Open spar

[Shade Magus]

Shade walked onto the training grounds. It had been a long time and he had been through a lot of training since he had last sparred. He looked around for someoen to spar with. When he noticed no one he sent out a Force message to all the Jedi thatt would be willing to spar with him. He was curious to see just how far he had come.

Anyone who wishes to spar please come to the Jedi Academy, and find Shade Magus.

The Jedi Knight sat down on the ground and crossed his arms across his chest. He then looked around once more before closing his eyes and waiting on someone to come to challenge him.

[Sejah Haversh]

Something broadsided Sejah's mind like a flying brick, and he turned to see what might have cuased it as he roamed the halls of the Jedi complex. Seeing nothing, he continued on, though he could tell something was up,a s he knew what turns to take and where in the building, even though it was his first time in it.

Though he was not even a padawan yet, Sejah had come to understand what a Jedi was, and did by talking to others. And seeing as he desired to become one to see if eh was cut out for it, the old lightsaber he had bought was tucked through one of the folds of his cloth belt.

Roundign a final corner, the brown mongoose found himself entering what appeared to be a training complex, and a lone man was stanign on the other side. Like the wave of mental energy had hit him before, words bounced through his skull and echoed noisily. It was Shade's request, but it was so loud that he had trouble comprehending what it meant. But the word spar was clear, and so he approached Shade.

"Excuse me, did you say something? Something about sparring? I am not trained in your arts yet, but I was a decent fighter on my old world. I would be willing to take a few rounds with you." Sejah said politely, his tail flicking behind himself out of nervous habit.

(OOC- Nehantites have a very poor reception of mental messages, it's partly due to some of the animalistic qualities of their brains. That's why the message was so ahrd for him to get.)

[Shade Magus]

OOC: wow! that will make for a really cool rping developement. Good luck on it. Wish I coulda thought of something that inventive(sp?)

IC:

Shade turned to the being and looked for a moment. He didn't remember seeing someone like that around here before, but since he had been gone for awhile he just shrugged it off.

"Ok....well....if you aren't very good at Force control, then let's just go hand-to-hand. It's has been awhile since I fought like that, and it would do my muscles good."

While speaking, Shade unclipped his lightsaber and threw it to the side. He then began to stech and get ready incase Sejah would accept his challenge.

[Sejah Haversh]

Empty paw; Sejah wasn't as good with it as he was a blade, but he still fared pretty well on his homeworld, but now was beginning to wonder if it was just the Force augmenting his abilities.

No matter, Sejah nodded and replied, "Hand to hand is fine with me, just one moment," taking care to use the word hand around those not of his species. They evidently seemed to take offense with his use of the word paw in refrence to their appendages, , or at least they had in the past. Stepping aside, the brown mongoose set his lightsaber down carfully; not knowing how durable it was yet for it was probably older than himself.

Backpendaling to his previous spot, Sejah tugged on the hem of his gloves to tighten them and then took a relaxed stance, nodding to Shade once again. "I am ready when you are, and my name is Sejah Haversh, and this is my first day here, so If I perform tactics not allowed by the rules, please let me know. My style is Rho'istaan: with sub-set Slow Fang." He announced, his tail flicking lightly behind himself.

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded and smiled.

"Just to let you know, don't worry about the style you fight with.....if you are trying to become a Jedi then go with the flow. Fight with your instincts and not training."

Shade then put his hands up in front of him and shifted his left foot to the back and his right to the front. He then pulled his right fist back near his chest and stood ready.

"By the way, my name is Shade Magus....and since you are new I'll let you have the first attack."

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah took a breath and stepped back into a ready stance, looking his opponent up and down before suddenly stepping in with a dual attack. His right fist went for Shade's sloarplexus, and his left footpaw aimed a following sweep at the side of his knee. It was a basic atack, but it was best to guage your opponent's skill before launching into more complex maneuvers.

[Shade Magus]

The attack was easy, but good for letting his opponent make a judgement on hi, and it was to early for that just yet. Shade lifted his leg to avoid the sweep, but neglected the punch and staggered back a few pace. When he looked up he looked stunned, and then he began circling Sejah. He got about five feet from him when he lashed out with his right leg in a roundhouse kick.

