Taking The Next Step

[Qyren Leret]

Qyren tried not to let her anxiety show as she trotted down the ramp to where Nantaris had said he would meet her. Today was the day. She was going to make her own lightsaber, a project that had been hanging in the back of her mind for weeks. There had been several missions interspersed in her training, but she had used a training saber and a blaster during all of them. Building her own saber was the next step in becoming a fully fledged Jedi, though she personally felt a long way from ready for that responsibility.

She smiled as she saw Nantaris. “Good afternoon, Master.”

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
Ossus was the largest Jedi Temple in Coalition space, and with its extensive defences it was also the safest. From a landing platform on top Qyren could head down the ramp and meet Nantaris in an open room in the Temple. There, the components and pieces they would require were waiting.

“Good afternoon Qyren! Today’s an important day for you…and for me too I guess. I’ve never done this for an Apprentice before, so I’ve been waiting for this myself for a while. You know about lightsabres and how to use them, so I won’t belabour the point. There’s usually a whole ceremony involved with this, but as you can tell…I’m not one for rituals and hokum.”

He indicated the bench. “We’ll build it together. There’s a datapad with the instructions there, and I’m here to help if you need it.”

 

[Qyren Leret]

A grin crossed her face at his accurate assessment of himself; she'd noticed her master was more lax in tradition than some of the men and women she had met on Ossus. She settled onto the bench and cast her eyes across the materials spread before her. "Thank you." It would be a relief to have him there, on the off-chance that she needed him and also for moral support.

Qyren didn't recognize most of the items before her, apart from the crystal that would become the heart of her blade. With a deep breath, she picked up the datapad and began reading the first steps. Her eyes flicked back to the materials. Hesitantly, she gathered the first pieces she needed and got to work.

The process was time-consuming, even without the care she took with the intricacies of the device. Partway through, Qyren set aside the tool she was using and sighed, referring back to the instructions. It didn't hurt to double check; better that than getting to the end and realizing something, somewhere, had gone wrong and she had to begin again.

"Did your Master sit through all of the rituals with you?" she asked Nantaris, flexing her fingers to ease the ache before she began again. "Or was he more like you?"

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]

“She,” Nantaris corrected. “My Master was named Regina, and though she was more formal, more into the code than I, she didn’t try to clamp down on me too hard. I just naturally do not like being told what to do, so as I got older it became a partnership rather than a teacher and student. That’s what I hope will happen with us as you advance on in the craft.”

“You’re doing well. You’re getting to the critical part. When you seat the crystal it’ll be for you to use the Force, attune yourself to the crystal which calls to you. You will know the right crystal and when it correctly set.”

Going to a wooden case he produced a selection of crystals, of all colours, shapes and sizes. Blue, green, yellow, purple and orange were all there, and every one had a different feel in the Force.

 

[Qyren Leret]

She smiled at Nantaris's comment on their relationship; she liked him a great deal as a person as well as a master and still believed that the Force had to have had a hand in her running into him exactly when she needed him the most. With another master, her life could have gone in a very different direction. The nebulous limitations she had as a Jedi being trained on a non-traditional path had encouraged her to think for herself and, often, to think outside the box in training as well as in the field. There was no one moment she could pinpoint to explain the change, but somewhere she had started to view herself differently, to draw confidence from what she was becoming-- even if she wasn't sure exactly what that would be.

Although it was possibly the easiest part of the construction, the selection of a crystal was the most anxiety ridden step. Qyren's gaze swept over the assortment of crystals he presented to her, observing the approximate size and shape as well as color. It occurred to her that Nantaris had mentioned this once before, but she had forgotten. She had to trust that she would know what the 'right' crystal was when the time came.

Her breathing settled into the slow, calming pattern she used for meditation. Closing her eyes briefly, Qyren coerced herself into letting go of the anxiety she was feeling; she would need to focus and that would not be helped if she was worrying over the wrong selection. There was no way to make the wrong choice unless she purposely ignored her own intuition. Opening her eyes again, she let them move to each crystal in turn, her hand absentmindedly hovering in the air over the table as if she were mid-selection already. Some crystals buzzed discordantly in her senses (mostly the crystals on the hotter end of the color spectrum, she noticed), some thrummed loudly enough to make her head ache, some were distant as if they were nothing to her at all. Mixed in were crystals that were better attuned to her and she sought them out amid the pile, studying their physical appearance to build a more complete picture of each unique option in her mind.

