoto agreed with Izel's sentiment that the temple has been too busy, especially lately, although the Blood Carver often needed breaks just from being around so many people constantly.

Eventually, he lead them through a tree line into a little clearing. Its boundaries were marked by logs of dead trees, rolled and arranged as a couple of makeshift benches, one of them overlooking a row of trees that stretched out deeper into the forest, few of them were sporadically marked on their trunks with blackened singed marks.

"Here, not faar, but faar enough so Temple will not heer."

Ke Eoto croaked out, reassuring his companions that they have reached their destination and skittered over to one of the larger trees at the edge of the clearing. There was a hole in its trunk, a cavity caused by some beast or disease perhaps, and one that Ke Eoto seemingly had business with as he came up and stuffed his entire arm inside of it, searching for something within.

"I will teach you how Blod-Karvas medi-tate."

The alien announced as he withdrew his arm from the hollowed out tree, producing from within a rifle. Its barrel was long, fashioned out of withered metal, the electronic and mechanical components that made up what seemed to be some sort of rudimentary plasma cycling system were crude, irregular, clearly handmade, its stock was carved out by expert hands out of wood deep, dark crimson, like drying blood.

Hoisting the rifle up on one of his arms, Ke Eoto ejected its magazine from the bottom, looking it over briefly and blowing some wood dust off of it before producing a handful of metal shells out of his pocket. He loaded them in one by one as he came up to the downed log overlooking the row of trees. He pushed the magazine in, pulled a bolt here, flicked a small lever there, adjusted a couple of dials as the weapon gave out a gentle hum of electronic systems coming to rifle as safety was disengaged. As the Blood Carver took aim between the trees, the nature of the clearing became obvious- it was his shooting range.

His breathing slowed, holding the air in his lungs to steady his body and center his focus, looking down the length of the barrel through a system of bare-bone iron sights. The rifle cracked out suddenly as a bolt of golden energy whipped out from it, solid slug enveloped in the cycled plasma and power, racing out between the trees until it struck one about midway through, creating a fresh mark on previously untouched portion of bark.

Ke Eoto pulled a bolt on the cycler rifle and slapped it back in place, loading a new shell from the magazine into the chamber in the movement. He turned back, walking over to the two padawans and offered the rifle to them,

"Try to match my shot, I will teech you if you have never shot befoore."

He croaked out, holding the long rifle in his hands between them, letting them decide which one of them would be willing to give it a try first, or if they would be both apprehensive about using a weapon like that.

 

[Giran Latt]

Giran hadn't ever shot a rifle before. He'd seen them, done drills with them, cleaned them but he'd never actually fired one. His instructors at the academy had said 'he wasn't to be trusted'. The other students had also always excluded him from any hunting trips. So, when Ke Eoto demonstrated his form a small excitement grew in his chest.

As Ke Eoto handed them the rifle Giran grinned at Izel.
"Would you mind? This is sort of a dream of mine." Giran asked alot of his frustration melting away from him.

As He took the rifle he noticed the intricate and eccentric stylings on the different parts of it. It was, in it's own special way, a piece of art. As an aspiring artist himself he held it with a slight reverence.

Rifle in hand Giran strolled up to the firing position. His academy training kicking in he took a knee and rammed the stock of the rifle firmly into his shoulder. A more stable base of fire. He sighted the tree Ke Eoto had put his round into. The simple iron sights more than enough for this distance. He breathed watching the pin bounce up and down, up and down. Finally he squeezed. All his training hadn't prepared him for the thrill he got from finally getting to put his training into practice. The bolt of plasma and metal raced from the rifle and scorched the same tree to within an inch of Ke Eoto's shot.

The vindication that flowed through Giran was incredible. To most people this was just a bit of fun. To Giran it was proof that he wasn't as useless as the people in his previous life had treated him. It was proof that his new life as a jedi had been worth it. It was proof that he wasn't as worthless as he thought he was. He was improving, he was good at something.

He grinned at his fellow padawan's.
"DID YOU SEE THAT!" Giran yelled to excited to keep it in. He clasped the blood carver in a half hug and smiled at him.
"Thank you so much for taking us out here, I needed this, you gotta get me one of these things."

