Private Raw Talent Meets Refined Skill

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

The forest air of Odessen was cool. A few steps away from the Hidden Path outpost, Ace stood alone in a clearing, breath steady as he pushed through a set of drills. His lightsaber hummed in sharp arcs, each movement punctuated by the snap of boots pivoting on the grass He'd been at it a while, long enough for sweat to bead along his temple and for his arms to feel the pleasant ache of repetition.

For the amount of training he'd had, and how often he'd been forced to use a lightsaber in real combat, Ace knew he was damn good. Maybe not polished like a seasoned Knight, but polish didn't win fights. What he had was raw effectiveness, and it got the job done. More than that, he trusted it.

On a nearby rock, Tic sat perched. The little BD-unit tilted its rectangular head at each swing, one photoreceptor flickering faintly, occasionally chirping with something that sounded like approval… or critique. Ace smirked at the noise, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Could be cleaner."

It wasn't often he asked for help. Reaching out wasn't his style, too much habit of doing everything on his own, and... maybe a little too much pride. But with the rate of situations he'd been finding himself in lately, the thought of sharpening his edge had settled in heavy. And who better to ask than a Jedi Knight?

Aris Noble. They were about the same age, and Ace had noticed something in him, a preference for doing instead of endless talk. That, at least, was common ground. Ace exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he glanced toward the treeline, half-expecting Aris to appear. Asking had been the hard part. Now came the real test.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Good to see you've already started."

Aris was, perhaps unsurprisingly, right on time. To the second, the millisecond. It wasn't often people asked him for his assistance, especially since in his younger years his assistance was less helpful and more- Not helpful in the slightest. He couldn't explain things properly more often than not, especially considering he didn't feel the Force as so many others did.

But he was older now. He could explain things better, and he wanted to help Acier where he could. They were friends.

"Though, you look pretty experienced already. Is there something specific you're looking for me to help with?"

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace sensed Aris's presence shortly before he announced he was there. Centered. Solid. Like he didn't waste a single beat of energy. Where Ace burned bright and fast, Aris's presence in the Force was a steady ember, not loud, but impossible to ignore. It reminded him of Aris's mother a little.​

​

A smirk tugged at his lips and he turned to face the Epicanthix. Glancing up at the towering young man, Ace quickly realized how tiresome it was becoming to crane his neck up at Aris every time they spoke.​

​

Ace shrugged "Yeah, well... I'm not one to waste time."​

​

From the rock, Tic let out a sudden series of cheerful chirps and beeps, photoreceptor flaring brighter at Aris. The little droid hopped in place, metal feet clicking against stone in its own excited greeting.​

​

"Tic says hi." he snickered.​

​

Aris seemed eager to help, which he appreciated greatly. Ace shifted his grip, rolling the hilt through his fingers in a smooth arc. The blade cut a swift line behind him, then back across the front in one fluid motion before settling into his hand again. Casual, unhurried, the kind of movement that said he was comfortable with the weapon, maybe even a little too comfortable.​

​

"I got experience, sure. Polish? Not so much. I fight quick, dirty, and usually in the middle of a mess. Gets the job done, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see what a proper Knight thinks." he explained.​

​

He lifted his lightsaber, entering a stance that appeared similar to Shii-Cho or Djem So, but wasn't quite either. Indicative of his randomized fighting style.​

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"Asked you 'cause talking's not really either of our things. Thought maybe we could skip to the part where I try not to get knocked on my ass."​

​

Spar, he wanted to spar. Who better to ask than his friend who enjoyed fighting as much as he did?​

​

Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Hello, Tic." Aris dipped his head towards the droid, even gave a smile. He could speak Binary, or at least understand it, given his upbringing. Before Kahlil had brought him home, he'd been raised by a droid after all. He did blink though as he looked to Acier. Fighting experience in a battle was worth well more than any refinement or skill a Knight could offer.

Granted, once Acier asked for a spar the logical thinking went out the window. Aris grinned just a bit as he unclipped the lightsaber on his hip, letting the blade ignite much too eagerly.

