“There’s always a bigger fish.” [Ani Training Thread]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“Postcognition, or tai vordrax, is one of the few Sense abilities that draws upon the Unifying Force. You are still extending your perceptions, but in this case you are doing it within the flow of time itself. The psychometry technique involves handling an object to get a Force reading of the beings who handled it last. This can apply to a general area -- to see what transpired in a particular room, for example -- but works best for recent or violent events. This is not the same thing as Force-enhanced memory recall, because the Jedi need not ever have been present for Postcognition. You are drawing on the Force's memory of the event, not your own.”
―The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force

Jedi Rainwalker continued to hover a few centimeters above the ground, eyes closed in silent meditation. A blue cube-shaped Jedi holocron floated directly in front of his face, rotating about in the air. Moments prior, he had utilised the Holocron to attain information about the Force ability he was now going to attempt to learn - Tai Vordrax, or Postcognition: the ability to perceive and acquire information about people or events associated with an object through touch.

Laymen knew it as Psychometry.

In front of Annan, in the grass, lay a certain, small object.

[Begin Psychometry Training - Goal 300 Words]

Jedi Rainwalker placed his hand upon the object, before closing his eyes and beginning to meditate upon the Unifying Force, as the holocron had instructed. As he found his centre in the Force, he perceived the threads of light, that emanated from his own being and branched into a seemingly infinite number of threads to bind the Galaxy together. Every object in the Galaxy, even the inanimate, lifeless ones were held together in the web of the Unifying Force.

His chest rose and fell as he accustomed himself to this new sensation for the next few minutes. He then proceeded to track the threads of light that led to the object in his hand, the connections that existed between him and this object. As he deepened in his meditation, Annan began to pick apart the different... feelings, or colours - it was impossible to convey in words, really, but there were traces on the object of Force threads that originated from different sources. At first, they were faint, but as Jedi Rainwalker continued to meditate, he could perceive those - let's call them 'Force Residues' - growing stronger in his senses.

Mentally, the Jedi Knight held onto one thread. The one that seemed most potent, and somehow seemed to call to him.

He tugged on that thread.

Immediately, the Jedi felt an indescribably powerful sensation, as if he were sucked into a wormhole or spaghettified at the event horizon of a black hole. The discomfort passed. He felt... small. Or rather, the world around him seemed huge. He saw a pair of eyes, seeming to fill the 'sky' or whatever was above him, and from his vintage point the giant blue irises seemed incredibly beautiful. A pair of fair eyelids fell atop them as they blinked. He felt a sense of accomplishment coming from all around.

"... ANI'LL LIKE THIS..."

He recognised Murph's voice. But it sounded nothing like her; it was huge, booming, seeming to come from everywhere at once. It rattled him.

Of relief.

Of... was that affection? Cordiality. Friendship. ... Love?

Then it was there again. That sensation of being violently lifted and thrown somewhere, as if someone had launched him through the air like a catapult. A brief flash of heat, and then a whole lot of those sucking and throwing sensations - and Ani honestly fell like he was going to vomit, when he heard:

"MURPH?"

It was his own voice, booming across above him, below him - practically everywhere. He could feel his own... delight, surprise, and his curiosity.

Then he felt her again. It was Murph, he recognised her now. He was filled with intense joy, with happiness and at the same time what felt like nervous anticipation. Then again that booming voice everywhere:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANI!"

Not a moment later, the sensations ended abruptly. The Jedi Knight found himself on the ground on all fours, the object still grasped in his hand, held against the ground. He was panting, heavily, face filled with sweat. Both his head and his heart surged with all the powerful emotions, not to mention the sights, the sounds, the colours, the gravity that he had just experienced.

[End Psychometry Training - Goal 525/300 Words]

The Jedi, recovering, pushed himself to sit on his posterior. He took in a deep breath, before bringing up the small object to get a better look. It was a blinking, blue chronometer, of an elegant and expensive design that also doubled as a wrist communicator. Murph had gotten it as a gift for Ani's birthday last week. Ani stared at it, for a few minutes, still recovering from the experience of seeing the Universe through the eyes of a wrist-worn timepiece.

For such a simple Force Power, Tai Vordrax was insane, it was...

Ani recalled the emotions he had felt.

Love?

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The best confidence builder is experience.”
―Byspels of the Keepers of Ossus, s. 15

[Begin Level-Up: 7 - Goal: 700 Words]

The raven-haired Jedi's chest rose and fell as he once again found himself the Naboo Lake Country. With each breath he submerged deeper into the boundless ocean that was the Force. Lower, deeper... until he achieved the ethereal depth that caused him to automatically ascend, still in his sitting position, to a level slightly above the ground in what the Jedi termed Rising Meditation. The Force around him also reacted due to the Jedi Knight's connection to it. Pebbles, small nearby stones and the couple of holocrons he was studying began to revolve around him like planets in a star system.

Inspire... expire...

He felt the Unifying Force, its endless threads permeating through him and connecting him with everything that surrounded him. The trees, every leaf and every twig on and about those trees, the water, the flora and fauna within the water... the Unifying Force connected everything in innumerably branching thread-like networks of the Light. Annan mentally touched those threads of light, following them as he continued to move deeper and deeper into the Force in his meditation until he could visualise them through his Force Sense leading him towards the Cosmic Force.

Inspire... expire...

Jedi Rainwalker widened the vastness of his meditation experience. He touched the Cosmic Force - the aspect of the Force that bound everything together. He began to feel rather troubled upon connecting with the Cosmic Force, however, as he sensed what could only be termed the 'discomfort', the 'worry' and the 'disturbance' that permeated the Universe. The rising power of the Dark Side, as a result of the resurgence of the Sith and their gaining strength and exponentially advancing kingdom across large portions of the Galaxy, had no doubt left the Cosmic Force in a state of disconcert and imbalance.

Inspire... expire...

The green-eyed Jedi Knight then immersed himself into the depths of the Cosmic Force, until he traced it back to the ocean that the Cosmic Force, in all its vastness and expanse, was merely a drain to - the Living Force. Immediately, his Senses became flooded with the Life around him. Each and every living thing in his vicinity lit up in his Force Sense like a star or a beacon of light. He could perceive the sleeping forest, the soaring avians, the gushing waters, the breathing critters. He could feel it all flowing into the Cosmic Force, like the glaciers that eventually ended up in the sea.

Inspire... expire...

Legs remaining crossed in the air but moving his hand, he unclipped his lightsaber from its hilt and ignited it, twirling the mint green plasma blade around in his hand by its hilt, eyes still closed. He let the Cosmic Force guide his actions with the blade, as he twisted it and sliced the air with the hilt grasped in both hands. Thus he honed his Form I lightsaber technique while growing increasingly submerged in the Force, within the deep state of Rising Meditation. He flew through the fluid but highly randomised and unpredictable motions of the Determination Form, the basic horizontal slash, the Sarlacc Sweep, and striking imaginary body target zones before finally ending with a demonstration of Sun Djem.

Inspire... expire...

