The Vast Windstorm

[Ares]

The Ssither Padawan nodded. It didn't seem too hard... After all, he was good at this sort of thing. The serpentine alien, however, gave his master a sharp glare when he referred to Ts'rss'trmn's 'legs'. Most irritating.

However, the human was explainging it masterfully, and the Shade Padawan hoped he could complete this exercise...

He replied, "No questions, Master."

With that, he coiled up, springing foward. He had allowed himself to let a mental windstorm enter his mind, and flood into the material world, his body. The Ssither virtually flew foward, springing like a slinky. He landed rather unceremoniously on top of the next rock, and continued. He coiled and sprung, all the while allowing the Force total control of his body. As he reached the higher rocks, however, he began to pause before jumping, and claw his way onto the rock's top. The Ssither sprung again, and landed on the rockside.

Ts'rss'trmn grunted and pulled himself upward, pushing his body into various crevices so he could slither up the rockface, and onto the top. That time, he had both jumped too low and far short. The serpentine alien finally lay on top, and slithered to the edge to look down to his master far below.

"Should I try and continue, or just re-do it?" he said from atop the boulder. This could be awkward.

 

[D.C.]

OOC: Dude, that really was a mistake XD I mean, that I said legs instead of tail or whatever.

"Hold on there for a second." Quentell replied.

The Shade Master called upon the Force and jumped from rock to rock to his apprentice. He did it with ease, and he did not seem to have any trouble doing so. He landed right next to Ts'rss'trmn and looked at the next few rocks. The gaps got much larger, and maybe it would be out of his apprentice's league. Then again, Valek Dagger could do it when he was Force Jumping and Leaping for the first time. So it actually makes sense he made the council. But if a Human who never really experienced something like Force Leap before, then a very strong Ssither could do it even better. Besides, Ts'rss'trmn really had the potential. Quentell was sure he could make it.

"Do you think you can reach the last few rocks?" Quentell asked.

 

[Ares]

((OOC/ 'sokay. Just wanted to show Ts'rss'trmn's prejudices. :P))

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The Ssither felt... Like he was truly pathetic. He couldn't even reach some... rocks? He couldn't defeat a stupid boulder?

This wouldn't do.

Without responding to his master, he tensed his muscles, and stayed coiled for a few seconds... Then, he sprung. The serpentine alien catapulted himself from the rock, blasting across the gap. Wind, being his specialty, whirled beneath him to provide lift. In an almost comical appearance, his hood opened in what seemed to be a miniature hang glider. He landed, and, without pausing, bounded across the next wide gap to the even taller boulder. And again... and again...

He had reached the end. The serpentine alien finally blinked... His eyes became softer, not like the two golden granite orbs from several seconds ago. The serpent shook his head, and breathed a little slower. A... unique experience. Ts'rss'trmn turned to look back at where he had left his master.

"Uh... sorry, Master. I just kinda lost it..."

 

[D.C.]

Quentell Force Jumped from rock to rock until he reached Ts'rss'trmn. The old master did not seem to be tired at all, and it seemed like he completed the course with ease.

"It's ok." Quentell said. "You did well, though you had some trouble along the way, you did very well. You will find that if you practice this often, this course will become easy in the end. You will complete it like it's nothing."

The Shade Master turned around and looked around the area. The view was beautiful up there.

"You know, I sometimes come here, to practice Force Jump. And when I reach the top, I sit down and meditate. It helps clear my head, so I can focus again."

He remained silent for a while and then said: "Now we have to get down. I will give you two options, going down by using the Force to cause a Slowfall effect, or take the small lift platform over there. It's up to you, but the Slowfall technique might come in handy when you're out on a mission. If you choose to do that, then please wait until I get down so I can watch you from the ground. If anything goes wrong and you fall, then I will catch you by reaching out with the Force."

"I will explain the technique anyway. You must focus on the Force, as always, and it is similar to Force Leap. Gather the energy around you and command it to let you descend slowly. Do you understand? And, do you want to try out this technique or do you want to take the small lift?"

 

[Ares]

The serpent looked up at his master. "To take the lift would be to admit defeat."

He continued, "I understand, Master. You said you would demonstrate..." he paused, for he knew the human would do it momentarily.

 

[D.C.]

"You mentioned defeat. Before we carry on, I want to tell you something about defeat. There is no shame in defeat, there is no shame in running. A good warrior knows when he is defeated, only fools battle until they lie bathing in their own blood. Remember that."

Quentell's words were direct, and he sounded very serious when he said that, because it was true. The old master remember a battle he once fought, more than twenty years ago, against six Dark Jedi. It was himself vs six Dark Jedi far away from help and if he had not run back then, he would not be teaching Ts'rss'trmn now. Back then he was but a mere Knight, now he was one of the most powerful Force Users, and still he would run if he had to, but that did not mean he was a coward. He would never flee because he was afraid, but because he knew that there was no point in fighting to the death.

