Into the Light

[Ben Kenobi]

Her stance was fine, spot on. It was not just her determination to get through the exercise but to do it correctly and to Ben’s standard. He was impressed and motioned for her to relax where he grabbed some water for her and delivered it to her first hand. “Repetition is how we learn and find the perfection we seek. When you find yourself with nothing to do, focus on these stances and the orbits and sets.” He smiled, now that you know, let us see how much you have digested.

Sure she was exhausted and her arms were fried. But this is the moment that would set her apart. She would have to reflect on the lessons she had learned if she wanted to avoid being hit. With the Soresu, Aliclair would be tested but if she did it correctly then even in her fatigue the small movements and tight angles the Soresu put her in would allow her to survive.

He stood on the other side of her and fell into a ready stance. But then he paused and lowered his staff. He moved to the weapon and armor rack along the wall and picked up a simple bandanna which he brought to Aliclair and he tied it around her eyes. “There we go! For the next part of this lesson, I want you to keep your eyes closed and focus on the Force. Seek the images the Force may give you through Life Sense and most of all, stay calm.” Again he arrived opposite her position and once set he tapped his staff on the floor but whipped the heavy rod around to strike moderately to her left shoulder. He waited until she was prepared once again and he sent a thrust for her midsection.

His attacks this time would come in slow and steady so that she would be able to study the feelings of her new powers and put them together with her new techniques. Sure she may have made mistakes but Ben would not give up on her and as much as he did not like to strike at her, the exercise was valuable for her to understand and even master.

It did not matter to him how long it would take. This session would not end until he felt that Aliclair had a sufficient grasp on the situation. He was relatively fresh compared to her smoked arms which gave him an incredible advantage in this spar, but he was not here to defeat her, he was here to teach her.

[Aliclair Austjor]

Aliclair finally released a huge breathe of work. She felt relieved she could finally relax, and that those unworked muscles were ache in the morning. She drank the water, swift and fast but not beastly; with control. She looked at Ben through half open eyes, and gave a small sigh. Ali guessed the galaxy wasn't going to wait for her to catch up on her training to spill disaster. But, it didn't change how the Padawan felt in the given moment; to have spent over an hour in the same position, stretching muscles that hadn't been used. Then, to combat with such a heavy staff. She glanced at the staff in question, and even put a silly childish curse on it before twirling, then gripping it. She'd need to take a nice cold bath, and soak after this.

Patience was not one of Aliclair's strong suits. She'd rather keep at the situation until it was solved as quickly as possible; it's how she raised herself within the Enclave, to make the days go by faster. Her busy bee mind needing constant things to do, but that wasn't the Jedi way, and she'd need to break from that mold. She huffed, then her brows raised as Ben walked over with a cloth to conceal her eyes. Couldn't he just asked her to shut her eyes as she did before? Ah, well. No matter. The cloth brought about a new darkness her eyes couldn't, so she'd be going in this, blind, in a sense. She concentrated on using her Force to create a bubble that measured the room. She could see just about everything, not too clear but enough to make out bodies and movements. The clank Ben's bow staff made caused her to fix herself and get ready to use what she learned; she told herself that she didn't just endure that hour for nothing.

She knitted her eyebrows as he sent his first set of attacks, and while she did struggle to combat it, she'd manage to dodge with a slight crouch, then take a step back enough so his staff didn't touch her. She wasn't sure if dodging or attacking was key here, but if she was going against blasters, without something to absorb the bullets, she'd need to dodge as to not get hurt. But, without fault, she tripped over her own fatigue and fell back. She let out a small, but tired growl, staying on the floor for a while before forcing herself to stand.

[Ben Kenobi]

Aliclair did not disappoint and she fought and fought and fought until she could hardly stand. But in that final moment Ben stopped the fight. “One final set, Padawan. But this time,” he smiled to her as he took her bandanna off giving her sight back and taking the heavy wooden staff away, “this time you get to see how far you’ve come.” And he then handed her the vibroblade she had customized to her use. He moved to the weapon rack and set his own staff away as well and he returned to his position before Aliclair, extending his hand his lance flew to his hand from where it leaned against the wall and it smacked solidly into his palm with a smack.

“Show me, Aliclair, exactly what you have learned today.”

There was no need for him to engage his light weapon, Ben was very fluent with using his hilt as a staff though it was lightweight and easy to wield. He flourished his lance around his body and came to a ready stance with his left arm out before him and his lance running the length of his right arm held behind. He would be utilizing the Form IV, Ataru in which he would be delivering some heavy and swift blows from all directions.

