Private Finding The Calm Within [Kyra Perl]

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Yeah well...-I don't know about the others but I can only speak for myself, and I'm confident that you'll come to trust me, providing you give me the chance" he spoke with ease, confidence in his words allowing his response to flow casually.

"You see, I'm still officially a member of the Order of the Silver Jedi, even though I am not primarily based here. As a Jedi Knight I have the authority to take you under my wing as an Apprentice whether you were to like it or not...-But I'm not going to do that. It's not how I work" he informed her, wanting Kyra Perl to understand a little bit more about who he was as an individual.

"I like to get along with others, and I like to be on the same level with my peers. I don't look down on anyone or try to act as though I'm above them. It doesn't promote trust or equality in my relationships with others" His gaze didn't leave her as he spoke, these were things that he knew within himself to be true and so there was no reluctance or apprehension in his speaking, he was merely expressing himself.

"I want to help you, and I know you're struggling. I'm not talking about being your Mentor right now, but I would like you to let me be a friend".

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra tensed at the mention of stripping the choice from her and taking her under his wing, adrenaline flashing through her before he could explain himself better. Stressed sweat built up abruptly under her arms, the girl growing clammy as he spoke. Was he really trying to befriend her here? It was a laughable concept-- was he around for their last three meetings? Where they seeing the same things?

What was this, crazy town?

His amicable approached, finally, was meet by equally low energy in turn. The girl didn't explode at him, nor did she close up. She gave back exactly what was put out. She looked away from him, her internal exhausted started to show. Why did she feel like 'no' wasn't an optional response here.

She rubbed the hair down from her arms, giving out a small shrug. "Only if that involves less talking and more hitting you with a stick," came her terms and conditions.

There was one thing she was missing from her time under Yuroic. Stick swinging. Got the emotions right out of her.

Maybe that was why she was so blfhdujiyhjaskd lately.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn actually chuckled softly at her response, finally there sounding to be something positive in the way of moving the immovable. "You're one for sparring, are you?" his tone lifted a little, there seeming to be some sense of appreciation in knowing one of the things that Kyra Perl was motivated by, or enjoyed.

"Well then..." he smiled, moving to stand to his feet, arms falling loosely at his sides, "How about this..." he continued, gesturing for her to stand as well. There seemed to be something of a playful nature behind his tone, a more light-hearted glint in his eyes as he looked to her; "If you can land a single strike against me...-Using training settings of course, then I'll let you go for the day".

He held up one hand, extending a single finger "One single strike" He reiterated.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra straightened from her slump, a sense of intensity coming about her as he made his offer. Hope. The word was hope. It spilled from her as she scrambled onto her feet. Not just because she wanted to hit him or be free to relax for the day, but because he had given her something she thought she could do-- and do well.

Her drive for approval and success was her biggest motivator, and if there had been any question in that, it would be dashed with just how fast she had her saber unclipped and ignited in her hand. One didn't always have to drag her through the mud to get her to train, they simply had to make it seem like her idea.

He made his offer, but before any formal words could be exchanged... she fell into a stance and lunged. The force aided push sent her flying the few feet, her saber coming down from above. The form wasn't from form 1 or 2, as Yuroic had taught her. Those were both too slow and boring for this moment. The move was merely a slash of her own instinct, but coming down on him from above-- man did it feel good.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn hadn't had the time to reach for his lightsaber before Kyra Perl had sprung into action. She lunged towards him using the Force to accelerate her across the small distance that separated the pair; Caedyn's eyes followed her intensely, the Force rushing to him in the anticipation of her attempted strike, adrenaline and the sense of urgency heightening his instincts and empowering his precognition.

Her lightsaber came slashing down, yet the Jedi Knight stepped aside before she could reach the floor, moving to her side and giving her an abrupt push through telekinetic power, enough so to topple her footing. In her likely imbalance, Caedyn lept several paces away with the aid of the Force himself, landing effortlessly and extending a hand towards her in a halting gesture.

