It was in the darkness of midnight that Dolash summoned Marek for his training.

Out in the common grounds, where the young and inexperienced practiced and learnt from the masters during day time, Dolash had cleared an area where they would be alone and isolated, and yet still in an open area under the night-time skies of Naboo.

Here was the ideal time to train, the perfect time to talk to someone like Marek about what life as a Jedi meant - at night, when people shrug off the shell of their daytime selves, consumed by life's beautiful but mostly trivial comings and goings. Here, where there would be no distractions, was the perfect place to talk to someone who moved with a purpose and yet was still seeking one, for as the Azguards have said before "Night-time sometimes grants you more vision by taking away your sight".

Dolash beeped his small comm, to make sure that Marek knew to meet him there, and waited - sitting in a meditative trance in the middle of the common grounds.

In this trance, he reached out and felt the minds of those who lived in and around the temple - so many traces of life, echoing through the Force. He focused, and bent his will to locating specifically one essence. Finally, he locked on to Marek, and through this connection spoke to him.

The path of the Jedi is one that has changed much since it's first inception, Marek. Even when compared to the Order fifty years ago, we have changed. No longer is training a matter of years from birth to adulthood, the Order lacks both the resources and the strength to do this - as a result, only the strongest and most capable are now able to make themselves Jedi, through the guidance and teachnings of we few that remain. Tonight, your training begins, but you will not begin to become a Jedi until you put yourself on that road. I await you in the common grounds.

A few days had passed and Marek found himself within the confines of the great Jedi Library. Believe it or not for someone a bit rough around the edges, he was quite the avid reader and historian. His father had always told him, the more you know, the less likely you are to fail. So in following his father’s advice, Zolar searched the database of all the known Jedi in the galaxy, at least by the records found in their terminal. He also began researching the different uses of the force, as well as lightsaber construction and technique. The bombardment of information was a welcome one, having book knowledge, at least in his mind, would make the practical usage of the force that much easier. At least, he hoped it would.

When looking over the lightsaber results, Marek discovered that there were several different forms of lightsaber combat: Shii-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien/Djem So, Niman and Juyo. According to the corresponding text below each heading, they all required years of practice along with complete and utter concentration. Though it intrigued him, it was what he learned about the force and its effects on physical limitations that really caught his eye. Through the force one could become almost super-human, perhaps even immortal. The ability to sense oncoming danger would have been a welcome talent back in the old days, he would think to himself as he read. But, with great power, one must be ready to dedicate all resources and time to maintain a mastery of it.

His research continued all throughout the day, reading up on everything he could get his hands on, even then, he knew he'd barely even scratched the surface of this well of knowledge. That’s when his comm link beeped to life.

It was Dolash. His training was about to begin.

As he stood, he felt the Jedi Master reach out to him with the force.

The path of the Jedi is one that has changed much since its first inception, Marek. Even when compared to the Order fifty years ago, we have changed. No longer is training a matter of years from birth to adulthood, the Order lacks both the resources and the strength to do this - as a result, only the strongest and most capable are now able to make themselves Jedi, through the guidance and teachings of we few that remain. Tonight, your training begins, but you will not begin to become a Jedi until you put yourself on that road. I await you in the common grounds.

Within a few moments, Zolar was walking into the common grounds. He immediately picked out the large Jedi Master, who seemed to be sleeping in the middle of the grounds. Of course once Marek got closer, he could see that the grey beast was in a state of meditation. He didn't want to interrupt him, but he had been summoned.

"Dol.." He thought twice "Master Dolash, you needed me?"

Zolar was now standing right beside him.

Dolash didn't open his eyes, but simply nodded as Marek approached. "The first true step on the path of the Force - not just the path of the Jedi, but the very path of your personal destiny - is to feel it. Before you can have faith in yourself, before you can truly understand the ways of the Jedi, before you can connect yourself to all the life of the galaxy, you must have that first contact. Not just a feeling, not just a sensation, but the first time when you open your mind to the currents and eddies of that existance-spanning mass consciousness that is the Force. It will take years of practice for you to be able to see more of this great consciousness of a time, and even the legendary Master Yoda was still blind to a great deal of the Force, but with this first glimpse shall come your first step. With that feeling and that knowledge, you will be able to go forth to greater things.

"Sit. Empty your mind - an impossible task, I know all too well." Dolash suppressed a smile, it didn't help him any that Azguards had two minds, making it relatively impossible to empty them both. "But try your best. The less thought the better, until you can almost hear the silence within your own head. Then, and only then, will you be able to hear it, like the heartbeat of the galaxy. Until now you might never have heard it but once it has resounded in your mind you will begin to wonder how it had remained hidden for so long.

