Ask Ajan Kloss Fight! Fight! Fight!

[Farja Chaska]

Training Grounds​

Farja scaled a momentous amount of steps, her eagerness quite visible as she jumped numerous sets at each given time. As soon as she heard there was a combat session, she rushed right over. Lectures? Boring. Meditation? Pass. But hand to hand training? She never missed it. Even now, she grasped at her combi stick, anticipating the possibilities; could they be learning new techniques, merging the use of force into a saber strike? Would there be sparring? She hoped so. She was currently undefeated in the fighting ring, and always looked for an opportunity to boost her infamy.

But there was something else about this session, something special. The instructor was another Kiffar! Something Vos. She hadn’t met this Jedi knight yet, but Farja knew his clan. It was one of the largest on Kiffex, a neighboring world next to her own. Would he recognise her as one of his people? Farja didn’t sport contemporary facial tattoos. Instead, she wore her people’s more traditional markings, a mixture of body paint and scarification. Though her clan was small, it was old, with its own customs and culture, something which Farja was proud to display.

It was coming to midday and the session would be starting soon. Hoping she wasn’t late, the padawan increased her pace and breached the outdoor arena, searching for the instructor and any other possible students.

Lets see what Knight @Ruulo Vos had to offer.

@Okoju

 

[Ruulo Vos]

A young Weequay girl threw a kick aimed at the sternum of a human boy. The boy turned his body and threw up his arm narrowly parring the kick with his forearm. He countered by stepping in and swiping his own forward leg low and catching the Weequay in the ankle and she toppled to the mat. Ruulo stepped forward from his position on the side of the outdoor ring, smiling and giving a brief clap. "Nice sweep Nate! Now Yiinil, do you see what happened there?" The girl stood up and brushed herself off. "Yeah Nate cheated!" Ruulo couldn't help a chuckle at the girl's expense as she was clearly just joking. "No Yiinil, you went for a very risky attack with that kick. That kick left you completely off balance which Nate took excellent advantage of. Moves like that while looking impressive are usually not gonna work if you're opponent's ready for them, which Nate clearly was and punished you for." He brushed a bit of dirt off the girl's back and gave her gentle nudge back into the ring. "Remember fighting hand to hand is as much a mind game as it is a physical challenge. Read your opponent as you fight, learn about them and what you can do to overcome their advantages and turn them into your own advantages."

The girl was about half the size of the guy, but rarely out in the field did a fair fight present itself. Ruulo felt it was important for his students to have experience fighting others they were seemingly out matched against. The rest of his class, about 5 others besides the two in the ring, watched on as the 2 in ring took up their ready stances and Ruulo started up the music he'd be using again. It was one of his favorite Devaronian metal groups and he felt it perfect for his fight training classes. Some had questioned him about the choice of such heavy music but he'd always seen the music as part of the challenge. When fighting emotions tended to flare and the music was designed to only heighten that feeling. It was up to the students to acknowledge those emotions, hell even use them to a degree, but not give into them fully. An angry fighter was an easily exploited fighter after all.

The pair had begun again and Ruulo couldn't help a smile as he watched Yiinil. It seemed she had realized that while Nate was bigger than her, she was faster...also Nate tended to leave his left side open a bit to often. The pair traded a few blows, that got blocked by each, until Yiinil struck Nate with a powerful right hook to the jaw. The boy faltered and Yiinil struck again in the stomach and followed up with a swipe of her own that put Nate on the ground. The class cheered at her triumph and the girl sheepishly took the praise and helped Nate up. He was definitely going to have a bruise tomorrow but he gave the Weequay a big hug and congratulated her himself. Another facet of his class that some had disapproved of, it was full contact with no training gear. He wanted this to be a class for those that were serious about learning to defend themselves; to that end he felt it important that his students learned what it felt like to get hit, and to land a hit barefisted.

He wasn't going too hard on them just yet as this was just the first sparring match of the day. The class had only begun about 10 minutes ago and it was kind of an open class that anybody could come and go from as they pleased. Today didn't include any new faces as far as he could tell and most of the students gathered had already been to several of his classes. Until he saw a young woman approach the ring. He told the last 2 fighters to take a break and waved the newcomer over. "Hey! Are you here for the class? You're more than welcome to join, though I'm not teaching new techniques today, we're just doing a bit of open sparring if you're cool with that."

@Pam0wl

 

[Farja Chaska]

Farja had watched the brief sparring session, along with Ruulo giving his instruction. The music was new, no other instructors had done that before. Still, she wasn't overly impressed with those in attendance. Whilst some of the class were padawans, they were younger than her. A little disappointing, really. Where was the sport?

Nevertheless, she decided to stay for the moment. She'd come this far, might as well have a little fun.

