Younglings gathered outside of the Praxeum. Their eyes were wide with anticipation as this was their first time witnessing duels. They had been primarily learning the different forms with very little hands-on training. Children being children, earning the right to wield a Lighsaber was one of the ‘coolest’ parts of being a Jedi. They looked on as their teacher, a Dug, of all things, stepped up onto a stone pedestal that allowed him to view the entire class.
The typically grumpy blademaster was met with gasps of wonder as the stories of his adventures and skills were the talk of the temple.
“Master, Sharam.” They all greeted in unison, delivering a slight bow.
The layers of the displeasure that ordinarily dominated his features melted away as he cracked a smirk. He had a soft spot in his heart for the innocence of Children. He returned the bow.
“Good evening, students,” He greeted them, “I can sense the excitement within you. You’re eager!”
The younglings smiled and nodded.
Shaan San Sharam typically setup those he was teaching to provide lessons.
“Be careful young ones. An eager mind leads to hasty decisions. A Jedi should never be excited to use their Lightsaber. Do you know why?”
“We must first aim to preserve peace!”
“Only for defense, never for offense!”
They blurted out answers.
“Very good,” he smiled sagely, “Now, today will be a special day. As you can see I’ve invited some guests.”
The students bowed to their elders.
“I’d like for each and every one of you to watch these sparring sessions very carefully. Soon, you’ll be tested on your knowledge of Banlanth.”
Creon’s mind went back to the time when he first picked up a lightsaber. Things where much different for him than these children. It was held indoors within a capital ship he was transferred to by his master, Jeric Cyrin. He was seventeen at the timr, and the instructors were crude but fair to the sadowans. Yet these odanite younglings wouldn’t have the same paths to proficiency may hold an advantage by learning young and adept at their prime than to have to learn a hasher and faster way to become proficient with a lightsaber.
There was inner conflict for Creon when using the tool. It was first designed for ceremonial purposes, despite its diverse applications. He preferred instruments purposely made as weapons for exercising conflict preparations. From what history studies have given him, those of whom could attack their foes at greater distances than the other held the advantage for success, and so ranged weapons over melee became a preferred priority. Looking at the instructor, Creon could see the same serenity and confidence reminiscent of when Blade was enthusiastic in the passing down of her knowledge on lightsaber combat. Creon thought to learn from Master Sharam on technique and perhaps to test his prowess at a later time in countermeasure of Creon’s Mandalorian strategies taught by the Okami.
He stood silent in waiting, but gave a cheerful disposition to the eyes who’s attention drew themselves to him.
Young Jedi Elyon de Neverse was honored when Master Sharam invited her to spar. She was ready to show her Sores form at its best. Elyon watched the students with interest. It reminded her so much of her teachings in the Temple. She could feel their excitement and eagerness, the same as she used to feel when Master Yoda or Windu came to their class.
The students were staring at them and Elyon felt a little out of place. She was never happy when others stared at her. However, she was aware that she was here for them and that this lesson was meant to teach them a lot. She stood next to Creon, waiting to be called upon to demonstrate her skills.
The small droid walked into the room and chirped happily, turning back towards the entryway as the Echani woman strode in. “Yes, yes. Thank you, BD. I did know the way here after all.”
Silver eyes took in the room, the younglings, the Dug as well as the Neverses. She gave a polite inclination of her head to Creon and Elyon, having met and traveled alongside both at one time or another.
Yuki Suoh, Commander of the Knights of Allusis, was an oddity even in a place that contained rare knowledge and even rarer people. She wore robes more befitting a Dark Jedi, robes the color of darkened twilight, and her vibrant red hair was pulled back into a severe braid.
Her lips curled into a light smile at the Master of the classroom, her own mind silently wishing any of her instructors had been so kindly eager.
The small droid beeped and whistled a few more times before it climbed up the back of the Echani’s legs and positioned itself to watch over a slender shoulder. Yuki took up a position, her eyes watching and gauging everything around her.
Another strangeness about the woman, she carried no weapons at all to what should have been a sparring session.
Ryan adjusted his robes as he walked in their pure white creating a striking image as he strode into the room. He still was somewhat sweaty from warming up both his unarmed skills and Soresu forms before coming to offer instruction and demonstration. He smiled at the youth and others assembled as he went quietly to a corner and proceeded to stretch out his legs and gather his thoughts.
