Another Fallen Order fic, this time AU in which Order 66 didn't happen and Cal's age is bumped up a little. Just don't think to deeply about the whole timeline, and assume everyone had a happy time :D
If you've played the DLC for the game and fought against Inquistor Cal, you might totally relate to this.
Enjoy!
"I'll try spinning. That's a good trick!" ~ Anakin Skywalker
An Unorthodox Deception
Cal rubbed his eyes and yawned as he reached for the doorknob. The ceremony from the previous day had left him mentally drained. It certainly wasn't as easy as it looked. Standing in front of the entire Council and the bunch of esteemed Jedi Masters was nerve-wracking, and there was nothing he could have done to prepare himself for it.
Figuring that a morning saber practice followed by meditation would clear his mind for the rest of the day, the young man got ready quickly, throwing on his robes and sliding into his boots. His movements caused BD to stir from its perch on a bookshelf, hopping from foot to foot and tilting it's mechanical head up to him.
Beep boop fwoooo?
Cal shrugged, "I'm not leaving the temple. I'll be fine." It wasn't necessary for his droid to follow him just for a harmless morning exercise.
Booo. Wooo.
"It won't be long. Don't worry, BD."
Cal opened the door and stepped out… crashing headfirst into someone.
The person stumbled back from the force of impact, rubbing the spot on his upper arm which had been bulldozed by him. Cal looked up, an apology at the tip of his tongue when he realised who it was. This man had been present at his ceremony last night. This Jedi Master had given him a nod of respect and had congratulated him personally after.
To cut a long story short, Cal had walked into none other than Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Cheeks flushing, he stuttered out, "I'm sorry. I didn't realise you were about to walk past and -"
"It's quite all right, my young padawan." Obi-Wan's eyes twinkled as he added, "Or should I say...my young...Jedi Knight."
Of course he had to remind Cal of the Knighting Ceremony. Because Jedi Knights were supposed to be graceful and mature, and not bumbling around into other people…
A smile crept onto Obi-Wan's lips as he said curiously, "Mind if I ask you where you were heading? It's rather early and it's unusual to see others up and about at this hour."
Cal patted the lightsaber at his hip. "I just wanted to have some air. Thought I'd do a little morning exercise."
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "you have a sparring partner waiting for you to practice?"
"Nope." Cal shook his head, "but I was just going to do some light training."
"Ahh. But where's the fun in that?"
Cal didn't know how to reply. But apparently the older Jedi had some ideas on how to make his training more 'fun'.
"Care if I join?" Obi-Wan suggested, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "come to think of it, we have not sparred before."
That was true. And it would be a lie if Cal said he wasn't the least bit curious how the esteemed Jedi Master fought. He's heard many stories of Obi-Wan's legendary skills. Now that the opportunity presented himself, it would be such a waste to turn down the offer.
" 'Course!" Cal said excitedly. Having an opponent he'd never fought against before always brought on an adrenaline rush. The different fighting styles kept him on his toes and brought fresh elements to duels.
With that, the duo headed down for the training room.
Obi-Wan shrugged off his cloak and folded it neatly, setting it down at one corner of the large room. This room was mainly used for sparring practice, and there were burn marks made my lightsabers littered all over the tiled floor. The Jedi Master observed as Cal stood in the middle of the room fiddling with his lightsaber. In practice, they usually turned down the intensity of the saber to avoid any permanent damage to their opponents during training.
Cal ignited his lightsaber, a single cyan blade, and took on a defensive stance - the very basic stance padawans were usually taught - one foot in front of the other, and both hands clasping the hilt of his weapon. A traditional ready position.
Obi-Wan took his time. From his many duels, both in real fights and in practice, he knew that intimidating his opponent was one of the keys to winning. Especially if said opponent had never duelled with him before and had no gauge of his ability. Carefully dialling down his saber intensity, he ignited his saber and gave it a twirl and flourish, feeling its familiar weight in his hand. Once he was satisfied, he turned to the younger man.
"So you were knighted yesterday." He said smoothly, "Let's hope the Council did not make a mistake by doing so."
Cal smiled, "you are part of the Council, you know?"
Cheeky, Obi-Wan thought. Well, two can play this game. Nodding, he said, "oh right. That means I have the right to revoke your status of Knight as I see fit."
"Master Tapal might not be too pleased if you did that."
"You forget that Jaro Tapal is one of my closest friends in this Order. I'm sure he would be on my side for this one."
"But I'm his padawan!"
