Determination

[Suhr]

@[member="Josiah Denko"]

She heard nothing bar the sound of her own heartbeat, and her vision was reduced to a mere few meters due to the dim lighting in the cargo hold. The mottled grip of her lightsaber hilt fit perfectly into Suhr's hand, so that her thumb hovered loosely over the ignition switch. In her mind, she pictured a crate being moved. The sound echoed through her head, and footsteps began to follow it. Her 'foe' crept closer and closer, his labored breathing sounding through the back of her mind.

Suhr's grip tightened.

He took another step forward, and glanced toward the dim lighting strips in the corners of the room. She pictured her foe stepping closer and closer, until he was in striking range - And strike she did. With a deft backhand flick of her wrist Suhr's lightsaber hilt burst into ignition, the blood colored blade sliding into life with the tell tale sound of promised injuries to her opponent's right hand side. Her imaginary foe blocked the attack at the last minute, and began to counter her attack with a wide sweeping motion across her guard to her left - something that Suhr quickly parried. They both stepped back, both real and imaginary lightsabers twirling into the classic Jedi Ready stance. Each blade hummed in the darkness, neither moving, neither disigniting. For a moment, it was as though time stood still.
Suhr focused. Master Kytra's teachings flowed through her mind.
"A Jedi must be at one with the lightsaber as much as they are at one with the Force. Your lightsaber will move as an extension of your being, which is an extension of the Force. Remember your form, also. Posture is important. Do not slouch, but do not be too rigid. Shii-Cho allows for flexibility in it's quest to disarm. Now. Focus, and try again."

He was right. He was always right. She focused on the blade of her imaginary foe once more, and straightened her back slightly. Disarm. It sounded so simple, yet she knew from experience it was not - One day, she thought, one day nobody in this Galaxy will separate me from my lightsaber. Suhr's footwork shifted slightly, and out of the ready stance she came. Her body twisted so that it was side on to her imaginary foe, as opposed to facing it square on - Unknowingly, Suhr was demonstrating the basic principles of Makashi, something she had always seen Master Kytra use, but never had a chance to learn herself. She set the thoughts of her master aside for now - He could wait. He'd been waiting for two years. Another hour wouldn't make a difference.

Suhr lunged in towards her imaginary opponent, bringing her blade towards his left thigh in a half-done attempt at a shiak crossed with a shiim, yet she pictured her opponent to be just out of her reach - his blade came up into an outer crescent style defense, yet he was clearly doing so from the inner ring of defense - something Suhr had learned to try and avoid catching herself up in over the years of training she had undergone. From that position, a feint from your attacker could easily move past your guard, and that was game over. Yet it also allowed for the defender to grab at the attacker, or throw an unavoidable force push into them - something which again, could result in game over. The inner ring, in Suhr's mind, was high risk. She didn't enjoy it. Her body twisted and span into a jung-ma, her weapon arm outstretched. This was only something she had began to work on in the last year, and it occasionally came in handy. The sudden spinning of the body could confuse an opponent, and then the blade of the attacker could strike without being noticed. Yet this was Suhr's imagination she was fighting against, and the attacker managed to parry the attack, before replying with a quick counter to her weapon arm's shoulder. Suhr moved back - her imagination was slower than she was, it seemed. However, her imagination was also well versed in combat - after all, it'd picked up all the nuances of her former master. It's blade lashed out towards her midriff, a classic demonstration of Sai Tok. She knew that if this landed, the duel would be over. Yet Suhr was ready for this. Her master had shown her ways to deal with this attack. With a burst of force energy she propelled herself upwards, flipping over her foe while he was in the middle of his strike, and thus unable to redirect it at her moving body. His imaginary blade passed through the space that she once occupied, yet his momentum carried him round. As Suhr landed, she attempted to slash at her foes exposed back from his left hand shoulder, but her blade was stopped by his own.
However, Suhr was a tricksy one. The extra weight of her hilt at the pommel end lent her lightsaber blade a strange angle to it - one that she used to slide along the blade of her foes, directly to the imaginary blade emitter of his hilt. Her lightsaber effortlessly burst through it, and dispelled her foe from her mind. She smiled to herself, happy that she had defeated her imaginary foe and disignited the lightsaber in her hand. It's blood red illumination of her body disappeared back into the hilt, and she stepped back into the rough center of the cargo bay. Suhr took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh, and with it the grip she had on her lightsaber loosened.

