Glowsticks, Part One: Shii-Cho, or... How to Not Stick One's Self with the 'Wzzt'-ing End

[Jannik Morlandt]

[Prior to the One Sith Invasion of Coruscant, between this thread and that thread...]​

​

Location:​

OSSUS​

Kira's absence had really dug in and begun to worry him... well, from the moment she hadn't shown up to a session of training they had scheduled. She hadn't told him what it was about - it was so in her cheerful, fun-loving nature to do so - and the not knowing along with the not knowing made him all the more strung out of sorts. If not for Erinyes, well, the majority of his time since her absence had been noted would have been spent in unproductive, frantic worry.

She had left no notice. No-one knew anything. His usual, lucid dreams - a strange side-effect of the ability of vision he had only in the past week given up on trying to wish away - had taken an unfortunate turn into lucid nightmares, which lead to more side-effects, primarily that of broken, incredibly fitful sleep, scrawling everything in his journal while heavy-lidded... if it were not for the blessing of caf, he would be worse off today. If not for having just napped... that was fortunate!

Today, after all, they'd decided was a good day to start sticking a weapon in his hands, to which his solemn prayer was that he would somehow manage not to mutilate himself with it. He'd only ever used his fists before... and rarely were those occasions in a sober state of mind! At the very least, he'd never started any of the fights, beyond what his arguing or counter-arguing caused. Yawning due to having just roused some five minutes before from the aforementioned nap, seated on a bench along one wall of the training room he'd been designated to meet with one...

"Wha' was her name?" He thought out loud.

...[member="Saki"]... the name went through his mind in a wafting whisper.

"Oh, tha's right." He muttered, stifling another yawn, and wondering if it was wise or not to ask to have caf mainlined into himself.

...with the hilt of a training lightsaber in hand, that he hadn't yet dared to switch on. At least he'd gotten some sleep, instead of none at all. It was late in the afternoon and he was counting the hours, nay, the minutes until he could lay his troubled head on a pillow again.

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

She hadn't expected this well not really.... It had come out of no where and Saki relaxed a little. After Malrisses whatever that freak out had been on Ilum she had been working hard to try and teach padawans and students who weren't just interested in knowing juyo or vaapad. Something she had promised not to teach as it wasn't meant for everyone. Her hands went down the length of the armorweave pieces while she set the kama in place so it and the vest looked connected.

Her saber on her thigh in two straps and utility belt, then the knuckle blade gauntlets for defense while a chain was slung over her shoulder leading to the large phrik weight dangling over her shoulder. Saki walked towards where the padawan was and was ready for a fight the younger master prepared to teach and her skullthumper could handle it if he only wanted to know juyo. Maybe a hit to his head would make him forget that request.

Then she was at the door and knocking while letting her more petite frame be on some display, still a Hapen who liked showing off even if she was covered in tattoo's and scars which was taboo. She'd be able to pummel anyone who complained or made a snide comment while speaking. "Hey ah what's your name again." She looked around for the note. "Padawan Morlandt are you ready to begin?"

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

His eyes drifted up from idle examination of the deactivated training 'saber in his hands, to rest on the form of [member="Saki"], whom had finally arrived. He blinked twice in quick succession, as if seeing the tattooed, scarred master had not quite registered in his mind the moment he had looked. After another moment or two, he pushed himself to his feet.

"Aye, tha's me, an..." he yawned, stretching his arms tensely above his head, only to drop them a couple moments later and semi-violently shake his head to try and shake off the rest of the caf-abated fatigue, "About as ready as ah'll ever be."

Jan gave what was barely a smile at all, and wandered some three paces away from the bench he had been seated on.

"Ye must be Master [member="Saki"]. S'a pleasure tae meet ye."

Again one arm went up, but only to put the hand - the one not holding the hilt - to scratching at the back of his neck. He looked at her, brow creasing at the mild irritation of the light in the room.

"An' thank ye for coming, by th'by."

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

She had a semi raised eyebrow and gave a nod, helping out a padawan was no big deal and it gave her a chance to play with her toy while she stepped back and choked up on the chain. "Not problem at all it is fun to teach some things to other padawan's. Now whenever your ready come at me." Saki was more interested in trying to shake off the fatigue or sleepiness he had. She wasn't one to say something was against the jedi code as well she was covered in tattoo's and could make a sailor blush. She didn't judge that she judged his readiness and as the weight started spinning on the chain she just imagined it had some caf patches on it. Another smile creeping upon her lips and she focused on the force bringing it into herself and her muscles until they bulked spinning the weight faster and faster. "Alright padawan begin, we'll talk about things afterwards."

