Private The Next Generation

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Lily Decoria

"You're making a lot of progress," Valery said after Lily had finished the last of today's training session with a quick sparring session. They had started with simple drills and gradually built up difficulty, before applying it all in a short fight. Lily had expressed an interest in learning a new Lightsaber Form — Vaapad — and Valery had been eager to teach it. As a former Battlemaster, instructing others in the Forms had been her job, but Vaapad was something different. It didn't exist yet in her own time, so her experience teaching it was comparatively lacking.

It only made it more exciting for her to teach it now that she grasped the Form herself.

"How do you feel about the Form so far? It's not an easy one and you do have to really be in control of yourself. So there's also no shame in wanting to focus on something else, if it doesn't feel fitting. These Forms work best when they're extensions of who you are. Some prefer a passive, more defensive approach, and others lean into physically demanding and aggressive."

"But we all have to remain in control."

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Training Gear
Equipment: Crossguard Lightsaber
Location: Training Hall, Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Tags: Valery Noble

Lily nodded her head with a smile. "I appreciate the time given so I can learn how to truly master a form like this one." Grabbing a towel, Lily wiped the sweat from her. The session had been intense and she was sure that her muscles would be stiff in the morning. However, there was so much that she had gained from the training with a skilled Master of fighting like Valery.

"The form is likely seen as difficult for those in the Order no well versed in Echani fighting," Lily mentioned as she thought about her native fighting arts that were focused on emotions and communicating those emotions. "It is not a one to one, so there is still that I have to adapt and develop, but since it doesn't seem as reserved in emotions like the others.... It feels more natural for me." Lily looked up to the Jedi Master, "if that makes sense?"

Fighting was simple as walking for Lily, she lived and breathed it as, her ability to focus and absorb everything within the forms and fighting forms was higher than most Echani she knew. "The harder the challenge the better with fighting. I need to be pushed. I have a decent understanding of the other forms already, Master Briana had been going through them with me. I aim to be an expert in most, if not, all of them by the time I reach Master." Lily informed Valery, she was going to be the best battlemaster that she could be.

"I know there is a difference between openly expressing one's emotions and losing control of your emotions. I am slowly learning to open my emotions more while using the Force, instead of aggressively wrestling it like before." Lily admitted, her skills with the Force were a lot slower growing that her skills with a Lightsaber. "How was your training as a Padawan?" Lily asked curious if there was anything Valery struggled with when learning to be a Jedi.

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Lily Decoria

"Don't let your Echani experience make you arrogant," Valery warned Lily with a more stern expression, "This Form was forbidden to most Jedi for a reason when it was made. It's not about the difficulty of grasping its concepts, but how easily it can contribute to a darker path. On its own, it's unlikely going to be the reason a Jedi will fall, but it does add to the risks and temptations we should resist. If anything, your ease of adapting emotion into duels should make this Form harder on you."

"You have to be even more careful."

Valery offered a soft smile and listened to Lily some more. She knew how eager the young woman was, which made her quite a good fit for Briana, but sometimes she almost felt too eager. "You can become an expert or Master in every Form if you dedicate yourself to it, but don't look ahead too much or think about the day you might be considered a Master. Focus on the here and now, and your more immediate future."

"It can take a decade to Master Forms, and it will take far longer if you look too far ahead." She then paused at the question that followed and let out a soft chuckle.

"My time was very different. Every Jedi back then started very young, and the training was very strict and traditional. It had its advantages — we were far more experienced with the Force in our 20s than most Jedi are these days. But it had its problems too, especially on a more social and personal level."

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Training Gear
Equipment: Crossguard Lightsaber
Location: Training Hall, Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Tags: Valery Noble

Valery pointed out that Lily should be cautious to not fall victim to being arrogant and Lily looked over, she was surprised that she was coming across that way. "It wasn't meant to be from arrogance, I'm sorry. Just I was raised fighting in a style that wasn't too dissimilar to Vaapad, so I figured it would be a form I could adapt as well." Lily did not mean to seem arrogant but was just very confident in her ability to adopt a Form and fight. "I am unsure, I am use to exposing my full emotions in fighting but I don't let my emotions control me.... But I appreciate this is going to be something different. I will take your words to heart Master."