Proceeding to perform a few 'eye of the storm' Form III movements in that same Rising Meditative state, the Jedi proceeded to practice the Form he had taken to using most of all as supplement to his standard Determination Form - Shien, the Perseverance Form, one of two schools that comprised the fifth lightsaber combat form. Once again letting the Force direct his movements, he held his lightsaber hilt in a two-handed grip above his head, the blade angled upward and behind him, before performing whatever slicing maneuvers he could while he had his legs crossed and hovered in the air.

Inspire... expire...

Annan felt the ground crack underneath him as his power in the Force begin to increase; the air and the levitating objects revolving around him with increasing intensity. Soon, even a few larger chunks of the earth began to rise and join the rotating bodies, and ultimately, he let go of his lightsaber hilt after collapsing the blade and it too began to orbit him. He could feel the Ethereal Light inside him, rising like the waves of the ocean on a night with full moons. Yet with the great power came the knowledge and need to keep himself in a state of calmness and passivity, for that was the way of those who used the Ashla. Without control, there would only be chaos.

Inspire... expire...

Finally, the floating, cross-legged Jedi Knight opened himself up to the deepest Profundities in the Living Force. Through his Force Sense, he could hear the murmurs of the Force, speaking to him and directing him towards wisdom. Towards peace and warmth and light and tranquillity. The Murmurs of the Force practically flooded his Senses, and Annan felt his raw power with the Force growing and crackling across the Earth as he struggled to keep it controlled. The Force began to advise him, the voice croaking and geriatric, “Powerful you have become... still...”, but then the Force continued as a much younger, masculine voice, “... You have only begun to discover your power...”, then the Force returned to the first voice, “... A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind... Much to learn, you still have...”, before the Force ended its advice with a third voice, one in age and maturity seemingly between the first two voices: “... These are your first steps...”

[End Level-Up: 7 - Goal: 838/700 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.”
―Master Kenobi, Wisdom of the Old Masters, p. 301, l. 12

The vent grill would have dropped onto the floor with a clang, yet it began floating in mid-air for no apparent reason. The two Stormtroopers patrolling corridors of the facility thus remained blissfully unaware of this strange phenomenon taking place a few meters behind them. The floating vent grill was gently placed at a side, before a lone dark figure dropped out of the newest opening in the ceiling, landing in a crouch before scurrying away along the walls in the direction opposite the Stormtroopers. The Force was with him as, using it, he navigated away from any nearby life signs, approaching the containment cell which contained his target.

The containment cell guarded by a lone Stormtrooper.

Jedi Rainwalker's green orbs narrowed as he stared at the guard from the shadows, the blackness of his person concealing him from being detected. He closed his eyes and focused, sensing the life signatures throughout the facility, noting that the nearest patrol was not going to come back around for at least the next fifteen minutes, considering how far they now were.

Jedi Rainwalker decided to take this as an opportunity to practice something new.

Murph could wait. Besides, this way he could make a clean getaway without alerting the authorities that had captured his crew member. No one would be the wiser.

[Begin Jedi Mind Trick Training - Goal: 600 Words]

From his hiding position in the shadows of the corridor, Jedi Rainwalker pointed his palm at the Stormtrooper standing there and closed his eyes, utilising his maximum Sensory abilities to probe as deep as he could into the life signature of the Stormtrooper using the Force. With a few deep breaths, he localised the mind of the Stormtrooper with as much precision as was possible. He then opened his eyes, green orbs resting on the blissfully unaware Guard as he focused upon the mind of the Stormtrooper.

Like all living things, the Guard lit up like a beacon in the Force. Jedi Rainwalker, with his powerful Force Senses, could now perceive the broad, macroscopic neuronal network arranged in that extensively branching, intricate pattern - very much like the internal wiring of a hyperdrive, the Engineer inside Annan thought - of the Stormtrooper's mind. Each discharging synapse lit up in his Sense like a small spark.

Jedi Rainwalker walked out of the shadows, and immediately, the Stormtrooper screamed, "Halt! You're not authorised to be here!" and pointed his blaster at the black-cloaked Knight. Annan simply gave him a smile, before bringing his black-gloved prosthetic hand up, and waving his fingers over the Stormtroopers face.

While the gesture took a mere moment, in that moment, Annan focused on his ability to Control the Force that binded him to the very Universe around him - to the neuronal network of the very Stormtrooper that stood before him, ready to pull the trigger on that blaster and carve a huge, gaping hole right through Annan's heart. Willing the Force to respond to his movement, Jedi Rainwalker twisted his fingers, and he felt the life signatures within the Stormtrooper's discharging neurons begin to shift in a different direction.

"You're hungry," Jedi Rainwalker began the command, "Go to the mess Hall, and find yourself a big bantha burger."

However, when Jedi Rainwalker began speaking, his concentration waned ever so slightly - but enough for the Force he emanated from his hand to lose it's grip on the biological wires in the man's mind.

[Intermission - Pause Jedi Mind Trick Training: 347/600 Words]

"What!? Y-You're a Jedi!?

Sith. It failed.

The scared Stormtrooper was about to pull the trigger and shoot him dead then and there, but Jedi Rainwalker acted quickly. A quick clenching of the Jedi's wrist and lowering of that arm to his side, and the Stormtrooper, caught in the raven-haired Jedi's telekinetic grasp, literally froze and lowered his weapon-bearing arm to the side mirroring that where the Jedi's own arm had lowered.

"Ya-Ya-You..." Annan did not need the assistance of the Force to palpate the Stormtrooper's fright. The Jedi sympathised; the Empire most probably did not train Troopers about the Force; about the power it held.

"Hey," Annan spoke with the most soothing and reassuring voice he could muster. "Relax. I won't hurt you. In fact, pretty soon you won't even remember me."

"W-What are you going to--release me!"

[Resume Jedi Mind Trick Training - 347/600 Words]

Now that the Trooper was caught in Ani's telekinetic hold with his left hand, the Trooper's blaster pointed down and away from him, the Jedi brought his free right hand up to the Trooper's face for a second attempt. This was a simple Force power in principle, but terribly tricky - excuse the pun - to execute. Once again, the Jedi Knight completely tuned everything else: the facility, his current location, his mission, everything was pushed to the back of his mind. His concentration now came to rest solely upon the Trooper's mind; on the sparkling synapses and the seemingly endless connections that lit up in his Force Sense like decoration lights.

It was not too dissimilar to reprogramming a droid, something Ani did when he was bored. Yet, the mind of a living being was exponentially more complex than any droid. As the Jedi probed the man's mind using the Force, he realised what he had done wrong last time: he had focused on the nerves in the man's mind, but not on the intentions and feelings that those nerves transmitted; which were his real target.

Time seemed to slow down for Jedi Rainwalker, as these next few events happened in a mere couple of seconds: he concentrated on the Trooper's neuronal network, his teeth clenched behind his closed lips as the effort of trying to master the Jedi mind trick while trying to maintain his telekinesis against the Trooper's struggling body, took it's mental toll.

With effort, Jedi Rainwalker probed deeper into the man's mind and soon enough began to visualize the man's intentions in his Force Sense. Jedi Rainwalker could now perceive the neurotransmitters that conveyed the man's fear as 'yellow stars' - they were not actually yellow, and they were not stars, but there was really no eloquent way to describe what one felt through the Force. Regardless, it was this very fear, Annan knew, that if transmitted from the intermediate to the motor neuronal network, would culminate in the execution of the man's intent to pull his blaster's trigger and alert his comrades.