It wasn't until Obi-Wan's smirk did Cal realise he had said it too quickly. "Still padawan, Cal? Well, then you shouldn't be too hard to beat."
His opponent gave a grunt in response but made no attempt to attack first. So Obi-Wan walked forward, closing in the distance one small step at a time. Even when he was in attacking range, Cal remained where he was, lightsaber poised in the same defensive stance, but eyes focused on his every move.
Obi-Wan had this feeling that Cal was waiting for him to make the first move. So he did just that.
The older man took a leap forward with well-practiced agility, and brought his lightsaber in a downward slash to his opponent's torso. Cal had been ready for the attack, and he easily parried the blade away.
It had been a simple strike, simply to test waters. There was no way anyone would have missed that. If Cal had, Obi-Wan thought wryly, the boy really deserved to be demoted to padawan. Heck, he'd even have to train with the younglings.
Meanwhile, Cal had returned to his original defensive stance, not letting his guard down and waiting for the second attack.
Obi-Wan went for three successive attacks. Overhead, side and a front jab.
Block. Block. Block.
His opponent chuckled, "Age catching up with you, Master Kenobi?"
He nearly rolled his eyes, but luckily caught himself just in time. Eye-rolling was unbecoming of a Jedi. Unrefined. Uncivilised. Choosing to settle for a scowl instead, Obi-Wan said, "Why, I'm fine, thank you. You should be thankful I'm going easy on you." He was in his early thirties. And by that he meant thirty. Not even thirty-one. He regularly sparred with Master Windu, Yoda and Skywalker, so should be a walk in the park.
"You don't need to go easy on me," Cal said, dropping his voice in all seriousness, "I enjoy a good challenge."
Alright then. If the kid said it himself, then Obi-wan would deliver.
Giving a single nod, he agreed, "so do I. In that case…"
Not even bothering to finish his sentence, the Jedi Master struck with much more speed and strength. It was his second favourite combat style, having been practicing it during his padawan times with Qui-Gon - Ataru, also known as Form IV - a more acrobatic form favoured by those taking the offensive so that it quickly wore out their opponents. It was extremely effective especially in one-to-one duels.
Cal parried all his attacks. Firmly knocking away each strike with equal strength so that their blades connected only for the briefest of seconds. Obi-Wan redirected the force of each rebounded strike to fuel intensity into the next, such that the subsequent attacks grew with increasing vigour.
Obi-Wan was confident in his ability and the physicality required of this combat style. His past opponents rarely could outlast him in this form, save perhaps for his former padawan Skywalker and Yoda. So as he kept up with the pace and ferocity of each blow, by sweeping his saber in wide arcs to attack in almost random directions, he also made to press forward in small steps and forcing his opponent to step backwards to create enough room between them to avoid his onslaught of attacks.
It was like a dangerous dance. With each step Obi-Wan took forward, Cal took a step backwards. The pair had initially started out in the middle of the room, but they were now approaching the Cal's side of the room and at this rate, the boy would soon find himself cornered.
Just as he had predicted, Obi-Wan could feel the strain of exertion coming from the younger man. What used to be rock solid parries ten minutes ago was now replaced by a slightly wavering deflect. Sensing weakness, he took his chance to send another front jab to the torso so that Cal jumped back by two steps to get out of the way. Obi-Wan leapt into the air to give himself some leverage, doing a backflip as he raised his lightsaber with two hands, and putting all his strength into an overhead slash as he struck from above.
With the amount of force behind that blow, it would have split any lesser opponent into two halves. Yet, his strike was again met with resistance. Lightsaber poised horizontally over his head, Cal's arm trembled, and it was all he could do to hold it at that position. Obi-Wan pushed down harder, calling upon the Force to aid him. Sinking onto one knee, the younger man's face was taut in concentration as the connected blades inched down closer to his face.
Obi-Wan felt it first. Cal's strong pull as the Force surrounded him. The Jedi Master then saw it coming almost in slow motion as the boy splayed out the fingers of his free hand, a move he assumed to be a Force push. Rushing to counter it with a Force push of his own, Obi-Wan released his left hand from his lightsaber, reaching to the Force again.
But something was wrong. His hand moved sluggishly. In fact, his entire body felt like he was swimming in quicksand.
It was nothing like he'd felt before.
He'd heard of those who could use this Force slowing technique, and he himself had done so once before, though he didn't really see much use to perfect it.
But Obi-Wan had certainly never experienced it being used on him.
