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Krath Training: Lesson 3 - PRT Locke Setzer and KP Kerridwen Jorddyn
Jorddyn bowed to Locke as he walked into the room. It had been a long week for both of them and the next week was going to be even longer. “Follow” Jorddyn said, turned on her heels and walked out of the room. Locke followed as expected. Kerri could feel his anticipation and by glancing at him she could see he was desperately trying to suppress his eagerness. She hoped that today’s lesson would go well.
They finally reached a wooden door, deep in the tower. Jorddyn lead Locke in the room then locked the door behind them. She took off her robe, reveling her gray jump suit, pushed up her sleeves and grabbed one of two buckets. Kerri then walked over to a basin filled with water, filled her bucket, and then started up a set of 30 stairs. At the top she upended the bucket, pouring the water into another basin, however as Kerri turned back around to descend the stairs Locke realized he could hear the water rushing down a series of pipes. By the time Jorddyn reached the bottom of the stairs the water had already sloshed out of the pipes into the trough at the bottom. Locke’s eyes grew wide as the futility of the task finally sank in.
Jorddyn was about to fill her third bucket when Locke spoke up. “Master, what is the point of this lesson? I do not understand.” And as he half expected Jorddyn did not answer. Locke then stepped in front of the stairs to block Jorddyn from ascending. As she walked to him he could tell she was focusing on something other than him. Just as Locke wondered how chicken was played outside of a start ship, a strong invisible hand shoved him out of his master’s way. As Locke pulled himself up off the ground he started to fume. He was an apprentice and by its very definition he was to be taught! Locke took off his robe, threw it next to Kerri’s grabbed the last bucket in the room and followed his master’s example.
After what seemed like hours Jorddyn decided that it was time to up the stakes and spoke for the first time in this dismal room. ”Halt.” she said in a commanding voice. Locke looked up at her startled out of his own thoughts. Jorddyn put down her bucket and held her hand out for his. Locke handed the bucket over, careful not to splash the water all over both of them. Jorddyn slid one hand under the bucket and released the four catches on the bottom of the bucket. Water began to stream out as she handed the bucket back to Locke. Jorddyn was very careful to control her face as Locke’s eyes widened.
”Continue Apprentice.” and with that Jorddyn continued down the stairs herself while Locke stood there with his feet getting wet.
When Jorddyn reached the lower trough, she released the catches on the underside of her own bucket, filled it with water and started up the stairs.
Locke’s eyes again got large as they passed each other on the stairs. She knew he was probably astonished to see her with a leaky bucket, since she remembered when it was her who had been astonished when her master Cooch came walking up a set of stairs just like these.
Locke fell into his rhythm slower than the first time. Kerri knew exactly what he was going threw as she felt the same uncomfort, her cloths sticking to her legs, the sounds echoing in the room that no longer carried a steady rhythm. Kerri was prepared however, and all she could do was hope Locke found his rhythm before he reached complete frustration.
Slowly but surely Locke did find his rhythm. Kerri doubted that he was aware of the small things he had done in order to compensate. How he poured the water out of the bucket slower than he could have so it took the proper length of time, how he climbed the stairs at that same pace, how he used both hands to draw the water so everything he did followed his internal rhythm.
Finally it was time. Kerri broke her own meditative rhythm, took a deep breath and reached for the force. It took less than a heart beat and then she heaved a silent sigh of relief and dropped back into her own rhythm as soon as things were started. It took some doing however to get the timing down. Kerri was careful to fill the room with the force as Locke slowly ascended the stairs, then as he poured the bucket Kerri started to dissipate the energy she had gathered in the room. Since she had to keep this rhythm separate from her own moment’s rhythm it took a while to juggle everything properly. After the umpteenth time that she screwed the timing up, Kerri had to shake her head. You never stop learning she thought to herself then tried the process again. Finally Jorddyn got the hang of it and after 10 completed trips of Locke’s she knew it was the moment of truth so to speak. It was time to see if Locke would feel the energy in the room rise and fall, to see if Locke would start to control that dissipation himself.
Trip after trip Jorddyn continued to increase the amount of the force that she gathered bit by bit. The rush of the force coming in and out of the room grew stronger with each trip. Even though she was expecting it, it still made her start when she felt Locke for the first time dissipating some of the energy himself. Triumph! She thought. She could have jumped for joy! She loved teaching and she was proud of her pupil. Jorddyn began to stop short at each turning point in Locke’s path and just as he was suppose to do, Locke unconsciously took up the slack. After she had counted 20 successful trips, up and down the stairs, with Locke changing the energy level of the room with out any assistance from her, Kerri dropped her own bucket as they passed by each other, grabbed Locke’s bucket and projected into his mind as well as shouted “Dissipate the energy now!” while she upended his bucket on the floor.
