Private Temper the Mind & Guard the Body

[Ran Serys]

snap-hiss

Her lightsaber ignited. Its white brilliance cut through the dim light. Its hum overtook the room's silence. Her presence overtook its space. Her movements cut through the atmosphere just as much as the light blade. She was strong and free. The form was executed again and again, always precise, but not robotic, just filled with intention.

snap-hiss

The light blade vanished. Ran opened her eyes. She was in the half-dark dojo seemingly alone, but no. She spotted a shadow standing in the doorway with her periphery. She turned to it, squinted at it, with great suspicion.

After coming to the Jedi Enclave of Svivren, Ran found that she was the only night owl among the Jedi who had chosen to take residence there. So who was the phantom in the dark watching her? She questioned, before raising her lightsaber and aiming it at the shadow in anticipation. The moment of paranoia showed to Ran just how much damage past experiences had left her. She dropped her sword arm and with it the hilt. She never took her eyes off the shadow but her face seemed to change from a look of fiery intensity to a muted dejection.

Ran shrugged the feeling off quickly and straightened. "Who goes there?" She asked as she walked toward the shadow, and the door's control panel. Her bare feet impressed upon the floor. Her training gear left much of her scars and tattoos exposed. Her synth-leathers and blaster were left in her quarters, but she wouldn't need them. For the face she saw was not the face of an enemy but of a young ally.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Padawan Aris."

He hadn't meant to be staring. Or lurking. But as he passed by he'd caught sight of someone training. Moving, honing their skills with a lightsaber. There were few things that could catch his attention as well as that. The oddly tall teen stepped through the doorway, giving a sheepish smile to the older Jedi as he did. "Shii-Cho, right? I think I recognized it. It's not the rigidness they teach in the temple, though. Is it your specialty?"

Aris knew that masters of the form could weave the strikes taught together in such a way it was more akin to the waves of the ocean. Flowing and unpredictable. "It just- it looked really cool. I didn't- I'm sorry for staring."

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

"You have a keen eye, Aris." Ran replied as she tapped the control panel. The lights brightened and she was able to get a better look at the boy. He looked familiar, but if there was any recognition to be had Ran could not find it. "It is my specialty and I didn't learn it in the temples," She confirmed. "Maybe that's the lack of rigidity you're seeing." Ran reasoned. She had avoided temples like the plague until recent events sparked the want of a home in her.

Still the young Jedi was only half correct, and Ran would not correct him yet. The form she had practiced was not just a singular form. The forms at work in the display were the first form, Shii-Cho and the third form, Soresu. Aris had caught Ran developing a unique exercise meant to blend the movements of each. She found combat called for seamless and smooth transitions between the two and more lightsaber forms.

Ran walked back to the center of the room while Aris half-explained his presence. "No apologies necessary." She declared. "Would you like to join me in this exercise? I can teach you." She added. It was an honest invitation. If he accepted, she would begin her initial evaluation by testing his stance with a push to see how his body responded. How he and his body responded would change the approach she took in teaching him.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

That did make sense. Somewhat. It wasn't a full explanation in his mind on why her form was still different than others. It was one thing for the fluidity to still match the basics, but there was something more, right? Maybe. Maybe he was just overthinking it now. He stopped thinking about that entirely, though, as she offered to teach him. A smile, small and faint, formed on his face. Which for Aris might as well have been the goofiest smile imaginable.

"I'd very much like that, yes."

He did move into his stance, and the push seemed to leave him unflinching. Sturdy. He was unnaturally sturdy, even, as if little more than a rock.

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

Her eyebrows angled. She was impressed. Aris hadn't given Ran an inch. "Good stance," She complimented evenly before positioning herself and taking the same stance next to him. "Now follow me. Do as I do. We will begin at half speed and get faster progressively." She didn't wait for a confirmation before she began.

Lightsaber ignited, she slashed and stopped, swept and twisted, attacked and defended. Ran pulled two styles of lightsaber combat together. It was efficient. Offense and defense were never far from each other and the movements were easy and fluid. It was like hovering in that moment before entering hyperspace. Poised for speed but never letting the pace get ahead of what one was capable of. It was a good style for the strong.

