Telarii Secara's Training

[Telarii]

Emerald eyes watched Owyn as he stepped toward the crate and withdrew two items from it, neither of which looked like anything that would be too impressive for use in training. At least, until her Master asked her to put her hands out. Already, the gears in her head began to turn. Was he intending to put the ball in her hands, or hand her the cloth to blindfold herself, or was he going to tie her wrists together?

None of those thoughts comforted the girl very much, but eventually she did offer her hands forward to let the Knight do as he wished with them. His explanation of what was going to be happening didn't leave the twi'lek with much confidence either. He was going to throw the ball at her, and she had to dodge or stop it, with encouragement on stopping it? This did not bode well for her, and she knew it.

"I... Very well, Master," she said, beginning to protest, but ending it before it could reach the level of true complaint. With her wrists bound and her master taking steps away from her, preparing to pummel the padawan with a rubber ball, she steeled herself for an attempt at stopping the object before it impacted her.

This was going to be a long training session.

 

[Raif]

"Good, let's proceed."

And with that, Owyn used the Force to speed the ball towards his padawan. He would start off not throwing it at her too quickly, but he would pick up speed as the exercise progressed. As the little rubber ball whizzed this way and that across the chamber, Owyn spoke softly but clearly to his padawan.

"Remember what we just worked on, Telarii. Use your newfound sense to project a sort of 'bubble' around yourself. Any time this ball crosses into your bubble, you will know it and be able to react to it."

As if on cue, Owyn sent the ball flying low across the ground towards her shins.

The point of the whole thing was not just to beat up the padawan - though a little bit of physical pain was sometimes good for young jedi to get used to. No, it was to build up an instinctual ability to call upon the TK related Force powers (push, pull, grab, etc.) so that in a time of stress, a Jedi could react without thinking. Sometimes, unfortunately, the time it took to think was all the time an enemy needed to end your life.

 

[Telarii]

And so the training exercise began. For the most part, the twi'lek managed to deflect the rubber ball maybe half of the time with her telekinetic abilities, but it was always by using Push variant of TK. It seemed that she was either hesitant, or unable to grab the ball to manually move it away, and pulling it would only assist her master in hitting her with it.

Regardless, she still got hit a few times. Occasionally, she'd dodge the rubber fall at the last moment, but by the time the Knight decided to switch things up a little bit, she already felt slightly sore in several locations. However, despite her not realizing it, her reflexes managed to keep pace with the speed at which the master through it, so improvement was being made... It just wasn't immediately noticeable due to increased momentum.

Meanwhile, she tried listening to the words her master spoke to her, and she got most of the words he said. He wanted her to try and use the sensing power as well? Okay... You can do this, Telarii, she thought encouragingly to herself. With her concentration split between keeping up with the rubber ball, she found herself with only a small area in which her senses expanded around her, maybe four or five feet.

Still, that she was able to expand her awareness was something of a point of pride to the young Jedi...at least until the ball went for her shins. She saw the ball moving toward her, felt it enter her area of complete awareness, and noticing it's change in trajectory being off from the norm, panicked slightly.

Calling upon the force, she tried to push it away quickly, but used perhaps too much force at just the right angle to cause the ball to speed up, hit the floor and smack the twi'lek padawan square in the chin. "Ow!" she yelled out, but it was more instinctual than actual pain. And embarrassment. And wounded pride.

 

[Raif]

Owyn called the ball immediately to his hand after it struck Telarii's chin. Stashing it away in a pocket for a moment, he rushed forward to assure she was alright. There was nothing like a broken nose or jaw on the first day of training to derail progress.

"Telarii, are you alright?"

Owyn waited for her to answer, then put out a reassuring hand to rest on her shoulder.

"You know, aside from the whole getting hit in the chin thing, you were actually doing quite well. We can proceed whenever you'd like, unless you'd prefer to take a break.

 

[Telarii]

She rubbed her chin softly, still more embarrassed at actually doing something so foolish in a training exercise so simple than actually hurt. At most, it might bruise. When Owyn moved toward her to assess whether or not she was alright, she simply waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no - no, it's more embarrassing than painful," she stated quietly.

Though it stung, she still forced a smile back on her face and nodded abruptly. "But I'm ready to continue, Master. I'm not going to let some stupid rubber ball get the better of me; how could I hope to sense the Star System if I can't even manage a ball?" she asked and took a few steps away, a few calming breaths getting her back into the mindset needed to use her force powers effectively.

