Location: Lakeside Cliff, Silver Rest, Kashyyyk
Des followed Jyoti's exercise. It was simpler and easier to deal with than jumping off a cliff. Probably more effective too. But not as much fun. Doing as the Master bade her, she closed both eyes after stepping away to get a little room. Opening herself to the Force it came immediately. She was always tapped into it now on some level. She only had to let it flood in, relax into it, like her favorite shoes. Immediately she became aware of everything within a few meters. Letting her awareness spread and more of the Force pour in, her back arched slightly, arms raising up along her sides. Head tilted back, face turned toward the sky as a smile spread across her face as though she were greeting the sun. That awareness expanded to ten meters, twenty meters... fifty meters within a few moments. Deciding that was enough, Des focused on the clifftop where she and the other students were standing.
From years of training, Des knew she could lean back quite a ways without falling. Even leaning forward she could achieve at least a thirty-degree deflection, if not more. Eyes still closed, Des straightened, and slipped her hands behind her back, interlacing her fingers, arms straightened, puffing her chest out a little naturally. At the same time, her head bowed some. She made no move to lean, not just yet. There was no sense of worry or holding back from her. Instead, her mind was at work, processing.
The girl already had great command of using her mind to move other things. It was among the first things she had learned from Brandyn Sal-Soren years ago. This she had feverishly practiced endless hours afterward, finding ways to increase the difficulty, tempo, and more. Her mind ventured back to Tol Amn and that fateful, terrible day. Her gut churned at the memories that came to her, of blood, fire, and death. Stop. No, that wasn't what she was after. Instead, she needed to focus on how she and Master Vanagor had survived falling.
Her mind went back. The pod was shaking and rattling. Caltin was doing his level best to hold it together with his raw physical brute power. But the forces arrayed against him were immense. She knew the Force was aiding him in his efforts, but anything could help. She'd wrapped the pod in a cocoon o energy, trying to hold it together, but it had come apart after a time. Leaving her and Caltin in an uncontrolled freefall.
She'd known even what she wanted was possible. Panic never even crossed her mind. Her sharp mind and so many years of training already had given her the tools to focus and to survive. But it required
trust. And she had leaped straight into the Force, throwing herself upon its mercy with her hope and every fiber of her being. She had already managed to slow and hold together thousands of pounds of equipment and hull in the form of the escape pod. She'd chosen to let her and Caltin simply fall, enjoying the ride down. Then she hit the brakes when they were close to hitting. she freed herself of her seat she remained strapped into, fell, but was slowing them both down the rest of the way.
That was what she was looking for.
Drilling down she focused on that moment. The feeling in her body, the sensations in her mind. The way the Force gathered about her and through her. Carefully she rebuilt the parts of the Force and sensation that came with it. At the same time, she leaned forward, arms coming out to her sides again, as though diving into the open air, or a forward trust-fall.
All at once, several pieces of past training clicked together. If she could move a rock, she could move a person. She could move herself. If she could leap from place to place five to ten meters at a time straight up on a cliff face, which involved using the Force to help control her ascent... it wasn't really any different from slowing her fall. Ataru not only channeled the Force through the body but around it to control acrobatic maneuvers.
This was just a different take on all those things and what she had already accomplished.
Des
leaned, until her nose was a centimeter from the ground, a smile plastered across her face, eyes still closed. She knew exactly where she was and her position. The meditation and awareness Jyoti had ascribed were necessary. And in this case, allowed her to have that fine control. She didn't have the same level of grace and control as the Master. But, Des felt pretty certain she wasn't going to splatter herself against the ground any time soon.
Reaching out she planted one hand on the ground and shoved, sending her back up and upright. Opening her silvery eyes she focused on Jyoti for a moment. "
Hmmm. This could be lots of fun if taken to neutral buoyancy. Like zero gravity. Which I suppose... isn't far off from Force Flight." Her voice was quiet, and her words mostly directed to the Master. The basic exercise was complete. What was next on the list?
Jyoti Nooran
displayed not only her ability to perform controlled descent, but also the ability to use the force to reach a height to actually need it. She excitedly hopped from one foot to the other as they were told to form a circle. 
Subject 648 Slipknot
