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Slow Progress

Damian watched in silence as Sabine swung her stick at Kanan wildly, using all her strength but sacrificing speed or any form of technique to try and overpower him. As a result, he beat her into the dirt in seconds. Damian sighed. When she had agreed to learn to wield the Darksaber's, the black-bladed lightsaber they'd found on Dathomir, he'd known it would turn out something like this. She didn't want to wield it. It had belonged to her family, who had disowned her, and after Maul stole it from her clan, it became a representation of shame, not a symbol of unity. She had agreed to use it to unite Mandalore into an army to help the Rebellion, or at least to try, but as things stood, she wouldn't be ready for a very long time.

"Every mistake is a limb lost," Kanan said. "The blade is never at rest."

"Okay," Sabine said. "Let's go again."

"No," Kanan said, handing his stick to Ezra, who had also picked up Sabine's stick for her. "You'd better practice with Ezra first."

"Why?" Sabine asked.

"Ezra, walk her through the forms," Kanan said.

"Kanan!" Sabine said exasperatedly as Ezra handed her stick to her.

She sighed heavily and allowed Ezra to begin teaching her. As she did, Damian walked over to Kanan with Ahsoka.

"That was harsh," Damian said. "Necessary, but harsh."

"She'll be fine," Kanan said. "She had to learn basic form anyway."

"Why sticks instead of lightsabers on training mode?" Ahsoka asked.

"Training sabers," Kanan said. "And this way she won't be hurt."

"Pain reinforcement is a better motivator than being humiliated with a stick," Damian said. "Quarterstaff training is one thing, but stick swords is humiliating. Better she learn by finding out mistakes hurt, than figuring out mistakes are embarrassing. Like how your first sparring session with me went when I joined the Ghost so very long ago."

"Don't remind me," Kanan sighed. "Tell you what. When you train with her, you can use lightsabers on training mode."

"Thank you," Damian said. "However, she'll work through the forms with Ezra first."

"This isn't going to be good for them getting together," Ahsoka said. "She'll get frustrated with him."

"I'll step in before that happens," Damian said.

Ahsoka nodded, and they both began to meditate while Ezra drilled Sabine on basic form and technique, working largely form three, but also some form four. At sunset, they all ate, then Sabine and Ezra practiced some more, then they slept. In the morning, they ate, went back to practicing until noon, had lunch, practiced more until dinner, ate, then sparred for a bit before bed, with Ezra beating her without much trouble. Finally, around noon the first day, Sabine was able to hold her own fairly well against Ezra, though he still wasn't trying his hardest against her.

"That won't work," Kanan warned her as she began to put too much force into her blows again.

"Working so far!" Sabine shot back.

"I think you're doing great," Ezra said supportively.

"Opinion noted," Sabine said, punching him on the shoulder before they continued just as Rau arrived with supplies.

Finally, she moved for a full-force leaping slash, Ezra stepping out of the way and allowing her to fall to the ground. Then, as she began to stand and turn to continue, the found his stick to her throat, falling back to the ground.

"You over-committed," Rau said.

"Oh good," Sabine said, batting his stick aside with her own and standing. "Anyone else have an opinion they wanna share?"

"I do," Damian said.

"Let's take a break," Kanan said.

"No, this one will help immensely," Damian said. "You fight using strength like it's a normal sword, and you're trying to use force to cut through Ezra."

"Well, yeah," Sabine said. "It's sword fighting."

"Yes, but you're not using a sword," Damian said, pulling out his lightsaber and holding it out to her. "Pick a rock, and slash it."

Sabine took the lightsaber, extending the blade, then walked over to a rock and slashed. Then, when the blade met virtually no resistance slicing through, she stumbled and fell, Damian pulling the Lightsaber back to himself with the Force.

"You see?" Damian asked. "Force isn't necessary, because even with minimal force, the lightsaber's going through your opponent. Unless they wear Beskar, then you're not getting through it and you'll have to aim for an unarmored spot. Even when training with these sticks, bear in mind that you don't need force. Just to make contact, which makes being a fast fighter, better than being a powerful one. Want to go a round with me using lightsabers?"

"I'd rather keep my limbs," Sabine said.

"They'll be set to training mode, so instead of chopping pieces off, they'll leave welts," Damian said. "Pain will teach you to be careful more than a stick will."