"We'll see what I can offer you, then. Proper training can help the refinement at least."

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

"Don't go easy on me." Ace said flatly, grinning with the likeness of a small child.

The moment he looked at Aris, really looked, his grin flattened Kriff, he was tall. Eight feet of Jedi towering over him, all reach and leverage. Ace remembered the MagnaGuards he'd clashed with before, but even they weren't this big. Aris wasn't just a tall opponent, he was a tree.

Still, practice was practice. What better practice than figuring out how to chop a tree down? His lightsaber hummed at his side while his mind snapped into focus. Strategizing. Tall meant long reach, wide arcs, dangerous if you fought on the outside. But tall also meant slower recovery, harder to guard low. That was the play here. Get inside, force him down, keep him moving. Make him bend.

Ace was a natural southpaw - right foot forward, blade held in his left hand at an angle most duelists weren't used to squaring off against. That was his advantage. On the rock, Tic suddenly let out a burst of rapid chirps and whistles, metal feet tapping against stone in quick rhythm. The little droid rocked forward and back, almost like it was bouncing in place. Ace chuckled under his breath, shaking his head.

Lowering his shoulders and coiling his weight, Ace darted into range with a sudden burst forward. His lightsaber arced across Aris's midsection in a heavy left-handed swing. It wasn't delicate or testing, it was meant to crash through, to set the pace. He wanted to remind Aris not to go easy on him.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"If you're sure. Just remember it's safer to dodge."

Aris steadied his stance as he watched Acier do the same. Similar, at least. He raised his blade overhead, a classic for Djem So, as he simply waited. Yet by just how he stood he seemed to be commanding the battle from the get go. Acier was going to strike, but it seemed that was exactly what Aris wanted to happen.

Battle in the wilds were impossible to predict. Adaptation was the most important thing, or at least that's what Aris had thought. Master Caltin Vanagor had taught him differently. Why react when he could make the wilds instead react to him? Aris sidestepped the slash as it came, the grin still on his face but his eyes eerily focused and intense. The gold rings seemed to be flickering like fire. Thrill, enjoyment. The blade came down shortly after, crashing with sheer strength the form was known for.

And then some. Aris wasn't the type that should be blocked without a crazy level of strength to back it up, and the Falling Avalanche was all about baiting an opponent into having to block it so raw strength would shatter the user's foe.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace saw it coming. The overhead arc, all weight and momentum, was telegraphed enough that the smart move was obvious. Slip aside, let it smash dirt, and counter from the flank. His instincts even whispered the same.

But he was way past the "smart move." Overconfidence, recklessness, the sheer thrill of it - that's what had his feet planting instead of pivoting. If Aris wanted to bring down an avalanche, then Ace would meet it head-on. The crash came a heartbeat later and the impact rattled through his arms, jolted his shoulders, and shook all the way down into his joints. His teeth grit hard, boots digging furrows into the forest floor as the blue blades locked together with a sparking howl.

His arms were shaking, he could see it and feel it. Yet, he was still holding and a split second, genuine surprise flickered through him. Holding his own against an Epicanthix's strength? That was something. But the ache was already creeping in, the fatigue of training before Aris had even arrived making itself known.

A grin cut through the tension though, sharp and defiant. "Not bad, Noble." he strained, breath tight, every muscle in his arms braced to keep from being folded in half.

From the sidelines, Tic chirped rapid-fire, hopping on its little feet like it was protesting the madness. Ace barely heard it. This wasn't about safe or smart. This was about proving he wouldn't break.

And then he shifted. Rather than continuing to absorb the pressure, he angled his lightsaber just enough to let the weight slide off and freed his left shoulder with a sharp twist. In the same motion, he drove forward, blade snapping up toward Aris's hip - fast and low. The strike was meant to punish height and force Aris to defend where reach counted for less.

