Meetings. Greetings. [Closed]

[Rugs]

Locke took a quick half-step back when Jazen dashed toward him, flicking Jazen's blade away from him with a casual snap of his wrist. When Jazen's second strike came 'round, Locke pulled his own blade in close to his chest, tip pointed straight up to catch Jazen's strike so that their blades formed a 't.' Yellow-orange and ice-blue blades slammed together violently, creating a bright flash. A loud crraaack sang out when the two lightsabers touched.

Locke's riposte was swift, another quick cut, this time aimed at Jazen's head, but it simply glided though the air; Jazen was already moving back to his initial position. You won't get away that easily. Locke brought his left hand forward, reaching out in the Force. The power of the Force filled him, and he struck out, aiming a strong pull at his student. He readied his blade to defend or attack Jazen, depending on which situation presented itself, and he also prepared for any retaliation Jazen might throw at him through the Force. He would not be caught off guard this time.

[Jazen]

As Jazen landed after his strike, he suddenly felt a huge pull tug at him. His eyes darted to Locke, whose left hand was up and pointing at him. His feet tried to brace themselves, but the floor was flat and there was nothing he could grip onto. Gritting his teeth, Jazen's mind went into overdrive, thinking of all the things he could do. In order to retain that Force Pull, Locke would have to keep that hand focused on him. Sending a blast of Force Push to counter the pull, Jazen used every bit of strength his body could muster to leap to the side. His landing could have been better, as he landed on one foot and stumbled, barely regaining his balance.

"Ugh, that wasn't none too pleasant. Gotta admit, I hate being dragged into Force battles. Oddly enough, I'm not bad at it." Shaking off the aftereffects, Jazen brought his saber up in front of him. Dashing in at Locke, he went low, protecting himself as he slid past Locke. Then, Jazen swung the saber back towards Locke, aiming for his exposed back.

[Rugs]

Locke swung his saber back over his head to catch Jazen's blade. The blade angled straight down, and stopped Jazen's strike, although the force from Jazen's blow almost forced Locke's own blade into his back. Gritting his teeth, Locke slowly straightened his arms and brought the two blades so that they were in front of him, straining as he did so; physical strength was not Locke's... well, strong point. "And I'm no fan of getting into contests of brute strength, but I survive."

When the sabers were in front of him, he spun on his heel quickly, pulling his blade away from Jazen's in the process. He took two quick steps back, and on the second one he exploded forward, aiming a thrust at Jazen's heart. But the thrust was just a ruse. Once the blade drew within striking distance of Jazen, Locke immediately dropped it straight down, and swung it sideways, aiming at Jazen's hip.

[Jazen]

Watching as Locke caught his attack and turned it into a battle of strength, Jazen held his stance as the blades hissed against one another. Jazen wasn't especially strong, but he wasn't weak either. Trying to push the blades back so he could retreat a few steps, he was caught off guard as Locke broke contact first. As Locke backed away, Jazen moved to increase the distance between them when Locke suddenly lunged back at him.

Seeing the blade was aimed for his chest, Jazen prepared to bat it aside like before when Locke suddenly changed tactics. Seeing the blade coming for his hip from below, Jazen took a chance. Kicking off, he leapt over the incoming blade by mere inches, the humming blade grazing his robes. Landing, Jazen spun back at Locke. But instead of aiming the saber at him, he swung his saber at Locke's in a downward swing. As he did this, he sent a kick towards Locke's midsection. His plan was simple: use his saber to keep Locke's from coming up while his kick aimed to knock the wind out of him.

[Rugs]

Locke hadn't expected Jazen to jump out of the way of his strike, but the could adjust. He did expect Jazen to give some sort of counter-attack; it would be silly for him to just doge around and not try to respond to any of Locke's blows. So, when Jazen's blade lashed out, Locke started to move to parry. But, at the last moment, he saw the heart of Jazen's strike. Jazen aiming to hit Locke's blade, clearly as a feint. Locke quickly dropped his own blade, making a small circular movement to keep his blade from hitting Jazen's. The possibilities of what could be coming next raced through his mind, and he started to take a quick step forward, aiming to get too close for Jazen to make an effective remise of his attack. He started to grin, thinking he had his student figured out.

And then he saw the foot coming.

Many things had gone through Locke's mind as possibilities that Jazen would use. A physical attack was not one of them. He had actually forgotten about using punches and kicks, since most of the fight had been so heavily saber and Force focused. Had Jazen known this and planned it out? Locke didn't know. But whether it was a plan or a move made in desperation, Locke was stepping right into it. Well I'll be damned, Locke thought in surprise.