"I just wanted to make that clear." Quentell said, more friendly this time. He smiled faintly and then turned around and looked to the ground down below. "Watch me carefully." He said before he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Then suddenly he opened his eyes and he stepped over the edge. A very strong Force Aura was surrounding him, and he descended gently to the floor below. He easily stepped on the ground and looked up to his apprentice who was still at the high rock. He crossed his arms and waited for his apprentice to follow him.

 

[Ares]

The serpentine alien was beginning to explain his philosophy that there was no such thing as an unwinnable situation, but then the human interrupted him with. "I just wanted to make that clear."

And that ended a potentially enriching philosophical debate. A pity.

Ts'rss'trmn watched his mentor surround himself with a blanket of Force and slowly descend from the towering boulder at a majestic rate. The serpentine alien knew that such grace would be hard, but possible, to achieve. The Ssither waited until his master was on the ground and waiting. Then he acted.

Surrounding himself with a whirlwind of Force Wind, the serpent slithered into the air. The miniature energy cyclone around him rippled the air, and Ts'rss'trmn went down at a medium speed, bordering on high. He slithered in the air, twisting and sliding as if in a slippery-rocked gorge. After several seconds, much faster than his master's leisurely glide down, the serpentine male landed on the ground in a coil of scales and muscle. He slithered up, reaching his usual 'heighth'.

"Was that... sufficient?"

 

[D.C.]

"Yes, it was." Quentell said. "You did well, though you could have come down slower, but that comes with practice. When you practice more, you will be able to slow down your fall as much as you want, until you are almost floating in the air, but for that you must have completely mastered it. I have not reached that level of this technique yet, but I will soon."

The Shade Master gestured for his padawan to follow him and he said: "We will be doing something different now, and for that we will have to return to our training room. Unless there is anything you want to ask me first?"

 

[Ares]

The Ssither nodded by way of response, and said, "Well, I always have a question... So, this time, I was wondering... Do Shade always wield lightsabers? Or do they sometimes use more... exotic weapons?"


((OOC/ So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry about the unexcusable lack of activity... >_>))

 

[D.C.]

"I think it's a personal choice. I use whatever weapon I can get my hands on, but I prefer my two lightsabers in dual wield. I often use my blaster pistol too, otherwise I take whatever I can get to defend myself with. Why do you ask, Ts'rss'trmn?" The Shade Master said. He wondered why Ts'rss'trmn would ask such a thing, perhaps he was referring to his own sword, or maybe he had another weapon in mind he wanted to use. To Quentell it really didn't matter what weapon a Shade would use, as long as he or she was able to use it in the right way.

 

[Ares]

The serpentine alien shrugged. "I was.... curious, for I have seen mostly lightsabers here, with a few exceptions. It's one of those things that piques my interest. And it was also partially because I have been with my scimitar for so long, I didn't want to trade it..."

 

[D.C.]

"I never let my students trade their weapons for a lightsaber, unless they want to. I always let them keep their original weapons, unless they say they want to get rid of them." Quentell said to his apprentice.

"As of now, we're going back to the training room. The next few lessons will be very dangerous, so you must listen to me very carefully. First, let us go back to the training room."

When they reached the training room, Quentell Xall turned around and looked at the Ssither in front of him. He knew this one was wise, and powerful, but he needed just that little extra power.

"In the Shade Order, we do not focus entirely on the Light Side nor only the Dark Side. We combine them. Right now, I am going to teach you how to use the Dark Side as you wish. How to control it instead of having it control you. First of all, can you please tell me if you have ever had any experience with the Dark Side of the Force?"

 

[Ares]

Ts'rss'trmn looked ashamed when he was asked the last question.

"Yes.... yes, I have. In a fit of rage, I strangled a pirate with my mind, and another time, I used the Force to... it's almost too horrible... but I used the wind to literally tear a being to pieces. I don't remember why, but I remember that it wasn't warranted..." His expressing was somewhat digusted, as if he had just realized he had done something horrible. But he shook his head. "As you said, I need to learn control.... Those times, it controlled me..."

 

[D.C.]

"Hmm..." Quentell said. "...So you are familiar with it."

Then he clapped in his hands one time and the room began to fade away, and a few moments later Ts'rss'trmn stood in a dark back alley. Quentell was nowhere to be seen, instead two persons up ahead. One was a thug, beating up the other person, an innocent little girl.

~Do you see that, Ts'rss'trmn? Does it make you angry? That little girl will die if you won't do anything! Tap into your anger and use the Force to strike the thug down, to save her!~ Quentell's voice sounded in Ts'rss'trmn's head.

 

[Ares]

The serpentine alien didn't even hesitate after his Master's urgings. He drew back his muscled right arm, summoning power. Pure power. With a violent detonation, a blast of wind lurched out, surrounding the bulky human scumbag. Within a minute, he was violently snapped and broken in every way, his bones and cartilege crushed from the wild, buffeting power. The Ssither remained in the same spot, frozen. Who had controlled the attack? His anger, or his mind? He couldn't tell...

 

[D.C.]

Slowly the room reappeared and Quentell stood before Ts'rss'trmn, with his arms crossed.

"You might know this, but what just happened was an illusion created by the Force." He said. "Now, tell me, my padawan, what did you feel when you used the Dark Side of the Force? How, did it make you feel?"