 

[Raif]

Owyn smiled happily at his padawan. He was glad to see that she was unhurt, but even more than that he was happy to see that she was willing to so quickly get back to training after a mishap. He himself had had a bit of a problem as a padawan with taking failures during training far too seriously, and he was relieved to see Telarii did not share his fate in that regard.

Her quickness to want to continue was also hopefully indicative of her ability to overcome obstacles and keep pushing towards her goals, traits that would be invaluable once she progressed within the Order and reached Knighthood.

All of that was a concern for the future, though; for now, it was time to continue the exercise. Owyn grabbed the rubber ball out of his pocket and once again levitated it over his outstretched hand.

"Alright, here we go again."

And with that they were off again, Owyn telekinetically launching the ball at Telarii repeatedly while the young Twi'lek did her best to telekinetically defend herself.

((OOC: Feel free to post a montage if you'd like. After all, every good training thread needs a montage.))

 

[Telarii]

((OOC: A montage in a forum? XD Guess I could try. :P))

The twi'lek's eyes shone with a determination to get through this training successfully. She wouldn't let anything, come hell, high water or rubber balls keep her from doing well! She waited, watching her master as he stepped away and withdrew the ball from his pocket again, levitated it and sent it at her.

This time, she was more prepared and consistently reflected it back toward her Master with her own telekinesis, succeeding a majority of the time. After she had gotten comfortable with doing this however, she decided to do as her master had requested and, instead of focusing purely on her seeing where the ball is, expanded her senses through the force once more.

Doing this extra, complex task while attempting to reflect the ball was originally met with a drastic decrease in her successful turning attempts, but after a time of trial and error and rinse and repeat, her success rate increased, the bubble of force sense she had encased herself in increasing her reflexes greatly.

When Master Owyn finally decided enough was enough, Telarii felt confident that in the end, her use of the Force Sense technique would prove more effective than with her sight alone.

 

[Raif]

The rubber ball flew into Owyn's outstretched hand with a resounding smack.

"Good! I think that's enough for today."

Owyn looked at his student for a moment, and he was extremely satisfied with what he saw. He could see noticeable improvement in her after just a single training session, and he was excited to see how she progressed as their training continued. There was no need to push things on the first day, however; she would need time to rest, and to reflect on what she had learned in order to fully absorb it.

"Why don't you get yourself some dinner and try not to stay out too late."

He winked at her as he made this comment, alluding to their first meeting at the Outlander Club.

"If you need anything, I will be in my quarters or the Fountain Room. Otherwise, I will see you here bright and early tomorrow morning."

 

[Telarii]

The ball left the air and instead zoomed back into her master's hand. Telarii, however, did not immediately relax; it was only after her Master said that it was enough for the day did she allow herself to stand straight and let her arms rest at her side. She was tired... The day's activities, from learning how to sense things through the Force to extended use of her telekinesis had drained her immensely.

With a weary smile upon her face, the padawan nodded her head at the Knight. "Yes Master, I won't be late," she said, mentally writing a note to head here first thing to get a head start on her training.

And so, once dismissed, the twi'lek left and grabbed something to eat. It wasn't much, really, a fruit was all it was, but it was satisfying. She wasn't very hungry anyway. Once she had finished the fruit off, she then made her way through the halls of the temple and reached her dormitory. There, she sat on her bed, legs crossed and eyes closed, and she meditated on the events of the day.

She thought of the best methods of centering herself enough to use Force Sense, thought of the increase in effectiveness when using the technique in conjunction with her telekinesis... And then, promptly, fell asleep.

The next morning, the twi'lek blinked her eyes open, took her shower and dressed in a new set of robes, grabbed her training saber and headed to the training room. Second day of training; how exciting! She may have still been sore and tired from the previous day, but just the thoughts of continuing her path to Knighthood had a rejuvenating quality to them.

 

[Raif]

((OOC: Woops, didn't see you had responded. Sorry for the delay))

Owyn had always been an early riser, and today was no different. Though Coruscant never truly slept, he still found something unique about the city-planet in the moments just before sunrise, as if it were slightly muted. Glancing out from the training room's windows, Owyn had a feeling of suspense as he watched the Republic capital start a new day; the feeling that something was just about to happen always descended upon him when he viewed this scene.

Given all of this, he was already in the training room by the time Telarii approached. Whereas the day before he had surprised the girl, today he hoped she may surprise him a bit. The Jedi Knight kept his Force presence unmuted as the Twi'lek approached, but he moved into one of the shadowy corners, standing near Ra'ja - the big felinoid was napping again.

