Val's Advanced Training

[Sreeya]

OoC: Takes place months before Falling From Grace

Ossus. Why Ossus? Why the hell Ossus, every god damn time? Val had grown to hate this place. She had been on this planet for as long as she could remember. She had made friends on this planet, trained padawans and had thought she had everything figured out. Now she loathed it. Val hated looking at the temple and at the Padawans that trained there, completely oblivious to the vast amount of negativity that awaited them in the galaxy.

She walked into the temple, not returning any greetings others cast her way. There had been whispers of her darker nature resurfacing lately, but no one dared to say anything to her directly. Val could care less. She knew she was spiraling down, the thoughts of Caed and feeling abandoned constantly haunting her. Val knew she had to find an outlet. It was only recently that she had realized that one of the council members was offering advanced teachings in lightsaber forms. To take her mind off her damaging thoughts, she decided to explore this opportunity.

Val entered a training room, silently waiting for her master. Her hair was in disarray and she had clear bags under her eyes, suggesting that she hadn't slept for days. It looked as if she hadn't smiled in weeks, any trace of happiness completely sucked out of her. She only hoped that participating in rigorous combat training would put her back in her element and temporarily pull her out of her thoughts.

 

[Will]

The Jedi Sword master stepped through to doors into the training arena. As soon as he stepped in, darkness clamped around his senses, like a stench. He saw his latest in the long line of students.

Knight Cross. He had worked with her before, on a mission into Hutt space to find information on the Taung. They had managed to take a Dead Taung back to the temple, and a few bits of cultural data, but not much else.

But his mind snapped back to this darkness. ''Knight Cross. You are here to train in sabre arts? Have you studied the archives to find a philosophy that resonates with your style?''

Huang stopped by the door, removing his black robe, revealing his vest and baggy grey trousers beneath, tucked into the cavalry boots, which he had not changed while practising some mounted sabre practice with another of his students. His pale skin almost glowed in the half-light, standing out starkly against the dark tattoos and the black metal of his copious piercings. He fixed his yellow eyes on her, examining her posture and body language closely.

Not good.

 

[Sreeya]

Of course it had to be Huang Karasu, the last person she wanted to see at the moment. Val avoided looking at his yellow eyes, the ones that reminded her so strongly of him. She knew if she looked, the urge to attack him would overwhelm her. Val nonchalantly looked at the markings on the wall, evidence of past training sessions. Her fingers languidly traced over the grooves on the wall. When he spoke, a moment of silence hung in the room.

"No."

Val hadn't done any sort of preparation for this. She had both her sabers on her hips, but had little idea how she would be applying them. The Jedi finally turned to face Huang, still avoiding his eyes.

"I know Ataru. I understand you have invented a new, curious type of lightsaber combat. I would like to learn that, along with a new saber form. Whatever you deem fit."

 

[Will]

Not good at all.

Huang knew her current style, Ataru, matched strongly with Juyo, as they complimented each other. Juyo was a very aggressive form, on the other hand, and could break this fragile mind. He closed his eyes, mind working furiously, weighing up the dilemma.

''I shall teach you Tràkata.''

He opened his eyes, glowing faintly in the half light.

''And Juyo. The Ferocity form.''

He held out his hand.

''Relinquish your sabres. You will use training sabres until I deem fit.''

 

[Sreeya]

Training sabers? Val felt quite disrespected. She had fought dark siders, fought numerous soldiers and helped defend Jedi many times. And now he had the audacity to doubt her capabilities with sabers? Lightsaber combat was her specialty and he dared to belittle her like this? Her jaw tightened, but she said nothing. The tiniest tendrils of a darker nature of energy weaved around her, mixing in with her aura. As he held his hand out, Val made no move to relinquish her sabers. Within an instant, both hilts flew from her waist, landing at his feet. She finally looked up to face him, rage boiling deep inside. Her face betrayed nothing.

"Oops."

She ignored the rude implications of her actions and walked over to the middle of the training room, leaving her saber hilts on the floor. Val knew how training worked, and she wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. She only hoped Huang wouldn't ask too many questions and get right to the point. She picked up two training sabers, still feeling slightly humiliated at having to use them. However, she would humor him for now.

