Private Pugilism

[Damian Starchaser]

There was a reason for the madness, the hike up the mountain.

A fight didn't happen in a vacuum and as such Damian didn't want to use a Gym, he wanted to go into the forest where root and fell branch would impede movement, or on the beach where feet would sink into the warm sands. Okay so he wanted to go to the beach to be at the beach, but there was other legitimate reasons. It mattered little on Commenor though, after scouting terrain he picked the most viable place, the mountains. The air was thin and dry and after the hike he found himself nearly gasping for breath. Closing his eyes and focusing he put an end to that nonsense. Never let breathing get in the way of a good fight.

There was a reason for the madness. Behind Damian was the kid, Caden Evesa . He had a request, he wanted to learn about some combat techniques. Well Damian wasn't good for much, but he could teach the kid how to fight, teach him the dirty tricks that kept him alive over the years and hope that they were equally effective for the young man.

There was a relatively flat piece of land near the center of the mountain, the sparse vegetation didn't provide much cover meaning the desert sun beat down on the pair. It was the perfect conditions for a miserable experience, exactly what Damain had hoped for.

"Right," he said looking around and letting the backpack fall to his side. Caden was equipped with an identical looking one. Identical looking, but weighed down in the various pockets. Damian picked up a branch off the ground and looked it over bending at it with his hand to see if it was brittle. "So now that you're good and tired, you ready to start training?" he asked with a smile on his face.

At his side his hand reached towards his light saber and unbuckled it. "Economy and grace my friend, the gentleman's saber style. I present to you, form 2."

With a flourish of the blade he flicked his wrist and moved around with the saber one handed. He liked the style in part because it used one handed techniques leaving his second hand free to use a blaster. There was disadvantages to using a saber one handed, especially if you tended to lock sabers, however with an application of the force to strengthen muscles and body one could compensate. "Of course if you need a break, we can take a break." The Devilish smile remained on his face.

 

[Caden Evesa]

Mountains.

Caden actually couldn't say he was surprised. Damian never seemed to do things like most normal Jedi, he liked to add his own spin to things. He liked to teach survival skills by literally just leaving students stranded on a beach, for example.

He had to remember that he had asked Damian for the help. He had personally reached out to the Starchaser and asked him to help teach fighting skills. His experiences with Mathieu Brion had taught him that he needed to learn to fight and he figured there was no-one better to teach the necessary skills than Damian.

He had bid Okkeus Dainlei farewell that morning. He hadn't entirely filled the Jedi Knight in on his plans. Okkeus knew what he needed to know about the mugging and how much it had changed Caden's outlook. For the first time in his life, he actively wanted to learn to fight, to defend himself.

He had almost expected Damian to use a beach, but he assumed that the man was using what he had available on Commenor, and mountains were everywhere. Caden assumed that Damian had a reason for selecting the mountains that he would become aware of soon enough.

He hadn't realized how high they were until he reached the flat terrain that Damian had picked out.

He found himself relatively exhausted, the hike had taken it out of him and the air with thinner and drier than the hair of a corpse. He had carried the relatively heavy backpack all the way and so he was extremely happy when he could let it fall from his shoulders.

Caden was sure that Damian wouldn't allow time for rest, and it was clear that was the case when the man asked if he was ready to start training. He could hardly form words, instead choosing to opt for a short nod. Damian obviously understood the nod as he unhooked his weapon.

Caden unclipped his own weapon from his belt, his Jedi Robes soaked in sweat. He watched as Damian explained that the form he would be demonstrating was form two, Makashi. Caden attempted to think back to his classes, to figure out anything about Makashi but nothing was coming to him.

Damian called it the gentleman's style.

Caden vaguely remembered something about it being a one handed style. His memory was proven accurate when Damian began to swing his own weapon (his own lightsaber) and demonstrate the form. Damian was using the lightsaber with grace and entirely one handed.

Caden noticed the grin as Damian asked if he needed a break. He took the grin to mean that no matter what he said, there would be no break. Caden expected as much, he had expected Damian to go hard on him and teach him all of the dirty tricks in the book.

His response was exactly like Damian, a devilish grin across his face and sarcasm pouring from his mouth. He kind of expected Damian to be proud that he was learning from him, perhaps not the right things but he was learning none the less.

"No rest in battle, no rest in training, am I right?"

Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian shifted his feet and reached into his bag grabbing a silver training saber. With a flick of the wrist he tossed it at Caden and kept his smile. “Mirror my movements,” he said and began to move his feet about the terrain. He was careful to keep his footing on the uneven ground, lesson one, don’t fall over.

It was a simple matter teaching exercise. Caden would mirror the movements of Damian, copying him parallel and across from him. The movements themselves weren’t difficult but with the uneven rocky terrain might cause the boy to stumble, each stumble would result in Damian lunging forward with the training saber in hand to shock the youth.

As they moved to and fro darting to side and forward Damian paid special care to keep the lad away from him, he was teaching distancing, the second form being most effective at harassing pokes and lunges with every defense designed to shift the enemies blade or move around it to try and counter with a piercing attack. Form two was designed specifically for fighting other saber users after all.

As he watched the lad, and occasionally stabbed at him during a stumble, he gave advice and corrected the footwork. At one point he stopped and walked over correcting the angle of the youths arm before concentrating back on the task at hand. "It's about economy of movement and action, you don't want to expend more energy then needed, and you don't need or want to over commit. The lightsaber can cut most things there is no need for the wide and aggressive sweeping strikes you see in other styles."

Every move and strike was repeated at increasing speed until the youth had done it thirty times correctly. Although not overtly strenuous the activity itself was done in the heat and thin air further tiring both student and teacher, this was by design.

“We take five and then we spar,” Damian said noting the boy tripping on the terrain less and completing some of the basic movements. You could only learn so much before you locked sabers and felt the magnetic fields of the blades colliding.

Caden Evesa

 

[Caden Evesa]

The air was certainly thinner the further up you got.

He caught the training saber that Damian tossed towards him, clipping his own back to his belt with the opposite hand. He presumed that Damian wasn't aware that Caden had built his lightsaber with an ability to become a training saber, which was understandable.

The instruction was to mirror the movements that Damian was demonstrating. That seemed easy enough, Caden was willing and the movements themselves were simple. They were elegant and almost an art to look at, yet very simplistic in nature.

The foot placement was surprising though, the uneven ground causing Caden to stumble. Damian would use each stumble to poke and lung towards Caden, keep him at a distance. The form, the style that Caden was learning seemed to prefer keeping people at a distance.

Damian was a very hands on teacher, giving advice about footwork and even physically moving Caden's body parts around at times. His advice about not wanting to expend more energy than he needed and keeping everything nice and tight actually went down well.

Thirty times, correctly, in a row.

He did the exercise that Damian had intended thirty times in a row. It was exhausting, the thinner air and the heat starting to wear him down. His robes were dripping in sweat, pouring from him like it had been ever since they set off up the mountain.

"We take five? For your sake or mine? I stand by what I said earlier, a fight against a Sith Lord won't just end because I need five, so why should training? Why should I pause for a breather because I know full well a Sith Lord won't be that kind"

He was a glutton for punishment really.

Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

“Force spare me from cocky padawans,” Damian said with a smile. He took a sip of water from the bottle at his side and laughed it off. “Alright,” he said, “Have it your way, but if you get hurt or injured I take no responsibility.” Of course if the youth got hurt or injured he could probably fix it, he did have the meager healing powers he’d learned.

Damian threw the water bottle at the youth before darting in with his saber out. His movements were fast, enhanced by the force. Grace and economy of movement. The saber darted to and fro with simple flicks of the wrist focusing on light stabs and redirecting every time the lad would redirect the energy and use it to twirl and counter swipe.

During this entire display Damian had one thought, close the gap. He rapidly struck with a dozen stabs in quick succession while stepping forward each time pushing the youth back, and if he accepted the charges and closed, well that is when Damian had him. “Good now parry and attack with one motion, no wasted motion!” Damian encouraged as he struck high toward the face, then redirected at the last second away towards the chest. It was a simple trick, instinct would be to protect your head and face but the blade would easily and quickly come down to chest level, or lower, and strike at the target.

 

[Caden Evesa]

He was cocky, he admitted it.

He wanted to learn however and his point about having no time to breathe in battle was true. A Sith wouldn't give him any breathing room and he didn't want Damian to do the same. He wanted Damian to treat him like a true threat so that Caden could teach Damian as a true threat.