Owyn hoped that, despite being hidden from view, Telarii would still be able to sense his presence. At least, if she was practicing what she had been taught yesterday she would.

Hopefully their training session would start off on a good foot.

 

[Telarii]

(OOC: No problem, I figured that was the case. I just didn't want to overload your PM box. :P)

Despite the early hour of the day, the temple was bustling with activity, hopefuls wandering the halls between lessons, masters and padawans speaking quietly side by side, others taking care of the more mundane tasks such as making sure the place was spotless. But her mind was not really focused on who was in the halls with her, it was more toward what events the day would hold for her and her new master.

Master Owyn seemed nice enough; a bit of an eccentric taste in company, but nice all the same. After a nice, long stroll, she finally came to the doorway of the training room. Inhaling deeply, her hand reached for the button to slide the door open - but there, she paused.

She wondered if she had gotten here before her master? It might be an excellent chance to test her ability to sense things. She closed her eyes, standing before the doorway, and reached out. She listened to her pulse, as Owyn had taught her. Felt the blood rushing through her veins, felt the cool touch of air upon skin.

And slowly, her senses expanded, first a few inches, then a few feet. She could 'see' within the training room; the crate from yesterday, the windows and... She felt living beings within. She felt the powerful predatory nature of Ra'ja and the familiar presence of Owyn within. So, he'd gotten here before her. She wasn't too surprised, but she was happy nonetheless that she was able to sense him within.

Once she was certain that he was inside, her finger grazed the button panel and opened the door. No one was in there, that she could tell. Even after a few steps in, no one was visible. She knew she had sensed him...where was he? Then it dawned on her; a test, perhaps? She took note of the dark corners in the room, where the early morning light didn't deign to illuminate just yet.

Slowly, a smirk crept across her lips and her eyes closed once more. This time, the enhanced senses she used were far more focused, probing the corner her Master currently hid in... She felt his presence easily enough, due in no small part to him not actively masking himself. "I know you're there, Master Owyn," she said playfully, her hands now resting on her hips.

 

[Raif]

Owyn slowly clapped his hands together, earning himself a look of irritation from Ra'ja. Owyn, however, was focused on his student and so ignored the beast.

"Congratulations, Telarii. I am impressed. Most padawans your age would be too busy rubbing the sleep out of their eyes to be aware of what's around them."

The Jedi Knight stepped forward, a big smile splitting his face. He was really starting to like this padawan; she learned quickly, and seemed pretty smart - probably smarter than him.

"Now, I would ask you how well you remember what we learned yesterday, but you just answered that question for me. That's good, because what we'll be doing today is important, and it stems from something I taught you yesterday."

Owyn paused for a moment to organize his thoughts, then continued speaking.

"As I'm sure you're aware, we Jedi have been studying the Force for a long time. And during that time, scholars have found that the powers which we are able to wield can be separated into three Core groups: Control, Sense, and Alter.

Yesterday, you successfully demonstrated an understanding of Sense and Alter. Today we will be touching on Control.

Tell me, in your studies before meeting me, did you learn anything about the Force powers associated with Control?"

Owyn was interested to see Telarii's response. To man young jedi, Control was seen as the 'less glamorous' of the categories. Alter included crowd-pleasers like telekinesis, while Sense allowed Jedi to 'see' things no one else could see. Control, however, was just as important, if not more important, to be a successful Jedi. After all, if a Jedi could not control themselves, how could they be expected to do much else?

 

[Telarii]

The twi'lek felt as if she would nearly burst at the seams if she swelled from any more pride - but how could she help it? She was a quick study, it was true, and basics were easy to grasp.. But simply getting compliment on her quick study was doing great things for the padawan's self esteem.

But even as pride swelled her head to Ithorian proportions, she needed to focus more on the here and now, on what Owyn was saying... The third core property of the Force? She knew this one! She had demonstrated a small amount of her knowledge when she had left the Outlander club the other night - the ability to enhance one's speed was one property of it.

Unfortunately, it was the only property she knew. Control was mentioned briefly in her studies, but it had been brushed aside by the other hopefuls in lieu of altering techniques like Push and Pull. She picked up Speed through independent study and training.

"I only know a little bit about the Control grouping of Force powers, Master. I know that it deals with one's own body, and can grant oneself enhancements - for instance, by utilizing the Force's gifts, I can enhance my speed by a great deal," she said, her fingers idly twirling a leku around.

