A song of ice and fire

[NightSister]

Silver Jedi Temple​

Voss​

​

Dew clung to the blades of grass as Aria made her way out into the clearing surrounding the Temple she called home. A light morning breeze blew, causing her light grey Jedi robes to billow out slightly; it made her smile.

Recently, the Echani had been promoted to Jedi Knight. The development had thrilled her; her tainted past had given her cause to worry that she was no longer fit to call herself a Jedi, but over the months, Aria had gotten her act together, reintegrated herself into the Order, and now she had been granted what she had worked so hard for; she couldn't have been happier. So much of what had happened between now and then she owed to her Master - her ally, friend even - Connor.

Aria was a Knight now, but she remained proudly Connor's apprentice. She had asked to continue training with him that morning; at the clearing outside the Temple. It occurred to her as she neared the pathway the symbolism of the location - they had first met here to begin her training towards Knighthood, and again they would meet to begin training her to rise further still. It filled Aria with a certain sense of pride.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Wiping his had across his chin, the stubble starting to come through around his small beard, he noticed the trembling in his hand from the surgery. Crimson lines ran up the knuckle and to the palm, like Beggars Canyon mapped on on his skin.

Blue eyes drifted up to the light that pierced through the arched entrance to the exterior grounds. He walked through after the communicae from one Aria Vale, the brimming beacon of hope and the future of the Silver Jedi. Recently progressed to Knight, Connor had never been more proud of her and a student he had taught.

He always worried about their safety out in the wider galaxy, knowing he couldn't protect them forever, but it was not a question of their ability - it was a question of them touching and hurting someone that was his. His responsibility. Their faith in him to teach them. If they suffered at the hands of another, Connor would find out and they would pay.

But with a small exhale, he pushed that thought away as he saw her standing there.

"I'll say this only once," he said as he walked up to her, "so make the most of it. I'm proud of you, Knight Vale."

He smiled.

"So. What can I do for you today?"

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Aria grinned as she saw Connor approaching with words of praise. She had to blush proudly, just a bit. Knight Vale - that sounded so much better than Padawan Vale, didn't it?

"Just a moment," she said, eyes closed as she held up a finger in the same way she frequently saw Connor do. "I need to save the memory in my mind. And...okay."

Opening her eyes, Aria turned to face Connor properly.

"Alright. Good morning! Lovely day today, isn't it? So, today I wanted to try learning something fancy, like...oh, you know, pyrokinesis? I mean, I've done pyrokinesis before, so maybe not that, though I'm hardly fantastic at it - I'm rambling, aren't I? I'm rambling." With a slight laught, Aria broke off. Granted, she had an excuse to get worked up about today, but she didn't want to overwhelm. "Sorry, I do that sometimes. I'm very over-excited. But, you know, something like pyrokinesis. Can you do cryokinesis? Ooh, that would be cool. But can you?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

This one had really blossomed from her shell all those months again seeking to be a Shadow. At times it was hard to believe it was the same girl.

"Very funny. Come on," he indicated for them to walk.

He would take her down the winding path away from the grounds to the bottom of the largest waterfall that ran from the planet, under the Temple and out behind the gardens, crashing down below back into the planet - like a beautiful cycle as it's loudest.

"I can help with both if you're lucky. Fire and ice. A Jedi Master called Taeli Raaf taught me the latter. It's simple in theory and in practice, but you need to be in control and have focus. You're dealing with nature, the most random and dangerous of elements. If you don't control it, it can turn on you in a second."

Connor held his palm out, fingers forward as if drawing from the waterfall. A few shards of ice spat out to him, peppering the ground as they walked with a crunch.

"It can be a great power in the right hands. Your hands."

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Still grinning, Aria followed as Connor led her to a waterfall. Her head craned backwards as she looked up to the top of the large waterfall, then Aria's attention turned back to Connor as he started to explain how both the skills worked. Though she had to focus a bit to make out his words over the roar of the waterfall, she listened eagerly, eyes widening at his demonstration.

"That's...huh. Pretty cool. Oh, I love the Force." Aria stopped in the path to focus as he finished speaking, prompting what Aria presumed was an example of what she could do.

