Fists of Fury (open)

[Rugs]

{Yeah, I completely forgot what I was writing part of the way through this :/}

A genuine smile broke Locke's face as Tey entered. He hadn't seen his old friend in a long time, and it made him glad to see that Tey was well. "I am well Tey. It's good to see you again." He nodded slightly at his friend. "We can catch up on things later, though, eh?" Locke's attention returned to Xierra as Tey made his way over to Rhissai.

He noticed she didn't say anything in response to and made a mental note of it, though he didn't put much behind it. Maybe she's just the quiet type, he thought as he went through some stretches himself, to limber up. Locke wasn't the strongest person around, by any means, but he was rather agile, and he'd need to loosen up for the coming physical activity. He was alright at unarmed combat--not the best, nor the worst--but he personally preferred to use his blade or pistol, should the need for combat arise. And of course there was the Force, though Locke knew there were ways that it could be stripped away from him. He had never experienced that, and he had no desire to do so, but it never hurt to have multiple things to lean on.

"So then," he said to Xierra as the memory of what Rhissai had shown them played through his head once more. "Which of us shall go first, do you think?" It didn't particularly make a difference to him, but if Xierra had a preference, they could go that way. Or they could just flip a coin.

[Mara]

She waited as Locke, her new companion and sparring partner, stretched, taking the moment to calm herself through the Force and become one with its power. Her eyes closed slightly as she tuned herself to its will. Xierra's mind ran over the brief maneuver Master Arckan had used against her friend Elsie to disarm her. The movement had been quick, and the Falleen tried to remember it all, or at least part. But she disregarded it, hoping the master wanted them to improvise on what she had shown them.

By way of answer to the young human, Xierra sprang forward. Words were good and all, but she preferred to act. With a short jump she was standing centimeters from him, looking down at her shorter opponent. A second later her right hand was in a fist and heading towards his jaw; her left arm held straight along her midsection for protection.

[Cirith An'Gol]

((Delta hasn't posted yet, I guess a glimpse into Tey Shaak's mind will hafta do *grimaces*))

Tey Shaak stood, waiting for Master Rhissai to answer him in some manner, he didn't know whether she was deeply thinking on something or too busy looking over the class to notice his presence. He suspected that she was thinking deeply on some subject, much as his mind threatened to do to him. It finally succeeded a few moments later, as the events of the past two years came to mind followed briefly by his Jedi Trials and later the Knighting Ceremony.

He gave an unconcious shudder as the memory of the illusory Dark Jedi came back to his mind.
Knight Shaak remembered a red glow to the Dark users eyes, and a presence so cold that it threatened to consume him. Somehow though, he'd broken through and defeated his own worst fears. The capture of his friends and witnessing their deaths. He thought back to the events before he'd come back to the Core worlds and rejoined the Jedi in the Temple. Before Tey Shaak had been reassighned by the Reassighnement Council to the ExploraCorps, he'd come to meet a young Human with blonde hair. His name was Zach Starfire and he'd claimed to be Tey's new Jedi Master.

Tey Shaak would always remember that because it had been raining that day and the rain had grown heavy as the day dwindled. Tey was hurt, he'd finally gotten a Master, a Master that seemed to like him. The man even complimented him on his control over the force and had made some accurate observations within a short amount of time, and the man simply walked away like he'd just discarded a peice of trash. Tey Shaak couldn't recall ever feeling as low as he did then. Zach's actions and words puzzled Tey but, the Togruta thought that maybe he'd forgot to tell someone to tell him what was going on. So, confident that Zach would return and explain Tey waited in the courtyard everyday. Finally a month went by and Tey Shaak was no closer to finding out why Zach had just vanished without saying a word, despite thinking of multiple explanations and situations that might require such actions. But there was one question that always loomed at the end of each "why not tell me?"

