Everything in Moderation

[Apocrypha]

A vague commlink message had lead Rorik to the training facilities of the Arbran enclave - Master Von Rayth was, it seemed, interested in teaching the young Padawan a thing or two about lightsaber combat. This was both unsurprising and welcoming; Rorik had requested, more than once during his short stay on Arbra, any amount of tutelage one of the masters could spare - regarding just about anything, really, but particularly the usage of a lightsaber. He had neglected the weapon and its finesse during his time on Coruscant and Tython nearly ten years ago; he would not make the same mistake twice. He would learn how to use it with as much efficiency and lethality as he possibly could, and that was that.

So there he stood, motionless, fixed in place in the training center, wearing flexible and unassuming robes, his red-and-silver lightsaber hilt dangling from its hoop on his belt. He drew a bit of calming strength from the crystal within, focusing on centering himself as he awaited the senior Jedi's arrival.

 

[The Kyzer]

The underground lightsaber training area was little more than a large cave with a few metal plates welded to the floor and some artificial lights attached to the ceiling. Still, the new Shadow Keeper had duties to perform, as well as her duties as a Jedi Master. Actually, the later was the reason for her presence in the training area. She'd received a message from one of the roving Padawans of the Order requesting lightsaber training.

The Jedi Master saw her apparent student and sighed. He was about her height, and was built a bit heavier-looking than her. She expected the same reaction she got from everyone she faced, underestimation.

"Rorik Grey, I assume?" Von asked calmly, "I am Master Von Raythe. I'll be your teacher today."

The Zeltron-hybrid called her primary lightsaber to her hand and held it out before her. Her palm was facing up and was open, giving the appearance of her handing the lightsaber to the male Jedi before her. But suddenly the lightsaber lifted a few inches off her hand and began spinning like an ancient chronometer.

"Before I begin to teach you anything," Von said with the same emotionless tone, "I need to know what you know, or what you think you know. Attack me, and do not hold back."

 

[Apocrypha]

The young Padawan bowed ever-so-slightly, with respect. He had experience with Zeltron - or, part-Zeltron? - women, though, to be fair, the other was not quite a Jedi. Based on first impressions, Von Raythe was more serious, focused, and clearly dangerous; he had a handful of fights under his belt, and, eyeing her shrewdly, expected that her slight stature was a facade. Even if they had been evenly matched - which they were not - he doubted that his weight would provide much of an advantage against her.

"I am," he replied serenely, calmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Von Raythe, and thank you again for assisting me." He did his best to accept and then let go of the tinge of shame and guilt that he felt with his lack of prowess in lightsaber combat, but it still bothered him to a degree.

"Being dishonest serves no purpose," he began in earnest, "and I can freely admit that as a boy on Coruscant and then Tython, I severely neglected my combat studies. I preferred the mysteries of the Living Force - but, of course, we find ourselves ahead of many probable battles in the near future, and I wish to equip myself as best I can. You'll find my Shii-Cho is... awkward at best."

That said, he unhooked his lightsaber - a rather pleasant and sleek red-grey device - from its place on his belt, raising it to his side and activating it with a snap-hiss, the vibrant orange glow of its blade illuminating his features. He adopted a basic Shii-Cho starting pose, judging Von Raythe for a moment before deciding that the sooner he embarrassed himself, the sooner he could start learning, and drew upon her with an impressive agility, taking multiple basic horizontal swings upon her first and second zones, somewhere between ideal and combat form. He was rusty and untrained, and it was apparent, but he had a certain level of heart that had to be admired, and a decent amount of raw skill in his speed and strength.

 

[The Kyzer]

Shii-Cho.

Von detested Shii-Cho. Everything about it. It's attacks, defense, body target zones, mindset, etc. Everything. It was ugly, and annoying. However, it was the basis of nearly every lightsaber wielder's beginning training, so even Von herself had some training in it. The younger Jedi's admission of neglecting his lightsaber skills was a bit endearing though.

"Just think of it this way," the Jedi Master replied with a slight smile (her first show of emotion) as Rorik ignited his lightsaber, "You've had less experience in doing things wrong."

