Unorthodox Seclusion

[Mother Askani]

Sochi awaited in the hangar the arrival of her Padawan. She told her a specific time. Seeing as how it was pretty close to the intended time, she would be popping up any moment now. It had been a few weeks since they did any serious one on one training like they did when Ru showed her the Matukai Philosophy, and trained her endurance, and flexibility. In some ways it was better to focus on the strengths of an students rather than try to make up for their weaknesses. Some cases were like that, but her Padawan was a pretty special case. Ane'irna was a lot like Sochi when she was a Padawan. This kept her interested in the ways she went about training the young girl. In seclusion, she felt it was needed. There would be things she would come to learn, that she couldn't have in the temple. Lessons from other sects she had never interacted with. Along with that she would be practicing her normal skills, and assessing different forms. Sochi knew she liked Makashi, but she didn't want the girl to become a slave to the form.

She conversed with her personal droids about the trip. She went over things to make sure everything was in place, and prepared correctly. She hadn't a want for anything to go wrong. Though she wasn't looking for them to.

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

After the last training session, Ane’irna started to practice runs through the forest, trying to score the best time possible. The results came and proved that she was getting faster. Maybe it was because she had found an optimal way of going through the forest, always knowing on which branch to step, where to dodge a tree and where to avoid tripping, but she had certainly gotten better than the first time doing the run. It was also then when her Master mentioned training in seclusion and now the time has come. Ane’irna took her usual Jedi attire, leaving only the cloak behind as it’d most likely only get in the way. Otherwise, her light clothing would do just fine, as the last training in the forest proved. The Padawan had gotten used to her clothes, eventually overcoming the discomfort of running and performing acrobatic maneuvers in those.

Seeing the time was right, the Padawan left her quarters and paced towards the hangar where Master Ru already awaited her arrival. Her leather boots gently tapped on the marble floor and her head occasionally nodded at her fellow Jedi in a greeting. She did not waste more time than necessary though, going straight to the hangar. Upon entering the door leading there, her blue eyes spotted the Togruta Jedi Knight waiting for her, just as expected. The Twi’lek sped up her pace and walked up to her Master, clasping her hands behind her back and bowing. “Greetings, Master Ru. Where are we going and what are we going to do?” asked the girl, wanting to know what awaited her. This entire thing of leaving the Jedi Temple to train outside of its safe walls intrigued her, as she had left the Temple only when going to a mission, but never to train. Would it be dangerous? Hopefully not, but even if it were, it did not bother Ane'irna. Master Ru travelled with her, there was nothing to fear.


@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

She turned to see her Padawan, a subtle smile upon her face. Ru bowed slightly before the young girl, and proceeded to converse with the girl, answering her question. She took a step forward, and the droid left the area boarding the ship to further access if everything was taken care of for the trip. She would disclose the first locations, but the second would remain hidden. There was no particular reason behind it but she felt it should be an element of surprise behind it,

"Greetings Padawan, first were going to board and hold a training session while we're on course for Shili. I hope you said your goodbyes for now, we won't be returning for quite some time." She said speaking softly.

It was revealed, the first location would be Shili, and it was here, the homeworld of Sochi, that Ane'irna would continue her training. Atleast until Ru felt she was ready to advance in level, and reach the second planet. She didn't wanna waste precious time. She turned around, and began walking up the ramp of the ship slowly,

"Let us go Padawan, we have much to do, and all of this time is valuable." She said turning around, and gesturing with her finger as she placed emphasis on her words,

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

Shili! Ane'irna had wanted to learn more about Master Ru's people ever since meeting the Togruta. Not only because the girl was naturally curious. As a Jedi, she wanted to understand people, and to do that, she had to understand their cultures. The girl knew she could not simply judge ways of other people from the perspective of her culture and beliefs. She had to look at the galaxy through the eyes of those she tried to help or fought against, as it helped her understand their problems and deal with them accordingly. The galaxy was not black and white, and Ane'irna almost wanted to see it from the way of the Sith. Almost, of course, as she realized that was one way trip to the Dark Side. Still, they could not have been as bad as the Republic portrayed them all the time. If the Sith truly starved their entire population, often wiped out whole villages just for fun, commited genocide all the time, killed their own soldiers for no apparent reason...how came the Empire did not fall apart on its own? Actually, how could something like that even exist? Many totalitarian regimes relied heavily on the support of their loyalists, but who would ever be loyal to...that?!

