Lightning Become my Blade... (Training Thread)

[Takeshi]

Alma walked over to the rack, her troubles in the night shoved to the recesses of her mind; still thought of, but not a priority. This was something she knew she needed help with; she had no experience with swordplay. She did however figure that she should pick the one that felt right in her grip. Meticulously she felt the grip of each blade. It took her a little while, but eventually she found one that would suit her. She thumbed the ignition and found it give forth a blue blade.

 

[Malon]

Siri said nothing as she reached down and unclipped her unusually long lightsaber hilt from her utility belt. She adjusted a few switches on it and flipped the ignition button, igniting a blue blade of her own.

"Do not be alarmed. My lightsaber has a function that allows me to change the power settings on it. I've lowered it to that of a training lightsaber, so if you are hit you will only receive a whelp or bruise."

"Now then, come at me and attack. I know you have not received instruction in this yet, but you will only learn by doing, not sitting here listening to me give a lecture."

Siri then took a defensive pose and awaited her apprentice's attack.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma considered her options. She would probably need both hands to get enough power into her attacks, she was certain of that. However, she then remembered something an old friend had once told her though, Trickery can help you gain the advantage. She made movement as if to come in with a downward slash, but near the end she quickly drew back and went in for a stab.

 

[Malon]

The moment Siri saw her Padawan spring into action, she opened herself to the Force. Her movements were fluid and not in the least bit wasted. Thanks to the advanced warning from the Force, Siri saw through Alma's deception and didn't waste time trying to counter the downward strike, instead parrying the jab at her chest.

With one shove, she pushed Alma's lightsaber off of her own and took advantage of the long hilt she held, swinging it in a sweeping motion at the Padawan's feet in an attempt to set her off balance.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma felt a familiar trickle of adrenaline flood her system, and she nimbly hooped over the slash. She remembered her old hobby, and quickly landed and rolled around Siri's feet before popping up and slicing at her Master horizontally at the back. Her moves weren't in the least bit polished; she was merely trying to force Siri into opening up.

 

[Malon]

The Force once again warned Siri of the threat, and she wheeled around to parry the blow, seemingly without effort. The differences between the two fighters was clear. Siri was using the Force as her ally, while Alma was trying to rely too much on her own quick wit. Siri decided that this was because of Alma's upbringing outside the Jedi; having not been taught to rely on the Force in times of need. Siri was hoping that Alma would discover soon, or she would suffer some damage.

Siri let the Force guide her next strike as he she aimed a sweeping slash at Alma's right shoulder.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma felt the Force within the next attack from Siri, and Alma realized what was going on. Quietly, she started humming as the attack came, and the Force came to her aid as her focus grew. She allowed the Force to help guide her, and she quickly entered her no-thought reflex mode she had learned from many years of a hobby her parents would have found horrifying as well. It wasn't nececssarily not thinking; on the contrary she was constantly doing so, but her reaction time was increasing greatly. She slammed Siri's strike away with a force push; also possibly allowing herself the oppurtunity to knock her opponent off balance. She stabbed at her foe's stomach as fast as she could while her foe's blade was diverted away from her center of mass.

 

[Malon]

That was more like it! Siri felt the Force began to grow around Alma and then surge into the Force push that would have knocked her blade away, however, Siri was prepared. Using the Force combined with her signature lightsaber style, Soresu, Siri redirected the momentum from Alma's attack into an increasingly powerful deflective strike, aimed at her Padawan's chest.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma backstepped incredibly quickly; her state of mind allowing her to literally ignore any unconscious limits on her ability to move. She then remembered her small studying of the 7 forms of Lightsaber combat. Each of them sounded interesting, but the one that had intrigued her the most was the seventh... the Ferocity Form. It required focus, something she knew she had... so she might as well try the basics. It involved pure and utter focus and, well, ferocity. Instantly she was on the attack, striking left and right and putting all of her will into her strikes; urging herself on and being helped by the Force. Her technique was off, but she still managed to loose attack after attack, hoping to overwhelm her foe quickly... because she doubted she would be able to keep it up for long. But the feeling of letting herself fall into the intensity came naturally to her, and she kept going. Randomly throwing in Force Pushes from her blade to help aid her as she continued the onslaught.

 

[Malon]

The attempt was sloppy to say the least. Siri again felt the disturbance in the Force as she parried blow after aggressive blow slam into her lightsaber. That's when Alma started using the Force too. Now that disturbance was starting to feel cold, exactly like the starts of the dark side. Siri immediately halted the lesson.

"That is enough, Alma. I applaud you for using your studies to aid you in battle, but that form is most certainly not suited for you. Only Jedi who can control their emotions can use Juyo because it requires aggressiveness and ferocity."

She paused.

"I sense great uncertainty in you. I felt it when you entered the room today, and again just now. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

 

[Takeshi]

Alma looked at her feet. She knew her emotions were jumbled today unlike normal, but then, that was her own fault wasn't it? She recalled only a week earlier, when she had been able to control her emotions quite readily. She sighed and looked around the training area. "...did they tell you why they accepted me into the order?" she asked.

 

[Malon]

"They told me that your Force potential was unusually high for one your age, but that's all. Why? What is it that's bothering you, young one?"

Siri saw the determination leave Alma's eyes, and it made her suspicious. Had the Council not informed her of something regarding her new apprentice? Surely they would not let such important information just slip by them. Siri cleared her mind and again let the Force's peaceful energy reign in. The disturbance in the Force was still there, though it was weakening once more, and the dark side had vanished from it. At least that was one crisis avoided.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma looked at Siri at last and continued, "Potential is one way to put it I suppose... I lost control and that's what got them to notice me."

