Private New Kid on the Block

[Thayze Montserrat]

|| NEW KID ON THE BLOCK ||
Head in the Clouds - Chapter 1
———
TAG: Kyric

NABOO

“Three, four, five, shoot,” the training droid shot a low energy stun blaster at Thayze, which he captured in his hand and absorbed with the Tutaminis. “Three, four, five, shoot,” he absorbed another round of blaster, letting the energy flows through his body, replenishing his stamina. “Well done Thayze, you have improved from our last session,” the droid congratulated him.

Their last session was a disaster, Thayze was distracted and had many lapses of concentration, the bruises on his body are silent witnesses of the abysmal showing. That day, he took his speeder to go as far as he could from the Temple, from Theed, and spent his time in a silent solitude. That helped for the moment, but he needed something that’s not just a temporary fix.

He consulted his Master, Briana Sal-Soren , and some other elder Jedi he is friendly with, and he came to the conclusion that he needed to find someone around his age to train together, learn from each other, and bond, and the Jedi will help find him one for his first session after his remote meditation. Perhaps he could also finally meet Briana’s other padawan, Lily Decoria .

The noble Jedi sat on the bench to rehydrate himself, taking in the beautiful scenery of Naboo’s Temple outdoor training ground, when he sees a male Jedi, roughly his age, approaching, seemingly looking for a someone in the training ground.

“You recon I can take him on, Ti-sha?” Thayze asked the training droid while his eyes judgingly observed the boy from head to toe.​

 

[Kyric]

Nearly a week had passed since Kyric first stepped foot in the temple seeking Grandmaster Sal-Soren. For reasons unknown, she had yet to summon him to the council chambers to discuss matters the kiffar considered imperative to galactic peace, but his time spent familiarizing himself to the Order and its headquarters opened his eye to its very nature.

The Grandmaster and her Council were not storied Jedi with legends dating back to the Second Great Hyperspace War, nor were these hallowed halls filled with younglings and budding Padawan. The standing Jedi Order within the boundaries of Republic space was not much larger than a fledgling organization recently escaped its infantile stages. Each member of the Council bore the weight of a responsibility larger than themselves, while their many charges sought to better define their purpose within the great Galactic Game. Few within the confines of the temple understood the full extent of their purpose as Jedi.

Even fewer were prepared to face the approaching darkness.

This realization provided Kyric with new purpose. His earliest days spent in training were under some of the most prolific Jedi in the last few decades—Ryv Karis, Loske and Maynard Treicolt, Dagon Kaze, and Ripley Kühn. They blessed him with a lifetime of knowledge, passed down in even the simplest day-to-day activities. The best thing the young Jedi Knight could hope to do for his fellows was prepare them for the onslaught he knew awaited them on the war front, not unlike his father before him.

The thought froze Kyric mid-step just before the threshold leading out to the external training grounds.

Ryv warned his son not to follow in his footsteps—to follow his own path, guided not by the fires of war, but the light of peace.

Was this not a breach of his father's final request of his son?

Kyric ran his bandaged hand through his hair and pushed it back from his face. He knew this train of thought led nowhere good, so he shifted his focus to the doorway and fished a thin strip of leather from the pouch at his side. Moving through the motions of tying it back, the kiffar stepped out into the sun's warmth and eyed the grounds. Suffice to say, he was disappointed to see one Jedi training. But he bit back that knee-jerk reaction and reconsidered the circumstance.

A growing Order meant an overworked Order.

Ryv never shied away from owning the difficulty of the earliest years at the helm of the New Jedi Order, before he and his council proved their worth in the eyes of the galaxy.

Whether by the Force or by intuition, Kyric felt Thayze's scrutinizing gaze not long after the noble took a seat on the bench. He met the younger Jedi's eyes and wandered over post-haste.

"Whatcha workin' on today, partner?"

---

Tags: Thayze Montserrat
Honorable Mentions: Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Thayze Montserrat]

|| NEW KID ON THE BLOCK ||
Head in the Clouds - Chapter 1
———
TAG: Kyric

NABOO

“No chance, Thayze, that one possesses memories far beyond his mortal coil,” the droid replied as the Jedi approached closer, earning her a groan from Thayze. Raised as the sole heir and hope of the Montserrat-Palerma dynasty, the young aristocrat is used to being the best at what he does, and is super competitive at whatever it is. It hurts his ego that the training droid doesn’t even give him a little chance, especially since the Jedi approaching doesn’t look like an impressive one.​

"Whatcha workin' on today, partner?"

“Was just done with Tutaminis. Gonna work on precog next,” Thayze answered, taking a blindfold from the training droid as he raises from the bench. “Haven’t seen you around before… Thayze Montserrat, the Grandmaster’s padawan,” he offered a handshake to the Jedi, as he observed his scarred face and slightly bulkier figure. Looking from close, he seems to be a few year his senior.

