The Soul May Borrow (Phoenix Whyte - Completed)

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He was waiting under a tree, deep in meditation, one hand flat on top of the trunk beside him. Whyte was coming soon...

[Lucianus Adair]

...and was always punctual. Mars had never once missed a deadline in his life, and he was not about to start.

"Master."

Phoenix approached the man, and stood straight, his hands folded in front of him. The fifteen year old apprentice was clad in a sleeveless black shirt and training cargos. The slightest bit more relaxed than usual. He carried his favored blade slung across his back, and on his hip, the lightsaber Je'gan had presented to him at an earlier date. He had continued his dedicated studies with both weapons.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

His eyes snapped open and focused on Whyte's face. The young Knight grinned and stood, dusting off his knees.

"Apprentice. How ready do you feel to move on?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Mars' eyes followed him as he flicked the dust off his knees, and as he stood to a full, unhunched stance.

"Ready, indeed...Quite ready."

Another day, another stretch of lessons to complete it.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

He popped open the trunk, revealing racks of miscellany. Prominent near the top was a pair of seekers, similar to remotes but packing firepower equal to a blaster pistol.

"Can you make your shield in another shape besides a sphere? Say...a beam?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix cocked his head to the side.

"A beam? Perhaps you are suggesting point shields....blocking say, blaster bolts at their point of contact?" He turned his head a little, creating a cracking sound. "Ahh. Better."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"No, although that would be incredibly useful too. I mean something like this."

Turning, he extended his arm and concentrated, creating a Force-push. Unlike the average such manifestation, however, it was focused into an area about an inch wide, and even a weak Knight-level push was quite something. Focused like this, it tore up dirt in a deep furrow along the ground.

"Using," he said, ending the beam and turning back to Whyte, "your shielding. Like a long bludgeon, or a jackhammer."

[Lucianus Adair]

"Ahh." I suddenly dawned on him. "I see. I shall attempt to put this into practice."

Phoenix then focused his energy to his right index finger, then unclenched the rest of his fingers, spreading the energy across them. Then crouching, he flipped his palm to the ground, releasing the energy. It burrowed a dent thirty inches deep by twelve inches across, and knocked the apprentice on his posterior.

He looked up at his master and half-grinned. "I seem to have a problem with monitoring my output."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan returned the grin.

"Only for that application. Aim at a target - like, say, this tree - and see how well you do. Use a stance that can absorb the impact. Or..."

He mused for a long moment, steepling his fingers in front of his face.

"This isn't my area of expertise, understand, but try channeling the momentum that a blast gives you into the air around you. It'll be tricky to do without causing effects to your internal anatomy, but I think you can do it. Or if that fails, try to use physical enhancement at the same time as the shield extension."

[Lucianus Adair]

Before he started, Mars needed to know one thing.

"Forgive my blunt stupidity at this moment, but what is this going to do?"

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Think a Force-push, focused into an area the size of the tip of your shield extrusion. Basically, if you do it right, a jackhammer."

[Lucianus Adair]

Mars nodded slowly. Je'gan had given the example of a jackhammer. From his understanding of how that would work, it should be like pounding into the ground, or whatever particular surface the push was aimed at, without pushing himself or the subject back. Just causing damage. Like how a extremely hard punch to one's arm might feel like it has left a dent, except this wasn't as kind.

He would try his hand at this. For his subject, he would use the tree his master had previously mentioned, and focus this practice on it. It was two layers, one slightly countering the other. The front was a shield, the back a hefty force push, directed at the same point. The shield was ever so slightly weaker than the push, but still strong enough to keep from breaking. When he let the push out at the shield, it spat forward, and knocked into the tree, creating a frighteningly loud crack that ripped nearly halfway through the sturdy plant.

Such a dual application took more energy than a single one, but the result was somewhat fascinating to him. And the plus-side was that Phoenix remained standing.

