Connecting to the great Unkown (someone please join in)

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius leaning against the wall, his feet crossed as they lay on the floor in front of him. His jacket was to his right, thrown aside.

"Okay you bastard," he mumbled to the open air, "you're going to come to me and like it. I am not going to be a bloody laughing stock."

Keep your cool, Syrius he reminded himself. This Force is a stuck up little pain. Got to be all calm and peaceful when you ring the doorbell.

He fetched the lighter and cigarette from his jacket. He'd quit but nothing calmed him more than taking a drag off a freshly lit stick.

Calm yourself. Keep your cool. Block out all that's bad and all that, he coached himself. Remind yourself mate why you want to be a Jedi. Helping people, protecting people, promoting justice. Don't force the issue. Let her come to you. Imagine if you will, a dance where you are Johhn cool shades. All the little birds sing for you and wear their pretty dresses to catch your eye. Don't be a <smallfont color={hovercolor}>-Censored-</smallfont> and force the issue. Just let the lovelies flock to you. You're too cool for anything else. The Force is just another pretty girl.

[Xazor Elessar]

"What are you waiting for?"

The voice came from the other side of the training room. Quietly in the shadows a figure clad in black robes had stood, watching. This Padawan of hers was an interesting fellow, no doubt. A smile touched her lips for a moment as she stepped into the light.

"I think it's time we had a formal lesson, young one. Sit and get rid of that cigarette -- they're bad for you."

She said to him and moved to sit down on the floor. The Garou's eyes met her student's and she smiled gently.

"Now, what is it you're trying to do, Syrius?"

[Sage Hazzard]

EDIT: I blame it on the cookies. :lol

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius chuckled. She was good. He knew how to look for people and he hadn't seen her one bit.

"Yeah, yeah, so I've heard," he mumbled as he tossed the cigarette to the ground, stomping it out.

He slumped on the wall again, falling and allowing his back to slow his descent. He worked the knots out of his neck, working it back and forth.

"Well, you don't know it, but somewhere a rock just moved half an millimeter," he winked. "I'm thinking about connecting to the Force again, actually. Just trying to rev up to that point, you know? Kind of like preparing for a gut punch."

He smiled, sighing. He pulled his legs up to an indian style setting, placing his hands on his knees somewhat limply. He closed his eyes.

"Um.." He snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Yeah--could you hold my 'mental hand' or some such? Work me through the steps again, love, please."

It would probably suprise his Master how much he was taking this seriously. He was tired of being the most human Jedi around.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor smiled gently as she watched her Padawan stomp out the harmful cigarette. Sighing inwardly, the woman awaited him to speak, but what he said surprised her slightly.

"You what?"

She questioned, not wishing to sound unsupportive or that she did not believe in him, but it was a bit shocking.

"If this is what you really want, I'll help you. You must not get upset with me, though, when you find it difficult."

The Knight said a bit sternly, not wishing for him to displace his frustration onto her. With a gentle smile, the woman nodded.

"Okay, close your eyes and take a deep breath -- clear your mind of everything in it. Think of absolutely nothing, okay? Just concentrate on nothing and breath deeply."

She closed her eyes and did quickly the steps she laid before her student. Soon the woman was calm and breathing deeply.

"I want you to get to a place where you feel completely calm and at peace, despite what is going on in the outside world or in your life."

[Syrius Cline]

Easier said than done. Syrius was always the receptive bloke, always in the know of his surroundings. Closings his eyes and trying not to think of anything increased that somehow. It was like his honed senses took his efforts as a challenge. That they could defy his will to think of nothing.

The machine next door churned and hummed as it spout out laser bolts. He could feel the vibrations, hear the churning of the gears, the sharp sting of a blaster bolt, and the duel hums of two light sabres. Which piqued his interest further. Two lightsabres? Was it two Jedi practicing, or just one with two swords? Or did he mistake the hums of two seperate sabres as one double sided one?

