Faction Hit You like a Hurricane (SJC)

[Or'Fol Moric]

OOC: Class on the Star Wars version of air bending.

Or’Fol sat in outside of Silver Rest, the Kashyyyk home of the Silver Jedi Order. His eyes were closed as he breathed in and out as he meditated before the Padawans arrived. In and out. He focused on the air around him, thinking about the exercise he had in story for these Padawans. He was about to teach a class on how a Jedi could control the air around them, and make it do what they wanted it to do. It was a good trick when you knew what you were doing.

The large herglic would soon open his eyes, sensing his students approaching. This would be an interesting lesson hopefully.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Mi'la was always eager to experiment with the force, and given these lessons were for free, she was amoung the first to sign up for it. Having done her daily exercise regiment and meditations, she had left her chambers and made her way to the training room. Expanding her knowledge was a step along the way to knighthood, not to mention she could show Sakadi how much she had improved; not to mention how useful something Aerokenisis might be for combat or certain situations.

Bubbling with excitement, the Twi'lek entered, clad in proper jedi attire. Seeing she was the first one here, she looked around a bit awkwardly before bowing to Master Moric. "Good morning Master." She spoke calmly, before taking a seat on the floor, waiting for other apprentices to arrive. She took in a breath, pushing out the nervous energy that was filling her mind, seeking to focus on the here and now and remove herself from distraction. Mi'la found that as a flaw with herself, she would get so carried away at times she would forget herself. Having taken the nessicary steps, her Lekkus straightened across her back, reflecting the calm mindset she had taken on. She was ready to learn now.

Or'Fol Moric

 

[Amani Serys]

Or'Fol Moric Mi'la Undari

Amani was eager to take another stab at aerokinesis. She had trained with it a little during an elemental class some time back, but didn’t get to delve into it fully. Still, she showed promise, and here was a chance to get better.

The Mirialan rushed to the outside of the temple, only to realize she didn’t get to be the first one to arrive this time anyways. Catching her breath as she approached the group, Amani gave the two others a short bow, “Hi! Hello! Good Morning!” Once ensured that all pleasantries were out of the way, she relaxed her posture and readied herself for yet another day of practice.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

The sun was shining bright. Making his way to the class on aerokinesis, Mathieu Brion took a deep breath. The fresh air and a good nights sleep along with some discipline was more than enough to compensate for the lack of coffee. It was something which he had to get used to during his days as a mercenary. But those days were far in the past now as he had long since moved on to something which he viewed as far more noble and just.

As a new member of the Order it was only natural to assume that what he could get out of the class was more limited to any more senior padawans who decided to attend. But then, having gone through some training already, it was not too far fetched to assume that he would at the very least be able to learn a valuable lesson and perhaps pick up a trick or two. Whether he would actually apply what he learned outside of the temple was, however, far from certain.

It would not be long before he finally arrived, seeing the three people who had already gathered. Scanning the room, he concluded that he did not know anybody inside, of course. Still, the Morellian produced a smile before making a slight bow and nodded to them with a neutral "Good morning"

Almost a little awkwardly, he looked to the Mirialan in her relaxed posture and then down at the Twi'lek and the Master who were both seated. Most norms of the temple were still new to him and part of the more boring field of the rules where his attention span might not have been quite as long as it needed to be. For now, it was all touch-and-go. With that most excellent strategy in mind, the broad-shouldered Padawan took a seat on the floor with the others.

 

[Risen]

This is stupid. Risen paced outside, trying to summon the courage to enter.

It was a class for padawans. Young Jedi trained in the Force to create fire, barriers of pure energy, lift enemies into the air. They could peer through time itself. Applications like these enchanted Risen, whose training let him enhance his body and senses, but was narrow beyond that. These powers — like the spells of the witches — seemed almost magical.

He made do. He no longer sought after those talents from legend. And, after all, a knight should be above lessons like these, shouldn’t they? Was that what knighthood meant?

