Private To Bask In The Eye

[Klar]

​

Tython​

Temple Grounds​

If one wanted to master a lightsaber, there were a few names that were near the top of the list - Noble, Vanagor, and Si first came to mind. Partly because each was an accomplished master in their own right, pushing the frontiers of swordplay further and further with each year. Partly because, at least in Klar's case, they spent a lot of time on or around Tython and the aspiring battlemaster had had a lot of time to consider and refine her approach. She kept a small, private list of the Masters whom she wished to learn from, and what she wanted to learn from them, along with how she thought best to approach them each. An exceedingly normal thing to do, anyone would agree. Besides - she was Masterless. Klar was largely on her own to seek training and direction.

Jonyna Si was near the top of Klar's list, however. The Codru-Ji girl had spent a great deal of time practicing her stances, flowing from one form to another. With four hands to work with, she had the flexibility to change how she adapted to any given situation - and her use of twin splitsabers had been made with that practice in mind. More than probably anyone else on Tython, or at least as far as Klar knew, Master Jonyna Si understood and had mastered this process. She had peerless mastery of several forms, was able to switch between multiple weapons fluidly, AND did so while utilizing her tail in combat. That prehensile tail was practically a hand in and of itself, and Klar hard heard tell of how Master Si could utilize it with just as much mastery as her hands. That she could do so while on fire was just icing on an already envy-inducing cake.

From what Klar could dig up, the Cathar was the direct sort. She made things, she spoke her mind, and like the elements over which she exuded mastery, her direct nature was backed by unfathomable power. Klar could not be circumspect with this, she'd realized. It'd be best to approach directly. And she WOULD have... were she not also horrifically intimidated by the Cathar woman in a way that she simply wasn't when it came to some other Masters. Perhaps because she had enough in common with Jonyna that the stakes for embarrassing herself were higher. More than any Master Klar knew of, Jonyna represented the closest image of the Jedi Klar aspired to be - if not the Jedi she was best suited to becoming. Entirely separate from that, Jonyna's vibrant manner of dress and proud existence both fascinated and stood in stark contrast to Klar's generally reserved fashion choices, which was also something she wished she could be braver about.

There was also something to be said about cats and dogs. But not much.

It'd taken crossing paths three times in the Jedi Temple before Klar worked up the courage to approach her quarry.

In this instance, she'd spotted the Cathar moving down the grand stairs in front of the Jedi temple. Eager to not lose another shot, Klar jogged down the stairs to catch up, calling out with a cautious "Master Si! Master Si - a word?" The young blonde woman attempted hopefully. "Beg your pardon, and I hate to interrupt, but would it be possible for me to run some of my forms by you and perhaps receive some guidance?" She imagined a Jedi Master walking through the Jedi Temple heard that exact request no less than a dozen times a day, but... if she didn't shoot her shot, she couldn't risk a win, right?

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

Jonyna's day had been quiet busy. Ukatis's reconstruction was well underway at this point, but she still was one to oversee the particulars. Some might call it over-reach, but she called it caution. She knew better than to let private companies swoop in and exploit the weak, but she was also one who wanted to make sure the work got done right.

Of course, then there was also the matter at hand. She had only given birth a week before, and she was exhausted. Thank the stars she had Val, Rayia, Cora and Taam to relieve her from mom duties.

And then there were moments like this. She was in the middle of trying to parse a word on her document, a name that eluded her internal pronunciation, when suddenly...

A padawan. Crap.

"Huh?!" She flinched, as the padawan approached her with a sentence she nearly missed had she not caught the document mid-air, having thrown it in sudden fright. "Oh...uh...yeah, sure!"

She hadn't met this one yet, and yet they had sought her out. Why not give her what she wanted?

 

[Klar]

​

Of all the expectations Klar had when approaching a Master she hadn't spoken to yet, that Master nearly jumping out of her own skin was NOT even close to on the list. Jonyna flinched, Klar flinched, Jonyna nearly dropped her documents, Klar managed to fumble her datapad so badly with four frantic hands that it flew about three meters behind her and clattered against the stairs. Three meters and a couple more inches, specifically - it tipped a little further when Klar dove for it and it slipped off of her finger tips.

The Padawan scrambled to her feet, her composure completely shattered by this unexpected and unflattering turn of events. Her screen was cracked, she looked like a dope, and she'd somehow managed to startle a Jedi Master! The poise of a Jedi Master was more durable than frik, as precious as kalkite! A Jedi Master was one with the Force and thus one with the universe, and by thoughtlessly breaking that poise Klar had managed to make the ENTIRE UNIVERSE SLIGHTLY WORSE.

