The Training of Cyrus Kael

[Jerek Odres]

It was only Jerek's second week as a Jedi Knight and he had already taken on two apprentices. This would be the last apprentice he would take on until one of his students' training was complete and then he would take on another. From what Jerek was told, his Padawan was to be a fellow human; refreshing from his last apprentice. His apprentice's name was Cyrus Kael, and he was only four years younger than Jerek himself. It was very interesting that Cyrus was eight inches shorter than Jerek's height. As well as being twenty-five pounds lighter. It felt more comfortable to the Jedi Knight on teaching his second apprentice as he was now familar with what it took to teach. The chance to fail his student, and have Cyrus fell to the darkside was lower than chance Jerek's first Padawan had; due to experience. The Jedi Knight himself would have to do his best to bring him back, or kill him, should the matter ever come to pass. However, this was not likely an outcome for this student.

As it was a beautiful day out unlike Jerek's last training day. It was a cloudless, and sunny-sky of a day outside. It was best that Jerek and his apprentice, Cyrus, were outside of the temple for the day. While it was quite forest-heavy and green, it held many training aspects that the young Jedi master had brought with him. All of which the Padawan was going to use in his training. Once the Jedi Knight started out into the garden-like area, he looked around at all of the beautiful things within it. This made him plan out his young Padawan's day before they even met. Depending on what would be more suitable, Jerek would teach the way of the lightsaber or Force powers first. While lightsaber combat would be dependent upon Cyrus' preferred style, Force training would not. It would go in the same order regardless; control, sense, and alter. The Jedi Knight sat in the middle on the grass and began to contemplate what his apprentice would look like while he did his floating meditation. He was told to think of a blond haired teen in traditional Jedi clothing; very expected.

 

[Tyendinaga]

It had only been the Padawans second or third week with the Jedi Order when he had unfortunately had to switch masters. Though when he would think about it maybe a change would have better because frankly, his old master didn't seem like the kind of person he would have got along well with anyway. As he walked his way up towards the Ossus Temple he wondered to himself just what his master would be like, he had been told who his master was and when he had asked also been given a basic description but beyond that he knew little about his new master.

Continuing about his way Cyrus made his way up and into the temple eventually making his way out and into and area that if anything appeared to be a garden, quickly taking note of a Jedi sitting in the middle who was meditating. He took a few steps closer. "Jerek Odres I presume?"

 

[Jerek Odres]

Jerek Odres' eyes snapped open to the apprentice. He stopped meditating immediately and stood up once he had dropped back down to the ground. What he saw when his young Padawan entered the room was a person almost completely matching the description of what he was given. Close to the flowers was a young man with blond hair and atypical Jedi clothing. His apprentice was a couple of inches shorter than he was and twenty-five pounds lighter. The person before him was slightly slimmer in appearance, and Jerek almost decided that Force training was the first training they were going to proceed with. The Jedi Knight assumed the Padawan was Cyrus Kael so Jerek walked over to the person. This gave him a better look at his learner and Jerek saw that Cyrus was quite a bit younger than he was. Perhaps Jerek would teach Cyrus the less aggressive form of Shii-Cho. Looking over the blond one for a moment, he looked down at the training lightsaber that Kael possessed; not unlike the one Jerek lugged around. It was time to administer the test that his master administered on him a second time.

There was little time to waste so Jerek firmly said, "Ah, yes, then you are Cyrus Kael? I have a few questions for you to give you a suggestion on how your training shall conspire. It will be your choice among the three different types, but it is recommended you take what I suggest to you after these questions."

Jerek paused for dramatic effect, "Question one: A woman and her small child are beset by a desperate-looking group of thugs. They are menacing her with weapons and she screams for you to help. Do you: Attack the thugs; help them flee; or stop the thugs and find out why they are attacking her?" Jerek completed his first question and left no time for his apprentice to respond, he would respond after all of the questions were asked.

"Question two: You are in combat with a Dark Jedi allied with the Bogan. There is a pause in combat. Do you: Attack him again; try to trick him; or Find out why he turned to the dark side and try to turn him?"

"Question three: There is a locked door and your goal lies on the other side. Do you: Smash the door down; try to pick the lock; or knock?"

"Question Four: You are the head of an Enclave on a contested world. The Dark Jedi infiltrated, and are causing unrest across the planet. Do you: Hunt them down; try to lure them out into a trap; or coordinate the planetary government to identify them. There are no wrong answers."

