A muscular lesson.

[LilyNion]

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JOV Guardian
07:32 Hours
​

It was 07:00 when Jedi Master Reland Gil told the Jedi order how they were going into war with the Sith. Everybody felt that something was off when they arrived at the meeting point, yet nobody expected him to declare war. Some people were brave, others scared and afraid. Kheera was one of them. She shared her opinion about the war, how she was afraid yet willingly to fight. Afterward she shared these emotions, she asked for help. A few Jedi spoke to her about this, yet there was one Jedi who outstood the crowd. It was the Grandmaster. He squatted down to get on her level - which was impressive, as she was quite tall herself - and spoke warmly to her. He offered his help.

Kheera just stood there, looking at the Grandmaster with big and impressed eyes. He looked big, in every way possible. Tall, broad, muscular, a living tank so to say. And of course, he was the Grandmaster after all. It felt like an honor for her, that a mighty and worthy man like him took his time to talk to her. After he gave her a warm smile, he wandered off to talk with the rest of the Jedi and held an encouraging speech.

​

After the meeting ended around 07:30, everybody went their own way again. Kheera had originally planned that after the meeting, she would go and see an old friend yet something else came on her path. The offer of the Grandmaster. While gazing through the crowd of people, she tried to search for the Grandmaster. It was a rather easy task, as the Grandmaster was taller than most of the Jedi. Therefore, it only took her a couple of minutes to find the man, as he wandered off to do his own business. Kheera - as the failed Ninja that she was - decided to follow the Grandmaster to a calmer place, where she could contact the man.

It didn't take long before they entered a more quiet hallway. As Kheera opened her mouth, a whirlwind of thoughts crossed her mind. How do I contact this man?! What manners do I use in front of him? Wasn't I basically just stalking him? Nah I'm sure that he sensed me already. Okay Kheera, just talk to him! She cought rather awkwardly to get the attention of the Grandmaster and spoke up. "Hello, Grandmaster! I'm here to accept your offer! Oh and sorry for the stalking!" Her cheeks rose up as she spoke as fast as always.

 

[Ben]

The Jedi Grandmaster was quite lost in thought as he paced through the corridors of the Galactic Evolution, or 'Reland's second girlfriend', as he and Von had taken to calling it. The only pleasant thing about his new post, and the burden it brought, was the safe knowledge that he had zero time to whine and brood over his personal problems anymore. Quite the welcome change. The weight of his new post felt right though - not overbearing, but good. Like a satisfying burn after a good leg session with Von. Damn that woman and her insistence on sticking in his head.

Despite his distractions, however, he was mutely aware of the light shuffling of footsteps behind him and the flickering of a cautious presence as he ducked his way through yet another hatchway. He whirled around just in time to be confronted with a prodding hand and a gushing of rapid-fire noises that sounded similar to galactic basics. He had been used to making people nervous ever since he cleared his seventh foot and third hundred pounds back in his early twenties. Adding a title, another foot, and another three hundred pound again to the stature didn't really help much either.

He cracked a big toothy grin at the young Padawan who he had not moments ago offered help to - guess she didn't waste a moment. He liked that. No time like the present! Orlaan ran a hand down the beaded braid in his beard.

"Don't worry about it - I've been stalked by far worse than a young Jedi friend! Try Sith Lord and Hutt enforcer, and maybe I'd be a little less blasé."

Orlaan appraised her, she had a strong tie to the Force, and intelligent looking eyes - the makings of a fine Jedi. The Jedi Warrior sank down onto his haunches, looking her level in the eye. He chased the beads down his knotted beard again.

"What can I help you learn, young-one?"

 

[LilyNion]

Her once pale cheeks stayed glowing red, as she played a bit around with her Padawan bread. The Jedi Grandmaster sank down once again to get on her level - which still impressed her as it was most of the time the other way around - and grinned towards her.

