Private Aggressive Meditation

[Jand Talo]

Jand smirked as Iris bent backwards, her flexibility from earlier on full display.

Her movement resulted in a low kick with a leg, as she tumbled away; but Jand was no slouch with acrobatics, and pushed into a sideways flip that saw him go up and over her sweep - he considered a slash for her leg, but didn't. He landed on both feet lightly, after his single rotation through the air. Iris had given herself some space, too, as her flexible movements took her a distance away.

"Were you holding back earlier?" Jand asked, curiously. "Your flexibility, that is."

Still, with the moment to breathe, Jand focused on an ill feeling within him. The numb sensation in his thigh was of some concern. As a Nagai, he had grown very attuned to his body, so when the muscles seemed to feel heavier - almost fatigued - he wondered at potential reasons. The most obvious was the lightsaber Iris wielded, as it had been the only thing to touch him thus far in the training.

But how remained a mystery.

It seemed to imply that the blade she held was more than it seemed, unlike a stinging training lightsaber, and if it could numb regions it touched.

Well.

"Very well."

Jand ran forward, as he pulled back his lightsaber arm, and then threw the weapon toward Iris--

* Vroomvroomvroom *

--it began spinning horizontally, and quickly closed the distance between the pair. Jand fully expected a deflection, or even an outright dodge, of the thrown weapon; so, he continued to run at Iris, before he jumped into a sideways butterfly twist - while he reached out with the Force, admittedly with some shakiness, and pulled his lightsaber back to him. As he rotated through the air, the blade joined his momentum and began spinning with him. It slashed at the area where Iris was, several times, as though a windmill around Jand as the central - and spinning parallel to the ground - axis, which delivered strikes in quick succession!

Jand landed on the other side, beyond where Iris was or had been, and spun into a low guard on one knee to face her...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Wasn't the point of the poses to follow exact?"

Iris tilted her head. Was she supposed to use her flexibility more? She'd have to keep that in mind. But she didn't dwell on it. If anything, her brow furrowed. "But are you?" She knew full well she left herself open to a strike with her kick. If he didn't fall, he could strike back. And he hadn't fallen. She waited, watched. Him and the colors. They darkened as he went on the offensive.

The swirl of intention came, the color shifting into a wave for the strike. But not from the blade being throw. Rather than try to deflect it, she shifted her stance. Followed the swirl to catch the blade in her palm. Guide it's rapid spin away before closing her fingers around it to take hold, briefly, and huck it right back towards Jand. Which seemed to be his plan anyway.

She grinned as he spun. Unorthodox, different. Clever. Rather than try to deflect the rapid strikes she scurried to the side, slipping away as quickly as she could to avoid the spinning saber. A different color. The knee came up, catching her on the chin. Stars spun as she stumbled back, briefly dazed. But she was quick to recover. Her eyes narrowed in focus as she flicked her blade up, starting to thrust the tip of her blade once, twice, a flurry of rapid thrusts towards different zones of Jand's body.

Jand Talo

 

[Jand Talo]

Jand's first reaction, after the knee and Iris' moment of recovery, was to throw a tehk'la blade.

But he didn't.

The aim was to train, not simply focus on winning, so he withheld the natural reaction.

"I am not giving everything to this training, no," Jand commented, as he thought back to Iris' earlier question. "If I did... well, I do not wish to seek your death, to win the engagement. I will maintain the mindset of training."

When Iris rushed forward, Jand held his position, his blade in a cross-guard over his front. The thrusts were quick, precise, and aimed at different parts of the body. The Nagai parried one, but lacked the moment to counter, as the second came rapidly. That, too, was parried, and again the timing between thrusts was too short for reasonable reaction. Then the third came... and Jand's lightsaber blade missed Iris', as her attack landed and hit Jand on the left bicep.

Jand took several steps back, as he assessed the 'injury'.

His arm felt... heavier, numb.

Fatigued.

Much like his thigh.

"Your blade," Jand said, as he shook his left arm and tried to gain circulation or feeling again. It was entirely possible he had taken the hit, to make the deduction. "What does it do? My body feels... wrong from where your blade has hit."

