The Saga of Frostfall (Part I: Niman Self Training)

[Malok]

Lorian Estate, Naboo​

It was a rare privilege indeed for Abel's master, @[member="Serian Loria"], to give him a day off from training. However, in light of the weeks of relentless physical conditioning that he had been undertaking, such a thing was warranted. However, while it was anticipated that Abel would spend this day catching up on the multitudes of sleep he had been sacrificing in pre-dawn training sessions, he arose just as early as typical. This was not due to his body having grown accustomed to the sleep schedule, but another thing entirely: initiative. Though but a novice in his skills with a blade, Abel's father had instructed his son in the basics of lightsaber combat. In particular, the form known as Shii-Cho. Years had passed since he had last utilized a lightsaber...and recent events had seen him come into possession of a new weapon: a physical sword.

Known as Frostfall, the sword was a beautifully-crafted weapon that was a gift from Abel's elder sibling. It represented their family, House Denko, and also Josiah's desire for his younger sibling to grow strong; both in the Force and life. Though Abel had dismissed this heartfelt desire as nothing more than his sibling's overly-mushy-Jediness, he decided to at least learn how to wield the damn thing properly. As such, during his spare time throughout the weeks, the Enforcer had a blade of wood fashioned for him. It was identical to Frostfall in numerous regards: weight, length, overall shape, etc; but would not kark him up if he mis-swung and hit himself. This was a much smarter option than blindly flailing about with a live blade, at least in Abel's mind.

And so, at the crack of dawn, he arose from slumber and reached underneath his bed, producing the aforementioned training sword from its resting place. Abel did not bother to go about the "morning ritual" of hygiene, as he'd be showering after his session and could do it all then. Instead, he simply slipped on a pair of sweatpants, gave his hair a solid ruffle, and trudged through the estate until he reached the rearmost, sliding glass door. Admitting himself outside, he took a moment to admire the sight of the sun rising through the trees before striding out into the backyard grass. The blades of green were still moist with dew and felt cool to the touch, a sensation that Abel had grown quite fond of over the course of the past few weeks. His steps, growing more and more "awake" with each passing moment, bore him to the far corner of the yard; where an enormous outline had been drawn in white, field paint.

This was normally where he trained in his various exercises, and today he had seen fit to place his attention on a trio of training dummies that were still standing. Typically, these would be utilized for training in telekinesis, but today they would serve the purpose as punching bag for his swordplay. Coming to a halt in the midst of the training dummies, Abel gripped the wooden sword with his offhand and held it to his waist; mimicking how a scabbard would naturally hang. Then, he placed his right hand upon the pommel of the blade and lulled his eyes to a close, giving himself ample time to clear his head of all distractions. He breathed; drawing calm and slow breaths for several moments whilst mulling over how to begin...then assumed his opening stance.

His left leg slid back in preparation for the draw and Abel's body leaned forward.

 

[Malok]

For a moment, the Enforcer stood ready for the draw...and his mind wandered back to the lessons he had received many years ago. As if sitting back and watching a holovid, Abel replayed the memories in his mind's eye, recounting each piece of instruction as accurately as humanly possible. For the first time in so long, he heard the voice of his father, Radia, echo in his mind. He saw his face, gaunt and grizzled with a fuzzy beard. He saw the scars from his time as a Jedi, the wrinkles from the stress of daily life, and the yellow in his eyes from substance abuse. The man who was a shadow of the once-proud, Jedi Knight that brought immense pride to the name Denko, looked down upon his youngling son and held his lightsaber aloft.

"Alright Abe," he said, addressing him by his nickname, "one of the most effective ways of implementing Shii-Cho is when numerous enemies are coming at you." During this particular lecture, Radia had seen fit to rig together a few couch cushions from their old sofa into a dummy, upon which he indicated the Zone 2 and Zone 3. His fingers indicated on the cushion-dummy where the arms of an adversary typically would be before he continued with his instruction. "As I had said in your earlier lessons, a Zone 2 or Zone 3 strike consists of a horizontal slash of your saber, poised to impact either arm or side of the opponent's body. You can take this simple slash a step forward by moving your sword in a wider arc, thereby slashing numerous opponents at once."

"This is known as the Sarlaac Sweep and is one of the most basic techniques of Shii-Cho. Now then, give it a shot."

With the words of his father echoing within his mind's eye, Abel indeed gave it a shot. Pushing off of his dominant foot, he imitated the draw of his physical sword and gave a strong sweep of the wooden, training sword. It moved in a horizontal arc, addressing each of the dummies with a powerful blow. Starting from the left-most dummy, Abel struck the trio as hard as he could...and ended up wincing. Unlike a lightsaber, that would simply cut through the forms of the dummies with relative ease, the wooden training sword bounced off of the forms of each dummy; causing painful vibrations to run up the length of his arm. This was something that he would have to become accustomed to when wielding a physical saber, as it did not possess the supreme, all-rending power of a lightsaber.

Challenge Accepted.

Stepping back, Abel once more rested the wooden training sword against his waist, as if returning it to an invisible scabbard and drew a breath. He then re-assumed his starting stance and readied himself to try again.