Private Path of the Silent Fist

[Caelan Valoren]

ATTIRE: Link
TAGS: Azurine Varek

It seemed like any other day in the temple. Caelan had training in the morning and in the afternoon he intended to go to the archives and read a book alongside Arhiaa, if she was up for it. His arm was still sore, though his physical therapy had helped quite a bit with that. At least everything seemed to be working and his strength had come back. Even though parts of him were now metal, he still felt like himself. Perhaps the metal was better, anyway. It wouldn't break like bones would, and would be much harder for a lightsaber to break through it. Still could, but he'd have time to pull away now.

He flexed his arm a few times as he walked down the corridor. In his other hand he held a book about Mace Windu. Ever since coming to the Jedi and learning about the various forms, he'd been increasingly drawn to the exploits of the legendary Jedi Master. What information they still had on him was fascinating and he spent as much time as he could studying him. But now, as he passed a series of training rooms, something else caught his attention.

Inside of one of the rooms was a zabrak woman. He'd seen many before, and he believed this one was Iridonian because of her skin tone. She was going through a series of movements that could only be described as gracefully violent. Not that she was trying to harm anyone, just the type of movements, a martial art clearly, were designed to be smooth, but do damage to those it contacted. He found himself transfixed, watching her as she went through the motions, even studying her markings as so much of her skin was exposed to show them all. She didn't seem that much older than him, but she clearly knew what she was doing well enough to be, at least to him, a master of it.

He was curious enough that he stepped into the room and watched, waiting for her to hopefully take a break and notice him. When she did, he would lift his free hand in greeting.

"I don't mean to intrude," he said, even though he did, "but is that Iridonian martial arts you're doing? Are you a master of it?"

 

[Azurine Varek]

To Teach Is To Learn

Outfit: Clothing | Robe | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Fists/The Force

After everything Azurine had been through these last few days, with the blurred hecticness that the had been the Invasion of Tython, among other things she certainly didn't want to bring back to the forefront of her mind, she found herself spending more and more time in the training rooms to focus all of her extra attention on her martial skills, absolutely ripping into training bots. Well, either here or in the pilot seat of a fighter running drills and maneuvers.

Even with everything that weighed so heavily on her, her sense of force auras was still as brilliantly strong as ever. She sensed the boy long before she ever saw him. However, he would need to wait for her to deal with this last training bot.

She fought with a dangerous ferociousity, the traditional forms of her homeworld holding a devastating brutality that somehow seemed almot beautiful in a hunting sort of way. She held no hesitation, grabbing the arm of the droid and pulling backward while kicking its legs out from underneath it. She shifted midair, flipping to wrap her legs around its torso as it went down, one hand still holding its arm and the other moving to grasp its neck. Just like that, the fight was over.

"Yes, it is. And I've been training in it since I was four years old. I don't know if that makes me a master, but you can judge that for yourself." She shrugged, being blunt about it. She was clearly still a padawan, and she didn't want him getting it in his head that she was something she wasn't. Sweat beaded down her face, and she moved to the corner of the room to grab her water bottle, then glanced over her shoulder to get a better look at the person who'd walked in. Though he was a bit taller than her, she recognized the facial softness of someone who couldn't be much older than his teens. His pain radiated off of him, not just the physical, but the mental as well. A pain that she recognized very well as she'd seen it in herself hundreds of times before. Her amethyst eyes softened, beckoning for him to come in.

"Well? Don't just stand there looking like a sad puppy. If you're gonna interrupt, then do it with purpose." She said, giving him a bit of a sly grin. Though it was meant to be a lightheart joke, if he really wanted to learn Iridonian fighting, he would have to have much more conviction than that. If she had been anything like her grandfather, she would have turned him away the moment he showed a hint of it or tested him harshly to make him prove his will. Luckily for him, she had more understanding than that.

"First lesson, timidness isn't your ally. Tell me again that you want to learn, but don't just convince me, you need to convince yourself, got it?"

Caelan Valoren​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

ATTIRE: Link
TAGS: Azurine Varek

Since she was four. When he was four years old he and his sister were running around their home, playing little games, enjoying the trees and having a generally normal childhood. Or, what he had assumed was normal. The idea of having started training in martial arts at that age seemed crazy to him, but at the same time, it didn't. Seeing what he'd seen out there, the horrors of their galaxy, and knowing what lurked around the corners if one was too slow to recognize danger, made him realize that she was just more prepared for reality than he was.

"Teach me."

