Re: Initiation.

[Ayin Tsade]

[From "An Excessive Disturbance in the Force." www.knightsandlords.proboards56.com/index.cgi?board=temple&action=display&thread=11 ]

Ayin Tsade sauntered down the temple hallway adjacent to the water fountains plaza, his hands fitted comfortably into the pockets of his long-sleeved, flat-collared black coat. It was thin and loose, and much more comfortable for conducting combat in than the typical Jedi robes. At least, that's what Ayin thought. He also looked far cooler with his jacket and thin, relaxed ocean colored pants and litless boots. Ayin's stylish attire made him feel more prepared for each mission that he undertook, and only deepened his overflowing confidence, made evident in his unshakable slight grin.

His footsteps reverberated throughout the hollow plaza until seconds after Ayin halted in the water fountains room. Jacen Aurion sat leaning against one of the fountains, relaxed and lost within a world of his own, eyes shut. Wishing not to disturb his pupil's meditative stance, Ayin approached the nearest wall and leaned up against it, taking his hands out of his pockets so that he could fold his arms.

[Ayin Tsade]

"Thought you'd been frozen in carbonite and left here to decorate the fountains," Ayin said. He leaned forward, using the momentum to walk towards Jacen. "I didn't want to interrupt your meditation. You looked pretty focused on whatever it was - so much so, I wondered if you forgot to breath. Still, it's good to see you're keeping your spiritual side active."

Ayin sat a fountain next to where Jacen stood. He was grinning unashamedly.

"So, I bet you're wondering why I'm wasting your dream hours. I have an... interesting little game I'd like you to do with me." Ayin reached for something hidden beneath the tails of his jacket that he had kept attached to his pants belt. When his hand reemerged from under the cloth, it held a pair of leather leg greaves, with matching arm greaves. With his other hand, Ayin withdrew gloves that had metal plates attached to the back of them. Ayin proceeded to fit these to his person as he explained.

"I've fought alongside you before, so I have some idea as to your skill level. But, I'm certain that you've improved since a few months ago, and I want to personally test your abilities. So... I want you to set your saber to stun, and then attack me. Attack me as if you intended to kill. I'll be unarmed apart from my own body and these hand and leg protectors. The idea is to see how well you can pursue a moving target."

Ayin stood, and placed his now-gloved hands into his jacket pockets.

"Think you can keep up? I'm ready any time."

[Jacen Darxtryder]

The look on Jacen's face almost became that of sheer insanity as his cloak fell to the floor. Closing his eyes he drew the force around him, his cloak flying off to the left as he dropped down to one knee and threw out his left arm to the side. By now two magnificent crimson Lightsabers had been ignited and were spinning around him. Drawing them together into the double-sided form he closed his hand, force pulling the levetating lightsabers into his grasp. Using the force he launched himself backwards, flipping as he landed on the side wall of the fountains. Using his landing like a spring and with the help of the force he catapulted himself towards Ayin. Flipping over him, he slashed down but was blocked by Ayin easily. landing, somersaulting and rolling he spun his saber around several times at ayin's legs, forcing Ayin to Force Jump away. Jumping to his feet quickly, Jacen pursued, breaking apart his staff, holding one lightsaber in each hand. Jumping again he paralleled his body to the ground, swiping quickly and accurately at Ayin's unprotected middle yet in different places.

Taking one step back, Ayin easily deflected both blows. Seeing that Jacen had once again switched back to a staff form with his lightsaber as he (Jacen) landed, Ayin force pushed at him.

Surprisingly, not only did Jacen absorb the hit, but he released the push not back at Ayin as one might think, but instead used it to propel him forward in a distance conquering force jump. Deactivating the blade on his right side he held the hilt out long, striking precisely at various points consecutively, patiently waiting for a spot that would eventually open.

Jacen's mastery of this form of Makashi was somewhat surprising to Ayin as Jacen had not known that form mere months before when his master was killed.

To Jacen's surprise, Ayin suddenly fell to his right, and knocked his feet out from under him, causing him to fall down and lose grasp of one of his lightsabers. As Ayin reached up to grab it a hard strike to his hand knocked the lightsaber away. but as his apprentice reached out to use the force to pull it back, Ayin threw both of his hands at Jacen force pushing him all the way into the fountain, where his remaining lightsaber sizzled and would be dead for a full three minutes.

Reattaching his wet lightsaber to his belt, Jacen did exactly what he was used to doing, the unexpected. Correctly anticipating Ayin's position on the side walls rather than try and jump out and hold him off, he swam right into one of the aqua ducts. knowing all of the twists and turns of the huge set of fountains he swam round and round, using his force speed and stealth to keep Ayin guessing as to where he was. the next thing Jacen knew, he was shooting out of one of the fountains and onto the side wall about forty feet from where Ayin stood. Relying on the timing, he speed jumped straight up as Ayin jump slashed for him, hitting him in the knee. As Jacen fell forward, he force pushed Ayin's legs out from under him and then looking precisely at his lightsaber levitated it between his hands and used force lightning effectively jump starting his weapon once again. Already back up on his feet, he used the force to take himself to the highest point of the fountains which leveled out was about the size of a dojo floor. By the time he landed on the floor, Ayin was already coming at him again. Recalling his intense studies of Master Kenobi's variation of the form Soresu, he immediately slowed himself down and analyzed what was going on. Ayin's attacks became more accurate and more powerful, yet as Jacen centered himself, he eventually stopped completely, his eyes closed allowing himself to be completely calm, only moving with the least amount of necessary energy required. Knowing he had to strike some sort of a blow in order to end the fight, Jacen feigned panic and suddenly jumped backwards, onto the wall and then using the force he catapulted himself on to the roof of the temple's pier force pushing the window open. Grabbing onto the glass he half flipped and dived back down right into Ayin who was on his heels, coming to his senses first, Jacen quickly slashed diagonally swiping all the way from Ayin's right shoulder to his left hip, the tip of his lightsaber hitting Ayin right below his sternum. Using the force to weaken their falls, the two Jedi directed their falls into the pool.

