New Beginnings

[Eugen Aker]

Over the next few weeks, Yuroic would go through the standard initiation route for all new entrants, beginning with an extensive background check. Among other things, it had been confirmed Yuroic had indeed been a slave on Nar Shaddaa at one point. However, there would be large holes in the records provided by his home government, his ultimate origins remaining a mystery.

As she had told him, there would first be group sessions designed to gauge his profiency in the Force, but also to introduce him to the values of the Jedi as he had indicated that he wanted to become one. At the same time, Yuroic would begin receiving a more standard education, as it was determined that he was illiterate. Jedi were good about teaching all topics as knowledge was a core pillar of their identity.

More advanced sessions would see him being drilled in exercises to improve his control over the Force. This would include learning the lightsaber forms. Jedi of this era were not limited to use of only the lightsaber as they had in previous eras, but practice with the iconic weapon was good training for helping improve a person's hand-eye coordination and the use of the Force while in stressful events.

Arisa and Yuroric would cross paths again as she began leading a lightsaber class. The topic of the day was Form V, one of the more popular lightsaber forms currently in use. The Jedi Master favored Form VI, but still V a good form to teach students as they figured out what worked best for them.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

It had been a difficult start for Yuroic in his early training. He spent as much time learning to read and write as he did the Jedi arts. His illiteracy was something they did not accept, to become a Jedi one must be practised in reading and writing. Something that Yuroic had at first been reluctant to accept but once he started improving he was studying longer and longer in the library. Learning from subtitled holocrons how to spell words and improve his own vocabulary.

When they performed the background checks, he was intrigued to see if they could locate his birth planet but the files stated that there had been difficulties in finding out such information, including who his parents were. However, they did confirm he was human so no unique species or hybrid. That was something he thought could have been the reason for abandonment, however it seemed to remain a mystery for now.

There was a class going on in a few moments, a lesson on Form V, it was a Form that he found useful in combat with a practice saber but he was not a huge fan of the Form. It felt limiting, little in defensive techniques and a strong focus on attacking and using the Force to power attacks. However, for a starting Form it was one he favoured over the other four he had learnt beforehand.

He climbed out of a vent and dropped onto the floor, he was still getting around via vents and finding places to sneak around to see if there was anything suspicious. However, there was nothing yet to be found and it just meant that his robes were dirtier and often stained. Not that it bothered him, he had been wearing worst for most of his life so having to wash his robes every night was nothing.

He entered the training room and saw that it was Master Yune, the woman he first met when he signed up for the class. Nerves fluttered in the pit of his stomach as he wanted to impress her, he had a strong inclination to show her how far he had come. They were practising with a partner, as usual he was partnered with the last one left, though it mattered little to him. He hadn't made friends really since he joined, he preferred his own company and practising with a training droid.

Grabbing a practice saber he looked over at the other person, they were male and of similar height but had golden hair and a slightly smug look. It was likely that the person thought they would have an easy time facing Yuroic. Which within the first two weeks they would have been right. A lack of knowledge and not so great hand-eye coordination was a handicap, however he had spent significant time improving his proficiency in the Form V because of this.

Yuroic moved slowly at first, getting a feel of his opponent before leaping forward and attacking. Moving hard and fast, his opponent had a hard time blocking and keeping up. It was known that the Form was to be aggressive, pound attacks until you see a chance then take it. However, his opponent was skilled enough to quickly get the timing of the attacks and block with better skill. Yuroic then took an unorthodox approach and switched his style to Form I, disarming his opponent and catching the second saber in his offhand.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

After getting everyone warmed up with some drills on the form, Arisa would have each initiate square off against each other in some sparring sessions. She would slowly pace around the room, studying each initiate as they sparred.

Eventually, in her paces she would come across Yuroic, the former urchin from Nar Shadaa, facing against Thomen, one of the more senior initiates about a few months ahead of him in training.

