Open Yavin IV While You Were Partying, We Studied The Blade

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan barely had time to admire Master Aureud's wooden lightsaber hilt (!) before its green blade was ignited and moving through a basic Shii-Cho cadence. The cadence itself wasn't new to Ruzaan, but it had been a while since he'd practiced it given that he'd switched to the defensive Soresu.

Following the Jedi Knight's lead, Ruzaan ignited his lightsaber and began moving through the cadence. He quickly found himself adapting the maneuvers around the fact that he had a double-bladed weapon, but the end result felt uncomfortable and would likely draw the criticism of Wilvick. At least he still had the wherewithal to move out of the path of Quin's training saber without losing his balance. "No worries!" he called over to his friend, before turning off his weapon and waiting for whatever feedback the Jedi Knight would have.


(OOC: Rolled a 10 out of 20 for the attempt)

@Vicc125 @Sicadorito

 

[Wilvick Aureud]

Things seemed to be going well, at first. Wilvick thought that these two might turn out alright, even if they lacked experience in lightsaber combat. The fact that they recognized that, and strove to amend it by attending his class was proof that they were capable of more. The first step to self-improvement was admitting that you needed to improve, after all.

Then Quin almost took his friend's head off. Or, would have almost done that, if his saber hadn't been in training mode.

"Always mind your surroundings," Wilvick said simply, "your lightsaber shouldn't be just a tool or a sword. It should be an extension of you, as natural to maneuver as your arm."

Then he turned his attention to Ruzaan, who was attempting to translate the basic Shii-Cho form into a variant more suired for a staff saber. It looked... stiff, but perhaps that was Wilvick's own fault. He should have insisted that Ruzaan focus on the single saber first.

"Work on mastering Shii-Cho with just one blade ignited, Ruzaan," he instructed the Togruta, "once you've managed that, then modifying it for usage with a staff saber should be easy."

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[Quin Leonkri]

Quin nodded seriously at Master Aureud’s advice. Putting it that way, the lightsaber being an extension of his arm, made a little more sense. After all, he wouldn’t have accidentally slapped Ruzaan if he was just moving his arm, so could he do the same with his saber?

As Master Aureud moved on to advise Ruzaan, Quin ignited his saber again and tried again, moving as slowly as he did the first time as he swung it side to side. He was starting to get the feel for it, at least he thought so as the movement began to feel more natural. The lightsaber is an extension of me, he repeated over and over in his head as he swung.

Once he thought he was doing alright with the horizontal, he started to practice the vertical swings again, bringing his lightsaber down, up, and down again in the form of an X before glancing over at Master Aureud for any advice for how he was doing.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Vicc125

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

A lightsaber as an extension of the body. The advice took hold in Ruzaan's mind. Previously, he'd treated his lightsaber as a tool; an object to be brought out on occasion and used. The shift in thinking- along with Master Aureud's advice to switch to a single blade- did wonders for the Togruta, who was much more aware of where his blade was at any given point. In fact, it was easier for him to track Quin's blade, as well; by viewing the other Padawan's lightsaber as an extension of his body as well.

Ruzaan finished the cadence cleanly and deactivated his lightsaber; a warm glow rising inside of him as he realized that, despite his previous struggles with a lightsaber, he could do this. It seemed like Quin was getting the hang of things too, which made the Togruta's smile grow even wider.


(OOC: Using dice for the individual parts of this thread, rolled a 16/20 for this attempt)

@Vicc125 @Sicadorito

 

[Wilvick Aureud]

"Much better Quin," Wilvick nodded in the teenager's direction, "now try to do it faster."

Once the basic swings were down, and the idea of the form learned, was when Keira would ramp up his training. It would go from the slow repetition of strokes, to a much quicker and frenzied place, until she would finally judge him worth of trying it out for real. That was when she'd spar with him, drilling him relentlessly until he could replicate the form in his sleep.

He didn't have the time for that today, though. Even if he did, he was a different kind of teacher from Keira, he thought. His Master had been a little rash, and passionate. She'd hidden it well, behind a veil of stoicism, but it had been there all the same. Unlike her, Wilvick wasn't sure he had it in him to attack a student. At least, not before they progressed a little more.

"Good!" Ruzaan had caught up quickly, after deactivating his second blade, "now, together. Keep pace with one another, as you go through the form one more time. Match each other's movements."

It was a test of synchroneity. If they really had the form down, or at least understood the basics of it, then they'd be able to speed it up or slow it down to their needs. And the best way to test that, was to see if they were capable of moving at the exact same speed.