"But after that, my knowledge ends. I learned that much mostly through independent study, for the most part," she said. While it shamed her that she didn't know near as much about the subject as she probably ought to, it did leave her with something to actually learn.

 

[Raif]

Owyn nodded his head with a satisfied look on his face.

"That's a good start, but there is so much more to it. A jedi who can properly Control their own connection with the Force can do incredible things. They can heal themselves and others, slow down the natural decay of the body, hide themselves within the Force to avoid detection, and even slow natural body functions and reach a point of suspended animation."

Owyn paused again and looked at Telarii.

"Less glamorous than being able to throw rocks with your mind, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless. Wouldn't you say?"

 

[Telarii]

Telarii had never heard of many of those applications of the Force. Were such things really possible? Healing, as Owyn had mentioned, she'd heard of before and wished to learn at some point... But a Jedi could truly place themselves in suspended animation? Such self control that must require! And masking oneself with the Force would make some things so much simpler...

"Less glamorous, Master Owyn? Such techniques; healing, concealment... They have endless applications, they have so much more to offer a Jedi than mere rock throwing," she said, her voice clearly revealing interest.

"But the self control required to attain some of those things... It must be immense. How could anyone have the self control to perform some of those feats, even with the Force?"

 

[Raif]

"Well, it takes a great deal of practice, which is why you and I are here of course."

Owyn winked playfully at her, then sat down with his legs crossed in a typical meditation pose. On his way down, he motioned for Telarii to do the same.

"Yesterday I taught you to expand your senses and be aware of the world around you. Today we will be doing the opposite; focusing your senses inward, and as a result hopefully becoming hyper-aware of what is occurring within your own body."

Owyn took a deep breath to center himself, then looked straight into Telarii's eyes as he continued speaking.

"Just like yesterday, I want you to notice the little things going on within you; the flow of blood, the movement of air into your lungs. Except this time I want you to take it a step further and a step deeper. Instead of just seeing the blood flowing, I want you to immerse yourself in it. Focus not on the blood as a whole, but on the individual cells as they are filled with oxygen and travel throughout your limbs and organs."

As Owyn spoke, he practiced what he preached. He also made sure to open his Force presence up as much as possible; if Telarii wanted to, she would be able to reach out to him with her mind and hopefully see what it was he was asking of her.

 

[Telarii]

The twi'lek listened attentively to her master, quite eager to learn the secrets to the Control group of force powers - beyond what she already knew, that was. The first part, Owyn led her to believe, was complete and total knowledge of one's self. That didn't seem too surprising too her, and with the ability to stretch her awareness beyond herself, it seemed like it would be all too simple to use the same ability within herself.

So, as instructed by Owyn, Telarii sat before her in a meditative position, her legs crossed with her hands resting upon her knees. Her eyes closed, allowing herself to focus herself better while still listening to the Jedi's words... She would need to focus on details that she'd never attained before...

Slowly, she pulled from the Force to heighten her awareness and focused it on herself using a similar technique that she had for sensing Owyn within the shadows. She could sense the blood rushing through her veins, the oxygen filling her lungs, and the myriad of other functions her body constantly kept working on... But it all seemed muted. No, muted wasn't the word... But it wasn't very detailed.

She continued on this for a few minutes, and slowly things became more focused, but it was still muddled. The twi'lek grew more agitated as time passed and finally broke her concentration from herself and instead let her awareness wash over Owyn. What was he doing that she wasn't?

She would study Owyn and how he focused the Force within himself and then began to mimic him with her own senses. Using Owyn's example as a guide, Telarii's own progress increased dramatically. She was able to sense...not exactly solitary cells, but small groups of them were becoming known to her.

 

[Raif]

Once again, Owyn was impressed with his padawan. Not so much for completing the exercise, but in how she completed it.

The Jedi Knight could feel her frustration grow as she struggled with the task, but rather than allow it to break her she overcame it. When one route was blocked, she quickly found another in the form of studying her teacher. This ability to overcome obstacles seemed to be a strength of Telarii's, and Owyn was very pleased with it.

Keeping his eyes closed and maintaining his near-meditative state, Owyn spoke softly to his student.

"You are doing a wonderful job. Just like with expanding your senses, of course, this will take time for you to grow comfortable with. I would like you to add this to your daily regimen of independent practice, and I think you can expect to see great improvements."

He slowly opened his eyes to look at the Twi'lek as he laid out the next step in the exercise.

