Joining Young Justice

Chapter Six: Old Doors

When I woke up, everything was silent. I hadn't noticed it earlier when I left the Watchtower, but I felt more alert, more in tune with my surroundings. The Force was already at work within me.

I pulled on my quilted jacket and boots and wandered the Cave. No one else seemed to be up as I wandered mindlessly, finding what several had referred to as "the back door." I stepped out into the freezing night. Mount Justice was surrounded by trees, which gave way at the back onto a private strip of beach.

Everything was blanketed in snow or ice crystals as I trudged through the undergrowth toward the sound of waves crashing against the beach. The sound was so peaceful and the landscape was so beautiful. The snow was like a blank canvas, my footsteps the only marks.

The first step in training was to retrain my mind.

I stopped on the beach, looking up and down. The snow tapered out at the high tide line where the sand was exposed. Water receded further down the beach, somewhere between low and high tide. As I breathed in the refreshing salty air, my eyes wandered upward. Thousands of white pinpricks marked the black sky.

Was one of those my home, millions of lightyears away? I wondered, not for the first time in the last ten Earth years.

The environment was optimal for interacting with the Force. There were peaceful elements--the repetitive sound of the surf, the general silence, and the crisp air--ideal for focus and clarity.

I leaned down and planted my hands in the snow, putting more and more weight on them until my feet came up, rising until I was perpendicular to the ground. My eyes fluttered shut and I opened my mind, letting the Force surround and enter me as Master Yoda had taught me at the Temple years before.

I focused on the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach, creeping up the beach before retreating back into the ocean. Around me, snow shifted as larger rocks began to break through the barrier. I could sense their placement around me as they hovered, suspended in the air.

Slowly my right hand lifted off the ground until I was supported only by my left hand. The night was so silent, the beach so still. I could practically hear the frost crystalizing around me.

One with the Force.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was beginning to rise. The sky above the water was gray with streaks of pink and orange. A few rays were illuminating the edge of the beach, casting a golden glow to the dull sand. I exhaled and the rocks that had been drifting around me fell into the snow. Gracefully I dropped to the ground and rose to my feet.

My lightsaber was hooked to my belt and I detached it. I'd grown since I'd last held it properly. Back then, the grip had seemed so big for my hand. Now it felt just right.

I pressed down on the switch and watched the blue blade that expanded. It was a little too short, so I adjusted the length of the blade and swooshed it experimentally. One movement, one slice of the blade, opened up a floodgate. Years of training, lessons, and battle experience came rushing back and my instincts took over.

The secluded snowy beach became my training ground as I practiced formations that masters at the Temple had shown me. As I moved the blade and fully embraced the Force, I felt a presence behind me.

"Hello, Nightwing," I said, turning around and switching off my lightsaber, clipping it back to my belt in one swift motion.

"You're up early," he noted.

A beat passed.

"Do you have one of those automatic tennis ball machines?" I asked.

"What for?" Nightwing replied skeptically. I suppose it was a strange request.