A glistening drop of sweat trailed down Annan's brow as he zeroed in on those 'yellow stars' shining between the man's cerebral synapses. For the second time that day, the Jedi Knight performed the distinct motion with his fingers, rearranging the 'wires of light' in the Trooper's mind and perceiving them begin to shift under the direction of the Force. Utilizing his ability to Control the Force very much like a surgeon, the cyan-eyed Jedi motioned for the neurons to reconnect in a new arrangement. The moment they did, the 'yellow stars' of fear in the Trooper's mind were replaced by 'blue' 'stars' of contentment.

Sort of like reversing a circuit.

He was now docile, tame; a state ready to receive new intent, to be 'reprogrammed'.

[End Jedi Mind Trick training - 347 + 474 = 821/600 Words]

"You saw... no one. You're... hun.... gry," Annan spoke, his voice strained due to the effort of using two Force powers simultaneously. "Bantha burger... Fries... Can of Zoke, upsized. Mess... Hall..."

"..." the Trooper seemed to stare at him even from behind his helmet, and the Jedi Knight wondered for a second of he had somehow failed it again, but then, "I'm famished. I need to get to the Mess."

"At a boy!"

Annan released Jedi from his telekinetic grip, panting slightly as the Trooper held his weapon by his side and began to walk away in the other direction, now completely oblivious to everything except the command that Annan had made to stick in his head through the Force.

Jedi Rainwalker saw his retreating back, before once again raising his palm towards the Trooper and concentrating upon the target's mind. He waved his fingers, rearranging the neuronal network he sensed as lit-up wires in the Trooper's head for a second time. This time with much less effort, as he had gotten the hang of it, plus he was no longer simultaneously using Telekinesis.

"And drop the access key to the cell you were guarding."

"And I'll drop the access key to the cell I was guarding."

The small digitised holokey fell to the floor the barest of sounds, and the Trooper disappeared around the edge of the corridor.

The Jedi picked the holokey up and quickly scanned it across the control panel, opening the cell. A pair of startled blue eyes and brown hair met him. Murph stood up on her feet, her hands in binders. "Took you long enough."

The Jedi did not answer, his head arching back slightly as he probed the Force for nearby life signs. The two Troopers who were on patrol in this section were nearby, coming back round to pass through his section again.. "Do you have it, Murph?"

Murph smirked, and nodded, glancing at her boot, where a certain data key rested in a hidden compartment impervious to the Empire's scanners. The Jedi swiped the holokey across Murph's binders, releasing her, and quickly grabbed her arm and pulled, the two sprinting out of the cell. They uneventfully climbed up the same vent through which the Jedi had initially stuck into the facility.

Mission accomplished.

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The burst of speed that I experienced was not a fluke, but unlike other Force powers, I cannot say I felt in complete control of it.”
―Grand Master Skywalker, Wisdom of the Old Masters, p. 843, l. 1

Two years ago
Jedi Temple training gardens, Naboo
Naboo system, Chommel sector

"Observe, my young Padawan," Master Xin said before he literally blurred out of Ani's view, appearing at the other end of the garden in mere moments. In a blur, the Master ran back where Padawan Rainwalker stood. "It is one of the most basic skills, a core technique amongst those used by the Jedi and yet, so difficult to master. I expect you take your time with this one," the Master said, as he sat down in a cross-legged meditative position and waited for his Padawan to began his training.

[Begin Force Speed Training - Goal: 700 Words]

The young Padawan sighed, before taking in a deep breath. According to his Master, he was nearing the end of his Jedi training, and he understood enough about how the Force worked now to realise that a technique like the one his Master had just demonstrated was a manifestation of one's ability to Control the Force inside him.

Padawan Rainwalker took in a deep breath, and released it, before putting the cycle on loop.

Closing his eyes, he felt the powerful Light within him, emanating from his spiritual heart that lay exactly in the place where his biological heart did. From there, it passed upwards into his head, his trunk and through each limb, bathing his cells in energy and life. Yet, the cells themselves seemingly had small spiritual hearts of their own, from where their own life force emanated, which he felt intermixing and becoming one with the central life force that flowed outwards from his heart, to become one, luminous being known as Annan Anakin Rainwalker, Jedi Padawan.

Padawan Rainwalker concentrated, directing the Force inside him from the rest of the body, where it was needed less, to his legs where its need was greater at this moment. Already proficient in Controlling the Force, the Ashla inside him obeyed, localising itself around his legs before he crouched down, palms on the ground and ready to make a sprint. He perceived the Force bathing his legs as he shot forth at full speed, running as fast as he could across the garden. The athletic Padawan was halfway across the clearing when he realised something.

He was fast, the Force around his legs soothing them and making it much easier for him to exert himself, but he was not nearly as fast as Master Xin had been. Far from a blur...

[Interrupt Force Speed Training - 304/700 Words]

The Padawan stopped, standing still and panting slightly halfway through his running distance.

"Rookie mistake," Master Xin chided from back where he began through closed eyes and Ani shot him a glare, before sighing. "You know more about how the Force works than this, boy. Don't be lazy."

'Okay, what did I do wrong...' the boy began thinking.

[Restart Force Speed Training - 304/700 Words]

Master Xin said that he knew more about how the Force works than this... how did the Force work?

Recalling the ways of the Force, of the Light untouched by the Darkness, Padawan Rainwalker remembered that one's ability to connect with it was hindered by negative emotions. Immediately he had his answer: the fear and impatience that had been welling up inside his subconscious. Sighing, and shaking his head at the redundancy of his own oversight, he concentrated upon his subconscious fears - the fear of going so fast that he would hit something and get hurt, the fear of not meeting his Master's expectations and disappointing him - and his impatience - impatience to succeed in this task, impatience to master every power of the Force, impatience to understand the Force, to become a Knight, a Master, rising through the ranks. Then, with a few deep breaths, Padawan Rainwalker slowly melted all that fear and impatience into the Force, letting the Light Side replace it with a calm contentment and gentle forbearance.

The answer of his other blunder came to him as well once he had achieved his calm center in the Force, perhaps it was just an epiphany, or perhaps a suggestion in the Force itself. In any case, Padawan Rainwalker realised that he had concentrated the Force around his legs, but he had not, in fact, empowered them. Force speed was more than just a burst of speed; it was using the Force to empower one's muscles to increase their overall efficiency, no matter where in the body they were located.

Heaving in another deep breath, Padawan Rainwalker felt the Force inside him, concentrated around his legs as he had willed it to. With another few breaths, he began to redistribute the Force, still retaining a sizeable concentration of the inner light around his legs but distributing the rest to the muscles of his trunk, around his lungs to empower them to withstand the effects of the heavy breaths they would have to respire in order to keep up with his legs. He brought it into his arms as well, and also bringing it towards his head especially around his eyes, in order to enable his vision and reaction time to function adequately despite the increased speed.