"Well, I'm very happy that I'm not the worst one to stalk you. But a Sith lord? Waow..! That's so impressive!" Her voice cracked up as she performed the rather high-pitched 'waow'. Her eyes became twice as big, twinkles in her eyes sparked as if it was Christmas. And while she wasn't the youngest Jedi alive, his presence made her feel little. It felt as if the Grandmaster was this hero type of figure that you see in comics.

Kheera rolled her eyes over the man's knotted beard. It distracted her for a couple of seconds, yet she regained focus when the Grandmaster spoke up again. This time, with a bit more 'serious' voice. Not like that was possible with Kheera to be very serious, but she tried.

"Oh, right! Well, I don't think that it has a special name. But I've heard some amazing stories that you are almost a real-life tank! And that you can take a lot of hits! I want to be taught how I can also hold up after taking some hits. You know.. get a bit.. stronger! Buffed! So the enemy can't just knock me out with one slap!" She gave her flat arms a poke, indicating that she was rather weak.

"I'll of course be getting some armor, but armor won't do it all!"

 

[Ben]

Orlaan smirked as she poked at her arms, a disheartened expression coming to her face.

"That's an unusual choice for one such as yourself, you seem more of the consular type, maybe a sage. If you want to get tougher though, I can help put you on the right path. That being said, I do not have time to train you fully, Padawan. You must keep up the work yourself, and it is not easy work, you understand? It took me three years without the Force, decades of war, abuse, tireless training, and of course weird genetics to get where I am."

The Jedi Master watched her eyes as he told her this, noticing how they hardened. Not in discouragement though, more like determination. He continued slowly, the corners of his mouth turning up. He recognised that look, he'd seen it in so many young Jedi ready to throw themselves into learning and the galaxy. So often he'd seen them thrive for it, and how he loved to see Jedi grow and learn. So often he had seen his friends and padawan's alike fall victim to this war. His eyes hardened almost imperceptibly for a brief moment as he brushed aside memories of the dead.

"But... I thing you'll do just fine, you seem strong, right?"

Ghess clapped a heavy hand across her shoulders, and was a little disconcerted when it spanned the width of her back, before turning and guiding the young Padawan along with him. There were ample rooms for training aboard the Evolution, and he knew they'd mostly be empty, what with Reland's speech and all. Orlaan looked down at her as they walked, hunching shyly under the hand on her shoulders, he looked back up, needing to check where he was going on the relatively familiar ship. They passed spotless hallways, fluorescent illuminators, and the well maintained hum of air scrubbers.

"I believe you also have interests lying outside of being a meat-shield, if I hear right, Kheera?"

He looked down to see a sheepish nod, which he returned a wide grin to.

"Well, I would hardly call myself a healer, but I know a few worthwhile tricks. In fact, I am really quite apt at one of them. Tell me, are you familiar with the ability commonly referred to as revitalise?"

The pair turned to a hatchway, Orlaan hit the entry button and the door rose, revealing one of the ships more modest training rooms - still adequately stocked for their needs however. The Grandmaster indicated Kheera should sit, and he followed suit, keeping his hand on her shoulder, as though to jog her memory of the Revitalise ability, he sent a shocking amount of Light side energy through her system from the tips of her fingers to the top of her head in a sudden blinding rush.

 

[LilyNion]

Kheera crossed her arms with a wide grin as the Jedi grandmaster explained to her that he won't be able to train her completely, as it took him three years without the Force.

"Oh, don't you worry about that! I'm very much aware that you won't be able to teach me it all in one day. Most likely because every Jedi knight or Jedi master has been telling me that so far, but it's logical! Coruscant wasn't build in a day, as some might say! That doesn't stop me from trying, though. Your lesson will be a great start and a base, so I can continue with training myself! But indeed, I'm more of a consular type. Just not the typical consular, I guess!"

