*Ak-Akari laughed at his companion, not in a mocking way but more as a cheerful laugh. He loved the enthusiasm the man showed, recognizing something of his own plight so many years ago. He too had been stranded with very little knowledge of technology as advanced as he now knew, though to be fair it was better than simple fire as this man showed.*

"Slow down friend! I'd love to answer your questions, but it will have to be in due time. It will take long hours to explain even half of what you want to know. I like you though, and something seems familiar. Perhaps we met long ago, though only briefly. I would remember you if it were more than that. Now tell me, before we get too carried away, what is your name?"'

*Then eying the bird Ak-Akari added*

<< And yours my dear. I might not know your kind, but I can recognize sentience when I sense it. No point in trying to hide it. >>

*The hermit continued to stir the pot in front of him, letting the stew come to a boil and slowly heating up the meat and vegi's that I had placed inside. He stood, raptly listening to this new man's words, wishing for him to speak more, but he seemed to stop and turned the questioning back to The Hermit. He stumbled a bit, but continued to tend to the food as he answered... he knew it would sound dumb, saying he didn't know who he was, but hopefully the man would understand?*

Well, ok... I don't know my name. I mean, I do know it, it's there, but something is blocking it right now, like I am supposed to find out who I am. All I have found out so far is that I have a Daughter that is a powerful force user, and that I need to save her from some Dark Lord of the Sith. I think I must have been important, because when I saw this vision, everyone knew me, they all looked on me with a hunger and fascination that I am not used to. I am getting brief flashes every once in a while, but only brief, like dreams almost, and those dreams are never complete when I awake.

*I looked down, self conscious about how egotistical I sounded. I just mindlessly stired while waiting for the man to continue...*

=lloran=


**With that, Lloran lifted up on her wings and flew out of the cave, Dunta needed help, and she was going to go find it.**

*Ak-Akari frowned for a moment, taking in each of their stories. The Pheonix especially troubled him, it obviously had something it was keeping from them. There was no point in worrying about it now though. The bird was friendly enough, it must have some reason for keeping it. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, leaning back.*

"Well there's not much I can do to help you there friend. As for this talk of Sith Lords, well put it out of your mind for now. Last thing you want is for something like that to weigh on you if you're hoping to get back into shape for something like that. We'll have to retrain you in using the Force and how to fight, though hopefully your body will remember the physical aspects. As for the lightsaber, I can't help too much with that, but I can get you another weapon for now."

*Ak-Akari stands up, unstraps the double ended durasteel spear, a tube of metal coming to a sharpened point at either end much like a very heavy throwing javelin, and sticks it in the ground next to the man.*

"Until your bird friend there gets back, you can train with this. It's nothing like a lightsaber, but a little versatility never hurts. The best way to counter staffs, double sabers, spears and the like is to know how to use one yourself. This things also fairly heavy so it'll strengthen your muscles and improve your balance."

*He the returns to his seat. Sitting down he looks once more over to the man.*

"Now, as I said, I like you. So I'm thinking maybe I could settle down for a bit, teach you what I know. If any of your dreams are true, you'll need all the training you can get. And if they're wrong, well, it's not going to hurt you any to know how to use the force and defend yourself. But before we start anything I'll need to know what I shall call you. You don't know your real name, thats fine, but I need something to call you by."

*Ak-Akari could see how uncomfortable the spear was for the man, but shrugged it off. He never expected it to be comfortable, and he certainly didn't expect him to master it. It's just all he had for the moment. He could always check his ship, but he was pretty sure that he didn't have anything analogous to a saber.

He took the bowl, and raised it along with the man. Laughing a bit, but mostly just smiling in the man's direction.*

"Sounds like a plan. It's been a while since I've had someone else cook for me."

*Lowering the toast he frowned slightly, but he hid it as he took a sip from the stew, being careful not to burn his mouth.

*"Why do I stick myself with these people? I've never once been successful, what with that Halcyon kid and... well lets just hope he doesn't turn out like..."*

Of course he was thinking of Morgoth. Once his best friend and companion, morgoth had gone over to the darkside of the force so profoundly that he was no longer the same person. Ak-Akari had tried steering him away from the darkside, subtly at first but more forcefully later on. In the end he had kidnapped him away from his dark master, Vampirius. They barely escaped with their lives, only for Ak-Akari to wake up months later in Corellia, Morgoth gone. He could only assume that he had had to kill him, so corrupted was he that he had attacked Ak-Akari in a fit of rage.

Then it hit him. Snapping him out of his reverie, he looked at the Hermit, thinking back to his awakening on Corellia. Could it be? Maybe the bird was hiding more than he had first thought...

Still, he had to be sure before he was confident on this man's true identity. A mere resemblance was not enough to go on, especially with old memories. He had no idea if this was truly Dunta in front of him, especially when the Jedi Master had been declared dead. Best to put it out of mind, he resolved.

Perhaps the Hermit was not meant to know his true identity. Perhaps, as Revan in the legends of old, he had a part to play in the galaxy before he could be allowed to know who he truly was.*

*"And so, the Hermit is born. And I am to be his companion"*

*Keeping his composure he lifted his head from the bowl once more. His tone a little more official this time, but still friendly.*

"On one condition though. I'm your friend, not your teacher, alright? I'm not some Jedi who gets all hung up on formalities and tradition. If you want to learn then you need to be able to be open, and so must I. Now, with that out of the way, when do you wish to start?"

