Working Out Frustrations [Cadyren]

[Nightender]

Alindra followed the pacing Cadyren set out for her. It was much like the times she would hide and watch the old woman, Stormfist, fight against attacking thernbees. Alindra copied the frantic patterns, noting how there was still symmetry to their movements. In fact, the only thing that kept her attacks from being more effective was the short lifespan of the blade firing out of the lightsaber.

That dirty yellow blade was out of sight, though not out of mind. Alindra kept it on her belt, ready to take it up, should she lose her grip on her lightsaber. She kept her movements slow and paced, matching Cadyren, finding the patterns of attack and defense.

As a dancer, Alindra also knew how much balance and motion could go with such movements. In the few encounters she'd had requiring a lightsaber, Alindra had leaned on her balance and dance background. Without using the Force, she could move in ways that others would struggle to with the aid of the Force. There was still a bit of a gap, though it was starting to close as she picked up on more of the combat skills she needed.

[Cadyren]

Cadyren watched as Alindra followed his movements, his practiced eye watching her every movement. She got the basic movement down quickly enough, but she still didn't have the exact position down, which could take a long time to get just right in the hyperprecise world of Jedi vs Sith combat, and even longer for all of the movements to become instinctive. Cadyren himself had the movements commited to memory, though he still occationally moved his Lightsaber a centimeter or two to far one way or another.

Alright, seeing as you have most of the positioning down I'll show you how you should use them. If someone makes a horizontal slash at you use a vertical block, and when they use a vertical slashuse a horizontal block. Pretty much keep your saber perpendicular to your opponents when they strike and you'll be fine. Once you gotten reasonably skilled in this I'll show you some of the Live Forms moves. Would you liek to practice blocking and attacking? Cadyren asked, once he made sure that Alindra had gotten reasonably skilled in all the slashes and blocks he would show her some of the footwork, which had the user attempt to corner the opponent so they could either disarm or kill their foe. then he would show Alindra some of the target zones of the form, seeing as she wanted to kill Jedi she would teach her that before showing her how to disarm an opponent.

He held his saber once more in the opening stance of Shii-Cho and waited for Alidnra to answer him, his eyes darting between the six target zones of the form, he didn't intend to actually cut Alidnra into pieces of course, it was just something he often did before initiating combat. His Lightsaber hummed its song of battle as it cut the air that attempted to blow through it, almost begging to slice through flesh and bone like it had weeks ago. It hungered for the taste of flesh and blade, and wanted it now. All in due time my dear, you will slay many foes I promise you.

[Nightender]

She started to put together the ideas from the lesson. Keeping the dueling blades perpendicular was key, the crashing crackle might have been painful to hear so close, but it was the doorway to surviving any lightsaber strike.

Between sets, Alindra turned the lightsaber around in her hands, listening to it purr smoothly. "You know, I'd love to practice blocking and attacking." She stepped into position and smiled. "How would you like to proceed, oh wise master?" It was a cocky statement, but Alindra meant it as a joke, one she hoped Cadyren would appreciate.

The whole time, she watched how Cadyren held his lightsaber, positioned it in such a way where it stood between him and his opponent. But there seemed to be more. He would watch the sides of the lightsaber, gazing out and trying to find more than what was there. He was planning ahead.

[Cadyren]

Cadyren chuckled as Alindra made the joke, finding the idea of him being a wise master to an older Sith funny.Alright my apprentice, Cadyren said with another chuckle, let's begin shall we. When he finished the sentence he moved forward, his green saber spinning in his hand as he approached. Once he got close enough he lunged forard,making a horizontal swing at Alindra's left hip, followed by a vertical swing toward her head. His movements were a little bit quicker then when they had sparred earlier.

He wanted to see just how far he could push Alindra before she was overwhelmed and made a mistake, one that in a normal duel would lead to her death, but he wouldn't take advantage of the opening, only point it out so she could improve on it. He would slowly crank up his speed and begin to try and corner her, possibly even going from Ideal Shii-Cho to Live Shii-Cho if she proved skilled enough for it, though that was unlikely, seeing as Alindra was just now learning the Form.

[Nightender]

The spinning green blade began its movement, hunting for Alindra. She knew what Cadyren's weapon could do and decided she would give it no such.