As she repeated the form beside Aris multiple times, she watched his movements with a scrutinizing eye. "Aris, You have been trained in Shii-cho, surely. But have you been trained in Soresu?"

She paused before they repeated the form at full speed. She wanted to know,

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"I've been working on it since I joined."

All he'd been working on, technically. He could study a lot about the Force, but his inability to use it himself had him focused on what he could do. Using a Lightsaber. He focused, drilled in it, day after day for years now. His eyes stayed on her, watching and studying as she moved before he stepped to mirror. His form was rigid, focused on exactly doing as she did. Exactly. Perfection was his aim, and as per usual Aris was far too good at the attempt.

"One lesson, yes."

He paused as she did, but as she went full speed he stepped forward to try and mirror her. Still rigid, but still keeping up.

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

Ran's face betrayed little, but the glint of curious amazement in her eyes was unmistakably bright. Aris had impressed her once already. Then in the moments that succeeded, she wasn't sure what to think. The boy was extremely well practiced and quick on the uptake. She stopped, and watched, a single brow raised. Then jumped in against him. The form Aris had so quickly learned was a puzzle and a sequence and a dance. It was one half of the whole. Ran displayed the other. The half he hadn't been privy to. "Don't stop. Continue the form." Ran advised. Her mind raced. She was onto something. Her body moved almost on its own.

The learner and knight's blades clashed, meeting at the height of every movement. Seamlessly. This wasn't choreography though. This was history. A duel of fates from a battle that was delivered to her by the force. It was a hidden memory from her time in the uncharted and unexplored sectors beyond the known galaxy.

As they came to the end of the movement, a single tear shed from her eye as she realized it. This memory, this duel was for the fate of a lost love she had only just now remembered. I shouldn't be crying like this in front of the boy. She thought, but the single tear was followed by a waterfall and she wept.

She deactivated her lightsaber and wiped the tears from her face. She chose a point on the wall, leaned against it and slowly sunk to a seated position. "I apologize for the water works, Young Aris." She smiled through the pain. "I just-" Her mind stuttered. "I remembered something." To verbalize her feelings in the moment was a difficult task. "Training Jedi can be difficult." She summed up her memory cryptically, and also realized how tired she was. She had been training intensely most of the night and now she was haunted by a trauma she thought lost. More tears slowly trickled down her face. She wiped at them again.

"Do you have a master, Aris? Do you like them?" Ran asked the question as a momentary distraction from her feelings, but she was curious. She wanted to know why the boy was so good with the blade at such a young age. "Your skills with a lightsaber are impressive. Who taught you? Tell me everything."

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris didn't pause for a moment. He weaved through the form, every movement starting to feel more and more natural as he did. He was focused, honed in, but eventually he did notice something had changed. He blinked, pausing his form to look towards the Knight. And just stood there, awkwardly, as she cried. Was- Did he make her cry? Should he say something? Should he pretend he didn't see? Was he supposed to comfort her?

These thoughts raced through his mind, but he kept a calm, pretty neutral expression despite his inner panic. As she explained, he nodded. So a memory? That made sense. Ish. Hopefully it wasn't anything bad. "I do. Master Briana Sal-Soren has taught me some forms. My parents did too. Mo- Master Valery Noble has been helping me learn a lot since I decided I wanted to be a Jedi. I.. Can't use the Force. Not like others. I don't feel it around me, I can't influence it. I know that some of what I can do is from the Force, how fast and strong I can be, but.. because this is all I can do, I've been really focused."

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

Briana Sal-Soren . Ran was familiar with the name. She was a contemporary, but Ran had not had the pleasure of meeting her. Valery Noble , however, Ran was much more familiar with.

"Your parents are Jedi then? Where are they now?" Ran asked, even though she knew the reality could be much more twisted. The galaxy was a weird and dangerous place for all, especially force sensitive children whether they were gifted or not.

She wiped the final remnants of tears from her cheeks and stood back up. The face of a loved one faded in her mind again. She wished she could remember what had happened then, why her memories were so difficult. It was a wish to come true another time.

