Finally, sword work (Sejah)

[Marcus Telcontar]

A note was on Sejah's table -

Sparring room 3. Bring your sword

Nothing else.

[Sejah Haversh]

If he hadn't known Marcus' handwriting, sejah would have been stumped as to just who it was from. But his master had a peculiar way of making his O's, and that gave him away.

Only the night before he had been yelling at, and gotten reprimanded by Marcus for his behaviour, now it seemed there was a lesson to be learned. The medics had fixed him up pretty well, though he was still bruised and raw in places, but they had also given him enough drugs to take the edge off the lingering pain he felt. But even if he had just been hit by a truck, Sejah would not refuse a challenge from his master, especially with the sword.

But, which sword?

He posessed two that were nearly identical, the only difference being that one had been honed to a keen edge, and the other remained blunt as a tournament weapon. Unsure which to pick, the brown mongoose picked up both and headed out the door the the training room specified.

It was dark inside, and he strained his eyes to see, but to no avail. "Hello? Master Q'Dunn? You called for me?" He called into the blackness.

[Marcus Telcontar]

He could see in the darkness. Impossibly well, with his eyes so hypersensitive. His own sword that he had in hand was a hand and half, a 1 meter long weapon lovingly crafted to replace Icefist, which he had smashed to pieces months ago. There wasn't anythign special about this one, except for a Jedi Art of Preservation, which kept the blade strong and sharp. It was a well balanced weapon, prefect for one handed use or two handed if needed.

"In this" he began, without a greeting "Your eyes are useless. You experience what I do when I walk in daylight. While in this darkness, I can see perfectly. You are two steps away from tripping over a mat, I might add.

So, if your eyes are useless, how might I ask is it that you will be able to spar? Answer - a Jedi has no no need for eyes and I am proof of that. How will you compenstae for a lack of vision?"

[Sejah Haversh]

"You still need to wash your socks more often," came Sejah's reply, a bit of humor to his voice. With the tip of his footpaw he found the mat and stepped up onto it toward Marcus.

"So, a fencing duel in the dark? I've not done that before, but I have dueled blindfolded before." He added, then setting aside his sharp-edged tulwar and shifting his blunt one to his left paw. "If you don't mind me asking, Master Q'Dunn, how is it that you can see in the dark as you said? Is it something to do with that blast sheild you have taken to wearing now?"

[Marcus Telcontar]

"It is because the optical nerves are healing. I am hyper sensitive to light. Thence, for now, I can see in the dark, but light is too painful without a block out. To protect the nerves I have to. You have not answered my question as yet I note"

[Sejah Haversh]

Sejah chuckled in the darkness, shaking his head, though not remembering that Marcus could see it. "No, I suppose I haven't. Well, I don't quite know as of yet, but I will find out soon enough, I suppose. I just would like to ask one favor before we begin, though."

Steppign forward to where he now knew Marcus to be, the mongoose came to a stop and posed his question. "May I touch the blade of your sword?"

[Marcus Telcontar]

Huh?

"Might I ask why?"

[Sejah Haversh]

A small smirk crossed his face, and Sejah chuckled a bit before replying, "Tradition, why else?"

Truly, it was an old tradition where he came from, though it was hardly used and not one he normally cared for himself. But, as he didn't even know what type of blade Marcus was using, it would at least establish what he would be facing.

And, as if to emhpasise his request, he used his thumb to push up against the disc-shaped hilt of his own tulwar to expose the blade and extended it to his master. "You may feel mine as well, if you like."

[Marcus Telcontar]

What an odd custom....

Nevertheless, he reached out, the fingers protruding from the half glove feeling the blade of Sejah's.

"A good blade Master Haversh. But I would prefer that you used your sharp blade that you bought with you. As you will see, mine has a keen edge"

He extended his sword likewise as the Padawan had done.

[Sejah Haversh]

"I once killed a beast of my kind with this one, Master Q'Dunn, do not doubt its threat. But keep in mind I am not proud of that, it was in self defense," Sejah replied in a somber tone.

Pulling his blade back, he clenched his right paw and then opened it again while he moved it forward to find Marcus' blade in the darkness. Please let this work, oh, Garfife, please let this work... he thought to himself as he found the metal of his master's blade. Holding it for but a moment, he retracted his paw. It had worked. He knew not how to control what he had jsut done, but, the important thing was that it had worked.

Stepping back a pace, he held his sheathed tulwar to his side as if it were suspended from a shoulder belt and came to attention. "What form of spar will this be, Master Q'Dunn? On what conditions does one win or lose?"

[Marcus Telcontar]

"No form and no conditions. The only thing to know is that this time I shall not stay my hand. If you do not fight and use the Force to the maximum of your ability, I will give you a mark that you will remember for a long time"

He held his blade up before his face, closing his eyes and going deep into the Force, feeling it's flow and what it would tell him. Since his "blindenss", he had felt his connrcttion grow stronger with the use. Now, he felt it's flow and when the time felt right, his wrist twisted, flicking the sword in a circluar motion and aimed at the Padawan's head.

