This is the Weapon of a Jedi Knight.

[Dune Rhur]

Dune Rhur sat across from his new student. They were in a room set aside for the martial arts on Eol Sha. It was an empty place except for a few racks on the walls. The walls were a light hue and the racks were of natural wood.

It was a bright and clean place that seemed naturally lit. The surroundings were designed to promote focus. A sense of focus much needed to learn the fighting disciplines of the Jedi. It was an essential skill.

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

"This is my lightsaber, Ra," said Dune as he unhooked it. He held the cylindrical hilt with palms up. Everything about it was tailored for him. He'd built it himself years ago.

The hilt was of silvery durasteel with a textured grip. It had a throttle emitter with a shrouded guard. Inside the casing was housed a blue Illum focusing crystal. That too was unique to him.

It'd called to him once upon a time. Years ago on an icy world where'd he taken another step on the path. Just like they'd call to his student eventually. First things first.

He offered it for her to examine.

 

[Riamah]

Having found one person to truly connect to within the Dominion, Ra had discovered [member="Dune Rhur"] or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, the Force probably also had a hand in the mix. She had started learning about the Force, picking up a little here and a little there, but no true focused training.

The last conversation she and Dune had concerned the Jedi code. The code they lived by and followed. Today when she woke up, Ra had found a message inviting her to join him in one of the separate sparring rooms in the temple. Not knowing anything about how to use any weapons other than knives, she jumped at the chance to learn more.

Her most recent exercise with a staff had been a failure from the start and the spar lost almost instantly. However, after that loss, she excelled at the hand to hand and won that spar. That was one of her greatest strengths, but she wanted to focus on improving in those areas where she was weak.

Now she found herself facing Dune in the room, waiting with anticipation for what was going to happen. He spoke a simple sentence and held his lightsaber out to her. It was different than her own broken hilt. Shorter and only one side could project the blade. The color was a solid silver as opposed to the multishades of metal on hers. Even though this one wasn't hers, she tried it out for size and found it too large for her to be able to wield easily.

After examining it, Ra held it out for Dune to take back.

"It is well constructed and I'm sure works well for you."

She spoke with a little half smile on her face, feeling totally comfortable around him.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune nodded and took his weapon back. He hooked it back onto his belt before he spoke.

"The lightsaber is, of course, the traditional weapon of the Jedi Knight," he patted him in a familiar way "Each one is constructed by the being who will wield it."

"It's a rite of passage for an apprentice to construct a weapon tailored to them in accordance with the Force. Their hand is guided by it so that no two lightsabers made in that way will be the same."

His mouth puckered with distaste as he continued.

"Of course, a lightsaber is not so hard to find anymore. Those ones are inferior and mass produced. They're no better than a stormtrooper's rifle in their quality."

That was to say it could be still deadly. But it lacked the care and precision that a trained Jedi user would take. It wouldn't hold up under true duress like one hand-built. It was like a charlatan claiming parlour tricks to be the Force.

The Master stood and doffed his robes. He gestured for Ra to stand before neatly folding his outer layer and placing it in the corner. With that done he turned suddenly and gestured to a rack. A wooden stave now flew at Ra at his gesture.

This was a test of the young woman's awareness. Dune was a gentle being but the galaxy was not often so. He would minimize the impact if she proved unaware. Yet he wouldn't entirely prevent it from striking her in some non-essential area.

Pain had proven an effective teacher for many an apprentice including himself....

 

[Riamah]

A slightly sad or disappointed look crossed Ra's face when Dune said each saber is forged and created by the one that's going to wield it. By him saying that, it took away her thoughts of repairing the broken hilt she possessed. He continued on to state that manufactured sabers could be found anymore though. They aren't as good or durable than one hand made though. It gave her hope though that she could repair instead of having to create a new one.

However if she found she couldn't use the double saber staff, then perhaps a regular one would work for her.

Ra watched as [member="Dune Rhur"] removed his robe and motioned to where she should stand. She also noticed he turned quickly as soon as he set his clothes down and motioned at one of the racks.

Almost too fast for her to react, one of the wooden training staves flew in her direction. Letting out a small squeak of surprise, Ra jumped backward to avoid getting hit and watched as the bokken hit the ground and skidded over to her feet.

"Nice trick. I'd like to learn how to throw things around with the Force too. "

Bending over, Ra picked training sword and gave Dune a small and smirky smile.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune watched with arms folded. Her moving out of the way caused him to smile. It was not only an answer but the one he himself would've picked. One could block such an attack or catch it.

Either would've been acceptable. But what Ra did made him feel a tremendous sense of hope for her. What she did was what a Jedi should always strive to do. Cause no harm even in defending oneself.

"You will, Ra," he said "I sense potential in you. Your choice for what I threw at you was unusual. Many would've been struck and those I would hold reservations about. Some would've block it and they would made...adequate Jedi. Those who do what you chose have the making of a Master."

