Haruun Kal

[razorfortherancor]

The young Zabrak got up and with measured steps walked over to Aryian, "Sir?" The boy cringed, he had never called anyone that before, "May I be your Padawan?"

[Prophet K]

Camsie nodded, giving Armiena his consent that she go explore the surrounding area.

 

"Do you wish for my acompanyment? If not, I'll wait for you here."

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian finally looked up.

 

"So you accept? Good. I was wondering when you guys would... Jurha obviously does. You may call me 'master' now, only as an honarary title."

 

He leans over, cocking his head around.

 

"Did you hear that, Jurha? You guys are now my apprentices."

 

Putting his head back on his forehead, he got up, and briefly walked over to the clearing where Jurha was (supposedly) still practicing, waiting for one or the other to signify that they had completed the task.

 

((Sorry, Zeb, I've got to wait for Jurha...))

[Jurha Kahn]

((Sorry, it's been kind of difficult for me to get on lately. I really missed a lot.))

 

Jurha squeezed Zeb's shoulder when she learned of his father. She was grateful such a thing hadn't happened to her father... As far as she knew. The thought her father wasn't well made her sick. It was imaginable that something like that could happen to her father, but he was typically the one who shot people in the back not vise versa... Still it wasn't impossible.

 

No, that's not right. Dad's invincible, Jurha blantly lied to her self. She knew it wasn't true, but that didn't mean she couldn't believe it. Jurha felt a loving thought for her mother for a brief instant then hid it away. She didn't want to cry now.

 

Jurha listened to Aryian's story of his past life. It wasn't unheard of. A "soul" finding a new vessel. It was a personal tragedy though. If you believed in karma, Aryian's past redemption and punishment for his peer's death had been in defeating the Sith Lords, yet dying at their hands. It had all been balanced. He had been blessed with the chance to see and do it all again with the same eyes and knowledge as before. Jurha, as much as she liked Aryian, couldn't feel as sympathetic to him and his story as she could Zeb's. Aryian's suffering had been his own fault. Zeb's had not.

 

Sometimes Jurha wasn't her self. She fingered the crystal around her neck. Was that you, Jedi Master? She grinned to her self. It never ceased to amaze her the strength the Jedi Master had imbeded in his or her lightsaber crystal despite the millenia that had past sense death. The spirit still survived in some vague untangable form to grace Jurha with its wisdom, strength, and encouragement. That's why a fifteen year old can spout off great Jedi wisdom. Maybe that was a little audacious and self-proclaimed to say.

 

Jurha revelled in the past. If the present didn't suit her, she'd slip away in to the past through the Force like some would their imagination. She loved the stories the past would reveal, small triumphs and bitter defeats, all that weren't here's, but gave the satisfaction as if they were. Her own past was a different matter. It was fine if she knew everyone else's (even if they didn't know she knew), but for them to know her's was unaceptable. She enjoyed the aloofness and mystery it provided about her self.

 

"Did you hear that, Jurha? You guys are now my apprentices."

 

Jurha looked up at her companions Zeb and Aryian. She grinned sincerely excited and happy, "That's great."

 

She didn't feel happy right now. Honestly that whole conversation or lesson that had been going on was a little less than chipper, but getting a master to train her, was definately something to cheer up about.

[Ary the Grey]

Satisfied that both apprentices had the basics of the technique, he wanted them to move on, and begin their other lessons. As he spoke, he frittered with the force, and rocks began stacking themselves in front of them to form a fire pit.

 

"Zeb, Jurha, I gave you those lightsabers for defense out here in the wilderness, but I also wanted to teach you a little bit about their usage. A Lightsaber is a dangerous tool, and one of the most dealdly weapons there is to an untrained user. I want both of you now to turn your lightsaber frequency to it's lowest setting, so it will be harmless when we use them."

 

Watching as they did so, sticks began floating towards the pit, landing in the center, one by one. Aryian seemed like he did it with ease, but it took a great deal of concentration to do so.

 

"Now thw basic position of all styles of fighting is the offensive/defensive stance. Put your strong leg forward, lightsaber vertical and towards your enemy, ready to intercept any incoming attacks. You must always keep your eyes on your enemy, but keep your force senses open, in case he tries something tricky, or others approach you from behind."

 

He struck the stance, waiting for his two apprentice to do so.

[razorfortherancor]

OOC((Aryian? You never gave us lightsabers... but I will roll with it.))

