Looking for the Truth ( Ajoc Laynerir's training )

[Horizon]

Ajoc concentrated on his master's words for guidance but they could only do so much. Ajoc put both his hands upon the hilt and swung his blade to the side of Ash's blade in attempt to make him lose his grip on his own blade.

 

[Gambler]

Ash's blade whipped out in front of him in a fighter's stance. He deftly tucked his bundled blade across his body, slapping the stick against Ajoc's practice sword and shifting back with the grace of a dancer. His blade was out in front of him, held with a grip that might remind one of opening a door. His other hand was behind the blade, his fingering motioning Ajoc to strike again. As he said, he would not strike him.

 

[Horizon]

Ajoc relaxed a bit and began to let go of everything in the room but him and Ash. The endless blur of white came back only giving the images of Ajoc and Ash in the room. Instead of putting himself behind the blade he would let the Force help him through this. Ajoc could feel his fears withering away with each moment that passed as he held on the blade. Ajoc took another swing at Ash but this time aimed at his waist.

 

[Gambler]

The blunted blade in Ash's hand seemed to be the tail of a serpent. Every inch of durasteel flowed like water or mercury. His eyes, those luscious cobalt orbs, were blank like a sheet of paper or the ocean without the tide. No emotions were evident, giving him the stony visage of slate. Yet his features, serene and peaceful, worked in stark contrast against that for a ghostly appearance. One ethereal like an angel without a halo or a smile. His feet brushed the marble floor as his stance shifted. Just the subtlest shift of his weight and the raising of his blade a few degrees. A single breath slid through his nostrils, heavy yet curt like one a diver would take an instant before the dive. His eyes blinked for what felt like a prolonged second and his hair fell against the nape of his neck like the feathers of a raven.

Like some inner clock the timing and rhythm of his movements were perfect. His body twisted and turned, a serpent in truth. Every lithe motion was countered by the breath of his feet sliding across the ground. Akin to a clock, his body was like the gears, winding across one another and working in synchronization. He felt the pinprick sense of awareness granted to him by the Force, allowing him to see with sight far more powerful than his own. And, as a clock, his heart beat ticked in time with his breaths and shuffling. He wasn't perfect, but his grace made him seem far more impressive than he was.

With precision earned from hour upon hour of training he slid his blade across just after his shuffle, twitching the other blunted sword away a fraction of an inch. Even such a minute distance was enough to have the other blade merely graze past him, catching slightly on his robes for a moment. There was a new heat in his eyes as adrenaline pulsed through his veins. Much like the smoker who continued his decadent path Ash felt the pull of addiction. But unlike the smoker who would sell his soul for another joint, Ash restrained himself, maintaining his discipline even though he wished to strike his apprentice. Instead he flipped his blade through the air laterally, the blunted edge sliding over in a way much akin to a regular strike. But a fraction of an inch away from his apprentice he stopped the blade. Froze it like glass dipped into arctic waters.

 

[Horizon]

Indeed his master ash was a great fighter. He knew very well that he could hold his own in a dangerous situation. Rish bowed before his master as he knew that he would not break ash's defense.
((OO:C Sorry for such a short post! Not much I can work with on detail.))

 

[Gambler]

"Precision is the warrior's tool. It is also the guide to the monk and the purpose of those who walk the path of moderation. Which category do you fall under?" Ash's voice was soft and deadly, not threatening or lethal, but the underlying hint of his true abilities was shining through. He wasn't just a pretty face. He was a warrior. One that fought on the path of moderation. Perhaps the Abbot would follow his path and perhaps not. His goal was to teach and the Abbot's was to learn. That was the way of things. Those whose path was that of the mentor had to teach and those who took the path of the apprentice had to learn. Otherwise there would be no such cycle and the weak would never be strong enough to protect those who needed protecting.

With the slightest twitch of his wrist, Ash's dull grey blade flicked away from his apprentice's throat. The whoosh of air that followed made a stinging noise like a whip cracking through the air. He looked at the blunted sword for a moment, taking in its balance and weight before angling it towards the ground nonchalantly. It was obviously not a feigned nonchalance, but rather the appearance of it given by his serene features. "What do you wish to focus your studies on so that we may spend more time in that area? The more you wish to know about a subject the more you will put into learning it and thus succeed in it."

 

[Horizon]

The path of moderation. Ajoc thought hard about what he truly wanted to know. The Force was magifisent as the blade. But it was the Force he truly wanted to know more about. Ajoc thought that the Force was the true way to enlightenment.

"I would like to learn more of the Force master ash."

Perhaps if he knew enough about the force he could even protect his people if such a time would ever come.

 

[Gambler]

"Hmm," that was not the answer Ash had expected. Most young men wanted to learn more about the blade to fend off attackers. But this one wished to learn about the Force. "Very well then," he said, tossing his blade haphazardly towards the rack. He guided it with the Force, landing it smoothly atop other similar blades that were positioned there. As it landed he crossed his arms over his chest, sizing his apprentice up for the second time. The man just might make an excellent Jedi. Or he could fall into darkness. Either way Ash was going to teach him what he wished to learn first. Then maybe he might wish to learn more about other subjects. One step at a time until the entire puzzle was solved. No one solved a puzzle by throwing several pieces together and taking shortcuts. No, they walked the full mile. "Make your sword dance. Have it dance with the grace and poise of a twi'lek dancer. Show me your skill and we will go from there."

 

[Horizon]

Ajoc held his blade on his hands then slowly grasped it with the force.
Raising it in the air, ajoc humed a gentle tune as the blade began to bouce slightly in the air from side to side. With each sharper hum the sword's movements would be faster. As the lower tones would make it sway with the wind. Before he knew it the blade was doing small twirles while moving back and forth from Ash to Ajoc.