The events from that point on were meeting Locke Nesmee, now his best friend and being assighned to a light green skinned Twi'lek that most people called "Nobby", through the Exploration Corps. A smile spread onto Tey's face as he remembered the countless conversations he'd had with Master Lubimbo a.k.a. "Nobby". The Twi'lek master had lost his left lekku in an ambush set by Sith fanatics on Subterrel. The story still twisted Tey's stomach slightly. Shaking his head slightly and waving his own "brain tails" he forced his mind onto another subject. His mind raced forward by three years and came to the time he'd entered Coruscanti space on board a public transport. He'd never been so happy to see home. He still remembered the feeling of awe that he felt upon coming out of Hyperspace. He remembered Coruscant glowing like an amber jewel on a black sheet. He remembered the excitement he felt at the prospect of seeing old friends.

Tey's head came up and he looked around him, at the various people and races that made up this martial arts class. His eyes stopped on Locke, watching momentarily as he sparred with Xierra. A grin found his face and a sigh escaped through his lips. I truly am home aren't I? he thought as his gaze swept forward once again to take in Master Rhissai. He opened himself to the force again and gently tapped the Martial Art teacher's mind, the effect of a gentle ring of a door bell. He cleared his voice and spoke "Master Rhissai, did you hear me? Are you alright?"

[sparrow]

She seemed to be an individual of few words. "Willing I should be," the Selonian said, and reached for her saber. Nice and to the point, Elsie liked that. Her shoto came to life and swung upwards in a diagonal direction.

Elsie's X hit her sideways, and letting the momentum of the swung do most of the work, ducked and lifted the saber upwards. The blade hummed as it passed less than an inch above her head, not as high as she would've liked, as her opponent was surprisingly strong. At those point there were several options. She could've tried to direct the arm around and to the back like Master Rhiss had done, but given the her opponent's muscle and non-human anatomy, it would've been much more difficult. She had already decided against that option while the Selonian was still in mid-swing. Could those arms even reach the middle of her back?

As the blade passed over her head passed over to her other side, she let go with one hand, and quickly stepped forward and flicked her palm outwards, stopping a quarter inch from the Selonian's neck. On a human such a blow had it connected was capable of incapacitating. She wasn't so sure whether it would have worked on a Selonian, given her lack of knowledge on the species. However, if it had actually been a real fight, there would've been a saber there instead of an empty hand, so it didn't really matter.

She smiled. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of learning your name yet."

[Kella]

Sellah allowed her wrist to be caught, resisting moderately as Elsie pushed her arm aside and aimed a swift blow at her neck. She considered a better, less vulnerable blade-angle, and also payed close attention to a few places in which she could escape such a maneuver. With disappointment, Sellah noted that it was difficult for steel to sharpen steel when neither blade was very strong.

"Sellah, Sellah Bellae," was the response she leveled at Elsie, deactivating her saber and relaxing from the somewhat awkward position. A twitch of uncertainty pulled at her muzzle, as Sellah tried to reassure herself that she would be able to complete the maneuver. She was, in fact, a bit worried. See, despite all appearances, it wasn't as if the Selonian lacked a personality. The perception was mostly due to the fact that Sellah never took any situation lightly. And so, to her, this practice was almost as serious as a true duel. In any case, she'd be sure to learn something.

She might have payed a similar service to Elsie, educating her as to potential improvements, but Sellah had never been one to speak out in such a way. She left the learning of others to them, not wanting to intrude, and generally preferred to worry herself with only her own flaws.

"Your turn, then?" Sellah reattached her saber to her bandoleer, and raised her paws in a ready stance.

[Rugs]

Locke tilted his head a bit at the silence of the Falleen Jedi. "You really aren't one for talking much are y-"

He shrieked in surprise when she just lunged at him from nowhere. And worse, she hit him! In the jaw! The nerve of some people! A number of curses--learned from years of working with the less noble types of the galaxy--flowed from his mouth as he rubbed his jaw, which was now rather sore, and would more than likely bruise. "Honestly, I just asked a question," he said, glaring at her. "Do you always respond like that when people ask you questions?" His eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. "Never mind, don't answer that. I think I'd rather not know," he said as he clipped his lightsaber hilt off of his belt. But really, you could have said something, the Investigator thought with no small amount of irritation. A simple "Oh sure, Locke! I'll start! By punching you in the face!" Jeez... Somehow, I don't remember seeing that in Rhissai's demonstration, but whatever. We'll move on.

