Just...slide. (Jodi Breclusa Training)

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi didn’t say a single word to interrupt Master Ramnous, it would have only been counterproductive. She was still eager to impress, but more than that, she was eager to learn.

“I believe that I could’ve fought for quite some time, Master,” said Jodi, “that is, if I relied upon the Force. The longest I’ve ever sparred is for something around five minutes, but it wasn’t tiring at all. My previous master taught me to use the Force to fuel my actions and blows. But he was never very specific.”

Force Body…

Most of Jodi’s stamina was natural, she had to admit, and she used the Force more to fuel the power behind her blows. Her lust for knowledge was unsatiable, even if she didn’t exactly display much emotion on her outside appearance, and it was a little humbling to know just how much she could learn from someone she barely knew.

“I want nothing more than for you to teach me, Master.”

 

[Dread]

"In order to learn you must push yourself," He smiled, "We - I will force you to do so once you learn to control your body enough to use this skill." It was his first slip up since she had last asked about his others and being The One. He was use to talking in a singular, but sometimes he would naturally speak as The One in times he felt more relaxed. A flaw that he would bite his tongue after. They had put him into control because it was the smartest, the strongest, the most cunning of them all, so he had to prove it to the others.

"When you become hungry, your body feels a aching, and you begin to become weak, perhaps dizzy and sick. Like you would if you pushed yourself in combat as well. Your muscles would loose their strength from fatigue, as you know. With the force you will draw it into into your body and use it to control your own organs and trick your brain. Pushing it past its limits. This move is in every way as risky as it would to simply ignore your own pains and push on. There is no real difference except for the ability to push it further then you would without the force.

Contractions of your empty stomach is part of the feelings of hungry, which can result in your body lowering temperature, and then their is the physiological factors that account for both. You will use the force to control your stomach's borborygmus, and trick your brain into thinking it is full, giving energy to your body to fuel it. Second, you will use the force to "create" glucose polymer for your muscles in your body to help prevent fatigue. This is done by a complex method of fooling your mind as well. Forcing the force to expand and contract your lungs in a unnatural speed will be the last step, as oxygen will be the prime factor for this to all work. ...Do you follow? If so, sit and begin. You will start this just sitting for now, and we will work up to using it in combat."

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi picked up on the slip between “we” and “I,” but decided to ignore it for the time being in favor of listening to what he said about Force Body. The idea was radical almost, in its recklessness – to sacrifice ones body to temporarily improve it was dangerous, and if used incorrectly without enough stamina, it could even be lethal.

She liked it.

“I follow,” she said with some confidence, closing her eyes and sitting cross-legged. After thinking for a brief time, she decided that for her first time, to see just how this worked, it might be best to meditate in order to focus. She let the Force flow through her, to work through her esophagus and down, down towards the stomach. She hadn’t eaten in several hours, so she was at least reasonably hungry. Or was she? She sent tendrils through her small intestine, attempting to stimulate the idea of food passing through her gastrointestinal tract. The Force moved through it, and she felt her stomach contracting and “digesting” the Force. Any hunger she’d had before slowly started to dissipate, replaced with a feeling of…content.

Inspired by this success, she moved tendrils through her windpipe towards her lungs. This was trickier. She tried to imagine herself breathing faster, allowing more air into her lungs but her lungs seemed unaffected. Next, she simply tried to imagine more air coming into her lungs, her windpipe expanding ever so slightly so as not to hurt her. She was cautious, knowing of the effects improper Force usage could have on her body, but she wanted to push herself to the limit. Her lungs began to slow, and she stopped, confused.

Wait a second. I usually breathe quicker in an activity that doesn’t require oxygen at all, if only because my body is trying to get oxygen since it can’t. So if I give the impression of not being able to get as much oxygen…

Still focused, eyes shut tight, she envisioned her windpipe narrowing, allowing less and less oxygen. She didn’t actually narrow the windpipe, but she sent wave after wave of translucent Force energy through her throat as if to clog it, though she could still feel oxygen entering her lungs. They began to speed up, as though afraid they wouldn’t get enough oxygen, and Jodi smiled slightly. Adrenalin made her hands start to shake slightly as the oxygen increased in her system, making her feel almost giddy with exhilaration.

