A Promise Kept: Learning from each other (Sejah)

[Oriadin]

Today was a lovely day. Nice and warm but very fresh. Oriadin woke early and felt great. He was in very good mood and felt in great shape. Training to become a Jedi was tough work but most rewarding. Oriadin felt stronger mentally and physicaly ever before.

As promised, today was the day he would spar with his friend Sejah. Oriadin knew he would have to be in prime condition as Sejahs skills with a sword were fast becoming well known throughout the Acadamy. If he was being totaly honest, Oriadin didnt expect to beat him but he knew he would learn a great deal. He knew he could put up a good fight and certainly wasnt going to make things easy for the Padawan.

Oriadin made his way to the acadamy. He was wearing his new Jedi robes. Up until now he had only worn the ones given to him by his previous master, Verse Dawnstrider. They were a little big and it was getting to be tedious getting them cleaned in time to wear them for the next days training. These robes fit Oriadin perfectly. The exagerated his phisique a little and were a bage colour. As he walked through the acadamy he nodded to those he knew and said a quick hello to those he knew quite well.

Oriadin opend the door to the Acadamy sparing room where Sejah and he had decided to meet. He walked in to find he was first one there. There were a couple of weapons at the side of the large room which Oriadin guessed he would have to use. Since he didnt have any weapons of his own just yet. He focused on one of the lightsabers, which was hanging from the wall. He controled his breathing and felt the force flow through him. Using the force the saber flew throught the air and into Oriadins waiting hand. This was a technique he was pretty comfortable with now. Hed practised it a lot and was almost becoming second nature to him.

He waited for his friend Sejah to arrive.

[Sejah Haversh]

He was late. Sejah hated being late. But it seemed that was his fate in the Jedi complex, always being a tad bit late for this or that.

His sandals beat across the paved walkway as the mongoose dashed to the training center, a small bundle under one of his arms. The mongoose skidded to a halt by the door, and then flung it open before bursting inside, and seeing Oriadin.

Gar! I'm even late for my friends! He thought while settlig down and setting his bundle down. It was mainly practice weapons, and he set about unbuttonign his vest as he spoke, "Sorry I'm late, I really don't have an excuse..."

Pulling his vest off, he flung it onto the pile and then began to stretch out his arms. For the spar, Sejah had chosen his usal trainign attire, his kit, leaving him bare-chested and disrobed from the waist up. He didn't mind, it was normal ot train shirtless where he came from, and the day outside had made him more than warm enough to opt for his current attire. "You sure you're ready, Oriadin? I'm not going to go too easy on you, you know. Any roles you want to lay out before we begin?" Sejah asked while pulling on his gloves and tightenign them. He wouldn't have normally worn them if training with a real balde, or a wooden one, but a saber was harder to grab because of its smooth handle and his furred paws.

[Oriadin]

Sejah finally arrived. He appologised for being late but really, it wasnt that late at all. Oriadin took a quick glance at the bundle Sejah had been carrying but couldnt make out what it was.

--Yeah im ready. Im feeling in great shape today.--

Oriadin thought for a moment when Sejah asked if there were any rules for this fight.

--I dont think so. Try not to kill me!--

Oriadin joked

--I dont expect you to go easy on me. In real life combat there are no rules and we will only learn from experience.

Oriadin started to stretch himself out. He did various stretches before doing a couple of sit ups and push ups. Just to warm his muscles up a little. Sejah looked in great shape as he took his shirt off. He was pretty well built and Oriadin thought this would be a very physical spar as well as one of technique.

--Any rules youd like to state before we begin?--

[Sejah Haversh]

Takign a moment, Sejah strained his shoulders and arms as he stretched them out, his arms shaking from over-exertion. Exhaling a forced breath, the mongoose loosened up and shook out his legs as Oriadin warmed up as well.

"Glad to hear you're feeling well, Or, and I've only got a couple ground rules: No groin shots, no face shots, and no grabbing hair, or my tail." He grinned as he flicked his tail for effect. "But, beyond that, prettymuch anything is fair game."

