A Jedi's Day Off

((Sorry for the short post, I'm in a hurry))

Locke walked briskly through the courtyard, his dark brown cloak, Jedi Order symbol emblazoned on the back, flaring out behind him. He had a satchel hanging across his body from his left shoulder. He was heading back to his personal quarters after spending some time out on the streets of Coruscant, gathering intel from sources he kept on crime syndicates and other nefarious organizations.

As he had made his way through the Temple, he decided to cut through the courtyard. It was peaceful enough, and beautiful, though he wasn't one to swoon over such things. Truth be told, he just cut through it because it was the fastest way to get to his destination. While he was making his way through the courtyard, he had noticed a Togruta practicing his lightsaber forms. Soresu, it looks like, Locke thought. At least he has good taste in forms. If I see another idiot bouncing around in Ataru, I swear I'll vomit. He watched the padawan go through his forms, taking mental notes as he watched. He shows some promise at least. Not that Locke was a saber specialist by any means, but he knew enough to tell if someone had some talent. With some instruction, I dare say he might be pretty good one day. He let a small sarcastic grin creep onto his face for a moment, and then it was gone. How... inspiring.

As the padawan stopped to gather himself, Locke started to approach him. He did his usual salute to acknowledge someone; his first two fingers held up to his forehead and then lazily pointed in the direction of the recipient. "Hello, I don't believe we've met before," he said coming to a stop by the student. The Togruta was tall. Taller than Locke by about half a foot. "I'm Locke Nemsee, Knight of the Order, Jedi Investigator, protector of peace, justice, security and all that other garbage." He extended his hand out to the padawan for a handshake. "And you are?"

Tey Shaak watched as a Human walked toward him, giving him a formal two fingered salute before offering his hand to shake and asking for his name. Tey Shaak simply bowed as the man approached, his own way of greeting people he'd never met before.

"Hi, my name is Tey Shaak, you said you're name was Locke Nemsee correct? Nice to meet you" Tey Shaak took the offered hand and shook it, then he thought of the pace in which the man had been walking "So, Locke what brings you this way? Are you perhaps on assighnment? I noticed you were walking rather fast for a simple stroll".

Tey hoped he didn'ty come across as rude, Locke was in higher rank after all, this Tey could tell from the way the man carried himself as well as body language. He'd had alot of time alone and alot of opportunities to study people in general. This had allowed Tey to discern some smidgens of information, like Jedi Masters seemed to carry a load on themselves, so they walked slow most of the time, though their stance was almost always ramrod straight, however.
Padawans and indeed he himself walked much faster, sometimes to the annoyance of others, and seemed to have a little bounce in their step. Ofcourse, it was almost obvious with everybody when there was an emergency afoot or they had something to do and somewhere to be.
"If you have somewhere to be I can walk and talk, I can study Soresu later" It'd been awhile since anyone had bothered to speak to him and Tey rather enjoyed company, though he wasn't prone to forcing himself on anybody. He hoped the man would stick around for atleast a few minutes. He didn't speak like the rest of the Jedi he'd talked to and this piqued Tey's interest. So he contented himself with seeing what would unfold and listened for a response from what Tey hoped would be a new friend.

Locke smiled a little in spite of himself. Hey, the kid called me by my first name instead of all that title crap other padawans normally do. He might not be that bad after all. But I think I'll play with him a bit first, see how he reacts.

"Well, Tey, nice to meet you." He paused for a moment, scratching the stubble that blanketed his jaw. "I'm going nowhere in particular, really. I've got a few reports and such that I need to drop off," he patted the side of the satchel hanging from his shoulder, "but they can wait. Besides, it's not like they'll run away from me." He stopped for a moment, putting on an over-exaggerated look of severity. "Unless you intend to club me over the back of the head while we're walking." He deepened the scowl, and added a bit of a threatening tone to his voice as well. "And that just wouldn't do. I would have to find you and then, when I did and took all that you held dear from you, you would call out 'Mercy! Please Locke, mercy!' and you know what I'd say?" He looked around, pretending to make sure no one was watching and leaned in closer to Tey. "I would say 'never,'" he whispered.

Locke let a moment pass before he started laughing loudly. When he had stopped he looked at Tey again. "Okay, okay, I was kidding." He stopped to chuckle again. "Sorry if I a scared you there. Or if you think I'm rude." He paused he said that. "Well, actually I am rude, but you know what I mean." Locke turned, looking out around the courtyard. "It's a bit of a... quirk, I guess. I picked it up from my old master." Locke turned back to Tey. "But in all honesty, I'm not really in a rush to do anything, and some company is always a good thing."

Locke grinned, putting a hand on Tey's shoulder. "How about this: I saw you working on Soresu. I know a thing or two about Soresu, though I'm a Makashi man myself. How about we head off to one of the training rooms and spar a bit? Or I could give you some pointers on Soresu. Sound good?"