His training saber cut through the water bottle like butter. The force was guiding Caden, giving the young Padawan the ability to lower the weapon just in time to parry the weapon of the master. The movements of both men were fast, Caden keeping everything tight and allowing the force to both enhance and guide him.

It was almost as if Caden had an answer for Damian, and while not the neatest or anywhere close to best use of form two it was effective. Caden had a lot to learn about form two but he was doing a pretty effective job of not allowing the weapon of the master to touch him.

Both men were using light stabs and redirection, redirecting each other. Only Damian was counter swiping at first, but Caden was studying every movement made by the master. Eventually both men were stabbing and counter swiping each other, attempting to get through the defense of the other. One was well tuned, the other younger man was sloppy and less trained.

The Master closing the gap caught the young Padawan off guard, forcing him to step backwards and alter his footing. The advice of his master was useful, everything was being taken onboard. Every step back was getting closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

Until there was no-where to go.

Caden was on the defense, every strike by Damian keeping him defending. The mentor was too well trained, too impressive. Caden was parrying everything he could and wasting no motion and still Damian had him on the ropes, had him on the defensive.

The strike combination from Damian was lethal, the redirection from head to chest. The tip of the training weapon struck against the chest of Caden. The majority of the weapon was absorbed by the robes he wore, but the blade still stung, still come sharp.

Caden licked his teeth. Damian had got in close enough for Caden to physically push him away. Creating the distance, Caden went on the attack. He was fast, empowered and guided by the force. He let a reel of strikes off against Damian, using the moves he had been taught in fast succession.

He was stabbing his own weapon and deflecting the weapon of the mentor. He was fighting like he had been taught, using all the little tricks he had picked up on by studying Damian. The two men would surely look like a blur to anyone from the outside, but on the inside, there were well placed shots and well placed defenses.

"Time, time"

It was a distraction, but if it worked it worked. If Damian chose to take a break, to heed the words of the Padawan, Caden would strike while Damian was distracted. It was a dirty trick, but who better to understand and be proud than the man he was dueling?

Damian Starchaser

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian smiled as the boy asked for a break. He knew what was coming, the inflection in the eye the slightly dilated pupils and other minute details. It was a skill, one he’d learned and perhaps had been programmed into him during the cloning process. He was proud of the lad in that moment, do what you can to win in a real fight. Of course the point of this was to learn saber techniques and how to fight in an armed conflict.

Starting to relax his body a little bit he dug a foot into the sand feinting as if he were loosing out his leg and grabbing for water. As he did this he let his foot sink into the sand and get under a rock. “I’m proud of you,” he said turning away from the youth and giving him the opportunity to strike.

As soon as the boy lunged Damian acted kicking up the stone with his foot and throwing it directly at the boys head. Hell even if it wasn’t a ruse he’d probably still have done it.

As the rock flew through the air Damian reached out with two hands and pulled like stones from behind him, the three stones centered on him from three quadrants as the smile crossed Damians face and he reignited the saber. “Make every movement an attack, every parry a riposte every step in close an attempt to trip.”

And then he lunged once more starting the fight over again once more.

Caden Evesa

 

[Caden Evesa]

Damian read every move before Caden had even thought it.

Caden had partly expected the man to read his fake out. He wasn't disappointed, Damian absolutely did read it, using his foot to kick a stone up towards his head, distracting Caden, forcing the young boy to use the force to deflect the rock.

The fighting started again once the older Jedi Master lunged. Caden was completely caught off guard, dancing between the three rocks while deflecting each blow from Damian. The young Jedi Padawan was entirely on the defensive during the fighting.

Again, Caden was putting his trust in the force. He was trusting the mystical power to guide his every movement, his every deflection. He was trusting in the force and the knowledge that Damian was teaching him and that he was learning as best as he could.

Damian was entirely controlling the younger boy, he was well aware of that. Damian had years of practice unlike Caden, who had roughly twenty minutes. Caden was expecting the man to control him, to dominate the fight between them. It only made sense.

Damian was getting closer though, Caden was letting him close the gap once again. Once he was close enough, Caden shot out a sharp elbow aimed towards the midsection and used the force (plus a kick off of Damian's own body) to rotate over the top of the man, landing behind him with a swing of the training saber.

He wondered if the man would be able to defend.

Damian Starchaser