He chambered another round for Izel and handed her the rifle. Heady with the rush the shot had given him he sat on the wet grass and got ready to watch Izel take her shot.

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel was somewhat confused by the state of the area they arrived in, not immediately recognizing the blaster scoring on the trees she began to wonder if Ke Eoto had been practicing new Force techniques out here, perhaps even ones that the Order would frown upon. When he revealed the handmade cycler rifle she couldn't help but chitter in amusement.

"Well that's certainly not what I was expecting," She said playfully. "I should have guessed as much though. This is just like you." She watched with great interest as the Blood Carver took aim and fired the first shot. Although the village she had come from was primarily an agricultural one they did have weapons for dealing with pests from time to time. She'd watched some of her brothers practice shooting bottles off their fence in the past, but had never been interested enough to try it herself.

Noticing Giran's excitement she gestured for him to go first. "Please." She assented, and watched as the Mirialan was next to take aim. She was amused by his overjoyed reaction to getting a chance to fire downrange, glad to see him a bit more cheery after the recent troubles he'd had.

"You call this a form of meditation huh?" She said as she took the rifle and inspected it, marveling at the craftsmanship. Slowly she stepped forward and got down low, steadying herself as she took aim on the same tree her fellow Padawans had fired on. Her grip on the weapon was a bit awkward, seeing as she had never fired one herself and could only go off of the memories she had of seeing others. Taking a deep breath she tried to apply her Master's teachings to this as well. She cleared her mind as she did in meditation, the world went dark and silent around her. For a moment there was only her, the rifle, and the tree. She let the Force guide her as she pulled the trigger. The rifle thumped uncomfortably against her shoulder and she turned her head a bit in a cringing motion as the shot fired, and grazed the edge of the tree trunk, sending splinters flying.

"Oh! I hit it!" She exclaimed, and looked up at the others excitedly. Even though there was a dull ache now in her arm she couldn't help but feel a bit of a rush as well. She was certainly no marksman but it still felt good. She was already starting to feel better.

@Manufactorium @TRook

 

[Ke Eoto]

Ke Eoto gave Giran an encouraging nod when the other Padawan showed to be eager to give the weapon a try. While he was handling it, the Blood Carver went aside and unslung his sheathed vibrosword from his side, allowing it to rest propped up by the tree as another crack of a cycler shot rang out and he looked back to see that Giran missed the mark just barely.

"Close shot. The siights might be slightly misaligned for you, because different physio-logy."

The Blood Carver pointed out, expertly skirting the line of a compliment to support his friend without breaking the cultural rites of a Blood Carver that he still followed.

"Do not be too exci-ted though. The rifle is faairly illegal in combat on most planets. Cyclers like that consi-dered too brutal because physi-caal at coore. I might neeed to speak with my Maaster to requi-sitioon help in modifying it to full blaaster, but I'll see. It be good to have in baatle."

Ke Eoto explained as he stepped up closer to the other two as Izel was now handed the rifle. He opened his maw, about to reply to Izel but he fell silent as she took her aim, pausing to not distract her. His pale blue eyes flicked between the other insectoid and the tree they were practicing on, his senses tingled and an internal shiver ran through him as he felt Izel tap into the Force as she cleared her mind and another crack cut through the air.

"It is medita-tion when you wield it like that. Otherwise is just fuun to sometimes empty a clip into a roock. Brace it better on your shool-der next time."

Ke Eoto noted and offered a correction as he reached down, asking for his rifle back with an open tri-fingered palm. Assuming that Izel returned the weapon, he would cock the bolt again, slotting another round into the chamber.

"It's one of the ways the Foorce speaks naturally to my people. On my home, there are these shaa-mans, we call them the Farseekers. They are huun-ters who use the Foorce to track and hunt prey acrooss the dunes, I traineed with them, like much of my tribe blod-linee beforee, but I was fiirst to not complete and left to seek Jedi instead."

The Blood Carver recalled as he raised up his rifle, aiming it into the branches of trees overhead and holding the aim,

"They use no scoopes, but Force instead. Reaching out with iit, connec-ting to their target through its streem."

He continued as he kept his rifle steady aimed up into the air, his eyes glazing over as the Force ignited within him and he allowed his mind to wander into the connections around him, feeling the organisms and systems in their immediate area, their patterns and symbiosis. His breath caught, forcing his body into stillness to keep his aim steady from even the most minuscule movements

"The hunter, the Force, the target."

