Elusive as Sand ( Sand bending training OPEN)

[Andorreth Vikar]

I'd recently become more active withing the Silver Jedi Order. One of the things I'd received recently was a letter from Akira advising me to share what I knew about sand-bending. So I'd left a notice in the Silver temple on Kasshyyyk about classes with me for training in the technique I felt that this was perhaps the Force power I was most well-versed in but I was till learning myself. As it was I'd selected an outdoor training area for these lessons and I sat barefoot in a lotus position in meditation while I waited for any interested to show up. My mind upon the sands and my left hand arched up pulling sand to the form of a rose then switching it palm up and reforming the sand into the shape of a lotus blossom. There was certainly great possibility for creativity with this power...

Perhaps some of the younger students and indeed perhaps some older students of The Force could enjoy the creative freedom it granted them. Though there were numerous combat applications of this power as well, not to mention other more behind the scenes uses. For now though I meditated and let my creativity flow....

[member="Drystan Marakos"]

 

[Elizabeth Skywalker]

[member="Andorreth Vikar"]

Her arms stretched out, the chance to learn force techniques or at least practice. sand levitation was something few did. It was offered and the children of the jedi worked with it on their island. SHe was checking it out though while moving through the hallway on the shoes that Kirkko ad gotten designed for her. Repulsors in the heels she could silently slid around on and her saber was on her hip. Hair pulled back with some bangs for her ponytail. "Ah is this the class for sand levitation?"

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Flicking my eyes open as she began speaking I looked over the young woman. A smile came to my face and I said "Aye it is indeed young miss. Since you're first to arrive we'll begin with introductions and some simple instruction. My name is Andorreth and I expect I'll learn your name momentarily, however I should advise you that this class has multiple uses. The sand we'll be working with today is simply that which is in the garden here. There is nothing about the sands special at all, the uses are limited only by your own creativity." To illustrate my point I used The Force and brought my hand up in a Mantis style gesture then I envisioned the sand taking on the form of a Rose.

Looking at her briefly I smiled and said "Shoes and socks off, it's better to have a feel for what you'll be using The Force to manipulate." I knelt back in the sand and waited for other to arrive and this young lass to introduce herself.

[member="Elizabeth Skywalker"]

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Reggie rushed to the training area outside, upset that he had allowed himself to be late. When he saw the notice in the temple, he found that "sand-bending", as it was called, peaked his interest. He never thought about using the force to manipulate sand before, so he thought that this would be a nice experience. Reggie could already think of many uses for it, some that would be useful in the field and in his training time, and others just for the fun of it.

After a few minutes of jogging, Reggie finally made it to the training area.

"Sorry for being late!"

He bowed to [member="Andorreth Vikar"] in greetings and in apology.

 

[Elizabeth Skywalker]

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.. this was a strange way to do it but she complied standing there as she took her shoes and socks off. Seeing another enter the group and she bowed her head in respect. "Welcome." Turnign her attention back to look at the jedi who was teaching them the Altisian jedi ofered a hand. "I am Elizabeth." She said it and waited for a moment though loking at what they might be able to do and she knew the training aids her jedi masters had developed.

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Smiling at the young man as he bowed quickly I said "One is never late for the possibility to learn." Bringing my right fist closed against my left palm face up I bowed back gently. Looking at the young woman I said "Pleasure to meet you by the way Elizabeth. Now young man you can tell me your name after removing socks and shoes. The reason for which Elizabeth is that The Force is in everything. Including the sands, you can reach out and feel. If you can feel you can create, emotion guides creativity."

Pausing as the young man removed his boots and socks I said "The reason I use sand is that it is not inherently a weapon. I'm sure you both have used or had some level of training in The Force for moving objects. This is an extension of that training, the sand is inert on its own. You must give life to what you want of it then bring The Force to bear. There isn't always cover on a battlefield for example...." To demonstrate I dropped to a knee and with a few moves I went into a loose guard. Channeling The Force through my movements I brought up a crate size amount of sand and enforcing my will on the sand I made it a physical barrier.

"Keep in mind younglings that not all applications of The Force can or even should be used for simply one thing. Sand is interesting in that it is limited to what it can be used for based only on your own imaginations. As such I want you both to embrace your creativity to start with and come up with an object that you find beautiful, then hold the shape in your mind and make the sand reflect that object."

