Ask An Elegant Weapon

[Ori Ardell]

It had been many months since Ori had walked into the temple to begin his training. But it was over now and while he waited, sat on the steps of the temple, to meet with Max, he found himself reflecting on his time with the Jedi so far. He had not known what to expect at the beginning but he got his answer quickly. There was learning to be done, and a lot of it.

Besides the hours spent training, which Ori had not found too difficult since he had always been athletic and even moreso now, there was just as many hours, if not more, spent in lectures.

There were teachings on a dizzying array of topics, from the general, there was teachings about the wider galaxy and its history, political science, the study of different cultures and their practices, from the widespread to the most obscure. Then there were the Jedi specific teachings, such as studying the Force, both its practical applications aswell as its mysterious and esoteric nature. Many debates were had about the nature of the Force, its meaning and purpose, but Ori largely avoided them, he didn't have a clue.

Ori had found the experience quite overwhelming initially. From a background with no formal schooling, what the instructors expected of him was quite the culture shock. But he had perserved and got through it, despite having gone to sleep some nights doubting his own abilities. Meditation was one of the few things that Ori found easier, he had took to it quite quickly and soon found himself meditating often outside of the mandatory sessions. It helped him to keep his mind on the present, and more importantly, off his regret of the past and his anxiety about his future.

As he snapped out of his day dream, he spotted Max in the distance, approaching the temple and walked out to meet him. Ori was excited about today and eager to get going.

Today was the day Ori got his lightsaber crystal.

"Good to see you." Ori said with a smile.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Coming back to see someone at the Temple wasn't anything new for Max but coming back to see Ori was both new and exciting. He had dropped the kid off at the Temple with a pep talk and a push in the door and turns out? He hadn't disappointed. People he knew at the Temple spoke about Ori well.

They thought he was a great kid and was developing well as a Jedi.

Max was probably a bit of an odd one-out as far as the Order went because he was much more interested in the first part than the last part. Being good with the Force or a saber? Nothing next to being a good man in Max's mind. He had been given a report about Ori's progress on every level and he was happy to say that so far?

He was proud of the kid.

Spotting him as he approached the Temple, Max smiled and held his arms out wide.

"Come on kid it's been months, that's all I get?" he joked as he gave Ori a quick hug before ruffling his hair playfully and disengaging, "It's great to see you too Ori - you look like you've grown."

Or at least been fed a decent diet.

"Now be honest with me Ori; how excited are you about today?"

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

Ori straightened his hair when Max ruffled it, letting out a laugh. But Max did have a point, even if he was joking, despite the meditation and all the introspection, he was still having trouble opening himself up to others. However, it was something he wanted to get better at and more comfortable with, especially since he was now Max's Padawan.

It was one of the reasons he had been pushing himself in his training.

He felt like owed Max to some degree and he didn't want him to feel like he'd made a mistake in bringing him to the Jedi. Also, he wanted to reflect well on Max within the Order.

"You think?" Ori asked, looking himself up and down, "Good to know all the training hasn't been for nothing." He added with a grin.

"I can't wait, I feel like everything's coming together, you know?" he replied. All these months Ori had been learning about lightsabers, how they work, the mechanics and sparring with practice sabers and now he was getting close to the real thing.

"So what do we need to do?"

They had of course been told that they would eventually need to gather a crystal, but they had been intentially kept in the dark about the specifics. Ori gathered it involved some sort of test, whether it was physical or mental, he wasn't sure.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

What do we need to do?

Oh the young Padawan made it sound like it was going to be easy! Max knew that the Temple didn't give any hints as to how Padawans collected their crystals because the process tended to change from person to person. It was something that tended to change depending on the Padawan and depending on the Master as well.

But one thing that they would need to do was to conduct their search in a place that held kyber crystals.

In eras long past, the Jedi would travel to Illum to secure crystals or potentially somewhere like Lothal. Considering his last visit to Lothal had him hijacked by the Force and almost drained to death, Max was in little hurry to go back there. Instead Max had an idea. The whole purpose of the gathering was to find a crystal that would resonate with Ori.

