On the near future

[Mantic Dorn]

The room was not a large one. It held a simple low table, a silver surface carrying two simple looking closed cases.
On each side of the table two cushions to sit on had been placed. Their green color seemed off to the setting.
Otherwise there was nothing but white walls, white ceiling and white floor.

Mantic was sitting, crossed legs and shut eyes on one of the cushions. He seemed to meditate and his scarred face had an aura of serenity.

On this early morning he had summoned his newest padawan, [member="Orphen"]
The young man was a gifted force user with a slightly different approach on things then normal. It had given him a hard time in the jedi order and he had seen several teachers and masters during his time here.
Mantic had given a vow to complete his training to the best of his ability. He had first doubted to take this one on, but something had told him that [member="Orphen"] was merely misunderstood. Well that and the fact that he most likely misunderstood a few things himself.
So Mantic meant to keep his promise and carry out a lesson, both to expand on the padawans abilities, but also to hopefully open up a new perspective on the force to him.
That is, if his teachings were fitting for the aspiring jedi. Time would tell if Mantics feeling about it was right, most likely sooner then later.

Now all that was missing was [member="Orphen"] himself.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen, for the first time in a LONG, long time actually wore the apparel of a Jedi padawan, his bright hair, standing in incredible contrast to the darker robes of choice, preferring the darker more muddy browns than the tans of the normal Jedi Robes. They didn't feel comfortable to him, they were itchy, distracting, and too light, but Orphen wanted to put in an effort to say that he was on board, to him, it was a big step, like a proud person admitting they were wrong. He hoped that it would be recognized as such as he entered the room. Though, unlike other Jedi, he still wore some of the components he was used to, the sleep full mechanical gauntlet on his left arm, as well as blaster holsters across his waist holding his two personal pistols, it was only at the small of his back where the belts crossed over that each of his light-sabers hung... and, as always, the visor which covered the Padawan's eyes, ever present, ever allowing him to see the world through a wall of numbers and data, calming his over-active mind and allowing him to focus more on the world around him as well as being in states of meditation.

Without his long coat though, he was otherwise unarmed.

As he entered the room he looked to his master and bowed, one of the things he liked about his master was the burned scars across his face, something that marked him from some form of suffering, Orphen was drawn to the scars and they made him feel safe, like this person could be trusted, this person would empathize and understand his position. Though many of them could not be seen due to his clothing, the metal panels which lined his body, plunging wires trough his circulatory system were still there, as irremovable signs of his capture and detainment at a young age. The only one that would be visable, would the the one which hung low on his back at the top of his spine, just below his neck, the subtle chrome tint of the steel flickering in the light.

"Sorry If I was late Master... Traffic was a killer..."

He said with a light smile, scratching the back of his head, a goofy smile plastered along his face as he walked into the room, taking a seat down adjacent to [member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic opened his eyes as [member="Orphen"] seated himself.

"While time is an important factor it is not everything in life." he answered a bit cryptic, not really being clear on if the appology was accepted or not.

"Padawan, you have grown much in the force and both you and I know that you possess much power, more then enough to be compared to some jedi knights." Mantic removed his hands from his sleeves and reached for the case closest to him. As his fingers bent around it to open it he motioned for [member="Orphen"] to open his as well.

"Being powerful with the force, does however not make one a jedi." he continued and picked up the content of his case.

There was a needle and thread along with a few patches of cloth. The same items would be found in [member="Orphen"] s case.

"Being wise or smart does not make one a jedi either." Mantic started to prepare the sowing gear, his fingers working as he speaked and his eyes never left his padawans face. The speed with how he was prepared to start sowing was indeed an impressive process in itself.

"Do you know how to sow Padawan?" he asked as he had finished preparing the items and carefully placed the cloth in front of himself.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen cocked his head to a side, thinking about the words that he was saying, strength didn't make a Jedi, Orphen was never quite that deluded, but he felt as though strength, especially that in the force was something that a Jedi needed, much like the hyper-matter core of a cruiser. Intelligence also, where it had been proven that there was a link between intellectual aptitude and genetics especially power in the force tending to make sentients more cognitively advanced, was another aspect that Orphen considered even less of an option than strength in the force, more of a quirk that tended to come and go... But, wisdom however, being told that wisdom was not something that a Jedi needed made Orphen doubt and question. Ever successful Jedi showed a great deal of wisdom, the Jedi taught wisdom through both their teachings and experience... Orphen was a little taken back, sitting down and looking at the cloth and needles.

"I - But - Isn't wisdom one of the core tenants of the Jedi Order? Aren't the cornerstones of every Jedi teaching stemmed from wisdom, passed down?"

