Only the Force

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Torm sat in the meditation room of the long abandoned temple, focusing on the piles of rubble and large stones his master placed before him. His task was to reach out with the Force and lift the stones, a task that his master had done with ease. Torm was having far more trouble with the task. Torm's grasp of the Force was rudimentary, being only a young padawan learner from the Jedi temple but he and his master were a long way from Coruscant and the Jedi Temple where he could ask for aid from the other great masters. However, his master had decided to leave the temple while Torm was still young abandoning the order for the isolation of an unknown world in the Outer Rim. Torm did not understand his master's decision even after ten long years of tutelage.

The stones and mortared bricks pillared around him twitched and shook but would not lift off the ground. He believed it could be done, he had seen it done but despite his focus the apprentice Jedi could only manage a brief shake before the stones returned to rest. He breathed deeply, letting his mind rest and attempted the practice again. His master had set him this task for the day and Torm was determined to complete it.

The end of the day came and Torm had still been unable to shift even the smallest stone pile. Torm had not given up but his focus had diminished to a point that further attempts would only serve to further exhaust him. Torm walked onto the third floor walkway that commanded a cinematic scope of the surrounding valley. The planet was empty of sentient life but someone must have crafted the ancient temple that so fascinated his master. His red skinned Torguta master, Tukton Te, sat cross legged at a low table with a data recorder. Floating just above the table was a cube of light blue crystal decorated with gold inlay of polyhedron shapes overlapping one another. With red waving fingers Master Te reached out with the Force, keeping the mysterious cube active and his white stripped Lekku tendrils twitching. The image of a long dead human dressed in the robes of the Jedi. Torm understood the words well enough but the depth of them meant little to him.

"How was the exercise?" asked Master Te to his human apprentice. Eyes still closed and fingers waving at the glowing crystal relic.

Torm was mesmerized by the floating cub and the ease at which his master performed the task. "I was unable to lift the boulders and bricks," Torm ashamedly admitted.

Master Te lowered his hand and the cube followed, the azure projection of the human faded and the object rested on the table. He turned to his apprentice, kindly beaming a slight smile. "No need to worry, the galaxy will survive if one padawan has trouble moving a rock on the first few tries. You will learn that the Force will be your greatest ally."

Torm played with the thin braid of hair that fell over his shoulder. "Yes, master."

"I can sense..." The Torguta paused as if to taste the air and his tendrils quivering. "I sense disappointment in yourself."

Torm knew there was no denying it. His master's skill and Lekku offered much insight of the world around him, even when his apprentice wanted to avoid the attention. "Yes, master. I always thought this was one of the simplest skills to master."

Master Te nodded. "The simplest tasks are often the most difficult. Those are the ones that have the least amount of room of failure. You must start with little to make a large improvement and only a few steps to follow. That means if even one moment is off, then the others fail. Patience and focus will always ensure each step is fulfilled."

"Yes, master." Torm trusted his master's words, how could he not. Te was the one who protected Torm, the one who instructed him in the ways of the Jedi and the knowledge of his abilities. "Master, what is this?" Torm gestured to the cube.