An Evening's Excercises

[Kane]

Jedi Temple--Jedha--1800 Hours​

Kane walked the halls of the Jedi temple. Since he was here in the temple he wore his Jedi robes and his Vibro-Claws were in his cell along with his usual clothes. He had spent most of the day in the library, immersed in studies on the Force and other Jedi matters. He had found several interesting books on lightsaber combat and theoretical Force techniques, one chapter even held musings on how one might use the Force to fly. What a silly idea, he had thought to himself.

The halls were mostly empty this time of day, as most of the temple residents were having their evening meal. Kane normally took his meal much later than most, usually due to his forgetting he needed sustenance while he was immersed in his activities.

He eventually got to the training area he always went to, setting his cloak down on a bench at the side he drew his lightsaber and set it to its non lethal power level. Activating the weapon in a flash of yellow light. He began to go through several forms, the maneuvers getting more complex as he went. Thumbing the length adjuster mid twirl he extended his blade from it's usual 80 centimetres to its full 120 centimeter length, his movements became wider, still flowing seamlessly between each step of the exercise. He even worked in a few vertical tosses, throwing the saber up with one hand and catching it with the other before twirling the blade around his back and putting it back into his dominant hand. The Force flowed through Kane as he practiced and he began to fall into a sort of half trance, still aware of everything around him, yet also aware of the subtleties of the Force.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

No, it can't be. He raced through the empty halls of the temple. The loud clacks of his feet where echoing from the walls and no one was there to hear it. He was enraged clearly, and filled with anger and doubt. He would need to resolve this problem now or he would do something stupid. Luckily there was no one to be seen, so now one saw him in return. As he walked down the halls he genuinely smashed his hand into the walls and cursed. What now, meditation? No, that won't do. He started walking a bit slower, he heard the soaring of a lightsaber. That was it, training his combat abilities was far overdue anyways. He slowly opened the door to the training room. An older Jedi stood in it, training some fundamental techniques, nice and slow as any Jedi would be excepted to. He laid his cloak on a bench and grasped his saber with his right hand. He immediately regretted smashing his hand into the stone walls of the temple as pained soared through his wrist. He inhaled sharply but braced himself. He would try to not disturb the other Jedi in his training and would activate his own saber. Starting with some fundamental exercises he was pretty sure that he did not even manage to do those correctly in his frustration. He deactivated the saber again. He needed to hit something, training alone would not do. He went over to the shelves and tried to activate the training robot. Cursing silently he struggled with its control board.

 

[Kane]

As Kane practiced his forms a flustered, but respectful young Jedi caught his attention. The boy was clearly distressed about something, but doing an admirable job of attempting to suppress it. As Kane continued his forms he saw the boy start and stop some exercises before going to the side of the room and fumbling with a training droid.

Kane deactivated his saber and walked over to the young Jedi. "Something on your mind young one?" He asked, concerned for the boy.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

"No, of course everything is alright..." he would stop and sigh, before turning around "Who am I kidding? Of course not everything is alright." He leaned back. "Apparently a good friend of mine has turned to the dark side in my absence." He would sit down on the table behind him.

 

[Kane]

Kane listened to the boy, understanding the young Jedi's pain. "Aah. That is unfortunate, I admit I am impressed, when I was young as you I would not have had such control over my emotions in your shoes." Kane knew loss, he felt for this boy and tried to think of any way he could help.

"Though many of the other Jedi would tell you to suppress your feelings, I have a different proposition for you. We spar, and while we spar you keep your emotions at bay. Use the fight to hone your focus rather than to burn off the anger. This is of course dangerous, you could be close to the dark side yourself if you slip, but it could be a very good learning experience for you. A Jedi in a real battle cannot let emotion cloud their focus."