While talking, she noticed how the Grandmaster's gaze changed, it hardened up for a second. Somewhere, deep inside, they felt like the eyes of grief yet before she realised it, his eyes became soft and joyful once again. It didn't surprise her, she has seen the death of many Jedi herself and she isn't the leader of the order. She couldn't imagine how heavy the burden that he carried on his shoulders must've been. She shook her head for a second with a little smile and gave the Jedi grandmaster - as random as Kheera was - a short hug. Even buffy and big man needs hugs from time to time!

"I mean, I wouldn't call myself str--"

Before Kheera had the chance to finish up her sentence, the Grandmaster planted his big hand on her shoulder. His hand felt heavy on her skin, causing her to lower her shoulder lightly.

She tried to finish her sentence, but once her lips opened to form a sentence, her voice cracked up, leaving an unhearable noise. A rush of awkwardness and shyness flew through her body as she stared straight forwards, as his hand guided her through the ship. Somehow, far and deep down hidden, Kheera also felt slightly happy with this development: for once, she didn't get lost in the Evolution. It wasn't her first time on the ship, yet she just couldn't find her way around in the ship without a proper map.

Kheera rolled her eyes up towards the Grandmaster and nodded sheepish, followed by a soft "Indeed."

Once the big man mentioned revitalise, her shyness and awkwardness disappeared into thin air and her eyes became twice as big. The once so bright spark in her eyes became twice as big and the bubbliness broke free, as a lion that broke free from its cage. Kheera tried to run forwards to face the grandmaster, yet was stopped abrupt by the man's hand on her shoulder. In a rather cartoon-like manner, she bumped back into place beside the Grandmaster. Excited, she clapped her hands and began to skip up and down. Blinded by her excitedness, she didn't notice that the man guided her into one of the training rooms.

As graceful as she was, she sat down with her left leg crossed over her right leg. Kheera looked up towards the Grandmaster, expecting some sort of speech of an introduction. What she didn't expect was the rush of pure light that flew through her body, causing her eyes and aura shine up more than usual. She froze up in spot, shocked by the feeling in her body that she has never felt before.

Once that experience was ever, she opened her peach pink lips. "What.. was that?"

 

[Ben]

Orlaan couldn't help but crack a smile at the bubbly little Padawan. It was so refreshing to see someone staring down the face of adversity, of open warfare, and still finding time to skip and bounce and smile - what a pleasure it was to have met her on an otherwise serious afternoon. He allowed her a moment to gather her thoughts before he answered her question, using the time to weigh her up.

She was a tall girl: clear of six foot, and in good health. The similarities between the two stopped there. There was very little muscle on Kheera's frame, what was there looked soft; the kind of toned physique a runner or an acrobat might have had, no wiry muscle or hulking mass like a fighter. That'd need to change. He wondered how she'd feel about the training effecting her pretty looks. Orlaan shoved that thought aside, fingers tracing the light scarring that ran almost unnoticeably along his right temple to his jaw. He'd paid that price a long time ago and for a moment he was very aware of the scars that laced his body. Perhaps once this war was said and done, young Jedi like Kheera would not know what it meant to bare marks like Ghess'.

"That was one of the many wonders of the Force: the ability for my to transfer some of my power, my energy, my constitution, through the Force to you. It can make exhausted fighters as fresh as if they'd just hit the battlefield, or give injured civilians the energy they need to escape. Doubtless something that you'd appreciate, I imagine."

Ghess stood up again, indicating that Kheera should follow suit.

"If you want to be a warrior, tough, strong, then you're going to have to make some basic changes to your life in order to prepare your body; altering it in ways you may not be a big fan of. You're going to need to gain some mass firstly. That's simple physics - if you want to be more like a 'tank', then you're going to need to be more immovable, stronger. That'll start with your diet, and a physical training programme to help you put some weight on and turn it into muscle. That's simple enough and I am sure that you can manage, but if you like, I can forward you some information to your datapad that may help out."

The Jedi warrior shrugged out of his robe, revealing the vest-style tunic he wore underneath, and arms as wide as Kheera's midriff.

