The Art of Ferocity

[Noire]

[TD]

[/TD]
New Jedi Order Safe House | Boz Pity, Mid Rim Territories | Gargantelle Graveyard​

​

"...And this war continues to ravage the galaxy. But there's more hope out there now. I've felt it since the Rebellion's finest became the heroes of the hour. I received the final word that Naboo was safe as I left Galtea's star system in the Outer Rim Territories. It was the greatest news I think I've ever heard, but a part of me still feels an anger beyond what a true Jedi ever should regardless. Anger for not doing anything, for not saving anyone, for escaping like a coward while the planet that had given me a safe refuge was destroyed and burned down all around me until it was too late to truly matter. And yet, for some reason, some part of me feels elated too. The same part of me that wishes I had acted earlier is...challenged by a part of me that is glad that I didn't. I might have stuck down the Sith with hate. Or, as Eris put it, I might have died.

But, in a sense, I'm not sure it matters one way or the other. I only desire to know peace, to taste it again, to feel it again. I've forgotten what it feels like. And, even now, as I prepare for my descent down to the surface of Boz Pity, I come with an intent to learn. Not learning for the sake of gaining knowledge, no, learning for the sake of becoming a better warrior. It is a sacrifice that teeters on the edge of hypocrisy a little too closely, but still one nonetheless. I will finish this recording at a later time.​

- Ansgar out."​

​

It was a far, far cry from Naboo. Of this simple fact there was no question; absent were the rolling verdant hills and plains and clear blue oceans, replaced instead by a sea of gravestones, fractured bones, and a deathly quietness in the Force. After the extinction of the native species, the Gargantelle, as they were known, thousands of years ago, Boz Pity had become a planet utterly devoid of all sentient life and it was clear - painfully so, even - that still held true. Perhaps, to the Jedi at least, that was what was most appealing about the "graveyard planet" to begin with. But Caden had not come to enjoy a picturesque landscape nor welcoming natives. The reason he was here was a rather simple one: instruction. He had been taught dozens of times by dozens of teachers over the many years that he had been able to call himself a 'Jedi', though hardly any of those sessions had been as impactful to him as the ones held with Sionann Ione. Nakoma's, perhaps, but she wasn't someone that he even wanted to remotely think about right now. The revelation of her personal dealings with the Hutt Cartel still stung, deeply, but the young Jedi had managed to evade brooding over it by busying himself without reprieve.

He climbed out and onto the nose of the transport, a small ship he'd borrowed from the safe house hangar, as the whine of the engine began to slowly die down. L7 emitted a whine of his own that was rather convincingly negative in tone - a beep that sounded as close to "panicky" as a droid could possibly get - but the young man still was not bothered in any way. "Don't worry, L7. You're not staying out here with me. You're taking the ship back to the hangar. I'll signal you when I'm ready for pick-up," Caden said as his feet finally touched the ground. He quickly reached inside of the ship, ignoring the astromech's attempt at a noise that mimicked disapproval, and pulled out his utility belt and his cloak. He then fastened the belt, to which his lightsaber and his blaster were already attached, around his waist, before slipping on the cloak around his lightly armored Jedi clothing - a small modification that he'd made himself. "Go," He ordered softly as he glanced at the sky, noticing it had grown noticeably darker, though still well aware there was several hours left before sunset.

The Knight waited until the transport ship became a speck in the distance before beginning his jog down the trail that would lead him to a far more spacious clearing. Though it was still littered with headstones, the area he'd selected would serve its purpose well enough, he was almost sure of that. As he made his way down the slithering path, he couldn't help but think of Sionann. He was curious; not only had he not seen her since he was a Padawan, which had been quite some time ago, but he'd also heard about the horrors that she and Master Novan experienced during the time in which they were imprisoned by the Dark Lord himself. I wonder if she's still the same, he thought. Caden knew he certainly wasn't. It wasn't the fact that he'd grown taller, or that his hair was slightly longer now, or even that his features more defined. He wasn't the same on the inside any longer. Sure, his curiosity was still insatiable, his determination to end the war still palpable, but his naivety had long since left his spirit.

