Saber Taser

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius had never heard of Phindar before. Of course, he hadn't heard of a lot of worlds. The guy was more than a little inexperienced after all. He'd come here because Master Shatterstar had done the same. There were things that needed to be taken care of out in the galaxy: the alliance needed him, there was that odd calling on Dathomir, the Silvers needed help, but his training was paramount. You couldn't do much to help when you had no idea what you were doing.

To that end, he'd opted to stay by Varus' side until he was sure of his skills. When the day came that he felt he could survive on his own, he would fulfill his duties. Of course, his tutelage under Master Shatterstar would not be ending for quite some time. He would always return to his teacher's side at the end of the day, and accompany the Jedi Master wherever he might have need of the padawan.

The first step down that path was mastery of the lightsaber.

Fortunately, Darius had some skill in his blade work. It had taken time to attain even a novice level of understanding, but he had managed to do so. Today, Master Shatterstar would be helping him with the intricacies of the blade.

It was exciting! Partly because he was finally beginning to make some progress, and partly because he finally had the chance to pick Varus' brain. The man was an enigma; quite unlike most of the other Jedi Darius had met. The boy was curious.

"You promise not to chop my arm off Master?" Darius snickered he walked through the doors of the 'pad'.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"], [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] (if she wants)

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"It'll be hard to cut any arms off with these.", Varus said, a not at all humorous look upon his face at all as Darius made his joke and walked into the training room. As he spoke, he lifted both of his hands and held his muscled, scraped, cut and scarred forearms up. His knuckles had been scabbed over a hundred times and his hands, though strong, did crack and one of them he could hardly ball into a fist those days, though he would be remedying that the next time he went to town. There was scar tissue building up around one of the tendons of his left hand that he would have to have surgically removed, but eventually he'd be right as rain with just another scar added to his life's work of injuries.

After a few moments Varus dropped his hands to his side and clutched his fists tightly, knuckles cracking as he pooled a small amount of the force into his arms. When he did, his forearms began to swell a bit as his forearms twitched and flexed with the surge of energy through his body, and then it had subsided. "I could rip an arm off, I suppose, but that'd be no good.", he told Darius as he waited for the young and aspiring Jedi to step up on the mat with him. "I'll be using Teräs Käsi for now until you can even touch me with that saber, and trust me, it's no insult.", he explained a she finally moved again, turning and stepping back with his right foot before raising his force imbued arms.

He crooked both of his hands as he got into his basic stance for the technique and waited for Darius to prepare himself for a beating he had no idea was going to be coming. "Teräs Käsi was a technique developed in order to do just this... fight people who swing glow sticks around. To fight Jedi, and so unarmed though I may be, I have the advantage of forethought and years of practice with a skill developed specifically to fight and beat you."

[member="Darius"] - [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

He would pretend Varus laughed at the joke.

When the master did not draw a lightsaber, Darius lofted a brow. He was confused. The boy had heard passing mentions of Teräs Käsi before. Something about beating the ever-living-kark out of armed opponent with nothing more than your bare hands. The idea had seemed ridiculous at the time. He'd openly laughed at the trader who seemed all-too-faithful in this mystery art. It seemed Darius was going to be giving that man an apology after this.

"I'm not a total novice master," Darius grunted as he reached for his lightsaber. That was partly a lie - he did have some training. Most of it had come from dueling other Padawans. He'd never dealt with a Jedi Master before, nor anything close to that skill level. Still, he at least knew which end of the blade to grab.

Unlike Varus, Darius was virtually untouched. He had a few old wounds here and there; old nicks really. A small jagged mark on his left forearm gained from a bad fall from the trees on Endor was the worst of it. Not exactly rugged.

"Yes, please don't rip my arm off," he stepped up to the mat, "I've a feeling that would be much worse than a clean cut - not that I'd particularly enjoy that either."

