New beginnings, new masters

[Iago Kent]

Dear Iago,

I am sorry, but I cannot continue to train you. Because we have only begun the journey of your discovery of the Force, I believe there is enough time for someone to train you- without you losing too much or slowing down.

I hope your family is well. Do cherish it.

Regards,
Xazor


Iago snorted at the letter. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate being informed of the change, he just wished it had been in person. He'd gotten enough letters of good-byes and changes. For once...he wished he could be told in person of changes.

No matter...time to start anew.

His sword was drawn as he looked at the practice dummy, well worn by fighters before him. The air was cool as he slashed his sword forward, putting a large slice in the dummy. Another two hacks and it was split open.

The Padawan smiled...it'd been a while since he'd been able to practice.

He popped his neck as the readied his sword again. He still needed it.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I watched the man fight from the doorway... His senses were not that highly attuned, or he would have noticed me watching him. For the moment, I decided to continue to watch him. He was a good fighter, obviously trained in swordfighting, which encouraged me. Swordsmen tended to make the jump to the saber very easily. I continued to watch him practice, feeling both excited and nervous, as I always did before training a new padawan.

[Iago Kent]

Another hack...another slash.

Then with a yell and an overhead thrust, Iago split the dummy in two. He brushed his brown hair out of his eyes, then breathed the air deeply.

It was nice and cool, a bit of a reminder of Almania. Another deep breath, then his eyes caught a bit of blue off to his right.

"Oh," his accented Basic was broken from a bit of heavy breathing, "I'm sorry...I didn't notice you standing there."

Iago attempted a smile, "I...I think I kinda destroyed the dummy. Sorry, if you're the equipmant...manager, I think the word is."

He nodded his head, "I'm Iago Kent."

[Ryla Relvinian]

I smiled back at him, walking forward and extending my hand in a friendly greeting.

"Don't worry. I'm not the equipment manager and, even if we had one, I wouldn't tell him. All sorts of things get destroyed around here."

[Iago Kent]

Iago took it, then kissed it in the traditional Almanian greeting.

"Thank you..." he said after releasing it, "I suppose you've had a hand in destroying several pieces of equipment? I notice your hands are quite graceful and strong at the same time."

He smiled again at the blue-skinned woman in front of him.

[Ryla Relvinian]

A subtle blush crept across my face as he kissed my hand.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm sure I've demolished enough pieces in my days here."

I looked back at the training dummy, now in various states of fabric and stuffing all over the floor.

"Care to show me what you were working on here?"

[Iago Kent]

A bit of a half smile came to Iago's face. He always enjoyed showing his sword skills.

Looking around he picked up another training dummy, brushing off a lizard that somehow got on it.

"Just a bit of thrusting and parrying," he took a swing at the dummy, lightly slicing it.

"The dummies aren't as good as the ones back home."

Another swipe.

"But they do a good job.

"I could use a sparring partner. If you could recommend one."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Well, I would volunteer myself, but I haven't brought a sword with me."

Looking back over my shoulder at the cupboards containing training equipment, I got an idea.

"Let's see, sometimes there are wooden practice swords in here..."

To my delight, there were two, and with a grin, I picked one up and swung it lightly through the air with a *swoosh*. It had a good feel to it, and made me remember my very first weapons trainer, those long years ago on Tatooine.

"Ah... not as good as a saber, or steel, but I'm sure it will suffice for now. Care to even the odds?"

I held out the other sword, handle first, towards him.

[Iago Kent]

Iago smiled, sheathing his sword, then removing his belt and placing it on a rock away from the action.

With a bit of an embellished movement, he waved the wooden sword in front of him.

"A bit lighter than I'm used to. Care to go at it first?"

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Allright."

With a practiced motion, I swung the sword in an arc towards his right hip. I was still smiling, unaware till now how much I missed a good spar.

[Iago Kent]

Iago easily blocked the wooden sword as it went for his hip. The two 'blades' clacked against each other.

He brought his own up and towards Ryla's chest.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I steped to the side while parrying his blow, and then ducked around to make a cut to his back. I had a fairly good suspicion that he was a better swordsman than he was letting on, but I continued to work smoothly and simply, letting him show me what he was capable of.

[Iago Kent]

Iago fell to the ground, avoiding the cut to the back. He did a quick somersault and righted himself.

"You're good."

Then he pressed forward a bit, an overhead thrust again.

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Why thank you!"

I smiled, blocking his overhead thrust and pushing his weapon back just enough to swing around and go for a cut to the shoulder.

[Iago Kent]

She nicked him. Barely.

In a real swordfight it wouldn't have hurt him. Only woulda scratched him had they been fighting with blades.

He smiled his half smiled, blocked another swipe, then swung for her legs quickly.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I jumped up and avoided his swipe towards my legs, landing a back a bit and thrusting towards the center of his chest.

