Private Snap, Crackle and Pop

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

After the events that had transpired on Ukatis with the Mandalorians, Ko had been inspired by his master’s pyrokinetic abilities. The Padawan was also plenty aware of The Sword of The Jedi’s own skill and aptitude with it as well. He had never expressed much interest in learning the ability to manipulate and generate flames before, but now he’d humbly requested that Jonyna teach him and try and expand his abilities as a growing elementalist.

All he had so far was some decent proficiency with ‘earth shaping.’ Between that and telekinesis the lines between the two could get blurry. Then again one could make the argument that most Force abilities were some specialized application of telekinesis, even fire manipulation.

Currently Ko was standing alone in the designated training room Jonyna told him to meet her in. However, he sort of overcompensated. Since losing his eyes, Ko had often arrived late to various sessions and classes he intended to attend. The familiar home that was the Jedi Temple had become a bit of a maze for him now. He has gotten better, but the crushing embarrassment of being tardy drove him to now plan around and correct this extremely concerning pattern of behavior.

In this instance, it was too early, about an hour or more so. He had over prepared, thinking he would’ve had more trouble getting to his destination like he has in the past. Ko took this time to meditate and reflect. An aspect of his training that has sadly been neglected recently. With his hands behind his back he took a sturdy stance. Exercising his breathing and shifting his focus both inwards and outwards alone with his breath. Feeling the Force in himself as he inhaled, and out into his surroundings as he exhaled… ​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

The hour went by, Ko Vuto left to his own devices.

And then another half hour, before a tired cathar strode into the training room, letting out a rather unbecoming MRRRROOOOOW~ while she had one hand above her head, the other pulling the first across her.

"Moooorning." She finally said, looking over to the padawan in deep meditation. It was a skill she never really processed, as a woman of action. The idea of just sitting and...vibing. It was something that never really clicked for her. But Ko wanted to learn fire. She'd already taught it to Braze , and now she could teach it to her own padawan. "You good to start then?"

Fire was simple to her. A need, not a want. It was an element of passion, of survival. Earth was shaped through will, water through peace of mind. Fire? Fire was the expression of your instincts. Of the first thing your mind develops as it grows. The quest for life on, unending.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Being in a rather calm state he was able to notice and observe Jonyna before she even entered the training room. When she finally did, Ko wondered if she’d just woken up from one of her special cat naps considering her rather lazy demeanor at the the moment. Something that caught him off guard a little.

Ko had expected she might have a little more… well, fire in her for wanting to teach her padawan such a skill. Perhaps because it was something that was so natural to her, she took it for granted. The Kel Dor student wasn’t even super great at earth shaping. He was largely drawn to it because of its familiarity and versatility. But it never really came as naturally to her as pyrokinesis did to Jonyna. Who could seemingly conjure an inferno with little more than a thought.

Ko wondered if he may have that kind of gift as well. Although he was remarkably dissimilar to Jonyna, he wanted to have more in common with her. “Good morning Master Si.” He finally replied before easing up on his posture and turning towards her. She didn’t seem to have anything with her at the moment. Perhaps she expected Ko to subsist entirely off of igniting the air instead of any more solid materials, like fuel or matches. He could take that as a good thing, his master being confident in his ability to not need any ‘training wheels’ so to speak. “Absolutely, I guess you could say I’m stoked to be here…” Maybe Jonyna would appreciate Ko punning it up for once instead of being all stoic like he tended to be.

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Jonyna raised an eyebrow, though her amusement showing by the smirk painted across her face. "Cute. Alright." She reached her hands in front of her, cracking both set of fingers in one go, sparks of flame shooting from them as she did. "Let's get started then. First question! What do you know about fire shaping? I'm sure a bookworm like you has at least looked into it, yeah?"

She figured she would start with what he knew, then branch out. To her, it came as second nature at this point. But to her padawan, she needed to know his skill level, even if it was only theoretical at this point.

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Hearing his Master’s question, he thought about what he did know about. “Well I’m more knowledgeable on the technical aspects of pyrokinesis, being the ability to create friction on a molecular scale to be able to generate fire, even in air.”