"Master Olra'en, I would be wary of that tree if I were you."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"My danger-sense can tell me if someone's even looking at me funny, Whyte. Blast the rest of it - using a different technique. Any technique, in fact, except your lightsaber."

[Lucianus Adair]

He had to think about this one a second. There was much at his disposal, the question was what would work best....A pull. It may not be the most efficient, but it was something simple, and he could choose a point from which to pull with the Force, leading to numerous different vectors at which the remainder of the tree could fall.

Mars chose the remainder of the section at which he had caused the most damage. If he pulled that out, the rest of the tree should fall away from his area. To aid such a hefty pull, he would focus at a deeper level to deconstruct it. An attempt at causing rot to make the job simplified.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Ambitious."

The last part of the word was drowned out as the tree crashed down beside Je'gan, he having stepped neatly to one side and barely avoiding a massive branch.

"Describe, if you would, exactly what you were trying to do down at the microscopic level..."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix Mars Whyte folded his hands behind his back, and looked directly at his master, his eyes a deep, dark red.

"I was attempting to alter the makeup of the plant, making that area of the tree age to rot, thus weakening it, and making the job easier to accomplish. I am not sure how well this worked, if at all, or to what effect, but whatever did happened, I pulled out the remaining section of what had been ripped at."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"That's beyond ambitious."

Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing was not made clear by Je'gan's tone of voice. As he again took a seat, however, he gestured to a branch, one that stuck up from the fallen trunk at a defiant angle. It wasn't small, either: putting thumbs and forefingers together in a circle, he might have been able to compass it.

"Something like the antithesis of Jedi healing, then. Give it a shot on the surface of this branh, if you would."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix nodded, and went to try the rot on the bark of the branch.

"If judging from what happened with the tree, where it was worked from the inside out...Doing this to the bark of that branch would, I suppose, make it look like it's being eaten away at, like a flesh-eating virus, or termites....I would be guess that takes effect at a more advanced level."

So Mars attempted the same thing he did with the tree, only from the outside in. Slightly different, but altogether the same thing. He had to be cautious, and concentrate in the right area, so as to be altering the right molecules...those being the ones of the branch, not his own.

Within less than half a minute, the effects began to show.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The spectacle was interesting in its own way - chunks of bark dropping off, a ring of wood taking on a greyish cast - but such an advanced attempt was exhausting Whyte's power far too fast for his Master's comfort. There were other things he wanted to get to before he would start really working on that strange technique with Whyte.

"Interesting," he said dispassionately. "Let's move on. Have you been practicing your Illusion?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix released his concentration. Such a technique sapped at his power quicker than the other simpler ones. Any longer and he would have began to tire.

"Yes. I have."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Show me. Make yourself invisible, and walk around as fast as you can without destabilizing the illusion."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix held up one hand, and it disappeared. He then held up the other, and it disappeared also. The young sith then clapped his hands together, and blinked out of visible existence.

He then made a run for it, towards the border wall. Mars ran up that, and flipped off of it. Then he crouched, placing one hand to the ground, and becoming ultimately silent. He was listening for something.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

It may feel like you're still invisible when you run like that, Whyte, but speed makes you ripple, just noticeably.

Try again, slower.

[Lucianus Adair]

Mars stood, wiping the dust off his palms. Then he walked over to the tree he had felled, and drew his blade. He kept his instruments sharp enough that they could cut if one were to pass the air ahead of the blade-edge.

He wound up, and brought the blade down on a section of the tree, whomping it clean off.

"Hmm. Still sharp." He cleaned the wooddust from his blade, and sheathed it in its position on his back. Then he stood there a moment, reinforcing the illusion before he jogged up to the hole he had made in the ground earlier.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan watched phlegmatically as the branch of a tree fell off cleanly, thumping on the ground and raising a small cloud of dust.

"Swinging a weapon with any sort of speed is very hard to do without destabilizing the illusion. I'd recommend dropping the invisibility to attack. Otherwise...very, very good. I'm glad you've been practicing.