It was strange to be able to see each move his opponent was doing but be helpless to do anything. He tried to concentrate, clearing his mind and choosing to focus only on releasing the grip of the Force around him.
Somehow, that seemed to do it, and Obi-Wan felt the restraining Force slow dissipate. However, that momentary pause had given Cal the upper hand which he used to knock Obi-Wan's blade to the side and send a powerful Force push at him.
The Jedi Master was sent flying a good eight meters away, the toes of his boots scraping the concrete floor as he struggled to find traction to stop himself. When he finally did, he straightened up and fell into a defensive stance this time, thinking Cal would now go for the offensive.
Not yet, apparently, because it seemed that Cal was breathing hard despite his attempts to look unruffled, which would have been convincing if not for the beads of perspiration sliding off his temple. The freshly knighted Jedi switched off his lightsaber and calmly ran his hand through his sweaty red hair. Definitely baiting him to attack, thought Obi-Wan, so he waited patiently.
Only when he was done with all that hair brushing did he reignite his lightsaber. This time, however, Cal spun it around in his hand for a bit before pressing the second switch at the other end, out of which grew another cyan blade. Obi-Wan watched as the boy twirled the double-blade over his head before settling into a ready stance.
Unable to help it and figuring there wasn't anyone else here to catch him in the act, Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at Cal's display.
"All that flash, my friend." Obi-Wan said, teasing a little, "but what good will it do if you're tired?"
Cal smirked, "but as you can see, I'm not tired."
Obi-Wan snorted, "I can see through your hair-brushing facade. Although I do wonder where you picked that trick up from."
"Would you like to learn?" the boy wriggled his eyebrows at him, "I can teach you. It's simple."
When Obi-Wan did not respond, he lowered his blade and continued in a tone which suggested he was speaking to a class of children. "You see, first you've got to seem relaxed and look away from your opponent as though they aren't a threat." Cal grinned as he raised one hand to his head again, "then you run it through - "
"Alright. Alright." Obi-Wan cut in, he had to stop this before it became unbearably cringy. "Quit stalling otherwise I'd start thinking you really need a break."
"I don't." Cal said, dropping his hand and resuming his ready stance.
"Then come at me."
"Will do."
And in the blink of an eye, the Jedi Knight dashed at him, closing the large distance between them in a split second, following up with a sweeping upward strike of his lightsaber. Of course, Cal had not been expecting to get in a hit because, well, after all it was well known amongst the Jedi that Obi-Wan was the master of defensive techniques. The man standing in front of him had perfected the defensive fighting style of Form III, Soresu, parrying his attack with a lazy flick of his wrist.
To Cal, all these were just hearsay from his other padawan friends and Jedi Masters he met around the temple. He'd never seen this person in action, and he had indeed been eager to experience it first-hand. Now that he had the chance in a one-to-one duel with Obi-Wan, he decided to test it out himself.
Launching into a string of heavy attacks with his double-blade, Cal used a more aggressive form meant to wear down his opponent's guard. The double-blade allowed for quick and consecutive strikes, which he coupled with fluid footwork in attempt to overwhelm the older man.
But Obi-Wan's reputation of the legendary defence held true as he calmly deflected every assault with simple movements. Every attack was blocked, and seemingly without too much effort. A swipe to his feet was parried by a low angled blade. A high slash was met with a raised saber. With such impenetrable defences, Cal knew he would have to change his technique if he wanted to win. Though he was a fair bit younger than Obi-Wan, that man was still in his prime, and was more experienced than he was. Keeping this up would only serve to tire him out faster.
Perhaps he could do something Obi-Wan never expected. There would be an element of surprise which would be to his advantage.
An attack that would catch his opponent off guard.
It didn't take long for Cal to plan exactly what he would do.
Although it was never intended to be a secret, not many people knew about his lightsaber design. His Master Jaro Tapal knew, obviously, having drilled the techniques into him and fought alongside him when some of their missions became messy. Some of the clones who had trained with him would know that too. Sure, he might have sparred with his fellow Jedi padawans, but there had never been a need to wield multiple sabers.
So really, apart from his Master, no one else knew that he had designed his lightsaber to split at the hilt to become separate dual blades.
All while keeping up the fast attack pace, Cal discretely shifted his grip on the hilt, ready to detach the two parts of his double-bladed lightsaber. All he needed an opening when Obi-Wan's blade was crossed with his.
Twirling his lightsaber above his head and following up with a wide sweeping arc parallel to the ground, he targeted Obi-Wan's side, only to have its path blocked by a vertically held blade.
