Jedi Academy

With her shiny new saber hilt strapped to her belt already it occurred to Zizzy that she might as well spend some time working on her form. Having a lightsaber and knowing how to use it were two rather different things...

With her clothes having dried out from the morning's snowball fight she got changed and went to find a training area. A couple of floors up in the Temple she found one. It seemed to be empty for the moment so she started out with some simple forms and focused on her guard and her footwork.

She was starting to find that she favoured a little bit of Niman, a little bit of Soresu, and a little bit of Shien. Taking a short break she focused on the force to see if it had any insights for her. Maybe she was too sound up from the training, but she couldn't feel anything. Nothing good at least.

"Now what I really need is a sparring partner." She said to the empty room.

D9. EE. Foresee. What does the future bring?: 1eF 1 Dark Side

While her tendrils didn't reveal anything about the future this time, they were gently directing her towards the outside again, a small nudge of the Force.

Well that was interesting. Never one to ignore the pull of the force, the light side anyway, Zizzy grabbed her things and went off in search of something.

Leading her outdoors, Zizzy saw knight Farissa practice with her double-bladed saber. While she had a thermal cloak on and a full set of winter clothes, the Pantoran seemed unphased by the cold.

Zizzy watched a moment, tugging her own cloak around her. Cautiously she approached, making herself obvious. "Knight Farissa, hi! I didn't realise you used a double-blade."

She moved a little closer to get a better look. "I was training inside and felt the force wanted me to come out here."

"Oh, hi Zizzy," she gave the blade one last spin before powering it off, to turn to the trainee. "Heh, everyone seems to be surprised by it even when I talk about it openly. Maybe I should start walking around with it alight, eh?"

Farissa chuckled at her own humor. "Did it now? Maybe the Force wanted you to practice outside?"

Zizzy noted the skill required to use the double-blade and gave her a respectful nod. "I'm thinking about how many limbs I would lose trying to weild that thing." She giggled and walked up to the Pantoran.

"Pantorans like the cold, don't they? I think I remember that from The Living Force." She tugged her thermal cloak. "Maybe the force wanted me to take a crash-course in Shien?"

"Well, we are more well-accustomed to colder temperatures, but even I think Ilum is a bit too much on the cold side," she chuckled warmly. "But it is good to train outdoors when you get the chance. I know knight Corvin would agree with that. After all, not everytime you engage an enemy will be indoors on nice even surfaces. Sometimes it will be cold, wet, slippery, hot, or muddy..."

She tilted her head as she looked down at the Mikkian student. "Are you shopping around for a form to learn, Zizzy?"

"That is really good advice! Think I'll try to avoid fighting in a swamp, but true - it could happen. Better to try it out in practice first."

She raised a hand and turned it side to side. "Not exactly shopping around, just trying to figure out what would suit my skillset best. I think Soresu, Niman, and Shien all fit, and I know the very basics of course, but I should probably pick one if I'm going to see a big improvement."

"Picking one does seem like a good choice, unless you want to start mastering all three at once," she teased the green girl. "Of course, some do, but I have a feeling that your path is not the one that's going to be swish-swooshing a lightsaber around all the time."

Farissa twirled the unlit lightsaber a few times. "Any pointers you wanted on Shien, perhaps?"

She nodded, tendrils taking a good look around. "How hard can be to master all the at once? Haha, no you're right I'm hoping that I only have to use my lightsaber rarely if ever. But I feel I should know how to use it effectively."

She smiled at Farissa's enthusiasm. "I'd love a few pointers! Maybe you can help me pick the right form to focus on. What I remember of Shien is that it mixes defensive and offensive techniques, whereas Soresu is entirely defensive and Niman incorporates use of the force. Is that right or am I way off base?"

"Sounds like you got it right," she nodded, "a part of Shien's philosophy, when you go on the offensive, is to overpower your enemy. Not nescesarrily by brute force, but by catching them unexpected. I know that's not completely unique to Shien, but it's all about controlling the battlefield, and subtly maneuvering your opponent where you want them; whether that's by angling their blows to make it easier for you to counterstrike, or redirecting blaster bolts back at them."