But hardly any of that would truly matter though; the only thing that would matter was the amount of effort he put forth and if that was enough to prove himself again. I hope, Caden mused, running his hand across his chest where a long scar lie concealed underneath his tunic.

 

[Emerald Iris]

Stepping onto the graveyard, passing a rather large headstone, Caden could feel it, that familiar aura of aggression, the presence of a killer. It rippled around the area bouncing along the ground, and through the air. All of this pressure was surrounding one single point and that was the Jedi Knight who had walked into the area.

"You came back again," Came the familiar voice of one Sionann Ione the unmistakable owner of that aggression. The sage knight was behind the large headstone, not intentionally trying to hide, but her voice seemed to echo all around Caden with the acoustics of the place. She had been focusing herself to give that projection of feeling, not an illusion or attempt to manipulate the senses, rather an expression of her form of combat."Does this mean you are ready for me to share my secrets with you?"

Sionann had known for a long time that Caden had been interested in learning the Ferocity form, specifically its variant, for some time, yet she never believed him ready. It was out of her own stubbornness and weakness that she didn't teach it willingly, but everything was different now. Sionann had come to terms with her own darkness, moving from controlling to now accepting it, it was the next phase of mastery. One needed to accept their darkness, understand its purpose rather than control it to the point where one was suppressing it, letting it build till it would inevitably explode uncontrollably. It took an exceptionally painful lesson to teach her this, but she was all the stronger from it. Nightmares still plagued her from her confinement, paranoid fears of what is lurking behind, but the Sith had failed ultimately. Sionann didn't break. Now it was time to begin sharing that knowledge, carefully.

"If so I will ask you, do you wish to learn?" Her voice echoed once more as she sat there behind the headstone. "There is no going back once you start walking this path I am on, you cannot unlearn what you are seeking to learn, it will be knowledge embedded into the very core of your being, and it will destroy you if you are careless with it."

She knew she was being poetic and a little dramatic, but she had to drive the point home and make sure he was aware of what he was getting into. Sionann let the silence fill the area waiting for Caden's response while she smoothed out her form fitting travel dress, a habit she had started gaining ever since she started wearing this new attire. Her boots clicked lightly, dangling from where she sat. There were still no lightsabers to be found on her utility belt but Sionann knew that would be fixed in good time, besides the Force was weapon enough at this point. Her hands folded on her lap waiting for the human Knight to respond.

 

[Noire]

Caden scoffed at the mere thought of the idea itself - mentally, though - as he continued to listen intently to the gentle and yet disembodied voice that echoed loudly throughout the otherwise still air. In a sense it was rather eerie; spooky in the fact that it seemed as though he was alone, in a graveyard, speaking to a long-dead ghost of some kind. But he was not alone; her presence was powerful, familiar, and yet strangely different. Sionann was definitely near, quite possibly behind any one of the numerous headstones around him, but had yet to reveal herself. Somewhere inside of him, where the far more curious Jedi that he had once been was locked away, Caden found himself wanting to search for her, as if it was a game of some sort like the ones he used to play on Arbra, but he made no effort to. He was not a child anymore and moreover he had not an ounce of time to squander on games. He folded his arms, grinning, as he first nodded, nearly forgetting that she probably could not see him, before speaking aloud.

"Yes. I am ready." The Knight answered firmly. He was as ready for the knowledge that she possessed as he would ever be, though even he could admit he was not as focused as he would have preferred. There was much still weighing on his mind, troublesome images and memories that he could not seem to shake, and each one distracted him from the impending lesson more and more. Training will take my mind off it, Caden told himself, as if he might really believe it. He took a few cautious steps forward as Sionann finished speaking and lowered the hood of his cloak. "And I won't be destroyed," He added with a slight smirk. I can't be. "I'll be sure to be careful, Sionann. I'm not the same Padawan that I use to be," He said, even louder than before, as he continued to walk aimlessly around the graveyard.

