The long road

[Mantic Dorn]

The flurry attack had worked. And Mantic could sense how his force push had affected [member="Varius"] in a much higher degree then he had suspected.
As his opponent however managed to counter this move with an impressive acrobatic maneuver Mantic lost his focus in awe for just a moment. He did have his sabre bash down on Varius but it was parried.
This was a moment when Mantic should have seized the opportunity and continue his attacks but the thoughts took over and he lost his effective but short unity with the force. Instead of taking advantage of the situation he hesitated. He realised his mistake seconds later and sighed.

He raised his blade in a ready position again, mimicing the stance of Shii choo that Varius had used previously.

Them both on equal standing Mantic did at least try to initiate the continuation with a sweeping high strike that made him cirlce around his own center and continue in this whirling attck with a low strike. First head then feet.

During the entire moment Mantic did not sense or discover the watching [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Varius]

Not for a second did Varius notice [member="Kal'n Drasco"] 's presence, should he be an enemy would probably manage to take Varius by surprise. Anyway his attention was now on Mantic who was trying to use Shii cho aswell he thought, coming back from his mind he managed to parry the hit at his head and barely jumped in time to dodge the hit at his leg which caused him to make few steps back in order to avoid falling. The tree at his back coudl be use to make an amzing achrobatic move and get in the back of the opponent, yet he didn't try, he would have failed miserably.
Varius begun to launch a wave of lightsaer attacks, clearly trying to fight in an offensive manner ending his strikes with a move that was almost the same he first used, turned around and jumped but indtead of stabbing he attempted just another lightsaber attack, certanly not meant to be very special just to make hm a bit harder to parry, not so hard to dodge though.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

Kal'n watched from where he was standing or rather, leaning. He paid close attention to both [member="Varius"] and [member="Mantic Dorn"], watching others spar was always interesting. However, it became apparent to Kal'n after watching the exchange that both combatants lacked certain finer skills when it came to using established Jedi lightsaber styles. Specifically, Shii-Cho. At this point any bad habit they got ingrained in themselves would only serve as a detriment to them later. Kal'n felt a moral obligation to step in.

The problem was that Kal'n had never actually trained anyone before. Sure, he had been trained, but teaching someone was likely way different, right? He clicked his tongue against his teeth. Time to dive into the sarlaac pit.

"Pardon me." He said rather loudly, to make sure he was heard over their training. Once he had there attention he would walk forward, a smile on his face, hands clasped behind him. "My name is Kal'n Drasco and I see that you are sparing." Kal'n tried to think of the best way to not insult them. He had nothing.

"You're forms are, for lack of a better term, lacking. How much training do the both of you have?"

"I mean no disrespect." He added quickly. "I only ask because I feel that I could, at the very least, help the both of you get a firmer grasp of Shii-Cho. If you are willing of course." He had to remember that he was not a Knight, these men were presumably his peers and insulting or alienating them in any way was not the way to make friends.

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic was hard pressed by the onslaught of [member="Varius"] and desperately tried to cling to the concentration required to allow the force to guide his hand, preparing parries as they rained down.

Then he felt a third prescence... or rather heard it. Sensing that [member="Varius"] would stops Mantic unlit his saber and bowed to his opponent before turning to [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

"I would take any advice offered master jedi." he replied without a hint of hurt pride or irritation.

 

[Varius]

Varius indeed stopped and just as Mantic, he bowed and turned to face [member="Kal'n Drasco"] he couldn't really be disturbed, he was aware of his abillities and that he had much to do "I also would like to hear some, or even a demonstration of Shii cho or any other form would be apreciated... greatly. As for training well I trained with master Watts few days then by myself untill now." Although his technique and abillities were improving rather fast, it wasn't easy at all without a guide or someone to tell you what and how to do, so he couldn't really be called an expert in anything. Varius used to se what he saw, heard and created to learn more, it wasn't the best way though.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

Master Jedi? Kal'n raised a hand and shook his head. "Thank you for the title, but I am Padawan. Call me Kal'n." He unclasped his hands from behind his back as he neared and extended a hand shake to [member="Varius"] and [member="Mantic Dorn"] in turn. "I think we'll start with Shii-Cho. One of my Masters was a firm believer in mastering the basics before you delve deeper into the more complicated forms. He always said that if the foundation of your learning wasn't solid than the rest of what you learned would be equally flawed."

"What should I call each of you?" He asked, pulling out regular looking lightsaber, leaving the curved hilt one on his belt.

After introductions Kal'n would extend his lightsaber out as he spoke. "Form I, Shii-Cho. Possibly the most important form you will learn. We'll go through what its good and what it's weak against. After that, we can go into proper attacks, blocks and parries. Sound good?"

 

[Varius]

Varius smiled and nodded "Varius Sunwalker, you can call me Varius." He then looked at [member="Kal'n Drasco"] semming already prepared to learn, this wa his chance and he wouldn't miss it, if Shii cho was part of the basics then it would be much more easy to learn the other forms too "Sounds good." He then crossed his arms looking at Kal'n carefuly and listening more carfeuly. This will serve him well especially once he goes to take his new lightsaber...Well rather to create it.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic watched [member="Kal'n Drasco"] for a while raising an eyebrow as he declared himself padawan. The he shrugged and nodded.

"I am Mantic Dorn. I have been trained in the force but not yet the lightsaber. It would be an honor to hear you." he replied politely as he returned the hand shake.