The boy felt like he was missing something, like an ingredient in an important meal. Distracted by the next question as to whether Orphen knew how to sew, drawing his eyes and his attention back on the material... He didn't know how to sew at all... Though it was binary, knitting and pearling at the material in the correct combination to yield a desirable result. He could likely pick it up rather quickly, Orphen's hands were almost made for working around the likes of machines and fine things, his aptitude for the art would likely be rather high, but, it was just something he had never come across or struck him as interesting enough for his mind.

"No, not really, I mean, I know about sewing... kinda... Seems like you're pretty good at it though..."

Orphen watching his fingers move, the two motions they each made he replayed in his head over and over, analyzing to the most minute scientific detail of each of the motions and the intent behind them, how they would each contribute to the spanning web of the material as it was transformed into a cloth.... Orphen began to understand the theory or at least the physics behind sewing, almost instantly, his mind in overdrive even calculating the friction and kinetic potential of his fingers moving at the speed that they were by the force of the wind and the sound of the needles grinding off of one another, even how much bio-heat that speed at that rate would produce of fingers of his masters' dimensions and what would be lost to entropy and natural heat diffusion.

And all of it in a fleeting moment.

Were it not for the visor he wore, his mind would have worked the data out on analog, easily quadrupling the work load, no doubt forcing a migraine on the boy in a heartbeat.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic listened to his padawan and recognized his concerns, his question. He slowed down his work and nodded toward the sowing equipment in front of [member="Orphen"]

"Pick it up. the basics are easy, have the two cloth brought together and penetrate both ends with the needle. The thread will follow in its wake and bind them together, but remember that the pattern you leave behind will be determined by what course your will drives the needle."

Mantic then held up his own sowing gear and slowly showed [member="Orphen"] how to perform the basic seams.

Once the padawan had started Mantic continued.

"Power and wisdom combined can make for a jedi master padawan. But if left to their own they can be dangerous and misinterpreted instruments."

"Now, make sure to be careful so that you do not cut yourself, but try to raise your eyes from your hands as you sow. Watch me and listen at the same time as you continue creating."

"I got important things to tell you."

Mantic knew that it would be a challenge for [member="Orphen"]
Most beginners would end up their first sowing with bleeding fingers. Then again, most were not gifted with the force.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen took up the implements, looking at each of them and mirroring the grip on the cloth and the needle as he pressed the needle through the canvas, moments before mantics warning against the sharpness of the needle, Orphen felt the prick, gasping and recoiling with his left hand he placed the finger in his mouth on impulse, taking it out to reveal a single crimson pearl of blood peeking out from his skin, the needle was rather sharp, it would not be a mistake he made a second time. Orphen managed to catch a glimpse of the underside of Mantic's cloth, which gave him a great deal more insight into the pattern that his master was using from booth angles.

Taking to it a second time, Orphen started slowly, getting used to pushing the needle through, taking it, pulling the thread through before pressing it back to the cloth on the other side, and repeating... In earnest, Orphen had no clue what he was going to sew, perhaps something that represented him in some way, he doubted it needed to be very good, and he assumed that a part of this test was about knowing the direction of where you were going, forethought, as well as being present in the now... With an idea, Orphen began, at first, he needed to pay a lot of attention to the cloth, ensuring really struggling to not look or observe it in any way, other than with his focus.

"Dangerous Wisdom? " Orphen spoke

"Makes me think of hidden truths or forbidden knowledge."

he said with a slightly cynical inclination, but, in simply that example he could think of reasons where wisdom could be deemed dangerous, the Wise approach was usually the hardest one to take, not always available to everyone to live up to. The wisest of teachings were often by far the most challenging or most cryptic, open to failure and misinterpretation... So, taking that thought in, Orphen seemed to be steadily building up his rhythm with the needle, having observed the patterns which Mantic was performing and having a memory and deductive mind good enough to observe the corners and bends, he had an O.K. Idea of how to manipulate his pattern.

But theory and practise were two VERY separate things.

mistakes were made, and Orphen immediately realized them, unwinding them and luring he needle back through again often before he would continue sewing again.

"But what sort of important things master?"

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic observed his padawan slowly starting to sow and come to a sort of rhythm that seemed to suit him.

Once he had reached that point Mantic himself continued with his own sowing.

"The force is a mysterious entity and while we can pretend that we know how it works there are still news around every corner. For most students of mine it is hard to grasp this. I can not offer you a complete and absolute truth on this, but I will offer a door way that might help you see how it is all connected."

Mantics voice was clear and calm, a contrast to his fast working fingers.

"As a jedi you will be part of a great web. A web with strings that are all connected somehow. This web can be sticky, like a spiders web at some points, or slippery and thin like silk in other parts. But they are all connected."

"Once a thread has touched another one there will however be vibrations, precuations and sometimes damage done to both threads or one of them."

"This is how a powerful force user can sense that something has happened somewhere completely different."

