Obsidian Cadets

[Raziel]

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]
[member="Zayen"]


The Obsidian Citadel, home of the Obsidian Order. The great black spires rose skyward from concentric rings of thick, obsidian-covered walls. Between them the black was punctuated by the odd alabaster courtyard. The clean white stone contrasting against the dark, macabre towers. There were many wide, open courtyards in the citadel of course. The Order needed plenty of space to train.

In one of those courtyards Raziel sat alone on a bench. Before him, on a smooth white flagstone sat two boxes. The first contained several training sabers, modified to singe skin on contact, rather than eviscerate. The second contained two copies of an old tome. In cracked black white, the title: “Basic Forms of Lightsaber Combat” could just be made out.

Raziel despised having to give time training new acolytes. He had the Spynet to run, which entailed managing intelligence gathering operations across the Galaxy. Still, he had to give his time to the Order occasionally, and today was one of those times.

He sat patiently, alone with his thoughts. He despised being alone with his thoughts. So many of them were not his own.


OOC/ check in if you want to do some saber training!

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Being excited wasn't an exactly foreign feeling to the young Du Couteau heir, but at the moment the feeling was a bit leaning towards apprehension. Seto looked at his hands, fear, no it wasn't exactly fear, it was understanding. He grasped at the idea of a power unknown and unseen, a small smile broke his bleak expression as he continued to walk towards the the Obsidian Citadel. His fingers ran through his white hair, leaving his dyed black hair alone. Seto's free hand straightened out his yellow tie as he spotted the open court.

His foot steps echoed the marble floor for a brief moment before the sound was no longer bouncing off the marble walls. The smile on his mouth shrunk the closer he walked towards [Member="Raziel"] not before long Seto's smile was entirely removed from his face. He felt sure, this man's presence sent a small chill down his spine. His hands along his side he stopped in front of the man, perhaps over a meter. "Seto Du Couteau sir," Seto introduced himself, inclining his head slightly. His eyes wandering towards one of the boxes before focusing back on the man in front of him.

 

[Raziel]

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

Raziel took half a second to close off his mind. The youth was buzzing with emotions and being alone he had let his guards slip. So easily his subconscious sought out other minds and made the connection.

"Greetings," he replied plainly. "I am a Master of the Obsidian Shadows," he continued, not offering his name. "Normally ours is the domain of subterfuge, but it seems today I am called upon for a little bladework. So tell me Seto, have you used a blade before?"

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Eyes widening slightly he nodded, "I'm a connoisseur different forms of combat, so I have handled swords and blades before," Seto quickly explained. His fingers tapping his forearm in rhythmic fashion now crossed over his chest, [Member="Raziel"] certainly gave off a mysterious persona. Seto's eyes lingered on him as he waited for his next instruction, he wanted to become a Knight and he would need to remind himself his reason repeatedly to keep him going. If it were just blades for today, then perhaps it would not go so hard as the easy thought passed through his mind.

 

[Raziel]

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]
@Krutu

"A rare talent indeed. Playing with swords is typically reserved for noble chits from Kuat or the Tapani sector. I've trained such noble brats before, and I'll be honest I'd prefer a blank canvas," he replied. It wasn't quite the truth, breaking down a self-entitled noble youth and then rebuilding them as something useful had always been enjoyable.

Raziel slid open one of the boxes. "Hand and half, or single handed," he explained lifting two training sabers. "The button turns on, the knob adjusts length.

"Your training is going to be built on three pillars. Practising the fundamentals of forms on your own, physical training, and sparring. The latter may involve duelling with your peers, or dealing with drones. After-all, most things you're going to face will be pointing a blaster at you."

 

[Seto du Couteau]

[Member="Raziel"]

Seto inwardly scoffed, being called a 'brat' was nothing new to his ears but it was not exactly easy to shrug off. Biting his tongue he nodded, relaxing his arms doing so as he moved closer to the sabers presented to him from his instructor. His eyes locking unto the saber meant for more than just one hand. His fingers wrapping around the hilt, taking a few steps back he wrapped it around with both hands as he began to adjust the length of the saber. The snapping hiss made his eye brows raise as a small smile broke through his neutral expression.

The length of the blade itself only extended to Seto's preference, roughly under four feet in length or more than a single meter. Holding with his right hand he made a simple swiping motion downward and then upwards and then side to side to feel the weight. Frowning slightly he began to hold it with both hands, holding the blade directly in front of him, moving his feet into his attacking stance, crouched slightly he breathed in once before disengaging his stance and looking back at his instructor with a questioning look. "Perhaps understanding swordsmanship and learning use of blades would prove to be an issue with this Light Saber, no blunt edge or side," He commented simply.

