2 Ch.2 - Sparring

[59 BBY] Bond City - Temple of the Force - Martial Yard

This was a place designed for true combat practice.

Located between the central Temple of the Force and Forrest of the Living Force, this yard was its own wonder for training.

Four large pillars surrounded it, each grown instead of placed there, made of the living crystals: Kyber. These sentient and force sensitive crystal pillars were grown to such massive size through Kieran Bond's efforts to create the perfect overseers and managers for this place. They can reshape anything within their borders to fit varied scenarios, section off zones to allow multiple concurrent fields, respond to the needs of trainees, protect from serious incidents and can even form spiritual states to help guide students or even form 'shadow opponents'. A marvel of the Force and how Kyber crystals can be so much more than just things which power lightsabers.

In fact, these pillars serve as one of the strongest defenses outside of the temple itself, more durable than the Forest of Living Force but less powerful than the Temple.

And right now, Kieran Bond was undergoing the final stages of his physical training.

He needed to test his control.

Standing at the center of this yard which had been transformed into a battleground made for three dimensional movement thanks to the myriad of stone spires forming a near forest of them. This limited large movements while also obscuring sight.

With him were half a dozen senior members of the Temple of Combat, their Temple Master overseeing matters from outside to both judge the battle and critique it afterward, alongside many spectators.

One must always be open to different ideas and criticism, willing to admit erroneous ways or strive to improve, as such, even Initiates were permitted to speak freely in these matters, but obviously the words of someone like Temple Master Noga would hold more weight. And because of this practice, and whom they could observe today, there were actually hundreds scattered all around with cameras all over to record the event for analysis and enjoyment.

After all, to the people of the Sanctuarate, the Force and its true wielders were held very highly and this was born from the respect they held for them. Force Sensitives we're actually incredibly common in their society, with individuals at all levels being at least somewhat capable of using it. It was even part of their standard education as a result, so they understood the amount of effort, studying and training required to reach the heights Learners display when amongst them.

The Force and its users weren't mysterious higher beings one rarely saw or only heard about in rumors and gossip, it was a part of them all. A fundamental aspect as to why Temple members were so respected is because they spread knowledge to avoid ignorance, which usually leads to mistrust, then hate, and then violence. An aspect partially born because the Sanctuarate was also comprised of hundreds of races and species from thousands of systems, as such, sharing about oneself was made an integral part of their culture to avoid such division.

And this moment in the training yard, to them all it was a can't miss event as Kieran Bond was usually quite private. He preferred learning and letting his actions speak for themselves, previously being content at letting his hosts do has they saw fit, so this was a somewhat rare opportunity to see how HE fights and not one of his hosts whom he only guides or advises.

So, standing only in training trousers, nothing covering his sculpted upper body or feet, relaxed with his eyes closed, he somehow looked wild and controlled thanks to his now shoulder length black hair waving in the breeze.

Suddenly, he shifts to the left as a blue lightsaber ignites from behind him, a figure formerly shrouded in the Force made visible from the attack as Kieran twirled while dropping to avoid a second blue blade from the figure, sweeping at his legs in a blur, forcing the attacker to jump or have broken bones from the brutally targeted and precise kick.

Witnessing the danger their comrade was in, three more figures blurred out from the pillars, using them as platforms and working in tandem to form a rhythm between them, using a form of melding to improve their teamwork as they struck out, saving the now air born attacker from Kieran's continued counter.

One used the Force to pull their teammate out of range while the other two surged forward at blurring speeds simultaneously, igniting matching yellow blades on opposite sides, each striking at different points which could be disarming at best and lethal at worst.

They did not expect that their opponent would not only choose to not dodge, but that he decided to strike in such a situation as Kieran moved to his right almost instantaneously, allowing the blade behind him to pass him harmlessly while punching the other swordsman's elbow, forcing him to almost drop his blade as lightning fast followups rained on his body in the mere moments his partner took to bring his blade back for a second strike which Kieran bent backwards to avoid while sending a knockout kick to the chin of his real target, sending him flying backwards as he used his momentum to flip over his attacker for a whirlwind kick, only to be stymied by the arrival of his first opponent and his savior as three more blades joined in their assault allowing his new target to dodge.