"I'm fine with sparring, providing there's actually a challenge." The look she gave was a provocative one and, after a moment, a green Twi'el by the name of Elav stepped forward. He was older than his companions and a couple of inches taller. Not an ideal opponent, but Farja accepted. At least he wasn't afraid to try.

Laying her staff aside, Farja entered the ring, followed soon after by Elav. Some of the class cheered for their companion, whilst Farja just rolled her shoulders, ready in preparation.

"May the best Jedi win."

"Don't worry, I will." Without missing a beat, Farja smiled and then charged.

With speed in her step, the Kiffar was determined to make the first move. She all but rammed herself into Elav, testing his frame and stability. It honestly took the Twi'lek by surprise but he quickly recovered. Being quite agile, he maneuvered himself around Farja in an attempt to lock her from behind. One arm swung around her chest and latched onto the one coming up from under her unguarded side. It was a basic hold, its purpose meant to restrain more than anything. Rather than struggle, Farja hands reached up and around the neck of her opponent. With all her weight, she pulled herself down, bringing Elav with her. His stance, as wide as it was, allowed Farja to roll between his legs and bring the male crashing to the ground. A punch launched at his face but Elav rolled away, avoiding the strike. He swung his own hook but Farja, seeming to anticipate it, caught it and latched on with the palm of her hand, twisting the fist so that the arm followed the angle. It wasn't a painful action, but it did distract him from the barrage of strikes that came after. Again and again, Farja lashed out, punching at the Twi'lek's face with growing delight. She even punched into the gut, further winding him.

On Kiffu, there was no such thing as pulling any punches. You fought till you were bloody, and didn't stop until your opponent tapped out. Admirably, Elav wasn't ready to give up yet. Amongst the assault, he managed to act and broke away using a kick to the chest in order to gain some distance. He staggered back, gaining his balance whilst Farja tumbled into a crouch.

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, sizing up one another for the following round. Elav was bruised and Farja, she was smiling, inviting him to try again.

He answered the taunt, making a charge of his own. When the Kiffar swung at him, he evaded, taking her arm and throwing her over him so that Farja would slam into the ground. Yet again, Elav tried to force submission, his hand now positioned to add pressure to Farja's throat. She didn't flinch, however. Unrelenting as ever, Farja instead gripped onto the arm, her legs in turn locking around the Twi'lek's own throat. Classic triangle hold. But now the two were in a physical stalemate. Elav didn't have the strength or leverage to lift Farja's weight and, in turn, she couldn't relinquish her hold without her opponent gaining back his stamina.

In reality, however, the longer she maintained the choke, the greater advantage she'd get. Elav's single grip couldn't compare to the compression wrapping itself around his own neck. With each moment, Farja constricted further, seeming intent on choking him out. She even flashed a grin, knowing the Twi'lek was quickly realising his predicament. Spots were starting to appear, and his vision became blurry. He had to act, quickly. With only his arm free to use, Elav struck, landing repeated blows on Farja's restricting body. He tried to make them practical, aiming for the joints causing him the most grief. And she just took it, enduring each blow. She was monitoring them even, noticing that after each strike, Elav was exhausting himself, bit by bit, using up air he could access. The power behind each punch was waning as Elav was zoning out.

Then, unexpectedly, Farja released her lock.

In defeat? No.

In his weakened, Elav's grip was finally loose. Slamming her fist down onto the wrist, Farja managed to break away from her opponent. He'd lost his stranglehold but could now recover his breath. Gaining some ground, and putting distance between them would have been the most likely option. But Farka didn't do that. Instead, she reached for Elav; one hand latched onto his robes whilst the other grabbed at his lekku. A dirty move, yes, but Farja was feeling spiteful. In one motion, her head shot forward and crashed into the bridge of his nose. There was a sickening crack, followed by a gush of blood. Elav fell back, his nose now broken.

When Farja rose, he didn't and this made her frown. "Get up. We're not done yet."

 

[Ruulo Vos]

Ruulo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his fellow Kiffar. "I wouldn't worry, this group has some real scrappers I'd say." She immediately stepped into the ring and one of his older students decided he wanted to give the girl a go. Elav had so far been one of his best students and he was curious to see how Farja measured up to him. The knight crossed his arms as the fight began and could already see Farja was going to be fierce opponent. She was quick to make the first move, but Elav to his credit met her challenge.

The fight was quick, and Ruulo made note of Farja...well let's just say brutality. Elav put up a good fight, but Ruulo could tell that he was outmatched here. He'd always heard stories of his sister planet Kiffu. That many of the people there choose to live a simpler life closer to that of their ancestors than his own planet of Kiffex. As he watched Farja's movements he could tell her prior training had been about utterly defeating your opponent, to revel in combat and the decimation of your enemy. His own training on Kiffex, which every child was expected to go through, had been a bit more refined...but not by much.