[Ayin Tsade]

Ayin slowed his fall with the Force; he landed daintily on the lip of the fountain bowl, his back to his apprentice. A burning sensation numbed his feeling from his right shoulder down to his left hip; Ayin 's right hand twitched spastically for a few moments from the paralysis. Though there were no cut marks on his body, smoke sizzled off of his chest from where Jacen's saber had struck him. His right arm hung limp - he could not use his arm properly with all the weight attached to it. Ayin's head sunk forward while he stood there, uttering not a word. At that moment, Jacen deactivated both sides of his lightsaber, and silence ensued.

Then Ayin slowly raised his head, then brought his left hand to his forehead. His body shook - his laughter echoed throughout the room, drowning out even the constant spray of the fountain water.

"Well executed, Jacen," he said when he regained his composure. "You truly are worthy of my teaching. That encourages me. I would not want to waste my attention on someone who lacked your kind of dedication. That is why I will teach you an important lesson even now."

His head turned, so that his gaze met Jacen's, though his body did not move. A dangerous smile defined his demeanor, and his eyes shone with a challenging gleam. Ayin raised his right hand above his head. It remained limp, and his fingers twitched every few moments, but it was apparent that Ayin had taken command of his body in spite of the limiting paralysis.

"Lesson one: Never underestimate your opponent. It is the most deadly of amateur mistakes. This includes knowing when an opponent is beaten, and when he is merely faking!"

The water from the fountain rippled; Ayin was gone. In less than a second, Ayin had run across the surface of the water, while hardly disturbing its flow. A sudden rush of wind cut past Jacen's face - a punch from Ayin. With no time to react, Jacen leapt off the edge of the fountain, curling his body into a backflip. Even when his feet touched down, he could still not see his master. His lightsaber staff crackled to life in a brilliant display of teal and burnt blood light; Jacen twisted on the handles and wrenched his weapon into two separate sabers, one angled in front of his body, the other pointing downward at his side. His eyes scanned about - up, right, left - but Ayin was no where to be seen.

"Another hint - Don't be so stationary."

From out of thin air, Ayin appeared directly in front of Jacen. He swept his foot in a crescent-like motion, the greave clashing with Jacen's forward lightsaber; once Jacen's offensive weapon had been halted, Ayin reached forward and seized hold of the handle with his non-paralyzed hand. Jacen's eyes widened with surprise, but this reaction soon followed with an attack of his own; Ayin raised his limp right arm above his head to stave off the crimson beam from Jacen's free hand. His wrist turned, and Ayin clasped onto Jacen's other lightsaber as he had with the first. The two stood, facing one another, locked in a fight to control the blades of light. Their arms tensed and their brows dripped sweat. They were evenly matched, strength for strength.

Almost. Feeling Jacen's raw body mass prevailing against his slender frame, Ayin released his grip on the weapons. In that moment, as Jacen ripped his hands free of Ayin's grasp, the Jedi Master launched a kick towards his pupil's head; again, Jacen blocked with his teal saber. When Ayin’s leg greave clashed against Jacen's saber, Ayin whipped his body around on his pivot foot and struck again with wicked speed; the fountain chambers echoed with the heavy cracking sound of his foot colliding with Jacen's chest. Jacen flipped through the air backwards, through the water spray of another fountain, recovering enough to land on both feet, with one saber grounded for support. He skid back a few more feet before he found his footing; when he did, Jacen stood his ground, eying his master, studying his footing and anticipating the moment of attack. Ayin used this delay to shake off the numbness in his hand.

"Heh... Beautiful," Ayin said, eyes gleaming with pleasure. "I haven't been hit in a long, long time. It feels... refreshing, to fight like this." He twitched his fingers to motion for Jacen to come at him.

Jacen didn't hesitate at the invitation - the water rippled from the energy discharged as he rushed Ayin. He threw his viridian beamed blade in an arc-shaped trajectory from Ayin's right, and leapt in from the opposite angle to strike simultaneously. Light struck matter with crushing force, enough to knock Ayin back down to the ground. Flipping himself to land upright, Ayin rebounded, this time coming in at Jacen’s feet. He reached for them with the Force, seeking to grapple him at his weakest point and then cast him down to the marble floor. But his maneuver did not execute according to plan. Sensing this pull in the Force, Jacen also reached into the Force, using it to pull his feet towards Ayin. The effect was that he lurched his body into a daring backflip while keeping his original trajectory. When Ayin came into reach, he swung both sabers at him like criss-crossing guillotines. Sparks erupted from the contact they made with Ayin’s arm greaves.

Both Jedi touched down, mirroring each other again. This time, however, Ayin immediately turned towards Jacen. With his arms folded and a large smile plastered to his face, the Jedi master walked over to his pupil, whistling once.

“That’s enough, that’s enough. You’ve proven yourself capable,” Ayin said. “While I would love to continue this, we’ll never get to our hunt at this rate. Consider your test passed.”

Having said this, Ayin bent over and loosened the straps holding the weighted greaves to his legs. These dropped to the ground with a shaking thud, which was followed by two more impacts from the arm greaves. Ayin rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand; with his right, he motioned for Jacen to follow him.

“The ship’s this way. Since you screwed up my arm, I’ll let you pilot.”