It came out more as a command than it did as a request. Not that he meant it as a command. He had no authority over her. It was just what he wanted. No, it was what he needed. This galaxy was too harsh for him to be timid and hide on the sidelines. Even as the King of Devit he would not stay home and hide in the shadow of his people. They couldn't be safe as long as they were threatened by outside forces.

He set his book down and then removed his outer robe, folding it up and placing it beside the book. Then he walked over to her

"Teach me to fight like you do. Teach me to be a fighter instead of being soft."

He was taller than her, only by a few inches, but he was younger than her. It didn't matter either way: a teacher was a teacher no matter how old or how they looked. She was clearly superior to him in martial arts and he wanted to learn. Needed to learn. Protecting Arhiaa and his people was worth every effort, and the way he'd broken down on Tython wasn't going to cut it. His eyes betrayed him, showed the pain, but he was determined to become strong, truly strong, and to be something the galaxy hadn't seen in a long time.

 

[Azurine Varek]

To Teach Is To Learn

Outfit: Clothing | Robe | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Fists/The Force

"That's it! That fire in your chest is what will push you forward when everything feels like it's crashing down around you. Encourage it as often as you can." Azurine said with a grin, acknowledging the effort he put into that fierceness. He was no lion, but with time, he could be. "My father always said that true courage isn't the absence of fear, but the act of pushing through it. Remember that, I sure have."

She held her hand out to him for a quick shake, "I'm Azurine Varek. You can call me Azzie."

Wasting no time, she decided to just get right to it, and they could really talk after.

"What you need to know about this form is that it's centered around the idea of striking fast and hitting hard. You have to become an unstoppable force, even against an immovable object. Keep moving, calculate your opponent but not too long, and never let them be able to predict your next move." Azurine said, moving to position herself in form, instrucing the training droid to just remain still for this. She demonstrated a few of the beginning techniques, which included striking multiple times back to back with both hands and kicking. "And when your opponent comes at you," she gestured for the bot to move, illustrating a key block tactic that looked more like a drawn-out attack, "You make your offense your defense."

She turned back to him, "The stance I demonstrated for you, do you think you can mimic that?" She asked. Starting simple was going to be the best for him when he didn't have experience, though she also moved her feet and hands into the position again just in case.

Caelan Valoren​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

ATTIRE: Link
TAGS: Azurine Varek

True courage isn't the absence of fear, but the act of pushing through it. That made sense. He hadn't been very courageous on Tython. Maybe a little when he'd kept fighting despite his arm being useless, but that wasn't courage so much as doing what he was told to do. He'd been weak, and he hated that he had. Even though his parents had trained him to be a leader, he'd never gotten the kind of training he'd needed to face what he had on the battlefield, and it had exposed him for the boy he still was. He hated it. Hated himself for it. But he wouldn't wallow in it, which was why when he'd seen her training, he'd seen opportunity.

"Caelan Valoren," he said when she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Azzie."

She was quick to get to it. No nonsense. Since that was what he wanted anyway, he was glad for it, and he watched what she did just as much as he listened to what it was she was saying. Caelan was a visual learner more than auditory, but the combination was better.

Strike fast and hit hard. Be unpredictable. Similar to how he was attempting to approach his lightsaber training. He was moving towards the offensive style and wanted to hit them hard and fast so they couldn't get their bearings. It seemed this martial combat style fit right into that. She demonstrated the movements and he used rudimentary movements in effort to follow suit, just trying to mimic the muscle movements to help himself remember what she was doing.

When she asked if he could mimic her stance, he quickly settled into it as closely as he could to the way she had, given it was his first time attempting to do so. He didn't say he would try, he just did. Trying didn't get anywhere and it was the wrong mentality. Only doing.

 

[Azurine Varek]

To Teach Is To Learn

Outfit: Clothing | Robe | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Fists/The Force

Caelan was a quick learner. Azurine certainly admired that in him. He had a fire in him, a will to keep fighting even when the odds were stacked against him. She couldn't help but see herself in him. She had only been fourteen when she'd left Iridonia and joined the Partisans. Though it was a source of pride for her, it was a road that also brought her so much pain. Even if she didn't fully believe he should be anywhere near a warfront so young, she also recognized a defiance in him that she knew all too well. Trying to stop him wasn't what was going to help him.

She watched him carefully. Clearly, he had book knowledge, but not necessarily the practical skill. That was okay, though, because the road to get there would be worth it.

"You will never stop learning, Azzie, and the best teacher will learn from their students as well."

