Faction Push Me Harder | Jedi Duels

[Braze]

Tags: Leos Aris Noble Dirk … Open to any Jedi who want to spectate, spar their own partners nearby, or otherwise join the atmosphere of the thread.

Braze hadn't seen Aris in a very long time, and a sparring match between them seemed like the perfect way to see what the two of them were capable of now… and to put on full display the sheer heights some Force users could reach when truly pushed.

Quite deliberately, he left Leos and Dirk well back near the temple, insisting a perch along the roof would offer both the safest vantage and the best view. To Leos, it might well have seemed excessive. The distance was generous: nearly a hundred meters between the temple and the stretch of open plain where Braze intended to meet Aris. There, a broad ring of smooth white river stones marked the sparring ground, its boundaries stretching close to another hundred meters across, pale against the grasses and impossible to miss.

Braze was stretching out as he waited his friends arrival.

 

[Aris Noble]

It wasn't long before Aris arrived. He was dressed in his simple Epicanthic clothing, loose that favored movement while simply looking good to wear. It was that day with Braze, Zaiya, and the others that had him decide that clothing could be something fun to figure out. Something to give him expression where he normally fell flat of showing with his smile.

Which he had, naturally. A calm, welcoming smile. Genuinely happy, given the other who was waiting for him.

"Hello Braze."

Braze

 

[Braze]

Aris Noble

Braze blinked in awe at the towering auburnett.

Aris wasn't the young boy he remembered. He was tall, with long red hair, and it took a good bit of restraint for Braze not to simply gawk. His childhood rival had grown into a handsome young man who dressed in a way that showed off his impressive, towering form all too well.

It felt strange having to look up at him like this… a somewhat foreign sensation for someone as small as Braze. He had grown a little himself, perhaps, but not by much. His own form had remained stunted, shaped by incessant training and physical limits pushed far too young. Beside Aris now, that contrast felt all the more obvious.

Still, that only made the sight before him more amusing.

"Well, look at you… it's good to see you. You've changed quite a lot. You look great; I almost didn't recognize you."

A coy smile touched his lips then, light and knowing, as his gaze trailed over Aris a moment longer before lifting to meet his eyes.

"I take it you'd prefer non-bladed combat today?"

 

[Aris Noble]

"Not all by choice, but I don't think anyone actually grows the way they intend to." Aris' attempt to not feel uncomfortable in his own skin was to simply make the changes part of who he was. The traces of his father were still there in his face, and he took pride in that. His red hair was as dressed up as he with some simple jewels. He didn't hide his eyes. He simply was himself.

"I was thinking about how far I could through you." Aris idly cracked his knuckles. The thrill of a fight, that always seemed to bring emotion to his face. A grin, joyful and pure. A happy sparkle in his eyes. "Anything else goes. I won't loose this time."

Braze

 

[Braze]

Aris Noble
“Probably pretty far,” Braze mused, stifling an inelegant laugh behind his hand.

He stepped back and pulled a Ko Vuto , stone rising from the earth below to cover him. It grew over his frame, compacting into solid pieces of light armor that protected his head, the vital points of his chest, and his extremities, shifting between softer layers and hardened plates across his body. Braze’s recent foray into storing larger amounts of energy had given him the endurance to sustain displays of the Force like this. He tilted his head to the side and cracked it gently. Soft to solid was also liberally being applied, thanks to Jasper Kai'el 's teachings.

“Loser has to cook the other dinner. Sound fair?” he asked, seeking some playful stakes to raise.

 

[Aris Noble]

"Dinner it is." Aris lowered his own stance, grinning as ever as he lifted his hands half curled into fists. His feet shifted before he burst forward. The first strike came from below, aiming for under Braze's chin in a quick jab to get around the stone armor. It was a new trick, but they both certainly had their own right?

He was eager as can be to figure out what else Braze had learned.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Aris Noble

Braze barely slipped the jab, Aris still forcing his head back as the strike scraped past the edge of his defense. Cat-like reflexes and Force speed carried Braze aside, only just. It seemed Force speed was a technique both Aris and Braze had both been developing. In answer, Braze tried to counter with a simple use of temporary stasis, aiming to catch Aris’s strike in combination with his own evasive movement.

Bright green eyes widened, white lashes lifting as his attention locked in with an odds sort of tremor that appeared has he drinking as much information visually as he possibly could. He couldn't help the small, impish expression that touched his features, almost gremlin-like in its delight.

“Ah… you don't want to knock me out that fast, do you?” Braze chirped, drawing his hands up into a guard position, he should have known better than to slack with Aris.

Aris had almost caught him off guard with that aggressive start, but Braze remembered well how much he liked to capitalize on moments of surprise. Unlike before, Braze wasn't terrified of Aris. If anything, he was concerningly interested in the spar. He made no move to counterattack just yet.

The fight was already building toward a breakneck pace, the kind that would soon become difficult to follow with the naked eye.

 

[Aris Noble]

"I believed you wouldn't go down, even if I had hit you." Aris was quick to respond. A quip, which was relatively new still from him. He was ever the brute when it came to a fight, seeking to set the pace as he took careful steps to follow after Braze. He kept his fists moving, jab after jab at different sections of Braze's torso and head. They were distractions. Another step towards Braze with another punch, but this step was different.