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

Begin? Ah don't even know how!

He looked down at the lightsaber hilt in his hands, then flicked his gaze back up to [member="Saki"], wondering right in that moment if the woman was a few crayons short of a box, only to see her start spinning a chain that looked very heavy and... by extension, very painful if it were to make contact with his body. His eyes widened and he stumbled back couple steps - that woke him up.

"Are ye fethin' crazy, lass?" he exclaimed, "This is th'first time ah've even so much as touched a lightsaber and ye want me tae come at ye?"

He shook his head free of that line of thought. Surely beaking at her would make her use that thing on him, and he found himself fumbling with the switch for a moment before success was his and plain blue blade sprang from the hilt, nearly causing him to drop the thing in surprise. He looked up again, looked at the master with the heavy chain (which put a bolt of something not unlike fear through his heart) his brow knit in some worry.

"Ah don't see what this will accomplish," he said, gripping both hands around the lightsaber hilt to the point that his knuckles went white. Still, it was not as frightening as the things the Force had seen fit to show him, in images, sounds, scents, feelings, tastes... and if there was something that gripped him worse than what was right in front of him, then what was right in front of him lost some of what made it fearful. He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and readjusted his grip on the hilt, loosening it up a bit. The whole thing felt awkward.

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

Saki looked at him fumble and speak.... she had been working that he was trained like a jedi. Even ones who didn't use sabers often knew how to use them. THe weight stopped swinging as she dropped it and it crashed into the floor. Her hands going to her hips. "What the hell is wrong with you? Your master should have taught you how to hold a blade your going to cut yourself and I'm not cleaning it up." She moved then coming over and letting the twitching of her muscles show when she stood near the padawan. "Now breathe and don't be so nervous, if you have to use your blade your going to want to not hurt yourself or anyone around you. This is why I don't use my saber unless it is the last possible thing. My skullthumper can break bones and knock someone out of the fight but they will live, my blade can kill them usually and I don't like taking lives unless I have to."

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

[member="Saki"]

The thumping of the Skullthumper to the training room floor made him tense up, but the moment she started in with asking what was wrong with him, and insisting that his master should have... a heavy sigh hissed out of him, and he thumbed the blade off, his eyes tracking up to her face. Did she not know? Not that he was expecting pity at all, but there was a reason he didn't yet know how to use the thing.

"Ah'm certain Master Liadain would've loved tae teach me about this, Master Saki..." but... and he blinked slowly, breathed in, held it, and let the breath out in a slow stream of air, a fair measure of the tension going out of him when he did. "...but ah'm sure ye are aware o'her current status."

Missing, she's missing an' kidnapped. Ye know exactly what they've done tae her! Say it, say it, ye... and he shut his inner voice out, giving the tattooed master a weak smile.

"Forgive me the gap in knowledge, Master Saki, and please accept my apology for th'outburst. Ye couldn't 'ave known of th'connection," he said, with a vague sheepishness. "Ah'm still willing tae learn, if y'are still willing tae teach."

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

Saki listened and she tried to think about it, in truth she was a warrior... usually she let the jedi operate and call her in when they needed someone to fight. It worked and despite the label of no being a proper jedi whatever that meant. (They were trained after all since a young age in how many techniques to fight?) She just looked at him and her face softened. "I don't not really, I might be a master but there are tolls and scars made when you've been fighting battle after battle for a long time. I tend to avoid hearing about captured or taken jedi, any frustration won't help me stay in control and I'll make mistakes. When your fighting on a battlefield mistakes cost lives and I've noticed the council loves to tear apart mistakes."

She remained standing there though and had a look on her face. "I'm not unsympathetic I just can't give into some things and you save it. Whatever your feeling, whatever you have seen or felt. You take it and bury it, use it to puch you forward and towards a goal. Rescuing your master, finding a way to save her if she becomes something twisted and broken. Use that pain to get through to her, use your abilities to share it and let her feel that she was thought about, she was wanted and searched for but you couldn't do anything at the time. You never know it might break through the haze and danger long enough to save you both." She shrugged. "But I', a sixteen year old master I might sound like I have some widom but I don't I have my experiences and what has happened to me."

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

[member="Saki"]

He nodded, somehow not surprised that she was all of sixteen. Kira was around his age and she was his master, most his age, and many younger, outranked him. It was simply a fact in this way of life, where people could join at any age, and many started younger. Had this been in the times of the Jedi of old, he would never have been a Jedi. What this way of life was doing for him was unthinkable to be without, now that he had it.