Reaching down, he pulled his lightsaber out of his bundle and held it down by his side. "So, should we go at it with sabers, or somethign else? Mien can set to a training mode, so it won't hurt too much if you get his with it, can one of those do that?"

[Oriadin]

The rules sounded fair to Oriadin. He guessed if there was anything else they would say it as they went along. Oriadin had a cheeky smile as Sejah said no pulling on his tail. He felt he was a fair fighter and would respect the rules set out but the thought of pulling his tail had crossed his mind and Oriadin thought it was funny.

What weapon to begin with, Oriadin thought to himself.

--I dont mind really. Ive only ever held a lightsaber once so my skills are gonna be pretty poor with that. Could be a good time to start learning though!--

Oriadin grinned.

--What do you think Sejah?--

Oriadin finished up his stretches and looked around the room. He always thought it best to take a good look at the area before fighting there. Decreases the chance of something catching you out at the worst possible time.

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah hadn't missed the grin on Oriadin's face at the thoguht of pullign his tail, and he flicked it back behind himself as if mockingly hurt. But he couldn't keep up that look for long, and then stepped back over to his bag, setting his lightsaber down.

"Well, if you've never had any practice with a lightsaber before, I'd like to use somethign else. You can pisk up most of the basics on your own, and I know I wouldn't be the best of teachers for it. But, if we can get a decent ground in traditional weapons, that might help you." Pulling a pair of lightly curved wooden swords that resembled a katana (Bokken), the mongoose tossed one to his freind.

"Bokken, wooden curved swords. I find the lightsaber is closest to this for a trainign weapon. They hurt when you're hit with them, but not too badly. They should be a good starting weapon. Unless you;ve got your heart set on a lightsaber, that is." Sejah said while performing a few practice swings and then steppign into an opening stance, signifying he was ready.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin made an impressive catch when Sejah tossed him the wooden sword. It showed his lightning reflexes. A trait that helped the Jedi acknowledge the fact he was force sensitive.

Oriadin examined the Bokken. It was pretty light. The handle had some binding round it, for a better grip with the blade being about 30" long. Oriadin swung it around a couple of times trying to get used to it.

--Yeah, this seems fine.--

Oriadin noticed Sejah in an opening stance. He decided to make him wait a little longer my stretching a couple more times and practising a few more swings. That should do it, he thought to himself. Oriadin too stepped into a defensive looking stance. He looked in great shape and looked balanced and aware. He was ready.

--After you, my furry friend!--

[Sejah Haversh]

Changifn stance ina blink, Sejah whipped his bokken around and glared jovially at his friend, "Never call me that again, Pinky." Breakign a smile, the mongoose dropped out of his stance and lowered his bokken, stepping sideways slowly and casually.

As is a crop of sweat was forming on his brow, Sejah reached up to brush it away, and then suddenly skipped in towards Oriadin with a fast swing to hip-level from the right. Surprise was one of his favorite ways of fighting, but a good parry offered great rewards as well.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin smiled too Sejah asked him not to call him his furry friend. Sejah moved swiftly from wiping his brow to a swing at Oriadins hip with his bokken. It caught Oriadin a little by suprise but he just managed to bloke the strike. With the tow bokken locked together Oriadin lifted them up so he were face to face with his sparring partner with the two bokken between them. Oriadin tried to push round further but Sejah was equal in strength and managed to hold it there. Oriadin suddenly withdrew has bokken and ducked down leaving sejah to swing at nothing. As he did so Oriadin swung his bokken towards sejahs middle, while having one knee placed firmly on the ground.

OOC: Im off on holiday all next week, just to let you know. I'll post again on here when I get back.

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah was stuck.

He couldn't bring his wooden sword down ina sharp enough angle to block Oriadin's swing, and he didn't have enough room to Simply dodge.

There was little else to do, so the mongoose pivoted as hard as he could and then snapped out a footpaw to kick the shoulder of the arm bringing the bokken in for a strike. Hopefully it would be enough to block the swing, Oriadin was better than he had expected, much better.

