The Building Blocks [Open]

[Tristyn]

Still getting no feeling of the Force she opened her eyes and held up her hand,"Hmm...I'm not getting anything over here. Just a strange tingle that I feel when I try to meditate"

 

[Lubbies]

Jeero, at first was intimidated by the rest of the group who most of which were already deep in meditation. He had never really tried to meditate due to his severe impatience but he thought now would be the best time to try.

He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing and began to calm himself. He tried to organise his thoughts and focus on his heartbeat's rhythm. He could feel something coming on, an almost transcendant feel but was quickly thrown back into reality. Eyes flicking open again.

Frustrated but determined, Jeero shut his eyes and began to think of serenity. Instead of focusing on his heartbeat, a vision of his forest home appeared in his mind. The sweet songs of the birds, the soft golden reflections through the trees and the soft sound of the wind rustling through the leaves. In his little mind's paradise he began to sense the force emanation of the others group members.

 

[narthandulus]

Tal began to sink deeper and deeper into the peaceful trance he had put himself under. He was able to not only sense the force of the other people around him to the point where he could almost intertwine his mind with theres'. However he instead chose to concentrate on expanding his own aura, attempting fill the room with a feeling of absolute peace.

 

[Tristyn]

After trying again, Anara began to feel the other padawans through the Force, but only has small tingles. She gained a smile on her face as she was finally able to feel their presence.

 

[Khivas]

Khivas could feel every single person and object in that room, their presence and in turn essence radiating like a fiery beacon within the Force, some stronger than others, but each one unique and powerful in their own right. He could also sense their motives, their struggles, some defined and clear, others more like a loose feeling of raw emotion, less of an idea and more of a "color" painting the Force itself. "So this is what it's like to connect to the Force while fully sober and with a bunch of Paddies around. Interesting." He thought to himself as he felt the serene feeling ease into his body and mind.

It's during this time that he noticed one of the Padawans was having a particularly hard time in meditating and connection to the Force in full, getting right to the cusp but failing each time to fully grasp it. Deciding to lend her a proverbial hand, Khivas reached out with the Force and tapped into her essence, sending mental messages to her to help guide her spirit, so to speak. "Calm yourself, Padawan, the more you try, the less you succeed in this case." He started, "Simply relax, breath easy and the Force will figure out the rest for you. All you have to do is simply let go and let it happen."

 

[Tristyn]

Anara jolted up in surprise after hearing someone speaking to her, it sounded rather close. She looked around quickly to see who it was and was surprised to see everyone else still meditating. She took in another deep breath and let it out before closing her eyes.

"Odd" she thought. She shrugged and simply calmed herself, forgetting that she was supposed to meditate. She began to fall into a small trance and as such started to sense the others around her rather accurately and could feel some sort of essence coming off from them. This new essence was somewhat soothing and she felt at peace with them around her.

 

[narthandulus]

Tal's trance had become quite deep. He felt a certain peace envelop his mind as he had felt the force around him. The feeling wasn't much but he could feel the force flow around him and his fellow Jedi as they continued there meditation. Wondering what he could do with this feeling he had decided to let go and allow the force to pulse freely around him, letting it interact with everything in the room from his fellow Padawan learners down to the tiniest bolt that held the room together.

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

Vergil kept quiet, mildly annoyed at the late arrivals. He was having a hard enough time trying to connect to the force.

As the room settled down, Vergil attempted the meditations again. Breathing in and out, Vergil found his muscle relaxing and his mind clearing out. Invisible cobwebs inside his mind seemed to clear themselves out and the aches of practice left his shoulders. Listening, Vergil seemed to be falling into the rhythmic pattern that their breathing had become. The meditation seemed to have a relaxing if nothing else. Yet as he continued letting himself go, Vergil found he could extend his awareness a little bit further then his earlier attempt.

In doing so, something dawned on him. Opening himself up like this reminded him of the feelings he achieved while practicing his blade work. The flow of energy that moved through him during his motions moved through him now. But instead of the tidal wave of force he could direct, this was a calm ocean. The others around him seemed to be part of this ocean, yet distinctly apart. In this place of existence, two massive objects of serenity seemed to be attracting the smaller points like moths to a flame. Curious, Vergil reached out to touch the stronger of the two with his mind.