Nothing said it had to be new.

"Come on then, I'm taking you somewhere, see if you feel anything." he gestured for Ori to follow him as he went around the side of the Temple, "When seeking a crystal for your lightsaber you need to realize something Ori; the Force chooses your crystal, you merely recognize it. The crystal will feel different in the Force, you will know when you have found it but when you pass into the Force after death, your crystal will remain."

Taking his newest Padawan to a door built into the side of the Temple, he entered a long passcode before the door opened to admit them. Once they had passed it closed and locked itself tightly as they descended down a procession of steep steps.

"You will bond with your crystal but your crystal doesn't die when you do, it persists and may bond again if the Force wills it." he lectured with a small smile, "I found my crystal this way Ori, in the same place I take you to now."

Spoiler: The Crypt

He led Ori down into a Crypt.

It was, however, a Jedi Crypt in that it had far less focus on the dead Jedi and more on the idea that they persisted in the Force beyond their passing. So rather than graves or statues with any real features, the alcoves of the crypt were filled with blank-faced, gender-neutral, robed Jedi statues with simple podiums in front of them.

Upon the podiums rested the lightsabers of the fallen Jedi in various states of disrepair. Some were fully functional and others were broken in various different ways. Kyber crystals were exposed on some of the podiums and not on others, still firmly in place behind metal casings.

In the middle of the crypt was a reflecting pool of placid water.

The entire area felt warm and light despite being underground.

Max waved for Ori to join him as he knelt down at a prayer mat beside the reflecting pool. Taking a deep breath, Max began to sink into the Force as he meditated.

"Meditate with me, Ori, and reach out with the Force. Reach out and listen... feel... find the one that calls to you... that knows you. Open yourself to it and find it."

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

The Force chooses your crystal...

Strange, Ori thought. He had spent the last few months at the Temple, learning all he could about the Force and Max's statement told him that despite this, the Force was still a mystery. How the Force would choose his crystal was a notion which felt beyond Ori, was the Force a present agent in the universe, acting in the shadows but subtly guiding events none the less or was the Force simply part of a much larger deterministic process in which all actions and outcomes were predetermined, such as which crystal Ori would get.

On the other hand, it was probably none of those things. Ori was beginning to believe that any attempt to apply strict logic to something like the Force was potentially meaningless. Perhaps it was a better course of action to just go with the flow.

Ori followed Max down into the crypt and lagged behind the Jedi Knight, stopping at almost every statue to look at the lightsaber which sat on the pedestal. Passing each one, he thought about his future and whether one day it would be his fate to rest in the crypt.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Max, who waved him over to the reflecting pool.

"Reach out and listen," Ori repeated as he knelt down on a prayer mat which was parallel to Max.

Resting his palms on his knees, Ori stared at his reflection in the pool and drew on the techniques he had been practising. Allowing his thoughts to flow freely, observing them in a non-judgemental way. He focused on his breathing, not trying to control it, but simply allowing himself to breathe naturally.

After a few minutes, the distracting thoughts which usually popped into Ori's mind ceased and he was able to sit in the present moment and focus on his reflection in the pool. In this mindful state, a curious thing happened. Ori's reflection in the pool stood up and disappeared from view.

Ori was slightly startled by this but fought the urge to look away and once again brought his attention back to the moment. He was further surprised when moments later, his reflection returned into view and sat back into the same meditative position as Ori. Except he extended his hand forward as if to hand something over. Ori reached out to take whatever was being offered.

As the cool water touched his hand, the small pool rippled and the image of his reflection changed to an image of one of the statues that he had passed on the way through the crypt initially.

"I know what to do," Ori said to Max as he got to his feet. He led both of them to one of the alcoves they had passed previously. On the pedestal in front of them, there was a lightsaber hilt in very poor condition. The casing had clearly took significant damage as the the chamber which held the crystal was fully exposed, as well as wiring sticking out all over the place. Inside the chamber however, there was a pristine looking crystal which had the faintest blue glow.

Ori glanced at Max, smiling widely, "This is the one."