"Whilst that's all well and good, you can be the biggest, buffest combatant on the field, or have the greatest saber form prowess in the Order, but if you don't know the basics of a fight, then you may as well go out there armed with a soup spoon and a pillow. You've got to learn the basics, and learn them better than anyone else. You need to learn where to put your feet, how to keep them where you want them, and retain your balance in any situation. Likewise you need to be able to absorb information and analyse it very, very quickly. That's information about your condition, your opponents condition -- not to mention their strengths, tells, disadvantages --, the lay of the land around you and what you can use."

He couldn't help but admire the enthralment in her stare - she hung on every one of his words like they were printed in gold.

"There is one lesson perhaps more valuable than all this still - the very core of any good brawler. You need to learn to hit, and get hit."

His eyes flashed, and hers widened.

"And to that end... hit me."

 

[LilyNion]

Kheera's jaw 'dropped' as the Grandmaster explained to her what he just did. It took her a couple of seconds to let it sink in that he shared some of his energy with her.

"Okay, I have to learn that Force power one day! That's amazing!"

Kheera jumped up from her chair and straightened up her robes, ready to follow Orlaan around the temple. While rolling her eyes towards her own feet, she listened to the wise man's words. It made her think for a bit. After a couple of seconds filled with silence, Kheera opened up her lips.

"Well. I'm not going to lie, I like how my body is right now. But here's the thing, in war, looks aren't important. Looks won't really change or help a life. If I want to become a tanky combat healer, then it's needed to get bigger. So I would like to get more information about it all.." She stayed quiet for a second before she finished her sentence. ".. Just make sure that I don't lose my hips. Did you look at those babies? Don't wanna lose 'em!" While Kheera was very insecure about everything about her body, she was actually happy with her hips.

The Diathim's jaw dropped once again when she noticed how wide the man's arms were. A soft 'wow' escaped her mouth. This has been a day that left a big impression on her, and the day wasn't even over yet!

A soft chuckle could've been heard when the fighter mentioned the pillow and spoon. While laughing, she looked up at the Grandmaster and clung onto every word the man spoke. Luckily enough for her, Kheera was good and quick at gaining information and remembering them, almost like a sponge. Not so much luckily enough for her was that she had to hit the man. Kheera's eyes became twice as big as she bit her lower lip.

"You sure? I mean. What if it turns out that I'm one of 'em people who are secretly super strong but just don't know how to use it? I might break a rib!"

Kheera sighed, spread her legs a bit - in of course, the wrongest way that you could imagine, made a fist and aimed for the stomach area. With all her power and might, she swung her fist towards the man's torso. If the tall man didn't block her hand, her fingers would hit the flesh first, followed by the thick layer of muscles below it. Because of her lack of power, she didn't quite hurt the man. Instead, Kheera stood frozen in place with her hand still against the stomach. A chill ran over her body as she moved away her hand, revealing how red her fingers turned. While no bone was broken or damaged, it was rather painful.

 

[Ben]

"I did not."

Orlaan addressed the hip comment uncomfortably, eager to move along.

Spreading his arms slightly and straightening up, Orlaan watched the girl assume a post he assumed she meant to throw a punch from - he quickly took a step forward, knocking her feet into a better position with his own, a little wider with the rear foot, angling her to be more side on, and reforming her fist slightly. He knew she was no fighter, but he was surprised at just how inexperienced she was. Ghess looked at her from under his brows sympathetically, a little worried about her. All the more reason to train her. He let her draw her arm back, noticing how unsteady and frail her wrist was, he let his abdominal muscles relax so she wouldn't meet too solid an obstacle. Still, her wrist wobbled as her fist slapped rather uselessly against his stomach.

"That was uh..." he let a laugh out, trying to ease the tension "well I won't lie it wasn't good. That's OK though! Everyone starts somewhere. For the next part I was going to hit you but maybe that should wait until the next lesson, hey?"