He trailed out absent-minded, through held breath, rambling slightly now as his mind was focused somewhere else. His speech cleared up though at the moment, clearer and deeper, perhaps due to the angle of his throat as he was looking up, or relaxing the subconscious strain.

A crack sounded out as he pulled the trigger, and a golden bolt raced out into the tree tops, audibly rustling and scorching through the branches. The Blood Carver lowered his rifle down as he quickly pulled and slammed on the side bolt, chambering in another round to pull the trigger again and fire in quick succession, this time down the range. The second bolt raced out between the trees, flying past the one they used previously for practice and between two large trees twined together, striking into bark of a tree behind them, barely visible from underneath their embrace.

"Try again, use the Foorce."

He offered the challenge to Giran and handed him the rifle, the distance to cover was doubled now and the target partially obscured by other trees.

As he offered Giran the weapon, a spiral of leaves started to float down from above on a gentle breeze, descending from the path cut through by Ke Eoto's shot. Faint trails of smoke rose from their stems, apparently each plucked off and clipped delicately at the base of its connection to the branch as the plasma-enveloped bullet passed through it.

 

[Giran Latt]

Giran listened to the story Ke Eoto told him. Of his time with the farseekers. It reminded him of his own people's belief, of unity and how every action you took sent a ripple through the force affecting people you may never meet. He remembered being much younger sitting on his mother's lap as she told him of the force and how it bound them all together. That had been the first time he'd felt it.

He sat up and watched the leaves float down around Ke. Incredible. It was like a shot from one of his holovids. Giran stood up and took the rifle from him.
"I understand, it's very much like my own people. We are taught unity through the force from a very young age. We don't really learn of the dark side or the light side only unity."
Giran stood where Ke Eoto had been.
"Every action you take sends ripples through the force, affecting not only you but people you have never met. It's why we as a people are so insular, we all have an incredible bond."
Giran shut his eyes and reached out with the force, he'd become fairly adept at this recently. His training with Oren had helped immensely.
"At least that's what I've been taught. However, my people have all abandoned me. I feel more of a connection with the Jedi than my own people."
He fired and cocked the rifle as he'd been shown. He fired again and again and again.
"They preached connection but we truly understand it. My life amongst the Jedi has truly been blessed, I only hope I'm worthy of the honour."
Two leaves floated down. Each with a whole in the center. One shot to dislodge it another to pierce it. It was an easier shit than Ke Eoto's but it looked flashy.
"Sorry, for rambling, I do that sometimes when I go into a trance. My thoughts just sort of come out. It's good meditation though." Giran chuckled passing the rifle back to Izel.

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel listened to her fellow Padawans speaking of their people, and couldn't help but feel a bit downcast. She had no such stories to share. "At the very least you both came from places where the Force is appreciated." She said as she took the rifle from Giran and turned it down range, taking note of Ke Eoto's advice and adjusting how she held the weapon. "My kind seem to take little interest in such things. Perhaps Force sensitivity is particularly uncommon in our species. I've yet to meet another Force sensitive Vratix." She exhaled and reached out again with the Force. She tried not to think about the increase in distance. This was irrelevant as far as she was concerned. She could feel the Force flowing through everything around them, both her and her target. All she had to do was ignore everything else, and focus on the line of energy flowing between the two points. She fired.

She hit the mark, although once again just barely. Her antennae twitched as she looked at the tree in displeasure a few moments before handing the weapon back to Ke Eoto for his turn. "There are so many cultures deeply rooted in study and revering of the Force. I wish I could have been a part of that, instead of having to figure it out on my own." She shook her head. "I think of all the time wasted I could have spent learning. Instead I didn't get started until I was already practically an adult. I have a lot of catching up to do." She crossed her arms and turned her gaze at the ground as she fell into deep thought. She had tried very hard to apply herself in her studies. She wanted more than anything to be a great Jedi. But she still couldn't help but feel that she was behind many of her peers in progress. She tried to shake these thoughts from her head and looked to Ke Eoto.

