Dancing a fine line (Sianna)

[Analyn Brins]

Ana listened as Sianna confirmed her worst fear at the moment, that she would have to face Jacin again some day or never be done with him. As they stepped into the lift, she murmured back, "My chains are broken through Mastery..." The idea seemed easy enough. But the idea she would ever master her fears and weakness, much less her entire life, seemed a bit daunting. "You make it sound easy..." She managed to shiver at the idea of facing Jacin and her father again.

Deciding perhaps that a change of topic would be easier, she let her dress fall to give her fingers a rest and looked at the woman at her side. "How long will we be in Cloud City? Is that going to be home, or just another stopping point?"

[Sianna]

Sianna grinned wryly at the initial statement knowing nothing about this life was easy, but it was going to be learned firsthand once Analyn started her training in earnest. Which would be very soon. "Cloud City is home for now," she informed as the lift rose to the rooftop hangar. "I have an extra room there, so you'll have your own space." Watching the numbers tick by, their journey soon ended as the lift stopped once more and the doors opened again. Stepping out, Sianna led her new student toward a nearby blast door and entered a code on a small panel, which allowed them entry. Lights illuminated a simple freighter which now awaited it's owner as the Echani walked toward the lowering ramp.

"There are some basic items to change into onboard. Good enough for now. We'll be spending a couple days enroute, so we can get your training started once we're in hyper." Entering the ship, the priestess turned right and continued on down a long, narrow hallway as she motioned across the galley. "Berthing's there, so make yourself comfortable unless you want to join me in the cockpit." Closing the entry ramp with a mental tap on the button, she soon entered the cozy cockpit and claimed the pilot's seat, then began the startup procedure.

Within moments, they were away and climbing through the clouds and leaving the megalopolis behind, passing ships and cloud cars alike.

[Analyn Brins]

The idea of the floating city being her home for a while made her head spin. Seemed like a dream to live in such a place as she had read and seen in holos. She was glad there was something on the ship she could change to. The dress reminded her of the previous hours and she wanted nothing more than to send it to a fiery death, despite the hopes she had had for it and how much she loved it. Right now she wanted it out the airlock into space somewhere she'd never see it again. "Thank you." She murmured at the offering of something to change into.

But as they boarded and the woman nodded to the berthing area, she suddenly wasn't quite ready to go there. She followed into the cockpit, wrapped the dress around her to keep its material from catching on something vital and then bit her lip and laughed as she caught it anyway and it began to tear. She found the urge to laugh maniacally as she continued to tear till the beautiful gown that went to her ankles was nothing more than a tattered thigh high short dress. The strings and fringed edge giving it a less appealing look to her, once more making her wicked with glee. She balled the material and shoved it into the small locker behind the seats and sat down strapping in as she glanced over at Sianna. "I hope you don't mind. I'll change when we hit hyper. I just... not yet." She wasn't sure why. But she wanted to see the planet well and truly behind her before she turned her back on it.

Long legs slid easily into the space before her and she sat with the practice of someone bred for such things as parade watching and talk giving. The tightness in her was automatic without her realizing it. Poise had been drilled into her since birth. She had the feeling her mother was forcing her to sit up straight before she could even hold her head. Glancing at Sianna, Ana took a deep breath, looked back out the window and murmured, "Good riddance... at least for now."

[Sianna]

As the ship climbed into the stratosphere, approaching several distant skyhooks and parked container ships loaded down with cargo, Sianna began plotting the astrogation and soon waited for the navicomputer to clear them to leave. Partially ignoring Analyn's tantrum with the dress, the Echani knew much of this was a liberation of sorts and she could definitely understand that sentiment. As they waited, the priestess calmed as they passed into the darkness of space. "Leaving Aargau some years ago was liberating for me too. Leaving the darkness of the underbelly of that cesspit and exploring the galaxy for Sith history was definitely an eye opener. I've only been back once since then and it's one of those places that seems like it'll never change." Silver orbs turned to Analyn. "Nothing changes in our life unless we change it. Take those steps to reach for perfection within ourselves and use this gift to rise above the masses."

A beep from the navicomputer notified them of the launch coordinates, which Sianna then guided the freighter to, then pulled the trio of levers to catapult the ship into hyperspace. A new beginning, begun. Switching the vessel over to autopilot, she unbuckled herself and turned her chair to face her newest student. "Any questions before we get started?"

