Private Rejuvenation

[Starlin Dinn]

It was an entirely different vessel that touched down in Grafted Into Stone's hangar than had left it some weeks prior. Gone was the jumpy jellyfish ship that had a mind of its own, circumventing months of travel in an unexpected blink, and in its stead a sleek black-metal luxury transport whose wings folded up on touchdown.​

​

Despite the change in ships, PL was still very much ingrained within its core. Shipwrights on Aurum had fitted him into the cockpit at the boy's insistence, and being the adopted son of their ruling monarch meant he was heeded. It was a completely different experience, flying the Blacklight, smoother and more... elegant. It reminded him of home, of Mercuitie, a level of opulence running alongside more pragmatic choices. It was a smaller ship, too, much more manageable for a lone boy traveling.​

​

Space enough to bring friends along, too.​

​

The ship, however, did not yet have a name. Something for Starlin to consider.​

​

All this to say, he returned looking markedly different. Happier, more confident, and with clothes from home. Because Starlin had been home, he had seen his Uncles, and slept in his bed, and difficult conversations had been had. Starlin wore a silken ensemble, crisp white flowing robes shot through with a beautiful aquatic blue outer drape, sash, and trim, and golden embroidery. No more grotty old desert robes, or borrowed training garb - though he still had that, of course. Clean and groomed and... ready.​

​

Upon hailing Grafted Into Stone from space, Starlin had requested an audience with Jasper Kai'el specifically. As he walked down the boarding ramp into the hangar proper, he could only hope that an offer made weeks prior remained on the table.​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

Jasper, of course, waited in the hangar. It was early in the morning, at least where they were stationed on Refuge, so he had his cup of morning caf in his hand. Of course, it sat within his favorite mug. He took a sip as a new vessel landed, not the Corvette from before. Even so, Starlin emerged all the same. He was dressed much nicer now. Jasper could appreciate the effort, but of course he'd want proper training gear so that his nice clothes didn't get dirty. Still, it was clear the boy wanted to make a good impression.

Lucky for him, Jasper was no stickler for those sorts of thing.

"Welcome back," he greeted, offering a wave of his organic hand. "You seem in a better mood. I take it that the business you needed to handle went well?"

After taking another sip he spoke again.

"Still have my blade with you?"

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Rather than wave back, Starlin folded into a traditional bow of respect, keeping his back straight and his eyes dipped until he was upright once more. "Hello again, Sir," he chirped, smiling softly. "I feel much better, yes."​

​

As for his business, a very tiny frown twitched before he schooled his expression.​

​

"It was certainly something, Sir, but it resulted in my returning home and that did go well, yes. I saw my Uncles, and they gave me their blessing to learn... if you're still amenable to that, Sir."​

​

Starlin reached for the shoto clipped to the side of his belt, then carefully offered it up on both hands; he treated it like something to revere. "Yes, Sir, I didn't use it, I swear."​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Of course, offer still stands," he assured. "And don't sweat if you used the blade or not, it wasn't there to look pretty. All that matters is that it's still with you. You'll be constructing your own soon enough, and it's very important that you don't lose track of it, yeah?" The man turned and gestured for Starlin to follow. "Come on. You can tell me about your trip while I get things set up for you."

The pair would walk through the Grafted towards a designated training dojo. It wasn't flashy, just a box room with mats on the floor. Nothing as extravagant as what he trained in on Coruscant. Even so, these chambers were for keeping his Outcasts sharp before a battle. It wasn't intended to look pretty.

Jasper would retrieve a training remote and began to fiddle with it. As he did, he spoke again.

"This shouldn't take too long," Jasper stated. "Just wanna get a sense of how good your reflexes are before we do anything too crazy. Sound good?"

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Oh..." He kept the shoto offered out to Jasper until he realized the man was intentionally not taking it, at that point he lowered his hands. "Wait, constructing? One of these?" That sounded utterly crazy to him, but he trusted Jasper's sense and so ultimately he nodded. "Yes, Sir."​

​

Following him through the ship, Starlin returned the shoto to his belt to free up his hands. "Othe--- erm, Mister Rand was sending me to see my sister," he stated as they walked, "Turns out there's a lot of.. misunderstanding there. She wanted me to come and see the rest of the family but," Starlin shook his head. "I couldn't, not yet. It's all a little too much, Sir."​

​

He kept pace with Jasper, just a step behind.​

​

"She showed me how to get home though, and I saw my Uncles. I think even Uncle Darien was close to tears." Theryn had been very open with his relief.​

​

He stared at the training remote, head tilting this way and that. "Is that a ball made of metal? Won't that hurt your feet to kick?"​

​

Unaware of what the test would entail, Starlin nodded his head. "Yea, sure, sounds good."​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Othe--- erm, Mister Rand was sending me to see my sister," he stated as they walked, "Turns out there's a lot of.. misunderstanding there. She wanted me to come and see the rest of the family but," Starlin shook his head. "I couldn't, not yet. It's all a little too much, Sir."

