Important Talk. (Akasha)

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei seated Akasha on a cot in the infirmary. No one else seemed to be nearby. Only the metallic sounds of the medical droid checking on the one or two overnight patients could be heard across the way. He leaned the Padawan's staff against the wall nearby and pulled up a small stool so he could sit across from her.

He made a point of not speaking to Akasha about anything until they reached their destination--partly because he wanted to ensure privacy to have what was sure to be a delicate discussion, but also because he wanted the time to think about all the things that he might need to say.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "How are you feeling? Wei's face held no stern look. His voice carried no accusation. Only concern.

It was important to Wei that she not feel judged. As far as Wei knew, Akasha had a brief moment of fear or panic when things in the dueling ring got out of hand. There was no need to give her the heavy end of the hammer. He waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts and answer.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha knew something was up. Yes, her paws were burnt, and she had a snaking bruise from her navel to her throat where Draiya's training saber had raked her, but she could have made it to the medical tent on her own recognizance - there was nothing wrong with her that required the personal attention of a strange knight, even if he was some kind of mystic lightsaber guru.

"I'm feeling fine," she said. "A little beaten up, but I've had worse."

The Orryxian leaned around him to see where he'd leaned her staff against the wall. "Um, you're supposed to..." She made a vague shaking motion with her paw, thought better of it, and simply called the staff to her with the Force. But as soon as it struck her scorched fingers, she hissed in pain and dropped it clattering to the floor. By chance the impact triggered the staff's mysterious inner mechanisms, and it collapsed into a short, white cylinder the size of her paw.

"Gah! Maiur's eyes, that hurts."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I expect it does," the Jedi knight replied. He walked over to a nearby cabinet, found some bacta in liquid and bandage form, picked up an applicator, then motioned for Akasha to give him her paws.

"How do you feel, emotionally speaking?" He asked.

The Force Cripple dabbed some liquid bacta on the applicator and started to treat the Padawan.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha recognized the sickly sweet scent of bacta immediately, and she didn't hesitate to offer Wei her scorched paws. The medicine was cold to the touch and quickly soothed her burning skin. The Orryxian wrinkled her nose at the odd question.

"Emotionally? Annoyed, more than anything else."

As Wei tended to her paws, she averted her eyes and sighed noisily through her nose. She wanted to say it wasn't fair the way Draiya had beaten her, that it was just a lot of cheap tricks, but she knew it would sound like she was whining, and she probably would be. The fact was, she'd hoped to impress Wei with her skill and maybe earn some individual attention from the best swordsman in the colony. Now she felt rather like a fool.

"It's just... Draiya gets under my skin sometimes. I didn't want to hurt her, just bust her down a few pegs."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Yes, well, a lot of Padawans suffer from overconfidence when they first begin to truly master their powers." He chuckled a bit. "In fact, I'd be willing to bet every credit in the galaxy that each and every Jedi from the beginning to today dealt with those kinds of feelings. I'm also willing to bet that for every overconfident Padawan in the galaxy, there were peers that got annoyed with them and Jedi masters who got exasperated."

The Jedi Knight wrapped the first paw in a bandage, then moved to the next. "During the duel, I noticed your annoyance with Draiya. I also noticed her determination to win. She really wanted it. You wanted it too, and just as badly. But I couldn't help but notice some other things as well. For instance, when you stopped her saber and got these burns," he inclined his head toward her paws, "your emotions were pretty strong then. Was that just annoyance, too?"

[Akasha Khan]

He knew.

Akasha reflexively dropped her eyes away from his, just in case any of the panic shuddering in her chest bled through before she could clamp it down. The maddening thing was, though she had an innate sense for when anyone was looking at her and whether they meant her harm, she sensed almost nothing at all from the knight. He was so calm. Which meant that underneath that placid, congenial exterior he could be thinking or planning absolutely anything.

Her eyes were already on the ground. Sullen was probably her best card to play now.

