Itching for a Fight (duel/spar)

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa stood in the training circle, done with her duties for the day. She spun her spear in her hand and thumped the butt of it into the dirt. She wanted to test what she had been learning in a sparring match, if anyone else would come.

[Ilias Nytrau]

With attentive care, the tea plants in his modest plot of land were doing quite well. This was the case on a daily basis with the right amount of water, and a touch of the healing arts they thrived and provided a fair sampling of different blends which he took the time to prepare himself. The ginger knight was coming off of one such session of preparation and indulgence in a wonderful mug of a previous batch to poke around the grounds and see how the teaching and the taught got on, when he came across one ring-tailed individual he had yet to have the pleasure of really meeting.

"No velocities to work through?" A faint smile. "The cadences of Master Vo'ren Faalo, perhaps?"

A jest, on his part. Surely such things were lost to the mists of time - besides, the lack of candles and ball bearings was not something he had yet bothered to improvise for. His gaze settled fully on the furry one, knowing full well that the padawans tittered amongst themselves about the 'odd, flame-haired man' who spent more time hunched over non-sapient organics than anything else, but it was not something he felt needed addressing.

[Ndonsa]

"Voren Fall-Oh?" Ndonsa looked up at the red haired man curiously. "I do not know him." She cocked her head to the side and gestured with her spear point toward the rack of practice sabers and staves. "This is my free time. I wanted to practice but..." She shrugged, her tribal necklaces clicking and sliding against each other.

[Kazahan]

"Training!" Kazahan hummed to himself. "Tra-een-eeng! This one will become powerful and strong. Save the worlds and be remembered in song. But first comes training."

Kazahan was bouncing lightly along, his training lightsaber bouncing on his hip. He was in a chipper mood, mostly due to the fact that his true lightsaber was finally starting to come along. Kazahan had finally found a power supply cell that could work with a hilt that could fit in his hands, and now all he needed was a primary crystal, a focusing crystal, a power field conductor, cycling field energizers, inert power insulator, energy modulation circuits, a magnetic stabilizing ring, and the hilt casing. Really, it would be easier to say that all Kazahan had so far was a power supply cell and nothing else, but Kazahan like to be optimistic and focus on the fact that he had finally made a step forward in his quest to build himself a lightsaber. Even if he had no idea what anything else in the list Solomon had helped him make was, or did, or even why they were necessary, Kazahan was not one to be brought down by adversity.

He would overcome! He would persevere! He would — oh, what's going on over there?

A Nehantite (Kazahan reminded himself that Nehantites were not cats, or related to Trianii; nor could he eat them, as it was specifically not allowed) was speaking with a human. The Nehantite was standing in one of the training rings. Maybe she was looking to spar? Oh! Sparring would be fun! He could practice some more of that style Solomon was teaching him. Djem So, if he remembered correctly. He always confused it with Djeng Szo, one of the few noodle dishes that Trianii made. Thinking of it made Kazahan hungry. But the cafeteria was farther away than the two interesting Jedi, so Kazahan made seven paces over to them to stand next to the human.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "Are you training?"

[Ndonsa]

"Not yet," she said, craning her neck to look up at yet another towering Jedi. This one she had seen around, though they did not have any lessons together. He was a learner, she thought, like she was. "I want to." Ndonsa gestured to the rack of practice weapons, her tail flicking a little. "I need a partner to practice with."

[Kazahan]

"Oh! Kazahan can help!" the Trianii said brightly. "Kazahan has been learning and needs to practice also."

He looked the smaller padawan over as he bounced on his footpads, and noticed something curious.

"...do you not have a training saber?"

[Ndonsa]

"I use one in practice," she said. Ndonsa put out her paw and a training saber flew off the weapons rack into it. "Now I have one."

She spun it in her hand without igniting it. "Are you ready?"

[Kazahan]

Kazahan pulled the lightsaber hilt from his belt and nodded.

"Yes," Kazahan said, before igniting his saber and bringing it down on her in a powerful blow.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa got her weapon on and up defensively just in time, the larger padawan proving his strength by trying to hammer her into the dirt. With effort she turned his saber aside, jumping back out of reach and circling around him, half crouched, saber up, and teeth unconciously bared. He turned with her, and she shuffle hopped toward him, her saber swinging in a series of Makashi strikes executed with considerable skill.