Contact with it sent shivers down Vergil's spine. This thing was alien to him, yet remarkably familiar. Vergil initiated contact again as a sort of greeting and in doing so realized what, or rather who, the thing was. It could only be Master Kai. Withdrawing contact, Vergil began looking for the others and giving them a small greeting from within the force. Returning to his place, Vergil continued trying to fall deeper into the pattern he developed. Secretly hoping that more would be revealed to him.

 

[Tristyn]

Her senses were getting better every moment she took concentrating and could faintly felt the other padawans around her and oddly some else felt about stronger in the Force than usual. She soon realised it was Master Sera she was sensing. As if in another body she tried to greet the master's mysterious essence as if it were a person using the Force.

 

[QuickSilver]

(OOC: @Ral Aran Is there going to be a posting order or is the thread going to stay random?)

Acodi's concentration was broken once more by the pattering of feet on the ground. He opened his eyes to watch a stream of Jedi enter one by one; each one not too far behind the one previous. The first to enter was a Togruta female. She was no child but Acodi could tell she was younger than he was. Next entered a young male human who seemed to be around the same age as Acodi. He walked in with his chest puffed out and scurried over to join the circle undetected. Acodi cringed as the man came crashing down. However, the man made a somewhat smooth recovery, transitioning into meditative stance. A few moments later, another male human joined the group. He quietly joined them without causing a scene; something the man before him attempted to do. After a few minutes of waiting, Acodi was confident that no one else would be joining anytime soon. He then closed his eyes and began to meditate once more.

He began to reach out towards the others through the force when he was interrupted by a voice. "Hmm...I'm not getting anything over here. Just a strange tingle that I feel when I try to meditate." Acodi opened his eyes to see the newest Togruta female speaking. She had a frustrated look on her face and Acodi could tell that she wasn't very experienced with the force. I guess I tend to forget that not everyone has been exposed to the force for most of their lives, Acodi thought as he regained his concentration. He felt around the room, sensing an array of different emotions; Understanding, Determination, Annoyance, Impatience and Confusion. After while, Acodi pinpointed who each of these emotions came from. After doing so, He mentally watched the scene unfold. Soon, all of these emotions melted away and the room was engulfed in an aura of serenity. When Acodi could sense this, he opened his eyes. He sat in complete silence, waiting for the next set of instructions.

 

[Ral]

(OOC: Right, normally I do this, but I forgot to mention it. Posting Order is as follows: Me, everyone else. Everyone gets 1 post per round, a round starting with me and ending once everyone has posted or a week has passed, so make it worth something.)

Once some time had passed, and all the Padawans present had gotten a chance to get attuned to the Living Force, Kai opened his eyes and looked around the training room. Clearing his throat, more to get attention politely rather than there being something stuck in it, he spoke, "Alright Padawans," he said softly, clapping lightly, "Let's see what you were able to sense. If you're not sure, or you weren't able to sense anything specific, that's okay. I just want everyone to do their best. If one of you feel like you need more time you can take some time to meditate after this. Now, who would like to go first to share?"

Kai's eyes glanced around the assembled circle of Padawans, waiting to see who would go first and be bold enough to share. (OOC: Feel free to roleplay this part out a little) Once everyone was finished, the Jedi master smiled. "Alright, now that we have established how to let the Force speak to us a little, let's move to basic lightsaber drills. For those of you who do not have a lightsaber with a training setting, there are practice blades over here in this crate." The young Master walked over to the crate where he removed a training saber from inside and handed it to Saana, his apprentice with a smile. "Here."

Once all the Padawans had retrieved a training saber and activated the blades, Kai would explain. "Now, we're going to practice blocking shots from remotes. This is fairly simple and easy if you let the Force speak to you and guide your actions. The shots are set to cause a mild sting, but no lasting damage. If you need to take a break, simply deactivate your lightsaber. Any questions?" He asked as he got the training remotes out and set one before each Padawan present.

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

Vergil returned to himself as the Master spoke, "Let's see what you were able to sense. If you're not sure, or you weren't able to sense anything specific, that's okay. I just want everyone to do their best. If one of you feel like you need more time you can take some time to meditate after this. Now, who would like to go first to share?"

