Denon

[Jsc]

Jack's Dojo
Denon

It was a glass balcony out on the 43rd floor. Blue mats and green potted plants. Endless sky and the roaring echo of the metropolis below. There was even a slight breeze that gave the air an autumn chill. Roberts found it quite pleasing indeed.

Dressed in her casual browns the mercenary woman moved back inside the tall building to wait in the Dojo's lobby. A large white room with chairs, magazines, and quiet flatscreen mounted on the wall. She pulled out her tablet and sat down to enjoy herself while she waited. Her newest student was scheduled to arrive soon.

[member="Vykter Orade"]

 

[Vykter Orade]

Vykter had the hood of his cloak up to ward off the breeze as he ascended the steps to the Dojo's entrance. He hadn't been entirely sure what attire was appropriate for the training his Master had scheduled, so he wore a simple set of green traveller's robes beneath the billowing cloak. His mind was focused on the task at hand as he reached the summit of the stair and a solid sense of confidence engulfed him as he reached for the door. Confidence that he was prepared for whatever awaited him within.

As the door swung open he found himself awash in an entirely different sense, one of serenity and peace. It was as if the very threshold of the Dojo were a gateway to a self contained world within, one in which it was easy to keep himself at ease. He took a deep breath of the still air within and found himself more relaxed than he had been in quite a long time. He surveyed the mostly empty lobby area until he spotted his Master and made his way to her. He offered a slight bow before his greeting.

"Good morning...do I call you Master? Or would it be Commander Roberts?"

 

[Jsc]

Ah. Good timing. She stood up with a smile,

"Morning Apprentice. Welcome to the Dojo. And yes, Master will be appropriate for training. While you're here in the classroom it will be the Force that guides us. So we remain traditional in that sense. You will address me as Master and I will address you as Apprentice. Our names we will not need. Here, there is only the Force."

She gave him a gesture to follow her out onto the balcony. The Dojo was empty except for a single cleaning droid. Karen had yet to figure out how to turn that one off. Hmm. Outside Roberts stepped onto the mat and turned about.

"The goal of today's session for you to be able to grasp Jedi Meditation. The very first lesson in any good mages education in to be able to grasp this center. Find your own peace, your own spiritual core, and be able to travel there whenever you so desire. This will be conduit from whence all your other talents will spring forth. This will be your most personal connection to the universe and beyond. So. First, you must be able to center yourself at will and the let the Force flow through you. This is how all students make their beginning. It is very traditional."

Karen took the center of the mates and stopped. Enjoying the sights and sounds of the city nearby.

"Now. Before we begin in earnest? Do you have any other questions for me Apprentice? ...If not. Then please take a seat on the mate across from me. Any position will do and we shall begin."

[member="Vykter Orade"]

 

[Vykter Orade]

He sat cross legged across from her, as he'd always seen meditation portrayed in the holovids. He wasn't sure what else to do beyond that so he began to run through one of the breathing techniques he'd been taught years ago by his adoptive father. It seemed the most logical thing to do to achieve his goal.

"Only one Master. I know I seem to be a very quiet man, but what you see on the outside is not a reflection of what's within. I've been taught calming techniques for combat but nothing as...extensive as what you describe. How do I 'touch my core'?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Karen sat with Vykter and closed her eyes. Letting the Force wash over her like a symphony of the night. She smiled and listened as her apprentice spoke. They could now begin.

"The gift of meditation is the challenge to diminish oneself and to embrace the Force. When a Jedi first learns meditation they take a seat somewhere quiet and close their eyes. They still their mind and close themselves off to the loud physical world around them. ...Do this now Apprentice. Close your eyes and still your mind. Be at ease. Let your worries cease to trouble you. ...Thoughts. Emotions. Questions. Watch as these things rise and fall in your mind. See them and let them pass away. Reach out and move your life aside for a moment. Money. Cars. Stress. Doubt. ...Oh no. Watch these things rise in your mind. See your subconscious mind churning. See the dreams of night calling. Now. Press forward and move past all these things. Find the new frontier that awaits you beyond them. Cast aside your cares and find a still, small space. Just beyond your perceptions."

Roberts calmed herself and did likewise. Letting herself bath in the golden light of the Force. Far, far from the perceptions of the world.

"Travel there Apprentice. Let the Force guide you. Let it wash away the world and bring you into new fields of light. A stillness of mind. A symphony of sound."

She opened her eyes and smiled again. Watching Vykter in the Force.

"Describe this journey to me Apprentice. Describe how your mind rises and passes away. Describe traveling, to your peace."