He stepped back, throwing a punch of his own.

"Watch my whole body, don't just track my fist. Now notice how I pivot? Those hips you love so much, you need to learn to use them in a punch. If you twist your hips and shoulders into your punch, you will get a lot more power. Likewise, roll your shoulder over to get a deeper connection. Think: try and punch through me, not at me! Now try again."

Standing straight once again, he tightened the muscles in his broad stomach now. Even if she did hurt her hand, Kheera had to start learning the difficult lessons sooner rather than later. A little pain now would save her from a lot more later. Orlaan had not ben so fortunate in the nature of his own learning curve.

"If you do better this time, perhaps I will hit you back."

 

[LilyNion]

Kheera made a mental note of how the Grandmaster positioned her feet and her fist, well, in fact, he re-positioned almost her entire body. After the note was 'written', she kept it in her closet of knowledge.

After her fist got more harmed than the buffed man, Kheera just laughed lightly. "Nahh it's nothing! See?" Kheera made some fancy finger moves, indicating that nothing was badly damaged.

She rose her eyebrows as the man threw a punch into the air. She noticed how his whole body moved into the swing, how his balance on his feet changed and shifted as he moved forwards into the punch. Again, she took a mental note of it all, trying her best to remember how the man used his body. After he was finished with his punch, the man's explanation seemed lined up with his own body movements.

"I think that I get what you mean. Okay, let's try it again!"

She laughed a bit nervous, the first failed punch was still annoying her skin around the knuckles but she didn't want to give up now. The pain was part of learning, after all. Kheera moved back into the positioning the Grandmaster showed her earlier and drew her right arm backwards. She thought back of the way the man used his own body and used this as she swung her fist towards the man's body. While swinging forwards, both her right shoulder and right hip shifted towards, giving her fist more strength and power as she hit the man's stomach.

A spike of pain ran through her first, climbing up through her elbow as this time, the muscles were in fact tightened. She bit her lower lip, took a big sigh, removed her fist and smiled as if nothing happened. Ignoring the pain as much as she could, she asked; "So, how was this?! Any better? I couldn't feel much of a difference myself, so how did it feel to you?"

 

[Ben]

"That was better!"

He grinned down at the young ladies glowing response to the praise, her eyes bugging wide as she bounced a little bit on the balls of her feet. What a jovial young'un. Orlaan put on a serious face now, however.

"Which means it's time for you to get hit back - do you think you can handle that? If you say yes, I am not going to take it easy on you. This is war! We all gotta learn to toughen up. There will be far worse blows than simple punches we all must learn to roll with in the coming months."

He cocked an eyebrow at her uncertain expression, her eyes were looking deep into some pit of resolve, perhaps trying to calm her nerves? She was brave. Green as grass, for sure; but brave as a lion.

"If you survive," he paused to wink, letting her know he was joking and keeping her at ease "we can try sparring, and I will teach you a thing or two about fighting."

 

[LilyNion]

Kheera clapped happily in her hands - which wasn't the best idea ever, as her hand was still hurting slightly - while bouncing back and forth on the ball of her heels. Her eyes were almost shining from joy.

That shining disappeared quickly though as Jedi master Orlaan explained to her that it was now his turn to hit back. She swallowed in a rather cartoon-like manner, followed up by a nervous smile. Saying no wasn't the way to go. She wanted to get ready for war, this was the way to do it.

"Yes, I'm ready! You don't have to hold back! Just don't kick after I'm down. That's a bit too much, ya'h know?" She laughed lightly. "Oh and if I don't survive, I'll sue you. Not sure how yet, but I will!" She followed the Grandmaster's way of keeping everything at ease, throwing a few more jokes here and there into their conversation.

She then moved her shoulders a bit to get them loose and made her body as big as possible. Her shoulders widened, her legs and feet set apart so she wouldn't just fall over. Her pose looked slightly like the opening stance of Form 1, just without a lightsaber. "Hit me!" she said with a tensed voice.

