Relax, Max, and empty your mind. If you wish to see the Force, you must remember to to focus without forcing anything. Frustration and strain will be your only rewards. Max didn't hear the words, but he listened. It was like a instant reaction of his.

He felt hisself go red, but he ignored it. He knew he held a high responsibility. It was his job to assure it went in order of it was suppose to be. Max frowned and continued to listen and do as his master had said.

Dolash shook his head, and said "Still you are distracted, frustrated, you think too much. Block out the sound of my voice if it is too much distraction, for I sense you still listen for it. Tune out everything in the galaxy until there is only you and your surroundings, joined together by the flow of the Force."

Yes, that's it, a perfect opening. Dolash favoured visual symbolism and tricky training, a preference he began to display while engaging in the next stage of Max's training. Unprepared to reveal it yet, however, he became entirely silent, allowing Max to further empty his mind and connect to the world around him.

Max smiled, realizing Dolash was right, he then stopped.
Max did as Dolash had said and tuned out everything and comtinued to try to visualize Dolash's hand and then the pebble. Max continued to do so.

"Yes, you can see," said Dolash. "You can feel the world around you, you can become one with the Force. This sort of technique is the sort of thing that can only be improved with time and practice - I reccomend it every night, before you sleep, and whenever else your sight is hampered by physical restrictions. It is not without its' drawbacks, however. For example, open your eyes."

Max did so, and was quick to notice he was now floating several feet off the ground. Dolash chuckled, and lowered his student as the levitation became more difficult to maintain. "Meditation and observation through the Force are useful abilities, ones that you should be keen to expand upon, but always be mindful of the present. Your body is all the more vulnerable when you use the Force, and a lifetime of dependency on it will take its' toll phyiscally. Merely be aware, is my warning."

Dolash grinned, and crossed his arms. "I think that's enough basic instruction for now. A few exercises to keep you thinking. I shall teach you again when you have mastered meditation enough to reach me from afar and request that next lesson. Until then, be mindful of what I have said and pursue your own training as you see fit. We shall speak more of what it means to be a Jedi when next we meet."

Max nodded and left.

He was not lying when he told me training was not going to be easy! Max thought as he was pondering while walking around the city. He believed it was calming to take walks through the temple grounds.

After a few hours of walking, Max made pace on getting to the temple, he arrived there, and decided to turn in for the day. Before doing so though, he looked at the little area where Dolash was instructing him today. Max then turned and continued onto his quarters.

The next day Max awoke feeling a lot better, his eyes were not sore anymore, his muscles were aching a little, but Max was use to that, as always, his hair was long and all over the place. But he still continued to do as he always did in the morning, to read! Except this morning he searched for the perfect book so that way he could speak to Dolash through the force, Max looked and read everything he got his hands on, after several hours of searching and reading, he believed he had it. Max decided to practice it, but it was in vain.

It sounded so easy in the books! Max whined in his head. Oh well, I have plenty of more time to practice, but in the mean time I want to go on a walk, to relax myself.

Max left the calming area where he was practicing and started to pace around the city. The town which it was more of, was a beautiful place, calming and friendly, the perfect place for Max to jog, but he was no longer jogging, all the exercise the previous day, had made him want to match yesterday, or even beat it. He started rushing as fast as he could.

Max then decided to rest and practice more. After his practice he decided to read some more, but finally after a long day, Max turned in a bit early, hoping he would have some more time tomorrow t practice.

After four days of practice and exercise and reading, max realized he had mastered the ability, so he believed anyways.

"Master Dolash?!" Max tried his best, but realized he was getting too nervous, but he tried his best anyways, and he was sure his master had gotten it.

Dolash was not in the most accessible frame of mind when the message reached him.

Master Dolash?

Spread out in front of him were maps, books, logs, records - dating back from the moving of the Order to Naboo to the present day, listing member logs, meetings and accomplishments. That last one was disappointingly underdeveloped.