Von closed her hand around her still-spinning lightsaber and ignited it to defend herself. The Padawan's strikes were fluid themselves, but the transition between them seemed a bit forced. Von slightly deflected the attacks using a basic Soresu defense, but with only one hand. His overall form was exceedingly basic, but the amount of effort he put in it was very good. The Shadow Keeper hated it when people didn't take her tests seriously. A few had received many slight burns and nasty bruises for such disrespect.

"Not bad, Rorik," Von declared as the Padawan continued his attack, "Though you need to add a bit more randomness in your attacks."

Then she solidly blocked one of the horizontal attacks aimed at her right shoulder, putting a real stop in Rorik's attack form. Needless to say, it would grab his attention.

"Especially stop this horizontal and vertical attack-only crap," Von stated with a smile, "Predictable attack vectors, timing, speed, and power is practically giving victory to your opponent."

Then Von shoved Rorik's blade away from her forcefully. It wouldn't be enough to cause him to lose balance or the lightsaber itself, but it would effectively disengage her.

"Now defend," Von demanded and she visibly switched styles to a dramatic Form II:Makashi. She initiated a salute/flourish, then began a series of thrusts and short slashes at random vectors. If Rorik tried to counter-attack, Von would simply skirt away, as her one-handed style was much lighter and faster than the Padawan's heavy two-handed approach.

That said, the Jedi Master would not completely overwhelm Rorik with attacks and ripostes. She'd just push him to his limits very quickly.

 

[Apocrypha]

More spontaneity - that made sense. The only issue with varying his attacks was that... well, he didn't really know much more than he was utilizing now. Rudimentary Shii-Cho, basic 1-2-3-4 zones, horizontal and diagonal attacks. It was sloppy and it frustrated him, but he knew he could - would do better. Tireless practice.

He staggered just a bit as she disengaged his final strike, quickly resuming his form as she advanced upon him. Her attacks lacked the same force that they would were she using both hands, but made up for it with sheer blistering speed, keeping the Padawan on the tips of his toes. Luckily for Rorik, however, he was quite the dexterous young man, and made a decent job of parrying and deflecting her attacks, going so far as to occasionally eschew his lightsaber and duck underneath/around/out of the way of a swift strike from Von Raythe's blade. This was dangerous enough, but he seemed to know what he was doing; fighting without a lightsaber had taught him the importance of being fairly slippery.

It took a respectable amount of time for Rorik to begin to pant - he was clearly in excellent physical condition, if nothing else could be said about the man. Sweat began to pour from his brow, and his deflections and evasions began to come infinitesimally slower; was he losing it? As they continued to dance, she would easily slip closer and closer inside his guard, he seemingly unable to keep up his footwork.

Abruptly, he locked blades with her, using his momentum to slide his own blade downwards, towards the hilt of her lightsaber, achieving an unsettlingly speedy closing of the gap between the two Jedi and quickly digging his right foot in, using his left leg to slip a hooked foot behind her own right ankle, attempting to knock her off balance - and perhaps off of her feet entirely! Whether or not this crafty little trick would work, of course, was heavily reliant on luck, but either way, his follow-through would be to simply spin about and dance away once more, his breathing regulated and his senses sharp - he had had the good grace to feign exhaustion, in an attempt to throw her off her game.

Rorik didn't expect a lot of success in this arena, but he would take whatever he could get, at his skill level.

 

[The Kyzer]

Von nearly laughed at the sudden audacity in Rorik's counter. He had actually tricked her with the feigned exhaustion. His renewed vigor was surprising, but not overwhelming. Plus Von had already thoroughly experienced Rorik's trickiness. The younger Jedi may be lacking in lightsaber skills, but he was not lacking in fight skills. However, Von herself was not lacking in either.

Anyone who knew Von well, which was an admittedly low amount of people, would cringe slightly as the thought of any Padawan deliberately locking blades with her. They would have written off the young Jedi as a casualty of Von's competitive nature if they saw the sudden bladelock combined with a leg-hook sweep.