The lightsaber hissed as it came to life. The blade was a dark shade of blue powered by a Mygeeto crystal. Darius was rather proud of the weapon; it showed when he cracked a wide smile at the blade's light. Stepping closer to Varus, Darius held his weapon high up behind the back of his head; the basic opening stance for Djem-so.

"Do you want me to just...try to hit you?"

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"I want you to try and kill me.", Varus said as he abruptly responded to Darius's question. As he did, he tightened his stance and raised both hands before he allowed his eyes to slant closed for a moment so that he could concentrate. He drew the force inwardly and gathered it in his chest, arms and legs, practically breathing it as he centered himself, although he would never practice Force Valor against a student. Still, he was drawing the force into him in order to increase his agility and speed.

All of a sudden, after just another moment, Varus's Sapphire eyes sprang open, and that was the last thing visible. Those blues hovered there in mid air as the rest of him faded, and then they were gone with the rest of him as his body moved at blinding speeds enhanced by the force. The very next second, Varus was right on top of Darius, his right leg tucked behind his student's left and his right hand thrusting into the Padawan's solar plexus hard enough to steal his air, but not hard enough at all to break. When he no doubt would fall backwards, reeling from the blow, he would tumble over his leg and the first round of their sparring would be complete.

[member="Darius"] - [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Wut.

Varus' statement caught the boy off guard. They were training, sure, but he wasn't here to murder the man! What if there was an accident? Sera would see to it that he suffered the same fate, he was sure. Rather than move to strike the Jedi Master, Darius just stood there, lips pursed as he tried to find the right thing to say. Sure, his master was quick, but could he really dodge every stroke of a lightsaber? The padawan didn't get the chance to find out.

One moment he was standing there, the next he was on the ground. The blow had certainly knocked him around - things were hurting that really shouldn't have. Groaning, the student pushed himself up to his feet; his visage twisted in distaste.

"Whatever you say Master," he grumbled as he stood up to his full height. Had he trusted in the force, he might have found some success. As it was, Darius relied on his eyes to see. He wasted no time in lunging forward, his blade hissing as it carved a wide horizontal arc in hopes of bisecting Varus' torso. Of course the blade was on a lower setting. It wouldn't do much more than sting.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus was well prepared for his Padawan's attack, rushing the boy again intent on dodging the horizontal arc that he cut with his saber. Insted, he stepped in front of the blade in order to get closer to Darius and reached out his right hand. Before the blade could connect he forced it to rebound and swing back in the opposite direction with a concentrated burst of the force.

The second the saber was no longer a problem Varus dash forwards and swept at Darius's legs with his own left leg before planting that leg in front of him. He then threw both of his hands forwards, palms out, intent on popping Darius in the chest to send him reeling a second time.

[member="Darius"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

There went whatever stability Darius had. The second jerking of his lightsaber being sent in the opposite direction was enough to disorient him. The sweeping of the legs made him stumble; the strike with the two palms sent him stumbling back. The padawan barely managed to stay on his feet - it was a wonder he had not lost his lightsaber given Varus' opening strike.

"Fancy master," he remarked, clearly amused. His gaze fell on Varus once again, but then his master became a blur.

Darius chose to hearken back to one of his earliest lesson. A lesson in which he had learned to trust in the force, rather than his own eyes. He drew in a deep breath, and expelled slowly. Varus would be coming for him once again. Darius would do his best to anticipate it.

With his eyes closed, the padawan slashed the blade in a downward horizontal cut, hoping to hit Varus where he would be, rather than where he was.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus had known what form of fighting Darius was relying on, but he hadn't seen it employed for quite some time, which was perhaps why he'd almost made the mistake of putting him right in the wrong position. As he watched the saber coming down in his intended path, however, he managed to avoid it by throwing up his hands and releasing a burst of the force to immediately halt his advance. When he did his body stopped mid stride as the saber slashed right in front of him, missing him by just a few inches as the attack followed through.

He tumbled backwards to the floor before popping back up and hopping towards Darius, his left arm reached out to catch his body weight as he swept his left leg to the the left, and then his right. It looked like some form of capoeira fighting style, though really it had only been a double legged sweep at Darius's legs.