And then he paused.

"Sionann...," Caden said, his tone becoming very solemn as his words trailed off, "We haven't spoken since you were rescued. I have to ask you before we start. Are you alright?"

 

[Emerald Iris]

Sionann was taken aback by the question about her condition. Alright? She was unbroken, but not unscathed. Alright assumed some form of normalcy, and that was not something she had, Master Lutomi had become very familiar with that in the days following Sionann's rescue. The sage knight folded her hands on her lap and stood up, her head popping from over the headstone right next to Caden. Her silvery hair flailed a little in its braid as she stepped off the rock that was her seat and came around to where her friend was.

"I have not known that feeling of being 'alright' since I left Dis, Caden," Sionann admitted without tripping over a single word. "But, that is part of my own problem, an obstacle I need to conquer myself," A light reassuring smile came over her lips as she diffused the rest of the tension in the air. "No need to worry, I can feel you have enough to concern yourself over rather than my emotional well being,"

She let her hands become tense letting a small electrical current course through to remind her fellow Knight that she wasn't defenseless in the slightest even without a lightsaber. There was certainly a more aggressive and confident aura coming from her now that he could see her, but there was also a lingering darkness that seemed interwoven with the light. The bright neutrality that Sionann always had was much more pronounced if one was going to focus their senses enough.

"You are going to need all of those feelings, those emotions," The sage knight then pointed out getting back on subject, not wanting to focus on herself at the moment at all. "They will temper your blade into a mighty weapon guided by the Force. To understand Juyo you will need to understand that there is Peace in Emotion.

She didn't add on that it was a lesson she was still learning, but at least coming closer to finally understanding it.

 

[Noire]

Caden went absolutely still. At the very mention of 'Dis' he sharply turned his head away and shut his eyes for a moment. There was a fog, a vagueness he desperately preserved, surrounding his memories of that horrifying mission. That was how he managed to conquer it - how he had managed to deal with it all - as Sionann put it; simply forget it as best he possibly could. So the fog grew darker as the name left her lips and the young Jedi slowly opened his eyes again after a few seconds. Sionann was standing only a few inches away from him now, having must appeared when his eyes were closed, and his eyes roamed her figure now that he could look upon her. He noticed almost immediately her lightsaber was missing from her belt. How did she plan to train with him? The Jedi woman seemed to catch his questioning gaze, if only for a moment, and answered with a small burst of electrical current between her fingers.

Caden didn't have to ask twice.

His gaze momentarily shifted towards the gravestones as she continued to speak, pondering just how he might end up with his own, and his thoughts went almost immediately to Eris. The Jedi doctrine told him plainly his plans were wrong, but his mind told him otherwise; he would be fine. Peace in emotion, he thought. "...Well," He started, "I still worry about those I care about. A lot has happened. To all of us." The Knight didn't want to argue the topic with her, experienced enough to realize often times it wasn't smart to push the subject, but he felt as though he needed to say his piece. He threw his cloak aside and adjusted his stance as he awaited Sionann to begin the lesson.

 

[Emerald Iris]

"It is why this form is so difficult to learn, much less understand," Sionann continued a slight solemn expression coming along her lips when Caden had mentioned a general feeling of change amongst the Jedi. "That worry, concern, fear, anger; the darkness that comes from all of those emotions needs to be placed away from your heart."

