The Road Less Travelled - Zerachiel Azariah's Training

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ooc: Expect for me to post only once a day until things at home literally Clear up.


Zerachiel sat silently in a room he had been told to go to. He had not been told why, only to arrive at a specific time. For now, he was little more than five minutes early. And using this five minutes, Zerachiel scanned over the specs of a standard blaster pistol, taking in as much of it's capabilities as he could in his head.

In the future, there may be use of it, he rationalized in his mind.

 

[Ols]

Cade sat in the warm gardens of the Jedi awaiting the time he would meet his new apprentice. He felt the prescence in the training room and stood, walking over to it, his hood leaving his face in shadow.

"Hello," he said from behind the man, "I am Cade Varr. Follow me into the gardens and tell me a little of yourself."

 

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"Hello" a voice said, interrupting him. Zerachiel nearly turned to give the imbecile a glare, when he introduced himself.

"I am Cade Varr." He said. "Follow me into the gardens and tell me a little of yourself."

Reluctantly, Zerachiel rolled the list of specs up into a scroll. Stowing it away in his belt, Zerachiel stood silently and turned to his new mentor. He bowed slightly, not turning his eyes from the man, intrigued, slightly, by the concept of having a personal Mentor for once. Something, however, struck him as odd about the man known as Cade Varr.

Following him to the Gardens, Zerachiel tried to analyze the man's stature based on his walk. This failed, in part, but in a sense, it succeeded wonderfully. Once in the Gardens, the sounds of nature surrounded him, and Zerachiel took a deep breath through his nostrils. Truly, in nature, he could find serenity... and yet, at the same time, chaos - an orderly chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

Peace... he thought, closing his eyes for a moment.

 

[Ols]

Cade was a little put out by the clear reluctance of his new apprentice at first, but at least he was polite. Having said that he had ignored Cade's request, so as he sat on the ground Cade remained silent and gently, subtly pushed a message through the Force into his mind: Tell Cade about yourself. He would not realise it was from Cade, but think it more just a subconcious reminder. It avoided any confrontation this early and Cade hoped it was just a slip of the mind.

 

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Zerachiel Turned to his mentor, tearing his attention away from the nature surrounding him. Bowing slightly, he moved closer to where Cade Varr had sat, and sat down in front of the man. He was quiet for a moment longer before speaking reluctantly.

"Forgive me," he said quietly. "I am Zerachiel Azariah, Son of Bithiah. Apprentice to the Order, and native of Corellia. It is an honor to be under your tutelage, Cade Varr."

 

[Ols]

"Hmmm," said Cade slowly, "I am aware of what your name is. But I still don't know whp you are. The council gave me a file with a brief history in it, but I'd rather hear what you have to say for yourself. I'd like to hear of your past from your own mouth."

 

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"My past..." Zerachiel said slowly. He did not trust this man enough to divulge many secrets and skeletons. And he was already uncomfortable having said as much as he had already. "My past is my own."

Stubborn was the proper word to describe him at the moment. Stubborn and secretive; Two of his characteristics that made people fear him at times. Why did this Cade Varr not seem intimidated by him?

Surely, he is hiding it well. Or he is simply not intimidated by one such as myself.


"Is my answer sufficient?"

 

[Ols]

"No," said Cade shortly, "I was given a file about you by the council, and I did read it. But I would prefer to know how you recount your life and justify your actions, rather than what I read from a datapad. And I am also your master, and the bond between us is said to grow to be as strong as parent as child by the end of training, so you'd best get used to talking to me. Have you anything to say of yourself now, or shall we move on for the present?"

 

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ooc: Didn't realize you'd posted.


A grunt was Cade's answer. Zerachiel did not trust him enough to share much of anything with him. Though, it was pointless to not acquiesce to his request, it was the Principle of the thing that mattered. He did, however, feel slightly betrayed by the Jedi by their sharing of his personal background. Then again... They didn't know much more other than his mother gave him up on Corellia. That thought brang some strange comfort to him.

 

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"Okay," he said, "I would like you to center yourself in the Force, and see through it. Think about what you can see and tell me."

 

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ooc: Sorry about that. Got hit with writer's block.

Zerachiel tried to center himself in the Force. Really, he did. He even sat across from his mentor to hopefully find more peace there. But his mind wandered easily. It did not wander to the peace around him, however. It wandered to a time that he would rather soon forget than remember. His constant thinking of how to keep his mind from wandering did not help this, either.

