Face the Wind! [Hayato]

[Marionn L'sa]

Participants: [member="Hayato"], Marionn L'sa
Location: Obsidian Sanctum upon Roon (Little has changed from the days of Templar; function remains the same).

There had to be but one thing worse than the monotony of routine; the monotony of routine after one had decided to do something about it. Within the mostly barren training yards (the sun had hidden its face beyond the lush horizon of Roon, and most sensible people had turned in for an evening meal and a bit of relaxation), one girl span through a number of forms in seemingly the blink of an eye. The strength of frustration, it seemed was formidable indeed.

Marionn's meeting with Djonas had appeared so promising, one that might have finally pushed her forward into the realms of becoming someone, at the very least. She couldn't quite place where she had lost her stride, where she'd just felt that... disconnect. At any rate, he wasn't the one to train her, and here she was, stuck again in limbo. How cruel was fate, to simply snatch away hope without a second thought, as if one's life was just an amusing game to toy with. As she thought about how much longer it would take to find another suitable candidate for her lackluster skills, she felt the force begin to bolster her movements, sliding in to correct her otherwise hasty maneuvers and provide a supple strength that she found she adored; it was a feeling she could now identify, but she couldn't figure out how to draw upon it on command.

The momentary delight she felt was enough to carry her through a few more figures, but she found the strength quickly fading the moment it was no longer actively needed. With an exasperated sigh, she drew herself into a tense resting stance and closed her eyes, feeling sweat trickle down her back.

'C'mon, Mer. Even toddlers can push and pull with the force. What's wrong with you?' She thought, gripping the wooden staff in her hands tight enough to feel the harsh edges of the intricate carvings dig into her palms. It was absolutely maddening, the entire predicament. If only she could just set her feet along the right path, she knew she could be content with more set-backs and failure, but to stumble even before she'd begun? It felt like any steps she took now were on a treadmill, and she simply couldn't find a way off.

As frustrated as she was, she'd failed to notice she had company within the training yard, another lone soul that thought dinner ought to wait.

 

[Atlas Kane]

The quiet sound of the wind, the constant clatter of training sabers and the warm sunlight. All of those things were constantly there during a certain Jedi's meditation, or at least his attempts at it. He had been trying to meditate since the morning, though he kept failing and making breaks to drink some tea or work on his swordsman skills, but that wasn't the goal he had set for himself today. He wanted to start to meditate more to work on his abilities to control the Force, since his swordsman skills couldn't protect him from everything, like his duel on Rattatak had shown him, he was unable to defend himself against mental attacks and wanted to try and find a way to defend against those kinds of attacks. He knew that his past made him especially vulnerable to those attacks, so he had to find a way to deal with his past. He was once close to it, but then other things happened that kept him from making peace with his past completely. But now he had time. No one was after him, he had no real enemies and he was in a peaceful place. Perfect for the goal he had set for himself.

His attempts continued until the sun was already setting and while the noise around him started to die down, he continued his meditation. It seemed that this new silence was helping him in his meditation. It gave him a feeling of serenity and calmness. He remembered this state well, he had been in it many times before on many different planets and during many different situations. This time didn't seem to be any different. He was breathing calmly and concentrating on his past. As his meditation continued his expression became more serious with a hint of anger in it and then, he coughed, followed by heavy and loud breathing. It had happened again. He had forgotten to breathe. This was a bad habit of his. It happened whenever he focused too much on his meditation and forgot the world around him and with that his breathing. After his breathing became more calm, he decided it was enough meditation for today. He wouldn't be able to further meditate after that just now, so he decided it would be a good idea to train his swordsman skills a bit. Luckily he had brought his sword, Aseryo the Windblade, with him.

[member="Marionn L'sa"]

 

[Marionn L'sa]

Startled from her calm, Marionn's head whipped toward the source of the sound, a disgruntled sort of man with the demeanor of a seasoned warrior, perhaps. In her hand, she idly twirled the staff to ease some of the tension that had collected in her limbs. As he rose, she tilted her head very slightly to the side, noticing the metal blade (who actually used metal anymore in real combat?) at his hip. With a furrowed brow, she observed him a moment more before she found her voice.

"Hey... Haven't seen you around before."

Stilling the staff and walking a few paces toward the taller individual, she stuck out her free hand, delicate fingers open for a handshake. While she was still momentarily peeved, good manners won out.

"I'm Marionn. Not a fan of our cooking?" She inquired with a slight smirk, already introducing a slight bit of humor to break the ice.

[member="Hayato"]

 

[Atlas Kane]

He hadn't come far with his meditation. It would take a couple more sessions to even start to make peace with his past once and for all. But at least he had made some progress today. He was now able to meditate again. The past couple months were quite an exciting time and he wasn't able to meditate all that often, so this change of pace was quite welcomed. The Jedi didn't go to where the rest of the apprentices and other Force Users would be eating at the moment. Instead he wanted to stay and train a bit. He was about to draw his sword when he heard an unfamiliar voice. It seemed that not everyone had left the training grounds.

After extending his own hand to shake the stranger's. "I never did like the food they cooked at academies like this one." He said. "The name's Hayato, nice to meet you. I take it you're not a fan of the food here either, are you?"

[member="Marionn L'sa"]

 

[Marionn L'sa]

"Are you kidding? The stuff here is to die for! I'll get some leftovers from the kitchen after this; just working off some steam." Marionn hadn't personally visited any of the other places, but she guessed from his statement that they didn't have anywhere near the caliber of chefs this place did. Supposedly, that would make her spoiled... Ah, well. Her eyes followed the slope of his arm to rest upon the hilt of the sword he held. He'd been about to draw, hadn't he? While she wasn't about to use her current staff in a sparring match, she would certainly be open to obtaining a partner.

"If you like, we could spar for a time? It's been a while since I partnered with a swordsman." She added with a smile. Little did he know, her mother had been most proficient with a sword during Marionn's training, it being her primary weapon. Marionn had taken up the staff directly to counter the blade.

[member="Hayato"]

 

[Atlas Kane]

"Never said it wasn't good, though." He said with shrug and a smirk on his face. He then paused a bit to study the weapon in the woman's hand. It was a staff weapon, probably because she wasn't a fan of swords, or she just wanted to be versatile in combat. Hayato didn't have any experience with staff weapons, he had spent his life training with the sword and even once he became a Jedi, he never fought against an opponent with a staff weapon, not even a double bladed lightsaber. It was good to see that new trainees were picking up unusual weapons. It would make for new and more interesting opponents to train with and it would give Hayato a couple new challenges.

"Sure, I have never fought against someone with a staff weapon, though, so this should be quite the interesting and informative fight." He answered. It was good that he could learn how to fight against a staff weapon without it being a duel for life and death and on top of that he could help a student at this academy with her fighting skills, so it would be a fair trade off, not that Hayato wouldn't accept, even if he wouldn't have gained something out of it, this was just a small bonus to being able to teach someone.

[member="Marionn L'sa"]