Then, with another breath, the Jedi Padawan began to infuse the Force, attempting to enter it inside the cells instead of merely bathing them in. He drew the life giving, vitalising energy out of the light, and began to imbue his body's tissues and muscles with its strength. His chest rose and fell, and as he opened his eyes, he felt the very movements of the world slow down - be it the rustling of the tree leaves in the wind, the breathing movements of Master Xin behind him as he looked back with a glance. Smirking, Annan sprinted forth at the highest speed he could muster.

He didn't feel like he was blur, though he was to the outside world. The outside world however, was a blur to him yet one that his eyes could still keep up with somehow. In a literal blink of an eye, he found himself on the other side of the clearing, and heard his Master's acknowledging grunt behind him.

He smiled.

[End Force Speed Training = 547 + 304 = 851/700 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“... binds us...”
―Grand Master Yoda

Jedi Temple training gardens, Naboo
Naboo system, Chommel sector

Jedi Rainwalker sat in his cross-legged, meditative position on a mat in the Naboo Temple gardens, precisely across from Jedi Shan. The Diathim female mimicked his pose with all her fairy-esque, glow. Annan Rainwalker had known Rō Shan since he had been a Padawan - she had been newly inducted into the Coalition then, and now, they were both Knights, albeit he had been knighted a good year before her.

Yet, if there was anyone the Apprentice of Han Xin trusted among his peers, it was the exquisitely beautiful Jedi before him. Plus, maybe he was interested in her... her beauty was off the scales, after all.

Annan coughed, resuming his meditation. Attachments were forbidden; even if some previous Grand Master had veto'ed that off the forbidden list, it was still a good principle to adhere to when one was trying to do what Ani and Rō were trying to do. They were training to merge their minds into one.

[Begin Force Meld Training - Goal: 700 Words]

Jedi Rainwalker's chest rose and fell as he closed his eyes and tuned himself into the Force. Through the eyes of his heart he perceived the galaxy around him. He reached out, feeling the Force, its natural energy resonating in every living thing around him - in the grass beneath his meditation mat, in the air, in the trees surrounding the Grounds. As he had often observed, the Force sang with purpose, its own tune, a melody that imparted peace and protection, comfort and welcome. It was a Light, yet at the same time a Voice that Annan heard, and for the longest time he could not fathom how to describe it, but then one day, he realised - it dawned upon him like an epiphany - what it resembled the most:

The howling of the wind, and the pouring of rain.

That is what Annan heard, what he saw, what he felt now as he connected to the Force, getting closer to his center therein with each breath. He felt the Winds of Light blowing against his person, surrounding him and through him, imparting a cool freshness that could not be described in words. He perceived the rain of light, the white ethereal drops pelting against his entire person, drenching his being in the watery light, thus illuminating him in his own Force Senses. And also, rain of light poured down and drenched in its glow his partner and friend, as she sat in front of him. Rō Shan was a like Sun in the Force compared to his own Moon, her light much stronger and more powerful than his own, despite her lesser experience than his.

Calm, serene and exactly where he wanted to be in the Force, the raven haired Jedi sent a small nudge through the Force onto the being in front of him. He perceived it as a gust of the Wind of Light, rising up to encircle his own person before billowing over to Rō Shan and blowing against her, caressing her and calling her. The woman's response was powerful breeze, like a floodlight shining back at him.

That meant that they were both ready now.

With another deep breath, the Jedi Knight focused upon the Diathim drenched in the raining light in front of him. He waited until he could perceive her breathing through the Force, and then waited further until he felt his breathing synchronize with hers, their chests rising and falling in tandem. The first breath in tandem turned, slowly, into the hundredth, until the Jedi Knights were both willing to try the next step.

Through the Force, Jedi Rainwalker opened himself up completely to Rō Shan, and he felt Rō Shan do the same for him. Their spectral forms, through the Force, were directly in front of one another, and he felt the hand of his spectral form rise in tandem with her's, the palm of his spectral form touching her palm.

The raindrops of light intensified, the winds of light howling angrily against them as they both grunted and pain and their spectral forms vanished.

[Interrupt Force Meld Training = 516/700 Words]

"Rō, what happened?" Annan called out through his headache, as he saw the Diathim palming her face and turning away.

"I-I'm sorry," she spoke, her voice melodious, one of the sweetest Ani had heard in his life, as if she were a mythical siren of some sort, "I-It was me... I didn't open up properly, I couldn't..."

"Rō," Annan stated, voice empathetic yet firm. "You can trust me, we're friends, alright? I'll never betray your trust," he reassured her. She glanced at him, at first hesitant before her eyes hardened, and she smiled and nodded.

[Continue Force Meld Training - 516/700 Words]

Once again the two closed their eyes and breathed in and out, until their very breaths were synchronised with each other and they had connected to the Light Side of the Force. Annan could hear the Voice in the Wind and the Pouring Rain again, as his spectral form stood bathing in the rain drops of light in front of Rō Shan's.

Jedi Rainwalker knew what had to be done, and so did Jedi Rō Shan. The technique was easy, and simple in principle: it was merely difficult to perform. Yet, Jedi Rainwalker and Jedi Rō Shan were friends, of equal age, with similar pasts and experiences. So, for them, it was only a matter of opening up, and once he saw in the Force Jedi Rō Shan's spectral hand rise up, her placing her palm against his, an entirely new world opened its vast doors before him: the world of Rō Shan.

He smiled in her delight, he shook with her nervousness, he lived her past and he bore her pain. He felt her light - her inner light, the light of the Diathim heritage, that formed the core of her aura in the Force. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, one borne by a girl born into one of the Illumined Houses of the Moons of Iego. He knew precisely the unexplainable joy of a Diathim's first flight. He felt the same wholeness and completeness that he too had felt upon learning of his Force sensitivity. He began to respect Master Sim Ba in a way he had never before. Then he saw himself through her eyes: he saw her gladden at his joy and sadden at his sorrow and experience his age as he had her's.

Their minds were one, and so was their very core: her Diathim heritage filled him with freshness and vigour, and his Firrerreo lineage gifted her with understanding, resilience and knowledge the like of which she had not fathomed before.

With equal mental effort from both their selves, their auras in the Force soon began to vibrate at the same frequency, syncing together perfectly with one another, almost like two songs remixed into one: for Annan, he perceived it as the raindrops of letting falling on him and her at the same speed, with the same intensity, every drop that fell on one mirroring its counterpart pouring down on the other. Yet, he also saw the Force at the same time through her eyes: as Moonlight, that cast the exact same glow on both of them.

"I-" "-believe-" "-we-" "-have-" "-suceeded," each finished the other's sentence, for their thoughts and feelings, as well as their strengths, were now one.

[End Force Meld Training: 967/700 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“Lightsaber skills, important they are. How to use, as well as, how not to use. When to move, as well as, when not to move.”
―Grand Master Yoda, Wisdom of the Old Masters, p. 303, l. 9

[Begin Skilled Lightsaber Combat training - Goal: 600 Words]

With repeated cycles of respiring in and out, Jedi Rainwalker opened himself to the Force, letting the billowing winds of light surround and caress him and the raindrops of natural energy to descend, drenching him in their rejuvenating life force. His brilliant blue-green eyes glazed over, a faraway look overcoming them. He assumed the Form I opening stance, the Way of the Sarlacc almost an essential part of his very existence.

