Private The Prodigies Of The Sword

[Iris Arani]

Iris was all smiles at this point. She watched Silas for a moment, his colors, before closing her own eyes. Breathing, relaxing. It was just as important she remain calm as he, at least for this. "Good. Breath, focus. Try and find me in the Force. Focus on my breathing. Match it. Make our minds one."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas took another deep breath and focused his energy on the girl sitting before him. Right now they were both at peace, the past nervous energy being flung behind him like a thing of the past. Silence filled the air as Silas's energy connected with Iris, interlocking perfectly. Both padawan's breathing fell into sync.

For now, they were both one with each other, their minds connected in a way that had never been done before. It was almost as if they were one person...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris didn't let the meld last too long. The idea was to show Silas how to form one, after all. And they had their risks. Thoughts she didn't want to share. What mattered is he could. Iris took a breath as she closed herself off, nodding her approval.

"Good. Very good. In a fight it will help you stay in synch with whoever you're fighting along side. We're not strong enough to fight on our own."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas sensed that the connection had been broken and reopened his eyes. The fact he was able to do one reassured him he was able to achieve such a thing right now, all it took was a bit of calm conversation before they dived into things. Although, he hoped he wouldn't need to do that all the time and do it upon command.

"We'll need it more than ever with the upcoming wars, but the most important thing is each other," he said with a single nod, offering her a brief smile.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"The most important thing is to stay alive. Help everyone survive. Yourself included." Yourself especially. She frowned, glancing towards her missing pinky. One of far too many scars. They were Padawans, not soldiers.

".. That's all, though. I don't really have anything else to add."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"The most important thing is to stay alive. Help everyone survive. Yourself included."

"That as well, I can't forget to look after myself" compared to Iris, he had been pretty fortunate with his injuries. Everything that was supposed to be was still on him, other than broken bones and nasty cuts he had been alright up until now.

Silas seemed to glare over to some of Iris's injuries and frown slightly at what was ahead of him. Sometimes it was the sacrifice you needed to make in order to create a better future

"Thank you for sparing some of your time, Iris. Believe it or not, you're already a brilliant teacher" he said with another nod of thanks "You should do more, I sense you love helping others like this"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked slowly, before giving an all too bashful smile, laugh. Even rubbed at the back of her head. "I dunno. I want to help people, yeah, but I think I come off as more.. Annoying? Condescending sometimes? I don't mean to, but.. Yeah. I really gotta work on that, I think. Before I can be considered for a teacher at least."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"You were nothing but perfect when you were teaching a few minutes ago. Not only did you see I was stressed, but you helped calm me down before going turning our attention back to the lesson" he admitted to Iris, who seemed to be her own worst critique.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, I doubt any of those thoughts are actually true"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"A Jedi's life is self reflection. If I can't find my faults to work on, I certainly won't be ready to help someone else find theirs, right?" That's what made sense to her, anyway. Still, she did smile at what Silas said. Took a little self pride in his assessment. Maybe she was better suited than she was giving herself credit for.

"Well.. Doesn't matter. We'll see! Valery's the one who has the last say, after all."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"Not necessary Iris, you may see something or know something they don't about their problem. Everyone is different in their own way, some know more than others" Silas said warmly as he slowly got to his feet and lightly stretched off his body. Putting his hand down he offered to help his fellow padawan up to her feet.

"I have no doubt that Master Valery has every trust in you to do the job. don't be so hard on yourself..."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I.. Am working on that. Not being hard on myself, anyway. It's hard, though. With everything we've seen at least." War was an unforgiving place. She reached up to take the hand, pulling herself to her feet. ".. But uh, well. What do we do now?"

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"Hmmm..." Silas scratched his neck and smiled from the thought of something. He remembered a time when they sparred each other, a time when Silas was still fresh and figuring out the ways of the force.

Maybe it was the day to see how far both of them at come since that moment.

"How about we end things with a spar? it has been a while since me and you have gone at it"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

A spar?

Iris hummed for a moment, watching him. Would a spar be a good idea at their given training levels? Actually, what was- Ahh. Yeah. She nodded as she flashed a smile. It had been a while. He changed. She changed.

Time to see how much.

"Yeah. Let's spar."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"Fantastic, I'm curious to see how much has changed" Silas nodded to her and took a few steps away, a hand going to the lightsaber in his pocket "Okay... I guess we'll do the regular rules. No dirty business or use of the force" that was the standard thing they did anyway, there was no harm to make things clear again.

Turning the saber to the training mode, he slowly moved into a Sorosu stance and awaited the duel to begin.

"Ready when you are, Iris"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris nodded once. Her blue saber formed, silent as ever with it's nonlethal edge. No Force, though? She clicked her tongue, but nodded none the less. Just a bout of their swordsmanship. A quick flick of her wrist set the Makashi salute as she kept her eyes on him. Then moved. She slipped forward, keeping her feet more on the ground. Keeping herself grounded as she launched a series of quick thrusts. Probing his defense, never over extending. Testing with a focused eye.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas seemed to be all focus as Iris came at him with a series of quick thrusts. The teen dodged the first few before suddenly using his strength to parry the lightsaber back her way. Calmly twirling the saber in a circle, he snapped forwards and fired a flurry of swings at her upper chest which were fast and precise. For now, he just wanted to test how much on the game Iris was today before going into more daring waters.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked, but she wasn't too surprised. Soresu was always about defense from what she read up on it. Didn't mean the person utilizing it couldn't go on the offensive. Her blade flicked around at the first strike battering it away, her light grip on the hilt letting her just bring it back around. Parry, evade, strike. Strike not so much, but her narrowed, focused eyes continued to flick around. Watching him, watching the colors, watching his blade.

Another flick of the wrist and a parry to send both their blades up, and her free hand came around. This time with her second saber igniting in a flash of pink to try and catch Silas off guard.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas's determined eyes shot to every move she made, dodging, parrying, and even blocking. The reason he pushed forwards was to draw Iris in, making her think he was going aggressive as a means to outpower her. She did well to deal with his strikes, and with a good parry, it sent their sabers upwards. He took a step back and watch her other hand go down to her pocket, an indication she was bringing out something else onto the field of play.

With only a few seconds to act her other saber came right at him to try and catch the teen off guard. Silas smiled briefly as he snapped his body to the right to avoid the saber, before swinging his leg right after towards her midsection to send her back

"Two sabers? you really are looking to test me this time Iris"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris slid back with the kick, scooting along her line to make space. Watch. Grinned. "Two is my style now. Gotta be ready for the unexpected though, right?" Then she was back in. Following the imaginary line of Makashi to slip towards Silas again. Both blades this time, alternating between the two at random intervals, striking out with both. They didn't have the power behind them, but that wasn't Makashi.

Defeat by a thousand cuts, or so.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"If I wasn't I'd be dead by now," he said back to Iris with a slight grin on the corner of his lips, back away slightly to gain a bit more space from her blades. She had finally fallen for the bait, but her pulling out another blade was something he'd have to adjust to. Watching her swing them at random intervals, he dodged and maneuvered around them gracefully. Some came awfully close, but he remained calm and collected.

Seeing an opportunity, he ducked under a swing and swung his leg around to try and sweep her legs away before jumping up to his feet to try and send a swift strike to one of her hands to disarm one of her lightsabers.

Iris Arani​