The Training of Denzein Tal'sar

[D.C.]

"There are in total seven forms." Koran explained. "All of these forms have strengths and weaknesses. There are offensive forms, defensive, and some balanced forms. I am a master of Form IV: Ataru, the way of the hawk-bat, also named the aggression form.

I would like you to tell me if you would prefer offensive, defensive or balanced forms?"

 

[Denzein]

Denzein, still quite confused, said the first one that came into his head. "Aggressive, because, because, its what you learned master."

He wondered if this was a test, to see whether he would make the right decision, and realised nervously that he had probably just made the wrong decision if it was.

 

[D.C.]

"Very well. There are serveral forms which are quite aggressive. The form I use, like I told you, is an aggressive one, but there are also others. Juyo is a very aggressive form and it mainly focusses on destroying your opponent. I will not teach you that one. I won't. It's too dangerous, and it requires a lot of anger to use it correctly, that is not the Jedi way."

"Form VI: Niman, the way of the Rancor, is also quite offensive. But if you want to aquire the best offensive form, I would suggest Ataru, although that one is hard to learn, and it requires the Jedi to be very quick and agile. It's all about jumping, leaping, spinning and Force Speeding, and placing strike after strike to break through your enemies defences."

 

[Denzein]

Denzein trusted his masters judgement. "Master, if you think that Ataru would be most appropriate, then ataru it is. Although, I may need to become better at force using before I start, yes?"

 

[D.C.]

"Yes, you should become more familiar with the Force first. That's why I said it's harder to learn. But I can teach you some basic saber moves."

Koran ignited his own lightsaber and it's powerful emerald blade lit the room. He swung his weapon a few times and twirled it in his hand, and then performed a very short kata.

"Alright." Koran said, after this short but impressive demonstration. "Watch carefully, and try to mimic my moves."

The Jedi Knight started to show some simple basic moves, such as slashing and stabbing.

"You will find that all the weight of this weapon is in the handle. The blade itself doesn't weigh anything. So it will be odd when you hold it for the first time, and you might hit yourself. Don't worry, though, training lightsabers cause little to no damage. Anyway, I wanted you to familiarize with your new weapon first, so you have an idea of how you should wield it." He explained while showing the moves.

 

[Denzein]

Denzein watched, studying his Koran's every move. After three or four simple attacks, he ignited the training saber, and tried a simple thrust. At once he noticed the weightlessness of the blade, and it threw him. He stumbled. He tried again, this time without shifting his weight to avoid stumbling, and managed an extremely short thrust. He attempted a second, and the same short thrust was produced.

He decided to try the slash that Koran was currently demonstrating next. He centered his gravity, to stop any stumbling, and swung. The blade flicked in front of his face, barely a centimetre from his nose, but the slash looked fairly decent. He smiled to himself and tried again. The blade struck his cheek on the follow through, and he was sent sprawling. It felt like an electric shock, but he got up immediately, and retrieved the saber.

"That hurt..." He muttered, concentrating too hard to focus on proper conversation. He re-addressed, and tried the next one, a sort of reverse swing. The saber flew put of his had, and struck the wall, leaving a scorch mark, but not gouging out a section, as a proper saber would have. Denzein looked at his master hopelessly.

"How do you ever learn how to use these things?" He asked as he went to retrieve his saber again.

 

[D.C.]

"Patience, my young padawan learner." Koran said. "Don't expect to learn how to wield a lightsaber in the first five minutes. It might take you serveral months."

The Knight saw how Denzein retrieved his lightsaber, and waited until the padawan got back to where he stood.

"Try it again." Koran said. "I know you can do it!" His voice sounded encouraging.

 

[Denzein]

"A few months? awh..." Denzein was disheartened, a few months sounded like an awful long time to him. Nevertheless, He tried the reverse swing again. This time he almost let go of the lightsaber again, but just managed to hold on to the very end of the hilt. He smiled sheepishly, re-addressed and tried again. This time he maintained a strong grip on the saber, and the swing even looked half decent.

"There isn't any short-cuts to learning this stuff, is there master." He said, as he tried the thrust again, and did the same too short jab. "How long did it take you to learn ataru master?"