A step onto Braze's foot. It wouldn't keep him pinned, but if he didn't notice Aris was going to stop his dodging for just a moment with the foot trap. A moment for his fist to connect.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Aris Noble
Maintaining layered, high-demand Force techniques while trying to keep pace with the battle, with its fast strikes, redirections, and blocks, was both physically and mentally taxing.

Aris pinned his foot in place, successfully stopping Braze from slipping away. His shift to guard came a fraction too late, and Aris forced his way through the attempted block, landing the hit cleanly against him. Braze lurched back from the force of it. With his foot pinned so awkwardly, he was not thrown as far as he might have been otherwise.

Fortunately, Braze had layered enough defenses that the blow only left him briefly dazed. He shook his head, dropped to one knee, then shifted back hard, aiming to rocket his free foot up heel-first toward Aris’s groin.

 

[Aris Noble]

Sturdy and immovable. They were terms for Aris. After the first punch landed he twisted to launch another. He froze, though. As quick as his body could mend itself, as tough to damage his skin, he was still ultimately a guy. His grin faltered for a moment as the pain spiked through his mind, made him pause and freeze up.

Then a half step back, away from Braze as the pain faded as quick as it hit. His eyes narrowed some, the grin fading to a smirk. Anything goes was what Aris said, he wasn't about to complain.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Aris Noble
There was little else that came to mind that might force Aris to move, but the desperate ploy seemed to win Braze the freedom of his foot when Aris finally shifted back. Braze rolled with it, snapping into a backward tumble that brought him onto both feet again. He stayed low in a crouch. A small, devious half-chuckle slipped from his lips at the sight of Aris smirking, as if Braze wondered whether he now regretted leaving the terms so open.

Braze sprang forward in a sharp, forceful leap, aiming to plant a foot against Aris’s abdomen. Aris had the advantage of size, so Braze would need to be clever in how he closed the distance. His hands shot up seeking to shoot past either side of Aris’s face, reaching for a fistful of those long red locks, since Aris wore no gi, robe, or shirt that might offer him anything else to seize and leverage.

It might not work, depending on just how strong Aris was, but Braze was looking to create a fulcrum with his planted foot as the pivot point. That would only happen if he managed to climb Aris like the absolute mountain he was.

 

[Kael Venn]

​

Padawan Kael Venn | Master Matsu Ike | Blue Lightsaber​

​

Ever since Kael joined the Jedi and met his Master, he had been so busy with various teachings, combat proficiency training, and agile acrobatic training via obstacle courses. She and a few others had been putting him through the ringer. Once he had found out about a dueling event hosted by Braze he didn't hesitate, albeit his was late to it. The dueling had already begun, once he arrived, he sat down in a meditative stance and just spectated. He hardly knew anyone there anyway, but he was really just wanting to relax.

He took a deep breath and sat and watched as one blow after another connected in the fisticuff sparring match before him. He would join, if asked, but for the moment he was a spectator just watching a fight unfold before his eyes.

//OPEN//

 

[Aris Noble]

His hair? Aris gritted his teeth at the yank, head pulled forward from it. Only his head though. Aris's strength only continued to grow as he got older, as Braze would see. The grin was back on Aris's face as he met Braze's gaze. It was always difficult for Aris to get hold of the smaller Jedi. He was too fast, too slippery.

Yet here he was. Aris immediately sought to take advantage of it, to grab hold of Braze and slam him right to the ground.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Aris Noble ​

Braze blinked as he pulled back, reaching for momentum and the Force… and found nothing.

"Mistakes were made…" he murmured, just before Aris drove him into the ground, earning a distinctly undignified squeak.

The sort of physics that served him well against most opponents offered him little here. Still, he had braced before impact; the stone-like armor cracked beneath the force of it, then shifted and sealed itself again, hardening over his chest to spare his lungs the worst of the blow. Even so, the hit left him briefly winded. As he twisted beneath Aris, he tried to send a vicious pulse of electricity through the other man's arm, hoping pain might buy him enough space to slip free once more. He had no desire to be pile-driven into the earth a second time.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris froze up at the jolt through his arms. Strong as he was, he couldn't override that basic fact of flesh. Braze would be able to slip right away as Aris idly shook out his hand, frowning and tensing fingers to get rid of the tingling feeling. "You've decided to lean into the elements more. Kro Var?" He'd read up on the Shapers in light of his own capabilities, hoping to find some link he might be able to use to hone his skills.

There wasn't too much, though, that he could use. Another tense of his hand, and the fist in question shifted and shimmered. Fire danced over his skin, or was his hand itself fire? A brief distortion none the less before he flashed a grin.

"I'm glad you keep getting stronger."

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Aris Noble ​

Braze rolled away with easy grace, putting a little distance between himself and Aris as he reset. He settled first into a low crouch, then rose slowly.

