NationStates Jolt Archive

ooc: class from The Shentavo Academy found here:
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=435864&page=1&pp=15

IC:
Telekenetics and Psions has always been one of the more popular classes at The Shentavo Academy. Over the years, it has only had one teacher, Genesis Versai. The psion had always been apt in he abilities as teacher, but new years brought new professors. It would be Xavier’s year first as a professor, and only speculations could be made of the nephilim.

Xavier stands toward the front of the Telekenetics room. It is a large circular space with widows around the entire perimeter. The floor was white as well as the high ceiling. Xavier’s sea green eyes scanned the room; a few orbs upon a bare desk. There were seats toward the back of the room, all facing the center. He waited for his students to arrive, running his fingertips along the edge of his long, light blue jacket. There were many interesting students this year. He waited calmly, his mind turning away from the events that happened the previous night.

Sil had gotten up very early and was the first to arrive at the telekinetics lesson. She did not only look tired but also was. Last night had been a bad one. The worst for years.

Sil was lying on her bed, trying to fall asleep. Efortlessy.
She had finally come to the conclusion that were no assassins, that none in Eras could possibly know where she was.
But knowing and accepting it were two different things. Every unexpected noise, even the sound of the wind outside made Sil nervous. Her mind created masked men with knifes and dart-pulsers hiding behind the coutains and in the closet.

Like a little child beeing afraid of monsters under your bed, Sil thought. Not that she could remember her own childhood and her personel monsters-under-the-bed.

Sil jerked up when she heared voices from the corridor not far from her room.
Before she could thing about it her long trained reflexes had taken over control and two KWM „Kreischer MII“`s were pointing at the door. The small sonic handguns had been hidden in her small bag. Then her mind drew level with her reaction and she lowered the guns feeling a bit ashamed.

Stupid. No assassin in his right mind would talk. And there are three of them, Sil had could identify the voices of two women and one man. Erasian killer commandos always consited of two or four man, never three. Sil throw the guns into her bag and relaxed a bit.

But this night she had not been able to get any sleep.

Now she stepped into the room and looked round with her swollen eyes. Of cours she could have choosen another body for this lesson, one that didn’t look like half dead. But somehow that didn’t seem right. And it wouldn’t have made her feel better. So she had decided to look like she felt; tired to death, nervous and woundable.

Seeing the man waiting at the room she wondered if that had been the right decision.

Jade woke up after a great nights sleep. She had met a few of the students at the Academy, and was excited to continue on with the school aspect of things. She sat up after her alarm went off, and seemed well awake almost immediately. She purposely had gone to bed earlier than normal the night before, just to be sure that she had enough sleep for her first day of classes. After Jade took a few minutes to gather herself, she got out of the bed, and got dressed for her Telekenetics class.

She walked out of her room and began walking towards the classroom. She was very excited about this class especially, seeing as this was her main focus in being ..different. If she were to pick one ability that she considered her strongest asset, it would have been telekinesis. She was also curious as to if the private lesson afterwards would happen. She was never one to question someone's promises, especially a teacher, but Jade has high hopes for them.

Jade walked into the classroom to see a student already there, as well as Xavier standing at the front of the class. She looked around the entire area, just to get familiar with the settings, then took began to move again as she looked at Xavier, smiled, and nodded. Jade then sat down in a seat near the front of the class, and awaited the rest of the students.

Xavier’s eyes shifted toward Sil. He looked at her with a concerned expression. Without asking, he stepped behind her and placed on hand on her forehead. Relax… he said softly, his voice soothing, and his calm demeanor passing to her. Without meaning to, he saw her thoughts. He sighed softly, and her eyes closed. What you saw was a dream, you are safe when you enter here. Relax. She is a shape shifter, Xavier thought to himself. He also wondered if she had forgotten what she really looked like.

He did not pay attention to Jade entering, until he removed his hand from Sil's forehead, made sure she could stand on her own, and then turned toward Jade with a welcoming smile

Sil stiffened when Xavier stepped behind her and for just a moment she was expecting to die when he placed his hand on her forehead. And then she relaxed. She knew that he did it, that he somehow manipulated her but she didn't care. For the first time since that day years ago (which meant for the first time in her life) Sil felt truly safe.

When she opened her eyes Xavier had turned away so he couldn't see the tears when she looked at his back. Sil hurried to dry the wet lines on her cheeks and sat down.

Joshua walked into the room and sat in one of the furthest back chairs and closed his eyes waiting for the other students he'd be working with.
He was slightly tired as he hadn't slept at all last night and spent it awake talking with others and writing in his little note pad in his dorm room. Though he did practice a little with his belongings to get his semi-rusty telekenetic skills back into shape.
He opened his eyes slowly and ebgan to look around the room recalling all the "fun" things that occured in it's confines and the time he passed out.

Trevor arrived in class shortly after Jade, looking refreshed and much happier than he had the night before at check-in and the orientation. He smiled at each of the other students and nodded respectfully at Xavier before seating himself in one of the chairs. This is it he thought first day of class, time to see if I have what it takes.

Trevor looked around the room, his eyes seeming to take in every little detail, moving slowly across everything, cataloguing each object and moving on. There was precious little to be taken in, however, and Trevor's attention soon came back to the other individuals in the room with him, specificly, Xavier, one of the teachers he'd seen in the fountain last night. It was strange for Trevor, who had never been around other individuals with telepsychic power, but he could feel something, maybe it was energy or emotion, he couldn't tell at this point, coming off of Xavier.

Instinctively he wondered if the teacher could read his own thoughts and emotions, and without thinking he became very aware of the things passing through his mind. I've never had to worry about others like me reading my thoughts. How am I going to deal with this?

Joanna, like Michael made a point of waking up just after dawn to get some early morning excerise in before her morning lessons, it wasn't uncommon in Iuthia for many people to continue the regimes they had learnt as part of their military service simply as part of a healthy habit. However, unlike Michael, Joanna's excerise came from a different background, as she simply sat among the morning dew outside on the grass, meditating as she only moved a single muscle in her body at any one time. After this, Joanna moved on to stances which were rather like yoga, only different in their design, again encouraging control over the body and the physical endurance that went with it... it was an odd sight, but there was a reason she did it early in the morning before she moved on to more conventional methods followed by getting some breakfast.