She heard nothing bar the sound of her own heartbeat, and her vision was reduced to a mere few meters due to the dim lighting in the cargo hold. The mottled grip of her lightsaber hilt fit perfectly into Suhr's hand, so that her thumb hovered loosely over the ignition switch. In her mind, she pictured a crate being moved. The sound echoed through her head, and footsteps began to follow it. Her 'foe' crept closer and closer, his labored breathing sounding through the back of her mind.

Suhr's grip tightened.

 

[Darth Metus]

Seated within the pilot's ship of the freighter gliding through Hyperspace was an individual whose hands were a tad...moist upon the wheel. This was due to the fact that, despite having taken classes and the like over the course of his time within the Confederacy, Josiah Denko was not the most confident flyer in the Galaxy. Having grown up on Nar Shaddaa with no means of accessing enough funds to even dream of a vessel of his own, the Templar had only just recently come into ownership of a vessel...and as such was as cautious as a parent caring for a newborn child.

As he navigated the ship through the stars, his focus was on a number of things simultaneously. For one, he checked...double-checked...and triple-checked to make sure the IFF signal leaving the ship was accurate; and then even made a transmission to those patrolling the borders of Confederate space to be absolutely certain that everything was in the clear. Once he was absolutely certain of those facts, he relinquished his grasp upon the steering column and placed the vessel on autopilot; then turned to woman in the cargo hold.

To say the least, the circumstances which had resulted in their crossing of paths were "interesting"; if by "interesting" one meant a stressful saga revolving around a blonde Hunter and unwanted attention on Nar Shaddaa. However, the end result was a comraderie between the two, and the Twi'lek's agreement to accompany him back to the Templar Order. Josiah sincerely hoped that this would spell the beginning to a relationship; the sort where he could guide her along the paths of strength in the Force...but first he had to do something about that form!

Yes, the Master was a biased individual.

While he was, by no means, an expert on all things lightsaber; such as his fellow Templar Master @[member="Daxton Bane"], he was perceptive enough to recognize the "Duelist's Stance" when he saw it. The Second of the Seven Forms had significant uses in a variety of scenarios, but the Templar was biased against its usage; for he favored aggression and power over finesse. However, he also recognized that the skill the Twi'lek demonstrated in this form was...above the proficient stage. She did not simply pick this up from the streets or a droid.

Someone had trained her, and rather well in fact.

With a smile, Josiah rapped his knuckles upon the doorway's frame in order to get her attention. He did not wish to simply walk into her session of training, lest he accidentally be rent clean in half by a saber strike. Furthermore, he did not want to...intrude period. Despite his heritage of life on one of the more sordid places in the Galaxy, he had picked up some decent manners from his parents; and from his peers. A plus, if one were to ask him.

"Knock, knock." he said, "Care for a sparring partner?"

@[member="Suhr"].

 

[Suhr]

Suhr looked up from her standing point - she had begun to run through her Shii-Cho based Dulon once again, and was mid way through the shiak strike to her imaginary foe's leg when she heard Josiah. Instantly the Twi'lek pulled her body back to a more neutral posture than the offensive lunge, and disignited the red beam of her lightsaber, instantly plunging the cargo hold around her back into it's natural dimly lit state. She took a moment to brush the sweat from her brow - Suhr had been running through these exercises for a good hour and a half, and while the movements were perhaps simple from Josiah's point of view, Suhr had been throwing every bit of energy she had into them in order to simulate the rigors of actual combat. Yet that was exactly what had been offered to her here, by Josiah. Combat. A spar. She'd not had an actual spar for two galactic standard years, and the lack of training had made her more than a little rusty when it came to it...

"A sparring partner? Me? I'm hardly a challenge for someone of your build, Josiah - You'd knock me on my backside before I even had a chance to bow."
She smiled lightly - Partly out of politeness, and partly because she didn't know what else to do. Surprises always took Suhr by surprise - That was the very nature of them, but she'd not once seen one coming, and she still hadn't gotten used to things like sudden questions and requests. If their conversation was akin to a lightsaber duel, Suhr would have been caught off guard and had her arm taken off by now. Still, she smiled anyway.

"But uh, I don't suppose we have anything better to do while we're going to, well... Wherever we're going." She paused for a moment. That was a good question - a good thought, even. She had no clue where they were going. Josiah hadn't told her a destination, or a real reason for going. "Where are we going, anyway?" Suhr's lightsaber dangled loosely in her hand while she waited for a reply from Josiah. Maybe this wasn't the right time for that conversation, but they did have time to kill...

