Crushed and Created

[Izzy Aureth]

The little girl glanced around, a bit panicked at first glance when she didn't see Niamh anywhere in sight. She'd already been abandoned once, and her mind had instantly drifted back to that place. "Niamh?!" She shouted, her fears bleeding through into the cry for her friend.

It was then, that the Jedi had reached out into her mind, drawing a gasp from the child as she just didn't quite understand how she could hear her, in her mind, but the woman was no where in sight. Taking a deep breath, she tried for calm herself quickly, for Niamh had told her not to be afraid, but still to a certain degree Izzy couldn't help it.

"How am I going to do this?" Honestly, she had no idea where to start, not even a little.

Her first reaction was simply to use her eyes, stepping away from the clearing the little one started her search, not doing what Niamh told her in the least. The girl was just doing what she felt was natural, normal. As she stepped into the foliage, she glanced nervously to the ground, wondering of the dangers that might lurk there.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Your eyes are the easiest of your senses to deceive. Don't use them. Close them. You are perfectly safe here, trust me.

Being able to feel around made her sure of this fact. Niamh was sort of a sensor Jedi, if you will. She could feel out their surroundings for a great distance and discover any dangers that might be lurking around them. While there were surely predators out there, none of them were in a close enough proximity to the two of them to be a threat to the girl. None of them would be a threat to Niamh, but Izzy was a child, and not trained to fight yet. She would have a harder time. That's why she kept feeling out for things, almost like she was using the Force as radar.

If Izzy managed to touch the Force, she could probably use what Niamh was doing in order to locate her. The hard part was going to be for Izzy to actually willingly touch the Force. It was always hardest the first time you tried to it intentionally. When it came of its own free will it was always easy because it tended to manifest in moments of extreme duress or need, and without effort. This was not such a case.

Free your mind. Let go of your fear. Relax and be calm. The Force is inside of you, ask it for guidance.

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Izzy furrowed her brow together, not liking this idea in the least. "You want me to what? Are you crazy?" She shook her head, still not wanting to do this as she glanced about the forest around her. She exhaled slowly, an attempt to calm herself down just a little bit.

With a sigh, she shook her head once more, really not liking the idea of what was being asked of her. To trust in a skill, an ability that typically just frightened her. The child swallowed hard, and closed her eyes. Most tentatively she took a step forward, and another. Izzy tried her best to open her mind, despite not being quite sure what was meant by that. Another step, and the little one tripped upon a fallen tree limb and tumbled to the ground.

A huff of frustration came as she looked about her, "Close my eyes she says..." Grumbled beneath her breath. "It's safe she says..." Izzy rubbed at a mildly scraped knee, not even a speck of blood showing, just a little bit of skin peeled back. "It's so not safe!"

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Niamh shook her head. Working with children was difficult.

It is safe if you don't move. I didn't say you had to walk to me with your eyes closed. That IS dangerous.

Biting her lip, she barely kept herself from laughing. It was horrible, she knew, to laugh at Izzy's plight, but the girl was making things worse for herself. The fact that she thought everything was crazy, or dangerous, was hurting her rather than helping her. If she actually wanted to do what it was that Niamh was trying to get her to do, she was going to need to focus. The tree was starting to get a bit uncomfortable so she quietly shifted herself about a bit, making sure she could still see her surroundings without giving herself away.

Find me before you come to me. Stand still, and feel around you. Discern my presence from that of the life around you. Calm your mind. This isn't crazy, this is the Force. The Force will guide you if you let it. Don't fight it.

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

No one ever said it was going to be easy! For either of them!

"You weren't specific! I thought I needed to ... find you. That means moving." She declared, wondering how exactly Niamh was hearing her every word. "Or well, it usually does."

Izzy put her head in her hands, most frustrated at the whole situation and perhaps a little embarrassed. Being frustrated, the girl didn't like in the least. "You can't tell me, that breaking glass with your mind, isn't crazy. Force or no." Still complaining, still frustrated.