On her feet, head held high again, Ran ignited her lightsaber. "Come, Aris. Attack me. I will fend you off using the third form. Study my movements and turn them on me, if you can." Her lightsaber hummed softly but steadily. It was a reflection of her inner self.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Master Valery is likely at the temple with Master Kahlil, handling the council."

His parents were the Sword and Shield after all. And, well, it was a good thing to focus on than the woman crying before him. He still had no idea how to handle this interaction, only that it was happening. She seemed to figure something out, though? Aris's gaze turned from warry concern of what he should do to focus. Pure focus. He lifted his blade, ignited the saber as he steadied his stance. If she wanted him to strike, did that mean he shouldn't use the form she was teaching? It was defensive.

No, offensive was best here. He lifted his blade overhead before taking a step forward. In the blink of an eye he was there, bringing the saber down in an overhead slash at a speed not even a trained Padawan should reasonably have. He was strong and fast, beyond what he should be.

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

An exceptional young man with an impressive pedigree. Ran thought as she defended against Aris' first strike. Like her he was preternaturally strong, maybe he'd become even more so with age. There was something about him, maybe he'd been altered and mutated like her as well. She assumed but wouldn't pry, not yet anyway.

As Ran defended strike after strike, she tried to see Valery's face in Aris'. She couldn't. She eyed him in between clashes of saber, deciding he must've taken after his father.

Ran continued her defense and explained how the third form was historically utilized. She explained how she utilized it, and the traditional techniques that came about as Aris continued his onslaught against her. "Watch me, Aris! Blink and you'll miss knowledge!" She ordered enthusiastically. "Not one moment is squandered! Not one movement is wasted! Keep your saber tight at its center and keep your mind beside it. See its reach and potential. All questions can be answered from this center if you keep focused." She spoke somewhat metaphorically but true warriors would recognize wisdom. With Ran in her center Aris' blade came no further than she let it. It was as if she had placed an impenetrable dome around herself.

"Notice I am barely moving while you try to force an opening. This is form three. An endurance form. Able to outlast most others in efficiency of movement and energy." Ran explained. "The answer to this form is a higher level of skill or brutish strength. I'd wager if someone else were in my place teaching you, they'd have been overwhelmed by you much earlier."

Ran switched her stance away from form three. "Now it's your turn, Aris. See its center, then its radius. Do not let me or my blade penetrate past it. If you do, your chances of seeing the sunrise go down drastically." Ran warned as she lunged and slashed, poked and prodded, stabbed and feinted. She was a tough teacher even if Aris was still a child.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris was watching, studying, even. It reached a point he seemed to be even testing Ran herself with different strikes as his mind absorbed everything she was saying, everything she was doing. He wanted to see how to handle even the most ridiculous of strikes just so he had the information he'd need to further learn the stance for himself. He wanted to make this his own. Her switching it around to have him be on the defensive proved that this was a good idea.

He grinned as he lifted his blade, mirrored his stance. This he seemed to be good at. Replicating what he saw. Which was awkward. As soon as she started to strike out he mirrored her movements, but her build was different. There were awkward overextensions where he saw her moving, simply because his arms were longer. More effort than needed. To his credit he kept the blade from hitting him at least, but there were several close calls as he tried to adapt what he was parroting to a proper form.

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

Ran continued the offensive and spoke. “You’re observant. You’re curious. You’re quick on the uptake, but I fear it may be to your detriment, Aris.” Ran met strength with strength and attempted to swat the lightsaber out of his hand as he struggled to replicate her movements.

“Replication is a skill for machines. Swordplay cannot be replicated if you’re an individual.” Ran echoed the teachings of the Jedi past. “Start with imitation. An impression. Give yourself the space to be you, to make your knowledge and memory move through your body.” She continued. “It’ll be a combination of skill and instinct. A bladesmen needs both.” She sent a flurry of strikes Aris’ way to see if her words were grabbing hold. After a few minutes of pushing a combination of precise, sweeping, and tricky attacks, Ran jumped back and away from Aris.

“Let’s reset.” She announced as she walked over to the wall. On it were a series of training tools. She reached not for one, or two, but several remotes. She activated them. For a moment they flew through the air between Ran & Aris. “Form Three is used in a duel as an endurance form, a means to outlast and wear down your opponent until the opportune moment to strike. Anywhere else, you’ll be against a blaster, or a series of blasters. This is where the form shines.” Ran explained. “Would you like a demonstration or shall I let the remotes loose?” She smiled and set them to non-lethal.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

A machine?

