Reaching Out (Jacen)

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was once again sitting in the Garden. He was finding himself spending more time here then in the rest of the compond. Not only was it a good place to relax after trying days but also was becoming a great place for training.

Right now he was waiting for Jacen, another one of his recent padawans, to join him. Rog wondered if the boy was expecting training at this hour. For it was getting to be late at night and the moon could be seen only when there was a break in the clouds. It was almost a complete darkness in the garden, which was what he needed. For he was now going to test the boy on telling things that he can see, from that which he can feel.

[Jacen]

Jacen walked out in the gardens, trying to watch his step as his eyes grew accustomed to the light. He didn't know what his master wanted at this time of night, but he hoped it was to start his training. He finally located Rogan as his eyes adjusted and he reached out tentively with the Force as his freind Kyle Krogan had taught him to do.

"Umm..good evening Master Rogan sir."

[Rognan Dar]

"Good to see you made it. As you might expect we are going to start your training. But before we do that, I wish for you to meet my helper for tonight..."

[Yarden]

From out of the trees a big black shape jumped down right infront of Jacen. To what could be seen in the dim light was an animal or cat like features. As she growed quietly, her sharp teeth could be seen.

[Rognan Dar]

"I would like you to meet Yarden. She is my Wevicat and will be helping me out. Dont be afraid of her. She has become quite a bit more tame then when we first got here."

[Jacen]

"Whoa!" Jacen said as he stumbled backwards, shocked at the size of the feline. "Wow...she's beautiful."

[Rognan Dar]

"Yes, she is. But not only is she beautiful, she is also a lot smarter then you would think a feline would be. She is a special kind of feline, called a Wevicat, that is just about as smart as you and me. She cant talk, saddly; not having the right vocal system. But if she did, she would have the brains to comunicate correctly."

[Jacen]

"Wow...can you communicate through the Force?" Jacen asked, his eyes glued to Yarden.

[Rognan Dar]

"Well...we communicate in several ways. We do have a strong connection through the Force, that does help me know more on the line of what she is thinking. She can understand me fine, leaving me with the ahrer end of the deal.

Anyway, I didn't ask you hear just to met Yarden. Shall we begin on the training?"

[Jacen]

Jacen's head snapped up. "Oh yes please."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan nodded to Jacen and then turned and nodded to Yarden. And with that Yarden skittered off into the darkness of the garden untill she was ingulfed by it, no longer to be seen.

"Alright," Rog said as he stood up. "What we are going to do today, or tonight, is to find Yarden."

[Jacen]

Jacen cocked his head to the side. "But how? It is pitch black out here."

[Rognan Dar]

"And yet you are just standing there. I want you to see if you can find Yarden in this darkness. She could be anywhere. In a tree, behind a bush, or just in plain site under shadows. Do your best and see what you can find."

[Jacen]

Jacen nodded, still unsure about this. He only had limited practice with the Force. He reached out as Kyle had taught him. He could sense Rogan and the trees close to them, but nothing beyond a few feet. He stepped forward and more came into the radius he could sense.

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan could feel Jacen trying. He was smart, he had said so. Jacen was starting right on the button how he was suppose to find Yarden and the purpose of this training. Rognan liked to prode his students into things with nothing but their own wits to try and accomplish the task. If they struggled, he would help, but if they can figure it out on their own, good for them.

[Jacen]

Jacen stepped forward again, reaching out into the Force, but still finding no trace of the feline as he moved deeper into the shadows.

[Yarden]

There was a sudden blur of movement to Jacens left. Yarden wanted to keep Jacen searching, and give him some hints to help him on. But her movement was swift and silent, quickly find another spot to hide.

[Jacen]

Jacen jumped back as the Wevicat jumped past him. He had almost found her and now she had moved. He reached out again trying to locate her, but getting a lock on her was difficult when she kept jumping around. He reached out again, and he still felt her on his left side.

How can that be? Man she must be fast, he thought as he walked towards the bush he thought Yarden was hiding behind, readying himself for another leap from the Wevicat, but prehaps this time he would be fast enough to catch her.