"I was on the ground, unarmed, and she came at me with a weapon. How do you expect me to feel?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

The reply came instantly. "Exactly like you felt. And who could blame you? It was quite a harrowing position you were in." Wei finished with tyre bacta and applicator, then handed her the bandages. "It's normal to feel afraid when you're in danger. It's an important feeling. Listening to our feelings can help us stay alive."

The Jedi knight motioned for Akasha to pick up her chin. "Never feel ashamed about how you feel. Even Jedi masters can't turn off their emotions. The danger only arises in how we deal with our emotions."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha regarded Wei cautiously, and then she began to wrap the fingers of her free paw in the proffered bandages.

"I thought I dealt with them reasonably well," she said. "I've never stopped a lightsaber with my bare paws before. I mean, sure, it was just a training saber, but even so."

She snipped off a length of gauze with her teeth. "I just need to work a bit on my technique."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's face kind of scrunched up and his shoulders bunched slightly. "True, but likely not in the way you think. I said our feelings were natural and that there was no shame in feeling them. That's true. But there is danger in how we deal with them. Bringing our emotions into a conflict is dangerous. If we act rashly, out of fear or anger, we can cause pain and suffering to ourselves and those near us."

Wei paused a moment to let Akasha process his words. "Why do you think that is?"

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha paused in the middle of wrapping another finger and twisted her ears back. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, Master Knight, but I'm really not good at this sort of thing. It's obvious you're getting at something, so could you just tell me what it is?"

She didn't want to be the first to say it, but at the same time she couldn't stand being held in suspense like this. He was being far too nice to her, and it was driving her crazy.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei held up a placating hand and smiled slightly. "Of course. Actually, you demonstrated my point. When you're worked up, you have a harder time thinking. When you can't think, your ability to handle your situation is limited. Your focus is narrowed: rather than seeing the whole, your focus is on the object of your fear or anger. Your feelings become a hazard. That's just being a person in the galaxy. For a Jedi, the implications are much greater."

The Jedi knight glanced over at Akasha. "As a Padawan, you are not expected to always be in control of your feelings, but you are expected to always work on controlling them. Do you understand the difference?"

[Akasha Khan]

"I... think so," she said after some hesitation, when in reality, she wasn't sure what he was talking about anymore. After the scare with the Dauntless she'd been certain she'd be interrogated on where she'd learned a Dark Side technique, or that she'd have to perform some sort of cleansing ritual, or at least write a three-page essay on the dangers of using the Dark Side and a signed affidavit that she'd never ever do it again. She wasn't used to talking about her feelings, she was just used to feeling, and figuring things out from there.

"So I should try harder from now on?" She'd finished with her bandages, and if that was all he needed from her, she was eager to get on with her day.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well, I did want to know how much training you've had in centering yourself and working through your feelings. A calm mind is the first step to becoming a Jedi master and truly understanding the nature of the Force," he said. "We don't have to talk about it today. But I do want you think, and I mean really think. Think about what feelings you feel often, what triggers those kinds of feelings, and how you respond. When your mind is calm, you can see things as they truly are."

Wei turned suddenly somber. "If you let your feelings, especially your fears, dictate your actions you will find yourself spending your entire life looking over your shoulder, concerned about enemies that are not there. You're not close to that end yet, but you definitely had a brush with the Dark Side today. I don't want to see you go down that path."

[Akasha Khan]

"The Dark Side?" Akasha repeated, summoning the appropriate level of surprise. "No... no, I don't think so. Did I?"

Her tail began swishing nervously behind her on the cot. "All I did was defend myself. I didn't attack anybody. Except, you know, with my staff, and a few Force blasts, but everybody uses those. Are you sure?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei raised an eyebrow. Surely Akasha was at least self-aware enough to know what she had done, even if she hadn't meant to do it? It didn't matter. In the end, the result was the same.

"Yes, but your last technique was the difference. You bent the energy to make a barrier between you anin you d Draiya's saber. It is the hallmark of the dark side to use the Force as a tool in that manner. If you are unable to recognize that, then we need to teach you to recognize that tendency in you and help you find alternative techniques."