[member="Varius"]

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

[member="Varius"] | [member="Mantic Dorn"]

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. Now let's see what we can do about teaching you Shii-Cho." He said with a smile.

"Like I said before, Shii-Cho is the first form of lightsaber combat. It breaks down the basics; with you learn how to strike and where to strike. We'll break the humanoid body down into different targets. You'll see the inherient strengths and weaknesses in Shii-Cho, they are very apparent. If you read the old holopads and study the old holocrons you'll see that this form was adapted from when force imbued swords were common."

"What many don't talk about, beyond the techniques, is the mind-set. A very specific state of mind is needed to perform Shii-Cho to its full potential. The same can be said with all seven of the different lightsaber forms. They are not only mechanically different, but also mentally different."

"As an an extension of basic swordsmen ship Shii-Cho fosters an emotionally heated mindset. But if you keep in mind the Jedi Code, than you will have nothing to worry about." He took a step back then and ignited his lightsaber, his azure blade emitting a familiar blue light.

"Now Shii-Cho is best used against multiple enemies. It's move-set uses wide, sweeping motion, and with a lightsaber in hand that can be extremely effective. As you may guess, it's not as well suited against single enemies."

"Now, the target areas are broken up as follows. Head, Right Arm and Side, Left Arm and Side, Back, Right Leg and Left Leg." As he explained he demonstrated striking at each zone with two hand swings, though they were slow for demonstration purposes.

"Each strike can be blocked by the obvious horizontal or vertical movement of the blade. It is simple, but effective." He would turn towards the two of them and deactivate his lightsaber. "Why don't you two turn towards one another and take up the Shii-Cho stances you were using earlier. I'll make some corrections to make sure your form is right and then we can run over each of you blocking and parrying."

"Do you both have training sabers? Don't want either of you too loose a limb or anything."

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic inclined his head.
"Yes, I have my training saber. It is the only weapon I posess."

He then took a few steps back to give them both some room. Then he ignited his saber and mimiced the position of chii shoo, ready to commence.

[member="Varius"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Varius]

Varius took few steps back and also ignited his lightsaber taking the shii-cho form "It's set on minimum, all it could do is scratches." He said then remembering something important "Unless of course you ignite it and point it to someone..." Most lightsabers had this option, it shouldn't be a problem at all in a duel, so he stood ready thinking about what Kal'n said and trying not to forget anything at all. He was a quick learner but sometimes worrying about frgeting was exactly what makes you forget.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

[member="Mantic Dorn"] | [member="Varius"]

“Good. Good.” Kal'n noded and looked between the two for a moment. “We'll start with the opening stance.”

“You're dominant foot will either be back or forward. If your dominant foot is back, than this is an aggressive stance, if it's forward this is considered a defensive stance. The reason being is that it indicates which way you're going to step. So, if you start with it back then you'll be stepping forward to attack, and the opposite would be that you step back to defend. Make sense?”

“Your feet should be shoulder width apart with the weigh equally distributed. Your lighsaber should be held at hip-height, hands infront of your naval with the blade angled forty five degrees upwards.”

Kal'n would wait to explain further, making sure that both of his fellow Padawans had a good grasp before continuing on.

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic took note of the instructions and nodded. He corrected his stance accordingly and put his weight on the forward foot.
The pieces were becoming more and more clear to him. He was a protector at heart, and before attack he needed to learn how to act on defence to be able to evaluate different situations and threats.

[member="Varius"]
[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Varius]

Varius stood firmly on his position with the dominant foot back, he had to learn how to be more agressive if he wanted his enemies to think twice before picking up a fight. Now part of the Rebellion, his allies would need his abillities in the future and he was not allowed to dissapoint. Knight or padawan, it didn't matter as long as he could get the job done. it was the time to make sure he can, no matter the cost.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]
[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic nodded toward [member="Varius"]

"I strive to perfect my guard. I am ready when you are."

He noticed the foot positioning and was expecting Varius to attack.

[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Varius]

Varius stepped forward and begun to attack as Mantic expected but this time he was trying to do everything as good as possible, his attacks seemed to be disciplined and fast as he tried to advance.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

The moves and attacks were faster then Mantic had expected and it did not take long before Varius could claim his first hit. With it marked Mantic raised his saber again and the process repeated itself. Step by step Mantic learned to parry the attacks but it was clear that Various had a surprise ready when Mantic had drained the normal options.


[member="Varius"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Varius]

Varius seemed to try to make the hits harder for a while but more for a trick. Once he stopped his fast hits, he suddenly rised his lightsaber and attempted a disarming slash. It wouldn't be unexpected though, the Shii Cho form is known for these kind of moves after all, he wouldn't be surprised if mantic finds a way to parry or avoid the slash, but he thought it's worth trying. He seemed to fight better with the Ataru form, the one that he trained at when Mantic arrived and the one that he used at his achrobatic skills and powerful blows. For some reason though, the name seems to not be found in Varius' had very often, maybe he just dosen't care or maybe he simply forgets, this would be the first form he begun to learn by himself not only here but in battles aswell.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic felt the flow of the force through his arm and hand giving him a comforting sensation. he relaxed and could not help but smile at the tingling sensation.

However, this was not the time to focus on pleasure. His saber was pulled out of his hand and he turned a bit perplexed at his opponent.

He bowed to him and then pulled the lightsaber hilt to his hand again.

"I can only admit that you are the better swordsman my friend."

then he turned to the observer. "Tell me, how can I improve?"


[member="Varius"] [member="Kal'n Drasco"]