Finally, having eaten healthly she arrived on time to her Telekenetics class, eager and wide eyed as she entered the room. It was clear to anyone, even those without telepathic powers, that Joanna was excited and keen to learn... this was what she was waiting for and she had no reason to hide it. So she took a seat at near the front of the class next to Jade, whom she had gotten a little acustomed with the night before.

For the moment Joanna left everything in her bag until instructed to take out what she needed, if only because she didn't know what she would need. So as she waited for everyone to settle down she took a look around the room and noted the faces she recognised and those she had never seen before, sub-consciously cataloging their expressions like she had been tought to do. On the outside Joanna just smiled... soon the lesson would start and she would learn something new for a change.

Xavier noticed that all students had entered the room. He smiled at them, casting an everknowing glance to a few of the returning ones. "Welcome to telekenetics and psionics. First, we will be doing some drills. He reached toward his desk, and one of the featherlight orbs rushed to his hand. "You will recognize you are all sitting in a circle facing me." Another orb fell into his hand. "These orbs are light weight and shouldn't be to hard to levitate. The object is to keep the orb floating while passing it back and forth. Other students should be alert, for if it starts to fall, you should help your classmates out."

"There will be two orbs, and you are allowed to only focus on one at a time." One of the orbs was light blue while the other was a light red. "It is a rather simple concept, but a bit hard if there is no cooperation. By the way, if one of these orbs hit the ground, it might be a bit painful." He smiled lightly, and tossed the blue one toward Jade, and the red one toward Trevor.

"And you can't force them towards me, i'm not helping."

Eyes snapped open, Jimmy rose straight away without any delay. He knew very well that class would start in about five minutes as his body clock seemed to love pushing him. There was only enough time to quickly freshen up before Jimmy had to be out the door and winding his way up another flight of stairs, towards the Telekinetics classroom.

It took a little guess work and luck navigation yet Jimmy managed to enter the room and take a seat just before Xavier began speaking. At least he wasn't late this time and it appeared he hadn't missed anything so Jimmy remained silent and listened intently.

At the mention of this basic exercise, Jimmy sighed slightly. He was far beyond this, he was probably beyond anyone else in this room save for Xavier. Yet he had to realise that not everyone had spent over two hundred years perfecting their psychic abilities and he would simply have to be patient.

Sitting at the ready, Jimmy waited for the orb to come his way. Two orbs or twenty, it didn't really make much difference as he could focus on them all at once.

Nicole arrived in class shortly after Joanna. The young vampire had risen early and had taken the blood she had been given the night before shortly before sunrise. She had sat on a hillside and watched as the black sky was painted in a wave of pinks, blues, and oranges. She had sat and enjoyed the whole sunrise. The warmth on her cold skin felt like heaven. The vampire left the scene sadly, wanting to enjoy it more. Though, there would always be more sunrises.

Nicole took her seat next to Trevor and listened intently to Xavier. She wondered if there was more to her teacher's comment of 'if one of these orbs hit the ground, it might be a bit painful.' She figured there was some hidden meaning and watched as orbs moved towards her classmates.

Joshua smirked and muttered something about childs play. He already had been able to tear apart locks with his mind and this was a year or two back. Given a year to hone his abilities into something sharper and he would be able to easily handel any novice techniques. However his year long "leave" had left his skills rusty in the more advanced abilities.
Though if their was going to be a little pain with every time the ball hit the floor he wouldn't mind. Pain just let him know he was alive, awake, and not paying enough attention. He watched the balls waiting just incase nether person would be able to stop them from hitting the floor.

Unfortunately, Joanna never had any exerience with telekenisis in the past so her background understanding into the basic workings of the science simply didn't exist. Not that she wasn't eager to learn and it was exciting to think that they would be getting to the practical lessons striaght away, but a small part of her couldn't help feel a little insecure at the lack of any study involved or even an explaination of what she was supposed to do.

So, as the orbs approached her on either side, Joanna couldn't help but get confused. Am I supposed to just think about lifting it? she thought, staring intensely at the blue orb as it approached her. On the outside Joanna remained calm as would be expected of her, however she couldn't help noticing how easy the others made this magic seem.

Only a couple students down from her, Joanna purged her mind of the anxiety she could feel building up in the bottom of her stomach, repeating her IDC mantra over and over in her mind, followed by the calm tranquility of total concentration on the task at hand... But what task? I've not been told anything? She lost her concentration momentarily before she settled down again and simply thought about that small blue globe levitating above the ground.

Finally, the orb was passed over to her from another student besides her whom seemed to have no problem with the task. The result was inevitable... there simply wasn't any force being projected from Joanna's mind, she didn't even understand the task completely, holding on to the mear hope that concentration alone was enough. As the orb was released into her possession it begun to simply fall, leaving others to catch her mistake.

Joshua sprung into action as he noticed the blue orb falling. His mind bounced it up and on to the next student in a nice and lazy arc to the next student.
He sighed and began to watch the orbs once again waiting for the next weak link to appear.
Joanna you should put abit more faith in your abilities if you wish to advance, he said to her in her mind, I know it's not orginal but it works.
Yet again as he "said this" to her he bounced the blue orb again helping another student as it got closer to him.

The moment Joanna heard the voice, her natural responces kicked in, throwing up much more resistance has her anxiety rose again, blocking her mind from the peeping Toms who simply didn't respect the privacy of her own mind, at least thats how she would describe the feeling if asked. In reality the sound of someones voice coming from all around and yet no where at all wasn't what she needed while concentrating so hard on her task, catching her completely off gaurd.

On the outside, Joanna went from what was the picture of calm to a startled jump, followed with a pained harsh glare at Joshua, who's voice she recognised not hearing. Soon after she attempted to regain her composture as she had been taught back home, but it wasn't as easy this time as she felt as though everyone was watching her. Her young elven face blushing an unnatural pink for her normally fair skin tone. Still, at least she hadn't broken down like she had during her first tier training back home... so something was salavaged from the experience.

Joanna sighed, breathing deeply, distinctively not looking towards Joshua as she fought an internal battle against her emotions. You'll get another chance, just pull yourself together. She thought to herself, had she spoke it would have been an angry tone, but emotion remained inside where it should be, focused on the task at hand.