[Sejah Haversh]

Kicks were powerful attacks, but high ones took lenghty amounts of time compared to a quick jab. Sejah saw the windup coming and dropped down using his right paw as the third leg in the landing as he snapped out a swift kick with his left leg to Shade's knee as the kick flew over his head.

(OOC- I took martial arts for a while, don't mind me.)

[Shade Magus]

Shade swayed a little, but managed to keep his balance as Sejah's foot hit him in the knee. He put his foot down and backed up a few paces. Shade then ran forward and using an old trick, he feigned an attack with a left jab, and as Sejah was caught off gaurd, he pulled his right fist into a fist and shot it up toward's his opponent's jaw as an uppercut.

[Sejah Haversh]

As he attepted to ward off the jab, Sejah only barelt caught sight of the uppercut coming in, but had no time to move his arms to block it. All the mongoose could do was turn his head so that the blow connected with the side of his jaw instead of beneath his chin.

It still packed a whallop, and knocked him backwards, spinning him as he fell. But his training with reflex action he dropped an arm to the floor and leashed out backwards with both legs in a double kick to the stomach as he tried to control his fall.

[Shade Magus]

As a reflex, the young Jedi Knight tightened his stomach muscles. He didn't recieve any pan, but the blow was hard enough to push him back, but before doing so, Shade grabbed Sejah's feet and drug him with him. Shade pulled up on Sejah's legs, and with a litle help from the Force, he twisted the mongoose's body in the air.

[Sejah Haversh]

He was turning, and there wasn't enough logical strength in Shade's grab to do so. For a moment Sejah lost his concentration, but quickly regained it as he slipped his right footpaw out of his grasp and used his momentum to swing a fast kick at Shade's head.

If nothing else, it would let him free, which was his ultimate goal.

[Shade Magus]

Shade saw the kick coming, and not wanting to get kicked in the head, he let go of Sejah and brought his arm up were the foot connected with his fore-arm. He then pushed it back and swung his fist towards Sejah as the mongoose was on the ground.

[Sejah Haversh]

The landing was hard, and face down. Sejah didn't see the next blow coming, but it was an instict he had learend to call common sense that made him tuck and roll off to the side and away from Shade, sumersaulting over his own shoulder and managing to get back up to a stand in time to get punched full-force in the stomach.

Slightly winded, Sejah shot out his left paw to deflect another fist coming at his case. Transferring the deflection to his other paw quicklt, which grabbed shade's wrist ahrd and dug his fingertips into his apponent's wrist, squeezing the tendons (this hurts, trust me), the mongoose Pulled his arm out straight at the same time as he delivered a hard elbow back into Shade's face from his left arm. Repeating the blow, Sejah twisted Shade's arm and dropped a step kick into the back of his knee, hoping to force an involuntary kneel while still gripping his arm.

[Shade Magus]

Shade was momehntarily stunned, as he fell to the ground, while Sejah still held his arm. But he also tightened his muscles, incase anything happened, his reflexes would be quick.

[Sejah Haversh]

Siezing his chance, Sejah swung the leg he had pushed Shade's knees in with over his opponent's head and hooked his knee under Shade's chin. Letting go of his arm, the mongoose spun backwards, using his momentum to puch Shade over backwards with his leg, bending him back nearly flat on the floor before steppign back to allow him to get up.

"You're good, but you need to work on your punch speed. Get up, I don't kick men when they're down." Sejah smiled, but said it in such a tone that it could not be mistaken for cockiness, but only honest advice.

[Shade Magus]

"Thank you for the advice, but I am much faster than this. I just didn't want to use the Force to enhance my speed and strength that much. I wanted this to be fair, but seeing as how fast you are, I guess I could use ita little...."

Shade took a deep breath and pulled the Force in with him. When he exhaled he released the darkside. He felt it wrap him in its warm blanket of life. He drew his arms up and then ran at Sejah, moving twice as fast as before. He ran at him and threw a punch on his left side, testing for weaknesses.

[Sejah Haversh]

So he can be fast, Sejah thought, But can I take a full-force hit form that speed?

