fandomhighdorms | Salle [afternoon, after workshops]

When Peter saw the sign on the door, he was a bit annoyed that someone in the gun range had decided to take over the salle as well. So he knocked, rather ready to give whoever it was a piece of his mind.

Anakin reached into the Force to pause the four remotesn he'd been sparring against. They hovered in the air but stopped shooting at him.

"Come in!" he called.

Peter did so, stopping slightly when he saw Anakin. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were one of the gun people expanding their territory. Am I interrupting if I come in?"

"Absolutely not," Anakin replied with a small smile. "I needed to get in a workout and lightsabers have this problem where they cut through everyone else's weapons." He waved at the remotes. "Thus, live fire."

"Seems like a better place to do it than the gym, say," Peter agreed, smiling back. "I was going to check my sword and its fittings. Will I be in the way if I watch you practice?" He grinned. "I've been hoping to watch more lightsaber work after you showed me the bit on Coruscant."

"Of course not," Anakin said. "I just put the warning up so I don't deflect blaster fire at the door when someone's walking in. It would be...awkward."

He concentrated and the remotes flipped back to life, spinning around him.

Anakin raised his lightsaber to a defensive position and waited.

The remotes fired, all four at the same time.

Anakin deflected them all without any apparent effort.

Peter pulled his sword and belts out of the weapons locker and, sitting cross-legged near the wall, began to examine the fittings, rubbing saddle soap into the leather to keep it pliable. Of course, this was done fairly slowly with one eye on Anakin watching his training carefully.

The remotes were compensating for Anakin's skill level, moving and shooting faster.

Anakin whirled and spun, absolutely focused on what he was doing.

Not one of the blasts from the remotes came even close.

Show-offy Jedi type.

Peter had grown up with knights of a different sort than Jedi, but he was rather used to a bit of showing off in practice. He, once in a while, thought he may have recognised a move Anakin had shown before or using during the spar he watched. Peter was always interested in watching weaponswork, but a lightsaber was so close to a sword while being so very different, that it intrigued him more than most.

Anakin glanced over at Peter, still deflecting blaster bolts. "These wouldn't hurt much if they hit," he said conversationally. "Doesn't do a lot as a teaching device if missing meant you needed to find another Padawan. And for my credits, I'd say that remotes are more useful than one-on-one sparring. They're way more like what a Jedi will be experiencing out in the galaxy."

"They're more like one teacher training you with a reed sword so he doesn't slice through you when you screw up?" Peter posited, taking his cue on talking from Anakin. "How are they more like actuality? Because you don't know what's coming or because you wouldn't often fight another lightsaber."

"Both," Anakin said. "Though if I'm paying enough attention to what the Force is telling me, I can sense when the remote is about to fire."

He deflected a shot aimed at his back. "Like that. Only Jedi fight with lightsabers--the rest of the galaxy prefers blasters." He gave Peter a wry smile. "Not normally set on stun, of course--they've heard about Jedi, too."

"That's probably not something that can be learned, is it," Peter said. "We don't have blasters, but it certainly would be nice against arrows in the middle of battle."

Peter grinned. "Let me guess, lightsabers take too long to master, people are impatient and want a weapon any idiot can point and shoot?"

Anakin nodded. "That and the Jedi aren't exactly inclined to give out our trade secrets. The crystals that power a lightsaber are hard to find, every blade is handcrafted by the person who wields it and attuned to them. It's a part of who we are."

"Even the littler ones your students were using at your Temple?" Peter asked. "How young do Jedi start learning metalworking and such? Or is the manufacture more through your Force?"

"Oh, not the training ones," Anakin said, shutting down the remotes. "Those are based on three 'sabers that were wielded by famous Jedi." He closed down his lightsaber and trotted over to Peter. "And there are several basic parts to a lightsaber that we're given. How they fit together, how you set up your hand grip, the color of your blade--that's all up to the individual Jedi."

He held out his lightsaber handle. "Mine is very different than what, for instance, my Master's looks like. You can adapt them to make them more efficient for your chosen style, or to compensate for personal weaknesses in combat."

