Taming My Wild Side - Anija's Force Training [Ember Rekali]

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]
Dathomir - Shardrock Clan Territory

Anija had traveled to many places over the years she'd been living and training with Ordo.... but she couldn't recall having ever visited Dathomir. She wandered slowly down the ramp of the small ship which Ordo had given her to use. It was small and fast, which suited her purposes just fine.

She still wore her clan skin armor, but she'd customized it, painting it a deep purple and accenting it with gold and black detailing. The deep purple now more many scratches and carbon scoring marks. Sure, it wasn't much for stealth, but it fit her- both in style and use. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she looked around the spaceport. Like many things on Dathomir, it wasn't huge.

She'd read a bit of Dathomir's history. The planet had spent a great deal of time under Imperial control, but the Clans had still maintained their way of life. It was something she'd found interesting. Like the Mandalorians, they maintained a clan structure. But that was pretty much where the similarities ended. Though, she had a deep respect for their way of life, and she wanted to respect it.

Anija frowned slightly as she looked around the landing bay again before she made her way out to the spaceport proper. Here, she found a few more people. Locals who worked the spaceport, and several others who looked to be smugglers or traders. She felt no danger from them, however. it took her a few moments to get her bearings, and then she slowly made her way outside. There were many vendors outside, selling local trinkets and art. She passed them by for the moment, instead stopping only to rent a speeder and ask for directions.

Talking with the speeder merchant proved useful. he seemed surprised when she mentioned she was looking for Ember Rekali. She knew little of him personally, except what Ordo had told her of his own training in the Force. She had a degree of ability, but it was largely untrained. She'd tried a few times to train with Isley Verd, but had found him to be quite busy.

So, she'd decided to try searching out Ember instead. She wasn't sure what to expect from the man, but it couldn't be all that much worse than what she'd been through with her training with Ordo. He'd been hard but fair. Mostly, all she wanted was to do was learn how to use her ability. She wasn't sure how much ability she had, but she wanted to be able to use it. instead of accidentally doing something that landed her in trouble.

And so, here she was... on a planet she knew nothing about. guided solely by Ordo's recommendation and the directions of the speeder vendor. She sighed, and reached up to scratch under the edge of her flightsuit collar for a moment as she slowed the speeder to a stop in the village. He couldn't be far now. She frowned again, trying to reach out and sense him... but it was next to impossible. She didn't have the training to narrow down his location like that.

But... she did feel a bit of a disturbance off to the east. It felt like... someone was fighting. She could feel the surge in the Force, and she headed towards that. Her hand dropped to her rippers on reflex, and she slowed as she neared where she felt the person to be. She crouched at the edge of the clearing... and stared. It appeared that whoever it was... they were ...wrestling a rancor. She'd heard about how the native Witches used the creatures as mounts, but she'd never seen one up close before.

Watching for a few moments, she was able to get a good look at his face after a minute or two. Ordo had described him in detail, and she nodded to herself as she continued to watch, part of her wanting to jump in and help - but she wasn't sure if she should.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

In a beautiful clearing at the base of a mountain, Ember Rekali arm-wrestled a bull rancor.

The force of the rancor's arm had driven him shin-deep into the earth. They faced each other over a table of rock, elbows planted. Rancors were semi-sentient, and Dathomiri rancors less semi than most. This one roared out its will to dominate, and the shirtless man shin-deep in the ground yelled back. The rancor's fist was wrapped around his hand and wrist. And yes, they really were arm-wrestling. And had been for some time.

The Force was, in many ways, stupidly overpowered. Ember had just chosen to sacrifice most of the stupidly overpowered clart that other Masters used in favor of the things that he preferred. Physical enhancement, generally. This was about strength, but more than that it was about endurance.

His mind caught the presence of a non-Witch, and the bull rancor drove Ember's arm down to the stone table with a roar of triumph. As the rancor loped off, its mind reorienting on something tasty, Ember sagged against the edge of the slab. Purple Vahla eyes caught Anija's gaze.

"Su'cuy gar, vod'ika. What needs doing?"

 

[Anija Betna]

Se watched the event unfolding in surprise, and her eyes widened. She'd removed her buy'ce as she leaned against the tree, watching. 'Wrestling... a bull rancor.' She shook her head. 'Never thought I would see such a thing..' she thought to herself before her blue eyes met his purple. She wasn't quite sure what to say really, and she was... nervous. Though, as to why, she wasn't exactly sure.