His master, Han Xin, stood in front of him, and the Jedi Knight counted each of the body target zones on his Master, before disappearing almost in a blur as, with Force-augmented speed, the Knight appeared with a basic attack, an upwards slash from the lower zone 5, the right leg. His old Master quickly defended himself using an elegant Soresu move, before leaping into the air, flipping and landing behind Jedi Rainwalker fasted than even his eyes could track, his yellow lightsaber almost slicing Annan in half from behind him.

Almost.

The Master's yellow blade met the Knight's green one in with a loud snap-hiss and a brilliant flash of light.

"My word, is that Soresu I see you using?"

"The eye of the storm, yes," Jedi Rainwalker smiled, "and here's the 'deflecting slash'!" he exclaimed, pushing back his Master's blade with his own at great speed and with great strength, pushing Han Xin back and, to his surprise, actually slicing off a small piece of the right sleeve of his black Jedi robe.

The Master landed in a classic Ataru crouch several feet away, and Jedi Rainwalker assumed the basic Soresu defensive opening stance, his green lightsaber held back in a one-handed grip, angled forwards with the blade arm held parallel, the other hand held up in a challenge at his Master, a challenge from a student in the Way of the Mynock to a master thereof.

Master Xin smirked, "I have to say, it suits you a lot more than the aggressive Form I you were so bent on trying to master. Aggression is not your style, and in any case not something I personally approve of in a Jedi anyways."

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the Jedi Knight located his centre in the Force and clung to it tightly. His Master leapt and somersaulted, struck high and low and everywhere in-between with speed and agility betraying his tall height and powerfully built frame that one could not normally take for that of an Ataru user. Jedi Rainwalker, undistracted by anything other than the battle and undisturbed, moved simultaneously with his Master, maintaining his calm centre throughout, snap-hiss following snap-hiss as each attack was blocked, deflected or redirected. The Light enabled him to see, a silhouette of his Master striking before he actually did, a warning of what was coming whispered to him by the Voice, and Annan remained serene.

Soresu was amazing, Annan had to admit. More than once did his Master come in with strikes that engaged his body a little too close for comfort, yet Annan, under the influence of the Force, found himself moving fluidly, executing guards and parries and that he did not even know were possible to perform.

"Colour me impressed, Anakin," Master Xin commented. "You're quite talented, especially for someone just beginning to master the Form. I'd advise you to find Master Buggie and learn something from him; he may be masquerading as a pirate these days but he is one of the finest Soresu masters I know of, at least."

"Noted, Master," his apprentice acknowledged, before re-assuming the Soresu opening stance, his Master blurring out of view all of a sudden, using the Force to augment his speed and coming in fast with a somersaulting strike from the air. Jedi Rainwalker moved in response as if a hurricane, moving his lightsaber in close contact with his body in sweeping defence, while still moving and still looking for an opening.

When he found one, his Master's stance too perfect, Annan only smirked. If he understood the Way of the Mynock correctly, Soresu uses created their own openings.

Breathing in and out, the Jedi Knight opened himself up to the Force mid-parry and let it direct his actions, his hands moving as if on their own - muscle memory intricately woven with ethereal strings of light controlling his moves. Sweat rolled down both Annan and his Master's brows, yet Annan continued to maintain his defence, until he noticed his Master begin to tire. Subtle hints; the slightly higher rising chest, the light pant, the slight misstep - Master Xin was elder, Jedi Rainwalker was younger, so it was only natural for him to tire a bit early. Letting the Force spot for him an opening, Annan took it, although like a true Soresu user he still remained on the defensive, he began to control how and where his Master would attack.

The Force showed him another opening, and this time, Jedi Rainwalker switched immediately to his signature Form I - the sun djem, or disarming slash - and his lightsaber cleaved straight through Master Xin's yellow one's hilt, its two pieces falling one at each side as the Master instinctively withdrew his hand to avoid his fingers being cut.

[End Advanced Lightsaber Combat training - Goal: 768/600 Words excluding dialogue]

Both Master and Apprentice stopped, and Han turned to glance at his cleaved in half lightsaber, "... It appears you've developed a nasty combination there, a great balance between Forms I and III. Most impressive, although you'll never stop sun djem-ing my lightsaber, will you? That's the third hilt you've cleaved in half."

Jedi Rainwalker collapsed his own saber, before sighing. "And you forget that I'm engineer... I'll fix it, just like the first two times."

"... I do hope you're not sabotaging them to cut themselves during our spars..."

"Ha! Maybe I am, Master," Jedi Rainwalker shook his head, a gentle smile on his face.

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The best confidence builder is experience.”
―Byspels of the Keepers of Ossus, s. 15

[Begin Level-Up: 9 - Goal: 900 Words]

Annan Anakin Rainwalker, Jedi Knight, found himself yet again in the Naboo Lake Country, having decided to take a trip back home from his retreat in Yorann and having been here for the past couple of weeks. Chest rising and then falling, he sat otherwise as still as a statue beneath the ancient waterfall that was the source of all of Lake Country's natural beauty. His hair and Jedi robes were drenched and clinging to his person as the water fall atop his head.

Until it didn't.

With an - now quite simple - application of telekinesis, the comely yet torrential falling over Jedi Rainwalker's head changing course mid-fall, the Force preventing it from falling atop his head and instead, curving mid-air to land just behind him.

... inhale... exhale...

The greater the number of breaths, the deeper into the Force he went, until the Galaxy at large was of no concern to him. He could perceive every single element of flora and fauna in his immediate vicinity - the Lake Country teemed with life, especially at this time of year. He felt the rain drops, the drizzle of light, and the illumined winds encircling him, caressing his form as he heard the Voice, that informed him of the feelings and the state of each of those flora and fauna.

Yet, throughout all of that, Annan's focus was the Force. He now saw it as the raining light - droplets falling both over and penetrating through everything. Everything, from the tree to the grass to the land itself, upon the rocks and through the fish in the rivulets - the droplets of light either phased through or entered inside or fell upon all of them, the wind of light caressing each of them in its own special way.

... Inhale... exhale...

Having found his center in the Force, the raven haired Jedi Knight reached within, feeling the Force flowing inside his body, bathing his cells in its ethereal energy and empowered his muscles. His chest rose and fell in its natural rhythm at first, before the Jedi Knight decided to perform what was left of this exercise without breathing at all. Thus, slowly, the rate at which his chest moved began to decline, until it stopped moving completely. Jedi Rainwalker was no longer breathing, yet he was alive: he had acquired this technique, breath control - and with it, he had finally mastered his Control in the Force - during his most recent trip to Yaronn. He now breathed through the Light itself, the Life keeping him alive, the Force capable of sustaining him with even the barest traces of air in his lungs.

... Inhale... exhale..., but his physical chest did not move, rather his luminous soul breathed through the Force.