However, the Shadow Keeper did not rise to the blatant challenge, but it took a lot of mental fortitude to resist it. She allowed the Padawan to not only lock blades with her, but also slide his lightsaber's blade down toward her emitter. She might have worried that he was going to try and shear her emitter (and possibly her hand), but her lightsaber's phrik emitter guard would prevent that.

His leg-hook sweep was blocked by Von simply locking her leg as hard as she could, which with her biologically-enhanced strength combined with reinforcement with the Force was harder than durasteel. She then allowed Rorik to abandon the maneuver and disengage from her.

"Very good," Von said to her opponent, "but I would suggest never doing that again."

Her tone changed to a low growl during the second part of her statement, and her stance changed to a basic two-handed ready position. The Zeltron-hybrid advanced at a walking pace, steady but determined, and attempted to re-engage Rorik. This time, however, her attacks were vicious and powerful. If Rorik countered, she would slap his lightsaber aside and continue her brutal onslaught. The powerful Form V was the first Form Von had mastered, and the only proper Form she had mastered.

 

[Apocrypha]

It was worth a shot.

As she drew down upon him, he steeled himself for an onslaught - and got exactly what he paid for. Her blows came with startling speed and power, and it was everything Rorik could do to keep up - of course, he assumed this was a part of her plan; to push him to his very outer limits and see what he was made of. It would be rude not to give her at least a bit of a challenge.

Parry, parry, slip, duck, parry; his entire world became a series of defensive maneuvers and acrobatics, and after long enough he began to sweat in earnest once more, his breathing somewhat labored. He had held out longer than most would - longer than she probably expected him to - but damned if he was going to call it quits now.

He continued to keep pace with her, his feet and legs starting to cramp, his arms numb from the power behind her strikes - but he persevered, a grim look of determination upon his face.

 

[The Kyzer]

Just as suddenly as the assault began, it stopped. Von stepped away from her opponent and deactivated her lightsaber.

"Very good, Padawan," Von conceded, "Though I must say that I do not feel that Shii-Cho really suits you."

The Zeltron-hybrid turned away and walked over to a large rock support pillar. She took off her heavy cloak and placed it directly onto the side of the massive edifice. It seemed that there was some great amount of trickery at play as the cloak did not fall to the floor. The Jedi Master remembered when they had cleared out this cavern of debris, and she had personally driven a small hook into the side of the pillar to hold her cloak during the long hours.

"So are there any other Forms or styles that you've studied?" Von then asked, "Or any that you've had your eye on?"

 

[Apocrypha]

Rorik hesitated for a beat before shutting down his own lightsaber, hooking it upon his belt and bowing his head to Von. "Thank you, Master Raythe," he replied, wiping sweat from his brow and centering himself, regulating his haphazard breath fairly quickly. "I would be inclined to agree," he said, "it's... rigid, and it feels far too basic - I understand its use as a teaching tool, and its simplicity in its inception, but I believe as an Order that we've far evolved beyond the form."

"At any rate," he said, shaking his head gently, "not in particular - I've heard good things of Niman; its practicality and adaptability, that it can suit a strong combatant and a more Force-oriented Jedi equally well - truth be told, now that I'm a bit older, I'd rather not specialize. I'm certain that our enemies won't." Beyond that, he was already a surprisingly astute student of the Force. Now was the time to set the gears in motion for prowess with a lightsaber.

"Though, of course, having seen me fight - and having seen you fight - I'll gladly acquiesce to your advisory."

 

[The Kyzer]

The Jedi Master nodded slightly, and lightly tapped her lightsaber's hilt with one finger.

"Form VI is a powerful asset for any Jedi," Von declared, "And one that I feel that every Jedi should have some training in."

The Zeltron-hybrid turned slightly and began slowly walking a large circle around Rorik as she spoke.

"It's entire basis is creativity," Von lectured, "and is only limited by your own knowledge and training. As such, a practitioner of Niman gains more power and ability by studying other forms of combat, rather than honing their Form. It is said that the basics of Niman can be quickly acquired, and require very little practice to keep them up, and that is very true for many. That's why it's been called the Diplomat's Form."

Von stopped for a moment to let her words sink in before continuing.