"Uh, I learned to use fire from another Jedi - Master Rasu Gan, have you met her? - from her." Carefully, Aria began to draw on the Force, creating a layer of protection around one hand before beginning to generate heat from the air. She was suddenly very nervous to do well. "So, she showed me how to do it, with a scientific approach, like - give me a minute here -" Aria shut her eyes, feeding on the surrounding energy, until after one or two more tries fire ignited at her fingertips. "Like this! There we go." She opened her eyes with a pleased glance at the flames at her hand, nervously meeting his gaze.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Folding his arms, Connor stopped and guested for her to continue.

"Rasu Gan. Of course I know here. One of the original Silver Jedi, even beyond my time here."

He watched Aria create the clusters of fire from the air, showing good understanding of what it took to do it.

"Very good. That's good work, but do you know what to do with the fire once you've created it? I mean, your enemy isn't going to stand there and cook marshmallows with you with a few flames. Can you do this?"

Connor stepped back and pulled his hand across, taking the burning fire from Aria and accelerating it into a larger fireball, before pushing it out with his hands towards the waterfall in a stream of flame, promptly turning to steam with a loud hiss as it scorched into the rock beyond.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

"Well, you never know. Marshmallows are a great icebreaker."

With a shrug, Aria watched as Connor did his thing, pressing her lips together and raising her eyebrows as he threw a fireball into the water, her respect clear on her face. Fancy.

"I've been working on it," she admitted, re-conjuring the flames carefully. "That bit's more fiddly."

As the fire breathed into life, Aria took a few moments to grow the flames before shifting to face the waterfall, trying to direct the fire. "They just...don't...want to...let go...oh, come on!" She sighed in exasperation as one final, more intense push caused the flames to swell for a moment before going out. "Every time! So, uh..." fingers twitching, she turned back to face Connor. "What do I do about that?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

"Hm."

His expression said it all.

Fancy.

"You're thinking too hard. When you try to shift the element, you're losing control of it."

He stood by her and raised her left hand out and looked down it with her, to her palm and to the waterfall a way over.

"Your control and manipulation of the element is the same thing. Don't try to do something separate - the Force retains control of the fire, so you must control the Force to simply....push it out."

Closing his eyes, he accelerated the particles above her hand as a few small orange flames licked into life above her.

"Expand this and push it as far out and as powerful as you can. Then, do the two together."

Connor stayed, holding her arm up, only as a guide.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

"Right." That made some sort of sense. Emphasis on 'some'.

Tending to the flames as they danced across her palm, Aria let the fire expand a little, feeding energy into it slowly. When the flames had grown somewhat, she reluctantly turned her focus from sustaining them, and though the flames flickered wildly for a moment as if about to go out again, they stabilized. Aria sighed, mostly out of relief, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

Then she closed her eyes, concentrating not on keeping the fire going but on the Force as it pushed at the flames. Holding her hand out, she directed the energy outwards, trying to push the fire out. Her hand tingled, though she wasn't certain what was causing it, and after a few more moments she opened her eyes to see the flames clustering together to form what could pass as a fireball.

Spurned on, Aria pushed at the fireball with more energy, willing it to fly forward as Connor's had done. With some reluctance, the fire separated from her outstretched palm, but caution held Aria back subconsciously as the fear of a rogue fireball kept the flames situated just inches from her hand. Quickly the fire began to shrink as her energy expended, until the fire was reduced to a tiny matchstick flame.

"Just...give me a minute here," she muttered, growing the flames and going again. This time the fire floated a little further from her hand as she kept her gaze flickering between the flames and the waterfall in front, but again remained hovering perhaps a foot away. Why did the fire have to be so uncooperative?

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

With a wrap on the back of her wrist, Connor shook his head.

"You don't GET a minute when all you've got is a split-second out there. Don't think. FEEL. Don't concentrate on the flame itself or you'll lose sight of where you want it to go."

The trick to controlling any element be it fire, wind or water, was to feel part of it. To command it without even thinking. If the Force surrounded it, and you were in control of the Force, then the element went where you desired. It was as much an extension of your body as the Force itself.

"Stop trying to throw it and THROW it."

He shook his head and stepped back. Going for the more blunt approach to back her into a corner again.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

"Alright, alright." There went the warm fuzzy feeling.

Aria extinguished the current flame to go again properly, growing the new one more quickly than she had done before. Within a few moments, a number of small flames flickered as she held her hand out, palm up. Slow down, Aria. No need to rush it. Eyes closed, she brought the flames together into another fireball, letting it hover above her palm for a moment before holding her hand out facing the waterfall. She concentrated the energy, trying not to think of the flame itself as instructed. Easier said than done.