Zizzy looked at her arms. "You know I'm strong for a Mikkian, right? I'm glad you said brute force isn't required though. Any chance of a demonstration?"

"I'm not that strong myself, you know," she chuckled and poked at her own arm. Farissa was not built for strength like Ares or Jaric.

"Hm, alright, I suppose I can try to give a demonstration." Stepping into a fighting stance, but with her saber unlit, she gestured to Zizzy. "Attack me with the training saber."

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OOC: Up to you if you roll or not.

Zizzy activated her training saber. "Oh, right. I guess I thought you had to be strong for Shien. But if it's about being clever then maybe I'd do okay?"

She smiled and settled into the basic Shii-Cho stance they taught all the younglings. It was the last day she's need to use a training saber. Well, probably.

Focusing on the weapon in Farissa's hands she tried the same approach she had used against Ares back on Auratera. With careful aim she attempted to disarm her more experienced opponent.

D9. Sparring with Farissa. Average, one upgrade and one Setback. Aim. One of everything!: 1eP+1eA+1eB+1eC+1eD+1eS 1 failure, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph


Fails to hit. Triumph to disarm. Advantage to gain a boost next time.

The attack certainly caught her by surprise, as she hadn't thought too much of Zizzy's combat ability since the test back on Coruscant, where the Mikkian had not met her expectations. But now that backfired on her as the weapon was removed from her hands.

The Pantoran blinked in puzzlement before kicking the saber back up into her hands, but she had already lost some of her cool in being caught off-guard, and the pushback from the hilt missed Zizzy.

"Heh, I feel I should apologise. Seems like I underestimated you, Zizzy."

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Farissa returning the favor?: 4eP+2eB+2eD+1eS 1 failure, 1 advantage

Zizzy shrugged her shoulder, relaxing into the stage. "That's really kind of you to say so Farissa. I've been training every day."

It had obviously paid off as she stepped in and cut straight through the Knight's guard. With a training saber there was little for Farissa to worry about, but it seemed like the force was with Zizzy today.

D9. Sparring with Farissa #2. Average, one upgrade and one Setback. Aim. Boost from last round. Beginner's luck part 2?: 1eP+1eA+2eB+1eC+1eD+1eS 2 successes


Success! Sometimes Zizzy surprises herself.

"Your training has paid off. Very good!" Seeing that she needed to take this seriously, Farissa too stepped up her game. She couldn't underestimate these kids anymore it seemed.

While she was only hitting with her hilt, as she disarmed Zizzy, the knight followed up with surprising force as she knocked Zizzy back. The attack had seemed simple and almost elegant at first, but the strength behind it was unexpected.

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Farissa returning the favor this time!: 4eP+2eB+2eD+1eS 4 successes, 3 advantage


3 advantages to disarm, 2 strain to activate Falling Avalanche.

"Oof! Thank you." Zizzy did her best to get a lungful of air as she reached for the lightsaber and rubbed the new bruise on her chest.

It was a valiant attempt but she couldn't quite break through Farissa's guard now that she was fully engaged. That was actually quite reassuring.

"Now I see what you mean about 'unexpected'. Wow. Well, what do you think, would I make a good Shien student?" She slowly recovered her breath.

D9. Sparring with Farissa #3. Average, one upgrade and one Setback. Aim. Time to lose gracefully: 1eP+1eA+1eB+1eC+1eD+1eS 0 successes, 1 threat


2 strain for Aiming, extra strain for threat. Miss, but that's probably as it should be!

Farissa chuckled, stepping away from Zizzy's attack. "Probably? I think you'd have the talent for any style you'd choose to put your mind to, Zizzy. You're a bright student that has grown a lot since I last saw you wielding a training saber." She still remained on guard, but did not attack Zizzy again now.