As he moved, a scrap of memory drifted in... Pisti Caleida 's voice from one of their brutal training sessions, blunt and cutting as ever:

"Gotta remember, Ace. Nobody's gonna care if you don't get the perfect angle on the swing if it's gonna lob their head off anyway. So don't stick too tightly to form. Fighting a man? Go for the groin. That kinda stuff, ya get me?"

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Huh."

Aris stared down at Acier as he pressed further. All his weight, all his strength. It wasn't just Epicnathic might, but the power the Forge had amplified. Acier had taken it. Nearly buckled, but hadn't. When the other boy finally slipped underneath the rest of Aris's strike hit the ground, cleaving deep in an instant.

His brow furrowed as he turned, practically leaping back to avoid the strike. His saber extinguished in the moment, making it easier to at least keep his blade from being lodged for too long.

"Not bad yourself, you know."

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace wasn't going to let him breathe. His muscles were already screaming, tighter and achier than he needed them to be after the drills he'd hammered out earlier. The moment Aris leapt back, he pushed through it, letting the momentum drag him forward.

Don't give him space. Don't let him reset.

Ace darted in, low and fast, left shoulder leading. His lightsaber cut in a sharp diagonal toward Aris's forward knee, then whipped up in a tight arc aimed for the shoulder. It wasn't the cleanest combo, but it was designed to keep someone as tall as Aris guessing, make him guard both ends at once. Strategically, it made sense. Aris was a fortress, but fortresses fell when you pressed them from the cracks and didn't let up. The more he had to move that frame around, the better Ace's chances.

From the rock, Tic squealed and beeped, hopping so excitedly its little legs scraped the bark with each click. The droid was enjoying the show.

"Careful, Noble." he said in a light, almost chuckling tone as he pressed another strike "I may start thinking I'm better than I am."

Truth was, he kind of already did. Ace was having the time of his life, it was the most fun he'd had in months.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Blue sprang back to life as Aris caught the strike towards his knee, but his brow furrowed as Acier whipped the blade up to try and catch his shoulder. Trying to take advantage of Aris's height then, to make it a weakness rather than a strength? Acier did say not to hold back, though, so.. Rather than try to block the strike coming for his shoulder he lashed out himself, bringing his blade straight across for the other boy's midsection.

It was his off hand that came up to block the strike. Catch it, quite literally in his palm. A lightsaber couldn't cut him after all, and he was taking full advantage of that fact to try and yank Acier's weapon from his grasp.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

For half a heartbeat Ace froze. Aris had caught his blade. With his hand. The blue glow burned against the Epicanthix's skin... except it actually didn't. Tic's photoreceptor flickered wildly, a shrill squeal echoing from the rock like even the droid couldn't believe it.

"What--?" Ace barked, twisting his grip.

Aris's lightsaber came sweeping for his midsection, and instinct took over. Ace bent low, coiling tight, and then launched. The Force surged through his legs, driving him up and over in a snapping flip. His boots cleared Aris's shoulder, and he wrenched his lightsaber free mid-air with a sharp twist of momentum. The blade shrieked as it tore loose, snapping back into his full control as he landed behind him in a low crouch.

Aris was full of surprises. First the Entropite crystal, then the floating lightsaber, and now this? Every time Ace thought he had a sense of the guy, he found a new way to throw him off balance. It was irritating, but also exhilarating.

He didn't waste a breath. Coming up from the crouch, Ace lunged forward again, blade slashing in a hard horizontal cut aimed across Aris's back. It was fast and committed, but not reckless enough to lock him in place, leaving the Epicanthix room to defend or evade.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"You asked me not to hold back."

Aris's eyes remained locked on Acier, even as he leapt overhead. He turned, and at once his stance was visibly different. Smaller, tighter. He didn't take a step, he shuffled and shifted. A flick of the wrist sent his blade up to catch Acier's strike and shift it to a different angle away. A rapid parry, then a quick thrust right for Acier's chest.