[Kazahan]

In contrast to Ndonsa's easy, graceful strikes, Kazahan remained planted on his feet, only shuffling quickly to keep himself in a good position. He blocked two of her strikes as being the only ones that posed a threat to him; remaining on the defensive was not his way, though, and the second block pushed her saber away and with the same movement he went back on the attack, chopping down fiercely to get her to back up into a range where his reach would be the most effective.

[Ndonsa]

As he pushed aside her saber and brought his up for another downward chop, Ndonsa fell sideways onto one paw and kicked a footpaw up into his hip.

[Kazahan]

The blow wasn't very strong, at least from what the Trianii was used to, but it did cause him to misstep to the right, and that, couple with the momentum of his attack, put him severely off guard.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa flipped back to her footpaws, her lightsaber coming around to score a hit against Kazahan's suddenly unprotected side.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan yelped as the blade stung him, but thankfully did not mark or burn his fur. He deactivated his saber and bowed.

"You are very good!" the Trianii said cheerfully. "Let us go again, yes?"

[Ndonsa]

She copied his bow a little stiffly, and nodded. "Again."

This time Ndonsa made the first strike, moving to bat aside his saber and stab toward his center.

[Kazahan]

This time, Kazahan seemed a bit more at ease, and held his saber in his right hand, batting away Ndonsa's quick stab with a sweep to his left and a quick sweep to the right once more to give himself the initiative.

[Ndonsa]

She again leapt back as her attack was turned aside, her one handed stance presenting a smaller target to the big Trianii. Ndonsa shuffle-hopped forward again, a few measured strikes to tease out Kazahan's defenses and find another opening.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan refused to relinquish his hold on the initiative; now that he was applying the principles of Djem So practically, he understood more of what the training manuals were attempting to impart. Quick, powerful strikes to overwhelm an opponent's defenses, continuous hold of the initiative, and exploitation of the holes that develop as a result. Djem So's defense was more of an attack than anything else: parries and blocks were meant to open a defense for a quick debilitating strike.

So that was what Kazahan focused on: Ndonsa's measured strikes were either dodged or ignored unless they posed an immediate threat, and the Ranger attempted to sweep aside her defenses once more, to drive her back and open her up, or push her out of the ring they stood in.

[Ndonsa]

His heavier handed approach to combat meant that his strength was quickly overcoming the careful strikes she was using. Ndonsa turned aside another blow, continuing to back up in the face of his assault, until she realized she was close to the edge of the fighting ring.

And then there was an opening - his more powerful attacks taking slightly longer than hers to set up - and Ndonsa stepped forward, putting her full strength behind a sweeping sun djem, aimed at his training saber's hilt to disarm him by destroying the weapon.

[Kazahan]

The strike swung true, and Kazahan was left bewildered as the blade of his training saber was suddenly gone, and Ndonsa's own blade pointed at his face.

"Oh no," Kazahan gasped, staring at the unlit lightsaber in his hand. "Oh no! Oh no! What will Kazahan tell the saber master now? This one will never be allowed to touch a lightsaber again when he learns that Kazahan has broken another lightsaber! Ai! This is horrible!"

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa was confused by his reaction, and stepped up to him, taking the saber hilt from his hand and pressing the activation plate. The lightsaber came back on, and she handed it back to him.

"It is not broken," she said. "And if it were, I was the one who broke it. But I did not."

[Kazahan]

Kazahan blinked and deactivated the saber, looked it over, and activated it again. And then deactivated it. And then reactivated it once more. He looked up to Ndonsa, beaming, and then with a single step forward caught up the Kufu in a great hug.

"Oh thank you!" the big cat gushed. "This one was so worried! But you have fixed the lightsaber! Now Kazahan will not have to be banned from using a lightsaber ever again! Thank you!"

[Ndonsa]

She stiffened as he lunged toward her, and found herself wrapped up in a hug. An experimental squirm found that she was good and caught. "It was nothing," Ndonsa said, embarrassed for him at his emotional display. "Do you wish to go again?"

[Rev Solomon]

Some distance away, Solomon was strolling through the parade grounds that surrounded the Jedi complex, as was his habit, taking in the air and the sun and exchanging pleasantries with the work crews that never ceased to move about the colony, raising new structures and running new facilities between them. Some of them were fellow devotees of the Faith, and he'd been entertaining thoughts of holding some small prayer services, when he saw the activity down by the sparring circles. Kazahan was never hard to spot at any distance, but he recognized Ndonsa more by reputation than by experience. Intrigued, the preacher paused to watch the bout and to see how his new padawan fared.