“Wanna hop in? Master can’t join today so anyone who can make this less boring is welcome,” he chuckled, hiding his groaning breath just like how he hid his competitive streak beneath his playful facade. “No offence, Ti-sha,” he jabbed at the droid.​

 

[Kyric]

Kyric took Thayze's hand and shook it with all the etiquette of a homeless street urchin turned rancher. His training robes were worn from constant use, as if the kiffar lacked anything else to wear, and both his arms were covered in their entirety with adhesive bandaging. Even the black cloak descending his frame showed its age from the frayed edges along the bottom. If not for the fact he wandered the halls of the Jedi Temple, it was within reason to confuse him for a homeless denizen of Naboo who wandered in by chance.

"Pre-cog, huh?" the kiffar beamed. "My master specialized in the technique. I don't have his talent for it, but I've been workin' it into my repertoire."

The kiffar took a measure of the man before him in full to commit him to memory.

Thayze stood at a similar height to Kyric. Their wingspan likely wasn't much different, either. If not for Kyric's added bulk from two years hard-labor in a Cortosis facility, he wagered they would've measured similar in weight, too.

The invitation immediately pulled the kiffar from his musings.

"Don't mind if I do," Kyric answered near-instantly. "It's been a lil' while since I've had the chance to train with a partner. What's yer name, stranger? I'm Kyric. One of the fresher faces 'round here."

Kyric fell into a basic stretching routine to warm-up, his anticipation burning at the chance to finally do something meaningful within the halls of the Temple.

---

Tags: Thayze Montserrat

 

[Thayze Montserrat]

|| NEW KID ON THE BLOCK ||
Head in the Clouds - Chapter 1
———
TAG: Kyric

NABOO

"Don't mind if I do," Kyric answered near-instantly. "It's been a lil' while since I've had the chance to train with a partner. What's yer name, stranger? I'm Kyric. One of the fresher faces 'round here."

“A proper sparring partner, if you're up for it. Unless you're too busy admiring the view?" Thayze said, witholding his name for a bit while a smirk is playing on his lips. He is always a playful yet competitive guy, loving to tease and search for buttons to repeatedly press. He took another swig of water before tossing it aside, letting it clatter softly against the ground.

“Thayze,” he introduced himself. He stretched as Kyric did the same, feeling a satisfying pop in his back. It was a good session, even if Ti-sha was a pain in the butt. His master pushed him hard, and he’s thankful for it, it has helped him survive, and even thrive in precarious situations. Being a Jedi is not an easy task, as evil is merciless and lurks everywhere.

Thayze gestured vaguely at the empty space where the training droid had been, taking a step closer to Kyric, sizing him up again. Not exactly what he'd picture a much more experienced Knight would look like, but looks are often deceiving. “Ready?” Thayze teased, tying his blindfold to cover his sight. That’s how they do it here in the heart of The Jedi Order; straight blind combat until someone yields.
​

 

[Kyric]

“A proper sparring partner, if you're up for it. Unless you're too busy admiring the view?"

"Sounds good to me, partner."

Kyric stood straight, arms and legs splayed out diagonally from his torso. He held the position for ten heartbeats, then leaned right, his body moving fluidly from the standing position to a handstand. The display ended with the kiffar bending his legs forward until his body took an L-shape, where he easily deposited himself back onto his feet with a huff.

"Right. I'm feelin' nice and limber, Thayze." Kyric moved to place his blade on one of the benches in favor of the training saber afforded most Jedi. "I'm thinkin' we go till first contact, then reset? Focus on tryna to see what it is I've got comin' yer way. I'll be doin' the same, so things're gon' get real weird in a sec."

The kiffar walked into the sand pit with an easy smile. The sand squished between his toes with each step, but Kyric hardly noticed. An opportunity to test another Jedi presented itself in the form of Thayze, and from what Kyric recalled, it was none other than one of Briana Sal-Soren's students.

Maybe imparting a bit of wisdom alongside the bite of the training saber would earn the one-eyed Jedi that meeting he sought out with the Grandmaster.

Probably not.

Once both combatants stood ready, Kyric activated his saber and crouched faintly. He slipped his left foot forward a half-step, his blade remained pointed diagonally to the floor, held firm in his right hand. Space shifted around the Jedi Knight as what at first appeared to be after images flickered around him. In the following seconds, Thayze would likely recognize each adjacent projection to be a possible future, one made all the more unclear in a contest between two opponents trained in future sight.

All at once, Kyric and three images dashed forward. They flickered around him rapidly, disappearing and reappearing mid strike, dodge, or faint. The kiffar and his three flickered forms all eventually closed on Thayze, and a split-second before he struck, the real Kyric shifted into perfect alignment with the precognitive-projection on his left. It darted out to Thayze's right and struck out for the Padawan's knee.

---

Tags: Thayze Montserrat
Honorable Mentions: Briana Sal-Soren