Sabine hesitated before nodding.

Damian reached back, pulling out Satele's lightsaber and separated them, switching both to training mode before tossing her one. He extended his blade and tapped it on a rock by his foot, the blade bouncing off and leaving a small burn. Sabine tested hers as well before nodding.

"Before we start, tap the back of your hand lightly," Damian said. "You need to know ahead of time what it'll feel like."

She nodded and flicked the blade, only to yelp in pain, waving her hand and nearly dropping the saber. Damian chuckled and walked over, holding a hand over her burned finger and healing it in seconds. Then, he backed away, preparing himself, Sabine taking the ready stance Ezra had taught her. However, she paused, seeing him turned profile to her with his sword held in front of his chest and held so that his blade was pointed at her.

"Why's your stance different?" Sabine asked.

"Damian specializes in Form Six and Jar'Kai," Ahsoka said. "Jar'Kai is dual-wielding. your beginning stance is from Form Three."

"Is Form Six better?" Sabine asked.

"Form Six is just a different style that combines all five of the other forms," Damian said. "One Form is not inherently better than the others. It's all up to the user's skill. Granted, I will admit that any Form Two users I've heard about were amazing at it."

"Form Two is a bit special," Ahsoka shrugged.

"What's Form Two?" Sabine asked.

"Basically, it's ninety percent counters," Damian said. "It's a one-handed style that relies on countering rather than attacking outright. And it's hard to learn, more so if you don't have a Jedi's reaction time."

"I suppose that makes sense," Sabine said. "So, we're supposed to be sparring, right?"

"After you," Damian said.

Sabine nodded, then waited for another moment before darting forward and slashing quickly again. Damian began to deflect her strikes quickly, finding her using too much power again.

"Too much power," Damian said, then jumped back, out of the way of her strike, and the blade whipped around too fast, her wrist rotating with its own momentum and smacking her on the arm with her blade.

"Ow!" Sabine said, grimacing before readying herself again.

They began again and this time she managed to not try to overpower him, but her technique was sloppy. First she was focusing too much on offense, even without using power, and left her guard open, earning a burn on the right thigh. Then she was focusing too much on blocking for her right side, and earned a burn on her left arm over the one she'd given herself. Then she was focusing too much on defending and began to lose ground. He didn't even need to tell her that one. She switched back to offense and managed to hold her own for a moment before he stepped back, but turned his hand to strike, telegraphing. However, she missed it and went in for the kill, only for him to sweep her stab aside and slash her across the waist just below the armor. She shouted in pain, dropping, and he retracted his lightsaber blade, beginning to heal her.

"Always watch your opponent's body language, not just whether they're advancing or retreating," Damian said. "Had you payed attention to where my hand was, you'd have seen me telegraph that block. You got ahead of yourself."

"You're way too good!" Sabine snapped. "I never had a chance!"

"No, you didn't," Damian agreed. "I didn't spar with you because I expected you to win after three days practicing basic form. I sparred with you to give you a taste of what it's like with real lightsabers where the blade has no weight, so all the weight is on the opposite side of your hands, as opposed to with a stick, where you have to compensate differently."

Sabine nodded. "Thanks. It helped."

"Yes it did," Damian nodded. "You picked up a lot in just that one sparring session." He the other half of Satele's lightsaber back to himself, reconnecting them and putting them away as he dropped his voice. "Now do us all a favor, and put your boyfriend in his place."

Sabine blushed scarlet instantly and practically hissed as she defended herself. "He's not my boyfriend!"

Damian chuckled, offering her his hand and pulling her to her feet. Then, he walked back over to Ahsoka. As he did, Rau brought Sabine a box, from which he pulled out a pair of Mandalorian vambraces. Damian grinned knowingly instantly, turning to watch the fun.

"What've you got there?" Ezra asked, eyeing the vambraces.

"More than you can handle," Sabine smirked as he picked up his own stick.

"Oh yeah?" Ezra grinned. "Well, maybe I won't go easy on you this time."

Damian shook his head. "Rest in peace, Ezra."