His blue eyes scanned the room and he felt a little out of place. While he eschewed his usual foppish attire, he still tried to present a striking appearance wherever he went. One never knew who one could run into.
Jon Silvon was in one corner of the room, observing the Jedi practicing their forms. Lightsaber combat was, he was quickly learning, both very similar and wildly different to the vibro-sword styles he had learned from his grandfather.
Jon looked down at the two sabers in his hands, deactivated, and gave them an expiremental twirl. The weight, for one, was nothing like the feel of a metal sword, which had to place a careful balance between the hilt and actual blade. The hilt of a lightsaber was light, deceptively so, and he knew from the few expiremental tries he’d had with the sabers lit that the blade itself was effectively weightless.
There was also the edge to consider. Or rather, the lackthereof.
A sword had a defined edge, possibly two, and a flat side. Knowing how to move the blade so that the edge was used for cutting and the flat for blocking (blocking a sword by the edge was the best way to break it, know matter what the damned holonovels would have you believe). Unlearning that habit to wield what was in effect an omnidirecional, super-heated edge was going to be a challenge all unto itself, he knew.
He looked around the room, hoping to find a familiar face or, failing that someone who felt as awkward as he did.
He found both as Ryan Hawkins and Yuki Suoh, two Jedi he had a passing familiarity with, entered the room, and he jogged over to meet them.
Yuki raised a hand in casual greeting to the man jogging towards her, the light catching the metallic silver of the cybernetic hand. Those who knew the Echani also knew she had left the hand -and the rest of her arm- on Nancorra during one of many conflicts that had formed the final fights Yuki actively took part in. These days, she spent more and more time secluded at her own estates or teaching various classes in the Praxeum.
Today has been such a day. Instead of teaching some of the older students field medicine, she was here to watch the younger ones spar and train with each other to learn from older members of the Clan.
“Better to watch the younglings smack each other with a little jolt of energy than teach someone to stitch a laceration without anesthesia, hm?” She grinned at Jon as he slowed down.
Not waiting for an answer, she gestured to the sparring ring with a kind, gentle grin. “Go on then, Silvon. Show the children your talents.”
As Jon Silvon took the attention of the crowd Creon nudged Elyon with his elbow. When she turned to look at him, he smiled at her and tilted his head and looked out towards an area of the field away from the group. She understood this to be an invitation to join him apart from the crowd. The two walked away slowly only seemingly catching the eye of master Sharam. As Elyon removed her outer robe and hung it near a tree branch, she saw her husband looking over the two training lightsabers he had brought. When he would go on missions, he would only bring just one.
“Is everything alright?”
“I want to try something new. I want to see if it can get through your defenses.” Creon responded.
Elyon grinned in pride of her defense, “I will do my best.”
After taking several paces away to a proper starting distance, the two jedi faced each other in their readied stances, lightsabers ignited. Elyon had her knees slightly bent, the side of her hips facing forward as to make her silhouette harder to hit and clasped near the hilt with both hands her lightsaber above her forehead with the blade arced across her body aimed downward. She noticed Creon holding his lightsabers in a way she’d not seen him do so before; in the reverse-grip. She watched Creon approach her until she blinked and then suddenly, he was gone. Elyon held her ground and stood still, anticipating an attack at any given moment. Once an itch from the Force brought her attention behind her, she twisted her torso and fanned a wave of her blade which deflected Creon’s horizontal slash for the ribs. He jumped back and disappeared again. Elyon could still feel her husband’s presence in the Force as they had undergone a Force Meld prior to arrival. His mind and thoughts could be felt almost right after he makes his choice, yet his actions could not be seen upon approach. He planned to attack again. The sound of his lightsaber ignited. For a brief second Creon’s silhouette became less transparent, and his blade could be seen moving in a downward diagonal arc which too was parried by Elyon. He appeared again in front of her and brought two lightsabers in a scissored thrust that opened into a crossing slash. Elyon brought her blade between them to stop both their paths. Creon could have chosen to try and overwhelm her with strength, but instead fanned and flurry that began from an Ataru kata and shifted grips to reverse to end on a Shien maneuver. For the most part Elyon was able to block his attacks but was almost caught off guard by the transition in style. No matter what combination Creon tried, Elyon was unyielding in her evasive maneuvers.