 

[Gambler]

Within moments Ash began to follow his apprentice's movements, guiding him by example rather than words. Words were usually how a teacher taught, but sometimes words were just far too boring. And most of the time the student started to doze off when a teacher's voice became monotone. Two blades from the rack danced through the air in intricate circles like two birds in the sky above the treetops. The clash of steel lightly tapping steel rang rhythmically as the blades arced through the training room with the sedulous speed of a lazy bumblebee. Up, down, circle left, circle right, the pattern was never ending for the short few seconds it took for the blunted swords to come to hand, just a few feet away from Ajoc's spiraling sword. "Shall we dance?" He asked, moving the blades like a fighter would without his hands. A true test of skill.

 

[Horizon]

Ajoc nodded his head slowly trying not to lose his concentration.
Slowly he moved his own blade around his master's. They performed excellent movements as Ajoc put more concentration on controlling the blade.
Every now again his blade would bump the others. But he soon corrected this movement. Even his humming would move with the blades graced the air.
Ajoc felt the Force was truly his calling in life.

 

[Gambler]

Ash leapt into the air, flourishing for the first time since he had met up with his apprentice. He flipped, the Force flowing through him like a beacon of guiding light. The blunted blades twirled around him like butterflies circling one another. As he landed upon the ground his swords whipped to either side of him, held by tendrils of the Force in a offensive position. "Come at me now, except don't touch your blade. Only concentrate on it. Predict my movements and harmonize them with yours lest the blades strike you bare flesh," he said, spinning the blades in front of him once more, their movements exactly the same.

As he said earlier, it was easier to manipulate objects as one mass rather than as separate ones. The left blade slashed forward smoothly, the entire dulled length shooting forward further than Ash would have been able to make his blade go with his hands. But the movements were slightly clumsy in comparison to his graceful movements earlier. It flew high of where one might assume to be his mark, testing his apprentice's readiness. A second later he stepped forward, concentrating heavily on the blades he was 'holding' with the Force. They struck out in an X at Ajoc's chest. Normally it was an easily countered move, but with the Force it was slightly more difficult.

"Two lessons at once," Ash breathed almost silently as his blunted swords shot forward.

 

[Horizon]

Bringing his blade back near his hand, Ajoc spun the blade slowly around the palm of his hand. Quickly he forced the blade upon his master's in an attempt defend himself. It was more difficult to command an inaminate object to some what do your bidding. But gradualy he was grasping things.

 

[Gambler]

His blades flew back at his silent command, his concentration focused completely on the task at hand. Fighting in the way he was wasn't very efficient, but it was good for training purposes. Or at least that was what he supposed it was good for. Maybe it would teach Ajoc how to throw lightsabers at people if he was desperate. But mostly Ash hoped that it would teach him how to manipulate the Force to do his bidding. Manipulate the simplest yet most complicated form of energy. Moving a blade was a good start. If one could concentrate in a mock battle with a blade not in their hands but rather out of their reach, perhaps he could move other things with ease. "The dancing blades are more fun than the lectures, are they not?" He asked quietly, leaning forward slightly. He didn't really have a concept of 'joy' in his mind, but he guessed that was the sense of accomplishment or a feeling opposite of boredom. He twirled his blades around one another and lunged them forward, batting them like drumsticks at Ajoc's shoulders.

 

[Horizon]

Ajoc was feeling content with this training.
It made him feel empowered, yet some what wise.
Slowly he picked up another blade in hand while using the Force to pry off one of the blades that were beating his shoulders. While the other he pushed away with his own blade in hand.

 

[Gambler]

"Tell me, Ajoc, how is it you fare?" Ash asked as he drifted back, his blunted grey blades following closely. "Is that the extent of your skill? If so, drop the blade so that we may practice with something more mundane. Otherwise strike me with all of your skill. Weave the blade back and forth like a gymnast preforming acrobatics. Can you do such?"

[OOC: Sorry for the epic shortness =( ]

 

[Horizon]

Ajoc was determined to prove his skill before his master. The blades floated above his hands and began to spin. It was a daunting task but Ajoc was learning how to control them. Quickly he went into a sprint torwards his master as his blades twirled, then with being a couple feet away Ajoc immediately spun the blades to their some what dull sides following up with one directed torwards his blade and the other his right arm. If his master was as good as he thought, he would be able block both attacks.

 

[Gambler]

Air buzzed with the force of Ajoc's mind guided attack. The sound was akin to the cracking of a whip. Grey steal met grey steal as Ash's twin blades snapped to intercept Ajoc's own blunted lengths of steel. The ensuing clang of metal against metal echoed the sound of two fighters rasping eachother's blades against the other. Pushing back, Ash slipped his blades against Ajoc's pinning them for a moment. His eyes squinted, a frown of concentration upon his lips. There was a beacon of energy within him. It built up instantly until it exploded forth like a storm towards his apprentice's chest. The Force Push.

 

[Horizon]

Stumbling back a couple feet, Ajoc was quite confused. An invisible force had just hit Ajoc straight in the chest, yey he could not tell what was happening.
Focusing on the excersise at hand, Ajoc returned one blade to his hand while the other still floated right above the other. Swinging his blade horizantly at the hilt of his master's blade, Ajoc did nothing but keep the other blade in a some what defensive posture.

 

[Gambler]

Ash let his blades hover for a few moments before casting them aside back to the rack. He looked at his apprentice, his eyes blank. "Can you tell me the tenants of the Jedi Order, Abbot?" He asked, breaking the rhythm that the sparring had taken. "If so, can you recite them while juggling four orbs with the Force and sparring against me with the blade?" There it was, the unorthodox twist that added an extra challenge to his teaching. Of course, no one learned unless they were pushed to their limits and then even further.