Wei offered an encouraging smile. "It's alright. I know you have great potential as a Jedi. That's why I stepped in. I want to help you."

[Akasha Khan]

Despite herself, Akasha felt her ire rising - she felt as if she were being patronized. An outright scolding would be better than that.

"I know what the Dark Side is," she said sharply. "But making a barrier sounds like a good way to protect people. Maybe even save lives. How is that a bad thing? It's not like I hurt anyone."

She realized what she'd said a moment too late, and she curled her bandaged paws into her lap.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei frowned. How was he going to help her understand the danger of the Dark Side? She was obviously still worked up, and without meaning to he added to her irritation. She needed to calm down. "Padawan," he said calmly, but firmly, "I expect you to control your irritation. It is not my intention to rile you. I suggest you take some time to yourself for now, and I will contact you about returning to this later." It was clear from his tone there would be no more talk today. He waited for Akasha to leave before going to his own quarters to plan their next meeting.

[Akasha Khan]

Well, that was abrupt. But considering she'd wanted him to let her go, she'd count it as a victory. For now, anyway. Maiur only knew what she was in for when he contacted her later.

Akasha slid off the cot and experimentally flexed her bandaged paws. They were tender, but they no longer burned, and they seemed relatively mobile. Whatever else Wei was, at least he was a competent field medic. "Thanks for the bacta."

With one last circumspect glance at the enigmatic knight, Akasha stooped to retrieve her retracted staff and padded out of the medical tent.

[Wei Wu Wei]

A few days later, Wei stood in an open patch of grass on the compound. He waited patiently for Akasha to appear. After some time of thinking on it, the Jedi Knight had decided that if Akasha wouldn't listen to words, she might appreciate a demonstration more. Following that line of thought, Wei offered Akasha lesson in the lightsaber form of her choosing, and even gave her permission to bring her lightstaff. He wasn't sure how often the Padawan got to practice with a live blade, but he thought the opportunity might appeal to her.

So he stood in the grass, lightsaber hilt gripped loosely in hand, enjoying the breeze.

[Akasha Khan]

After two days had come and gone with no word about her duel with Draiya, Akasha hoped that she'd heard the last of it. Draiya was even less chatty toward her than usual, which wasn't altogether unwelcome. But on the third day there came a message for her on her datapad from one Jedi Knight Wei Wu Wei, only it didn't take the form she expected.

Lightsaber training. In whatever form she chose. She didn't know much about Master Wei, but she'd heard things. That he was a master of all seven forms. That he'd learned them from ghosts of old Jedi Masters. That he'd quested all over the galaxy for sacred relics to unlock hidden stores of Jedi knowledge. That he had invented a brand-new form, the Way of the Opee Sea Killer, which could only be achieved while drunk.

Okay, she didn't believe everything she heard. But Wei was renowned among the Jedi for his skill with a blade, and as much as Akasha valued Tionne's training, her master was on mission and there was no way the Orryxian could pass up an opportunity like this.

She padded across the grass in her customary vest and trousers bound just below the knees. Her paws had healed admirably thanks to Wei's application of bacta, and she had removed the bandages, but she wore fingerless gloves to improve her grip while her fur grew back in. Her Echani staff swung from her hip, and her lightstaff rode comfortably in its holster across the small of her back.

Akasha slowed as she approached the knight standing serenely in the swaying grass. "Master Wei. I am here to learn."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I'm here to teach!" he replied jovially. "How fortunate we both are!" Wei chuckled.

"So, we're going to be working on lightsaber combat today. I promised to teach you about any one of the Forms you like, but I want to teach you more than just technique. I want to demonstrate and teach you a frame of mind that will expand your awareness, and thereby opening your options in combat."

He didn't add that he hoped that teaching her would cause her to abandon the sort of technique the Padawan demonstrated days before.

"Have you decided which Form you want to focus on today?"
'

[Akasha Khan]

It had crossed Akasha's mind that Master Wei may have been just a bit crazy. But then, it was often said that there was a fine line between insanity and genius, and she was willing to give the eccentric knight the benefit of the doubt.

