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Desbre straightened as a glowing figure approached her. The lurid red was a little startling but immediately she realized it was a person that showed no bounce light in the visible light spectrum. Then suddenly
he was. It was startling and made her blink, but then she broke into a small smile. Some relief rolled off of her. Some instructors were fastidious about being “on time” regardless of the circumstances. It seemed that maybe this wouldn’t be so much an issue here.
”
Your secret is safe with me,” she stage-whispered back to
Reggie Faayare
then turned her attention to the rest of the class and Jair even as another newcomer arrived. More relief followed. She wasn’t the only one running behind, though she had a legitimate reason. She turned her attention to
A'Sura Den
and then blinked. Both the one conspiring with her and the new arrival had very clear presences in the Force. Neither were beginners, but she surmised were knights. She was unaware of how strong her own was, but she had grown in leaps and bounds in the last few years.
As
Ticca
suggested they weren’t late, but practicing a different variation on the lesson Des broke into a brighter smile. “
Perhaps,” she said quietly. Of course, she didn’t believe that, not for one nanosecond. But the sentiment was nice. And she supposed it could be true, from a certain point of view.
"Welcome. Yes, I am Jairdain. Are you aware of what the class is about? I don't mind going over what skills are being taught. This way if you have any questions, I can try to answer them."
Desbre shook her head. “
Not really, Master. The message only said it related to hiding one’s self within and through the Force. I thought this would be particularly interesting and useful in the future.”
As Jair repeated the instructions, Des thought it over. She watched Reggie’s demonstrations and paid attention as much as she could through the Force. He turned invisible in the normal light spectrum but remained visible in the infra-red. That was a problem, at least it would be among her people.
She considered Jair’s technique. It was like turning down the wick on a lamp until the flame, the light was smothered. Part of her wondered how much of her access to the Force was cut off, and she didn’t like the idea of it. Granted, she’d spent most of her life without the connection she now had.
Reggie seemed to fade away, into the background until he just wasn’t there anymore. A smooth surface with no contrast. That suited her more. As she sat, she considered the techniques or visualizations and feelings she might use. And the possibility that she might use them to both hide herself in the Force, as well as her literal visibility. It was heady, the idea of being invisible for all intents and purposes. But incredibly useful. And the potential for abuse was staggering. But she trusted herself, and her own sense of ethics outside of any Jedi considerations, to be quite up to the task.
Pondering the concepts and having some idea how she wanted to proceed, she stood, from where she had taken a seat, cross-legged. She surveyed the Akk dogs. Finding one who seemed calm, but particularly alert and aware, she made her way over. She took a couple minutes to introduce herself.
She knelt, folding her hands in her lap even as the female in question playfully nudged at her. A smile broke across the Arkanian girl’s face but she mastered herself. It came slowly, like shapeless fog. Not enough for her to define it as she wanted, as she needed. Which left her frustrated. Opening one eye, she found the Akk dog staring at her, head tilted like a canid listening to a high pitched sound. She gave it a playful shove with one hand. It batted at her lightly with one massive paw, pushing her back. She broke out into a giggle, before straightening, only to receive a wet sllluuurp up one side of her face. “
Ewww,” she said, wrinkling up her nose playfully. She cleaned her face off, then took another breath.
Settling down, she took a few moments to just feel her breathing. She began to feel and see the things around her through the Force. This time, it came with ease. The akk dogs, her classmates, the other Jedi showing in golds and blues respectively. Every insect, avian, and tiny creature all around. Even herself. A veritable tapestry of life wove itself around her.
She began to shrink within that tapestry, her light growing dimmer and dimmer, smaller and smaller. She faded into the background until her presence was no more than a mote of dust floating through a sunbeam, and then that too was gone.
Her Akk dog companion cocked its head and then gave a faint whine as it wondered where she went. She’d begun to fade from its senses, despite not having moved.
She remained visible for the moment. Taking her time she focused on refining the blending into the background. Then she imagined simply letting the light of day pass through her until she became ghostly then faded out of sight. The heat glow of her body would be much harder to eliminate as it was a light source, but for most human and near-human sight, it would probably do.
Sweat began to break out on her forehead as she focused on holding it together. Putting the concepts together was easy, but keeping them held in place was not. She was grateful for the practice meditating, visualizing, and her ability to visualize and imagine from all the time she spent doing art. Her time racing gave her very sharp focus, and in the last three years of training, both had become honed to a surgical edge.
Relax. It’s not a struggle. Float, don’t fight.
The voice came to her from nowhere. It wasn’t even a sound, but a concept. She supposed there was merit in it. Taking a breath she let go of the sense of struggle and leaned into the Force and techniques more. Trusting herself a little more. And it got easier. She couldn’t explain it, but as she let go of the ideal of perfection and simply being in the moment part of the strain went away and it came easier.
Back to first principles, she supposed. It was a lesson she’d learned a while ago, but it still seemed to take learning it more than once for it to really stick.