Knowing there was only one way to find out, the Nehantite stood his ground and took a sharp intake of breath just before the punch landed, preparing himself for the blow, and trying to remember what his teachers had taught him.

The punch caught him full-on in the left side, knocking him up onto his toes and a grunt form his closed mouth. It had only been meant as a test shot, there would be no follow-up planned by Shade, Sejha had contemplated, and as he felt the pain from the hit, he snapped out his right leg and kicked a swift blow into Shade's left side as well, hitting nearly the same spot.

Each of themk backed off for a moment. Sejah had been taught how to block out limited amounts of pain and certain types of blows, but the speed of the punch had added to it's power, kocking some of the wind out of him. If that was using the Force to augment physical attacks, he would have to make sure to ask a Master about it.

"Nice, nice..." He admitted, then began to circle again, "What else can you make yourself do?"

[Shade Magus]

"Almost anything I want. It is one of the benefits of being able to use the Force. I can almost see actions before they take place and add that to my ability to increase speed I have fast enough reflexes to block quite a few blaster bolts with my lightsaber. I can also levitate a few feet off the ground for a limited amount of time. Using the Force allows one almost unlimited possibilities."

Shade then stood up straight and flexed his muscles, feeling some sharp pain from the blow.

"Anything else you wish to know?"

[Sejah Haversh]

"Lots of stuff," Sejah replied with a smirk, though his side still hurt, "But that can all wait; I'm ready for some more if you are."

Stepping his right footpaw back, the mongoose raised his arms into an openign stance and looked between two points created by figertips at Shade, planning his next move.

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded in agreement. He put his hands up and in the flash of an eye, he raced towards Sejah and faked a left jab and went for an uppercut with his right fist.

[Sejah Haversh]

Though he had not learned how to augment his speed with the Force yet, a mongoose's body posessed a natural speed that some considered uncanny. But the body can only move as was and as well as the mind can make it. Thankfully, the main training Sejah had taken in his life had to do with fighting.

Scanning Shade's arm as he set up for the jab, Sejah suddenly jumped backwards as he saw that the tendons were not flexing for a follow-through. Shade still threw the uppercut, barely missing Sejah's jaw. Grabbing his arm, the mongoose twisted it back and pinned it against Shade's back painfully before givign it a quick squeeze on the tendons in the wrist and shoving him away.

But unlike most times when Sejah would force an opponet away, that time he followed and stepped in a swift kick to his inner thigh, hitting a pressure point, or so he hoped.

Sejah didn't like having to revert to using tricks like that, but he kenw he didn't stand a chance against speed as great as what Shade had shown without trying to slow him down a bit.

[Shade Magus]

Shade's leg twisted enough for Sejah to miss the pressure point entirely, but he still caught a part of it and Shade fell to one knee. He quickly pushed up with his good leg and twisted to face Sejah. He stood there, trying to regain his balance.

The mongoose was strong and good, but Shade still had the upper hand as long as he had the Force. Shade pushed the pain away using the Force and stood up tall. He then rushed at Sejah and threw a jab with his left, following with right. If those two connected he was prepared to finish it with an uppercut to the stomach.

[Sejah Haversh]

Shade's left jab was just barely deflected, but the right came too fast, rocking Sejah's sull and causing stars to explode in his vision. By all rights it should have been enough to set him up for the sucker-punch--it would at least blacken his eye for sure--but through some feeling, be if pre-conception, trainign programming, or just instinct, Sejah dropped his paws to his front and bent his stomach inwards.

Shade's fist connected hard with his paws, but they were enough to slow most of the impact, and pull a slick move as well.

Grabbign onto his forearm, Sejah suddenlt bucked his bodt back forward, pushing hard on Shade's arm, botuh back and up against his strained muscles. His vision just having barely cleared, Sejah saw the look on his opponent's face, and pushed harder, forgetting that he might accidentally dislocate Shade's shoulder like that.

(OOC- This is a nasty move, and often does result in dislocated shoulders. It is from the arts of Yaw Yan, Maigen, and certain styles of Kung Fu.) But the nice thing is, if you take out Sejah's legs, he'll lose his power, and you can pin him. Just figured I'd let you know the main way out form a move you've porbably not seen before.)