 

[Tyendinaga]

Cyrus had been slightly taken aback for a moment when his master had mentioned questions and what he had said about three types. His last master hadn't asked him any questions of told him about any three types though he assumed he was referring to Jedi roles such as Guardian or Consular. He cleared his mind of his previous thoughts and instead focused on what his master had told him, going over them in his mind and thinking about each action and how it would affect the outcome of the scenarios.

After a few moments of thinking he had made up his decisions. "Question one, I would help the Woman and Child escape from the thugs, their safety comes first and foremost. As for question two I would try to talk to him and find out why he turned to the dark side. The third I would try to pick the lock. For the fourth I would attempt to lure them into a trap " He paused for a moment, taking a breath. Those are my answers."

 

[Jerek Odres]

Eventually Jerek Odres finished his questions and got the answer to them came quickly and clearly. This was good that Jerek's apprentice, Cyrus, was punctual in his responses. It would be an invaluable trait to a Jedi's learning and subsequent quests. As all of the questions were answered, the Jedi Knight began to realize a pattern in all of his answers. The responses confirmed what Jerek had thought of Cyrus' best approach towards training. The white haired man announced to Padawan his results as he pulled down his own hood to reveal he had white hair and blue eyes which contradicted his tanned skin.

In a firm tone he spoke to his apprentice, "Kael, you are most suitable for the route of the Jedi Sentinel. A Jedi whose skills and talents lay in a balance between the force and combat. They concentrate on a passive means to fighting and rooting out evil. Sentinels engage in less combat training than Guardians, but more than Consulars. They also engage in more force training then Guardians, but less than Consulars. If this is not suiting to you, you may pick another training course. The other classes are the Consulars and the Guardians. They focus on the force and combat respectively."

It was very possible that Kael would choose another class other than what was suggested to him, but even Jerek could not foresee it. They boy seemed more passive, but the Jedi Knight sensed that spark within him. It was truly a dilemma to pick out what could possibly change your future. So Jerek was patient in waiting for his apprentice's response.

 

[Tyendinaga]

A slight smile formed on Cyrus' face as he listened to his masters description of a Jedi Sentinel, not a devious but rather one of happiness. the fact that it was balanced between lightsaber combat and force use appealed to him, more so the thoughts that he would have a diverse combat style and have, or so he would think, infinite possibilities.

After Jerek had finished explaining what a sentinel did he spoke up."Well, if that is what I am most suitable to be then I'll go with that." He took a slight breath in. "So where shall we begin?"

 

[Jerek Odres]

To take the role of a Jedi Sentinel would be difficult for Cyrus, but this was the same with all of the other classes. There would be more advanced classes, but Jerek would teach that to him later. The first order of business would be a lightsaber form. Obviously it would be very difficult to teach his young Padawan a form that he didn't know, but Jerek knew the basics of each so it wouldn't be too hard. Jerek took out his purple Soresu lightsaber to show it to Cyrus to extenuate that this was going to be about lightsaber combat, "Now I shall explain to you the lightsaber forms as this is an integral part of being a Jedi. I shall teach you any form up to six. Allow me to explain."

Jerek put his lightsaber back onto his belt, "Form one is the art of Shii-Cho; also known as 'The Way of the Sarlacc'. This form will teach you to make use of the advantages offered by lightsabers and compensate for their weaknesses when needed. This is more suited to multiple person fighting as a single person will be able to see the mistakes or opening easier."

"Form two is the art of Makashi; also known as 'The Way of the Ysalamiri'. This form will teach you to utilize precision and balance against your opponent. It is mostly for lightsaber dueling and you may find trouble facing blaster wielding opponents. This is more suited to single person combat as it is rather susceptible to being overwhelmed by more than one."

"Form three is the art of Soresu; also known as 'The Way of the Mynock'. I utilize this form as my primary lightsaber style. This form will teach you to perfectly defend yourself, and counter your opponent's openings. However you will not be the most offensive person. This is suited to all both multiple and single person combat as it is the most defensive form out of the seven."

"Form four is the art of Ataru; also known as 'The Way of the Hawk-Bat'. This form is a more open and kinetic then all of the other forms. It will require you to master Alter Force powers and Control Force powers as many of the moves require it for the advanced agility. This is more suitable to single combat, preferably lightsaber dueling as this form as difficulty with blaster deflection, but the agility will more than make up for it."

