Breaking Noses and Taking Names

[Joza Perl]

Slowly, gradually Joza had been settling into the Jedi lifestyle. It hadn’t been easy at first—and at times it still wasn’t—but she’d found it to be satisfying in a strange way. Maybe that was only because of the peaceful atmosphere on Voss and her balanced state of mind right now. The young Zeltron was an emotional mess at times, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t aware of it. In fact, ever since she’d started meditating she’d become more self-aware which in turn helped to control her feelings. She was still a work in progress, but she was learning.

Saber work was something she’d always found therapeutic. Instead of focusing on her messy thoughts, swinging a blade allowed her to put a good amount of her concentration into something physical. Of course, this was limited to most solo training and some sparring. When things started getting heavier she had to split her focus into blade work and keeping a level head, something she had always struggled with. Especially when death was a possibility, and especially when she found herself facing a Sith.

Midday had just passed on the training grounds, and the Padawan was working on her Soresu. Keeping her saber close to herself, she went through the practiced motions of the standard orbits around the body. One thing she’d noticed was how natural the movements became for her over time, but it wouldn’t mean that much if she couldn’t handle herself mentally in battle. A familiar presence washed over her heavily and she furrowed her brow, lowering her blue blade and returning to a neutral position. It had been a while since she’d come across [member="Jericho"], the mysterious Jedi who’d helped to guide her toward the Sanctum.

 

[Jericho]

"What is this annoying sound disrupting my silence." He said under his breath as the warrior stood up soundly after meditation. He scanned the area around her and off in the distance he saw a woman fending off some wolves. He unsheathed his saber and held it in one hand as he approached the woman and the wolves. He looked at her clothing and rage filled his soul and fires occupied his eyes. "You..." He said with a calm but under toned disgusted tone. He approached further towards this woman with anticipation of a battle. The woman laughed loudly as the wolves turn and faced him to growl. Slowly the woman and the wolves merged to form and horrid being, a pure abomination. His mind spun in circles and covered with darkness. The beast wolf came at him charging head first with fanged bared ready to draw his blood. Jericho's saber easily sliced her in half only to form two, he slashed recklessly again and again only for more to form until he was completely surrounded by hundreds of she beast and they tore him apart.

He opened his eyes.

A dream.

An odd one at that.

He had been sleepless for the most part since the disappearance of his daughter Asha but when he did finally sleep it would be short and filled with horrid dreams as those he just bore witness. The warrior stood up from the ground in which he slept and went to wash his face and cloak. It was time he had made his appearance to one, [member="Joza Perl"], a young dancer looming around for a place this galaxy. What she had in mind, did she even know? Apperantly not if she wanted him to teach her how to fight. He kept his presence little known to watch her practice the form Soreau. The warrior sighed, she learned a saber form already. It would be hard to shape her find in a fighting mentality when her first form learn was Soreau. The warrior walked up to her and she took to a neutral stance.

After a moment of looking her up and down and deeply into her enchanting emerald eyes. The warrior proceeded to punch her square in her face.

 

[Joza Perl]

As his presence drew closer, Joza could feel his restlessness though she was unsure of what the cause could be. As much as she had admired him from her childhood, she knew little about the warrior and the heaping pile of children he had fathered. He was, after all, the first Jedi she had ever met.

She turned toward [member="Jericho"] as he approached, her posture friendly and open. In the back of her mind she wondered how much of her practice he had seen before making himself known, but that wasn’t a pressing question right now. Fixing him with a curious look, the Padawan disengaged her saber and looked up at him.

“Master Jer—!!” She reeled back suddenly as his fist connected with her face, stumbling to keep herself from falling over. Placing a hand protectively over her now broken nose, she couldn’t help but glare up at him. “What was that for?!” She snapped, losing her cool for the moment. Normally she had no trouble being polite and respectful to her fellow Jedi, especially the Knights and Masters. For a moment, it seemed as if the loud little girl he’d met on Zeltros long ago had resurfaced.

He had caught her off guard which had embarrassed her, and she couldn’t help but be reminded of the first time they had met—consequently, the first time he’d broken her nose as well. But back then it seemed like an accident, and now she doubted that his fist had suddenly slipped.