[Shade Magus]

Shade, tightened his muscles and pushed down. With the Force on his side, Sejah coudn't make Shade's arm move anymore, but they were in a stallmate. He quickly put his leg though Sejah's and locked it around his leg and pulled forward.

[Sejah Haversh]

Their muscles locked agaisnt each other, sejah knew there was only one direction to go, and it was made involuntary when Shade hooked his leg and pulled back, yankign his footing out from beneath him.

Falling backwards, Sejah suddenly yanked backward on Shade's arm, using his opponent's own pushign force against him, and pullign his down as well.

[Shade Magus]

Shade tghtened his muscles and kept his balance. This way both combatants were still standing. He looked at Sejah and smiled.

"Very good. I can see that you will make quite a Jedi one day."

Shade looked at his arm and then at Sejah.

"If you'll please....I would like to teach you a few things about the Force...that is unless of course you have a master."

[Sejah Haversh]

The halting of movement surprised Sejah, but what Shde told him was even more of a surprise. Still holding onto his arm for balance, the Nehntite unwrapped his legs and pulled them back so that he could stand on his own two footpaws.

Then he let go and stepped back, rubbing his face where Shade had slugged him and he replied, "Well, I don't have a master yet, so that would be fine. What will we cover?" His tone had shifted from casual speech, to true cuiosity as he wondered if it was really true, or just some trick to throw him off guard and take him down in the spar with.

[Shade Magus]

Shade turned his head and nodded out at the land and small stream in front of them.

"Tell me what you know about the Force and your abilities to manipulate it. Have you ever had strange occurances happen to you?"

[Sejah Haversh]

At that, Sejah recoiled slightly, suddenly unsure of an answer. Lookign away, he thought hard, and prodused a few "Um...'s" Before finally looking back to Sahde and replying nervously, "I-, I really don't know. I mean, I've never met anotehr Nehantite with the Force in them before, so, I don't know what is strange and related to the Force, or just natural."

He had lived like one with a disability they didn't know about, always thinking it was normal, and living life as best they could, though sunconsciously making alterations to their life to accomodate it. Thinking harder, Sejah continued, "Um, I've been told I'm too fast in a duel, that I shouldn't be able to move or think so swiftly. That, and I seem to know where an opponent will stike next if I focus hard, but, that's not the Force, is it? I mean, there are other masters who can do that who don't have the Force, right?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade slowly nodded.

"There are, but they are also psyhic and I don't believe you are. You say you are able to see things before they happen.....that is the most common Jedi trait."

Shade closed his eyes and thought.

"Sejah...I cannot be your master because of the time I have here, but I will train you and teach you what I can in the time I have remaining. When I return and you still have no teacher or you are a Jedi Knight then i will put you t the test and see how much of an improvement has come about."

[Sejah Haversh]

A smile broke across Sejah's face, revealing hsi animalistic teeth, and fangs, and his pink eyes were bright with the news. "Thank you, Shade, that means a great deal to me."

[Shade Magus]

"Good...but I must warn you. I will be harder on you than any other teacher you have ever had before. Are you sure you are up to it?"

[Sejah Haversh]

A sudden gleam hinted in Sejah's eyes as he replied, "Yes, I'm up to it; though on one condition. We get a match sometime with steel baldes, and no Force powers. Sound like a deal?"

As teachers went, Sejah had always been under a very strict master, and had learned to deal with what he required. But he also knew that under his master's demanding exterior, he did have a heart that cared for him. Sejah hoped that Shade would be the same way.

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled and nodded.

"Very well......I have been meaning to get some practice in anyways."

Shade's face then got very serious.

"Have you ever heard of Saiya-jins? If so then you must have heard of Super Saiya-jins. I am one of these legendary fighters. I am going to assume you know about ki energy. It is the energy that one produces in their own body.It is completely seperate from the Force. I only know of a few others that use the Force and ki together because of its dangers."

Shade sighed It was about to show Sejah what no one here at the Greater Jedi Order had never seen him do.

"Due to the control I have over the Force though I am able to control my use of ki unlike others that use only ki energy. Observe."

