Private A First Spar

[Orson Velus]

Orson had yet to really settle into any routine for training, nor did he really know what it was that he should be training. However, he was sure that something would at least be better than nothing, so each day since he had arrived he had made an effort to try and find some kind of training ground and try get some exercise or go through some basic motions with a training lightsaber.

That was where he was at today, stood alone in a training ground in the Coruscant temple with a training lightsaber in hand. Having a good imagination certainly came in handy when training alone, Orson shifting between briefly going on the offensive against his imaginary foe, before quickly backing away, parrying and blocking against nothing. He felt quite silly doing this, and was quite relieved that there was no-one around to witness this. If someone was to watch, Orson would appear to know how to defend and attack, but his body seemed to struggle to bridge the gap between theory and practice. While not offensively awful, his technique looked to be improvised and shoddy.

After a while, he eventually came to a stop, taking a seat in the middle of the room, his breathes slightly laboured. It seemed like good enough training, but he definitely did find himself wishing for some kind of training partner, it would certainly made this a lot more effective.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

The one and perhaps only thing Cin had taken up with relative ease since joining the Order was their inherent obsession with lightsabers. Combat felt like the last true holdover from her past life, and what little comfort came from that didn’t go unappreciated. Perhaps most Jedi doctrine would frown upon such displays of wanton aggression, but Cin wholly subscribed to the cold rush of adrenaline that came with physicality. So, it was no surprise that she found herself headed to the training ground at the crack of dawn, fully under the assumption she’d be the only one.

That illusion was quick to break as the sound of someone else’s feet skidding across the floor reached her. Tabling her mild annoyance, she scoped out the source of noise, centering in on a padawan likely close in age to herself. She quirked an eyebrow as he retreated and slumped down in the dead center of the training mat. Considering she couldn’t hear the perpetual buzz of training droids anywhere she came to the conclusion he was sparring entirely alone. Odd, but not ineffective. After a moment of deliberation, she straightened.

“Awfully committed for someone without an audience.” She commented with a subtle grin teasing her lips, effectively introducing herself.

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

The sudden sound of a voice behind Orson certainly broke him out from his day dreams, and momentary rest. There was very little hiding of his surprise, as he jolted slightly, before glancing over his shoulder with a sigh of relief. "About scared me to death." He grinned, before shifting around to face her properly. "Wasn't expecting an audience really, but I guess so."

He pushed himself back onto his feet, grabbing the training saber once again. "I just got here, so I haven't really got anyone to train with." He explained, idly beginning to fiddle with the training blade "I'm Orson, by the way. If you aren't busy, you want to join me? I want to see if I've actually got any clue what I'm doing." He really wasn't sure how effective his training method had been, and if he got the chance to try out even the lightest form of combat, it would be good for him.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

In place of a verbal response the girl summoned a training saber from a nearby rack, letting it fly into her hand with a controlled click. Thumb grazing the cylindrical base, she felt out a defensive position, the saber pressed idly to her side before she turned to look at Orson expectantly.

Tilting her head in an invitation to do the same, Cin only allowed him a second to respond. Despite being blind, she had a rather keen gauge on his placement. Honing in on his presence in the force like a dog would a rabbit. But instead of a frenzied swing, she kept her blade leveled. The saber coming down with just enough allowance to parry.

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

"Oh." was all that was said, as Orson caught onto what was happening. He had no real knowledge of any stances, nor techniques, so he reverted back to simply relying on his instinct. He slid his right foot back slightly, unsparing his shoulders so that his body was as small as possible to any frontal attacks. The lack of hesitation in her movement forward worried him slightly, as he assumed she at least vaguely knew what she was doing off of this. An attack coming down onto him seemed easy enough to respond to, and he did. A parry seemed logical to him, but it also seemed like it would take a lot of effort. Instead, he stepped his left foot further out to the left, before sliding his right foot back and to the side so that he was back into his original stance, now only at an angle to her.

Immediately after having side stepped, he simply slashed his blade across towards her side.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

Her bravado seemed to shake him initially, bolstering her confidence by the smallest of margins. That was until he retaliated with frustratingly little footwork.

Without being able to trace his footing, Orson's next advance became nearly impossible to detect. And as such, she was only aware of the blade a split second before it grazed her side, dropping to the floor in a last-ditch attempt to minimize contact.

"Chit- " The padawan grit her teeth, frustration welling in her chest. Practically every waking moment since stepping foot in the temple she'd thrown herself into drills as a method of distraction. As if pure repetition would be enough to outweigh being placed at such a visual disadvantage.

And yet it never seemed to be enough.

From her position on the floor she swung her blade back up, trying to exploit the opening he left from his attack with renewed conviction. "You're quiet-" She commented with more of an edge than she intentionally meant. Either way she didn't mean it as an insult, just a rationalization of why she'd failed so miserably to block.

