9.119 - Padawhatsits.

[Zeke]

Zeke grinned, too. He sensed a lot of long, rambling stories in this young woman, and he was looking forward to hearing them.

"That's good. One last lesson before you leave. It's customary to bow when greeting and leaving your Jedi Master. Your Master then bows to you, and you go about your business. We can wait for it next time, though. See you in about a week."

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes as Sindy left. Lesson planning...what to do? Basics. Exercise and Boosting, to begin. "PT makes me sexy..." he mumbled to himself, putting together the drills in his mind as he returned to quarters. Five days later, he was dressed for exercise in a sparring room on the Whaladon, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and running shoes. Sindy was due to arrive soon. He checked the chrono on the wall. "Better not be late," he admonished the empty room.

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Five days later, that darned mouse droid was chittering at her, scolding her, she almost thought as she scrubbed her face clean after rushing out her grubby-looking, greasedstained work jumper into capris, a comfortably loose ribbed tanktop and the cross-trainers Ordon had got her that she hadn't bothered wearing yet on account of being entirely too attached to her workboots.

"Yes, I know, I know!" She exclaimed, not exactly placating the mouse droid. "I did say I'd think of a name for you but... it just slipped my mind and I've been busy - well, not the usual busy, but busy enough I guess - and ohhhh I'll just..."

She nabbed a hoodie off the back of a chair, almost started squirming into it, then abruptly changed her mind and threw the piece of clothing on her rack and gave the little droid a stern look.

"...I know you don't like being called 'mouse droid' like a nobody all the time, but be patient! I'll think about it, you know... later!"

With that, she left the mouse droid to its chittering and scurried off to the designated location in quite a hurry. Someone - she wasn't certain who it was when she thought about it later - tried to tell her to slow down, but she just didn't because otherwise she would be late!

Well, thank goodness she wasn't, slipping into the sparring room, while trying almost in vain to catch her breath.

"I almost think..."

Breath in, and out, and in.

"...that it's hardly nice..."

In and out and in.

"...that the quarters are on the other side of the ship from here."

She was about to say something else, but a certain few words from five days before came to her and she promptly clapped her trap shut and bowed toward her new master.

"Hi, Master Saska...." She greeted, standing up mostly straight again. "...sorry I'm..."

She looked at the wall chrono, relief spreading over her face.

"...oh, I guess I'm not late, then."

[Zeke]

Zeke had a few theories on why the dormitories were far from the training areas, but chose not to voice them as he returned the bow. "No, but it was close," he said with a light grin. "At least I know now that you can run fast. However, we have some mental training to do before we begin the rest of your physical training. Center yourself in the Force. Let it fill you. If you've been practicing diligently, this shouldn't take too long."

[Siyndacha Aerin]

"Okay." She said, nodding, then ceasing the nodding. "Ah... I mean, yes, Master Saska."

First, she shuddered a little, quickly shaking out her body in an honest attempt to slough off the feeling from the adrenaline of booting it across the vessel so fast. In and out, she breathed, remembering how Ordon had taught her to breath in through her nose for a deeper breath, and out through her mouth, slowly. The action of this breathing had a cleansing effect that helped her mind to release its hold on the churning torrent of thoughts, suppositions, and the like, allowing the Force to take precedence in her mind, body, and senses. It was a thing that had taken many attempts to do, allowing this strong foothold that the Force now had in her being, and not letting the quick, unyielding force that was the brilliance of her mind supplant it so quickly. It had taken many of her hours in the intervening days since she had been accepted as a padawan, as well as attempts to better balance what she agreed to do as her other existing skills allowed with what she was seeking to become.

There was more to it than the pure desire and fascination of becoming a Jedi. It was that she was Aerin, and the name 'Jedi' was in her blood. Even one so detached from the emotional trappings of interpersonal relationships, nostalgia, and family as she had a great deal of understanding for what this meant.

There was a different swirling here - unlike the one that had always been ever-present in her mind. A swirling that wasn't so much a swirling as a symphonic dance of the life around her, organic and synthetic, a dance, that was also a calm ebb and flow in the same instant. It was something she, in the short time since she had begun to apply her focus to it, had come to appreciate for its own unique mechanics.

Opening her eyes, not quite realizing that she had closed them to begin with, she looked across at her master, and feeling rather unmistaken that she could feel him there, too. See him, rather, with something other than her eyes.

"Will this suffice?"

[Zeke]

"It will," he answered. In a single breath he calmed his mind and let the Force flow through him. Now, to see if she could maintain this through the coming explanation and exercise. "The Force will allow you to do many extraordinary things. You've already discovered a few of them. You can talk to droids, and understand them in turn. You can no doubt sense my presence in the Force as well. The Force will also allow you to enhance the physical capabilities of your body. We'll now do exercise to teach you this skill. The first thing we'll do is the Hundred Meter Ceiling Touch Kick."

He spread his legs to shoulder-width and crouched a bit, body leaning slightly forward, his arms online with his torso. "The starting position is as such. On the first count, you will jump. On the second count, you will touch the ceiling with your hands. On the third, you'll snap your lower body up, kick the ceiling, then land in a crouch. I'll demonstrate. One."

Zeke bent his legs and leapt straight up. "Two!" he called as his fingertips brushed the ceiling. He brought his legs up and braced his toes on the ceiling. For the briefest moment, he appeared crouched upside down on it. "Three!" He landed and resumed the starting position. "One Hundred Meter Ceiling Touch Kick. Ready to try it?"