In Teaching You Will Learn

[Noirceur]

Andé paced around the small room, stopping for mere seconds before continuing her never ending journey from one end of the room to the other, and then back. Rinse and repeat. Uncontrollably scratching the back of her head she couldn't believe she had gotten herself in this position. Teaching a Padawan? Right up in her shit list along with sweet food and rain. She could think of many reasons why she wouldn't want to do it, but three in particular came to mind; One, she hated teaching. Two, she hated teaching. And three. She. Hated. Teaching. She had tried it before, sure, but only the ocassional teaching of lightsaber Forms, or supervising a bunch of pubescents as they attempted to "meditate". Nothing like taking on a Padawan, though. She had told herself she would make the most out of it, but she really didn't know how. Still, her superior's desicion was final; Padawan Pollux was to fall under her tutelage effective immediately.

Come on Andé... You've got this. Shit.... her thoughts were suddenly obscured by others. She imagined this Padawan would only be a strain on her development and her resources. Someone who would slow her down. A chore. A feeling she made no attempt to hide as the young human came upon her sight. Well, she was gonna be stuck with the guy for the foreseeable future, so she might as well start now.

"Well, Pollux I take it? Come in. We have much to discus." she waved him over and invited him to sit "All right. This is how it's gonna work. You will listen to me all the time and only speak when spoken to. You can always ignore my orders, I guess. Just be aware that in the places we will be visiting, not following my instrction will most likely result in your death." she continued with a cold stare at the young man. She would wait for him to react to the speech; probably not the one he was expecting. After he answered or not, she would continue. "You probably wonder what I will teach you. It's rather simple, actually: I will teach you to excel at whatever you do. I will teach you everything I know about lightsaber combat and how to properly use and channel the Force to aid you in whatever it is you're doing. And no, we won't be staying here on Ilum or any other temple for the matter. The places we will visit are best kept secret for now."

Standing up, Andé wasted no time to get a strong mental grip on a small cylindrical object laying on the floor. The object levitated and was soon sent flying at a considerable speed at Pollux's direction. Andé promptly ignited her own blade, in training mode of course. It wouldn't cut Pollux open, but it would still sting like shit. Andé simply stood still. Her blade arched downwards as she look deep into her Padawan's eyes, a small grin appearing on her face. She waited for him to ignite it and awaited his move.

"You know what to do." she challenged as her cross-guarded blue blade hummed.

@Captain Canuck

 

[Captain Canuck]

Pollux Midwan made his way through the temple with his head high and his jaw firm. Today, he was getting a master. Today, he had purpose. No longer would he be a useless stain on the Temple. Today was his first real step to becoming a Jedi.

Only one small part of his brain doubted that statement, and that part was focused on the lack of a saber at his hip. He was a special case, due to his brother Castor, and had no kyber Crystal and no lightsaber. He hoped his new master would help with this.

Judging by the main population of the temple, Pollux guessed that it would be a male, probably older. Maybe a wispy white beard. Pollux expected him to be a regular sage: speaking in ways Pollux had to focus on to understand, always seeming to know the proper choice to any situation, and meditating for hours on end. Pollux would be very pleased to have what seemed to be a proper Jedi master. His expectations were soon shattered.

"Well, Pollux I take it? Come in. We have much to discus."

A relatively young, fairly attractive, Jedi female waved him inside. Pollux realized he looked surprised, which may offend her in some way, and quickly wiped his face blank.

"All right. This is how it's gonna work. You will listen to me all the time and only speak when spoken to. You can always ignore my orders, I guess. Just be aware that in the places we will be visiting, not following my instrction will most likely result in your death."

"I... Will respect your orders and commands as my Master." Pollux did not intend to pause, but his brain could not resist the urge to ponder the last sentence. How highly did she see her judgement? Or on the other hand, were the places they would visit really that dangerous? She stared coldly at him, which he guessed meant she was not pleased with his answer.


"You probably wonder what I will teach you. It's rather simple, actually: I will teach you to excel at whatever you do. I will teach you everything I know about lightsaber combat and how to properly use and channel the Force to aid you in whatever it is you're doing. And no, we won't be staying here on Ilum or any other temple for the matter. The places we will visit are best kept secret for now."

"You shall guide me and I shall follow." Pollux bowed formally. When he straightened, his mind buzzed to attention with warning. Pollux's hand rose and, with a blast of the force, deflected a small metal object coming for his head. Was she texting his reflexes?

When Pollux saw the object, he flushed with embarrassment. She stood ready with hers while his intended lightsaber sat on the floor. Not keen to be seen embarrassingly picking it up, Pollux called it to his hand. He held the lightsaber arm out towards his new master and the other folded across his chest. With an electric whurr, the lightsaber flared to life.