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max had closed his eyes and let himself drift into the Force. He knew that the journey that Ori had begun he would walk alone and that included gaining the crystal in the first place. It was not his place to guide Ori at this stage because the Force would guide him truer than Max ever could himself.

So while he could feel the Force acting he did not react to it.

He enjoyed the presence of the Light working around them but he didn't say or do anything in response to it. Instead he just basked in it and enjoyed the warmth and comfort that it brought to him simply by being there for him to connect to. Opening a single eye when Ori claimed he knew what to do, Max smiled.

"I knew you would."

Standing from his kneeling position, Max followed slightly behind Ori as he walked over to an alcove and pointed out the crystal that had called to him through the Force. He eyed it and, indeed, it looked to be a healthy crystal still. The light pulsed within it as if alive and he enjoyed the way Ori's excitement seemed to bleed out into the Force.

"Then reach out and take it."

As Ori would reach for his crystal, Max would remove a small satchel from underneath his robes and set it down on the ground beside the meditation mats again. Carefully he would lay out various different components, hilts and other such objects. Ori would have a wide variety of choices to make in constructing his first lightsaber.

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

Ori followed Max's instructions and reached out for the crystal. When the crystal was removed from the hilt, the faint blue glow began to brigthen and as he took it, he felt a wave of energy pass over him and for a few seconds he felt an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness.

"What was that?" He asked outloud.

After he had the crystal, Ori returned to the reflecting pool to look at all the lightsaber component parts that Max had laid out on the mat. Kneeling down, he picked up several different pieces and admired them before moving on to others, "Cool.." He said, glancing at Max, "Thank you for all the help." After he had finished inspecting the individual parts, Ori placed the crystal he had retrieved at the centre and once again settled into a meditative state.

The lightsaber components and the crystal began to float in the air as Ori tapped into the Force. He focused exclusively on his breathing, attempting to remain as grounded in the present moment as possible. Trying to let the Force guide his decision, he let different components fall back to the mat, seemingly at random. This continued until all that was left suspended in the air were the components for a single lightsaber, as well as the crystal.

The remaining components began to swirl around and coalesce the crystal, roughly forming the shape of a hilt. For the delicate work that was required next, Ori had to use his hands to guide the pieces to where he wanted them via the Force. As the crystal was locked into its new chamber, it began to glow a strong blue colour. It wasn't long after the chamber was secured that Ori was able to finish constructing the hilt.

Standing up, Ori guided the finished hilt to his hands and pressed the ignition button.

Spoiler

"Wow."

As he stared into the blue light given off by the blade, he felt a great sense of achievement. He had doubted his ability to get through training and there was everything that came before that. Now here he was, holding the weapon of a Jedi. It felt good.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max barely contained the laugh that threatened to bubble up but he did exactly nothing to stop the grin that found its way onto his face instead at Ori's reaction to the crystal bonding more with him through the Force upon physical contact. He could have warned his newest Padawan that the reaction would be different to whatever he had expected but if he had done that he would have denied himself the look on Ori's face.

He was an old man - he needed to make his fun where he could.

Rather than guide his apprentice as he began the construction of his lightsaber, Max simply sat and watched both physically and with the Force. He made sure that Ori wasn't making any mistakes, ready to step in if he was, but nothing like that happened. Instead there was nothing but synergy between his apprentice and the Force as he constructed his lightsaber. Max smiled with pride as he watched the tool take shape.

Watching as his newest Padawan took up his blade, Max grinned a little bit as he stood up from where he had been kneeling beside his apprentice. Fishing his own lightsaber out, he held it out to his right and ignited only one of it's two blades.

"And yet another one of my apprentices takes a saber but does not honor me by copying my saberstaff!" he joked lightly as he gestured for Ori to stand, "Stand up and give it a few practice swings, Ori. You might have spent some time with vibroblades and training sabers before; this time feel the difference and, when you're ready, lets do some sparring."