 

[Dread]

"Good." It was physically visible that she was using the skill. He could also sense her partial success. The ever growing confidence coddled away within her minds confines would be open to him in this instance. Like a open book, he would read the page, touch and mark with his own. "Tomorrow we will apply this skill to lightsabers in combat. For now, the rest of the day all I require of you is to train here with your lightsaber, or lightsabers, with yourself. Once you feel you are unable to push yourself more...then push it further, until you can't keep it up. Then, you may eat, rest, sleep, whatever you need. Your room is located down the hall from mine, the last door, on the opposite side. As I am aware...it has nothing but a bed in it." It was a sudden push; she would have to go from just learning force body to almost abusing it. That was the point in his training, though, soon she would discover he was more ruthless then his appearance might project. The short, skinny half Sephi man would feed off his students suffering, growing stronger as she grew stronger.

Without a second spare he too sat atop of the ground, as before his body seemed to loose all its power as it fell to meet the floor. This time, as he crossed his legs, his hands would come together above them and meet. His fingers wove between each other. Then his eyes shut and his face expression fell into a blank state. Even if it may seem so, he was not meditating, but simply staying to keep tabs on his student. Making sure she did as she was told before leaving. A silence would fall between the two unless the women would decide to break it.

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi nodded, eager to test this newfound power. She leapt up wordlessly, walking over to the computers set next to the wall. After a couple minutes she had activated three blasters in the room, set to stun, for a thirty minute interval. It seemed perhaps a bit lengthy, but she was determined to test Force Body and her control over it.

Both of her lightsabers leapt to their respective hands, igniting as the blasters began to fire. She had been trained vigorously in blaster bolt deflection already, so the first bolts were easy enough to deflect. She kept up a vigorous pace, trying not to overextend herself more than need be. It would just be…inefficient.

After several minutes, Jodi didn’t even feel tired. She slashed and swept her blade at the bolts constantly, in a steady rhythm. The bolt’s paths were never the same, but the frequency with which they fired seemed to be. Jodi continued to block them and deflect them, barely blinking. By the time the first thirty minutes was up, she wasn’t terribly exerted, but rather, just felt a tad weary. She repeated what she had done before, but while standing, sending a tendril of force down her stomach as if to satiate it. Her lungs were easier to operate this time, and soon they were palpitating at a far above average pace. She set the blasters for another half hour, and she resumed the task.

The whir and ping of blaster bolts rebounding off of her lightsaber was more satisfactory by the minute. She wove a tapestry of red and violet light, making sure her angles were simple but effective. She was moving quickly, more quickly than she suspected.

After about twenty minutes, though, she felt a wave of exhaustion pass over her. Jodi kept blocking the bolts, concentrating on her lungs, feeling the Force ebb through her. The exhaustion faded, replaced by a resurgence of strength and vitality, and she continued deflecting bolts until the time ran out.

This time, determined to push herself to the absolute limit, Jodi set the blaster time span to six hours. She didn’t believe she could hold out for that long, but she felt that she needed some sort of goal to strive for. The blaster bolts came at her once more, and she deflected them back.

Each time fatigue would begin to seep into her joints, she would sooth them with the Force, allowing it to satisfy her hunger and keep her lungs beating at a breakneck pace. The intervals between the moments of extreme weakness became shorter, and the pain became more intense, but she kept on, dead set on accomplishing her goal.

She didn’t know how long it had been, but suddenly, her sight was obscured by blackness, and her ears started to ring incessantly. Jodi gasped, barely deflecting the next set of bolts, trying to send the Force through her limbs. It didn’t seem like enough. One of the bolts managed to get through her guard, striking her in the thigh. She bit her lip, wincing, trying to hide the pain she felt, but using it to fuel her next surge. She still felt slightly tired, but it wasn’t nearly as extreme as before.

Jodi made it through the next several waves of fatigue, only barely, utilizing the sting of the bolt to propel her body into action. It felt like an eternity had passed since she’d first started deflecting bolts, and she longed for the end…and yet, at the same time, was determined to not give up. She whirled her lightsabers back and forth, sending the bolts back in a slightly less accurate way, but back all the same.