Shade raised his fists halfway up and his muscles buldged and his spiked hair flashed yellow and then gold. All of a sudden tere was a blinding flash of light. When Sejah was able to see again, Shade was standing in a golden aura. His hair was atleast four feet long and golden. His eyes had changed from black to an entrancing green.

Shade looked at Sejah and smiled. He almost looked menacingly, except for the friendly arua he gave off.

"Normally for one of my species to even attempt to go this far in his power it could very well shake the very planet apart. With the use of the Force I can control my powers and let them flow the way I wish them to, but I do have a limit. I can go even another Super Saiya-jin level if I want to, but it would shake the very foundation of my power."

Shade let out a deep breath nd he returned to normal.

"I have met only one other Saiya-jin in the universe that has the ability to do this, though I have never seen him myself. When I get done teaching you though, you will be able to control your powers the way I control mine."

Shade then turned to a large tree and smiled.

"For your first test though.....I want you to climb this tree and hang by the highest limb for as long as you can."


OOC: just to let you know, the saiya-jin thing, I only use for this, never in battles or anyplace else.

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah was entranced by thr display of power he had just seen. He had heard of Ki before, and had even learned some methods of using the dynamic breath and power contol method himself (Kombat Ki), but never imagined that it could be so powerful as to do what he had jsut seen.

His mouth slightly agape, the mongoose snapped back to attention and replied, "Wow, that was amazing..." before realizing how foolish he sounded and pulled himself together. "I mean, really, that is astonishing what you can do. And climb that tree? Okay, I can do that."

With a smile, he walked over to the base and pulled off his goves, sticking them through his belt and then dug into teh bark with as much grip as he could get. Glancing back at Shade to make sure he was doign the right thing, Sejah climbed upwards.

His half-animal body was a mixed blessing ocasionally, and in that trial, it worked to his advantage. His slight claws, though blunt and stubby, helped dig into the bark, and he was able to use his tail for balance while squirming around branches in a precarious manner. Midway up, he paused to look down, suddenly realizing how high he was. Thankfully, he had gotten used to heights in the last few weeks in tall buildings, and so he pressed on.

Near the top of the tree, the branches were becomign too thin, and were barely able to support himself. Looking around, he spotted one that looked feasible, and clambered over to it.

Though he thought the test was jsut for physical endurance, Sejah always knew that there was more than one way to do something. And If that something could help make the endurance easier, it was worth it. The branch he climbed out to was selected with that in mind. In the middle of its length, it forked slightly.

A wicked grin on his face, Sejah pulled hismelf up on the limb and then inserted his foorpaws into the fork, then let go and hung upside-down. The hang took no physical effort on his part, and he had spent enough time in inversion systems that he could stand the reverse position for a while.

Calling down to the ground, he shouted, "How's this?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled.

"Good...good......Now comes the real test."

Shade put his hand in the air and pointed a finger at the limb Sejah was on. All of a sudden it cracked and then broke. Sejah fell to the ground.

He had said he could se things before they happened and he was faster than noraml, well now was time to test that theory. And just incase Sejah failed, Shade could stop him with the Force.

[Sejah Haversh]

Crap....

That was the first thought that ran through Sejah's head as the branch broke. His footpaws were caught in the Y of the branch he had been hanging from, so all he had to use were his arms and forepaws.

He fell nearly ten feet before he could right hismelf, and he grabbed hard onto a branch, but couldn't hold it. Another seven feet of drop and he finally did snag one he was able to hold. Gripping it tightly with one paw, he pulled his legs up and yanked the ensnaring limb from his ankles before hauling hislef up on tip of the branch and scurrying to the trunk where he held on tight.

"Not funny!" He called down, though this time keepign an eye, and ear out for other surprises.

[Shade Magus]

"It wasn't meant to be."

Shade brought his hand up to his mouth to hide a small smile. He then looked up at Sejah.

"Good.......now come down....If you can....."

He saw the look on the Padawan's face and to show what he meant, Shade flipped his fingers at limbs and branches almost randomly. They started to break off and land on the ground beneath. Now there were only six branches left.