"I do believe you're getting ahead of yourself, Kyra" Caedyn grinned, shaking his head slowly, "Have you not been taught the proper etiquette prior to engaging a fellow Jedi in a sparring match?". At the beginning of every training match, they were to face one another from either side, and bow in respect to one another. A silent agreement in which they acknowledged the other and agree'd to leave any and all drama's or student bias outside of the training bout.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra yelped, her feet tripping over themselves as a push knocked her haywire. She caught herself on her knees, the girl giving a confused blink to the ground beneath her. She turned, pouting at Caedyn as he tried to reset the moment.

"But then I lose the element of surprise," she complained, pushing herself back up. "This is a competition here, I can't lose my edge over protocol." She gave him a flourishing, sassy bow regardless, gesturing an 'Happy now?'

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

The Jedi Knight laughed softly, giving her a smirk; "That'll have to do, I suppose...-This time" he conceded, lowering his head and bowing to her briefly. His eyes not leaving that of Kyra Perl , suspecting her to take advantage of the situation once more.

Reaching for the hilt of his Lightsaber, Caedyn detached it from his belt and dialed down the frequency to that of training conditions. This way any contact from the blade would only bruise or burn upon a successful blow.

Sweeping his left leg back, his weight shifted as he moved into stance, left hand at his side while his right extended infront of him to point the lightsaber in Kyra's direction at roughly waist height.

"Ready when you are, Padawan".

 

[Kyra Perl]

She snuffed, sliding back into a looser stance herself. "Okay, knight," she quipped in turn. But this time she didn't charge ahead. Something about the intensity of his gaze, it left her wary. Yuroic had offered her something similar before, but she had never managed to place a mark on him. Her saber was made from a something other other crystal (whats names, its late). It paralyzed and stunned on contact, instead of risking burns or bruises. It had been what she always used, until she had earned her upgrade.

Well. A version of her old one. The original one had gotten fried by a sith... But never mind that.

She took careful steps around him, wary of that look about him. "Well now you're just glancing into the future," she complained,batting at the side of his blade like they were pool noodles.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's focus remained solely upon Kyra Perl , unmoving nor distracted by anything else.

"Well...-Nice to know you can see it happening in the future" Caedyn remarked with a soft laugh.

As she tested his blade with a couple of baiting strikes and glances, Caedyn maintained his defensive composure. With every step she took towards him, Caedyn would step away, ensuring she remained at arms length for the time while she looked to discover her boundaries in sparring against him.

For the time being, Caedyn kept things simple and slowly paced. He had a number of tricks up his sleeve, but this was very early days and there was no need to overwhelm her and crush her confidence so quickly.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra scoffed. "I was talking about you! Padawan, Knight, Knight, Padawan," she gestured between them at the names they had used, before abruptly realizing she was chatting with him too much and giving a huff of frustration. She punished him with a sudden lash out, her blade looping in a simple arch right for his neck.

He would quickly begin to realize that she didn't have many striking forms up her sleeve that didn't broad cast her intentions horribly, her training still very young with the blade. Her foot work was solid though. As was her posture. She pressed forward with that quick footwork, taking any block he gave her and flowing it into the next hit-- to his ribs, and then the next one-- his knees. She moved like water.

Very obvious water.

"We're not friends!" Stop acting like it!

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's back arched as he leaned away from the strike that would've connected with his neck, his evasion just narrowly avoiding the blade with enough proximity that he could feel the warmth in the air as it swept passed him, his right hand bringing his own cyan blade across his front to block the intended follow-up strike against his left side, soon stepping back as he then proceeded to parry the strike for his knees, her blade rebounding off of his with the ample strength he placed in the defensive strike.

"Speak for yourself!" Caedyn goaded her, grinning to himself as he spoke with that same playful tone; "I think we could be..." he took two further steps back to give them pause. He wasn't yet moving on the offensive but was taking his time to study how she was performing and what strengths and weaknesses she seemed to have. He wouldn't learn everything through the first match, but it was a good eye opener into what she'd been taught thus far.

