The first step (Torn Dlo)

[Liam Jinn]

Liam had left a message for his new padawan at his room, and now made his was towards the garden. It was the perfect place to begin Torn's training.

After a brief walk, the Jedi Master stepped out into the sunlight and was greeted by it's warmth. He smiled slightly, taking in the beauty of the garden. It never ceased to amaze him how a few plants could make him feel.

He took a seat on the steps over-looking the garden and closed his eyes, stretching out through the Force, feeling the life teeming around him.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn walked outside shortly after recieving the Jedi Master's note on his door. He arrived to the garden doors to find Liam sitting on the stairs. He walked beside him and Bowed deeply.

"Master Liam."

[Liam Jinn]

Liam felt the prescence of his padawan and smiled.

Timely, I like that..

As he heard his name, he opened his eyes and stood up.

"A pleasure to meet you, Torn Dlo." He bowed his head at the padawan. "So.." he said as he began walking down the steps, "..how do you feel today?"

[Torn Dlo]

Torn breathed in, his mask making an almost inaudible hissing noise. "I am alive and well. My body feels good and does not hurt."

"And yourself Master?"

[Liam Jinn]

Liam stopped and turned to face his padawan, who was still at the top of the stairs.

"At peace."

He chuckled and motioned for Torn to follow him. The Jedi Masters' boots made a soft 'thump' as he slowly resumed his pace.

"It is important for a Jedi to always be calm and focused, even in the most dire of situations. It is in this state that we can reach out, and feel our surroundings," he said as he motioned to the exotic plants surrounding them. "and much more."

He smiled and gave the padawan time to reflect on his words. After a few minutes, they came upon a fountain in the middle of the garden.

"Now, I'd like you to sit down, close your eyes, and clear you mind. Take your time, and reach out. Feel your surroundings."

Liam sat down on the edge of the fountain and waited. He wasn't sure what his padawan was capable of yet, so this would be a good test.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn nodded as he sat down and closed his silver pupiled eyes behind his mask. His breathing slowed considerably as he cleared his mind of all thoughts and worries. Slowly he came to a point where he was only taking a few breaths every minute.

At this time, he did the same as he did before any of his spars at the Academy and felt the same sensations he used before as he got into what he called battle mode. He could feel everything around him with such sharpness and perception. It was all so clear. The flowers and fauna, the air on his wrinkly skin. The warmth of the sun.

[Liam Jinn]

"Yes - good, very good. Just keep focused..." Liam said with a slight grin forming.

He picked up a small rock about ten feet behind his padawan, through the Force, and threw it at him; testing Torns' abilities further.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn, whether through intuition or the Force, felt the rock. He could even feel the slight shift in winds as it approached him. He moved out of the way as he opened his eyes and watched teh rock move, just as his opponents at the Academy had, in slow motion. He felt he could have reached out and plucked the object from the air.

Unfortunately this also put him on the defensive side of things out of habit. His reflexes kicked in, and teh Kel Dor jumped up and got into a defensive close combat stance before realizing his error and bowing in apology. "I'm sorry Master Liam. I don't know what happened."

[Liam Jinn]

Liam let out a chuckle and stood up.

"That's alright. You did well. Looks like we've got to work a bit on control. Calm, collected and focused - remember that." He patted his padawan on the shoulder and smiled.

"I'd like to know about your past, but first, maybe I should tell you a bit about myself, oh and, just a fair warning; there plenty of rocks out here, so I want you to be aware of your surroundings at all times."

The Jedi Master gathered his thoughts and sat back down on the fountain.

"I didn't start out as a Jedi. Once, a very long time ago, I was a member of the Empire, and a Sith." he waited for his padawans' reaction before saying anything else.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn leaned back, shocked. He couldn't believe what he had heard. "Excuse me?"

[Liam Jinn]

"Ah, yes. I was once a Sith. It was how I was raised. To be everything we Jedi strive not to be. I was trained by Grand Adm Thrawn, was his 'pupil', so to speak. It has been many, many years since that though."

He looked at his padawan, seeing his reaction.

"Yes, it is shocking, yet do you think I could rise to the rank of Jedi Master if I was the same person I used to be?"

A small rock hit Torn in his arm.

"Focus."

[Torn Dlo]

Torn rubbed his arm where the rock had hitten and his peach colored skin reddened with embarassment. "No...no you couldn't."

[Liam Jinn]

"Alright, well, that's enough about me for now. Tell me about yourself, but, keep focused and feel your surroundings."

[Torn Dlo]

Torn nodded as he let his memories of the past come forward.

"Well, I'm from Dorin and there I was enrolled in the Kel Dor Academy. There I recieved formal warfare training in tactics and hand-to-hand combat. Life there was hard, as I would assume it is here. We did as we were told and did not ask twice about things. We had absolute faith in our instructors."

