Rise of a Knight

[Kuran]

Juisk ran up the stairs two at a time, narrowly avoiding colliding with a pair of younglings as he rounded a corner. He wasn't late, not yet. But he could just make it if he hurried...

Today he was to meet his new master. Knight Cnile Mengele was well known among his clan, and he was the subject of a good deal of envy for having been picked by her.

Juisk arrived in front of the chamber where he was due to meet her, straightened his tunic, made sure his lightsaber was still strapped to his belt after the mad dash-dropping one's lightsaber would be embarrassing to say the least. He had left his robes in his room, there was no need for them today.

Taking a deep breath and centering himself as best he could, he waved the door access aside and strode into the room.

 

[Corvis]

Cnile exhaled slowly, watching with a serene interest as the disturbance sent a ripple of activities in the dust motes fluttering through the fresh morning rays of sunlight filtering into meditation chamber. “How very unlike Coruscant,” she mused reaching out to sense the hustle and bustle of the temple district. The planet was somehow both iconic and an anathema of the Force. Totally covered by layer's of cityscape, the planet's natural order was long dead, even predating her millennia of hibernation. And yet, life still found a way to not only persevere, but thrive. Coruscant was a plethora strands, individual lives so intertwined that when viewed through the spectral eye of the Force they appeared to be a single tangled mass.

And within mass, a single strand stood out. Flaring brightly with nervous energy as it dashed through the vaulted temple halls, she focused herself on his progress. A slight smirk crept across her face, through the waves of apprehension and excitement she could still tell that he was seeking someone. Her in particular it seemed. Ah, he was looking for her. “So this would be Juisk then,“ she reasoned. At least he wasn't likely to arrive to far behind schedule. As approaching presence began to be accompanied by the rapid pounding of footsteps against polished stone, Cnile let her mind return to the physical world while still tracking the soon to be Padawan's progress.

Cnile did not react as the pneumatic hiss of the door filled the air, sensing the Juisk's apprehension as he stepped in to the room. She let a slight silence hang in the air as she stood, silhouetted by the distant sun rising along the city skyline. After watching the sun begin to crest one of the taller buildings in the skyline, Cnile turned, hands tucked into the opposite sleeves of her robe. She was told vanity was something to avoided, but she had always liked the way the sunlight would reflect off her hair, making it's hazel strands glimmer.

“Initiate Juisk, today you take your first steps into a much larger world of knowledge and understanding of the Force.” She grimaced internally, but not letting it show through the serene facade she wore, wondering if the words sounded as rehearsed to him as the did to her. “I am Jedi Knight Cnile Mengele, and should you choose to continue on your journey, will be your master and guide as you continue to seek a deeper understanding of the Force.”

 

[Kuran]

Juisk stood in front of the Knight and listened.

“Initiate Juisk, today you take your first steps into a much larger world of knowledge and understanding of the Force.I am Jedi Knight Cnile Mengele, and should you choose to continue on your journey, will be your master and guide as you continue to seek a deeper understanding of the Force.”

Taking a deep breath, rather difficult after his mad dash through the temple, and bowed at the waist for a moment before straightening up. He was inexplicably dazzled for a moment by the sheen of the Knight's hair, but tuned it out, and spoke in a young voice.

"I am honored to learn from your wisdom master Mengele, and hope that I can live up to your expectations of me."

He bowed once more, this time taking a knee and lowering his head.

 

[Corvis]

Cnile nodded, and motioned for him to rise, “The come my young Padawan.” she smiled, the time for pomp and circumstance over, and began moving towards the door, “I gather from the timing of your arrival you know little of using the Force to speed your movements.” She lead them out of the door, taking a meandering path through the temple. As they walked, she was constantly reaching out with the Force, probing and gaining a sense of him. “I do know that you, unlike myself, were raised as a youngling within the temple.”

She paused, watching for any reaction before speaking again. “Tell me, what do you know of the ways of our Order, and the ways of the Force?”

 

[Kuran]

Juisk follows his master through the temple halls, keeping a respectful distance, a few feet away.

He faltered slightly at feeling slight probes from the Knight, barley even noticeable to him, and opened himself more to allow them easily before answering.

"Our order serve the galaxy as a whole as guardians, keepers of the peace, of justice, no matter who it is.We act as negotiatiors, mediators, protectors. From the smallest and seemingly unimportant of lifeforms to those who retain free will and the sentience to use it, we serve so that the galaxy can be at peace."

He falters again for a moment, before continuing.

"At times of war however, such as now, we must be guardians of the light and all who serve the light. Those who have fallen are not beyond saving, but when we must, we take up arms to defend those who can not defend themselves."

He paused, looking at his new master.

