Jedi Academy

O'vala wasn't one for detention. She rarely did anything wrong and it was boring. At the time, she was practicing her dance moves and not really wanting to sit and reflect on the fact that her training saber broke.

Jaric arrived, prim and proper as always, with a usual scowl on his face.

"O'vala Aeser," he said firmly as the door to the training hall closed behind him. "I hope you've learned a valuable lesson today?"

"Training sabers are worse than I thought they were," O'vala said bluntly, though still with her usual pep. She did a couple of small hops for her dance and then continued, "I think a regular saber would have been fine there."

"Do you, now?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but seemed rather unamused by her excuses. "Your attacks were so clumsy, had it been a real lightsaber you probably would have injured yourself first."

Jaric calmly walked closer to her. "Now that you have no weapon, what do you plan to do for the rest of your trials? Training sabers are not free, you know."

O'vala sat back into a squat and tilted her head. "I thought the order would help with that," she admitted.

He stopped before her, looking down at the green young girl. "Is that how it is? That you you take it for granted?" he asked with an even tone.

"Uh, well, when you put it that way, it does sound kind of bad." O'vala looked away. "I don't really know how much they're worth. Or really anything."

Jaric nodded once, seemingly glad (which was never easy to tell) that she seemed more levelled now.

"Training sabers are made with crystals too; kathracite or danite crystals. Like all lightsaber crystals, they take time and effort to prepare for a saber. It costs resources as well to obtain crystals from such deposits," he explained calmly. "The jedi do not own all the crystal deposits in the galaxy. Everything has a price, O'vala."

"I bet the Sith also worry about that sort of stuff. If only we could take all of that stuff." O'vala sighed. "I don't think I have the money for another training saber."

"They probably do, though they are far more harsh in punishing those wasting resources as well." The tone turned a bit more stern now. "I am not saying you should have to pay for a new one for the order, O'vala. However, what I am saying is that you must reflect properly on the consequences of your recklesness."

He leaned forward a little to give her a brief pat on the shoulder. "Recklessness is not the shortcut to heroism."

O'vala rolled onto her back and then stared at the ceiling. "Hm. What if Silas fixed it? It can't be that much harder than making armor." She really didn't know though.

She sat back up and kept her eyes down. The pat on her shoulder surprised her, and she got a bit flustered from it. "Ah, but heroes need to be able to get things done!"

"Someone will fix it. Eventually. For now, it is back to basics for you, young lady."

Without pause, Jaric moved to the locker in the training hall that kept training weapons stored away. Rather than taking out a new training saber, it was a training stick. Inexpensive options for practice.

"True, heroes need to do what is needed but recklessness is not the way. It's only one fatal misstep away from hurting you or those you wish to protect."

The stick. The stick was boring and didn't make vroom sounds. "Okay," O'vala groaned before getting up. She held out a hand for the training staff.

"How am I supposed to be restrained and be good at Ataru though?"

The training stick was given to the sullen student. "This will be your weapon until you've proved ready for the responsibility of a superior one."

"As to your question, let me turn it back at you; what are the weaknesses of Ataru?"

"But what if I need to fight something more dangerous?" she asked, "This thing won't hurt a Sith or even a trooper."

O'vala shrugged. "I think it's easy to get tired from all the flipping and stuff."

"Correct." He ignored her questioning about the current weapon. "And what should you do to minimize your weakness?"

Well, O'vala wasn't super focused on her question regarding her weapon, so she forgot about it. "Um. I just figure I'm supposed to defeat them quicker than I fall over."

Jaric chuckled dryly. "A common tactic for some Ataru-users... also the current main reason of their defeat in a fight. Any other saber-user just need to outmaneuver them into more cramped space, or prolong the fight."

He picked up a training stick himself, adopting the basic opening stance of Ataru himself. "So you need to defeat them quickly yes - how do you ensure that?"

"Uh, I dunno. I just figured hitting them so much would be overwhelming. But then my training saber broke so I'm not so sure anymore." O'vala closed her eyes and sighed. "Big sis was quick but maybe she was more precise?"

"Perhaps," he said in a non-committant tone.

"Observe my stance, O'vala, and plan on how you would attack me most efficiently. Make a plan of attack, and execute it when you see your opening."