"Yeah, I took some inspiration from the Shapers while developing my understanding of elemental techniques," Braze chirped. "Physics lessons help too… understanding what needs controlling to achieve the desired outcome... You know how it goes… what doesn't kill me, and all that." He smirked.

Then he stepped back into a small gale of wind gathering around him. The swirling vortex tugged at the fabric of his robes, stirred his white locks, and drew the air close about his body. Within those guided currents, a noticeable chill began to creep outward, the temperature dropping beneath his careful hand.

 

[Aris Noble]

"Burning and freezing yourself? You never cease to amaze me with how dedicated you are." He let a genuine smile shine through the grin, but the grin returned none the less as a chill drifted through the air. Fire danced further over his skin as he seemed to drift between physical and not. That drift consumed him suddenly, his very form shifting to flame before it manifested before Braze in Aris's vague shape. The vague grin still flickering in the embers before he half solidified enough to bring down a solid fist upon Braze.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Aris Noble ​

Heat met frigid cold with a sharp hiss of steam. White vapor burst between them as the blow drove him back across the ring, boots skidding over rough terrain. Cracks ran through the stone armor shielding his shoulder and ribs as broken plates softened, shifted, then sealed again with a rough scrape as he dropped low, one hand splayed against the ground to catch himself.

The air around Aris warped from the heat and violently refused to hold a clean outline. He was no longer the boy Braze remembered… A manic grin spread across his features in disbelief.

"Okay… that's unfairly impressive." The words came light and breathless, edged with a laugh that had no business sounding so pleased after a powerful hit like that.

He rose slowly this time, green eyes narrowing on his target. The cold currents around him were widened, pushed and spread outwards into a broader ring. Mist gathered where the chill met lingering heat, thin white veils drawing the distortions into view. At his feet, the small stones shivered, then lifted into a slow orbit, pale shapes dotting over earth and grass as Braze coaxed them into motion to mark what sight alone might miss.

"I'm glad you've gotten stronger too, Aris… though I think you're becoming a little ~unreasonable~ about it~!"

The Force pulsed outwards in ripples. Braze sent quick flurries of stasis into the spaces where Aris seemed to shift, trying to seize and catching the moments between to slow him down. At the same time, he redirected the wind in slicing currents meant to shear around that blistering heat-haze. The barrage of small stones followed suit rocketed in waves one after the other to give Aris something solid to contend with.

Braze darted at an angle, using the drifting cloud of stones as cover while guided gusts snapped across the sparring ground. One hand reached low, seeking to catch and turn momentum whilst the other stayed ready to guard or redirect, his body coiled to slip away the instant the attempt failed.

Trying to overpower a living inferno was a silly idea and so, he shifted to a more tactful ranged approach. He only needed to learn where, exactly, Aris could still be touched.

 

[Aris Noble]

"It's wonderfully handy." Aris responded quick, flashing a grin before his form shimmered into heat once more. He was near a mirage, his body, clothing, all of it shimmering in and out of seeming existence as flame. Mist formed in pockets rapidly as he moved, the stones Braze lifted to try and mark his movements melting as Aris passed through them.

He was evading, or trying to, the stasis that Braze tried to bring around him. The sudden freeze had caught him off guard at first. His forearm, caught within. He left that behind, though. Flame licked around where the limb was as he turned from a charge right for Braze to weaving between the pockets of frozen time. Parts and pieces were frozen in there, half between flame and solid, as he pulled the remaining parts of his body free.

His grin was wide as ever as he rapidly closed in on the other Jedi. Parts of him were full flame now, no longer the shimmering mirage. The parts where his body had been frozen and left behind, already reforming in the inferno that Aris had become. His fist shimmered into solidness as he struck out, shifting through the cloud of frozen air in a sizzle of mist.

"There's nothing unreasonable about this, dear friend. I can actually keep up with you now."

Braze

 

[Ko Vuto]

Ko hadn't yet been to the refurbished Dantooine enclave that Braze has been working on and decided to finally pay it a visit. It was hard to keep track of how many construction projects the little echani was working on. He began to wonder that they may have a whole network of secret bunkers and hideaways all across the galaxy at this point.

However, he wasn’t aware of what was currently happening at the location. While trying to appreciate the work put into the place he sensed some disturbances. Violent outbursts in force energy. The Kel Dor hastened his pace to try and locate where it was coming from and why.

Exiting the structure he found had the source. Outside in a designated area Ko found the two young Jedi knights in what appeared to be a fearsome fight. Goggled eyes shifted to another one that was present, some tan teenager with long dark hair he didn’t recognize. ( Dirk ) Perhaps another one of Braze’s many, many strays. Whose eyes were glued to the brilliant displays of power being showcased by Braze and Aris.

His focus snapped back to the duo. Where one was sending out a barrage of elemental attacks while the other seemed completely set ablaze. Reminding Ko of how he was recently emulated on Tython.

Ko smiled softly under his antiox mask as he watched the two of them. It had been some time since he’d seen the two of them together. But when he recognized that Aris was on fire Ko cautiously took off his large over-robe from his body and held it in his arms. Readying himself to toss it over Aris at a moment's notice. If this was anything like what happened to him on Tython there might not be any modesty left at the end of this match.​