"Eloise is her name, right?" Jasper guessed. "I've sort of been coming to the sneaking suspicion that she is was a relative of yours. I've known her for a while now. Well, I guess as much as you can know any other student of your peers. She seems to mean well, just that she's a bit intense is all."

If Eloise Dinn was okay after Alderaan, maybe that spoke favorably for the fate of Amani Serys as well. Jasper hoped that was the case.

"Anyways, this ball here ain't really a ball," he explained. As he activated the device it began to float. "It's a training remote, standard reflex testing stuff. Kind of like a droid, but way simpler. It fires off low power projectiles, and you gotta either dodge them or- YIPE!"

Jasper jumped as the remote, which he was in the range of for beginning the training protocol, promptly fired a low-powered shot into his back. He shook off the initial shock before turning around and swiping the remote out of the air to turn it off. The Jedi Master let out a huff.

"Or deflect the projectile back," the man sighed. "The rounds are simple, low powered. They don't hurt, but they'll give you a tingle something fierce, so you'll know when you aren't doing well. Force users have a natural sense that lets them know when danger is approaching. We wanna see how quickly you react to that sense to move out of the way of the remote's projectiles. Simple enough, yeah?"

At least the remote's capabilities had already been displayed, even if it was at his own expense. He could walk it off and make sure the short lesson was still productive.

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Yeah," he said, raising his brows, "Wait, you know her? What's she like? I mean, actually like..?" One would expect Starlin to know all about his own sister, but such was not the case. "Intense is a word" he agreed, frowning as he realized he had a confession to make. ​

​

"She, uh, maybe sort of kind of destroyed a room in my ship, the other ship, Leviathan. And... erm... those clothes you loaned me were among the casualties. I'm really sorry, Sir, and I'll make sure I replace them as soon as I can. I brought some gold from Zaathru -- that's the name of the place, by the way, the planet I'm from - and I intend to give you some for replacements. I really am sorry, she just got so mad and... and I couldn't stop her." ​

​

The boy looked spooked just recollecting it.​

​

As for the not-ball, Starlin leapt back as it suddenly floated up from the floor into the air. His eyes were wide. "It's like a really tiny spaceship" he whispered, "Erm, starship, I mean. It's so cool."​

​

Of course, when Jasper cried out as the device shocked him Starlin's excitement fast fell. "Are you okay?"​

​

Dodge or deflect, Starlin swallowed. "Deflect it how?" he asked, tilting his head a little to the left. "A natural sense like... like the music? Or the prickling on my neck that comes before the music?"

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Wait, you know her? What's she like? I mean, actually like..?" One would expect Starlin to know all about his own sister, but such was not the case. "Intense is a word

"Well, she has a strong sense of conviction at the very least," Jasper noted. "I think she saw something when she was younger that maybe changed her perception of things. Like a loss of innocence kind of deal. It must be the reason she hates the Sith so much, but I can't really speculate on what it is she saw. Something to do with your family? I'm sure Amani knows more than me... That's her teacher, Amani Serys . If you ever meet her, I suppose..."

Jasper let out a laugh when Starlin offered gold, waving his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Nah, I don't do that," he insisted. "Payment isn't really my thing. Don't worry about that shot either, I've taken way worse. I was just a little caught off guard is all. Deflecting is simple enough. Lightsabers are blades of plasma, so the plasma of opposing projectiles should bounce off no sweat. The real trouble is doing it in such a way to get it lobbed back at your adversary. That takes lots of practice."

His sense being the prickling hair before the music. Interesting. Jasper didn't know of anyone who explained it quite like that, but...

"Prickling hair does sound right," he noted. "But we won't know until you give it a go, yeah? Think you're up for the challenge?"