For now, though, we are going to move on to a practical application of this technique. It is called Breath Control, and allows a user to hold and control their breathing patterns for extraordinarily long times. Of course, this is just one facet of Control, but if you can learn this then you will have set a strong foundation for many of the other skills of this category. Once you have learned how to control your bodily functions in one way, it becomes much easier to do so in other ways as well.

When I say go, I want you to take in as deep a breath as you can. Feel the oxygen flowing into your lungs, and then with the Force I want you to hold it there. I will then start timing you. At this point, you will release the oxygen from you lungs a little at a time, just enough to keep your body functioning. Don't ask me at what rate you need to release it, because frankly I don't know. But, with the aid of the Force, you will.

When you run out of oxygen in your lungs, or feel you need to take another breath, do so and the exercise will be over. Then we will see what time you have earned.

Ready?........Go"

 

[Telarii]

Again, a compliment on her progress and again, the young twi'lek beamed with pride in her ability to grasp the basic techniques that were being taught to her. While the powers she was learning to use were nothing amazing to most Jedi, to Telarii, the mere fact that she was learning to make use of the Force continued to astound her.

Of course, she had to pull her mind back to the present as her Master began to move on with the lesson. This one, she imagined, was going to be the most difficult of her tests. She imagined that she could hold her breath without the aid of the Force for about a minute and a half...if she really, really tried at it. However, Owyn seemed to think that the Force would allow her to sustain herself far longer.

Now that she thought about it, though, the more sense it made. This would be an essential skill for a Jedi who - as Owyn described earlier - went into Force-induced suspended animation. Even in such a case, the blood would need to flow, even if slowly. Oxygen would need to travel through the blood cells to keep essential organs alive.

So it wasn't an impossible feat, simply a daunting one. However, confident due to her past successes, the twi'lek quickly nodded her head and, following her Master's instructions, focused her senses inward again - particularly upon her lungs...then she inhaled slowly and deeply. She felt her lungs fill with precious oxygen.

The next couple of moments were spent with her 'asking' the Force to keep the oxygen there, and allow her to distribute it only when necessary...but already, the effort proved...tiring. Slowly, a minute passed with the twi'lek slowly releasing oxygen into her bloodstream and, despite the concentration that she had to keep on maintaining the state she was in, felt little worse for wear.

Minute two came and the effort to keep control of the flow of oxygen became more demanding, her lungs ached from the effort to not do what they were meant to do. Minutes three and four passed by, her situation not improving at all and slowly the oxygen in her lungs spilled out into her bloodstream at a controlled, but increasing, quantities.

And finally, at minute five, the twi'lek felt as though she would soon pass out from the lack of oxygen and let her concentration fault as she drew in a fresh, cool breath of sweet air. And then another, and another. Each breath tasted delicious - she didn't realize how much she took it for granted until she needed to go minutes without. Breathing was addicting, yeah?

"Th-that's... Not a.. Pleasant exercise, Master," she complained only half jokingly. Still, if asked to do it again, she would...but she didn't relish the thought. Of course, compared to the feat of entering suspended animation, her five minutes were trivial, even if they did manage to feel like an eternity.

 

[Raif]

((OOC: I'm back! I promise no more big delays like that, hopefully I'll only take one honeymoon in my life lol))

Telarii did a commendable job for her first time at this exercise, and Owyn was duly impressed. For most oxygen-bound creatures, the idea of 'choking' yourself was both terrifying and instinctively difficult. The fact that she had gotten the basic premise so quickly was promising. Also, training her mind and body to be able to do something so against the instinctive grain would be priceless later on; some of the more advanced powers afforded by the Force were difficult for the mind to comprehend, let alone achieve.

For now, though, Owyn stood back and allowed Telarii to recover. He had to fight the urge to rush forward and help her in her obvious discomfort, but it was important she learn to be as self-sufficient as possible.

"I agree, it is not the most fun at first. Like all things, though, practice will make it easier to bear. And, of course, I'm sure that the unpleasant feeling you just experienced would pale in comparison to choking on poison gas, or something similar."

Owyn gave her a wry grin, then clapped his hands together once to re-center the focus of the conversation.

"Now, I'd like you to try that again, longer if possible of course. And remember, like just about every exercise you will learn as a Jedi, the ripples made today will reach far beyond what you may originally expect. After all, if you can get the knack of controlling your body with Breath Control, a door of near-limitless possibilities will be opened to you. We may even find, with the mastery of this single practice, other powers like Force Sight and Force Hearing will come to you with little or no training at all.

Enough of my blather, though. Begin."