[Kazahan]

"Oh, of course!" Kazahan said, beaming once more as he activated his lightsaber and deactivated it. He then placed Ndonsa down gently and stepped back, his tail swaying back and forth and his ears facing away from each other, in his mind quite easily displaying his great joy. If he were smaller, he was quite sure he'd be purring. "You are a very good opponent. Kazahan will learn much from you."

Kazahan paused for a moment.

"What is your name?" he asked, igniting his lightsaber and holding the hilt casually in one hand. The weapon was slightly too small for his large hands, so he was forced to improvise on several principles he'd read about on the subject of Djem So. "This one is Kazahan."

[Ndonsa]

"Ndonsa," she said giving herself a shake to smooth down any ruffled fur. Her necklaces clicked together noisily, all wooden beads and teeth and bits of precious seashell. "Of Kuf," she added as an afterthought.

"You are using...D-jem So?" Her tongue stumbled on the difficult word. "I have mostly practiced Makashi. And the spear," she said.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira drew close to the sparring circle after having tended to the task of delivering a few early crops to the mess hall for future meals. The Knight wore a simple homespun tunic, and his hair was drawn back into a rough ponytail. The only thing that seemed to indicate he was a member of the Order and not some peasant was were the simple aesthetics of his lightsaber hitched to his belt. His feet were as bare as those of the two fighters, a patina of well-worn dirt from his efforts in the field.

He found the imposing figure of Reverend Solomon likewise overseeing events, and the shorter knight made his way to join him.

"Master Solomon." A deferential nod of his head as he drew to a stop adjacent to his superior. Anbira had joined the demonstration during a lull, and the fighters appeared to be acquainting themselves with each other.

[Rev Solomon]

"Knight Hicchoru," Solomon replied with a similarly respectful nod. "Oh, I was meaning to tell you - the fresh celto you brought last week? Absolutely divine."

He tucked his arm against his back as he settled in to watch.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan nodded, setting himself in an opening posture, holding the weapon above his head in both hands, though it was a bit small.

"Spears? Kazahan has trained with them as well. It is too bad that it is not so useful for lightsaber combat," he said, initiating this spar with a fierce downward strike followed by two wide sweeps. He would once more try to keep the smaller trainee at length and force her out of the sparring ring.

[Ndonsa]

Being limited to one hand on the hilt was constantly challenging, but she was getting better with practice. As Kazahan brought his saber down in another predictable strike, Ndonsa leapt back and avoided it entirely. He stepped toward her, sweeping his saber in a wide arc, and she dodged to the side, her saber tip nicking his blade as she relied on her quick reflexes yet again. Running away does not win the fight, however, and if she kept backing up she would be out of the ring.

He followed up the first sweep with another, equally powerful, and she jumped over the blade straight into Kazahan's chest, her lightsaber high overhead for a down strike at the Trianii's head.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan's eyes widened and brought up his lightsaber faster than he could actually think; one moment her blade was coming down on his head, the next their blades were locked. With a heave, he pushed from his back through his shoulder and arm, using as much strength as he could push into the movement to grant himself some distance. Following through with the push, he stepped forward and struck out again.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Knight Hicchoru," Solomon replied with a similarly respectful nod. "Oh, I was meaning to tell you - the fresh celto you brought last week? Absolutely divine."

Anbira nodded his thanks.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. We've had limited rain. The yield has been low unfortunately. We'll have better luck with the sprok shoots in a week."

The time for idle conversation was drawing to an end, however. Anbira did not come to Solomon to discuss his labor in the field. The thrum of lightsaber combat again made the air alive around them, and the Jedi Hermit watched his student face down Kazahan.

"Kazahan is beginning to use his techniques intuitively." Anbira stroked at his beard as he complimented Solomon's student. "Djem So with his strength and leverage suits him well."

Even still, Anbira was peeling the fight before him apart as if with a scalpel.

"Ndonsa, mind your feet! He's baiting you into making a commitment to strike!"

A glance was sent sidelong to Solomon and a furtive smile. This was as much competition for the teachers as it was the learners.

[Ndonsa]

She was pushed aside in mid air, and she landed in front of him on her rump. Ndonsa got her saber up and blocked Kazahan's follow up strike, turning it to the side whole she rolled in the other direction. The end of her tail stung - a hit, but not a killing blow.

Ndonsa scrambled to stand, another huge sweep from the Trianii slamming into her blade. His strength was great, and she was forced to retreat once more, now finally upright. He drew back a bit, and she nearly rushed into the space between them until her master's words rang out. Frowning, Ndonsa returned to a classic Makashi stance, cautiously testing out Kazahan's defenses with a few quick, and shallow, moves.