He had talent, that was clear, at least he had some experience with the blade. I made a mental note to work on his agility. His height and bulk would be an advangage in hand to hand combat, but might be a problem later on when we got to using real lightsabers.

[Iago Kent]

Iago had a bit of quickness with the blade.

His wrist moved clockwise, knocking the blade away from the center of his chest. But it still nicked his right shoulder. Had it been a real lightsaber it would have cut him. Iago made a mental note to work on his quickness and movement.

He shifted his wrists into an uncomfortable position and pushed the wooden sword down towards the ground of the arena.

It was now her move on what she'd do with her blade.

[Ryla Relvinian]

We continued that way for a moment longer, with Iago countering every one of my attacks with a variety of moves and blocks while I continued my friendly assault. After a second I lowered my sword as well, giving him an appraising smile.

"Ok, good work there."

I was breathing a bit heavy from the last move I had done, a complex block and flip that I hadn't done in a while.

"I can see that you've got a good start on defense, so let's see how you fare on pure attacks."

Gathering my composure in one practiced move, I centered myself in the Force and raised my saber to a standard blocking pose, wating for him to strike.

[Iago Kent]

Iago nodded, saluting Ryla with his sword nodded out towards her.

"Thank you m'lady. You're quite a swordsman yourself."

He twirled his sword, flipping it over twice before swinging it towards the wooden sword of Ryla's. She easily blocked it, but then Iago knocked her arms up towards her face, and moved his sword towards her midriff.

[Ryla Relvinian]

The instant I moved to block my face, I saw my mistake. I moved my sword to push the tip of his sword away from my stomach area while taking a quick step back to avoic it's arc. The movement caught me off balance for a moment but I recovered, putting my right foot behind me to stabilize my body for his next attempt.

[Iago Kent]

If Ryla were a man, Kent would have swung his leg out and knocked her down. But he was too honorable for that.

His sword though went right for her knee, giving it a light tap.

"Gotcha," he smiled.

[Ryla Relvinian]

Ah, I have found his weakness. I mentally noted to myself as he flashed me a grin at his apparent victory. He was a good enough swordsman to see that he could have taken me down, but didn't.

Thinking quickly, I decided to turn this into a teachable moment. as his sword began to move back from the tap on my knee, I reached to the side with my own wooden blade to keep it out of the way for a moment as I swung out with my left leg, catching him behind the knees and sending him down onto the springy training mats below.

The look on his face was that of bewildered amusement. Being as built of a guy as he was, the blow more than likely only bruised his pride. I gave him a grin this time, and reached out with a hand to help him up.

"You had an opportunity. Why didn't you take it?"

[Iago Kent]

He took it, a bemused expression on his face.

"I don't like hitting women," he gave a chagrined smile.

"I was taught to respect them, not hurt them."

[Ryla Relvinian]

I gave him a nod.

"This is true, but there is a difference between hitting a woman and defending yourself."

I walked over to a cabinet and unlocked it, looking inside for what I needed.

"Trust me, there are many formidable foes who appear innocent and defenseless."

From the cabinet I took a small circular training droid, no bigger than a closed fist and covered in circutry and wiring. I sat down on the floor and motioned Iago to join me.

"What you must learn is to sense intent, and we can work on that"

[Iago Kent]

Iago strode over to where Ryla stood, nodding as he listened to her words of instruction.

"Do you mean that intuitive feeling in the back of your neck? Like when the hair stands up on the back of your head?"

He kept the sword in his hand, although he wasn't sure if he needed it or not.

Iago moved his face closer to the small circular droid studying it intently.

His gloved hand came up to touch the object.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I reached out my hand to still his before he could touch the droid.

"Yes, and no."

I set my sword to the side and set the motionless droid on the floor between us.

"There is a difference between a swordsman and a Jedi. That differenc is the Force. Without the Force, you're just blocking based on anticipation and assumption, but with it, you can begin to sense intent, and that is a very useful thing."

I motioned to the droid again, giving a slight smile.

"I want you to try and sense this droid using only the Force. Close your eyes, and reach out with your mind and tell me what you feel."

[Iago Kent]

Iago's face scrunched in a perplexed look.

I guess I should give it a try...

He opened his mind, as much as he could, trying to sense what was out there. After a few moments a small smile came on his face.

Everything was alive...the bird on the tree behind him, the grass matted from he and Ryla's combat, the tree itself...even himself and Ryla he could sense something...some sort of comradship he supposed.

And the smells...the attacked his senses, filling his mind with everything.

And then he smelled the oil of the small droid, felt it in Ryla's hand.

"I feel..." the Almanian stated as he tried to put what he felt in words.

"I feel...alive."

[Ryla Relvinian]

The living force wraped around us with the comfort of an old, trusty blanket, a feeling that I was quite familiar with yet never tired of. Trained as my senses were, I could feel the distinct pull of Iago's presence nearby, and as I reflexively reached out with my senses, I could detect many other Jedi around us, on the grounds, in the temple, or even out in the city nearby.