"Energy manipulation. Can you call a flame yet?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix dropped the illusion, and looked rather plainly at his master. He held up one finger, as if to say to wait a moment. Then, Mars called up his shield again, and cast it around himself. With that accomplished, he traced around perimiter at which it touched the ground, creating a separate level with differences in the particles there. Once the complete end to end connection was made, he made one more slight alteration, and it looked as if the whole shield set aflame.

"Shield variation. I can see out, but others cannot see in. The complexity of this construct is a bit much for myself to hold constant at the moment."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"It's impressive complexity, Whyte, but tell me what it's good for besides terror."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix was quiet for a moment.

"That is something I have not determined yet. But yes, back to the main point, I can call a flame."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Good; I'll take your word for that. Can you hold enough air particles together to form a core for a fireball? It's an advanced skill," Je'gan cautioned, "but I'd appreciate it if you gave it a try."

[Lucianus Adair]

"I shall attempt it, Master Olra'en."

Phoenix focused on the air around him, analyzing the particles, watching them move freely about. As several particles passed others, he began to gather them together into a rounded form. To the naked, Force-blind eye, it would appear as it he was creating an imaginary snowball out of nothingness.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"It has to be a bit denser," he commented, examining the ball with eyes and Force senses. "From what I've read, at least. This is quite beyond me. Make it dense enough that you could actually set it alight."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix nodded absentmindedly, as he was concentrating. The things he was learning, the skills he was acquiring were somewhat astonishing to him, and considering the inexperience, some were still quite tiring and taxing on his power.

The young sith apprentice gathered more particles, binding them closer and more tightly to each other. Mars watched closely as the ball became incredibly dense, after several long moments. This session had consisted of much time spent at this level of the physical world. It was gaining familiarity with speed.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The Knight nodded approvingly as he observed the frantic, looping paths of the air molecules. Such a display of small-scale power was beyond him - that didn't stop him from knowing that Whyte was well on his way.

"Now cause it to burn. Inject energy into each and every particle until it combusts."

A difficult task, but not entirely beyond his Apprentice. In fact, he expected Whyte to accomplish it handily.

[Lucianus Adair]

Setting back to the task, Mars turned his attentions to one molecule, figuring it out to set it alight. Then the next molecule. The time of a couple moments passed, and down to the last molecule, he changed them all. To the untrained eye, it appeared as if a ball of fire had just appeared in his hands. It did not burn him.

"It is... bright." He said briefly, squinting. It was also drawing from his power to sustain it, as all things did.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Very good. You've been immobilizing or constraining the particles, and bringing new ones in; now please try to move them all at once. In essence...throw it. There's a tree." He flicked a hand at the plant in question, keeping his eyes on Whyte. "Move the fireball, cause it to draw in fuel from the air, cause it to hit the tree."

[Lucianus Adair]

Considering the molecules were already strongly bound together, all that Phoenix needed to concentrate on was continuing that and moving the ball toward its target. He instilled in it...Momentum. That when he set it away from himself it would gain speed rapidly. Integrity, so that it might not destabilize. And he let it go, the ball of fire zipping across the space between the young apprentice and the indicated plant, and momentarily, the plant instantly bursting into flame upon contact.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Good. Now...how would you go about stopping a fireball, Whyte, if you didn't have sufficient space to use a shield? Or what would you target, to stop the flames?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix glanced at his master, leaving the plant to burn.

"I would disperse the core of said fireball, and continue on my way."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"And if it was being kept together by a will stronger than yours?"

[Lucianus Adair]

After that, Phoenix's expression was blank.

"I can honestly say that I do not have a clue, Master."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"The bulk of such a will might be going towards keeping the care together. Maneuvering the fireball might be secondary. I'd suggest one of two things: either move - fast - or get a telekinetic grip on the core. Either is a diversionary tactic. Use your time wisely."