[Rev Solomon]

Speaking of baiting. Solomon met Anbira's challenge with a sheepish grin.

"More credit to the student than the teacher. I haven't yet had a chance to demonstrate much more than the basics of Djem So." The reason for that was a plain as the empty sleeve on the right side of his coat. It was hard to teach a two-handed technique when one of yours was missing. The preacher watched keenly as Ndonsa choked up on her grip and settled into a more patient, surgical mindset.

"Ndonsa's Makashi has come a long way," he said. "I wouldn't have guessed she'd take to the classics so well."

As the two students paced each other around the ring, the electricity between them intensified, invisible to the uninitiated. As Ndonsa probed Kazahan's defense like a seasoned duelist, Solomon couldn't help himself.

"She's controlling the range! Use your reach!"

[Kazahan]

Kazahan blinked, and turned his head to see Masters Solomon and... and... Kazahan almost swore (mentally of course). He'd forgotten that man's name! But Master Solomon was here! His thoughts were pulled out of their distracted spiral when Ndonsa's lightsaber halted a few centimeters from his nose. He stepped back and bowed, conceding the match.

"Forgive this one," he said. "Distraction ill becomes a good sparring partner. Perhaps another match?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

With another lull in matches, Anbira leaned towards Solomon, a slightly conspiratorial bent to his smile.

"Care to make this match interesting, Solomon? A kilogram of foraged ramps says Ndonsa wins again."

His student paced light on her feet, tail snapping a bit gingerly but not diminishing the look of pragmatic confidence she displayed openly.

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon winced as his own interference led to another winning coup for Ndonsa. Based on past performances, he was inclined to refuse Anbira's wager - after all, gambling wasn't exactly a worthy pursuit for a man of the cloth. But then he saw Kazahan steal another glance his way, eager and full of nerves. Solomon had quickly learned how perceptive the Trianii was, and didn't want him to sense any lack of confidence from his master on the field of battle.

And anyway, it would be immensely satisfying to see that grin on Anbira's face turn to dismay.

"I'll put two bottles of Generis brown ale against that."

[Ndonsa]

The two Jedi were wagering, and Ndonsa blew out a noisy breath. Her skin was prickling with sweat, her fur beginning to stick together in places. She did not look at Anbira, focusing instead on Kazahan. "Again?" She dropped into an opening stance, lightsaber held up in front of her as she waited for his answer.

[Kazahan]

"You have this one's gratitude," the big Trianii said. He bowed and entered what looked like a Form I opening stance, only holding the lightsaber one handed. He began once more though with Djem So, making two great sweeps while stepping forward. The movements were simple enough, but what was necessary was making Ndonsa commit to an attack so he could turn his block into an attack of its own.

[Ndonsa]

He began with the same moves again, and Ndonsa avoided the first sweep and blocked the second. His greater strength knocked aside her weapon, and she backed up, tail flicking back and forth in anticipation. Master Anbira had confidence in her ability.

She shuffle hopped foward and lunged, looking to score a quick hit on his belly.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira drew his arms across his chest in a high, tight cross, drumming his right fingers against left bicep as he analyzed the new front Kazahan put in front of Ndonsa. The strong authority of movement was hallmark Djem So, but done in a curious single-handed form that he'd never seen and only heard of.

"Did you teach him this technique?"

Anbira glanced sidelong to Solomon, rather curious at whether the Trianii had received some interesting combat insights or was taking preordained martial dogma and evolving it himself. Either way, the Hermit could sense a hidden jeopardy to Ndonsa's current approach.

"Don't overextend! Look how he's holding his center!"

[Kazahan]

As quick as lightning, Kazahan sidestepped, sweeping his saber wide to parry her blade and immediately turn it back on her while her defence was open.

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon's eyebrows lowered like stormclouds at this new innovation, not because he feared it wouldn't work, but because Kazahan shouldn't have known to try it. His fluid movements were studied, not merely improvised, and though the preacher could see elements of his form that needed refinement, there was no mistaking its origins.

"I haven't taught him this," he confessed.

Rather than call out more advice, he stood silent and waited to see the outcome.

[Ndonsa]

She was beaten. Ndonsa could see it happening, his blade battering hers aside and coming back to finish her. She shouted -

- and Kazahan was shoved backwards with the Force, his lightsaber missing it's mark. She returned to a guard position, breathing heavily.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan staggered, but thankfully Ndonsa seemed to be content with standing at her guard position and allowed him to regain his equilibrium.

