Private Tier 1 Sparring Freak

[Lily Decoria]

Location: Coruscant
Outfit: Gym Attire
Tag: Orion Pavond

"I won't do it, not again!"

A voice called out as a group gathered around a sparring room. There were mumblings amongst the group of someone apparently refusing to train against another Padawan. Something about the fight being too tough.

"But we've only sparred the once. If we do it again, then you might fare better, since you had the time to learn my fighting style?" A feminine voice called out, a genuine hope that things would be better and that her opponent would show some skills that would demonstrate that they were progressing.

"No! I won't! You left me with bruises that lasted for weeks on end! My Master thought I fought a Sith Lord or a rancor of some kind!" The male voice exclaimed and then a tall, quite muscular male Twi'lek stormed out of the room. Pushing through the crowd and basically fleeing the scene. As the group leered into the room, they saw Lily standing there with a disappointed look on her face.

She had been hoping for another fun few hours of sparring like she had the last time. Tying her hair into a ponytail, she let out a disappointed sigh that showed how saddened she had been by the fact that the match had been called off. She didn't think that she had caused that many bruises or bruises that severe. And she got as good as she gave, having a few bruises and even a cut lip by the end of the match. Lily just healed in the medical bay, ensuring there was no scars and reported to her Master that she was just a little sore from training. It had been no harm in Lily's mind and she was eager to see how much he had improved this time around.

Looking to the group studying her now after the commotion, Lily looked over, "any of you wish to spar with me today?"

 

[Orion Pavond]

CORUSCANT - NEW JEDI ORDER TMPLE - TRAINING RING
Lily Decoria

Wiping the sweat from his brow with a small towel, Orion took a drink from his bottle of water as he took a lazy walk along the training halls. The sound of hustling and bustling in a single area caught his attention, a small group of Padawans. Raising an eyebrow as he took another sip through a straw, Orion sidestepped next to the crowd huddled around a training room doorway. Hearing the commotion, Orion quickly shifted and backstepped out the way of the upset Twi'lek. Now with both eyebrows raised and a smirk slowly forming, Orion peered over the shoulders of the Padawans to see an Echani woman.

Interesting species. Orion had read up on them and interacted with a few before. Although, he never understand the finer details of their culture. Maybe this would be his chance to finally understand.

And this was who everyone was afraid of? Orion's mind quickly flashed to the Twi'lek's complaints. If the man could not handle the more rough and tumble type of training, maybe he should stick to being a Consular. Not that there was anything with the rank, but it was a little less physically intensive and a bit more cerebral. Perhaps that is where the man's talents lied.

Pushing through the crowd, Orion took another—particularly loud—sip through his straw before giving a small half-wave at the Echani woman. His demeanor relaxed at first up until he stopped drinking. Then, his posture straightened as he used the force to float his drink and the towels aside.

"Pavond. Orion Pavond," Orion introduced himself before he followed up with a singular yet crucial declaration. The statement rang loud and clear for both the Echani woman and the crowd to understand.

"And I challenge you to a traditional Echani sparring match, as per your people's traditions."

Not a single measure of hesitation in his voice. Unlike the Twi'lek, the idea of sparring with the woman or the consequences of such a bout did not frighten Orion, and it translated well into every step as he took his position across the training ring, opposite of the Echani woman.

Shifting his legs and arms into position, Orion gently opened and closed his hands before gently resting them with palms open. His eyes rested not on the woman's mouth or face or any other body part except the muscles of her arms and legs, briefly glancing at her eyes. Then, he started bouncing a little on the balls of his feet to a simply rhythm.

This sparring match had his full attention. And there was little to be held back here, short of not trying to kill the woman. After all, he had not only a crowd to impress but also the very opponent he was to fight against. He always performed better under pressure.

"Ready when you are."

 

[Lily Decoria]

Location: Coruscant
Outfit: Gym Attire
Tag: Orion Pavond

Lily saw the next person who was stepping up to fight her. She watched and nodded her head when he challenged her in the traditional manner. She was curious to see what this Mirialan would be able to do in a fight. "Understand that this means, no Force, no technology and we spar till one of us taps out." Lily stated, while some knew that Echani traditional combat was intense, it was not intense for the reason that many realised since they were not always aware of the strictness that came with Echani fighting. And she had met few Jedi who could keep up without some benefits from the Force.

It was all about the language one could display with their movements and body. She had yet found someone who could match her in that precise element so far but she was curious to see what Orion could do.

Stretching her limbs, Lily closed her eyes and blocked out the crowd, she was not here fighting for others to spectate. She had been challenged, not asked to instruct a class, her mindset was focused on the person she was going to fight. Where he was likely the strongest, which she was hazarding a guess would be raw strength. He was bigger than Lily was, and while she worked hard on her impressive natural strength, she knew that there were limitations to what she could do.