He turned, starting to walk to an exit of the courtyard, confident that Tey would follow. "So, tell me a bit about yourself, Tey."

Tey smiled in spite of himself, he'd caught Locke's little joke right away. After all, if Locke had actually killed him he'd be hunted by the Jedi Shadows that were still around most likely.
"Actually you're quite like myself, I like playing jokes on people too sometimes, lately though I haven't had the imagination for any, because I've been keeping myself buisy training my mind and my lightsaber skills".
Tey positively beamed at the mention of a sparring match and someone willing to teach him a little about Soresu "Well, if you're up for it can we do both? Y'know the sparring match and the Soresu pointers?" Tey said as he walked over to get his duffel bag full of datapads and flimsi before following Locke. It seems we'll make fast friends, I just hope I can keep my predatory nature in check[/i] Tey thought as he walked with his new found friend out of the courtyard and into the temple.
"You want to know about me?"Tey thought for a moment as they walked down the Jedi Temple's massive halls "Well, there's not much to tell to be honest. I was born on Shili, that's my races homeworld and taken at two years old by a Jedi and his Padawan, I don't know their names unfortunately. What else did you want to know? I've been known to play some rather questionable pranks on some of the fellow students but, they might not be funny to you, you might find them quite vulgar for all I know".
Tey Shaak supplied before thinking of what else the Investigator might ask about but, drawing a blank on the subjects he simply looked at Locke to see his reaction.
"Oh, before you answer. Should I be calling you Master Nemsee? or just Locke? I mean, you didn't react like I thought you would when I called you by your first name" with that Tey Shaak stretched out his force senses to determine how strongly Locke felt about his answer. This was mostly for Tey Shaak's peace of mind, everyone reacted so differently to titles it was hard for Tey Shaak to know when and who he should use them with.

Locke was quiet for a moment as he pondered Tey's question. Then he allowed a small wave of amusement roll through him. Just a little; the barest hint of a breeze flowing through a field on a hot summer's day. "You can call me Locke. I'm not, nor have I ever been a person fond of titles." He looked around the great halls of the Temple, watching other Jedi come and go as they went on about their business.

He thought on longer, as the two rounded a corner into a new hall. "And it would seem that we were taken at the same age," he said. A very small smile touched the edge of his lips. "Although, I suspect you were born into better circumstances than me." Deep within him, at the very center of his being, a small, hot flash of rage broke out. he put it down extraordinarily quickly, but if someone had been looking for it, they might have found it. Can't dwell on things in the past, he thought calmly. Especially things I had no ability to control. Locke sighed deeply, closing his eyes and shaking his head, like he was trying to clear a fog from it.

"Anyway, you'd be hard pressed to find or do anything that I consider vulgar, Tey. But, if you do, remind me to take you out to a diner in the city." Locke chuckled and looked at Tey. "Besides, there's few ways that are better to train your mind than to think of ways to trick people." He paused again, looking around. "Although I'm sure one of the Masters would have an aneurysm if they heard me say that."

As they continued down the corridors of the Temple, Locke said "And I'll spar with you and give you tips on Soresu. Although, I'll warn you know, I'm not a master of the form by any means, but I guess any assistance is better than none right? Besides, it could be good training for both of us."

They rounded another corner, passing a group of younglings running loudly through the hallway, which led to Locke muttering under his breath about 'stupid unruly children.' Once they passed, he turned to look at Tey once more. Well, I think we'll get on just fine. But I want to try one more thing. He hid his ability to touch the Force completely. It was a skill he had become quite good at over the years, as numerous infiltration missions he had done had been ruined by Force-sensitives that were able to feel him and blow his disguise. He did it abruptly, with no outward indication of what he had done. He then started projecting different strong emotions. Joy, anger, sorrow, apathy, onward and onward. "Now Tey, back to what I asked earlier. Perhaps I phrased it wrong. I meant for you to tell me about you. What I meant was: what are your goals, your views, things like that." He looked at Tey, raising his right eyebrow. "Would you like me to tell you about myself first?"

Tey smiled as his new friend told him of his distaste for titles and preferred to be called by his first name, Tey Shaak simply nodded in response to this as he continued to lightly probe Locke's top most emotions. First to hit Tey was Locke's amusement at his question. Locke then told Tey that he'd probably grown up in worse conditions than him, and for the breifest moment a rage like a flash fire rose in Locke but, as fast as it rose it just as quickly was smothered. It happened so fast Tey doubted whether he'd really felt it at all but, then his friend sighed heavily and Tey knew that it hadn't been his imagination.