Another wave came, and she fell to her knees, barely blocking the bolts that refused to stop coming. She felt blinded by the stars, and her head felt like it was going to split down the middle. She concentrated on every hated memory she had, pumping the Force through her, and she managed to hold off the exhaustion from making her pass out of consciousness for a time. But it kept coming. The ring of blasters firing grew quieter, more hollow.

If I wasn’t trained in terms of classical stamina, there’s no way I’d be conscious now, she thought, still on her knees as she inaccurately deflected bolt after bolt. One broke through her defenses as her vision blackened again, striking her in the chest, making her whimper. She reached out to the Force, summoning every hated memory…of her parents, of being enslaved, of Brenkht. But it wasn’t enough. The Force had abandoned her, and she was left drained.

The shots must’ve stopped coming, because the shots had stopped ringing out. She managed to glimpse the blasters retracting into the wall, but soon darkness swept upon her. A dry gasp escaped from her throat, and she lapsed into unconsciousness.

 

[Dread]

Not once would he open his eyes to his students pain. Instead, he would reveal in it and use it to aid in her future training. He knew she would push herself to exhaustion and breaking point. She would not know anything but that for the next years of her life till she no longer needed a master. As she fell to the ground, Ramnous would feel her mind slip into darkness. When she had been fully engulfed into the grasps of her bodies own mind, he would then stand. Not using any of his little-to-no muscle mass he would reach out with the force to levitate her body. Brining the hanging, unconscious females body, to the front of him in the area of his chest he made his way to her room. With a carelessness, although caring enough to bring her to her room, he tossed her body ontop of the bed before returning to his room. There he would not slumber till much later then her. As his data and research always took him away from the real world for longer then he always planned.

[The next morning...]

 

[TheIronLotus]

It took a while for Jodi to realize that her eyes were open at all, but eventually she did.

Jodi lay there for a while, just enjoying the feeling of the bed underneath her. Her throat was dry to the point of bleeding, and she was hungry as hell, but the bed was enough for the moment. When she did get up, it was as though she were in a dream. She drifted through eating and drinking, and napping, and eating and drinking again. She showered and changed her clothes to something that wasn’t drenched with sweat. It was a couple hours before noon when she made her way to the Master’s door.

The sense of déjà vu was strange. She knocked on Master Ramnous’s door, a sense of light accomplishment welling up within her. True, Ramnous was nothing like her previous master…he was far more callous. But in a way, it made him seem more honest. She had no idea who her old master truly was, and she had little desire to know.

 

[Dread]

Once again, the door slid open to a crashing stop. This time, however, no dust fell from between it's cracks. It was used a few times today, and Ramnous' desk that sat closely to the door had a lamp on it unlike the day before. He was reading paper books, rather then his glowing datapads, so he needed a new lamp. The lamps predecessor had fell victim to one of his force attacks in a rage. That day also happened to be the day his student had arrived. Perhaps the world truly did run on chaos, and the chaos made it so much more random and thrilling. Being a Bogan made life so much more interesting.

With those blue orbs attempting to lock onto the womens equally as blue orbs after she would enter, Ramnous parted his lips in one great snap, "We have been waiting for you quite awhile. Today I expect us to learn two more things. If you had took much longer we would of just used this power on you as you slept or ate. Perhaps that would of taught you more manners." His last sentence had been lanced in a very soft chuckle that contrasted with his crazed look in his eyes. He was mocking her, but in a playful way. In his big speech, he really did not quite care how long she took, but he would see how she reacted to him. He wanted to know how deep her powers could reach into his moods and thoughts.

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi was a detached wretch of a being, no matter how innocent her face might seem, but even she was able to tell when someone was pulling her strings – oh sure, the Force helped, but she wasn’t a complete robot. She locked her eyes with his own searing blue orbs, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips, but just barely.

“My most sincere of apologies to you, Master. I thought it to be considerate allowing all of you time to get ready,” she said wryly. “Then again, being considerate isn’t exactly befitting of a Bogan. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll arrive at dawn.”