"With that being said, you're still at the start, apprentice Ra," he told her with the intent of not letting an ego grow too big "You have much to learn."

"What the intention of the exercise is, as you might guess, familiarity."

He drew his weapon again. This time it came alive with a snap-hiss and an azure blade. He took a middle guard with the tip pointed at a 45 degree angle. His left side was forward and his feet were shoulder width.

"Notice my posture, I am upright but relaxed. My feet are the width of my shoulders. My hands are placed a little apart. Imitate me with your stave."

 

[Riamah]

Ra listened to Dune and her smirky smile turned genuine at his praise. However when he said she was still at the start, she just gave him a flat look and rolled her eyes.

"Well, yes this Force stuff is all new to me. Of course, I'm just at the start and I expect it's going to take a LONG time before I master everything."

The thought of being a Master intrigued her. There was never anything Ra had excelled at really, but he says she has the potential be SOMETHING. It made her feel good and wanted to strive to be everything he imagined for her.

Watching as Dune drew and ignited his saber, she took note of his stance as he requested and attempted to go about it the same way.

He right hand was at the end of the handle with her left hand on top, movement would be controlled with her right. She placed her feet like he had them and faced him almost exactly. Her blade slightly lower and the angle not perfect.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune watched her carefully. Her snarky comments were ignored for the greater lesson. He stood up and began to circle around her with an eye for detail. He stopped every so often to make a subtle adjustment.

Every little push and pull brought Ra into what was the correct stance. It wasn't very much. Dune knew that she would sense the difference. His own teachers had done the same for him.

Her posture was now as close to textbook as possible. The Bith knew it was a little uncomfortable. It would be until training developed her muscles just so. That was this point as of this.

"This is what it feel like when you're in the right middle guard," he told her "It not comfortable. Now anyway. You will grow used it it as you grow stronger."

He stepped back far enough to resume middle guard and reactivate his lightsaber. Their posture was almost mirror perfect allowing for physical differences.

"Now follow along, Ra," The Master said to his student. He began to move very slowly through the foundation of the first form....

 

[Riamah]

Ra tried to relax as much as she could as Dune went around her and adjusted her positioning to be in certain parameters. When she had stood in front of him on her own, she though she had been good, this was as identical as it could be. Once he was done molding her stance, [member="Dune Rhur"] went to stand in front of her again.

He reignited his lightsaber and got himself into position.

"It does feel slightly odd, but not uncomfortable. More like I'm just putting a strain or stress on a muscle I don't use very often."

Did he mean stronger in a physical sense or mental state? Ra wondered this to herself and Dune started going through the foundation of the lightsaber.

 

[Dune Rhur]

It was very slow-going indeed. The opening pattern of Shii-Cho was intentionally simple and ages old. It'd been passed down from teacher to student such as when Ben Kenobi taught Luke Skywalker aboard the Millennium Falcon. Block and step then attack and so on.

Dune demonstrated then had Ra perform the broken down sequence. There was a certain awkwardness about her movement. She wasn't clumsy but there was some disconnect. Perhaps it was the stave in her hands that was throwing her off.

During a break he spoke to her.

"You told me that you learned unarmed fighting techniques," said the Jedi "Can you show me some of these?"

The Bith had a hunch.

 

[Riamah]

Ra watched Dune as he went through some of the motions of Shii-Cho. He was graceful, secure and full of confidence in his moves after been practicing them for years. She on the hand, just starting out was jerky and slow. At least she didn't fall down or lose her balance. It just didn't feel natural to her, at least not yet.

They went through some moves a few times and took a break. Taking a moment to stretched and rub at the unused muscles now strained, Dune asks her to show him some of the unarmed combat she knew.

Nodding, Ra walked over to the rack that held the different training knives, sabers and staves. She picked out two of the shorter training knives and held them so her the blades went up her arms. She flipped them back and forth a few times from the side of her arms to her hands and back. Feeling comfortable with their balance, Ra walked over to a training dummy and performed several disabling blows to its body and torso. None of them would have been fatal in a real life fight. After showing the disabling blows, she got a little more violent in her actions and performed what would have been fatal blows.

When she finished, Ra looked at Dune.

"It was good to move like that again. Normally, I would also have knives in my boots, but those are really only back up if I somehow lose the two in my sleeves."

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune watched the display with arms folded. Her movements were swift and sure with the two shorter knives. There was no hesitation as she simulated dissecting the training apparatus. The Bith had his suspicions confirmed and his lips twitched into a small smile.

"I expect that you would, Ra," he told her with that barest hint of a grin "But this is good."

He extended a hand and called the same stave she'd been using back to him. Dune covered the distance in a few steps and extended the training weapon.