Lily didn't say another word, there was not a need to speak now. If he truly wished for an Echani fight then he should be able to see that she was ready to fight. Her body moved forward with measured, trained steps. There was a gracefulness to her movements that was more akin to a dancer than a hard fighter. She moved sharp and fast as she struck towards Orion, testing his defences and seeing how he would handle her natural sharp speed in attacks.

 

[Orion Pavond]

CORUSCANT - NEW JEDI ORDER TMPLE - TRAINING RING
Lily Decoria

This was it. A small nod from Orion followed as he understood exactly the parameters of what this fight would entail. His eyes closed for a moment. No Force. A little tricky, if only because he had trained his use to be akin to second-nature. But he also trained to use it as a tool he should only call upon when necessary and nothing more, nothing less. So, it was far easier to unlearn his habits in this way than it might have been another.

His eyes opened again. In time to watch how she studied him, even if it appeared she was simply stretching. There were thoughts. Plans of attack being made. And Orion would have a few moments before and during her initial attack to figure out exactly what she had planned for him. Winning or losing, there was little difference to him. Although, he tended to prefer winning.

But maybe losing this spar would prove to be far more beneficial in the long run. See, he did not completely understand the Echani culture when it came to battle. This was his chance to truly understand, yes. But it was also his chance to see how far he could push that inherent ability to read a person's body language, a person's every move, and if it could be overwhelmed. If a sensory overload could be done.

And, if it could, it would prove an effective strategy in combating or, even more importantly, tricking others like her. If the tricks of the trade when it came to deception could also deceive an Echani.

No better way to find out than right now.

As the Echani woman struck, Orion adjusted his stance as he leaned in closer to her in the moments in-between, not blinking for a moment as he met her agility with his own. He did not shy away from her strike nor from her, but instead rose up to meet the challenge. Lily's strike found itself riposted as his hand met her wrist with jarring force. The counter proved itself enough to push her attack away from her intended strike zone while also giving enough pain that may make her rethink her current strategy. An Echani fought with gracefulness not for beauty but for efficiency, for speed. Something he needed to match while applying his tricks of the trade.

Now was the time for the feint. Echani fighters did read body language. But there had to be a pattern, an instinctual part. Amateurs and pros alike used similar tactics or strategies when fighting. So, if everyone fought the same, it would be rather easy to predict attacks. It would simply be a series of permutations that the Echani had the key for.

So, what if Orion fought differently than most people? What if he went against conventions?

This idea implanted itself since the beginning of the fight and instinctually came to fruition. Orion was an . . . expert of bio-feedback tricks and body language. So, instead of driving an attack of his own, Orion feinted as he raised a hand against her, almost striking for her throat to dissuade her from relying solely on her speed.

Orion instead attempted to strike at the arm of his opponent, an unconventional and worthless attack unless he wished to weaken the bones and muscles of her arms. Bruise them, so to speak. A singular strike before preparing to block another onslaught of attacks as he backed away. Another mistake. Keeping his distance was one thing, but backstepping too much could prove its own problem.

That and he should have kept up the offense. Defense was fine, but the more one attacked, the more likely they would win a fight. With one strike, a fight could be ended. With one strike, a life could be taken. A strike that missed was no real loss, except for the creation of an opening.

But if one missed to defend one strike, then it was over. Defense was a far riskier game and required far more discipline than offense.

All to say, Orion kept making mistake after mistake. All in an effort to test his hypothesis and see if he could confuse the girl. He needed one sign, one piece of body language from her in turn.

If this battle was truly a conversation, Orion had sent the equivalent of a confusing piece of text. Now it was time for Decoria to return her response in kind.

 

[Lily Decoria]

Location: Coruscant
Outfit: Gym Attire
Tag: Orion Pavond

Her mind was in combat mode, expressing her culture, her history in every movement. Every slight twist and dancing around was an expression of her trials and victories. Even if Orion couldn't read the communication that Lily was sharing, it was something that she needed to do. It was something that Lily needed to do because it opened her mind. Being so expressive and open allowed her to read Orion's attack. She did not take the hit front on, she knew it would be too crippling too early in the duel. Instead, Lily deflected and struck at the wrist of Orion's striking punch. Attempting to deadened and ruin the arm completely.

The failure to continue fighting forward was strange and Lily knew that there was likely a reasoning behind it. In her mind, there was still too much unknown surrounding Orion that she couldn't just fight being overly cautious of every strike that could be coming towards her. In this incidence, Lily needed to direct the fight, feed questions and get the answers and actions in return. Prying Orion to see what he would do in response to her attacks. Would he be more dextrous or aggressive with brutal force behind his strikes.

Launching forward, Lily feinted a strike before twisting her body into a spiral to sweep Orion onto the ground. Knock the wind out of him as she jumped back onto her feet. Bouncing and moving around, demonstrating she was fast, hard and cunning.