"Get down, but remember to reach inside of you and call on the Force. Use it to guide your movements."

[Sejah Haversh]

The Force. He evidently had it, but had no idea how to use it. Sejah's eyes widened as he looked down, now realizing just how far it was. The next branch down wasn't that far, though, so he closed his eyes and leapt out for it, hoping he hit it.

And hit it he did, though almost overbalancing and tumbling off. Catching it with hsi footpaws, he still grabbed the trunk to steady himself. It had been quite the leap, but was not as bad as he thought it would have been. Lookign down again, he focused and leapt to the next branch, making it easier that time, though still using his tail for blance.

Growing more cnfident, the next branch was a breezt, but the fourth one proved a problem. IT was thin, and weak, and would probably not support his weight for more than a second or two. Swallowing hard, he fished hsi gloves back out of his belt and pulled them on, tightening the straps on his oforearms. Taking a deep breath, he leapt out, and missed completely.

Scrambiling, he grabbed at the trunk, using it liek an oversized fireman's pole to slow himself down, but it was too difficult. When he hit a gnarled section, he lost his grip and went tumbling backwards away from the tree, and fell on his back into the leafy mass of fallen branches.

[Shade Magus]

Shade jogged over to the mongoose.

"Are you ok?"

[Sejah Haversh]

For a moment, Sejah just lay there, flat on his back and enshrouded by branches. And when he did move, it was accompanied by a moan. "Ouuuch...." He groaned, rolling over and trying to push himself up. His back was sore, and so were his arms and head. But nothign was broken, the springy branches had absorbed most of his fall, and he had not been too terribly high when he had jumped.

Getting up to a kneeling position, the Nehantite looked himself over, and then rubbed the back of his skull out of instinct. Blinking his eyes a couple of times, Sejah deemed himself mostly unfurt, and finally stood up and pushed his way out of the fallen forestry to see Shade standing there. Deciding to milk it for a moment, sejah put on a dismal face and growled, "Do you try and kill all your students, or jsut the ones with fur?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled.

"Don't be such a big baby. You wouldn't have died. I told you before we started that I would be the harderst teacher that you have ever had."

He walked over to the Nehantite.

"So are you sure you want to continue?"

[Sejah Haversh]

A thin smile of annoyance crept onto Sejah's face, and he nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure I want to continue. If I stopped at a few bruises, I wouldn't get very far, now would I?"

Cricking his sore back, Sejah then rolled out his shoulders and looked up at the mostly barren tree. "Well, I suppose that's one way to prune pesky shrubbery," he cracked a small joke.

[Shade Magus]

Shade chuckled.

"Good..now this next exercise will be alittle more to your liking. I will help you meditate and call on the Forceto seek a certain innner peace."

[Sejah Haversh]

It sounded like a mental challenge, and that got Sejah nervous again. The physical challenges he felt he could tough his way through, but mental, that would remain to be seen.

Cocking his head slightly, the brown Nehantite clicked his tongue and replied, "Okay, if you say so. What am I supposed to do?"

[Shade Magus]

"just sit down and empty your head. Clear it of all thoughts and reach out with your senses for the Force. At first it will be hard cause you may not have the patience, but wait awhile and you'll get used to it."

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah shrugged, and then did as Shade told him, sitting down on the ground. Tuckign his legs up crosswise as he was used to for ground seating, the mongoose closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind as Shade had said.

But it was much easier said than done. Random thoughts pestered him,a d thoughts about hoe exactly he was supposed to reach out for the force, and other ideas continued to run through his head. Focusing harder, he was eventually able to shut manyt of them out, but it took a lot of effort. Still, he felt nothing.

After several minutes, he kept his eyes closed, but asked, "Master Magus, what am I supposed to feel? How can I reach out for the Force if I don't know what I'm reaching for? This is confusing."

[Shade Magus]

"There is no way of describing what the Force feels like. It is different for everyone. To me it feels like a rebirth everytime. You'll know it when you touch it though."

[Sejah Haversh]

Confident that Shade knew what he was talkign about, Sejah took a deep breath and let his mind go free. Random thoughts were brished aside, and pesky ones were eliminated. After a series of false hopes, though, Sejah felt his body sit up straight, and he breahthed in as his head felt light.