"Form five is the art of Shien and Djem So; also known as 'The Way of the Krayt Dragon'. These are two versions of the form that work with blaster deflection and balanced offense and defense during dueling respectively. This style is more suited to multiple person combat as it was designed to go with a better defense against blaster fire and rapid attack during one's own offense."

"Form six is the art of Niman; also known as 'The Way of the Rancor'. This form is a form meant for balancing forms one, three, four, and five. While it allows you to utilize all of those forms, you will be a master of none, but proficient in all. It is suited to both single and multiple person combat due to its versatility. It will also allow you to utilize Jar'kai or two lightsabers. I shall not be teaching you this today, for this requires study in the forms mentioned, and we will only be focusing on one. If you wish to learn, be patient as it will come in time."

"The most appropriate for one following the route of Jedi Sentinel is forms one, five, or six. Seeing as we are going to be focusing on one form today, it is suggested to pick one or five if you want any of the three." Jerek was quite curious to see what choice his apprentice would make in lightsaber combat. Hopefully Var Jein wouldn't know of form seven as Jerek was not going to teach that form to him.

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Form 1: Variety; Multiple Opponents
Form 2: Precision; Single Opponents
Form 3: Defense; Both
Form 4: Agility; Single Opponents
Form 5: Strength; Multiple Opponents
Form 6: Balance; Both
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[Tyendinaga]

Cyrus gave a slight nod to his master as he began his explanations over the six forms he could learn. His eyes wandered slightly as he listened, occasionally darting off over to the odd thing that had caught his eye for a few moments before promptly returning to Jerek's face in a fashion befitting a bored child in a classroom.

"So, those are my choices." He mumbled mainly to himself after Jerek had finished speaking. He cupped his chin and looked down to the ground near his masters feet as he thought to himself. In the long run he wanted to learn Niman but that wasn't an option today, so he would start with the next best thing.

"All right, I've made my Decision. I'll start with form five like you suggested but I would like to learn Niman. He waited for his masters response, a slight feeling of anxiety building up as he was a bit eager to fight, maybe a bit too much for his own good.

 

[Jerek Odres]

Cyrus had slightly nodded off at some points that Jerek was saying, and it showed to Jerek that Cyrus was easily distracted at times. This would take some time to coax out of him. With the patients of a saint, he waited on his young student's reply. It was an expected choice for the form five. Jerek Odres smiled as he new his student would most likely enjoy the training of this lightsaber form. The wise Jedi then drew his lightsaber and ignited the purple blade to further expound upon the dual form. He wanted to show the common opening stance of the style. Jerek stood with a high guard position, with the hilt held in a two-handed grip above the his head, and the blade angled upwards and behind him. The knight's dominant right leg was back, enabling powerful step-through strikes to be utilized.

Jerek began to explain the opening stance of the form, "Okay, this is the opening stance of Shien. Djem So's is slightly different than this so I will show you that next," opened the Jedi Knight to his apprentice, "Allow me to explain a little more on the stance so that you can understand a bit deeper." Jerek than got out of the stance for a second, "This form is called 'The Perseverance Form'. You must be strong and ready to defend against blaster fire with Shien, and lightsaber attacks with Djem So. Djem So was created by Soresu uses who wanted to be more actively attacking. Both forms are always a two handed, high guard as well. Shien's opening stance is a high guard position, with the hilt held in a two-handed grip above the user's head, and the blade angled upwards and behind the user. The dominant leg would be back, enabling powerful step-through strikes to be utilized. Do not slouch, stand up straight. I want you to try it now; go on." Jerek then waited for his apprentice to get into the position to correct any flaws, and then they would move on when this was done.

 

[Tyendinaga]

Quietly Cyrus watched as his master explained the nature of the form to him. Evidently he was paying much more attention and seemed to understand, though he was kind of curious about the practicality of holding a sword above your head, it wasn't something that seemed like a good idea in his mind.

"All right, how is this?" He asked as he Reached to his waist he pulled his saber from his belt and started getting into stance. He raised his arms slightly above his head at a slight angle before spacing his feet out a bit with his left leg taking the back position and finally igniting his saber. Once the whole motion was done he relaxed slightly and looked to Jerek, curious to see what he would say.

 

[Jerek Odres]

Jerek watched as his apprentice pulled out his saber and got into the opening stance of Shien. As the Jedi Knight watched Var use the stance, Jerek noticed several key mistakes in his form. Jerek quickly walked over to Var to correct the mistakes. Jerek lifted up Cyrus' arms so that they were higher in the air; This was to make attacks a lot more bold and forward. Then he moved the hands of his apprentice to point the blade outwards more so that it was pointing less at the sky. This was for increased range and easier horizontal movement. Then the Knight calmly moved Var's shoulders back some and began upon what he was going to say.

