Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Initiate to The Contention Form

The Padawan Zylah Dvale was in one of the Academy's outside training fields. It was still within the confines of the Academy, but it was a roofless area. Today was a beautiful day. It was warm, and the sun was shining strong. To have this training session take place inside seemed a shame. The white-skinned, silver-haired Arkanian Offshoot sat at the centre of the small field. She was in meditation, repeating exercises given to her by the Jedi Order's Grandmaster, Corvus Raaf. Her brown robes were folded neatly at her side. As usual when she was training, her long hair was tied tightly together into a ponytail.

This day would be exciting. Not only would she get to meet another Jedi Master personally, but she would teach her a new lightsaber form. Ever since Kian Karr had suggested combining her own Ataru with Makashi, she had been eager to learn and try it out for herself. Finally, the day had come. Master Truden had been named by Karr as a skilled practitioner of Form II. He had also mentioned that most of her days were spent healing the sick on Ruusan, so the fact that she took the time to train the Padawan was something she didn't take for granted. It was one of those rare opportunities that only came once in a while, and she was determined to make the most of it.

Zylah was there early. She didn't want to risk being late. Had she waited until the exact moment they had agreed on, she knew any time spent before that would be wasted in excited expectation of the following lesson. This way, she could be present and work on some other training exercises while she waited. Master Truden would arrive when she arrived. Zylah's training saber started levitating in front of her. It was a test of concentration, while working on her understanding of the art of telekinesis.

[member=Kana Truden]
 
Usually there was usually a reason why Kana stayed inside. On Ruusan it was the heat, on Yavin IV it was the rain and on Ossus it was simply because it was what she was used to. Having spent most of her time in the tiny enclave on Ruusan the jedi had slowly begun to forget what it felt like to be amongst the rest of the Order and their greater numbers. Nobody here was familiar to her. It didn’t make her uncomfortable but it certainly made her realise how comfortable it was to be in a smaller enclave.

This time she had left her Enclave for general business. Damian was still away running errands and growing as a person, hopefully. Their contact had been spotty. The occasional message every now and then but regardless of that she felt confident he wouldn’t let her down, hopefully.

A young padawan, [member="Zylah Dvale"], had approached her through Kian. While Kana certainly kept herself to the old way of ‘a student at a time’ there was something about the recent spot of radio silence between her own student and herself that burned within her. She wanted to teach but the kid was gone. Zylah was not far from a replacement or a quick fix but letting such ideas or thoughts be known wasn’t exactly the best of practices.

Stepping out of the cover of shadow and into the tyranny of the sun Kana let her arms soak up the heat as her choice in clothing had her praising the lack of sleeves on her tunic. Robes had never been her thing and that was something the Grandmaster herself could leave assurance of. Today it was a completely olive thing. If anyone made comments it was laundry day today. The idea also held true if she didn’t get any comments but rather got the praise in which case it was not laundry day today.

That was how it worked.

A woman was in front of her. Back turned towards the Jedi Healer she hunched down behind the meditating, levitating beacon of white. This was the third Arkanian Kana had ever met which was a good thing since they all made her feel just a little bit less self-conscious of her own paleness.

A smirk grew on her lips. If she was lucky the kid hadn’t noticed her yet.

“What’s up, kid?”
 
Zylah was in deep meditation, concentrating hard on the task at hand. It was probably one of those basic tasks that most Padawans had figured out by now, but Zylah often found herself lagging a bit behind the rest when it came to Force training. She didn't really seem to get it in group sessions. This one required a little closer follow-up, through private lessons. While it was embarrassing, at the same time, she appreciated that the other Masters had the patience to put up with her, and take the time to help her out. Her strength lay in lightsaber combat. She was very eager to be allowed to work on that again, having focused a lot on catching up in other areas recently.

She decided to try and step up her game. The lightsaber started circling her head, moving clockwise, while simultaneously she was twirling the blade counter-clockwise. "What's up, kid?" Kana might as well have shouted the words. In her concentration, Zylah's mind had removed itself more and more from her immediate surroundings, while her focus had fixed on the floating object. She had been completely oblivious to Kana's sneaky approach.

"Motherfething Kath hound!" Zylah exclaimed in surprise, and jumped, clearly startled. The lightsaber hilt dropped to the ground, and Zylah fell forwards. Adrenaline was rushing through her body, and she was quick to turn around. Judging from the way her heart was beating, one would almost think she'd just finished running a marathon. Zylah was laying on her back, looking up at the Jedi Master. "Master Truden!" she said, surprised, and hurried up to her feet. She quickly made a deep bow. "Your honour" Your honour? YOUR HONOUR?! What in the Force was she talking about. She had panicked, and said the first thing that came to mind. Suddenly, she seemed less like an Arkanian, as her skin tone transformed from the pure white, taking on a much more red colour. She very reluctantly straighten herself up from the bow. She wasn't exactly eager to make eye contact. Kark, kark, kark, kark. Was it possible to die from embarrassment?