Jedi Rainwalker had, outwardly, acquired perfect stillness, not even breathing anymore. Yet, despite that fact, the water was still under the effect of his telekinesis, yet he continued to maintain it despite it far more difficult to concentrate when one was not breathing at all. He took it a step further, the water beginning to move around him now, bending in a wave that twisted and flowed in a neat circle around him in a complete circle.

... Inhale... exhale..., again, through the Force - without so much as a single movement from chest.

The Jedi Knight spread out the reach of his telekinesis, and the rocks surrounding the waterfall and littered across the rivulet banks began to wobble, before slowly being lifted up into the air. Jedi Rainwalker submerged himself deeper and deeper into the Force, and as he did so, the rocks began to encircle him, the waterfall circling around him diagonally while the small rocks and pebbles came together to form a band of earth that circle him in the perpendicular diagonal, thus forming an 'X' around him, one limb of it made of water, the crossing limb of the earth, water and earth circling around his person as if locked in some sort of perpetual, ancient dance.

... Inhale... exhale..., and yet, without external movement.

Jedi Rainwalker honed his abilities in the Force in this manner: such profound application of telekinesis, without breathing, as over half an hour passed while in this state, the pressure on his mind and person mounting. Yet, the greater the load lifted, the stronger one became, and thus, ignoring the throbbing headache that had risen in his skull, the Jedi Knight's brilliant blue-green orbs finally snapped open, yet they were void of any intensity, rather containing a faraway yet gentle look that many a Jedi were known for. Like the water and the earth encircling him, the Jedi Knight's lightsaber too, with great mental effort, was telekinetically unclipped from his waist and rose up to hover in the air in front of his face.

... Inhale... exhale..., solely internally, through the Force.

With even greater effort, the Jedi Knight pushed the two circles of earth and water away from him, in order to give himself room to stand up, which he did. Yet the twin circles continued to circumambulate around him, and he maintained his state of breathlessness, as he grasped his lightsaber hilt before holding the snap-hissing green plasma blade back in a one-handed grip, angled forwards with the blade arm held parallel in the Soresu opening stance, before he moved in and out of the katas of the Way of the Mynock, one by one. They had already become muscle memory now, yet he continued to practise, while struggling against his throbbing headache that yelled at him to release his telekinetic hold on the rocks and the waterfall. He simultaneously fought against every fibre of his being that screamed at him to breathe!

Nearly a full hour passed in this state, before Jedi Rainwalker found himself unable to move, unable to practice another one of the katas he was working on. He simply collapsed, the waterfall, free of his telekinetic grasp, pouring down on top of him as the rocks he was manipulating splashed and thudded down all over the place. He panted heavily, chest rising and falling to its maximum extent as it tried to catch as much as air as it could. And exhausted although Jedi Rainwalker was, he was content how much stronger the Force was with him now.

[End Level-Up: 9 - Goal: 1041/900 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“No one's ever really gone.”
―Grand Master Skywalker, Wisdom of the Old Masters, p. 739, l. 15

[Begin Level-Up: 10 - Goal: 1000 Words]

Dressed in his white robes, Knight Rainwalker felt his ears watering as he gazed upon her grave, his newly-minted helmet tucked beneath his armpits. He could still see her face before his eyes. Her laughter, her kind smile, her... perfection. She may not have been a perfect human being, but Murph had been perfect for him, in every way and now she was just... gone. He had never felt his resolve crumble so; he had never, not once in his life, felt so weak. So lost. So confused.

Opening himself up to the Force as he closed his eyes while letting the tears flow, Jedi Rainwalker crouched down, placing the white helmet beside him as he crossed his legs and assumed a meditative pose. He felt himself immerse, plunging into the very depths of the boundless light a lot quicker than he usually did. Perhaps, he needed the comfort. Perhaps, the Force of nature understood his plight, and rushed to comfort him. He could feel tranquility filling his heart, battling against the pain he felt.

With barely minimal effort the small pebbles and rocks around the grave began to jitter, levitating off the ground, before they began orbiting him like comets trapped in the gravity of a white sun.

He opened up the spiritual valves of his connection to the Force and let it all out, baring his heart into the Light Side. The grief, the sense of loss, the stabbing pain in his heart about which he knew that he would have to live with it for the rest of his life. Murph, the first woman he had ever truly cared for, truly grown to love... she was gone forever. As the realization sunk in further, the pain turned into anger and, a few of the pieces of earth and stone orbiting Annan actually crushed into dust under their own weight, withering away.

The Jedi Knight felt a tear escape his eyes and down his chin as he screamed, proverbially, into the Force. There was so much raw emotion, so much power, behind the telekinetic Force pulse that his mortal body emanated that the orbiting dust and debris froze, absolutely still, as if caught in a perpetual stasis field.

Yet, the Jedi Knight caught himself. 'Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.'

He could hear it, the whisper in the Light, gently reminding him who he was, attempting to caress him and bring him back before he went to far. Before he went straight to the Dark.

Yet, he was so sad, so angry... despite all of that, the Light reminded him, he was a Jedi. Chest rising and falling rapidly in multiple sharp exchange of breaths, he focused on his turbulent and violently clashing emotions. The Light Side of the Force wished to calm him, and Annan desperately wanted to let it do so, but every time he would try to relax, he would see her face again. His heart would lose focus amidst the swarm of the resulting emotions.

He extended his senses outwards, and he could still feel traces of her Force signature, emanating from her grave, yet diffuse against the Force signatures emanating from all the life around them. Choking back a sob, he let the tears escape his eyes before his chest once again rose and fell in a heavy sigh.

The stones, pebbles and debris orbiting around his person began to revolve with increasing speed as he fed more power, fueled by his own molten heart, into them. The Light recoiled in violent protest, pushed back by the Darkness strengthened by grief that threatened to overtake his heart. Clenching his teeth, Annan held onto the Light by sheer force of will.

He felt himself levitating off the ground in his crouched position as his vehemence, his utter longing for the one he had lost, increased and clashed violently against the temperance, self-control and patience that the Light seemed to be beckoning him towards. He struggled, against the Darkness, against his own carnal soul.

It was natural to grieve, he remembered from his lessons as a Padawan - the last time he had to struggle against the Dark this much. Natural, but to let it overcome him would be his own undoing. Focusing on that truth, Annan held his proverbial breath and plunged himself deeper and deeper into the Ocean of Light with each breathing cycle.

He Darkness came clawing, tainting every memory he had of her. The first time they met, their adventures in the tunnels of Selonia, their first kiss, the Waves of Darkness ferociously pelted him with each of those memories, tempting him to let the grief and rage take over. Annan fought back; he had to. For her sake, even, for what would she think of him if he became a monster of the dark? At that thought, he swam deeper into the Light and his hyperventilating chest began to slow down. The torrent of wind the rock and debris, which, by now, was encircling him at over a hundred revolutions per second finally began to slow down somewhat.

Inhaleexhaleinhaleexhale... inhaleexhale... inhale... exhale...... inhale...... exhale...

No, the last thing Murph would ever want was to see the Darkness overtake him.

Fueled by that thought, Annan rose in the Light. The knees of the Dark buckled, and seizing the opportunity, the Light penetrated through the cracks and flooded his heart, the endless serenity like some kind of soothing spiritual balm. Annan's eyes snapped open as he felt himself become enlightened.