Joshua slightly blushed as well but let out a slight laugh when Joanna glaired at him. He mouthed sorry and assumed she wouldn't see it. After class he'd apologize for the intursion bu at the moment he felt like toying with the orb that was headed to him.
He bounced it towards the largest concentration of students and awaited the results as several minds attempted to bounce it. It was at that point the red orb flew his direction and he noticed at the last moment before it would ahve hit his face he bounced it off in a direction he didn't have time to select. He swore under his breath for letting his guard down for a moment and once again began to track the orbs and the possible weak links.

Whenever the an orb was close to her and slipping, Nicole lifted it up with her mind. She took comfort in the fact her sire had taught her all that he knew about telekenetics and she figured it was the reason why she was having an easy time. She looked around her for a few seconds and knocked the blue orb higher into the air seconds before it hit the ground.

Nicole grinned to herself, this was pretty fun.

While he hadn't expected Xavier to throw the orb at him, and he now realized he should have been prepared for exactly that sort of thing as a first test of abilities, Trevor was able to keep it from hitting the ground or anything else, and after gaining control of it a little more firmly, he moved it around the circle to Nicole, and gradually released his control over it, watching carefully. Should it fall, he was waiting to catch it. However, Nicole showed no trouble at all and he moved his conentration to see the rest of the room. Mostly, he watched the other students, measuring their abilities, and keeping an eye on the orbs as they traveled around. Here and there he added a little push or some support if one appeared to be falling, however, he didn't want to interfere too much with the others, and certainly didn't want to embarass anyone. However, Trevor had no illusions that failure with the orbs would not be a pleasant experience, and he had a feeling that it would involve the entire class. He watched with interest as one student almost dropped the blue orb and was just barely saved. As it came around towards him and he bounced it along, he watched her, seeing the slight blush that came to her face as she tried to reagin her composure.

He suddenly became aware that while most of the students around him were concentrating on the blue orb, bouncing it back and forth among them, the red orb had shot away in an unexpected direction. He concentrated on it and redirected its path, slowing it down somewhat until it was heading on a long slow arc toward Joanna. If it was me, I'd want another chance, he thought, but kept a close watch on it, ready to catch it if she dropped it again.

The blue orb began to float towards Jade. She was very eager to prove her powers to the rest of the class, but not to the point of bragging. Jade had trained herself over the past few years to use telekinesis, though it may not have been the 'correct' way to learn. She concentrated hard on the floating orb. Her eyes changed from a light blue, to an almost completely white color. This was the effect she had when using telekinesis. The ball continued to float until it was within a foot of her and her seat. At that point, she slowly pushed it back towards Joanna, to give her another shot at it. Being already acquainted with her, she felt that Joanna could this with ease, and hoped that the rest of the class would see this. At that point, however, Jade began to struggle with it. Something was beginning to bother her. It was as if someone was messing with her ability to concentrate. The ball slowly began to drop. Jade held it back up again, before anyone else was able to give her a hypothetical hand, but she began losing her concentration yet again, and the ball began to slip very slowly. Her mind focused even harder on the subject, but it wasn't working.

Why can't I concentrate on such a simple task? she thought. I could do this so easily before, in Arcadia. What's happening to me?

Realizing that the red orb was also heading towards Joanna, Jade wildly stopped the orb in its path, and pulled it back towards herself; however with the orb still slightly falling, it went array and flew back towards Trevor.

Damn it. as Jade cursed to herself for possibly ruining the entire activity. She hoped that someone would catch the blue orb before it fell to the ground.

Joshua noticed that both the blue and red orbs were both headed towards Joanna, though he blue one was starting to slip. He quickly decided to get the blue one back aloft and away from the floor.
He gave it a nice quick forceful push in the opposite direction towards Xavier as he began to focus back on the red one ready to give Joanna that needed assistance that would keep the orb from meeting the floor.
Looks like I get to save the day again, he thought as he tracked the red orb

As Trevor watched the red orb descend, he suddenly found the blue orb moving toward him. He instinctively let go of his control on the red orb to focus on this one when a strong push sent it flying off toward Xavier. Forgeting all about the red orb for the moment, Trevor brought the blue one around in a curve that brought it very close to both the wall of the room and to Xavier's head. It curved around behind Trevor and he tried to sow it down somewhat as it approached Nicole.

While he began to let go of the blue orb somewhat, he searched for the red orb, hoping desperately that it hadn't been dropped.

Trying her best to ignore the confusion as to which ball she was meant to be be getting, Joanna contrated on the reb orb which won out the short bit of juggling the class had done on her behalf. The fact they all seemed to have some control over these orbs only further fueled her anger at herself for not getting what was quickly becoming an easy task for the rest of the group... thankfully anger was a good emotion to work with, properly controlled it helped Joanna to focus on that little ball of hate which was so conveniently coloured exactly how Joanna felt.

The embarrassment and shock had long subsided in her and once again she sat perfectly still, her eyes squinting amost as she concentrated once more on the orb that was approaching her. It hadn't occured to her that Joshua had sucessfully caught the orb each time it fell, her frustration and concentration had limited her field of view. It had been a long time since she had been challenged like this, given an impossible task and expected to suceed. Most of the training back home had been easy for her, she was unusually gifted for most people of her age and race, blessed and cursed at the same time with a powerful mind. Many struggled with the IDC's harsh training regime, but Joanna simply found it boring... which ultimately explained why she was here now, trying to learn to something completely new without so much as an explaination.

Concentrate... they clearly think I can do this. She thought, intentively staring as once more the red orb was passed into her possession. For a moment she almost felt as though she could feel the push of force from the others... however, try as hard as she could, she couldn't bring herself to push back.

Again, the orb fell and again Joshua caught it, this time Joanna noticed, the expression in her eyes betraying the calm exteriour of her face, handling it better then before but clearly distraught at her failure. But like a shining becon, something occured to her.

"Sir, could I speak if I may?" she said as politefully as she could manage, her tone hiding the remains of her emotions, carefully being filed away at the back of her mind for another time. It occured to Joanna that she hadn't been given any explaination at all as to how she was supposed to go from being an eager, intelligent young woman with no knowledge in this subject or unnatural powers to manipulating an orb with nothing but the power of her mind.