Although Kieran did find himself in a tricky situation now that he was in the air facing three skilled fighters.

It might not look like it, but every move made between them was barely a blur as it all took only moments. Their bodies enhanced by the Force in ways Jedi could not even understand and further bolstered by their own skills and experience, each of these men attacking Kieran could take on squads of Jedi with ease, much less normal people. It was just that Kieran was an abnormality forged through millennia of experience and effort, and it was not something they could match even as he held back to not kill his own people and while handicapping himself to not use any of his senses beyond the Force and not using it offensively.

So when these immensely skilled and deadly combatants attacked together, with certainty that they had at least struck a blow on their Grandmaster, one could imagine their shock to find him using one of their own blades as a jumping off point.

He utilized Tutaminis to use a lightsaber as a jumping platform.

That shook their calm somewhat, looking at the ludicrous scene, but they were not green fools and this only brought a moment's pause, although that was enough for Kieran as he reached a stone spire, pushing off with a burst of almost impossible speed as his fist simply bypassed all of the defenses of his dual wielding attacker, sending him flipping to the ground, unconscious.

With his landing, he struck the ground with his heels as well, causing a crater, but the greater effect was found in the nearby stone spires as Kieran had targeted a shatter point, causing great cracks to appear in them just in time for his attackers to land on them and starting their collapse.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kieran vanished.

He had said he would not use the Force offensively, but no one said anything about stealth as it fell under supplementary skills.

So he weaved through the falling spires which seemed to move in extremely slow motion thanks to his heightened state and speed, reaching his third target from behind a piece of stone, striking him down perfectly with a well placed punch to the head before moving on. Doing so, Kieran used the environment to his benefit again, but this time launching falling debris at his fourth target, causing both large rocks and shrapnel to start raining down on him, forcing him into even faster movements to dodge and focus to use the Force in defense as he couldn't sense where Kieran was at all.

Using this occupied state, Kieran launched several stones towards his target while at the same time sending one upwards as the final moments of the falling spires was approaching. Taking his chance, he used the nearly fallen stones as footholds to leap into the air, reaching the one he had thrown earlier and blasting off of it towards his fourth foe like a falling meteorite.

Although the target had felt something was off, he had assumed it to be another piece of debris, thus when he swept his lightsaber to slice it apart, Kieran disarmed him with one hand by striking the wrist, then flipping to wrap his leg around his target's neck before slamming him to the ground in a chokehold, quickly rendering him unconscious.

Waiting a few moments to allow everything to settle, Kieran stood untouched, surrounded by the debris he had created as the final two figures approached.

These two were not actually cloaked masters like those before hand, but actually rising stars from the Temple of Combat and the students of Jaar Kot, Commander-in-Chief of Military affairs, and of Darex Bond, Chief Crusader of Ground Ground Forces.

The first was teenage girl standing around 1.8 m (6ft) with a set of dark grey battle robes competed by a pair of metallic arm and shin guards. She was beautiful in a martial manner, with her straight black hair kept in a tight bun and only letting some frame her face which displayed high cheekbones, smooth, lightly tanned skin, piercing grey eyes and a very well trained body. The confidence and energy she exudes certainly made others notice her.

She was Selena Shan, descendant of the legendary masters Bastila and Satele Shan, as well as one of the most controversial figures in Galactic History: Darth Revan.

A powerful student of the Force, even by her family's standard, with incredible affinity towards combat, warfare and leadership. She was marked early on for advanced training and was taken in by Jaar Kot some time before she rose to Commander-In-Chief.

Even though she was only 14 years old at this time, she earned the right to test herself against the one who had undoubtedly the most dueling and lightsaber combat experience in the Galaxy. It was why her master had pushed for her to be allowed to test herself today.

With her was a young man of similar age, taller at 1.92 m (6'3ft), with a build made for combat and lightsaber dueling. As had become a trademark for his equally famous and infamous lineage, Forrune Surik had short white hair and icy blue eyes, with strong features fitting of a warrior but tempered with a more noble bearing. And unlike his partner, he followed his own master's example of wearing proper armor at nearly all times under his robes.

That his master happened to be Darex Bond, a being who was always wearing armor, did not stop the lessons on proper battlefield safety from sinking in.

