Hands Bound (Jezreal)

[Southstar]

Southstar stood in one of the larger indoor training rooms with his apprentice Jezreal at his side. Opposite of them were two sets of combat armor piled in a heap. He raised his hand and with it the armor rose as if it was standing with a person on the inside. His mind rested but the figure continued standing.

"Telekinesis is a marvelous thing. It can be used for so much more than just lifting things. I want you to do the same with the other set of armor. Just get it standing securely with minimal effort. This is the easy part, don't waste your energy on this part."

[Alexia Sturkov]

She had be eager to start training. She could barely contain her excitement when Southstar summoned her to the training grounds.

Jezreal stretched out a hand and the set of armor rose up from the ground. She wanted to laugh at the sight but supressed the urge. "I've never thought of using it like this." She said as she made the armor move around a little.

[Southstar]

"It's a little different." He commented. "But its more than just a neat trick." His armored figure lurched forward towards Jezreal's. With a rather quick speed it threw its fist forward and knocked the head off of its opposite.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal watched with mild amazement. It wasn't that Southstar had done something umbelievalble but it opened up even more ideas in her head. "Using it like that you could fight without puting yourself in danger. All you'd need is something to fill with the force and then release it on your oppenent" She outstretched her other hand and brought the head back into place ontop of the rest of the armor body "Not only would an opponent not expect it but it would majorly freak him out."

[Southstar]

Southstar nodded his head. Jezreal was getting the right idea, but it could go much further than that. "Go ahead and attack my armored man with yours." He said as he watched the two figures stand still for the moment.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal nodded her head and moved her armore warrior forward and made it's arm move out, like a human arm, right at Southstars warrior's chest area.

[Southstar]

The fist did not touch the amored figure as it bent backwards and the waist, knees unmoving, until its head touched the ground. To the eye it looked like someone had sawed the figure in half and stacked them next to each other. The torso swung around the waist line, gradually rising, and crashed into Jezreal's figure.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal's eyes narrowed to slits as Southstar's armor figure bent inhalf to dodge her attack. She watched helplessly as her armor figure was smashed by Southstar's.

She quickly gathered her figure back together and launched it at Southstar's. Her armor figure kicked out it's foot toward Southstar's.

[Southstar]

The foot was high as it came towards his armored man. He could dodge it, but what was the point of doings so. He was to teach Jezreal new tricks.

The foot hit the midsection of the figure and the piece clattered to the floor, yet the figure still stood with the gap in its torso. It bent down and picked up the midsection piece and swung it at the opposite figure's head.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal's figure's head slid off to the side and Southstar's attack missed by inches. She quickly sent a second kick at the armor gaurd that made Southstar's figure's leg.

[Southstar]

The armored piece skidded across the floor and rested after it hit the wall. The figure took a step back like it hadn't noticed it was missing the leg. It returned the kick with the missing leg and connected with her figure's chest. The leg was present, it just didn't need to be seen.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal let out a soft sigh as she watched nothingness smack into her armor figure "We do this for hours" She said plainly "No one would really win since we can just keep pulling the armor back together."

[Southstar]

"You're missing the point." He said as his figure stood still. "I case you haven't noticed, the foot that hit your figure wasn't armored. The armor is the beginning steps to the real technique."

[Alexia Sturkov]

"So the point is that I don't need something to attack with?" Jez asked "So if I don't need an object, or objects, to fill with the force and attack with then I can just fill the air with the force and attack with that?"

[Southstar]

"Not necessarily air." He said as the armored figure collapsed. "Telekinesis doesn't rely on gases, our ultimate goal is for these manifestations of thought, telekinetics, to be purely such." He withdrew a pouch from a pocket.

"However, I can not preform such tasks... yet. And I don't expect you to do so today either."

Setting the open pouch down on the ground and backing away, little pebbles swirled into the air. "At your level, we're going to exploit having to use a subject." The pebbles massed into a humanoid arm form and swatted Jezreal's armored figure. The result was that the pebbles had passed through the armor, creating a myriad of holes.

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal watched in wonder as the pebble fist punched right through the her armor figure, leaving it full of holes. It opened up even more ideas for her. New ways to use Telekensis. Jezreal moved her holed armor figure back a bit "Very interesting master Southstar" She said to the older sith "Anything can be used as a weapon, can't it? Rocks on the ground, empty armor, I bet even the dirt could be used as a weapon."

[Southstar]

"Of course. We could spend all week going over different ways to use telekinetics as a weapon, but we only have a short time today." Southstar manipulated the pebbles until it resembled a figure like the armored one from before. It walked back and then forward as if it were a living being.

The ultimate purpose of this exercise was to get a firm grip on recreating the humanoid figure. The armor was an easy example as it already hada human form, the pebbles were a little more difficult as they collectively made no form. They fell to the ground and Southstar withdrew his control. "Give it a shot."

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal outstretched both her hands and half the pebbles rose from the ground. The pebbles then formed into legs and half of a torso. Jez then lifted the other half into the air and formed it into the upper half of the torso, with arms, and with a head on top. She put the two halfs together and set the completed pebble man on the ground.

Sweat glistened on Jezreal's forehead as she strained to put the pebbles together and then she strained herself further when she made the pebble man take a step forward. She continued to walk it around until she got used to it and it bcame less of a strain. "Its very different then the armor" Was all she could think of saying.