An illusionary fireball flashed into existence around Je'gan's right hand.

"Let's practice dodging, shall we?"

A second fireball appeared, gripped in his left hand. One after the other, he flung them at Phoenix.

[Lucianus Adair]

Mars nodded, and next thing he knew, Je'gan was flinging fireballs at him. "Alright..."


The first fireball was seconds ahead of the other, and for that one, Phoenix got a quick grip on it and the second ball coming immediately after that he dodged with a quick step to the side, and then flung the gripped fireball back at his master.

"Catch!"

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Smiling, Je'gan allowed the illusions to dissipate.

"I said dodge. Catching illusory fireballs will get you precisely nowhere."

A long, finger-thick line of distortion flashed into existence: a Force-push, focused into a tiny area and aimed at Whyte's face. not an illusion.

[Lucianus Adair]

It came so quick that Phoenix had went to stop it, but failed. The result being that his head snapped back and he was knocked swiftly on his back. After laying there not ever half a moment, Mars propped himself up on his elbows.

"I must pay more attention...."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"No," Je'gan said from where he stood, arms crossed over his chest, "you must learn to follow the Force. A normal Dark Side doctrine is that the Force is a tool, a path to power. But the Jedi have something right: if you listen closely, it's also a path to insight. Make the Force part of you, and you will be able to hear what it tells you. Part of that is being able to feel attacks happen before they are launched."

His shoulders tensed just slightly, as if he was about to launch another attack. He wasn't...but he wanted to see if Whyte could tell, in that split second, if he needed to react or not.

[Lucianus Adair]

He was still kicking that habit. It appeared he needed to make it bite the dust for good. After leaving Lucianus on Korriban, travelling his own travels a while, and coming here, Phoenix had still been using the Force quite well. But since coming here, he had focused quite considerably on the physical side of his skills. And while that was all fine and dandy, in turn he had allowed the principles of battle with the Force that he had ingrained in him to slip.

The younger man stood, briefly dusting himself off, and making sure this time, to dip more into the Force, if not immersing himself. This time, he made as if he ignored his master's attack, simply because it wasn't an attack at all. It was a fake.

"I shall not let those principles slip from my mind again, Master."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The Sith Knight drew in a slow breath as he began to circle his Apprentice. When he let it out, it was as a sibilant hiss.

"Excellent."

Abruptly, a curtain of Force Blindness dropped over Whyte's eyes, obscuring all vision and forcing the younger Sith to rely entirely on his other senses.

"A simple technique," Je'gan said slowly. "Well within your reach, should you desire to learn it. Not impossible to overcome...but think of the shock value. A spare half-second in which to make your one and only strike.

"Why one, Whyte?" he barked, coming to a halt in front of the younger man, the blindness prevailing.

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix stumbled when the curtain dropped, but gained his senses immediately.

"Adaptation. A force-user adapts to his or her enviroment immediately in most instances."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"A practical response..."

He began to circle again, subjecting Whyte to Force Confusion. Random shapes obscured his sight; sounds assailed his ears; smells, tastes, physical sensations...

But not...egotistical enough. It's an old martial arts doctrine: win with one blow. Rarely achievable in today's combat, of course. Pity.

So you have one chance to land a blow. What do you do?

[Lucianus Adair]

The tingling came near to the median for Mars' threshold. He shut out his physical senses, relying on one thing.

The diversions here are fakes. I cannot depend on my physical senses. What do I do? Ignore them. I must use my alter...my abilities of the Force. What do I do? Attack. I will not be taunted this way.

Phoenix this time closed his eyes and crossed his arms, an unamused look on his face. It must be quick, like a draw-kill, in which one unsheathes his blade as a strike, dealing a lethal blow.