[Oriadin]

The kick was certainly strong enough to block Oriadins swing. Oriadin lost balance too when he recieved Sejahs kick. He dropped his bokken and as he fell back placed his right hand on the floor to regain his balance. It was a natural reaction more than anything else. He paused for the briefest of moments before he extended his left leg to catch Sejah just behind his knees, causing him to stumble slightly. Oriadin wasnt sure if this was enough to bring his friend and sparring partner to the floor but it did give him enough time to gather the bokken back in his right hand and ready for action.

[Sejah Haversh]

Not only was he good, but Oriadin had excellent recovery time. The leg sweep caught his legt knee full on, but only tagged his right.

As the mongoose fell back, he was barely able to clumsily throw his right foorpaw back and brace himself, though it took another bit of work to regain balance, and then come back to a stand. Bringing his bokken around to the opposite side of hsi body as Oriadin was, Sejah knew he had little time to recover before his friend attacked again, and that he didn't have nearly enough time to deliver a strike after a sweep like that.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin managed to make a full recovery by standing on both feet again. Doing this gave Sejah enough time to make a proper recovery too. He stood face to face with his sparring partner, Bokken in his right hand held up above his head awaiting a move from Sejah.

Oriadin was sweating a little and slightly out of breath. He quickly focused and controled his breathing better. He quickly glanced around in the nearby area for inspiration for his next attack. The room was pretty empty and nothing really struck Oriadin as being terribly usefull at this moment in time. Instead he waited for Sejah to come forward.

[Sejah Haversh]

Locked in a standstill, Sejah decided to just break the ice and went in with a low to high swing from his right to left. Oriadin would probably block it, in fact, he could almost guarentee itt, but, it was the parry that would yield a better attack.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin stepped forward and blocked Sejahs attack. So far Oriadin hadnt seen what all the fuss was with Sejahs skill as a swordsman. Oriadin was preparing himself though. Preparing for a flash of brilliance. He was aware that several people spoke very highly of Sejahs fighting ability and he knew they couldnt all be wrong. Sejah himself had told Oriadin about fighting experiences. Oriadin was waiting for Sejah to really begin.

As Oriadin blocked Sejahs swing he pushed down on the bokken. Both were now below waist height and pointing towards the ground. Oriadin used this opertunity to shoulder charge his opponant.

[Sejah Haversh]

So far, Sejah had only been performing basic techniques and movements. As Oriadin changed up to a more agressive style, the mongoose knew it was time to notch up his own skill level.

As the shoulder-charge came, Sejah tilted his head back, and then threw it forward, smacking a full headbut into Oriadin's forehead. As a follow-through, he pulled his bokken back,a nd then whacked him firmly in the leg, then pivoting back as he wound up for another swing which found target across the human's chest.

A smile on his face Sejah chuckled, "C'mon, Or, you can do better than that, I just killed you. Let's try again, shall we?" Not waiting a moment, Sejah came in again with a fast lunge to the gut with his bokken.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin was disapointed in himself to say the least when Sejah managed to strike him in the chest. He shook his head as he murmerd 'You know better than that' to himself.

He had little time to contemplate his mistake though for his oponant was already back on the attack. Sejah came in with a fast lunge to the gut with his bokken. Oriadin took a large step back and circled his bokken in front of him to deflect the strike. He made a quick assault be kicking Sejah in the mid section before closing in on him with his elbow.

[Sejah Haversh]

This was going to be fun. Oriadin was evidently a better contact fighter than swordsman, so Sejah decided to have a bit of fun instead of just blocking the kick.

As Oriadin's foot snapped forward, Sejah hooked a paw under hsi ankle and grabbed on hard, yanking up while pulling back; making Oriadin have to balance on one foot while his otehr was lifted high up and to his side in a most uncomfortable manner. As he held Oriaidin's leg up, Sejah reached out with his other arm and whacked him in the leg he was standign on with his bokken, and then, with a wicked smile he brought his arm back and swung in quickly again, but stopped his blade only inches away from striking Oriadin's groin.