[member="Darius"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius had the sense to douse his lightsaber the moment he felt his legs slipping out from under him. For a moment, he'd thought that he might have actually hit Varus. Fortunately that was not the case. He had no desire to hurt his master, even if the blade's setting was set low. That did not mean he wasn't going to give it his all, however.

The padawan tumbled to the floor as his balance was lost. He fell back awkwardly; halting his fall with an open palm. The movement certainly hurt, but it didn't cause any significant damage. Biting back a curse, Darius pitched a roll backward to give himself some distance. He needed a moment to figure out what had just happened and find his bearings.

At the end of the roll he sprang up to his feet, lightsaber hissing as it came to life once more.

"Go me there," he muttered through shaky breaths, "Not done though." His legs were wracked with pain, but he willed himself to pay it no mind. Adrenaline certainly helped. Master Shatterstar would come in for another strike, and he would be ready to counter it with his lightsaber when it came.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

OOC: Sorry my reply has taken so long. Went out of town this weekend.


Varus stood there, the expression on his face unchanged as he dashed towards his student again, but this time he reached out and snatched a training saber that was hanging on the wall from it's place. It was clear that Darius was advanced enough to land a blow or two on Varus if he continued long enough in unarmed combat, but how would he fare against the young Jedi Master when he was armed?

Before he was upon Darius, Varus managed to glance down and adjust the intensity of the training saber to stun, which would put Darius on his back if he were touched by it when on that setting. It was about like getting hit with a taser, and of course, you weren't going to be doing much if you caught by a real lightsaber. Losing and arm or a leg was bad enough, and to prepare for such high stakes one had the advantage of technology to simulate situations like that. Yes, he wouldn't be losing any limbs, but if Varus so much as touched him with his blade his arm or his leg would lock up and their little competition would be over, at least for the time being.

"Round two.", Varus finally said as the blue training saber sprang to life a she dashed towards Darius, swaying both arms to his left, then his right and back left again with each step. He then swung the blade from Darius' left shoulder to his right, intent on splitting the young man in two, although he knew it would only sting his muscles if he connected with the blow.


[member="Darius"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

(It's alright man.)

The snap-hiss of the training saber drew Darius from his private thoughts. He had allowed the force to guide him, if only for a moment. Such an experience had shaken the boy, though it was not entirely negative. He was not as well attuned as Master Shatterstar was; even drawing upon his faint connection often proved taxing. When it overtook him, things had proven to he overwhelming.

He had to fight back a curse when Varus charged him. The blue of the training saber caught his eye, and he just barely managed to raise his own in defense when the blade came down to bisect him in two. The two weapons crackled with energy as they clashed, and Darius quickly lost ground.

"That was quick," he grunted, "You hide those all over the room?" Amusement laced the padawan's words, though it was lost when he thrust his foot forward to hopefully send Varus stumbling back.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus didn't react the his new student's comment and instead pressed the pace. When Darius stepped in, with the hopes of throwing Varus off balance and sending him stumbling Varus thrust his feet into the training mat and sent himself into a forward somersault. As he tumbled over Darius' leg he passed along the Padawan's right shoulder, the blue training saber coming full circle during the Jedi Master's flip. When Varus was completely upside down his blade followed through and swept across Darius' right shoulder.

The move was a little quick for Varus to know just how much damage he'd done. In fact, he hadn't even noticed whether or not his blade had struck skin or an opposing blade, but then again it didn't really matter when he came down on both feet behind Darius. He fell into stride instantly, back to back with his apprentice as he put about ten feet between the two of them before he turned and took on a defensive stance.

He leaned back on his right leg, his left fully extended straight and low to the ground as he crouched down to the ground. His saber he held above his head and pointed down towards his extended left foot as he raised his left hand, palm up and facing Darius who's rebuttal he was awaiting.

[member="Darius"]