Vergil stood and bowed to Master Kai. Normally content to set back and observe, Vergil opened his mouth to speak. "Master...I felt like I was apart of something larger than myself. I believe that this is the first time I've intentionally meditated before, yet I feel like I've been doing this forever."

"I admit I struggled at first, I couldn't find the right way to settle myself. I feel like I had difficulty letting my mind reach out into the force. It was exhilarating, yet utterly different than what I expected. I felt like I was anchored to this room, but my mind was adrift in an ocean. I could feel everyone there. We were all distinct, yet very similar...I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Whenever I'm practicing with my lightsaber, it seems the same. But I feel like it's my body that draws on the force, not me." He said, "Is that how it is supposed to be?"

 

[CJ Solo]

The entrance of the late comers had disrupted her concentration as well. It was only minorly annoying as she was trying hard to accomplish the directed task for her first time, but it was a feeling that had left as quickly as it had come. When Anara entered the class and took her seat, Saana glanced around briefly before shifting her spot on the floor to sit in a spot that was closer to the other Togruta. She gave Anara a quick, reassuring smile before returning to her attempts to meditate.

It was when Vergil was done speaking that she stood to speak. "It was difficult at first, but once I was able to focus I saw what was like a fog of light. In it I saw ..." She considered her words looking for the right ones. " I saw a flow of light, like a big river. Further, I could see each here and I felt different emotions."

When it was time to move on, and Kai handed her the lightsaber, Saana smiled at him and bowed graciously. "Thank you Master Kai." Her attention turned to Anara then and she offered the other another light smile. "We can work together, yes?"

 

[Lubbies]

Jeero was exploring the forests of his mind, revelling in the emanations, trying to discover more, hungry for more knowledge of the force until he was pulled back to reality by the sound of Master Sera's voice. He asked the group about what they had felt during meditation.

Jeero was a little nervous to speak but he was still excited about his new connection to the force. "I felt safe and at home within my own mind, this feeling I had, it was comforting," he replied to Master Sera. After intently listening to everyone's experieces, Master Sera said that the group would be moving on to lightsaber exercises.

At the mere mention of lightsabers, Jeero sprang to attention and eagerly grabbed a practise blade awaiting further instruction.

 

[CrazziAzn]

Nos waited for the others to finish speaking. As he listened he gained new insights on what the force felt like to others. When it was his turn to speak, Nos hesitated at first, unsure of how to explain it, then slowly began.
"I've felt the force like this before... but nothing quite like this surrounded by other force users. It felt like... a calm ocean. Deep and vast in its immensity... but calm. I saw all of you as warm lights among this ocean, silently floating. It was refreshing."

After the class had finished sharing, Nos rose with the others towards the training lightsabers. He grabbed one and tested the weight of it. Not too heavy to be a liability, but with enough heft to feel like he was holding something. As good a training blade as any other, Nos thought to himself with a smile. Once he had retrieved the blade, he joined the other padawans and waited for Master Sera's instructions as a training remote was set before him.

 

[Tristyn]

Still a little to new to using the Force, Anara decides to keep quiet. Following the master's instructions, she walked up to get a practice lightsaber and heard Saana call behind her, "We can work together, yes?" she gladly nodded "Of course", feeling she needed a friend since she had only just joined the Order.

She takes one of the metal hilts from the crate and flips a switch igniting the saber. She stared at it in awe and stood next to Saana, awaiting instruction from the master in front of her.

 

[Khivas]

"Uh oh, basic lightsaber drills? Hahaaaaa, no." Khivas said rather bluntly but still somehow managed to maintain a smug smile and a hint of kindness in his statement as he got up from his former meditative position. Needless to say, he felt a lot, far more than the Padawans sensed, but was never keen on sharing it. After all, as of late, Khivas' abilities with sensing the Force were becoming......interesting. But that wasn't the point today, Khivas' insecurities at his sudden breakthrough in his own personal barriers to skill were to be dealt with at another time, today was the day for the young and the students, and Khivas was damn good with a blade, very much intending to pass down whatever knowledge he could to them. After all, it just might save their life one day.