 

[Corvis]

“You seem have a good grasp on what our Order is. That's good, Juisk.” she mused at his distance as he followed her. “A very respectful sort,” she pondered, wondering how long before until he settled into the familiar relationship of a master and apprentice. Noticing the lightsaber bouncing at his hip, a fought to hide a smirk as she thought back to her introduction to her master.

“It's unusual to see a fresh padawan with a lightsaber. Have you already constructed your own?” she asked, genuinely curious.

 

[Kuran]

He nodded, "I made it a few months ago, I came across an old manual in the archives on construction methods, and I did it myself. Umm.....'

He pauses for a second before unhooking the hilt from his belt and offering it to his master, slightly akward.

"Well....I constructed the hilt and the workings easily enough...but, well, I lack the focusing crystal needed, so it doesn't do much....But I figured that it would be good to get used to the weight when walking,even if it's still a little...light. I've used a training saber for practice though, and i'm proficient in shii-cho."

He stopped, feeling that perhaps he had started talking too much.

 

[Corvis]

She accepted the saber, turning it over slowly, “Actually a good idea. They'll become as much a part of you as any limb.” she handed it back, “Maybe more so.” She paused, scanning the nearby doors, before selecting one and walking in. Scanning the expansive storage room to make sure they were alone, she nodded.

“So you said you're proficient in Shii-Cho.” Shedding her robe and tossing it aside, she pulled a training saber from her sash, tossing it to Juisk. “Have you ever sparred outside of a sparring circle?”

 

[Kuran]

Juisk caught the training saber in one hand and held it as if testing it's weight.

Not really....a few unofficial spars with others in my clan, but other than that, no.I've done some basic training in other forms, but not even enough to call myself proficient."

He looked around, it seemed that they were just in a standard storage room. The temple had many of these, but the interesting thing here was that a large space in the central area had been cleared.

 

[Corvis]

Cnile called her lightsaber to her hand, twirling it as her sterling blade hummed to life. She settled into the Soresu dueling stance, her left arm extended forwards, feet slightly over shoulder width apart, blade held back and perpendicular to her left arm. “Come and show me what you know,” she said with an almost too eager grin, her left hand making a beckoning motion.

 

[Kuran]

Juisk thumbed the switch on the hilt, and with a sharp Snap-hiss the blue blade of energy flared into life. Adopting the Shii-cho ready stance, he paused for only a moment, letting the force flow through him, though at his level of training, it was more of a repetitive splutter than a true stream.

Gathering his strength, he jumped forward in a standard shii-cho attack, aiming for the blade of his masters saber in an attempt to knock it away in an upward cut, following up immediatley with a downward slash at the blade.

(For lack of a better style, i'll do an attack or two, but if for instance you were to cut my hand off or blast me across the room or something like that the the second strike would be invalidated. I'm not too sure how else to do it without making posts such as 'he swung the blade down.'))

 

[Corvis]

((Tis fine, generally, you just describe where you're aiming for and your character's thought process as far as contingencies. Oh, and fyi, I dialed down the power on the saber before I tossed it to you. So don't worry about harming me.))

Cnile stood her ground, the Force coursing through her as her apprentice charged in, stepping back as his upper cut slide through the air, only letting the blades graze each other. Noting the familiar smell of ionized air as the air cracked with the blades' contact. Before his uppercut had even ended, she sensed the follow-up downwards strike, and taking care not to bat the saber out of his hands as she twirled the saber around and into a downward diagonal slash, deflecting his blade aside.

Sidestepping to circle him, she held her blade in a simple guard, the hilt of her blade held near her navel. “You have good instincts.” she said, not lowering her guard, “But attacking your opponent's weapon will get you nowhere. Strike as though your life depended on it, because one day it will.”

 

[Kuran]

Juisk nodded at the words, thinking quickly. Shii-cho had taught him that body strikes were a last resort, that disarming was the best course....but perhaps the middle ground would work....

Noticing his master's arms, straight as they were in her stance, he took a quick step forwards, this time striking sideways, left, right, left, aiming for the fleshy part of her upper arms.

 

[Corvis]

Cnile deftly blocked the strikes at her fore arms, smiling as she sent her approval at her apprentice through the Force. Not breaking stride, she held their blades together a few seconds longer on her last block, taking the time to twirl to her left. Stepping around Juisk's blade and disengaging, she flicked her saber up at his back. Years of practiced control ensured that even if Juisk failed to block her, she would be capable of the stopping the stream of ionized energy before it harmed him.

(( sorry about the delay.))