"Ah understand," he said, vaguely insistent, "ah understand an' ah'm ready."

He gave her a more honest, if slightly weary smile.

"Teach me what ah need t'know tae use this blade, Master Saki."

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

"That's the spirit." She patted him on the back while standing to the side. "Okay first and most important the blade emitter this open prt, point it at all times away from your body and at whoever your facing. Second have a good stance. Feet parted and firm. You don't want to get pushed over. Then third your muscles have then at that state between relaxed and tense be ready for anything. The force will help guide your movements and it will obey your command while offerig in some cases when you listen small glimpses of the future. So your movements become faster. I don't use my blade unless I absolutely have to."

Granted she had a giant weight on a chain she could throw with the force as fast as a speeder or use it like a literal wrecking ball but he didn't have to get into that yet. "The most basic form is shii-cho it will become the basis for all other forms mostly. There are more forms then others let on, hell there are more forms then most can learn in a lifetime but we're going to go with the core six. Juyo what I use is not something to be taken lightly or taught." Now she was backing away and walking around to move with her feet his so proper positioning. "When your ready activate the bladfe and feel it, the only weight the blade will have is in the hilt and it isn't that heavy. Your going to want to always be aware of where it is."

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

[member="Saki"]

The pat on the back was reassuring, even to his worn self. The guidance was appreciated, and he nodded in acknowledgement of it, shifting his feet until they were shoulder-width apart, knees naturally bent, but not completely relaxed - ready, as it were. Then he adjusted his hands around the hilt and held it in front of himself, the emitter end pointed away from his body as suggested, thought he had already figured out that much; any weapon that spewed out something had an end the user wasn't meant to point at his or herself.

Then he listened to her speak of forms, understanding that there were other forms besides the one he was here to learn, that they could be very different, and likely for different purposes. She made mention of Juyo, but seemed wary of teaching it and he wondered why that was. Something he would look into later, if he didn't ask or no explanation was given.

When she said 'when you're ready', he was about as ready as he was going to be, so he thumbed the activation switch, and the plain, blue blade sprang forth once again.

"Ehm... like this, then?"

 

[Saki]

[member="Jannik Morlandt"]

Yes good, her hand coming up to make sure he was proper while the blade hummer. A hand going up. "Now in this stance you will be able to move through the different points. for defense. Hand and blade forward you can pivot and twist to get each section of your body with little effort. With each defense you want to push off and break the lock, your footing you can go forward or back to press the attack or retreat. Then there is this." Saki moved over and grabbed her weight as she held it. "Seeing sabers are wonderful, they are important, they are a symbol of the order and your place within it but like all symbols they can be misrepresented, they can be lost and they can be destroyed. Your saber is strong and durable but all it takes is someone with a chain or a weight to grab it and take it. So defend yourself from my strikes" Saki stood where she was while clenching her fists and with the turadium bracers and gauntlets she started slowly attacking so he could get a feel and would slowly increase the speed as it went on for them.

 

[Jannik Morlandt]

[member="Saki"]

In all honesty, having to face off against a huge weight at the end of a chain was something that made him ten kinds of nervous - if it was possible that more than a single variety of nervousness existed - as from his observances, he had only seen other padawans, knights, and masters spar with other padawans, knights, or masters, and in both cases, they used lightsabers, and perhaps the Force. In the simplest, most civil of words: this 'ball and chain' thing was something else; a completely different animal, a fact that was amplified by the sleep deprivation he'd suffered as of late. It made his physical reactions a little slower, and his emotive reactions a lot more frazzled and overwhelming.

Still, he could see the merit of this unique experience, and a sliver of determination made him focus as best he could, to watch the weight as it swung, counteracting it, or avoiding it entirely where fending off against the thing wasn't a viable option. There was at least one instance where he dove, and another few where the 'wrecking ball' came just shy of grazing if not breaking his knuckles. With this many close calls, it was pure wonder that he hadn't started to make grievous mistakes, resulting in a direct collision with the weight...

"Aaaaggh!"

...well, until he tripped on the chain, in an attempt to jump the weight as it hurtled towards his feet, which resulted in the seer with the softly curled hair crashing to the ground with a fair thud, his still-ignited 'saber skittering across the dojo away from him (thankfully) instead of going through him.

"That," he groaned, slowly picking himself up off of the dojo floor with a grimace painted clearly across his features, as he looked to where his lightsaber had gotten off to, "was not the wisest move."