Her back ramrod-straight, Klar faced the Cathar Elementalist as though she expected sudden retribution, then bowed deeply and mechanically at the waist. "Of course, please forgive my intrusion, I'll see myself off-"

A beat. Master Si hadn't told her to go away.

Klar's head snapped up to Jonyna's face, followed by the rest of her as the Codru-Ji stepped in smoothly. "Truly, Master Si? You will?" She gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Thank you! I promise I won't take a moment more of your time than you allow!

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

Jonyna couldn't help but snort at the sight. Kids were always excited to learn something new. "Alright, alright. I need to drop off these documents first. Meet me in the training room, and I'll show you anything you might want."

The documents weren't urgent, nor was her oversight really needed. She'd head back to her office, leave them there, and meet this kid back at the training room.

Also, grab her weapons while she was there.

 

[Klar]

​

Klar nodded eagerly and made herself scarce - rushing off to the training rooms. And then off to her dorm to get her full saber kit, and then back to the training rooms. She considered running back to her room AGAIN to put on her nicest set of robes, but reckoned she didn't have enough time. And then she sat kneeling in the training room for five agonizingly slow minutes.

Each second she diligently counted out in her mind, stretching onwards into an unknowable infinite where she remained in a quiet room with no stimulation. By the time Master Si joined her (at an entirely reasonable timetable!) the Cathar woman's presence shattered the silence sufficiently to drive Klar's heart into her throat. She lept to her feet, clasping her splitsabers in her lower hands while clasping her top arms together for a bow.

"Master Si! You came! - I mean, I appreciate the gift of your time, Master." Klar promised respectfully. "I've heard tales about how you use your - erm, tail, so effectively in combat." She explained. "I was hoping I could get your opinion on my use of a third saber in conjunction with traditional dual-wielding forms."

Klar stood upright, tossing her unlit splitsabers between her hands. Half of one disappeared into a holster at the small of her back, the other two remaining in her hands.

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

Jonyna, by comparison, took her time. Part of that was her own limitations of the moment. Her body was still recovering from childbirth, and quite frankly? She was in no rush. It took a minute to find her gear, get dressed, and prep for a training session, but only after first putting the trio of kittens down for a nap.

She was a mother now, a teacher, and a jedi.

But finally, she entered the training room, kitted to the nines in all of her normal gear. Two swords on her right hip, a saber visible on her left.

Only for her eyebrow to immediately raise at the mention of her tail.

"Ah."

Jonyna was going to give a basic lesson on the use of Ja'kai, but this one...

Jonyna cleared her throat, as she drew her black bladed Katana with one hand, before her saber suddenly flew to her other hand. "The key to using multiple implements is overwhelming your opponent."

Jonyna suddenly shifted, raising her sword above her head in a cross guard, while her saber was stationed across her chest, waiting for an opponent to strike, all the while her coat hid her tail. "Attempt to strike me." She ordered simply, waiting for the padawan to attack.

 

[Klar]

​

Jonyna Si


Klar hesitated a moment. She'd come to show off some forms and get an informed opinion - from what she'd heard, Master Si had JUST given birth. There was no way she should be exerting herself in such a way, right? Granted, a Jedi master had a better idea of her abilities than Klar ever would, but even so...

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She was delaying, making excuses instead of acting. Trying to make Master Si's condition her escape hatch out of potential embarrassment or failure. Klar resolved to perform, calling her splitsabers into her hands. Rather than keep them bound, she twisted them into four separate lightsabers - one for each hand. With a minimum of flourish, the Codru-Ji dropped into a low, sturdy stance that immediately betrayed both her preference for Soresu and her at-best academic understanding of Jar'Kai.

The blonde took two steps forward before spinning - defending with her lower arms as she struck horizontally with the uppers. An effective if elementary maneuver designed to attempt to force an opponent on the defensive, Klar's lack of offensive confidence and reliance on brute force became fairly clear with the double-overhead-strike follow up.

Klar was a good student, but self-taught. A masterless Padawan who'd learned from group lectures and exercises that didn't take her anatomy into account, or from archive records and footage. As a result, her martial skill relied more on stiff, theoretical knowledge as opposed to fluid combat experience.

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

Jonyna didn't waste a moment, shifting her saber to clash with the other two, silently watching the girl's form. The Cathar didn't move an inch, only taking a step back to hold her footing.

"Lesson one."

Without dropping her stance, she brought her sword down in a diagonal slash, right as Klar had locked with their first saber, mid-spin. The blade aimed right at her neck, before stopping right next to it. "Up and down. Always protect both."

Jonyna idly raised her sword again, having proved her point. "Agility and ferocity is all well and good when you have your opponent already on the backfoot. Your first strike, that's when they're on guard. You should be as well."