 

[Ben]

How hard should he hit her?

Ghess didn't want to go overboard and actually end up hospitalising or killing the girl, but at the same time, he didn't want to let her get off thinking she could roll with any punch. Orlaan shrugged mentally, deciding to hit at around the full force of a normal-sized adult human male. It hadn't really been since his mid-teens that he'd been anything like a normal-sized adult human male, so he had to work around a bit of guess work and assumption, but he felt like his estimates were close.... enough.

He cocked an eyebrow at her, and -- not needing to draw back to exert such a weaker force than he was used to -- whipped his fist straight into her centre of mass, just under the solar plexus. Kheera, poor thing, was lifted clean off her feet and sent flying back several meters. Orlaan quickly followed suit.

"Crap!"

He quickly ran to where she lay in a little, winded, confused-looking heap, and fussed over her. Had he broked it? Orlaan waved his hands around the dazed girl uselessly, not sure where was safe to help her up by.

"Sorry, little overzealous there. Are you alright?"

 

[LilyNion]

The hit came faster than ever expected. It was also more powerful than she could ever expect.

The man's fist hit directly below her solar plexus, with such a strength that Kheera couldn't stand on her feet anymore. Her whole body lifted up into the air and sent flying back towards the floor, easily making several meters in flight. The Diathim landed head first against the floor, followed up by her wings, shoulders, back and so on. Once her body came at a stop, Kheera just laid still, glaring at the nothing in front of her. Why were there two rooftops and four lamps, flying around in circles? Kheera rubbed her eyes a bit, only to notice the stinging pain in her torso, below her solar plexus, followed up by a nausea feeling. The Grandmaster - or Grandmasters for that matter - came running over to her, looking as if he broke his mother's vase.

The Diathim's vision slowly became clear again, but the sharp pain stayed. She took a few deep breaths to hold back any fluid from her stomach and rolled her eyes towards Orlaan. With a cracked voice, she managed to speak up. "I think... that you broke nothing. It hurts though." With a gasp, Kheera pushed her upper body up with her hands, forcing her to sit up straight. "Just... fine!" She mumbled with a little grin, hiding the moans and gasps with a soft giggle.

 

[Ben]

Chuckling at her little self-assessment, he gave her a quick check up of his own to make sure she was working before yanking her to her feet and dusting her off. If nothing was broken, they could carry on punching each other.

"You're tougher than you look! That's good."

Kicking their discarder over robes into a corner, Orlaan cleared some mat space, casting a weary eye between Kheera and the weapons rack before giving a decided 'probably best not' kind of shrug and turned to face her, grabbing her attention whilst he yanked off his boots, exposing his bear feet to the padded mat beneath him.

"Now, have you ever done any sparring? Just basic stuff, practicing for fights. I take it you've of course covered basic saber drills et cetera et cetera with the beginning initiatives. This is a little more advanced. I want to teach you the core principles involved in fighting an opponent, and how to coordinate yourself in a battle. That sound good to you?"

 

[LilyNion]

The sudden movement of her standing up wasn't the best feeling in the world, but she had worse pains before. She grinned a bit while running her hand through her hair, making sure that the white flowers stayed in place. The nasty pain in her torso became less over time, making standing up way easier and comfortable. After a few minutes, the stinging pain disappeared and made way for a bruised feeling.

Kheera rose her eyebrows up when the Grandmaster kicked off his boots. She stood there a few seconds with a puzzled expression, yet quickly realised that they were going to do some sparring. "OH!" she shouted out excited while yanking off her boots with only a few feet movements. While taking off the boots, she also took off the upper layer of her robes, revealing the second layer of robes, giving her a bit more movement freedom. After laying the robe and boots against the wall, the Diathim walked barefoot over to the Grandmaster and joined him on the padded mat.

"I'm very new to 'em sparring. Though I've seen some people sparring before! I'm very up for it tho!"