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"I don't know what happened" he admitted, "My Father left me with my Uncles when I was a little'un, and... he never came back." Starlin paused, frowning deeply as he thought through all that could have happened with Eloise in his absence, before shaking his head. "I never saw her after that. Any of them. I can't imagine it was good, though, what I remember of our mother was anger and hurt. It wouldn't surprise me to hear she'd mistreated Ellie too."​

​

As the gold was waved away, Starlin rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, can you at least take a little and put it toward the ship's expenses? Uncle Darien said it takes a lot to run an operation like this, it's why he sent me with extra."​

​

Plasma bolts and plasma blades, deflecting could be done in a way that was intentional or merely defensive. He slowly nodded his head, then reached for the hilt on his hip once more.​

​

"And how do I make this into the glowy-stick like your blue one back on Refuge?" He looked from hilt to Jedi Master, then smiled a smile full of excitement and nerves. "Yeah, I'm up for the challenge."​

​

Wasn't up for being stung, but... he had to learn some how.​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"I never saw her after that. Any of them. I can't imagine it was good, though, what I remember of our mother was anger and hurt. It wouldn't surprise me to hear she'd mistreated Ellie too."

Jasper paused for a moment. Something about his words, and the structure of his face. It...

"Hey," Jasper scowled, glaring back to the winged woman, "Stop eating my friend."

“But your friend is delicious!”

Reminded him of something. He couldn't quite place what it was he was remembering, though. It felt like something from a lifetime ago...

And then he was back in reality. Starlin asked about contributing the money to the ship, to which Jasper shook his head.

"Nah, that's how things work in places a bit more rigid and structured," he explained. "Out here money and stuff doesn't really have the same value. I keep my ship in shape with favors, which I repay by helping out my allies when they're in a pinch. It'll make sense the more time you spend out here."

"And how do I make this into the glowy-stick like your blue one back on Refuge?"

"Oh, right," Jasper laughed, palming his forehead a little. "That seems important, doesn't it? Here, just this nob..."

He stepped over and turned the blade on for Starlin. Then he pointed to a second nob that was smaller, below the one that turned the lightsaber on.

"This one controls the length," he stated. "It's in shoto mode right now, you may need something a bit longer. Turn it clockwise, but slowly. When you think it's good, let me know you're ready to start."

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Oh."​

​

Starlin chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Guess I'll find some way to donate the extra then" he offered sheepishly. There had to be an organization, charity, or even just an orphanage that he could support on some of Uncle Darien's gold. Starlin didn't need it all.​

​

Wasn't even sure how many credits worth he had, but it was a decent chunk all in.​

​

When Jasper approached, Starlin offered up the hilt with both hands again. He watched as the nob was pointed to, then took half a step back as the blade ignited orange upward from the hilt.​

​

Thankfully the lad didn't drop it. He reached to adjust the dial, nice and slowly, then turned the saber this way and that. Starlin enjoyed the way it sounded as it moved, that steady hum was music to his ears, though it took some getting used to the weightlessness of the blade's upper half.​

​

"It's nothing like the foils I trained with back home" he remarked, "and they were pretty lightweight. This is..." Yeah, weightless.​

​

He drew a big deep breath, then looked up at Jasper with a nod. "I hold it with one hand or two?" he asked. Fencing foils were one handed, but this wasn't for fencing so what did Starlin know? "I think I'm ready, Sir."​

​

The lad still didn't know how to address the Jedi properly.​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"I hold it with one hand or two?"

"Two is best to start with," he stated. "It gives you much better control over the blade. One handed gives you more range, but it's less secure. There's lots to learn when it comes to styles of lightsaber use, and I am familiar with most forms. So we can find something best suited for your needs."

Of course, he was only so proficient in so many forms by now because Braze had been a very demanding student. He wanted to know everything, and it forced Jasper to learn more himself so that he could pass that info on. Hopefully that experience would serve him well here.

"Right then," Jasper nodded. "Remember, maintain your footing and concentrate on your target. The feelings in the air around you. Let your senses guide your hand..."

And with that, Jasper activated the remote.