[Liam Jinn]

Liam nodded and took in the new information.

"Interesting... Here you'll learn to trust yourself as well as any instructor. The Force will guide you, as you will learn in time."

Two rocks from each side of the padawan lifted off the ground and seemingly threw themselves at Torn.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn ducked to the left as one flew by him, but was to slow to move out of the way of the second. It hit him on his right shoulder as he was coming up to move out of the way.

[Liam Jinn]

"So, do you have any siblings? And tell me more about Dorin, I haven't actually made my way there, yet."

Maybe I should stick to one rock at a time.. he thought, as he looked at his padawan.

[Torn Dlo]

"Well as you probably know, Dorin's atmosphere is deadly to most except the natives and its location between two black holes, usually ward off visitors so we are pretty self sufficient. Our planet's main source of income, comes from our technology which gears more towards weapons than anything else."

"As far as personal life. No siblings...yet," he said as he thought about his parents. His people were in the midst of thier mating cycles and he knew his parents were wanting to have another off spring.

[Liam Jinn]

"I see." He scratched his chin and sat in silence for a moment.

The time would come where Torn had no choice but to face a Sith, and Liam didn't want the thoughts of his parents to betray the padawan.

"I want you to bury these thoughts of your parents deep. Keep them hidden. A Sith would not hesistate to use them against you, just remember that. You must learn to keep your mind as tight as you can, nothing must get in or out without your permission."

The Jedi Master lifted a rock with the Force, high up into the air about thirty meters, before letting it go.

"Now, catch the rock, eyes closed..."

[Torn Dlo]

Torn was confused as he closed his eyes behind his goggles. Dodging a rock was one thing, but catching it, well that was a different story all together. Still he did as instructed and sat there, waiting, reaching out with the Force.

Suddenly he felt the rock coming towards him and his hand shot up into the air. He didn't catch the rock, as he fumbled with it when it hit the wrinkled skin between his forefinger and thumb, but he was able to stop it. He fumbled with it for a moment before finally holding it still. The Kel Dor held it up for Liam to see.

[Liam Jinn]

Liam clapped his hands together, pleased with his padawans' performance.

"Excellent. Tell me, have you ever used a lightsaber?"

[Torn Dlo]

Torn thought about the lightsaber given to him by his old Master in his room and shook his head. No, but I have used weapons similiar to them."

[Liam Jinn]

Liam grinned and walked away, returning a few moments later with something in his hand. It was a sphere-shaped object, looking a bit simular to a thermal detonator. With a gentle toss, it flew to about eye level then hovered, making a quiet humming noise.

"This is a training remote. And this," he said as he pulled out his blue-bladed lightsaber, "is one of my lightsabers."

He tossed the metallic tube to his padawan.

"Now I want you to close your eyes, and use the Force to keep track on this remote's movement. Use my lightsaber to block any incoming blaster shots it will fire at you, just be careful not to cut off an arm." He gave a short smile before sitting back down onto the edge of the fountain.

[Torn Dlo]

Torn caught the metallic cylinder and looked at it for a moment before igniting the glowing blue blade. He then looked one last time at the remote and closed his eyes. He sat there for a minute, reaching out. Thankfully his training at the Academy taught him to reach into the Force somewhat to feel for an opponent's attacks.

The Kel Dor brought the blue weapon up and blocked the first and second attack, but the third and the fourth hit home. One scoring a hit on his arm and the other on his lower left calf.

[Liam Jinn]

As his padawan blocked the first and second attacks, Liam raised an eyebrow. The third and fourth had scored hits, but it was still impressive.

"Very nicely done. But, you must learn to trust completely in the Force, and let the Force guide your movements. Now, try it again."

[Torn Dlo]

Torn took a deep breath and relaxed his stance slightly, speading his feet a few more inches. He moved the lightsaber up and into a forward position and waited.

He didn't have to wait for long. A moment after he was ready, the machine was moving a blasting more shots. Again the first few were deflected easily enough, but then the next ones got through, but he didn't give up. He brought the blade twirling through a flurry of motions and knocked away the nest two.

Soon the blocks became easier as he put his faith deeper and deeper into the Force. However it was only a matter of time before his body began to fatigue and he was taking more shots.

[Liam Jinn]

Liam clapped his hands and stood up.

"Excellent. You've done very well."

The Jedi Master raised his hand, his palm facing the training remote. The remote slowly flew into the waiting hand, and was deactivated with a press of a button.

"I'd like to see how you handle yourself in a fight, if that's alright with you."

[Torn Dlo]

Torn stood straight and nodded.

"If you wish."