[member="Vykter Orade"]

 

[Vykter Orade]

He did as he was told, closing his eyes and pushing the churning blender of his conscious mind aside. He picked apart the individual strands of his consciousness and brought them to light, examined how they wove through each other. He saw himself in his entirety, not just physically but mentally and in a way he couldn't put into words. It was as if a current ran through him, there was an ebb and a flow, almost like a pulse. He wondered if that's what she meant by rising and passing? Slowly he edged deeper and deeper until he could see the pulses like an electrical current, how it flowed from his fingertips to his feet, to the ground and then...

He realized then that he was connected to everything around him. With his eyes closed he saw everything in the room, saw the bright burning light of his Master as she knelt in front of him smiling, and the way the durasteel rebar laced through the duracreet of the building, and the way the two birds on the ledge above the window fought over a scrap of food...he could see it as if his eyes were open. He could feel the current flowing through it all, could see the way it all connected and flowed to create the world he'd only seen with his eyes until now.

A sudden irresistible swelling of emotion broke his connection. He tried to repeat the process but his concentration was gone. He opened his eyes and let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He beamed as he looked to his teacher. "That...that was incredible!."

 

[Jsc]

She nodded. Indeed it was.

"Tell me Apprentice. What happened? What did you experience when you closed your eyes? And, what do you believe is new about yourself now?"

[member="Vykter Orade"]

 

[Vykter Orade]

He stared at her wide eyed for a moment, trying to put it into words. "It's as if I was one with everything around me. I could feel the energy around me, see how everything was connected and bound together. When I looked inward I could see myself. Not physically, it was like I could see my own essence. When I reached out to it everything got quiet, I was at peace." He thought more on how he could describe what it was he had felt but words failed him. "I'm sorry Master, I'm not sure how else to describe it. But I feel as if I understand something about the universe that I never did before. I'd never believed everything could be so interwoven and convoluted. Some things were so clear and easy to understand, other connections were murky and difficult to read. Is it always like that?"

 

[Jsc]

She nodded,

"The way a Jedi experiences the Force is unique to every practitioner. Some describe it as similar to swimming. Still others say it is like floating in the sunny sky. Seers often experience the Force like dreaming. Passing from one experience into the next. ...So too it will be with you Apprentice. As you meditate the Force will flow through you. Connecting you to it's gentle currents. Now? How you experience this? ...Only you can decide that."

She smiled and waved the comment away. They could move on now.

"You must now practice this connection my Apprentice. Close your eyes and return to your center. Listen. Watch. Let the Force guide you. Because it is here, during meditation, that the Force will unlock it's secrets to you. This is how we learn."

Karen pulled out a basket containing 3 round stones. Each was just slightly smaller than a human head and quite heavy too. Roberts placed them on the mats between them.

"This will be your first test. Levitation during Meditation. To accomplish this task you must meditate upon the Force. Reach out with your feelings and experience these stones. Be calm. Use the Force. Let it guide your mind. Reach out and pick up each of these stones and stack them together. Not with your hands, but with your mind."

She gave a nod and waved a hand over the task before him. This was were his journey would truly begin.

"The Force is your ally Apprentice. Let it guide you in this process. Trust in it, and it will obey your voice. Harness it, and the universe will comply. ...Now. You may begin."

[member="Vykter Orade"]

 

[Vykter Orade]

He looked at the stones for a moment before he closed his eyes. He'd done this before, he knew he had a knack for making things happen precisely how he wanted them to and now he wondered if this is what he had been doing all along without knowing it. Things seeming to float through the air farther and more accurate than was possible, deadly shrapnel changing trajectory midair...this should be easy.

He calmed himself once more, controlling his breathing and pushing aside his conscious mind as before. He saw the stones and felt the gentle touch of the Force that bound the matter together in it's form. He could see how the pull of gravity kept them tethered to the floor and wrapped his mind around that point. He pictured his mind pushing directly opposite the pull of gravity and the stone lifted a millimeter off the ground. He pushed harder, concentrating on keep the effort constant until it hovered several centimeters higher than before. He extended his grasp to the next stone and pushed in the same manner until it too lifted up and came to rest a little higher than the first.

His control was starting to wear, holding both stones up was like trying to make his eyes look in two different directions at the same time. He sunk a little deeper into his calm, willing the stones to move towards one another until they all lined up vertically. His mind wavered on the brink of losing his grasp as he slowly brought them to rest on top of one another. He last gasp of will went into nudging the middle stone to balance all three, and as he let out his breath and snapped his eyes open they stung with sweat. He looked down to see that he was sweating profusely with the effort of stacking the three stones when such a task was effortless with his bare hands.

Still, he felt pride at having done it not with his hands but with his mind!

"How...was that, Master?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]