The sage knight placed her right hand on the left side of her chest, pressing a little. "The first lesson of Juyo is to understand we have emotions. Understand that it is not inherently corrupting to feel emotions like anger, hate, joy, love, fear, and pleasure. Our actions based on those emotions turn us to the dark side, depending on how we let them affect us. The same is true in turning ourselves to the light." Sionann took a step back adopting a forward facing stance towards Caden. "But on the field of battle you do not have time to let your emotions affect you in that way," Her hands began to slowly move out towards him shaking a little in tension. "What makes us so deadly is we turn those feelings away from our heart and into our hands and feet," She let the electricity of Force Lightning erupt from her hands and circle her fingers in a violent crackle before letting is disappear once again. "Your mind feels instinct, your heart feels peace, and you will crush your enemy under the weight of your emotion. You become unpredictable, ferocious and savage, at least to your enemy. They see you taking risks, throwing your life away for the thrill of the kill. Let them see all of that, for on the inside you are in control, and that is where the bane of this form lies, not from without but from within."

The sage knight relaxed her stance and could feel the concern returning for her partner. Sionann knew Caden had pressing emotions, and she's seen her own failings. "We can become lost to those very same feelings we are fighting with. It is the reason I....," Sionann turned her head away, it was hard to talk about losing against that Wookiee. She had no reason losing the way she did, and the very thought of the battle was both disheartening and infuriating. She didn't attest her defeat to Rook being a superior fighter to her, she blamed herself for it. There was no excuse for being as foolish as she was, that mistake would not be repeated. "Nevermind that," She shook her had back to the topic, hoping Caden wasn't paying attention to her blush as she realized she was focusing on the past again. "Any questions so far?"

 

[Noire]

Caden's expression shifted from that of anticipation into attentiveness as he came to the conclusion that Sionann had already began the lesson verbally. He listened as she spoke - eyes narrowed, head slightly tilted forward, and his brows furrowed, as he consumed each word, each small bit of knowledge, as they left her lips. Some of it though, particularly the concept of turning his feelings away from his heart, he found beyond the bounds of possibility. Most of his life he had dealt with some sort of intense emotion dominating his heart; as a child, it was fear, as a younger teenager it was anger, and now it was a wide range of emotions he was slowly losing his grip on. He knew the doctrines of the Jedi - the teachings of letting go of one's more turbulent emotions - but placing his feelings aside was never something he was particularly good at. Though Sionann's logic was sound, it was never as simple as some conveyed.

But, truthfully, it did not matter anymore.

Caden had, upon leaving Naboo, finally embraced all of his harrowing and nightmarish memories he'd kept bottled up within himself for years. He accepted them. He accepted them because it strengthened him, it fueled him, and it gave him the determination he needed to continue fighting the war. Perhaps that was why he felt he could relate with what Sionann was still going through; all of what he'd experienced still horrified him, it still frightened him, but it would sustain his resolve and put his secret objective into focus. And now, ironically, he would learning how to strengthen that objective, his sacrifice, from a Jedi. Caden turned his gaze skyward as Sionann finished speaking and inquired as to whether or not he had a question. "Yes. I do have one question." He said. "How can we stop ourselves from becoming lost, as you said, to the same emotions that we using to fight our enemy with? Meditation?" He asked.

Though he was curious as to where her original remark led, Caden was certain it was not anything she wanted to discuss at present. So he left that alone too.

 

[Emerald Iris]

He asked the same question she had asked her first Master. "Every fine blade must be tempered into one," She answered him the same way that Lacan Marr did will over a decade ago. "Meditation, understanding, focus. We have understand where our emotions come from, and push them out of ourselves, that is the first step to understanding Juyo. To rage without raging if you will. Now, the second part is to understand this form of combat is a form without being a form,"

Sionann raised her left hand straightening it like a spear point, drawing her left leg back. Her right hand stretched out a bit, fingers curling slightly outwards towards Caden. The sage knight gave a narrow stance, but with the way her weight was shifted, her legs could move very easily.

