First Reply Saberlight Sonata

[Alicio Organa]

Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Training Room
- Open -
​

It was Alicio's turn to pick up the kids from the Temple.

Every day, Liana and August came home from their time at Jedi daycare, buzzing with excitement. In their stunted toddler speech, they would talk his ear off about the friends they made, the toys they got to play with, the places they got to see... and perhaps some frustration, at not being able to feel the Force.

Neither of his children had displayed any sensitivity yet, which wasn't odd, considering both of their parents had been late bloomers, in their own rights. Amani Serys hadn't known she'd possessed the Force until she was almost ten, and it had taken Alicio into his early twenties to discover his Gift. They would discover it in their own time. Or, perhaps they never would. And that would be just fine, too.

Today, the Count's business at the Assembly Hall had been cut short, allowing Alicio to arrive thirty minutes ahead of schedule at the Temple. Instead of taking his children home early, depriving them of time spent with their new youngling friends, he decided to procure a practice room, with a wide window overlooking the city, to touch up on his skills.

The galaxy was becoming more dangerous by the minute.

So should he.

With his lightsaber humming dangerously in his hand, Alicio executed one of his personalized exercizes, his unique style of bladework on full display. The senator's form was tight, stance gliding across the ground smoothly, each probing cut, each pouncing stab, each unexpectedly wide slash, propelled by waltz-like footwork. It was a dance, one the Count had spent years refining, until he had near-total control of the tempo.

Alicio finished with a classic Makashi flourish, trying not to nitpick his performance. But he could have been a little faster with his final grouping of pokes. And his lunge was a little too wide...

He began again, intent on correcting his mistakes.

 

[Vizion Trozky]

MITIGATING DANGER
TRAINING WING ☛ JEDI TEMPLE ☛ CORUSCANT
Alicio Organa

When he’d started reaching for his blades soon after he could be independently mobile on his own two feet, sometime prior to the holiday month, it ended up not being long before Vizion had put in a call to his old master, Merrick Sato, seeking guidance around the hiccup in his plans to resume what would usually be maintenance training.

Most of his injuries hadn’t hampered his movements apart from residual tenderness that faded as the weeks turned into months since he had woken, but the muscle in his right thigh that had been shredded apart in a wrist rocket-induced building collapse on Quesaya, and the broken bone to which it was bound had been subject to the brunt of the healing, restorative work, and physical therapy which had returned to him use of the leg… yet that did not teach his leg to move through the flow of his bladework as it had before.

It was as if the muscle was unfamiliar with the task set before it, despite his intimate knowledge of the movements of the forms that made up his style; fluidity and speed were a challenge, to say the least. On Merrick’s suggestion, he slowed down and began to run through the stances and katas of each form within his knowledge, with as much painstaking repetition as he had put into it as a boy. Starting with Shii-Cho, then Makashi, and so on, but only with a single one of his two blades, initially.

In effect, Vizion was to somewhat reteach himself, until he felt he was in a sufficient place and confidence to progress to contending with others, and little by little, day by day, he advanced. Occasionally he would gain an audience of one, if not a curious participant, poking their nose in at the young man training with mirrors at various times, day in and day out. Putting his nose to the grindstone, working incredibly hard in part to attain this goal, and after a point, partly to put other matters out of his mind.

The weeks passed, the holidays came and went, and soon it had been more than a month. Though he was still a bit slow, Vizion had begun to feel that he could do no more on his own without the nigh-unpredictable input of another bladesman; still another part of him hesitated. But as he headed into the training wing one day, somewhat intent to engage in more of the same, he was given pause when he glanced into an occupied room and saw the footwork and bladework of the Senator of Alderaan - a man he knew of, as doubtless many would, but not to any personal extent.

It wasn’t per se the man himself that made Vizion approach the room, but there was some familiarity to his style that drew the Brentaalan’s eye, which in turn made him curious about the practitioner, at any rate. Faintly leaning into the threshold and thereby darkening it, Vizion observed, not wishing to disturb Alicio too suddenly in the midst of his work.

Hopefully he wouldn’t mind.

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio Organa's style was as fluid as the surging seas of his home planet.

He had obviously completely abandoned the rigid, refined lines of classic Makashi movements in favor of wide, dizzying circles. Never in one set stance for too long, the Count flowed across the practice dojo, the illusion of a shadowed river sold by the cape tossed over his shoulder, which rushed like a flood behind the lone duelist. An experienced bladesman would recognize the dominance of Form II in the nobleman's stance, with applications of Form III's defensive spheres, and an elegance that fit the ballroom more than a Jedi training regiment.

At some point in his exercise, he became aware of a new set of eyes watching his waltz. He didn't acknowledge them, not at first, as he finished the choreography, ending with the same moves as before. His jabs had been quicker, but now his lunge had been too narrow. The Count scowled at himself, letting his blade drop to his side.

"Join me?" Alicio turned to his Jedi observer, a wry smile on his face. "Or would you prefer to darken the doorway?"

- Vizion Trozky -

 

[Vizion Trozky]

MITIGATING DANGER
TRAINING WING ☛ JEDI TEMPLE ☛ CORUSCANT
Alicio Organa

The influences on Alicio’s style were apparent, and the elements joined together so seamlessly as the Count went through the motions in an elegant and graceful flow that might very well reflect his background. Watching the Alderaani left an impression on the younger though no less experienced Jedi that Vizion was, having walked this path since his eighth year; it was a reminder, something of an example of the degree to which he strived to perform at, again. If he could.

The Brentaalan pushed out of his lean, and stepped into the room, the slightest delay in his gait, “You move like Jedi training isn’t your sole influence,” Vizion managed a half-smile, “I suppose that isn’t entirely unexpected.”

His old master had folded similar influences into his own style, and had passed much of that onto Vizion. Vizion, like any duelist having more than a single form at his disposal, did much the same. He stopped a few paces in to introduce himself

“Vizion Trozky.” He briefly tipped his head, "It might interest you to know that my father represented Brentaal IV over twenty years ago." Before Brentaal's unforeseen devastation. Vizion plucked one hilt from his person, feeling the familiar weight. "He still follows what goes on in the Senate, to this day."

 

[Alicio Organa]

“You move like Jedi training isn’t your sole influence. I suppose that isn’t entirely unexpected.”

Alicio flickered a wry grin. "Considering I'm not a Jedi... No. It isn't." It seemed like the man already knew it, too, from the confidence in his voice. Alicio was able to guess he'd been recognized. As much as he wanted to deny it, Alicio was becoming a household name, doubly so in the temple thanks to his connection to Amani.

"I studied dance, when I was little." With an understated thumbing of his hilt, the Count disengaged his lightsaber, the blue-and-black blade disappearing, though it didn't leave his grip. He turned to face his spectator, humor twinkling in his eyes. "Mostly the Alderaanian waltz. It loops in dizzying circles. My sisters and I used to do it when we were bored. We'd spin ourselves silly, up and down the hallway."

Alicio escaped the memory, fully stepping up to the younger Jedi as he introduced himself. "Alicio," he said simply, holding out a hand to shake. "I'm glad to meet you." Then, he found another smirk. "Seems I can't escape visions, no matter where I go."

"Any pointers for me?" Alicio was used to Jedi being more experienced than him. May as well ask for advice.

- Vizion Trozky -