There were a surprising number of minute differences in each of those crystals more closely aligned to her... Force signature? She would have to ask Nantaris for the proper term later. She pushed aside several green crystals that weren't quite right and moved onto the blue and purple. Here there was a steady hum whose pitch changed in soothing undulations. Oval and oddly smooth, it 'called' to her. That, she assumed, was what Nantaris had been talking about.

Qyren smiled faintly at the pleasantness of the feeling and reached out to pluck the crystal from the tabletop, turning it over in her hand, memorizing the feel of the imperfections in its shape. Looking up at her master, she grinned. Yes. This one.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
Nantaris had watched her choose with interest. Her movements were so deliberate and purposeful, like she was properly listening to crystal.
His first lightsabre…well…always the rebel he’d made his own. In that case the crystal hadn’t ‘called’ to him, it had been the one he’d found which had worse. Still, when he’d grown up a bit and reflected on matters he had allowed himself to remake his weapon and choose his crystal properly.

“That looks perfect,” he said to Qyren. He reached out her hand and the crystal levitated into the air gently before settling down beside her half-formed lightsabre. “Suits you too,” he added with a grin. Though a good deal less libidinous than his writer makes out, he was still a bit of a Twi’lek admirer.

“Now, the final step is to put it in place. Use the Force, Qyren, you will know when it is properly in place. Then we turn it on…and hope you’ve done it right and it doesn’t blow up!” he added jokingly.

 

[Qyren Leret]

Qyren laughed briefly and, with the heady combination of relief and excitement, turned back to levitate the crystal from the tabletop. Ignoring her master at her side, Qyren seated the crystal in the setting and then began making minute adjustments: a rotation to account for the hump on the underside, a half turn for reasons she didn't quite understand.

Only once she was sure it was settled properly did she lean back, taking a deep breath. With steady hands, she put together the last pieces of the hilt, hiding the inner workings she had spent so much time on.

Her scrutiny of the finished product as she lifted it from the table ultimately resulted in her approval. She hadn't had a plan in place for how it would look, but the final construction of the hilt was sound and solid from an aesthetic perspective. It almost felt lighter than the other lightsabers she had used, and she gave the hilt an experimental twirl without turning it on. Nothing inside shifted or rattled and the balance felt right.

With a quick glance at Nantaris for permission, she stood and stepped back from the bench. There was a moment of hesitation as she recalled the explosion comment from her master before she activated the blade. There were no sparks, no explosions; everything worked as it should. Qyren's eyes swept the length of the cyan blade as she gave it a few test movements, but it remained a steady, solid cylinder of light.

I did it.

Uttering a Twi'leki exclamation of excitement, she jumped in place a few times in response to the energy suddenly filling her limbs. Remembering herself, she returned to more decorous behavior and deactivated the blade as she turned back to Nantaris. It didn't matter: her emotions were written all over her face.

"It didn't blow up," she acknowledged facetiously.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
Nantaris, who had almost imperceptibly taken a step backwards before she activated it, smiled.
“I never doubted you for a moment!” he said with a grin. He smiled at her excitement and patted her on the shoulder.
“It’s a thrill to use your own lightsabre the first time, isn’t it? It’s magnificent. I love the colour too.”
He was a fan of blue, as everyone knew, and not just on his Twi’leks!

“If you’re not too drained by excitement perhaps we should do some training with it? I think you know a lot of the basics from your training sabre, but there’s some important differences.”

 

[Qyren Leret]

Drained? By excitement? Qyren shook her head emphatically and then halted when she realized it could be misinterpreted and started to nod instead.

"Yes. Please," she agreed, moving to the door as she spoke. If he hadn't offered, she would have asked him to or gone on her own to the training rooms to begin practicing. Sure, her lightsaber had turned on, but she wanted to make sure it would stay that way and that it wouldn't fail at an inopportune moment. The only way to be certain of that was to test it in practice. If that practice happened to include picking up new information that would help her better understand and use her weapon, more to the better.