As the fight came to a climax but students ended up on the ground and Ruulo still watched arms crossed. He could feel many of the students starting to eye him, wondering if he'd stop the fight, but he had faith that Elav could get himself out of the chock hold. To his credit he did and Ruulo smiled, proud of his student. The smile was quickly wiped from his face however as Farja delivered an absolutely brutal headbutt to the twi'lek. He stepped in then and put himself between Farja and Elav. "Alright that's enough!" He knelt next to the Elav and took a look as his obviously shattered nose and sighed. He could already imagine the conversation he was probably gonna have to have with the older masters about this. "Alright, Nate get him to a healer will ya. He should be fine but he's done for the day." Nate another older padawan helped Elav to his feet and slowly made their way back to the temple proper.

Ruulo then turned back to Farja and crossed his arms. "Alright I can see you're pretty capable." He looked around and it was clear that non of the others gathered wanted a piece of this monster of a girl. "That display did show me however that you need to learn to control that fire inside you a bit." He began to circle around Farja. "There's nothing wrong with a little ferocity, but get too lost in that feeling and you're gonna find that a more experienced fighter can take advantage of it. Don't think I caught your name by the way."

@Pam0wl

 

[Farja Chaska]

When the Twi'lek refused to rise, Farja looked upon him with disgust. Pain shouldn't have stopped him, if he had any self-respect, he should have pushed himself up and resumed combat. Instead, he laid there, clutching at his face. On more than one occasion, Farja had suffered the same affliction, but she was never given the luxury of intervention; a warrior was expected to push past such physical obstacles. Enemies would never spare the wounded, at least none of the Jedi's enemies. Did instructors not teach this? When Ruulo intervened on behalf of his student, the firebrand made her contempt well known, spitting aside onto the arena's fighting floor. She quickly lost interest and instead turned her attention to her fellow Kiffar.

"That Twi'lek should be ashamed of himself, needing another to step in on his behalf." She expected Ruulo to agree with her. He was one of her people after all. Surely, he would understand the way of the warrior.

Indeed, the knight acknowledged her skill, rightly commenting on her blatant prowess; there was, without a doubt, a smug shift in Farja's features. She ever shot a smirk to the other students, lording at her brutal success. But that quickly faded. Despite his initial statement, Ruulo was quick to impart some wisdom. The padawan had heard it all before, her eye roll denoting as much.

Circled and chided, the Kiffar scoffed, her shoulders squared as she proudly announced herself. "I am Farja Chaska, youngest of my kin and warrior daughter of Kiffu." She blatantly challenged Ruulo's gaze, staring him down any hunter would. "Has temple life blinded you, brother? Have you forgotten that out in the galaxy, we have enemies who want to kill us? You ought to teach your students better. Ferocity will keep them alive."

Honestly, Farja was disappointed. She expected more from the Jedi. More conflict. More battle. Instead, she wounder herself amongst scholars and diplomats, humanitarians and philanthropists, So far, she hadn't meant a single Jedi that fit her ideal: the noble warrior, the champion for good.

Without an idol to look to, Farja was quick to take up the mantle herself, and impart her own wisdom on those who seldom wished to hear it. "Already, many of our comrades have fallen in battle. Perhaps if they were better trained in the art of war, they wouldn't have been slaughtered like animals." The Kiffar made no attempts at subtly. And why should she? It was about time the Jedi faced the brutal truth. "The weak die. Only the strong live. That is the will and way of the force."

 

[Ruulo Vos]

Ruulo eventually stopped his circling and listened intently to the girl's tirade. He'd heard the like before, only the strong survived and such. He just stood arms crossed and took her bile. Once it seemed like she was done Ruulo took a look around at his class. Many of them young, and now taken aback by Farja's ferocity, not just in combat, but attitude as well. He looked back to his fell Kiffar and put his hands on his hips. "Look I'm quite frankly not here to talk the philosophy of combat. We train everyone here to best of our abilities. Now I'm not sure what you've heard about the order, but it sounds like you've got some wild ideas about what we do here."

He nodded his head toward the rest of the class before he continued. "Everyone here is given a general course in self defense and light saber combat. This class is for those that want to expand that training, get a taste for more direct combat." He stepped closer to Farja so he could look her in the eyes. "Yeah, Jedi die, but that doesn't mean we should subject every person in this temple to brutal, bare knuckle training. The order is made up of medics, scholars, diplomats, and others from every walk of life. Shows you must be new. You're gonna have to learn fast that your way of life and your world view is not only one in a vast galaxy, but also is by far not the only 'correct' way to live."

He could already tell he was going to have a hard time getting through to her. He'd always heard stories of the old jedi order and that they brought in their students at extremely young ages. As he looked on at the head strong young woman he began to understand why. Farja had lived with her peoples customs for her whole life to this point and those customs and beliefs were a part of her at this stage of her life. Now, Ruulo of course didn't want to strip that from her, but he understood if she was going to stay in the order she'd have to learn to at least accept other beings ways of life.