Her eyes strayed towards the paper books on her Master’s desk. “And what shall we be doing today, Master Ramnous?”

 

[Dread]

Popping up in his chair in something of a manner that would be expected of him, his chair slid back, wood rubbing against cement, well papers on his desk flew forwards in the gust. "Tell me what you sense from me, not just what you see from my actions. Do you understand?" Once more, as he had on the first day, Ramnous reached out with his mind to the child before him and spoke into her head, "Do you understand, First? How deep into my soul can you creep? What can you sense from me? Do my emotions run wild, am I closed off from your foresight?"

Even if The One seemed to have a personalty that was predominate, inside him the many other "people" had clashing personalty to his own he fought against. That is why he needed to show he was strong, so that they would allow him to keep rule and respect him. He expected his student to tell him how she saw his emotions through his actions, rather then what she sensed from him, but he would wait to see what she would say. Force sense had many abilities under its category that a Bogan would use, but Empathy was something important to work on. Something that would aid her dearly in her lightsaber battles.

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi was a little confused by both the words Ramnous spoke and the words he forced into her brain, but she decided to attempt to dig through his mind. She was by no means skilled with using the Force to affect or explore others thoughts, but she was inventive with the Force. Not breaking eye contact, she imagined the tendril as a physical thing, entering and penetrating her Master’s mind through the ear.

She immediately felt it to be stranger than what few minds she’d touched. It was enigmatic, twisted and callous. The further she reached in, the more she found, until she was finally ready to speak.

“Emotionally, at the moment, you seem to be rather relaxed and...well, not exactly happy, but not unhappy. You're content. You aren’t exactly as crazy as I thought, and if you are, you don’t believe you’re crazy. You believe in everything you say. Everything you’ve told me so far has been honest, from what I’ve seen. Earlier, when you were talking to me, you weren’t belittling me, but rather making fun of me in…a joking way? A bit different from what I’d expect of you, but that is what I believe. Today we’ll be learning about a Force power used for offense directly, to cause physical harm…and I believe it might be Force Lightning.” Now Jodi took a risk, attempting to project her thoughts into her Master’s mind as he had done so to her before.

You are self-conscious of every action you take in the outside world, outside of your mind, perhaps because you know that your other parts are watching your every move. You are afraid to show weakness...is afraid the right word? But I am not sure exactly why.

 

[Dread]

A few words he would ignore, unconfirmed but not denied."I don't believe it? I know I am not insane...it is you individuals that are insane to ignore the power of many to the power of one. You know, I can unlock the many in you as well...but I will not approach that subject more unless your mind is open enough." Ramnous walked closer to the women, only a few inches away from her. From the closeness of each other, the physical likeness of their bodies showed. Her small body to his. Their matching on the outside but their much un matching on the inside.

"Good, force sense has many abilities under its category. Empathy, Precognition, Telepathy, Farseeing, Vision. You have the ability to use them all, but it will take time to learn them in a expert level or even be able to use them in any real fight. People must be open to you in order to use them. Sometimes you may find, even if you try your hardest that some can block you, are too powerful for you and some may even be able to trick your senses. Nevertheless, you must reach out and be aware with the force constantly against all odds, to at lest try. As for more detail on the one force sense I wish you to focus on mostly - empathy is important to always be aware of during a fight. Not only will you be aware of your opponents physical state but his emotional state as well. You can use both to your advantage. When we fight, I will expect you pay more attention to force sense then our last laughable encounter. Along with, of course, force body." Pausing so that she could take that in he then answered the part about the skill, "As for force lightening, was that a guess? But yes, I will teach you this as well. You must use the force not only to increase your bodies skills and awareness, but you also need at lest one offensive skill."

 

[TheIronLotus]

Master Ramnous was very close now, so close that they were almost touching. They might seem similar, but the difference was “the power of many,” something Jodi was very interested in indeed. She didn’t want to say it yet, seeing as it was a bit to early perhaps to explore that part of the mind, but it was something she wanted to explore later.