 

Ic:

Zeb fingured his lightsaber on, but refused to lower the setting. To the childs reasoning if it was more dangerous he was less likely to make a mistake. The Zabrak looked at Aryian and mimiked his stance. From the way he held the energy blade it was apparent he had done this before, though with a vibro-jitte instead of a longblade.

 

"This is easy enough so far, Master." Zeb knew it would get more difficult.

[Ary the Grey]

He had a grin on his face as he walked into one of the supply buildings, returning with three lightsabers, handing them each one. The third he clipped to his belt, and it had no controls whatsoever on it's outside.

 

The setting on Zeb's lightsaber lowered itself. Aryian's lightsabers had not been reconfigured from the training parameters yet, so he whipped his out, igniting it as he drew it, and sliced through the young Zabrak's torso.

 

He saw the shock and suprise on Zeb's face as he did so, but his torso did not fall from his body, neither was he hurt in any way. Aryian smiled as he explained.

 

"There is a setting on your lightsaber that takes all the energy that makes it so deadly out. When done, your blade is nothing more than a 'stick' of light, not able to harm anything at all."

 

His grin widened as he put his free hand up, passing the blade through it. It passes through several times without even making a mark.

 

"I prefer my students alive at the end of their training."

 

He laughed here, a rich and full one, shaking off all the pain and sorrow of his past, opening his eyes to new horizons. Aryian would no longer dwell then, he would be now, here, doing as much as possible to make the galaxy a better place to live in.

 

"Now let's get started. Zeb, it looked like you have had some former experience with the saber, perhaps you would start? They say one cannot know another man until he fights him. So, attack me. We shall work out your flaws one by one, until you are as good or better than I am. And probably by that time, you will be knighted. ((i.e. expect it to take a long time.))"

 

He motioned, readying himself with his saber in the basic stance he showed them.

 

"Begin."

[razorfortherancor]

Zeb was indeed shocked, but then laughed when he found his head still attached to his body, "You are a tricky one arent you? I am not used to handling long blades though, Master. I will try to match you..." With this the child kicked dust up into Aryians face and attacked, but was amazed when Aryians saber blocked him.

 

The child was used to fighting with a jitte, and instictivly rolled his blade to bat away Aryians, he moved with the blade trying to kick at Aryian. The child was amazed that Aryian evaded him seemingly without effort.

[Ary the Grey]

Although Aryian's training was far superior to the Zabrak's own, he was still impressed at his fighting technique.

 

"Very good! Excellent! You did two things worth recognizing then."

 

Aryian still kept his saber at the ready, but the lesson seemed paused for the moment while he spoke.

 

"One was that you used the environment to your advantage. Kicking dust in my face may have been a dirty move, but without the force at my side, you may have killed me then and there in a real fight. The second thing you did was use your own body as a weapon. Your lightsaber is not your only weapon in a fight, and you did that very well. I commend you for your experience.

 

"But, can you defend yourself? We shall see."

 

Aryian advanced, intending not using any skills he hadn't taught them yet. He attacked with not his usual vigor, but slower and weaker so Zeb had an easier time blocking it, instead of Aryian's heavy blows knocking the saber out of his hand. The first cut was the same one he did before, right at his torso, easily blocked.

 

After another blocked backslash and uppercut, aryian spoke to him in between strikes.

 

"Open yourself to the force, allow it to guide your movements, suprise yourself at how good you could be compared to now."

 

Aryian gave him a split second to comprehend this, noting that in his mind it sunk in. He tried another weak cut at his head, then let loose with a full-bodied cut at his waist...

[razorfortherancor]

The child knew better than to be off guard, nodded at Aryian's few comments. Zeb was ready for when he went on the attack and easily parried the first few blows, but the one going for his waist was different. He saw Aryian throw all his weight into it, and knew this was a stronger attack than he could handle.

 

Instead of putting his blade in front of Aryians, he put it behind his masters. He pulled with all of his might and surprised the Jedi, knocking him off guard. The child sidestepped the blade and pulled his own lightsaber through Aryians hamstring.

[Jurha Kahn]

Jurha grinned as she watched Aryian and Zeb sparing. Zeb was doing really well. Jurha wondered where he had learned to fight and she made a note to find out. Her own father had trained her in self-defense, and her aunt had taught her how to use an antiquated style of dagger fighting. The style exsisted mostly as an art form now than an actual system of combat.

