trans_9 | light & motion

Current Mood: surprised
Current Location: sensoriums

Entry tags:

light & motion

Arha drew a breath in, focusing on the curved discs before her as she moved through a graceful set of katas to warm up. She stretched, letting the sunlight that streaming into the red tiled practice hall warm her back, it glinted of the metal and set her hair afire as she spun through another set. It was a dance, one she had always enjoyed growing up, when the blades were actually sharp--unlike these, which possessed dull edges, thanks to Stacy's carefulness. Arha closed her eyes as her fingers closed around the discs.

She had been waiting for this and a small, hungry smile flicked out across her lips and she threw the bladed discs out. They caught, hovering in the air and she hear the snap! ting! as the blades released. She cricked her neck and let out a laugh as the blades began to spin. No. Wait.

"Pause!" She called. The blades froze. "Blindfold," she said, pictuiring it in her mind. It seemed only right to use all of her senses and to hone those she could. There were eight blades. Arha tied the strip of cloth tight and felt the weight of it hit the air and brush her shoulders.

"Resume."

Move.

She swept left, rolling to avoid the whir, her neck craned as the spinning disc sliced through the spot her head had been, the breeze of its passage a whisper against her cheek. She found the two curved blades she had set aside earlier and the soft chink as she pulled them apart echoed. The Force was there, like a quiet ripple and she pulled upon her own training as she opened her mind. This was a dance of mathematics, physics, and, indeed, prescience in the heat of battle. Sunlight threw reflections from the whirring blades as she settled into the calm oasis where there was nothing at all besides the motion of her body and the quickness of her mind.

Ting!

A blade fell, too dull to bury itself into the floor, the tinny sound of it spinning echoed. Ting! Another bounced off a column. Arha flipped, her back curving, then twisting bizarrely as she avoided a blow to her lower back. The angle was wrong and she hissed as the edge of the blade glanced off her shoulder, leaving a stinging sensation. It would have been a decent scratch if it had been real. She landed, cat-like, her blade snapping out to send the offending disc skittering across the floor, the ting! unsatisfying. She moved again, bent backwards with her hair brushing the floor, complete control over her body keeping her upright. Ting!

There!

Her breath caught as she slammed her weapons out to catch two more discs. The sound of them striking opposite columns was loud. Two more. Two more. Do not become giddy, for it distrac-- Arha sucked in a breath and deflected another disc (both of her blades clattered out of reach from the glancing blow) as a wave of the Force washed over her. She held her hands up, fingers spread as she breathed hard. It was right there, right in front of her face. The whirring increased even as she moved away. Concentration pulled bright spots before her eyes as she squeezed them shut and pushed. It was the barest of things, not enough to make a breeze and it certainly was nothing but potential.

And yet, timing was everything.

The disc wobbled as it destabilized and spun off in another direction. Arha hit the floor a second later as she ripped the blindfold off, suddenly exhausted. She stayed where she was and heard the disc finally clatter to the floor some moments later. Now, her shoulder throbbed.

[[Brought to you by: Fight the Darkness- Two Steps From Hell]]

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Luke flexed it a last time, then stepped back. "It's a start," he said, going back to stand beside Obi-Wan again. "It's amazing you can sense and use it at all. But holding it in until it snaps up like a hungry sarlacc doesn't work so well."

Luke paused a moment, thinking. He'd learned what he was going to say next from Obi-Wan aboard the Falcon, and part of him felt odd to be saying it next to the man himself. But he was a Master too, although he'd still defer to Obi-Wan's wisdom even so. It just felt wrong not to.

"Next time you try this exercise," he said, "Trust in your feelings. Don't think about where the next attack is going to be coming from."

"I couldn't have said it any better," Obi-Wan nodded, "You took the words right out of my mouth!"

Arha had asked him for learning, but...well, Luke had been here first, in more ways than the immediate. Too many cooks spoil the meal, as the saying went. Ben stepped back again, against the wall where he'd originally leaned. The path of seniority wasn't clear here, but Obi-Wan had never been ambitious.

"I will do it again," Arha said, flicking a glance between the two men. "With less blades." She was already moving, determination pulling her shoulders into alignment as she tightened the blindfold. There was a moment where she stood still, then set her hand-held blades down before flinging the two discs away from her.

Instead of tensing, she let go. There was stillness, a ripple, then another. She stood, immobile, just breathing as she tentatively let her mind expand. Arha pivoted at the last moment and deflected one blade, which twisted and wrenched her blade free. She made a soft noise of dissatisfaction as it went skittering loudly across the floor as the other sliced by her side. She arched her back in an unnatural curve, a hand on the floor as she flipped out of the way.

No thinking. Just feeling.

She swept away, catlike as she flattened to avoid getting smashed in the temple. Breathe. Focus. Ah...it comes. Buzzing. It buzzed in the back of her skull. Arha moved, twisting her cheek away, and felt the air shift, cooling as the spinning blades whizzed passed.

