Snowflakes

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn expressed his feelings with a heartfelt "Bah" and threw himself forward, using the momentum to launch himself into a spin to try and get a second shot at Matsu with his saber; however, she was already long gone, and he hit the ground hard, bending his knees to absorb the shock. He narrowed his eyes. Clearly, that wasn't an augmented Force Jump; it was more like flying. Sorn hadn't even known that the Jedi could do such things, but then, he did not know that they could suddenly assail people with waves of nausea, either, until it was done directly to him. It seemed for all his practical experience, he still had a lot to learn.

If she could fly, they were never going to hit her. Sorn was quite good at analyzing an opponent's movements and discerning weaknesses or copying styles from them, but he couldn't "see" what she was doing with the Force. It just wasn't possible. Perhaps if he copied and used some of the basic moves from Ataru that he had observed and picked up on her using, he could surprise her enough to gain an opening? It was worth a shot.

Sorn looked over at Gin Lur, who seemed to be thinking. He didn't know what was going on in the alien's head, but of they were going to win, they would have to work together. He focused for a moment and sent a telepathic message to him; it was convenient that telepathic communications could only be received by the intended target, regardless of how skilled the would-be interceptor was.

"Gin Lur! If you respond specifically to me, Matsu won't be able to hear. We need a plan, and we need a plan fast, or we're never going to get anywhere. Any ideas?"

 

[Syn]

Matsu looked at the two as she stood on the ground and grinned. James still hadn't budged and Matsu held her saber out before she crouched low and spun kicking up a small wall of snow pushing it at them then flying to the side and pinballing between tree's until her speed was a blur. Matsu quickly dashed at them bringing her saber into a slash and twisting the blade to a reverse grip then stabbed it into the ground to stop her momentum and spin her around in a spinning kick at Gin.

 

[mrmrlol]

Matsu was flying at him. Gin went with his first reflex. He put all his energy into his legs. He jumped as high as he could. 10 feet in the air. Gin was utterly shocked. How did he do that? The Force was the only explanation.

Now high in the air as his master passed under him, towards the tree several feet behind him, he heard Sorn. He wasn't talking, but rather telepathically messaging him. Well, if he just jumped 10 feet high, why couldn't he message Sorn back. He thought as hard as he can:

Sorn, were not gonna beat her like this. But what if we could slow her down? Master Matsu is strong. Lets say she sliced her sword at one of us and we moved and it hit a tree. It'd go at least halfway in. Removing it takes time, not very long, but maybe long enough to get a strike in. And if it goes deep enough in she can't remove it without the tree falling, endangering us and some animals. She'd probably be wise enough to know if removing it wasn't safe. She'd have to leave it there. Then she'd have one saber. Now if we both attacked her at once when she has a single saber then she'd only be able to block one. Lets hope this works.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn cracked his knuckled and rolled his neck.

"Worth a shot," he transmitted telepathically. He decided that he should probably be the one to keep and hold Matsu's attention, because he had more experience with a lightsaber and more experience fighting Jedi. Plus, he wanted to try and see some more moves so that he could copy them.

He ran straight for Matsu, leaping into the air to gain power behind his blow, but he assumed she would avoid it. It would be stupid to take it, and she was certainly capable of dodging. Therefore, when he hit the ground (hard enough to make a crater) he would suddenly switch to faster, more acrobatic movements characteristic of Matsu's own Form IV, Ataru, and leap toward wherever she dodged to, revolving in midair to build striking power, not through the pure physical strength of Form V, but with momentum and inertia in the manner of Form IV.

 

[parco21]

He just stared, Partially in awe, partially in fear, fighting their master? Oh well... if its that simple... he knew he would regret it... he charged at her, going for the legs, but preparing in case she chose to hit him hard.

 

[Syn]

Matsu came out of the spin kick as she looked at Gin in the air and James and Sorn coming at her. Matsu looked at Sorn and winked as she gave a small pulse and phased into the ground and propelled herself as she felt the ground like a solid mass in her chest. Quickly Matsu came out of the ground behind a tree and grinned jumping up to a branch and she watched before speaking. That James had taken so long to participate was a little grating but she sat there and reached out bringing the tree limbs closer to her with the force while she raised here eyebrows and made it hard to find her in the force and by sight.