 

[Jericho]

"You wanted to train with me." The warrior calmly stated. "Here I am."

Her calmness was easily shaken from when they had met at the club where she was dancing. She acted like when she was a child, her true open self. Though he could tell she has been through a great many things since they have seen each other, there was little change in her true self. The warrior cracked his neck lightly then quickly grabbed her wrist and using momentum lifted up her body and slammed her onto the ground, after doing so Jericho took a few step back wondering if [member="Joza Perl"], was understanding the concept. Or did he have to explain everything to her, like a child?

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza grunted as she felt her back crash into the ground after being suddenly lifted up by the wrist. Training? This is training? She took a moment to climb onto her hands and knees, steadying herself before rising. Her back and ribs ached and she had no doubt that there’d be bruises there by morning, but she was more irritated than anything. She’d just gotten over her injuries received on Lothal—including a broken nose—and now she had to deal with it again. Surprisingly, she had learned from her battle with the Sith Knight. Enough to know that there’s no way she’d win against [member="Jericho"], so why bother?

Green eyes scanned the Jedi Master for a few moments, the scowl on her face focusing into a more concentrated look. She still seemed displeased, but was unwilling to back down. The Zeltron could hold her own in a fight against an Acolyte by now, but against a legendary warrior? Well…what have I got to lose? I did say that I wanted to learn from him. At least he won’t kill me… Her thoughts trailed off with uncertainty, but she didn’t want to turn away from him. Somewhere in her mind Joza idolized Jericho, and would be crushed if he thought her to be weak of mind.

Here goes nothing. The Padawan shrugged off the thoughts that gave her hesitation and lurched forward, lowering her center of gravity as she aimed to sweep his legs with one of her own.

 

[Jericho]

A bold yet wise move, to shift her body weight to increase the momentum and power to back the kick aimed to his leg. Unfortunately for padawan [member="Joza Perl"], she was facing off with a Lorrdian combat master. Jericho shifted his front leg and took a step foot foreword so his shin would make contact with her inner thigh. In doing so, he would stop her attack prematurely and she would feel his cybernetic durasteel leg against her mushy thigh. From the position they were in Jericho lifted his back leg then aimed a kick to Joza's stomach. The kick itself was to see how the woman would react.

 

[Joza Perl]

Kkt..! Joza grimaced when his leg came into contact with her thigh. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been kicked before—as bluntly as that was put—but his leg didn’t feel fleshy like her own. It felt more like she was hit with a durasteel beam, and little did she know that it wasn’t far from the truth.

…! As his leg reeled back she barely had time to duck, dropping her entire body to a roll to avoid the kick to her stomach. That was too close… Springing upwards in a more defensive position with her arms held out and parallel to her, she examined her opponent. Unlike her time sparring with the other Padawans, Jericho didn’t seem to have any openings. Feinting to the side, she threw an elbow at his chest. The only thing she figured she had going for her was her natural swiftness, but Jericho’s size could easily combat that as her skill level paled in comparison to his.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

Jericho watched as she winced but recovered quickly from the blow he had done to her and roll to dodge the second attack he made. She came back to a defensive stance quickly but took the time to stop and analyze her foe. A wise decision. With that he wondered how she would calculate attacking him, now knowing she could no longer attack low. As she moved in feinted to side but kept momentum to the middle aiming her elbow to his chest. Interesting. Joza had the right idea but left herself open. Jericho mimicked her graceful dancer steps and spun to the opposite side of where she feinted him and side kicked her exposed belly.