[Sejah Haversh]

Marcus had once told him that he should learn from outside sources, and he had been. Though he wasn't terribly gifted in the use of the Force, or discerning the proper way to use it all the time, he had learned at least not to fear it anymore. Loki ahd helped him with that.

As his master swung his blade, Sejah knew exactly where it was, and he ducked low and to his left while unsheathing his own blade and lashing out at Marcus' unprotected thighs. His lefel of control with a blade had not diminshed in the past few weeks. He had been pushed harder in competition than he ever had before, and the concept of a steel battle was not one that affected his minds greatly anymore.

[Marcus Telcontar]

He sensed more than saw the strike - he used his wrist to turn the blade slightly, to change it's direction to swing down. Marcus turned slightly to also speed up the fall of his sword - just giving it enough momentum so it's point struck the floor in time to also interecpt the other's blade, a bare few centimeters from the back of his thigh. If this was a sabre, he would then flick upwards, but the sword had totally different characteristics. It had weight and momentum, the blade acted like an airfoil, had drag and resistance. He stepped away, bringing the sword up in front of his face.

The next attack was also just as simple as the first - a forward step and a slash at the body, inteneded more to get a feel of what his opponent was sensing and what he wasn't. His style and possible weakness and strengths

(Waits)

(Whistles)

[Sejah Haversh]

(Gah, sorry. I had chances to work on my book in between doing homweork, so, I took them. I'll pay more attention here.)

A stream of carbon and ferrous particles, that was what he was looking for. Had Sejah not a background in fencing, and a rather complete one at that, he would have been in the dar in more ways than one. But, mainly by knowing where Marcus' sword was at, he was able to guess at his master's stance and foot placement as well.

"Hoo-yaai!" The mongoose grunted as he double-stepped backwards, beating Marcus's blade aside once more. Their swords, though oddly matched, chases each other through the air, Sejah working to find a pattern as Marcus no doubt was searching for one of Sejah's weaknessed. The dark was difficult, and threw him off quite a bit. Had it been light, the parries and counters would have been much faster, and he himself much mroe agressive. As it stood, he was playing neither an offensive or a defensive game.

"Did I ever tell you," Sejah said, whipping his sword around to keep that of his master at bay, "I don't like broadswords? Not because of the-" he ducked a sweeping gash, "blade itself, but because of the weilders. Very few have the grace you do.

He was stalling, trying to figure out a plan, some kind of advantge. MArcus told him never to underestimate the Force, and what it can do, and visions of frying pans and wedgies sprang to mind. Hopefully his master would play fair, or at least mostly so, as Sejah was woefully short in the bag of tricks department at the moment.

[Marcus Telcontar]

So, Sejah could sense where the sword was and had a general sense where Marcus was. That was good, for that was the point of the exercise - a test of the use of the Force.

Now to see just how far Sejah was in the Force and relying on it.

Being born on a heavy grav planet and with the fact he spent time on grav plates to keep his adaptation, the sword he held whistled about with surprising speed. For him, the weight was not much at all and now he suddenly amped up the attack, coming at the Padawan in a rush. Seeing exactly what was about, he deliberatly backed Sejah towards a stool - if the Padawan was truly using the Force, he would avoid the basic trap

[Sejah Haversh]

Somethign was up, Marcus didn't usually do things without a reason, and Sejah somehow knew that the current charge was for something. But, he wasn't as astute in using the Force to sense as Marcus might have hoped. All he could see at the moment was the broadsword that his master wielded as well as a bit of energy every now and then, nothign more. Beyond that, he was fighting blind, and off instinct.

His sneaker-shod footpaws skipped their way backwards as he relented under Marcus' attack, but before he reached the stool, his flicking tail touched it, warning him that soemthing was there. Skipping aside it to his left, he reached out for it with his free paw, and when he found it light and easy to grip, he picked it up and hurled it at his master in an effort to get out of his retreat. Perhaps he hadn't used the Force, but he managed the feat rather well.

[Marcus Telcontar]

The sword met the chair, smashing it to pieces and sending pieces flying in each direction.

Which lead to the next obvious test.

The Master mentally summounded a few of the pieces and threw them at the retreating Padawan.

[Sejah Haversh]

Just as he had learned the composition of Marcus' sword, some of the makeup of the wooden stool had become engrained on his mind. The sound of his master's balde smashing it was enough to make him instinctively put his free arm up to sheild his face from flying pieces, but he went a bit further than that subconsciously.

His intent was to just hold off whatever pieces they might be, but his actions went a bit further, thowing up a form of barrier to pieces of the stool about an inch from his body. When they bounced off harmlessly, Sejah nervously put down his arm and felt around on thr ground with his footpaw to see if what he thought he just did had really happened.

[Marcus Telcontar]

And got a boot to the head for his trouble.

[Sejah Haversh]

The kick was most unnexpected, and sent him to the floor, his sword clattering out of his paw and across the floor.

Unable to think straight for the pain, Sejah lost all track of where Marcus might be, and could only think to scramble towards where he last heard his tulwar make noise from. He was not doing well.