[member=Kana Truden]
 
“What? Where?” The healer looked around before getting up from the ground. “I just see you and me, Padawan Dvale.”

The struggle to keep laughter in was proving difficult but manageable. She had wanted to do that for a long time but Damian always caught her before she could do it. At best she got a feigned surprise scream but that was just not the same. This Arkanian kid was already proving a lot of fun. No regrets so far on her decision to step out of her regular comfort zone.

“I am pretty sure there are no judges around, you can relax.” She chuckled. “Only a small-time healer and a startled padawan.”

Not to mention a few of the others students around the enclave, but those weren’t as important for the time being. All that really mattered right now was getting to know this kid and then probably teach her how to fence like a pro, but all in good time.

“So, Padawan Dvale, I am not sure if it’s in my place to ask but do you have a master?” The healer looked at [member="Zylah Dvale"]. “I mean, I got your name through Master Karr, is there a connection there, or?”

“It's nothing serious, I just don't want to intrude on your Master's turf.”
 
The embarrassment wasn't fatal, it would appear, yet the heavy blush still lingered. Why couldn't ever her first meeting with a Master go smoothly? Thankfully, [member=Kana Truden] appeared to be taking it with a smile. She didn't know what to say at first, all that came out of her was a nervous laugh. Please don't make this worse, Zylah.

"I don't" she replied, her voice sounding a little more grounded this time around. "You're not intruding on anyone's turf. Master Shel'tah was my master, but she's left the Order." She wasn't entirely sure what that made her. A freelance Padawan? Maybe. "Master Karr was just helping me work on my saber skills. He was teaching me Shien, and some Djem So."

Seraphina's departure had come as a shock to Zylah. It was unexpected, and she wasn't sure if she understood everything that lay behind her decision, but she respected her wishes, and supported her in doing what was right for her. It wasn't like she was turning Sith, right? It had left Zylah's future a little uncertain for a moment. This was all before Corvus had offered to take her on as her Padawan.
 
“Master Shel’tah and her departure is unfortunate.” Said the healer. “Only regret I have is that we never really talked much before she left.”

A chuckle parted Kana’s lips. Was the Padawan aware of who Kana was to the twi’lek Jedi Master? The odds felt slim that she did, it was amusing how rarely masters ever spoke of their own masters. Not that Kana could, she had certainly lacked one of her own.

“Did she ever tell you about when her master taught her Makashi?” Kana perked her brow. “It’s a great story actually and it ties in with why I asked you about masters. Because, you see, Seraphina she did not ask her Master for permission or at least acknowledge that the skill she had approach Master Karr about was something that I myself could have taught her.”

“So, when she approached me, just like you are, for Makashi I figured I could toss in a lesson in Force Deflection in order to truly prepare her for the lack of defense the form has against blasters.” She scratched her neck. “I, uh, didn’t tell her how to do it before starting the crash course with stun rounds.”

“Nonetheless, tell me about yourself, Padawan Dvale. Why are you here?”

[member="Zylah Dvale"]
 
Zylah nodded, for a moment sharing the sadness that she was gone. "Yeah, me too." It would appear Kana knew her as well. Kana's name had not come up in conversation with Sera, so she was unaware that she had trained the now rogue Jedi Master. "I learned that she'd left through Corvus" she admitted not knowing of her master's departure until after the fact. It had bothered her a little then, but now it was a thing of the past.

"She didn't" Zylah was quick to answer, looking up. Was Kana about to tell her a story? She sounded like she was about to tell her a story. Zylah liked stories. She wasn't even aware that she'd been trained in Makashi. There were so many things she didn't know. As if to add more proof to that, Zylah's eyes opened and her mouth dropped into a half-gasp, as it dawned on her that Kana had been Seraphina's master. She didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt Kana. One does not simply interrupt storytime.

When Kana was finished, she couldn't help but laugh as she mentioned not having prepared her before throwing her into the crash course. "So, you were my masters master?" she said, not really requiring an answer. She was just making her realization known. "Do you think you could teach me that as well?" Zylah asked hopefully. It was a power that made sense, in combination with Makashi, and it was one she had not been trained in. "But uhm, please give me a heads up before you do" she joked, referencing the case of Seraphina's lesson.