With an audible snap Locke did as he was told and channeled the energy out of the room.
”Well done my apprentice. Your control of the force is growing.” Jorddyn said with a kind smile on her lips as Locke was trying to remain upright despite the shock to his system. Poor Locke still looked bewildered though. ”Take heart Locke, everyone including myself has walked in your soggy shoes. The gathering and dissipating of energy is one of the hardest lessons to learn as a protector. However, this is not the only lesson I have to teach today. Another lesson that will take much more time for you to learn is of the camaraderie of the clan. No matter what task is set before you, no matter what missions you may undertake. We will always be by your side. We will always look out for our brother.” And with that Jorddyn bowed to Locke, retrieved her robe, and keys and lead them up to the main level of the tower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Locke's wet robes made a slushing sound as he followed
his Master as they headed quietly to the main level of
the tower. Locke had been in the Dark Brotherhood for
some time now, and he had long since learned to put
aside his belief that he had seen just about
everything in the galaxy for some time. He had also
learned to accept the fact that methods of teaching in
the Dark Brotherhood were going to be much different
then anything else he had ever experienced before.
Frankly put, some stuff was just going to be downright
weird.
But this whole water thing had simply taken the cake.
Still, as Locke pondered the time spent in the lesson
as he and his Master walked to their destination, he
began to see what Jorddyn had been trying to teach
him. Indeed, once Locke had gotten over himself and
his desire to understand just what was going on and
gotten into the task, Locke had felt the camaraderie
almost instantaneously. There was certainly an
undeinable appeal to doing a task as a team, even if
you haven't the slighest clue what on earth your team
was trying to accomplish. Sometimes you simply have to
give someone the benefit of the doubt and help them
out, even if it involves getting a little wet.
But more importantly was the lesson Locke had not
realized he was being taught. The channeling of the
force, it's energy flowed through him just like the
water as he and Jorddyn performed their menial task.
He hadn't realized it at the time, but...
"I did feel something." Locke said as the two had
arrived at the top of the tower. "As the water passed,
as we walked up those stairs, it wasn't just water
passing by. There was something else there...
something going through me, and going through you. But
I didn't even notice it... it just felt..."
"Natural?" Jorddyn asked with a small smile. Locke
nodded. "Yeah, natural. As if... I'd always been doing
that."
"Well... perhaps you have." Jorddyn suggested, but
Locke shooko his head. "No, no. In the service, but
especially back in the Academy, they really train
drills into you, training your unit to respond to
simple commands so that your mind takes a back seat as
you perform these tasks, falling into unison with the
rest of your unit. I've done that a million times, and
I never felt what I did today."
"But that doesn't mean you weren't always using the
Force as we did today." Jorddyn obsereved. "You're
going to find, my young apprentice, that many of the
things you've done throughout your life have been in
some way, shape or form involved in the Force. You've
begun to hear it, to learn how to control it, but most
importantly, learned how to feel it. It has always
been there with you, but now you can see it, and
because you can now see it, you can control it. When I
commanded you to dissapate the energy in the room, you
did it instinctively, drawing upon the Force in a way
you had not yet done so. In the same fashion, if you
had properly been using the Force back in your drills
during those Academy days you speak of, you might have
been able to use the energy within that room to take
control of the actions of your fellow cadets."
Locke laughed a bit "Carrying buckets of water up and
down the stairs is one thing, but influencing a
military unit's actions... that's something completely
different."
Jorddyn frowned. "No. It's not at all different. The
only difference is the one in your head. I know you to
be a bit of a galactic history buff, so I know you
know of the Dark Lord Naga Sadow."
Locke shrugged. "Yes, but..." Jorddyn continued her
story as if Locke had said nothing. "When he lead his
attack upon the galaxy, it was not from the lead
starship in an attack force, or from a seat of
political power that he lead his army of conquest. He
did so from a simple meditation base in a remote
region of space, where nothing could disturb him,
where he could mearly control the energies of his many
legions and of his foes and determine the outcome of
his victory. How did he do this? Using some great
secret Sith spell of victory? Hardly. He used the same
power you touched on mearly moments ago."
"But... how is that possible?" Locke asked, stunned
that Jorddyn had used his own best subject against him
to prove a point.
"Through the Dark Side of the Force, my young
apprentice, it is but a matter of time, practice and
dedication. If you are to master to Force, you must
realize the full weight of what this lesson can teach
you. And you must be able to unlearn what you have
learned if you ever seek to achieve the true power of
the Dark Side. Only then will you be able to truly see
the limitless amount of power it can provide you, even
from the simple task of transporting water."
Locke smiled. "As always Master, you have the uncanny
ability to continually show me how much further I
still have to go."
"I believe" Jorddyn began with a slight chuckle "that
that is the primary objective of my job."
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