"I am a very friendly kinda guy after all. Don't see why you wouldn't want a friend like me" he laughed softly in expense of himself now, clearly enjoying himself and the reprieve from her former hostility.

Kyra Perl was moving well, her motions fluid and connecting from one action into the next, flowing. Her technique and precision was lacking, although Caedyn was also teasing her a little to see how strongly her emotions would influence her, so it was all a bit miss-matched compared to how she might perform in a real live-combat scenario...

 

[Kyra Perl]

As it was, goading Kyra into emotions was how Yuroic had got the once disinterested Padawan into raising a blade to him. Back then it was a stick, and she was charge forward wildly, flailing limbs and all. It was as if all her years at Academies had meant nothing, and no true progress had been made up until this point-- with them.

Yuroic had made no attempt to dissuade her use of emotions in battle. In fact, Caedyn would start to feel them radiate off the girl.

Determination. Frustration. A drive to prove herself. It occupied her entirely, and in a rare moment he would find her entirely focused.

"And judgmental. Mean. You don't think of others!" She lashed out with no real direction, her form starting to crumble.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

And judgmental. Mean. You don't think of others!
​

Caedyn swiftly stepped aside in order to evade her next strike, her saber going wide and that former fluidity in her movement having dispersed the moment her emotions had overcome her better judgement and focus. "That's simply not true..." Caedyn replied, stepping around her slowly, circling the girl as he spoke; "I've been thinking of you quite a lot during our time together. For example, the moment your frustrations get the better of you, your guard breaks and you leave yourself completely open to attack" he pointed out.

"Where as only moments before, your footwork was rather decent and you were moving with much more grace" He made certain to emphasize the fact that it wasn't all negative, she did have some strengths. "And before you accuse me of judging you, it's my job to expose your flaws so that you can acknowledge them and work towards elevating these skills...".

"The fact is, that if you were able to listen to my advice without taking it as though I'm insulting you, you might actually see the good in my intentions and why I've been neglecting my duties in the Outer Rim to be here for you" There was simply no other reason at present, as to why Caedyn was still on Kashyyyk aside from seeking to help Kyra Perl . Were she not on his mind, then there was plenty that he could be doing in the interests of the Outer Rim, the Enclave on Svivren and the Outer Planets Alliance.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra's expression caught. The youngest of many, she was well use to everyone having obligation and a life outside of her. It started young, when Dagon left first. And every sibling had swiftly followed after-- leaving year after year to find something new in academies. Yula was in the Outter Rim. Kyra barely ever got to see her for it.

She expected no less of Caedyn now.

"Then why not just go back," she snapped, a cheap force pushed used to try and trip him up as she came at him like a hurricane, one strike after another descending upon him as she released herself to her whims. There was no form, but there was something to be said about the relentless fury that came from strike after strike, the force staring to empower her movements.

"Don't let me and my shitty footwork stand in your way of what really matters. By all means- Let me- hit you!" She twisted her arm last second, a second, cheap tug of the force yanking at his ankle as she tried to catch her blade under his armpit.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Unbridled fury, strike after strike with little regard for her training partner, nor finesse in her form. Holding his Lightsaber within his primary (right) hand, the wall of telekinetic energy pushed him back several steps, yet he was still able to follow blow for blow, meeting her blade with each consecutive strike and parrying them all before finally leaping back to clear several paces between them.

Yet again she closed in, this time Caedyn felt the leverage behind his left foot, his ankle being pulled in order to break his ground. His foot slid forward as she came at him with a second strike, aiming for his underarm. Instead of hitting him however, Caedyn moved with her pull and ducked down, throwing himself sideways into an evasive roll across the floor, springing back up to his feet off to her left side and stepping away in several light paces.