Throw it.

Throw it.

One final push of energy sent the fire spiralling forwards, spinning through the air as though it were a physical, tangible ball that Aria had actually thrown. It neared the waterfall, and the droplets of water flying from it extinguished the flames with a hiss. Well, it wouldn't have hurt for it to have survived longer, but she'd done it. Sort of. She'd take it.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor watched, back and forth, waiting for it….and it happened. A decent size flame shooting outwards. He nodded.

"See. You can do it when you feel the pressure. "

He stepped back around in front of her, to the side.

"Now do it again. Pull it from the air around you and walk with it; control it as you move around. Let it light the way for you. Fire isn’t just a weapon, but a tool. You really need to feel like you are controlling it – just like you do breathing. "

He held his palm and sparked a flame from the elements, accelerating them to form the fire above his hand.

Then, he held it there in mid-air, moving his hand around and above and below it, looking directly to her.

"It’s as easy as breathing if you believe in yourself. Don’t let anything or anyone make you feel you can’t do it."

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Aria observed, arms folded, giving a small 'huh' as he held the fire level: she never failed to be impressed upon being shown tricks such as that one, no matter how familiar she was with one skill or another.

Then he turned to face her again.
"O.....kay." Aria nodded, conjuring a flame without much trouble and growing it steadily for a moment; it was getting easier, she noted. Huh. Then she tried to float the fire, giving a few inches of moving space between her hand - that took some more effort. Eventually the fire levitated, and Aria gave a small grunt of satisfaction before putting her mind to the next instruction: controlling the flame as she moved.

Taking a cautious step forward as she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the fire, she willed the fire to cooperate. Follow. The flames flickered wildly as their creator moved away, and Aria hastily stepped back into place for fear of letting them go out. Even with her gaze directed towards the flames above her hand, Aria saw in her mind's eye a clear picture of the apprehensive expression that was almost definitely on Connor's face and so quickly tried again.

Follow. As she moved to one side, she attempted to tug at the flames in the same way she had pushed at them before. The flames didn't shrink or appear as if about to go out, but the fireball stayed very much put, albeit with some small movement this way and that. Oh, for kark's sake. Follow. Several moments later, the fireball responded, letting Aria pull at the flames with the Force reluctantly, but began shrinking quickly as if determined to make things complicated one way or another. Finally, the fire reached the air above her palm, the flames now half the size they had been moments earlier, and on attempt to grow them back, went out with a small puff of smoke. What could she say? Connor could hardly expect her to have the same infinite amount of energy and willpower he seemed to possess.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Willing her on, the Master simply stood, arms folded, watching. The girl was trying, that much was sure, but as with everything, she was thinking too much about it. About failing. About impressing.

When the flame grew, his eyes moved to hers to see what she was feeling; it was evident when the flame died just what she was thinking. That she couldn't do it.

"Ok," he said, scratching his head for a second, before walking back to her, "you're still not listening to me, Aria. If you want to become the best, you have to listen to me."

He stood in front of her so she could only look at him, in those blue eyes he fixed on hers.

"So trying. You're exerting yourself in simply trying to do something that I know you can do easily. If you try, you're trying not to fail. Just DO it. There is no room to try and fail." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know you can do this. Cast that fireball from your palm, walk with it and be one with it. Control it. Feel the fire burning inside you and feed from it's power. And then, blast it at that waterfall as if your life depended on it."

Guesting to the raging fall, he stepped back.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Stop trying. Aria was listening all right, but the concept of not trying was one that had never been clear to Aria. How did one even do something without trying? All the same, she nodded, muttering apologies, closing her eyes as she conjured yet another flame. She was surprised she had any left. Her blue-grey eyes watered as she stared at the flames, letting them form a larger fireball. A flick of her fingers, and the fireball rose a few inches above her palm.

Now came the tricky bit. No trying. Just doing. No trying. No trying. Aria stepped to one side, ordering the flames to follow. She was creating them. She was feeding them, letting them grow. The flames had no right to disobey.