Yuroic would initially come out ahead through sheer aggression, but the tables would turn as Thomen acclimated against Yuroic's attacks, which was little more than straight up battering at that point. Thomen would display the principals of Djem So - powerful parries to deflect attacks and throw off their opponent to set up swift counter attacks.

Yuroic would then be the one back peddling, nearly overwhelmed by Thomen's superior technical ability, until he pulled out a trick to totally take him by surprise, resulting in Thomen losing his saber.

She could feel the previously smug Thomen welling up with rage as he had been embarrassed by the relative newcomer. However, before he could move in against Yuroic, Arisa would intervene, stopping him with a hand. Thomen's anger would immediately give way to embarrassment as he felt her touch.

"That's quite enough, you two," she said. "Now let's review."

She moved between them both, hands clasped behind her back, giving them both the once over before she spoke again.

"Yuroic, I'll give you points for creativity in the end, but overall your technique was poor. Djem So is not just about wailing on your opponent but turning them against themselves. You exploit their failings to create your own openings, and that is when you strike."

"Everyone," she said as she turned to address the whole class. "Switch partners and then resume."

Again she would begin to pace the room as a new round of sparring had begun.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic gave a short bow to Arisa as he took her advice to heart. He not answer back that he was attempting to exploit weaknesses from the start by having them back peddle. It clearly wasn't effective so Arisa was right about needing to use the techniques more. Returning the saber he offered his hand to Thomen who turned away and moved onto a new partner.

Yuroic shrugged, not bothered by the fact most of the students thought him a dirty homeless boy with no real Force skills. Hell, most days that how Yuroic thought of himself so he could hardly blame them. He faced against a female initiate this time, she disapproved of his dirty attire, which was fair. Having lived in worse clothes, he never found stains and marks on his clothing to be that much of a concern, however, he noticed many Jedi were clean to a point he would consider obsessive.

He took to ready stance and faced his opponent, this time she moved first and came in fast and strong. The strength of her attacks had him back peddling as he hadn't anticipated such furious and powerful attacks from a woman. His underestimation of his opponent had him struggling to create effective blocks and parries. She used this advantage and managed to hit him a few times. However, in the flow of combat, Yuroic adapted and returned her attacks with counter strikes. Soon the flow of battle moved from a one sided fight to evenly matched.

Yuroic couldn't get a winning strike from what he was doing. She could anticipate his next move and create effective parries. Being limited to one Form often was infuriating for him. If they knew the Form well then they knew how to effectively render that Form useless. Yuroic knew that if he did something completely out of the Form he could get an edge.

He feinted a high attack then struck at her legs. While she was distracted by that blow, Yuroic jumped over her and placed his blade on her neck from behind. It was unorthodox but Yuroic was happy he won, until he felt her blade prodding his stomach. She had held her blade in reverse and worked out his move. Leaving them in a draw.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Arisa followed Yuroic's duel much closer this time. His technique still needed work, but he was doing a better job deflecting blows and parrying. He was doing alright all the way until the very end, when he performed some fancy acrobatic maneuver reminiscent of an unexpected move in his previous spar.

"Better this time," she told Yuroic as he disengaged with his partner. "But tricks like that will likely get you into trouble with a more experienced opponent. I'd strongly recommend that you remain grounded as much as possible, especially as you're just starting out learning the. Form V is meant to be more practical without much in the way of acrobatics. You're pretty much helpless when you're tumbling through the air - had your opponent recovered, she could have sliced you up."

"I feel your frustration - I understand how hard it is being locked to a single form during practice, but you need to establish a good foundation with the forms at their most basic before attempting improvisation. Have more faith in your technique, you're getting there." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and smiled.

"I think we'll be calling it day here. Good job everyone, please clean up the dojo, then you're all free to leave. I'll be around to take questions."