"I have chosen to specialize in Ataru," she said. "If you could add to my knowledge there, I would be immeasurably grateful."

She thought back to duel he'd already witnessed, which, even without her unplanned display of the Dark Side, was far from her finest hour. She winced at the memory and added, "And if you have any thoughts on countering illusions, that would be good, too."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Yes, I believe the mental training I mentioned will help you accomplish exactly that."

The Force Cripple activated his lightsaber. His mind touched the Force, and his awareness expanded. His body and mind relaxed, and the Force seemed to rush into him, invigorating his body and sharpening his mind. And yet, Wei remained unchanged in his manner; he remained calm, completely in control.

"No doubt you are at least familiar with the basics. Let's begin in the opening stance."

The Jedi knight sunk into the stance immediately: one leg forward, bearing little weight, the other back, bearing the lion's share of Wei's mass. His two handed grip held the lightsaber hilt high, by his ear, blade pointing directly up.

"You may feel like you need to change your starting position," he said. " bring your saberstaff forward if you feel like you may cut off your toes."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha fell into the Ataru opening stance as easily as she climbed into bed at night. Her lightstaff went spinning into her gloved paws, angled just differently from Wei's to keep all her limbs out of the line of fire. She'd practiced obsessively with her Echani staff to work out the dynamics of a staff weapon you could only touch in the middle, and had even gone to the length of coating both ends with scalding krayt pepper oil to make absolutely certain she didn't fall back on any bad habits. You didn't light up both ends of a saber staff until you were damn sure you know what you were doing.

The Orryxian double-tapped the activation plate, and her saberstaff grew two blood-red blades. She watched Wei with a predatory intensity, not his face, but his body core, which would give her the first clues to which way he would move.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I can see you understand how to watch an opponent," Wei said. "Very good. Most of Ataru's power comes from the momentum generated through acrobatic spins, flips, and twists, so watching the opponent's core is a smart tactic."

The Jedi Knight started with small circles. "I think of Ataru as circles," he said, starting a slow circular vertical chop. "Think of each joint in your body as a point of rotation. The smallest circles start at your wrists, then your elbows, then your shoulders, then your body."

Each joint became part of the technique: The flicking downward chop in his wrist moved into his elbow, which lent range and power to the strike. He followed that motion smoothly with a follow-up cut from the shoulder, which ended in a jumping somersault that crashed to the ground. He stood and took up the opening stance next to Akasha.

"The ancient masters called Ataru the Aggression Form because the fluidity of these motions allowed for flurry of fast attacks. Mastering Ataru requires speed, dexterity, and endurance. Now, we'll repeat that sequence I just showed you. Even though I know you've practiced before, I want to stress to you the importance of taking your time and feeling the technique. Muscle memory is generated through patient repetition of a movement. Let's begin."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha recognized the sequence as a mix of basic and intermediate Ataru velocities with a few minor elements she hadn't seen before, and she was immediately impressed by the ease with which he performed them. Wei was awfully spry for someone who, thanks to shortened Orryxian generations, was literally old enough to be her great-grandfather.

The Orryxian padawan nodded respectfully to the older knight, then began the sequence. Thinking in circles was all the more important when you were wielding a saber staff; cut an arc short, and you were likely to cut other things short, too. As a result, each blade had considerably less range and freedom of movement than a conventional lightsaber, but as long as she stayed in motion, she could attack you coming and going. That, along with the fact that you didn't see lightstaves very often, lent a considerable factor of shock and awe to the weapon. It was hard to think tactically when you were facing twice as many strikes in the same span of time.

Her staff turned into a dizzying pinwheel when she somersaulted through the air, and thanks to her feline grace she landed with more spring than Wei had. Then she turned her acid-green eyes back toward the knight, hungry for more.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "That was good."

The Jedi Knight gestured expansively. "Here in the open, Ataru is at its best. Unrestricted, you are free to deal with your opponent from any direction you like. That kind of overwhelming offense is what makes Ataru so deadly. But what if you didn't have that luxury? Most of the time we don't have space like this to fight in. There's obstacles, and things to obscure our vision. And, as you mentioned, there's illusions."