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Two" he echoed, grasping it more like a bat than a rapier in response. It felt strange, but he adjusted his grip until it was more comfortable and then shifted his weight; his stance instinctively became one more akin to a fencers, side on, light on his feet, shoulder-width apart to keep him balanced. He naturally led with his left foot.​

​

As the remote released its first stinging shot, Starlin felt prickles forming over the back of his neck as the hair stood on end; he drew the blade forward in anticipation, but it was much lighter than he was used to and he overshot his mark. Instead of intercepting the bolt he found himself struck square in his right collarbone as his body twisted inward with the swing.​

​

"YEOW!" he cried out. It wasn't the most painful thing imaginable, didn't burn, but it was unexpected and Starlin was not at all used to pain.​

​

The remote did not care, it was programmed to keep going, and Starlin had to hastily work to push past the stinging ache and redirect the glowing orange blade if he wanted to avoid another strike.​

​

Truth be told, the most important part was that he did not immediately throw in the towel.​

​

The second shot barely grazed past the blade, and the third Starlin was able to actually block. His senses were active, he could feel and hear the warning signs in his own unique ways, it sounded almost like a low and quick violin draw to him, it was just a matter of getting a handle on the weightless blade.​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

Jasper knew the stance that Starlin assumed well. It was fencing. That form of combat was he foundation of his preferred form, Makashi. It was often strange to many that Jasper favored the form, given his nature. He wasn't exactly refined. Still, it offered a better jumping off point than lots first learning lighsaber combat.

He just needed to have his horizons broadened.

"Very good," he noted as Starlin slowly began to pick up on reacting to the remote. "You learn quickly. I'll let the remote run a little longer, but I'd like to offer to you a hypothetical to think about..."

Jasper took a sip from his mug as he began to pace.

"Let's say a second remote appeared behind you," Jasper mused. "What would you do in such a situation?"

Of course, it was more than just seeing how Starlin solved problems. It was introducing multi-tasking. Answer the question at the same time as deflecting training bolts. Just to see how he did when he had to think and act at the same time.

 

[Starlin Dinn]

As he tried to focus on Jasper's words, another shot got through to him. He hissed but he didn't let it distract him for too long and the one following it was better defended. He was far from fully deflecting, the shots were bouncing wherever they pleased, but it was a start.​

​

"I, erm," he swallowed, focused more on the remote than the question though he was trying to think about it.​

​

"I'd turn sideways" he confessed, "so I have them both in my peripheral." It wasn't as exacting as remaining more head-on with a single remote, but it was better than being shot in the back repeatedly - at least, it was in his mind.

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Alright... I suppose that's a start," Jasper agreed. "But you'd be in a much better position if you took one of the two out. So, let's think about deflecting the shots back."

Jasper would draw his own lightsaber and stand beside Starlin, initially letting his student to continue to deflect shots on his own. He gestured to the blade with his organic finger and made a circular motion while he spoke.

"The core shape of the blade is a cylinder," he explained. "That means that the direction of where the deflected shot goes is determined by what part of the curved surface it hits. If you want to deflect a shot, you need to block it with the part that will send it back to where it came from. And then you can start experimenting with using other orientations to send shots to different places."

He would demonstrate, deflecting back the next bolt with the core of his blade and sending it straight into the remote. It stuttered for a moment, but then continued it's programming. From there the Jedi Master sheathed his blade and stepped back again.

 

[Starlin Dinn]

The boy stared at Jasper in surprise as the answer the man had been seeking was uttered. "Oh" the boy said, cheeks taking on a blush, "I didn't think I was allowed to risk damaging them, Sir," he confessed. Nor did he know how to intentionally deflect, but that second part was a given.​

​

As Starlin continued to knock aside the remote's shots, he turned his head just the tiniest bit and watched as Jasper joined in.​

​

The Jedi Master deflected a shot rather effortlessly, leaving the boy slack-jawed in awe.​

​

He tried to picture the curvature of the blade and the way in which a deflected shot might bounce, but without trying for himself he knew he wouldn't be able to visualize it.​

​

Instead, as the probe started up another shot he worked his blade into its path and angled it just so. It did not deflect directly to the training remote but it was close. Very close in fact.​

​

Jasper Kai'el ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Refuge, Grafted into Stone
Tags: Starlin Dinn

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Not too bad..." Jasper nodded as he paced around. "You'll want to hone these motor skills frequently. If the only thing that stands between you and a blaster bolt is your blade, you need to be extra certain that you can defend yourself. It only takes one mistake."

Jasper was glad that Starlin was learning fast, though. It would mean that they could move onto combat soon. More than just that, there were other things that Starlin needed to understand. The Jedi Code, the nature of the Force, and the trials he would need to complete to become a Jedi Knight. All in good time, of course.

There was no need to rush things.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a while. "Tiring out yet?"