Now, Forrune wasn't as innately powerful as Selena, but what made him special was his ability to connect to others through the Force and negate or hamper the connection of others. He also had an innate aptitude as a field commander and teacher which was rather rare. And since his master was one of the most experienced and skilled, he had a lot to live up to, having proven multiple time that he was 'worthy' regardless of what Darex told him in regards to not needing to care about the opinion of others.

It might be odd that both of these teenagers were so developed, but this was a result of their practices, especially for those centered in the Temple of Combat.

This Temple was truly dedicated to mastering martial arts and combat, as the name indicated. This meant including combat styles from all over the Galaxy, with great influences found from the Echani arts, Mandalorian hand-to-hand combat, Zama-Shiwo from the Guardians of Whills, Bakuuni Hands of the Jedi and Teräs Käsi. But one of the greatest influences on their martial practices came the Matukai, an organization of Force Adepts who created martial traditions based on using one's body to channel the Force. This was adapted and then thoroughly studied before improving every aspect over the centuries with Sanctuarate knowledge and their own practices.

Born from a melding of all of that knowledge were methods of perfecting one's body through specific training and rituals, bringing out its full potential and then improving it, thus resulting in warriors far above even Jedi Master and Sith Lord standards.

And standing before Kieran were two future leaders of his people having fully benefited from his efforts and knowledge. So he would allow this minor change in his training to help broaden their views.

"Come. Test yourselves young warriors." Kieran welcomed as he waited for them in a neutral stance.

With those words, their lightsabers resounded.

Forrune held a single white blade while Selena activated a Double-Bladed Saber with yellow blades reminiscent of her ancestor's.

Charging, Selena took the lead as Forrune moved for support, both knowing she had the Advantage in pure offensive capabilities.

Her opening was a low strike which was avoided by a small step back, followed by an attempt on Kieran's arm, starting a flowing flurry of quick blows not meant to immediately kill, but to overwhelm defenses or cripple. Forrune showed his great affinity for teamwork as he wove between her attacks to pick at Kieran's defenses, trying to catch him off guard as he smoothly shifted or dodged every strike.

It was both frustrating and inspiring to find themselves in such a situation as prodigies. Things like combat had always come much quicker to them than their peers, allowing them to be taken in by such prominent masters.

With a quick shout, Selena went for a stronger overhead strike out of this frustration, disrupting her flow and forcing Forrune out of the way to do so.

"Impatient." Kieran simply said as he shifted to the side, closing in on the opposite side from where Forrune could assist, grabbing her lightsaber before kicking her away.

Selena flew back, leaving Forrune somewhat stunned.

"You are a warrior, do not stop while in combat, it will simply harm those you wish to protect." He then scolded, moving on the young man, dropping Selena's lightsaber while striking out.

Forrune was proving to have a defensive mentality or naturally submissive nature to the more proactive Selena, but this was not appropriate in battle and needed to be corrected. Teamwork was necessary, but relying on others was not.

It only took a few moments to disarm him due to his unstable state of mind.

"Focus. No matter your feelings for her, if you always follow her lead then she will never see you. If you never step forward, you will never be beside her. And if you only go where she goes, then you allow her to fall first when she will inevitably meet failure." Kieran stated neutrally.

He had seen and experienced far too many teenage romances and crushes to not notice young Forrune's rather amusing feelings towards his current partner. It reminded him of when his ancestor, Meetra Surik, would follow Revan during the Mandalorian Wars.

Throwing his blade back, the teen caught it with ease, looking at it for a few moments before clenching and lighting it with proper fire in his eyes.

"Good. Now, fight me." Was the command, causing the young man to burst forward with great speed, throwing a fake attack by abruptly stopping and instead using an upward stroke to force Kieran back, following up with a Force Push which required negation, and then a thrust towards the heart, which required a rapid shift of his target's body to avoid with a twirl leading to backhanded counter strike Forrune had to duck under only to be met with a rising knee.

Without thinking, the teen spun sideways to avoid the strike, falling to the ground and swinging his blade at Kieran's supporting leg, but a small hop was all it took to dodge.