Kane hoped this idea would help the young Jedi. He hadn't trained anyone in a lomg time and was by no means looking to become the boy's master -unless a teacher was what he was seeking- but Kane would do his best to at least impart this bit of wisdom.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

He raised from the wooden table. "I will try my best." He took his saber in his right hand and raised, walking a few steps into the room. "You are right, this should help me." He got into position, thinking about which style to use, of late he has really tried to improve his Form V Djem So style, but today he would make an exception. He decided to use his Makashi, which was by far more elegant and he had more experience with it. "Are you ready?" he would move into a Djem So sarting stance, an attempt to trick his opponent. He would hold back though, after all this was just practice.

 

[Kane]

Kane took up a defensive stance opposite the young jedi. Switching his saber to it's non-lethal setting before activating it he held it in a high guard. "I am. My name is Kane by the way." He had realized as he took his stance that they had not yet introduced themselves.

Kane noted the young Jedi's Djem So stance and was sure to be ready for the tricks of that form, he had been around long enough to have studied every form so he knew what to expect from each of them. He himself was a practitioner of Ataru, so he opened himself to the force and let it flow through his body, ready to use it to augment his movements if needed.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

He eyed his opponent closely. This stance is giving me no information, it could be everything! "My name is Sallar." No need for second names. What will he do? If he needed to guess he would pin him as a user of Niman or maybe Soresu. But that were just guesses, he would need to be ready for anything. Stick to Djem So first he thought to himself. He would take a step forward, watching the movements of the old man. This Jedi must have taught in the war, he would be much more experienced, but older... Will he charge? No, I should. He lashed forward, using some basic attacks, he only wanted to learn which style this man would use.

 

[Kane]

"Well met Sallar." Kane said warmly as the boy rushed in. Kane parried away the strikes as they came. Hmm, he's being smart about this. he thought to himself, impressed that the young jedi staryed with testing strikes to start the fight.

He could decieve the boy and stay on the defensive so as not to give away his tactics, but Kane was never one for deception and also wanted to just have a clean duel. Using the gathered Force energy in his body Kane leapt over Sallar -high enough that he should be out of the boy's reach- and landed behind him before swinging his saber at the backs of the young Jedi's legs.

Kane aimed to frustrate Sallar, he wanted to push the young man and test his restraint. Winning the duel was not Kane's long term goal, if Sallar won Kane would be pleased if not he would still be pleased. This exercise was entirely to help the young Jedi practice keeping his emotions from interfering with his fighting.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

The jump was unexpected. Wasn't this Kane the librarian? For his age he sure was in the best of health. He spinned around, jolting his saber down to somehow block the mans attack. Was this Ataru? it seemed so. After his frankly bulky parry he switched to his Makashi. He threw some elegantly executed attacks at the older Jedi, who should keep him at bay. Ataru was a quite aggressive form. If he did not allow his opponent to attack he would quite easily break through his defense, as the fourth form was lacking a defense good enough to withstand a wave of attacks for too long. Hereby his Makashi helped again. The seemingly flawlessly interwoven attacks and guard stance flew into a pattern that may seem random to an onlooker but where completely under his control. He enjoyed the completeness of his form. But he had to admit that the fierceness of his opponent surprised him, and the fact that until now he was locked in a tie was angering him a bit. "Aren't you a librarian Kane?" He asked under his attack streak, trying to stay calm.

 

[Kane]

Kane laughed heartily at Sallar's question as he too switched to Makashi. It had been some time since he last used that form and he was a little stiff in it's movements at first. Eventually exploiting an opening to swipe from left to right at the boys legs.

"A librarian now yes, but I was a Crusader on the front lines for many years." Kane was impressed with Sallar's control, the boy was remaining very calm.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

Alright, this was not your typical librarian, his Makashi was a bit stiff, but it did its Job. Most of all the element of surprise caught him completely of guard. He backed of a bit "If that's the case then you know betrayal well, tell me please: Are Exiles sometimes coming back? Or are they lost forever?" H had not completely abandoned hope, and the knowledge of this man, at least in his mind, could take away some pain.