Bloody, hell! Who gives a damn Syrius, shut up and think of nothing you batty nerf herder! he chided himself.

Now it was the curious warmth on his face. The sun had risen more over Coruscant, peeking down through the blinds and onto his face.

Shut up, shut up, shut up! he again argued with his own thoughts, his teeth inadvertedly grinding. Just chill, old son. Breath deep, seems to work for Xazor.

His thoughts then wondered to breathing, which Xazor had instructed him to do. Yes, Xazor was breathing. He could hear her breath as it cut through the stale air in the room. Her lungs in sync with her heart, which he could swear he heard, Her chest must be gently raising a lowering. Her chest...

Where in the hell did that come from? Come on, just blank out!

Then her last instruction came.

Alright, something to work off of. A memory maybe? When was I ever calm?

Slowly from under his lids, playing like a holo movie, came a private memory. Odd, he started to think, before stopping himself from thinking of such things and breaking his calm. But it was odd indeed he was seeing this memory from the top down, like he hadn't lived it. Something to think about later, the meaning of such a thing. Maybe a head shrinker was in order or some such nonsense. Never mind that though.

It was a good memory. Funny that it reminded him of a movie, as it was just that he was seeing in the memory itself. He was on his belly, against an old ruffled carpet of a childhood home. Across the screen of a box shaped device ran the harrying scene of an old detective drama. One of the stars of the day... Who was that?

Oh yeah, Venton Macy. Good old bloke, overdosed though from what I heard.

No, though, he stopped thinking about that. That wasn't peaceful nor calm, a childhood idle dying a shameful death. It was his favorite characters, in one of the many films based on him.

Walt Antilles. Oh yeah, this is the one where that broad double crossed him to that flat head bloke. Yep, but ol' Walt got him one over and came away with a kiss with that same broad that sold him out. Turns out she was only doing it for her life or something. Yeah, he always won. Always got the perp and the girl. Classics like that never go out of style.

Right then, old Wedge clocked one of the bad guy's hencemens.

An old time punch. Now days they have all that blood and broken bones, with the slow motion and the loud music. That stuff never happens. Look! Old Wedge hurt his hand on the goon. Ah, but he's fine. Always is.

He smiled a genuine smile as he watched the movie with the same wonderment as the kid that was him did. What? Now he was seeing through his eyes. He'd been putting up barriers all his life, trying to be the savior of the galaxy, cleaning up the crime. Now he was allowing himself to be that boy again. The kid who loved old Wedge so much he would one day be a cop like him. Guess he didn't need that shrink after all. He couldn't help but feel a wave of calm come over him.

"Okay, love, I'm in my happy place," he said with one of the widest grins he'd ever had.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor smiled gently and nodded, very well aware that Syrius was quite calm -- nearly to the point that she was.

"Now -- I want you to think of nothing, but fill yourself with joy, love, and happiness. Allow these emotions to roll over you like a river of the feelings. Reach out, then -- not with you hand but with your mind -- and grasp onto a powerful calm. It feels like a river of its own -- something even more powerful than your feelings. Touch it if you can, and hold on. I'll be there waiting for you."

She said quietly and without much searching, the Knight was there -- holding onto the Force with no problem. Gently she touched Syrius's mind. It felt like someone tapping him on the shoulder, but not physically. It was just the sense that she was closer to him than ever before. There was was now -- he could feel her rhythmic breathing and feel her heartbeat. There she waited for him to at least come close.

[Syrius Cline]

He didn't waste breath. It didn't seem needed now. He could actually--it was odd. He could sense her somehow. Like she was patting him on the back but almost like she was patting beneath his skin. Patting his mental back or some metaphor that was similarly appropriate.

Joy, love, and happiness came easily enough. He was still there, watching old wedge. Now he took that image away and kept only the emotions. Simple enough now that he commited himself to it. Capture the feelings, let go of the means to the ends, then think of nothing new. His usual analitical personality took a back seat. Not so much because he denied it but because he enjoyed the happy nothingness more.