[Yarden]

Jacen was quick on her tail. Her hint to him must have got his attention, drawing him on to see if he could find her. He was close on her trail. He was nearing a bush that she had ran by. She watched as he seem to think thats were she was. In fact, she almost did hide there. But things on the ground were to easy to find. So Yarden leaped at a better hidding spot were the shadows almost hid her completely.

[Jacen]

Jacen neared the bush, but found nothing in there. What where is she? It's almost like she should be here, but she's not. Can she turn invisible? All these thoughts ran through his head until a breeze picked up and the leaved rustled in the trees above him. Wait! Trees!

The young Padawan turned his head up to find Yarden, but it was so dark up there. Well only one way to be sure of things, he said as he went over to a relavtively low branch and began climbing.

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan watched intently from back a ways as Jacen looked intently for Yarden. He was doing quite well for just starting. He noticed that Yarden was baiting him, to keep him looking. But that in it self led her to getting found.

"Jacen, come down. You two Yarden," Rog called out to the two, just about to run face to face with eachother. He watched as Yarden jumped down and stood next to him. He then waited for Jacen so that he could talk with him.

[Jacen]

Jacen, jumped down from one limb to the next, and then to the ground with an acrobatic skill, honed from years of jumping on the streets. He awlked over to Rogan, curious as to why he stopped the exercise. He was sure he almost had her.

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan could see a little disapointment in Jacen as he came to him. He had done quite well in tracking Yarden. And he did find her, yet he did not get to her.

"Not bad, Jacen. You were able to keep up with Yarden and even thought outside the box and came close to find her. But I feel that you focused to much on seeing her with your eye's, and using your mind to figure it all out. What I'm trying to teach you here is to use a second set of eye's, one that is guided by the Force. I want you to be able to feel whats around you, and with that feeling project it outwardly as if you had your eye's open on a bright day. And when you are able to do that, the darkness will mean nothing to you and you can find Yarden as quick as a flash."

[Jacen]

Jacen considered these words and looked up at Rogan. "But how do I do such a thing? I can only focus on a single thing and see that. I'm not sure how to...I guess widen my range of sight would be the right words?"

[Rognan Dar]

"The open your eye's wider. You will not be able to do anything if you limit your abilities like that. You always need to be considering ways to broaden your skills. Keep your mind open and let the Force guide you. Come sit down and we will try."

Rognan sat down on the grass and watched as his padawan did the same.

"Now, I want you to close your eye's and find a calm frame of mind. Once you have that, open yourself up to the Force and let it flow through your mind. Once you have that, open yourself up even more, letting the Force fill you to the maz that you can handle. Let its sensation power you up and flow once again out."

Rognan paused. not wanting to rush to far ahead before Jacen could even begin. There was more that could be done, but he wanted to start steadily.

[Jacen]

Jacen closed his eyes, opening himself up to the Force. He let it flow through him, just as he had been, only this time he tried widening the range. His brow furrowed in concentration as he pulled more of the life force into him. He could now see well beyond what he coul before, but it was all as if he was looking through muddy water. He couldn't get the picture as clear as it was before.

"Umm....I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly. I can...feel more, but it's all blurred around the edges."

[Rognan Dar]

"Well, you are going out more. That is good. Try focusing on those edges, now, and not so much on reaching farther out. But keep in mind, you want to maintain that outstretch while you are doign this."

[Jacen]

Jacen tried, and his grasp on everything slipped a little and he had to pull more in, but the edges of his senses began to take more definite shape now. "I...I think I am getting the hang of this."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan smiled. He could feel the energy filling Jacen up. After speaking a few words to Yarden privately, he instructed Jacen on what to do next.

"Since you seem to be getting a hand-hold on this, I want to test you out a little. I want to see if you are able to follow Yarden's presence in the Force to where ever she may go. Focus on her now and just follow her as she moves farther away."

And as Rog finished Yarden slowly and gracefully walked off.

[Jacen]

Jacen reached out and for awhile he could still track her movements, until she began moving farther and farther away. At first he was confused about wether she was turning left or right, until she went a ways down he new path. Then as she went into the trees, it felt as though he had lost all orientation. "Umm...it is alright for me to follow her right?"

[Rognan Dar]

"Sure. Do whatever you need to in order for you to continue working out this skill. If you need her to slow down so that you can follow, just say so. There is no need to rush things and dont expect to do everything th time. For just beginning, you are doing quite well."

