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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3327149" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 434: Visions    Tobias opened his eyes and sighed, looking up to where Master Ral stood against a tree. It was four local days after Anakin had left and Toby was stuck with the strict training of his Omwati Jedi Master. Currently, they were near a lake a good kilometer from the Great Temple, with Toby sitting in the dirt with his back to the water and the blue-skinned Master carefully watching him from a few meters away near the treeline.    “You must focus, Tobias,” Master Ral said in his soft, almost hard-to-hear voice.    Sighing again, Toby looked to the two rocks that he was supposed to be levitating while holding up himself and, at the same time as all of this, attempting to reach into Master Ral’s mind. After grumbling something to himself, Tobias just shook his head, “How am I supposed to focus when you want me doing so many things at once?”    That question hung in the air as Master Ral’s pale blue eyes stared serenely down towards Tobias. After a few moments, the answer came, “Do not focus on each individual task. Through the Force, they are all the same. Let it flow through and around you and you will find the focus.”    For a moment, Tobias just stared at the Omwati. Then, shaking his head again, he closed his eyes to blank out the world and allow him some kind of focus despite being told he was going to have to actually find it. Okay. Calm. Starting was easy, and considering that he’d attempted this at lest six times now, Tobias knew how to get that far. First he had to clear his mind. This was accomplished through a few deep breaths in a repeating series that he learned from Marix. Two, then three, then two, then four, then two, then three, and so on.    It wasn’t long before the two medium sized rocks were up a good half meter off the ground, and, though they were shaking slightly, sat in a somewhat comfortable hover. After a few moments when Tobias made sure he had it down right, he, too lifted off the ground, though not nearly as high up. This, too, lasted a short while as Tobias did his best to maintain his focus as if it was all one task, rather than three.    But then came the part he’d yet to manage. Keeping his focus as best he could, Tobias stretched out with the Force even farther, trying to ‘aim’ his attention towards Master Ral while still keeping himself and the rocks in the air. Eyes still closed, he reached towards the Omwati Jedi, trying to find the surface thoughts that were his target...    “NO!” Jyren cried out in a voice filled with everything from rage to painful sadness. His eyes were wide open and staring at Marix who stood next to him. She had a look of shock and pain on her own face, but it was impossible to tell what was really going on.    “Jyren...” it was the voice that Tobias recognized as his grandfather, but he could not see the older Alraxian, “...it is true.”    Jyren’s head snapped around to glare at something out of view, which Tobias assumed was his father. He stared that way for a few moments before looking back to Marix, his hand gripping her shoulders tightly as if he couldn’t support himself. This time, his voice was a bit lower, “...how could they do this...?”    Marix opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. It was then that Tobias noticed that Jyren’s claws were digging deep into her shoulders, a definite sign of him trying to hold on for...whatever reason.  She shook her head and reached forward, carefully placing her hands on Jyren’s shoulders and obviously doing her best to calm him down, “Remember all of the times the Mrrakesh tried to kill us?”    A slow nod came from Jyren, and something else must have been said that Tobias could not hear, as Jyren slowly let go of Marix with his claws and practically fell onto her shoulder. Barely, he was able to hear, “...this was our son...not us...”    In a sudden moment of pain, Tobias hit the ground hard below him. The rocks landed with a thud next to him, but he was too busy trying to catch his breath to notice.    “Tobias?!” there was a sudden movement and Master Ral was kneeling next to him, reaching an arm under Tobias’ head to lift him up off the ground slightly, “What happened?”    He did not ask if Tobias was alright. There was a good reason for that...as the young man was covered in sweat, breathing as if he’d run ten miles without stopping, and his eyes were wide with an obvious terror in them. But despite the panic going through his mind as he tried to understand what had just happened, Tobias felt slow waves of calm overcoming him...likely from Master Ral.    Thanks to that, he was able to speak through his heavy breaths, “I saw...saw something...”    “What did you see?” by now, the frail-looking Omwati was helping Tobias to sit up, an arm still on his shoulder and a look of concern over his features.    Tobias just shook his head at first, but then looked up to Master Ral, “I saw...my parents...they were both alive and...and something was wrong...something had happened...my father he...” Tobias shook his head again, trying to get the image to go away but still needing to explain, “...he said his son had been killed...”    Master Ral knew enough of Tobias to know the important parts of his family situation. Most importantly, that Jyren had sacrificed himself not long before Tobias had come to the Academy. This had been something that had been a focus early on, as it could easily develop into a dangerous pull towards the Dark Side. So the Omwati knew the significance of what was being told to him.    “Calm yourself, Tobias,” the Jedi Master said, finally sitting down completely next to him and leaving it to Tobias to take control of himself. As Toby started through the calming techniques, Master Ral said, “Though our goal here was for you to read my surface thoughts while also focusing on other tasks, I believe you have succeeded in your own way. The vision you had...I cannot say its meaning. The Force can grant us many things...including visions of the past, the present, and the future...and possible futures. I have seen things that will never come to be, Toby. Your attachment to your father is very strong, and it drives much of what you do here...”    He trailed off a moment, reaching down to pick up one of the rocks that had fallen and holding it up in his hand, “You have no difficulty in lifting this rock. It is a simple task. You put your mind to it, you focus, and it rises as you wish.  But your mind, Toby...your thoughts run wild. Before you can go any farther with your training, you have to learn to control your thoughts. What you saw could have been from the Force...it could be reality. But it could also have been a tangible vision brought up from your own thoughts. Until you can learn to control that, to truly find peace in your mind, neither of us will know what you saw.”    Staring down at the ground, Tobias found he couldn’t argue with Master Ral. He was right. The way he let his thoughts run wild made it impossible to know what he’d seen...which meant...    “How...” Tobias paused a moment to actually find his voice rather than the whisper that had escaped instead, then tried again, “How can I learn to control my thoughts?”    The face of his Master kept the same serene look that was usually there, “It is not an easy task for anyone. You are going to have to confront yourself...your hopes, dreams, fears...everything.”    “How do I do that?” Tobias asked, truly wanting to know so that he could know if what he’d seen was real or not.    Slowly, the Omwati got to his feet and extended a hand to help Tobias up, “Come with me.”</blockquote>

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