Frowning, she held his gaze for a moment, and tried to calm her nervousness. At least buir had taught her how to do that much. It helped immensely in battle situations, and others. She took a slow breath still holding his gaze, as intent as it was. She almost felt as if he was looking through her. There were several seconds of silence between them as she considered what to say. "Su'cuy..Ori'vod," she said finally, and stepped forward. "I hear, that you are the pne to find if one has an interest in the Force.."
@[member="Ember Rekali"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

His feet and pant legs were filthy; he brushed them off as best he could with brisk motions of his hands, and scraped his feet against the stone too. He shrugged into a shirt, then a jacket, both offworld make. "I'm known to some, for that," he admitted. "You're Ordo's kid." It wasn't a question. With a grunt, he shoved himself away from the stone slab, avoiding the deep gouges his bare feet had made in the earth. Thick socks, then boots. He wiggled his toes, verified their pebble-free if somewhat grimy condition, and grunted. Success.

"Ordo's a good man, got powerful talents. First one I trained to Knight since my own kids. I do what he does -- I run faster, jump higher, hit harder. I track. If you want big fancy tricks, go elsewhere -- I'm sure some of the kids down at the village can show you some basic spells.

"So what can you do, and what is it you want to do?"

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

Anija nodded at his first statement. "Aye." she answered simply. She frowned as she thought that overand watched as he pulled on his shirt and boots again. It intrigued her how he spoke of his own force use. It made sense to her. She wasn't out for big flashy tricks. She wanted to use her ability more like another tool. To help her be a better fighter.

"As to what I know? Not a whole heck of a lot, I guess." She shrugged slightly. "I'm good at minor distraction... and I can sense the general direction of people's thoughts or emotions sometimes. Mostly, I want to be able to do a lot of what you described. I'm not in it for the big fancy tricks. Just another tool as far as I'm concerned." she replied with a half-smile.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

Second question that came to mind was why she couldn't just get her old man to teach her, but Ordo could have passed her on to his teacher. Probably had. Ordo was good at what he did, but didn't think much of himself as the kind of Forcer who took students or whatever. And Ember could respect that. He'd have felt the same if not for his time with the Keetael and the Jedi.

"Well, here's something worth learning," he said, and knelt beside the immense stone slab. It weighed, at a guess, about five tons. Light-walker territory. He hooked his fingers into a crevice, and straightened up, lifting one side of the slab maybe three feet off the ground. His booted feet dug an inch into the earth, and visible strain marked his frame, but he'd lifted it smoothly enough, and he let it down smoothly too.

"Now, lifting things is good," he said, turning back to her, "but more often you'll be called on to use strength for things like...carrying weapons. Hitting people. Your dad and I can carry E-WEB repeaters, powerplant and all, make things go away. Let's...hmm, let's see." Purple eyes flickered over the nearest trees. A green lightsabre flared to life for a few seconds, and branches crashed and thudded to the ground.

"That right there is a treetrunk. You should be able to lift it, just barely, maybe get it up on your shoulder. What I want you to do is focus. Clear your mind, go for serenity, pure thought. Making yourself stronger is just about how well you can focus when visualizing your body and its energy flows and whatnot. With the Force on your side, you can probably get that trunk balanced on your shoulder, not just leaning on the ground. At which point we're goin' for a walk."

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

Anija's eyes narrowed as she watched him lift the stone. She didn't ask how he knew who she was She could feel the slight shift in the force and see the strain on his face.

When he began to cut the branches of tree she just stared, and tried to focus. Pure calm. Not an easy thing to do, certainly. Frowning, she crouched and slipped her fingers under the rough hewn trunk.

Taking a few breaths, she breathed out and then lifted, feeling the muscles in her back strain as she did so. But the tree moved. The trunk wobbled for a few moments as she slowly lifted it waist high.

'You can do this,' she told herself, pulling her focus back to the task at hand. Slowly she lifted the tree higher, balancing it's weight before she finally lifted it to her shoulder. By now, she was sweating, and her hands shook slightly.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

Balancing the tree trunk before propping it up on her shoulder got a grunt of affirmation from the Witchmaster. "Solid work. Alright, Ordo, let's go for a walk. Keep that trunk on your shoulder."

He set off at an unhurried pace, but not a lazy one, through loose trees and into a clearing. The ground sloped up into the foothills, and he headed up at an angle. "Breathing's the most important thing," he said over his shoulder, apparently unconcerned. "It's tempting to tense up, to hold your breath, because holding your breath gets tension all through your core and makes you stronger for a moment. But then you start running low on oxygen and getting sinus pressure...not good things.