Then Jazen's foot slammed into his stomach. Locke grunted, and the air was suddenly gone from him. His saber fell to the ground, fading away as it did. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to grab Jazen's ankle. Don't think you've got me, kid. Locke could only think of one thing to do. Fall. Because Jazen was still in the air, and Locke had a hold of his foot, if he fell, Jazen fell with him. So he started to fall down to his right, turning in a fashion that would cause Jazen to slam into the ground on his back. As he fell, he reached his left hand out behind him, calling his saber back to him with the Force.

[Jazen]

Jazen couldn't help but grin as his kick hit its mark. The Force and a lightsaber were the Jedi's main tools of combat but there was one form of combat that they often overlooked. And that was combat with their own bodies. Jazen had learned from Tylan that even in the heat of lightsaber combat, the attacks made by hands or feet should not be forgotten. They could easily strike an unprepared enemy if their focus was on the enemies saber. Jazen shuddered at the memory of all the times Tylan had caught him like that, his stomach remembering the pain.

Jazen's grin faded however, as he saw Locke grab onto his ankle. "Blast, I didn't pull back fast enough," Jazen suddenly thought. He felt his body leave the ground as Locke used his falling momentum to bring Jazen with him, swinging him down towards the floor. With little time to react, Jazen aimed his free hand towards the floor and used the Force to reduce the speed at which he hit the floor. The hit still hurt a lot though and as his back met ground, the wind flew from Jazen's lungs. Flat on his back, Jazen gasped for air then sighed. His body would need a few moments to get back to normal and in a life or death situation, he would have lost right there.

"Ow, that wasn't how I saw that move *cough* going. No offense Master, but I think my body wants to take a rest. You win this round." Sitting up, Jazen rubbed the back of his head, still throbbing from his date with the shiny floor he was on.

[Rugs]

Locke sat up, groaning at the pain it caused in his stomach. He laughed at Jazen's remark, and instantly wished he hadn't when another wave of pain rolled through. "Is this what winning feels like? I have to say, I think it's a little overrated." He slowly forced himself to his feet, groaning as he did. He hit me pretty hard. Ugh... That's gonna be sore tomorrow. He looked around the room, and almost laughed at the ruined table and the chair that Jazen had cut. Well, that was a good fight. I'll admit, you really caught me off guard with that kick. My old master would have a fit if he heard me say this, but I really wasn't expecting you to do that.""

Concern spread across Locke's face when he noticed Jazen rubbing the back of his head. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to slam your head into the ground.... just the... rest of you." He laughed weakly, trailing into silence for a moment. "How about this: let's call it a tie. You really could have had me when you kicked me, and the same for me when you hit the ground. And, even if I didn't get you immediately after that, I don't think either of us would have been in any real condition to keep on fighting well." Locke reached out a hand to help his student to his feet and smiled. "So, whaddya say?"

[Jazen]

Jazen breathed deep as the air slowly began returning to his lungs. Taking Locke's hand, he got back to his feet, cracking his neck as he did. Looking over, he saw his saber still on the floor. Aiming his hand at it, he called the saber to him and returned it to his hip. "Yea, well, my old master taught me a trick or two about combat. And by taught, I mean used it on me till I got the message." Turning his head to the table that lay bent on the floor, Jazen took a deep breath before aiming both hands at the table. Focusing, Jazen slowly started bending the table back into its normal shape. After a few seconds, the table looked almost the same as before and Jazen set it down close to where it started.

"And don't worry about the head. I've had worse. And fair enough, although I think you would have had me with that flip." Bowing his head, Jazen pulled his robes to him and hung them off his arm. "So, what do we do Master?"

[Rugs]

A smile broke out on Locke's face as he watched Jazen fix the table that had been ruined during their duel. He sighed, thinking for a moment. He turned to look out of the sole window in the room, high up one one of the walls. The orange of evening was fading into the black of night, and he could see lights from speeders as people out in the city went about their business. "Well, Jazen, I think that's it-" He tuned around, remembering something he had meant to ask Jazen. "I almost forgot! There was one more question I meant to ask you earlier, but it slipped my mind at the time. It's a question to see how you view things; your views of right and wrong, stuff like that."