As they walked down the corridor, she inquired, "Does this mean I can start going on more trips with the Rangers?"

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
“Sure you can come with us! Actually, I was hoping this went smoothly as I have a meeting with a friend coming up. She’s able to translate that pirate treasure into credits…and she also is said to have a lead on something. But, first things first.”

Ossus, being a Jedi Temple, had plenty of rooms where one could do training.
“Now, I know you’re progressing well with deflecting bolts from a remote. What we’ll try now is something a bit more advanced. The enemy will not always stand back and shoot patiently, often they will try and attack you head on, or you will need to get to them.”

Picking up a datapad he put in a series of commands. A wall storage panel opened and out stepped a trio of droids.
“They only have sting blasters, but try to avoid being shot. Your goal is to keep out their shots, advance and strike. Remember the lessons on Form 1 I gave you. We’ll start with one droid, then two when that one is defeated. When you’re ready, we’ll begin.”

 

[Qyren Leret]

Qyren took a deep breath and settled herself into a Form 1 stance, eyes on the droids. "Ready, Master."

The first droid activated and fired almost simultaneously. Qyren's body took her through the Form 1 movements she had memorized, deflecting the bolts away from herself. It was a bit different from dealing with the remotes: though remotes could move, it was within a set radius. This droid had the benefit of an advanced range of movement. Qyren's advantage came from the fact that it seemed intent only on destroying her, not on making the safest tactical choices. She moved sideways, circling away from its steady aggressive progression but closing the distance between them slowly but surely.

There came a point where Qyren realized that any closer would mean having to take a blaster bolt or two, and so she dashed in, shifting sideways mid-trajectory to avoid the droid's barrage, and arced her blade up to sever its arms followed by its head. Breathing slightly labored, she backed two steps away from the pile of scraps and glanced to Nantaris before looking to the other two droids. There was no telling if her master might try to surprise her while her attention was on him (she believed it depended entirely on how playful he was feeling today).

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
Nantaris had watched eagerly from the sidelines and nodded approval as she dismembered the droid.

“Nice work, Qyren! You’re learning to be aware of your surroundings. We don’t charge in wildly waving our lightsabre around like a berserker. Everything we do must be controlled patient, intent.”

The slightest gesture, possibly invisible to Qyren.

“However, you mustn’t rest on your laurels. You must be prepared for a surprise!”

Because he was feeling playful, and he had activated one of the other droids unexpectedly moved to engage her whilst she was talking!

 

[Qyren Leret]

Qyren's lightsaber twisted up to deflect the shots and she Force-shoved the droids away, giving herself a moment to cross the distance between them. They rose more quickly than she expected, but Qyren let the threat of violence focus her. Neatly, she slid her saber through the torso of the first droid to rise and then spun, her saber an arc of light as it cut the second neatly in half. She flinched as she narrowly dodged away from its last volley, her wrist twisting somewhat awkwardly to knock aside some of the fire.

She waited for a moment after they fell, watching them for signs of movement and paying special attention to the droid whose only injury was the hole she had put in its chest. When nothing seemed forthcoming, she stepped away from the two sparking droids and looked to Nantaris with a smile. She idly spun her new lightsaber once before deactivating the blade, taking long, deep breaths to slow her breathing.

"I try to always be prepared for your surprises, Master."

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Qyren Leret"]
“Nicely done, Qyren!” Nantaris said with a broad grin. “A bit of artistry never hurts,” he added, nodding to the results.

“Now, what I want to try next is some more advanced lightsabre duelling stances. As you know there’s seven accepted forms of combat. One person cannot master or even learn all of them properly. When it comes time you will choose the form which suits you individually best. For now though you’ll learn some of the things I know.”

“The form I use most is Form Five, also known as Shien. It’s an attacking form, using powerful strikes and the Force to drive the enemy back. Its greatest weakness is a lack of defence if you lose the initiative, so you must always remain on the front foot. Now, take this stance, blade over the head like me. That’s your starting stance. From there you can step forward and chop, back and parry, or reflect blasters.”