This would only be one set so as soon as their combat broke apart or she was struck then it would end. Ben brought his staff in and took his Padawan to task. She would be forced to take into account every stance and positioning of her arms and feet. He worked on her legs first and sent his blows with great speed and precision until he shifted upwards and aimed his blows for her shoulder and arms while finally shifting towards her torso. As these attacks panned out and forced Aliclair to back up and give ground, he let his attacks flow now in more properly targeted areas; his actions were many and methodical as he went from legs to torso to arms and shoulders in simultaneous fashion.

[Aliclair Austjor]

Aliclair let out a slighted annoyed huff. She was at her end, her body ached, and she couldn't move without her muscles screaming for her to stop. She lowered her head to let it hang. She'd almost thrown in the towel and said 'enough.' . But, through it all, through the worked muscles and immflamed nerves, she stood tall, a trembling hand gripping her vibrolance. Finally, a weapon she could use. Semi-unbalanced, but determined, determined to show herself, what she learned and overcame, and to faceplant within her bed.

Giving her lance a twirl, while not as showy as most of her twirls, she grasped it and taking a solid stance. "You're so getting me the best buffet ever after this." she said with a light smirk.

She got light on her toes, standing on the Mets of her feet to dodge his directed ground attacks. The torso attacks would be harder. Aliclair gritted her teeth as she dodged with a backflip, using her free hand to hold the ground. But, due to the training from before, her arm gave way and she fell down face first, with her body falling to the side, an gruffed "ACK" escaping her lungs. She snorting once her face was free, rubbing her nose; she thanked it wasn't broken.

"I fell on my face." she said, blantly obvious as to what happened. And he did witness it. But, she still said it. She let her lance rest on the floor as she slowly turned to her stomach, to sit up, settling back on her rump. "Well that was fun." she said, shaking her head abit.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben and Aliclair shared a good laugh. But in the end he helped her up, dusted her off and told her to go get some rest. Their destination was a long few hours away and so they would have time for more training once she was able to stand again and her arms did not feel like rubber. Ben too retired from the training room after cleaning it up and he made them both some breakfast. Just a basic omelet but Ben was proud of his success. When Aliclair returned from the refresher Ben moved to go and fetch the blue milk from the fridge and when he did so he smiled that his plot had worked. He had purposely placed the pitcher of blue milk in the ice box instead and the entire container including its contents were solid.

They had nothing to drink, but Ben place it on the table anyways and smiled right at Aliclair. “I know you aren’t going to let your Master go this morning without something to drink.” He insisted with a mischievous tone. “The Force ties everything together in its own way. Very specifically,” he tapped the container, “the milk too.”

Shifting forward he began the lesson. “Now, in this instance you must reach out with your senses and feel the Force around and within the container and even the milk itself. You will have to commune with it, so steady yourself and stay calm, focus on the milk. You should sense how dense the object is and that while the Force flows through it, the density makes the flow a bit slower than normal. Sluggish even. Your task here is not to heat the milk because that would ruin it. But to use the Force and break apart the bonds of the ice. Even through heating the elements of the Force within the milk to undo this frozen drink.”

OOC: Begin Alteration 1 - 400 Word Requirement.

[Aliclair Austjor]

