Streamside Sparring

[Cotan Sar'andor]

For a Jedi who normally seemed fairly fond of the idea of getting to kick back and relax, Cotan wasn't very good at it.

First he got himself stuck with a master who was constantly dragging him on missions.

Then he got himself Knighted and started going on missions almost instantly after escaping his short captivity.

Then he joined the ORC, and kept working.

Then he came to join the Je'daii to learn more.

And now, on a day that he didn't really have anything he had to do, and he could sit back, relax, read a book, anything like that?

Currently, he was out running.

Three hours a day, on running, unarmed combat, and lightsaber practice. Thank you for the vague and undefined training regimen, Crix Sunburris. His feet nimbly found sure footing in the pockmarked forest soil, his eyes constantly scouting out where best to land in between strides. With a friendly wave, he bolted past one of the security droids roaming the forest just outside the enclave; thankfully, he'd had the foresight to tell the security people he was going to be out training, so he didn't have to worry about the droids deciding to fire on him and him later having some odd stuff to explain to the Je'daii's security team. That would be bad.

In fact, there were a few people in the Je'daii who'd never let him hear the end of it if that happened.

His start-the-day run today was a short one - looking over some of the maps available of the surrounding forest, he'd found a stream that cut through it about three miles off. And - just through the trees at the edge of the clearing the stream had made for itself - he could see his target destination. He started to slow down, reducing his run to a jog and then to a walk, before stepping back out into the sunlight. There was a good few meters of space between the trees and the lip of the ground, before the person walking too close would slide into the waist-deep water; maybe thirty feet further down stream a log had fallen over, making a natural bridge.

Content in the location he'd chosen, Cotan stretched a bit, easing his muscles after the run, before pulling out his lightsaber and starting to run through the numerous sequences he knew of the Soresu form, starting with the simplest he'd learned. Wish I had a sparring partner instead.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Mornings were invaluable.

At least to Asha.

Back when she had been living mostly on Aurum the young Hex had spent each morning on a run of her own, through the Jungles which surrounded her little makeshift set of huts. She didn't have anything like that here, the Enclave was her home now she supposed yet she didn't feel quite so confident going for a run or even a jog in its general proximity. On Aurum she was just another face but here on Svivren? Well, almost everyone knew who she was, and those that didn't yet soon would. Such was what came with her position, even if she didn't much like it.

As such she had taken to venturing further afield, out into the forest itself. The trees provided shade as well as ample support for pull ups and the like, and being that the planet was already rather quiet - at least around the Enclave - she never had any worries about being caught in the middle of training.

Because while it was well known that Asha Hex was a pacifist, that didn't stop her from training with her weapons all the same. Who knew if - or more, when - a day might come that the need to protect herself or another would outweigh her moral reluctance to do harm unto others?

The sound of rushing water drew her from the path she had taken for the past few days. It wasn't the first time she had noticed it, yet today was particularly warm and the idea of cooling off for a moment was appealing to say the least. A quick splash of water to her face, then she could be off again.

Imagine her surprise then when she discovered not just the stream but Mister Cotan himself when she stepped out from the trees and into the small clearing which ran alongside it.

"You won't find much tea out here, Cotie..."

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan was distinctly glad he'd chosen to wear a shirt before going on his run.

"Following me now, Ashie? That's not going to do well to keep the younglings off your tail, you know." He gave his trademark grin, switching his lightsaber off and giving the Je'daii girl a short bow, a bit more comfortable in being his mildly old-fashioned self when there weren't a bunch of others around. "Not really looking for tea right now anyways, just need to keep busy on the off day." He hooked his thumbs at his hips, is lightsaber hanging loosely in between the fingers of his right hand and his right thigh, as he quickly regarded the person in front of him.

Truth be told, he was mildly miffed that somebody had managed to happen on him right in the middle of his own training. At the same time, however, he'd been wishing he had a partner to train with, rather than just his memory of the sequences and how quickly and accurately he could proceed through them. "Got anything important you have to do today?" he asked suddenly, gesturing with his head back in the direction of the enclave. He didn't leave the question there, however; given the joke he'd already made back on Ceto, and that kept getting made here, it would be a very dangerous proposition to leave his question that open ended.

"If not, I could always use a sparring partner here. I can always just work on sequences and velocities, sure..." his voice took on a mildly pouting tone, as he gestured at the open space around him with his left hand. "But aside from the scenery, it's oh-so boooring. No real test of skill." He brought his hand back down, waiting expectantly for a moment, though not without making another quip.

"Also, if I think you've done well enough to deserve it, after finishing with the spar then we maybe could go for some tea!"