She let the teacher give his permission before continuing, but she figured he would probably know what she was going to ask. To Joanna, it was becoming clear that maybe she was trying to walk before she could even crawl... it wasn't that she lacked the will or the intelligence, but most likely simply the background knowledge and technique which came so easy to those who had lived their lives with some degree of magic in their lives. All she wanted was some basic insight into how she was meant to be going about this...

Sil sat in her chair, still overwhelmed by what Xavier had done for her and nearly missing what he said about the task. So she was more than unprepared when the orbs started to float and fly around. It tokk her some time to understand what the students where supposed to do and she swallowed.
She had nearly no experience with using the power of her mind to move things. All she had learned, had tought herself over the years was how to block tele...... used against her. If you were hunted by Officers of the Imperial Security you can’t survive without that. But using telekinesis by herself?
Fortunatly none of the two orbs were flying into her direction so she had time think about the task.
Was the gap between blocking telekinesis and using it so wide? In theorie she should be able to use what she had learned about telekinesis to handle this task, shouldn’t she?
Again she swallowed If she should fail one of the other students would have to help. There seemed to be enough capable minds in here.

Alright. Let’s see how smart you really are, Sil thought.

The orbs were flying from student to student, not always in straight lines. Once or twice an orb nearly touched the ground (the blue orb actually seemed to be heading for Xavier).

And then the red orb flew towards her.

Sil cursed under her breath and concentrated on the little object. Nothing. She felt the power moving the orb and identiefied the one who controlled it as the one called Joshua but nothing else. The orb simply didn’t exist. Joshua let the red orb go, leaving it to Sil to catch it with her mind and she couldn’t. The orb lurched when the power holding it ceased. Sil enforced her concentration, forgetting everything else.

The first time she had faced telekinetic powers it had been an IS officer throwing darts at her with his mind. She could now see him in front of her, the boney face, the cold blue eyes, the black hair, everything was present except of the fear of that day. The fear was replaced by pure anger; anger about what they had done to Sil, that they had turned her into what she now was and then tried to hunt her down. And anger about this damn little orb aming at her wich she was unable to control.

Sitting in her chair Sil changed while focusing her mind onto the red orb. She grew taller, the blue-and-silver stewardess-dress turned into the black uniform of an IS officer. Her long brown hair changed into a short-cut black hairstyle and the warm brown eyes became cold and ice-blue.

The tall and muscular IS man still concentrated his mind onto the red orb. But Sil could only copy the outward form of a person. Not his abilities.
The red orb fell.

The whole time everyone had been concentrating so intently upon the orbs, Jimmy's eyes had remained closed. Despite his inability to see the orbs, Jimmy knew exactly where both of them were at all times. He could sense their movements and the forces applied to them by the other students. As the orbs fluttered this way and that, Jimmy added a nudge here and there, preventing it from hitting the floor or anything else whilst making sure to restrain himself and only influence one at a time.

One of the students thought it would be amusing to launch the red orb at the guy not paying attention yet Jimmy deflected the shot like one would swat a fly out of the way, easily moving it onward.

After a few minutes he was already becoming painfully bored and anxious to simply get on with it. On several occassions some of the less adept almost dropped the orbs, like the young woman next to him that was about to lose the red orb. Jimmy hadn't noticed that Sil was now in the form of a man, yet he did manage to scoop up the orb and send it flying towards Joshua, the other stronger force within the group.

Hopefully it would end soon and they could move on, so far Jimmy was disappointed with this class.

Sil took a deep breath when someone else took over the control over the red orb. He followed the string of power back to it's source to identify the one who'd helped him and looked at Jimmy.

"Thank's." he whispered and hesitated. Who's voice had that been? He looked down onto his hands. Seeing the black sleeves of the uniform Sil grew stiff.
He hadn't recognized the transformation.

Sil looked round to see if anyone had noticed it before he changed back to the woman he had been before.

Xavier looked at her and spoke. Telekenetics is a simple extension of the mind, he communicated, again not speaking through his lips. It’s matter, just like the air. Energy isn’t exactly the same thing, but it can move matter. Visualize what you want to happen, see the orb slowing and then see it spinning back By doing this you are releasing an inner energy called your charka. People will a strong charka are apt in Telekenetics and Manavex. Charka is strengthened with practice. If it seems hard, it should be, but after a while it will get easier. He had answered the question before she had even asked it.

He looked at the two orbs, multiple students harnessing each one, and causing them to jerk about from person to person, which is not what he desired. The concentration of their minds was not good enough, and they were not communicating to one another. Xavier raised his hand and both the orbs shot back to him, breaking the grip they had maintained. They circled around each other above the palm of his hand.

“It is your first class, so I will say well done. This exercise will be at the beginning of each class. I suggest you practice with another person during the weak.” He sighed softly. All of them were eager to show what they could do, but all he saw was weakness, none of them were patient or even questioned what they were doing except for Joanna. At least she had a glimpse of what was expected. While Xavier is a kind soul, he is a teacher with high expectations.

“As I said, the first thing that we need to work on is your charka. Many of you are extremely unbalanced, and your concentration has a low attention span,” he passed to the center of the room. “Charka is one of the seven major psychic energy centers running through the middle of the body. These chakra centers follow the same path as the spine, starting at the base of the spine and ending at the top of the head. Each of the 7 energetic main centers in the body (located along the spine), those are involved in the regulation of bodily signal processing and the interaction between body and consciousness. The chakras play important roles for health, realization and spiritual development. Each chakra is generated by a nerve center and interacts with one or a group of hormone glands near its location those determine its operating point. The chakras also control the signal generation in the skin's nervous system to communicate with consciousness. The strength of your Charka is the inner energy which allows you to lift various types of objects. I don’t expect you to succeed all the time. The difficulty of the object you can lift depends on the strength of your charka; your spirit and mind.”

“The second thing that needs work is your concentration. All of you,” he said softly. “All of you possess the necessary charka to lift one of those orbs; I can see it within you. An interesting thing you might wish to know is that I see glimpses of people’s spirit; their physical attributes fade often from my sight, unless I wish otherwise. I see that everyone had the energy, but many are rushing. You are jumping into something way to quickly. Many tried to simply use all their energy in moving the orb. You did not listen to your classmates; see their physical hints, and thus resulting in a jerkish motion of something you were trying to toss back and forth. Furthermore, the only one who questioned exactly what we were supposed to be doing was Joanna, who took the time to question my methods. Well done.”

