The Way Of The Saber (Dair/Jedi Order/Other Jedi)

[Ryan]

Ossus Jedi Temple
0802hrs GCT

Ossus and the Jedi temple was home to Wovoka Vos, the Ysanna-Kiffar. The jungles surrounding the temple was tribal territory belonging to the Ysanna, his and his father's people. The temple was his kiffar mother's home before she had passed away on a classified Jedi mission. Wovoka had taken on his mother's maiden name in custom to the kiffar clans and in honor to that his father allowed for him to be branded with the Vos qukuuf, a yellow band tattoo across his face.

He was raised in the jungles beyond the jedi temple walls, grew in the ways of his tribe and the Ysannaians. But in honor and in memory of his mother he had sought out the Jedi to follow in her footsteps. Though as much as he was doing this for his long past mother, he has truly believed in the Jedi cause and their galactic objective of peace. This was why you would find the muscular built man with his dreadlocked hair flapping in the humid Ossus winds as he waited for his sparing partner, [member="Dair Cotarin"] .

Wovoka would wait patiently for Dair to arrive as he watched other Jedi's ranking from younglings all the way to master's training from force leaping to Lightsaber dueling. It was a busy day in the Temple's training ground, the morning was beautiful with only a slight breeze and the sun high and unclouded. Seemed everyone was out to play today.

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Travot sat down on the top of the Plainswalker and turned his eyes to the scan the horizon, reveling in the rising sun and the zephyr as it rushed up against him. The breeze receded for a moment and he smiled. Travot grabbed a battered metal canteen and began to sip on its slow-brewed tea; a robust black tea from the nearby mountains. Watching the sunrise from the top of their ship had been one of the simple joys that he had shared with his master. Despite his death, Travot maintained that tradition in memory as a memorial to the man he had called master, and simply because it was enjoyable in an almost ascetic way.

He set the canteen down onto the cold metal plating with a clank and closed his eyes. His hands fell down limp against his side.

He began to control his breathing, inhaling and exhaling deeply as he immersed himself into the currents of the Force. Calm, peaceful thoughts...He felt his own energy merge with the lifeforms all around them: the buzzing insects, the chirping birds, and the myriad of jedi around him who called Ossus home. He felt his spirit skim across this sea of life and ebb in and out of it. He briefly indulged in this meditation as long as he could, a few brief moments at best, before his thoughts returned to the more base and mortal realm. His emerald eyes fluttered open and the susevfian shook his head as he clambered up to stand on the deck of his battered light freighter.

"So what am I going to do today?" mused the man, "maybe I'll just go for a walk, and see where it goes..."

[member="Wovoka Vos"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Spoiler

OOC: Sera is not actively in this thread. I am simply describing scenery and NPC direction to complete an objective.

The sun rose over the horizon. An early morning on Ossus. Dozens of younglings were practicing in their small clans the basics of lightsaber combat with their respective instructors. Each one sizing up the other before engaging. Some attempted to show off their skills and exaggerate themselves to boost their pride, ego, and morale. Others chose to be silent, ever watching and calculated. Generally those were the victors in these small duels. Eventually the more flamboyant younglings would learn this and adjust their behavior and focus properly.

It was to be a hot day, humid as well, as the dew from the surrounding jungle rested atop the leaves of the grand trees encompassing the massive forest around the temple. The sun, barely over the treeline, would rapidly rise the temperature as the day crept on. A perfect day to train, without a cloud in sight and no hint of rain. A few Padawans would pass by both [member="Travot Ravenna"] and [member="Wovoka Vos"] and smile, bowing their heads politely to each of their fellow students as they continued on their way to wherever their daily routines had called them.

In the distance a few animals and birds could be heard chirping and romping through the jungle. A splendid day for activity.

 

[H3xle]

[Ossus: Jedi Temple Grounds]

Dair walked hurriedly from the temple into the grounds surrounding the main buildings. He had an appointment and was late to it. It was quite unlike him to over sleep, though the night previous he had been doing some training with concealing himself in the Force and it must have taken more out of him than he had thought. He looked around for a moment once he got to the training area, then noticed [member="Wovoka Vos"] and hurried over.

"I apologize, my friend. I seem to have over slept." Dair strode to the training ring the Ysannian-Kiffar was waiting near. He took a moment to center himself and regain his mental equilibrium before offering his friend his hand and a soft smile. "I've been looking forward to sparring all week. Shall we?"