"In this place, in these walls infused with the Force, that inner whispering grows louder. Calm yourself, and you will hear it. Embrace it, let it flow over you, and you will be amazed to find that it will do so - it will carry you in it's current. For each and every one of us, the Force feels different, is seen in a different light. But enough talk, sit, empty your mind, and listen to the galaxy."

Marek listened, as Dolash began to speak.

"The first true step on the path of the Force - not just the path of the Jedi, but the very path of your personal destiny - is to feel it. Before you can have faith in yourself, before you can truly understand the ways of the Jedi, before you can connect yourself to all the life of the galaxy, you must have that first contact. Not just a feeling, not just a sensation, but the first time when you open your mind to the currents and eddies of that existence-spanning mass consciousness that is the Force. It will take years of practice for you to be able to see more of this great consciousness of a time, and even the legendary Master Yoda was still blind to a great deal of the Force, but with this first glimpse shall come your first step. With that feeling and that knowledge, you will be able to go forth to greater things."

He had come across Master Yoda during his library database search.

"In this place, in these walls infused with the Force, that inner whispering grows louder. Calm yourself, and you will hear it. Embrace it, let it flow over you, and you will be amazed to find that it will do so - it will carry you in its current. For each and every one of us, the Force feels different, is seen in a different light. But enough talk, sit, empty your mind, and listen to the galaxy."

Heeding his words, Marek dropped into a sitting position next to his rather large, very gray master. In an attempt to clear his mind, he closed his eyes. The gift of sight was a double-edged sword; it was one of the greatest gifts ever given to man as well as one of the harshest curses. Sometimes, the effect of both hits you at the same time. So in wanting to succeed in this endeavor, he rested them. Along with the silencing of his optical sense, his breathing became slower and more relaxed. His own rhythmic inhaling an exhaling began to lure him into a state of hypnosis, he was allowing himself to reach out into his surroundings, becoming apart of it. It was then he began to feel it, something powerful washing over him. It started out as a strange tingling in his fingers, then shot through his body like a vessel entering hyperspace. Never in his life had he felt a sensation like it, the enveloping power of it's warmth along with fragments of imagery that seemed to blur into nothingness. Suddenly, as quickly as it had happened, it was gone.

Confusion set in.

"What? What was that? What the frak just happened?"

Dolash smiled "It's always difficult to follow it the first time, but it is good that you felt it - it is your first step into a larger world. That, Marek, was the Force - and it has been there your entire life. It has been here since before the dawn of time, and it will be here long after us. It is the connection between all life, everything that makes us stand out in this universe of crude matter and laws. Eventually, however, you will be able to feel this for yourself. For now, only know that it is there, and that your feeling just then was part of it."

Dolash rose, and stretched. "The Force can also be felt in the subconscious, and in practice you will find that most of the times you call on the Force it will be as a reflex rather then a conscious decision. Now that you have felt it once, it's flow will have been loosened somewhat. It will heighten your senses and augment your athleticism, but in this sense it is much like a muscle - with practice comes understanding. Mastering the subconscious use of the Force is the next step of training, for once the Force is flowing through you so too can you begin to use it consciously. It will be the foundation of your training."

With that, Dolash closed his eyes again and reached out in either direction. The Force flowed through him easily in this place, suffused as it was with energy, and a half-dozen small spheres of wood began to orbit around him.

"These are a soft-wood, they will not harm you if they make contact beyond perhaps a sting on your pride. Let go of your conscious self, Marek, and act on instinct - the Force will take it from there. Most of all - move quickly!"

The spheres began to fly erratcially around the common ground, and Dolash smiled lightly. If he'd had one, a training remote would have worked just as well, but this was also an excellent way to once again show the Force in motion. He wondered how Marek would fare.

"These are a soft-wood, they will not harm you if they make contact beyond perhaps a sting on your pride. Let go of your conscious self, Marek, and act on instinct - the Force will take it from there. Most of all - move quickly!"

The spheres began to fly erratically around the common ground, and Dolash smiled lightly. If he'd had one, a training remote would have worked just as well, but this was also an excellent way to once again show the Force in motion. He wondered how Marek would fare.

Marek wasn't expecting such a test, but as soon as the spheres went hot, so did he. He went through a series of acrobatic tumbles, flips and jumps as the spheres would soar pass his body. He could feel the rush of air they produced as they passed by. Dodging their near head on collisions, gave him an overwhelming sense of empowerment. However, he began to wonder if he was only suppose to keep from being hit, or if he was suppose to somehow stop the wooden spheres. Dolash wasn't going to provide any more instruction so it was up to Marek to infer what was expected from him in this exercise.