They turned a corner and Locke told Tey that he probably wouldn't surprise him since he thought playing tricks was one way to train the mind, saying that if he did, Tey's reward would be a meal at a diner. Then something was said about someone having a aneurysm, Tey didn't catch all of it. Tey refocused his attention, hard as it was, he'd only left the Jedi Temple a few times in his life, and that was sparingly. Tey felt something slip as his Force senses continued to passively scan his new friend, it was like he was nowhere to be found in the force, like he'd simply died right there as they were talking. The Togruta listened as Locke told him that he'd sparr with him and practice Soresu with him, all the while warning him that he didn't know the form very well, while Tey looked at his friend in a quizzical manner trying to figure out what had happened. Then the lightbulb went on in Tey's mind, Locke had used Force Concealment. Then the strangest thing happened, Locke's emotions seemed to go on the frits first he felt Joy then anger, then sorrow, then apathy, boredom, and on and on.
Again, the lightbulb in his brain turned on and Tey let his force senses drop entirely.

"Sorry about telepathically probing you, I just wanted to know how strongly you felt about the title, and how interested in me you really were." Tey said after his friend finished telling him what specifically he was interested in, and offering to tell about himself first if Tey was uncomfortable.
"Someone I thought was going to become a friend and advance my training in the ways of the Force left suddenly, about a month ago. My second Master, Zach Starfire. He didn't say anything to me, we were in the middle of an excercise and he just left. It's not that I'm uncomfortable, it's just that..that really shook me up, what if the man that was supposed to be my Jedi Master was a Sith? I didn't feel anything wrong. He was felt like all the other Jedi in the Temple." Tey grew grim for a moment as the possibilities gave way to a terrible fear, but as Tey looked over at his friend he regained his composure and quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, as for my goals and views, lemme think. I'd like to be a weapon master like my first Master was but, I'd also like to have some knowledge of the Force as well, not just the body stuff."Tey took a breath and thought about Locke's second question, his views.
"As for my views, the only thing that comes to mind is what Master Blade told me. He thought that the force was all about balance and how if there was a really powerful Jedi then, there naturally would be a really powerful Sith. He also told me that there were alot of grey areas where the Force was concerned. He had a theory that the Force wasn't light and dark like we think it is. That it's a perception kinda thing, how you perceive it to be or how you use it, is what determines whether it's light or dark sided. He also said that control of the Force meant respecting the power you weld and that's where the Sith fail. I guess I agree with that, I mean it makes sense to me. What do you think? Is that wrong? or is everything in black and white?" Tey thought long and hard for a moment on what else to tell Locke but, nothing in particular came to mind.
"I can't really think of anything else to tell you besides what little I remember of my childhood, and that's not much. Why don't you tell me about yourself? Your comment about our different childhoods intrigued me. You said you were taken by the Jedi around the same age as I was. Can we talk about that? or is it too personal? I'll understand if you don't want to, there are some things that require more time to talk about after all."

Tey wondered briefly if he shouldn't have brought that subject up reflecting on the strong emotions that were very briefly displayed in the force. Despite having only known Locke for a few minutes in a day, he felt as if this could be the start of a great friendship.
The other Jedi Masters usually had their padawans use their titles when speaking with each other, Locke didn't.
Another thing that intrigued Tey about Locke was the fact he seemed to encourage little pranks but seemed to value respectful behavior when in the Temple halls.
As they turned another corner and drew closer to the sparring rooms, Tey wondered where one began and the other ended in Locke's mind but, Tey left the question unsaid listening for Locke's reply.

Locke reopened himself to the Force, letting it flow through him, filling him to the core of his being. He also stopped throwing around false emotions. As Tey talked, Locke felt a pang of sorrow for the padawan. "I'm sorry that you've lost two of your masters so far." Locke said this quietly; he actually felt sorry for the young student. "It is troubling that the second one would just leave you like that." Locke paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Though as for if he is a Sith or not, who can say? It's best to not dwell on these things though. You can cross that bridge when you come to it. Just know this: should you need help tracking him down if he does turn out to be a Sith, or even bringing him to justice, I won't hesitate to help you." Locke turned his gaze to Tey and smiled warmly once more. "Because leaving you without any reason is a terrible thing to do. I don't know how he could call himself a Jedi after doing that." Locke chuckled after saying this, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Although some Jedi would say the same about me I guess. I'm not the most... orthodox image of a Jedi." He laughed once more as the two grew closer to the training room. "But hey, I am what I am. I might be a little rough around the edges, but I'd gladly give my life for the Order or the Republic." He stopped, realizing what he just said. "Okay, well maybe not gladly, and I don't really think I can serve the Republic by being dead, but you know what I mean."


Locke nodded in approval as the padawan spoke of wanting to become a weapons master. "It's always good to have another warrior. Especially if the rumors circulating about Sith encroaches into Republic territory are true. We might end up needing all of the warriors we can find. Because I'm not the guy you want leading troops in battle." He laughed at this. "For one, I'm not really a leader, and secondly, I work in the shadows, not on the front lines. Me leading soldiers would be an absolute disaster." Locke continued to laugh at this concept. "That reminds me of a mission I did with my master once. We had to escort the Gold Horizon, a merchant vessel. Long story short, I ended up leading a group of defenders against a pirate attack and got a scar across my back from a piece of burning metal. It was an absolute disaster."