Eventually, the whisper registered in his mind, and Dolash glanced up. All was silent and unmoving in the room in which he worked. He furrowed his brow, until the memory and reason floated back to him. "Ah yes," he murmured to the air. "So he shows some advancement."

Dolash seated himself and closed his eyes, gradually letting the physical world slip away. In the quiet and stillness of the temple, that was simplicity itself, and soon he felt the etheral embrace of the Force. His student took a moment to locate as Dolash's consciousness walked the halls, but upon finding Max nervously meditaiting in his dormitory, Dolash touched upon the mind of the young padawan.

"Good, so you're ready to learn more? If you can reach out and touch minds through the Force, then you are nearing a threshold of training. Meet me once more in the common grounds outside, and I will explain more to you."

Dolash rose from his chair and swept the maps and books to one side. Perhaps it was time for a test.

"Good, so you're ready to learn more? If you can reach out and touch minds through the Force, then you are nearing a threshold of training. Meet me once more in the common grounds outside, and I will explain more to you." the words came to max and he smiled.

"Alright!" he said to no one in particular and he made his room accross the temple, to the common grounds. "Master Dolash!"

Max saw him standing over in the common grounds, and he shouted his name again.

Dolash smiled as his student approached, and he deftly threw a wooden sword to him. "Here, catch."

"You're showing remarkable progress in honing the Force, Max," said Dolash. He drew a similar wooden sword from a battered footlocker at the edge of the common grounds. "So much so, in fact, that I feel it is time that I tell you more about being a Jedi, and about the trials you shall soon face. You are probably bored with my sermons by now, however, so I will teach you with a language that most Jedi must one day learn: battle."


Without further explination, Dolash thrusted his wooden blade at the young padawan, forcing Max to twist out of the way. He brought his blade down on Max's head, locking sword-upon-sword with him. "The Jedi Order," said Dolash, as he pressed downwards, "is no place for complacency or weakness. There was a time that anyone who was sensitive to the Force could be accepted - that time is gone."

Dolash pushed hard, knocking Max back. Without waiting, he crossed the distance and brought his whole giant frame into the next blow that again pushed his padawan away. "In the Jedi Order, the strong must protect the weak. The galaxy is too harsh a place for any illusions about everyone being special or having their own part to play. If you cannot fight, win, and remain the same person you were going in, then the trials of the Jedi would tear you to pieces."

It was hardly a fair contest. Using his prodigious strength, Dolash powered through a deflection by Max, scoring a touch on his shoulder. Dolash backed up a space to allow Max to recover. "Trials and tests in these constricting walls, however, are next to useless compared to real-world experience. Tell me, Max, what experience do you have?"

Max looked up at Dolash at those words.

"You really want to see?" Max asked, and his reply was a nod from his big master. "And here you go!"

Max countered Dolash's next move. He then parried off the next one and replied to it with a swing to his master's rib cage, but Dolash swung back on him knocking him back a little. Max smiled.

"I guess all that advanced training of the military and you really helped!" Max chuckled as he said so, Max squared off yet again and rushed forward, lunging his wooden blade, but Dolash parried yet again.

Dolash smiled as Max lunged and swung, driving the grey giant back with spirited swinging. "A little experience, I see - or at least enthusiasm. Nevermind, finess can come with practice." With that, Dolash swung upwards and neatly knocked the sword from his hands. He plucked the sword from the air, and held both stretched outwards, before gently lowering them to the earth.

"In three days, I must depart the temple. Things are in motion that threaten the Force, and thus by extension life itself. I will not weigh you with concerns as of yet, so know that my colleagues and I have it well in hand, the mission is merely a fact-finding expedition. Nevertheless, our expeditions have been... eventful, as of late, and should make the ideal training ground.

"Before you can go, however, I have to be confident that you are up to the challenge. The Order cannot afford guiding you by the hand every step of the way, as you have already seen, for our resources and time are stretched thin. Nevertheless, I cannot put you in danger you are not prepared to face, so that gives us three days to bring you up to speed." The two wooden swords lifted to his hands, and he hefted one back to Max. "Let's continue."