His first strike moved toward Alindra's hip, using a horizontal angle. Alindra knew she had to use a vertical block to stop the attack, possibly even locking up the weapon. It was a doubtful notion, since Cadyren had more skill and more raw strength. A collision of hisses and cracks came from the impact, a brief sound, delayed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the block.

Next came a vertical swing at Alindra's head. She lifted her lightsaber to make a line in front of her eyes. When the blades struck this time, Alindra pushed Caydren's line of death away, giving a snarling growl as she did so.

In return, she swept forward, making a downward arc toward Cadyren's right arm, followed by a quick horizontal slash at his body. She tried to keep her eyes on the green blade Cadyren held.

[Cadyren]

Cadyren nodded when Alindra blocked the Lightsaber blade, most people knew to this kind of fighting would jump away from the burning blade of plasma, afraid of getting cut to pieces. Earlier he had seen Alindra spar him without fear but now that he was moving faster he had wondered if she would act as most others did, believing themselves ready to battle with weapons capable of cutting off a limb with a mere touch, but then when the actual battle began they chickened out. He was glad to see that his ally was not one of these people, and continued with the next stroke.

Once again Alindra blocked it, and growled as she pushed it aside, going on the offensive. His first instinct was to use Djem So defense and slap her Lightsaber away and perform a counter-attack, but that wouldn't help Alindra learn Shii-Cho if he was to constantly switch to Djem So. He met the blade with his one, holding it perpendicular with hers. As the two blades held for a moment Cadyren's saber crackled with excitement, begging for him to pick up the pace of the battle. He ignored his weapon's silent plea, one that only he could hear or understand.

As the second attack approached Cadyren noticed that Alindra's eyes were on his saber, following its movements. This was another mistake that people just learning Lightsaber combat made, watching the saber instead of the person holding it. He thought for a moment about stopping the duel and pointing out her mistake, but decided that showing her what could happen seemed like a better idea. He let go of his saber with his right hand, so when he blocked the incoming saber his stronger hand would be the one holding off the oppossing blade, and with his right he jabbed at Alindra's stomach, not pulling all of his strength and weight into it so that she wouldn't be to injured by the manuever.

[Nightender]

Cadyren's turn to attack came once more, a fact that Alindra almost wished wouldn't happen. She resigned herself to being attacked so she might learn more. Cadyren was willing to show her the way, but that meant she would have to learn everything there was to fighting, including defending herself with a lightsaber.

But her movements proved to be wrong. In her following the movement of Cadyren's lightsaber, she received her just reward, a hard jab to the stomach. It could have been worse, but with her guard shifted to other means, the wind came out of her lungs. With the jab to the gut, Alindra almost doubled over.

Even taken off guard, Alindra knew she had to move so she wouldn't be hit by the next attack. A half turn of her body while moving to the right, kept her away from the lit lightsaber. Her own weapon came up, parallel with her body. "I suppose I made a mistake of some sort." She took in a long deep breath, watching Cadyren's expression as she did so. "Shall we continue?"

[Cadyren]

Cadyren smirked as Alindra asked him if she had done something wrong. Yes, when in a saber duel you musty be aware of everything, not just the saber. You have to make sure the Jedi your fighting doesn't catch you off guard of he'll gain the advantage and probably kill you. He might even use the surounding area to attack you, so you have to remain aware.

As Cadyren spoke he looked around, his eyes darting around the area for something he could pick up and throw with the Force. He found a few rocks, and he could always lift some sand up into her face if he wanted to. He decided that seeing as he had pointed out that she would have to be aware of her suroundings he might as well include that in the sparring match to make syre she remembered it. Alright, we can continue if you wish.

All of the sudden a fist sized rock behind Alindra flew toward the back of her head, as though someone had tossed it at her. He wanted to see if Alindra had learned what he had just told her and of course the best way to teach was through experience.

[Nightender]

Awareness of surroundings. Alindra should have known to keep that thought in mind. It was a base survival trait in the wild. There was no reason the same shouldn't hold in battle.

It occurred to Alindra that a good teacher would try to make use of this thought as soon as possible. Perhaps Cadyren would punch her in the gut again. Alindra wasn't sure. She merely kept her positioning, holding her lightsaber at the ready. The red beam hummed its readiness.