Locke continued to listen intently as Tey spoke about his views on the Force. Hey, I'm liking this kid more and more, he thought as Tey spoke of balance and shades of grey. "Well, it sounds like your first master was a smart man. I have to say, I agree completely with his his views. I think too man of the Order are caught up in the holier-than-thou servant-of-the-light-crap." Locke snorted at that. "Not everything can be wrong or right. Sometimes there's a bit of ambiguity to things, you know?" They turned one last corner, into a corridor with large windows that looked out onto the cityscape of Coruscant. "Especially in my line of work. I wish I could count the number of times I've done something that would probably be considered 'bad' or 'dark' to complete the mission set before me by the Council. Sometimes you just have to do things you don't want to to achieve the greater good. I know I would have failed a lot more missions if I kept the attitude a lot of other Jedi do, like they have a lightsaber in their butts." Locke shook his head. "Not that I'm bashing the Order or anything, since I'm a Jedi myself, i just think this whole one way or the other thing is a liability to us."

He kept listening to Tey as the Togruta inquired about his childhood. That flash of anger flared up was more, and subdued just has fast as the last one. He stopped walking a turned to stare out of one of the windows of the hallway. The sun was setting out over the city and the sky was brilliant shades of orange and red. Locke sighed deeply, weighing the choice of telling Tey about his past. After a long while, he turned back to Tey, leaning on the wall behind him a little bit, as if he was sudenly very tired. Locke sighed heavily and then said, "Suffice to say my father was merchant who fell from grace into a drug addiction and my mother sold herself to make up for the money my father squandered on his addiction." He said it flatly, with no emotion in his voice, though deep down, the anger started to boil again. Locke thought about how he must have been coming off to Tey and stood up straight. "Look, I don't mean to seem angry or anything, it's just a bit of a touchy subject. The wound is still a little raw, you know?" He started to walk again, and the two drew to about fifty paces away from the entrance to the training rooms. "How about this: once you become a knight, I'll tell you the whole story. Think of it as a motivation or something. And, that will give me some time to come to terms with what happened to my family." Locke smiled for a moment. "Besides, I don't want to be so melancholy, not on our first meeting."

"As for myself, I can tell you that I am a Jedi Investigator, so much of my work is done infiltrating gangs, crime syndicates, pirate rings. You know, trying to keep the butthole of the Republic clean." Locke grinned wryly and continued. "As for my views, I think I explained them well enough."

The two made it to the entrance to the training rooms and stepped into an empty one. "Well here we are," Locke said, motioning grandly with his right hand around the room. "So, what shall we do first?"

Tey smiled as Locke told him that he agreed with Blade's views on the force.
Well, maybe that is the view to adopt then, surely two people that've never met and have the same views, can't be drawn to me through simple chance.

When they'd arrived at an empty training room with a window that looked over the city, Locke turned to Tey and shared a little something about his childhood. Apparently the memories weren't pleasant ones, like Tey Shaaks, because he told Tey Shaak that he didn't really want to talk about it now, now while the wounds were still so fresh in his mind. Then he told Tey that when he became a Jedi Knight that maybe he'd be willing to tell him the whole story then, reasoning that it would give him a chance to heal those wounds so fresh in his memory.
Locke then changed the subject to his job as a Jedi Investigator and Tey listened as he described a little about it. After that they both entered the room where Locke asked him what they should do first.

"Fair enough, I can understand that. I'm sorry about your parents though, and thanks for your condolences for my former Master. I won't call the other man a Master because he never got the chance to be one" Tey Shaak looked around the room to try and get a feel for the area, right now there wasn't any equipment in the room. Tey knew however, that the equipment was hidden in the walls and floorboards because he'd seen many Padawans, Jedi Knights and Masters use them briefly in their duels and practices.
"Well, why don't we do some warm ups with Soresu, get the sleep out of our limbs for a few minutes and then do some sparring?" a smile spread on Tey's face as he remembered the first time he'd entered a duel with Blade in a room similar to this one.
"I'm sorry, this room brings back memories." Tey Shaak said with a light laugh ""I once sparred with my first Jedi Master in a practice room similar to this one. He walloped me ofcourse, but, what struck me then was how easy he made it seem. I remember he actually spanked me with a practice lightsaber one time and told me that a good swordsman doesn't lie on the floor so much" Tey Shaak burst out laughing at the memory, "it wasn't funny at the time ofcourse but it is now as I look back on it.
Hopefully I will give you a better fight than I did him. Oh, and Locke, please don't go easy on me". Tey Shaak stretched his limbs and felt them crackle and pop, he started with a few simple stretches and then took hold of his lightsaber.
The purple blue blade hummed to life a second later.