"Well, then," he said as his yellow-orange blade flashed to life in his hand, "I guess I'll be the dummy, since you seem so intent on hitting me." He smirked a bit at Xierra as he raised his blade into a ready stance. "Do try to be gentle. I bruise easy, and you wouldn't want to subject me to that, would you?" He laughed a bit, and his tone made it clear he was playing, but he was determined to get something out of the Falleen Knight's mouth. Now his goal had become 'get Xierra to talk,' rather than learning more about unarmed fighting; the latter would just happen coincidentally.

He raised his blade up and made his attack, using the same stroke that they'd been shown in the demonstration. Of course, he didn't strike with the full intent to hit; if something went wrong, that'd be a disaster. But his strike would do for the purposes of the exercise.

[Mara]

(((I am assuming Locke is right-handed. )))


A brief flood of surprise flooded her presence in the Force before she suppressed it, returning back to battle concentration. Xierra hadn't expected the man to just take her right hook without moving. Obviously he had not be expecting it; there was no other explanation. They were supposed to be sparring, trying to implement techniques from Master Arckan. And he hadn't been focused in the Force, also obvious, to not see her attack coming at all. So intent on wanting to fill the air with words. The Falleen Jedi knew that in a fight like this, words rarely were a good weapon.

Her right arm came back to rest as her left, at angles in front of her chest, waiting in a defensive posture for any kind of retaliation from his part. She had been expecting some kind of counterattack, but now that she knew she had landed the punch, Xierra had confidence that this Locke would be out for her blood. Though a Jedi, he was still a male, and males had their pride. Bruised egos, and chins, were not taken lightly in her experience.

She just listened to his short tirade, having decided to remain silent even before he mentioned that she not answer his question, so clearly rhetorical. There was no purpose in her wasting a breath to explain how she had answered him, with action, not words. Xierra just honed in on the Force, trying to close in on her opponent's presence for some clue of what he would do in response. She was ready for anything he might pull, years of training at her disposal.

But Xierra was not ready for what he did do. Without moving a muscle besides her eyes, the dark orbs saw him reach for his weapon, the lightsaber not the pistol. She didn't let any fear show on her face, dispersing the feelings in the Force. Calm, cold as durasteel radiated on her Quintilian features.

In the moment of impact of fist on jaw, she had felt a brief flicker of anger along with the surprise from Locke. But not once did she think that he would be so vengeful, as a Jedi, to strike her down in the middle of a training room filled with other Jedi, including a Council member. No, he had to have something else in mind. If he even tried to advance with the yellow blade, she could easily draw her own from her belt to block it. Locke had to know that.

His actions finally dawned on her: the demonstration with Elsie at the beginning of the class, disarming someone with a lightsaber with her bare hands. Her resolve hardened even more. Xierra was up for the challenge, though she barely remembered how Master Arckan had done it to the Echani Jedi, it had happened so fast. So improvise, she would.

As for a response to his last question, she merely nodded her head. Yes, she agreed to let him be the dummy, as dummy he well was for not expecting her first blow. If her master had been around, and it had been her at Locke's end of the attack, she would have been chastised for half an hour about her failure to anticipate. And that was as a padawan; this Locke was a Knight.

Xierra briefly considered a response of entering his mind with the Force, twisting it, but after her experience earlier with Aser, she knew it would be wrong to try it here, so unfair a tactic it was, as she was immune to mind tricks. So would be using her pheromones. Just her raw strength would be her ally here; all she needed.

The horizontal slash came at her, one of the few things she did remember from the demonstration. As for everything afterwards, it was a blur. But that didn't bother her. She had learned from experience, and from lessons from Elsie earlier in Niman, that it was important to keep changing, never using choppy holobook-learned moves. Those could be anticipated; improvised ones were not. So to simple copy their teacher would only give Locke something to look for. Luckily for her, she didn't remember the moves and had no experience to draw on.

Instead, as the blade came towards her, she ducked to the left, waiting until the moment the yellow blur was about to pass above her head when she reached up with her hands to push roughly on the hilt held by his right hand. As she did so, she also sprang upwards, using her height to her advantage. Her intention was to jab hard enough against the weapon's hilt that her opponent would lose his grip, the lightsaber becoming too far out of his reach--as Xierra was a good two inches taller than he--and it would sail into the air.

