Shuttle to Naboo

[Taum Swill]

Taum followed him to the door. She held the canteen in her hands and put the lid on it after a few failed attempts. Small things were so difficult. And she visibly paled at his description of the beasts and creatures lurking outside the walls. She suddenly knew exactly where she wasn't going. It terrified her to think of the possible things beyond that wall.

She nodded and followed after him. Listen. Vibrations? How did that work? Smell. Then she could get a picture without her sight. She'd see things clearly, though differently. She smiled and happily followed, her bought of dizziness completely past.

[Colton Hunter]

Colt would lead her to the gates, they were large structures that required gears and machinery to open, the guards up on the walls operated them. There was a low rumble as they parted. His eyes moving toward Taum on occasion to ensure she was still with him, not guiding her so much as he walked with her, though he'd continue talking to make her aware of his presence, his helmet and gauntlet, had since been reattached to his armor, giving off more of a modulated feel to his voice, but it was unaltered aside from that.

"You see," he added as they walked through the gates, they were heading beyond the wall, and there was just vegetation everywhere, out here... large trees that stretched high into the sky, odd sounds of animals and insects all around. "When something moves, it has to displace the air around it, moving it out of their way, two things cannot occupy space at the same time, therefore it is shoved aside as something passes through that, causing vibrations on the wind, you may be able to feel those, once we sharpen your senses more," he explained, leading her down a very wide path, made by the Mandalorians, and well kept. Most of the animals left him alone, if only because he exuded the air of a predator, himself... and the much larger creatures were nowhere near the camp, these were more predatory cats and dogs here. Nexu primarily.

He led the girl down to the lake, a large, shimmering blue expanse, his eyes moving across the water... there were more harmless fish in there...

"Come, sit with me, and we'll meditate, I've told you that your emotions can give you power, can make you strong, but it's a temporary thing, as emotions are finite resources. Have you ever cried yourself into unconsciousness and woke feeling, sad still, melancholy, perhaps, but your tears have run dry? And as time progresses, perhaps you find greater cheer? You can't hold onto emotions, the Sith hold onto their anger and rage, and think they are stronger for it, but it weakens their body. So here, we learn peace and tranquility, I shall teach you calm..." he promised.

((OOC: I'd like to start working with you on your Force levels and powers, but you still have 3 days here, so we'll work on less Force oriented stuff until then, perhaps, and then we can start up a training thread in the GRP section.))

[Taum Swill]

Taum followed closely behind him. She’d occasionally get behind him when she slowed to look at something, still trying to figure out what he meant by seeing with vibrations. She then run to catch up with him.

He, almost like reading her mind — could he do that? — explained the vibration sight. It was interesting and she wanted to try it when she was stronger.

She saw the white expanse of water before her and a smile split her face. She hadn’t even heard what he had asked her as she rushed to the edge of the water. She crouched down and stuck her hand into the water. She felt it ripple against her skin as she swirled her hand around. She giggled as she sensed more than saw all the fish in the water.

“I can feel them. All the little fish. So many tiny heartbeats.” Her voice was excited and she looked behind her at Colton. The look on her face made her look so much younger.

((OOC: That’s cool with me.))

[Colton Hunter]

He closed his eyes, gently keeping his senses on the girl, the fish were a swirling beacon of life.

"A heartbeat is just yet another vibration you could one day pick up on without the Force," he told her, "But we need to work on your calm... come here, sit with me," he said, he sat on the ground, legs crossed, hands facing, palms resting lightly against his knees. "Come here and stop focusing for a bit... just relax, push everything from your mind, clear your head of thoughts," he stated. "All emotion, all feelings, just cast them off--"

Even you can't do that...

Colt ignored the whisper in his own mind, and sighed gently, his eyes opened briefly to look at the girl with his own eyes.

"If you can't, don't worry about it, even I am plagued with thoughts and emotions that can't let me obtain full peace, but I can hide that on the surface," he said.

[Taum Swill]

Taum crawled over towards him and sat beside him. She copied him pose, crossing her legs and putting her hands on her knees. She cut off her sight, essentially 'closing her eyes', and took a deep breath. She tried to let her mind go blank and get rid off every thought for the time being. She couldn't stop fidgeting and moving.

Finally she gave up and fell onto her back. She sighed happily. "Much better." She couldn't sit still like Colton. If she wanted to be still she had to be laying down. She then tried to relax her mind and it worked to some degree. Her body didn't feel as tense and every sound around her dimmed, but her touch heightened. The grass tickled at her arms and legs.