Still keeping his foot at an onomfortable height, Sejah grinned as he held his bokken there for a moment. "Oh, yeah, no crotch shots, sorry, I almost forgot." Pulling his bokken back, he pushed up harder and away on Oriadin's leg--which he had been holding at near shoulder height-- and stepped back himself, the silly grin still on his muzzle.

[Oriadin]

If the position Sejah had put Oriadin didnt look painfull then it sure as hell felt it. The padawan was releaved to say the least that sejah had let go. He found himslef stumbling backward as his opponant did so though as he tried to regain his balance.

Oriadin could feel himself begin to fall backward but as he did so he pushed hard with his right foot on the ground as he felt close to the force. All of a sudden it was as if his surroundings seemed to slow down for the briefest of seconds. It was a strange sensation. Oriadin managed to backflip and find himself in an upright position faceing Sejah.

--What the??? Did you see that???--

There was a definate tone of excitment in the padawans voice as he realised what he had just done.

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah was nearly as shocked as Oriadin was; he had expected him to just stumble backwards and fall down, not execute a backflip.

Lowering his bokken and relaxing a bit, Sejah sidestepped and looked his friend over smiling. "That was cool." He said, nodding in approval, "How, how'd you do that?" He continued, having never had the physical strength to do that himself.

[Oriadin]

Oriadins face was still one of complete shock. He to lowered his bokken as Sejah asked how he did it.

--Im really not sure. It just kinda happend. It felt right. Thats all I know. My instincts told me to push off hard with my right foot and the next thing I knew....--

He couldnt help but smile. He was amazed at what he had just done. He had seen it done many times by other Jedi but this took the padawan completly by suprise.

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah shook his head while eh smiled, "Good job, Or, maybe we can learn how to do something else if we continue on. Are you ready?" He asked while raising his bokken again, adopting a fencing stance.

"You want to keep using these things, or switch to training sabers? I'd be up for either, but, a saber takes som real getting used to, I'll tell you that much."

[Oriadin]

Oriadin focused. He finally managed to get the smile of his face. To continue with the bokken or to begin with the sabers.

--I think we should switch to the sabers. I need my practise with this weapon.--

Oriadin walked over to Sejahs selection of weapons and put the bokken away. He looked over to where he had placed the training room saber earlier. He focused on it and in a spilt second it flew through the air and landed perfectly in his hand.

[Sejah Haversh]

"Nice trick, still working on that, myself." Sejah nodded as he put his bokken away and then picked up his own lightsaber. It could be set to a training mode, and the protected switch was still in that position from his last spar.

Rolling out his shoulders, Sejah ignited the weightless balde and looked at its blue glow momentarily before spinning it in his paw and perfroming a figure-eight with it. It was still uncomfortable to weild, not having the momentum he was used to, but it felt more familiar than it ahd the week before; and he had fared well enough with it in his spar with Marcus two days previous. Thankfull his leg was almost completely healed and he was capable of mostly normal use with it by then.

Drawing hismelf up into a ready stance, Sejah nodded that he was ready to begin.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin checked the lightsaber in his hand. It too was set to training mode. Oriadin had never been hit with a saber before but he had read up on it. When in safty mode your not going to lose any limbs but it will sting and burn. Must do better than last time he thought to himself.

He held the saber in his right hand and swirled it to the right and back slightly. As he did he ignighted the saber. A lush green blade shot out the end with the now common sounding hum. He brought the saber back in front of him and held it with both hands. His face turned deadly serious with a concentrated look on his face.

He too was still getting used to the weightlessness of the saber. It was a strange sensation to wield a lightsaber. It was not similar to anything the padawan had fought with before. He had practised and sparred a few times with one now so was slowly becomming accoustomed to it. Oriadin knew his friend Sejah was still getting used to the elegant weapon too though so there shouldnt be much of an advantage or disadvantage.

Oriadin positioned himself into a defensive stance. Still clutching the saber with both hands.

--Same rules as before I assume? You care to strike first?--

[Sejah Haversh]

"Same as before." Sejah echoed, then did a quick double step to Oriadin's side befor backpedalign to be right in front of him.