 

[Kane]

Kane grinned at catching the boy off guard. It had been a long time since he'd actually fought, even in a sparring match, and though he was stiff he was pleased to see that he could still pull off some of his old moves. Sallar was doing very well at keeping himself calm, even managing to ask questions and keep up conversation. "Redemption is always possible, though it is a long and hard road to walk. Some believe that once one falls they can never be saved but I disagree. I feel that if enough people, or even just one person who is right, is there for a person they can be pulled back into the light."

His insight provided he decided it was time to step up the attacks. Flowing back into Ataru he felt the force rush thrpugh his arms and legs as he closed the distance. He would sweep his saber from left to right at the boy's legs, but before contacting either the leg or the saber he would reverse his momentum and bring the saber up towards the boys right side.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

Cant the man decide which style to use? He did his best to parry all the hits, but it was hard. Maybe he should study more Soresu? He bit his lip and tried to counter attack, but he was to deep in thought to really focus on the fight, even backing off a bit. "Id there a redeeme Jedi? Do you know one?"

 

[Kane]

Kane considered letting up to field Sallar's question, but the point of this exercise was to push the limits of the boy's control. He could tell that his constant shifts in style were getting to the young Jedi, which had been his intention. "No, I have never met one myself. But I have been close to the dark side myself. During the war we all did things we aren't proud of. It's part of why I fell back from the front lines and became a sentinel."

Now it was time to step things up. Kane began a one handed swing towards Sallar's left shoulder. Then stopped suddenly and reached out with the force in an attempt to pull the boys feet out from under him.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

He bit his lip, he would have preferred another answer. The parrying of his attacks had become annoying. He started to put his concentration back into his fight, but in the back of his head he was still somewhere else. The new wave of attacks was challenging, but he managed it and responded with a fast set of attacks aiming for the others... he never got to do it as his feet where junked away by the older mans force. He fell flat on the floor and rolled away a bit before rising again. The back of his head hurt, as well as his ankle, but he would be alright. He looked at the man with a bit of disgust. Such a move was a bit unorthodox for a training duel, but he would allow it. "No restrains than." he mumbled to himself before jumping forward and attacking the man, locking him in a fast duel. He would not stand this fight against someone who studied all forms, but it was a distraction. For the first moments the man would be startled, and that was all he needed. As the parts of the droid on the table cam flying towards them, aimed at the man. He definitely was a bit angry.

 

[Kane]

Kane grinned as the boy's frustration became evident. As Sallar rushed him he blocked the attacks as they came, surprisingly fast as they were. Until a chunk of droid hit him square in the back. Kane took yhe hit and dropped, rolling forward to avoid the rest of the parts. "I see I've made you angry. Now remember, the goal is to control it. Not use it." Sallar was a promising young Jedi indeed. Kane quickly hopped up and assumed a defensive stance, ready for whatever came next.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

Right, control it. Brace yourself. He started to circle around the man a bit, just to get the debris of droid into his view, so his own trick wouldn't be put on him and then stepped forward. He started with a stab to the other mans chest, which would surely be blocked. Once the sabers clashed he would shove it away and follow up with a kick, cause that will go off alright, right?

 

[Kane]

Kane opted not to block the strike, instead he deactivated his saber and stood straight backed, watching the tip of Sallar's blade head straight for his chest. This was the test, Kane wanted to see if Sallar would stop himself. He hadn't actually confirmed if the boy had set his saber to a non-lethal training mode. If Sallar did not stop Kane would jump back and avoid being run through of course, just in case the boy's saber was still lethal.

 

[Sallar Maraar]

The mans reaction was strange and strange. Sallar stopped in front of the mans chest. No reason to cause him the pain, he had deliberately not blocked it. "Is something not aright?" he deactivated his saber and took a step back. Was he quitting now? Have I hurt him with the debris? He immediately felt guilty for his action with the droid. It had not been fair, this was a training fight and his opponent was a grizzled war veteran. He was tough, no doubt, but old.