At first his mind was drawing blanks. How in the world was he going to stop these things? Could they be stopped? Of course they could, he just had to figure it out. It was this moment that he was reminded of what Dolash had told him earlier.

"The first true step on the path of the Force - not just the path of the Jedi, but the very path of your personal destiny - is to feel it."

Zolar wondered if it would be possible to reach out with the force and stop the chaotic globes. If his master was doing it, what kept him from doing it? Then realizing how not-so-in-depth he was with the force, that might be a little harder to do than said.

"I've got to try."

He dropped to the ground into a somersault before popping up into a kneeling position. He closed his eyes and began to reach for the force, that same tingling sensation he had felt before returned, this time much stronger than it was the first time around. He could practically feel the energy that surrounded everything in his immediate vicinity, energy that included the ricocheting spheres. Within a few meters, he could feel one barreling at him at full speed, a dead on lock for his forehead. He reached out for it, attempting to divert it from its target. Nothing happened, if anything it seemed to be traveling faster. He continued reaching for it, but how was he going to stop it?

"Calm yourself, and you will hear it. Embrace it, let it flow over you, and you will be amazed to find that it will do so - it will carry you in its current"

His words were of very little comfort, but they did seem to awaken something within him. Instead of trying to forcefully control the direction of the ball, Marek tried to become the ball, he tried to allow his energy to meld with it's own, as though it became apart of his body and he would have full control over it. Whatever had just happened, it worked. Just mere inches from his face, the wooden sphere halted to a dead stop. He opened his eyes to gaze upon his feat of triumph. Marek grabbed it, examining the piece of wood, he was amazed at how alive it seemed, the energy he felt from it was still pulsating as though it were breathing. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the other five spheres which seemed to have coordinated an exact plan of attack, because they all struck him right around the same time.

Marek stood to his feet and shot a glance at Dolash.

"Well?"

Dolash smiled again as the wooden balls fell to the ground. "That was a graphic way to illustrate to you what it means to call upon the Force. The Jedi flow with it, flow through it, we heed it's will and in return are granted it's power to carry that will out. There are many other ways to contact and call upon the Force, however. Devotees of the Sith often try to bend the Force to their will through strong emotions, but the Force cannot truly be mastered - instead, the Force rules them through the manipulation of their emotions.

"These first few tastes of the Force - both subconsciously and consciously - are important. Before you can cross a bridge, you must first be sure there is a bridge to cross, right?"

Dolash put each sphere away, and turned to Marek. "The Force is something very personal in these dark times, Marek. Where once there were masters and teachers to light a particular path for each student, now all we have is our unifying sense of justice. Let the Force guide you in it's own way, and it will be your greatest teacher." After saying that, Dolash drew a chronometer from his pocket and checked it, before nodding. "Let's take a walk around the grounds."

Dolash lead Marek on a calm stroll along the outer edge of the temple. "I do not mean when I say that the Force is your best teacher that there is nothing for you to learn from others - it is a dangerous flaw of many to believe so much in themselves that they consult only the Force before taking action. That is why we are Jedi, for the robes of the Order do not simply mark us as ones who are trained in the use of our Force abilities, it also marks a commitment to adhere to a standard of use with these powers.

"The standard in spoken or written form has changed throughout the years. It was once the Code of the Jedi, but that became too inflexible and is believed to have been a cause of the collapse of the old Order. Then there are the mixed and disorganized philosophies of more contemporary Jedi ranging from the idealistic Luke Skywalker to the dark and shadowy Gash Jiren. What is consistent, however, is a principle of devotion to the Force - a trust in it, a hope in it.

"The Force is too colossal a thing to understand, and the core of the Jedi philosophy always comes back to the belief that it is the web that connects all life and that it's will is the will of the masses. As such, we have a responsibility to use this power to protect them and serve them, with nobility and honour. This makes sense, too, considering there is a Dark side. the Dark side is rarely followed, for simply by it's very nature few would choose to serve an ideology that hates serving others. Instead, it corrupts us and leads us down a slide until we realize only too late it has ensalved us. That is the vital element of being a Jedi - we obey the Force, we do not master it, for through it's will we believe a greater good will come about."

He stopped to take in some of the night air. If he closed his eyes, Dolash could almost picture his home and it's cold, sloping mountains. A life serving the will of the people meant he might well never see his home again, but this was a fact he ha already accepted. He wondered if Marek had, but then remembering how Marek had arrived, it was possible he had no such regrets.