He could feel things around him. Not their shape or size or if they were sentient, but that things were there. An overwelming calm ran down his spine, and he exhaled, having finally connected. Remaining there for a moment as if he feared losing it, he asked, "I, I think I've got it. It's so, it's... well... wow. What's next, Master Magus?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade reach out and brushed the connection.

"Good.....now just stay and listen to it. Let go of your worries and try to live in it. Sense what is going on around you."

Shade picked up and rock and a limb and a leaf using the Force. He then made them spin around Sejah's head.

"Tell me what you see."

[Sejah Haversh]

"I don't see anything, Master, I have my eyes closed," Was Sejah's immediate response, only then realizing that he might be supposed to see things with his mind instead.

But it was still a blur. He knew two things were there, but not the leaf, it was too similar to the limb. Concentrating, he pondered and focused, but it was to little avail. Finally, he resorted to his other senses, primarily that of smell.

When the limb passed before him. the smell of sap and green wood was present, and so he identified it as thus, but the rock was harder to discern. Not wishign to appear stupid, Sejah cleared his mind again and concentrated. "There are two object, one is a branch or limb, freshly torn form that tree, but I can't tell the other." He finally admittied, knowing he probably wouldn't be expected to be perfect on his first try.

[Shade Magus]

Shade shook his head and chuckled.

"Try again. Don't focus on the shape or smell. Reach out and grasp them with the Force. Feel the texture and weight. And before you do it again, there are three things, but you were correct on the limb."

[Sejah Haversh]

Three things? But he only felt two. Sejah began to get upset, and then lose his concentration, but quickly caught hismelf. Clearing everythign out of his mind as he had been taught in Xaxor's class, though the second time he calmed hismelf more, and began to focus on hsis surrounding rather than all the other aspects of the Force.

In faint glimmers and flases, he did see a thirt boject, and the shape of the limb was now clear to him. Putting the small third item off for later pondering, he focused his attentions on the second, much harder object. The mongoose imagined hismelf reaching out and touching, it, feeling the texture and temperature, and then squeezing it lightly. It was hard, and rough. A stone. Then he passed on to the third, much more elusive pobject.

It seemed to have realtion to the limb, for he gained the same feeling in each of their auras. Life, recently cut off from its source, and organic. The memory of his childhood trip to the great gardens, and picking up a fallen maple leaf came back to him, and then he knew what it was.

"A limb, a stone, and a leaf. The leaf was hardest, it felt similar to the limb," He said aloud, though not opening his eyes yet for he had not been told to, "Spinning counter-clockwise, too." He then smirked.

[Shade Magus]

Shade grinned.

"Good...good....."

Sade stood up and walked over to Sejah, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You may open your eyes now. You did a very impressive job."

[Sejah Haversh]

Doing as he was told, Sejah opened his eyes and looked up, smiling that he had correctly identified the three. "Wow, that's cool. But, how do you make them spin like that?"

[Shade Magus]

"That is rather easy. You make them spin by.......well.....I mean..."

Shade stopped in mid-sentence. He had no way of knowin how to explan what to do. It had become like breathing to him and he couln't put it into words.

"Hmmm......welll.....it is like just asking the Force to do it and it does, but you have to focus on that one object until you have mastered it."

[Sejah Haversh]

Smiling as he realized that Shade thought of it as a basic skill, Sejah let it go by reachign up and plucking each object out of the air and setting them down, though he held onto the small stone, looking it over.

Looking back up at Shade, he nodded his head slowly and said, "How long did it take you to learn, might I ask. Unless we are not supposed to talk about each other's past trainings." As he spoke, he rubbed the rock in his paw, wondering how long it would take to learn how to make objects move like that.

[Shade Magus]

"Well...to be honest...when I came here...it was easy because I had already had prior Force training from my father and a friend's uncle, even though he was a Sith master. You may know him..his name is Pivo...but anyways...I believe if memory services me right, it took about two to three days to learn how to do this."

[Sejah Haversh]

Tossing the rock up and then catching it deftly, Sejah nodded as he listened. "I guess it's better if you learn froma young age, huh?" He asked, though not in such a tone that discounted his own advancement.

