The Road

[Riamah]

She finished going through the Katas for Makashi and corrected any mistakes she saw Rann making. Her touch was that of a teacher and guide, which was exactly what she was. He asked about Ataru and she nodded.

"The order of the Forms for practice I guess doesn't really matter, but it's generally expected to go in numerical order. So going off that, we can swap Soresu and Ataru just as long as you also take the time to learn it as well. Each form has strengths and weaknesses. So it is best to learn at least the Katas of each just so you can fight against them better."

Ra went to show him Ataru and finished off with Soresu, explaining what each form had for strengths and weaknesses.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

“I didn’t mean to impose.”

Rann was grateful that [member="Riamah"] was helping him in the way that she was. He struggled a bit but with her corrections he was beginning to learn the forms with some form of competency. The last two forms Soresu and Ataru peeked Ranns interest, however. He knew he would be interested in Ataru but he defensive advantages of Soresu and offensive advantages of Ataru spoke to him. He had figured in his mind if he had to come up against a wall of blasters then he was dead anyway. This didn’t mean he slacked off with the earlier forms, but they didn’t hold his attention as much as Soresu and Ataru.

After they had been training for a considerable amount of time Rann became curious as to his masters skill. He figured her skill or greater was the end goal, and wanted to see how much farther he had to go.

“May I challenge you to a quick sparring session?”

He asked with a smile. He wanted to see how good he could lose.

 

[Riamah]

Once Ra was confident Rann had picked up the basics of the different Forms, she would stop and observe him. When errors were made, she corrected him. This went on for several days. In essence, they covered about a Form a day and he had expressed an interest in Ataru and Soresu, so the last two days they focused on those two specifically. At the end of the week, he asked for a quick sparring session and she nodded.

Picking up two shorter blades, she took a ready stance in the middle of the practice mat and waited for him.

"You will find my Form entirely different than what you have seen. But it still incorporates bits and pieces. You'll see."

Waiting for him to decide how to approach her, he would see the two short blades were held up along the side of her arms. The front of her body appeared exposed to his attack.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann twirled his practice blade around a couple times and paced back and forth, eyeing [member="Riamah"] 's form. He knew better than to assume she was *actually* open for a frontal attack, but didn't know how else to proceed. Finally, he grasped his weapon in both hands and adopted the ataru stance, holding his blade across his body diagnonally with the tip pointed towards her.

He knew he had to immediately go and then stay on the offensive, especially in Ataru. He hoped to make her dual blades useless by getting inside her arm span, so he slowly and carefully inched his way closer to her, before quickly going for an overhead chop.

 

[Riamah]

The manner Ra held her blades almost made his attack pointless. Rann had physical strength, but here that wasn't needed. Speed was the equation at work with and her years of fighting left her fast reflexes.

One arm only came up to stop his training saber from hitting her. Her other arm flashed out and with the flick of a wrist, her saber connected with his side.

"Out of sight and forgotten. Always pay attention to the whole of who you are fighting."

Returning to her previous position, Ra nodded to let him know to try again.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann recoiled from the hit, slightly frustrated. He knew to expect something like this from dueling [member="Riamah"] but that did not make him feel any better. he backed up to get some ground between the two of them and analyze the situation.

Ra had him at a disadvantage. As long as she held those two blades he was unable to do anything worthwhile.

He also realized that getting inside her arms was a fool's errand. Her defense was too great. And, as she said, he needed to always be able to see the big picture. *Were* he to win it wouldn't be with one quick chop that ended the fight before it began. It would have to be a struggle, hard fought for every inch.

Taking a deep breath, Rann readied himself, grabbing his blade again in both hands before approaching Ra once more.

This time, however, he stayed outside her arms, probing her defenses. He swung his blade wide into her side, trying, always, to remain conscious of her other blade.

 

[Riamah]

This was all part of the learning process and bruises were expected. Ra had been through this training before and Rann was not her first apprentice. She did not gloat over the hit and pointed out the error he had made. Jut knowing the basics of each style, she understood what each Form was for and melded what she needed into her own.

This time, he kept his distance and she noted that. Ran didn't close enough for her to attack him again, he brought his blade into her side and she turned physically to brought both short sabers out to block it. Hopefully locking it in place with a slightly downward pressure, she raised one saber to try and stab at his chest.

The only way she could see to avoid getting hit would be to move away and avoid the tap of the tip that way.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann, realizing his blade was trapped as it was, let go of the blade with one of his and pivoted his feet to avoid [member="Riamah"] 's strike. In his new position, Rann hurriedly backstepped, freeing his blade from her lockup. He sighed and chuckled lightly. He knew to expect a hard fight, and it had only just begun, but his side began to throb with a dull pain that was ever present in his mind. He flourished his blade a little and regained his grip, determination covering his face.

Can't get close, can't stay far. Maybe if I melded the two? he thought. Those two blades of hers were a problem. He wondered if he became entangled with her if he would be able to overpower her, but something in the back of his mind told him that this would end extremely poorly. Her mastery of the Force would make up for any lack in strength, if any, that could be found.

Rann decided that Ataru didn't quite fit the bill here, and switched into Soresu form. He made sure to keep his feet light, and adopted the traditional defensive stance of the Form. He inched ever closer to Ra, making sure to get just inside her range that she could reach him, but would have to press for any meaningful offensive.

He got to his positioning and waited, watching Ra, staring into her eyes while remaining acutely aware of the two blades she possessed, and the pain he felt in his side.