Aris's brow furrowed. Her words resonated in his head. The awkwardness of his form, was it really because of him trying to perfectly copy what she was doing? It made sense, given he was a different size. He needed to make this his own. But, wasn't that just more difficult? He tried to adapt it to himself, to imitate, not copy. It was difficult, and yet, his grin hadn't faded in the slightest. This was pushing him. This wasn't the typical drills where he had to swing the same way, match the same way as the others.

He couldn't help but be happy at being pushed.

"I- Form Three involves a lot of diving into the Force." Aris took a step back as she said to reset, fixing his hold on his blade, his stance. "I can't feel it, not like others. So I can't meld or anything."

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

Ran considered Aris' words. She paused, perplexed by them. The moment was left to hang. Her hesitancy to speak was understandable and the desire to be helpful was stronger than any half-smart, impulsive reaction. "There are many who feel the force differently, Aris." The Knight said in a strong but comforting tone. "If you do not feel it like the others, how do you feel it?" She asked gravely. "Do you feel it at all?" Ran continued as the remotes hovered lower. They seemed as if they were trying to meet Ran and Aris' gaze. She looked past them and straight at Aris. Ran was attempting to get a read on how he was feeling.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"No. I can do things that are clearly of the Force, but I can't feel it. Like," Aris lifted a hand. Slowly it'd brighten, glowing redder and redder until it looked almost like a flame, giving off quite the intense heat. He didn't let it linger long, eventually letting it snuff out as he watched her.

"I know it's weird."

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

"It isn't weird, Aris. We, Jedi, are weird. This is just different, curious even." Ran took a moment to process her thoughts. "You said this earlier, but I- I thought…" She stuttered. "I don't know what I thought." Ran considered Aris' situation. She wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last.

It was a hard thing for a force user to imagine living without feeling and affecting the force. She wouldn't pity him though. In a galaxy with an uncountable number of beings there was as many ways to be, to live and exist. He also hadn't asked her for pity.

"So," She looked the young man in the eye and pivoted the conversation. "Do you want to try with the remotes? If not, I will understand but know that this lesson will be over." She hoped he'd at least try, even if her understanding of the lesson in terms of the use of Jedi senses was out the window.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"I want to try. I can hear them, as they power up their blasters. I've sort of worked with them a couple times now. If I can imitate and learn how to adapt the form to what I can do, that'd be good, right?"

He couldn't use the sixth sense of the Jedi, but all his others were far greater than that of his peers. Superhuman, much as his reflexes were. He tightened his grip on his saber before giving her an actual grin. He'd already learned much just sparring with her. He could still learn more. He wanted to learn more.

"Let me try."

Ran Serys

 

[Ran Serys]

"Whether or not it'll be good is something you have to decide yourself, Aris. Will it work is a different question." Ran advised. Aris was strong, quick, and had a great amount of potential. A blind man could see it. There was little doubt in Ran's mind that the boy could find a way to make it work. The only doubts she had was in the safety of those around him.

It was like Aris mentioned. The third form demanded a lot of one's connection to the force. When Ran utilized it, especially against a blaster, there was a future sense at work. A blaster bolt swatted away needed a safe path and Ran put it there on instinct. She wondered if Aris could do the same despite his relationship with the force. "I can teach you the form, but what you do with it after is up to you." She wouldn't rob him of the chance.

"Let's continue." Ran announced as she activated the remotes. Each one moving in a randomized pattern, distinct from the others, with its blaster discharging at random intervals.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

It was slow going at first. This wasn't the first time Aris had found himself besieged by drones in such a fashion, but where he purposefully aimed and controlled his stance to batter away the shots coming his way, this time he had to react differently, right? Passively, defensively. He twisted some from the first shot, turned from the next before letting his blade catch a third. His movements were precise, focused, -robotic-. Not in rigidly, but by just how fast he seemed to react between hearing the shots and turning to bat them away.

His mind worked more akin to machine than organic, certainly.

Ran Serys