Private Fight! Fight!

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

Well, it had taken three days and several missteps, but Astri had finally found the training rooms.

She tiptoed her way in, hoping to avoid disturbing anyone. She wasn't really here to train, not yet... but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Most people she knew back home probably would have revered this room. For her people, sparring was the greatest form of self expression—more clear, more intimate, and more honest than any other way of communicating. But to Astri, fighting had always fallen short as a way to express herself... and she had fallen short too.

She found herself approaching a rack of bokken up against a wall. Practice blades—probably ornamental and decorative, as most Jedi she'd seen exercising used training sabers. Her fingers lifted one off the rack anyways, admiring the polished wood with a frown on her face. Why couldn't she fit the norm for her people: confident and a capable warrior? Why did she have to be... this? Bookish, and afraid, and... whatever the opposite of a warrior was?

Mom had been what an Echani ought to be. And a Jedi on top of that. If Astri couldn't even manage the former, how was she supposed to achieve the latter?

Quietly, she placed the bokken back on the rack. She probably wasn't supposed to touch it anyways. Then, she turned for the door.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris had his head tilted as the door opened. He'd come this way for his usual morning practice drills. He was half asleep, even, but the sound of the door opening on it's own had him pause in surprise. No one usually used this room. It was out of the way, removed. Isolated. It made it easier for him to be less worried about accidentally hurting someone who wandered in on his training. But someone else had shown up. Someone he didn't fully recognize but at least knew. "Astri, right?" He offered a brief smile before he stepped out of the way, somewhat.

".. Were you looking for someone to spar with?"

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

"Astri, right?"

As was becoming the norm since she'd come to the Order, Astri jumped about a foot in the air, shrill cry of shock leaving her lips. Her feet hit the training mat with a stumble, and she spun around on a dime, face as red as a tomato. The boy in front of her was tall. So tall that Astri herself felt like a mouse before a giant—maybe an exaggeration, but he was taller than a lot of adults she'd bumped into here.

"Y-yes!" She straighened up considerably, posture becoming rigid as if she were a solider at attention, "I'm sorry, I-I don't recognize you. Have we met before?"

She was pretty sure she'd have recognized someone who stood out to her like this, or even if he hadn't stood out. She was terrible with people, but good with remembering faces. She just... typically didn't talk to all those faces she knew. Astri wouldn't even know where to begin with that: starting a conversation with a stranger. How did people do it?

"You... you want to fight?" She gulped, "I-I'm not very good at that."

Well, compared to the average Padawan her age, she was probably more than passable. But by her people's standards? Not so much.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris blinked in surprise. She didn't recognize him? It was a conceited thought for sure, but he was long used to those within the Order here on Coruscant knowing who he was. His parents were the Sword and Shield after all. Some didn't care one way or another, but they at least knew who he and his sister were. He ended up smiling. "In passing. I'm good with faces and names, is all. I'm Aris." If she didn't know who he was, then, that was fine. Better than fine. It was just good to not have that weight on his shoulders. He glanced to the room past her before blinking.

Was she nervous about a spar?

"I.. Do like sparring, yes. We don't have to, though? It's not something that's mandatory for the Jedi, though."

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

The boy smiled at her. She smiled back, but it was a warbled thing, performed by a face that was fighting nervous tics. She wasn't used to... this, but it was a lot better than bumping into someone, or being lost. At least this time around, she wasn't disturbing someone who was in the middle of something. So, as far as introductions went, this was probably her best.

"H-hi, Aris! I'm Astri—" She flushed red, "which you... already... knew."

Okay, maybe this wasn't her best introduction. Maybe next time.

"I.. Do like sparring, yes. We don't have to, though? It's not something that's mandatory for the Jedi, though."

While she preferred the idea of not sparring, a large part of her didn't like the idea of disappointing Aris. Especially after he'd been so nice to her. And... she was Echani, even if she was a poor representation of her people. She may not have been as well-trained as her peers, but she still found it was far easier to understand people through battle than through talking to them.