But something in the wind spoke to Risen. There was a kinship there he couldn’t name.

Mountain help me, I’m actually nervous. It was like he was going to battle for the first time. Just go in. Still he lingered at the outskirts, waiting for the lesson to begin.

 

[Or'Fol Moric]

Or'Fol smiled a little as the Padawans approached. "Padawan Undari, Padawan Serys, Padawan Brion. Good morning, all of you." The herglic had a deep, almost oily voice fitting for his species. He looked between the all, taking not of each of them. Mi'la seemed to stay very calm. Ready to learn. Amani almost came off as either nervous or hyper at first, but after a bow seemed to relax. She seemed ready too though. He then eyed Mathieu. He honestly seemed uneasy. The Master wanted to be sure the Padawans were comfortable at least during training, but before he could say anything he noticed another person their. Not a Padawan, but a Knight.

It interested Or'Fol to see a Knight still so willing to learn, but his nerves seemed to rival Brion. He motioned for the Knight to approach, speaking as he did. "It's much easier to learn when you're close enough to hear. As you all know, today we will be training in the art of Aerokinesis." After saying this, the herglic demonstrated a little, sending a blast of wind from one of his hands before catching some fallen leaves with it before the air came blowing back. "Aerokinesis is an extension of telekinesis, but instead of focusing on lifting an object, you move the atmosphere around you. It can be difficult, since you cannot see what you are moving, meaning that this skill takes patience to learn. You really have to feel what you're doing. But before we get too fair ahead, does anyone have any questions about what you're about to learn?"

Mi'la Undari Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Seeing that everyone was here, Mi'la took a look around to see if she recognized anyone; unfortunately it was just a bunch of new faces, but that just meant she had the potential to make many new friends. She wasn't sure about the last one to enter the lesson though, he seemed older, a tad annoyed at being here, but perhaps he just wasn't a morning person; she could relate to that.

As Moric began to explain the lesson, Mi'la watched as he gave the demonstration. It was more advanced than telekinesis. Instead of moving the object, it was about moving the air around the object; she could use this to solve so many puzzles in the future! Looking on in awe, the padawan wore a rather infectious grin, as she felt eager to get this lesson underway. Though, there was one burning question she had about a power such as this. "Master, is it possible to fly, or lift oneself off the ground using this power?" She had to ask, thinking of how useful it might be in either saving someone, or needing to get out of harms way. Other than that, she had no other burning questions, other than perhaps asking when they could get to work on the lesson. But she was a patient Twi'lek, and wouldn't dare do such a thing. Good things came to those who waited after all.

Or'Fol Moric Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen

 

[Amani Serys]

Or'Fol Moric Mi'la Undari Mathieu Brion Risen

Amani acknowledged each of the other students with a glance and a quick wave, unfamiliar with her padawan peers, though recognizing the knight as her friend Centin's mentor. She hadn't expected to meet him here, but shrugged to herself; Even knights and masters needed to keep up their training. Perhaps they could all be better acquainted here.

Moric returned her attention to the lesson at hand, prompting them from questions. Amani ran her hand down her padawan braid in thought, waiting for Mi'la to ask her own question before following up, "Master, I've already learned some basic aerokinesis training. Will we be learning any more advanced techniques today?" Her cadence wavered halfway through, trying to correct her tone for fear of sounding boastful. "Just... wondering."

 

[Mathieu Brion]

A curious eye followed the direction in which the Master motioned. The idea of having another Padawan there with them was attractive to the former Mercenary who would have been glad to see more attendants. Getting to know more people was always a plus and learning was so much easier when ideas, methods and techniques could be exchanged with someone on a similar level.

Soon, the Herglic Master started the instructions and while Mathieu was listening to the teacher, he also found it hard to resist trying it out for himself. Multitasking couldn't be all too hard - or at least so he hoped. An active ear was kept in what was said around him, but the true focus was on his palm which laid open in an upwards tilt on his leg. While trying to manipulate something invisible was hard to do with visuals, looking at the spot where he tried to make it happen seemed like a useful crutch. Although it took a few tries, he eventually succeeded in creating a light breeze against himself.