That is exactly what the young apprentice did, in a sense. He switched to Je'gan and in one swift movement, backed and entirely powered by Force, he let off a pounding Force-Push type release, almost like a lower strength of the ripping attack he had demonstrated on the tree previously. Whether success was attained would be seen in the next moment.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan summoned the Force and leapt high, an arc that carried him neatly over the blast and brough him down in a kick for Whyte's face. He maintained the Confusion: this was as good a test as any, and he was enjoying the administration of it.

[Lucianus Adair]

Mars too, enjoyed this fresh exchange. The situation tested his abilities rightly so.

Keeping steady the blocking of his physical senses to overcome the confusion, Whyte twisted out of the way and grabbed his master's legs, yanking him to the ground before mailing a sharp and rapid kick to the slightly older man's head....Would it be delivered?

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan was spinning even before he hit the ground, forearms coming up a moment too late to fully stop the kick. For his troubles, Je'gan received an impression of treads on his cheek.

He rolled free and came up to face his student. What remained of the Confusion faded, and he nodded respect.

"Well done. You've passed my first test. Now name your second."

[Lucianus Adair]

Whyte watched his master as he thought of what could possibly be a suitable second testing. He fixed his gaze intently on Je'gan when his reply came up.

"You have seen a great deal of my mental abilities this session, and only a smidgen of physical combat skills. I cannot think what to give you as an answer, Master Olra'en...There is surely much more that I do not know, and what I do know has mostly been put well into practice."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"To be blunt, Whyte," the Sith Knight said, meeting his studen'ts gaze squarely, "I don't need to see any more of your combat skills. You faced Lancer once and held your own - I know how good he is, so I know your combat abilities are satisfactory.

"Let's move to TK projectiles, shall we?"

He waved his hand, and a cluster of pebbles lifted out of the dirt.

"Stop as many as you can without any sort of contact with your body and weapons. Do not dodge. Dodging has its place, but sometimes it's not an option."

The pebbles flew.

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix observed the pebbles as they lifted out of the ground, and watched as they flew at him. Seconds before they hit, he would push back on them with a Force Push. Few of them were stopped.. most of them got through. Mars grimaced.

"A shield would have done much better, but I use that technique far too much as is. There must be another way...."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Try to get a telekinetic grip on them, individually."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix processed this technique in his mind, then nodded.

"Very well. Shall we try this again?"

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan squatted on his heels, eeys staring intensely at nothing. A second group of pebbles, trailing particles of loam, levitated in front of the young Sith and flung themselves toward Whyte. Simultaneously, another pebble shot at Whyte's back, and would go above Je'gan's head if Whyte evaded it.

[Lucianus Adair]

Simultaneously, Mars pinpointed all the pebbles heading for his frontside with the Force, and pulled them to the ground as he shot himself down to that level, allowing the pebble aimed at his back to whizz over his somewhat flattened and crouched form. He remained in this stretch...It felt good.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The pebble reversed its path and thwacked hard into Phoenix's face.

"Do. Not. Dodge."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix grimaced at the imprint left on his right cheek. That would hardly bruise, if at all, and would disappear within a day.

Do not dodge... Mars growled. "Apparently I do not heed instructions well....." He straightened himself, rubbing his cheek. The young sith glanced at his master, fuming a little.

"Again."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Everyone has something they need to learn."

A pair of fist-sized rocks levitated on each side of the massive Apprentice, one shooting for his head and one for his knee. Pebbles were out. The lesson would progress at its own pace...and if Phoenix didn't match that pace, bad things would happen.

[Lucianus Adair]

He did not budge. Mars would not fail this. Dipping into the reservoir of his predatorial darkness, he felt in the murk of the Darkside two pain fuelled, fist-sized rocks, headed for his person.

The instinct is to dodge. Do not move.