Before we try any more with Telekenetics, you will have to practice your concentration… he passed out a strange looking object to each student. It was a wooden handle with two receptors on either side, a short smaller peg at the top, and a small orb situated on the peg. “This is a kandama. It is a brilliant little utensil for strengthening your concentration.” He gripped the handle of his own, the orb being white on his, and he rotated it. The orb fell off the peg and caught on the right receptor, he twisted it again, and it went to the left. He went back and forth, and then closed his eyes, the ball then falling back to the peg. “This is to be used without Telekenetics. As you just saw, it can be done, but it requires patience and concentration. While it is not using your mental energy to move the orb, it will help you in the long run. I don’t expect any of you to be able to do it on your first try…” He looked around the room. “Well, begin. I need to see if your concentration is great enough to be in this class.”

(Do not post the results. Give me your attempt and what you do to try and succeed. I will post in return if it falls or stays.)
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cnpy2/Kaetsu/TN_PICT0067.JPG

Trevor took the kandama with a less than enthusiastic look on his face. He'd always found this sort of thing kind of pointless. Why try to catch a little ball on a string when he could make the whoel thing fly around the room. As a result, he wasn't expecting very good results. I guess it does make sense though he thought, If we can learn to do this while not using our minds, that will make it that much easier when we do.

He unrolled the string and allowed the ball to hang, swinging gently. After a moment of concentration, he swung th ball up on the end of the string and then moved the kandama under it, trying to catch it on the larger receptor. Might as well try to start with something easy. It was a concious effort not to use his mind to catch the ball, which all his instincts were urging him to do it. He tried to follow the path of the ball as close as he could mentally without actually using his mind to track it. It was an odd sort of feeling, trying so hard to catch the ball, while at the same time, holding back from doing it an easier way.

Sil, now beeing the woman again, took the kandama and investigated it. Usually she would have thought of it as a child’s toy but Xavier had been right; this would require a lot of concentration.
She turned the thing around and let the orb fall off the peg and looked at it swinging at the end of the string.
Swinging would do.
Sil decided to do the most simple thing she could imagine: to set the orb into motion, swinging to the left and right, higher and higher. Finally it would perform a semicircle. If timing and speed were correct the orb’s motion would stop above the larger receptor. Gravity would do the rest.
As simple a thing as any could be, at least in theorie. She tried, No! Never only try anything. Do it! She DID it.

(you understand what I want to say, don't you?)

Squorshelous
The orb seems to fall into place, but rolls off at the last second

Earth II
Seemingly completing the task, a bit of excitement causes the orb to fall seconds later

Joshua looked at the kandama and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. After unrolling the ball's string to its full extent he checked to see how much string he had to work with. He shrugged feeling it was enough and after watching two of the other students fail at their first attempts he decided to try his luck and see if he would be one of the first ones to have success with this exercise.

He began to "shut out" the rest of the class and simply began focusing on the kandama. Every little noise simply vanished from his ears. He waited till he felt he was ready and began his attempt.

Phalanix:
You receive a small migrane from focusing so much. Your orb does not tap the kadama, but at least the kandama is theoretically supposed to be in this position

(you did :) )

Not bad Sil thought. Just keep calm. He said he didn't expect us to succeed at first try. And it nearly worked.

She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, waited a few seconds, then she exhaled slowly, letting the air take everything with it.

Sil opened her eyes and looked at the kandama. Such an unimportant thing it was, meaningless to the rest of the universe. But right now it was everything that mattered.
Sil had no experience in using telekinesis and so it wasn't very difficult not to try to move it with her mind. She had always moved things with her hands and now she did it again.
The orb swung to the left and right, hypnotically. Higher and higher until it was above the receptor. Then it fell.

Earth II second attempt:
The orb lands in the receptor, and wiggles a bit, then falls

Almost got it there. Trevor stopped the ball from swinging with his hand and concentrated again. I just need to try it again, easy does it. Despite his calm outward appearance, it was vitally important for Trevor to succeed at this. Growing up on the streets, any sign of weakness was an invitation for attack. Trevor did not want to be a slow learner here.

He paused and took a few deep breaths before trying again. Just relax he told himself, It's just a ball on a string game, nothing to panic about. He gradually quieted his mind, and then swung the ball forward and back a few times, testing its weight. When he thought he was ready, he swung it upward again and this time, tried to bring the kandama up under the ball as it reached its apex.

(grmbl)

Better. Now stop your hand from trembling, she told herself. She didn't belief in the "become one with your target" stuff but somehow Sil felt just like that. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed than the task. Patience was something necessary for a hunted one and it was obviously necessary for this task. Sil knew it would work if she only tried hard enough. If necessary she would do the same thing again and again until she would starve on her chair.

She did the same again; swinging, stopping, falling.

Squornshelous
Oh so close! One more try, you think, only one more try. Just relax, there is no orb, only a hand motion

Earth II
The orb falls once more, seemingly laughing at you in your attempts. if you could only relax.

At first, Joanna was again a little shocked that Xavier chose not to speak to her using his voice, however she half-expected it from the teacher as he had done the same the night before at the Orientation. Nodding at the silent message, Joanna listened to his words. Still, it sent a chill down her spine at the thought of other peoples voices in her head, a place reserved for her private inner-most feelings and fears.

Xavier retrieved the two orbs and addressed the class with what Joanna now concidered to be the start of the class proper. In contrast to her previous feelings, she felt a little warm at the idea that she had passed some kind of obscure test as she listened with her full attention to Xavier's teachings. Understanding, Joanna felt, was key to learning her full potential... it was all very well being given a task, but without understanding the task and the basic principals behind it she would never learn anything new.

Thankfully, as Xavier explained what was expected of her (and the rest of the class who seemed to be far advanced of her) it became clear that he was going to go through the very basics and get back to the concentration of the mind and focus of inner strength. Inwardly she gave a sign of relief at this, the others may find the task of balance and concentration to be a little too mundade for their level, at least Joanna should be able to acheive this and hopefully learn more in the process.

