Private Green, The Lot of Them!

[Ran Serys]

Ran led the way into the Enclave's surrounding jungles. She aimed for a certain secluded spot where the two could train in peace without disturbing some of the more reserved and disciplined Jedi. Not that Ran and present company, Orion Pavond, couldn't be disciplined, but he was a fellow known for his snark and Ran her intensity. They would no doubt be exchanging words and prove more distraction than displays of skill.

"The clearing is just ahead. We should have our venue then, and we shall see what the other is made of." Ran smiled mischievously as she looked over her shoulder at Orion. She was looking forward to a friendly duel with a fellow knight, one she had only recently met. It was too rare that she wasn't fighting for her life. It was also of significant interest to her that Orion was mirialan. She didn't often have a chance to spend time with the people of her homeworld and Jedi business kept her away from it for long bouts, much longer than she'd like.

Ran looked at the diamonds on the back of her hands and was reminded of her most recent journey to mirial. The tattoos represented a journey to the unfamiliar and a return to the known. She noticed that Orion had significantly more tattoos than her, and wondered how often he made it back to Mirial and the meanings they carried as most Mirialan tattoos held meaning. Questions she'd made a note to ask later as they came into the clearing free of jungle brush.

A ray of sunlight shone down on it through a gap in the jungle canopy overhead. A brook babbled nearby, and native birds whistled and sang. There were a few rocks by the wayside perfect for sitting. The clearing would be a great place to meditate, but meditate they would not.

Ran, wasting no time to get to their true purpose in the clearing, took her position across from Orion and ignited her sapphire lightsaber. It hummed brilliantly and steadily. The powerpack was fresh, and she had recently made some internal alterations to the lightsaber's internal circuitry. "Any words before we begin, Orion?" She questioned. "Are you sure you don't want to back out?" She joked.

Orion Pavond​

 

[Orion Pavond]

SELVARIS - JEDI ENCLAVE GROUNDS - SURROUNDING JUNGLES
Ran Serys

Dodging the foliage by stepping to the side or ducking, Orion's eyes trailed across the various sights of the jungle. The scents of the wildflowers flowed into him as he took a deep yet easy breath. Selvaris was a beautiful place. Not that his present company was lacking in that department either.

"A rather out of the way and private clearing. I hope we aren't having different ideas of venues," Orion smirked before quietly laughing to himself, "Or seeing what the other is made of."

Orion allowed the implication to hang in the air. Not that he thought it held any truth or substance to it himself, but it was always nice to get inside a Jedi's head, throw them off their game. As his hands remained clasped behind the back of his head, Orion's nonchalant gate never faltered as he watched for Knight Serys's reaction. He wondered if she would play along, shut him down, or perhaps be a certain measure of flustered at the insinuations.

Slowing his walk to a crawl before stopping completely, Orion glanced up at the light before allowing his eyes to drift to the side, watching the quiet little brook. All in all, it appeared his attention was elsewhere. His head in the clouds as they say before he started chuckling a little at her joke. Immediately following that remark, Orion bent his knees and got low to the ground before he began digging his fingers through the dirt, scooping it into his hands and letting it fall through his fingers.

Perhaps he was testing the soil to know what kind of footing would be required in this terrain.

"Funny," Orion smiled, easygoing as ever as his eyes examined the dirt, before he looked up at Serys, "I was going to say the same to you."

Turning his head, his eyes' gaze darted off to the side in the direction of the babbling brook before tossing a stone with one hand in its direction. The pebble plopped right in and sunk with a singular and lone sound, no chance of skipping across or making a bigger splash. A momentary distraction before his other hand scooped up dirt in his other hand.

"Begin."

Mirialans were agile with quick reflexes, but Orion's own were far more explosive, coiled for action at the drop of a hat. Perks of being a hybrid. But this was no hat being dropped here. Instead, Orion burst forth and kicked from his sitting position while his other hand threw the dirt towards Serys's face, accelerating its trajectory towards her face with a minute yet precise application of the Force. A practiced trick. All in the ploy to distract and possibly blind her for a few moments. Afterwards, Orion's next plan of attack was simple.

He did not need his lightsaber. Not right now. The jungle was a dangerous place. Little huts and cartography maps would not ensure their survival. There needed to be an understanding of the jungle and all its resources. Even the dirt beneath their feet had its uses.