The cyan and blue blades clashed hard, sending tremors up both their arms. Cal refused to move his blade away, pushing in harder with two hands so that Obi-wan had to keep his blade interlocked. Their eyes met; one in focused concentration and the other in unyielding determination. Leaning in with an additional step so that he could apply more pressure as well as to draw Obi-Wan's focus to their connected sabers, the blue plasma blade illuminated their faces such that Cal could see the pale blue reflection of his face in the other man's eyes.
The duellists kept this position until Cal acted. Twisting his lightsaber at the hilt, the handle split into two parts, and he used the now individual and free blade in his off-hand to swipe at Obi-Wan's chest.
The Jedi Master must have sensed before seeing it, because that had been a completely unguarded attack and the manuvere should have incapacitated him should their lightsabers had not been dialled down. While Obi-Wan's eyes widened in the surprise attack, his instinct barely saved him as the man switched immediately ducked to the grown and disengaged his previously interlocked blade and rolled backwards out of reach. Cal didn't hesitate as the pressure against his lightsaber was released, and he followed up by crossing his dual blades over his head and bringing it down at Obi-Wan with a forward lunge.
The older man had not yet regained his balance from the backward roll and only managed to half-raise his lightsaber in an awkward angle. His single blade was caught between Cal's criss-crossed blades, and with a well-practiced twist the young Knight forced the blade out of Obi-Wan's grip. The hilt tumbled to the ground with a metallic clink and the blade switched off. Cal kicked it behind him.
Straightening up, Cal joined back the two halves of his lightsaber and turned it off. He eyed Obi-Wan carefully, not sure how the latter would respond. While most of his sparring opponents were generally quite humble and open-minded to learn when they had lost a match, there were always a handful who weren't quite as warm in the aftermath. Even though it had been a pleasant surprise to learn that this highly reputed Jedi Master was not above sarcastic jests and youthful jabs, Cal certainly didn't want to push his luck.
Carefully, he said lightly, "I was told by my friends that you were the master of the Soresu form, but since I'd never sparred against you, I never could confirm the rumours."
"Is that so?" came the reply, sounding a little amused. "And what do you think now?"
"I totally agree. There was no way I could have penetrated your defences."
Obi-Wan chuckled, "well, it seems you have. Oh, and that's a beautifully designed lightsaber, if I may say so myself."
Glancing at the saber hilt in his hand, Cal grinned fondly, "honestly, apart from my Master, you're probably the only one now who knows that my lightsaber can be split into dual blades."
With genuine surprise etched in his features, the Jedi Master asked, "why haven't you used it against your opponents in practice?" then adding as an afterthought, "I must say it was pretty effective."
"Yeah, well…" Cal agreed, "but it never came to that."
He was so glad that Obi-Wan was cool with it, and some of the tension eased away. Cal was about to turn around to pick up the fallen lightsaber when Obi-wan drew his attention, so he had to look back at him.
It had been a simple question, "What are your thoughts on using slightly underhand techniques in duelling?"
Cal froze, wondering if Obi-Wan was referring to him. Could Obi-Wan have considered his deceptive dual blade manuvere as a dishonest execution in what was supposed to be a regular sparring practice.
Startled by the unusual question, Cal thought for a moment. "I suppose you can't avoid such things in a real duel. But between friends in practice, maybe it's better to have a fair match."
"Really?" Obi-Wan's eyes sparkled with mischief, but Cal did not recognise it as such, "but don't you think sparring practice should prepare us for what is to come? Shouldn't it mimic what would likely happen in a real battle?"
"I…" Cal stuttered. "I suppose." He made to pick up the lightsaber again.
"I'm glad you agree."
Before his hands could touch Obi-Wan's fallen lightsaber, the blue plasma blade ignited. The weapon flew directly at him.
He took a half step back, leaning backwards just in time as the lightsaber flew over his bended form, glazing off his right arm which he lifted a tad too high and had unfortunately run into the path of the blade as it flew back to its owner.
It wasn't painful, just hot to the touch. The mild burn would heal in a couple of days. But still, he whipped around to face Obi-Wan, who had a big mischievous grin on his face. Very unrefined for a Jedi, but the playful side of the Jedi Master had Cal intrigued.
"Oops! Shall I see that burn, Knight Kestis? Come closer so that I can see if it's bad."
Obi-Wan just meant to tease. Surely the young Jedi would have learnt from the stunt he'd pulled, and surely he would not let Obi-wan near him while the match wasn't declared to be over.