The Nagai waited for a response, then called on the Force - shakily - to reinforce a leap, as he sailed up high in front of Iris and came down with a mighty slash from the Ataru form. As Jand landed, he crouched, and moved his lightsaber to be horizontal in front of his head and upper body, to prepare a parry of counter stabs - while, at the same time, Jand kicked forward with a boot aimed at knocking a leg out from under Iris...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"An Entropite crystal. It can't cut, but it can knock someone out with enough contact. That's why there's no heat. No hum. It's as nonlethal of a saber as it can get." Iris lifted her blade back up, tucking the other behind her back in a more classic fencing stance. "And stop underestimating me. I might not be from a warrior culture, but I didn't get these scars here. I've faced Sith Lords and held my own."

Well, she ran. But she still survived.

He jumped towards her, but this time she didn't wait to catch his strike. Instead the hand behind her back moved. Pulling the Force in his path to try and catch him and throw him aside.

Jand Talo

 

[Jand Talo]

Jand grimaced as the Force knocked off his trajectory, which sent him sideways with a shunt, though with his natural dexterity he managed to rotate enough to land convincingly on his feet. Jand landed, he crouched, and moved his lightsaber to be horizontal in front of his head and upper body, to prepare a parry any further attacks for the immediate.

"I see, it is a unique blade, I can see the usefulness in some instances," Jand said, before he narrowed his gray eyes. "And I do not underestimate you. If I approach our fight as a Nagai would, it would escalate until one of our deaths. Neither of us want that?"

As it was, if Iris was attempting to throw Jand off with the insistence on his going all out, it wouldn't work. He would indulge her, if she chose it, but wanted to be very clear about what she asked:

"Asking that of me, requires I put my personal honor on the line, and ignore my lessons to becoming a Jedi to focus wholly on my Nagai self... my people do not hesitate to kill, we have no scruples. Are you certain you want this?"

Jand waited.

The decision would be on Iris' own head...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"You are Nagai. You are Jedi. There is no either or, no fighting as one versus fighting as the other." Well, at least he wasn't tripped up. She took a breath as she raised her free hand, calling forward a second blade from the training rack. It was a skill she needed to work on more. When better than facing him? The second blade ignited as Iris lifted both blades. One pointed for him, the other above her head.

"Don't deny one part in favor of the other. Jedi, Nagai, find a way to bridge both."

Jand Talo

 

[Jand Talo]

Jand listened.

His jaw muscles bunched, as he forced himself to pause, to think.

"I cannot," Jand said with a tinge of anger to his tone - though whether at Iris or himself, was hard to say. "Not yet. I have been here, struggling to learn Jedi ways and the Force, for only a handful of months. Do you even understand the complexity of what you ask?"

The Padawan's grip tightened on his weapon handle, as he contained himself emotionally.

"I have been raised Nagai. The lives of others outside our family circles is meaningless. Killing an opponent requires no thought, no hesitation... it has meant nothing to me in the past to do. But a Jedi? As I Jedi, I am expected to consider all lives important. To sacrifice for others, to care for everyone, to be selfless and cherish life in and through the Force."

Jand slowly stood and deactivated his lightsaber, as he stared at Iris, even as she wielded a second blade from the nearby training rack.

"I live with a persistent state of contradictions. It is not possible for me to do what you ask, not without more time and introspection and... well, more everything!"

With a downward glance, Jand turned and clipped the weapon back on his belt. He walked to his belongings that were placed on the floor across the way, as his mind filled with doubt and confusion and agitation.

"My meditation is concluded. Thank you for stopping to speak with me, and for training."

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris's arms slowly lowered. She blinked, more in surprise by the sudden flash of color in his aura. It wasn't the calm control she was used to seeing. Rather than press, she lowered her blades. Watched him gather up his things.

"As a Jedi and a Nagai, doesn't that just make everyone part of your family circle?"

Jand Talo

 

[Jand Talo]

Jand now had his folded clothing in hand.

"No, it doesn't, it is not that simple," He said. "I must learn to exist as both. Just as you learned to live with your colors, I am now beginning to make sense of this as best I can. But unlike you, now, I am at the start of my journey.

"I am sure you understand."

The Padawan walked across the training room floor, paused beside Iris, as he added.

"Thank you for sharing your colors. I will see you tomorrow, perhaps."

Jand then sighed and walked from the dojo, to enter the Jedi Temple corridors and beyond...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris opened her mouth to say something, anything. The colors around him, she didn't like seeing colors like that. But.. Nothing came to mind. She ultimately just nodded. It was his journey to learn and find his answer.

"Good luck, on your journey, Jand." And then he was gone.

Jand Talo