Ko explained, more familiar with the science behind it, more so than the spiritual side of the ability and what the element represents as a shaper. He also wasn’t sure how to take Jonyna calling him a bookworm, even though it was an appropriate description. "Back in the day I became decently skill at fighting fires back in the Service Corps. Like aiding in controlled burns and quelling brush fires." ​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Pyrokinesis isn't just about the science." Jonyna nodded, acknowledging him as correct. To make fire, to do it using the force, was about knowing both the science and the faith. "It's about you. What do you need. Not want, need." She paused, looking to the side, and holding a hand out. "I need to show you how this works." She spoke allowed, and with that, a small jet of flame shot out from the hand, controlled, and directed. "What do you need Ko?"

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Ko understood that, he just liked to have a good grasp on the physical and technical aspects of the ability to work in tandem with The Force. Ko believed a strong sense of physics could go a long way in amplifying his abilities. However, he was a little confused by Jonyna’s words.

He watched as she summoned a flame into her hand. The visual was quite a bit different for him without his eyes. But he knew there was fire there as the energy swirled upwards from her hand. As The Padawan listened to her question he wasn’t sure how to respond. What did he need?

“Um…”

He thought for a moment, wondering how literally he was supposed to be with it. But that this would be less of an exercise in his technical know how he felt it might be best to look more inwards into himself to answer the question.

“Light, Master Si, Light and Guidance…” Ko put it simply. Light was not something he needed in the physical sense. After all he could ‘see’ in the dark now because of The Force. But since losing his eyes he has known that he hasn’t quite felt the same. The fact that the echo stone around his neck was still so quiet and numb feeling communicated that much to him. Despite his inner turmoil he felt dull. Perhaps he hoped that fire, with its warmth and light could almost quite literally reignite his soul some with the element of passion. To feel a spark of inspiration.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"Then communicate that." Jonyna instructed. "Drawing on the force, especially with fire, is about communicating that need to the Force. The Force is alive, and can hear you. Feel you." She walked over, putting her hands on Ko's shoulders. "Reach out, and show the Force what you need."

To her, it had always been that simple. To her, the Force was just another friend and ally. A nice person who aided her in finding ways to save the galaxy. "Hold your hand out, and let the Force know what you need."

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

She made it sound pretty simple. He just had to communicate with The Force and possibly soon enough he could be unleashing jets of flame like his Master. But then again this ability was like second nature to her. He wondered if that might actually make it more difficult for her to teach it.

As he felt her put her hands on his shoulders Ko nodded to her words before holding his hand out. Trying to utilize his own technical understanding of the ability as well as Jonyna’s words to get it to work. Ko held his hand out for a good moment, trying to concentrate and communicate with The Force like she told him to.

Under his mask his expression was rather stern. He was trying hard to make it work, and to conjure at least a tiny flame like a lighter. Then as his focus became much more intense there was a small series of loud crackling and pops. As if some very tiny fireworks went off over his hand.

Ko let out a gasp and flinched back. Pulling his arm and hand back to himself. “Woah!... What was that?” He asked, wondering if that was a normal way in which fire shaping might manifest itself.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"...huh. That's not how-...we can work with it!" Jonyna smiled. "Alright, do it again, but focus on the feeling. You really need this. Like your life depends on it." She wasn't sure if that was just Ko's way of manifesting pyrokinesis, but she was willing to run with it. Even if it was small, it was something. Something was good. She could build off of something.

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Ko couldn’t help but give his Master a puzzled look, since she also seemed thrown off by the sudden tiny explosions he just conjured. But he could sense some of her enthusiasm. It was probably just some odd fluke on his part anyways. The Kel Dor nodded to her words before holding his hand out again.

Through his mask he took some focused breaths, breathing in and out. Bringing in energy and releasing it. Ko would do this a few more times before taking a deep breath. Once he exhaled he really tried to increase the intensity like she said, as thought his life depended on it.

Suddenly a much louder, singular POP echoed through the room. “Ow!” Ko exclaimed before flinching back and waving his hand limply back and forth. “That hurt… like having a firecracker go off in your hand.” He explained to Jonyna, unsure why he wasn’t creating any actual flames. “Is this some sort of mistake that novice’s make?” He asked, wondering if it was just something he was doing something wrong, and if so Jonyna may be able to guide him on how to correct it.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"...noooo..." She really was unsure. He was doing everything right, but the idea of sparks instead of flame was confounding her. But, she was always one to roll with the punches. "But this is something. Something we can work on. I think you're focusing too much on the process and not on the act. Hold on, I got an idea."