(He doesn't know her name yet, she hasn't introduced herself. Just FYI)

 

[Noirceur]

Andé internally laughed as the young man instinctively, yet adeptly deflected the incoming projectile coming towards him only to realize he would need it to fight. It wouldn't be his personal lightsaber, nor did Andé expected so. It was simply one of her personal collection. The bond one formed with their blade, at least in Andé's experience came from relentlessly searching and hunting for the required materials. Sitting for hours on a table with limited tools trying to figure out how the heck the damned parts fit together and finally seeing it flicker to life for the first time. She figured if she and Pollux did end up as Master and Padawan, such an endeavour would probably be their first move. Andé eyed Pollux as a feline would his prey as he ignited the blade and got ready in a combat stance. Well, at least he had the basics covered.

Andé focused on Pollux. Now she was inside his mind; as much as she could be, anyway. The boy sure had an iron will. Now she listened. Past all the bullshit, all the trash-thoughts, there were amazing stories in a mind that could be heard if one listened close enough. A great love for another. A relative, perhaps? But then... Sadness. Dissapointment. A lost relative, then. If lost to the death or to the darkness, Andé could not tell. Still, a flicker of hope yet existed. Perhaps then, this loved one still lived. Theyw ould get to that soon enough. She focused now on more recent thoughts and emotions. Anticipation. Enthusiasm. Pollux was clearly excited to be getting a master, and apparently had been hoping to for some time. There was however, a slight pint of dissapointment. Andé was clearly not the master Pollux had been expecting. She chuckled. "I can sense your surprise. Perhaps you were expecting something else? A wise, bearded old master no doubt. Well, we rarely get what we want in life, Pollux"

He had a sense of doubt, and an understandable one, considering all the suspense Andé had used during their introduction and the fact that he knew nothing about her. She sought to calm these fears a little. "The reason for the secrecy is rather simple; you have to impress me for me to actually consider taking you on, kiddo. Only then will you know more important details. What's the point of you knowing my name if this may well be the last time you see me, after all?" This wasn't really true; Andé knew her superiors would likely force her to tae on the young student anyway, but it was all part of the show. And speaking about shows, it was probably the time to get this one started.

Holding her blade upwards with both hands, she allowed the Force to curse through her body, channeling it into her joints and subsuquently unleashed it in the form of a small Force assited rush towards her fencing partner at a rather considerable speed, followed by an equally fast sweep towards Pollux's legs. Such was Andé's style. Go in hard and fast, leaving little time for your opponent to react. Of course, Andé only sped herself up moderately, nowhere near the inhuman levels she could reach with enough concentartion, but probably still faster than Pollux had seen. Her sipe attack was also delivered using a fraction of her strength, understanding that she had to take it easy on him for now. Maybe one day Pollux would even surpass her in ability, but for now, it was her duty to make sure that day came. As far as Andé gathered, Pollux could either jump to avoid the diagonal sweep aimed at his knees, nevertheless having even less time to react to a subsuquent attack, or he could maybe attempt to block and parry it if he was fast enough. Still, Andé had learned to always assume your foe to do something unexpected, so even as her balde finished it's trajectory, she remained steadfast and cautious at what her Padawan may attempt.

@Captain Canuck

 

[Captain Canuck]

(going to go back and edit out him owning a lightsaber as he approaches)
"I can sense your surprise. Perhaps you were expecting something else? A wise, bearded old master no doubt. Well, we rarely get what we want in life, Pollux"
She was a Jedi Knight, why didn't Pollux consider this mind reading before? He would have to do his best to hide his thoughts from her.

"I meant no offense, Master. Your appearance simply startled me at first. I have no doubt you will make a more than adequate teacher." Before he could try to form an adequate mental defense, she read his mind yet again.

"The reason for the secrecy is rather simple; you have to impress me for me to actually consider taking you on, kiddo. Only then will you know more important details. What's the point of you knowing my name if this may well be the last time you see me, after all?"
With that, Pollux smiled. He was never the competitive type, but the thought of proving himself to show his worth excited him. It was the perfect opportunity to impress his new master. He would hold nothing back and show her that of all the padawans in the temple, he alone was worthy of her mentorship. He mentally steeled himself, shutting away his emotions like a steel door. Nothing got in. Nothing got out.

His master charged at him. If he wanted to do anything other than her personal chopping block he would have to focus on his strengths. As she ran at him he threw out both hands. He let loose a sizable stream of pure force, pushing back on his potential master. The opposing force would slow her, but her accelerated speed insured that she would not be slowed to a halt. It would simple seem as if she was wading through knee-high water. She reached him at a more manageable speed.

In the same movement, he ended the force push and leapt into the air, the lightsaber sailing harmlessly under him. Not only will to waste an opportunity, Pollux chopped down heavily with his lightsaber in an out-of-character action. He was not one to power his way through obstacles, but the high position and gravity assistance was too great an offer to pass up.