*Ak-Akari laughed appreciatively.*

"nah, I don't have anyone out to get me, not that I can recall anyway. It's been a while since I've stayed anywhere for long to be honest. Even when I was younger I was always one for traveling, could never stay in one place for too long, not without a purpose there anyway."

*He took a bite of the meat in the stew, which turned out to be quite tasty. After a few spoonfuls he continued.*

"It'll be nice to settle down for a bit though. It's hard to really develop much in the way of personal ability when you're constantly on the move. Sure you gain some things, but you lost others."

*He quickly began eating the rest of his bowl, and would be done in no time. It had been a while since he had eaten food like this too.*

*Ak-Akari grabbed the hermit's bowl out of the air, heading to the mouth of the cave.*

"How about you float something around that I'm not going to be cleaning" *He said with a chuckle.*

*He pulled out a small canteen of water he often carried around, and poured some of it over the bowls, scrubbing them down a little before shaking them off and walking back into the cave.*

"Don't get me wrong, what you've accomplished on your own is quite impressive. Most people have trouble manifesting their powers at all without instruction. Myself I just used it to find scrap in my youth, selling it to get by. Never thought it was the force or anything like that, at least until I ran into a Jedi."

*'Or what I thought was a Jedi' he thought bitterly.*

"The fact of the matter is this though. Shutting down your force presence is useful, and I approve. But you still have a long way to go. Remember, it's not so much your mastery of the force that matters, but your ability to decide how best to use it, how you incorporate it into your more worldly abilities."

*He stepped back, a few feet away in the cave.*

*'Already giving my first lesson. Boy we're not wasting any time are we?'*

"Most people use the Force like a cudgel, with no thought to creativity. Even many Jedi don't see beyond the simplest of uses for the Force. Things like telekinetically throwing objects at people. I'm nowhere near the power of your average master, and yet I've beaten many in combat. Why? Because I could be more creative."

*He sighed, as if thinking for a second. Then he resumed speaking.*

"Here, try to come at me, I'll show you what I mean. Remember, don't go all out quite yet. This is a demonstration, and I don't want to hurt you."

*Ak-Akari laughed a loud and rather happy laugh, happier than he'd been in a long time anyway.*

"No my friend, you're not crazy. I'm only showing you what else the Force is capable of. You may be able to move objects with your mind, but sometimes it is more effective to move another's mind instead. I can teach you this, and a few other things, but most skills you will have to look elsewhere for training. Illusion and deception are powerful tools, ones that are often better than the alternative. But be careful, and always keep in mind that we are called upon to aid people. I dare say it's something I may have forgotten in my exile."

*I smiled and let my heart beat return to its normal level. Looking over I had a new appreciation for the man that had stumbled across my cave. In that brief flicker, that small moment, there was almost a sense of recognition. But as soon it was there, it was gone.

Damnit! You know this guy!

{{Technically you know him too. It's not my fault that you can't remember. Well ok, it is my fault, but trust me it is for the betterment of the universe.

Skrew the universe, I wanna know who I am.

{{There in lies the problem. If you knew who you were, you wouldn't want to know who you are. It's quite perplexing isn't it.}}

No, just more annoying.

I caught my breath and spoke again.*\

How long did it take you to learn that little trick? I've never had someone invade my mind like that... is there any real defense?

*Ak-Akari's seriousness returned, and he struggled to find a way to talk to the man without giving anything about his past away. This was still weird for him, and he wasn't used to hiding something like this.

After all, his skill in illusion manifested itself initially directly prior to meeting Dunta Coral. Of course, he had been unconscious at the time, and it was thanks to the same Jedi master that he even woke up from his self-induced coma, nor would he have ever found out how he had initiated his own rescue through subconscious use of the ability. In essence, without a series of events to which Dunta Coral was instrumental, he would never have realized the extent of his capabilities in Illusion.

Thankfully, that was one of his only encounters with the Jedi Master, so he didn't have the same awkwardness to look forward to when talking about other aspects of his past.*

"Oh it took quite a while, but I had no one to train me in its use. It's for this same reason that I tend to have very... different philosophies about the use of the Force than your average Jedi. I like to think it's because I have no constricting ideals preached to me, so I can learn by experience. Of course, you could argue much the same way for their way of doing things as well.

Anyway, to answer your question, of course there's a defense to it. The easiest is erecting a Force Shield that can block out incoming energy, but the thing is you have to know it's coming, and a crafty opponent can find a way to penetrate your shield.

The best defense though is to train yourself to recognize what is real and what isn't. Everyone has a slightly, if not more so, different view on reality. You must train yourself to recognize images that are skewed from your own reality.

Mind you, nothing's perfect. There will come times when someone will fool you, and there will come others when you're sure whats happening can't be real even though it is. Thankfully, I think in this area I can more than prepare you. I have yet to find more than one or two other masters in the art, and I don't think you'll need to worry about them."

*He cleared his throat and fidgeted awkwardly, as if suddenly aware of something he was doing wrong.*

"Wow, look at me, I've just met you and already I'm giving lectures. I need to get off my ship more I think."