She remembered the words Baine had said to her once a long time ago, cracking a bit of a smile. Already, she was learning from him. He just didn't know it.

"That's a good start," Azzie said, moving over to him. She moved to correct him gently, pressing her hand against his back to straighten it further and useing the other to correctly position his hand, then moved back. "You want to be as steady as the earth itself. Your body may be a temple, but it's also your greatest weapon."

Before he could have a chance to react, she pressed forcefully against his chest in an attempt to knock him over to show him the feeling of misplaced balance. "You can't understand how to be immovable if you haven't experienced being knocked over while trying not to be. And that's how we're gonna start from here, alright? Feel the position of your body in space, and hold it where it is. If you have to shift yourself against the momentum, then you do it, but pay close attention to your balance. When the droid can't knock you over anymore, we'll move on."

Caelan Valoren​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

ATTIRE: Link
TAGS: Azurine Varek

After assuming the stance she had showed him, his eyes shifted to her when she approached. He didn't stop her from correcting him, taking it in stride because it was most important that he learn everything she could teach him. That meant he would gladly recognize that he had done things wrong and wasn't about to resist her correction. Besides, he had been a bit wobbly, and her gentle changes to his stance, even just adjusting his back to be straighter, made him more stable.

Even what she said he tried to memorize, though he was quickly caught off guard when she pushed her hand to his chest and shoved him. He stumbled backwards, his arms waving to keep his balance. He only barely managed to do so. He looked more like a dog trying to run on a slick surface with no give than he did a Jedi learning a martial art. But he did regain his balance.

"Balance is key in life more than anything," he said in response to her words, both acknowledging what she said and indicating a deeper understanding. "As you say, I will do."

He approached her again, remembered how she had adjusted him, and once more assumed the stance. This time it was much improved over his first attempt. He even adjusted his feet a little to give a stronger base, rather than keeping them pointed wider, which would give him less resistance to a push. He might not have known martial arts the way she did, but he did know sword fighting relatively well, and he remembered the stances his mother and father had taught him, and how the feet, and where they pointed, were just as important as the rest of his body position.

 

[Azurine Varek]

To Teach Is To Learn

Outfit: Clothing | Robe | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Fists/The Force

Azurine gave a quick grin. He was spunky, and she'd give him that. He was also extremely polite, it seemed. An interesting combination to her. He took her quick shove in stride, though even more impressive was that he didn't hit the floor completely when she'd done it. His recovery was excellent for his first time. A bit sloppy in form in a way that had she been an actual combatant, she could have easily taken advantage of that opening, but still excellent nontheless.

She nodded to him and took a step back over to the droid to set it up. She wanted to be able to evaluate and aid in what he was attempting, and it would be easier to do the first time via allowing the droid to do the fighting for her. So she set the parameters, basically stating that every success to remain unmovable, the difficulty would increase by just a bit and give him a moment to gather himself before going again.

"Your balance is about more than just staying standing, Caelan. It should be fluid enough to be able to shift with attack changes. You don't have to be the strongest to keep rooted, and sometimes moving with the flow of the hit can do more for you than relying on your strength alone." She did her best to explain, standing back and out of the way so the droid could do what had been asked of it, attempt to knock the younger padawan over.

Caelan Valoren​

 

[Caelan Valoren]

ATTIRE: Link
TAGS: Azurine Varek

Move with the flow of the hit. Standing still wasn't the key, avoiding being pushed over was. What she said made sense, and she went to the sparring droid to get it set up, which meant he was going to be responding to it, not her. That was fine. She was trying to teach him a specific concept, and the best way to do that was to be able to see exactly what was happening, and that was hard to do when you were involved in the action. That said, he moved to settle himself into the stance she had shown him, waiting for the droid to approach.

It did, and struck him, but he responded by using the momentum to carry him around and back into the same stance, rather than to knock him backwards. The droid struck again and again and again. It was almost like a dance between the two of them, as Caelan allowed the momentum of the strikes to move him, though not to take him off balance as Azzie's initial strike had done.

His footwork wasn't perfect, not by any means, but he was getting better each time. He began to notice that his balance was getting better, and he felt that each strike and movement allowed him to retain his balance in such a way that, if he were tasked with striking the droid, he could have struck back against it. It was a lot like the flow of water in a stream. A boulder might be present within the water, but the water went around it. In so doing, eventually the boulder grew smaller and smaller until the water no longer went around it, because the boulder wasn't there. His movement was the water, and the droid was the boulder.