Ahsoka nodded in agreement as Sabine and Ezra both readied themselves to fight. Ezra made the first move, putting more effort into the fight. And Sabine managed to hold her own this time, after having figured out how much more important speed was than power. He was still holding back, of course. He didn't want to hurt her, or crush her pride and make her doubt herself, but he was trying harder. Then, suddenly, he moved to strike her and she spun around it before blasting him up close with a repulsor, sending her staggering backward before she darted forward, slashing him across the gut, then the back of the legs, dropping him to the ground. Damian grimaced. That had to hurt.

"And that's your head," Sabine smirked, holding her sword to his throat.

"Okay, fine," Ezra said, rolling his eyes. "You cheated, but you won this round. Where did you get those?"

"Special delivery," Sabine said.

"Hey!" Kanan called out. "Is this a game for you?"

"No game," Sabine said. "Just outsmarting my opponent. Care to take a shot?"

She swung her right arm, an energy whip shooting out and wrapping around him. Damian's smile faded instantly. After a moment, Kanan used his lightsaber to cut the whip, then grabbed it and yanked her over, holding his lightsaber to her throat before she could stand.

"History lesson!" Kanan said angrily. "The Jedi won the war with Mandalore! These tricks will amount to something, maybe save you from time to time, but they won't keep you alive in the long run! Only training..." he paused, breathing hard, "and discipline will do that!"

He retracted his lightsaber as Sabine looked around, startled by his anger. However, as she stood, her attitude flared.

"The only thing I'm learning is that Ezra must be really gifted to learn anything from a lousy teacher like you!" Sabine snapped, hurling her stick to the ground at his feet and storming off.

Ezra hesitated and Damian walked over to him, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not about the training," Damian said. "But she needs someone to talk to. Be supportive and reassuring."

Ezra nodded and followed her as Damian turned to Kanan.

"I'm not wrong," Kanan defended himself.

"No, you're not," Damian said. "But Ezra also needs to learn that there are people who can work around a Jedi's powers. It was a good lesson for him, and it made her feel better. Yes, she got a bit over-excited, but yelling at her wasn't the right thing to do. When she gets back, use lightsabers. She's ready. And she needs to know you have faith in her."

Kanan sighed. "You're right. Why couldn't you have just taught her?"

"You volunteered," Damian shrugged.

"Hey," Ezra said, walking over to Sabine, who refused to look at him.

"Not now, Ezra," Sabine said.

Ezra let out a short sigh. "I just wanted to say..." he sighed walking over to where she was sitting on a rock and set a hand on her shoulder. "I think you're doing amazing, Sabine. It's been three days and you're already as good as I was after two months, remember? Even with Damian helping. I know you can do this. But...I also know that that's not what's bothering you."

She glanced at him.

"Talk to me, Sabine," Ezra said. "I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you. Tell me what's bothering you so I can tell you why you're wrong."

Sabine snorted and smiled for a moment before it disappeared. "I believe I can learn to use that sword. I just don't want everything that comes with it."

"Your family," Ezra said as Sabine stood and took a step away, hands curling into fists.

"I'm a disgrace to them, Ezra!" Sabine said. "A traitor!"

"That's not true," Ezra said.

"To them, it is!" Sabine said. "You don't know. No one does."

Ezra sighed, hesitating before walking over to her and reaching up, cupping her cheek and turning her head toward him. "You're right. I don't know what that's like. But I do know what you're like. I know that you would never betray your family, whether it's us, or your normal family. And if they think you would, it's just because they don't understand you. Maybe you did join the Imperial Academy, but you left it because of what the Empire is. You're not like you were back then. You're a good person. One of the best I know. And you're one of the most amazing people I know, too. Whether it's your art, your fighting skills, or just you, you're amazing. And if your people don't understand you enough to accept you, then I'll make them see you for who you are. I don't know how, but I'll find a way."

"How can I lead my people?" Sabine asked, eyes watering. "I betrayed them."

"No, you didn't," Ezra said. "You made a mistake. You wanted to help your people, but you went about it the wrong way. Now you have a chance to help them another way. it probably won't be easy, but there is no one who cares more about your people than you."

Sabine sniffed before stepping forward and hugging him tightly. Ezra wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her gently before she pulled away.

"I need some time alone," Sabine said.

"Okay," Ezra said. "Like I said, I'll always be here when you need me."

Sabine nodded, and he turned to walk away. "And Ezra?"

He looked back at her.

"Thanks," she said.

He smiled and nodded, then turned and walked back toward camp.

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