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

"After you retire you can pass it on to me, not too soon right?" Ori teased. At Max's instruction, he stood exactly as he had been taught in training, legs spaced apart, knees bent, shoulders squared. Solid, but not rigid. With both hands on the hilt of the lightsaber, Ori swung the lightsaber down in an arc. Max was right, it did feel different. Preforming an action with the weapon felt much easier and smoother than with a training saber.

"Sparring? Let's do it." Ori answered excitedly, "We can just start slow if you prefer, I wouldn't want you to pull a muscle or anything." He added with a smirk.

It hadn't really dawned on Ori how content he had been feeling recently. Even the least intuitive of people would have been able to see the change in his demeanour from the self-pitying teenager who had arrived on Ajan Kloss many months ago. Despite still struggling with opening up to people and connecting with his peers, he felt more confident in himself, more so than he ever had.

Ori positioned himself in the same position as he had before, however this time, he held his lightsaber across his body in a defensive stance. Despite his sarcasm and hubris, he wasn't stupid. The Jedi Knight had vastly more combat experience than he did and he could easily put Ori on his back.

Even if they were just sparring, Ori intended to take the exercise seriously.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well his apprentice did not lack enthusiasm even if he did currently lack any real experience to truly back it up. Smirking a little bit to himself, Max raised an eyebrow even as he held on tightly to his lightsaber in his right hand. It seemed that he was going to have to start by showing Ori why he needed to show some respect for his elders!

Which, considering how young Ori was, was pretty much everyone in the Order and not just Max! He was not at all bothered by his age no matter what anyone said.

"I think I need to remove the child block on your net access." he joked back with a grin, "Your jokes are all based around me being old; you're going to need to get new material!"

Deciding he needed to be on the attack, Max brought his blade up in his right hand before swinging it in a downward angle, aiming to cut from Ori's left shoulder down to his right hip. It was a fairly standard attack and one that would serve to test his young apprentice's reaction time if nothing else.

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

After Max's retort, a silence fell over the tomb. The only sound was the hum from their lightsabers. Ori slowed his breathing and eyed his Master intently, trying to be aware of even the sublest movements. As the blade came down toward his left shoulder, Ori pushed his own against it, in an effort to parry the attack.

If the parry was successful, Ori would attempt a strike of his own. From above his own left shoulder, where he had blocked Max's attack, he would swing his lightsaber back to his right shoulder and then inward, attempting to strike into Max's torso from Max's left side.

Even with the few swings he had taken so far, he could feel the fluidity in the movements of the lightsaber. It was clear why it was the weapon of choice for a Force user.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Ori was sinking into the concentrated state that most Jedi entered when they were in battle, he settled into a stance and he worked through the motions. Max could sense the faint thrill of enjoyment that Ori was taking from the sparring. Was it the sparring itself? Getting to see how his lightsaber could sing and dance by his hand? Max wouldn't ask, he would let his padawan enjoy it for himself and would be content in knowing that he was something of a natural.

No overthinking - just action and reaction.

As for his own reaction, he leaned back to avoid the initial slash across the chest from Ori's left to right, the blade's tip passing in front of him but not directly threatening him because of his dodge. Smiling back at his padawan, Max's reaction took the form of action as Ori was transitioning into the second part of his attack.

The second blade burst forth from Max's saberstaff as he twirled it in his right hand, the bottom blade springing to life across the front of his chest. He brought the bottom of his blade upwards, catching Ori's own blade before it could strike. Unlike Ori however, Max was not limited to attacking or defending due to his saberstaff.

Moving to his own right slightly, he edged slightly around Ori. While his bottom blade locked with Ori's own, he tilted his saberstaff so that his upper blade would come down towards Ori's left shoulder. Their sabers were on training mode so any attack landing would bring a shock and some heat but nothing more.

Max was beginning to enjoy it.

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

The appearance of the second blade caught Ori off guard somewhat and he was forced adjust his stance slightly to avoid being overwhelmed. Quick thinking was required now. As Max correctly noted, he could not do two things at the same. His training told him he should operate on the defensive, it was the logical decision when attempting to fight an opponent with superior combat abilities. He could feel the heat of Max's lightsaber as it bared down on his left shoulder.