Taking a deep breath, the large man pushed all of his thoughts away. He tried to concentrate on just one thing and one thing only. He thought of the feeling he had when he felt the Force's touch, even just the slightest bit. The sense of peace that overcame him when he was exercising. For what seemed like hours, Zerachiel sat there, attempting to center himself. In reality it could not have been more than twenty minutes.

But... He could not see anything! How could he? His eyes were closed! Until he payed closer attention. He felt more than saw the small trickles of the Force around him. The changes in the patterns and energies gave him a sense of sight, in a way. He could tell where the rocks were, where Cade Varr was, and where exactly he Was.

"I...." he said quietly. "I see everything..."

 

[Ols]

"Well done," he said, "you've taken your first steps in a larger world. Now, I'd like you to tell me what the Force is to you."

 

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Zerachiel opened his eyes and looked around. He couldn't stand to sit like that, just concentrating on nothing for too long. Moving his head around a little, he reasoned to try to endure the constant ache to do something more longer. He lowered his head and closed his eyes again.

As he did so, he thought about the question he had been asked. A silence befell the two of them as he continued thinking. It was both a simple and complicated question at the same time; Something Zerachiel found interesting.

"It is... peace." he said at last, answering the question in the only way he could think of.

 

[Ols]

"Peace?" he said a little quizzically, "maybe so. How then, do you interpret the Jedi Code?"

 

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Zerachiel stayed silent for a moment as he pondered the question. He hadn't truly given the code an incredible amount of thought, though he had given it some. He enjoyed philosophy at times, and nothing was more philosophical than the Jedi Code.

"It is.... Flexible." he answered. "The lines on Emotion and peace, to me, for example, refer to being able to train the spirit in experiencing peace and every emotion critical to sentient life. Without emotions, we would not be human."

He paused again, slightly curious as to how comfortable he had said that much. He did not enjoy talking most of the time, and the fact that he had just spoken more than a sentence to a new acquaintance intrigued him deeply. Perhaps it was his relaxed state that made it so easy? Perhaps not.

"Each of the lines has a deeper, personal meaning to each of us. I doubt my views are that important to the task at hand.... Though, I may be wrong."

 

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"Your views are not just that important to the task at hand, my young padawan, but every single object, person and situation you encounter," he said, "your reactions and thoughts will shape your responses and actions, which in turn shape you into the person you are. And that is a fair interpretation, as everyong has emotions, but to be at peace we must control them, not let them control us, do you understand?" he asked, before adding, "if you do, tell me about the next lines."

 

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He took slight offense at his mentor telling him information a 6 year old Hopeful would know. Why else would he be working to control his anger?

"They each have their own unique purpose....." he said quietly, trying to keep his irritation at bay. "We will always be ignorant of things, yet knowledgeable in others. It is only natural for a man to know some things, but not all. The chaos of nature is, in itself, harmony. There is balance to everything, a harmony between every molecule.... And yet it is always at war with itself. Passion and Serenity are what we should all strive for... what we should all attain. One cannot be passionate about one thing and not serene about another or about the same object or viewpoint without struggling to attain the serenity."

 

[Ols]

"I suppose, yes," said Cade, sensing slight irritation in the air from his apprentice. Choosing to ignore it, he continued, "but control is important in every line of the Jedi code. Patience and control. If you strive to 'control' your ignorance, you will achieve knowledge, and you should try to learn as much as you can. Nobody can profess to know everything of course, but ignorance can be corrected. As for Passion and Serenity; feeling passion, like an emotion, is human, and having passion will make you great, but controlling that passion and having patience with it is what achieves serenity. As for chaos and harmony, there will always be chaos in the galaxy, but harmony is what we strive to achieve. I suppose you could look at it as though the first part of each line is a sad truth and if you strive to right and control it then the latter part of the line is what you will achieve. And it can only be achieved by control and patience. I know it sounds simplistic, but you;d be amazed by how few Padawans truly have patience and control, or even really understand it."

 

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"Hm..."

Zerachiel let Cade Varr's words seep in. They made some sense.... Though being told how he should think didn't encourage him to accept those beliefs. He'd experienced that way of life a long time ago. Though he felt that Cade Varr's views on the code were valid and legitimate, he accepted his views more easily and found that they made more sense to him. That one thing and another totally different can coexist.

 

[Ols]

"If you now understand the code, I would like you to tell me how you understand the eight tenets of our order," he said, pleasantly. He felt his apprentice, a very strong minded individual, maybe did not like being told what to do, but he hoped he recognised Cade was not trying to force anything upon him, but merely guide him through his beginnings of life as a Jedi; after all it was his duty to make sure he understood and followed the views and beliefs of the Order.