Turning the rock over in his paws, he looked into Shade's eyes and asked, "What is a Sith? I keep hearing of them, but I don't know what they are. Are they some other race or something?" He asked, unfortunately displaying his naiveity.

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled.

"It is good that you know not of them, and I wish it could stay that way of everyone, but they are needed to keep the balance of the Force..."

Shade gave off a deep sigh.

"Tell me....when you were in contact with the Force, did you feel like a cold presence?"

[Sejah Haversh]

Scratching his cheekbone with a finger, Sejah thought for a moment and shook his head, replying, "No, I didn't feel any temperature. I felt clarity, and , um, I guess it was life, but no temperature. Was I supposed to?

From his seat on the ground, Sejah appeard like a student before a teacher in days of old, when one had to have first proven themselves worthy of education. He did not realize it, but that was what he had been doing. The traditions of his race, and many others were the same in that respect.

[Shade Magus]

"No...if you didn't then that is good. The coldness in the Force is brought around by anger and sorrow. You must never cluoud your thoughts with emotions when in contact with the Force. Those that use their anger to contect to the Force are called Sith. They use the darkside of the Force as we use the lightside."

[Sejah Haversh]

"I, I think I get it," Sejah nodded, "But, I also know that anger can cause you to release adrenalin into your bloodstream, heightenign senses and strength. So, wouldn't a little bit of anger be a good thing? Or am I so in the dark about the Force that that's not a good argument?"

[Shade Magus]

"It is healthy to release your anger, but not while n cntact with the Force. Anyother time then I am all for it as long as you aren't constanly mad. All being become mad at some point or another, Jei or no Jedi."

[Sejah Haversh]

There seemed to be double standards when it came to the Force, and sejah made mental notes of what Shade said so that he would not mess up in the future.

"What about other emotions? Like sadness, or love? I've heard that a Jedi is supposed to be without emtion, but, even the Death-Shadows, an eliete sect of pilots and soldiers of my race cannot have their emotions programmed fully out of them. It would be, unnatural. There is far more to being a Jedi than I originally understood." he said, his eyebrows raised in mental surrender.

[Shade Magus]

"The common misunderstanding...atleast from my point of veiw. You'll soon see that everything in the universe is based on a certain point of veiw and on this particular matter, I say that emotions are natural and cannot be ignored. However, becoming dependent on these emotions and not being able to control them is when one can no longer call themselves a Jedi. I myself know this because I went through a very troubling experience not so long ago."

Shade took a deep breath. That explanation had caused a lot of thinking, but it managed to cme out right.

[Sejah Haversh]

"So we are allowed to have emotions, as long as we keep a reign on them, I get it. Wow, I've learned a lot more than I had originally thought I would today," He smiled as he said, more of a thought out loud than a real comment to Shade.

Turning the stone Shade had lifted with the force over in his paws between his knees as he remained kneeled. It still amazed him that one could move objects without actually touching them, and how easy Shade made it look. "In a book I went through, it said you express a desire to move an object, and the Fo4rce in that object obeys. Is that how that works? Kind of like asking a dog to sit, but you both must know the porper command in order to make it do as you say? Shat's the best example I can think of."

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded.

"Yes...in most cases that is true, but in the heat of a battle, there really isn't that much time to react. In these times, instead of asking the Force it becomes more of a tool and you must control it or let it control you."

[Sejah Haversh]

"How do you do it? Can you show me, or does it take a while?" Sejah asked, his thumb rubbing over the stone in his paw.

"And I know what you mean that there is little time in battle. I guess it was the Force that helped make me so good a fencer back home."

[Shade Magus]

"It does take a while, because in that short time you have to be living in the Force and stay in constant contact, but I can show you how to do that."

[Sejah Haversh]

"I would like that, Master Magus," Sejah replied, setting the stone that had been in his paws down, his tail flicking slightly by his side, "Anything you can teach me would be hightly appreciated." He added.

Hopefully Shade could teach him how to move things mentally better than he had done himself in Xazor's class. His left paw was still lightly bandaged from that incident.