 

Jurha stood out of Aryian nad Zeb's way and waited for them to finish. She wondered when they would get to make their own light sabers.

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian turned it into a flip, somersaulting forwards past Zeb. He knew that his apprentice had scored a hit, and he was overjoyed, but decided to step it up a notch.

 

Holding his hand out, he motioned for a momentary pause so he could talk.

 

"Jurha, you're up next after this. Zeb, I want you to use the force. I will come at you at almost my full fighting ability, and I want you to stop me."

 

Confident that Zeb would do so, he brought his saber up to bear, signaling the continuation of the mini duel.

 

He rushed him in low, aiming a powerful downwards slash at his ribs, but at the last second turned it into an attack at his lightsaber, intending to knock it from him. If Zeb was smart, he would pull back, letting Aryian's blow go through midair, missing entirely. However, there were also a number of other ways to deal with the scenario.

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena hesitated; she wasn't sure if she wanted her own master to see her prowling through the jungle like a trained killer. To hell with it, she decided. There was no point in keeping secrets.

 

"If you want to come, that's fine with me." She focused on her gunbelt, and levitated it around her waist, and snapped it tight. She headed towards the prefabricated supply buildings, and retrieved a pair of common macrobinoculars. Armiena neared the edge of the forest, then checked the charge on her blaster; fully loaded, as usual.

 

As she plunged into the shadows of the jungle, training seemed to come back to her automatically. She moved quietly with the breeze, unconsciously avoiding leaving tracks in mud and marks on the plentiful vegetation. Even though she had her vibroshiv on her, she refrained from using it to clear the more difficult foliage, instead moving around it. All the meantime, she was checking the ground and vegetation for fresh marks.

 

She knew she wasn't hunting anything, just trying to avoid being hunted. Her scouting expedition wouldn't do much good for the Jedi if she ended up getting killed by a local beastie or native.

[razorfortherancor]

Zeb nodded, though he was already in full contact with the Force. The child felt nothing but peace and calm as he evaded Aryians blow, at the same time twirling his own lightsaber through his master's wrist's. Aryian bloacked though and quickly they began sparring at near equal levels, but in the end Aryian was the better swordsman and won, pulling his blade through Zebs throat. The Zabrak was gasping for breath, and he fell on the ground laughing. "You fought good!"

[Ary the Grey]

((Remember, in a real battle, those moves would not really be all that realistic, since I would be MUCH more on guard. I went with them since we were dueling, and BTW, nice form!))

 

"And you as well, my young apprentice! Perhaps that shall be your trials in the future...Jurha, you're up. I have dueled you before, but that was a while ago. Remember everything you saw here, and try to use it against me.

 

"Zeb, you may practice levitation if you want, otherwise... you may do what you want for now. It is not extremely important for you to pay attention to this battle. Or...you may have this for the time being."

 

Aryian unclipped the third lightsaber from his belt, the one devoid of any controls or the like on it. He also motioned to the half-finished fire pit, indicating where he could practice levitation, before turning his attention back to Jurha.

 

"Attack me. Remember that your lightsaber is not your only weapon, and the force is your greatest ally. Now, Begin."

 

Aryian brought his saber up un the stance he had just taught them, mind tuned to battle.

[Jurha Kahn]

Jurha stood up and prepared for her lightsaber training. She hesitated and looked at the lightsaber in her hand. She crouched down beside Zeb.

 

"Could I use your lightsaber?" she asked. Zeb handed over his own to her.

 

She walked over to Aryian with a lightsaber in each hand. "I hope you don't mind, one's mostly just, you know, defense."

 

Jurha ignited both sabers her left side facing Aryian. She gripped the sabers and already felt sweat builing in her palms from all this jungle humidity. Alright.

 

Jurha spun clockwise and swung her right saber at Aryian. As she expected he blocked the move. She crouched, kept Aryian's saber above her in a high block, and stabbed forward with her left saber. Unfortunately her weaker side.

 

((Probably horrible move, but I guess I'm here to learn.))

[razorfortherancor]

The child handed the lightsaber over to Jurha, something had happened during that fight that he could not yet quite explaine. He felt... at peace. He looked at the lightsaber Aryian had given him and lifted it, twirling it around and then setting it back in his hand.

 

Zeb sat down and watched them passively.

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian shoved hard on Jurha's lightsaber, sending her inertia from the stab into a spin, catching her off balance.

