Telarii Secara's Training

[Telarii]

OOC: No problem. ^_^ I hope you had fun!

IC: So, the small amount of time she'd actually been able to sustain herself without breathing was actually impressive for a first time? That made her feel a little better. Still, it was not an exercise she was eager to repeat...though Owyn did give an excellent point about choking on poisonous gas, however. She'd much rather deprive herself of oxygen for a few minutes than stubbornly keep breathing for a few more seconds...then fall over dead. Ironically, that'd mean she'd stop breathing forever. Postponing gratification does have it's merits when put like that.

"Very well, Master... I'll try for a longer time," she responded, though considering how desperate she was to end the exercise by the end of the last attempt, she didn't think she'd make it any farther this time. After a few more seconds of delay, followed by a deep inhale, she began the exercise once again.

Utilizing the Force, she repeated the steps she had performed during the last exercise, focusing on her lungs and the precious oxygen stored therein. Despite already wanting to breathe once again, she forced the air from her lungs at increasingly slow intervals...just enough to keep her from passing out and to keep her organs functional. Or at least, as much as she hoped it would take to keep from passing out. How embarrassing would that be?

Minutes dragged by increasingly slowly, the first two of which were a simple cakewalk. Normally, she could hold her breath for about fourty-five seconds without straining herself too much. With the Force as her ally, two minutes were just as simple. Minute three, however, was proving to be a difficult hurdle to cross. Already, her chest burned with the desire for fresh air, but with some effort, she managed to work passed the discomfort.

Minute four came and went with the burning in her chest now feeling like an open flame and her head swam. Had the twi'lek's eyes been open at the time, she felt sure that the room would likely be spinning around. Minute five came once more and she felt no better than she had at this point during the last exercise, but she was determined to surpass herself once more.

Seconds seemed like minutes as she counted them off in her head, her lungs on fire and head pounding, her temples with a heartbeat of their own. Five minutes and fifteen seconds into the exercise, she broke off, finally exhaling the stale air within her lungs and drawing in the seemingly cold air from the room, much to her lung's delight.

"Gah...hah.. Holding my breath...like that, almost feels like breathing in poison gas," she said, only half jokingly. Definitely not her favorite exercise.

 

[Raif]

Owyn hated himself a bit for what he was about to do, but he knew it needed doing. They were Jedi, after all, and war was once again revisiting the galaxy.

While Telarii had again been focusing on controlling her breathing, Owyn had quickly walked over to the wall of the training room and opened the same container they had used previously during telekinesis training. This time, he brought out too of the hard rubber balls and immediately grasped them with the Force so that they floated around him like two slowly rotating moons.

He strode quickly back to where he had been standing, but pushed the balls out so instead of orbiting him they would be orbiting Telarii, at a distance of about 10 feet or so. He could feel the eyes of Tikk and Ra'ja on him from a corner of the room; Tikk's gaze was disapproving, Ra'ja's one of predatory anticipation.

And so Owyn waited, until the moment he could feel Telarii let out her breath. Then, without giving himself a moment to reconsider, he launched the two rubber balls at her; one aimed at the back of her shins, one aimed at her solar plexus.

He would almost certainly strike his Padawan with both objects, not hard enough to do any damage but definitely hard enough to bruise. The chance that the young Twi'lek had kept her awareness up enough to sense the attack was slim to none, and Owyn knew it was unfair of him to take advantage of her in this way. But the Hutts and the Bogan and all of the other evils of the galaxy did not fight fair. If his padawan did not learn this vital lesson now, in the safety of the temple, she would not survive long outside it's hallowed halls.

 

[Telarii]

Owyn was indeed correct in his assumptions of Telarii's defenselessness at this point in time; her focus was directed inward, at the self, not outward. It took all of her meager concentration to maintain her breath control practice, she had none to spare on the world around her. Just as her first new breath reached her lungs, two of the rubber balls from the previous day struck home hard.

The ball that had been aimed at her shins struck, causing the twi'lek to nearly jump in surprise and stinging pain. What was going on!? She didn't have time to contemplate what was happening, however. Another painful blow landed square in her chest, forcing the oxygen she had just blissfully inhaled from her.