Mantic took a short pause to let [member="Orphen"] take it all in and digest the idea that Mantic was planting.

"You are in fact doing alterations to this great web right now." he then continued and nodded to Orphens handiwork with the needle and thread.

"But do not confuse altering with destroying."

"When you sow, don't think on what your hands are doing, believe in what it will add to the web around it. See what it will turn out to be before it is made. Then make it happen."

 

[Orphen]

Orphen thought about it for a while, it made sense that that everything was connected by the force, much like gravity, in many ways, the smallest pebble on one side of the gravity, was pulling the greatest sun on the other side of the universe toward it. Though the field may be drowned out, overpowered and seemingly pointless, the field was none the less still there. It may have been a bit of an incorrect comparison, but, it was what Orphen's mind clicked to.

"Resonance, I think I'm beginning to understand... "

Orphen continued to sew, not looking at what he was doing, but rather picturing his goal in his head and like his master said, allowing his hands to do the work for him, he could feel the needles and in some way he felt like the needles were an allegory for himself, while the sewing was his actions. His actions could make a mess of the canvas, or they were able to make art out of it. It was an interesting method of teaching, one that Orphen very much enjoyed. There was a cathartic peace to sewing, much like there was working on machines.

"I think I'd enjoy Sewing, I like making things, building, creating, not altering, but improving. It's one of the reasons I like to work with machines so much, the work is peaceful, much like this, with your hands, you plan, and prepare, then you build... Be it a weapon, a medicine, a house or a speeder. There's something just... honest and meditative about it.

As for my web, I just want it to be better than it was before. Turn the sticky web into a fishing rope, or the silk into a warm blanket."

Orphen felt his fingers continue to move, his pattern turning as he thickened his lines on his pattern, not really knowing what he was doing with it really, but he was trusting in his feelings, his training had gone on enough for him to know to trust in the force and his inner feelings, but, nothing quite like this. Attempting to be sensitive to the very subtle pulls of the force was VERY hard for Orphen, to the point that sweat was beginning to break on his brow.

Like straining to listen to a whisper on the breeze.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

It brought joy to Mantic to hear that his padawan enjoyed to sow. It showed that they did have a sort of bond after all. Perhaps a gap in generation, but a practical mind set behind them both.
This was already partly a succesful session. His padawan was not a beginner to the ways of the force and he could tel that the young man had spent time reflecting on these matters before. But there was still the matter of reaching a depth of understanding to let this insight guide his actions.

"Good padawan," he continued observing [member="Orphen"] carefully.

"As if the item you picture wishes to be created, allow it to happen. Do not force it, but allow it to use you. But always be prepared to protects its intents. As a jedi you must always uphold order, but there are powers that always seeks to disrupt and intervene."

Slowly Mantic reached out with the force. It was a subtle motion, that should hardly be detected by his padawan. Not by his force sensitiveness anyway.
But then the thread shifted lightly, causing the needle to haveing problems going through the next loop.

"Remember not to think about what you are doing padawan," Mantic continued after [member="Orphen"] most likely encountered problems sewing. "Feel the willl of the web, protect it and shield it from harm before the threat arise."

Mantic then continued, making subtle pushes to the handiwork. He would continue this for a while, forcing his padawan into seeing what was to become otherwise he would not be able to parry Mantics "attacks."

 

[Orphen]

"I'll do my best..."

Orphen spoke, attempting to concentrate, but, as he attempted to push his needle into the next hole, after moving it in, he found that his grip had allowed it to go askew, into the wrong hole and forcing Orphen to unthread the needle back through the hole again and attempt the stitch once again, this time hitting some of the cloth, not entirely in a hole at all. feeling a small amount of frustration, he remembered the words his master had been talking about, there was something fighting him, but he could not determine where the opposition was coming from, his master still seemed to be sewing just fine, and he had been working just fine up until now, but, something was holding him back.

A third time he attempted to push the needle into the hole, feeling the needle en route as he took in a calming breath and attempted to glide the needle straight through the hole it was meant to penetrate, only to find that the tip, curved off right at the last second... Moments before Orphen allowed his anger to bubble to the surface, he thought about what was going on... something was moving, it, he couldn't make out what, or sense where it was coming from, but it was happening.

But the padawan had a trick up his sleeve. But first, there was a response to consider...

"Could you please stop...?"

Orphen spoke out-loud... Hoping to catch the Jedi master off guard. The first response should always be the diplomatic one, it was not a perfect response, it was often not one that always worked, but, it was something that always had to be tried. And maybe not one which Mantic would have thought the aspiring consular would have used. But... should the threat continue, and Orphen's needle would be knocked off a fourth time, Orphen would act...