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

Orson couldn't help but grin as she dropped, bringing his blade back towards him just as quickly as he'd slashed out with it. Being that low to the floor only seemed to be defensive to him, and naively he saw no really way of he counter attacking from that position. But alas, she had done and he was blissfully unaware of it until he noticed the upwards slash out of the corner of his vision. It was already too close for him to parry, and far too close to move out of the way entirely, but he could at least reduce the impact, as she had done earlier.

He stepped back slightly, loosing the stance he had established earlier, as the blade hit up into stomach. Orson bit down onto his tongue, not wanting to give a reaction to the attack, but it certainly stung a whole lot more than he had expected it too.

The comment amount him being quiet continued to play on his mind, so he decided to test something. He stomped hard with his right foot, slightly further to the right than he was currently stood, before stepping off left, slower than he would otherwise move, but much more soft footed, and slashed his blade downwards towards her shoulder.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

His hypothesis proved correct as Cin fought back a look of confusion. Misjudging his placement, she took up a defensive position and failed to thwart his attack, instead earning a well-placed blow to her shoulder. Breaking away in a frustrated grimace the girl straightened, placating her own exasperation as to not take it out on the younger Padawan.

“Subtle-” The girl crossed her arms, loosening a self-deprecating chuckle under her breath. “Pretty clever way to exploit a weakness.” It was genuine praise, something Cin didn’t often give out. Figuring it was well past time for a sincere introduction the girl relented. “I didn’t give my name earlier. It’s Cin-”

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

Orson was quite proud that his idea had prayed off, and pulled his blade back quickly, stepping back away from her. "Thanks." He grinned, relaxing slightly, and letting the training blade hanging idly in his hand. "Was half worried that I'd seem dumb in doing that, but I'm happy that paid off."

In hindsight, it had probably been a bit rude of him to spring a sparring match upon someone without having even introduced himself. "Oh, sorry, that slipped my mind. I'm Orson. How long have you been here? I got here pretty recently, so it's nice to actually start meeting some people."

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

“Not long- maybe a handful of weeks at this point.” The girl replied rather curtly, negating to offer anymore background. “So yeah, I know the feeling.”

Shifting from her spot, she raised a eyebrow, “Where’s home for you then? If this is all new to you?”

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

Both were quite new then, which was somewhat of a relief to Orson as he wasn't sure how frequently Padawans would arrive, so having someone close to his experience, or at least who would be close to, was nice.

"I'm from Atoa, so this was quite, uh.. A shock I guess arriving. Things are very big around here. What about you? You from around here? Although, to be honest, I don't know too many planets so sorry if I don't recognise it." He looked down to try training blade in his hand, trying to spin it around, quite clumsy in his attempts, as they spoke.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

"Atoa?" She echoed with apparent interest, "You're a long way from home kid." Perhaps "kid" was a tad condescending, she couldn't have been that much older herself.

Blinking in response to his courteous return of her question she breathed out something of an amused exhale. "I wouldn't say I'm really from anywhere. The Temple's as much of home as anywhere else I've lived." As in sterile and impersonal. Making a point to withhold that last bit the girl simply regarded the opposing Padawan's fumble.

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

"Very long way, yeah." He nodded in agreement, before quite visibly being surprised by being referred to as kid. Only being around one inch shorter than her, and being referred to as kid had caught him off guard. "Can't be that much younger than you.." He muttered more to himself than anything.

Not being from anywhere confused him, and he had half a mind to try push further in asking about that but he didn't and instead simply said "I guess the temple is homely.. Bit too big for me though, I keep getting lost which is annoying." Back home he had never realised how truly bad his sense of direction had been, but try as he might, he had only managed to memorise a few certain routes around the temple to follow. If he diverged at all, he tended to get horribly lost.

Cinjay Saito

 

[Cinjay Saito]

"I guess the temple is homely.. Bit too big for me though, I keep getting lost which is annoying."

That earned a genuine snort of amusement from the girl, "Yeah I can imagine." Being blind in an unfamiliar space with the square footage of small moon was by no means an easy feat.

"It'll grow on you." She made a rather pathetic attempt to reassure him, shrugging at her own uncertainty, "Y'know muscle memory and everything-"

Orson Velus

 

[Orson Velus]

"I'm sure it will, yeah." He nodded along as she spoke. "It is annoying in the mean time though."

He backed up slowly, trying to whirl the training saber around in his hand, only to drop it after a few moment. The Palawan muttered angrily under his breathe as he bent down to pick it back up just as quickly as he dropped it. "Do you want to try sparring again properly? I won't do any sneaky stuff like last time."

Cinjay Saito