He would appear and disappear, only to appear again to attack what he thought to be an exploited weakness and was proud to learn that she had none.
“As always you hold your own well,” Creon remarked with perspiration and the pulsing nerve near his temple revealing the stress in mind from his Force cloak usage.
Jon gulped. “Ah yes,” he said quickly. “My talents. Right.” While Jon was nothing if not a show-off, he wasn’t anywhere close to confident in his abilities with the blade of screaming-hot plasma not to accidentally lose a limb. Alas, Yuki had challenged him, and done it in front of an audience no less, and well, he couldn’t very well lose face in front of younglings, now could he? Jon took in the bright, hopeful faces of the younglings and swore internally. Moving towards the training circle, he said a quick prayer to anything that was listening that this went as well as he hoped. Glancing over at the lethal dance between Creon and Elyon, his confidence plummeted further. What he lacked in confidence, however, he more than knew how to make up for in style. Walking to the center of one of the training circles, he activated both his knew ‘sabers, they’re bright yellow light illuminating the room. Taking a stance, he began. The kata he was performing – the Striking Mynock it was known as – wasn’t designed for lightsabers, so he had to improvise in a few places. One set of steps, for instance, required bringing the blades up under your armpits to strike at a foe behind you. Obviously, that movement wasn’t well advised when the swords were made of the hottest substance in the galaxy. He instead brought the lightsabers down in a twin overhead slash – only to stumble at the last second. The weightlessness of the swords through him off, and sent him tumbling towards the floor.
“How about you stop hiding and show these young Padawans how effective your Soresu primary form is against mine?” Elyon teased him as she sensed through the connection how draining the Force cloak was for him. He spent a lot of time training this technique to perfect it. And it had its results, his technique was really effective and if it wasn’t for their connection and her sensitivity in the Force, she would have lost for sure. However, this did not compensate for the stress of use. Neither did her protests that she could see the consequences of using the technique.
Now, however, she stood in front of him, watching him get into a basic position. One blade aimed at her and the other in a reverse grip ready for cover. Controlling two blades already required a better ability to coordinate movements and higher concentration. The young Jedi also stood in the basic position and both of them showed that they could continue. Elyon was the one leading the attacks. Still, just like Creon, her primary lightsaber form was Soresu, so offensive, she was also capable of dealing blows.
The young Jedi charged forward with vigor, first performing a series of spells that Creon covered with Soresu base shields to demonstrate as an introduction. Then she decided to try to break through her husband’s defenses. In her head, she put together another series of interests and possible covers and retaliations, because this fight is like a game of chess.
Elyon didn’t let him stand for long as she lunged forward with her left foot and attacked the right flank. Creon concealed this and attacked her head with one blade and the other. However, she dodged to the right side and raised the blade of her lightsaber, blocking his attack. At that moment he noticed her exposed lower body and attacked her side. Even that didn’t distract her from her concentration, so she spun the blade in front of her body and blocked his attack.
Elyon didn’t let him stand for long as she lunged forward with her left foot and attacked the right flank. Creon concealed this and attacked her head with one blade and the other. However, she dodged to the right side and raised the blade of her lightsaber, blocking his attack. At that moment he noticed her exposed lower body and attacked her side. Even that didn’t distract her from her concentration, so she spun the blade in front of her body and blocked his attack. More attacks and covers followed, and neither was able to break through the other’s defenses. The young Jedi then chose the trick attack technique that was popular among the Padawans in the Temples, but even those were detected and blocked by Creon.
“You’re also holding up great as always. Elyon said as they pulled away from each other for a moment before continuing with another series of attacks.
Illusionary clones of Creon sprinted out of the shadows and flashed beams of blue akin to his lightsaber. Two came at her side towards the edge of her peripherals based off the stance, and one directly in front. Elyon fanned her blade from the closest to the furthest on approach, and upon a riposte through the dark robes the illusion faded. More began to appear with a blurring after image behind the ends of his robes. Shadow Clones of Creon dashed in circles around Elyon, back and forth, with Force enhanced Speed. Elyon’s eyes darted to each one in the attempt to pinpoint with her senses if but for a moment she could detect one as actually her husband. It is through this illusionary ring of clones Elyon anticipated a sneak attack from Creon. As one clone’s blade drew a little too close Elyon swung at it and felt the resistance of a real blade. The clone spun with a whirl of plasma but Elyon noticed the blade’s light spin in a counter-direction to the illusion’s movement. She dashed through the illusion with a single stroke slash aimed along the abdomen, and in landing on a lunge found her real husband holding a hand gesture that maintained the string of illusions.