The Force Cripple went to where he had some strips of cloth. "Today, we'll focus on illusion, and obscured vision. When you can't trust your eyes, don't use them." He handed Akasha a strip of cloth. "Put this over your eyes."

[Akasha Khan]

"Um... okay."

Akasha extinguished her blades and took the blindfold in a hesitant paw. As a self-described apex predator, she prided herself in using all her senses while hunting, but she always made her kill by sight - her eyes provided the most information in the fastest time at short range, and she could see shapes and movement just as well at night as in broad daylight. Taking that away was like stuffing cotton in her ears, or having a human nose.

Carefully, she lifted the strip of cloth over her eyes and tied it behind her head, and the daylight, the grassy lawn, and Master Wei disappeared. She'd done this sort of exercise before, of course - it was practically a requirement - but never with two live blades. She thought it over for a moment, then pressed her activation plate only once. The top blade sprang to life, and she held what was for all intents and purposes a traditional lightsaber with a somewhat longer than usual hilt.

"I'm ready."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Slow breaths, Akasha. Feel the Force around you. Clear your mind of questions. Of discomforts. Of expectations. Simply let yourself be."

Wei stepped a few paces to better check his student's stance and breathing. "Just as you know the position of your body in a space without needing to see your reflection, the Force allows us a similar sense of the environment, if you let it."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha frowned out of reflex, as she always did when she got the "empty your mind" treatment from a master. Concentrating on emptying your mind was just an invitation for it to start playing games with you. What's that sound over there? Oh, smells like they're cooking panna cakes in the mess tent this morning. Hey, remember that fizzyglug jingle you heard on a holonet ad two years ago? No? I'll play back it for you.

Instead she focused on what she could sense in the environment, rooting herself in the now. The warmth of the sun on her face. The grass crushing softly beneath her feet. A light breeze that gently ruffled her fur. And underneath it all, there were currents of energy layered like scent trails in a forest, but they were always in motion, and yet somehow still orderly. Gradually she expanded her awareness, teasing out how the currents moved around her and through her, how they connected her to the tiny things crawling and hopping through the grass, and to the Jedi Knight pacing softly nearby. She turned her ears to track his movements.

"I do this when I hunt," she said quietly, taking care not to break the spell. "But... it's hard to be this calm in combat."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I know that struggle. In combat, we face possibility of injury and even death. Sooner or later, we all re-join the Force. So why worry? Who can add a minute to their lives by worrying and fearing the day they die? Luckily, training can both dispel those fears and helps us stay alive."

Wei stepped towards Akasha. "So, let's get some good training we can rely on. Now that you're centered, I am going to strike at you. Focus on the Force. It will guide you. Use the circular motions we practiced to not only stop my attack, but clear it out of the way and open me to a counter strike. Let's begin. "

Wei started with a lateral cut that arced towards the Padawan's neck.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha opened her mouth to protest that worrying about your death when it was an immediate possibility could actually add decades to your life, but Wei had already moved on to other things. So she centered herself and focused her awareness on the leylines that vibrated like sound waves off of his shimmering lightsaber, just in time to sense them converging toward the side of her neck.

Wei was taller than her, and it was a high attack, so the sensible thing was to deflect it higher. She flexed her knees to drop away from his strike and angled her blade like a ramp, sending his lightsaber skittering overhead. Then she stepped past him, turned swiftly on one foot, and spun her blade toward what should have been his unprotected back. But she didn't fully commit to the counterstrike - while she was reasonably certain Wei wouldn't be undone by such a basic maneuver, she didn't want to risk explaining to the other Council members why one of their colleagues had become eighteen inches shorter.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei stopped Akasha's blade, moving it aside while he turned his body. "Very good. A flawless Ataru counterattack!"

"Sometimes when the Force guides us, it can be as strong and overt as a vision, or it can be a subtle as that tickling feeling in the back of your head that something needs doing."