She laid her head upon her knees and sighed heavily. For a long while, the kid said nothing. Not a word. She'd used the force before, but now, unlike all the other times she was having to try to make it work. Try to touch it, not it touching her. Even now on the ground, in the .. well noise of the forest (might might not have been noise to others, but it was all new sounds for her), even then she tried, tried so hard to open her mind, to calm herself. Though it seemed like the more she tried, the further and further she got from her goal. Finally she lifted her head, and glanced back to the clearing. "I can't." Izzy said softly, sounding disappointed, almost heartbroken, and absolutely frustrated. "It's not working."

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Hrm. Ok, maybe it was time to try something more subtle than this. Going for the challenge right off the bat might not have been the best idea she'd ever had, but then she hadn't known what she wasn't working with, so she was learning too. This was also the first person that she'd ever had to train in the Force. It was... hard. This wasn't how it had been when Saki was training her. Of course she shouldn't have imagined it being such. She was a special case. She already knew how to calm her body down to nothingness before she even found out she could touch the Force.

Jumping down from the tree, she landed with a soft thud, crouched, and then straightened. Drawing on the Force, she thrust it into her body, specifically her legs, and took off at a blistering run. Through the trees she came, until she reached Izzy and, in mid stride, scooped the girl up and tucked her to her back as she continued running along.

We are going to try something else.

Around their little encampment she ran, until she changed trajectory and ran out into the small clearing to stop before the tent. There she would lower the girl down once again.

"Sorry. I pushed too hard, but I didn't know what level you were truly at, so I had to test. We'll start simpler, alright?"

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Little Izzy sighed, none of this made a whole lot of sense to her. It really seemed like a lot of words, things, ideas that were all so foreign. Being calm, cool, collected, just didn't come easy to the girl. For months she'd had to sit on edge, aware of everything that was going on around her, paying mind to all details. To have an absence of that was all so strange to her.

Hearing something coming, the girl glanced up in time to spy Niamh reaching for her. She'd no idea what to make of it as she was scooped up, and raced off with. Once she was set back on solid ground, she made another glance around, wondering how exactly Niamh had done that.

"It's okay," She said softly, wringing her hands slowly as she looked to her feet. "Simpler is better." The girl managed, now looking up at her new found master.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Nerves were getting the best of Izzy. Niamh sat down in the grasses, and reached over to give a gentle tug to the girls sleeve, pulling her over to sit in her lap if she allowed. Considering the girls mental state, she thought that it might be best if she were close. If nothing else, the safety of Niamh's presence should provide her a little bit of comfort against her fear of being out in the wilds. If it worked that way then Niamh was all for it. Besides, she found she rather liked holding the child.

"Do you know what the Force is?"

If they were going to start simpler, she might as well start with the very basics. Theory before practice.

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Izzy sighed and let the woman draw her into her lap, where upon sitting, the girl took a moment to squirm and squiggle about until she felt comfortable, leaning back against Niamh's chest, and laying her head against her shoulder.

With the question asked, the little one thought about it for a while, remaining quiet, and mostly still, as still as a nine year old could manage. "Sort of..." She paused, and scratched at her temple with another sigh. "I mean ... I've heard of it, about it ... in stories. But no one ever really said what it was.." Maybe that was part of the reasons for her fear, she didn't understand even what the force was itself. Only that she had it in some form, a form that frightened her.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Not surprising. Most people avoided the topic altogether. Those that could use it were usually the only ones that had anything to do with it.

"The Force is life. It's in you, it's in me, it's in the blades of grass, the trees, the leaves, the animals, and everything in the galaxy that is alive."

She decided to leave out the strangeness that was the Yuuzhan Vong. No need to thoroughly render the girl paralyzed with fear of demonic looking beings that couldn't be felt in the Force. Vong were strange creatures to be sure. Most of them were evil as all get out these days. Very few seemed to have an interest in a peaceful existence in the galaxy. She shook her head and tapped her finger lightly against Izzy's hand to draw her attention to it.

"In your hand are little things called midichlorians. Don't be alarmed. They're in every one. The more you have, the stronger your connection to the Force. You have a lot, as do I. That's why we can touch the Force. When you use the Force, you're really just communing with these tiny organisms. Do you understand?"