As she got her kandama, Joanna smiled. This was the sort of exercise she had learned to grow up with; balance, concentration and dexerity each playing their part and all of which Joanna had previously displayed as part of the physical side of her IDC training. Keeping the rest of her body completely still as she maneuvered the hammer like object, moving it precisely as came natural to her own muscles, watching the ball's movements as she twisted the kandama in a smooth single action. She could truely respect something as basic as this, it taught concentration and while it was a little unusual, it was something she understood well.

Iuthia:
You see the orb falling into place. A bit suprised, the orb stays.

Xavier looks at Joanna and smiles. The one who was most apprehensive about telekenetics had a strong concentration. She would do very well in this class shoud he just be able to break her out of that shell of hers. Well done Joanna, he remarked, softly only to her, and continued to watch the other student's progress. At least one of them took this as a serious exercise. They would not know how much it would benefit them in the end.

Joanna was a little surprised to that she had managed to get it into the indentation the first time, making it look almost easy as the smooth movement brought the ball into place. However, Joanna wasn't about to gloat and her expession only slightly changed to aknowledge that she had completed the task, smiling lightly. It didn't last long though as she reset her kandama and started over... practice made perfect and there was a moment where she thought she would fail.

The task wasn't, as she understood, to prove her skill and dexterity... but to improve her concentration and refine her abilities. While she wasn't akin to the magics the others seemed to be at home with, Joanna had long ago learnt alot about her body, it's capababilities and it's limitations. While she was only human, others at home looked upon the newer IDC students to be freaks, capable of feats which seamed unnatural... in truth is was little more then focus and understanding. In honesty, most things were. Joanna started the exercise anew, trying to get it in again without any stumble.

As the teacher said: concentration is the key, Sil thought.
So why don't I succeed? I couldn't be more concentrated on this. Hell, more and I'll loose my shape in front of the whole class!

For just a moment Sil thought about doing just that: giving up the body, any body and reveiling her true appearence. But she hadn't done that for years, not even when she was alone. She hated it, hated it when she had to face what they had really done to her.
She wouldn't do that. Never!
Sweat ran down her forehead and she mentaly kicked herself into the ass.

Great. Now you've lost the bit of concentration you had. Panicing won't help you and giving up your shape is not an option. So forget it. Don't think about it, just be yourself and get this job done.

For the next few minutes Sil only sat there, the eyes closed, breathing slowly. Then, without opening her eyes, she did the same thing again.
Swinging, stopping, falling.

Iuthia:
The orb teeters a bit more than the first but it stays.

Earth II:
Much to your frustration, the orb begins to sway, but then settles. You did it.

Somehow thought Trevor coming this close is more frustrating than missing completely He watched the ball swinging from side to side and moved his hand just enough to keep it moving. What am I doing wrong here. Something little, hmm He swung the ball up again, but didn't try to catch it. Instead he simply watched as the ball fell down. He did this a few more times, carefully watching the path the ball followed, slightly different each time, but following an overall pattern, depending on the motion of his hand. The key, he thought is to put it where the ball is going, not where the ball is.

A smile spread across Trevor's face as he swung the ball up once more. he watched how the arc began and saw that it was very similar to one of his tast swings. He watched as the ball came down toward the receptacle.

When the weight didn’t shift Sil opened her left eye and peered at the kandama. When she saw the orb resting on the receptor she opened the other eye and smiled slightly.

Now repeat that. You did it once so you can do it twice. And now without the swaying. You know it’s possible.

Again she closed her eyesand only focused onto the kandama in her hand. She didn’t even think anymore, just did the meanwhile familiar moves.

Earth II:
You succeed. Maybe it isn't that hard after all.

Squornshelous:
You get it on the kandama for several seconds.

Joshua grumbled slightly and muttered something about painkillers. After letting his migrane start to subside enough to put the pain in the back of his mind so that it was simply a dull and weak pain.
He gazed down at the kandama and just glairs at it for a moment as he began to prepare for a second try.
He let the emotions he was feeling at the moment slip away and began to concentrate on the kandama's ball as he brought it up as far as the string would allow it and began to postion the cup in the location he thought would be best.

Phalanix:
You succeed because of your blood. You are rather lucky.

The second time wasn't quite as perfect as the first, the ball swaying a little as she realised she was a little too hasty in her movement. Joanna didn't worry about it, instead she noted where she went wrong and remembered to take it a little easier next time, keeping as smooth as possible while maintaining a reasonable speed.

Breath in, and breath out, she thought, resetting the kandama for a third time, perparing to make use of her observations and refine her movement. She hadn't noticed the others, who were having mixed success with the physical excerise of concentration. Again, she started to twist her hand in a single fluid motion, watching the ball for anything out of the ordinary.

Nicole took the kandama and stared at it for several seconds. She sat quietly and stared at the contraption and began to think of what she could possibly do to make the ball land on one of the receptors. She uncurled the orb and stared at it more. Oh boy, this is going to be loads of fun.

Nicole gripped the handle and with gentle twists of her wirst, the orb began to slowly sway on the string. With more exagerated twists, Nicole finall made a jerk with her wrist and hoped for the best.

(You're makin this sound more and more like DnD. Are you using one of those dice rollers for this?)

Joshua watched as the ball landed and smirked. The first little failure had helped him figure out how much to concentrate yet his luck had played a key factor in it that he noted.
After a short moment to fully remove the pain from his mind he yet again began to send the ball in a small arch into the air and once again moved the cup under a predicted area that it would land. This time however he decided to trust his instincts on where it would land and not use any of the logic he had been using before.

Trevor's smile faded a bit after the ball fell off after several seconds on the kandama. I lost concentration there. Trevor frowned for a moment, then his expression lightened again. Relax, take a ddep breath, try again.

He started swinging the ball back and forth again, watching its movement. When the moment seemed right, and the ball was moving how he wanted it too, he swung it up, just as before. His eyes were locked on the small orb as it traveled up in a smooth curve and turned downwards while his hand moved the receptacle to meet it.

(my methods are my own. I'd like to individualize a bit)

Xavier nods his head. "Good. You'll have these kandama to practice with. It is growing late and I have one more thing for you to work on. I need everyone to take one of these small pyramids." He gestured to his desk where there was a pyramid for each person. Each one will customize itself to allow you the maximum weight your charka is able to handle. Turn the dial on the side to think how much you can lift with you mind. If you ever wanted to lift weights with your mind, this is the way to do it.” He ran his hand through his hair. They had been working on the orbs and kandamas for quite a while now, but they had the entire year ahead of them.