 

[mrmrlol]

Gin landed. Hard. He wasn't used to falling from so high. Gin looked around. His master was gone. He hadn't seen her since she jumped. And she didn't have time to hide very well. Did she teleport? Did she run up a tree? Gin Came back to reality as Sorn ran by him. "Did she just teleport?" He telepathically messaged James and Sorn.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn rose, slowly due to the moderate amount of pain he was in from landing, hard, on a target that suddenly wasn't there. "No, Gin, it looked more like she sank into the ground. This is getting a tad ridiculous. I can't even fight Force powers effectively, because I've devoted myself to learning the blade. If she would just fight blade to blade, I might be able to wear her down and beat her, but if she can phase, then I have no idea. My powers basically extend to telekinesis and a very limited Force Heal. You wouldn't happen to have any useful abilities, would you?" Sorn held his lightsaber in a casual grip, hanging by his side, as he sought out his Master. Not seeing her, Sorn closed his eyes and reached out in the Force. At first glance, nothing. But then, looking more closely, he saw an odd bulge of Force energy behind a tree, tuned almost to the level of the tree itself. If it hadn't been for the odd shape, Sorn wouldn't have noticed it. But it was probably Matsu, hiding. To maintain the element of surprise, he decided to coordinate a little battle strategy.

"Gin," he transmitted telepathically, "start making big waves with the Force. Doesn't matter what you do, just Force Push really hard if you have to, but release enough energy to cover me. I'm going to draw Matsu out."

With that, he suppressed his own Force presence, trusting in his fellow Padawan to make enough of a distracting influence that he would be able to go unnoticed. With that, he ran directly for Matsu's tree, being careful to stay in a position that she could not see him, and when he got close enough, he gave a long, shallow leap and swung his blade in two-handed power blow (not using the Force to avoid drawing attention) that would slice through the tree and emerge at Matsu's chest level in a cut she simply could not see coming, and if she was facing with her back to the tree (the logical way to hide), then she would be even more helpless, as Sorn's attack would be aimed for her back, where she could not easily react to it even if by some chance she became aware of it.

 

[Syn]

ground behind a tree and grinned jumping up to a branch

Matsu watched Sorn coming at her from the branch and when he sliced the tree she raised an eyebrow and jumped to another tree with a laugh. "Padawan Sorn be careful frustrated is not what you should be getting." Slowly Matsu looked down at the three and cocked her hip to the side. Slowly Matsu held out her hand and brought her sword back to herself from the ground. She looked at Gin and Sorn and James and gave a small clap. "You did well padawans, better then I would have expected. Now gather round the circles." Matsu threw the sword back into the ground and she jumped on it's hilt and floated while motioning the three forward. "Now what can each of you tell me about that duel? What were your feelings? And what did you do you hadn't thought possible?" The last was mainly aimed towards Gin who was the newest to the order and hadn't been doing this type of actions before.

 

[mrmrlol]

Gin tried(and failed) using a Force push as Matsu hopped down. He glanced at James, who didn't really do much. Gin walked towards his master while saying "The duel was amazing, master. I've never see anyone do that before. And I still can't believe I jumped that high. I want to be a Jedi more than ever. I want to learn more of that." Gin gave his Master the lightsaber back and held out Sorn's towards him.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn was cross. Fighting like that just wasn't fair. And now he was in imminent danger of being crushed by the tree he had cut down. Who knew that oversize plants fell so quickly? Maybe Tython's gravity was stronger, or something.

Sorn moved to jump out of the way but tripped over his own (rather long) robes. Realizing that this may not end well, Sorn raised both arms and, concentrating, used telekinesis to halt the tree's fall, then, with a mighty heave, made it start falling in the other direction. Sorn rose and dusted himself off, accepting his saber back from Gin, storing it in his robes, then deactivating his other saber and clipping it to his belt.