Why was she here? It was a big question. Did Kana have time? Well, she'd done did it now. Storytime. "Here with you, now, specifically, or here, with the Jedi in general?" she started, making sure she had the right of it before going on some long rambling tale about something completely different from what Kana had asked about. As it turned out, she didn't wait for an answer, and started rambling anyway. "Well I always favoured lightsaber combat. It seems to be what I'm good at, as a Jedi. That's not to say I can't use the Force, of course, it's just that I seem to learn that a little slower than the rest. I'm not sure if you know Kaia Vullen?" like before, she went on talking before an answer could be made "She's another Padawan here on Ossus. She's like, four years younger than me, and she's already catching up and moving ahead of me." that digression got longer than she had intended. It had been an example, and there was no bitterness in her tone. Kaia was probably Zylah's best friend. No, scratch that, she definitely was. The girls had grown close over the years, to the point where they were calling each other 'sister', rather than by their names.

"But, as I was saying, my strength is in lightsaber combat, and I'd really like to expand my knowledge on the different forms. So far my favourite is Ataru. I approached Kian to see if he could teach me Shien. I needed some help to cover up a hole in my defence, against blaster fire and the like. And I'm still kind of testing the waters, you know, in case there's another form that suits me better than Ataru." she stopped to catch her breath. In. Out. Go! "That was when he mentioned that I should look into Makashi. He seemed to think it could be mixed in well with my Ataru. It made sense. He mentioned Shaak Ti, who used both forms. He said the intricate bladework of Makashi coupled with the aggressive, acrobatic Ataru seemed to blend quite seamlessly" she referenced what Master Karr had said, almost quoting him. "So that's why I'm here. I'm very eager to learn Makashi! Thanks for agreeing to teach me. I promise I'll be a quick learner" she said with a wide smile, making promises she may or may not be able to keep. It was time for Zylah to breathe again.

[member=Kana Truden]
 
“I was, and yes I can.” Kana nodded. “I’ll warn you about it, I promise.”

Then she remained still as the padawan told her tale. Favoring lightsabers, being less quick on the uptake when it came to the force itself. It was something she could relate to. The first year and a good half after it had been spent solely on barriers and Makashi alone once the roots of Shii-Cho had settled into her repertoire.

The name Kaia Vullen was not familiar in the slightest, but the fact that Zylah had a friend who was younger than her rung a few bells as well. In Kana’s case that was of course [member="Corvus Raaf"] and who knew, maybe this Padawan Vullen would be the next Grand Master herself one day? There was no way to know these things, unpredictable as the force was.

“You’ll learn it right quick, I’m sure.” Kana nodded. “So you say Ataru? Is that why you turned to Padawan Shel’tah? Pointless acrobatics and flashy jumps?” Yeah, Kana was still sore about that. “Or is it the whole ‘superiority’ the form is supposed to have according to her?”

The teacher flashed a grin. The goading for when the lesson and subsequent spar would start had just begun. Unconventional? Sure, but what part of ‘Overly Emotional Jedi Councilor’ spoke of something within the bounds of ‘regular?’

[member="Zylah Dvale"]
 
Excellent. Zylah grinned. "That's great!" she was eager to hear about the little bonus ability that would be added to complement their saber training.

The grin didn't fade as Kana talked more, if anything, it intensified, as she let out a light laugh. She found the tone of her voice and the way she referred to her former master as Padawan Shel'tah rather amusing. "We never really talked much about the superiority of the form. So it's mostly all about the pointless acrobatics and flashy jumps!" she said, still maintaining the wide smile. In this particular mood, she seemed incapable of taking offense to anything. It was a side-effect of hanging out with Kaia Vullen.

"Think you'll be able to keep up?" the grin formed into a crooked smirk, as now the Padawan tried to goad the Master. Zylah was looking forward to this.
 
“Oh I don’t know, think you’re gonna be able to wield a saber without poking your eye out?” Kana handed out the first the first training saber. “They’re not curved because in the end it’s all about comfort. You see~...”

Kana ran her lecture of the differences of the sabers. Some valued the curved hilts because it allowed for easier movements, feints and attacks to roll much easier. Though to say personal opinion clouded the lecture was just the start. Curved hilts went away because her perceived importance in keeping oneself to the standards that other used. Not all of your opponents wield the curved hilts, to let personal comfort get in the way of practicality wasn’t in anyway a good idea.

Simply put, if she found herself disarmed or in the possession of someone else’s lightsaber [member="Zylah Dvale"] would gain a lot more from learning the form with a regular saber hilt than one that had been specially adapted for the form of choice.