She prepared herself to grab it in the Force, if it did dislodge from his hand as she thought it would. However, she remained focused on the Force as well, ready to act if he retained control of the weapon.

[Rugs]

{He's ambidextrous, actually, but yes, that was with his right hand}

Locke's swing went, and things got interesting.

Xierra ducked down to the left as his strike closed in on her. That was a bit unexpected, but the Falleen woman didn't seem to be one for going about things in the way they'd be shown. Well, fine then. He could deal with that. If she was going to go out of her way to do things differently, then he'd just adjust.

There was a warning, almost whispered to him in the Force, that came an instant before she sprung up. She reached out to grab at his hilt, pushing his arm up above them. Interesting tactic. Now, Locke was a Makashi practitioner, and users of the form were known from being hard to disarm; it was one of the perks of of the form, though it was hardly without it's weaknesses. It also helped that the hilt was curved, making it a bit easier to keep a hold of than the standard run-of-the-mill cylindrical hilt.. So, as she moved his arm up, his first instinct was to tighten his and hold onto his blade. But there were a few problems with that, the first being that she was a bit taller than him, and the second being that she seemed to be a bit stronger than he was. So, he might be able to keep a grip on it, but he couldn't be sure..

And so it was that a plan formulated in his mind. It was a simple plan, really, which was good, because he didn't have much time to work. He reached out to the Force, and felt her doing the same thing as he did. What was she up to? It didn't matter. Being embarrassed once had been enough. He'd be sure it didn't happen again. Even as he opened his hand, releasing his grip on the blade, he reached out with the Force, wrapping it in bonds of air with his left hand, which as free, and pulling it back to him. The yellow-orange beam died away as it left his hand--a good thing, since it would remove the chance of either of them receiving a rather nasty cut if the weapon swung around the wrong way in the air--and the hilt was guided by his pulling to his left hand. The blade snapped back to life once more, and Locke looked to Xierra with a satisfied smirk touching the edge of his lips.

"Well, then," he said, "isn't this just a fine little position we've found ourselves in? Back where we started really, though I s'pose you did manage to disarm me. Kudos to you on that." His smirk was reflected a bit in his voice, as there was a snidely mirthful note to it. "Gotta say, you're a bit unpredictable. I s'pose that's good." He moved the lightsaber around in small circles, just enough so that it made the characteristic humming sound of one in motion, indicating to her that he still had the ability to use it freely, even in his left hand... Was it gloating? Perhaps, but there were worse things he could do than jest. And if she got bent out of shape about it, she could bite him--not literally of course.

Locke deactivated the lightsaber hilt and took a few steps away, now that that exchange was over. He tossed the hilt idly back and forth from hand, grinning stupidly at her. "It's a lovely thing to be able to use a blade in either hand in a fight, y'know," he said with a bit of a mischievous twinkle to his eye. It But he spoke the truth. It was nice being ambidextrous, and though he favored his right hand with his lightsaber, he could work well enough with it in either hand. Locke sighed and clipped the hilt back onto his belt before looking back to her. "But that's enough about that. Let's reverse roles, yes?" He assumed the stance that Rhissai had showed them, arms crossed before him, and he continued to hold onto the Force, probing it for what her intentions might be.

But he still hadn't forgotten that he planned to make her talk. He had to. By this point, it had become a matter of pride. "So, Xierra," he said as an idea formed in his head while he waited for her to begin her attack, "do you have a padawan?"

[Mara]

(((All right, let me know if this need editing...)))


Her opponent's hand left the hilt of the blade in the air, and briefly she thought her plan had worked. But when she saw the blade extinguish and felt Locke's hold through the Force, his left hand extended for it, Xierra loosened her own grip on the weapon with the Force. Keeping a hold of it would only lead to a stalemate of tug-of-war that she didn't want to participate in at the moment. They were, after all, only practicing.

And so she let him gain control of his weapon, letting her hands drop away from it, as it slapped back more firmly into his left hand. The yellowish blade appeared again, and Xierra brought her arms in a defensive posture, ready for whatever he was about to throw at her next. Though her last maneuver had failed to disarm him completely, she was still pretty proud of it; it had seemed to surprised Locke, just a for a moment. And if he hadn't shut off the weapon and pulled at it with the Force to his other hand, forcing her to let go, they would still be standing there, him on his tiptoes, with the lit blade held above their heads.