"That just wasn't fair," he complained in response to Matsu's question. "How were we supposed to fight that?" Sobering up, he added, "You have to teach me a way to resist enemy Force powers, and to deal with ones that don't directly affect me, like flying and phasing. If I'm going to be able to protect people with basically my blade alone, I need to have a counter to any situation that would make my blade-skill useless."

 

[Syn]

Matsu looked at Sorn and Gin as she got her saber and grinned. Sorn was upset, he hadn't expected powers to be involved. "Sorn when you are fighting your opponents will use everything they can to their advantage. You must be prepared to fight with both the force and with your blade." Matsu continued to look at them as she gathered her things and slid the sword into its sheath. "Now padawans who here can tell me the rules of engagement?"

 

[mrmrlol]

"There really weren't any, Master. Really only to win" Replied Gin. He didn't find anything unfair. She used everything she could. They used everything they could. Its not like a Sith would only use some of his power.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

"Do you mean the rules of engagement for this battle, or in general? Or for Jedi?" Sorn waved a hand. "This battle was - theoretically - to test our basic skills with a blade. Rules of engagement on a larger scale are more difficult, because everyone typically follows their own. The Jedi attempt to resolve conflict without violence wherever possible, but I have to say that it is most tempting to crack a few skulls after listening to ambassadors blathering all day. My own rules are simple. Win. Kill if your life is threatened, disable and capture otherwise. No other rules are necessary."

 

[Syn]

Matsu looked at Sorn and kept her face blank as she spoke locking her eyes on him. "Then you have already failed, the jedi have six rules of engagement. All initiates learn them if they want to succeed to be a padawan. They are... A Jedi uses the Force and the lightsaber only for defense, never for Attack. Understand the dark and light in all things. Learn to see accurately. Open your eyes to what is not evident. Exercise caution, even in trivial manners. Allow others to draw on you." Matsu continued to keep her eyes on both Gin and Sorn as she remained still. That Gin didn't know she could forgive he had only recently joined. probably didn't know the jedi code by heart either but Sorn should have known better even if he chose to follow his own."

 

[mrmrlol]

Gin nodded. He wasn't familiar with the code, but he had heard it before, it was all over the temple. He was a padawan now. He had to follow it. It seemed logical, though. It was essentially about defending yourself, finding your enemies, and helping your allies. Exactly what the jedi did.

 

[parco21]

He quickly nodded, a bit embarrassed about not doing much, "I believe that we should go on a mission, I want to help the world..." he turned off his lightsaber, tossed it in the air, and for 10 whole seconds held it in the air... "That's gotta be useful..." he concentrated and tossed it, making sure it would turn, then made it spin back, if it had been on his heart would have been stabbed...

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

"You forget one critical fact, Master Matsu. I joined the Order but a year ago, at a very late age. My training was streamlined to get me active as soon as possible, and so much of the philosophy that younglings are taught over the course of years was skipped entirely in my case, favoring the more practical lessons like developing my connection to the Force and using a lightsaber in such a way that it wasn't random flailing. Therefore, I had no idea that the Jedi even had rules of engagement until just now."

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts and musing shortly before continuing. "The first rule is total crap. Sometimes a timely attack is the only defense you have available. Now, if they had said never for "Aggression," that would have been something else entirely. But attack is often necessary to facilitate survival. Rules two through six are fine. But I still take issue with the first rule. My priorities are to help others by any means necessary, and sometimes that means I have to get my hands dirty. I avoid it, but I don't shrink away if I have to."

 

[Syn]

Matsu looked at Sorn and moved as she kept her face blank and spoke without humor. If he wanted to argue the rules then he should go to the council. "These rules have been around longer then any of us, they are tenets of our order. If your teacher before me fast tracked you through your initiate training then they will be reported. We are peacekeepers first and it is doctrine to find a peaceful solution before we draw our sabers. Now all three of you line up and prepare. We are going to run drills on telekinesis."

 

[mrmrlol]

Gin walked into line. He glanced over at his swords. They were fine, of course, but he was still worried about them. They were his only weapons he didn't want them to be damaged.