Private Form, precision, etc.

[Joland Graves]

Valery Noble

It was difficult for Joland to fully appreciate Master Noble's explanation. Jungles were not a familiar landscape. The underground of Coruscant was cutthroat in it's own way and predators existed, although they carried knives and pistols rather than teeth and claws. Even so, there was always backup. It wasn't the same isolation and desperation that he imagined a jungle would be.

"What happened? How did you survive?" Curiosity killed the vornskr. Hopefully the padawan wasn't pressing too hard.

The story and the decision to leave the scar added to her mythos. She didn't ask for respect, she earned it. It wasn't taken, it was given gladly.

Joland nodded. "I would love to learn. I'm not sure how flexible I am (for Ataru) but I'm willing to try." Might be more of a comedy show than a training session. But the galaxy needed laughter; it was healing, right?

The padawan pressed the ignition switch on his lightsaber. The blue blade hummed, a harmony that said: I'm ready.

 

[Valery Noble]

Sleheyron

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Joland Graves

"I survived because my Master found me before it was too late. He took care of the beasts that attacked me, but we weren't able to find our target and had to abandon the mission to get me medical help," Valery explained calmly. She wasn't ashamed of what happened or struggled to talk about it — what happened that day had changed her in ways that eventually made her who she is today.

Every Jedi would make their own mistakes at some point and find a way to move forward.

Valery then chuckled when he stared about Ataru and tapped against her thigh, "Nobody is flexible when they start. It takes time, practice, and pain to be able to do it all. But... being able to laugh about it will help." She flashed him a smirk, and once his blade ignited, she decided to move. With a powerful and lightning-speed jump, she moved up and over him, flipping in the air to keep him in front of him while she landed behind him.

Valery then lashed out with a quick sweep and smirked again. "Ataru is all about momentum and rotations around the three axes, either in the air or on the ground." From spinning around the vertical axis to become a whirlwind, to a rotation around the horizontal axis to flip over something or someone.

It was hard to grasp sometimes, so she wanted to show him.

 

[Joland Graves]

Valery Noble

She spoke calmly and explained the situation matter-of-factly. Joland was surprised by her candor. Authority often bred arrogance. Even Jedi weren't immune to that. It was a popular occurence in the CSF — cops on a power trip; nevermind the corruption and general lack of integrity that came with unchecked power. But it didn't appear Master Noble fell prey to that. She spoke with humility, not shame. That was leadership. He could appreciate that.

"Glad you're still around."

Her violet blade came to life. She suddenly moved. Speed met agility. Before he had time to think, she was behind him. The blade came sweeping at him and he stumbled forward at the last moment to avoid the attack. Half a second later and he'd be black and blue. Thank the Force. Literally.

"Probably should have expected that."

He regained his composure. "Three axes, hm. Up, down, side-to-side?" The padawan moved forward rapidly. He couldn't mimic a flip like that — not yet — but momentum he could do. He kicked off the ground, the Force surging through his legs and momentarily propelling him forward in a straight line; his feet never touched the ground. It wasn't exactly a whirlwind, but kinetic energy carried him along. His lightsaber flashed, sweeping across to her right shoulder!

 

[Valery Noble]

Sleheyron

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Joland Graves

"I plan to stick around for a long time," she joked in response, right before she engaged with Ataru's speed and agility on display. It was perhaps a little much for an opening move in how flashy it looked, but she wanted to get the point across and help him understand the form better. His question already made her believe that he was, but there was more to it.

"And forward and backward," she added. "But don't just think about them as moving along those lines. Think about rotation around them as well. The simplest to imagine is the vertical axis through your body. If you rotate around it, you're spinning." She grinned and watched him engage. Rotations around those axes were imporant, but moving along them to generate momentum and stay moving was just as important.

Joland demonstrated this when he surged forward, but his blade would only meet the air as well, with Valery jumping up into the air and backwards to evade. Her feet touched the wall a second later, and she used it to bounce to another wall before, bouncing to him from his left flank in the blink of an eye.

Finally, she raised her blade and swept it down with great power and speed.

 

[Joland Graves]

Valery Noble

Joland's lightsaber greeted the empty space where Valery's body once was. Nothing remained there but dust and rapidly dissipating residual warmth. She was fast. Really fast. The young padawan stumbled forward again — he was doing a lot of that recently — and clumsily rolled. Black combat boots met the ground as Joland's world righted itself and stabilized. His body's equilibrium was working overtime trying to keep up.

"Spinning seems dangerous," he said a little stubbornly. He wasn't convinced of Ataru's efficacy yet. "I feel exposed, like I'm easily open to being counterattacked."

It felt very all or nothing.

Blink — and then Valery pounced. She definitely wasn't giving her all, but it sure felt like it to the inexperienced padawan.

He was in a crouched position, and able to pivot, pulling his blade up as quickly as possible. But the battlemaster hit like a truck. Speed, agility, AND strength. Joland's lightsaber met her's but her strength sent him stumbling — again... sigh — backwards.

THWAAAP, his head crashed against the ground. His world blinked white, then normality returned. He was able to stabilize on his feet, the constant stumbling and tumbling paying off in a way, but his head swam and felt light. Adrenaline and endorphins coarsed through his body, pushing the pain away. He would pay for that, but later.

For now, the dogged padawan was determined to continue. Joland's cool blue eyes increasingly reflected off the energetic plasma of his lightsaber's blue blade, matching its intensity.

He quickly readied himself for a follow up attack. This time Joland adopted a Shii-Cho stance. The reason was three-fold:

• It was what he was most familiar with.
• He hoped the wide, sweeping manuevers would restrict space, limiting her movement.
• Lastly, as a blank slate. A reference point; something with which to compare against, understanding from an opponent's point of view the strength and weaknesses of Ataru, simplifying it.

Was he still gonna get his ass kicked? Yah.
Did he care? Nah.
Well, he would later when he was lying in the medbay, telling all the nurses Valery bullied him.

Joland pressed forward and swung his lightsaber in a flurry of arcing sweeps. A parade of color — black and blue.

 

[Valery Noble]

Sleheyron

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Joland Graves

"It can be dangerous," Valery agreed with his comment about spinning. Without use of the Force, it was highly questionable to ever spin but even with its augmentation, one had to be careful. There were situations when it was extremely useful for a Force user, but in duels against other skilled duelists, it was often far too risky. "Learning when to use it and when to avoid it will help a great deal." But with that said, their spar continued.

Of course, Valery was never going all-out against a student, knowing that it wouldn't help them improve. But she'd never make it easy either — she wanted to push whoever trained with her just beyond their comfort zone and force them to adapt and get faster, stronger, and more precise with their movements.

While effective, it usually meant a little pain as well.

Seeing him hit the floor with his head was a warning to her, and while she allowed him to recover and readjust in his Shii-Cho stance, she knew it would be for the best to wrap things up as well. So after he made his counter-attack, and their blades clashed several times, she forced him into a lock and shot him a quick grin.

"Well done," she told him before she pushed back and disengaged her lightsaber. "I'm very impressed with how you hold up in Shii-Cho especially. It's not a form many choose to focus on, but I believe you'd be very effective with it if you did. It's your choice though, of course." She chuckled and bowed her head to formally end the spar.

"Unless you have any questions, I suggest that you visit the medical wing a quick visit, just to be safe. I can teach you more about Ataru later, or another day."