Second Coming

[HunterOrdo]

Traven paused unsure. He did not truly know himself. Learning more about the force was tempting as he always secretly enjoyed it even when he used to be out done by his fellow initiates, but he did not like leaving something unfinished.

He nodded deciding "I want to finish mastering Protection Bubble."

 

[Master Maverick]

Her 'eyebrow' raised as she was a little surprised at his choice. If he became adept at this ability now, he would indeed be a force to be reckoned with in the near future, along with the rest of his life.

However, there was a bit of a snag. She, herself, didn't know how to perform the ability. She did know how to use it in theory, but that was it. She would have to do her best in this. She could think of something. Also, perhaps she could learn this ability from her Padawan. She was not ashamed at not knowing something and relished the chance to learn.

She nodded in confirmation to him, and told him, "Show me what you are capable of."

She would watch while emptying her own mind readying to try and learn the ability. Quickly she surrendered all thoughts and feelings to the force, but was still able to watch and comprehend consciously. It was quite an interesting feeling, one's mind being empty but still present. It was not an easy thing to accomplish, she knew, but couldn't think that it would be interesting if he would be willing to learn such a thing, seeing as how she couldn't 'think' in the traditional manner.

 

[HunterOrdo]

"Ok." Traven sat down on the ground in a meditative stance. He took a deep breath as before he started by using Tapas. The technique was about using the force to build a shell around your body to keep in the heat.

Just as before, he slowly began pushing on Tapas continually expanding the small shell into a bubble. A strange green ball slowly engulfed Traven. It was.. difficult. He could feel the force pulsate at times. It was a difficult process because he was trying to make the distribution perfect to create a perfect bubble.

Every time he stopped for a second a portion weakened when he patched that portion another portioned weakened. It took his complete concentration to maintain it with the continuous repairing. He opened his eyes and let the bubble collapse. "Its as far as I got." He started "If I lose concentration for a second it all goes away.."

 

[Master Maverick]

She was rather impressed with him. It was indeed beautiful to behold, but it was more than obvious the difficulty he was having with the ability.

As per her usual, she stayed tuned in to Traven as she did this, and noticed that when a place wavered, his attention was focused on the weakness, which would create yet another weakness. She could give him useful advice for this as it was simple concentration. As well, when a place faltered, thoughts and even doubts entered his mind. This she would address as well.

"Do you remember what I say about meditating?" Even though it was a rhetorical question, she still pause, but not really long enough for him to answer. "You must allow your thoughts and feelings to disperse and allow the force to take them. Be in the here and now, concentrate on what you're doing rather than succeeding or failing. Focus on the bubble as a whole. As they say; it is only as strong as its weakest link. Treat the entire bubble as one thing; when a falter occurs, simply allow the stronger parts to flow and even out. All the while, you should be putting more energy into it, making it ever stronger."

That was all she had to say on the matter. Other than that, she didn't really know what else to say unless something else came up. She motioned for him to create the bubble again as she observed him through the force.

 

[HunterOrdo]

Traven nodded to her question.. He remembered. Concentrate on the now, not about failing or succeeding. Do not try to patch up a weak spot just concentration on strengthening the entire bubble. Traven thought it over trying to mentally prepare himself.

He slowly closed his eyes and tried again. Once again, he started by making a thick Tapas around himself before slowly expanding it. He did notice that he was getting faster at expanding it.. perhaps someday he would be able to do it without doing Tapas first.

The bubble once again returned to its previous state being about 3 feet away from him at any direction. When the weak spot began, he had to stop himself from not patching it up, instead trying to work more force into the bubble itself.

It worked in a sense. The entire bubble became stronger including the weak spot. It was still weaker then the rest of the bubble around it, but it would hold.

 

[Master Maverick]

She was practically elated when her suggestion worked. In reality, she wasn't sure if she would have the right idea or not, and was quite happy when her advice seemed to work.

Her presence would wash over Traven like the sun warming him, appearing from behind a cloud as he laid on soft grass. She didn't want to interrupt his concentration, but gave him the message to keep continuing until he couldn't hold it any longer.

