A Late Duel (Veino Garn)

[Minna]

[OOC: Sorry I took so long to post this! [member="Veino Garn "]]

Minna sat in her usual spot by the middle of the training grounds, eyes closed and legs crossed as she meditated. Her lightsaber floated infront of her, as she was in deep concentration with the force. It had become a habit for her to meditate before a meeting, lesson or duel, and this was no exception to that habit. She had arranged to duel a fellow Grey at the temple, and increase his skill in Ataru. So, the Yodaling waited patiently.

 

[Veino Garn]

(No worries. I had no work access for the past several days)

Veino took a deep breath, savoring the clear air. Today was a good day. He double checked his lightsaber and headed out to meet [member="Minna"] where she was waiting for him.

He stopped when he was a few feet from her and gave a respectful nod, "Hello, friend, if I may refer to you in such a way."

 

[Minna]

Upon Veino's arrival, the floating lightsaber lowered carefully into her outstretched hand. Her eyes opened and set themselves on her fellow padawan. "Friends, we are." She nodded, standing up and straightening out her grey robes. "Get to it, shall we?" A smile appeared before she turned and created some distance between herself and Veino. It was obvious she liked to get straight to things, especially since she was looking forward to this duel.

Once they were a reasonable distance apart, Minna turned back around to face him. Her grey robes slid from her shoulders and onto the floor, revealing a black tunic outfit. With a flick of her right hand, her lightsaber came into her palm and ignited with a bright white blade. "Allow you the first move, I shall." She grinned this time, entering her Ataru opening stance and waiting for [member="Veino Garn "]

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino nodded and took a few steps back, activating his own yellow lightsaber and placing himself in the Soresu stance, and depowering the blade enough to avoid injury. He circled slowly, getting a feel for the footing of the ground, and struck out in a quick feint.

[member="Minna"]

 

[Minna]

The feint caused Minna to instinctively swing into a block. However only seconds after going for the block did she realise it left her open, and so she drew her lightsaber away from his and spun around to the right try and hit him from the back. Her lightsaber was already depowered, and so any successful hit would only sting. "Outsmarted me, you nearly did." She grinned as she swung for his back.

@Veino Garn

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino felt the Force warn him the blow was coming and swung his blade behind his back to block, and then spun around to face [member="Minna"] again. He shrugged at her comment, "Not as much as it seems, since you realized it stopped the trick." He took another step back and returned to a block.

 

[Minna]

Minna felt the force flow through her. She exhaled a deep breath, placing one foot forward with her lightsaber held by her side. "Have you ever fought against someone who used Ataru?" Her mouth curled into a smirk, as she used the force to aid a jump high enough to leap above [member="Veino Garn "]and bring her lightsaber swinging down behind him at his right shoulderblade. It wouldn't matter if the attack succeeded or not, as she would still land on the other side and raise her lightsaber to ready herself for any counter Veino may bring. "Heard it is hard to fight against Ataru, I have." She said, still smirking.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino shrugged, ducking under the leap and twisting to the side to evade the blow, wincing slightly as it creased his tunic. "I might have, though they are typically taller and not as good a jumper as you are." A weakness of Ataru was its lack of defensive options though. He took a deep breath, centering himself in the Force, and struck out with a fast but controlled barrage of strikes flowing from one to another.

[member="Minna"]

 

[Minna]

Minna had always known defense wasn't Ataru's strong point, and had expressed that concern to Jedi Master Vulpesen when he was teaching her it. What she hadn't realised was that Ataru made up for it's lack of defense in not needing it at all. Keep Moving, her master had told her constantly until she perfected the most important part of the form. So with that in mind, Minna sprung into action.

The first few strikes from [member="Veino Garn "]she would block, seeming to engage in full on combat with him and fool him into a false sense of forthcoming victory. However, on her last block she pushed hard against his lightsaber, aiming to send it aside and give her the few seconds she needed leap up again. This time the jump went only up to his upper chest, where she sent a force-aided kick crashing into. The impact of the kick would allow her to flip backwards and land again. Hopefully this would cause her opponent to stagger, allowing her to get ready only for her to leap forward again, this time over Veino, with a flurry of several strikes to hopefully catch him off guard with atleast one of them. Her lightsaber's white blade made a dazzling light show, before she landed on the other side of him to see whether or not her attack had succeeded.

Keep moving. The words ran through her head all that time...

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino worked his way into the flow of the duel and then staggered back as the kick caught him in the chest, but he regained his balance and rolled to the side, using the Force to stand up more quickly while sending a quick force push towards @Minna. She was right. It was a difficult form to fight. Time to rethink again. Never stop moving. That would be the key. Keep circling around so she would have to keep moving to keep up.

He lifted his lightsaber up in a guard, wiping sweat from his forehead, and started circling again, balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to twist in any direction.

 

[Minna]

The force push caught Minna off-guard, causing her to stumble backwards slightly. However, she quickly regained her balance. "My ally, Movement is. Only go against you, it will." Minna smirked again, circling in unison with [member="Veino Garn "]for a while and fixing her gaze on him. After a few moments of circling, the Yodaling leaped forward and striked downwards with her lightsaber at her opponent. While in the air, Minna let the force come to her so that when Veino made any sort of move she could send a force push directly at him afterwards, hoping to either knock him down to the floor or atleast away from her depending on the angle of impact. Either way, she would land and assume a defensive stance, readying herself for any counters by circling him again.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino gave a slight nod, "Perhaps it will. Perhaps not." He backpedal led as she jumped and fell as the Force push slammed into him. That was a good move. He rolled to the side, and flipped himself up as she resumed circling. Soresu was not working well. He did have another option to consider though. He'd wait and see though for what she did.