"We can spar!" She shouted, perhaps a little too eagerly, "b-but I don't know how to use a lightsaber. I've never even held one. We... could do unarmed combat, maybe? Or quarterstaffs? O-or we could use those bokken on the wall?"

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris blinked in surprise at the sudden eagerness. Was it forced? He could see there was some reservations in how she spoke about it, but.. If she was going to insist, he wasn't going to say no. He nodded once, turning back into the room to glance about the weapon racks. Unarmed or quarterstaffs? He paused briefly by the bokkens. The memory of how he shattered one with a strike came to mind.

He was going to have to hold back.

"What are you most comfortable with?"

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

"I'm better with a quarterstaff than anything..."

Short, no reach, lightweight—against someone as big as Aris, she stood no chance in hand-to-hand. Really, even with a big stick in her hands, she didn't think she stood much of a chance. But... she'd have to fight eventually, right? Jedi fought, even if they didn't like it, like her people typically did. So, while she wasn't particularly excited to spar, even she could accept that it was a good thing to do.

Besides, it wasn't like she'd never fought in her life. She'd fought all her life. Even for her, it was the truest form of self-expression. She sucked in a breath, puffing up a bit, as she egged herself on.

"But, uhh, I don't really know where we'd find one. I only saw the bokkens. Do you know where we can find quarterstaffs?"

There had to be some around here, right? If they had wooden swords, wooden staves weren't out of the question. But Astri had been in the training rooms all of one time—this time. But she was sure that Aris knew this place pretty well. Considering how much he seemed to want to spar, it'd be weird if he didn't.

 

[Aris Noble]

"They have more unique types of weapons in the supply closet." Bokkens were always out and available, since they were a lead in to learning how to properly use a Lightsaber. But no two people were the same, and there were plenty of other cultures that would have their own weaponry. He nodded towards the closet in question as he took up one of the wooden blades, idly turning it in his hand to get a feel with it. He bent it, actually, between his hands. Just a little, to test the strength. Last thing he wanted was for it to shatter again as he sparred with someone.

Breaking a wooden post was enough in his mind.

"Are you Echani?"

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

"T-there's a closet?" Astri watched Aris point out the closet in question, "...oh."

She stepped toward the closet quietly, swinging its doors open with a nervous breath. It was just a little sparring. Something that had been part of her daily routine back home. No reason to be anxious, right? Except... what if she was about to prove that she didn't have what it took to become a Jedi? Jedi were warriors, right? At least, that's what everyone said back home...

She slapped her cheeks, and shook her head. Grab stick, spar, go from there. It could really be that simple.

Astri took a quarterstaff in her hands, and took a moment to admire the woodwork, testing its weight and the way it felt in her hands. She may have been remedial by her people's standards, but she was far from clueless as to what she was doing. She decided she didn't like the length of the one she was holding, and instead found a shorter staff made of a rich hawthorne.

This one would do.

She came back to Aris a few moments later, borrowed weapon in hand. With a deep breath to center herself, Astri dropped into a low stance, holding one end of the staff out in front of her. Typically, she preferred to rest her hands closer to the middle of a quarterstaff, but she was going to need every inch of reach against Aris—who was much larger than her.

"Whenever you're ready..."

 

[Aris Noble]

Was she too nervous to answer? Aris tilted his head, but he didn't ask her again of her origins. If she didn't want to answer, he certainly wasn't going to make her. Instead, he lowered his stance, centered his gravity, and lifted the blade above head in both hands. She said she was ready, but she just seemed.. Nervous, yeah.

He didn't want to hurt her. But he also didn't want to insult her. His eyes narrowed in focus as his expression stilled. He looked intense, his green eyes studying her over before he did move. Lightning quick, just a step forward to suddenly close the gap as he brought the blade down as quick as he could, if still controlled so he wouldn't end up breaking anything.