"It's an interesting method," She said, speaking to the meditation. "Looking down the sights of a blaster to teach one how to focus on a single object rather than having them just sit and contemplate on it. This feels much more intuitive." She did her best to return to her usual upbeat tone. She didn't come out here to sulk after all, she wanted to relax.

@Manufactorium @TRook

 

[Ke Eoto]

@TRook, @Reyn,

The Blood Carver gave out a quiet rumble as Giran spoke while he gave off a series off cracking shots with the rifle,

"Is alriight, is good to just say what comees to mind. My kind forsakens it really. I do not likee the terms 'light side' and 'daark side' though. Is mis-direc-tiing since each can be useed for good or bad and then make it sound like state of Baalance is equal 'light side' and 'daark side'. I do not knoow what else to call it though."

Ke Eoto confessed as he watched Giran finish and pass the rifle to Izel to allow the Vratix a turn of shooting with the weapon as well,

"I feel like I beloong with the Order too, although I was thiinking about going back to my planeet one day and finish my training with the Faar-seekers. Then I could wriite text on their tee-chings, teech it to other Jedi in turn. I think the Oorder would do weell to learn more about other groups of Foorce Adepts. There are feew records on other Force-wielding groups, and I dooubt it is because they are rare. Even texts on philosophiees of the Sith would be good."

He mused as he watched Izel take her turn shooting at their target, hitting the tree trunk although just barely,

"Keep your body in miind, slight-eest move-ments at that range make a lot of diff-erence. Find peaace and still-ness."

Ke Eoto advised as he took the rifle again. He ejected the magazine off of its underbelly, producing another handful of shells from one of his pockets and loading them in one by one,

"Perhaps you are the staart of Vratix Force tradition Izeel? If it speeaks to you then it has spoken to otheers of your kind before, and it will agaain. Maybe they just shuut it off because they thoought that Vratix can't be Jedi? It is why I decideed to becomee one. My peoplee have stoories about our heroos accom-panying Jedi in paast, but themseelves always being one of our shamaan groups. I want my story to be told amoong my people so in future they knoow- shaman-hoood is not only path for us, a Blod-Carva Jedi is possible too."

Ke Eoto explained as he slid the bolt back into place and cocked it, raising up the rifle once more he took a moment to still his breath and focus his mind through the iron sights. He listened to the connections and felt alongside them, feeling the breeze and sway of the tree they were practicing on through the Force. Another sharp crack rang out as he pulled the trigger and hit the marked spot once more, only slightly off from the previous hit. He tutted lightly and passed the rifle over to Giran again.

 

[Giran Latt]

"K is right Izel, you've got an exciting opportunity. You can decide what your people's relationship to the force is. Jedi we aren't only peacekeepers in the galaxy we're teachers too. That responsibility falls on your shoulders. The Vratix can learn of the force through your teachings. It's a great honour." Giran said reverently
He took the rifle from Ke Eoto and walked over to the spot they'd been firing from and realised he didn't know what to shoot.
"The sith eh K, bit dangerous don't you think? I think any number of the masters here would have you in an hour long lecture just for contemplating it."
Giran had found a rock that looked vaguely like the man from the Hutts video. He decided he'd sight in on that.
"There might not be a light side and dark side or perhaps there is but there are definitely evil people. That man from the Hutts broadcast. He was evil I'm sure of it. Not all with are like that though. My master was saying the one she spoke to was very polite and calm. Do you think they can be good too?"
Giran pulled the trigger and the rock exploded into tiny fragments. Some of the shrapnel flew in their direction but Giran managed to catch any of the dangerous shards with the force.
"Sorry!"

 

[Izel Thral]

"I hadn't thought of it like that..." Izel replied to Ke Eoto and Giran's reassurances. Given her parent's reaction to her Force sensitivity she was somewhat doubtful her people would be so open to embracing and learning more of the Force, but perhaps in time she would find the wisdom to persuade them.

As the conversation turned to the light and dark side and the Jedi and Sith her antennae twitched, memories of her trial in the cave on Ifrane flashing before her eyes briefly. Giran's unexpected shot brought her back to the present.

"Oh I'm quite certain the dark side exists," She said as she took the rifle from the Mirialan. "And you'd both do well to avoid it at all costs..." She warned, giving her fellow Padawans an unusually icy glare. Slowly she got into position to fire again, taking her time to line up the shot correctly.