She left the padawan for a second, walking out and coming back a few minutes later with a bag of flour. She placed it on the pedestal, then looked back to Ko Vuto

"Alright, let's start simple. Try and light this on fire."

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Ko could tell that his master was a bit stumped as well. To him that wasn’t really a good sign, and that he was screwing it up somehow. As Jonyna left him for a moment his shoulders sagged in a defeated manner. Alone in the room he thought about what he was doing wrong.

Clenching his fists Ko frowned from under his mask. Fire is the element of passion as is it not? Perhaps he just needed to tap into that. For a moment he held his hand out in the empty room. Feeling ready to shoot a jet of flames from his palm.

But he didn’t. Even now he knew it was unwise to tap into his negativity to try and conjure flames from himself. Feeling like it wouldn’t be genuine if he corrupted the technique with his own frustrated pride and ego, and given how it seemed like things were going for him it was more likely that he’d just blow himself and the room apart. Instead he patiently waited for Jonyna to return with whatever to do whatever idea she had in mind.

He ‘watched’ as she came back with some sort of bag that seemingly contained some sort of powder within it. He presumed it was flour, perhaps she ran off to steal it from the cafeteria. “Ok Master Si, a flammable substance like this should make things easier.” Even though it was a bit reckless to try and ignite a bag of flowers like this, Jonyna was a great pyrokinetic, so he trusted that anything that got out of hand she could easily quell.

Taking a deep breath he held both his hands out towards the bag of flour. In Ko’s mind it should be much easier to catch that on fire than the air around them. Focusing on trying to generate heat. He tried to ‘communicate’ with The Force like she’d advised him to do. Inwardly within his mind he said one word, “Burn.”

Not a second later the back of white, fine powder erupted violently. An alabaster haze filled the room as flour covered both Ko and Jonyuna top to bottom. Gasping, Ko lowered his arms. “Ummm… Sorry, Master Si.” He knew this would be a pain to wash off, since the flour would just turn to dough, and get stuck into her fuzzy fur.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Pfffft. A slow stream of air blew out of Jonyna’s nose as her fur was now covered in white.

Okay. New angle. Your padawan blows things up.

How do we use that?

“…do that again.” She offered. “But…down.”

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

As Jonyna didn’t really seem to acknowledge the mess that was made, Ko’s shoulders sagged. Worried that she might be too upset to even express how annoyed she must be with her padawan at this moment. Perhaps Jonyna didn’t say anything because she knew that if she did, it would cascade into an avalanche of venting her disappointment at a mentor to him. The kind of disappointment that Ko already felt within himself.

He felt like a failure of a padawan, how could he not. He was a bad student, this was an objective fact. She told him not to throw his lightsaber around recklessly, yet he did. He lost even. Ko couldn’t help but imagine that if he still had his saber he would still have his eyes. Perhaps The Force was just trying to communicate that he didn’t have it in him to really be a Jedi, and now it all came crashing down to him. After all he was just a washout who was only helpful toiling in fields. He couldn’t even conjure the smallest candle flame it seemed. In fact when he tried, his efforts literally just backfired now it seemed. Hell, even Braze could do it, Jonyna had managed to teach him that, yet he wasn-

Then he heard his master’s voice through the dusty haze of the white flower that gently drifted in the air. Her request grounded him back from the negative recesses of his mind. He wondered if she could feel the typhoon of doubt and self resentment within himself.

Letting out a deep breath he nodded his head weakly. Raising his arm some, his clawed digits trembled. Jonyna seemed to want Ko to direct the pressure of his little ‘Force Bursts’ downwards. He wondered why. A moment passed as he tried to think about how to direct the energy. Visualizing a cone, where the base was pointed to the floor for his conjured combustion to go off within. After a moment there was a pop in the air in front of him. Through The Force, Ko could barely tell that the force of the tiny explosion traveled downwards like she asked. Even Jonyna could tell, as the smoke of burnt airborne flour flowed down. Looking like a miniature, upside down mushroom cloud. It seemed as though Ko could have some measure of control over the direction of his blasts.
​

“If this isn’t pyrokinesis… then what is it?”