"So here's the deal. Focus on serenity. Relax, but stay strong. Remember your combat training -- remember how you don't tense until the last second. Tension slows you down, wastes energy."

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

She nodded, and focused on keeping the trunk balanced on her shoulder as she placed her feet carefully, and moved to follow him. It was certainly a lesson in concentration. Breathing... of all things to talk about now, he had to talk about breathing. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and did as he instructed, although she'd been doing pretty much just that since she'd picked up the tree trunk. Try as she might, her breathing dod get a little labored as they moved into the clearing. Even though she was working desperately to not tense up.

Instead, she tried to focus on breathing, and tried to draw her strength from the Force, instead of relying on just her muscles. It wasn't something she'd really done before, so it felt... odd. She tried to find the serenity and calm... and found it difficult to do so. It's not that she didn't know how, but the aching muscles proved a bit distracting. She frowned slightly and tried again, first focusing on her breathing, and then on filtering out any extra thoughts. Eventually, her breathing slowed, and the ache in her muscles lessened slightly.

There were several moments of silence between them until she spoke, her voice carrying to him as they continued to walk. "So.... I know this might not be the best time or place to ask, but what would you think about helping form the Mandalorian Protectors?" She paused. "I've felt for a while... that all this... preparing for war is a bit... needless. Mandalorians may be a warrior culture, but that's not all they are about. They are about family... and a rich cultural history, which many seem to have forgotten. I say we should protect it...."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

He stopped, turned, made no signal to put down the log. "Speaking while working, or fighting, isn't wise. Speaking while training will help stretch your limits, and I'll trust you to handle the bad habit later. Never talk in a fight. While your enemy talks, reload and move.

"The Protectors. The fething Mandalorian Protectors. And Ordo's kid asking me about it. It's a worthy thought. Force knows I've lost enough to war." Enough included all four of his teenage or adult children, and his wife. "War's not all we are. They told me that during my verd'goten a couple of years back. What we are is family. Mandalorians before pride, before ambition, sometimes before victory if necessary. It's been a long Dark Age. There's a lot of ways to be a Mando these days, and I don't much cotton to being told there's just one way."

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

Anija nodded in acknowledgement of the rebuke and spread her feet slightly to maintain her balance. It was getting harder to keep her hold, on the tree that she carried, but she kept breathing through the discomfort.

"I agree. And I feel that certain of our vode are of the opinion that there -is- only one way. Some might think me weak for not wanting to fight, but I don't kriffing care. Doesn't mean I don't know how." She took a deep breath and met his purple gaze squarely.

"I've always felt that there is more than one solution to a conflict. Sometimes, fighting is the only thing that will work, but other times, a situation can be resolved just by talking it out." She sighed softly. "I think it wrong.... That as a whole, the Mando'ade are ignoring such a large portion of their own culture."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

"Doesn't help the Republic's the dren it is, grabby, imperialist, shovin' its ways in our faces. I used to be Jedi Council, y'know that? Ages and ages back. But this ain't about how we react to the Republic, I suppose, so much as it's about what's in our hearts. You've given me a good bit t'think about. Come on, Ordo -- up we go."

He angled up the hill more steeply than before, apparently intending to drive her into the ground with exhaustion -- or teach herself how to draw on the Force to sustain her.

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

Anija nodded thoughtfully, quiet for the moment as she focused n breathing, and placing one foot in front of the other without dropping her burden. Her shoulder muscles ached, and her lungs burned. But, it told her one thing... she was still moving. It might not be exactly how Ember thought she might, but she was slowly starting to draw on the Force for energy. Her legs were shaking slightly, but she felt the quiver in her muscles settle after a few moments.

When she moved again, her footsteps were slow, but more steady as she followed him up the hill. Her lungs began to burn again, and she kept her pace steady as she tried to breathe. It wasn't easy, and she felt helrsef stumble for a few seconds as she tried to keep her footing and not drop her burden.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

"The Force is inexhaustible. Then again, our capacity to draw on the Force...isn't. You can put down the log now. It's time to be free -- keep using the Force as you were, but now you're stronger, you'll move faster. Tired, sure, but your hands aren't. So follow me."

A nearby rock face led part-way up the mountain. He took a running start and leaped to catch an outcropping. Force-enhanced grip snagged the rock; he dug his toe into a crevice and began the ascent. The task was straightforward: Follow Ember to some unknown destination, presumably at the top of the rock face. After having carried that log. No time to rest. This was how he'd been trained by the Keetael, and he'd come out the stronger for it.