 

[Suhr]

@[member="Josiah Denko"] [eep forgot to mention you!]

 

[Darth Metus]

A chuckle escaped the Templar's lips as he acknowledged the truth of her words. The Templar was indeed the sort of combatant who relied upon the strength of his build, occassionally coupled with assistance from the Force, in order to overwhelm and decimate his opponents. However, he knew exactly how much to dial his efforts back in order to present a thrilling challenge for his companion whilst not stepping into the realm of abuse. The point of this was to gauge her skill. She had training, of this there was no doubt; but he wanted to know the extent of it...perhaps so that he could show her a thing or two later on.

However, he had to acknowledge the great unknown that was lingering in the air: Destination! The Master had gone on and on about going to see the Templars...but had failed to mention where exactly they were located. If not for the fact that he did not want to appear as a...fool...he'd have literally introduced his palm to his face in dismay. However, he simply displayed his trademark smile that bled warmth and stepped over to a terminal mounted on the wall. Upon its keypad, he entered in a simple passcode before a holo-projector kicked in; thereby displaying a map of the Galaxy.

"Forgive my failing to tell you exactly where we are going!" he said, stepping over to the holographic depiction. He came to a halt at her side and motioned at its azure form in order to indicate their current position. "We are right here, on the border of Confederate space. In fact, we'll be passing right by the Capital. We're on the Mara Corridor and will be following it down..." he began, trailing a finger along the projection until it came to rest upon a world not too far past Kamino, "...to here. Roon is our destination."

"If you're a fan of oceans, breath-taking scenery, and...well...the sort of palaces you hear about in your bedtime stories, then you'll be right at home where we're headed. Roon is a place of beauty; especially the Sanctum where we're headed. I've already called ahead and there will be a room waiting for you when we get there, so that you can stow your belongings and get some rest. Now then."

With the question of where answered, he returned to the terminal and turned off the holo-projector. This action was followed by a fumbling through an adjacent locker until he produced a pair of identical lightsabers. "These are training sabers. They sting on contact, so that we don't kill each other in a duel. This one," he said, elevating the one in his right hand, "was given to me by @[member="Karen Roberts"] during my first training session as a Padawan. And this one," he said, elevating the one in his left, "was once my little sister's before she traded up to a bonafide lightsaber. Take your pick, test it out, and let's get started!"

@[member="Suhr"].

 

[Suhr]

@[member="Josiah Denko"]
Roon. So that was where they were going. She'd never heard of the place until now. The Mara Corridor, now that was familiar - The Spacers had been talking about the odd trade run down there, so she had some clue as to where they were (other than the hologram Josiah was pointing at). A smile crept across Suhr's face...
"If you're a fan of oceans, breath-taking scenery, and..."
It was all she needed to hear. The rest of the information leaked out of her head, like a guest that only dropped by to check everyone was ok. The ocean. She'd never seen an ocean before. Master Kytra had only taken her to Coruscant and Donovia, and there's sure as hell no ocean on Nar Shaddaa - other than the ocean of filth, crime and debauchery of course... The holo-projector flickered out of life, and thus the cargo hold plunged into it's dimly lit state once again. It was enough to snap Suhr out of her daydreams about the feeling of sand between her toes, and the soft sea breeze gliding along her Lekku.
Training sabers. She had seen these before, back when Master Kytra had hidden her lightsaber from her after she almost took the astromech droid's head off... Whoops.
"Just nasty bruises and light burns with prolonged contact, right?" She said with a smile etched into her face. If Josiah had suspicions that she'd been given instruction on the fine art of lightsaber combat before, her knowledge of training sabers would certainly confirm his theories. Suhr placed her own lightsaber securely onto it's usual place upon her belt, and secured it into place with a simple locking mechanism, so that it wouldn't fall away from her if she found herself at gravity's mercy.
"Well, it'd be a shame to beat you with your own lightsaber, so I'll go for door number two, please." Her calm arrogance was shining through, despite the idea of facing a stronger foe than her imagination.
"Never allow an opponent to see you as lacking in confidence, Suhr. Never allow them to over estimate you either. Be overconfident, and take a sloppy stance. This way, whoever you face will never truly be able to judge your ability until you allow them to - and by that point, it should be too late for them to deal with the full extent of your ability. That is how you will win. Think about how you present yourself, always."
The teachings of her former master echoed through her mind. He was right. He was always right. Hopefully she could put his teachings into practice with Josiah - She had already told him that he was stronger than her, yet now she was trying to toy with him. If she displayed a poor opening stance of Shii-Cho, well... In Suhr's mind that would seal it. Her opponent would think she was bluffing, and be given the view that she was over-confident, yet unskilled. An easy victory. It might just allow her to snake around his guard, should the opportunity arise... She'd have to play it defensive though. It was one thing trying to fool a foe, but another to fool yourself. To Suhr, lightsaber combat was as much a battle of wits and minds as it was skill with a blade.