It would only hurt a little, but Ori didn't want to give Max the satisfaction.

As his master edged to his right to try an gain an advantage, Ori planted his left foot further back and leaned his shoulder back also, keeping it away from the humming blade. Trying to reset the balance, he attempted a quick manoeuvre by pushing off his left foot and jumping backwards. He was not quite quick enough however and he felt the pain as the end of Max's saberstaff glided against his shoulder.

"Point to you master," Ori said, gritting his teeth through the pain. He shook himself off and went to adjust himself back to the same defensive stance as previous to prepare for Max's next attack but stopped himself. He was beginning to doubt that a purely defensive tactic was the best, perhaps he was just inviting pressure onto himself.

Instead of assuming the same stance as before, with his lightsaber diagonally across his body, Ori stood with the left side of his body facing Max and he held his lightsaber with both hands, drawn back close to his right shoulder with the blade pointing directly upwards.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

It seemed that he had managed to gain a point against his apprentice by using his sabterstaff as was not expected of him. He was certain that such a trick would not work against Ori a second time so he deactivated the bottom blade again and instead focused on using just the single blade again. Twirling the blade slightly in his hand just to keep his hand in motion, he smiled a little bit at Ori's good nature at having taken a hit.

Good to see that the young Jedi didn't hold any ill will over the hit.

"You did well, Ori." he assured his young Padawan, "Sometimes the situation changes on a dime and we have no way of catching it before it does. Such events test how we respond to them and you have responded well; a lesser padawan might have accused me of 'cheating' rather than accepting the point and moving on."

Everything was teaching, especially in the middle of a sparring session.

Max wasn't going to attack this round however as he instead focused on the training he had received in the more defensive forms. Holding his saber in his right hand, he suck backwards in his stance, pointing forwards with his left hand and pointing his saber across the front of his body towards Ori from his upper right guard.

Spoiler: Soresu Stance

@Roentgenium

 

[Ori Ardell]

"Thank you, I hope I am able to maintain my sportsmanship." Ori said with a smile, in reply to the assessment. From his Ataru stance, Ori took careful note of Max's positioning. Hopefully being on the offensive would fare better for him, and with the catacombs being a relatively open space, Form IV was a reasonable choice, especially with Maxims going on the defensive.

It was time to find out.

Ori moved forward with speed and without hesitation. As he ran across the short distance between them, he swung lightsaber down to his right side and when the distance was closed, he would begin to bring the lightsaber from by his right hip upwards and across diagonally to the left, to try and seem like he was attempting to strike Max across the body.

But it was an attempt at a fake-out.

Instead of striking diagonally upwards, he would let go of his lightsaber with his right hand, leaving only his left hand on the hilt. At the same time, he would try to use his momentum to his advantage, crouching low to the ground and using his feet to slide on the floor, sweeping his lightsaber in a backhand motion, intended to strike through Max's legs.

Spoiler: Ataru Stance

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

He welcomed Ori's change to the ataru stance; it showed that his apprentice had been paying attention in saber practice when it was likely explained as a good counter to a purely defensive stance. When two stances so opposed fundamentally clashed, it was usually a case of energy and skill.

Ori would have more energy than he would, without a doubt.

He hoped he still had the skill edge though!

Backing up, he avoided the initial downward slash he recognized more as a re-positioning movement than an attempt at a strike. Angling his blade, he brought it downwards to his left to catch Ori's upwards slash. He grinned as Ori shifted, blurring into motion and lowering himself. Pushing backwards from the tips of his toes, with the assistance of the Force, Max only just managed to pull his legs back from the sweeping low cut.

The blade still cut through the material of his robes over his legs.

"Very nice Ori!" he congratulated his padawan, keeping his padawan from immediately capitalizing on his movement with a quick slash downward at Ori's lowered form towards the top of his head. Easy enough to defend against but hard to avoid with a lowered centre stance, "Most people think Ataru can only be used with flips - nice use of a slide!"

Force assisted acrobatics did not exclude movements closer to the ground after all.

@Roentgenium