[member="Minna"]

 

[Minna]

Minna gave a small smirk, mainly to try and dishearten her opponent. Inside, Minna knew that she only had one form; Ataru, whilst Veino knew atleast more than one. He had the ability to switch between fighting styles, whereas she didn't. Masking her doubts as best as she could, the Yodaling lunged forward and leaped again, this time attempting to land on his shoulder. It would be a hard feat to achieve, but if she did, her small feet would allow her to easily maintain balance on his shoulder, and bring her lightsaber inches away from his neck to try and get him to surrender the duel.
However, if she didn't achieve her landing, it wouldn't go well for her...

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino slid to the side as [member="Minna"] jumped towards him, and twisted out of the way, bringing his blade back,mans then twisting around and up towards her, increasing the speed and strength with the Force, while reaching out with the Force to pull her in that direction as well.

Shien was not a good form to counteract Ataru, but that's what he was limited to at the moment. He really needed to start studying new forms again. Especially Djem So.

 

[Minna]

Minna didn't expect to land on his shoulder, so she was prepared to land, yet she also didn't expect to feel herself being pulled towards [member="Veino Garn "]and seeing his lightsaber getting closer to her. She brought her lightsaber up infront of her new direction fast, clashing with his roughly and causing her to fly past it, rolling on the floor after impact. She raised her head up from her lying position, noticing her lightsaber now lay uselessly a few metres away from her. "Movement, my ally was. But the element of surprise, you had." She smirked, using the force to pull her lightsaber into her hand and ignite it's white blade again. With the last ounces of energy she could muster, she leaped forward with the force, aiming to slice horizontally across Veino's chest area, hopefully before he could react. However, she knew this was her last chance, as she felt the after-effects of sustained Ataru coming on; fatigue.

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Minna"]

Veino gave a short nod at her line. It was true, indeed, but he had no available energy in his brain for witticisms. They had never really been his strong suit, and he was even worse at them in duels. Sweat trickled down his neck, and he could tell his heart rate had increased. It was an advantage of Soresu compared to others. It wasn't meat as intensive.

He snapped his blade upwards, catching her blade in a perpendicular lock, and then shoved downwards, again using the Force to enhance his speed and the strength of the blow, aiming to knock. Her off balance, and if it happened, he would follow up with a pair of diagonal slashes, creating an x shape, essentially.

 

[Minna]

Minna's lightsaber clashed with Veino's, the sudden force sending her stumbling backwards a few inches. Before she had time to recover, two diagonal slashes came whirring at her. She tried to bring her lightsaber to block the first slash, but it merely made her stumble more. By the time the second slash came, it was too late. Veino's blade sliced at the top of her tunic's sleeve, leaving a cut in the fabric and a stinging pain. The Yodaling let out a harsh breath, clumsily holstering her lightsaber by her side. "Worn out, I am..." She looked up at Veino, giving a weak smile. "Need to learn more forms, I do." After another breath, she lowered herself down into a sitting position, it was obvious she needed to regain her energy. "A good fighter, you are. Worthy of being a knight."

[member="Veino Garn "]

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino yanked the lightsaber back as it made contact, and then deactivated it, heart pounding and breathing harder than normal. He gave a small bow, and then went to take a seat across from @Minna. He gave a small smile at her comment.

"More forms would help, certainly. You'd be able to adjust your tactics based on the duration of the duel and opponent, and thank you. I should hope so, since I was only promoted after fighting a Sith Knight here at the compound..." His voice trailed off sadly, remembering seeing Krest consumed by rage and hatred. Their first loss. "As for forms, I recommend Soresu for everyone. Niman, when mastered, is another excellent one for all students. It takes a decade to master though." He frowned, thinking. "What oh her form do you think best suits you?"

 

[Minna]

Minna took a few deep breaths, centering herself to regain her energy. "Jar'Kai, might be useful. A second lightsaber I have. Use it, I might aswell." She nodded, then looked up to Veino. "Soresu, you could teach me one day, hmm?" The Yodaling smiled, holding out her left hand to pull her grey robes towards her with the force, then standing so she could put them back on. She left her hood down, casting her gaze to the nearby temple walls. "When Alexandra returns, a Knight, I hopefully will become. A test I must pass. Helped me prepare, you have." Minna smiled again, but only shortly. Her mind drifted to the mystery of where her master had gone. "If, she returns." She added, looking elsewhere along the walls, idly.

[member="Veino Garn"]

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino nodded, "Jar'Kai would definitely be an advantage." He gave a small laugh, "I will teach Soresu at any time." He grew solemn with the later comments. Indeed. He had been wondering hat as well. She had disappeared, and he had no idea where to potentially contact her. "I think you are ready for the test, although I don't know what it'll be like. Whatever it is, the Force will be with. Always." It would be good to have another knight. He could,feel the strain tearing at him. He had to be careful now, because if he wasn't, it would break him.

[member="Minna"]