“You can take these as well. They are quite handy. Try to turn them once you have them levitating. It might take a while to do given they possess quite a bit of punch to them. Next class, I’ll expect you will have done a bit of practicing, as you will be using…sharper objects.” He smiled at the word, putting a bit more emphasis on ‘sharper’.

Nicole walked up and picked up one of the small pyramids and walked back to her desk. For starters, she set the dial to the lowest setting. The pyramid moved smoothly up towards the ceiling. She then lowered it. Nicole looked at Xavier, the young vampire was slightly nervous about 'sharper objects'; hopefully everyone had the skill to keep whatever the objects were under control and that no one would be seriously hurt.

Nicole cranked the dial up slightly, with the same result as before. Deciding doing little by little until she reached her limit was the best course of action, Nicole kept it up.

She also began to find her mind was starting to get a bit sore from the all the activities. She had never used her mind to the extent that she was now. Well, no pain no gain as they always say.

Trevor set down his kandama and walked up to get one of the pyramids. He brought it back to his desk and turned it end over end, carefully examining each surface. He then set it down and, like Nicole, turned it to the lowest setting. It easily lifted off the desk, and he made it rotate slowly a few times before setting it back down and adjusting the dial a little bit.

As he continued to lift and then adjust it, he felt the pyramid gradually getting harder and harder to move. Its movements were becoming sluggish and sometimes even jerky. I'm pretty close to my limit here. Trevor set the pyramid down on the desk and decided to try something else. He adjusted the dial about halfway back to the low end, and lifted the pyramid again. This time, while it slowly rotated in front of his face, he reached out with his mind and tried to turn the dial. At first, he turned it too much and the pyramid fell to his desk with an audible clunk. He glanced around, hoping he hadn't appeared too much of an idiot, and readjusted his pyramid to try again. This time, though it swayed about in midair, he managed to slowly turn the dial until he had once again reached his limit.

Finishing with the kandama, Joanna put it away and looked at the pyramids on the desk, each one just as odd as the next as the other student started to take one each. Getting up and picking on up, Joanna examined it for several moments, taking it back to her table and setting it to the lowest setting possible, noticing it getting lighter as she did so.

They were strange little things, she observed, turning it around and getting to know the object she would be working with. Joanna couldn't work out how they worked for the time being but she figured that with time she would eventually understand everything she needed to know, instead focusing on the task at hand once again.

Others were already testing themselves with the pyramids, lifting them slowly and keeping them in the air... some even concentrating so hard as to have their faces change colour. Joanna left them to it and concidered her pyramid, testing it's weight with her hands, hefting it to and through. After several minutes of learning everything she could about it, she set it down on the table and set off to work with her new understanding of 'charka'. Personally Joanna was relating it to the old chinese idea of Qi, the spiritual energy or life force inherent in everything that breathes... of course, that was a very simplified view and she hadn't looked to deeply into other cultures, but still, judging from everyone elses sucess in the class there was some power she had yet to tap, to completely understand about herself. Her previous mentor had taught her much about inner focus, even if it was limited for the time being to her physical self. Now Joanna openned her mind to new possibilities.

First, she thought about the object itself. This time she had a chance to fully memorise the pyramid, unlike the ball which she had little familiarity with. Joanna's almost photo-graphic memory brought up a clear image of the pyramid, it's form vidid in her thoughts. Now she started to focus inwardly first, slowing her breathing down greatly until everything is calm. Then she turned that focus towards the pyramid, concentrating not on lifting it like other did with ease, but instead pulling it towards her. It is clear that the hardest direction to attempt to move the object would be upwards, as gravity itself was a force she would have to overcome. Instead, pulling the pyramid towards her seems like the easiest option.

The effect wasn't instantaneous... Joanna could feel the heavy weight of the pyramid she was pulling towards her, it's solid potential force seemingly resisting her attempts to manipulate it. But the fact that she could feel anything at all only pushs her harder, re-doubling her concentration on what little gain she felt she had. Slowly, over the course of several minutes, Joanna could feel her own force pulling it towards her... it hadn't moved yet but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she mastered it enough for this first very important step.

Suddenly, it jerked an inch towards her, the smallest bit of movement and instantly Joanna lost her concentration at the miraculous sight. Gasping loudly, betraying her emotion, Joanna stared at the pyramid in amazement. She had done it... perhaps it was the smallest of steps for the others, but to Joanna at this moment, at this time, it meant the world.

(Well it was realy like DnD dice rolls)

Joshua was glad to be over with the kandamas. He sat, listened, and smirked slightly at the mention of sharper objects.
When the others began to go up for thier pyrapmid's Joshua placed his kandama down and slowly walked up to grab a pyramid.
Odd little things, he thought has he moved back to his seat and looked down at the weight settings. He decided to try for a high setting, yet a good several settings below the highest, and set it down.
He began to concentrate as it started to float slowly. It wobbled slightly yet he expected it to since he still was "out of tune" and had other things intruding in his mind.
After a minute or two he set it down and lowered the setting to the lowest so he could pick it up without making this class require any physical exertion.

Jimmy smiled inwardly to himself as Xavier displayed the kandamas to the class. He'd seen such devices before yet never used one. Fortunately for Jimmy, he was very good with his hands. After surviving a large portion of his youth as a thief, one had to be good with their hands or end up getting caught.

Whilst Jimmy had never been part of a thieving guild, he did have a small legacy amongst some of the other street kids regarding his quickness of hand and great abilities in lock picking and lifting from pockets. Of course once he'd discovered his mental abilities he'd began to hone them, yet he never neglected his hands, they'd saved his life on more than one occassion and he would never forget it.

Unwrapping the string and examining the kandama, Jimmy focused himself on the task at hand. He had to admit that Xavier's methods were far different from his own mentor's and it would take some getting used to, yet perhaps it would be beneficial, he was angelic afterall.

For a few moments he simply allowed the ball to dangle as he examined the length and thought things over. Finally he began swinging the ball in wide arcs, using the full length of the strong and applying enough force to keep it straight the whole time. This continued for a few seconds before he began to slow the arcs, allowing the ball some slack as it continued to follow its arc at a slower velocity.