[Analyn Brins]

She was pleased to know her desire to leave her home wasn't a startling revelation to her new Master. "I'm sure I'll go back, someday, like you said. But I'm not going to hold my breath." She laughed softly and let a huge sigh hiss from her lips as they entered hyperspace.

When Sianna turned to her, she shook her head. "I can't think of anything. I know there are things I can already do when I'm upset. I guess the big question I have is just how much more can I actually do? And how much can you do?" A small smile touched her lips. She knew the woman was far above wherever she was going to start at. But the idea of knowing the things she could do were soon gonna be possible for Ana made her jump inside herself with glee.

[Sianna]

A wry grin arced upon Sianna's pale, smooth features and she rose from her seat, then motioned with her head and headed from the cockpit. "I can show you better than I can tell you, but there are still abilities out there that have been lost to time. Things I've read about, but haven't been able to get anything solid on yet are still on the list to find one day." Passing through the modest galley and other doors to various parts of the ship, Sianna entered the cargo bay which was half empty at the moment. Being the largest area with the most area to work, the Echani moved to the far side of the room and turned.

Opening herself to the Force now racing past them, filling the ship and themselves, Sianna focused that energy now flowing through her around one of the crates. Raising it from the rest of the stack, she rotated it in midair. "Control is the first thing you have to learn how to do," she began, her voice almost distant and ghostly as the crate continued it's random courses then rose in the air and fell. Mentally catching it before it hit two crates below, she held it aloft for a moment, then settled it atop them. Letting go of the crate, her normally silver orbs now a deep grey, she turned her attention to Analyn. "You're able to tap into the Force when emotional, I need you to tap into those feelings now."

Though the trick with the crate was merely a show, Sianna's true potential and learned skills excelled far beyond that, but time to show off would be later on.

[Analyn Brins]

Ana followed Sianna to the cargo bay. Once there, she watched in awe as her Master manipulated the large cargo container as if it were a sheet of plas screen on the wind. Watching each motion of both object and Master, she unlaced the slight heels she was wearing and discarded them, now standing barefoot in her short town dress.

"So this is all something I can learn?" She was about to gasp as the container started to fall, but it stopped before she could even raise her hand in warning. Then, once it settled, the look in her eyes was pure delight. To wield objects that way... it seemed like it was probably one of those lessons she wouldn't know till years from now.

Her gaze shot to Sianna's face as the woman mentioned she was to tap into her own emotions right now. "I only make things happen when I'm scared or mad." She started to remember some of those times and felt her fists ball at her side and a warmth start to fill her like a comfortable quilt. "But are their other emotions we can use?" The feeling of the balling of rage in the pit of her stomach was almost a comfort it came on hard and fast. For the first time, no one was going to strike her if something toppled, or grab and shake her when her anger filled the room with a harsh wind.

The feeling, instead of sitting still, seemed to gather then spread through her. Her hands unfisted, palms open at her side as she looked to Sianna. "I ... It feels like fire covering me. But I know it won't burn. As if I can manipulate it if I try." The confusion was evident, the power wavering at the untrained control slipping with the doubt in her mind if she was doing it right.

[Sianna]

Focusing on the dim aura before her within the morass of color, now that the priestess was mentally and spiritually in the Force, Sianna listened to the girl's thoughts. "Through passion I gain strength. Keep in mind that the Force is as much a part of you as your own body. A tool that's yours to command. It's going to take time, but you can't rely on only being mad or upset to use that energy naturally flowing through you to do things at your whim. They've made you think that it's a demon trying to control you instead, but I'm here to let you know, it's the exact opposite. As I've said before, we've been gifted with a touch to the universe that they wish they had," her voice growing deeper with an edge to it as she spoke.

"Until you learn to command yourself you'll constantly be afraid of what you're capable of." Sighing with impatience, the Echani knew this was a common problem among Force users at the beginning. Something she knew personally. "You're not a beast, you're a god." Wisps of dark energy began flowing from the lithe, ghostly female as if her black clothing were exuding their color to create a falling cloud of energy, drifting to the floor and seeping along the floor plating. "Command that fire within you, control it."