Case in point, Orion aimed to use the opportunity of surprise to grasp the female Mirialan's wrist and twist it into a rather uncomfortable position before kicking the back of her leg, basically forcing her to take the knee before attempting to pin her down in such an uncomfortable position. Nothing too serious, but enough to let her know. All with that same old smirk on his face.

He played by a different set of rules than most Jedi, even for a Sentinel. His signal to start the challenge had been a courtesy towards her. One that may allow her to properly react in time in what otherwise may have been a far more unexpected surprise attack.

After all, Orion was looking forward to watching Ran surprise him and turn the tables, assuming he had not been too quick for her.

 

[Ran Serys]

It seemed to Ran that Orion liked to sow the tiniest seeds of chaos. From flirtatious implications to underhanded tactics. She didn’t let them phase her. She was too old for his advances, genuine or not, and she was too wise and skilled to fall for any dirty tricks.

As the dirt flew into her face, she closed her eyes in a measured reaction. She didn’t need her eyes to see. She didn’t trust her eyes to see, absolutely not with dirt in them. Instead she relied on the force to guide her actions. It was an instantaneous shift and as Orion entered Ran’s space unarmed, she knew he liked to play dangerous games. Ran did not.

Instead of cutting him down, she flourished her lightsaber. It was a warning and a defensive maneuver. She wouldn’t let him take her wrist. Not while her blade was out, so she cut off his access to it. She could’ve done worse but acted with restraint.

With a step back and away from his attack, she deactivated her lightsaber. “Do you want to grapple or do you want to cross blades?” She questioned in a chastising tone. “I won’t have any of your limbs lost in a friendly bout. Pick your poison and stick to it, Orion?” If he wanted unarmed combat, she would oblige. If he wanted a saber duel, she would oblige. If he wanted to blend the two, she would not. Jedi were too lethal for their own good, and she would not play such a dangerous game with a friend, especially one so new and unknown to her.

Orion Pavond​

 

[Orion Pavond]

SELVARIS - JEDI ENCLAVE GROUNDS - SURROUNDING JUNGLES
Ran Serys

Ran was right. Orion liked to play dangerous games. Not because it was something he enjoyed, but in his line of work, such enjoyment and confidence—bordering on arrogance perhaps—had arisen from necessity. Orion watched as her reflexes took hold and, while not lopping off a wrist or arm that would have grown back, her flourish did enough to tell Orion's inner instincts to not further reach for the wrist.

Instead, he took steps back, pacing himself a small distance away as he listened to the fellow Jedi Knight's chastisement. Orion tilted his head to the side and forward as his face furrowed in observation.

"You're more careful than a few of the other jedi," Orion commented, not naming names.

Others would have continued the bout until one party either submitted or, worse and force forbid, one or both parties became injured. This particular jedi in front of him appeared to be quite careful in how she conducted this training exercise. She did not wish to injure him, even if such injuries would heal in time. Slowly, Orion drew the handle of his own blade from his belt. Slowly, he looked it over before pressing a few buttons. A subtle shift in the lightsabers functions whirred with the change.

A small sound and adjustment. His own blade would no longer pose a deadly threat to the woman before him. Instead, it would stun or numb where he struck. Not dissimilar to the stun function on blasters.

Most weapons had a safety. Why not blades such as these? It was only practical.

"Your concern is appreciated," Orion spoke, level in tone and demeanor, "But unwarranted."

Before igniting the blue blade. The cyan blade showering the greenery in blue. An odd color for a Sentinel, perhaps. But Orion rather someone mistake him for a Guardian or any other kind of jedi. Then, with a tug of the force, he approached once more on the attack.

This time, Orion tugged on every small stick, leaf, and pebble. Dozens of them as he pulled upon them all. The scattered mass of random forest debris traveled on a collision course for Ran's back, intending to lightly bruise or inconvenience her. However, Orion's strategy here was to distract her with this tactic.
As he stepped forward and thrusted his blade towards her ribs, aiming to test if she could tough out the blunted blow.

"Bet you wish we were grappling instead," Orion grinned and winked in expectation for Ran's riposte.

Maybe another wisecrack amongst the chaos could catch her off-guard. Unlikely, but he might as well try one last time.

Assuming, of course, all his debris had not served its purpose to trick Ran that she was being attacked from behind as well as in front. Who knows? Maybe a few of those twigs would end up caught in her hair. One needed to capitalize on every advantage they could get.

And the forest would full of tools and tricks to be used at his disposal.