Then it came. A single rock, swept behind Alindra, aiming for her head. She turned her body 45 degrees, making sure she was still watching Cadyren. With her lightsaber and her peripheral vision, Alindra struck the rock down, sending a pair of heated pieces to her feet. As soon as the rock was down, Alindra spun back, checking Cadyren's movements.

[Cadyren]

Cadyren watched as Alindra easily took out the projectile, cutting it in half with her Lightsaber. The pieces landed at her feet, burning where the Lightsaber blade had struck them. Cadyren moved the second the saber made contact with the rock, charging forward with saber in hand. He swung his green blade horizontaly, aiming for Alindra's partially exposed back. He wanted to see how quickly she could block an attack from one direction then another.


Even though Alindra had managed to block his blade so far he still made sure that he would stop the blade from cutting her in half if she didn't react in time. He believed she would however, she was catching onto the form pretty quickly. He was unsure if this was due to her age or if she was jusnaturally talented, but it seemed that if she kept training she would become a decent saber duelist in no time.

[Nightender]

Shifting upward, Alindra turned her lightsaber to make a vertical block, her hands positioned above the blade as it pointed down. With the slight opening in their defenses, Alindra used her right leg to kick Cadyren so his assault would weaken enough for her to push him away.

For most, the move would have been an act of desperation. Alindra felt she could get away with it. Shifting her center of gravity was an act of simplicity, especially if she was standing on a single leg. Years before, she'd been told to stand on thin rails with only two toes to support her while she bent and twisted her body in aesthetically pleasing ways.

If this had been a full-out duel, Alindra would have called upon the Force at this clash, but she was still committed to learning the methods to Shii-Cho. If she didn't, she would be slaughtered by the first Jedi she ran into.

[Cadyren]

Cadyren's blade met Alindra's once again, sparks falling to the ground as the two plasma beams clashed. He pulled back his blade to strike at Alindra again, brining his blade back so that he could hit her with a powerful strike, but before he was able to Alindra kicked his in the gut, sending him stumbling backwards and clutching his stomach with his free hand. He probably should have seen that coming, he had just explained to Alindra that you need to watch out for your opponents using more then just their lightsaber to fight, she was bound to try and practice using her suroundings and such as well.

I probably should have seen that coming, I didn't expect you to stray from the Lightsaber swining and such seeing as your new to this, good job. don't expect to succed next time you try that however. Cadyren said as he smirked, though on the inside he was a little embarrased that someone new to saber combat had managed to get a hit on him, even though it wasn't with a Lightsaber.

He decided to kick it up another notch, to push Alindra just a little bit harder. He considered switching to Djem so for a second and just utterly defeating Alindra to make sure she knew he could easily destroy her if he wished, but that wouldn't do anything but make him seem like proud fool, someone who would attack someone just for causing him embarrasement. He didn't want people thinking that if they tripped him or did something to make him look foolish he would try and fight them, it made him seem arrogant and stupid, which wouldn't help him earn any respect from anyone, and would make it harder for him to find more people to assist him own training.

Cadyren struck at Alindra once again, his swings stronger and more accruate. He kept to the Ideal Shii-Cho for now, though Live Shii-Cho probably wouldn't be that hard for Alindra to adjust to. He wanted to make sure that Alindra got the basic positionging of the Lightsaber down for the simpler version of Shii-Cho before he moved onto the more advanced version. His Lightsaber struck at Alindra quickly, Cadyren's body instincively moved through sequences of Ideal Shii-Cho, trying to put Alindra into a retreat.

[Nightender]

"Expectation gets people killed," Alindra said. She began to feel something in Cadyren, a desire to express and demonstrate power. It was that moment, she she mentally noted that Cadyren was purposefully holding back. "If you want to throw more at me, do it. It's the only way I'm going to learn."

It was an invitation to disaster if Alindra wasn't actually ready. But if she was, she would be unlocking something inside of her. The will to fight and kill was already there, but she hadn't been able to fight with the big boys. Subterfuge and guile would always be her strong suits. Being able to throw down in a duel would be a great extra.

The next volley began and Cadyren was clearly moving Alindra backward, herding her movements. She could see how this dance was moving, and keeping that mentality with her footing, Alindra stopped Cadyren's advance, carefully turning her position as she blocked and counter-attacked. Their speed was increasing and Alindra suspected something was about to change on her.