Alteration: Level 1
As Ben helped her to her feet, she let out a soft grumble, her whole body ached. When he dismissed her, she gave a nod and headed back to her chambers, where she’d soak her body in ice cold water. This was the most effective way to fix her body and boost her immune system, something the Antarian Rangers had mentioned. She would relax for the rest of the time until it was time to rise once again. She sat up in her bed, suspicious Ben hadn’t invaded her room. What was he planning now? She freshened up, brushing out her hair, the whole sabang before peeking out. No ambush? Okay, now she was worried. But, something else caught her nose; food. Her eyebrows raised, it wasn’t far and she trailed the scent until she reached a room, with her Master Kenobi sitting at a table. Squinting, she looked at the frozen blue milk before looking at Ben. And then, he spoke of her task at hand. She gave a friendly eye roll. “Well, of course I don’t want to leave my generous Kenobi thirsty.” She retorted while taking her seat across from him.
>
She listened to his words while looking at the blue milk, while using her force to pick up the contents and status. The tendrils of the force gathered around, and within the even of the smallest cracks, She did find it difficult to navigate through it; as if she was treading through heavy snow. Or, ice, in this case. Blinking her iris shifted eyes, she looked back toward Ben. The force worked in miraculous ways; she knew when it was frozen, for how long, which approximated to be around 6-8 hours. But the typical freeze time was 2-3 hours. She gave a silent grumble but continued to use her force, and it enveloped the frozen canister. To unfreeze the drink so that they make ingest its delicacies. Its tendrils coiled around the ice and began to squeeze, and this caused her to gain a slight headache. Stopping it with a sharp exhale, she shook her head. Freezed pains felt like a brain-freeze! Growling softly, she rubbed her temples but she tried again, taking a different approach. Ben mentioned heat. Could the force generate heat, she wondered. And if it could generate other parts of the elements? But, unfortunately, the heat could not be used. This caused Aliclair to scrunch her nose; wouldn’t heat be the most effective and fast way to unfreeze? She gave a sigh and continued, and the tendrils of her Force coiled around the frozen beverage once more. This was ice, ice had weak points. This was the part she would use Sense to pinpoint the ice’s weakness. Traveling one side, to another, top to the bottom, until her force finally hooked one. Her eyebrows quirked, then continued to work her way to breaking down. Cracks began to form within the blue milk, but then Ali paused a moment to catch her breath. Using the force in newfound territory was hard stuff.... ”Was this hard for you too, Master?” she asked, raising an eyebrow to him. After a few seconds, Ali shook her head a bit, and decided to get this done while her omelet was still fresh. Going back at eveloping her force around the blue milk, while getting cold, she pushed and pushed, until solid ice became broken into pieces. Then, pieces became crystalized sharplets. Aliclair gave a huff before continuing and to not water down the blue milk, she integrated the wasted water to float to the top of the container.
>
Taking her cup, she scooped the water out and poured it out in a sink before sitting back down. Flashing Ben a confident smile, she grabbed the now liquified blue milk, with no loss of the tastes, and poured him a cup/ ”Looks like you won’t go thirsty, Master Kenobi.” she boasted with a quirked eyebrow.

> [400 Words] <
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[Ben Kenobi]

Ben smiled and took up the milk jug to pour himself a measure. He tasted it and nodded in confirmation and a bit of pride in his student. “Perfect.” He commented. They had a nice meal together, Ben went on about alteration a bit more and had her practice on a few things but other than that their morning went by quietly. In the afternoon though it was back to the training room, the Jedi Master had no intention of taking it easy on his Padawan and he was going to make absolute sure that she was ready for anything once the time came to take her out on her first mission.

He set his feet and waited for his Padawan and once she arrived he told her to take up her lance. In his right hand he held three small balls and they seemed relatively harmless. So began the lesson. “Now we’re going to move to something that will help you in so many ways.” He pointed at his head, “Time to refine those senses a little more. The better to feel your surroundings, the better prepared you’ll be.”

The next few minutes were dedicated to her senses. Sharpening them and getting her into the groove of feeling her surroundings. Once he felt she was ready he moved on and instructed her to roll into an exercise that would calm the Force around her and focus her center so that she would be more receptive. Finally, the true lesson began. “The Force surrounds the Jedi and we live in harmony with it. We listen to its cues and take from it what it offers. Sometimes during a mission even the most simple detail may offer the difference between saving a life. In this instance we will be looking into those cues and teaching you how to hear them.”

He flicked one of the balls out of his hand but it never hit the ground. The little orb was actually a droid with little pits built into it. The droid whisked around, up and down, side to side, nearly always in motion and often even spinning on its axis as it went. He continued. “This ability could warn you of impending danger. You may feel a tingling in the back of your mind, it is a foretelling of danger. These simple flares are what makes all the difference and,” he smiled and pointed a finger at her, “I know you’ve already felt them. But now it is time for you to dig in and recognize these feelings and truly listen to them. Once you’ve managed to listen to what the Force has to give you, all you need to do is execute and transmit the information from the Force, into your mind, and react with your body.”

Smiling mischievously he winked at her, “Hope you’re ready.” He activated the droid’s offensive program and it very suddenly fired at Aliclair. A bright yellow and orange flash illuminated the droid as it shot a very low powered bolt into Padawan Austjor’s thigh. The shot would sting and even hurt a little but it was not powerful enough to burn or truly harm in any way.

Ben bit back a snicker, he had been on the receiving end of a lightsaber training droid many times before so the stings it caused her did not phase him. But he knew she would learn to overcome these challenges and in doing so not only would she key in on her danger sense but this was an excellent means in which to train in blaster deflection as well. Obviously a full powered blaster could not be deflected by a vibro weapon but the practise was still there and was good for her.

“Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through them, and in turn through the droid as well. Listen, calm your mind and listen.” Another shot fired. “When the droid is to fire the Force will instinctively speak to you, an alert. It may be quiet at first,” another shot fired, “but you must learn to listen. And most of all…” he smiled knowing this would not be her strongest point, “patience. Wait for the moment. Let the Light flow through you. When you hear the spike, the alert, do not overreact! Just let the Force guide you and position your arms and hands where your instincts may guide you. It will not come easy nor fast. But with practice and familiarity you will come to find that you have no trouble with this task at all.”

Over the course of the exercise once Ben saw her begin to smack down a few shots he would release another of the droids and then another until Aliclair was begin near constantly buffeted by tiny low powered orange bolts. She would either learn to get better, or she would get shot… a lot.

OOC: Begin Danger Sense - 200 Words.

[Aliclair Austjor]

POST EDITED PER AUTHOR'S REQUEST

[Aliclair Austjor]

Force Extension: Danger Sense

> BEGIN <


Aliclair finished her meal and shared a brief conversation while she and Ben ate. While not the best cook, he still made the time spend and meals enjoyable.

She rose to her feet and stretched out her body, giving her back a nice crack before joining him for further training. At this point. the feminine padawan wasn't surprised that he wanted to further training, so she followed while her mood was sated by the meal. Blinking, she stood slightly stiff as he deployed a ball. She knew these things, she'd seen her mother spar with them on her free time. But, even when she was ready, the droid zapped her which caused her to hiss in disbelief. "Thing actually-!" But before she could finish, another zapped her thigh, and she gave Ben a scrunched nose look, a low inhuman growl rumbling her throat. She shook her head and with the first two shots, she ticked down to when the next would shoot, and attempted to block it with her lance, similar to how her mother would do it with her saber but, it wasn't deflected and hit her upper hip. She let out a sharp gasp, gently rubbing her newly zapped area. "Wha- it worked for her!" she growled at her lance but another blast, she managed to barely dodge it. She huffed, knitting her eyebrows as she shut her eyes to use her force.

>
Although the Force always circled Aliclair, when she closed her eyes, it became amplified. From there, her senses heightened and as did her abilities. She used a combination of hearing and force to extend her abilities to the new one she had to learn. Her Force elongated to the three droids, and they left a trail of clairvoyance with each passing moment, feeling the force within the metal orbs. The droids now within her bubble of force, they created disturbances and ripples, like a fish whisking away in a hurry. The ripples created a path, and as one heated up and released a blast, Ali went to move but not fast enough. The projectile made contact with the side of her stomach and she skidded in her pre-dodge, she then knitted her eyebrows, biting back a growl.. Even with her force, it still managed to hit her. But, instead of dwelling on it, she pushed harder. She took this moment between blasts to take a deep breath, then exhale, her troubled thoughts settling down like when winds ceased to blow against a still body of water. Ali moved to fix her posture to a more secure, her back straight. She turned her attention back to the force, which honed and locked onto the droids. Much like water seeping into the cracks and crannies of devices, when a blast came her way, with timing, she stepped to the side, letting the projectile fly past her then she repositioned herself. She paused to collect herself; she was calm and collected, with her dilute system. Another shot readied and paused for a few seconds, like a bullet piercing its way through the docile her arcaded basin, she took a quick side-step to let the blast go past her again.
>
She allowed a few more blasts to go before they halted and she opened her eyes, her shifted irises going back to normal. “Well, that was fun.” She said with a bittersweet tone.

> [200 Words] <

[/center] {} 296 (Danger Sense) {} [/center]

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[Ben Kenobi]

He watched as she made combat with the spherical droids and he could not have been more proud of her. She was doing an excellent job at taking in the lessons he had designed for her and delivering them onto the fiend of battle. But now with the day’s lessons complete there was yet more training to do and he moved over to his staff and approached Aliclair, “You’ve earned your supper tonight, Padawan. Now let’s take you through some combat training. Great way to finish out the day.”

He spun his staff in a slow orbit around his body before bringing it back around into a balanced stance, though it was clear now that he was going to take the offensive here very soon. He waited patiently until Aliclair took her bandanna off and got herself a drink or whatever she needed to prepare for this next round, he’d gone easy on her in the past but today he wanted to test Aliclair’s abilities to the limit. “A Jedi Knight must always find a way to keep going even through fatigue and tiredness. The agents of evil do not rest and neither can we. Moments like these,” he could see she was tired and beat up from the lasers stinging her all over, she was still standing though and it made him smile, “are what define us and show us who we are inside. You have to keep pushing, learn your limits, and break them.”

He commenced and rushed her beginning with a thrust and reversing into an upper cut with the opposite end of his staff. He was moving fast, he wanted to push her backwards and see what she had left in the tank…