"Aaaaaaah!" At that moment, Selena returned with a leaping strike, blade in hand, giving Forrune the opportunity to stand and forcing their foe away so they could regroup. "You ok Rune?"

"Yeah, but he really is something else." He sighed, looking at the man with no armor or weapons, waiting with his eyes closed. "And he isn't even trying yet. I can't even feel him using much of the Force to fight us."

"I will." Kieran interrupted, causing both to look at him. "This next part will be a demonstration on how we can use our bodies to fight even other lightsaber users."

"Well, looks like we're getting a lesson." Selena groaned as she knew what came next would probably be painful, even if cool.

"*Chuckle* At least no one can mock us later." Forrune agreed as they shared a nod before charging anew.

But instead of Forrune taking a purely supportive role, he surprised Selena by being right beside her in taking an aggressive position.

The two struck out simultaneously, Selena slashing upwards diagonally and Forrune downwards from the opposite direction aiming to meet in the middle, but Kieran simply used his hands to redirect them both using Tutaminis again and causing the two teens to move pass him.

"Ok… that was impressive." Selena admitted.

"Indeed, your ancestor, Satele, managed a somewhat similar feet against Darth Malgus by instinct, but this is its elevated form used in defense." Kieran revealed, making her instantly intrigued at something surpassing what a former Jedi Grandmaster had achieved. "Combining it with an understanding of Form III, and a few other things, one can comfortably use their own body to essentially act as a lightsaber.

Only in defense mind you."

"How come my master never showed me this? Sounds really useful." Forrune mildly complained at the moment, even if he did quite like his master.

"Darex tends to forget these kinds of skills and relies too much on his armor at times." Was the explanation which caused the Gen'Dai to cough slightly from the amused looks of his lover and teasing ones from his former students and sister. "But, in all fairness, there is almost nothing which could truly harm him in it."

"Then let's see how far we can go against your 'armor'." Selena grinned at the challenge as she let go of any frustrations from earlier, choosing to learn from this experience instead.

Without another word, the duo attacked again, although this time Kieran would not evade. He rooted himself as his hands flowed around his body in an impenetrable defense while the two teens furiously attacked.

It was an awe inspiring display which allowed the teens to actually let go and try as hard as they could without fear or hesitation. A liberating feeling for them both as there was always some sort of hesitation when facing someone you care about, and even Forrune had not done so with his perpetually armored master because he was more defensive and supportive before this moment. But here? Here they couldn't even hurt the bare skin of their target with lightsabers, so what was their to fear beyond not trying hard enough.

Unknown to them, they had actually synchronized through the Force, rapidly improving their teamwork as they both fed off of each other's strengths and eliminated their weaknesses as Kieran allowed himself to be their whetstone. He much preferred them this way than in their initial approach and desired for them to fully immerse themselves into this state, forming a powerful bond which had its two sides calling out to each other until now.

A true Force Bond.

"Always a wonderful sight to see one being fully formed." Kieran sighed out of nostalgia and fondness as he shifted a strike into its partner's, locking both blades before sending them both upward and striking out with two palm strikes to send the duo backwards.

Opening his eyes, he saw the two teens panting as they came out of the trance they had been in during the last exchange, looking at Kieran, then themselves and finally each other.

All until they suddenly grabbed hold of each other and fiercely kissed as the crowd around the training yard cheered in approval.

Both of the fights and the passionate ending.

A Force Bond did allow both sides to see deeply into each other after all, hence it isn't remotely surprising to see this result in two teens who shared feelings for each other.

Kieran couldn't help but fondly chuckle as he thought about friends of old.

As for the people at home, it would take another dozen minutes for them to reach this point since the recordings had to be slowed down to be captured properly.

"Hahaha! That's my apprentice!" Darex heartily cheered in approval with his voice booming.

He had been worried it was going to become a similar situation as their ancestors, but this was a relief. Nothing makes one bitter like lost love, or more easily manipulated.

That caused the two to come to their senses and let go of each other's lips with massive blushes.

"Worry not. This is to be celebrated." Kieran reassured with a warm smile. "Now let us all go inside. You two will need some lessons on this new bond and how to manage and control it.

We wouldn't want you two to see some things the other wasn't ready to show now."