 

"Wonderful! Had I not had the strength to do that, you would have killed me, hypothetically of course."

 

He looked at his two apprentices, very pleased.

 

"Even though I wanted to teach you the art of one saber, you used two very effectively. Enough with the lessons. I believe that both of you would be well prepared wherever we went, even if we got in trouble. I am very pleased that I do not have to teach you that. Jurha, I sparred with you earlier, and you obviously remember some of what I taught you. Zeb, your skills are astounding, you may just become one of the best warriors the Jedi have ever seen."

 

Aryian disignited his saber, ending the lesson. ((i.e. it means I see both of you as really good with the sword, so I see no reason to try and reteach to you what you already know. Jurha, I'm not trying to do anything other that compliment your char by ending the lesson.))

 

"Now, that we have some free time, do either of you have any questions you'd like to ask me about anything?"

[Jurha Kahn]

Jurha disingaged the two lightsabers and hooked them to her belt. She flopped down beside Zeb in the grass at the little fire pit. She levitated some dry grass amongst the twigs using the Force. Then she looked at Aryian.

 

"How come we went to Altyr 5? There were a bunch of other Jedi there weren't there? What's going on with the Jedi?... Politically and other wise?" Jurha asked leaning against her knees listening intently.

[Ary the Grey]

"I'm not exactly sure what called me there, fate, I guess you could call it. I did sense my old master, who I thought to be dead, and I just followed my instincts there. He's alive, but we both have no time to talk right now. I guess I'll catch up with him later.

 

"And right now, I don't think that the Jedi are involved in any battles or wars. We are sending support to Tattooine to help the Hutts defeat the Imperials, but other than that, I have no knowledge of anything the Jedi are doing. Even though I am a knight, I do not meddle in the affairs of the Jedi masters."

 

Sitting down on a rock near the fire pit, Aryian ignited the saber, lighting the fire. He noted it was getting a little dark.

 

"Ok, one more question for you guys, then ask away. It is getting dark, do you guys want to go back to the base for now? Or would you rather sleep among the stars and..."

 

He swatted at something on his arm.

 

"...Biting insects. I guess we should go back. Both of you feel free to ask me anything while we walk. Zeb, the other lightsaber I gave to you is a force puzzle of sorts. All the parts are in the lightsaber hilt, they are just unconnected. It is fused shut, so you have to re assemble it with the force. You may use it if you want, but Give Jurha a shot with it when you are done with it."

 

Aryian got up, stretched, and slowly started walking, waiting for his two apprentices to catch up.

[razorfortherancor]

Zeb nodded, missing his old Jitte... "Master Aryian? Are there any materials that are not harmed by a lightsaber blade?" Zeb was thinking about how usefull his old jitte had been. It was a vibroknife, though was more comparable to a short sword, with a spike above the blade that could be used to catch an opponets weapon.

[Ary the Grey]

"Why, actually, yes there is Zeb. Cortosis ore causes the loop of energy that makes up the blade of your lightsaber get disrupted, and it shuts off your lightsaber. A Few Sith have been known to wear suits of the stuff as body armor, but it is so malleable that you must mix it with another metal to form an alloy. Some Jedi even put it in the hilts of their lightsabers, just in case..."

 

They kept walking, about two kilometers or so away from the base.

[razorfortherancor]

Zeb's question burst forth, "Master Aryian... would it be possible for me to construct a jitte out of Cortosis, or perhaps even make an off-hand lightsaber to mimick one?" The child knew that he had the ability to snap off a vibro-blade if it would get caught in his jitte, and being able to disable a lightsaber was just too much of an opportunity.

[Ary the Grey]

"I'm not sure...what is a jitte again? Well...not really. It is good for armor and such, but making it into a bladed weapon severely decreases the alloy's durability."

 

He was silent for a second, deep in thought.

 

"Although...A long time ago I fought a Sith that had a sword that was able to block my saber, but it didn't turn it off completely. I'm not an expert on the subject, but the less Cortosis you use, the less it's properties in the alloy. I suppose if you could find the right combination of materials, then you you could make a Jitte that could block sabers, but still, it was a Sith art...

 

"My warnings to you if you want to delve into making one, but if you must, I must request my assistance. Dealing with the dark side is no light matter."

 

The last part came out very serious, and for a purpose. Aryian would not have an apprentice of his fall to the Dark side.