[Analyn Brins]

Ana listened but it wasn't clicking. Not at first. The fact that 'passion was power' seemed off to her. But then as Sianna's voice dropped, the darkness manifested in wisps, and she was snapped at to gain control, it began to make sense. Passion didn't mean love, it meant all consuming. Any feeling or drive could be passionate. Love, hate, determination... survival... all of the emotions and reasons for doing something.

As she watched the tendrils, and heard the words urging her to be a god, something clicked into place.

A deep breath escaped as desire for control, and power, swelled in her. Straightening her shoulders, Ana felt her body fill with the Force and this time didn't fight it. She glanced at the cargo container the Echani had just moved around the room like a balloon and lifted her hands towards it. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and whispered, "I can feel it... it's not fire, it's something more, isn't it?" She twisted her hands till she was motioning as if lifting the cargo box. She narrowed her vision and imagined her own aura, like Sianna's tendrils, reaching towards the box... wrapping around it... and lifting it.

[Sianna]

"Much more," Sianna's ethereal voice replied as she watched the aura in the cargo bay across from her go from untamed to focused finally and soon, that energy exuded from the girl's outstretched hands to lift the cargo container slightly. It was a start. "See the container as a small, empty thing that your powerful, mental hand can manipulate any way you wish. Command it. Control it." The eagerness to see her student succeed fed the adrenaline rush constantly feeding the energy within herself. That touch to the universe that no one could deny her or take away and soon, Analyn would know that power.

[Analyn Brins]

Ana listened as Sianna instructed her to think of the container as weightless. She could actually feel the weight of the box as if an extension of her arms were holding it aloft. "So weight is not an issue?" It was half murmured as if convincing herself. She tilted her head slightly and let her arms relax a bit as if, in her mind, the container were made of nothing more than paper and plastic. Suddenly it shot up and smacked hard into the ceiling. The shock made her cry out in surprise and she barely managed to stop it to keep it from crashing into the ground, halting it mere inches before it dropped harmlessly on the steel grates.

The look of surprise was evident on her face as she glanced to her teacher. "I'm sorry... I didn't think it would rise that fast." There was a small hint of a giggle in her voice as she realized that untrained, she could do this small thing. What else settled into her mind was, with training... what else would she be capable of. "So weight really has no bearing?" She was sure things like star ships and buildings would be a limit, but then again, hadn't she just been told there really were no limits? Perhaps there weren't. The question was, how far had others gone, and could she go further?

[Sianna]

Her lower half encapsulated in the thin black cloud, Sianna grinned. "Your touch to that gift is like a muscle, the more you practise with it, the more confident you become with your touch to the universe, the more amazing things you'll be able to do. Small ships, speeders, things that anyone else would imagine impossible to lift, or need a crane to move, you'll be able to do so with this tool. In a few years with dedication to your training, you'll be able to move a fighter with just a thought." Knowing Analyn was now hooked with just that little display, Sianna had a student.

"Now, try that again and control it."

[Analyn Brins]

While many students may have considered the idea of lifting a fighter to be impossible, thereby hobbling their abilities, Analyn took it as rote and knew she wanted that power. Even pushing the men earlier that night, she had felt their weight. What if she had known, mere hours ago, that she could have flung them easily across the room?

It was that image and those emotions that wrapped her arms like silken scarves and have lift, once more, to the cargo box before her. This time she acted like she was lifting a fragile egg. It still had weight, which gave her reference for balance, but wasn't heavy the normal sense the word.

With her bottom lip firmly trapped between her teeth, Ana stretched her hands and used the tips of her fingers lost the box, guide to the stack beside it, and gently placed it there with only the barest of tremors. The final settling was but off a thump, judging the last few inches a bit shy, but it was done.

The smile and breathy gasp off accomplishment hissed between her teeth she turned to Sianna. She was panting slightly from the strain and had no reserve energy left around her, too untrained to have not used it all at once, but her elation was evident. "I've never felt anything so amazing!" She breathed feeling her head swim slightly. Lack of food and sleep and then the excitement and sudden exit from her life had finally caught with her. Smiling she looked set her mentor. "I think need more practice." she said, mistaking the toll on her add being all from the lift. "I feel out of breath already." But she laughed despite that vast eagerness filled the woman's eyes.