Both hits - painful though they were, were superficial. The shock of suddenly being attacked after her least favorite exercise to date, however, made them feel worse than they truly were. Immediately, Telarii hopped onto her feet, wincing at the stinging she felt in her shin as she did so. Meanwhile, her right hand dropped to the training saber on her belt and ignited it, the sapphire blade appearing with a loud hiss.

It was more for the comfort of knowing she had it than anything else; it was useless in a real fight, but felt nice to have regardless. With blade in hand and now on her feet, she scanned the area for her assailant. Takk couldn't have attacked her from two sides, and Raaj probably wasn't intelligent enough...and he had fangs and claws. He didn't need balls. Which left..

"What are you doing!?" she asked defiantly, her temporary surprise letting anger boil into her accusing voice as her eyes locked onto the Knight.

 

[Raif]

A training saber was also held in Owyn's hand, it's brilliant yellow blade - which matched the color of his own personal blade - ignited when Telarii's did. He held it low and across his body, as if he were blind and using it to assist him walking.

His left hand, which was not holding the blade, was held at his side with the palm pointing to the sky. Above it floated the two rubber balls.

"Calm yourself, padawan. Do not let your emotions control you. What I am doing, Telarii, is moving on to the next phase in your training; there will be time again for theoretical practice in the future, but from now on practical applicaiton will be the name of the game.

We are once again facing war, my student. This war will not be fought in the safe, comforting environment of a training chamber, but out there!"

He flourished his blade as he spoke, pointing out not towards the streets of Coruscant but to the millions of known star systems beyond.

"The darkness which is spreading will not wait until it is convenient for you; no, it will strike when and where it sees fit, and good luck to those who aren't prepared to defend against it.

Teaching you to defend against it is exactly what I intend to do, starting right now. So, Telarii, are you ready to begin?"

Owyn asked this last question with a sarcastic grin. He knew the young Twi'lek was going to be unhappy with him for this unorthodox training method, but he was confident that after the heat of the moment had passed she would understand the value in what he was doing.

 

[Telarii]

The moment of initial surprise from being suddenly attacked passed, and with it so did her momentary anger. Still, she wasn't at all impressed by Owyn's method of teaching this lesson, even if she understood the importance of it. She knew that one couldn't always choose when and where a fight might break out, but she hadn't been expecting to receive this lesson in such a way, and definitely not on their second day of training together.

However, despite no longer being truly angry, she did take note that Owyn had recalled those accursed rubber balls and had ignited his own saber; a beautiful yellow blade. Was this an introduction to lightsaber training, perhaps? It seemed likely, but still. He could have just said so...while the lesson he taught was an important one, there are some things she should be able to take for granted. For example: Being taught in the middle of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant should be reasonably safe from the war raging elsewhere in the galaxy.

Not that she was actually foolhardy enough to voice those words. "I'm ready for anything you'll throw at me," she responded to her Master's sarcastic question. As she said so, she brought the sapphire blade in front of her in an untrained defensive stance. She wasn't looking forward to this part of training either - she'd never focused much on saber training, and thus her skills were...subpar, at best.

 

[Raif]

Owyn didn't mean to pry into his student's mind, he really didn't. But he just couldn't help feeling her thoughts flowing outward like a ripple in a pond: the feeling of unfairness, the feeling that the safety and sanctity of the Temple had been violated by Owyn's tactics today.

Without thinking about it, he responded to these thoughts.

"You are too young to know this first-hand, Telarii, but five years ago the very Temple in which we stand was sacked by those calling themselves the Bogan. Dozens of Jedi, even younglings, were slaughtered in the attack. Slaughtered in that place which most made them feel safe. But with evil like the Bogan lurking in the dark corners of the galaxy, no where is truly safe."

As he finished speaking, he stepped quickly forward and brought his saber up and to the side in a lazy horizontal slash. He had no intention of striking Telarii with this move, and wanted simply to get her used to the movement of the blade, the feel of it passing through the air and deflecting another saber.

"Tell me, padawan, what have you learned so far about lightsaber combat? Any particular forms caught your eye?"