With a bit of teasing renewing their blushes, he guided the two as they left the training yard, letting it faded back to its neutral state of four grand pillars surrounding a lush field of grass with a clear lake.

It had been a fantastic test of his physical abilities and his control of his body and the Force. Kieran had needed to test himself with so many restrictions to make sure he completely mastered his strength.

This wasn't just in the Force either, although he did test his concealment during battle, this was literally to test his control over the immense strength he could now use even without the Force thanks to all of his adjustments and final touches.

And now that his retraining had finished, it was time to forge his own lightsaber.

It was time to go to Tatooine and see his old friend for the first time since becoming whole.

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HELPFUL INFO:

•Echani Arts: The Echani are sort of a hand-to-hand or melee combat version of the Mandalorians for less well read Star Wars Fans. They typically have white hair and very similar features to one another and believe Hand-to-hand combat to be the purest way someone can communicate. So with Millennia of martial practice, they have a lot to learn from.

•Mandalorian Combat: With how militaristic they are as a people, they obviously have some kind of fighting style and techniques. These are usually more power based than anything, but it is made to be brutal and efficient, enabling Jango Fett to apparently kill a (or possibly 6 depending on the sources) Jedi barehanded at one point.

•Zama-Shiwo: If you watched Rogue One, that's the martial arts the blind guy (Chirrut Imwe) used to beat down stormtroopers with a staff. It's essentially the Star Wars equivalent of Demon Slayer Breath Styles, allowing one to control oxygen intake and blood flow to grant superhuman physical prowess and control.

•Bakuuni Hands: This is technically the Hand-To-Hand style of the Jedi. It allows them to strengthen their hands, feet and forearms with the Force for obvious reasons.

•Teräs Käsi: This is a martial arts made for ordinary people to be capable of beating or killing Jedi or other Force Sensitives. Pretty much the unofficial deadliest martial arts that most species can learn and originally made as an anti-force user style.

•Tutaminis: the ability to absorb, redirect or dissipate energy. It's how Darth Vader blocked Han shooting him in Cloud City during the Empire Strikes Back. Very useful since you can essentially turn yourself into a laser proof badass if you're skilled enough and are aware of the coming attack.

•Shatterpoints: This is an ability which lets Force users see 'weaknesses' and 'turning points' in anything one is skilled enough to see and understand, even conceptual things like 'destiny'. Very powerful in the right hands.

•Form III: One of the forms of Lightsaber Combat, Form III, Soresu, the Resilience Form or Way of the Mynock, is the most comprehensive defensive form of Lightsaber combat. It's the Form Obi-Wan was said to embody and was meant to basically be an impenetrable defense that tires out the opponent.

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AUTHOR NOTES:

I tried to make up for my long speech last chapter with a more action oriented one, plus I think I did well with showcasing Kieran as a truly ancient and incredibly knowledgeable Master.

He experienced countless lives and had been part of hundreds of masters, grandmasters, seekers of knowledge or strength, beings who piloted ships through the most distant stars and forgotten worlds, so he knows a lot and understands biological bodies better than any in the Galaxy.

I also wanted to get some of the Sanctuarate's own practices out there and what they achieved using the Force compared.

For any fans of the KOTOR games, well my OCs are for you.

Kieran is a firm believer that Force Sensitivity is a passed down through blood, if not always or strongly, so he would obviously do his best to get some of the strongest lines to exist like the Shan and Surik ones. Also decided to have what is essentially a gender swapped Revan and Meetra ship in this era cause I felt like it.

#Bastila is a stuck up bitch

(Hot with sexy voice and outfit tho)

#Dubious consent

(Date raped an amnesiac after conscripting and having him brainwashed))

#Meetra deserved better

Anyway, gonna be trying to mix in stuff from 'canon' and 'legends' as best I can, and some explanations for stuff is only going to come later.

Now, I hope you liked what was essentially Ninja Jedi vs Grandmaster cause it's gonna be a while before some thing like that happens again. For now, I'm going to try and spread the focus and have Kieran make a beast of a Lightsaber that'll make any other go limp in its presence out of fear.

Quick last question: Do you guys need those little explanations for things or Star Wars stuff you might not have heard of before?