"I agree with Ke Eoto that Sith texts should be studied," She said as she slowly reached out with the Force. "But only for the sake of understanding our foe. Our goal should be to convert them to the light, not to coexist with them..." She fired, finally hitting her mark. The shot wasn't perfect, but greatly improved from the last. She clicked with approval as she stood up again and turned back to the others. "I actually studied some Sith texts, before I became a Jedi." She explained in a surprisingly casual tone. "Your Master should not be misled. Everything the Sith do is about control and manipulation. Their philosophy is fundamentally opposed to ours. We seek to create peace. They thrive in conflict. We seek to understand and act as one with the Force. They see it only as a tool to be wielded against others like a savage wields a club. Power is all that matters to them." She handed the rifle to Ke Eoto.

"They are not all evil I'm sure, but those who follow that path will inevitably commit evil acts. The Sith measure their worth through their ability to dominate others, through violence or other means. They will always place themselves in opposition to us. That is why one must be destroyed. So long as we both exist the galaxy will continue to suffer unending war." She realized such an absolute stance might have been somewhat unnerving, but after her experiences both with the Sith texts and being tempted by the dark side it was the only solution that she saw. She looked between her fellow Padawans, awaiting their response as she withdrew somewhat and crossed her arms.

@Manufactorium @TRook

 

[Ke Eoto]

"I did not meen that there is no Dark, just that it's not as simple as some belieeve."

The Blood Carver croaked out as he watched Giran line up a shot,

"It is less tied just to moraa-lity but also to corrup-tion of the Force. Like Izel said, Jedi use of the Force is sub-tle and restraa-ined as we listen to it and its limits, the Sith powers are vul-gar and twist-ing to the Force, that is why it corrupts their spi-rit and body, as if they were disease it was try-ing to remoove."

Ke Eoto pointed out as Giran suddenly split a rock with his shot, sending some shards of stone spraying this way. Although most of them fell short, a couple peppered close enough that Ke Eoto brought his arm up in front of his face to shield his eyes, if one of them accidentally lost one that may would be the last time any Padawan was allowed to own a blaster on the planet. He lowered his arm feeling a little prickling in the plate of his cheek-chitin. Ke Eoto picked at it, dislodging a tiny fragment of rock from the plate and eliciting out a couple of drops of iridescent golden blood from the small crack. However, he made no fuss or any comment about it, just wiping it off and flicking the small shard away.

"I wish the teerms reflec-ted that instead of seeming like all you needed to do was doo bad things."

The tall insectoid explained, watching Giran pass the rifle to Izel so that she may have a turn shooting with it as well,

"Still, I would like to heer why they might think we shoould not learn about Siith. If we can under-staand better why some one would decide to join them, their tenaants and philo-sophies, then we can under-staand their falacies as well, and their weak-nesses. It would help us in figh-ting them, and in preven-ting those of our Oor-der from joining theirs."

He pitched in as he watched Izel take her aim, feeling the connection to the Force swell up within her before she pulled the trigger and another shot cracked out. This time the Blood Carver gave her an encouraging nod when she handed him back the rifle and found nothing to correct in her form, at that point it might have just been a matter of Izel needing more practice to get used to firing a rifle like that.

Ke Eoto ejected the magazine again, checking how much ammo was remaining before fishing his pocket and managing to produce only a couple more bullets.

"Last round of shots."

The Blood Carver announced,

"No more ammu-nition."

He added as he stepped up to the firing spot and raised the rifle, aiming between trees. It took him a second to calm himself and reach out with his mind, letting it guide his sight beyond what his eyes were capable, extending it through unnaturally means. Sudden crack rang out as he pulled the trigger, yellow bolt raced out from the rifle and disappeared between the trees, scorching bark on its way as it passed down between tight gaps. A scorching blast of a shot landing on a tree trunk could be heard shortly after, although the tree hit was out of their view.

"Can you hit what you cannot see?"

The Blood Carver asked, offering a challenge as he handed the rifle to Giran.

"But I agree with Izel, even if soome-one dwelves into Sith philo-sophies with good intent, following their tee-cheings leads to im-balance and Force corrup-tion sooner or laater. Their pree-sence will not sustaain the Gala-xy."