 

[Suhr]

[Sorry about the late reply by the way - I didn't want to post this via my phone, because it would have taken a decade and a half!
Won't be on much tonight due to IRL commitments, but I should be browsing here and there, so if you need me, inbox me. I should be on tomorrow night for a fair while, so we might be able to get a solid chunk of this in one sitting soon!
Peace x]

 

[Darth Metus]

With each passing moment, the dialogue between the Templar and the Twi'lek revealed more and more about the latter's background. For her to know what the results of being struck with a training saber were...implied some knowledge of lightsabers as a whole. For one native of Nar Shaddaa, this was not the sort of knowledge one simply picked up on the streets. More so than ever, Josiah was certain that she had bonafide training from someone, and he hoped to find out who and why at some point. However, now was not exactly the time to be prying into the woman's backstory; now was the time for a sparring match! The young Master noted the confidence the woman seemed to radiate with and calmly extended to her the training saber of her choice.

Then, once it was within her grasp, he took a few paces back and ignited his own blade. It's blade of blue cast a pale light across the cargo hold, and the Templar inhaled a calming breath. One of the things that Suhr would learn was that, unlike most opponents who took the time to play mind games during combat...Josiah was the sort to take a simpler approach. He typically went "knock-out-drag-out" against all of his opponents, regardless of level. However, he consiously made the decision to significantly scale back his efforts so that he did not utterly decimate the woman who had already claimed that he was the stronger of the pair. With silent concentration, he elevated his saber above his head and assumed the opening stance of Djem'So.

At which point, a smile formed upon his lips.

"Let's see what you can do. Ladies first."

@[member="Suhr"].

 

[Suhr]

Suhr rushed him. Even before Josiah had managed to form his sentence, she was up and running at him, propelling her small frame at his considerably larger torso. If she wanted to beat Josiah, she had to be quick, and end it before he had a chance to realize the extent of her training. So she sprang upwards, like a snake uncoiling from it's position to strike at a passing threat. And so she lept, her left arm coming up, and then pulling her torso around, so that she could strike with the training saber. As gravity took hold of her leap, Suhr's thumb slid over the lightsaber beam, forcing the blade to ignite at the apex of her leap. It angled downwards to the shoulder of Josiah's weapon arm - An attempt at a mid air Cho-Sun. She hoped that her sudden attack, combined with the increase of light from the training saber's blade, and the force of gravity would be enough to put her foe off focus and allow her blade to hit home...
Although her attack was not exactly that of a standard Shii-Cho strike, it's aim to disarm her foe before the fight had truly begun would have been more than obvious to any being that was well trained in lightsaber combat. Suhr was sticking to what she knew, and what she knew was Shii-Cho. Perhaps later, if there was a later, she would attempt some of the things Master Kytra had been seen doing in order to give her an unforseen edge...
@[member="Josiah Denko"]

 

[Suhr]

@[member="Josiah Denko"] y u no luv me bby ;-; u brek mah hertz.

 

[Darth Metus]

The sudden rush of his opponent indeed came as a surprise to the young Master, so much so that he was barely able to complete entering the opening stance of Djem'So. This surprise was met with Josiah's retreating a step in order to grant him the breathing room required to angle his lightsaber into a passable defense. He was strong enough to withstand the force displayed by the Twi'lek, despite the assistance of gravity, and once their blades clashed he capitalized. Bracing for the impact with his left leg, he bent low with the impact and then surged his blade upwards. He backed this motion with all the might his body could muster, in an attempt to create a tremendous opening through sheer grit. Without proper adjustments, the Twi'lek would find her arms above her head with her torso exposed.

Assuming that was the case, the young Master then began his counterattack. He took a simple step forward and lashed out with a horizontal strike, attempting to score a blow across her midsection. The simple truth was...she had surprised him, and now the young Master was hellbent on making sure that did not happen again.

@[member="Suhr"].