"Enough now." The warrior started out. "I learned enough about you. You understand your foe and surrounding enough and you understand the flow of your body. But you utilize the space around you poorly. You have a fair defensive stance but if you take lead even if you pinpoint something you leave yourself exposed." The warrior removed his robes revealing his cybernetic limbs and revealing that even it his jedi robes with weighted after having hit the floor let out a loud "THUMP" echoing the training chamber. "Now that you wanted to train with me and become my padawan. We will focus on you having a balance of good defense and offense from here you may even develop your own style of fighting. "

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza let out a grunt as Jericho’s durasteel leg caught her in the side of her torso. The force of the kick and the pain that followed were enough to send the Padawan stumbling to the ground, though she hurried to push herself up. Steadying her weight on one knee, her head snapped up to Jericho has she felt his shadow loom over him, a hand over her injured side. There was still fight in her eyes, but it began to die as he spoke. Enough? That’s it? But we barely fought…! It wasn’t much of a fight, really. Pretty much just her getting beat up by someone more powerful, but that wasn’t anything new.

I guess he only needed a little bit of time to figure me out. Grunting again, she slowly stood to keep her balance and fixed him with a curious look as she took in his words. “You’re going to train me?” The words reverbed through the chamber similarly to the echo of his weighted robes. She sounded a bit incredulous, as if she didn’t expect that. So that makes sense…he’s as much machine as he is man. The Zeltron stared at his cybernetic limbs, not expecting to see them but somehow not surprised that he had them.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

The warrior and the zeltron held history spanning back to their youth, whether or not she had realized it they were connected through the force. Similar to that of her natural ability about empathy, Jericho had a level of understanding of the girls emotions. "Surprised?" The warrior rhetorically asked. "As you should be." He remarked. It was a rare thing for him to take in a padawan and taking the time to come and understand ones abilities, though with his trained eye it never took too much. "Now, dancer, you have an understanding of foot work and you do use it to your advantage. You move quite gracefully, I will admit that much."

The warrior said with a turn of his head he signaled for her to follow him out to the gardens. The warrior stood out several feet out from the girl, he raised his hand and controlled the earth to make an enclosed ring making it so she didn't have much room to move around and her main focus would be to fight enclosed. He would wanted to focus on her weaknesses first before expanding on her strengths. He took a step out of the ring and summoned a combat bot to take his place. "Step out of the ring and you get knocked by earth or burned by flame. Keep that in mind." The warrior stated calmly.

"The martial art I will be teaching you is called Stava." He started off giving her a short introduction to the skill. "It focus' on endurance and speeds and a mixture of strikes, pressure points to limbs and enclosed take downs." The warrior set the combat bot on to a easier setting for padawan Joza Perl and giving it a varied combination set. "Watch your foe, so you may know their movement. Watch your surroundings, so you can use it to your advantage. Control your breathing, so you can maintain composure and help your endurance." Before starting Jericho stood next to her and expected her to copy his movement giving her basic combinations to the martial art.

Jab, cross, hook, cross.

Jab, Cross, feint to the right and use momentum pick up and slam down the foe.

Jab, Jab, Cross, duck down, uppercut.

Jab, cross, low kick to leg, same leg high kick to face.

"The jab comes from the front hand which expands from your leading leg. Assuming you are right handed, your leading hand is the left as is your left leg. Jabs are fast strike aim to either distract or discombobulate your foe. Cross' are meant to have more pressure meant for strong attack. Your fist is backed by your body with the slight turn of your right leg. The basic take down is aimed for the front leg or the waist, use you momentum than your strength. If you are able to slam them, depending on how you slam them strike at their weak point. Such as their shoulder, thigh, or even the groin. Hooks are used with your left similar to the jab they are fast, but with more momentum you can break a persons jaw or rib with right precision. Uppercuts are the same as the cross, meant for a heavy hit, you can easily break someones jaw, guard, or at the very least wind some one with a precise hit. With some extra knowledge are you ready to begin padawan?"

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza nodded eagerly and followed [member="Jericho"] when signaled. When he motioned for her to stop, she nearly jumped as the earth raised around her but quickly settled back down. She had looked up to Jericho since she was a child, and wanted to show him that she was tougher than the last time they’d met. Even if he’d just beaten her soundly and eclipsed her in every area of combat, she figured he had to work hard to get to the point where he is now.

She swallowed when he mentioned what would happen if she stepped from the earthen rings, but it didn’t really surprise her. This was Jericho, and he wasn’t known for taking training lightly. Steeling herself, she straightened her posture and listened to him intently. Control my breathing…maintain composure… It almost made her laugh, but that was something she sorely needed to work on. Though she had been handling it better, the Zeltron would benefit from becoming more focused in battle.