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

The girl listened patiently, taking in Niamh's words. Her eyes followed down to her own hand as she tapped at it. A small rippled of shock, raced through the girl, quite stunned that there were tiny little organisms living within her. "I think so." She said softly. The concept and idea of it all, seemed so strange, so out there for the child. But then again her knowledge of life and the Universe was extremely limited given her minimal education, and youthful age.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"These organisms that live within you can communicate with you. The times you do things, when you're upset, your emotions cause the midichlorians to react. That's why things happen."

She waved her hand in front of her and a single credit appeared. Where it came from was a mystery, but not to Niamh, only to Izzy. The where didn't really matter anyway. The coin rested between two fingers until she flipped it up into the air and made it hold there. It didn't move an inch, resting in the air as if held there by an invisible hand. Reaching around it would find nothing there that could possibly be holding it up, and yet it continued to float.

"When I use the Force to make things like this happen, I'm not really making it happen. I'm communing with the midichlorians in my body and they're telling the midichlorians out there to lift the coin. For you to touch the Force, you need to free your mind of restrictions, and tell the midichlorians what you want to happen."

The coin came down and rested in her hand before she put it into the Izzy's.

"Give it a try. Don't fret if it doesn't immediately work. Just keep trying."

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Izzy frowned a little, "They can communicate?" She turned her head to the side, to glance back up at Niamh as the woman further explained. In a way it made sense, in a way not so much, but she was just going to have to deal with that. "I guess so." She still didn't like the idea though.

The little girl's attention was soon drawn to the coin, watching most interested as it floated into the air. She jumped a little as it came to rest in her hand. For a moment she just stared at the coin, idly tracing her fingers over it. A sigh came as she rested her head against Niamh, just still only looking upon the coin. For a while that was all the young one seemed to be doing. But the only difference was Izzy was being quiet. So far, otherwise the kid had been rather vocal about her displeasure or fear of the situations around her.

For a long while this went on, and the coin finally shuddered a little bit, before weakly flipping over out of the girls hand and to the ground below. Izzy sighed, still a little frustrated. Most things had come so naturally to her, and now this ... this strange magic, was seemingly the most difficult thing she'd encountered. "This isn't easy..." She grumbled as she reached for the coin.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Niamh watched as the the coin moved a little and then flipped out of her hand to land on the ground. Well, that wasn't quite what she'd expected to see happen. A frown creased her brow as she sat there in thought for a few moments. This situation was proving very difficult for the little girl. Part of her believed it had to do with the fact that the girl hadn't taken to everything that had happened to her yet, but she also suspected other things. Being new to training, though, she had to keep trying things.

"Ok. That's alright."

Reaching down, she picked up the coin and then put it back in Izzy's hand. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Right? Well, that was all she knew so she had to try having the girl try again. If it didn't work this time, they would try something else. So, she lifted her hand and brushed the girls hair gently.

"Relax. Deep breaths. Close your eyes this time and see the coin lifting. Will it to move."

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Izzy frowned as Niamh put the coin back in her hand. With a sigh, she once more traced a finger over the coin, thinking about what had just happened. It was frustrating to no end, that this just would not come easily to her. Things were supposed to be easier than this!

Leaning back, she slumped against Niamh as she took in a few deep breaths as she closed her eyes. Her next attempt was just as feeble as the first, the coin just shuddering in her hand, before flipping over once more. The kid groaned, unsure why this was so hard. She opened her eyes, glanced to Niamh and back to the coin, her frown ever present now. Biting at her lip, Izzy was a little more determined this time around as she closed her eyes. Her focus went back to the cool metal in her hand.

A most unexpected thing happened, the coin finally lifted, or at least Iz was so determined to see it done, that an illusionary coin lifted into the air looking much the same as the coin in her hand. Opening her eyes, the girl was certain she'd done it. The image of the coin in the air, faded rapidly as Izzy opened her eyes, expecting to see the coin had left her hand. But it hadn't. A gasp came from the girl as confusion overwhelmed her. "Ummm...." It made no sense as the kid glanced back to the coin in her hand.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

At first nothing. Niamh was beginning to suspect that the girl didn't have any telekinetic ability. She wouldn't be the first Jedi to come along without an ability to use the Force telekinetically. There were a wide variety of Jedi as she'd seen in her time amongst the Silver's. Seers couldn't really do anything but see the future. Some Jedi were skilled with illusions. Some were only skilled in feeling the things around them. There were just a wide variety of Jedi, and she could fit into any of them.