Several minutes of watching the ball passed in a slow motion before the wooden object. Relaxed and focused, Jimmy moved the receptor forward in a smooth and fluid motion, bringing the receptor underneath the ball mere centermetres before it landed. (I'll leave it open of course.)

After the first go, Jimmy continued again and again, intent of reviving the fluid dexterity of his hands. It felt good to use them in such a manner again.

After a while Xavier stopped the class and indicated the pyramids upon his desk, one for each student. The idea of an object that could do such was quite preplexing, yet he supposed there was more to the world than psychics and the norm. Rising from his seat, Jimmy moved forward in a few paces and retrieved the object before returning to his seat.

Still on the lowest setting, Jimmy weighed the pyramid in his hand as he began moving the nob around, judging the weight as the nob shifted. He knew he could lift himself into the air easily and keeping his own weight in mind, moved the nob not too far from the highest setting. He didn't know how the weight scale worked but it was now too heavy to hold in one hand and so he set it down gently with both.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Jimmy extended his will upon the pyramid and lifted it a few inches into the air. The weight wasn't too bad, yet he could certainly feel it upon his mind. The pyramid did a few rotations and moved higher whilst Jimmy watched it the whole time. It wouldn't do well to have the object fall because of a stupid lapse in attention.

Again it had worked. Sil opened her eyes and looked at the kandama. Finally she allowed a satisfied expression to show on her face. She knew she was far from being able to use her mind to do things like this but Xavier had said that concentration was neccessary for it. And succeeding at this task meant that Sil would be able to find the concentration (at least she hoped so).

Xavier interjection interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw the pyramids he had mentioned. Sil went to the desk and picked one of those objects up, then she went back to her seat and sat down.

This would be more difficult than "playing" with the kandama. Sil held the pyramid in her hands and turned it round to investigate it closely. Then she shrugged and turned it to the lowest setting. Staring at it wouldn't make it move so she sat it down onto the table in front of her and closed her eyes.

I'll simply do the same as with the kandama before, she told herself and concentrated on the pyramid. But this was a different situation. With the kandama she had been concentrating on the movement of the orb to have the receptor in place to catch it up. The pyramid didn't move - she first had to set it into motion.

Humm...and now? Concentration is fine but useless when you don't know what to focus it on.

She visualized the pyramid in her mind and tried to move it. A hand took the pyramid and lifted it up, turned it round, threw it into the air and catched it up.
Sil smiled and opened her eyes to see the pyramid flying through the air.
There was nothing. Sil blinked and looked down. There it was, still sitting on the table, unmoved.
She blushed and cursed herself for betraying herself.

You see, telekinesis isn't that easy, stupid little thing.

Again she closed her eyes and concentrated on the pyramid. But this time she also touched it with her hands. Very slightly only, just so that her skin had contact with the pyramid.

Just feel it as you felt the kandama. Maybe that's the link between your mind and the object.

Touching it it was much easier to concentrate on the pyramid but still nothing happened. As she had done before Sil blinded out everything else until the pyramid was the only thing existing in her universe.
Nothing.
She intensified her concentration until it hurt bodily and ignored the blood trickling down her chin while her teath digged deeper into her lower lip.

There! She had felt a twitch. The pyramid had moved hadn't it? She exhaled sharply and audibly and opened her eyes. Hadn't she placed the pyramid two or three milimeters more to the left? Had it moved? Or was it imagination again?

(*exhausted* too much english)

Xavier observed without any words. He looked at certain students in particular, and raised his hand. He did have bit of a headache, and couldn't find the souce of it. "Practice throughout the week. You are dismissed for now..." his face was expressionless, as he dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and was out the door before any questions could be asked.

Jade was a bit confused at the sudden departure of the instructor. He seemed to be distracted by something. She was also very disappointed in the fact that he said he'd give her private lessons with Healing, to which he must have forgotten. She sighed, took her pyramid and walked out of the classroom looking really down.

Despite the sad mood, she was going to do her best at levitating this pyramid, and exercising her mind. She had some trouble with the orbs, and couldn't even complete the kandama, so she needed to make up for her failures. Jade is normally a very prideful person, and gets frustrated when she fails a task in front of people. She is also extremely competitive when it comes down to it, despite the fact that classmates really shouldn't be competition.

Trevor picked up his pyramid and slipped it into one of his pockets. He then picked up the kandama and walked out of the room. As he entered the hallway, a wave of pain pulsed through his temples. He stopped and leaned against the wall with an hand helld to his forehead. What a headache! I've never worked out my mind like that before. He slid down into a sitting position and continued to hold his head. Maybe I can find Xavier later today and ask him if there's anything I can do about this.

The pain in his head gradually decreased to a dull throb and he continued to walk, a little lightheaded and dizzy, down the corridor to the stairs. He descended them slowly, and went down to the first floor.

Joshua had been palying with the pyramid, making it spin like a top, out of boredom when he heard Xavier abruptly end the class and leave the room giving no chacne for questions.
Joshua had no problems with this. Finaly out of this class room, he thought as he gathered up his things and proceded to leave the room and enter the sunshine. He smiled and headed off to his dorm to drop of his stuff and go off to wander the grounds and relax.

Jimmy watched calmly as Xavier all of a sudden lost some of his own calm composure and quickly disappeared through the door, not paying much attention to the students. With the class over, Jimmy merely shrugged and turned the dial upon the pyramid to lowest before allowing it to fall from the air and land within his grasp.

Now standing, Jimmy didn't bother to wait around and talk with the other students, he had no particular interest in them for the moment. With both 'toys' in hand, Jimmy exited the classroom and began navigating the halls of the school once again.

Food was now the agenda.

Xavier left and Sil was completely exhausted. She hadn't had any sleep last night and now this.
She sat in her chair and stared at the pyramid. It had moved! It had to.

Finally Sil felt the warm blood on her chin and the hurting lip and blushed once more. That was shaming. But at least she had moved that damn little thing. With her mind!

Oh yes, I'll practice. And if it kills me. She decided to return to her dorm and imediatly start with it.

A yawn interrupted her thoughts.

Well, she would start practicing after a year of sleep or so.
Sil's head touched the table before any other thought could cross her mind.