Locke laughed at Tey's last request. "Ha! Go easy on you?" He dropped his satchel off in a corner and started taking off the dark brown cloak he wore over his robes. "Why in the world would I go easy on you?" He folded is cloak in half and set it on the floor next to his satchel. Then he turned to face the padawan, his lightsaber and blaster pistol now visible on left hip. "Now, I might not wallop you, but I'm gonna make you work for any kind of victory you might harbor thoughts of."

Locke stretched, rolling his shoulders back and feeling them pop satisfyingly. "I do, of course expect you to do the same for me. Won't do either of us any good if we don't give all we've got, now will it?" He smirked at Tey. "No, then we'd find ourselves in combat with a fallen Jedi and a lightsaber trough our hearts. And I don't know about you, but I don't particularly fancy that thought."

Next Locke did a warmup that he always did before practice. He opened himself to the Force, letting in rush into him. It filled him, and he drew more and more, letting it grow until it felt like a river that was about to overflow its banks. Then he slowly backed off, letting it ebb away until he was back to normal. It was something he always did. His master didn't teach it to him, nor did any other Jedi; it was just a habit of his. He didn't even know if it really did anything, but he always felt more relaxed after doing it, and more alert. He watched as Tey's lightsaber came alive in his hands, and lifted an eyebrow at the color of it. "Well now, isn't that a nice color?"

Locke drew his own blade to his right hand with a tug of the Force. Then he held his right arm above his head, but the lightsaber was not yet ignited. At the same time, he put his left hand behind his back. He then took a half step forward with his right foot, bowing as he did this. As he bowed, he ignited his yellow-orange blade, sweeping his right arm underneath him in a graceful arc. He then straightened, and pointed his saber at Tey's chest before bringing it down to his side. Next he took on his fighting stance. He was turned slightly so that his right side was facing Tey. His feet were about two feet apart;his right foot faced forward, the direction of the padawan, and his left foot was perpendicular to that. He bent his legs at the knee slightly, as if ready to pounce at his foe. Locke's saber was held lightly in his right hand, point up at about a 30 degree angle pointed at Tey, and he held his left hand back and semi-close to his body.

"First we'll see what you know about Soresu. We can build off of that once we have a general idea." With that he was in motion, making a straight thrust at Tey's heart. It was a simple attack, and Locke had no doubt that Tey would parry it. but it was fast. Let's see if the kid is awake, he thought, and he smirked a bit as he closed on Tey.

Tey laughed as Locke agreed that going easy on him wouldn't do anything for the both of them. Then grew a little more serious as Locke asked the same from him. Tey Shaak bowed in return to Locke and took his fighting stance. He flipped the lightsaber around so the the hilt was pointing towards Locke and the blade was at Tey's back. Then his empty hand came forward in a formal challenge and he made a "come on" gesture. Tey Shaak stood straight with his body slightly angled towards Locke just like he'd read in the datapad. In all the years Tey had practiced with his lightsaber the Backhanded styles were his favorite.

Then Locke was charging him with his yellow orange blade, the weapon angled for Tey Shaak's heart. With that Tey Shaak brought his lightsaber around in a sweeping motion, catching Locke's blade and pushing it to the left and out of harms way. With that Tey Shaak spun and slashed horizontally in an effort to strike Locke's stomach. There was no doubt in Tey's mind that Locke would be able to dodge the manuever, after all it was a simple counter attack and he was fast.

Locke felt a brief spark of surprise at Tey's stance. As his strike was parried, he took a step to his left, turning inward. At the same time he stepped, he also moved closer to Tey, bringing himself in to stop Tey's strike short. He brought his hand up so that his blade was pointing down vertically and caught Tey's blade. Locke held it there with his saber, and the two blades made a 't' shape in between the two combatants. "Backhanded, eh? How fascinating. Good job on keeping the blade close to you, though you might not want to let me pull in so close to you. Things can get real nasty real fast if you start infighting." He took two quick steps back. "Oh and I liked the little taunt by the way." He grinned wickedly. "But you should be careful taunting me like that. You might bite off more than you can chew." He whistled to himself for a moment. Yes, I think i'll start fighting to a tempo, see how he handles it. "Let's continue shall we? "

He started to advance on Tey. "I want to see how good that head you have on your shoulders is." Let's see... what tempo? I think 3/4 will suffice. He took a quick advance step towards Tey. One. Then, he hit his blade on Tey's.For a moment, there was a flash of light as the yellow-orange and blue-purple blades collided. The hit wasn't meant to do anything more than to get Tey to tighten his grip on his lightsaber, if only for a moment. A tight hand was a slow hand. Two. After this, Locke stepped to his right. He aimed a cut at Tey's neck. Three.