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[Quin Leonkri]

Hearing Master Aureud’s approval gave Quin a small sliver of pride, and he was determined to try his best to speed up his swings. Unlike his earlier attempt where he had pretty much been randomly swinging his saber around, he was keenly aware of where his blade was and continued to view it as an extension of his arm as he moved it left and right, up and down. Ruzaan looked to be doing well with the advice too, and he smiled right with his friend.

Then came the test to see if he and Ruzaan truly understood the basics of the form. When the instructions came from Master Aureud, Quin looked over at Ruzaan, and when he saw that his friend was ready, he started to go through the cadence, slowly at first. When Ruzaan would join in, Quin would do his best to match his speed with his.

“We can do this, Ruzaan!”

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Vicc125

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan's eyebrows raised momentarily in surprise as Master Aureud- who was quickly earning the Togruta's respect- laid out the next exercise. However, the more he thought about it the more the drill made sense; awareness of one's surroundings and how they related to your positioning was incredibly important in a combat situation.

Encouraged by Quin's words, Ruzaan ignited his lightsaber and began the cadence once again. It wasn't quite as successful as his second attempt, as he put a little too much of his focus on keeping an eye on Quin's movements, but it was better than his first try. While still not quite where he wanted to be, Ruzaan did recognize that he'd managed to do better at the drill even after the difficulty had been increased, so he smiled in Quin's direction before deactivating his blade and awaiting feedback and further instructions.


OOC: Rolled an 11/20 for this attempt

@Sicadorito @Vicc125

 

[Wilvick Aureud]

They were rough around the edges, but there was potential in both of them, Wilvick thought. More than he might have expected from two Padawans unused to lightsaber combat. They ran through the form once more, as one this time. The young Jedi Knight watched them with a critical eye, pleased with their progress, even though they were far from perfect.

But then, no one was, certainly not him.

"The two of you seem to have the basics down. There are still things to work on, mind you, namely your timing and the precision of your bladework. But those are things that will come with time and practice. Remember what I have taught you today, and continue to reinforce it by doing these exercises regularly. Daily, if possible."

Wilvick stroked his beard, wondering how to approach this next part. With the bare basics of Shii-Cho imparted, he could start working with the boys independently of one another, and start getting a feel for what lightsaber Form might suit them best. For Ruzaan, he wondered if Niman might be the best, given the general unpredictability of lightsaber pike combat, and the fact that Niman was an incredibly flexible form of blade work.

For Quin though... the boy had seemed to catch on to Shii-Cho quickly, particularly the part of returning to a defensive stance before striking a second time. Perhaps Soresu, then? It was Wilvick's own preferred Form, and definitely the one he felt the most confident in teaching. Yet, Djem So also relied on a solid defense, before riposting with a powerful strike.

"Ruuzan, I'd like you to run through Shii-Cho one more time, but try it with your second blade ignite once more. See if you can't get a better feel for it, now. I'll be with you again in a few minutes. Quin, I'd like you to watch me carefully."

With that said, Wilvick ignited his green saber once more, and began to slowly run through the kata of Soresu.

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[Quin Leonkri]

Quin deactivated his lightsaber along with Ruzaan to hear what Master Aureud had to say next. At his confirmation that they at least looked to be doing well with the basics, he exchanged a quick grin with his friend. Of course, like the Jedi knight said, there would be plenty more practice needed, but Quin was happy to know that they were both off to a good start.

“Yes, Master!” He’d look forward to practicing— it was certainly more fun than reading a textbook. Ruzaan would be getting some more of that now, with a double-bladed lightsaber too. Quin would have wanted to watch, curious as to how it might be different from the single blade that he was used to. Although it seemed that Master Aureud had something else to show him first.

At the knight’s instruction to watch him, Quin nodded and took a couple small steps back to give him more space. As he went through the cadence, Quin tried to absorb as much as he could of what he saw with each swing and stance. It seemed like a defensive form, from what he noticed, and one that he realized that he would likely enjoy learning.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Vicc125

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan nodded, stepping away from Quin and Master Aureud. The Togruta tried not to be disappointed that Quin seemed to be picking this up quicker than he was, choosing instead to focus on emptying his mind and running the cadence with both sabers ignited as Master Aureud had requested.

Due to his earlier learning experiences in this lesson, the cadence went much better than it had on his first attempt. Emboldened, he ran through it again, only faster this time, feeling the muscle memory begin to kick in and the lightsaber whirl around him. Had he been observing himself, he'd have hardly believed that it was him performing the cadence with that much speed and accuracy, but a small glow rose in Ruzaan's chest as he realized that he was succeeding. Hopefully, Quin was finding similar success.


@Vicc125 @Sicadorito

OOC: Rolled a 19/20 for this exercise