Of course, Ramnous was also likely very much insane. But if that insanity fueled his power, there might be some truth to it.

“Force Lightning was part guess, part observation I suppose,” she said, somewhat proud she’d picked up on it. “Earlier, you said that you would have used one of the Force powers we’d be learning today on me whilst I was sleeping or eating, in order to teach me manners. I assumed it wouldn’t be Force Choke or Force Drain since I was capable in both, and decided the next likely course of action was Force Lightning.”

Their proximity to each other was a tad unnerving. “So, technically, I didn’t pick up on that with Force Sense as you had recommended. But observation is just as key of a skill as using the Force, in my opinion…and there’s nothing wrong with trying to make others believe that you are more powerful than you might actually be.”

 

[Dread]

"Others may pick up on your lies, just as they would anything else in that limited brain of yours."The way he had used limited could be interpreted in two ways, seeing as he had just talked about skills and about being "The One" in many. He would leave it up to his student how she decided to take the slight at her. "Now enough with your blather and pay attention to me...with your senses too."

Using their closeness, Ramnous would cross their arms by grabbing the womens left hand with his, if she wouldn't pull away from him or hit him for his sudden touchiness. If this was successful he would wrap his larger fingers between hers, weaving the cold, hard fingers between her young ones. Then he would bring the two hands between each other, touching their chests between the distance of their bodies. If his student learned anything from his last lesson, Ramnous would still be allowing his mind to be wide open to hers - letting his emotion show the disinterest in her body completely. This would be part of her next lesson. "Listen closely."

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi wasn’t offended by much, but digs on her intelligence was something that got her riled easily. As a matter of fact, anything questioning her skill, no matter how legitimate, made her very irate. If I was so unintelligent, I wouldn’t have been right, now would I? She didn’t suppress the anger, instead letting it build up in her chest. Given, it could just be him saying that she didn't possess the multiple selves as he did, but she didn't like the condescending tone either way. He is the Master, she reasoned, letting it go for now.

Soon.

She didn’t resist as he brought their bodies closer to each other, until their chests were even touching. It was uncomfortable, but she did as he said, listening to his emotions with her newfound ability instead of whatever he might say. It was easy this time as she drained the information from his very skin. She didn’t know why, but it seemed easier for her to use the Force if she could imagine it as a physical aspect, like an arm or a leg.

“You are not interested in me sexually,” she said heatedly, wearing her emotions on her sleeves as well. It was unusual given her ordinary disposition, but she felt no regret. In battle, she would hide the emotions for the very reasons her Master said she must reach out into others with Empathy, but now she felt vindicated. “This is simply another lesson. You want me to be able to distinguish between the outside appearance and actual emotions. Oh...and I am not blathering, Master Ramnous.” She didn’t move, and stared straight into his eyes, unblinking.

 

[Dread]

Another of his infamous chuckles surfaced to his lips between his words, "Yes, yes very well not blathering just speaking idiocies, is that better?" Again he poked fun at her. It was something that would randomly be off in his character. A unstableness, a playfulness under all his features that somehow, suited his insanity. His student was slightly mistaken on why he had decided to move close. Yes, she was suppose to feel his disinterest in her body, but there was more to the closeness.

He would do one of two things. First, the force would gather around his skin - as if water was encasing the outside of his exterior. Moving only softly to his bodies slight movements, sending out small ripples. This was not for her to learn, however, it was for him only. The next move was - between them, the force gathered in a rage. First it was freezing cold between their fingers. In a counter a warmness seemed to fight it. In all the fighting, in the clashing between the warriors he had summoned, suddenly bolts shot out from above his and her left hands skin. It shot in small controlled bolts that would disappear almost as fast as they came, aimed away from them into the very small areas of which it could. "Did you feel it happen? This takes much more time to learn to control properly then the other skills, to summon at will, to summon large and small bursts of it. Take your time and match me, do not be scared to hurt me...be scared to hurt yourself." A grin crept up his lips, extending into a challenging smile.

 

[TheIronLotus]

The feeling was strange, like the feeling of stepping into a shower. An icy coldness, followed by the soothing warmness of something like a forest fire. After a few seconds, it felt like her hand had almost fallen asleep, the strange dark electricity Master Ramnous had summoned being thrown into the corners of the room.