Annan fell onto the ground in front of Murph's grave on both knees, yet he was still one with the Force and the gusts continued to encircle him as if he were the eye of the storm, carrying the dust and debris in them, albeit at much slower, calmer speeds. Another lone tear escaped his right eye, yet, now, through the Light, he could recall each memory they had shared without the taint of the Dark. The grief was still there, yet the light of patience held it steady amidst the sea of acceptance. The darkness of pain and rage was still there, but now just a small shadow in the corner of his heart.

The thought of going on without Murph almost brought the darkness back again as Annan choked back another sob, but the Light had planted itself in his heart now and it was not going anywhere. Through the Ashla, he could see - he could trust - that all would be well. Murph had gone on ahead of him but he had remained back, and in this truth there was some wisdom and some purpose. In time, he would understand, but at least he knew that he still had a purpose to accomplish for the Light.

One day, he would rejoin Murph in the Force.

With that realization, Annan wiped away his tears. He glanced to his side, at his white helmet. He looked down at his white robes and clenched his mechanical fists; he could feel his strength in the Light having skyrocketed after having overcome the Darkness, after realizing what he realized. Taking the helmet, Annan put it on, and for the first time ever became the true symbol of the Light: a Temple Guard.

'Be brave, and don't look back,' Annan heard the Force whisper to him soothingly, the voice, this instance, distinctly feminine and compassionate. 'Don't look back.'

[End Level-Up: 10 - Goal: 1224/1000 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The best confidence builder is experience.”
―Byspels of the Keepers of Ossus, s. 15

[Begin Level-Up: 11 - Goal: 1100 Words]

Annan stared at the meadows before him, feeling the wind rustling against his cream-coloured robes and caressing his face, a distinct look in his pale green eyes that was somehow simultaneously both attentive and faraway. He was in perfect sync with the Light, the ocean of life that emanated from the rustling tall green grass around him. From the tremendous waterfall in the far north-east where Annan often trained, from the caves carved into the mountainous topography encircling them, and in the nigh-innumerable species of fauna populating those deep caves, those pristine waters, and those jade protruding spikes of grass. Closing his eyes, Annan probed his senses deeper, quickly able to resolve every single insect from another, whether of its own kind or another, within several square miles all around him. He similarly turned his senses towards the waters, being able to localize every single quadduck, slitherfish, clawfish - every lifeform, named or nameless; pinpoint them, visualize them in his mind's eye - his sight in the Force - from so far away, without even opening his eyes. The Perlote trees lining the horizon; the singular Cambylactis, ancient and knowing, in the south west about ten klicks from his present position.

Yes, his senses had grown. Become far more focused, more refined, then he had ever imagined they could become when he had first set foot on this paradisiacal planet that the Alliance called home.

Annan pushed himself further, burying himself deeper into the ethereal light as the Ashla opened up to him like unrolling scrolls of flimsiplast. Small pebbles, incorporeal, yet Force-permissible, immediately lifted into the around him, as he heaved in a singular, meaningful, deep inhale followed by a sharp exhale. Immediately, they began to encircle him, before settling into speedy, blurry orbits about him.

The White One, as he was called after his cream-coloured Jedi robes and pearl white leg, arm and shoulder guards all concealed beneath an untraditional, glossy silver-grey cloak; raised a singular palm, fingers outstretched towards his right. Immediately, the ground itself seemed to shake under the raw power Annan exuded, a telekinetic earthquake, the grass diving backwards under the pressure of his will in the Force. The Jedi redirected his aim with a quick clasp of his fingers; the rocks and pebbles and granular debris all over the grass pulverizing, turned to dust. Dust, that began to orbit him.

Annan turned to his left hand next, clasping it as well. As before, the rocks and chunks of earth that had beckoned to his call to levitate and then orbit followed their brethren opposite, pulverizing under the pressure of his will in the Force. Annan focused, mindful, and projected his will in the Force and the Force obliged like a familiar acquaintance, the orbiting dust coalescing under its universal might. Orbiting Annan like the stellar debris around a newly formed star system, the circulating dust neatly arranged itself into layers - rings of dust, of debris, about a meter wide, separated by an equally wide space of clean, dustless, pure Naboo air. Then, in turn, the second ring of dust, followed by the second clear space, and so on.

Annan projected his will through the Force further, and the encircling rings thus kept increasing in size; chunks of Naboo rising from the ground beneath the grass, granulating into fine particles of clean dust, and forming an orbiting ring with Annan at the core of his all, as if he were Regani IV and the dust around him her extensive ring system. Annan kept pushing himself, generating ring after circulating ring, until he reached the limit of his abilities; approximately a thousand square meters all around him. Yet, he pushed past that, feeling his nerves light up with exhausting fire as sweat began to trickle down his brow.

'No, further,' he thought to himself, as he heard the Force sing not a moment later, the voice croaking, reminding him of an old frog. "Do, or do not; there is no try."

Thus, Annan pushed further, forcing himself to the very edges of what his mind and body could endure. And thus, forcing himself to exceed.

Still immersed in the ocean of light that seemed to have no fathomable boundaries, Annan kept his eyes cinched gently shut and opened the locks around his mind. The flow of the Force rushed around him like a torrential river; alive, encircling, encompassing. A thousand and one images, a thousand and one minds, a thousand and one thoughts; intentions - he knew, by now, he was sensing Theed and Moenia both not far from the clearing he had resorted to meditate in thus.

He pushed farther, the rings of debris encircling him now having doubled their original number, shining brightly under the Naboo Sun, refracting like in a multitude of colours. His mental effort mounted with each square klick he added to his telekinetic territory, yet Annan continued to simultaneously strain his senses on top of it. He could already sense the Jedi Temple from here, the grating presence of his own Master, Han Xin, seeming just steps away even though he were a whole city across. Focusing on his master, Annan could palpate through the Light the absolute confidence, the simmering power that Annan knew his Master fired by his very presence, and which he'd never quite understood.

Annan focused on the people around his Master; the Temple: the Younglings, the Initiates, the Padawans, the Knights and the so few Masters there. It came like a tide about him as he cast his mind towards them, a flood of information and awareness which he immersed himself within, allowing it to saturate his senses without picking any single course to follow.

Inwardly pushing himself even further within its embrace, even as he outwardly kept adding more rings to his telekinetic system, Annan tilted his head and attuned himself to the myriad of feeligns and emotions which resonated within the Force around the Jedi Temple on the other side of Theed. Snatches of thoughts and of memories, tumbling in crystal clear clarity.

Annan felt himself now, at the very edge of his inward and his outward command of his Force powers.

He refused to relent here.

He had found it. Finally found the lock.

Thus, he pushed against it. Pushed and pushed into the Force, his mental and spiritual effort forcing himself to let out a perturbed grunt, before suddenly, with a snap, the lock in the Force opened.

Annan felt the Ashla flooding his system, the rings he could command with his power suddenly quadrupling in an instant as the Endless Light rejuvenated his nerves and his veins. Clenching his fists at the rush of power, Annan reached out into the Galaxy as far as he could. His awareness spread, returning in a rush of incandescent intensity. Incredible awareness, centered on a single spot, a single point of knowledge...