It was similar to a warm-up. Something which was probably a rather good idea for him to go through, seeing as the other Padawans appeared to have a progressed further in their knowledge of the force than himself. With a satisfied and subtle smile, Mathieu looked back up at the rest of the group. The Mirialan - Padawan Serys - had just finished asking her question. He had no questions of his own but that would not bother him. Instead, he simply remained quiet.

Risen | Or'Fol Moric | Mi'la Undari | Amani Serys​

 

[Risen]

Or'Fol Moric Amani Serys Mi'la Undari Mathieu Brion

Risen made no reply to the gentle chiding of the Master, though it stung a little that his apprehension was so apparent. He took a moment to recenter. This lesson — these padawans — scared him. And he had learned long ago how to handle things that scared him.

So he walked in.

Like it was his first day at the feet of a teacher, he strode across the other students and sat at attention, hearing their questions. They spoke of these powers like they were obvious. They spoke of flight. Risen cast a reprimanding glare at the boy beside him, who was distracting himself with a gust of wind against his shirt. Inwardly, he wondered if he could even do that much.

Goal in mind, Risen forced down his nerves. It was pointless to set your mind to something unless you gave it everything you had. Come what may, be it embarrassment or abject failure, this was a path he would take to its end.

 

[Or'Fol Moric]

The hergilic chuckled a little at the first question. Of course that was going to be a question. Flight. He looked around, tossing some air between his hand before answering again. “Well, Mi’la, I’ve never tried it myself for... obvious reasons, but there is a technique called Force Flight, a more powerful form of Levitation. Aerokinesis could theoretically do the same with the right equipment.” He then looked at Amani. The large being was happy to hear she was so eager to learn more advanced techniques. He spoke up again, answering her calmly. “Yes. Since it is the focus of the class, we should be able to get to more advanced skills.” He then picked up a leaf, looking at the others. He’d noticed Mathieu’s little warm up and smiled. He’d have to halt it now though.

“Ok. First some of a basic. I want you each to pick up a leaf. It will help you see the effects of what you do. Once you have the leaf, I want you to focus on the air around it. To feel it. It will also let some of you go at your own pace.” Or’Fol demonstrated by tossing the leaf he had between his hands before catching is in a small whirlwind. He focused on Risen for a moment though. He could feel the uneasy in the man, which the herglic honestly found strange. He wasn’t sure if it was a knight taking a class with padawans, or something else, but he’d keep a close eye on this knight.

Mi'la Undari Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Hearing that her questions of what were possible were met with 'perhaps' and 'theoretically', it drove the Twi'lek to try and learn as quickly as she could; being able to fly would give her so much more freedom when exploring tombs after all. Seeing the display of the jedi master, Mi'la watched as the lift was caught in a whirlwind, seemingly being trapped in an unending loop. It seemed simple each, though she was certain it would be more complicated than that.

Taking up a leaf, Mi'la attempted to repeat what Or'Fol had done, focusing on the air around it, trying to feel the small currents that flowed around the small leaf. She could get a mere feeling of it, her senses brushing across the neigh tangible current, and sought to take hold, seeking to turn in into her tool of directing. Sadly for Mi'la, it did not go as she had planned. Instead of keeping the leaf in her hand, the small green foliage flew away, carried by a gust that had no flow, as if someone had put a leaf blower on it. The Twi'lek attempted to retrieve it, looking to give the attempt another try, though her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she had made such a blunder. Recovering her training device, she returned to her position, trying not to meet the eyes of the master of the padawan, and attempted to go back at the lesson again, this time with more patience. She took comfort in that she hadn't done anything too embarrassing, there was far more things that could have gone wrong.

Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen Or'Fol Moric

 

[Risen]

Or'Fol Moric Mi'la Undari Amani Serys Mathieu Brion

For a long time, Risen stared at the leaf in the palm of his hand. It was a dried brownish color, with hints of pale green recalling life. Dying, but not dead. Brittle, but not broken. In size it was a few fingerbreadths and paper-thin, with thin veins spidering across its blades. The nearest tree had broader, curved leaves, indicating that this one was carried from further away. Fallen adrift on some breeze. It was…

It’s a leaf. No matter how intensely he stared. No matter how thoroughly Risen meditated over its deeper meaning. Night take him, it was a leaf. And it wouldn’t budge.

Risen imagined the thing encased in air, summoned up images of curling lines which followed the flow of wind. He thought of a path it might take, looping once and drifting to rest at his feet. A few times, with as much focus as he could muster, he found the leaf floating evenly into the air. But this was just an illusion: Risen could lift it with the Force — though it took effort — but the air remained still.

So he stayed planted in place. Embarrassment was a distraction, frustration a poor teacher. Risen dispensed with both, and continued training.

Though perhaps his blood pressure was rising a bit…

 

[Amani Serys]

Or'Fol Moric | Mi'la Undari | Mathieu Brion | Risen

Amani nodded and took the leaf in her palm, as instructed. She let it linger for a moment, observing the master’s instruction, as well as how some of the other students fared first. Both Mi’la and Risen seemed less than satisfied with how they were doing at the moment. Amani shrugged, deciding to downplay her own aptitude for their sakes. She didn’t know if showing off would bother them, but she decided against it all the same. Gently, she levitated the leaf with a small vortex of wind, balancing it in place without much more thought. It’s not like she’d need to focus too much early on, she had this. This simple display would hopefully strike the balance she was looking for.

Then, in a moment of reverie, Amani turned away, only to look back and see the leaf propel into the sky with a burst of air. Her head craned up to watch as the leaf flew high, before blowing away in a gust of natural wind. Amani’s cheeks flushed a dark green as she returned her gaze to the class, eyes darted between the other students to see if they noticed. Clearly she was not so completely in control of this ability as she believed she was. Even more embarrassing.

“...I lost my leaf.”

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It was a good thing that he had managed to get a little practice in because now, it was time to do it in a more official manner. Reaching over and picking up a leaf, Mathieu looked down on it for a bit, not quite sure how to go about it all. He glanced up at the others for a few brief moments before returning his attention to the leaf in his palm.

Going through the same process as he had a bit earlier, he started to produce a soft breeze. It soon became apparent that it was far too imprecise as the entire leaf was starting to tumble towards the young Morellian. Mathieu ceased his efforts to put the leaf back to the centre of his palm before trying again. This time, with an effort to produce a smaller and more controlled stream. Unfortunately, he was not all too sure of how to make the stream of air bend, so instead, he compensated by launching another blow at the leaf from another direction, thus keeping it in the same general area instead of being carried away by the initial gust.

He was not giving up just yet and continued sending small little bursts of air at it, each time from a new angle, and each time having to do more to correct for the bad course that it had taken previously. It was starting to become unsustainable as keeping the leaf somewhere close to himself kept getting harder. It was only a matter of time until he missed, causing the leaf to silently tumble back down onto the Morellian where it softly landed in his lap.

Or'Fol Moric | Mi'la Undari | Risen | Amani Serys​

 

[Or'Fol Moric]

Or’Fol looked at everyone, noticing to nervousness and annoyance. He grabbed a couple more leafs, gently handing one to Amani before looking at the others. He smiled a little. Mi’la blew her leaf away but got it back, Mathieu was going slowly, and Risen was having some issues. He looked at them all before speaking again.

“Don’t he worried or embarrassed about mistakes here. This is a class. A place for you to learn. No one is expecting perfection right now. You’re learning. The key is that you understand just how to do this, no to master it.” He smiled and looked at everyone, waiting for their reactions as he grabbed his own leaf to show the exercise again.

Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Feeling a bit relieved that she wasn't the only one struggling with the lesson, as she settled for clearing her mind and giving it another go. Instead of conjuring up the air then and there, she started with a circle motion, focusing and visualizing that of a whirlpool, as a small breeze would brush over her palm, it's weak winds just managing to make the leaf inch little by little, before it finally lifted off. Feeling the leaf was getting harder and harder to keep in the center, Mi'la found that the control was slipping away from her little by little. With each rotation of the leaf, the wind seemed to grow stronger, as if empowering itself with every spin it gave. Mi'la fought against it, trying to balance out the gusts, but it only served to cause disarray in the technique. The leaf began to shred and tear, as the winds became violent, unstable as the power fell apart in Mi'la's hands destroying the leaf in the process.

As the padawan looked at what she had done, she let out a sigh, realizing there was more to this than simple balance and calm thoughts, it was about maintaining the calm in the center of a storm of stress. Taking a leaf from the collection, Mi'la began to practice again, this time able to keep the leaf afloat for several seconds at a time, though at least this time she wasn't vaporizing it with her lose of control.

Or'Fol Moric Amani Serys Mathieu Brion Risen

 

[Amani Serys]

Or'Fol Moric | Mi'la Undari | Mathieu Brion | Risen

Amani meekly took the leaf, nodding in thanks and watching Or’Fol’s demonstration more closely the second time. “Aaaalright.” she sighed to herself.

One more glance at the others, then the padawan refocused on the leaf resting in her palm, suddenly much more cognizant of everything she was doing. It’s not about using the Force on the leaf. It’s about using the Force on the air. Well duh, I already knew that. Why am I going over things I already knew? Just focus.

Another gust of wind channeled upward, gently raising the leaf above her hand. It danced precariously in the air, wilting side to side as Amani found the balance necessary to keep it in place. It wasn’t exactly necessary, but she began to completely focus all of her attention on keeping it steady, like it would ruin everything if she didn’t. In time it stayed secure easily enough, but she never took her sight of it, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration.

 

[Risen]

Or'Fol Moric Mi'la Undari Amani Serys Mathieu Brion

From the corner of his eye, Risen could see the padawans picking up the technique after Master Moric’s consolation. The stress of failure abated with his gentle wisdom. Things were looking up.

But still the leaf wouldn’t move. The air around it was still — or else a slight breeze would provide some hope, but these were natural winds. Chaotic. Outside of himself. Risen didn’t feel the task was too difficult for him. He’d attempted to scale too-high walls, run faster than his legs could carry him, an end in sight but beyond him. This wasn’t that. This was… it was like all Jedi magic, rattling at nature’s cages and shoving around what was inside.

Risen couldn’t conceptualize the Force that way. A river ran, leaves fell. Wind blew. That wasn’t for him to control. All he could affect was him.

He sighed deeply. Maybe the master would have some guidance. If I can figure out how to explain it to him. Risen covered his leaf with a cupped hand, waiting for Master Moric to approach.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Time to try again then. Picking the leaf up in his hand and holding his palm open, Mathieu concentrated once more. He had got the hang of how to produce a wind gust and what was needed now was a way to refine it. His previous way of producing separate gusts in different directions really didn't seem very sustainable.

On this attempt, it began similarly as he produced several gusts to keep it in the air. However, slowly but surely, he started to produce longer gusts that changed directions a little, and with time and continuous successful attempts, the started to meld together into a whirl. Mathieu's technique was far less refined as that of Mi'la and Amani. Instead of being able to keep the leaf centred and still, his leaf was brought along with the rather large whirl and while the new Padawan tried to shape it to make it smaller and more controllable, he had limited success in his efforts.

Slowly letting his whirl die down, Mathieu then positioned the leaf in his palm once more for a second try. This time, the whirl he produced looked much more similar to the one which the others were making, but keeping the leaf still was still beyond him as it happily tumbled about along the the outer reaches of the whirl.

Or'Fol Moric | Mi'la Undari | Risen | Amani Serys​