In a firm voice, Jerek stated to his Padawan, "This is the way to use this stance perfectly," stated Jerek Odres, "See how the blade is slightly out more? Think of it as an extension of your arms, and your strength. Now your shoulders are back a bit more to promote stronger vertical slices against your enemy. Also I don't want your arms resting in a bent position either." Jerek then paused to take out his lightsaber, "Allow me to demonstrate the Djem So stance," stated Jerek Odres, "The Djem So attack stance consists of holding the lightsaber above the head, angled back and down at an approximately forty-five degree angle. The feet are also the same as the Shien style." Jerek continued on with the six points of contact, "Now follow me to these training dummies over here. Your saber won't be sufficient enough to cut them." Jerek began over to the metal dummies and motioned for Var to follow.

 

[Tyendinaga]

Cyrus gave a slight nod before dropping out of the stance, turning off his lightsaber, and following Jerek towards where the training dummies were. He honestly would have preferred another method aside from a dummy but he was curious about what exactly they would be doing with them. Another thought also crossed his mind, he didn't really know this guy all too well.

"Hey, Jerek, I was wondering about something." he briefly glancing to his master as he walked beside him. "When did you join the Jedi Order?" He asked curiously, attempting to start some sort of conversation.

 

[Jerek Odres]

As they walked, Jerek Odres turned off his lightsaber and clipped it onto his belt. He was steadfast in getting to the dummies, so it caught him off guard when he was asked about when he himself had joined the order; compliments of Cryus. Jerek turned his blue eyes to him and began to explain to him the story of how he was brought to the Order. He did slightly shorten it however so that he could keep it brief.

"Well it was back long before I could remember," stated the Jedi Knight, "I wasn't in a first person view, for I was still an infant, but the man that brought me here relayed it to me." Jerek paused for a second to try and remember what was told to him, "My mother was a Korun, and my father was mostly Kiffar with some Ropagu. It was odd, yes, but he told me that my parents requested I at least know my heritage. On Coruscant where I was born, my silver hair, and blue eyes were oddities in combination with my tan skin tone. They found me to be Force Sensitive and took me as a baby; simply as that. My parents had little say in the matter."

 

[Tyendinaga]

Cyrus had listened attentively to his master's short but otherwise concise little story. Though it wasn't exactly what he was expecting or hoping to hear it didn't really matter, hearing peoples stories was always something he enjoyed anyway.

"That must have really sucked, not knowing your parents and all." He said, briefly glancing over to Jerek as they walked. The thought sparked a few more in his head, in reality he wasn't actually too sure if that would have been too bad, growing up without parents meant you wouldn't really be attached to them.

He gave his head a slight shake, redirecting his thoughts to the task at hand. "Any way, what are we going to do now?" He asked quizzically, completely clueless of what exactly they would be practising since they were apparently using dummies.

 

[Jerek Odres]

Jerek Odres turned to his student when they finished walking over to the dummies and began to explain to Cyrus what they would be doing next. It was a simpler procedure that he had ran with his last few Padawans to teach them the basics of lightsaber combat.

Jerek decided to instill some teaching into Cyrus, "A maneuver called 'Sun Djem' was developed for disarming an opponent without harming them, " Jerek opened with this before continuing, "The creation of Makashi however made it so that users of form two where not susceptible to this technique anymore. However when blasters became more popular, Makashi fell during the time in which people needed to be able to deflect easier. I have told you all of this so that you can understand why it is necessary for a Jedi to be able to take his opponent peacefully and disarm him. I shall now show you a basic Sun Djem."

With that, Jerek took out his own blue training lightsaber and adjusted the containment field back to non-lethal. Then he grabbed a second training dummy with a weapon arm and set it up. This was so that Cryrus could see the practical applications of Sun Djem. Jerek ignited the blue training saber and sliced at the top of the weapon to show a basic Sun Djem.

Jerek then turned the training blade off before continuing, "That is the most basic Sun Djem that was originally developed for disabling a blaster," stated the Knight, "There is more than one way to do a Sun Djem. It is basically any way to disarm your opponent. It is really what you should try to focus on if you are facing opponents; unless Makashi is what they are using. The way of the Jedi is not to kill without another option, my apprentice."