Powerful calm... okay. Well, his mind could, if he allowed it, analize that and find she was speaking of the Force. Though he didn't give into that urge, or rather, didn't feel it so much now. He knew what she meant, as soon as she had said it. No. He felt her meaning. Just understood it without knowing it and processing it.

It was powerful indeed. Underline <u>powerful</u>. It was overwhelming at first, when he only sensed it. Just out of reach and inviting. It was like a pool of the same emotions he held in his mind. Of love, joy, and happiness. Now was the hard part, grabbing it.

Instead of pushing it, like he had done in the past to no success, he eased into it. Slowly adding calm to himself and slipping into a further meditative state. Slowly he inched closer and closer to the mark, as he became more of what it wanted. More calm, joyful, and loving. Finally, like a boy on a merry-go-round, he grabbed the brass ring.

The feeling was like a gut shot... a good gut shot. In that moment he could see Xazor like never before. Not through sight or mind but through emotion and etheral knowledge.

"Hello there, love," he said quietly to himself.

Oddly, that didn't break his concentration, He was holding onto this for dear life...

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor smiled at everything she was feeling. He was there -- he had made the connection she so desperatly had wanted him to make. Finally he had a grip on the Force and it brought immense happiness to the Jedi Knight. She felt the sting of a joyful tear sting at her eye and it soon fell.

"Hello Syrius -- you've finally found it." She said with a bright smile, though her voice was soft and gentle as to not disturb his concentration. Her joy only furthered their connection and soon a mental bond was formed. Now he would be very well aware of her presence whenever she was near. After practice it would be quite easy for him to speak in her mind and for her to read his feelings without much effort. "This is the way you tap into the Force. You will be able to repeat these steps on your own and eventually it will happen naturally." She said through a grin. It was a breaking point -- an amazing step forward that she could hardly believe that they finally reached.

[Syrius Cline]

"Sounds awesome love. Though..."

He felt her inside him, inside his head and his thoughts.

"I guess you already know what I feel, eh? Same way I'm getting a picture of a big grin on your face."

It was more of a feeling, a notion, than a image.

"So what do I do with this? Seems kind of limitless. This is amazing!"

[Xazor Elessar]

"That's the idea, Syrius!" She said with a bright smile upon her face. "You know my emotions and can possibly read my thoughts without you seeing me or me telling you." She said quietly, though excited.

The Knight took in a deep breath and relaxed for a moment as she thought of everything that they had to accomplish now. Things would soon pick up and he would be using a saber in no time -- at least, she hoped. "The next place we go with this is Telepathy. You have the base of it already. The idea is, is to be able to speak to one another through this energy field. I will send you a message and you tell me if you can hear it inside of your head, okay? It will feel like a poking feeling at first but will get loud enough to hear, okay?"

With her eyes closed and a deep breath, the Knight fell deeper and deeper into the Force, grasping the connection she held with Syrius tighter and tighter. Once she reached the point where a message would be easily heard, the woman decided it was time. "Syrius -- can you hear me? If so, say 'yes'." The words echoed within her Padawan's mind and with the power of the Force backing the thoughts, he would receive the message in no time at all.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius smiled and waited, just to have a little fun....

".. Yes."

It was odd, almost like it was his own thoughts, like he had said them in his head.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor smiled as her Padawan spoke. It brought joy to her heart to know that he had heard her message. She nodded slightly and decided to try again. "Now, try to send me a message. It's quite simple, really. Just think something and imagine yourself projecting it at me like words from your mouth -- but this time, they're from your mind." She spoke softly through the Force and quieted herself, waiting for her Padawan to attempt this feat.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius couldn't fully grasp every word this time, it was a longer message. But he did catch the request to send a thought to her, and the basic instruction on how.

"Hi...Am I...doing...good?"