And then the coin moved. Or, rather, it appeared to Niamh to move. She grinned, and then noticed that Izzy looked somewhat frustrated. That didn't make any sense. She'd finally managed to move the coin and then she was disappointed about moving the coin? That was... odd.

"What's wrong? You did it. I saw the coin lift up and hover. That's good work. You shouldn't be disappointed about that."

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Izzy glanced back to Niamh, and shook her head. She knew the truth of the matter. "I didn't." A sigh followed, "I didn't move it at all."

Slowly she reached up, and brushed her hair back from her face, and glanced back to the coin. "It .. I ..." She didn't understand it, not in the least. "I .. it was .. I don't know what it was. But the coin, it stayed in my hand the whole time." Another sigh came as she tried to work through the whole situation. "I ... looked up, and it faded away. It was gone. The coin, it didn't move. ... Something else happened."

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Something else happened? Oh... Now it dawned on her.

"An illusion..."

Well that was embarrassing. Her young apprentice had just tricked the crap out of her because she'd been using her eyes. Eat your words now, Niamh. For a little while she just stared at the girls hand, where the coin was resting. This presented a challenge for Niamh. While she was somewhat skilled in telekinesis and fighting, she had next to no skill in illusion. Not that she didn't know anything about it. She did read a lot. Or, rather, she had things read to her while she worked. Droids were good for that.

"This is interesting. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you have the capability of doing the telekinetic things that I can do unless you're extremely agitated, and that's not a good state to be in. That leads to bad things. But, I think you might be a skilled illusionist which, in some ways, can be even better than having skill in telekinetics. You can trick people into seeing things that aren't really there. It can make you good at moving around unseen, amongst other things."

She tilted her.

"Try it again with the coin. Don't focus on lifting it, focus on making it look like it's lifting. Try to make the illusion itself."

[member="Izzy Aureth"]

 

[Izzy Aureth]

Leave it to a child to make you eat your words, they're good at that!

Izzy seemed confused, "Illusion? You mean..." She stopped herself. This all seemed a bit much for her to process as Niamh went on speaking. "So I can trick people into seeing what I want?" Well, that made a little more sense, but the disappointment was still very much in the air of the news that she'd not be able to lift things like Niamh could, that the coin likely would never lift for her, but she could make it appear to float in the air. "I guess that's cool."

With a sigh, the girl returned her focus to the coin in her hand. Once more, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. For a while nothing, nothing at all happened. Her aura in the force wavering slightly as frustrations crept in. Eventually, with renewed focus and determination she willed an exact image of the coin to lift, and hover into the air. A shimmer at first, was the only stutter she really had, and soon even that faded away as the coin looked more and more like the real thing as it hung in the air.

[member="Niamh Raste"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"Tricks, yes. Let me tell you, though, being able to trick people is no small task. The former Grandmaster of the Rogue Jedi is a half-Echani. One of his specialties was the use of what's known as the White Current. That is powerful illusions so strong he could make himself invisible. And your coin, he'd be able to make you think the illusion was real to the point you could touch it."

She grinned at the girl. Most of this was trying to boost her confidence because she didn't know if Izzy would be able to do all of the things that Grandmaster Vondiranach had been able to do. Most people couldn't even begin to comprehend what the White Current was, let alone how to use it. She knew that it was a very deep part of the Force, but she couldn't begin to fathom how it was tapped into and utilized. That was something she didn't care to bother with herself.

When Izzy started trying again, nothing happened at first, but then the coin seemed to be lifting. A brief flicker, but it solidified. It was impressive, she couldn't deny that. Reaching out her hand, she moved it through the illusion, being sure that it was an illusion. Her eyes were thoroughly deceived.

"Well, I'm impressed."

A nod of the head and then she looked around.

"See that rock over there near the tent? See if you can make it seem like it's not there."

She didn't want to progress her to much too large of an item, but a rock wasn't massively bigger than a coin. Pushing Izzy to her limits was part of training. She had to understand that she could break herself if she pushed too hard, and the best way for her to learn that would be to push herself too hard.

[member="Izzy Aureth"]