Locke was silent for moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "It's pulled from my own experiences, so the example might be a little strange, but just go with it." He cleared his throat and looked to Jazen. "So, you've been spending a very long time working to get into a gang that needs to be brought down. You've gotten into their ranks, and have started to earn their trust. They have you go out and do tasks for them, collecting debts owed, things like that. One day, they take you to one of their debtors. The man owes them a decent amount of money, but has not repaid it. They've tried to be patient with him-as patient as gangs can be, anyway-but the time has come to collect the debt. Now, the money is theirs by rights; he made a deal to repay them, and he fell behind on his end of the deal. You get there and you can instantly tell that this man can't repay the debt. You can tell he's poor, and there is just no way that he can get his hands on the funds to make it up. He tells you and the workers the gang sent with you as much. Your partners, however, don't care. The boss said either he pays or he dies, and if he doesn't pay, the duty of killing this man falls to you. Now let's say for the situation that the Mind Trick doesn't work, so you've got to options. You can kill the man, or you can refuse your orders. What do you do?"

[Jazen]

Jazen stared blankly at his Master, more stunned with the randomness of the question then anything else. Figuring he would have to answer this ridiculous question, Jazen sat down and shut his eyes, re-thinking all the details of the question. He considered the work he did to get into the gang, the work to gain their trust and how all that work would go to waste if he saved the man. But Jazen had his morals and killing a man who couldn't even defend himself and was no threat to him went against them. Groaning, Jazen opened his eyes and focused on Locke.

"You know, that's one poor situation you placed me in. I either kill a man for no good reason, or I end up wasting all the effort I put into infiltrating that game. Neither is a good choice. But, I do have an answer. I'd choose not to kill the man, explaining that the boss will never get the money he is owed if he kills the man. Instead, he should collect the money in lumps till the debt is payed off. That way he doesn't lose credits over such a trivial thing. Of course, the odds of this working without the Mind Trick are slim. So if they declined and attacked the man, I would disarm them then and there in defense of the man's life. Well, is that a satisfactory answer Master Locke? Jazen continued to watch Locke, satisfied with how he answered that weird question.

[Rugs]

Locke nodded as Jazen finished his answer. The response was along the lines of what Locke had expected. "Yes, Jazen, although there wasn't really a 'wrong' answer, per say. Like I said, it was just to get a feel for your views and the way you respond to situations." His Gaze turned inward for a moment as he remembered the events of the mission that gave him that scenario he presented to Jazen.

He had been working for months on the mission, slowly earning the trust of the gang so he could get to a position where he could arrest their leader. Or kill him if necessary. It had been inevitable that some kind of situation to test his mettle would be thrown at him, and he had done what he thought best at the time.

"I guess I'll tell you what I would do. What I did, actually." Locke sighed and walked over to the wall with the window, leaning on it as he began to talk."I had spent months working my way up through the ranks of this gang to get to a position I needed to be to stop them. Naturally, they needed to prove they could trust me, so they threw that at me. I can't say I expected it, but I had to deal with the hand I was dealt. I tried to talk my way out of it, by the Force, I swear I did. But, in the end, it came down to me having two choices: kill the man, or refuse to and blow my cover."

Locke sighed heavily, as if a great weight had settled on to his shoulders. He stared out of the window for a moment longer before going on. "I killed the man." Locke said this flatly, almost without emotion. He had learned long ago to separate himself emotionally from the rigors of his work. The nature of what he did demanded as much. "I couldn't break my cover. Too much work had gone into this to let the opportunity to get their leader slip away. It was on Nar Shadaa, and the NSF had tried for years to do an infiltration. That mission was the last option they had without trying a direct assault on the main bases of the gang, which would have led to a lot of death on both sides." Locke pressed his lips together and sighed again. "Ultimately, their leader was caught, and now he's rotting away in a prison out in space somewhere." Locke grinned. "Without either of his arms, I might add; he thought he could try to resist me when I told him he was under arrest. That didn't work out very well for him."

"But ultimately Jazen, I ask you to consider the far reaching effects of what you do as much as possible. I wish I would have been able to save that man and not blow my cover, but I couldn't. So it came down to the life of one against the life of many." Locke shrugged. "Perhaps there was another way to do it at the time, but I couldn't think of anything, so I did what I had to do."

Locke suddenly clapped his hands together and grinned, suddenly very ready to be away from that topic. "Anyway, enough with the unpleasant things! So, is there anything else you wanted to do, Jazen?"

[Jazen]

Jazen listened to Locke's story with new found interest. So, he choose to kill the man for the greater good. Fair enough, but I don't think I could make that choice. As Locke finished his story, Jazen took a moment to register all the new information he had just gained, then got back to his feet. Shaking his body to wake it up again, Jazen simply grinned in response.