The Jedi Knight lunged and stabbed at the Padawan's midsection. Still not terribly fast, but not so slow he felt she would feel insulted or coddled. If Akasha proved she could handle it, he would move on to the next step.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha spun again, simultaneously taking herself out of the path of the thrust and pushing Wei's blade wide. She maintained her resistance against the knight's saber and slid her own blade down his, letting it guide her toward his vulnerable hands.

"I feel that all the time," she said. "Even when I'm not looking, I'm aware when someone's watching me, and whether they mean me harm. It's saved my life before."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei slid his saber down, angling it to the side so her blade fell off the end of his. "How do you feel about that?"

He whirled his saber around in a long overhead arc, bringing it crashing down towards Akasha's head. His feelings of concern were deepened somewhat by Akasha's language, but there was no inherent harm in knowing whether someone was hostile towards you. It was what a person did with the knowledge that made the difference.

[Akasha Khan]

Rule one of Ataru was that you never let your enemy dictate your movements. Blocking an overhead strike, especially from someone who was taller than you and outweighed you, was a perfect way to get pushed backwards or pummeled into the ground, so Akasha sidestepped and angled her blade so its slope carried Wei's strike off her left shoulder.

"It's an advantage, isn't it?" she replied. "People have a hard time sneaking up on me. The biggest threat's the one you don't know about."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Yes, there's an advantage to know when someone is near, to sense their intent. But when you feel that hostile presence, how do you feel? Do you get angry? Scared?"

Wei's blade now pointed at the ground. He decided to keep it low and swipe at the Oryxxian's legs.

[Akasha Khan]

"Well, it--"

Akasha leaped over the sweeping blade and somersaulted tail over ears above Wei's head. Her aerial strike was predictably deflected, and she landed neatly on her feet behind him, pointing the tip of her blade at his head. She found herself momentarily disoriented by the sudden change in position and direction.

"It depends. In the right situation, fear and anger can help keep you alive."

Her saber quested for his and was rewarded with a scrape and crackle of arcing force fields. "I've been told it's not the feelings, but what you do with them that counts."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"That's true, Padawan," Wei began, "and Jedi learn to let go of those feelings, so they don't cloud their judgement. I'm sure you're familiar with the Jedi Code."

Now they were getting to the heart of the matter. The true lesson was about to begin. Wei pulled his saber away from hers and whirled around and to the side, but did not counter. He stood beyond her reach. He wanted to give Akasha an opportunity to focus on her answer.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha rocked forward on her toes as Wei pulled away, unsure for a moment whether she should pursue. She obviously couldn't read his facial expression, but his attention on her had cooled off considerably. She lowered her lightsaber by a few degrees.

"Yeah, of course I do," she said. When she got no response but the humming of Wei's lightsaber, she sighed and recited, "There is no emotion - there is peace. There is no ignorance - there is knowledge. There is no passion - there is serenity. There is no chaos - there is harmony. There is no death - there is the Force."

She shifted her feet, wondering when the swordplay would start up again. "I always thought the bit about passion and serenity was redundant, though. Aren't they just fancier words for emotion and peace?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"They are related, but not the same. A feeling can come and go, like waving away a pesky bug buzzing in your ear. Passion, for now, can be described as intense feeling with intent. For example, when you dueled with Draiyya, did you not care about the outcome of your match?"

He could see her tensing, waiting for the sparring session to continue. Soon, but first, there needed to be this quick discussion.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha's ears splayed in confusion. "Of course," she said. "If I didn't care, I wouldn't be fighting."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"So, you were deeply invested in winning. Passionate, you might say. But tell me, is the point of those sparring matches winning bouts, or improving your technique and gaining valuable practical experience?"

Wei started setting up the next exercise while he waited for her answer.

[Akasha Khan]

Ugh. Backed into a corner. Akasha sighed and let her shoulders and ears sag.

"The... self-improvement one. I know that, it's just... I find personal competition makes for a good motivator. Playing well with others is not an Orryxian trait."