"So that is how that works!" he exclaimed after a moment, doing that same move again; a quick sidestep and a two part sweep that opened the defense and ended the fight if performed correctly. "Most interesting. This is mostly new to Kazahan, you see. This one had learned mostly from manuals, and it is very confusing. 'Stand so,' it says to Kazahan, so Kazahan stands so, but does not understand why. The manual says 'Powerful strike,' but this one is unsure if that is meant in a purely strength metric or if there is some other measure of power, perhaps using the Force. There is terminology that this one does not understand, and the manual does not explain."

Kazahan's tail flicked from side to side.

"But if you are this good like this, with a spear you must be deadly! Could you show me that wonderful parry you did? This one put much strength behind the blow, but you redirected it very well, and Kazahan is curious."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa nodded. "When the lightsaber comes at you, you meet it with your own." She swung slowly toward him in an overhand strike, as if she was teaching a child. Kazahan blocked lightly, and she pressed harder against his blade. "A stronger enemy can overpower you. Turn their strength along your blade..." she struggled for the words to explain, "and present a new path for their weapon to follow."

[Kazahan]

"Another path..." Kazahan hummed, and then straightened. "Oh! Kazahan understands this now!"

He practiced the move and then moved his wrist.

"You explain things well. Thank you. Would you like to continue sparring, or would you rather rest a short time?"

[Ndonsa]

She cocked her head to the side and then thrust her muzzle in the direction of the weapons rack. "If you have trained with the spear..." The Jedi of course did not stock spears for practice, but there were long staves that were almost the same. "I do not want my skill to become... Rusted." She frowned lightly, wondering if she used the word correctly, and then smiled.

[Kazahan]

"Of course!" the large Trianii said, and taking the moment to practice, focused on two staves. For a moment nothing happened, and then as if something had snapped, the two staves came hurtling towards him at far higher speeds than he was prepared to deal with. One he managed to catch, but the other smacked him in the face and went tumbling off to the side while he fell backward to hit the ground on his back.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

"That hurt very, very much," he said. "Yes. Very painful."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa put out her paw and the wayward staff flew at her and smacked into her palm. She stood over the fallen Trianii. "Do you need help?" Her face showed concern, and yet a twitching at the corners of her mouth betrayed a great deal of amusement that she was feeling, despite Kazahan's possible injury.

[Kazahan]

"This one does not need both of your assistance," the big cat answered blearily. "One will do fine."

[Ndonsa]

The smile was swallowed, and Ndonsa reached down and took his paw, pulling and helping him up. "We should continue later, Kazahan. You are bleeding."

[Kazahan]

"Oh no," Kazahan replied. "This one is quite all right. One cannot always fight in the best condition."

Once he was on his feet, he felt along his face and found a bruised cut just below his cheekbone. A soft hiss of pain, and Kazahan looked at Ndonsa with so small amount of amusement.

"There is already only one of you once more. Just a few moments, and Kazahan will be ready to spar."

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa nodded, and stepped back, twirling the staff between her hands, slowly first, and then faster and faster. She stopped the staff while it was upright, in front of her face, and then thumped one end of it to the dirt, giving the two masters a formal bow. "A demonstration, Master Anbira." She knew Kazahan was up to the task.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan held the staff a bit awkwardly, but settled it into the ground as Ndonsa had, and bowed to both Solomon and Anbira.

"Do not judge this one too harshly, yes? Staves and spears are not this one's best weapons."

With that, he bowed to Ndonsa, and swinging the staff like a sword, advanced on her.

[Ndonsa]

Ndonsa grasped the staff with both paws, blocking his attack with one end and then flipped the other end up to try and hit him in the shoulder.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan shuffled back, regaining his reach advantage and avoiding strike to his shoulder simultaneously. With a quick step forward, Kazahan jabbed with one end of the staff before swinging around the other end low to sweep Ndonsa's feet from underneath her.

[Ndonsa]

She leaped away from the jab, getting enough height and distance to avoid the sweep as well. Grasping the end of her staff she spun in a circle, the staff whirling around at high speed as she moved back into hitting range.

[Kazahan]

Kazahan did not allow Ndonsa to build up much speed; as soon as she was within range, he barred the staff to stop the whirling attack and stepped in close, bringing the bottom end of the staff up to jab at the mongoose's face.