"Look I understand that were we come from, battle is in our blood, but if you keep this up? Well, you'll have battle and blood, but will you'll be very alone to." He gave a long sigh and shook his head before he met her eyes again. "Also as far as you're understanding of the 'will' of the force, I think you've got a lot to learn."

@Pam0wl

 

[Farja Chaska]

Farja's expression was thunderous. Every word Ruulo spoke only fanning the flames further; he was a disgrace, to his clan and to his people. Had the Jedi robbed him of his pride? His dignity? He was just standing there, lecturing her from a self-righteous pedestal, just like all the others. She wasn't a youngling, by any means, but this man acted as if he were an elder. Even then, back on Kiffu, Farja hated the preaching and that simmering discontent was quickly being directed at Ruulo.

A haze started to wash over the hellion; it had happened before, many times in her youth. The Knight's words grew distant and soon all Farja heart was the intemperate beating of her own heart. She tried her restrain herself, clenching her fists in an attempt to reign in her ire but the light of hostility was more than willing. It flashed dangerously within the padawan's eyes and any minute now, it seemed she would lash out, maybe even strike at the instructor knight. The youngsters, watching the exchange, visibly cowered back. As young as they were, even they could sense the storm brewing before them.

Strangely though, Farja took note of this. Looking away from Ruulo, she turned towards her fellow students. Their expressions were troubled, their eyes owlish and watchful. It twisted something, deep her gut, something which Farja didn't entirely like. The haze dissipated clarity restoring itself once more. These episodes were growing more frequent, yet still, Farja wasn't quite able to understand what exactly was transpiring.

Focusing once more, she chimed back in, only catching a fraction of Ruulo's remaining speech. Was he still prattling on? Visibly indifferent, she shrugged him off, now bored of this entire exchange. "Then battle and blood will be mine alone, as will the glory that comes with it."

The force gave its hardest battles to only the greatest of warriors. Farja had no problems being solus. By now, she had just accepted it.

Unwilling to listen anymore, the padawan sidestepped Ruulo and moved to leave. There was no point in staying in longer; let the knight train with the children, she didn't care. She wasted enough time anyway. That Twi'lek hadn't even made her sweat.

Then there was a whisper, a tendril thought. It was dark and hazy, like a wisp of smoke; it entered Farja's mind and rekindled the fire that so recently burned and raged. At first, Farja tried to snub it out but still, it persisted, growing greater with each moment. If she left the sparring circle like this, Ruulo Vos might take it as an emittance of defeat. A victory against her. Unacceptable. Maybe Jedi knight needed to learn a lesson himself.

"You know what?" Coming to stop, Farja turned to face him, "You talk too much, kinsmen Vos." As before, she rolled her shoulders, now eyeing the instructor as a predator eyed its prey, "A lot to learn, huh? Come on then, teach me."

With that, she fist slammed into the ground and a forceful wave of energy came crashing out.

 

[Ruulo Vos]

What the hell was this girl's problem. He stopped and faced her as she clearly wasn't listening. There was something else though, something he'd only felt a few times in his life. The girl suddenly felt very...cold, not physically but her aura. He could see the girl was furious and that this obviously hadn't been what she was expecting from the not just the class, but the Jedi themselves. This coldness though...it worried the Kiffar.

He didn't know how to get through to Farja, he wasn't much experienced in this area of teaching, so as she complained Ruulo just crossed his arms as she mentioned glory again. "Really don't know where you got all this talk of Jedi taking part in glorious battles, sure back in the day the Jedi led troops in wars....but look where that got them. The ways of the Jedi almost ended up forgotten to history because the old order decided that war was the right decision."

Farja moved to leave, and Ruulo was at this point happy to let her go. He'd let some of the more experienced masters know that the girl was having trouble adjusting. For now he'd complete his class and try to assure his students that her presence wasn't anything to fear. He was just about to turn away from the girl, but then he felt it again...that cold feeling. Ruulo spun back to her and could see a fire in her eyes that was in contrast to the cold of her aura and her words dripped with hatred. "What the hel...." The older Kiffar was cut off as he had to quickly cross his arms and threw up a barrier to block a wave of kinetic energy that blasted from Farja.

The girls eyes told him all he needed to know, she wasn't going to be satisfied with words. Fine. He lowered his arms and his barrier. "Alright, guess you wanna do it this way huh?" Ruulo simply dropped into his ready stance, dropping his right leg back and raising his hands out front. A simple stance to be sure, but she was about to find out how effective. "Ok...pay attention class, lesson's about to start. Oh and Yiinil, hit track 5 for me on the player will ya." He now smiled at the girl, if she wanted a personal lesson she could have one, hell it'd been a minute since Ruulo had a good scrap anyway. If he could work off some steam and try and teach Farja a lesson...all the better.

@Pam0wl