[Sianna]

Nodding, Sianna was a bit disappointed at the end to the session, but knew that this untrained one would need time to realize her true potential. Releasing her hold on the Force, the priestess eased again, allowing the wisps of darkness to dissipate once more. "Grab something to eat and get some rest. In the morning, we're going to begin with exercising. A strong body and mind are going to help you in various ways in the future. Our enemy rarely offers us the chance to get ready for a fight, so we're one day going to take it to them instead." Moving toward the cargo bay's entrance, she mused on the various groups out there in the galaxy that would love to get their hands on a Sith whom they thought had died out with Palpatine and Vader.

Entering the galley, the Echani motioned with her eyes to the autochef and other facilities. "Help yourself."

[Analyn Brins]

Rather than praise her, there was a lack of emotion from Sianna. Ana took it as a sign to work harder and nodded when the woman said as much. The idea of working out didn't frighten her, though she supposed it should have since she didn't know what that entailed with her new Master. "Catch them off guard... I like that idea." She smiled thinking of doing 'just that' to several folks back home... in time, of course.

As she followed Sianna to the galley, her stomach responded with a bit more volume and she bit her lip wrapping an arm around her middle. "Sorry...Can I make you something as well? I don't mind, honest. Gives me a chance to thank you." She knew this wasn't a flowers and card kind of relationship, but the fact the Echani woman was giving her a chance, was good enough for her. "And I'll be ready in the morning. I want to do better and learn more." She wondered if her own physical abilities enhanced her Force skills? Would a bigger, stronger person wield more power and therefor be able to do more? It would be interesting to find out, either way.

Moving barefoot on the steel decking, she half smiled at how far she had come in a single day. From being forced into a marriage she didn't want, to finding out she can not only choose her own life path, but mold and manipulate it along the way. She moved to the autochef and tapped in her dinner while waiting Sianna's choice. As she did, she glanced down at her right arm and tried to let the Force crawl back over her from her core like letting scarves fall down around her body. It was shaky, but by the time her own food was done, she was once more covered in a light sheen of aura like a second skin. She wondered if it was her mind, or if the warmth she felt was from the feel of the power and emotions she had essentially draped herself in? It wasn't perfect, if Sianna truly could see it around her. There were holes, specifically down the left side of her back, and the back of her left leg as if she had forgotten to drape it there. But for having completely drained it so thoroughly a moment ago, it wasn't half bad.

[Sianna]

Shaking her head at the offer, "I'm not hungry," the Echani began as she turned to face the girl squarely, the small booth and table to her right. "You'll thank me by one day achieving perfection near to where I am now. Keep in mind, everything you do reflects upon me and I won't tolerate weakness or failure. I've been seeking students that can at the very least keep up, so don't disappoint me." Easing again, she knew Analyn had it within her to become so much better. Motivations from her supposed boyfriend and family had already planted that seed that may one day lead to their own demise.

Turning, she moved toward the berthing area, "I'll see you in the morning." She also needed to teach Analyn how to meditate as well as training in the Force, so they had a lot to do the next 'day'. As she stepped into the darker room, three sets of bunks commanding the back, right and left walls, the priestess moved toward her bed on the lower right. As she prepared for a quick shower, the tingling in the Force told her that her new understudy was at least practising a bit more which was promising.

[Analyn Brins]

Ana was a bit off kilter as the tongue lashing was received in the guise of a promise to learn and behave. She nodded in response and when the words were done, her only answer was, "Yes, Master... I won't fail you." She then watched the woman depart, a murmured 'good night' following in the woman's wake.

She finished eating and waited till Sianna was settled before moving to the locker the woman had mentioned and gathered a set of clothes and cleaned up. She set the shredded dress aside. She wasn't ready to destroy it yet. She wanted to use it to keep the fire and remind her, in case she ever doubted or faltered, just why she was here. She doubted she would need it, but right now, there was so much swimming in her head, she wasn't confident about anything other than her goal.

Not long after the other woman had retired, Ana followed suit choosing the far back lower bunk to give Sianna her privacy and not wake with someone potentially staring at her from the bunk across from her. Sleep took her swiftly and she dreamt of flinging all her enemy off the top of the building she had been almost clad in irons in with the vows of matrimony. Her father was at her feet begging for forgiveness when she glanced down, turned and merely walked away. He would live, her mind decided, knowing the amazing creature he had helped create. Not monster, for Ana would never allow herself to be thought of as that, but definitely a creature of power. The nightmares ran over and over always ending in her walking away, bruised but victorious.