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] [member="Wovoka Vos"] [member="Travot Ravenna"]

 

[Ryan]

The day was peaceful, beings all about set to purpose but still at peace. In a galaxy filled with uncertainty such days were to be treasured for one never knew if it was gong to be the same the next. Especially for those that are in the service of the Jedi and the republic with a Sith empire nipping at their heels along with other cretins. The half bred humanoid's passive observation would fall upon a padawan in the distant and if his memory served him correct it was [member="Travot Ravenna"] . Even he was lost in the peace, from what Wovoka could see.

Then the Ysanna-Kiffar noticed his quarry intended. A man of higher height and heavier build then Vos, was to be his sparring partner. His eyes were glacier blue and piercing as if they could penetrate the sun unscathed. Though they were friends, brothers of the same cause, Wovoka still measured him up with every step the man took closer to him. Just from the way he held himself Vos knew he was going to be formidable along with his obvious advantages of height, reach and weight.

Wovoka welcomed the challenge to test his skills like blade to whetstone. Wovoka stood above average height at 6'0" tall. He was mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in cloth and light chest armor with the golden star sigil upon the paldrons that symbolized his mother's kiffar clan. There were golden beads in his long dreadlocked black mane; His brow was low and broad, his eyes were volcanic brown that smoldered as if with some inner fire, with pale yellow clan tattoo across his upper face. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his jedi garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs. He may not be pound for pound with his would be counterpart, [member="Dair Cotarin"] but he still solid and lethal.

Wovoka would accept Dair's hand in a firm but friendly hand shake "No worries brother, the marks that my training saber will leave upon you will make up for your tardiness" He joshed with a devilish grin.

The Ysanna-kiffar would then distant himself a few paces from his sparring partner, collecting his training saber from his left hip with a cross draw absent of the force. Some force practitioners like to be fancy and use telekinesis to draw their preferred weapon but Wovoka by instincts drilled in by his Ysanna father to always physically draw with a firm grip upon hilt in a cross draw. Vos would then place himself into the Form V opening stance with the high guard position, with the lightsaber hilt held in a two-handed grip above his head and the blade angled upward and behind him. His right dominant leg was held back, enabling powerful step-through strikes to be utilized.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[H3xle]

Dair grinned at his companions comment.

"We shall see, my friend." Dair replied with a smile, then turned toward his starting mark, tossing his overcloak aside to leave him in tunic, trousers and boots. He did not like to be flashy either, which was likely one of the reasons they got along so well. Another was the tendency for starting off in Form V, both of them were physically strong duelists and the form was practically tailor made to the natural tendencies of both fighters. Dair picked his lightsaber off of his belt, made sure it was set on the training mode. It would leave mild burns, but not cut through flesh or much of anything. He then switched it on, pulling the blue blade up until it bisected his face in a formal salute, then he took the high guard, blade pointing down at a forty-five degree angle from his upraised hand.

At this point, Dair was settled into his battle mind. His eyes unfocused slightly so he could take in all of his opponent without being tricked to focus on one aspect of his form or another. He bounced a little bit in his stance, deepening it slightly and coiling the muscles of his legs, ready to begin the bout. Knowing that Form V was primarily a counter-attacking form, Dair decided to not wait. He advanced slowly, moving slightly to his right as he transferred his armed from the upraised guard to a low guard where his right hand was held to the side and slightly back, his left hand was canted low in the direction of his opponent. With a quick shuffle step, Dair stepped into range of his opponent, bringing his blade up from his hip and stepped forward with his right foot. He snapped his wrist forward, aiming a quick tip cut for Wovoka's left chest area.

[member="Wovoka Vos"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

A number of the smaller younglings and a few other Padawans caught sight of both [member="Dair Cotarin"] and [member="Wovoka Vos"] as they both took up arms and exchanged pleasantries before beginning their spar. The younglings would sit quietly by the edge of the arena, taking in the sights as both combatants entered their respective forms. A few of the younglings whispered guesses and bets to one another as to who would win, along with their own unique thoughts as to which form was superior to each others. One youngling even shouted out that Form III was the best form before quickly being hushed by the rest of the group.