"Well, interesting tale. What was even more interesting was that you used your own experiences to ask me a question. Neat way to learn about a student." Putting his robes back on, Jazen spun his lightsaber hilt in his hand. "But if it happens again, remember you've got someone watching your back this time. As for anything else, there's only one question I have now. When does the fun begin?"

[Rugs]

Locke laughed at Jazen's eagerness to be on to other things, and instantly grimaced as his stomach protested; it was still sore from Jazen's kick earlier. "You know, Jazen, I wasn't so sure about how we'd get along coming into this, but I have to admit, I like you. I think we'll get along just fine. And I will remember that you've got me covered." He smiled at that and walked over to where his cloak had fallen off of the table during their duel. Frowning a bit at the dust on it, he shook it out and threw it around his shoulders making it make a soft rustling noise as he did. "And while I can appreciate your eagerness, you'll have to wait a while."

He turned to face Jazen, regarding his student for a moment before going on. "I am, of course assuming your question meant when we'd be going on our first mission together. It'll be a few days before that happens. I've heard talk from the Council that they're preparing a mission, but things are still being finalized." He smiled at Jazen as if he knew some joke that Jazen didn't. "So in the meantime, I'd rest up and get ready. First missions have away of being more... complicated than expected, or at least that's what my old master always said." Locke looked past Jazen, out of the window once more. The day had finally given up its last remaining light to the darkness, and night had fallen upon the city. "So, unless you have anything you want to ask or tell me, you are free for the night. Rest well, and I'll let you know when we've got a mission to head out on."


Locke was almost content to leave it at that, until he remembered one last thing. "Oh, and I trust they told you where my quarters are? If you ever have a question about something and we aren't together, don't hesitate to seek me out. Since we'll be going on missions together from now on, chances are, if we're here and not together, I'm in there."

[Jazen]

Jazen watched as his new Master gathered his things and prepared to leave. Part of him was disappointed that there would still be more time before they went on their first mission, but he always had other things he could do in the meantime. As Locke prepared to leave, Jazen did the same, only to stop as Locke addressed him again.

Oh, and I trust they told you where my quarters are? If you ever have a question about something and we aren't together, don't hesitate to seek me out.

"I'm sure I can find where you sleep on my own Master. As for question's, I'm be sure to remember to ask them if I have them. If that's all, I'll be in the city continuing my studies. I have a communicator if you need to reach me. Goodbye for now Master." Turning, Jazen started heading off to the temple entrance and out into the massive city that Coruscant was.

[Rugs]

Locke watched Jazen leave the room, off to the city. "Be careful," he called after Jazen. "The city can be dangerous at night." He waited as Jazen went off, and then smiled to himself, remembering a particularly interesting night out in the city he had had with his friend, Tey Shaak a few years ago. One where they'd both almost been killed. He made his way out of the Temple, to the Processional Way, his favorite place to be when he wanted to think. Once there, he climbed up on to the foot of one of the giant statues of the Four Masters and sat, looking out at the city.

He watched the city in silence for a long while, as a soft breeze blew, flapping his cloak about his ankles. The night was pleasant, with just a touch of a chill in the air. Speeders dotted the sky, and off in the distance he could make out the glow of countless signs to an untold number of buildings.

Today had been a good day, better than he thought it would have been. You know, Locke, this whole padawan thing might not be so bad. Jazen's a good kid, I'll think this might actually be fun. A smile touched his lips. To think that he had been so afraid during the time leading up to the meeting with Jazen. He had been afraid not of Jazen, but that he might not be an adequate teacher for him; he was afraid that his own shortcomings would leave Jazen none the better for all the time they would spend together. But those fears had melted away once he met the boy. No, now Locke Nemsee was excited, and ready to be off across the galaxy, teaching his new student.

More time passed, and he continued to sit there, silently watching the city like a guardian, which he was, in a fashion. He loved the city. Not just Coruscant, but Nar Shadaa, Taris, Mos Eisley, any city. His work revolved around being in cities, and he had come to have a deep love for the city. And so he sat, watching over Coruscant with the smile of someone who was quite satisfied with their life on his face.

Eventually, he stood, ready to get back to his own quarters for the night. He took one last lingering look out to the city, and jumped down off of the statue. As he made his way back into the Temple, he spoke, but not into the comm to Jazen. He spoke softly to himself, something he usually only did when very stressed or afraid. But this time, it was different; this time, he did it because he was content. "Stay safe tonight Jazen, and watch your back. May the Force be with you, because I'm going to bed."



{End}