You and Me

[Onrai]

"Well, let's head to the cockpit, then." As the two entered the transparisteel-covered area, Circe chose to utter an incantation. One that Aleema Keto had uttered millennia before. "Out of the dark well of night they came, creatures born to the coldness of space. Devouring planets, swallowing stars, and drawing all ships to their deaths!"

As the incantation finished, and Circe prostrated herself on her knees, focusing her illusive abilities into space, the forms of enormous, monstrous space grazers flew over the ship. They were real enough that being near them seemed to indicate shake the shuttle from the backwash of their enormous tentacles.

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Emily's jaw slackened, gazing at the huge creatures moving about outside the ship. "Bu-...the..." Emily stuttered as all speech escaped her young, impressionable mind. After the impressive show finished, Emily looked back to Circe. "I want to do that." She stated with utter conviction. As if nothing else in the world mattered. Well, besides her Josefine.

As Circe stood up, Emily approached her, wrapping her arms around Circe's waist and kissing her. "Where do I start?" She asked in a whisper, staring into the eyes of her master.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Focus." She smiled, bringing to her hand the small steel ball bearing. "Do you see this, Emily?" Rhetorical question, of course she did. "This is a ball bearing. I want you to hold your hand out and focus. Let the Force flow through you and form itself into the shape of the ball, an exact duplicate. Let it be like water going into an object and taking its form..."

There wasn't a better way to describe it aside from that.

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Emily looked at Circe and smiled, then looked down to the ball bearing. Create another duplicate of that? She would try, with all her might. Emily looked with concentration at the ball bearing. She tried to squeeze it like a fruit, but instead with her mind, conforming every bit of Force she could around it. Sweat trickled down her head as if it had gotten hot right where they were standing. She had never tried to focus this hard. Most of her life had just been a breeze of getting by on letting others focus for her. So to Emily trying to form an illusion of a second ball was one of the hardest things she'd ever tried to do.

The Force was flowing through her in extreme amounts, causing her to feel weak, yet strong with the amount of energy that was coursing through her. After a few minutes a shady image of another ball began to form next to the other one. It looked hazy, as if looking at a fogged mirror, but soon the ball became more materialistic, forming a near perfect replica of the original.

Emily gasped as if holding her breath. But now that it was there, Emily could maintain it easier then create it, so it stayed as she looked up at Circe with tears of anger (at the fact she had to try so hard), and joy, welling in her eyes. "Good?" She gasped out.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Good..."

She smiled, giving a soft clap before grabbing the illusion of the ball bearing. "Hmm... Consistent. Very nice." She then began to squeeze down on it, attempting to break the illusion as more and more pressure was applied on the sphere formulated by the illusions of Emily. "Hold it for as long as you can, but when you feel you need to give up, don't be afraid to do so."

Well, at least the space grazers were gone.

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Emily put all her concentration back into holding the ball bearing as Circe put more and more pressure on it, trying to destroy it. Emily's Force flow surged slowly, rising in power as Circe increased hers. But as hard as Emily tried, she was still weak, and new with the Force, and it didn't take long until Circe made the ball evaporate into nothingness. Feeling slight disappointment, Emily looked up at Circe again, "Well, it's a step forward!" she was excited, despite the fact that she couldn't hold the ball for long.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Indeed it is." She smiled. "I've got to give you credit. You're doing an excellent job. Now, I want you to learn one of my favorites." Carefully, Circe focused, a new illusion forming in her hand. It was of a simple dagger, the type she had seen used by her former master's many guards. "This is a dagger. It is capable of physically harming someone. I want you to try and replicate it."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Emily raised an arm to wipe the sweat off of her brow, still there from the previous attempt. She attempted another smile, but she felt so weak. But the weakness came from the strength that the Force had allowed her, a separate entity that she would once more call on. This new object was bigger than the ball, but now she knew what it felt like. She knew the way she needed to Force to flow. She raised her hand to about level with her waist to try and replicate what was on Circe's hand to hers. She took a deep breath, balancing herself. Then she let it go, the Force flowed through her, wrapping into the dagger.

With much more speed than last time, a hazy image, looking much like what was in her master's hand appeared in hers. It grew stronger. Then it was there. It had a couple flaws, a twist in the blade, the pommel a little deformed, but for the most part, it was the once Circe was holding.

This exercise left her even more exhausted. She was breathing hard, with sweat rolling in beads down her face. This training was much more difficult than the one they had done the other day. She collapsed her hand around the hilt and studied the blade with curiosity. "I've never seen one of these," she remarked, "the men I've been with all had...blasters." A faint memory had started to rise, but she pushed it back down. "What kind of harm does it do? Is it like a lightsaber?" she asks, glancing at hers.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"In a way. What you've done is turn the energy of the Force into a physical construct, an "energy weapon" for better lack of term. These are capable of protecting you from a lightsaber... for a brief moment. Even I, the most skilled, can only hold an energy construct for a few seconds before it breaks. And it's very exhausting having to make new ones one after the other. It's the very last line of defense. On the other side, it can hurt people."