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

It was probably for the best that Astri didn't know she'd missed an entire question from Aris. Because if she'd known, she'd probably have gone so stiff with embarrassment that she'd tear with the slightest poke. She'd be mortified of her own rudeness, unable to do anything other than stand there as red as a tomato. And tomatoes couldn't spar.

Aris came at her with a bokken. And Astri changed.

Whatever meek shell she hid in disappeared. Timid eyes turned hard and focused. Uncertain features turned stone cold, rosy cheeks fading to the natural hue of her skin. That nervous way she held herself transformed into something practiced and ready. Instinct took over, and suddenly Astri was simply no longer Astri, but some other entity.

The sword came down. Astri held her staff up, letting her hands slide down the end of it. Aris's bokken slapped the middle of her weapons so hard that the sturdy wood flexed and her fingers vibrated, but neither the quarterstaff nor Astri broke.

She leapt back, trying to put space between herself and her opponent. Her grip on the tool changed, hands coming closer to one end of the staff, so that she might use its length to make up for her disadvantage in reach. Then she gave Aris a few swift jabs, testing the boy to see if there were any holes in his defense.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris either didn't or couldn't hide the surprise. It was brief, and showed really only in his eyes, but he hadn't expected her attitude to change so suddenly, so drastically, from the nervousness she'd been displaying. Astri seemed almost like a different person entirely. And honestly? It had him grinning. Or at least what an Aris grin looked like, which was just a small, barely noticeable smile. He wat5ched as she leapt back, taking a moment before he charged back in. Studying, watching. Holding back in the slightest was a mistake, then?

He weaved through her jabs, stepping towards her between each thrust of the quarterstaff. He could see them, dodge them, but she still had the reach, right? He could grab it and yank it away, but that would defeat the purpose of training, right? So rather than try to overwhelm her immediately he flicked his blade around to try and catch her thrust and pin her staff to the floor with one hand and throw a fist with the other, suddenly stepping forward with it to try and catch her by surprise.

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

Astri noticed the smallest of smiles grace Aris' face, but quickly dismissed the observation. Her focus was wholly on the fight in front of her, and the larger boy who was much more competent than his first blow had let on. It seemed that he had been testing her, just as much as she was testing him with her quick jabs. Jabs that he stepped past, forcing Astri to backpedal unless she wanted to lose what little advantage her quarterstaff gave her in reach.

His legs were longer, though.

Astri didn't have the advantage of precognition like most Jedi—didn't have the advantage of any kind of Force training yet—but years of sparring had honed her instincts to a sharp point... even if that point wasn't as keen as it should have been. So when Aris's blade caught the end of her quarterstaff, she already suspected that he was trying to rob her of its use.

He pinned it to the floor. Next came the punch he lobbed her way. She had expected him to step past the end of her weapon, and rely on the bokken, not engage a bareknuckle brawl. Her arm came up the shield her, but it was just a fraction too late: instead of catching his punch in her hand, his knuckles slapped the underside of her forearm with enough strength to shake her.

She was definitely going to have an ugly bruise there.

With her staff pinned, and Aris too close for her to use it anyways, Astri's only response was to strike with her own hand. And so she did: aiming a palm strike at his chest, in hopes that it would push him away and free her weapon once more.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris took the hit. There was momentary concern as she'd shielded herself only to catch his punch against her arm. He could see what her intent was, but having it hit there wasn't going to be good for her. At least he didn't break her arm. Maybe. Hopefully. She at least seemed to be ready to strike again, which was enough for him to refocus back on the spar again. And grinned. Even as he was pushed away, back a step, he lifted his blade from her staff to cut right for her chest. Not really to hit her, but to in turn force her back as he readjusted his footing.

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

Astri nearly had to throw herself backwards to avoid Aris' blow, and she was pretty sure he had only meant to separate them. If he'd actually tried to hit her... well, she didn't think that she could have done anything about that, other than get hit. He was bigger, faster, and she was quickly coming to the conclusion that he was just better as well. That didn't surprise her, really. She'd always lagged behind in this particular discipline.

