[ASK] Walking by the Light (Naboo) (Sionnan and Cal)

[Emerald Iris]

She was fortunate to find another padawan to add to her companionship, fortunate to run into another who also shared in the quest for wisdom and knowledge. More importantly she also found someone who understood the darkness a bit better than most, understood some more of the poisonous machinations of the Sith.


Sionann smiled to herself after finishing the warm up run that she insisted they go on, and she took a different path from the Padawan Cal-doran. Actually, what she did was instruct her padawan to follow after Neve, and anyone knows that chasing a tiger through the woods, even one of her large size, is not exactly an easy task. The sage knight had found herself in a large wooded clearing, far enough away from any highly populated area to get away with training. She was dressed in her usual combat attire of a dark gray acrobatic leotard, knee high climbing boots, and her acrobatic gloves, combined with utility belt and two saberstaves, one was training and one her actual weapon. Sionann hoisted a bag of other equipment with her that she lugged over to the large boulder in the center of the clearing. This bag contained several training materials, lightsaber parts, and three training sabers she managed to save from the achieves.

Stopping next to the boulder, she set the bag down, and taking the opportunity to stretch, knowing that they were close. Neve indeed came bursting from the woods at a full sprint, which for most normal people was a terrifying sight for such a ferocious animal, but Sionnan simply ducked her head and let the big cat vault over her to take a spot on top of the boulder. She looked back up from the clearing hoping to see the one who was pursuing finally arrive, praying that Cal didn't get lost on their first session together.

 

[Jaime]

Sweat. Something that Cal-doran hoped to avoid on his voyage back from Lamaredd to Naboo once again. Sionann had assured him that he would sweat much and more in their training, however, starting with the damnable free run that she had him running. I am surprised, he thought as he vaulted over a mossy boulder, that the beast has not yet turned on me. Hostility is clear, I can sense it. It doesn't want me to hurt its master. Somehow, Cal knew, however, the tiger knew that Sionann was master to Cal-doran as well, but in a different way. Smart animal. Maybe I should get one. The thought made him chuckle but that single distraction took him off focus; he tripped over his own feet, his face landing in the mud. He attempted to slow his fall with the Force but he was far too tired to exert any more energy into it. Hence his beard being lathered in mud and dirt. Spitting out some of the earth that had entered his mouth uninvited, Cal quickly got back up, putting one foot in front of the other with a burst of speed, Force assisted.

He had left his robes behind at their starting point; they would only slow him down. Instead of his traditional Jedi garb, he now only wore a sleeveless, dirty linen tunic and some brown, threaded, woolen pants. I wonder if I can count the sweat as an article of clothing, he thought, but quickly refocused on the run. The tiger jumped into a thick mesh of tangled vines and bushes and trees. Cal would not be beaten so easily in this race. He quickly calmed his breathing and slowed his running. Then he reached into the void, grasping for the light that he knew was the Force, and successfully grabbed onto it. He then jumped with all he had and allowed the Force to push him further up, into the less thick part of the grove, where he firmly gripped a thick vine.

And so Cal-doran swung above his new master and her pet, extending a hand in a greeting manner, and slid down the vine, landing on the boulder Sionann was resting by. Breathing heavily, Cal put his hands on his hips, a grin splitting his face as he nodded to Knight Ione. "Master. Sorry I was a small second away from beating your friend. I am still tired after Lamaredd."

 

[Emerald Iris]

She watched his approach, a clever one at that, with the vine. It made a small smile cross her face as he slid in and gave his greeting. The words mentioning of his exhaustion made her nod.

"Good," She nodded and knelt down to open the compartments of the bag. "Being tired in body will allow you to rely more on the Force, to stretch your body to limits of endless possibility. This where we can begin to understand. I trust you have some knowledge of lightsaber combat? And at least a basic grasp of the Shii-Cho?"

Sionann had to ask, as was the case of Rengar who did not know a single thing about lightsaber combat when they began, the sage knight needed to know exactly where to begin this time.

 

[Jaime]

Cal-doran nodded along with the wise words concerning exhaustion and the Force, still breathing rather tiredly. "Yes, master. The Force helps me whenever I have need of assistance. So basically always." He chuckled.

At the mention of lightsaber combat, Cal shook his head. I knew this would come up. "Apologies, master, I do not have much experience in the field of lightsaber combat... nor do I really have a blade, as of yet. I have relied on the Naboo Guard's weapons, which were lent to me, for months now. I have been studying Shii-Cho through one of the old tomes in the Royal Library, however. If that counts for anything. And well, I have slightly practiced the style with a steel blade." He realized he was talking too much. He cleared his throat and rubbed his beard, one hand still at his hip.

 

[Emerald Iris]

His response about his knowledge of lightsaber combat was both reassuring and well.....a bit disheartening. Never the less, Sionnan pulled out on a rough cloth a set of three training sabers, material obtained when they evacuated Anoth from storage. There was a standard hilt, a long-handled hilt, and a pair of shoto. They were silver in color with no distinguishing features, and each housed a blue crystal within them. Sionann then took her own training saberstaff and set it down on the cloth next to the shoto pair and then stood back up.

"This will change," Sionann calmly replied as she looked over at him, letting her thoughts wonder as to his choice. "These are four different types of lightsaber, f...feel free to look over each one and discover what calls to you. I can explain their advantages and disadvantages if you have questions. This is a tool of the Force, not of the body like a steel blade, you need to feel it not just hold it."

She gestured for him to advance and inspect the hilts he thought worked.

 

[Jaime]

Examining the hilts of all the training sabers, Cal could not seem to decide which one, though his mind was particularly focused on the standard blade. Easier to learn than most of the others. Is this a test of some sort, I wonder? Slowly, Cal-doran circled the mat, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his breathing relaxed a bit now. "I have always wanted to try a long-handled saber. A polearm, of sorts. Makes for more of a reaching offense and defense." He frowned, then suddenly closed his eyes, allowing the Force to envelop him. The void encircled him and the light filled him; he allowed the Force to guide his Force-assisted, telekinetic grip toward one of the hilts.

When he opened his eyes, he was holding the standard hilt. Cal smiled. "The Force has chosen for me, master. Regular blade it is." He wanted to ignite the blade and once again, for perhaps only the second time in his life, feel the heat of the light close to his skin, but waited on Sionann to address him.

 

[Emerald Iris]

Sionann frowned at his original comment, but then she nodded in approval when Cal decided to look past his body and she could feel the pressure of the Force work through him and take a hold of the standard hilt. She let a warm smile come to her lips watching him choose, and examine the hilt. He was calm, excited, but calm, a good expression.

"It has," The sage knight replied as she waved her hand, causing the cloth, and all the hilts, save for one of the shoto and her training saberstaff, to go back into the bag and out of the way. The saberstaff came back to her belt and the shoto was placed into her left hand. "A standard hilt, a common weapon, made unique only by the one who wields it. It is and isn't a sword."

With those words she ignited the shoto, to let the short blue blade burst from its sheath in a higher pitched hum as was common for blades of this length. She gestured to him to go ahead and ignite his weapon while she stepped away from the boulder a few paces to give space.

"The lightsaber is more than an extension of your body, it is an extension of the Force through you," Sionann took a low guarded stance with her side facing Cal and shoto only slightly raised. "The Shii-Cho is what we all learn to begin this understanding. Learning its basic techniques will open to you the other six forms of lightsaber combat. With the Force now, show me what you have learned in your study. When you are ready, attack me."

Sionann raised her guard a little more, showing her intent to defend.