She nodded slightly at his words, as he spoke her thoughts as to her surprise move on him aloud. Her focus, though, was on his blade, as he jauntily waved it around in front of him, tossing it hand to hand. Xierra took a step back, not because she was afraid, but to give her more room to move if she needed to, depending on his next action. Plucking at the tendrils of Force surrounding the human, she tried to anticipate his next move.

Xierra let a grin pass over her face as he tried to taunt her, bragging about being able to use his lightsaber well enough in either hand. She didn't care about that. Each hand was about the same to her to defend against. Obviously the left would be a little more difficult with her own weapon in her preferred right hand, but she didn't have her lightsaber now, did she? In unarmed combat, she was equally skilled with either arm, either leg. And she did have two lightsabers clipped to her belt. Locke didn't need to know that she couldn't use both at the same time effectively.

But she still didn't let his try at conversation distract her, no his blade moving from hand to hand. There was a certain look in his eye, a feeling she had through the Force, that told her he had something up his sleeve. She just wasn't sure what it was yet.

And so she was surprised when he suddenly deactivated his blade, returning it to his belt, a calmer expression on his face. Xierra was confused; they weren't practicing anymore? She glanced briefly around the room, wondering if she had missed hearing Master Arckan calling them back for another technique demonstration. No, everyone else was still in pairs, engaged in maneuvers. The Falleen turned her gaze back to the human. Locke hadn't given up already, had he? He had succeeded in retaining his blade, despite her try at disarming him.

She stood up straighter then, when he suggested reversing roles, not helping but raise her brow a little bit. A little odd to her, since she was hoping for multiple angles to work with against him, but she would go with it, if that was what he wanted. When he crossed his arms, she nodded at him and pulled her blade from her belt, immediately igniting the pale green blade and moved into an opening stance of Shii-Cho. If he had tricks up his sleeve, so did she; Xierra wasn't planning on dropping into Ataru until absolutely necessary.

As she flexed her fingers around her weapon, both hands on the hilt, he asked her another question, but this time it wasn't a taunt, but something rather innocent. And odd for a time like this, she thought. Xierra grinned at him wickedly, showing her sharp teeth. This human was not the only one with a quick wit, and Xierra let out the first thing that came to her mind, not able to stop herself from the seriousness of their spar. "Why, do you need a Master?" The biting remark wasn't meant to anger him, exactly, but it would be a bonus to her if he lost concentration briefly because of it.

Without allowing him an answer, she leapt into the air, all thoughts of taunting over, somersaulting over his head and landing softly behind him, now with just her right hand on her weapon. With a quick twist, her green blade was pointed at his back. She opened herself up completely to the Force, knowing he would not stay faced away from her from long.

[Cirith An'Gol]

((OOC: Sorry for the wait guys. I thought someone was gonna post but, they haven't yet so....I'mma go ahead. Hope that's ok.))

Tey Shaak was momentarily confused as to why Master Rhissai didn't answer but, then thought that she might've been deep in meditation. So, he turned around and headed back to the back of the room. Watching the movements of his classmates and trying to catch the particular manuever that they were trying to learn. He stopped when he got to the door and watched his friend Locke and his sparring partner, Xierra. He watched their movements and was careful not to disrupt their training. Then when he felt he knew the manuever the class was trying to learn, began mimicking their movements and imagining disarming an invisible opponent.

Hmmm...interesting technique. This shall be a challenge Tey Shaak thought as he mimicked Xierra's grapple as she attempted to disarm Locke. This technique feels odd. Like something is missing Tey Shaak went back to crossing his arms at the wrists and mimicked grabbing an opponents lightsaber, and twisting it in such a way that would make it impossible to hold onto. Tey Shaak shook his head and gently rubbed a montral. This is going to take some work Tey Shaak crossed his arms again and began again. After a few moments it appeared that Tey had simply arrived too late to be partnered with someone and so simply decided that his time would probably be better spent elsewhere, out of his class mates way. With that he walked calmly out of the room, content of having memorized a new defensive manuever. Now, he'd just have to practice.