"However," she stated flatly, "I happen to know a great deal of Jedi history, and know that many of the greatest duelists were actually masters of Niman, and the rest had heavily practiced many of its techniques. I personally cannot think of a better Form for you, Rorik. I know I've personally trained in it as I enjoy the amount of freedom it allows me along with the creative combinations of lightsaber attacks and Force powers."

 

[Apocrypha]

Rorik bowed his head, "It does, indeed, sound like a form that I would be compatible with." He was as much of a diplomat as anybody else; even though he had garnered some modicum of talent with a lightsaber since his return to the Order - and more in time, hopefully - he recognized the weapon as a last resort, in terms of open combat. The lightsaber was deadly, and in the hands of a skilled wielder, nigh unstoppable - within reason, of course... but wounding, maiming, or outright killing other beings would never be Rorik's instinctual response, even under duress. While the Padawan had come close, he'd never quite managed to murder a man - and he wasn't looking to change that any time soon.

"That said," he continued, clasping his hands behind his back, "how might we proceed in training? I'm eager to learn."

 

[The Kyzer]

"Niman is a Form that as a standalone, I have not mastered," Von answered, "But I can teach you the basics quite easily."

The Jedi Master pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it. She kept the tip pointed down and away from her.

"This is one of the opening stances of Niman," Von lectured, "It's simple and relaxed, but always ready."

She then shifted to a neutral stance with the blade before her in a two-handed grip.

"Of course, as with any Form, a neutral stance is acceptable," Von continued, "Now as for the actual bladework, it comes down to whether or not you're the defender or aggressor. If I was defending, I might be looking for a weakness in my opponent's attack while using very simple bladework. If I was attacking, I would utilize every asset I had available. Now, I will attack you at quarter-strength and speed while you examine the attacks. Then we'll do the same with defense."

Von approached slowly and lifted the blade up high to bring it "crashing" (it was moving quite slow) down at Rorik. However, instead of pressing the attack, or moving the lightsaber to attack from a different direction, she crouched under in an apparent slide beneath the point of contact between the lightsabers to wrap her right leg around the front of Rorik's right ankle while her left slid behind his right knee.

"This Form is only limited by what you can make of it, Rorik," Von declared, not actually performing the sweep she'd prepared for, "Like right now, I could sweep your leg, or blast you with some telekinesis while holding on to your leg, or send a jolt of Emerald Lightning through your body using my legs as the focal points. Every attack and defense is based on your creativity."

Regaining her footing, Von then began to attack again, also very slowly. This time it was a broad horizontal strike at Rorik's left, but when their blades neared each other, she pulled on Rorik with the Force to throw off his timing and balance.

"That was called the Draw Closer," Von announced, "Not a very imaginative name, but the simple concept of using a Force ability with a lightsaber strike seems to really mess with even the more experienced duelists."

 

[Apocrypha]

Igniting his lightsaber - the brilliant orange blade illuminating the sharp contours of his studious face - Rorik mimicked her stances, following her through the opening and neutral phases of Niman. They locked blades, head-over-head, before she slid inside his perimeter and carefully explained to him the simple imaginative nature required to truly master Niman. Rorik pondered this to himself - was he creative? In truth, not many of the Jedi that he had met could be accused of that trait... he was certainly a problem solver; he had applied any number of ludicrous plots and schemes towards springing himself and his allies from very bad situations in the past. Perhaps he did have enough of an imagination to be a genuine threat with Form VI.

They separated, and she began her second "assault" in earnest - before drawing him away from his center, his footing betrayed. "I understand the creative element of Niman," he said, "but what hard-and-fast rules - or techniques - of the form necessitate it? Surely if Niman is nothing but creativity, it wouldn't be considered an entirely separate combat style, would it?"

 

[The Kyzer]

Von smirked slightly as she prepared her next statement.

"Niman's actual characteristics as a proper 'Form' are a bit...clouded," the Jedi Master answered, "Before I truly studied and practiced it, I didn't really get it for a long time. In fact, I sort of viewed it as the Form for Jedi who don't know a proper Form."

The pink-skinned woman chuckled a little.