I have to succeed at this, she thought, licking her lips. The urge to impress, to prove herself, it was too much to ignore.

For the first minute or so, she had no success trying to mimic what he had done. It felt like having a match, but nothing to strike it against. She felt the Force surge across her skin, but it felt like the current was doing just that – running across her skin, not building. Suddenly, she realized what the problem was – she wasn’t letting it build, she was simply trying to mimic the flow. She slowly forced the Force ((teehee)) to flow upwards, into her right hand that was locked with her Master’s. She continued to force it upwards slowly, packing it into the small space of her fingertips. Jodi’s anger itself was contained in those fingertips, hostile and hateful. Her fingers started to feel the numbness she had felt before her Master sent off the sparks, and she finally shoved the Force farther, willing it out of her fingertips.

Several strands of lightning were flung from her hand. They weren’t as focused or concentrated as Ramnous’s, but they were stronger. One of the bolts struck the ceiling, leaving a black mark from the heat of it. There was a strong static shock that seemed to affect Jodi herself as well, and she jumped at the feeling.

Jodi suppressed a smile, remaining as stoic as she could. It was undirected and obviously a novice effort, but the feeling itself of seeing the lightning fly from her fingertips was delicious.

 

[Dread]

Ramnous simply gave a half-nod, moving his chin up as his eyes watched the bolt. "Now stronger." With that, his hand curled tighter around hers, tight enough, if she was not as physically strong as he, that it would be painful and hard to escape unless she was willing to start combat between the two. It was up to her, Ramnous would not refuse it.

When his grip would be fully tensed in all its threatening movement, the inner of his hands palm would hover a storm between cold and hot. Then a strong, although not nearly his strongest, lightening shock would move into her skin, first her hand that touched his and then throughout his students body in a merciless rapid moment. When it would make its way all the way through her body he would stop, and the lightening would dissipate, but hopefully the sting would linger. Maybe it would command respect, or maybe it would create more hate towards him from his student. Either way it would not matter, it was simply a lesson.

 

[TheIronLotus]

Jodi was not strong physically, but neither was Ramnous. She ignored the slight pain from her Master’s grip, but the pain from the electricity was much more difficult to ignore. She let out a small gasp and twitched as she felt it course through her body, but she then realized something – she could absorb it slightly. A couple seconds after the pain had lessened, it stopped altogether, either due to her efforts or because Ramnous chose to let it subside. She admired the shock he’d given her, but her anger didn’t dissipate in the least.

The girl was shaking a bit, a moment of rare weakness that she immediately felt ashamed of. However, she did not back away from him – instead she grasped his hand tighter digging her fingernails into his skin. She wanted to cause someone pain. She’d had enough of being solely on the receiving end of punishment.

The lightning came to her much easier now. She let the Force build up in her fingertips, in both of her hands, and she closed her eyes. Imagining a certain Devaronian as the recipient of this torture. Imagining the screams of pain, imagining the bittersweet taste of revenge in her mouth like that of orange juice just after brushing ones teeth. She didn’t want to put lethal power into this, even though she was sure her Master could take it, but she wanted to hurt him.

She carefully siphoned the blue-yellow lightning into her fingertips and unleashed it into his own hands in one sharp jolt. Jodi hoped the Master would at least feel some of the pain from her Force attack, but was pleased either way at the amount of electricity she’d created.

 

[Dread]

There was never complete escape from a women's wrath, or so he had been told. Those nails dug into his hands and he winced from it. However, he enjoyed the pain quite thoroughly, it seemed to send a thrill through him that he hoped she would feel. "GOOD!" He would praise her for the first time in such a manner. However, when the lightening had been unleashed on his hand, the power he had gathered before would now be revealed. That cloak of water like force power would harden around his hands and reflect the lightening shock right back at the women. "Remember, whenever you use a power that there is always a chance your opponent will be able to use it to their advantage." His student had no such power, and he would not teach her this. She was still a learner and thus had her limits just like he did his.