Lily felt she could handle this burden but Lily couldn't deny that Master Valery knew more than she would about the Form and accepting that, working hard to demonstrate her skill in fighting and how to carry that burden.

"Oh!" Lily was usually one to plan well in advance for things, "I... I understand. I just like to know where I want to go, plan that path. It helps to motivate me and drive me forward." Lily couldn't help but have a need to plan her life out. She was needing to know where she was going and ensure she kept on track to achieve it. "I do try to focus on the here and now, Master Briana has been pushing me to do it more. I just can't help needing long term goals, even if they are decades away."

Listening to what Valery offered about her time as a Padawan, she nodded her head, "how did you find training as a Padawan?" She was curious to learn more about the Jedi Master, especially since Valery was very similar to how she wanted to be as a Jedi as well. A strong, dedicated fighter that was skilled in all the Forms.

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Lily Decoria

"You're a young Jedi with not an immense amount of experience yet. Just because you've been able to control your emotions in sparring or the few encounters you've been in, doesn't mean that it will hold forever. Every person has a breaking point, but I fear the one who approached a Form like this shrugging of the risks a lot more than someone who took them extremely seriously." And at the end of the day, she was an Echani, so far more likely to fall for these things.

Unless she remained mindful of it, and it seemed like she would.

"My time training as a Padawan had its up and downs," Valery then said with a soft smile. "I had a really good Master who helped me become the woman I am today in many ways. But... the times were very different too. It was common for Jedi to be thrown into battle very young, and both physically and mentally that was very scarring."

The one on her face had lingered since she was a Padawan herself, but she wasn't going to dive into that story without reason for it.

"In my opinion, being a Padawan is better these days. Just... a lot start when they're quite old, and it does have its disadvantages as well. But that's the same for any skill — the younger you start, the more you'll likely learn throughout your life."

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Training Gear
Equipment: Crossguard Lightsaber
Location: Training Hall, Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Tags: Valery Noble

"I understand Master. Fighting is my language, I approach anything connected to it with the utmost seriousness. It might seem like I am laxed or indifferent about the risks, I assessed them months ago, well before I even considered asking for a lesson," Lily explained. It was why she was so forward thinking, preparing for the worst always, prepping herself and her body to ensure that others would be safe guarded.

It was not a perfect approach and she was often too rigid in her thinking but Lily had to, needed to, prep that way. She read everything surrounding Vaapad, obsessively, pouring over the details. The issues, the positives and how best to utilise the Form. Of course, book and holocron reading was a poor teaching tool in comparison to an actual spar with a Master of the Form. But Lily wanted to understand as much as she could.

"Form V, Djem So, uses highly aggressive attacks. A user must be aware of such consequences, because such aggressive could be seen as expression of anger. Yet it is also one of the most common Jedi Forms." Lily pointed out, "there are dangers laying in many of the Forms Jedi use as a slippery slope to the Dark Side. Feels like the constant war isn't with the Sith but with oneself."

Lily was curious if this was her life now, dealing with constant threats to her alignment as a Jedi.

"Is that so different?" Lily asked curious, "with war inevitable, feels like a younger generation of Jedi will only know war. I hear some only talk about their experiences as a Jedi, from the perspective as a veteran from the war with the Maw?"

Lily knew from Kat, constantly being in war was debilitating as an adult just as much as a child.

"It feels that way more with the Force than with the sparring. The sparring is odd. The Jedi communicate nothing, or very basic. It is odd to spar against after growing up only fighting adult Echani experts in fighting." Her aunt and mother always ensured that Lily learnt from the best, even if it wasn't them teaching her.