Then another. All at once Aris turned to a full offensive of rapid thrusts and quick slashes. Makashi for certain, but where the style usually lacked strength Aris's unnatural might changed what would be an easily deflected nick into a bone shaking hammer of a blow.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

The parry threw his blade wide, and before Ace could reset Aris was already pressing in. A thrust snapped for his chest and Ace barely twisted his guard down in time, the impact rattled through his forearm. Another came, sharper, heavier, and his teeth grit as he stumbled half a step back.

He recognized what this was. Makashi. He'd learned about it from Pisti, but never saw it in action. It was clean, tight, every movement efficient. But in Aris's hands it hit like a hammer. Where Ace's strikes were messy but alive, Aris's flowed like water with the weight of stone behind it.

Ace fell into defense, his left-handed guard crossing low, then high, then sweeping wide again as thrust after thrust came for him. His arms ached, his earlier workout dragging fire through his muscles. His feet skimmed quick over the dirt. No perfect form, not even an answer - just surviving. A desperate mix of Shii-Cho's broad sweeps and Djem So's raw blocks, strung together by instinct alone.

For a moment, he was faltering. He could feel it in his guard, the way Aris's lightsaber slid through and nearly found him more than once. But every time, Ace twisted a fraction, angled just enough, let his southpaw stance throw the rhythm off.

He forced a breath between his teeth, eyes snapping for the tiniest hitch in the pattern. When the next thrust drove in, Ace pivoted hard to the outside, letting the blade scrape past his ribs. At the same time his lightsaber snapped across in a wild, slanted slash for Aris's shoulder. It was messy, but fast and heavy enough to bite if it landed.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris had been watching. Despite the grin on his face, the thrill of the fight that burned in his mind, his eyes had been watching. There was something eerie about just how closely he was observing Acier, every pivot and block, every movement at the last second. As a clone, Aris had been made to be perfect. A vessel that couldn't be harmed, that most importantly couldn't be possessed or influenced by the Force.

The later had come with a steep price, of course. Blocked from the Force in such a way, even now he could only feel the Force through Zaiya Ceti or even Vera Noble as they had when they were children. Through others, never through himself. He was strong and fast. His mind made calculations as quick as any droid, but he'd never have the ability to sense danger unseen, to trust in it as Acier was now to deflect the blows that were hammering down.

It clicked as to why Acier wanted his help. Raw talent and instinct worked in most cases, but when someone knew, when someone like Aris could read that instinct like a book, it was a weakness. He saw the move before it happened, predicted it. Desperation to turn the fight around, to take Aris's thrust as a chance to slip into the larger figure's guard. Acier's strike came, a good strike right for his shoulder.

Aris wasn't going to let it connect though. His free hand that had been carefully tucked to the side was waiting for Acier, curled into a fist as he struck out right for the other boy's chin.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Hidden Path Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

He didn't see it coming. His blade was mid-swing for Aris's shoulder when the fist shot out. The crack of knuckles against his chin snapped his head sideways and sent pain lancing through his jaw. But instead of resisting, he let the momentum take him.

His left shoulder dropped sharply, torso folding low as his boots slid across dirt. The motion carried him forward and under, slipping beneath the arc of Aris's striking arm. For a moment he was almost folded in half, ducked so close that his shoulder brushed past Aris's hip as he moved through the gap.

By the time his head came up again, he'd rolled clear to the Epicanthix's outside, crouched low with his lightsaber still clutched tight. Stars danced at the edge of his vision, his jaw throbbing already, but the lightsaber was still in his grip and that was what mattered.

Tic shrieked from the rock like the little droid thought Ace was about to die, hopping in frantic, glitchy bursts. Ace held his hand out to calm the BD unit down.

Ace spat blood, breath hissing out through his teeth, and a grin carved across his face anyway. The taste of his blood reminded him of his childhood, the scraps specifically.

If Aris was going to throw fists, then anything was fair game. The white-haired rebel snapped back up in one fluid motion, his right hand snapped out in the same motion, aiming a sharp jab for Aris's kidney while his lightsaber came around low for the ribs.

Aris Noble​