[Jacen]

"Well Kyle helped me out a lot..." Jacen said sheepishly, as he took a step forward. He jerked his head towards the left after a few more steps. He had her. He started moving towards her, but then just as quickly, she was gone.

"Hmph...I can be pretty difficult to!" He whipsered into the darkness, reaching out for her again. As time went on, he was able to send his awareness out farther and farther, getting clearer as well. It wasn't until an hour later though, when he was able to sense most of the surrounding area that he stopped and turned to Rogan. "I think she is above you."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan waited and watched his padawan as he went out and strengthened his senses. Through the long hour Rognan had moved from his spot on the grass to leaning against a tree. Jacen was quite persistant on getting this down, which was a good quiality for a Jedi.

It was not untill quite a while of roaming around that Jacen found his way back to his location. And when he said that Yarden was above him, all Rog could do was smile and nod his head.

Yarden at once jumped down and went to Rognan's side.

"Very, very good. I was starting to think that yo would have continued looking out and away when she had moved around behind."

[Jacen]

"I almost did. I barely caught onto her and for a second I even thought she was on the other side of me and not behind. It had more to do with luck than anything."

[Rognan Dar]

"Dont count yourself so low. Nothing is ever 'just luck.' You used the Force and sensed things and you used your brain and thought out what you were sensing. It takes more then just skill in something to be good at it. If you dont use your brain and just go at things from what they appear to be, then you are just going to find yourself a very hard life as you go on."

[Jacen]

"I guess you're right, but I've really never thought about things being more than they seemed. It will take awhile to break that habit. How do you do it? Or is that just the way you've always been?"

[Rognan Dar]

"No, I have not always been like that. Not since I learned about the Force and how it lives in everything. Not many people know about the Force and they dont realize how many things are connectedc through it. But once you start to understand the Force a little more you will get use to thinking outside the box. For the easiest solution to a problem is not always the best."

[Jacen]

"And sometimes the easiest isn't necessarily the simplest...whoa...where'd that come from?" Jacen said as he looked astounded. He hadn't been think that...nothing nowhere near that sentence.

[Rognan Dar]

"Ah, your starting to think. Maybe not as focused as you would like, but common sense is sometimes all that it takes. There are many roads that lead to the finished. Some choose to go on the path to the right, which is flat and plain with many other paths to choose from. Some take the left that looks flat but has less paths to be confused with. And some just like to take the strait and narrow path, though, it might not be as nice or exciting as the otehr two but it will get you to where you want to go. Which path do you find yourself heading down? One of excitement and chalanges? Or perhaps just a simple life with just yourself to reflect on?"

[Jacen]

"Hmmm...I'm not sure. I would like the challenges because they would test me and my limits, but then reflection I think would bring me closer to the Force."

[Rognan Dar]

"And what about the third? The strait path. The one that is narrow and dark and full of troubles. It may be strait, but the life of a Jedi is never one of ease and comfort. To go right ahead and give one hundred percent to becoming a Jedi will be filled with much pain and suffering. How you handle that pain is for whoever walks that path to decide."

[Jacen]

"Why must one choose? Why can we not travel all three of them? I mean a roads must intersect sometimes right?"

[Rognan Dar]

"Yes, that could be true. And its not something you have to choose right now. In fact, if you do, you might set youreself up for failure. The path to becoming a Jedi is one that you must travel. Only through what you do will you truly learn what is right. You cant just be told where to go and expect to come out of it as a pure Jedi Master.

I'm just trying to worn you of some ways that could lead to the Dark Side. The Jedi should not crave such things and adventure and excitement. Neither should the look forward to battle and to spill blood. Jedi use the Force for Knowlege and defense, never for attacking. Is this clear?"

[Jacen]

Jacen almost visibly winced when Rogan emphasized the word never. "Yes Master."

[Rognan Dar]

"Dont worry to much about it. Many things I can not teach you and you'll have to find out these things for yourself.

But that is all for tonight. You have done well, not only in your use of the Force but also in your thinking. Keep it up. Go now and rest."

[Jacen]

Jacen smiled at being complimented. He bowed to Rogan and turned to leave.