Tey Shaak simply nodded as Locke easily manuevered himself to block Tey's horizontal attack and suggested not letting him get any closer. He liked my taunt! I can't say I've heard that before. Let's see, what's he going to do next?[/color] Tey watched as Locke tapped his yellow orange blade with his blue purple one Oh ok, he's going into a tempo, I know this, it's one of the basic forms of sword duels, but, which one?[/color] Tey kept his stance loose so he could move at a moments notice and came up with his lightsaber as Locke stepped up on his right and aimed a cut at Tey's neck. Tey Shaak let the force guide his hands while he gathered it to himself to increase his speed. Then after turning his shoulder, Tey raised his arm using the blade and his triceps to stop Locke's blade with a vertical parry. Tey brought his arm out and forced the two lightsabers away from him and followed through with a spin action meant to disarm his apponent, if Locke wasn't careful the dis-arming could be literal. Are you sure about me biting off more than I can chew? So far, I'm keeping in step with you even though you are trying to use a tempo to keep me off balanced" Tey smiled as he teased his new friend, when Tey was in the academy and had a duel like this he remembered the classmates would gather around and "ooh" and "aah" at the spectacle. That had given Tey a boost of energy and made the sparring even more fun, but now there was no one around but Locke and Tey.
Tey was surprised to find he was having even more fun than back then.

Locke didn't try to parry Tey's counterstrike. Instead, he dropped his hand down, pulling it back to keep it out of the way. As he did this, took a short jump back, pulling in his stomach to keep Tey's hit from striking. Tey's blade missed him by inches. That was a little closer than I would have liked. He gave Tey short nod of approval, and snorted at Tey's teasing. That's right Tey, you keep thinking you've got me figured out. Locke also couldn't help but notice the fluidity with which they were moving. They flowed around each other, like two partners dancing, except for the fact that theirs was a much deadlier dance. He is a padawan, still with a few years left before Knighthood, and already he fights well. He uses short, quick motions to defend, as a practitioner of Soresu should, but he doesn't know much of the form. He'll be one hell of fighter one day. I wouldn't be surprised if he passed me in lightsaber combat. One day. Far into the future. Locke smirked. But then again, that's not my specialty. Locke only paused for a heartbeat; almost immediately he was in motion, bearing down on Tey once more.

He spoke as he moved. "Were I you, I'd worry about not letting that brash mouth of yours run away before you embarrass yourself." As he said that, he stepped forward, ducking down low. Let's pick up the pace a bit. He stopped short of Tey, bringing his lightsaber out from behind him in a low arc. Now he was moving faster than he had before, closing in on as fast as he could without calling on the Force for aid. One. Then, as the blade neared his foe's foot, he stopped short. Two. "So tell me Tey, what is the main philosophy of Soresu?" He did not pause while saying this; he was in motion the whole time. Immediately after he stopped his blade, he angled it upward, aiming for Tey's stomach. He stepped forward toward Tey as he did this, pulling most of the force for his blow from stepping forward, instead of his arm. Three.

I almost got him that time! Wow, I did come really close, he had to jump back in order not to get hit Tey thought as Locke landed a meter away I wonder if this sparring match is getting too serious.
Tey didn't bother to reply to Locke's verbal joust, Locke was stepping the duel up another notch.
The Togruta watched Locke bring his lightsaber from behind him in a low arch and charge him again, this time making feints as he came near, the first being aimed at Tey's feet. Tey reflexively wanted to move back or jump but he knew the real attack was aimed somewhere else. Then Tey saw it, the slow turn of Locke's wrist as he angled the lightsaber at Tey's stomach while asking him what the main philosophy of Soresu was.
There was no hesitation in Tey's reply as he brought his lightsaber back to meet Lockes, then he used the strength in his arms to push Locke's lightsaber to the right and away from his body while similarly pressing downward to force Locke to become unbalanced and unable to keep his footing.
"Ofcourse" Tey smiled as he had memorized his philosophy lessons with his first master, Blade "The philosophy of Soresu was described as "being within the eye of the storm." The practitioner maintained a centered frame of concentration, undisrupted by the conflict around them. They did this to maintain the calm center where the outer storm of combat could not harm them. Thus, Soresu commanded powerful defensive techniques that seemed to adapt to almost any circumstance, at the cost of never reaching past the figurative eye of the storm. The Soresu technique used little to none of the attack power needed by those who concentrate on the storm itself. Those who studied this style used the primarily defensive technique to wear down aggressive opponents by defending long onslaughts with minimal counter-attacking. They waited until their adversary spent most of their energy, then employed an alternate, more aggressive attack. They waited for eventual lapses in their opponent's own defense. The key to truly mastering Soresu may have come from a mastery of the concept and philosophy of Soresu." Tey Shaak replied like he was actually reading from a manual in front of him. Then after taking a breath said "Although, I admit I really don't get the distinction between the concept and philosophy".

Tey Shaak shook his head and shut down the lightsaber"I saw how close that strike of mine came, I didn't hurt you did I?" genuine concern leaked out of his voice.