Iago had a very strong natural gift for the Living Force, that was clear. Now, what about a test for his technical Force skills...

"Good, Now, relax your mind even more, and when you feel ready, reach out to just this droid. Try and focus your senses in on one specific point."

It was perfectly fine if he couldn't do this on the first try. I still wanted to test him, to see how much focus he could get on a non-living object.

[Iago Kent]

Iago paused a bit as he heard Ryla's words.

He concentrated, seeing the Force as though he were staring through one of the tunnels his people used to get out of the castle on Almania. It circled the droid and he tried to lift it.

The droid fell with a splat on the grass as Iago failed to pick it up the first time.

He gave a sheepish grin, "Sorry...I'll give it another go, if you don't mind."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"That's ok, take your time."

I watched him settle back down. His eyes closed, and, after a moment, his face softened. It really was unusual to even move something like the droid in one try. The trick with anything in the Force, which many Padawans did not realize, was that perception often hampered an otherwise easy task. The droid was compiled of wires and bits of circuitry, and also had the capacity to move and present itself as a target.

All of these things would get in the way of a first attempt, unless the person trying were to rid himself of them, which wasn't as easy as it sounded. He was trying, however, and that was as good of a start as any.

[Iago Kent]

He could feel it again, the droid laying on the grass, unmoving. The inside felt cold and empty, as if no life existed in it. He'd heard rumors about Jedi picking up balls of this kind and hurling them at objects. All he had to do was make it hover...it shouldn't be that hard.

Iago concentrated again feeling the Force around him. It guided him, telling him where the weakest point of the droid was. He lifted his hand slightly...and the droid lifted off the ground, hovering for only a few seconds, before beginning to fall back towards the earth.

Iago caught it again, directing it to eye level. When he opened his eyes, the droid fell into Ryla's hand.

A grin from Iago, "You're more than just someone who walks around the Jedi Grounds challenging strangers to duals aren't you?"

[Ryla Relvinian]

Though his control was still weak, and skills still needed to be developed, the jump he had made from simply perceiving the droid to actually moving it was as I expected. Teaching him would be a pleasure, if he learned everything this quickly.

His witty remark and boyish grin made me smile. "Oh? Whatever gave you that idea? Perhaps this is my job, to roam the halls in search of lonely Padawans."

Continuing to smile, I looked down and examined the droid in my palm. "Perhaps I am the dreaded equipment manager, eh?"

[Iago Kent]

Iago gave a smile, "If you were...I think you would have rebuked me for destroying the practice dummy earlier.

"Unless, of course, you wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"That is true..."

I looked around me for a moment, glad that the training area we were in was blessed with a gentle breeze. Turning back to Iago, who now looked at me with a gaze that I could not read, I continued.

"Padawan Kent, I have been sent out to resume your training, after Knight Xazor's departure.... That is, if this arrangement is suitable for you?"

[Iago Kent]

Iago grinned, a bit of a half-grin, but it said enough. He was pleased to hear this.

"Of course it's suitable for me. I was hoping I would recieve some more once Xazor left."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Well, she is gone, but you all are not forgotten. It did take some time to find places for her many Padawans, but yes, you will get your training."

I smiled, glad that he was pleased with the arrangement. There was nothing worse than being given an unwilling learner, abd I strongly felt that his training would go fairly smoothly.

"So tell me, Iago, what has Xazor been teaching you, before her departure?"

[Iago Kent]

Iago gave a sheepish grin.

"I did learn how to sense the Force a bit. Outside of that...nothing much."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Sensing... like what we were doing here today?"

I thought it odd that he had recieved so little training, but kept it to myself. It was not my place to question Xazor's actions in front of a student.

"Did you work with any lightsaber combat at all, or hand-to-hand combat?"

[Iago Kent]

(OOC: hee...I remember this thread now)

"Not too much, my lady," Iago replied, "Unfortunately I was received into Xazor's training just before she left. I do know a bit of hand to hand though from home though."

He gave a smile, "If you wish to test it, I am certainly willing to show you how good I am."

[Ryla Relvinian]

(ooc: I sure hope so! :P )

"Confidence can be a weakness, young Padawan." I gave him a wry smile, despite the fact that we were nearly the same age.

"Well, OK then." I readied myself for some hand-to-hand sparring, choosing a relaxed, neutral stance. "Impress me."

[Iago Kent]

Iago gave a nod. He hadn't been tryin got sound too overconfident but he was good at what he did.

He assumed a combat stance, his arms loose, and his body relaxed. He raised his hands then (as he did to test her skills)sent an easy punch towards Ryla's face.

Iago fully expect her to block it and possibly do more. He was getting a feel for his master at what she was good at.