[Southstar]

He nodded and stretched his hand out towards the figure. The pebbles touched his hand as he pushed on it. It was relatively firm, but if he pushed any harder his hand might go through it. He clenched his fist around some of the pebbles and pulled. They gave a littleresistance but ultimately gave away. His hand opened and the pebbles danced around.

"That's interesting." He said and closed his hand and then opened it again. "I'm not making them move."

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal looked over at Southstar and at the pebbles that where dancing in his hands. "If your not doing that then why are they dancing around in the air like that?" She asked while deverting her attention between keeping her stone man together and watching the pebbles in Southstar's hand.

[Southstar]

"Well, I'm not doing it, that's for sure." He said and moved his hand around and the little stones followed. "I don't suppose you are either." Of course she wasn't, why would she have asked him? He brought his hand towards the stone figure and fit them back into the space from which they came.

"I doubt the answer will be revealed to us so soon." But he was very confident that it would in due time. "So until then, let's refocus on your training. Let's do something a little less familiar like a bantha. I'm sure you're somewhat familiar with that creature." He instructed but his mind still lingered on the previous question. "The idea is to crete shapes of which you might be unsure of. Draw on the Force for referance."

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal had seen Banthas before, when her merchant parents has gone to Tatooine to sell and buy goods. Her and her kid brother had seen many of the great big creatures lumbering by, carrying heavy loads.

Jez now changed around the position of the pebbles until they resembled the shape of a Bantha. It was much smaller then an adult bantha. Jezreal didn't have enough pebbles to make it the right size. She made it walk foward slowly. It was harder to control the four legs then just two.

[Southstar]

"Good." He said and circled the imitation Bantha. She could replicate, with apparent ease, what she did not see before her. They were simple exercises and he expected that Jezreal saw them as trivial. But it was their first training session, it was good to get used to each other. "Now moving on to something a little more difficult. You have a decent amount of pebbles there, and what I want you to do is create a replica human chest. This includes bones, heart, lungs, ect. Pack the stones as tightly as possible."

[Alexia Sturkov]

Jezreal thanked her father for all those lessons on human anatomy. She had found very boring at the time, infact she had found all things boring. She broke the rocks up and set most of them on the ground. She swirled some in the air until they looked like a heart. She then created the lungs and slapped them over the heart. She created other organs and such and put them inside.

Now came the hard part. Creating the ribcage was not easy. She made one rib at a time and put it over the floating organs. She soon had the ribcage finished and carefuly created around the organs. She then created a spine and stuck it on the back of the pebble chest. She raised a hand and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

[Southstar]

As the torso of a human male came into being, Southstar circled it while eyeing each piece as it was put into place. The accruacy and detail was impressive as the organs were made from compressed pebbles. But the replica was still far from being perfect.

"It's not bad." He started. "But it could be much better. If you'll look here." He said and moved some of the pebbles out of place to reveal the stone heart. "This is just an example, but if you take the left ventircle here you'll notice that the rough edges of the rocks create various sets of points along the surface." In reality of course, it was smooth. "And further on through the project the same flaw is repeated."

"Now let's talk about awareness." Southstar destroyed the torso and then reconstructed it near flawlessly. He pointed to the revealed stone heart. The heart was nearly a replica of a human's as the pebbles seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces. "This was only possible because I knew the shape of all the pebbles as well as what each one was compatable with. Now this isn't possible to do with the human mind, but rather through the Force. You know how to rely on the Force already, I know, but this is the step two. I don't expect you to be able to do this yet, but consider it a goal for yourself. Questions?"

[Alexia Sturkov]

"No," Jezreal said "I have no questions." And yes. He had given her a goal. Something for her to strive for and to accomplish at the end of some time... days, or weeks or even months from now. But she had a feeling she would eventualy.

[Southstar]

"Good." He said and dissembled the pebbled figure. "Our time for today is over. You're free to continue practicing on your own, but I have to leave." He had to meet with Rayna Eclipse, another apprentice, that day and continue her training.

All of the equipment piled itself into the corner. "And you're free to use it, if you want. A serviceman is to clean it up later. If he bothers you let him know who you are." He did take the pouch of pebbles and attached them to his belt. He wanted to investigate the previous happening where they seemed to dance in his hand.

"Also, as part of your knight level training it is required that you embark on a sort of experimental endevor involving the Force. Since you want to explore telekinesis, I'd suggest you pick a subject within that realm. It's going to require a lot of your time and ability, so pick something worthwhile. Stop by my office," He hated calling it an office as it made him feel like an old beauracrat, but was else was it? "once you have an idea and we'll discuss it."

He faced the door then turned around as he had rmemebered to set up an appointment for their next training session. "Let's aim for three days time concerning our next session. Is that alright?"

[Alexia Sturkov]

"Yes" She said to his back "Three days would be good" Jezreal smiled. If she was still training under Rivin she would be feeling a sense of dread for the next training session. But with Southstar she looked forward to it more then ever. She had feared Rivin but She respected Southstar. "See you then."

[Southstar]

"Until then." He said and finally took his leave. This relationship was looking to be a good one. Jezreal had the want, the need to train and become better. Perhaps it was her maturity level, one typical of a knight of the Sith. Regardless, it helped Southstar, whereas with Kathrine, his other apprentice, her brashness stood as an obstacle to both him and herself. He looked forward to training with Jezreal again.