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

She chuckled as he spoke and returned the bow before venturing toward the edge of the stream as had been her intentions when heading this way in the first place. Lowering herself into a kneel she cupped some of the water into her hands and splashed it against her face, cooling herself down considerably.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Mister Judge, it was the water that drew my attention not the sights of you training. That was just an added bonus."

Those last few words were said with a grin, before she rose back up and dried her hands off on her trousers while allowing the sun to do the same to her face. Brushing back her hair from her face so it didn't try to stick in place, she glanced over the clearing and made note of the fact that it was indeed a very good place to train. She was kind of annoyed that he had found it before she had, in truth.

"What is it about us and meeting beside brooks? No matter, if it's a training partner you're after then consider me sold."

A fighter she might not have been, but [member="Jericho"] would have certainly disowned her or at least been very, very grumpy and persuasive had she ever tried to stop training on top of that. It paid to be prepared, after all.

"As for the tea, you should know by now that I'm always down for a spot of it. I didn't bring my teapot for once, didn't make sense to haul it out on my morning run. The Enclave isn't so far, though. We'll see how you do first. After all, it is my tea you seem so hellbent on having."

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"I'll believe that you found me on accident the day you stop giving me pet names," was Cotan's reply to the first bit, delivered with an entirely innocent-seeming expression and tone of voice, not responding to the last bit, instead saving it as added ammunition for later. By now, his ears were on full alert for the sounds of any other members of the enclave trying to creep up on them, but thankfully it seemed he was only going to get one interruption today. Something which he considered far better than the possibility of younger members of the enclave, having picked up on the rumour from the younglings of Ceto, managing to stumble upon them alone in the woods.

Cotan himself - of all people - might die of embarassment if that were to happen.

Then Asha mused on how they kept winding up by streams when they met up alone. Something that was technically correct, once Cotan thought about it. "This is only the second time we've met alone, though," he replied with a shrug. "You stumbling in on me, this time, rather than the other way around. We'll have to wait until it happens a third time before we start drawing conclusions." Content with his interpretation of the events, he fell quiet again once Asha spoke more, raising an eyebrow and smirking in a nonverbal challenge by the end of it.

"Keep up with the snark, miss Je'daii, and you'll never get to see why I was voted best baker in the Judges two years in a row," he replied in a huff, doing his downright best to channel the mannerisms of Itash Mecetti in his tone and body language, something he doubted Asha would miss. He brought his hands back up from where they rested by his hips, lightsaber still hanging loosely in his right hand, unactivated. He hadn't really looked to see whether or not Asha had brought along a lightsaber of her own (Naboo kid pro-tip: It's rude to gaze down at a person's hips like that, especially if they're of the opposite gender), though if she hadn't, he had the training saber he always kept with him as a last-ditch backup weapon. "Do you have a lightsaber handy, or did you leave that behind with the teapot?"

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

For a moment she could do little more than blink in response to his words, glancing first to him, then the water, and then finally back the way she had come from. Then she chuckled, with a light shake of the head, and looked him square in the eye.

"Oh please, you think I'd have been so quick to show myself if I knew you were here? Pass up an opportunity to mess with you, or scare you?"

A large grin tugged at her lips, as she approached the general area he was standing in, while a very casual shrug escaped her. It was true this was only the second time, but it still felt like it was more frequent than the alternatives all the same.

"I didn't know that you baked, Cotan," her tone this time was a little less silly and more intrigued than anything else. There was a lot she didn't know about him, but then again while it may have felt as though she had known him for years, their friendly banter a testimony toward such, in truth they had only met on a few occasions. "You'll have to show me, sometime."

Asha was more of a cook herself, she had always loved to spoil her Papa whenever they had a moment to sit down and eat a meal together. Just another part of her traditions, another step to her 'rituals'.

Then came the mention of lightsabers, and without replying first she pulled the both of them from their place at the back of her belt and nodded. "I always keep them handy, even if I never use them outside of training."

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Oh, sure, I mention baking and now you're telling me I have to spend time with you," Cotan replied, with a small wink. Some might say that his time spent in Sith captivity had given Cotan far too much of a love for twisting other's words to suit his own ends. Cotan would probably agree with them; at the same time, however, it was a useful skill to have, having run into somebody who shared the same inclination as him regarding 'making fun of every breathing creature within a forty foot radius.'

He settled back into a Makashi ready stance, activating his lightsaber; somewhere along the line he'd gotten used to the oddly-pulsing amber blade, though hopefully Asha wouldn't ask him the same thing one of his fellow Jedi had when he first made it: "Are you sure that isn't going to blow up?" As was only polite in a friendly sparring situation, he tuned the blade down to training saber levels, giving Asha a moment to activate hers and do the same. "So, what form do you actually practice?" he asked while he fiddled with the controls on his hilt, glancing back toward Asha. "Just know that if you don't say Soresu, I'll be really surprised."