Locke stumbled back from Tey somewhat awkwardly. He almost fell and in the end saved himself by landing in a crouch. Well, that didn't go the way I planned. He's a sharp kid. He stayed crouched down as Tey recited off what he knew of Soresu. He was proud of Tey, to be truthful. Tey wasn't his student, but he saw the potential in the Togruta. Makes me wanna cry, he though sarcastically.

When Tey had finished, Locke stood up straight, his legs popped a little from crouching so long. He laughed a bit at Tey's concern about him. "No, no Tey, don't worry. I'm fine. I have a habit of getting in too close myself, it's something a lot of people have to work on. But, I applaud you on your riposte. There was an opportunity to strike, and you took it. Almost got me, too." Locke let his lightsaber fade away, and clipped back onto his belt by his blaster pistol. "Although, I should let you know, dodging is a large part of the way I fight. It's to make up for a weakness of mine, but I'll get on to that a second."

He walked over to one of the walls of the room and sat down, back against the wall. After walking out in the city all day, walking through the Temple with Tey, and their duel, he was quite tired of being on his feet. "Your response was good, if a bit academic for my tastes. Now here's my opinion on things, and remember, I'm not a saber specialist, so keep a grain of salt nearby, okay? Ultimately it boils down to this: saber close, small movements, conserving energy and looking for openings." He shrugged. "And from there it's figuring out what best works for you." He held up his saber once more, showing Tey the slight curvature of the hilt. " I am a Makashi user myself. I do most of my fighting with one hand, as you may have gathered, not that I'm opposed to fighting with two hands when needed. Now, for Soresu. The form is about using as little energy as possible while your opponent wears himself out. From this point on I can only really speak from my own experiences, so take what you will from it."

Locke paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, scratched his beard, and then continued onward. "So, being a Makashi user, brute force is not something I really use, nor is it something I can stand up to for long, at least using traditional methods. And I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not the strongest person, as you may have gathered when you almost knocked me over." Locke laughed at that. "No, my, uh... strength, if you will, lays in my agility, my speed. So, being the way I am, and with the way that Makashi emphasizes grace over strength, it was a little difficult for me to get a grasp of Soresu when my master started to lay the foundation of it down for me. One thing I had taken to doing was simply turning to evade powerful hits, when possible, instead of trying to block them with my blade. Now, Soresu is about being calm and conserving energy, so I had to tone down the movement to be smaller, faster; besides, I didn't want to end up looking like one of those Ataru users, with their idiotic bouncing around." He laughed at that. "But so far, it's worked out for me, and besides, small movements are faster than bigger ones anyway, so it's improved my speed in general. If I see an attack coming and I feel that I can't block it, a simple turn to the side, or a quick step back can be more efficient than using the strength to stop the blow. Although, when you do parry, you should always try to keep the energy from the opponent's attack going." Locke activated his yellow-orange blade once more, and pointed at the blade. "This is a wall. Their blade isn't going to get through it. So as long as that wall is up between you and their weapon, let their momentum keep going, and reflect it away more than trying to stop it."

Locke shrugged again, and put his lightsaber on his hip once more. "I'm not sure if that'll really help you any, that's just what works for me. Besides, I warned you, I'm not an expert on Soresu. Nor am I an expert on lightsaber combat." He looked up at Tey, and awaited his response.

Tey had to cover his mouth in order not to laugh aloud as he watched Locke stumble around to get his footing. He was glad, however, that he hadn't hurt him with that close call a few minutes back. Locke then started to talk, telling him that his preferred style of fighting was Makashi and held up his lightsaber hilt for Tey to look at. Tey walked over and sat down, looking closely at Locke's hilt and listening to Locke as he went on in his explanation.
As Locke was describing the differences between Makashi and Soresu Tey couldn't help thinking Hey! I said that!.
Then he got into the different strengths of individuals and how the forms varied on the kind of person you were. After that Locke told a little bit more about himself.

"Ok, I get that" Tey thought for a second before speaking " I don't know how to actually do that though, I mean how do you reflect your opponents lightsaber attack back at them? I can see that being done with a blaster but, with a lightsaber? Ah, maybe we can go over that later my brain hurts now" Tey laughed and sat back letting his arms support him "I think I may need to lay low on the textbooks" Tey said as he finally felt the soreness creep into his body.
Tey simply lay back for a few minutes as his body tried to relax from the exertion that'd been put on it through the force.
"Hey Locke, would you mind telling me about your first Jedi Master? I wanna know a little bit more about you. Oh, thanks for the compliment by the way, you're a challenge for me, whether you think so or not." Tey laughed again as he sat up and crossed his legs, letting the strain off his arms "You're right by the way about my summerization of Soresu being academic, what can I say though? I mean these come in real handy and allow me to store information, atleast I think they do". Tey Shaak took one of his lekku and gently waved it at Locke.
"One of the reasons I study so hard is so I can improve my skills and be worthy of my first Master's and maybe my second Master's apprenticeship and be an aid to the Jedi Order". Tey smiled and said "So, what about you? Who do you have to blame for being in the Order?" Tey laughed as he said this, he was teasing Locke again. Tey loved being in the Jedi Order, it was the only life he'd ever known. So Tey looked to Locke and waited for his response.