... and he saw.

For a fraction of an instant, the veil lifted. Everything was clear, everything was lucid, everything remained in focus, from the single cry of an infant to the turning of a galaxy...

"Through the Force, things you will see. Other places! The future... the past..."

Annan jerked, falling on his knees, the debris rings dissipating instantaneously as he panted and heaved on all fours on the ground, trying to catch his breath. The vision gone, true knowledge lost again, somehow forgotten yet remembered.

"A powerful Jedi, you are," he heard the Force croak one last time before he lost consciousness. "... Not ready!... Much to learn, you still have."

[End Level-Up: 11 - Goal: 1216/1100 Words]

[Annan Rainwalker]

“The best confidence builder is experience.”
―Byspels of the Keepers of Ossus, s. 15

[Begin Level-Up: 12 - Goal: 1200 Words]

The Jedi closed his eyes as he breathed out, reaching out with the Light Side of the Force and caressing the brilliance of life all around him with his consciousness. He internalized its beauty, its pristine freshness, and he felt it reaching back in the form of a breeze which blew his caramel-streaked raven hair away, the dual toned locks dancing in the breeze. With an effortless hike in focus, his cross-legged form rose up above the green meadow on which he sat, his entire frame defying the gravity of Naboo which struggled to drag him back down as he assumed the basic form of floating meditation.

Annan probed deeper into the never-ending sea of light, reaching into the inherent life in the ground beneath him, for life was everywhere, even beneath the roots of the viridescent grass. Eyes closed, he honed his focus, and with his third cycle of breathing he could visualize every single stone, pebble, and particle of dust and grime littering the grasslands below. His mind's eye may not be able to colour the 'image' he 'saw', but he could picture everything through the Naboo soil beneath and around him with perfect clarity, like an earthen sonar, so honed had his senses become.

Then, Jedi Rainwalker inhaled again, chest rising evenly, before he released the breath in a sharp burst of the Force. The Ashla emanated from within him and interacted with the brilliant threads of light emanating from the stones, pebbles and earthen particles that formed the ground beneath his airborne self, conveying a mental command. Within seconds, a huge swathe of dust cloud and rocky debris rose from the ground, proceeding to orbit the Jedi like the silica ring did around his birth planet Lah'mu.

Slowly, the Jedi brought his hands up, lifting them from their position on both his knees to clasp them together. The moment he did so, a gust of telekinetic energy shot forth from his body in all directions. So powerful was the Force blow that it mimicked a stormy breeze, and extracted the nearest Perlote trees with their roots out of the ground. He felt a shudder in the Force at having so tactlessly disrupted the natural existence of the living Perlotes, and he quickly raised his right hand in the form of a dragon's claw. The Perlote trees froze where they were in the air, before beginning to sail through the air slowly but surely, as a sweat began to emanate from the Jedi's brow. Within moments, the Perlotes, five in total, were orbiting his cross-legged, airborne form within the ring of rocky debris.

Then, a true test of the Jedi's power in the Force presented itself. He reached out within the orbiting Perlote trees, and could feel the life flowing through their xylem and phloem. Life that was choking and fading, eliciting tremors in the Force that his illuminated self could pick up. Having been eradicated from the ground, the Perlote trees would not live long. Unless... eyes still closed and still in the floating meditation form, the Jedi reached out with his senses, connecting the invisible and quickly fading threads of light emanating from the uprooted Perlotes with the equally invisible threads emanating from his own person. The moment they did and the Jedi's ethereal senses registered the connection, he pressed down on the proverbial plunger and pushed Light and Life from within himself into the Perlotes. Thus, even as they continued to orbit the Jedi, they refused to wilt - indeed suddenly blooming even greener!

The Jedi clenched his teeth as a glossy bead of sweat trailed down the right side of his brow while he was struggling with maintaining the trees alive and sustained while simultaneously levitating those same Perlotes alongside the swathes of rocky debris around him. Still, he persevered, feeling his power and stamina in the Force rising with the effort of exertion. He would not stop here, of course, so he pushed himself farther.

Reaching out again as far as his senses took him, the Jedi probed deeper, the veils lifting and the secrets of the galaxy becoming more lucid as he did. The Ashla was Light, and Light was Life, and from Life the Force took origin. One of the sources of life for most of the sentients of the galaxy were the winds surrounding his power. The Jedi's telekinetic reach stilled the breeze around him, before, with a wave of his right hand, altering the direction of the wind in its entirely. Like the pebbles and rocks, and the Perlote trees after them, the sizable gust of wind suddenly began spinning around the Jedi, orbiting him as if he were literally the eye of the storm.

The Jedi began to breathe deeper now than before, the exertion beginning to take its toll, though there was still a ways to go. The light gold-skinned Jedi thrust his left palm, semi-prone and with his fingers shaped into claws, to his left side. Immediately, a tiny orb of incandescent light in the form of pure luminous energy appeared at the tip of his clawed fingers, and began to rise up into the air. With a deep breath, the Jedi forced the orb to stabilize even as it moved away from his body, rising up into the air, before clenching his teeth as he made it orbit his person too alongside the debris, the trees, and the breeze.

The spiritual and mental effort of maintaining concentration and telekinetic control over four entirely different kinds of matter, while sustaining five trees among them in such a way as to prevent them from wilting, while also directing the breeze and maintaining a circumambulating orb of light, all of it using the Force, was already tremendous. The Jedi suddenly began to pant, as his spirit almost buckled under the pressure, but he caught himself in time, hearkening back to the lessons that his once Master had taught him.

Size, mass, numbers... none of it mattered before the Force.

At this precise moment, as he felt the strain become too much, the Jedi finally reached it: the spiritual gates, the access way to the next level. Letting go of whatever control he had and unleashing a gust of raw, untamed Force power, the Jedi coerced those spiritual flood gates open forcefully. Shamrock eyes snapping open and canines glistening as he growled ferally at the onslaught of incredible and overwhelming Light Side energy as it overtook him. For a moment, the Jedi felt as if he would be lost forever within its vastness, but then he reached out and pulled back the spiritual reins, nonetheless tempering this raw power in the Force with the control and temperance expected of one who stood in the Light. As it stabilized, the Jedi plunged himself into its pristine depths, feeling himself become no more than a conduit for the flux as he felt himself fading into the Living Force.

Immediately, the strain he had been feeling became effortless. Tempering his breath, the Firrereo Jedi Knight inhaled sharply before exhaling and in response, the orbiting tetrad of he earthen debris, the five Perlote trees, the encircling wind, and the orb of light, moved farther away from him, the diameters of their orbit around him increasing. Then, with a final metaphysical push, the Jedi expelled the debris away, replanted the five Perlote trees into the exact same places from where they had been uprooted, released the wind outwards as a sharp gust and dispersed the orb of light in the form of glittering stars that rained down him in a beautiful, sparkling shower - all at the exact same instant with singular mental effort. Such was the Jedi's standing now, in the Light - almost a Master.

[End Level-Up: 12 - Goal: 1291/1200 Words]