He'd done it only once before, but, it seemed appropriate that he could now, do it again. Laying the materials in his lap, he took a breath in, and surrounded himself in an ambient telekinetic field. Not using it for anything, not actively stilling the air or attempting to move it, just expressing his willpower on an area, in order to prevent another person from doing the same. Then, taking the cloth, he would continue to sew, but now, his focus was split an additional way, and it was a difficult thing to maintain, not something he would be able to hold for long, much like holding his breath. But, in the mean time, other telekinesis would not be able to exert control within his small field without blatantly overpowering his.

An act which would not be subtle in the slightest.

Although, Orphen wasn't the most skilled Telekinetic.

"But what if you can't hold the defense forever on your own?"

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Watching with interest Mantic noticed the attempts by his padawan to continue pressing the matter for a while. It did not take him long to figure out that it was his master that was behind though and as @£orphen burst out and asked him to stop Mantic did so. He lowered his sowing equipment into his lap and looked at [member="Orphen"] without revealing any special expression.

As the field was raised the jedi master realized what his padawan had thought would be the purpose of this lesson.

He shook his head slwoly, more to himself then his padawan.

"Padawan. Lower your shield." Mantic smoothed his robe and wet his lips to continue instructing.

"While you have indeed found a way to counter the danger, you have chosen a way that is very complex and also very noticable." he gestured for the door.

"I would not be surprised if your action was felt by those passing outside right now."

Mantic thought for a while, giving his next step some time to sink in.

"Consider the thread, it is following the same pattern over and over again." he then continued.

"You know when and where it will hit. The only problem is the disturbance that is caused to your hands directly. But remember that these pushes derive from a source in this net. They are not created on your hands. If you are aware of the web around you, you will sense the tiniest vibrations of the net, and that will allow you to prepare for what is to come."

"It will allow you to steer the needle prior to that the push arrives. you will then adjust your angle of the needle, the strength by your hand and still hit the correct spot in the cloth."

Mantic fell silent for a moment allowing his student to take it in. then he lifted his gear again and resumed sowing.

"Now, lets try it again."
[member="Orphen"]

 

[Orphen]

Orphen nodded, lowering his shield immediately, though he felt a little bit silly. The expression wore plainly on his face, taking a stab in the dark and missing was not something he was used to, but failure was something he was going to have to learn to experience. He didn't feel like his aura was complex, but his master was definitely right in the fact it was obvious. Orphen listened to Mantic's words as he explained the position in more detail, clicking, the Jedi padawan understood the purpose of the exercise... He hadn't seen the pushes as being specific, or handle-able, but rather random. His mind having meandered past that realization too quick for himself to see it, which made him feel all the more foolish.

Starting again and taking another deep breath began to focus on the force and his work before he started. He was not trying to sense the incoming attack, as he now understood that it was the intention of the attack to be hidden, but, everything was connected, which meant, that sensing what was to come for his needle, was something which could be predicted. Keeping in time with his work, trying to place the needle into the hole once again, the Padawan felt the tip of the needle sway to a side, but, Orphen didn't attempt to place it in....

It was a test run...

For a moment, he had felt his hand want to drift to a side, the needle had moved against that will of direction, and so now, Orphen finally had something he could hone in on... the sensation was no longer new, but known. So the next time he felt the pull, he moved his hand in that direction, but rather found himself over-resisting the force. The force tipped the needle to a side, but, with the young Epicanthix pushing against it a tad too hard, he found the needle poke through a hole above where he had intended to put it.

Not allowing frustration to calm him, he would attempt again and again and again as he tried to sense the will of the force and adhere to the intent of hi actions, until finally, he managed to slip the needle directly into the spot where it had meant to slide. Pushing it through and continuing, as he would push it through a second time, moving his hand last moment, and tilting the needle to where it needed to be before the telekinetic push came. Orphen was not perfect, should it continue it would show he would be okay about two out of three attempts, but it was progress none the less.

"It's not easy..."

Orphen spoke with a smile on his face, just happy that he was making progress.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

As [member="Orphen"] continued to practice Mantic noticed not only progress in foretelling what was about to happen but also improved control over the frutrstation that was a natural part of these excerices.
He nodded approvingly at his padawan.

"No, it might not appear easy padawan." he replied.

"Do not be tense while doing this. The threads of the web will carry your weight, carry your arms and carry your fingers to perform the action in unison." Mantic smiled an allowed the lesson to continue a while longer.

"Now, we have made progress today." he said and put down his needle and thread. He motioned for [member="Orphen"] to do the same.

"You must remember to practice on this as often as possible. A jedi knight knows who will speak next before it happens, a jedi knight will know where a shot will be aimed before it is fired." he described started to clean the table from the items on it.

"Great masters can see far into the future, but first one must know how to sense the the threads in your own viccinity." Mantic smiled and stood. He was preparing to leave.

"Well done padawan. The lesson is over."