He slashed again, this time aiming for her other side, but still moving as slowly as before. As he did, he ran his eye over her as if she were a true opponent, and took in as much important information as he could. While the young Twi'lek was certainly not strong in the most physical sense, she exuded a dancer's grace and flexibility. Owyn thought Ataru or Niman may be good forms for her to focus on, but ultimately it was her decision.

 

[Telarii]

She hadn't known that bit of disturbing history about the temple. It didn't even seem possible; how could some group sack a Jedi temple? Where dozens, even hundreds of Jedi lived and trained? It would require an immense amount of troops, or at least, so the young twi'lek thought. Jedi were fairly hard to kill, right?

Of course, the name 'Bogan' was one she hadn't heard of before. Was that a group that worked with the Hutts? Maybe she needed to visit the archives later and perform a search about that group... But, that was neither here or there, for her Master approached and struck out at her side with his blade. Seeing the movement of the blade, the twi'lek was quick to move away from the weapon while bringing her own blade in front of Owyn's, deflecting it with a loud crackle of energy.

Luckily, he had decided to go easy on her, judging from the speed at which his saber sliced through air. Small favors, right? Still, she needed to get used to the lack of a counterweight on the blade as she moved to counter the Knight's second attack, though without a counter weight, her hilt moved a bit faster than expected. It did not prove detrimental in this situation, but it was something she'd need to compensate for in the future.

Again, she parried the weapon while taking a step away from her Master; both attacks could have easily been dodged, but she felt it necessary to learn how to deflect attacks rather than merely dodge them. Of the lightsaber forms, however, Telarii had not learned much about them all - again, not subject of much focus. Like most younglings, she'd been instructed in the very basics, and she knew of them all.

Throughout her time at the temple however, only two really stuck out two her - Niman and Soresu; Ataru, which would take advantage of her dexterity, was far too aggressive for her to be effective with it. Or so she believed. "The two I've considered being instructed in are Niman and Soresu; Niman for it's balance, Soresu for it's defensive capabilities," she said, accenting her last words with a thrust at her Master.

 

[Raif]

The irony was not lost on Owyn; here Telarii was, espousing the defensive capabilities of Soresu while simultaneously attacking her master. The Knight grinned in amusement as he sidestepped the thrust and used his blade to bat it wide to the side. Had this been a real duel, he would have then countered with a thrust of his own to her now-exposed midsection, but instead he took a step backwards.

Saber up in a defensive stance, Owyn contemplated what Telarii had just said and then spoke.

"I'm glad you've at least given it some thought. When I was your age I didn't give lightsaber combat the least bit of attention, foolishly thinking I would never need to wield a blade in combat. As you can see, my thinking has changed on the matter drastically.

Now, as for Soresu. It is a good Form, with ample merits; if you are trying to simply survive a fight, there is nothing better. But if you hope to finish a duel, rather than simply respond to the actions of your attacker, you will need something more.

Niman, as I'm sure you're aware, draws from all of the 5 Forms before it. While it cannot be said to be the "strongest" of the forms, it plays a valuable role. Given your lack of physical strength it could be a good option, allowing you to augment the style in other areas as you see fit."

As he finished speaking, Owyn stepped quickly forward and brought his saber down in two quick overhead strikes, one aimed at Telarii's right shoulder, the other aimed at the left.

"The choice is ultimately yours, of course; don't let my opinions cloud your judgment. So what will it be?"

 

[Telarii]

Telarii's blade went far to the side, easily swatted away by the far more experienced Knight's weapon. Not too shocking really, her attack probably wasn't accurate enough to hit anything, though once she had finally recovered, she brought her own weapon back in front of her, trying to mimic her Master's current defensive stance.

And then...she listened. Listened to the 'merits' of both of the forms. While she had originally thought that Soresu was a good form, hearing it explained in such a way drained any enthusiasm she had for the lightsaber style, after all, while she wasn't an incredibly offense-minded person, even she knew one couldn't win simply by defense.

Niman, on the other hand, was almost pure balance between all of the forms. Like a jack-of-all-trades, she'd have a grasp of all of the form's philosophies and combat styles, but she wouldn't be great at any of them. Not exactly appealing either, really. Something in the back of her mind made her think that Niman users often had a high mortality rate, though given her lack of strength, it could be a good choice.