"Take it. Think of this as just a long knife. In a way that's all a sword is. If you can move with a pair of knives, it should be simpler with only a single weapon. To coordinate two weapons is that much harder."

"I was never the most natural fighter. Not in the way you are. You can do this with the right mentality."

 

[Riamah]

Ra saw a smile on Dune and gave him one in return. After that and in mere seconds, he was standing in front of her again and holding out the original bokken she had been using. She reached out to take it from him listening to his words.

Shaking her head slightly, "this is NOT the same as a knife. I can't hide this up my sleeve and can only hold one."

She stamps her foot slightly to emphasize her word.

"The movements we were running just a little bit ago have nothing to do with what I can accomplish with the knives."

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Take it, Ra. It really is just a big knife," he said reassuringly "It's in your mind that you cannot."

He extended the stave again.

"A lightsaber is simply an extension of your body in the same way a knife is."

It was all cyclical as he hoped to make her see. The blade was an extension of the Jedi and the Jedi was an extension of the Force. The only thing was to be able to believe. That was always the hardest part.

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a sigh, Ra took the bokken from [member="Dune Rhur"] and looked at him with her eyes slightly narrowed.

Shaking her head, she held the practice saber in the way Dune had showed her before. Holding it with both hands, her feet shoulder width apart and her body slightly turned to provide a smaller target to get hit.

"This still feels so odd, Dune. How can you compare this to knives? They are half the size of this and so much easier to use"

Her voice was slightly animated when she mentioned the knives. He could tell that is where her interest was.

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Time enough for knives later," he said firmly but not unkindly "Now focus."

He resumed his own stance and reactivated his weapon.

"See how I move, Ra. My blade is simply an extension of my arm."

First he demonstrated with his lightsaber activated and then he flicked it off. Now he moved in the same way with empty hands. It looked remarkably like Teres Kasi or Alchaka. That was his point.

"Do you understand what I mean now?," the Bith asked "Just an extension of your arm. Don't focus on the blade itself."

 

[Riamah]

Ra watched very carefully the way Dune moved, holding his ignited lightsaber. His stance, positioning and movements all fluid, as if his saber was a part or an extension of his body. She could tell that is how in her own way she moved with the knives. Really considering his words, Ra closed her eyes for a few moments, centering herself and connecting to the bokken she held in her hands.

When she opened them, he was waiting on her to answer. Her own stance had adjusted slightly and she now stood more confidently and solidly. Standing now much like Dune in the sense she wasn't just holding a saber, but that the training blade was an extension and part of her as a whole. She started going through as many of the original motions of the kata that she remembered, but didn't all of them.

When she was done, she drew in a breath as if she had been holding it the whole time and look of full concentration left her face. Turning to look at [member="Dune Rhur"] she had a surprised look on her face.

"It may not have been as good as you, but I feel like I'm improving."

 

[Dune Rhur]

"Better, Ra," he told her after she'd repeated the pattern for a time.

"The trick is to not think. Flowing with the Force means your blade with always be where it needs to be."

He held up a hand to forestall her.

"You are getting better, but don't worry about how you compare to me. Worry about how well you are doing."

"I think you've done enough for a day, at least with the fighting arts. Now we recuperate by meditation. Put away your weapon and sit with me."

He suited his own words by moving to the center of the room and sitting. Dune crossed him legs and placed long-fingered hands on his knees. His back was straight but his shoulders and neck were relaxed. This was a very familiar thing to a Jedi and would soon be for Ra too.

 

[Riamah]

Listening to his words as intently as she had his moves previously she tilted her head questioningly.

"You are what I can use to compare my progress, so I will become at least as good as you someday."

[member="Dune Rhur"] raised his hand to stop her from going through the kata again, gratefully she set the bokken away on its rack and joined her master in the middle of the room for meditation.

Sitting in a comfortable position like Dune's Ra waited for him to begin.

 

[Dune Rhur]

"The key is to simply let go," he said without preamble "Close your eyes and simply breathe. Let the Force flow freely."

He nodded and demonstrated for her with one notable exception. A Bith could not close eyelids that they did not have. Deep and slow his breaths came and he relaxed. The Force flowed within him effortlessly.

One gifted with the Force might notice his aura shine brighter now. Truly he was at his deepest connection to the Light side. A Jedi always was when at peace. A being could not be more at peace than when communing with the Force by meditation.

His eyes were unfocused and his voice was distant as he spoke.

"Let go of yourself, surrender to the flow."

 

[Riamah]

Having meditated before a few times, Ra was quickly able to fall back into the rhythm of breathing and finding the Force flowing around them. However, it wasn't as natural in her mind as she needed see herself in a lake and that lake was the Force.

Once she was in the lake, Ra allowed herself to float freely on the surface and the little current and eddies of the water moving her around.

Far away, she heard Dune speaking and telling her to do what she was already doing.

[member="Dune Rhur"]