 

[Orion Pavond]

CORUSCANT - NEW JEDI ORDER TEMPLE - TRAINING RING
Lily Decoria

This was not exactly going to plan. There was something he was missing. His initial attack had fallen short of giving him the data he wanted. The understanding necessary to find a weakness. Even a little fraction of a hint would have sufficed. But all that happened was confusion. The standard confusion from his tactics. Not what he was going for at all. There needed to be a change of plans, a switch in gears.

Perhaps, an alternative strategy could secure him the understanding he sought.

His wrist deflected. Orion felt the strike at his arm. Her attack would ring true in its effort to ruin the arm, render it immobile or powerless to secure a damaging strike of its own. What his opponent did not know was his wrist would not remain useless for long. Just long enough that Orion needed to fall on the defensive as he took a step and a hop back before raising a leg, effectively sidestepping the sweep at his legs with one foot raised and the other out of reach by a few inches.

Cradling his wrist for a moment before opting to strike with his other arm, Orion fell short as he feinted before opting to strike with his original, injured limb. A trick, of sorts. His wound healing just enough to attempt a strike at Lily's midsection and force her back several steps. Maybe knock the wind out of her as his wrist became reinjured with the strain.

That's what he tried to tell her with every trick, with every move. The feinting, the temporary sacrifice. A bit about himself as he tried to read her own moves, her own life story. If he could not game the system at this point in time, then instead he could be a part of it and learn from it. Delve into this style of fighting and expression.

Communicate and engage the conversation rather than serving his own ends. Then, perhaps, he would find the weakness he sought after much understanding. Time to reintroduce himself and try a better first impression.

Holding his wrist for a moment again, Orion allowed it to set before letting his arm fall limply at his side to heal before motioning with one hand for Lily to continue fighting. A simple gesture, but one he hoped spoke volumes.

He could take the bruises, the pain, all of it if necessary, but he would not make it easy for her. A conversation was needed here, and a conversation the two would have. And it began here and right now.

Orion moved forward before striking his feet against her legs, attempting to step on her toes or force her to change stances under threat of pain. To widen her stance or trip her up before bringing an elbow upwards towards her face. A shorter range of attack but less likely to be parried by another debilitating strike.

Buying time for himself as he got up in her space, attempting to allow his wrist to heal fully and properly before utilizing it again when he deemed it ready.

She wanted a spar? Someone who could keep up with her and more? She got it.

There would not a topic left unexplored in their conversation until one or both of them were down and out.

Teach me.

 

[Lily Decoria]

Location: Coruscant
Outfit: Gym Attire
Tag: Orion Pavond

Lily watched as her strike worked and it rendered the wrist weaker, it was something that would be amplified with every strike. At least, it would be with most humanoids, continued strikes to a single body part to weaken it to the point that one could take advantage and disable it for a significant amount of time. It was a strategy that Lily was expressing that one did not need to break bones, or end up in a medbay to achieve a successful duel. To win a fight, sacrifice was realistic but Lily was fighting in an Echani manner, between two people wanting to hold a conversation, not two people fighting for their lives. Causing lasting damage was something that people often misunderstood as her intentions.

It was how they were used to sparring to be about. That fighting was only about aggression and doing everything they can to achieve that victory.

Win or lose, Lily just wished to learn, to understand. When Orion used his weakened wrist to strike at her again, Lily weakened the blow to protect herself from the worst of the harm but did not think the tactic was one that she approved of. He was destroying himself to demonstrate that he could. That he could handle everything she threw at him because he was able to recover. There was a reading that he must heal quicker than standard, it would be overly foolish to keep hurting yourself if you were going to be spending a week in recovery due to a sparring match.

The attack only caused her to slide backwards a little, she had made sure that it would not connect enough to knock the wind out of her but she could feel the power that Orion held. It was good to know that the muscles were not just for show. However, if Orion truly wished to understand the way that Echani fought then it was clear that he needed to be re-educated. Like most Jedi she had sparred with in the Echani manner, they did not understand why her people fought one another. They assumed the matches concluded in a manner that was similar to their own training spars.

It was not. It was far from that.

Lily demonstrated this by moving forward and kicking a front kick not towards the head for a knock out hit, but to the stomach. To then snap a roundhouse kick with her back leg towards his bicep. She was communicating that this fight was one of learning, garnering information and understanding, that she was not seeking to knock out Orion since that would not help her. She wanted to see the drive inside him, what made him curious in fighting. What motivated him besides simply able to take hits?

For her, fighting was not just her first language, it was a love language. She fought those she cared about with an intensity reserved for them. Lily was curious to learn what passion Orion held for fighting.