The buzzing grew again, a tingle that raced along her body, and she let it run as her hand came up, graceful like a palmstrike gesture. Like the Weirding Way.

It was different, the pull was different. Arha rocked back and instead of pushing, let it flow. Like water. There was effort to it, still, and it was no stream. Again, a breath, but this time, it did not hurt. The disc clattered in front of her, tinny as it settled, and Arha pulled the blindfold away with trembling fingers.

She could not attempt that again.

Luke couldn't help the little smile and small rush of pride; it was like seeing a youngling get a training exercise right for the first time and then staring in surprise as if they didn't believe it. Still, it was a step in... well, whatever direction they wanted to take this in.

"Did that feel any different?" he asked, then glanced over at Obi-Wan. There was a protocol here Luke felt rather certain he was breaking, but then again, there had been so many changes between Obi-Wan's Order and Luke's New Jedi Order that it was difficult to tell what would be considered appropriate. "Were you better able to sense the discs as they came at you?" he asked, turning his eyes back to Arha.

Obi-Wan mirrored that smile. It wasn't ideal, but it was something. He couldn't train Arha as he'd trained Anakin, and to try and do so would be foolish. Still...

"Perhaps we should try something...more aimed towards stretching your control than your timing," Obi-Wan ventured, biting back his hesitation ruthlessly. The chain of seniority was so obfuscated, it was difficult to know if he ought to back down or assert himself, "Contrary to popular opinion, we're not usually given to handing weapons prospective Jedi on the first day and seeing if they can sense things blindfolded without hurting themselves in the process."

"Control is essential to timing," Arha agreed, moving lean herself next to Obi-Wan as she thought it over. She wound up sliding down the wall a second later and sat, haphazard as she drifted over the attempts. "There should be a clear cut lesson plan with routine and a chain seniority in teaching if you both wish to teach me. I benefit from both of your expertise, as always, but..."

She gestured lightly.

"Such things would be ideal. I am no creature from your Universe. I do not know how you go about teaching, so, I shall defer to the Jed-Eye in this matter." She leaned her head back against the wall, a half glance angled up to Obi-Wan. "Am I not your..." she grasped at the word.

"...ah...you Jed-Eye and your words. Learner. Student. Paddyone?"

Obi-Wan's words brought a little smile to the Jedi Master's face, as though he were remembering something from long ago, fondly. "No, that's not usually the practice," he agreed, then fell silent as Arha spoke. Much as he'd like to teach her himself--she was a fascinating woman and he wouldn't have minded spending those hours somewhere sparring and imparting knowledge of the Force, even if it was only the knowledge and not the practice--Obi-Wan was of a higher rank in Luke's mind. If not in actuality, as a mark of respect.

Luke nodded his head, as if coming to a decision. "Ben did teach me a great deal," he said. "It'd be better if you learned it right from him anyway."

Luke bowed his head to Obi-Wan, as he'd do for a fellow Master. "If that's all right with you?"

Obi-Wan's smile was full and warming, and he offered a polite bow to acknowledge Arha's words.

"It's more than alright, it would be my honor," He replied simply, and offered a handshake to Luke, "But you offer your own insight. Would you mind offering your counsel and perhaps a lesson or two when I find myself at a loss?"

"I cannot imagine such," Arha drawled, "but I am grateful for any knowledge at any time and in any situation. I am going to enjoy," she paused to wipe her voice clean of weariness and tug her mind back into focus.

"...learning this Force very much." She locked her body so it would stay upright and smiled. "It has been awhile since I have been so pleased to learn something that promises difficulty."

He reached over and shook Obi-Wan's hand, sending along with it a wave of some of the deep respect he had for the other Master. If anyone could teach someone of the Force, it had to be Obi-Wan. "I'd be happy to, Ben, but you probably know it all anyway."

"All the things that are worth learning leave you feeling like you've been run over by a herd of nerfs." Luke's smile had dimmed a bit but was still there, playing about his mouth. "Which is why you need to rest up. I don't doubt that Master Ben will work you hard learning what you can of the Force."

"Well, Anakin never complained. Well, not much, not in public, at least," Obi-Wan gave Luke a sardonic little smile; he was teasing, mostly, "In polite company he manages to keep it down to mere sarcasm, which I feel is quite an accomplishment for him...but honestly, a Master is only a teacher for as long as he continues learning."

He let go of Luke's hand, and nodded to Arha, "Busy day, tomorrow. You'll need your focus."

"I complain not," she murmured distantly, her eyes half-slitted. "It is I who wish to learn, after all. I am focused. Very focused." Arha paused. "I need times and dates and a schedule. This day is not over yet, I think. There is still time for learning."

Luke watched them a moment, several things flitting around his head, and then quietly left the sensorium. His presence wasn't needed there any longer, and in any case, Arha wasn't his student--not really, anyway. Obi-Wan seemed to be happiest teaching, and far be it for Luke to interrupt that.

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light & motion

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I could try and avoid having him say it, but why bother?

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