Even so, she'd be a poor Echani if she withdrew simply because she didn't think she'd win the fight.

So Astri raised her staff, ignoring the painful throbbing in her forearm. She'd tried playing defensively, and Aris had just walked right into her space. So she got aggressive this time: she leapt from the ground, staff raised over her head, and brought down a heavy overhead blow. Jumping in the middle of a fight wasn't typically a great idea—she couldn't dodge when she was hanging in the air—but she needed the extra force that gravity would provide her with if she was going to match the boy's strength.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris's subtle grin returned again. He couldn't help himself. She was adapting, trying to find different ways to best him. At least, that's what he figured. She didn't give up, so she had to have a plan right? A jumping strike was easy to read, avoid, even, but she had a plan with it, right? Anticipating a trap of some kind he chose to meet her head on rather than try to avoid or escape. So, he swung. Both hands on the hilt of his blade, swinging up to meet her staff with all his might.

Too much, though. He didn't hesitate, didn't think carefully. The moment his blade would hit, it let out a loud crack. Not just of wood hitting wood, but his bokken splintering. Not that he noticed right away, he was just having too much fun.

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

Wood struck wood with a crack sharp enough that Astri thought it might have been bone. But moments later, she was assaulted with wood chips falling into her face—the remnants of the upper half of her quarterstaff. She pulled back in surprise, holding the splintered end in front of her as if to verify that what she was seeing with her own eyes was actually real.

She looked at Aris next, and found that his bokken was splintered as well, but it hadn't quite exploded as her weapon had. Had they really struck at one another that hard? What if she'd hit him in the collar bone? She could have done some serious damage.

"U-umm... we might want to consider new weapons. O-or hand-to-hand." Astri suggested, "for safety's sake."

Training accidents happened, of course, but it was better to try and prevent them than to embrace them. What if one of them broke a limb? They'd be defenseless when the Dark Empire finally invaded Coruscant. Not that Astri expected to see any fighting herself soon, but... it was an important thing to keep in mind.

 

[Aris Noble]

"Safety's sake, huh."

Aris's attention was immediately pulled to her bruised arm, and he ended up frowning in thought. Intense thought, at that. His mind was in the same place as hers; if they were too badly injured it'd only make it more difficult on them if the Dark Empire launched their attack. He didn't want that sort of pressure on either of them. He let out a sigh as he lowered the broken blade. "Perhaps it might be a good idea to do.. Something else, than spar out right."

Astri Elyse

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Aris Noble

Some odd part of her was struggling with coming down now that their spar was over. Like the adrenaline in her veins still wanted to fight, while her mind was more than happy to be done. It didn't make sense—she'd never felt like this before, even with all her training back on Eshan. She had never liked fighting. It had always just been a neutral thing to her, but it was a part of her culture and thus she took part in it.

But fighting Aris had almost been... dare she say fun?

"Perhaps it might be a good idea to do.. Something else, than spar out right."

"Umm... maybe we shouldn't fight each other, but maybe we could still do kata?" Astri offered, "I know it's not quite the same, but I could show you the beginning tiers of the Echani styles. I already promised Zaiya Ceti that I would show her... so..."

So it couldn't hurt, right? Maybe she wasn't as experienced in them as she ought to be, but even she could instruct Aris on the first few tiers of exercises. He'd just have to find a better teach if he wanted to learn the advanced stuff.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris, despite himself, grimaced at the mention of Echani. He'd already thought out she was, but his Epicanthic pride couldn't help but rear up some at the other warrior culture. Still, he let out a sigh to expel such a grimace and smiled instead. He knew how personal Echani styles were to their people, so her offering it meant a lot didn't it? Yeah. He nodded once. "I can show you the basics of Epicanthix in turn, then. It would be a fair trade I think."

Astri Elyse