Before pondering about it too much, Master Ru's voice urged her to follow her into a ship. The green skinned girl obliged, slowly pacing up the ramp and offering the Temple one last glance. She had already said goodbye to her sister Bry'irna, as she expected to be away for a while. She did not expect the training to start on the ship though! The Padawan followed Master Ru and closed the door behind them by pressing a button on a wall, also making the ramp retract back into the ship. They were ready to go. Ane'irna looked around, her blue eyes studying the cold walls, realizing they definitely could not practice lightsaber combat in here. One slash into the plating both of them would die. This ruled out lightsaber training, unless they switched to low-power mode, though again, that would still pose some dangers to the ship. The most probable thing to practice would be more meditations. Or maybe something completely different, Sochi certainly knew many techniques and powers they could safely train in a ship's interior. Taking several steps further into the ship, Ane'irna turned her head and her eyes questioningly looked at the Togruta Jedi, seeking answers.


@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

Sochi boarded and continued on the ship, she heard the ramp closing behind her. She kept looking forward while she walked. "Now, Ane'irna welcome onboard The Crucible, this is a Jedi training cruiser. It was made specially for the training of a Jedi" she said motioning with her hands as she spoke, and walked down the metallic corridors of the ship. "There are specific rooms made for specific training regimes, you be doing much of your training here while we're on course for Shili." She said stopping when the came to an opening in the hallway. It would lead them to a Conference room. She approached a large Holoprojecter in the center and stood their. After pressing a few buttons she pulled up an blue, shimmering image if Shili.

"This is our objective, Shili isn't like the Jedi temple back on Coruscant." She spoke, "But first, tell me Padawan what will be your specialty or occupation as a Jedi?" She asked, then she began to speak once more to follow up, "Do you lean more towards a consular, guardian, or sentinel?" She said clearing up any confusion there might've been.

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

"Wow," the Twi'lek gasped in awe when the Togruta Jedi Knight explained the ship's purpose. Not only it was practical to train while travelling, not wasting any time by needless activities, but it also allowed the Jedi to train in relative safety. Their enemies could always destroy their temples, finding and catching a ship in the vast galaxy would be much harder though. Following behind her Master, the green skinned Padawan briefly glanced towards the rooms that were supposed to have specific purpose for Jedi training according to Master Ru. The Crucible almost seemed like a mobile Jedi Temple, which contained rooms for meditations, practicing lightsaber combat and blaster deflection, Force training... It most likely meant the rooms for lightsaber combat were covered in a lightsaber resistant material to avoid damaging the ship, unless they wanted to have lightsaber slashes and holes in the walls and plating. The room for Force trained has most likely been reinforced too to prevent an eager Jedi from breaking half of the ship by a powerful Force push.

After entering the large room, Ane'irna gazed at the holoprojector showing their destination along with the time remaining after the Togruta pressed some buttons. Shili, the homeworld of the Togrutas, most likely the place where Master Ru was born. The teenage Padawan blinked and looked at her Master when she asked the question. "I want to be a Jedi Sentinel, Master." She said and her blue eyes shifted back at the projector, studying the holoimage hovering above the projector. "I think I could become a capable duelist while also having much knowledge concerning the Force."

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

Sochi sensed that maybe the young Twi'lek was enjoying her stay already, this was good. She would be looking at these metallic walls for quite some time. Goon back to the answer she received in response to her question, she to began to converse with her Padawan. "A sentinel you say? Hmm an excellent path for you. A blend of both schools of teaching." She said before bring up one of her hands slowly, and placing her index finger on her chin. She pondered for a moment. The girls training was being evaluated. She looked down at the metallic flooring for a moment, then slowly brought her head up to look at the young girl.