In this matter, perhaps trusting her Master would be a better choice - he was the more experienced one and would know which style would better suit her physical attributes, be it defensive or offensive. However, before responding with such to her master, she first had to deal with his new swings as he brought down his saber upon her.

This time, he was much faster than before and the twi'lek was only just able to raise her own blade to parry his slash as it came down. However, contact only lasted a second before he'd lifted the weapon and brought it down on the opposite shoulder. This time, however, the padawan enlisted the aid of the Force to accentuate her movements as she dodged to the right to avoid the energy blade.

"I....am not certain, Master... What would you recommend for me?" she asked, assuming she had successfully dodged the energy blade and the human was not pressing the attack too much for the twi'lek to get the sentence out. She hoped not; it'd be the shortest saber duel in history.

 

[Raif]

Owyn was glad to see Telarii was able to dodge his attack, and was not disappointed in the least that she had to call on the Force to help her do it. In fact, it sealed in his mind which saber form he thought would be best for her.

"Well, since you've asked, I would go for Niman. Though many in the order think it's 'blended' nature is a weakness, I personally think it makes it limitless in terms of efficacy.

You can mold the form to your own personal style, learning to add in Force powers - like what you just demonstrated in dodging my attack - instead of devoting your time to memorization of different stances and parries."

As Owyn finished speaking he dropped down into a crouch and swept his saber towards Telarii's legs, looking to either take her legs completely out from under her or at the very least knock her off her balance a bit.

 

[Carud Aaray]

Greetings..Im a youngling looking..for a master..-cough-Excuse..me..Do you know any?miss

 

[Telarii]

So Niman was to be her calling then, eh? In this matter, she would trust her matter implicitly - he knew far more of Lightsaber combat than she did, and would likely be able to tell what was best given what she'd shown. The idea of not needing to memorize several different stances and parries was one that she liked, however.

While Owyn's weapon slashed through the air toward the twi'lek's feet, she tried to move herself out of the way, but the Knight's superior technique managed to catch her anyway - while she had gotten one leg out of the way, the energy blade caught her left leg and pulled it out from under her. As the padawan fell forward, she stretched out her hand and called out on the Force in an attempt to push the experienced Jedi away from her to give her breathing room to get back on her feet.

She was grateful that these were mere training blades, though. If these sabers had been set for lethality, she'd be minus a leg and likely wouldn't have been able to focus enough to even think of using the Force to strike back. "I guess the first hit goes to you, Master," she said, not at all surprised by the outcome.

 

[Raif]

Owyn was a bit dismayed when his saber made contact with Telarii's leg. He had been trying to go relatively easy on the young Twi'lek, and had hoped their sparring would continue for a bit before she finally succumbed. However, his displeasure was very short-lived, as he was his full in the chest by a Force push that he was entirely unprepared for.

As the Jedi Knight tumbled ass-over-tea-kettle back away from Telarii, Owyn couldn't help but smile broadly. She had caught him completely off-guard with that Force blast, and despite picking up a few knocks because of it Owyn was delighted! As he picked himself up and dusted off his clothes, he couldn't help but detect Telarii's disappointment in her own performance.

"Well, my young padawan, the first hit may go to me, that is true. But don't discount your own performance. That Force push there at the end was excellently timed! Had this been a real battle, yes, you would have likely lost a leg. But believe me when I tell you that battles continue well after someone has been grievously injured-"

Owyn himself had the three diagonal scars on his chest, courtesy of a Krayt Dragon, to prove this point.

"-and that force blast there could well have been the difference between being fitted for a prosthetic leg, or being fitted for a casket."

Owyn paused for a moment to let his point sink in, but he was still too pleased to be too serious. It seemed Niman was a good fit for his student, as she was already augmenting her saber style with force-powered techniques.

"Now, I don't know about you but I'm starving. Let's break for lunch, and get cleaned up a little bit. We can meet back here in two hours, and in the mean time I'd like you to swing by the archives and read up on mind tricks a bit. That's what we'll be going over next."