With that I sat back down and began to observe their progress whilst working on my own project. I brought the idea of a rose to mind and then focused on details...

[member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] ~ [member="Reggie Faayare"]

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Reggie bowed to [member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] in greeting as well.

"Hello"

He quickly took off his shoes and socks, listening to what the trainer was saying. Reggie thought that this training would be similar to moving objects, but possibly more difficult. Seeing the Knight create a barrier from the sand and hearing how the use of sand is limited to imagination made things more interesting. He already had an idea on what using the force to manipulate sand could be used for, but now he thought of even more uses for it. Now he wondered how difficult it would be to create something from the sand.

It took Reggie awhile to think of something to create. after awhile, he thought of a snowflake. Being raised on Tatooine, Reggie had never seen snow before. The first time he had seen it he was amazed by it, and found snowflakes as beautiful. Holding the imagine in his head, Reggie picked up a handful of sand and tried to change its form through the force. While he was doing this, he remembered that he hadn't said his name yet. He kept his focus on the task at hand, but made sure to mention his name.

"My name is Reggie by the way."

Forming the object was a bit harder than Reggie thought it would be, but kept at it. After awhile, he could see the details forming the way he wanted them to.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Nodding gently as the young man introduced himself and intriguingly chose to focus on a snowflake. I paid attention to the sheer detail he was working on, intrigued by his commitment I decided perhaps another display of Force power at the end of this lesson would be worthwhile. Re-focusing my attention on the rose I held in my mind I brought out details making the sand as lifelike as possible. Determined to hold the shape in the sand I focused mentally on the image bringing out yet even more detail then focusing on the amount of peace I felt training these younglings and the sheer artistry of what we were all doing I focused the emotions and generated a stream Electric Judgement in aqua arcs then applied it to the rose of sand. Essentially making a blown glass rose, as I finalized the Rose I imbued my feeling of lasting peace into the rose and held it in place with The Force.

Looking at the young man as I held the rose cooling I asked "So tell me Reggie, why a snowflake? I like to know more about my students..." I was still curious to find out what Elizabeth would choose...

[member="Reggie Faayare"] ~ [member="Elizabeth Skywalker"]

 

[Reggie Faayare]

As he was working on creating the image in his head he lost a bit of focused, the sand almost losing the shape he had given it. Fortunately, Reggie's harmony with the force and his ability to re-focus himself on tasks quickly kept the sands shape intact. Reggie kept working on the details of the snowflake, putting in as much as he could to make it look right and make it the size of his palm. As he was creating it, he kept the memory of his experience with the snow. It helped him focus more, using his emotions from the memory take shape in the sand.

When he believed he was finished, Reggie examined the sand object in his hand carefully, making sure his one eye didn't fail him. Surprisingly, he had finished it the way he wanted. Making sure it didn't lose shape, Reggie kept most of his focus on channeling the force. When he was asked why he chose a snowflake, he turned to the knight and saw a rose in his hand. It looked amazing, Reggie seeing the details that the knight had put in his creation.

"Well, the first time I saw snow really wasn't that long ago. To me, the snowflakes I saw were beautiful! The experience was nice and made me wish I wasn't there on business. Spending most of my life on Tatooine made me miss out on simple things like snow. Hot sand is quite different from cold snow!"

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] [member="Elizabeth Skywalker"]

 

[Elizabeth Skywalker]

SHe looked at the pair of them and raised an eyebrow mostly because as she curled her toes in the sand a look on her face. The sand chambers and beaches of home were great for practicing. The Altisian's had developed the jedi training aids to learn how to use sand and move it before she was checking it with the force. Bringing it up to her feet to encase them for a moment while she was looking at the two of them. Hand stretched out as she brought it up. "THe altisian's developed chambers and techniques to learn how to manipulate the sands. It is how we stayed hidden thoghout the galaxy."