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Ember Rekali"]

Even having drawn on the force, her hands still shook slightly as she carefully lowered the log from her shoulder to the leaf strewn ground. Her entire back ached. She flexed her fingers for a moment to relieve the stiffness there, and looked over at him. She reminded herself... yet again... that she'd volunteered herself. And as such, she wouldn't back down until she'd accomplished what she'd come to Dathomir for. Even if it took weeks.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and flexed her fingers again as she studie the rock face. trying to get a sense of it in the Force. Another breath, and she pushed off into a sprint as he had. Her lungs burned slightly from the exhaustion, but she ignored it, and pushed forward again as she leaped towards the rock face. Her left hand caught an outcropping, and her toes slipped for a moment before finding purchase. Then she began to climb.

She wasn't as fast or as agile as Ember, but she made decent time. She carefully placed her feet, trusting the Force to guide her. Even so, she slipped a few times, but managed to catch herself easily enough. She finally reached the top and hauled herself up over the edge, dropping into a semi-seated position for a moment to catch her breath. Maybe she was crazy for wanting this... but then again, maybe she wasn't.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Anija Ordo"]
Now, and only now, did Ember pause and let her rest. That wasn't because the Force wasn't inexhaustible, but because restarting after a break was often harder than pressing on, and required greater resilience of mind. They perched on the outcropping, a long climb ahead of them.

"These Mandalorian Protectors. Who would lead? Mand'alor?"

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

She sat there for a couple minutes and just breathed, trying to lessen the ache in her shoulders and back. It had been quite some time since she'd trained this hard. It made her feel alive, in spite of the pain.

At his, question, she looked up and brushed a few strands of dark hair from her face. "Well, I suppose I could if no one else wanted to. I may not be the most...qualified, but it was my idea. I really think people need to be reminded what it means to be Mando'Ade."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Anija Ordo"]

He nodded slowly. "If that's the stage you're at with this idea, I can respect that. Not a bad stage to be at, all things considered."

With a grunt, he rose and dusted off his trousers, staring down the cliff. "I've got somewhere to be. You're more than welcome to tag along, and I'll make it practical for you. I lost my ship in a Sith Empire op a while back, been flying a stock Niathal shuttle ever since. I've got a lead on a ship, an ancient one. You ever hear of a Duchess Satine Kryze? Clone Wars figure, used to rule Mandalore. Kind of a pacifist, if the stories are true. Non-interventionist for sure. She had this gorgeous ship, made of the finest materials Mandalorian space could offer -- meaning beskar played a serious role. After she died, a more militaristic, practical regime took over, and from what I'm hearing, her family hid her ship to keep it from getting melted down by her rivals. I've got a tip says it's still out there, and I'm meant to meet up with some lowlifes on the Wheel to get a bit more to work with. Come on -- let's go for a walk."

He murmured a Dathomiri spell and laid his hands flat against the rock face, then began to spider-climb down, adhering to the cliff. His ship wasn't too far away, down in the Shardrock village.

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

She sat and listened as he spoke, the name jogging her memory. "I've heard of her, Lek..." she said after a few moments. "Still hard to believe that our people were pacifists for as long as they were."

She chuckled slightly. "Some might think me a pacifist for my views on what it means to be mandalorian, but I disagree. It's important to hold onto the culture.... The importance of family, of aliit. So, for that, I can respect her."

"I'm not advocating turning anyone into a total pacifist, or forsaking the resol'nare. Instead, I want to embrace it. For me, it's about family and history. Anyone who feels the same is welcome in the Protectors." She shrugged slightly in apology at going off on a tangent.

She grinned. Never one to turn down a chance to solve a mystery, she pushed to her feet and followed him to the edge, where she looked down the cliff face. Her eyes widened as she watched him climb down, and she took a breath before climbing down as well. She wasn't as fast as he was, but was certainly a bit more sure-footed than she had been climbing up.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Anija Ordo"]

"Wonder if folks will think I'm sending a message." He disengaged from the rock face and fell the rest of the way, landing heavily but without injury. He squinted up at Anija as she descended. "Flying a pacifist's ship could mean one thing. Refitting it to dish out a punch or two would be something else. And then there's the whole 'piece of family history' bit. But I'm not wild about sending messages like that, or reading too much into things, or the people that do. Far as I'm concerned, a nice ship's a nice ship. There's other ways to send messages."

He waited for her to descend fully, then headed down the hill and past the treeline, bound for the Shardrock village where his Niathal shuttle was parked.

"You ever been to the Wheel?"