 

((If I were you, I'd just go with the flow, and just build a lightsaber, twin sabers like me, or a staff saber. The Sith sword is generally reserved for Sith hopefuls to practice with, especially against their masters when they aren't allowed to have a real lightsaber. It can block a saber, but it CANNOT cut all the things a lightsaber could. If you stick with a saber for now, I can pick you up one later. But if you must build it... Besides, a lightsaber is easier to carry around ))

[Jurha Kahn]

Jurha continued walking along through the jungle with her master and fellow apprentice not thinking of anything in partiuclar. But all the talk about weapons she remembered Zeb's lightsaber she had borrowed. She unhooked it from her belt.

 

"Here, Zeb," she said handing it to him, "You probably need this back. Can I see the puzzle? I love puzzles."

[ObliviousKnight]

((OOC: Ok, I am back from my (extremely short) absence. You may not have even noticed me being gone *pouts*))

 

Armiena paused in her lone scouting. In front of her, in the dirt, she found fresh prints. Booted, and a few people. It probably wasn't anything to worry about... but the jungle had many ways to kill a careless traveller. Just looking at the prints, she felt her body getting ready to defend itself, adrenaline seeping into her veins.

 

She shook away the adrenaline rush. She hadn't heard, seen, or felt anything approaching her. Still, the inability to see anything frustrated her. She glanced up at the canopy of trees. Climbing up a tree to take a lookout position would inevitably leave a slew of marks on the trunk, but jumping would be entirely different. Could she do it?

 

It turns out that she could. The jungle canopy wasn't that high up, it turned out. It took all of her control to avoid cracking her skull on a branch or--even worse, in her opinion--falling to her death because she made the mistake of missing her landing. But here she was, nearly blinded by the sudden sunlight, able to see nearly anything above the jungle floor.

 

That didn't include much of interest, unfortunately. She brought up her binoculars The canopy was so thick that she couldn't see anything moving on the ground, and only a couple of flocks of the local avians were visible in the sky. Still, she made notice of a strategic row of hills in the distance, and committed their locations to memory. There might be a valley beneath it, the perfect concealment for any base. But it was getting dark, and night was the time for the nasty, parasitic, blood-sucking insects. If she turned now, she would be back at camp by nightfall.

 

Now came the hard part--getting down. Hoping that she didn't land in some local predator's nest, she jumped down from her vantage point, slowing her descent with the Force. Through the sounds of ripping growth, she heard voices. She landed a bit awkwardly, dropping to one knee to keep her balance. She started to brush away the growth clinging to her robes, and casting it off, far away into the jungle, using the Force.

 

A rush of self-consciousness came to her when she realized that she landed a short distance from a few fellow Jedi. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

 

"Hey, Jurha, Zeb--small galaxy, eh?" She glanced at the man guiding them. "And I'm afraid I don't know you, sir," she adds as she falls into step with them.

[Jurha Kahn]

"Hey, Armeina. Surprise meeting you here!" Jurha said jogging up to the older apprentice. Then she scratched her head, "But then again we kinda travel with the same crowd so it's not that big a surprise," she laughed.

 

She gestured to the man they were traveling with, "This is our master, but he can introduce himself."

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian smiled as he came upon another Jedi. They must be getting close to the camp.

 

"Greetings, Armenia, is it? I'm Aryian, their master. And I'm guessing you already know Zeb,"

 

He gestured, and Armenia nodded.

 

"Perhaps you'd like to return with us to the base? The Jungle can be very tricky at night..."

 

He left it hanging, not ominously, but with a "be careful" tone to it.

[razorfortherancor]

Zeb took his old saber back and gave the Puzzle to Jurha, "Good luck with that." He smirked, hoping she could do it. Zeb's hand went to his lightsaber when Armenia came into veiw but quickly relaxed.

 

Zeb remained silent, figuring that if anyone wanted to talk they would.

[Ary the Grey]

"And speaking of the Jungle being tricky, the next thing I should probably teach you guys is the force blast, a technique used mainly for defense by the Jedi, but I have used it for offensive as well in many of my duels. I shall teach it to you when we return to the base."

 

And on that note, Aryian started walkign again. His apprentices obviously knew how to take care of themselves, and they were so close to the base that they need not follow him. Besides, he could be there in a flash if they needed him.

 

Finally reaching the base, he found the cafeteria building, and grabbed a nice hot cup of coffene, something he really needed right then.