He stood his ground and resisted. Putting up a catchnet in the Force, he felt their harsh force ripple it. The heavy warbles had a sensation to them that nearly satisfied. They had an element of tangibility. Releasing the net, the stony assailants flopped to the ground. Phoenix took a deep breath, and released it. The work his master presented him worked him well.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Now do the same to me. Gather as many rocks as you can; create a storm that I cannot possibly escape. Take me out, Whyte."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix complied, with a passion. Reaching deep into his pool of darkness, he raised up innumerable rocks and pebbles of varying sizes, stacked several feet tall, many ranks deep. And he let fly at Je'gan with enhanced speed.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan had an extremely high tolerance for pain, and could feed off it when necessary, but he didn't like it. The time Whyte spent creating the wave of debris - a while, but that would get shorter with practice - Je'gan spent building an illusory double of himself in exactly the position he was on. Stepping to the side, he covered himself in invisibility without jeopardizing either illusion and without gap, meaning that there was no visible disturbance. To all intents and purposes, he just stood there waiting. As the stones passed through his double, he lunged at Whyte with a sharp Teras Kasi jab to the throat. The air rippled with the speed of his movements for one simple reason: he couldn't keep the illusion perfect at that speed.

[Lucianus Adair]

Seeing the illusion flicker at the same moment he felt the Force ripple closing in on him, Phoenix knew he must act. Quickly.

Physically, yes, Mars was far stronger, sleeker...and oddly enough, agile (considering his size), but Je'gan was highly skilled mentally, as with the Force. The young apprentice drops his concentration on the pebbles quickly, and switches in far less than an instant to hold his attentions on his Master. The jab came at a fanatical rate of speed, and for that, he moved a large, solid arm up and gripped the shorter man's wrist hard, then lifted a pointed kick at his Master's ribcage....

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan's ankles straightened convulsively, enhanced by the Force, throwing him up and over the kick and letting him unleash a point-blank 'upward' punch - horizontal, objectively - from his other hand go for Whyte's face.

[Lucianus Adair]

It connected, and Phoenix felt a crack about the same level of when one would crack knuckles. Not a healthy habit, and not one Mars practiced. He released his master from his grip, pushing the man away at the same instant, and cracking again, readjusted his jaw.

The young apprentice grinned. "It feels satisfying, Master Olra'en...." He clenched his fists, and lunged forward a few steps, snapping a kick up to the shorter man's chin. Maybe he would bite his tongue off.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

Je'gan caught the kick with a horizontal block and perfect timing; Whyte's foot skidded along the side of his jaw but did not impact. His left arm, heretofore by his side, came up to grab Whyte's upraised ankle as the Sith Knight spun clockwise to unleash a blind shuto - a chop, more or less - for his Apprentice's neck.

[Lucianus Adair]

Balanced on one foot, Phoenix stopped his master's hand with a grab to the wrist.

Hmm. Interesting....

Mars yanked his leg out of Je'gan's grip, and sent a flash of burning force energy through his master's arm before releasing him and backing off with a few large steps.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

The skin and flesh of Je'gan's arm sizzled; with a roar, Je'gan threw out his arm, a beam of focused concussive force blasting out at Whyte's chest. He had few if any defences against energy manipulation. In the back of his mind he began to wonder if Whyte could not in fact overpower him.

[Lucianus Adair]

Ahh..It would perhaps appear that the young man had discovered a weakness on his master. Physically, it would be more fact that fiction that Mars could crush the man. But despite his extreme advances in training, Je'gan could probably still put up a stellar defense and offense with his mental and combat capabilities. All this, of course, remained to be seen.


In defense against his master's attack, Phoenix shifted quickly to the side...but not fast enough. The blast gave him a good knock to the shoulder, spinning him to the ground. He stopped himself with his hands, and pushed himself back to his feet, growling.

"This is good...Do you still wish to continue, Master?"

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"To be totally blunt, I want to turn you into hamburger. Teaching you energy manipulation was a stupid move on my part. Still, you can use it well: I expect great things from you.

"Dismissed."

[Lucianus Adair]

"Perhaps...But how were you to know?"

The younger man gave a respectful nod to his master, then headed off to gather his things, and back to the residences to take in some nourishment.