Grabbing a training saber from the rack (a bit of an "oversight" during the creation of his saber made it so it did not have a practice setting), Khivas took up post next to Kai, nodding politely and respectfully to the young master, letting him know that the knight would be there to help him assist any Padawans that would have trouble with this exercise. "I'll keep an eye out for anybody that needs help, to help ease the burden with a class this big." Khivas said, "And if you need a test subject, consider me the guy for the job."

 

[narthandulus]

Tal broke out of his trance and stood up before saying "I'll admit that I'm not one for description, but I feel that I won't do any justice to the force by describing it, it's something that can only be experienced. However I do know at least one subject that I can describe in quite some detail." Tal grabbed one of the practice light sabers and activated it with a focused look in his eyes. "And that is the peace I feel in battle when the force flows through and guides every swing and block I make."

 

[QuickSilver]

Acodi listened intently to the others' thoughts as they spoke. It was interesting to hear how others experienced the force. When it became his turn to speak, he cleared his throat and said "I've always felt the force as a web. I sense everyone and every living thing as a node on the web. Individually we are all pretty different but together we form something much larger and much more powerful than ourselves. The force flows through us to form a connection between us all." He finished his small piece of insight and returned to silence in order to let the others share. After everyone was finished, the group moved on to lightsaber training. Acodi had an eager smile on his face as he rose up off of the ground. He had always focused on a more offensive style and now he would get to train in a defensive style. He made his way over to an un-occupied portion of the room and stretched, preparing his body physically and mentally for the task at hand.

He watched as Master Sera walked around the room, activating a small training remote for each participant. Acodi reached for his lightsaber, adjusting the power setting into a training mode. I'm glad I installed this, Acodi thought as he gripped the hilt in his left hand. He swiftly activated the weapon, it's blue hued blade shooting up from the hilt with a soft hiss. Instinctively, Acodi displayed a Makashi flourish before changing into the most basic Shii Cho stance. He thought back on the Shii Cho training he, like most jedi, was taught as a youngling. He shifted his feet a bit wider apart and held the saber with a two-handed grip. The remote shot off a warning shot which Acodi successfully blocked. I think I'm gonna get the hang of this pretty easily, Acodi thought as he blocked two more rhythmic shots. However, the remote began to hasten.

Acodi winced as a shot connected with his right shoulder. A stinging pain spread through his upper arm but he shook it off. "I almost forgot how bad these things sting," Acodi joked as he took his stance once more. He was too determined to let this stop him. He began to get better after blocking a few more shots and taking another to the thigh. Soon he was blocking a majority of the shots. Acodi's form was not without flaws however. In fact it was very rudimentary and He would gladly accept advice on how to improve. His relative success spurred him to continue. Blaster bolt blocking and deflection was a valuable skill, and Acodi intended on learning them.

 

[Ral]

Listening to those who shared, Kai smiled and gave an approving nod. Not everyone shared, perhaps others felt like it was something personal, or maybe they just didn't know how to put the sensation into words. The Jedi Master wouldn't judge or comment. Once everyone had gotten a chance to share and say their piece he would move on. "Well, that was good, thank you for sharing. Hopefully, some of you have a better idea of what the Force is like to not just yourself but those around you."

"Alright, for starters just try and keep yourself from getting shot by the training bolt. Remember that sensation you felt while meditating? Try and feel something similar; you should be able to get a sensation for the remotes and where they're about to fire. All you have to do is reach out with your feelings; sense what the remotes are about to do. Then move your blade to block. There is no passing or failing, just do your utmost to defend yourself from the remotes. This is an excellent way to hone your abilities to use the Force and to feel the Force around you. If any of you feel like this is too easy go ahead and adjust the difficulty to a harder setting. Feel free to start when you're ready," Kai remarked nodding to Acodi who seemed to be eager to start. Unlike other teachers, Kai wasn't one to get on a students case for being eager, not unless there was clearly something wrong with them. Standing back, the Master would wait and watch the Padawans begin. Turning to Khivas, Kai stated: "If you want a bit more of a challenge try facing two remotes on the hardest setting and throwing some Force powers into it."

Watching the students proved to be entertaining for Kai as he waited to see if any of them needed help, or had questions.