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

That....wasn't what she had asked for.

But it did give her an idea.

"Alright, now aim it forward."

The question asked was a good one, but one she wasn't focused on answering yet. She could tell his doubts were setting in. For now, she'd ignore them, and instead focus on learning the skill. She knew what her padawan needed was a change in perspective. This wasn't a failure. This was a success in waiting, as all things were.

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

She didn’t answer his question or even really acknowledge it. Feeling a little puzzled over why that was. But she gave him another task to do which was keeping his mind focused. Ever the dutiful padawan he would try and do what his master asked of him.

Seeing that he could direct his little explosions he felt a little more confident in being able to do it now. Although he still felt rather frustrated over not being able to generate any sort of flame. He moved his body some to face away from Joynyna, not wanting to direct his blast into her.

Holding out his hand he took in a deep breath, imagining once more as though there was an invisible cone to focus the energy. As he exhaled Ko unleashed yet another small blast from his hand. With the energy being directed away from him before gently pulling his hand back, noting that it didn’t hurt him that time like it had before. “It feels kinda strange… Master Si. Conjuring them feels swift, and intense, yet as soon as it comes it’s gone.” Ko said, wanting to give her some feedback as to how he was feeling, hoping it might help her.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Jonyna mentioned. "It feels pretty similar to what my flames do. And while you don't seem capable of that, this is something. Something you can get good at." She smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't put yourself down on that front. You can do a thing, now you just need to get good at it. Before long, you might be able to use it offensively, or even for movement. For now though, I wanna see exactly how big you can make it. Let's go outside and aim at the sky for a bit. I'm gonna go bug Valery Noble to try and get some insight on what exactly you're doing. Okay? I'll meet up with you in like 15."

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Jonyna Si

Ko imagined that mechanically at least, he had been doing the right thing. But the results were proving testy with him. But Jonyna seemed to express some optimism over what her padawan had managed to accomplish, even if it wasn’t really the desired outcome.

Jonyna seemed to want him to focus on this as a strength and not view it as some failing on his end. Already she expressed ideas about how it could possibly be utilized. While he seemed to be looking at things poorly her mind had already been thinking of ways to build upon this very recent development.

“You want me to train it outside? And make it bigger?” Ko wasn’t really sure why he was asking, he knew exactly what Jonyna was asking him. “Okay got it, see you soon.” Admittedly however, Ko was a little anxious at the prospect of getting Master Noble involved. But also figured that if anyone could aid himself and Jonyna in determining what was going on it would be a master pyrokinetic such as herself.

Eventually the Kel Dor made his way outside. His concern now drifts more to just how bothersome he must’ve been right now. Again he held his hands up in the air above him to direct another volatile blast over himself. Everytime he did he felt a tinge of embarrassment over creating such a loud ruckus, but orders were orders and he had no desire of disappointing his master. Ko prepared another explosion, breathing in deeply with his diaphragm and sharply exhaling and contracting his gut some. Conjuring a rather potent explosion over himself that he wasn’t prepared for, like he just set off a stick of dynamite over himself. The force of which knocked his body back down roughly onto the hard floor beneath him. Ko frowned under his mask and gritted his ‘teeth’ as he groaned some from discomfort.​

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Admittedly, Jonyna did feel slightly bad about leaving her padawan off on that note. Training such as this was always her least favorite part of learning any skill, but at this point, she was at a loss. So instead, she did what any good teacher would do. Refer to someone with more knowledge than she did. Jonyna had always been a hands on learner, learning more through trial and error than anything else, farking around, and finding out more. But this? This was new to her. She would do her best to help Ko learn it, but wisdom on it was something she hoped the council member she had grown fond of would have more insight on.

She had at this point learned where Valery Noble 's office was within the temple. She'd always been a reliable face when Jonyna had questions, and this was one of those times. What had started as a day of trying to teach Ko to set things on fire, had ended with Ko blowing up things with his mind. And Jonyna needed answers.

Walking up to Val's door, she made a knock on the door. Hopefully she was there...