"A sentinel, then that's what your training will prepare you for from now on. But to be a sentinel is not only to blend the two schools together, but to further enhance them with knowledge of non-force skills. I should recommend learning to heal through the force. This however is your choice. But I do think we shall train you in using duel blades." She said walking towards the door they came out of.

"When you are ready meet me in the sparring room. There your further lessons will begin. But now I'm assuming you want to visit your quarters and get yourself situated. Do what you must Padawan." She said calmly, and softly.

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

It pleased Ane’irna that her Master agree with her decision of following the path of Jedi Sentinel. The Togruta Jedi thought of their future training before looking back at the green skinned Twi’lek, who awaited her words, ready to start her training and hear an advice or two. Truly, Sochi offered her an advice; while Ane’irna fully realized that being a sentinel required much more than simply combining the paths of Jedi Guardian and Jedi Consular, she was not sure about Force heal. The concept sounded nice, the ability of healing self and others through the Force would have been most useful, yet what many did not realize were countless years of practice to be even able to close the most basic of wounds. That was also the reason there existed Jedi Healers, people who devoted most of their training to healing arts. And even to them, it took about a day to heal a simple, small cut. As such, the ones who did not specialize at healing would only do so much when using Force heal… Especially in a heat of battle, an inexperienced healer was an extremely easy target for enemies.

The idea of training with two lightsabers, however, sounded great to the Padawan, so she did not even go to her quarters and immediately followed Master Ru. Although she already knew how to fight with two weapons, taking advantage of Makashi being one handed form, she wished to learn more tricks and moves, allowing her to become a capable duelist. “I will go through my things later, Master. Right now, I feel it would be best for me to practice.” The girl explained as she paced next to the Togruta towards the sparring room, a place specially reinforced to survive lightsaber duels. Ane’irna’s hand touched the metallic cylinder hanging on her belt, and it also made her realize she’d need another lightsaber. Maybe Shili would grant her with another crystal she could use in construction of a second weapon?


@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

Sochi nodded, and was impressed by the young girls answer. She was already acting like a Jedi knight. She walked through the Jedi training cruiser to find the room suitable for lightsaber combat. She had been really observing the training of Ane'irna. Still looking for possible flaws, or the areas where she was good. Sochi had one concern though, and this would affect her learning of Jar'Kai. She entered the room with the heels of her boots clicking along the floor. Once within she turned around to face the Padawan. The doors would slide closed once she entered.

"Now, Ane'irna, your really good with the application of Makashi. Your level of understanding is not something I've seen in quite some time, and I feel this form is just for you. But, I fear that you've come to be a slave of it. All Makashi duelist are trained to avoid enslavement of form." She said softly.

"To avoid being defeated by unpredictable tactics, I encourage the training in a completely different form. Now, knowing that your wanting to become experienced in Jar'Kai one must choose between the three starting forms, that includes Ataru, Shii-Cho, and Niman. Seeing that I encourage the use of another form to break this cycle, I shall train you in Niman. A form that blends the other forms into one. The concept is quite simple to grasp. This will also serve as the basis of your Jar'Kai training." She said commenting once more. "We will dispatch two birds with one stone."

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

The young Padawan walked through the opened door and entered the training room following her Togruta Master. The door shut once she stepped in and the Togruta Jedi turned around, facing the teenage Twi'lek. Master Ru started with praise, but soon voiced her concern over Ane'irna's chosen form. Makashi was truly known for enslaving its users, but the girl did not feel as its slave. The second form simply suited her perfectly and effectively eliminated the need of having greater physical strength than her opponents. One could say that she did not seek improvement by practicing her favorite form, she'd argue she had no need of other forms that relied in strong, wild sweeping motions too much. While those movements were unpredictable, Ane'irna felt that they all fell to Makashi, as her favorite form relied on finding the right moment to strike. On the other hand, it allowed her opponents to learn from their mistakes and not repeat them, making it harder for the Padawan to fight them effectively.