"Have you been paying attention to anything I've said this last week?" He called, slowly turning around to look back in her direction. He had complimented her footwork, though her choice of words had been rather impolite and she seemed to think he had meant to insult her once more. She seemed to be hearing only what she wanted to hear, thoughts and doubts that Caedyn wondered whether or not she had been led to believe about herself, ignoring what he had been trying to put across.

Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra huffed as time and time again, he eluded her. She had been making no attempt to conserve her energy, and that showed as she huffed for breath and straightened in front of him. Ugh, he was like catching air!

"Yes. I'm not deaf!" Although she was starting to realize he kept saying she wasn't hearing him, which was enough to give any rational person a pause. She just wasn't done trying to hit him! She raised her blade again, forcing herself back into a proper stance.

"See?" She sassed, giving a flourish as she used footwork closed the distance again. "Now stay still!" At that declaration, she attacked going, resorting to the same pattern as before-- slash to the head, the ribs, the knees. She moved up and down the body with no free creativity, the patterns Yuroic had her practice being the only thing her mind could reach to with reactive ease. Time would change that of course.

She let out a frustrated whine as it once more proved frivolous. Her form dropped, and she stabbed for his gut.

The pattern was emerging.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"You hear me, but you fail to listen".

Caedyn's left hand came to grip the hilt of his lightsaber, now holding it with both, he stepped in to block the first of the blows meant for his neck. He met this strike with considerably more strength than the previous single-handed defense. Turning the blade to face the floor, he moved then to block her strike to his ribs, before spinning the hilt a full rotation and battering the third strike away.

"You need to learn patience...-Self restraint and discipline. The very things I mentioned during my lesson to you and your friends. Again you allow your emotions to blind you...-You are quick to anger, this leaves you open. Makes you far too easy to manipulate..." he told her, moving once again to take a step back.

Kyra Perl had other plans however and soon lunged for a stab towards his mid-section. In a move that would no doubt surprise her, Caedyn caught her blade not with his Lightsaber but with his left hand. The Force flowed around him, it's strength unmistakable as he focused it through his arm to empower the grip he held upon her blade. Through the practice of tutaminis, he felt no effect from the weapon.

"Is it your pride that keeps you from accepting my help? Is that why you hear nothing but insults from someone who genuinely wishes to work with you?".

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra gasped, releasing her saber as he held its lit length in his hands. She took a step back, expect him to go crumbling forward as his limbs seized up. Instead he spoke to her, unaffected.

She looked between him and the blade, childlike disbelief in her eyes. Her mouth hung open, the girl too derailed to give him a sharp retort.

"I-..."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's right hand disengaged his lightsaber and returned it to his belt before reaching out to Kyra Perl 's own hilt and triggering it's activation stud, her blade receding and the weapon shutting off, hilt suspended in the air by his telekinetic grasp. With his left hand he slowly guided it back to the Padawan, while his right would relax and fall down by his side.

"With an disciplined mind, we can achieve many wondrous things in the Force..." Caedyn spoke softly, no judgement in his voice, only explanation and quiet encouragement; "But we have to be willing to humble ourselves..." he concluded, setting the lightsaber down at her feet before his left hand would join the right behind his back, standing at ease with a relaxed posture looking her way with studious eyes.

"Don't take everything at face value, Kyra".

 

[Kyra Perl]

His studious look was met by a wary one of her own, the girl taking a moment to recover before slowly holding out her hand. The saber jumped into her palm, her unease turning to open curiosity as she ignited the saber again and gaped down at it

"How did you do that?" She breathed. Maybe he would see it coming, maybe he wouldn't, but he would learn another thing about his would be charge in that moment. Her curiosity knew no bounds. She tried to copy what she had felt, the force surging around her with no real direction... just doing a little dance, acting the part...

As she wrapped her hand around the blade.

Her muscles seized up in an instant, a noise of protest catching in her throat as she locked up.... and keeled over. Temporarily stunned. Bondar crystals, yo.

It was mortifying.