Saber drawn she dashed towards him and in kind his was ignited through a telekinetic draw from his belt. The two clashed and locked blades in firm stances. Their arms moved wildly whilst their feet stayed firm in place. Creon gave into Elyon’s aggression in retreating but with each step he took back she took one forward. It was almost in simultaneous rythym in the way they moved. The thoughts between them, via their shared Force Meld mind link, allowed each anticipated decision from the brain to be replied almost in kind by the other upon sensory of their adversary’s mental output through the Force.
When Creon made a decision to swing, his throughts rippled telepathically in waves from the motion he planned to take. Such waves can be sensed in the mind’s projected oscillations in the electromagnetic field generated by the body in the field of the Force. Her oscillations are linked to Creon’s in close proximity and through engaging the link. Thus the connection is strong and fast in the transferrence with information. The moment he thinks, she knows it, and vice versa. This increased interactive reaction speed and made for a dynamic display of alternative approaches in combat that conventional techniques most would expect to be applied in a usual setting without proir training on their respective forms. As both practicioners or Soreso, the two built upon each other. Elyon would find deep mastery with the style and its usage against a diverse variety, while Creon experimented with new techniques to be applied to the foundational art. The mind link was to be continually tested both in competition and in cooperation with one another. Such times in cooperation included deflecting blasters from both directions back to back. In contest its to help teach the anticipation of movement into new actions and taking initiative against them. The slash Creon attacked with was sensed by Elyon and replied with a spinning riposte, which in turn Creon felt and dropped the attack to a feint and counter-attacked at a different angle with his second saber. This would have worked but the old fashioned force-enhanced jump to retreat backwards was already loaded for use and employed before the saber could strike her body. Once she had gained distance, Creon turned into a squatting stance and set up his hands to put together two points of energy from his palms and create a ball of telekinetic energy focused between them. This energy was continually concentrated upon by fueling it with energy and stabilizing it through a spinning compression.
Elyon recognized this to be a Force Blast and took the same stance as her husband and gathered energy as well in kind. Once her blast was prepared Creon unleashed his with a mighty shout. The pushing Force caused nearby rocks to scatter, grass to bet cut, and the wind to blow in the path of the blast that traveled in a beam-like pathway towards Elyon. Elyon threw hers next and the two blasts collided with a large boom between them. In still holding a pose of arms extended with palms together facing the point between them where the two Force blasts collided, Creon further streamed energy to feed the blast and push against Elyon’s. Elyon screamed with a heavy effort and fueled more energy into her blast in kind. The two struggled back and forth until Creon could feel Elyon’s stamina begin to wane from the struggle. He dropped his attack and dashed away from the eventual rush of Elyon’s blast overcoming his and traveling to where he once stood. They both panted and began to drop sweat along their brow, but smiled with the exercise and resumed in taking their form’s respective posturings and re-ignited their lightsabers.
Yuki sat on the ground, her face carrying an expression very few ever saw. As she spoke to a few of the students in serious, hushed tones, her lips were curled into a smile. The one real weakness the formidable woman had was children. The three children seated around her seemed completely enamored of the Suoh matriarch.
“You see, one of the few things most important in a fight is balance. Balance in mind, body and soul.”
She gestured casually to Jon, her face still showing the smile as she made her own observations of the man. “He is new to his weapons and the difference can be intimidating. He has to find his balance for them as well as his own heart. How he feels about them can affect his ability just as much as his training.”
She extended a cybernetic finger and began to etch symbols into the floor, only deep enough to last until the next time the room was cleaned. “Finding that balance in all things is a journey only you can take.”
A nod towards the Dug, brought the childrens’ attention back to him. “Master Sharam can give you the tools as long as you mind him. When you are old enough, others will give you even more.”
Mock ferociousness filled her face as she looked at each of the young ones before her. “Mind your lessons. Every one is important even if it seems silly.”
The solemnity of the moment lasted for only a moment before the woman started to laugh with the kids and ruffled their hair. “Go practice.”