Without a word, Jonyna pulled her ion blaster from her coat with her tail, and fired a shot at Klar's center mass. It was a test to see if she was paying attention.

 

[Klar]

​

Jonyna Si

In a swift motion, Master Si had defeated her. None could contest what would have been a clear sai cha. When the gesture was clear, the Codru-Ji yielded without question - stepping back into a ready position with her four sabers lowered. Ferocity, first strikes. There were lessons to be learned as well. Klar was aware of her tendency to rely on overwhelming an opponent who wasn't used to four arms, but Master Si had no such blind spots. She had the same advantage. She had none of the weakness. Lessons to be learned.

Klar caught the movement of the blaster being drawn and reacted. Her ability lagged slightly behind her ambition, however. The blonde woman whipped her saber around to deflect the strike away, succeeding only in brushing the strike away from her core and into her side. This and turning with the blow stopped it from being a (if the blaster hadn't been an ion blaster) from being lethal, but it would have been a grievous injury. As it was, it was merely crippling.

She managed to not fall to her knees, but only just. Determined to not embarass herself again, Klar threw herself forward, lunging one saber between the Cathar's legs into an upward sweep as she stood. Her two other arms that weren't pressed to an ion burn scissored in from the sides.

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

Jonyna's reaction was ever swift.

Her feet hovered above the ground, sending her backwards. Boots designed for this sort of fight. giving her tiny repulsorlifts in them to give her extra mobility. And yet, back she went, and forth. Dodging the slash was easy, counter attacking was much harder. And yet, her tail disappeared back into her coat. The blaster slipped back into the deep pockets, before she let it hide once more behind her.

The lesson was simple, but she wondered if Klar would pick it up. Jonyna was never one to give lecture. She expected her students to pick up on her actions, and learn from them.

Once more, she thrust, swatting away at the saber that had thrust at her with her own, before once more swinging downward with her sword. The same attack as before. She wanted Klar to learn, to adapt.

Jonyna never intended to win this.

 

[Klar]

​

Jonyna Si

Klar really, REALLY wanted to ask about those shoes. And the blaster! And how many other clever tricks Master Si might have hiding away, waiting to reveal themselves like miraculous little treasures. She'd once entertained the idea that her ability to switch between dualsabers and up to four lightsabers at a time gave her an unmatched versatility, an advantage against less flexible opponents. What Klar was seeing today made clear her complacency - she'd focused so much on using one weapon several ways that she'd never considered the option of other weapons. Yet another lesson learned.

The same strike down. Blocking it the same way would have the same result. Unless the lesson was to block it the same way, but better. But what kind of lesso- just move!

Klar dropped to her knees, lowering her profile - Jonya was hovering, and already taller than she was, so by dropping to her knees Klar hoped to either force her to overextend to hit a lower target or turn off her boots. Either way - Klar brought her left arms up to try and deflect the blade to her side while she drove the right arms upwards in what'd be a gut-frying blow if it landed.

High and low. But if she can't come in beneath me, that's one less direction to worry about!

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

A clever trick. That was the spirit.

Jonyna, realistically, could dodge it. She could keep this going indefinitely if she wanted. The Force would allow her to, allow her to keep going endlessly.

But instead, she let the padawan win. A reward for being creative and clever.

The two blades struck, and Jonyna's legs gave out.

After a moment, Jonyna rose to her feet once more. She looked to the girl proudly, with a bit of a sly smirk. Her usual stance.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from that?"

 

[Klar]

​

Jonyna Si

Klar opened her mouth, then closed it again. What lesson HAD she learned? There'd been a couple, honestly. To mix up her approach, to not underestimate a foe, to let her opponent's clever tricks become hindrances. Any of them could be applicable. That last one felt a little too Soresu for this, though, and that was with the understanding that Klar preferred the defensive forms. She gave the question due consideration.

"That I don't know as much as I thought I did." Klar began thoughtfully. "...and that I'm not as reliant on my arms as I thought I was, but still too rigid in my approach." She added while cupping her chin. "....and to work on my blaster deflection."

Klar tentatively touched the ion blast she'd taken, wincing a little. She did manage a sheepish chuckle though. She then bowed deeply, her hands behind her back. "Thank you for this lesson, Master Si. I appreciate your wisdom."

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Klar

"That's all true." Jonyna smiled, before deactivating her saber and putting it on her belt. "But think of what I did. My tail was hidden most of the fight. You have four arms. Most people only have two. My lesson for you today is thus: An opponent can't defend against what they don't know is there. Get a coat, a robe. Hide what you can, and surprise your opponents."

Jonyna had adopted such stylings from her days as a rebel. Strike from the shadows, hit hard, get out fast. That was her ideal strategy from since she was 18 years old. Now she was 32, and a wiser, and calmer individual.