From then on, she would sit back, watching the students straighten up the room while a few approached her for some quick talks. Before she got too deep into discussion with any of them, she would wave over Yuroic to join her. Seeing him again brought the young man back to the forefront of her mind, though he had left a lasting impression on her from his entry into the Silver Order, which had led her to keep tabs on him throughout his initial training.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic accepted the criticism from Master Yune, it would have been foolish to argue with her. And she was right to point out his flaws. Going to shake hands with his partner, he watched as she rushed away, realising his hands were now sweaty and still covered in dirty from climbing the vents around the temple. Shifting into the back of crowd, reluctant to leave the room, Yuroic moved to where training droids were kept.

He pulled out a remote droid and programmed it to be set at a medium difficulty for Djem So combat. Wanting to get away from being around the crowds of people. Even though he was born on a busy city planet like Nar Shaddaa, he had never been a people person, preferring the company of himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Master Yune was still in the room. He gave a small cough, they were alone now. After class I tend to like to keep on training, there's normally a break between the next class. With climbing through vents I end up being early anyway to it so I like to get some extra practice.

I know that experienced fighters might see my fighting as silly but, in here at least, they are too rigid to anticipate such moves normally. Even in the other Form classes I tend to change this up once I know the basics. Makashi isn't good for blaster combat, not defensive enough, Soresu is too defensive and doesn't allow one to strike until the opponent is tired, Ataru is just a lot of jumping and acrobatics that I can't see working. Djem So and Shien, while aggressive and good for attacking, there's no easy way to defend yourself from larger, stronger opponents. If there was a Form that could combined them then I would be more interested in learning that. I will learn to combat better with Djem So, but I rather find something that allows the user to completely change mid-combat.

Yuroic gave his speech on what he thought of the Forms before starting his practice with the remote droid, feeling the occasional shot where he was making a mistake in his stance or missing a strike or block.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Arisa raised an eyebrow as Yuroic mentioned crawling through vents all nonchalant. She would then recall some plain by some that they thought they heard large pests moving through the vents as of late. It was funny to think that it had probably been Yuroic this whole time.

"Yuroic, my friend, I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from using the vents for travel. That's not what they're meant for, and it's concerning some people who hear you moving about."

"Your criticisms are valid," she said with a nod. "But I need to stress this is a beginner class. The point here is that we're trying to get you to internalize the basic forms to the point that they become second nature to you - muscle memory. So that you may, in fact, be able to fight more strategically. You have my promise that on higher levels, you'll be able to exercise more freedom in what you do."

"That said, you seem like you would be interested in Form VI. Have you been drilled in the style, yet?"

Form VI was Arisa's favorite style, an eclectic one that encouraged creativity and quick thinking like Yuroic had displayed in his previous spars. It seemed like something right up his alley. Most Jedi these days preferred to use Form V because of its utility, but she personally found the form limiting for some of the very reasons Yuroic had stated.

"Also, how have you been? I've seen you around a lot since you first got here, but we haven't really had a chance to talk again until now."

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

He looked at Arisa and gave a small blush to his cheeks, embarrassed when she informed him of others complaining about his vent travelling style. However, stubbornness kicked in as he looked away and began practising the Form they were just training with the droid, sticking with the required moves better than he did with people.

I don't care what others think, the travel is faster through the vents and I like to explore. Unless you have something to hide of course? Though he found no evidence that there was anything the Jedi had to hide, besides restricted dark side holocrons and books, though he wouldn't have been much good at reading the books. He still didn't fully trust the Silver Jedi yet.

Only learnt up to Form V so far, currently studying that till it is acceptable. Are there more than six forms? Do you know them all? He was curious, he hadn't found much in the way of video holocrons to learn from about the Jedi history and the history of lightsaber combat.

Yuroic moved and blocked a bolt aimed at his thigh before hitting the remote with his practice saber. Causing it to deactivate, he breathed out slowly as he stood up fully. I have been well, nice to shower daily with clean water, eat proper food and its quite tasty as well. Most of what I had was nowhere near as pleasant. Yuroic admitted as he looked away from the Jedi Master, ashamed of his past.

[member="Arisa Yune"]