Chapter 13: The Ways of the Force

Leia patiently waited as Sim came out of the meditation room. For the past hour, the two had meditated and Leia was getting anxious for her lessons. She eagerly wanted to learn the ways of the Force and do the stuff that Sim could. She had always been intrigued how he commanded the Force with such talent and wondered if one day she would be able to.

Sim walked out of the meditation room and silently made his way to the outside gardens of the temple. Leia followed suit and came out and walked up to Sim, who turned and faced her,

"Leia, first you have to realize that wanting power just for power is not the way of the Jedi. I know you want it for good, but to be honest the way your feelings are leaking is suggesting that you just want it. That is the way of the Sith," said Sim in a stern tone.

"I'm sorry, Master. Its just so intriguing, but I want it so that I can protect my friends and innocent people," replied Leia with an honest look and voice. Sim sighed, he would teach her anyways.

"Very well then, you will learn the ways of the Force. But be assured, this requires a complete mastery of the basics or else you will fail," said Sim as he began to walk deeper into the gardens.

"I understand, Master. I won't fail you," replied Leia as she followed him.

Sim walked a couple of yards before stopping while Leia did the same.

"Okay then, first you must learn how to use these powers. You see, the basic forms of the Force require you to not use your emotions and act as if you were separate from the Force, but that does not work for the Advanced Force techniques. First, I want you to pick up that entire pillar over there," said Sim as Leia glanced at it. Her eyes opened up wide as she realized what she was suppose to do. The pillar was enormous, being over 100s of feet high and many wide. She looked at her master,

"How do you expect me to do that? It's impossible," replied Leia who still had a look of disbelief on her face. Sim shook his head in disappointment.

"There is no impossible, my apprentice. The Force makes sure of that," replied Sim as he walked over and crossed his legs and sat down.

"I will sit here until you pick this up and can manipulate it. Once that happens, we will go to the next level of your training," replied Sim as he closed his eyes and began meditating again.

Leia turned from him and glanced at the huge pillar. She closed her eyes as she cleared her mind and using the Force she tried to budge it. The lightness surrounded her as she radiated every brighter and she brought her hands up. She signaled for it to move, but instead it stood still, not even vibrating. She tried again but this time with more power, but still couldn't do it. Then she tried again as she called upon all the power within her to lift the object and from the surrounding area but to no avail. It was too large. She continued to try and try and try all day as minutes turned into hours. The day wore on as she tried to do so, but finally she gave up. She walked over to Sim,

"I can't do it! You're asking for the impossible!" shouted Leia as she stormed off to sit down to relax.

Sim sighed as he saw that she was like her father and brother and even like himself in his earlier years. Impatience was a trait of the Skywalkers and himself. That was probably because he spent too much time around Anakin long ago. As Leia watched him, she had frustration in her eyes. With a loud sigh, he closed his eyes. He imagined the pillar as if it was himself. He made himself the pillar as he called upon himself to lift it. He used his emotions to blend himself within it until he became the pillar. Leia watched him as he didn't move. Suddenly she saw as the pillar began to move, it became uprooted as it went into the air. She looked at awe as without even moving the pillar moved in the air as he toyed with it. Finally, he put it back where he found it before as if it was a mere toy that he just picked up. She walked over to Sim who was getting up.

"how... How did you do that?" asked an astonished Leia.

"Use the Force, my apprentice. Like I said, you are keeping yourself separate from the force. You must become one with the Living Force. Everything in the world has a force, using the Living Force you must become one with whatever you wish to manipulate. The only way to become one with the force within whatever you are manipulating is to use your emotions," said Sim.

"But Master, the Jedi are forbidden to use emotions. It leads to the dark side," said Leia.

"No, emotions do not lead to the dark side, intentions do. Emotions fuels ones powers, making one feel strong and he/she becomes so absorbed in his/her powers that he begins to act as if he was the ruler and that leads to the Sith. There is no dark side and light side of the Force. There is only the Force. Just remember, the difference between a light side user that uses emotions and a dark side user that uses emotion is that a light side user guides his passion and emotions to help him achieve good while a dark side user lets his passion and emotions guide him to achieve evil. Just remember the light and you will never fall to the dark side," said Sim as he patted her.

She still had much to learn.

Vader through the limping body of an officer to the ground as another person came and picked him up. This was the latest in a string of officers that had been killed for their utter lack of competence. The fight with Sim had further fueled his hatred and emotions as he vented them on his crew. His son and apprentice stood next to him with no emotions, like always. But before Vader could do anything, his apprentice interjected with a comment,

"Master, I wish to know, how we to find Leia and Sim Nam are?" asked his apprentice with no difference in his tone. It was hard, cold, and evil, nothing less.

"We are having our top spies infiltrate planets to find any sources. It seems that Sim is blocking their Force Signatures from our detection. He is skilled with the Force, I must say," replied Vader with obvious annoyance in his voice at his opponent's abilities.

"But what shall our next move be? I can sense something growing stronger through the Force. It is Leia, I know it, master," said Inhalator as he continued to be motionless.

"Good, my apprentice, you are learning to detect increasing of your opponents powers through the Force. This is a valuable dark side skill that I assure you, will come in handy. But for now, I want you to go to the planet of Ewaro and bring it under Imperial Command. Take the 2nd Imperial Fleet to the place and if they wish to fight, turn it into glass. Understand, my apprentice," said Vader with an icy voice, "I also want you to use that ability of yours to track down its source. Do not fail me, my apprentice."

Inhalator nodded as he walked down the stairs and out of the room leaving Vader alone in his own darkness and anger.

Objects of all kind flew through the air as Leia concentrated on them. It had been weeks since the beginning of her instructions in the ways of the Force and she had been progressing quickly. She was able to lift gigantic objects without even having to close her eyes anymore. She could even lift multiple objects without it being much harder.

Sim watched as she progressed with her training. She was a quick learner and had quickly learned to control and guide her emotions for good use. He had utter confidence that she would never use these for evil, like her brother and father. Yet she still had much to learn.

As Leia put down her last object, Sim walked over to her and patted her on the back.

"Well done, my apprentice. It is time you learn some other techniques. You have solidified your knowledge and this new knowledge will allow you to do whatever you wish," said Sim as he walked over to the top of the hill.

"Leia, I want you to control this gust of wind that comes," said Sim and as if in answering his call, a gust of wind came that almost knocked her off balance yet didn't even make Sim move or nudge, at the least.

"How, though, master?" asked Leia.

"The same way you did with the rocks and objects you picked up," replied Sim.

Leia began to concentrate on the wind as she became one with it. She imagined herself gusting through the air as if she was now one with the wind. Using her emotions to fuel her desires, she slowed the wind down until it was just a slight breeze. She then got an idea. Summoning all her power, she directed a full-blown gust of wind straight at Sim, trying to catch him off-guard. But for reason she couldn't. Sim smiled as she immediately slowed down to a stop before Sim before the wind gusted straight at Leia causing her to fall down on her back.

"My apprentice, it would be wise not to try and challenge your master," said Sim with a chuckle as he walked away. This was the end for today and Leia was progressing better. She would need to, as Sim had felt that Luke, or now as he called himself, Darth Inhalator, was becoming more powerful by the day.