Frowning once more because he understood that the blades he used before only had two deadly edges, or more simply put, they had a blunt side a side meant for no lethal purpose. This saber in his hand was lethal all around, no room for error on the student's own part but more importantly, Seto must never swing and use this blade on just a whim. Shaking off his thoughts quickly he looked back to his instructor, "Well then, what are you instructions for me now," He asked.

 

[Raziel]

"Simple work to start off with," Raziel replied. He reached into the second box and pulled out one of the tomes. "The gyroscopic forces on the blade, the lack of a balance between blade and pommel...all makes it hard to transition from steel to light.

"So we start with basic forms, moving between standard positions until the movement with the weightless blade makes its way into muscle memory."

Raziel flicked open the book until he reached one with a series of numbered sketches. "One of my other students may be around soon."

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]
[member="Krytu"]

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto nodded, the snap hiss from the lightsaber and once more he felt the unusual weight of the blade. His eyes quickly studied the positions, how the sketches were suppose to represent. Holding the hilt with both hands he held the saber in his attacking stance. His legs spaced out equally to match the width of his shoulders and his knees bent slightly to allow him longevity with this stance. Memories flashed in his mind as he remembered a much younger Du Couteau as well as much heavier training sword. Seto wondered if perhaps learning this equipment would be easier than what he first thought.

"Another student to train with I assume?" Seto asked, his tone seemed bored but his eyes betrayed his facial expression as he was curious. His body continued to adjust to the such weightless weapon of the lightsaber. Seto himself felt as if he was wielding something with no blade. ​Perhaps then I should be at an advantage Seto mused, with his body adjusted to a such heavier class of weapon beforehand his attacks should a lot faster. Adjusting his combative ability sounded simple enough in his mind.

[Member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

"Yes, he is, but in the mean time: left foot a touch forwards, spread your weight so you can shift forwards or back. Always, when you transition between stances, keep control of your balance. Don't take your feet too far from the ground, I'm not a fan of those Jedi who believe flashy acrobatics do any more than waste energy in a fight.

"I want you to focus on the basic kata of Shii-Cho and Soresu. One will be the basis for developing your style against another Jedi, the other will become the basis of your work against blasters. Both will need practical experience to develop." Raziel continued. He pointed out the second and third sketches in the book that showed basic stances that became high and lower left blocks.

"Transition into the next two, like this," he said, demonstrating with the other training blade.

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto restrained to scoff, he had plenty of instructors who were more than ready to punish him if Seto showed any signs of disrespect. Thus Seto nodded once, shifting his foot forward slightly, tightening his core as he breathed in as he took a step back and breathed out as he transitioned into the next stance. Seto felt as if he was still holding air in his hands, memory of strained muscles of simply trying to hold a stance came to mind. The young Du Couteau was thankful for the light weight of the saber, it would make memorizing and learning these stances and form a lot easier when he wasn't distracted by muscle pain.

His eyes zeroed on the forms demonstrated in the books. The drawings appeared simple enough to duplicate, his body moving into each form as Seto took a few moments to adjust each transition. Repetition, or practice, never leads to perfection, it only leads to permanent styles. Best not to pick up bad habits was Seto's reasoning as his studied his instructor's movements. Strange to use such an offensive weapon for simple defense style forms, Seto wondered if the creators of such device had intended on the diversity of the weapon they made.

Seto continued to repeat each form, his eyes focused as he contentiously aimed for near perfection. Seto opened his mouth, slightly distracting himself form his stances, "These forms feel too defensive, with such a lethal weapon how can such defenses work against other Jedi or even blasters," Seto asked. If he wanted to learn how to defend himself he would have invested into buying either personal shields or armor.

[member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

Raziel half-laughed. A throaty sound that escaped his lips before he could contain it. "The best way to deal with a blaster is to not be in front if it when it goes off. However, sometimes you get caught out, no matter how careful you are. The following pages show how to transition into offensive postures and strikes. For someone who knows bladework it will be a simple matter for you to work out how to start stringing them together into an attacking routine. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you go swinging with your new light sword. The next chapter is more difficult. You'll need to move between positions at odd angles that put you off balance, some of them would actually be easier with a weighted blade in fact. You're going to have to deal with bolts coming in from all angles, trust me." Raziel's gaze shifted to a student who had just unpacked his things on the far side of the courtyard, a pair of drones had hovered into life and started circling him as he went through a warm-up routine.

"Prove to me that you're going to apply yourself to this, then we'll start to elaborate. I'll be back here in two days, I expect to see six of the routines memorised."


OOC/ IC time break to prevent tedium.