 

[Malon]

"Lost control of what, exactly?" Siri asked, hoping to get a more detailed description of what her student was facing.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma's face was starting to reveal how tired she was from last night, "...would it be ok if I just showed you?"

 

[Malon]

Now the Jedi Knight was becoming seriously worried. What could possibly have caused the Council to take such a notice of a child, put them into Jedi training even after they were far too old to learn much, and on top of all that, hide all of this from her, the girl's master? Perhaps it was that the Council didn't fully know themselves or perhaps she was working herself up to much. Siri nodded at her Padawan's request and prepared herself for what was to come.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma's determination came back for a moment; daring herself to at least try and manage what she couldn't before. She gestured at Siri to be ready just in case, and then brought her arms up, point straight at a wall. She closed her eyes and hummed a soft song...

Moments later, Force Lightning shot out of her arms, directly at her target. It was controlled for a moment, but then Alma lost it and was blasted back, her hands smoking. She cried out as she had been unable to last night. The lightning struck the wall and damaged it as well. But more importantly, it has started to rapidly discharge in all directions, including Siri's.

 

[Malon]

Siri caught the lightning in her palm using the Force to absorb the energy and dissipate it safely. Sure enough, the coldness of the dark side crept back into Siri's senses. This was the disturbance she had felt the night before in her meditations. Siri caught her wounded Padawan as the latter fell and began applying Force healing techniques to the burns.

"I'm not going to lie to you." she finally said. "The dark side is with that attack. It is mainly used in moments of intense emotions by Dark Jedi. Why this power is manifesting within you, I do not know, but I suspect that in order to find out, you must face the darkness within yourself."

"Your lessons for today are done. Go back to your room and sleep. Try to avoid meditation for the night. In the morning, I will have devised a plan to help you control these outbursts, but that's going to require you to be fully rested. Understand?"

 

[Takeshi]

Alma was silent, her confidence shattered. But her composure held, as it always did when she asked of it, until her confidence reformed by Siri's demeaner. As her master finished her healing, Alma rose and bowed, with full respect in it.

It wasn't that she was disrespectful previously, but for Alma, true respect was earned, and Siri has obtained it by wisdom and compassion. Her faith in her master had grown, and quietly she walked out of the training area, tired but determined.

But she still decided to disobey her master, to an extent anyways. Alma wasn't one to take naps in the middle of the day; there was no possible way she would manage to sleep through the night in that case. Just clearing her mind entirely in the middle of the day was a challenge, because she was constantly thinking. That was the purpose of a song's tune to focus her mind.

She entered her room and changed into fatigues very similar to what she had worn to bed the night before she had met her master. She pulled on a baggy jacket for comfort as well.

Alma needed to study; she knew she lacked the knowledge her master needed from her, and that wasn't her fault. But that didn't mean she had to take that fact lying down.

It was time for reading, and she had hours until she decided would be the time to sleep; it was only the middle of the day. She had linked the Jedi Temple Archives to her datapad days earlier, and now was the time to look more deeply into it all.

But first things first, she reminded herself. She placed her datapad on her bed where she sat, and found her bag. Withdrawing her hands, she brought ought a set of head phones which fit snuggly over her ears. She plugged them into her datapad and turned on some upbeat, yet peaceful music to help her read as fast as she could.

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And fast she was; by bedtime, she had burned through a large amount of theory. She smiled, her recall was as excellent as ever. She had a ways to go; the Archives were vast indeed, but she figured with her better ability to read, understand, and absorb than younglings, she'd be able to cover all the basics that they recieved within at most a week if she devoted herself to it.

Alma smiled; powering down her datapad only after the song she was now listening to ended. She devested of her jacket and slipped into the covers of her bed. Curling into something of a ball on her side like aways, she closed her eyes and had no trouble falling asleep...

------------

Morning came, and Alma felt more refreshed than she had felt in a while. She went through her usual routine, this time even enjoying a little small talk with others over breakfast; a testament to her good mood. She then made her way to the training center, before realizing that Siri had not specified where they would meet. She looked around the empty center, before shrugging and moving to sit against a wall; deciding Siri would check here. She pulled out her datapad that she had decdied to bring with her and began reading again; allowing the silence to be her focus.

 

[Malon]

Siri had taken more time than usual to get to their normal training location. She had spent the morning in meditation, as usual, but had broken from it early to seek the wisdom of some of the masters at the Temple on her student's predicament. As usual, they were kind and lacked any judgmental behavior despite the fact that Alma had accidentally used Force lightning. When the door to the training room swooshed open, and Siri saw Alma waiting for her, Siri had already developed a plan to help Alma.

While it was true, Force lightning was rare among the Jedi, a few ancient Jedi Masters had used it for the light side. Siri had decided that the Force must have chosen Alma to be the next one for this role. At first, Siri studied her apprentice without speaking; trying to make sure Alma looked rested. She did. In fact, she looked more rested than she had in any of the previous sessions. After a few more moments of silence, Siri began to speak.

"You look rested. That's very good. How do you feel today, Alma?"

A slight hint of worry was still present in her voice. For a Jedi who has an apprentice, the mentor-student bond is strong. Siri wondered if Haar had ever felt this way with her, but quickly shrugged it off as she awaited Alma's response.