Besides, if she rolled with Ataru the odds she’d use a curved hilt in the first place was minimal.

“...~and that’s really all there is to it.” Kana shrugged. “So, do you understand what I am saying? Why do I insist on not making it easy on you?”
 
"Yes" Zylah's eyes narrowed. She even dared to stick her tongue out at the Master. It was all in a light-hearted jest, however, the girl meant no harm. No eyes would be poked out today.

Zylah listened to Kana's lecture, shooting in with a question every now and then when she needed something explained further. All in all, it was rather thorough. It was convenient, that Kana preferred the standard edition lightsaber, rather than the curved, for this was Zylah's preference as well. How well a curved lightsaber worked with Ataru, she didn't know. But she had a mind to putting two together, into a double-bladed lightsaber. For practicality's sake, and not make this unnecessarily difficult for herself, the regular lightsaber design worked well enough.

"Thanks! Yes, I think so" Zylah said, thoughtful, like the dutiful student. Whether she truly had understood everything was one thing, but at the very least she sounded like she had. Kana's last question had her at a loss as to what to say, so she replied with the first thing that came to mind. She thought it sounded like it made sense. "Because the easy way is not a good way to learn? 'Cause short-cuts are short-term solutions that don't pay off in the long-run? And Jedi plan long-term" Yeah. That sounded right. Right?

[member=Kana Truden]
 
“Yes.” Kana chuckled. “Someone has been hanging out with the grand master it would seem.”

“By all means I could let you go the easy way, but ain’t nothing in life easy.” Kana ignited her saber and pointed it to the floor as she held it in one hand. “This is the opening stance. Saber pointed to the ground leaves the other hand free to counters with the force or act as a counter weight. From here on I am going to attack you while explaining exactly what it is that I am doing.” Kana nodded at the girl to ignite her own saber and ready herself. “Defend yourself in any way you know how. I will go slow at first and when I think you’ve picked it all up I will speed up.”

With that said, and after the girl had ignited her own saber, it was all good to go. In a few repeats of the jabs and cuts for each of the girl’s body zones. Head, legs, arms and torso all got their attacks dedicated to showing [member="Zylah Dvale"] both the fluidity of the attacks as well as the precision in the footwork.

You stepped around quickly and attacked just as fast. As they finished the part where she protected herself against the stabs and thrusts there was little doubt that the girl had picked up and Kana amped the speed up ever so slightly.

“The reason I am not letting you defend yourself against Makashi with Makashi is because, well, you will most likely encounter more people using it than actually use it yourself, yes?” Kana shrugged. “Once this is done I will teach you about defense. For now, try to mimic my attacks. Put me on defense here.”

Kana placed herself at the ready. Now was Padawan Dvale’s turn.
 
Zylah couldn't help but grin, as Kana replied with a chuckle and not a scolding. It appeared the girl had given the Master a satisfactory answer. That the answer seemed to reflect on some Corvusian influence she only took as a compliment. "I try! She's very insightful" she replied, though realising after how silly it sounded. Of course she was insightful, she was the grand master! Duh.

As she always had, and she always did, she listened to the words of the Master, Zylah giving Kana her full attention. She observed the stance, trying to take note of every angle of Kana's body, to better prepare herself to mimic it later. When Kana signalled for her to do so, the Padawan obliged. Zylah took up position, igniting her saber as she tried her best to pull off the elegant and confident Makashi salute. Kana was decidedly more confident in her position, yet Zylah seemed to get the basic idea of it. Not that it was an extremely complex thing.

The thought of defending any way she knew how to was a bit intimidating, seeing as defence was her biggest weakness when it came to swordplay. This girl had been all offense, little defence. The lesson with Kian had remedied this somewhat though, so perhaps, she thought, she was selling herself shot. The form she clung to when defending against Kana's jabs and cuts, was a mix of Shii-Cho and Shien. It worked better for this purpose, than an awkward Ataru defence.

She didn't think just to defend, however, but diverted her attention to take note of where Kana struck, how she did it, and how she transitioned from one attack to the other. She was playing the copycat game, and this was an excellent chance to study Makashi up close in a friendly environment. Zylah tried to keep her body moving, shifting positions, so that to keep up, Kana would have to move about, displaying the beautiful finesse of Makashi footwork.

At the older woman's command (a phrase she'd never dare say out loud), Zylah switched from defence to attack. Far less precise and fluid, but she made a good effort. As she got more comfortable with this form of attacking, telling herself she looked neither silly nor awkward, she seemed to become more confident, almost playful in her attacks. After the session carried on - Zylah lost track of time - she'd comfortably pick up the speed.

[member=Kana Truden]
 

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