Having never actually broken his stance he resumed his position, giving Asha time to respond, before quickly crossing the distance between them with a double passe avant and wrolling his wrist to slash down towards her head. A simple attack to parry and respond to, but always useful when starting to probe an opponent's skill level.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Asha merely grinned in response, at this point already having started to adjust the dials. She did this so frequently these days that she knew the positions they had to switch between by heart, even without really needing to look, and then with a flick of her wrist she ignited one of them. The other was set back to her belt when she noted the stance he had opted to take.

"Makashi? Interesting, I suppose that makes sense..."

Deep down he did seem a little noble himself, even if not to the extreme of Itash, though she doubted that was the case. A duelist, yeah she could see that.

Taking the position of her own she took one step back and strengthened her position, raising her left hand, that which held the lightsaber, up and back behind her while the yellow blade of her lightsaber was somewhat angled down. The other hand lifted infront of her, stretched forward ever so slightly more to offset the other and keep her balance than for any of the traditional reasons. With an almost coy smile and a shrug of her shoulders she retorted: "Soresu, how did you know? Though I also practice Shien in my spare time. I come up against more blaster wielding hooligans than I do fellow Forcies with sabers."

When he walked toward her she shifted her blade across to the right, angling it so that it intersected the path of his blade. She pressed forward against the lock, in an attempt to push him back and put some space between them again, body remaining loose yet obviously poised in preparation to dance away if needs be.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"I still prefer Soresu over Shien, truth be told. More efficient blade work, and Soresu was originally designed to combat blasters and blades equally."

As Cotan's cut was coming in, he was relying more on his muscle memory than his conscious thought to guide where it went; instead, most of his cognitive power was spent analyzing Asha's movements. Surprising that I haven't noticed until now that she's a lefty. He'd watched her make tea often enough, after all. He started to turn his wrist, so that by the time the blades connected, his hand was almost entirely pronate, rending the angle of his blade far more horizontal than the pushing Asha might have preferred.

"Parry five, a good choice!" he praised with a smile, pressing back against Asha's blade. "You should've taken more initiative for a counter-attack, however." With that said, he stepped in slightly, turning his wrist further as he did so while raising his elbow, whipping the angle of his blade downward, and suddenly threatening Asha with the point of his blade. She'd have to react quickly, unless she wanted to feel a low-strength training blade collide with the right side of her neck.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Oh, over the two I prefer Soresu," she agreed, with a very slight shrug, though she would never deny how useful it was to be able to efficiently redirect blaster bolts. She didn't suppose it mattered in this moment, however, it was a man with a saber that stood before her not a blaster.

The sound of his voice and the subtle pressing of his saber against her own was a reminder to focus, to draw upon the skills she had been honing since birth, the culture of her people which Jericho had been so proud to inform her of. Each muscle which rolled within his visible body was noted, the subtleties of his gestures which in many ways were likely even lost on him became known to her, and as such when he stepped forth and shifted the angle of his hand to bring the blade downward she was somewhat ready.

Somewhat being the optimal term; well trained fighters could be far more unpredictable than someone like Asha - with minimal person-on-person combat experience - was prepared for. Being that the momentum of her blade had already been moving toward the right it did not take much more for her to continue it along that path, dropping it slightly to meet once again with his own before it could strike her neck. It was close enough that she could feel the heat from the blade.

She pulled away toward her left, and once her neck was no longer on the line she double tapped the ignition of her lightsaber in an attempt to bypass the blade of his own, the angle directing it more toward the upper left of his chest.

It felt weird to her, she felt somewhat clunky... Definitely out of practice.

Jericho would not be happy with her right now if he saw.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Upon finding his own blade parried, Cotan had already been starting to pull his own blade back, ready to wind into another strike; instead, however, Asha did press the offensive for a moment. With a seemingly disapproving frown, Cotan quickly pivoted on the ball of his right foot, and stepped back after hitting the ninety-degree point; this left his lightsaber in position to catch Asha's reignited blade, in a high drop-point parry. "Tràkata is a dirty trick," he chided, although his tone was somewhat teasing. "Useful, maybe, but don't ever try to rely on it. Tricks can't make up for skill." With a quick retreating step he broke contact with Asha's blade, coming back into his standard en garde position.

Barely a moment passed for Asha to take another breath before he lunged forwards, the point of his blade aimed for Asha's left shoulder; at the last second possible before having to fully commit to the lunge, he rolled his forearm and wrist quickly. Leaving the feint he'd just made, his blade whirled around in a quick moulinet, and was quickly falling down towards Asha's right bicep. It was a simple feint, to be sure, but at the moment he was still testing out Asha's general skill level, rather than actually sparring.

[member="Asha Hex"]