"Mimic my stance with your saber. We have a few formal maneuvers the rest is decided by feeling. We'll begin with the first maneuver," She shifted her left leg forward slowly, her left hand coming towards Caden's face before immediately pulling back. "An advancing guard. You do not pull away from an attacker unless you have no choice. Make your opponent feel pressured despite their own attack by attacking their attack. Do not put your whole weight into it, as your opponent could be stronger than you physically, do not parry, answer a slash with a slash."

With a calm breath, her hands sparked to life and a few small bolts of blue lightning bounced from her finger tips onto Caden's saber. "Half speed, I will attack in single bolts, focus, deflect them while attacking me at the same time. Answer an attack with an attack....begin!"

Sionann urged Caden to press forward as she aimed a single, much stronger bolt of Force Lightning towards him directly this time. She only hoped he wasn't concerned for her safety, Sionann did know what she was doing, relying on her reflexes to avoid being clipped. When he advanced she would retreat, attack, and then make him advance again while defending against her.

 

[Noire]

"Mimic my stance with your saber. We have a few formal maneuvers the rest is decided by feeling. We'll begin with the first maneuver," Sionann said as she shifted her left leg forward slowly, her left hand coming towards Caden's face before immediately pulling back. "An advancing guard. You do not pull away from an attacker unless you have no choice. Make your opponent feel pressured despite their own attack by attacking their attack. Do not put your whole weight into it, as your opponent could be stronger than you physically, do not parry, answer a slash with a slash."

Caden nodded, eyes squinted, as he watched her movements closely. He unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, straightening his right hand out and drawing his right leg back, his gaze following her every motion. Just as he ignited the weapon, its grip still feeling somewhat foreign after so long without it, blue Force lightning burst from her finger tips and struck his green blade. "Half speed, I will attack in single bolts, focus, deflect them while attacking me at the same time. Answer an attack with an attack....begin!" Sionann shouted. With that, the Jedi woman quickly fired another bolt of Force lightning directly towards him. This one was considerably more powerful, Caden could sense that much even before he jerked his blade upward just in time to deflect it.

Recover, broad motions, and don't falter, he remembered as he deftly spun around, his blade still perfectly angled enough to deflect another arc of lightning as he did so. He advanced forward immediately, watching with squinted eyes as Sionann took a few steps back, and attacked him again. Answer a slash, he thought as he thrust his lightsaber forward, with a slash. The erratic arcs of the lightning bolts struck his weapon and then rapidly blasted away from the younger Jedi and back towards its source.

 

[Emerald Iris]

Sionann stepped back as Caden pressed his defense against her offense. The single bolts of energy left her hands and he brutally struck them away, even forcing the sage knight to weave out of the way as they worked up and down on a single line. She could feel her steps moving quicker, her movements sharper as he continued moving forward, but there was still an element lacking.

"Good, you know how to move," Sionann responded after another attack was fired off. "Remember your feelings, let them guide your blade, become aggressive, make me feel your strikes. Do not concern yourself with my safety. Do not deny yourself emotion, do not let it control you, understand it."

She put more effort into her lightning at this point, attacking faster and stronger, trying to push Caden into her motions, giving him more of a sense of danger. Sionann didn't have to worry about a lightsaber at this point, she would rely on her own natural speed to get out of the way, using her own natural abilities and Artaru to prevent him from striking her.

 

[Noire]

Caden dashed out of the way of the lightning as Sionann finished speaking, allowing the bolts to strike the ground harmlessly, and became a blur as he bolted toward the other Knight. Clenching his blade tightly with both of his hands, and propelling himself even faster with the Force, he began throwing himself behind each thrust of his lightsaber. With every swing of the emerald blade, he began pouring out his frustration, his anger, and his pain; each slash was Nakoma's deceit, each deflection was Novan's refusal to see things his way, and every parry was each of his failures. Caden halted his barrage for a moment, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the lightsaber and keeping his eyes trained on her, before charging her once more. Holding the blade low and as he neared , he swiftly brought it up in a diagonal slash - exerting as much strength behind the attack as he could - aimed directly at her mid-section.