"I'm ready."

 

[Will]

Something is very wrong here...

Huang picked the sabres up with the force, placing them on a wall rack. He drew a pair of sabres of his own, training sabres, for none could be in total control learning a new form.

She had changed so much since their mission. Then, she had been happy and playful, now it was as if her very essence had been sucked out from her. She may be a liability to the order. If this was the case, here was the safest place for her.

''Juyo takes a lot of inner focus. It uses powerful moves, but not as embellished as Ataru. The moves are seemingly unlinked, staccato. You must be unexpected. You understand, knight Cross?''

 

[Sreeya]

Val was half listening to him. She looked away, the hilt of the training saber smoothly spinning on the tip of her index finger. Val had heard of the Juyo form, and she knew it would require her to be more aggressive than she was used to. Secretly, she was glad he had chosen to teach her the form and take into account the form she already knew. At long last, Val tilted her head to look at him, scowling.

"Get to the point already."

 

[Will]

''This is a major problem. You must control your emotion, knight Cross. You must be like the water fowl on our lakes. On the surface, you glide impassively, yet, under the surface, you are a tempest. In Juyo, a delicate line is trodden between light and dark. Without control and focus, you will fall. Thus, your first task is simple.''

Huang looked up from his own sabres, spinning in his hand, at Val.

''Centre yourself. You must meditate.''

 

[Sreeya]

It was as if being lectured by a parent. The saber twirled on her fingers, but she expertly caught it back in her hand and lowered it. She stood quietly in the middle of the room, closing her eyes. For a long moment, her mind struggled to find peace. However, after a while, she found her focus. She felt as if she were gliding on ice, her mind becoming still and the tumult of thoughts all dispersing evenly.

The calm only lasted for a moment. The negative thoughts and the dark energy suppressed within her began to blossom deep within her chest, expanding outwards and flowing through her blood like poison. Her heart was pumping toxic blood, imbued with the hatred and anger she had felt for months. Val's eyes shot open, staring into the yellow eyes she had grown to hate so much. For now, she could see nothing but Caed and temporarily forgot that this was Jedi Councilor Huang.

"Let's not waste time."

Venom dripped from her words, and for a moment, her eyes almost matched his. Without another thought, Val summoned the training saber to her right hand. She kicked off and brought the saber into a horizontal arc meant to go from her left to right across his chest. She expected interception and hoped to kick off into a fight and truly learn the form instead of theoretically learning it.

 

[Will]

Huang's blade ignited at the last minute, blocking her.

A huge wind seemed to form in the arena, swirling around the pair, plucking at huang's loose strands of hair. It spiralled closer and closer, before throwing Val into the opposite wall.

Hard.

''Do not fight me, Knight. You came here for learning. Centre yourself.''

A shadow of disgust dripped from his words as he referred to her only by rank. Not for what she was, but for how shoddy her bladework had been.

 

[Sreeya]

To Huang's surprise, Val would only skid back a few feet, her feet planted firmly on the ground. A quick hint of gold passed through her eyes, another small glimpse into the tumult of anger boiling within her mind. She was a master in every aspect but the title, but she wouldn't remind him of that. Val sighed and eased her posture.

Without dashing forth again, she once again closed her eyes, focusing the energy to come to her. The Force built up within her once again repeating that sensation of inner calm and peace. Val opened her eyes, the irises sapphire once again. She knew she had to do this. She had to learn. For now, she bit back any insulting remarks, quietly awaiting his instructions.

 

[Will]

Huang's eyebrow twitched upwards, impressed by the force control she showed.

''Good. There's the prostitute I remember.''

He turned the sabre off, hoping a form of humour many others could display with ease would reduce tension.

''Juyo requires swift, unpredictable movements. While your inner self remains calm, your outer form must be ever changing. You must keep up the offensive, and not slow down. This requires huge endurance. I want you to keep centred as you attack me. Do not let up. Go for as long as you can.''

Huang ignited his training sabre, motioning for Val to attack.