 

[Orion Pavond]

CORUSCANT - NEW JEDI ORDER TEMPLE - TRAINING RING
Lily Decoria

His attack pushed her back a little, giving space. Space he wished to capitalize on if not for Decoria's own counterattack. A front kick. For a moment, Orion nearly raised his own arms to protect his head but stopped short, protecting his chest instead through tucking his elbows together. The minute change and lowered kick brought a question to his mind.

Why had she not aimed higher?

One that he could not further think on as his arms absorbed the full kick, stiffening his whole body even further under the pressure as his solid stance tried to keep him in place. Not ideal but even with his especially quick reflexes, there had simply been no time for anything else. At least his wrist had not suffered the blow, only his forearms and elbows. A few more moments and his wounds would be nonexistent. A silver lining for this match as Orion's focus remained on the match at hand. Skidding across the floor a few inches, Orion did not have time to even slowly roll his elbows to try and shake off the pain before Decoria aimed for another kick.

Another block required. Orion hated to become predictable, but this was another move of necessity. Besides, there may have been something to this conversation he was holding back.

Like how much he was trying to avoid hurting her beyond the norm. Not because of any skill difference or he thought himself better. But because of the inherent strength and speed he possessed. Not to mention his resilience, healing factor notwithstanding. That and her continued attacks started giving him more insight. A deeper look into what she was saying. And how she fought.

She likes to use her legs.

And, sooner or later, he would have to stop playing so much defense here.

Raising his forearms horizontally up in front of himself, Orion clasped his fists shut as his arm muscles went taut. Absorbing another kick into his arms again and leaving bruising that would begin to disappear in the next few seconds, Orion's mind fast-tracked towards making another move. It was in that moment all the pieces came together. Why Decoria did not strike for his head or engage with more debilitating strikes. Communication such as this did not end so suddenly and violently. It took time.

Exposing emotions and thoughts while in combat was personal in the Echani culture. And Orion, despite all his wisdom regarding that very subject, did not so openly reveal his thoughts while he read others. That was his style of moving through the world. And, while Lily Decoria had been considerate here, she was also curious.

Orion did not share easily. Not here. Not now. It would be a disservice to her and him both. She wanted to know why he fought? If he had to fight?

When it was necessary. When it may allow him to learn and grow and protect. Whether it be others or himself, if need be.

And right now, he would protect himself and use force here and now, when most necessary. All the while, avoiding to seriously injure her or end the fight too soon.

So, in that brief moment between putting it all together and Decoria retracting her leg, Orion simply reached out and grabbed ahold of her leg. Not for long but enough to let her know what he could do in that moment. Throw her off balance or follow up with a strike.

A little message to say: I'm catching on.

Before closing the distance by weaving to side-to-side before slipping to her side and throwing a punch at her ribs, wishing to test her own tolerance for pain and what she could handle. Holding back, of course, but giving her a small taste of her own medicine to help spur her on. Especially when he could have aimed for her head too. At least at this distance, she would be less likely to use those kicks again.

He was no punching bag, and Decoria needed to know she was not talking to a brick wall here.

 

[Lily Decoria]

Location: Coruscant
Outfit: Gym Attire
Tag: Orion Pavond

Orion was taking blows hard to his body but without too much concern, that was a revealing fact that Lily knew to take in. Clearly he had enhancements that were beyond the standard humanoid healing and resilience. Especially to take hits that her powerful legs gave, she might not be aiming for a simple knock out, Lily was still giving it her all in every strike. She was not holding back in terms of demonstrating her strength, but knowing that he had some sort of rapid healing, regen shenanigans, Lily knew that she needed to be cautious.

The focus on her legs for attacking, Lily was using her body to lead Orion down a false path. Guiding him into assumptions, demonstrating how fighting language can be misdirection and lies, just like there can be in verbal language. Lily was going to make him assume Lily had a preference for how she fought, to then demonstrate that in actuality, Lily could fight just as well with her arms. Her whole body was a living weapon and there was no slacking in one way or another.

Him catching her leg was demonstrating his faster than normal reflexes. Even faster than the normal Jedi who had pretty fast reflexes due to the Force precognition abilities. It was a curious trait since it meant that there was a lot of enhancements that some might see as unnatural. But for Lily just meant there was more of a challenge to overcome. Echani were some of the best fighters in the galaxy and she was aiming to be one of the best Echani warriors ever.

When Orion began his striking back, Lily twisted her body safely out of the fist's way and blocked with her arm. Countering with a sharp elbow to the chest. Displaying her own speed and sharpness with attacks. Revealing that she was comfortable at any closeness when fighting, that she was fast and aggressive with her fighting and that a single punch was not good enough. If Orion wanted her attention, then he needed to be striking more and demonstrating that he could fight a few movements in a row.

She was wanting him to speak sentences not words in this manner. A flow in combat, not a stop, start stuttering.