Locke laughed aloud at Tey's confusion at his wording. "I didn't mean deflect at them, i just meant to deflect it away from you, preferably in the direction the attack came from." He laid back, resting his back on the wall. "But you're right, we can speak of that later."

He chuckled again as Tey spoke of how much he studied. "I know what you mean about studying hard, trust me. But I've always just preferred the practical, grounded explanation of things rather than the academic ones. Not that one is more right than the other, it's just a personal preference."

All Locke could do was smile as Tey asked him about his former master. Ah, old Tiino. "My former master, the one that got me into wasting away my life in this Order was an Iktotchi by the name of Tiino Xeis." Locke laughed, remering the years he had spent with his master, and the close friendship they had shared. "He was actually the one who found me in that festering pit of a home I lived in back on Nar Shadaa. And, somehow, fate saw to it that he would be my master. He was a master of Makashi and Soresu, so that explains my fighting preferences. And he was an Investigator, as I am; he's actually the one that inspired me to be an Investigator. He was also as bad as I am about being a jerk sometimes, and I learned quite a few, uh, choice words from him."

Locke suddenly burst into laughter, remembering one incident in particular. "There was one time when we were stuck on Corellia because a ship he was using was having an engine malfuction. He decided that would be as good a time as any to teach me some mechanical things. Now, I am not a mechanical person. At all. If you ever have something break, don't come to me, because I'll probably kill us both trying to fix it." Locke sat up straight and turned to face Tey; he was getting more into the telling of his story. "Anyway, so he tried to help me. By the Force, I swear he did, but it was a lost cause. When I thought I had it fixed, he turned the engines back on, and they exploded." Locke laughed uproariously at this, even throwing his head back. He laughed until there where tears in his eyes and his sides hurt. "It wasn't a big enough explosion to destroy the whole ship, mind you, but it was enough to ruin it. You should have seen him. I had never seen an Iktotchi turn red, but I swear he did. He was so mad. He said things that would make a criminal from the Outer Rim blush. And it was so funny. Oh, I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life."

Locke sat back against the wall, since he was starting to feel the weariness of the day's activities spread through his body. I'm gonna be sore for a week, he thought, smiling. And, for once, it doesn't really bother me. He continued on. "My master and I had a very strong bond. Hell, we still do. Pardon my language. We had a thing of playing jokes on each other, too." Locke looked at Tey, smiling. "I don't know how to describe it. It was just a really great friendship, the kind you probably had with your first master." Locke stopped, thinking about Tey's loss. "Once again, though, I really am very sorry for you. It's a shame that you lost your first master, and an even bigger one that your second one left you. No one should have to go through that."

With that, he laid his head back against the wall, and looked up at ceiling. "So, what say you about the record?" He turned his head, looking at Tey, while grinning stupidly. "I say, since you quit fighting first, it should be Locke- 1, Tey- 0. Sounds good, huh?"

"Oh" Tey said more to himself than Locke and feeling silly for not getting that the first time. Then Tey returned his attention to Locke as he expressed empathy on the subject of study. When Tey had asked Locke about his first Master, a smile spread across his face. This intrigued Tey and the interest was reflected in him sitting up a little straighter.

Then as Locke began talking about his first Master, an Iktotchi by the name of Tiino Xeis, Tey began to laugh when he described his personality. Locke's alot like his first Master, probably more so than even he thinks Tey thought with a smile as Locke went on to tell a tale of when they were stuck on a planet due to engine trouble. After Locke finished the tale, Tey Shaak was rolling on the ground holding his sides and laughing.

A couple minutes later Tey and Locke had calmed down but Tey was still chuckling a little, the image of Locke running from the engine room and the look on his Master's face just would not go away. Tey *guffawed* at the thought of someone using language that would make a criminal on the Outer Rim blush and smiled as Locke went on to describe the relationship between them. Then for some reason things got quiet when he mentioned Tey's first master.
heh, he had a good friendship with his first master just like I did with mine.
We're alot alike Then Tey thought about the sudden and uncomfortable silence that followed after a few seconds I wonder if he thinks I'm gonna break down if he mentions Master Sidus.

Then after a minute Locke looked up at the ceiling and asked what Tey thought of the score so far between them and claimed he won the first sparring match.
"Wha- uh, I don't think so. I only stopped to make sure you weren't hurt!" Tey's surprise mixed with a mischeivous smile as he said "I think the score should be Locke- 1, Me- 1. A tie. If I hadn't of stopped you'd have spent all you energy and have fainted! Besides, I almost had you and you know it".
Tey smiled remembering the adventures he'd had with his first Master, Jolee Sidus.
"So, what do you think about that? Let's call it a tie" Tey said looking at Locke with a grin stuck on his face.