She watched as the bubble, though fluid, was structured and sound. He would be able to shield himself from many things in this. However, using it in a battle, not in this calming room, would be a whole other scenario and quite possibly quite difficult. She could appreciate this because of how long it took her to learn how to heal on a battlefield. It wasn't easy and took hundreds of hours to her master distracting her as she tried to perform the task. She was quite adept at it now and was more than grateful to her former master for testing her so harshly for all those years.

She wouldn't do anything to distract him. Not now. She would just watch and advise him if needed. Otherwise she stayed silent. She wasn't going to test the shield by striking it with her saber. First he needed to be able to hold it for quite a while. Dealing with strikes against it would only disrupt his concentration and wear him out faster. He would need to be able to sit here for a day and hold this flawlessly before he would be able to withstand any meaningful explosion.

She watched in admiration as he sat there, in peaceful calm, working at perfecting an ability she didn't even know how to use.

 

[HunterOrdo]

Traven kept his eyes closed and his mind empty. Keeping your mind empty is far harder than many believe. Trying to make it empty only causes you to think about making it empty. Thoughts continually try to invade your vacant mind.

Traven concentrated on continually bringing new energy into the shield to sustain it and give back what it lost as time rolled on. He was still tired from forcing his emotions into a bubble only awhile ago, but he felt like he could do this forever.

-- 3 Hours Later --​

The bubble had been weakening. Traven could feel it, but he could not do anything about it. His head was starting to hurt from the not stomp concentration, and he felt exhausted. His mind was tired while his body was fine.. As the time passed the bubble slowly decayed in strength, until finally it cracked and dispersed.

Traven opened his eyes for the first time in hours. He let his head fall into his hands rubbing his eyes to try and keep himself awake.

 

[Master Maverick]

Her gaze never faltered upon her student. She watched with unending patience, interest and curiosity. Her face was mainly emotionless, but her mind raced as she thought of a myriad of things; some pertaining to what was before her, sometimes her mind wander to other subjects for a little while.

Hours meant nothing to her, and she observed as the bubble started weakening and knew it would not be long until he would need to rest. Many she taught had excellent physical endurance, as she was a guardian and more often than not trained such Padawans who wanted to walk that path. However, mental endurance was more, if not as much, important as one's physical endurance. On top of that, it was all the more difficult to improve on.

She was glad that Traven, she could tell, was dedicated enough to work on this ability tirelessly until he would perfect it. Thus, she had no problem telling him, "I want you to be able to meditate for 12 hours nonstop. Then you may move on to improve your protection bubble. You will find that with this mastered, creating and maintaining the bubble will be far easier." She just smiled at him as she rested his head in his hands, obviously exhausted.

She would sit there for a minute or 2, allowing him to rest as she attempted to soothe his tired mind, pushing out warmth and serenity from her being through the force.

"I think we are finished for the day, Traven. I will be leaving for Tython in the morning tomorrow. If you wish to accompany me, I have reserved a seat for you on the shuttle." Her smile never lessened. It was more than obvious her happiness and how impressed and proud she was of her Apprentice.

She stood, allowing him to stay there as she started to walk away. After a few steps, she turned and looked back. She was about to mention that she didn't forget about their previous conversation, and that they would talk about it at a later time. However, she thought better of it, not wanting to bring up those feelings again. She just smiled warmly as she turned back around and walked out of the beautiful Room of a Thousand Fountains. She wanted to meditate on what might have happened to Traven and perhaps do some investigating on what had happened.

 

[HunterOrdo]

Meditate for 12 hours without stopping? He was unsure if he could do that. What if he had to go to the bathroom? Or had to eat? Was there a technique that allowed you to hold off on that as Tapas allowed you to hold in body heat?

But he felt too tired to truly worry about it at the moment. He just wanted to get a few hours of rest, but he felt accomplished today. Like he had done much despite the failings of earlier.

His master was going to Tython? Why? "I want to go." he said hurriedly. He had only seen Tython once and that was very brief. He wanted to see it.. and be far away from the temple for awhile. She stopped and looked back for a second and then left.

Traven felt the exhaustion over come him, and he let his body fall to the soft grass where his eyes closed and his world went black.