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

 

[Seto du Couteau]

The laugh gave Seto a small smile, his instructor did have a sense of humor at least. He stopped his movements as he moved to look at the instruction books to once more look closer at the sketches and drawings. Seto looked up once to address his instructor, nodding once, "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here, remember I came to you, it's all on me and I knew that from the start," Seto said, it was in fact his move and push to learn from the Obsidian Knights. If he did not improve or be removed from Seto's own lack of trying than he would choose live with that shame. But the smirk growing on his lips gave a different tale, no thought of defeat or cowardice could be seen in his eyes. Seto was in this for the long haul.

Seto returned to his studies, his hands quickly went for the removal of his tie as well as button shirt. He knew he was going to be out here for a long while to memorize these several forms and routines. Rolling his shoulders and neck he stood in his ready stance and breathed a few times before mimicking the drawings on the book. He knew how to memorize, his body though just needed more time to do the same. The training saber lit in front of him and his eyes focused as he began his movements.

His butler would need to come here himself to get the young heir to eat and sleep for the night.

Seto, now garbed with less formal clothing, but his yellow tie still stuck out like a sore thumb, found himself in the same place where he first met his instructor. His fingers held onto the training lightsaber hilt as he opened the pages of his book and started his practice once more. His focused and honed in front of him as he continued to repeatedly practice the same routine for hours on end and the only indication he felt satisfied with the routine would be an audible scoff. Only breaking a few times to stretch and perform simpler exercises whenever Seto felt the need to keep other parts of his body warmed and ready. Mostly though he headed the warning from his instructor, he would not allow himself loose his balance so he kept working on his core. From sit-ups to crunches Seto kept pushing himself so that his balance would be perfect for the later coming chapters of his instruction.

Once more his butler returned late night to gather his young Master for food and rest.

Seto again, in the training area of the temple continued his routines, fluidly moving between six different patterns. Occasionally called different numbers by random as Seto made a simple training regiment of issuing different sequences of all six routines he memorized and scrambling each as he would then proceed to do all six without pause or hesitation. Letting hours to continue to move by Seto began to learn more of the rest of the forms and routines, often adding onto the rest he learned and continued on with his training. His eyes remained focused and intense, breaking from lightsaber routines to work on his core and simple strength exercises. Seto knew not to get caught flat footed, any show of weakness and Seto knew it would not end well for himself.

[member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

His sojourns out into the countryside were becoming more frequent again. The Obsidian Citadel was becoming exponentially busier with time, forcing him to put on his various faces to deal with his tutees. It helped to spend time out here, to fall out of the "teacher" act for a while and to allow him to compose his thoughts.

There was never a break on Roon. Always he was building his web, playing his political games. He was virtually free to do so now. Salem had left off to some far little corner of the Galaxy and whilst Marek noticed Raziel pulling his strings, he was often too concerned about his corporation to care.

On his lap sat a datapad, the screen displaying several faces. New flies that needed to be added to his web, he thought. There were always plots to be hatched and operations to be overseen. The Spymaster kept track of so many things happening across the Galaxy. He kept his hands on the strings of his web, feeling for vibrations that told him it was time to start pulling on strings.

He supposed, his presence in the Obsidian Order was just another part of his web. He traded his time to act as a minor player in the Order, helping to teach where necessary, and having to show his face, for getting ears on the ground. He could hardly manipulate the whole of the Abrion regions without an understanding of what was happening here after all?

A small beeping indicated that his time was at an end. Time to return to his responsibilities.



He stalked across the open courtyard. The contrast of the black obsidian and white alabaster was not as apparent as usual, with the light lazily passing through thick murky clouds from the sun above. Raziel paused before [member="Seto Du Couteau"], dropping a case to the ground.

“So, we’ve started on basic form, I trust you’ve been pushed by the trainers here on a physical regime, now it’s time to start the practical,” he said. The case at his feet slid open, a small drone covered in circular stun blaster ports, floated up into the air. Raziel pulled his own saber from his belt, the turquoise blade coming to life quietly, without the usual “snap-hiss”.

“Blade or bolt to start off with?”

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto moved a few steps to stand roughly a few meters away from his instructor. His own saber lit in front of him as he held it at the ready. A smirk grew on his lips as he gave a single nod towards his instructor, practical training was something Seto had wanted since day one. "I would say both," His eyes wondering towards the hovering droid, "But I'm nice, so I'll choose just the blade, the sting of defeat by a noble brat will feel less painful," Seto said, his eyes fiery as he also gave a short laugh.

His legs slightly bent as he raised his own saber at an angle, his breath evening. Seto wasn't afraid of his other combat instructors before, back then he promised he would never address them by name until he had proven himself against them. Thus far he had been able to call each instructor by name, and now Seto vowed to himself he will do the same with this one. Obsidian Knight or not, this duel Seto felt confident he could best his instructor. I wonder what style I should expect to see from him though Seto mused, and as he kept staring into his instructor doubt continued to fill his mind. Seto knew suddenly that this man was on another league of his own when compare to his other bladesman instructors.