More knowledge of another form could not hurt though, it would be good to be able to switch to another form during combat. Not entirely unpredictable if her opponents had basic knowledge of lightsaber combat and could identify all forms by their typical moves and stances, but still better than relying on one form too much. The Twi'lek waited for her Master to finish before speaking herself. "As you wish, Master Ru. I have to ask though, will my curved lightsaber hilt fit with Niman? It is definitely the best for Makashi, but not so much for fighting with other lightsaber forms. The grip is fairly specific to allow the user perfect control over the lightsaber with only one hand." Thinking back to her plans of building another lightsaber, Ane'irna decided that constructing a normally shaped lightsaber hilt might be for the best. Then she could always pick the hilt that suited her fighting style better or combine the hilts with Jar'Kai.


@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

"Niman will only provide you with the foundation you will need to use duel blades, surely curved hilts will be plausible. This will be a quickend pace of learning the basics of the earlier forms. Niman is a jack of all trades lightsaber form, its simple and will not provide you with any special advantages, but you won't have any drawbacks either." She said softly, she knew her Padawan was capable of flying threw the basics of this form. Then they would be moving on in no time.

"Now lets us begin.you must have a relaxed focus on your blade work. Remember to focus on overall moderation whenever using this form. I know your knowledgable in the areas of forms I and II, so I will skip those, and go on to Soresu. Form III is the most defensive of the forms. You must rely on tight blade work, and subtle dodges to cover all areas of defense. One must keep up defensive coverage to outlast an opponent, waiting until mistakes are made in their form to signal you to strike." She said explaining the next form.

Sochi ignited her lightsaber and assumed the Soresu opening stance, she held the blade back in a one-handed grip, angled forwards with the left arm held parallel, the off-hand held up in a challenge. She waited for her Padawan to follow her movements. Ru gave her all the time she needed to get the basics, then she explained again.

"Now were gonna have a small, quick duel. Use the generalized, and summarized knowledge I've provided you with concerning Soresu and hold your defense against my attacks. Remember your flexibility and agility training. That will come in handy when covering all areas of defense." She said before quickly striking at her Padawan in a vertical arc.

@[member="Ane'irna"]

 

[Bubák]

Nodding as Master Ru confirmed she could use the curved lightsaber hilt with this form of lightsaber combat, which pleased Ane’irna due to her being used to the curved hilt. The two then moved to practice the basics of each form, skipping the first two due to Ane’irna’s knowledge of them. Thus, they started with the third form, Soresu, the most defensive of all forms. The Twi’lek knew little about it, except for being able to recognize its stance if her opponents used it. The concept sounded very much like the second form, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake and then strike, but Soresu allowed for much better blaster deflection and also provided better cover for most of the body by holding the blade close to the body with both hands, while Makashi was all about the superior reach and holding the blade in one extended hand, always ready to parry or attack.

Turning on her weapon and holding it in the same manner as Master Ru, Ane’irna prepared for the next part of their training. After mirroring the opening stance, the Togruta explained the next part would be a quick sparring match to show if the Padawan understood the form well enough. Turning her lightsaber horizontally and quickly raising her hands with the weapon, the girl blocked the vertical attack, holding the blades locked for a while before stepping to the right and withdrawing the blade. Stopping the weapon became much easier when holding the hilt with both hands, thus making the defense much more effective. The Padawan focused on Master Ru’s next attack, whatever it would be.


@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

"When using defensive forms, the technique Center of Being can be used to further aid you. Your flexibilty, and reflexes can also help you dodge any attack your unable to block." She said commenting, sort of leaving tips here and there. Those techniques would be useful since she was outright specializing in Soresu anyway. Sochi quickly turned her blocked attack into a sequence. She brought her blade back up in one motion. This time lunging and jabbing her blade at her padawan. Then she pun to her left, and came back around performing a horizontal slash. All Ane'irna had to do was conserve her energy, to tire her opponents out. Use the techniques she previously learned to further her defensive coverage.

After performing her sequence of attacks she withdrew quickly. She awaited to see the form her student was using. How she was holding her blade, how she would couple other skills with her new one. She withdrew her blade and flipped it in her hand into a reverse grip.

@[member="Ane'irna"]