With almost no delay in between, the fireball moved in time with her hand. Smiling as she breathed out, Aria took another step. The fire moved with her. It beside her, she beside it, moving in time. She could feel every flicker, every time the fireball expanded or shrunk alongside her breathing; the fire was hers; it was her.

No trying. Aria turned to face the waterfall, gazing at it through the hazy layer cast by the fire. One hand extended; the flames moved accordingly without hesitation. No trying. Now the fire was separate; her focus went to the energy she began to summon. As if her life depended on it. No trying.
A wave of energy pushed out at the flames, and the fireball went spiralling into the waters, extinguishing just as they scorched the surface of the rocks behind.

No trying.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor nodded more and more as the flame grew, and shot forward in a controlled attack. He could read Aria’s face and see she was finally letting go.

"Good," he said, moving away from her, "again!"

He kept her evident joy up, and encouraged the thrill of finding a new ability, hopping from side to side light on his feet and beckoning her.

"Come on – moving target – draw the elements around you, feed it from the fire in your hand. Don’t think – just push them out!"

He would start to bring the control of water into the mix, and call from the waterfall to battle her fire. Connor much preferred practical lessons then simply theory.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Again? Letting out a small sigh of disbelief mixed with waning energy, Aria called up a flame at each hand, which shrunk rapidly as the water attacking from the waterfall came to her attention. Was this what a proper Forcie battle looked like? The holomovies had it all wrong.

Pushing her fading strength to the back of her mind, Aria let the flames fly away from her hands, meeting and conquering the water jets in mid-air, and she grinned. Aria Vale, Jedi Knight was gone - she was simply there, and powerful, and controlling the Force, and it was exhilarating.
She grew her flames larger still, letting them smother and consume the jets of water, when in a split second all the strength she had been flaunting caught up to her and her fire disappeared in a puff, the water splashing her in the face as her energy gave way.

"Sorry, sorry," Aria said hurriedly, flexing her arms as she tried to resume her fun and reconjure the fire. "I just - ran out of energy - I know I can't do this when I'm in a real battle, just - I'm good, let's go again." Her fingers twitched as she strained to call up another flame, managing a small matchstick flame after a few more moments.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The clash of fire and water was good - it was thrilling and a visual dazzle of harsh orange, translucent blue and smoke grey. Aria made quick work of conjuring fire and propelling it, while Connor simple pulled jets of water from the fall towards her.

But she slowed again, showing the sign of fatigue. However, the drive to continue didn't extinguish like the flame. That was admirable. Connor stood back a little to get some more distance.

"You're still learning. Soon, this will require little energy because it's so simple. You're doing well, Aria."

Holding his right arm out, he pulled a stream of water from the raging falls out towards her, and with his left hand held out he decellearted the particles together, slower and slower until they froze mid-air, forming a spear of ice, that shot towards her.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

Aria let out a breath and nodded, pleased. She looked forward to the day when she could simply conjure flames with no exertion - at the present moment, it had taken less than thirty minutes to wear her down. One day...

The sudden crunch of frozen particles called her out of her daydreams, and Aria blinked, suddenly alerted to the razor-sharp blade of ice Connor had called into being coming towards her face at an alarmingly fast rate. Instinctively, she brought a hand up to protect herself, and the tiny flame she had been trying to grow swelled suddenly, shooting from her palm and meeting the ice. She could see droplets forming on the tip of the spear as it passed through the flames, but the golfball-sized fireball had lacked the power to melt it fully, and now it was an inch from her. Hastily, Aria took another step back, calling up a flame of a decent size and then breathing more power into it, focusing on making it hotter instead of making it bigger, until by the time the ice had caught up she had to turn her face away from the heat. The spear shot through, and Aria felt an icy cold poke at the side of her head. Turning to face it again as water trickled down her hair, Aria saw that she had melted the blade down to an icicle - the tip had lost its needle-like sharpness but had not disappeared entirely. Aria grinned.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Two slow claps, and he pointed to her.

"Now. The water. It's all around us, but pull it from your clothes to conjure ice. Snow. Decelerate the water particles into solids as you accelerated the fire. Totally different, but also the same."

He walked towards her slowly, giving her the chance to compose herself for the next trick.

"Control it, understand it. It's not a gas, but now a solid, but you can create spears like I did, or even freeze objects with water in or around. Including a living creature." He let that last statement hang. "Go for it. See what you can do when you put your mind to it."

[member="Aria Vale"]