[Member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves eh?" Raziel said. The drone continued to hover and slowly spin in mid-aird, but it held its position. Raziel took a couple of steps forward, dropping his weight and lowering the tip of his blade. "Always keep your balance, be weary of the light from the blade when it's in your line of sight. Contact between two blades can be noisy and bright, often with sparks."

Raziel took a half step forwards, keeping his blade to the centre ground. His was no training blade, but then with the Force on his side he could confidently circumcise a gnat whilst blindfolded if there was ever a requirement for such an operation.

"That said, let's see position seven, transitioning to eight," Raziel said, referring to one of the high blocks and a sideways swipe, respectively. He came at Seto at about half speed with an overhead thrust/slash, aiming for the top of his skull.

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto smirked at the comment, 'Don't get ahead of yourself', was overused and he hadn't met any instructor who actually met that comment after Seto had finished demonstrating his talent. He took a single step back, adjusting his own balance to prepare for the offensive from his instructor. He nodded once towards the advice given as he readied and raised his own saber.

Position Seven? Seto mused to himself. He kept his eyes trained on his instructor, his arm preemptively into the defensive stance. He nearly couldn't believe the sudden speed from his instructor as his blade met Seto's own. His hands holding unto the hilt as both sabers met with a brilliant spark but Seto's own eyes adjusted to focus on his instructor's body movement .Quickly forgetting his own surprise Seto's hands stayed true with the block before swiping his instructor's blade to the side.He waited silently, perhaps his bravado silenced for a moment.

[Member=" Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

"Good poise, kept your balance and shifted the momentum cleanly. Low block into thrust for the chest. Use the extra strength from two hands to make sure you clear by saber out of the way," Raziel instructed. He gave [member="Seto Du Couteau"] a second to acknowledge before coming at him at half-pace again with a low strike at around the level of upper thigh.

 

[Seto du Couteau]

"Okay," Seto spoke cleanly, his mind quickly processing the information but his eyes saw the quick movement from his instructor's arms and it was he could do to stop his own dismemberment by already having his saber low to sweep across to block the incoming blade and continue to the sweeping motion upward as he jumped backwards to disengage. His feet switching positions doing so as he reserved his form, his saber hanging low as Seto's own eyes stayed focus on his instructor's movements. He needed to see that speed once more, to understand the timing slightly better so that he wouldn't get caught off so badly.

Perhaps his comment of being ahead of myself might hold some merit, some Seto thought, slightly aggravated by such admittance. Even if it was only to himself. "Alright, fair points being made, I'm sure after one more demonstration I should be good," Seto muttered to mostly himself. Nodding once to signal he was ready for the next attack. ​Watch and evaluate, learn and adapt to his speed, do not underestimate but neither overestimate Seto thought as his fingers tightened slightly more around his training saber.

[Member="Raziel"]

 

[Raziel]

“Whilst I get somewhat testy about being repeatedly asked stupid questions by acolytes here, you can always ask to repeat swordplay,” Raziel replied. “You’ll know enough from doing work with steels that repetition is the foundation you build upon. You might have thought a rapier was quick, if you’ve ever studied the discipline, but that’s nothing compared to two Jedi exchange blows with sabers. All of your senses, the physical ones and the Force, will be feeding you information and your body will have to react directly. It’s your body that had to be trained by repeating the key movements over and over.

“Well not literally, your muscles don’t actually have memory, but needless to say you don’t have time for the stupid part of your brain that makes the big calls like ‘what am I going to eat for breaskfast’ to get involved in every motion. There isn’t the time.”

Raziel repeated the strike, trying to follow his previous strike in an identical manner.

[member="Seto Du Couteau"]

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto mused, he was never one to really get into the habit of muscle memory when it came to combat. Repeated forms and stances sure, but he had already shifted his mind and body to undertake the adaptive approach and to learn. Seto simply understood it has instincts, instincts from past teachings and practice and by his experience he assumed he could easily get through the practical part of his training.

His eyes caught his instructor's movements, his saber smashing once more unto Seto's on as he blocked the over head strike then sweeping it down once more. With time for pause his instructor immediately again struck low but Seto instead of moving backwards he swung his saber low to block as he stepped forward and applied enough force to continue the motion upward to bring his instructor's blade up along with Seto's own.

He jumped backwards once more to disengage, his right foot forward while his left back. His hands low as his saber raised up so that its tip lined up with Seto's line of sight. He was not sure what to expect from his instructor but Seto was sure he could now react to his instructor's speed. Just try not loose sigh of his movements Seto thought, his eyes targeting several parts of his instructor's body.

[Member="Raziel"]