Jedi Padawan Tournament - Round 1: Gnost Karr vs Thal

[Hunter Blackburn]

Standing in a repulsor pod Ador Horn looked down on the assortment of floating stones, the very same ones he’d been trained upon by his Master Morteg. Remembering the phrase he was told what felt like so long ago the Corellian echoed them in the same tone and mannerisms as his master. "Steel your mind you must, or fall will you." Speaking into the aural amplifier Ador looked around to the other repulsors that continued to hover above the field of battle granting the occupants a better view of the arena.

From above the arena looked like a mass assortment of stones in a circular formation filling an area between two small walkways where each combatant would start. So high up were these stones located if one looked down they could see that they stood among the clouds. The mighty roar of a waterfall could be heard as it rushed past far below, but beneath the stones a net to catch the ones who fell.

Ador slightly envied the other two padawans that were participating in the tournament as he’d been forced to train while stepping on the stones with a blast visor. At least they were allowed to see. Many would wonder why a padawan would be judging others but it was moreso out of Ador volunteering and having more than his fill of combat over the past few months. Not quite sure what to say to the others Ador looked to [member="Gnost Karr"] giving the other padawan a nod then to [member="Thal"] doing the same. Raising his hand into the sky holding a red flag Ador dropped it signaling the start of their battle.

 

[Thal Mantis]

He'd been here before, hadn't he?

The Red Tower.

Floating platforms over a pit.

He'd done that before. But instead of a net, there were spikes there. The penalty there was death.

Thal survived then.

He opened his eyes, staring down his opponent, another Padawan. He didn't even know his name. But he knew one thing-

He was gonna beat the crap out of him.

He didn't reach for his lightsaber, staring down the other Padawan. Thal made the first move, walking across the walkway onto the first stone. He stood tall, three inches taller than the other padawan, and some forty or fifty pounds on him. He stared him down, then bladed his body. He put up his fists, intent on letting the other Padawan make the first strike. Thal had been the aggressor before- he needed to find his inner calm, even in combat.

So for the moment, statue-esque, he waited, in a combat stance, waiting for the other Padawan.

@[member='Ador Horn'],

[member="Kaleleon Seleare"]

 

[Gnost Karr]

To say that Gnost was nervous was a bit of an understatement. His time among the Jedi Shadows had been intense training, but lightsaber combat always took a back seat to stealth and subterfuge training. Gnost was also more of a scholar than a fighter, preferring to spend his spare time in the archives rather than the training rooms. He wasn't a novice, however. And he did have training from Kian Karr, his uncle and a skilled fighter. More recently he'd been working with his new master, a skilled Soresu user, on honing his defensive abilities.

And defense was certainly going to be needed.

Staring across the floating rocks, the padawan that stood opposite him was much larger than the diminutive Kel Dor. Gnost tightened his grip on his lightsaber and took a deep calming breath. Gnost shook that thought from his head. Jedi Master [member="Morteg"] was a ferocious fighter, and he was half the size of Gnost. Size, while important, could be overcome with skill and caution. Looking around at the floating rocks, Gnost jumped forward onto one of them and slowly began to make his way from rock to rock toward his opponent. It appeared as if he was going to wait for Gnost to make the first move.

That was not typically his fighting style, but he would have to adapt and overcome. He moved slow, cautiously, until he made it onto the last rock before Jedi Padawan [member="Thal"]. Once there, he darted forward, leaping into the air and thumbing the activation on his lightsaber as he came in with a two-handed slash aiming for the other padawan's left shoulder, aimed to cut down toward his right hip. As he moved into the attack he found the nervousness vanishing, replaced by a determination to do his best.

[member="Ador Horn"]​