 

[D.C.]

"It took me..." Koran said as he tried to remember. "...Long enough." He said. "Denzein, where is your patience? Patience is the key to everything, remember? It will take you very long before you are a Jedi, this is not a game. This is what you will become and this will become your job."

Koran of course realized Denzein was still a child, and this was his second day in training, but the Kiffar wanted to be clear from the beginning. The training had started, and thus Denzein had stepped into the life of a Jedi.

 

[Denzein]

Denzein felt it unfair that Koran was being so reprimanding. It was only his third day of training, after all. He decided not to voice his complaint though, as Koran was probably justified by some Jedi law to be mean to his padawans when he wanted to...

"I'm sorry master, Its just I didn't think learning how to wield a light saber would take so long." He said. "I still want to be a jedi though, master, I so dearly want to be one! I'll try harder. I'll get this, you'll see." He added hastily. He smiled tentatively, and swung again. He managed to execute a decent slash attack, and smiled more confidently. Then he realised what he might be doing wrong. He smiled an embarrased smile.

'Master... I should be using the force, shouldn't I..."

 

[D.C.]

"That is a very wise remark, Den. Let the Force flow through you, let it guide you! Let it improve your moves and defeat your opponents together with her aid. Yes, Denzein, use the Force." Koran said and he smiled. He liked it that Denzein had figured this out for himself. That was the best way to learn, after all.

 

[Denzein]

Denzein nodded, and focussed on the lightsaber in his head, his breathing slowed from excited and shallow, to slow, calm and deep. He felt the force around him, and he immersed himself in it, allowing it to dictate his movements, fine tuning them, making them more precise, faster, and more significant. He tried the slash he had previously been successful at, and executed a proper strike. He did not smile, for the was too deeply into the force to register pride in himself. He looked at Koran, a calm expression on his face.

"Could you demonstrate again please master? Slower this time. I want to get these right." He said, as he readied himself to mimic Koran's attacks.

 

[D.C.]

"Yes, of course." Koran said.

He held his lightsaber up and then performed the move again. He would keep doing this until Denzein would do it right. Koran sometimes might seem like an impatient master, but in fact he really was patient. He wanted his padawan to learn everything properly.

 

[Denzein]

Denzein wanted to start as soon as Koran did, but the force held him back. instead, he studied Koran's every movement while Koran went through the attacks again and again.

Finally, he swung, without warning. The strike was nowhere near as potent as Koran's, but still was an improvement on last time. He didn't wait for the next attack to come round again, instead going straight into the uppercut that he had memorized came next in the sequence. He stepped forward as he swung, The blade a green streak of light before his face for a millisecond before he pulled back, already remembering the next move and watching as Koran performs the uppercut again to show his how to improve it simultaneously. He jabbed his blade forward, then flicked it to the side, just like Koran had, of course the jedi knight did this with much more finesse, grace, power and speed but Denzein did not fret, it was his first time, and he knew he was doing well.

He stopped, and looked at Koran again, waiting for comments. He yawned, all this exertion was certainly tiring...

 

[D.C.]

"You are improving." Koran said as he deactivated his saber and clipped it back on his belt. He was satisfied.

"Let's have a drink, shall we? And let's just rest up a bit. Should we call it a day?"

The Jedi Knight looked at a datapad which lay on the table, and he saw that it was almost evening. They had been training for hours, and to be honest, Koran was getting hungry. Yes, he was hungry. Even Jedi Knights have to eat some times.

 

[Denzein]

"Yes master, thankyou master." Denzein said, realising how long he had been practicing. They walked out of the room, and went to the dining hall. Denzein blumfruit juice, and a sort of wholesome baked savory bread with soup.

Denzein looked up at Koran after dinner. "Thankyou master, for today, it was great! What am I learning tomorrow?"

 

[D.C.]

"Tomorrow..." Koran said. "...We're going to work on your core force powers. Good night, Den."

The big Kiffar walked with Denzein to Denzein's room, and then turned away to head for his own room. Inside his room he meditated for a couple of hours, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, Koran was again at the spot where he always met Denzein. His arms crossed, and his stomach demanding food. Yes, he was hungry.