"Meditation, study, introspection, and forever listening for the elusive voice of the Force - that is what it takes to become a Jedi. Look to the example of the Masters who have been and gone. Look ahead to what being a Jedi will mean to you. Look to yourself to put this in perspective. It is arduous, but you will find it easier in this place which is filled with interested listeners and wise counsellors. Should you wish to explore the physical expressions of the Force, then sparring and training for conflict and challenges are your choice. Should you seek the past, the library is available. Should you seek answers - first ask yourself, and you may find that the answer has been available to you all along. Cryptic, I know, and it is something the Jedi have always been chided on, but if you come to understand something on your own it will be all the more significant."

Dolash bowed. "When you feel confident in your tentative first link to the Force, I shall introduce another step of your training. Until then, I will watch and guide, but it will be your decision to take this step.

"And Marek?" Dolash grinned "Most of all - move quickly!"

The ball whizzed out of a side-cabinet, but was stopped by Marek even before he knew he was doing it - the Force rising subconsciously to protect him.

Nodding, Dolash reentered the temple.

After their meeting in the common, Marek found himself using the force to manipulate various objects. He would lift a small stone, then toss it in the opposite direction of where it was originally, or pull a stone into the palm of his hand. He was amazed that such an ability was possible and that he was able to possess it. Of course, there were snags along the way, for instance, he'd thrown a stone a little too far almost grazing a passing youngling, who promptly threw it back, which eventually led to a rousing game of "force catch."

Zolar then tried to implement his new talent in his normal workout routine. He would concentrate on his movements during a run, attempting to boost the speed in which he was traveling. It was difficult, but he eventually was able to move in spurts. Marek found it much harder to allow himself to fully trust in the force that surrounded him thus turning what some would consider a simple exercise into an almost impossible one. However, after a bit of arguing with himself, he conceded to acknowledging the will of the force and abided by it. Once he allowed himself to be free of the mental blockades that are instilled in every living being which concern that which is fantasy and reality, he was able to maintain an accelerated speed without stopping to regain his concentration.

If only Dolash were able to see him now. To see the progress that he was making in just a short amount of time. It was all due to him.

Speaking of Dolash, Marek didn't want to wait to experience anymore lessons with the force, he wanted more, he thirsted for it. So in his quest for knowledge, he entered the temple seeking the gray master and more training. This was his life now and he was going to embrace it to the fullest.

This time, it was not night when Dolash called for him, but it was not to the common grounds either. It was to the nearby starport.

There, awaiting Marek, stood Dolash and a party of his Jedi associates preparing a shuttle for takeoff. Upon his arrival, Dolash bowed.

"I have seen that you are grasping the basics of your training well - that is good. It is on the backs of these first attempts and curios explorations that great progress is made. Today, however, we will take a bold leap forwards in your training, for we are heading to the caves of an unknown world, guided by the knowledge of one who has been before to find information about a mysterious event in the Force.

"The risks are low, yet the potential for further knowledge and understanding of the Force, as well as a chance to feel a great source of power, are high. It seems an ideal mission to bring you along to show you how we Jedi operate and to get you thinking about what you may come to do."

The other Jedi passed them by as the two stood at one end of the ramp. "The ship we bought out of our own rather meager funds, but it is supplied mainly through donation. No longer are we a government institution, and so we survive on the charity of those who have been helped by Jedi in the past, as well as the bounty of our adventures. Do not feel any shame if it becomes necessary to scrounge for funds at times, for we no longer have the resources we once had.

"As for our mission, it was self-determined - we have permission from the Order to pursue a curious pattern emerging in the Force that is leading us from person to place across the galaxy. It has lead us also to believe that there are ghosts rising again who were once strong in the Force, and that these caves might have further evidence. All of this is yet to come, however. Make yourself comfortable, Marek, and our journey will begin."

There was something about the infinite vastness of space that made a single life feel so insignificant he pondered to himself. Marek gazed into the blackened expanse from his seat in the main cargo hold of the vessel. The small port window, which had been the in-flight entertainment so far, was roughly about a square foot in diameter and was situated just across from him. Dolash insisted that they remain in the hold to continue Mareks training. Apparently isolation from the others wouldn't put as much pressure on him or cause any un-needed distraction.

Of Course, with Dolash frequently moving back and forth between the main cockpit and the hold, distraction wasn't totally avoided. He didn't seem to mind flying, but Marek could understand if we was uncomfortable being confined because of his size, not to mention his responsibility to make sure.

"Master, where exactly are we going? And what of these ghosts you speak of?"

It wasn't in Mareks nature to rush into things blindly; he was definitely a details kind of guy, so he awaited Dolash's response.

As Dolash prepared to answer, Marek began to feel himself becoming more attuned to the energies surrounding him. He had spent the better part of the morning before Dolash had called on him, meditating in the common. One could not imagine the feeling of serenity that is released upon one's soul when they let go and allow the living power of the force to flow through them.