Peter looked at the handle closely. "I can understand how a blade shape can influence combat, and the hilt would then be adjusted to the specific type of blade," he said slowly. "But how does just the hilt affect it? The shape affects the grip and the angle the blade would emerge, but compensating for weaknesses?"

"Not all Jedi are human," Anakin explained. "So hilts need to be made shorter or longer to compensate, or made thicker for hands or claws that don't have quite the same range of motion that a human might have."

Peter nodded. "Ahh, that makes much more sense. I should have thought of it." He looked at the hilt again then down at the sword in his lap. "I'm thinking yours is easier to travel with, hmm?"

Anakin nodded and smiled. "Definitely. We don't really think about them as weapons--they're tools."

"In a sense, my sword is a tool as well. Or not so much a tool as a symbol," Peter said. "I probably use it more as a strict weapon, but then my country is still recovering from a rebellion and war."

Anakin looked at Peter's sword with curiosity. "So's the lightsaber," he said. "Because Jedi are the only ones who wield them, they are symbolic of us across the galaxy. Beings know that we'll only use them for defense or in just causes." He made a face. "We're using them more and more these days."

He glanced back up at Peter. "Rebellion and war can leave a lot of damage. How's your nation? Planet? Recovering without you and your sword?"

Following Anakin's glance, Peter offered him the sword hilt-first. "Have you ever tried an actual sword? Not the practice blades in the gym?" He nodded ruefully at Anakin's description. "I remember hearing your Senate's debate. It sounds like you may have rough times ahead. But then, you and your people shall be there to guard against them."

"Nation," Peter said. "Narnia. She's improving. It's been about four years since the war, but the recovery is slow - we don't have a high level of technology so it's all at a horse or ship's pace. And there are still pockets of bandits and supporters of the old Queen." He frowned slightly, trying to explain. "There seems to be a time gap between Narnia and here. When I went home at the beginning of this month, only three days had passed since I left. I spent two months there and returned here four days later. So while she has my sisters and brother, I, also, am not long gone."

"Callisto and I have sparred," Anakin said, taking the blade and looking at it with shining eyes. "I have a disadvantage using them because I'm so used to the balance of the lightsaber."

Anakin nodded at Peter's description. "I remember hearing tales about Naboo--a planet in my galaxy that underwent an occupation. They took years to recover and that was even with superior technology and the Supreme Chancellor of the Senate being from the planet. It's easier to destroy than to build up."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Time...changes when I go home. Sometimes more time passes there. Sometimes it's the same as here. I was gone for six months at home and returned here to discover only a month had gone by. It's...disconcerting."

He smiled. "Your brother and sisters are knights as well, then?"

"I've not sparred with her yet though I keep meaning to," Peter said, smiling at Anakin's smile. "Go on, you may unsheathe him and try him if you like."

"It is easier," Peter agreed. "And the problem is compounded because the country was under rather dictatorial rule for over a century so most of the time we are creating new systems rather than rebuilding."

He looked at Anakin, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wonder why time does that. If it's Fandom or our worlds. I suppose I am greatful because otherwise I would be needed at home, and I'd like to stay here longer, but still..." He paused for a long moment, trying to figure out exactly what to say in response to the question. "Not knights with me, no," he said slowly. "My brother is, but my sisters have other talents."

Anakin grinned in genuine delight and took the sword from its sheathe. "It's a beautiful piece of work," he said, staring at it.

"I'm inclined to think the time discrepancy is a Fandom thing," Anakin said. "And I wish that I could stay longer as well, but...responsibilities." He shrugged. "You know how it is. What do your sisters do, if you don't mind the question? I'm guessing some other form of public service if they're anything like you."

"He is, isn't he?" Peter said, smiling proudly. "He was a great gift to me."