She smiled, then gently pricked herself with the construct, a bit of sap oozing from her finger. "See? Lethal."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

"Just don't use it on yourself!" Emily immediately got worried over Circe, when the blade had made its incision. "I just don't want to see you hurt," she said, more calmly. Emily, having never had a leading figure in her life for more than three days, was quickly looking to Circe as if she was everything to her. And in a way, she was, she was a way out, she was a way to actually live. "You know, I only talked to you the first time because I thought I would be able to get out of that dreaded place. But now, you're more than a ride to who knows where." She paused, collecting her thoughts, which had begun to run rapidly again. "But now, you've done more than give me a ride. You saved me. You're saving me. Thank you." Emily had begun to cry while she said this. Now she stood, helpless, feeling as if it all made sense, but at the same time, she had no idea what was happening in her life.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"That's sweet... I appreciate it, Emily." Her finger carefully healed up, the prick being only a minor wound. Demonstrative. "I figured you were simply someone who needed a ride. I'm the sort of person who's willing to give someone like that opportunity, a chance to thrive again. Saving people who need it is what I like to do." She gave a soft smile, then stepped forward, embracing the young woman.

"There there... Just let it out, darling. Let it out..."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

The tears flowed for a while. She just stood and cried, the events with the sithspawn, and now her training were taking a toll on her. But soon they stopped. Emily looked up, "I'm okay now." She said, feigning a smile. "What's next?" she was impressed with herself at what she had already accomplished, and she wanted to do more. She stepped back from Circe's embrace after returning it briefly. Sighed. And looked expectantly at her.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Alright... Now, I'm going to teach you the first of the many Sith spells you will learn. You don't even have to vocalize it - spells are traditionally created through the motions of the hands equally as well. The spell I intend to teach you is called "Aura of Uneasiness." It makes light siders around you rather uneasy. It'll be more difficult for them to focus."

She smiled. "It's a good, basic-level spell."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

"Okay." she gave a slight sigh of knowing that there was impending work, "How do you do it?" she asked, this is all new to her, so she had no idea what to expect, so she looked intently at Circe and waited to see how this "Sith spell" was done. She felt better now that she'd cried and sorted out her emotions, that should make her feel more focused and able to flow the Force.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Focus on the Dark Side. Let it fill you, use you as a vessel to manifest its presence in the physical realm." She slowly stepped behind Emily, and gave a soft smile, placing her hands on her shoulders and slowly moving them down to her hands. "Now move your hands. Use their motion as an excuse for your body to manifest the aura of uneasiness." She continued her grin as she backed away, letting Emily move her hands by herself.

"Focus."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Her breath slowed as her hands flowed, moving with the Force, letting it become a manifestation of the Force. The Force ran wildly through her, making her shudder. Her hands still moving, Emily blocked out everything around her, narrowing everything to just this. Her intent was to create the "aura" around her that would one day be used against her enemies.

Emily lost focus as her eyes widened. Had she ever had enemies? Since when did she think of people as enemies? Circe hadn't put any emphasis on the word "enemies". Now her focus was lost and she forced herself to keep going. Because this would one day be useful against...her enemies. The phrase crossed her mind as if it had been like that since the day she was born unto life. The only answer was that it had to do with the sithspawn.

She closed her thoughts again, focused on two things; enemies, and the Force. Which shot up wildly in her as if she had reached a peak. She could feel the power suffocating all thoughts of ease and comfort. Well, that's how she thought it felt. She kept this going, putting as much power as she could into it, but then forcing herself to put in even more. This kept going for a good length of time. After she felt she had enough, she stopped and opened her eyes, which had closed during this. She turned to look at Circe for approval.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Not bad." She smiled, giving a silent nod of approval to the young woman. "Good job for a first try. he more you practice it, the better you'll get at performing such a spell. It's a simple and basic one, usable typically to assail the mind of a target and make it more difficult for them to land accurate shots or strikes with a blaster or lightsaber."

And now, she thought of something else. "Emily... You need to be trained in energy resistance as well."

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

Energy resistance...that sounded interesting. Emily's uneducated brain took many guesses at what that was. She drew up short. "Well...what is that?" She wanted to desperately learn, and she felt defeated when she couldn't even try to guess what something meant. But she knew that in the end she would be a better person. And that the training that she was getting here, and now was the most important thing she could be doing for her future.

Her eyes glanced past Circe to inspect outside the cockpit. She didn't need any more space beasts.

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"Alright... Just stand over there." Circe smiled, motioning to the young apprentice. "Once you do, close your eyes and focus. Hard. I want you to dedicate every last shard of your Dark Side ability to the fullest extend of blocking energy. Alright?" Circe kept up the smile, despite fully knowing that what she was going to do would be less than fun. It was, however, the best and most efficient way to train her new apprentice.

Lightning.

@[member="Emily Vani"]

 

[Emily Vani]

She closed her eyes, not knowing what to expect. Luckily she listened to Circe, by putting as much energy as she could into deflecting what was to come. And when it came, a world of hurt entered her, even with the guard she put up. Emily let out a cry of pain as the electricity shot into her. Her eyes shut tighter and it kept coming, unrelenting. The power was starting to overcome her. Her legs started to give out.

She couldn't fail.

She straightened back up and focused, trying to force the energy to bounce off of her. She shut out the noise of it all. There was pain, and there was the Force. The latter of which Emily focused on and let it flow through her, to defeat the sharp sparks of pain grabbing onto her flesh. She got a taste of the Force growing in her, and instantly she grabbed it and expanded it. The pain lessened, slowly at first, but then it became faster as it ebbed away. Then it was almost non-existent.

@[member="Circe Savan"]