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Nodding at the young man's explanation I said "Seems that snow made quite an impact on you Reggie and to commemorate that I'm going to make sure you get to walk back to your quarters with that snowflake." Channeling The Force once more through emotion I aimed a consistent stream of aqua lightning at Reggies snowflake. Glassing it over I looked at him and said "Hold this with The Force Reggie" Glancing over at Elizabeth I said "Sand is excellent at camouflage Elizabeth, I'm sure Reggie can attest to that as well having spent time on Tatooine." Moving back towards the Rose I'd crafted I picked it out of the air. Walking over to Elizabeth I said softly "While sand has uses as a concealment tool the lesson here is to feel and let emotion and creativity deepen your personal connection to The Force. There is beauty and use in most things Elizabeth sometimes we simply have to enjoy things." Slipping the rose into her lapel I winked at her and said "feel, don't think."

Moving back to my spot for meditation I began working on another rose.... After this we'd be looking at other applications of sand-bending.

[member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] ~ [member="Reggie Faayare"]

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Reggie smiled and nodded to the Knight in thanks. He didn't think he would be able to take the object with him without it eventually turning back to it's original form, and was thankful that Andorreth was able to change that for him. The snowflake he had made would now serve as a reminder of his first interaction with snow, and would be a gift given to him during this training session.

Reggie turned his attention to Elizabeth, who he could see had experience with using the force to manipulate sand. Like Andorreth said, sand was good when it came to concealment.

 

[Elizabeth Skywalker]

SHe was listening to them both and raised an eyebrow wider before seeing the flower of sand. Her face staying unreadable before she thought about what to do next and brought the sand up towards her hand. SHe stopped it and formed it more into a small spire then an island. "I'll steer away from lettings emotions empower me thank you. The darkside is easy to settle into once you start forgetting control." She said it and shifted the sands with her hand.

 

[Drystan Marakos]

(!!!)

Drystan smiled, watching [member="Andorreth Vikar"] as he taught [member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] & [member="Reggie Faayare"]. She'd arrived, as promised, if-not a little late.

"Hello, Andorreth..." She said, approaching her fellow Jedi Knight.

"It seems you started without me..." She gave a laugh, joining him in his meditational pose, shifting her robes away from him to sit in the sand.

"I'm ready to learn."

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Looking at Elizabeth I said with a slightly hard edge to my voice "Don't let the Masters convince you emotions are of the darkside youngling. As for letting them steer you if you are that easily swayed, then the Masters perhaps need to realize that emotions matter not. What does is how those emotions are acted on. What some Masters forget is that it is possible to maintain your calm in the storm by remember certain emotions and ideals. Love, selflessness, and service to others for example. As for not embracing emotion that is part of this lesson emotion fueling creativity and through doing so learning to deal with and control emotions in a healthy way. Which is also why you are using sand."

Pulling away from the young woman I pushed aside my own thoughts and welcomed Drystan. "Good afternoon Drystan... and not at all there's always room for more. In terms of learning as I was telling the younglings to channel emotion and memory and bring to mind an object they found beautiful. Then use The Force to bring that image out in the sand as much detail as possible."

I sat back in the sands and said "Boots and socks off as well Drystan, part of the exercise to feel what you'll be working with." I began thinking of another item....a vase. I envisioned it in my mind and brought The Force to bear. Bringing out details I kept at work as the others worked on their respective projects...

[member="Reggie Faayare"] ~[member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] ~[member="Drystan Marakos"]

 

[Elizabeth Skywalker]

An odd way to say it as she looked more curious and confused. "I'm using sand because that it what the class is for." She wanted to scratch her head more to his answer about emotions and found herself just getting more and more confused. Ideas from thousands of years of jedi refined teachings and seclusion were important and it was what the children of the jedi studied to make sure they were prepared just in case of major problems. She turned her attention and saw the new comer with a bow of her head though not speaking.

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Reggie thought of something else to create and decided to make a lotus flower. He had only seen pictures of them, but he thought he could manage to make one out of sand. As he started, he listened to what Andorreth was saying about emotions and some Jedi Masters. Reggie was someone who didn't agree with restricting a person's emotion, but that was just him. Everyone has their own paths to follow as a Jedi, even if Reggie doesn't agree with it.

As he was thinking about what was being said and about Elizabeth's way of thinking, Reggie was working on the details of the flower. He noticed that someone else had came in, but didn't pay too much attention on it; his focus already divided.

[member="Elizabeth Skywalker"] [member="Andorreth Vikar"] [member="Drystan Marakos"]