Log:Force of Will
Aryn teaches Chani something new in Fountain Park.
OOC Date: December 22, 2020
Location: Fountain Park, Hanna City, Chandrila
Participants: Aryn Cole, Chani Tahn
Evening is a pleasant time on Chandrila. While the presence of humidity was in the air, it was never thick or sticky, like some worlds they had visited. Here in the fountain park, it seemed a haven where the youth prospered. Kids ran through the various fountains arrangements laughing and splashing. Parents watched from bench seats well safe from the chilly spray of water and giggling children. There were walking trails too, of course; many people made use of these by running the paths or just walking and talking. Generally, the atmosphere here is peaceful.
Aryn leads the way down a path toward one of the fountain arrangements. Spouts were built into a stone memorial where the ground was stone, and the memorial was a wall that formed a circle. Each segment of the wall was carved with memorialized history native to Chandrila. The design, this fountain park and memorial, was an attempt at marrying fun to history. Kids running through the water might find it in them to study the stones they ran by and learn the words as their history.
Aryn and Chani's visit was not to learn history though. "This is one of my favorite parks to visit," Aryn says while looking incapable of hiding her smile. Her eyes were directed toward all the children and families just enjoying the park and each other.
Chandrila's sky is a mural of oranges and purples as the system's star dips towards the horizon. It's not a cloudless day, leaving broad smears of fluffy grey interposed on the wide canvas above them. Broad beams of light are cast over the city, eclipsed by the glittering skyscrapers near the city center. Chani can see the senatorial building from here, jutting out above the pointed tops of the park's trees that act as a guarded ring around the center. "It reminds me of Naboo, in some ways. Then I look at the architecture and I'm reminded I'm elsewhere. Chandrila is beautiful. I've enjoyed my time here." Dressed in a dark brown robe over cream underlayers, Chani's boots tap against the duracrete pathway they follow towards a fountain.
"I could see that. I think I much prefer Naboo to Chandrila; there are more things to see there, and people to talk to. I enjoy their university, though I have not been in.. a while." Aryn rubbed her chin after saying that, seemingly the reaction to an unpleasant memory she had not meant to recall. "Well," She says a moment later, "here we are." Aryn's hands go wide in gesture motions toward the quiet fountain area. The memorial walls made a circle, and in its center all over the stone floor, spouts. They did not fire water at the moment, but that was controlled by a valve nearby.
"I thought another lesson into an important technique might benefit you as you are training."
Aryn pulled off her cape and placed it over the top of one of the stone walls. The walls were roughly chest height to Aryn, so it was not an impossible task to accomplish. "You have probably heard or read that our strength.. as Jedi, it flows from the Force. You of course have your own strength. That strength is enhanced by the force: Sometimes it doubles, triples, or even quadruples what you might be capable of. To put it to scope, I came up with an exercise we can both use to work on some of our /core/ skills. It should be fun too."
Chani's wide-sleeved arms lift from a neutral position, fabric jostling and wrinkling up as each limb slips into the home of its twin. Both press into her waist through layers of fabric, while the sleeves themselves meet at their openings and bunch up against each other. Aryn's sweeping hand gesture triggers a sweep of Chani's gaze, which slips down towards the floor and over the inlaid nozzles not currently active. "I've seen it as much as I've read about it," Chani turns her head back towards Aryn. "Though I must admit I'm not sure where this is going." Nearby laughter gains her attention for the briefest of moments, and Chani watches as two children attempt to climb onto and over their towering father, a smile broad on his face. It readily returns to Aryn after.
"We are going to see if we can outrun the water spouts," Aryn replies, turning to sweep a hand toward the controls and the jets inlaid across the open circular expanse of the memorial. "This can be done by running from one side to the other, however.." Aryn switches the jets on and the spouts spew in sequential order making a wave across the interior until it reached the other side. The speed that they did this made it seem unlikely they would out run such a sequence, though Aryn sounded confident.
Aryn moves into the memorial and takes a spot at the starting place. When the controls beeped, intoning a warning of the next 'volley', Aryn steps off just as the first spot spews behind her. The speed she suddenly adopts is one she would not be capable of attaining naturally. She has made it to the other side despite how quickly the spouts spewed, and remains untouched by the water. Out of breath, Aryn smiles, "Just so..!" She calls, over the sound of the slapping water.
Watching Aryn leads Chani's lips to part in an exposure of the white teeth hidden behind them. The woman is not a blur to her, but Aryn's speed from starting point to finish is one she is not initially prepared to keep up with. Her arms drop from their crossed place across her waist, and Chani's face creases with a look of discernment. "I've seen this used in battle before, but it's still difficult to grasp what I'm seeing as.. real. How do you do it?" Her voice raises itself to compensate for the distance that's grown between them. The mere fact Aryn chooses to demonstrate this and explore this training moment in the public eye eases Chani's sense of wanting to be on guard and private. "Is it a particular feeling, or intensity of will?"
Aryn returns to Chani so they no longer have to yell, or talk at higher volume, to be heard. "It is both. I daresay one spurns the other, but at the core of it resides our first lesson: Becoming one with the Force. A common phrase among Jedi is that the Force is our ally. I take the meaning metaphorically, not literally. Itself is a lesson, when said simply, you achieve these things through your connection with the Force."
Aryn clasps her hands at her lower back, and continues. "For you, establishing this oneness will be the most important lesson because /that/ is the source of our power. We will the power of the Force to accomplish these things. Sometimes, it is more instinct than conscious thought. That muscle memory takes time to develop and enhance though. So the nature of this exercise is channeling the force to enhance what you can already inherently do. You can run, but you have to run faster. You can jump, but you must jump higher. Does this make sense?"
"It makes sense. I'm just not sure of the how. I get the theory. The application is what worries me. I'm not sure how I should feel or what I should focus on." Chani grows silent after, eyes casting away from Aryn while her mind digests and mulls over the information Aryn has given her. Stepping up to the impromptu starting line the Princess had displayed before her, Chani's expression is one of blatant skepticism when looking from where her origin point is and where her endpoint is. That skepticism bleeds away, though, and Chani looks determined after a few moments. The young Naboo native understands that believing she can do something is one of the key elements to actually doing something. "I'm ready." She's not going to try to trigger the start herself.
"I understand," Aryn replies and watches as the young woman mulls it over and moves into position. Aryn dons her cape and walks to the control to operate them. When Chani issues that she is ready, Aryn gives it a moment long and speaks out. "Chani-- Feel.. do not think. This exercise is about using your instincts. You know what the Force feels like. Now it is a matter of will. Marry your instinct to your will to act, and move." Aryn allows another moment and triggers the spouts to begin the next circuit.
The beep happens. Chani doesn't wait to take off, but she can hear the spout behind her going off. She doesn't want to fail at this. She doesn't want to get hit by the water. She runs, and when she runs, she wills herself to go faster. Somewhere, deep inside, she pushes herself to do it. Not just thinks it, but lets the desire to go faster fill every inch of her being with a need to go faster. She runs, and puts so much of herslef into it, that she end of the sprint is coming up so fast it surprises her. It surprises her enough that she overshoots it and then has to scramble to not run into the wall of the memorial right in front of her. Her boots scrape and her arms whirl, soles stuttering against the duracrete and hands pushing out in front of her just in case she can't stop. She does, though, and turns around to expose to Aryn the look of surprise on her face. "That was.."