But Cal seemed to consider his request, and clipped his lightsaber onto his belt, walking forward with oblivious innocence, "it's fine, really. It already feels alright now."
Now Obi-Wan was faced with another dilemma. He had just done an all-time low dirty trick on the kid. Despite the fact that it could be viewed as making a point to teach him to always be alert and that duels were usually unfair, Obi-Wan felt rather bad to hurt the young man with another deception. On the other hand, it was better he learnt that now in a safe environment rather than experience it from a real enemy. That might end with much greater consequences than a minor burn.
As Cal ran a hand through his damp hair, Obi-Wan stuck his lightsaber out in a forward thrust right at the boy's abdomen.
Cal merely hopped to one side, then lowered his hand.
Obi-Wan's lightsaber pierced thin air.
"Told ya," Cal smirked, "the hair-brush technique works!"
Obi-Wan could not help but snicker. He was indeed somewhat pleased that Cal saw through his trick. "Have you used it on Master Windu?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I've never duelled with him." Cal said, "besides, I think he might smack me on the head if I told him about it."
"What about Master Yoda?"
"Nah. Hit me with his walking stick, Master Yoda would."
"And your Master Tapal?"
"Uh, yeah. Master Tapal knows about it." Cal admitted, "but he started laughing every time I did that."
"Oh, I'm sure he did."
Obi-Wan twirled his lightsaber in his hand, then got into his ready stance, "what say we finish this duel? Keep going until one of us surrenders."
"Agreed." Cal ignited a single blade, swung it around and fell into position, giving Obi-Wan a nod to signal he was ready.
The Jedi Master attacked, just as he'd done right at the start, stringing up a series of continuous blows, immediately forcing Cal to slowly step backwards like before. Only this time, the young Jedi changed his approach differently, opting to simply parry the blow without exerting more than what was required.
When he had nearly reached the wall behind him, Cal did a somersault over him, leaping into the air over his head so that Obi-Wan now had his back to the wall. The boy now attacked with more power behind each strike.
Obi-Wan backtracked, barely blocking each slash as Cal rained every attack combination imaginable, each of them executed with force.
The Jedi Master needed to do something quickly, before he became cornered.
He waited for the slightest opening in Cal's flurry of attacks and took the opportunity. Feinting to the right, Obi-Wan changed direction mid-attack and swiped at his legs. The boy realised too late, and had fallen into his bluff, reacting to his right-side feint.
Throwing himself backwards to avoid the lightsaber to his feet, he stumbled ungracefully, leaving his guard wide open. Obi-Wan kicked firmly at his lower abdomen with just enough strength to land the young man on his butt sitting on the ground.
Towering over him, the Jedi Master slashed downwards vertically with his blade, clashing with enormous strength as Cal blocked horizontally, leaning backwards and bracing his weight with a free hand to the floor.
Their blades cackled and having more leverage at this height, Obi-Wan pushed harder, putting nearly all his body weight above the crossed blades. The boy was gradually leaning backwards, his elbow now on the ground too. And soon, his back was entirely pressed on the ground.
"You give up?" Obi-Wan smiled, holding his position and keeping the interlocked blades steady just in front of Cal's nose.
"I… Yeah, yeah, alright. I surrender." Cal said breathlessly.
Obi-Wan released the pressure, stepping lightly to the side and switching off his lightsaber. Then he stretched his hand out to pull the younger man up.
"That was… good." Cal mused, keeping his lightsaber.
Obi-Wan wiped the perspiration which had formed on his forehead, dabbing at it with his sleeve.
"Same to you. I think we should do this more often," suggested Obi-Wan, "I'd like to have another go against that double-bladed and dual blade next time."
"Next time?" Cal said enthusiastically. He was ecstatic at the Jedi Master's suggestion.
Shrugging, Obi-Wan glanced at him, "why not? I could do with some practice against a younger opponent every now and then."
Humbly, Cal replied, "I could also learn some of your tricks."
There was a pause as Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow at him. "You mean the feinting?"
Cal nodded, "I didn't see that coming."
The corners of Obi-Wan's lips tugged upwards, and his eyes glinted, "was that better than your hair brushing technique?"
It earned him an indigent scowl in return. "No, it wasn't."
The older man's eyebrows lifted higher, "come on, you've got to admit it was better."
"No! It wasn't!"
Hope you liked it. Do leave a review before you go! Also, feel free to share any fic ideas you might have :)