"One can hardly rail against the responsibilities one has accepted pulling one away from here," Peter said, a bit convolutedly. "But at the same time, it is nice that Fandom seems to be at least a bit accomodating in allowing us to stay as long as possible. My sisters..." Peter thought again. He'd not been asked that particular question that directly and didn't particularly want to lie to Anakin, but on the other hand, how does one quantify the work of a Queen? "They work with the day to day administration of the country. Receiving envoys, riding out to see what the people need, dealing with petitions and requests."

"Fandom is very accomodating," Anakin agreed. "It's the Council who are in no way inclined to let me stay here."

Anakin furrowed up his brow at Peter's description of his sisters' work. "It sounds like what Padmé did when she was queen," he said, forgetting that Peter would have no idea who Padmé was. "Before she was a Senator."

Peter nodded. "At some point I'm certain that my country will need me at home. I swore to it so I can hardly resist it's call."

"The work is probably quite similar," Peter said. "Though now I must ask how your Padme went from being a Queen to a Senator. Isn't Queenship lifelong where she's from?"

"She's not my Padmé," Anakin corrected with a small smile. "On Naboo--her homeworld--they elect queens for a series of terms. After her terms were completed, the new queen appointed her to the Galactic Senate."

"No, of course not," Peter said, shaking his head. "It was a figure of speech without implication. That was the planet under occupation then? It seems strange to me, the idea of queens for a term of years. At home, kingship is for life."

"It took me a while to understand it myself," Anakin said. "Different planet, different customs. My homeworld didn't exactly boast what you would call a functioning government anyway, so I didn't have a lot to compare it to initially."

Tim had been practicing more lately, but when he saw the notice on the door he hesitated before he knocked. Live fire in the sword practice area? he was intruiged, so he knocked.

Anakin shut the remotes off again and shut down the lightsaber. "Come in!" he called.

Tim entered carefully. "Hey, sokay if I spectate?"

Anakin shrugged. "If you'd like. It's not that interesting."

He reached into the Force and turned the remotes back on, then ignited his lightsaber with a familiar snap-hiss and waited for the programming to begin.

Tim sat quietly though both eyebrows raised at the lightsaber. This wasn't interesting?

The four remotes spun around Anakin, assessing his stance, then began shooting. Simultaneously. From different vantage points.

Anakin deflected them all with a small smile on his face and a focused look in his eyes.

The remotes took in that information and began moving much, much faster.

Anakin never faltered, spinning and whirling across the room.

"You work with swords, too?" Anakin asked. "When you're not shooting at people with water pistols unprovoked?"

"I'm a beginner at it. Swords I mean." Tim said. "And if I had known you weren't gonna have a sense of humor about it I wouldn't have shot at you." yeah sometimes his sense of self preservation took little vacations

Anakin blinked.

Then he carefully ricocheted a blaster shot to hit the wall just above Tim's head. "Sometimes it's not a good idea to criticize someone who's highly trained and heavily armed," he observed.

Tim ducked reflexively but it wasn't quite a flinch. "Hey you brought it up." he said. "You're not exactly proving me wrong. Unless you have a similar sense of humor as Yang." He paused, then looked up at the wall. "That was pretty impressive though."

"I don't know Yang," Anakin replied, turning his attention back to the remotes. "And don't kid yourself. That was very impressive. I didn't have to miss."

Tim smirked. He was reminding Tim a little of Yang, or Neil. "I believe you." There was no sarcasm in his voice. Also no sign of being intimidated. Well not much. He'd been threatened with death, and worse before.

"You should," Anakin said flatly. Smirking irritated him. It showed a lack of respect. The remotes began spinning faster and faster, then beagan shooting an almost constant stream of energy towards Anakin and his lightsaber. "I need to concentrate," he said, then completely ignored the kid who was watching.

And Tim returned to watching quietly. This was pretty damn cool.

Tim could've been part of the furniture for all the attention Anakin paid him.

Forty-five minutes of practice later, Anakin shut off the remotes, turned off the lightsaber and walked out of the salle.

Well Tim supposed a guy that good probably had a right to be stuck up. He got to work on his own practice.

Salle [afternoon, after workshops]

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