"Needless to say that when I did discover it, I knew that it was something that every practitioner must really discover for themselves, as it's difficult for me to put into words. A proper Master of the Form might be able to, but I am not one. The best way to put it for someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand is that the Form alters based on the practitioner and the opponent. It's...adaptable. That said, I could show you the Form in real action, so you could get a feel for it."

Von twirled her lightsaber in her hand one more time, but assumed a strange stance. Her right arm, which held the blade, was fully extended toward Rorik, with the lightsaber's blade simply continuing the extension.

"This is my own stance which I use from time to time," Von remarked, "It gives me a few added benefits that the more proper stances do not. Now, please attack me, and we will properly spar."

 

[Apocrypha]

The pupil decided to put her prior advice to the test: he attacked, without hesitation - perhaps even startlingly fast - drawing on Von rapidly and delivering a flurry of spontaneous, randomized attacks; quickly from the left, sluggishly from the right, a thrust, a sliding "upper-cut" of sorts, quickly down from the upper left. He fought with determination, desiring deep within him to prove - primarily to himself - some hope for his prowess with a blade. Some future as a respectable duelist. Though his knowledge of and access to the Force was growing in leaps and bounds - and was, to be frank, already quite impressive - he had cemented his skill in the higher mysteries of the Jedi; now he sought to build the more physical, kinetic bladework skills.

Detaching himself from the Jedi Master, he drew himself up, just beyond the reach of her lightsaber, and raised his off-hand; somewhere behind Von, in the shadows of the cavern, a loose clump of rocks detached themselves and hurtled towards the Zeltron - large enough to hurt, but not to do lasting damage, should they actually strike her. With that in mind, Rorik returned to his assault, driving in from her right flank to avoid his own projectiles as they hurtled forward.

 

[The Kyzer]

Von's mind dipped into the bubbling pool of ingenuity that was Niman just as Rorik initiated his attack. Her vast experience in Soresu influenced her style as she casually deflected his attacks just enough to miss her, but not by much. The Padawan had clearly learned from Von's first lesson in that his attacks had actually become quite erratic indeed. His randomness was increased further by the attempted-sneak attack involving the rocks now hurtling at Von's exposed back.

"Excellent display of Shii-Cho, Mr. Grey," Von remarked as the male Jedi pressed his attack at her right, "But we're here to learn Niman."

Suddenly, just before the rocks would hit her, Von collapsed to the floor in a heap as if suddenly all her bones became jelly. She also slightly pushed on the rocks to alter their course enough to collide with Rorik, if they managed to hit. However, she was done defending. Defending was monotonous.

So Von unleashed a powerful Force Repulse. It wasn't her full-strength, but it was strong enough to be able to send the Padawan flying several meters. Once he was airborne, she would draw one of her paired-lightsabers, activate it, and hurl it at the Padawan in mid-flight. She could stop it before it did damage, if it appeared it would, as she maintained complete control of it's flight. Timing her attack as best she could, the flying lightsaber would come into contact with Rorik at the zenith of his flight.

 

[Apocrypha]

Surprised by her abrupt collapse, Rorik drew himself back, seeking to avoid whatever mischief she had planned; he saw his own rocks hurtling towards him just before impact, managing to snap up his lightsaber and cleave through the larger rocks in one stroke. The smaller projectiles pelted off of his torso - they would leave bruises, but none had broken the skin. Suddenly, though, Rorik felt a burst of pressure, invisible yet powerful; he found himself rocketed backwards towards the far walls of the cavern, suspended several feet off the ground. Focusing during his brief flight, the Padawan managed to maintain his stability despite the airborne momentum, resisting the body's urge to rotate.

He processed the hurtling energy blade, considered the best course of action, and managed to pull himself into a tight spin at the last second; using his momentum and drawing his lightsaber from downwards to upwards in the midst of this spin, he knocked the blade away, sending it off course briefly before Von would return it to herself. He landed facing forward, having barely pulled off a 360-degree spin, and yanked his lightsaber into a defense position, facing the Jedi Master a ways in front of him.

"I believe I'm beginning to understand," he called with an easy grin.