The Padawans that had gathered to watch sat quietly adjacent to the small youngling group, taking in the subtle differences between the two sparring partners, calculating who may win based off of the surface information available. Which was taller, more toned, who seemed to have better positioning and body language, and which one looked more confident. Most of this was simple speculation but made for an interesting debate in one's mind.

[member="Wovoka Vos"] | [member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Travot Ravenna"]

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Travot sauntered in to watch with the other padawans as the duel began. Travot often thought that he himself as a physically imposing presence, but he realized that he paled in comparison to either of the two combatants in stature. This looks like it will be a worthwhile duel to watch, and learn from. The susevfian eased himself down onto the ground among the other padawans.

While the gathering spectators might gawk and cheer the two on, Travot would not. His hand fell to rest on the cold pommel of his own training saber as the fight began. But even as it did, his eyes focused on the combatants and their stances. Just by looking at them, Travot saw that he would have much to learn, having thus far focused on practicing Soresu. In his defense, Travot's use of Soresu, like that of his first master, had often been considered a bit unconventional...

His green eyes darted from fighter to fighter. It'll be interesting to see what each one brings to the fight...

[member="Wovoka Vos"] | [member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Ryan]

The most natural cut for the average padawan will be to strike diagonally across the body, generally towards the torso of the opponent as [member="Dair Cotarin"] had somewhat demonstrated, though he did not slice at the Ysanna-kiffar but thrusted instead. This type of strike was easy to perform from the low guard and the most direct way to counter such an attack was to strike against it. Wovoka's opponent struck for his torso, and his most important maneuver here was to get out of the way to avoid the attack. If he simply pedal backwards, Dair may follow after him. He instead stepped off to the right side and forward with his right foot, His saber striking diagonally downwards towards the thrusted blade of his opponent.....

'Simply defending, however, is never good enough', were the words of his master that stuck in his mind. If he just deflected an attack and just stood there relieved that he defended himself, his opponent will not simply just give up and be dumbfounded that the attack failed. Rather, his opponent would immediately attack again, and again and again, until he had finally been overwhelmed and unable to move in time. Because of this, he trained repetitively for his defense to simultaneously be an attack. So when his blade came down diagonally at Dair's, it was not just a block, but a strike aimed at Dair's Torso with the tip of Wovoka's blade that so happened to parry within the same slice. Master Matteo was very adamant that his padawan end fights just as quickly as they had started with the more direct route and less flash.

If Dair was able to manevour his torso out of Wovok blade's reach, their sabers would still connect with the parry and give off sparks and the legendary hiss as the blades would romanced each other.

[member="Travot Ravenna"] [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Wovoka Vos"] | [member="Travot Ravenna"] |[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Dair had been ready for a parry, and so had not over committed himself as is easy to do with a thrust. Dair saw that there was a slice inserted with the defense, that was some good advanced bladework. His opponent was aggressive, but not yet reaching overconfidence. This was not going to be an easy fight.

Dair lifted the hilt of his blade and pivoted on his right foot so his back was to Wovoka. His hand lifted up over his head, keeping the sparking contact of their blades constant as he completed the turn and bowed his head into a roll. He came up from the roll behind Wovoka, his blade held in a purely defensive posture, his weight on the balls of his feet. He knew how Wovoka handled being attacked, now he wanted to test how Wovoka handled initiating the attack. All the while he was building a combat picture in his head.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The younglings that had gathered around the arena watched the two as they engaged one another, starry-eyed and entirely transfixed on the duel. As the two clashed their sabers together, their footwork was mesmerizing to the children, each one cheering for their favored Padawan as they continued making bets on who might win the fight. Some began to change their votes based on their observations thus far, while others remained confident that their choice would prevail.

One of the small Nautolans stood from his seated position and imitated their slashes with an imaginary saber in the air, pretending to duel a fierce opponent before being gestured to sit by one of the older Padawans sitting nearby. The sun crested over the treeline, lifting with it some of the moisture that had settled along the leaves of the trees within the jungle, making for warmer weather as the clouds began to part, breaking away from the shaded rays of the morning sky. The wilderness was coming alive, with more birds chattering in the trees, some smaller creatures scampering about the floor of the jungle, and the roar of a mighty beast somewhere off in the distance.

[member="Dair Cotarin"] | [member="Wovoka Vos"] | [member="Travot Ravenna"]