Or a Syragori trait, she thought, but didn't say. As uncomfortable as she was under Wei's kindly scrutiny, she knew deflecting blame onto Draiya would be cowardly at this point.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Of course competition is a good motivator. It's part of why the sparring matches were authorized. But when your desire to win supersedes your true goal, that's when things get dangerous. That's the danger of passion. When you let go of passion and embrace serenity, it gives you clarity of focus. Anger and fear might help you survive, but serenity helps you know when you retreat to a better position and try again."

Wei's face soured at the thought of his own strategic retreat on Coruscant not so long ago. He was at once glad Akasha couldn't see his expression, but somehow wished she could. If she knew even older, more experienced Jedi dealt with strong feelings and battled their passions, maybe it would do her some good.

In the end, all he said was, "Trust me."

The Jedi Knight shook his head to clear out that cobweb and pulled a small control from his pocket. "Anyway, it takes practice and patience to do what we've been talking about. I believe you can find serenity, Akasha. Even in the midst of tumultuous, dangerous situations. Are you ready to try?"

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha twitched an ear when she heard something sliding over cloth. Her senses weren't good enough to tell her what Wei was holding in his hand, but there was enough of an air of transition in his voice that she guessed they were about to move on to something new. And while this talk of embracing serenity sounded about as interesting to her as an evening seminar on horticultural genetics with a salad buffet to follow, if Wei's technique could make her a better swordswoman, she would give it an earnest try.

She hunched down into her opening Ataru stance again and said, "Yes, I'm ready."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"What we are about to do will address everything we've discussed so far, and address the one thing we have not discussed. You wanted to know how to counter illusions. Well, the only way to do that, is to be able to use the Force with peace and serenity. When you do that, the Force becomes your ally, and you will know what's real and what isn't."

He pressed the first button on his control. A small beep indicated a set of 8 practice remotes powering on and taking up positions in the air around Akash

"At any time, the remotes might fire. They may also not fire, but only play a recording that sounds like they're firing. That's the illusion you will overcome." Wei grabbed a sack of tubers he had nearby and placed it the padawan's feet. "Stay near the tubers. If they get shot, you lose. And don't destroy the drones. We will do this until you get hit or decide to stop. I will stop the drill if I sense you brush the Dark Side. All clear?"

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha knew the sound of remotes launching - Tionne Thanewulf had programmed a variety of deviously difficult exercises to keep the Orryxian Padawan busy while her master was away on deep cover missions. It seemed like a long time now since three was enough to challenge her; she usually practiced with four when running her Ataru velocities and occasionally used five or six in select exercises. But never had she contended with eight at once. She only hoped they wouldn't be buzzing her head and her feet the way Tionne's remotes did.

"I understand," she said, "but isn't this more like a Soresu exercise? If I'm facing multiple opponents with Ataru, I'm going to want to keep moving and eliminate them one by one. If I can't strike the remotes and I can't leave the tuber sack..."

She faltered, because pride wouldn't let her admit that she didn't know if she could do this. Her thoughts turned back to the Ysanna attack on the Gossam caravan weeks ago. Defending a stationary target wasn't exactly her forte.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"This is an exercise in awareness, calm, and focus," Wei answered. "Not every Jedi called on to defend someone was a master of Soresu. I'll give you one hint: find the sack of tubers, then center all your movements around it."

Wei counted to ten, then said "Begin!"

He pressed the button. The remote in front of Akasha fired. Right after that, the left remote played its blaster recording.

[Akasha Khan]

In the classic Ataru ready stance, you stood with knees bent and feet a little wider than shoulder-width, so you were immediately prepared to spring in any direction. Akasha planted herself directly over top of the burlap sack with her blade held upright in front of her. She required only a slight adjustment to block the first blaster bolt, and then she anticipated the second shot and pivoted her shoulders to guard her left side. But there was no blaster bolt to deflect. Annoyed, she huffed and pinned her ears back, then settled herself back into Ataru ready to await the next volley.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Remember, illusions trick our senses. Keep your mind clear and feel the Force. Trust it, Akasha."