[Colton Hunter]

Colt gave the girl a lopsided smirk, as she threw herself backward, a soft chuckle escaping the otherwise dark entity that he was, revealing the light that was contained within. His Celeste.

"I had tried to become more like a Jedi at one point... I found meditation to be tedious, too still, too quiet... Most Jedi need not sleep, Sith as well, they meditate in some way or another, and can push off real rest for elongated periods of time... I never could, I like a nap every now and then," he confessed, "Once we get you started in combat training, I can teach you meditation in motion," he said. It was a concept that Adara had taken to like a Gungan to water. In the end, Adara and Colt could join minds, and fight as one person. He hoped her captivity by the Sith had not completely severed their ties... He had so few ties as it were.

And yet you keep making more, came that soft voice in his mind, that aspect of light that made him balanced. He sighed sadly, then bowed his head just a bit...

"Now, lying there, let everything just slip away, feel the breeze on your face, the grass on your skin, hear the sound of my voice, ignore all else, just push it away... they are minor nuisances, and you've no time for them at the moment, perhaps later, but not right now," he explained.

[Taum Swill]

Taum stared up at the sun, greeted with inky blackness. She sighed happily and listened to him talk about his journey to become a Jedi. He had kinda failed because he couldn't meditate like them. If sitting up was how Jedi meditated then she definitely wasn't going to be a Jedi. "I like naps too." She chimed in happily.

She sat up briefly and removed her eye band, not truly caring that Colton was next to her. She set it down beside her and rubbed her palms over the indents were her eyes would be and then started unbraiding her hair. She let it fall to the grass and pool at her hips. She laid back down and listened to his instructions. She calmed her mind slowly until she could feel the cool breeze against her hot cheeks. The grass swaying against her arms and legs and feet. She smiled whenever it tickled her feet. She heard the ripple of the fish in the pond. It was so beautiful and better than anything she'd felt or heard.

[Colton Hunter]

Colt had finally lapsed into silence. His head was angled downward, as if he rested... but his senses expanded outward. Took in the lake, the vast jungles, the soil and the surrounding animals... he paused momentarily, his mind sharpening a bit, as he focused on four creatures on their peripherals... the razor sharp, whip-like tails, and massive maws of razor sharp teeth, eight pairs of eyes on each head... Nexu. They weren't getting any closer, but they were watching them. They could sense the danger that radiated from Colt, but they smelled prey in the young child with him.

With barely a thought, the twin T-shaped handles that hung from his hips, lifted, and landed in his hands, held by the central handles, the tonfas rested there in his hand, the Nexu wouldn't get any closer to the lake... Adara had come here, often, to swim, and her essence kept the creatures away, still, even with her presence gone from Jakelia, she was still felt, in her way. So he remained silent for the moment, if only to test Taum's patience.

[Taum Swill]

Taum laid still in the grass. Her senses were heightened beyond anything she had felt before. She heard birds soaring above and bugs chirping within the grass. Everything was like one huge, natural symphony. It was purely nature, but it felt so ethereal.

Something flickered at the back of her mind. It was faint, like it was far away, but it made her nose scrunch up. She didn't like whatever it was. Her body tensed when she felt it was a predator. She didn't know what it was, but it did not have good intentions at all. Her body was locked in that state of calm and she felt like she couldn't get out. She felt if she tried she'd only fall further in. She didn't want to be in the inky calm anymore.

Colton.

She spoke his name, but her lips didn't move.

Colton!

Still, she remained unmoving. She internally panicked.

Colton, please hear me!

[Colton Hunter]

He couldn't hear her words. Even when he used the Force to communicate or reach into a person's mind, he couldn't use full sentences, perhaps a word, or a feeling, an image... but not a full string. It was why he had merely shown her images before... but he felt her distress. Without moving, he gently touched his mind to her's, letting her, once more, feel the comfort of his presence.

"They won't venture much nearer, and I'm ready for them if they do, they are curious creatures... they'll find easier prey in short order, consider this an opportunity to observe them, they feel hunger; excited even, yes?" he asked her, "But look further, remain calm and just drift... and feel the animals... they are dangerous, yes, but there's no dark energy emanating from them, they just are... they need to eat, same as you and I," he explained. "It's a survival thing, same reason we hunt them on occasion, we take their fur to make pelts, bones for trophies, we eat their meat," he said, "One day, perhaps you'll be one of our hunters, perhaps one day, you'll wish to see the stars on your own... whatever path you wish to take, that path will forever be yours and yours alone," he said.

"For now, watch them, and know they cannot harm you so long as I am near," he said.