 

[Kuran]

(No worries:P)

Juisk barley had time to react as his master stepped around, but he could feel the blade swinging upwards behind him. Taking a long step forward and away from the blade he spun on his heel, bringing his blade horizontal at waist level to block the uppercut and ((ooc:Supposedly)) shift the tip of the saber down the length of his master's own blade to hit the hilt or even her hands.

 

[Corvis]

Her smile grew as she felt faint rumble that let her know the sabers had locked together once more. As her apprentice's blade began to slide up her own, she rotated her wrists, drawing a tight circle in the air. The minimal movement was just enough to draw his blade off target as Cnile began to step back. He'd impressed her thus far, showing he could take direction against what he knew while at the same time not giving into a battle rage.

With a burst of telekinetic energy, she leapt backwards, propelling herself several meters away from Juisk. Deactivating her lightsaber, she reached out with the force, hitting a kill switch hidden within the training saber's hilt. It was time to see now how well he could learn on his feet. Her lightsaber once more safely on her belt, she shifted her focus to a set boxes, no doubt holding some type of miscellaneous supplies or another. With a practiced ease, she levitated the boxes, drawing them into an orbit around her.

As she let their speed grow, she reached out and touched Juisk's mind, knowing it was likely a cooling sensation would be falling over Juisk as she did so. “You've done well thus far, but a Jedi has more available than just a lightsaber.” she paused, not wanting the shock of her words playing through his mind to distract him too much. “The Force not only guide's our actions in lightsaber combat, it can be used to directly affect the physical world.”

One of her boxes began to move out from it's orbit. “Reach out with the Force, use it to protect yourself.” She commanded, moments before launching the box across the room towards her Apprentice.

 

[Kuran]

Juisk reached out both hands, one still holding the training saber, and focused on the box. A bead of sweat broke out on his forehead from the exertion as he struggled to bring the crate to a stop.

It stopped, inches from his face. If it had been a little heavier, it would have hit him. He let go and the box dropped to the floor, his hands still stretched before him. But he wasn't done yet.

Tapping energy reserves, he reversed the crate's motion, sending it back towards his master, just a little slower than it had been.

 

[Corvis]

Cnile's grinned, he definitely had potential. With a flick of her wrist, she applied the slightest of nudges to the returning projectile, sending it off of it's path. Half listening as the crate skidded off the ground behind him. She accelerated trio of boxes still orbiting her, pondering how next to test her apprentice. He'd proven capable of using abilities he'd already learned under duress, now it was time to get him to learn to apply the Force in new ways.

“Very good.” she called out calmly, as the crates broke their orbits and began to weave and twist around one another. The group of boxes moved purposefully towards Juisk, blurring as the accelerated in their spiraling circuits. “The Force can also be used to augment your agility. Focus it on speeding your limbs as you did with that box. If you can do that, you'll be able to avoid my next attack.”

Suddenly, the group of boxes broke their spiraling formation. Each one whizzing out in a different directing, and seemingly at random diving in at Juisk. He would have to be quick, using not only the Force to speed himself, but to sense the attacks. She still maintained enough control over the crates to stop them from permanently harming him, but he failed to evade one it would leave nasty bruise.

 

[Kuran]

Juisk smiled slightly as he listened, watching in his mind's eye the boxes swirling around him. He applied the same practice as he had used to stop and then throw the box, letting the force flow through this time his legs, feeling as if they were being filled up.

The first box came at him from behind, and the speed behind it was unexpected. He barley dodged it, ducking down and feeling the crate brush the tops of his hair as it flew past. He rolled sideways, using the force agility in his legs to push left, aside from the second box as it hit the floor right where he had been a mere moment ago.

Coming to his feet, he barley had time to utilise a force assisted jump to clear the first and third boxes as they crashed together below him. He came down on top of them and more out of instinct and the force flowing through him spun and threw both hands up to stop the second box in it's path, inches from his outstretched palm.

He let the box slowly fall to the floor, jumped down from the ones he was on top of, and smiled up at his master, most if not all formality forgotten through the combat and physical exertion.

"How'd I do?"

 

[Corvis]

Cnile chuckled as Juisk lept atop the crates, glad to see he wasn't afraid to use all dimensions for evading attacks. As he finally slowed the final projectile to a stop, Cnile slowly let her focus fade back to normal levels, a smile on her face the whole time.

"How'd I do?"

She chuckled slightly, the exertion of combat had shoved formality to the back of his mind. Glad to finally have a chance to get a better gauge of the Padawan, she stepped in, still smiling, “Quite well, actually. You think well on your feet, though you seem focused on matching power for power.” She quickly levitated each of the boxes, returning them to their proper places. “You could have easily deflected any of those with a quick nudge. “

She stepped back over to the door, waving it open, “So tell me, what do you think a Jedi's most valuable skill is?”