This time the right remote offered the diversion and the rear one fired.

[Akasha Khan]

Trust the Force. If it weren't for the Force, the audible cues would be worthless - the only way she could react to them at all was because she heard them before they happened. So as far as the Force augmented her natural senses, it was untrustworthy. It was hard to trust an all-penetrating pan-galactic field of spiritual energy when it was sending you mixed signals.

Akasha narrowed her focus to the drones themselves. Unlike living creatures, she couldn't detect the intentions of a machine - they were just so much plasteel and circuitry to her, sparking with insensate electrostatic charges. It all seemed random to her, but she knew it wasn't. The remotes had limited power supplies, and they had to draw on those reserves to make mid-air course corrections, generate a targeting solution, or to fire off a blaster bolt. Which meant anything they did would be preceded by a spike in the--

She sensed a spark from her right and turned toward it, then realized there was a much larger surge coming from behind her. She completed the turn awkwardly, but she didn't have time to execute the drop parry necessary to deflect the low shot. Instead she planted her foot in its path and hissed as the low-power bolt splashed against her shin.

"I see now," Akasha said to herself. She cycled her lightstaff's ignition, and her second blade sprang to life again.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei paused the remotes and nodded. "So you see now that the awareness brought about by the Force goes beyond your senses. It's like an intuition--a precognition."

He wasn't entirely sure Akasha did understand, or that she was even doing what he asked. Teaching was hard--much harder than he bargained for. Then again, when you're trying to teach something you yourself grasp only by intuition borne through experience, was it ever truly going to be easy?

"If you like, I have a noise cancelling headset. That is, if you really want to test yourself."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha opened her mouth to say she thought the point was to push through distractions, not to take them away completely - but far be it from her to back down from a challenge.

"If it fits," she said, and she extinguished her blades and blindly held out an open paw.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei held up the device. More a helmet than something that just went over the head, he held it up to compare to Akasha's head. He started to adjust it. "How do you feel you've been doing so far?" he asked. "Are you beginning to understand what I've been trying to teach you? I'll admit, this lesson has been harder for me to teach than I first reckoned on. I hope you're not too frustrated with me."

[Akasha Khan]

"I think I understand," Akasha said. "Draiya tried to fool me with illusions in the forest once, but they didn't have the proper scent. I can't stop to smell my foes in combat, but I can test them with the Force... is that it?"

The Orryxian grinned beneath her blindfold as Wei fiddled with the headset. "Now I just need to goad Draiya into another fight to test it out."

Oh. She didn't mean to say that bit out loud.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei sighed. "Well, you could goad her into fighting," he began, "or you might approach her and say, 'Care for a rematch?' or 'I've been practicing overcoming illusions; I was hoping I could test myself against you.' It would give you an opportunity to practice what we're learning here and will push Draiyya to hone her talent and produce better illusions."

The Jedi Knight placed his hands on the Padawan's shoulders. "Akasha, I do not know why you think people must be stirred to anger, or manipulated into doing what you want. Some people work that way--Sith especially--but why bother, when honest, clear communication can get you what you want, and rapport with your peers besides?"

[Akasha Khan]

"Well, yeah, that's what I meant," Akasha said, one moment before she realized lying in a lesson that was about seeing through illusions was probably a bad idea. Normally she'd read Wei's face and assess the damage, but she was still blindfolded.

"Ah... I mean... her buttons are so easy to push, half the time it's more reliable than just asking nicely. The two of us didn't exactly get off on the right foot."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Then you will have to begin again, only this time on the right foot. Whether that means apologizing if you've done something to hurt her feelings, or just asking her to set aside the differences between the pair of you and start again. Jedi are peacemakers and peacekeepers, starting with one another. I suggest not leaving this on Draiyya to do; you should be the first to move to work things out."

Wei gave her the helmet. "Let's finish the lesson. Put it on. There will be no signal, so you'll have to rely solely on the Force to let you know when the remotes have started again."