 

[Sreeya]

Val's eyes widened when he spoke. It took her a second to realize what he meant and she couldn't hold back the grin that crossed her features. She was taken aback by his uncharacteristic display of a sense of humor, something she hadn't thought him to be capable of.

She knew it would be difficult not to let her emotions cloud her judgment. Val was too lost in her thoughts and suppressing them and still attacking would be a true test of her control. She stood still for a long moment, breathing quietly.

The action happened without warning. She jumped into the air, the training saber once again flaring to life. Although there was ferocity in her movements, she pushed the thoughts of Caed away from her mind. She focused only on herself, the Force aiding her movements. The saber came into a diagonal arc, much more precise than the previous one.

 

[Will]

Huang nodded inwardly as Knight Valena smiled. Hopefully, it would diffuse the situation slightly. He then saw her body tense fractionally. Attack was coming, likely aerial, due to the bending of her legs in the stance she adopted.

As she did indeed leap, Huang's sabre ignited. He blocked the precise attack, a far too predictable aerial assault move used by Ataru practitioners. He added a force push to send her sideways, sweeping around to meet her.

''Less predictable, knight Val.''

 

[Sreeya]

Val continued with the lateral motion, aware that she had been predictable. She pivoted once again, quick on her feet. She continued with the arc of the diagonal swing, expanding on its motion and swinging it around. The saber would come in from his side, once again in a similar motion. However, this time she jerked the hilt downwards, popping the blade back up in the opposite direction to abruptly jerk up at him. Val allowed speed to aid her movements. The motion was unlike what she was used to, but that didn't make it any less effective.

 

[Will]

Huang was glad she learnt quickly. His sabre flashed down, knocking her blade downward as he leapt up and back, gaining distance between the two of them.

''More complex. More than feints. Your battle tempo is still too similar. You must be a tempest.''

 

[Sreeya]

Val rolled her eyes at his words.

"That's because you've fought with me before, genius."

Although her comment wasn't too nice, she maintained an amused grin on her face. The lightsaber effortlessly twirled within her hand. As she handled it, she realized her movements had been too graceful. Val was a dancer when she fought, focusing on pivots and twirls, accented by her teachings in Ataru. Juyo was far more aggressive, and she slowly began to understand exactly why he had chosen it to compliment her graceful movements.

The saber in her hand abruptly came into a swing towards his torso. This time, her entire body followed through with the swing, raw power channeled behind it. That was when she applied just a hint of grace, cutting off the motion to tilt the swing and jut it out downwards. Before that completed, the saber would tilt yet again to thrust horizontally towards his abdomen. The movements were unconnected and abrupt, but as a result, she was a whirlwind of motions all powered by aggression.

To throw Huang off, before she began the powerful assault, Val threw a sudden force push directly at his face, aimed to jerk him backwards as she made her approach.

 

[Will]

Huang brushed to words aside. ''You should still be unreadable If I have fought you before. That is an underlying principle of Juyo.''

Huang felt the push knock him, throwing him momentarily off balance. As he recovered, she had closed the gap. He thrust his blade down, knocking her weapon off centre as he pushed the offensive back, starting with a slow, arcing overhead cut, but, about half way through, the blade darted to the left, before cutting in again, so that it would meet the body at her neck.


''You're understanding now, good.''

 

[Sreeya]

Val met his saber with her own, tilting according to his movements. As soon as his saber wedged to the left, she spun hers to perpendicularly meet it. Pressing off of that momentum, Val launched her body upwards to quickly walk on the wall behind him, circling around him. Meanwhile, her right hand summoned the second training saber, igniting it and coming in with a powerful arc towards his right flank from behind. Regardless of how he countered, she would land on her feet and slice both sabers in towards each other to form an x, intended to slice through his torso.

 

[Will]

Huang's own second blade erupted from his sleeve, stopping her weapon mid slice. As Val slashed in an x pattern, Huang's main blade stabbed forward, and then moved up, to break the cross. As her blades turned to verticals, Huang's right hand swept at them to bash them aside, as his left hand chopped down. As he did this, he pushed forward, using the force to knock Val back.