"Hi." He said before suddenly coss-stepping backeard and lashign out with his saber. With the weightless balde, it was much easier to parry, and so he planned on a more agressive approach, though with a few volleys of saber-batting as well.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin moved swiftly to block Sejahs attack. Oriadin sensed he was being somewhat more aggressive now. Oriadin would have to conentrate hard on his opponant this time.

Oriadin was slicing the lightsabers blade through the air with every slash he took at Sejah. The lightsaber was a very elegant weapon indeed. Sejah managed to block everything Oriadin threw at him with relative ease. As one of the padawans strikes came in Sejah moved in to block it but as he did Oriadin withdrew the attack and took a step back leaving Sejah to swing at notning and leaving him open. Oriadin took advantage of the situation by swining for his opponants arm.

[Sejah Haversh]

Oriadin was beginnignt o show some serious skill with his saber, and what he had said about being good in a fight was evidently right. It was time to take off the kid gloves for Sejah, and move into advanced theory.

The loss step was a common move, and when he sae Oriadin's weight shifting, he kenw a swing was in the works. As he followed through with his own swing, he used his body's momentum to keep himself going, but stappe one footpaw of the the other and began to pivot. In a second-year guard technique, the mongoose brought his saber handle up so that the balde was facing down in front of himaelf, and blocked his friend's incomign swing with that.

Takign it one step further, Sejah then pulled his saber up and over his head, takign Oriadin's with it, and he ducked down as he stepped in past, clearing himself from harm's way until he could get to a stand on Oriadin's other side and turning around again to throw in a quick slash aimed at the upper body.

[Oriadin]

Now Oriadin was begining to see the skill of Sejah everyone had been talking about.

Oriadin saw Sejahs attack a little late so had to improvise. He quickly retracted the blade of his saber to ensure he wouldnt cause himself any damage befrore falling backwards to the floor. Using the momentom of the fall he curled his legs up close to his head and performed a backwards roll. Sejahs slash glided above the padawan. As he completed the roll he continued the momentom to stand back up. On his way up he ignighted his saber again ready for action. The sweat was dripping of Oriadin and his last move had taken a lot of energy out of him. His heart was beating faster and he was slightly out of breath.

[Sejah Haversh]

Unlike Oriadin, Sejah hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Then again, he was also used to living in daily temperatures that passed 105 degrees Ferenheit, and trained in them as well.

Chasing his roll, Sejah whipped down two fast blows to Oriadin's saber, and then began to parry with it, pushing it this way and that. It was plain to see that the man was getting a bit tired, but Sejah wouldn't let up. Oriadin had wanted a good spar, and that was what he was going to get.

Weavign his light blue blade hither and thither, Sejah once more worked Oriadin's saber out into oblivion, but this time he went a bit further. Bringing his own saber arond in a large arc, the mongoose spun it in a low to high sweep, and raked it along Or's adomen up to his chest and over his shoulder. It would have been a killing blow, had his saber been on a normal setting.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin fell back in pain. Although the saber was only on a training setting it still stung to high hell. He was out of breath and still sweating. Beaten. Sejah saw the look of defeat on his face and let up for a second.

--I lost my concentration. Wasnt focused enough.--

Oriadin was disapointed, anyone could tell that by the look on his face. He raised one arm as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He took a few deep breaths and calmed his breathing. He closed his eyes and focused again. He opened them and starred right at Sejah. His face was one of complete seriousness and one of complete concentration. If anything his defeat had made him all the more determined to get it right. He stood up and prepared in a defensive stance.

--You willing to give me another go? It wont be so easy this time!!--

Oriadin let out a smile as he blocked out the stinging pain from Sejahs last attack.

[Sejah Haversh]

Pleased to see Oriadin take the blow so well--he himself knew what they felt like--Sejah smiled and readied his stance again.

"Of course, what are friends for. And you had better not go easy on me, that would be dissappointing." He said, then flexed his legs for a moment before darting in to Oriadin's left side, though he dropped his lightsaber into his left paw and held it upside down while bringing in a fast low to high strike.