She mimicked his movements to the best of her ability, eyes fixed on Jericho as he moved with a kind of precision that could only come from years of combat experience. Because she was no longer a complete novice, she was able to copy his moves with some level of efficiency, though there was an inexperienced edge to them. Giving him a mix between an eager nod and a stern look to convey her enthusiasm, Joza grunted. “Yes, Master.”

 

[Jericho]

The warrior nodded slowly seeing her eagerness to learn reminded him of his very first padawan, young Emily Kao. She would be about [member="Joza Perl"] 's age right now were she still alive at the very least. The warrior sighed lightly, at the thought, before lowering his hands and squating down into a mediation stance and floating calmly to watch and examine her movements closely against the bot. He wonder if she would pick up the skill set quickly due to her dancing skills as he hoped she would or would fighting hand to hand be a difficult skill, though the two arts were different, the foot movement were in some ways the same.After giving the girl a chance to breath and memorize the basics he nodded to her to tell her to get ready.The warrior looked over to the bot and clicked his finger setting the bot off to go. The bot charged at her recklessly swinging a heavy haymaker at the girl from the right in a south paw stance, meaning his right foot foreword and left foot back.

 

[Joza Perl]

Seeing [member="Jericho"] casually levitate was a little unnerving for Joza, somehow it made her realize that the gap in their power was even further than she had imagined. She hadn’t seen many Jedi who could wield an element as well as Jericho, much less multiple ones. I wonder what he had to go through to get to where he is now. His cybernetic limbs were a testament to the trials he’d faced, no doubt. I wonder how far I can go…

Turning her attention back to the bot, Joza focused on her opponent for the time being, running over the techniques Jericho had taught her in her mind. It would likely take her time to get used to them, but she’d certainly make the time to practice. With the Sith running about causing mayhem, any sort of combat training would only help her. As the droid surged forward, Joza steeled herself and took in as much of its movement as she could before she needed to react. Stepping out with her left foot forward, she threw her left arm up in a sharp jabbing motion, clashing with the bot. The Zeltron would grunt at the heavy pressure against her arm but tried to follow through, attempting to slam the butt of her palm into the bot’s head.

 

[Jericho]

It was rare for the warrior to take in a student, aside from the heavenshield boy, he hadn't bothered to teach anyone else now why did he take in lady Joza? As they continued their time together, the bond between the two began to grow more and more so together was that the reason? Was it because they had known each other for such a long span of time? The warrior could feel it, she was much stronger in the force than she had realized. Was that the reason? Her potential? Or was it just the will of the force that they stay crossed and tight in each others path? The reason remained unknown even to him despite asking himself so many questions.

"Combinations Joza, we are working speed and pinpointing your strikes not how strong they can be." The warrior grunted. "When a a foe swings wide go in tight and strike so that have no room to counter."

As Joza attempted to push further in with the strike the robot weaved back with her punch and leaned to the back slight and countered with a uppercut aimed to her stomach but that wasn't where the bot was aiming the bot the followed with a over head punch aiming for Joza's jaw doing a low and high combination.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Jericho’s words rung in Joza’s head as the bot’s punch to her head landed true, rocking her vision for a couple moments. She stumbled back with a grimace, nearly falling out of the earthen ring before swaying back inside of it. The sudden thought of getting burned kept her on her toes. Even if she was able to avoid the blow to her stomach, she’d been duped by the second attack and had taken it to the face. Why does it always have to be the face?

Growling in slight frustration, the Zeltron steadied herself before going in again, keeping her body as tight as possible before lashing out in a quick strike aimed for the bot’s neck. In the back of her mind she wondered why a lone wolf like him—likely with many other things to do—would bother to help her. Was it because of their meeting so long ago? He was what had sparked her wanting to become a Jedi in the first place, as the more she trained in the ways of the Force the more she slowly began to understand how connections between Force sensitive beings worked.

[member="Jericho"]