[Oriadin]

Oriadin moved swiftly to block the attack from Sejah and took a large step to his left. Giving him more room to manuver. Sejah followed up his a attack with a good combo but Oriadin was staying sharp and managed to deflect most of the attacks with relative ease. The pain from the saber burns were bad but so far Oriadin managed to block out the pain from his thoughts. He was focused and determined this time.

The two battlers were shoulder to shoulder as they fought. The sabers lay against each other in front of them. They looked each other in the eye before Oriadin pushed Sejah away from him and used the space and time to move his saber in a figure of eight shape. He started near Sejahs head before moving it down, taking a step forward and striking at his opponants legs.

[Sejah Haversh]

Wham!

Sejah slammed a kick out into Oriadin's stomach, but it was not quite enough to keep his opponent's saber from following through in its swing. The Nehantite winced as he felt it burn against his leg. Hopping back a step onto his other foot, he realized that he had underestimated Oriadin's strength.

"Good shot," he announced, reaching down to rub his sore shin. Had it been a live blade, he would have lost his footpaw. Thank Garfife for training settings. "You're stronger than I thought, and I don't often mis-read others. You, um, want to go at it again, or should we call it a day?"

[Oriadin]

Oriadin stood up straight calmly. He was in complete control of his breathing and managed to stay on top of the saber burns from earlier. He positioned himself in a defensive stance once again.

He was pleased with his performance this time round and felt proud when Sejah complimented him on his strength. It was nice to have such a good fighter, such as Sejah compliment you.

He lowered his saber and seemed more relaxed now.

--Well its up to you really.--

He looked up at a clock on the wall

--I have time for another go if you want to. I could do with soothing these burns though if you want to call it a day.--

He looked down to where he had been struck. Feeling the stinging sensation again.

[Sejah Haversh]

"Yeah, um, sorry about that," the mongoose pulled his cheek as he replied. "I think we can call it a day. Walk you down to the infirmary, if you want. My leg could do with a little attention, too."

Stuffing his unlit saber back into his sash-belt, Sejah rolled out his shoulders and then popped his back. "Still getting used to those things," he said, "I'm a lot better with a steel blade, really. Oh well, time should make it easier. Good match, Oriadin, thanks for taking me on."

[Oriadin]

Oriadin flicked a switch on his saber and the glow of the blade disapeared. He relaxed all of his muscles as well as his mind. He knew he would ache tomorrow, it had been a good work out and Oriadin had learnt alot.

--Thank you Sejah but I dont think im in need of the infirmary. They sting but its not too bad. I should be able to bathe these burns myself.--[i]

He walked over to the side of the room and hung the saber back on the wall.

[i]--Thank you for the spar my friend. We shall have to have another go some time, perhaps when we are more accomplished with the saber!--

[Sejah Haversh]

Smiling warmly, Sejah nodded. "Sure thing, Or, sorry about that hit, though, didn't want to hurt you, but..." He trailed off, his smile getting bigger.

Walking towards the door, the mongoose turned back and said, "You any good at ping-pong?"

[Oriadin]

Smileing back he said

--Never tried, but hey, anything you can do, I can do better right!?--

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah laughed, "Sure, sure, and who's the one with the burned chest? Well, I'll have to show you how to play. Say, um, tonight in the B&G? There's a folded table near the back by the billiards table. Trust me, it's fun."

[Oriadin]

He looked down at the burns on his chest. He smiled as he looked up.

--I was giving you a chance!--

He laughed

--Fun eh? How can I refuse. Sure I'll meet you there--

OOC: Im going away for a couple of days then I'll be back on Thursday and Friday then im off for a week again so its up to you if you want to play this out when I get back or start it now.

[Sejah Haversh]

"See you then, Oriadin," Sejah replied as he watched his friend exit the room. Pulling his vest back on, the mongoose walked gingerly on his sore leg after him, but turned the toehr way down the hall. Their rooms were in different sections of the living quarters.

OOC- I'll set up a thread in the B&G in a bit, I'm workign on a pic to go with it.