A Path Less Taken

Chapter 6 - Makashi vs Ataru

"Let's go over that again," Anakin said, cracking his knuckles in his human hand before holding his lightsaber in a one handed position. Now that he had actually tried it, how did the Count even be so good with this form? The light hold he had on his his lightsaber was not him. He definitely preferred a more firm grip on his saber, but this was all about a slack grip; using as least energy as possible and using subtle movements and jabs.

"I've managed to disarm you twice. Suppose that's the most I've even done through the few sparring sessions we've had," Ahsoka said as she spun her lightsabers in a stylish fashion as they circled each other.

"Don't rub it in. This is a harder technique to learn than it looks," Anakin said, taking a deep breath before nodding in confirmation that he was ready. Ahsoka held her sabers in her reverse grip as Anakin held his in the slack one handed grip as a starting position. They both waited patiently.

Suddenly, Anakin flipped in the air and came down on Ahsoka hard with a saber strike. She pushed with all the effort she had and knocked him back before pressing an advantage with a 360 that counted for two saber strikes. But Anakin was fast. He swept his lightsaber on the side that made Ahsoka force her hands back and flip back to gain some breathing room.

Anakin swept forward with two powerful strides that closed the distance between him and Ahsoka, his aggressive style of fighting making him act on that insatiable urge to be the aggressor. But he couldn't go for wide arc strikes like he wanted. He went for some relaxed strikes.

But Anakin found with these more subtle strikes, he could move faster. Ahsoka spent more time blocking than pushing an advantage. He didn't hit as hard or as wide, but he moved a lot faster to make up for it as well being more balanced in his strikes. And that was an advantage Anakin realized could be useful. Play hard and aggressive before turning up the speed.

But luckily speed was Ahsoka's strong point. It was a thing about being an user of Ataru. She was quite capable of keeping up with Anakin. But even though this was a style he only studied for a week, she was worried about keeping with him. Multiple Jedi had labeled Anakin as a natural fighter. This much she knew. He would have a default set of skill to whatever fighting style he decides to pick up because that's just how he was.

It was hard to find a hole in either one's fighting style. Ahsoka wouldn't stay still long enough for Anakin to subtly counter attack, so he knew he would have to make her stay still. Ahsoka knew she could keep up with him, but only barely. And he was a lot more aggressive than she was, so it was harder for her to press any kind of offensive.

But then she suddenly felt the saber in her left hand being yanked away. Instead of reacting with another saber strike, she hit him with a Force Push that caught him off guard. Or so she thought. When Anakin was forced back, he bounced himself off the wall behind him and came towards Ahsoka with the force and speed of a bullet. She barely moved out of the way before Anakin smoothly landed on his feet and began pressing her with smooth, yet aggressive strikes.

"I'm getting used to this," Anakin said as he was pressing her with fast strikes that required all of her attention. But she was minus one saber, so she was able to put more force into her strikes. It caused her to be able to push forward a bit more, but she couldn't necessarily launch an offensive. She had to think smarter.

After a particularly big flip, Ahsoka gave out a Force Push while she was in midair to try and catch Anakin off guard, but Anakin was willing to learn from his mistakes. He was willing to actually wait for one so he could try and counter the push. He held her push before lifting her with the Force and yanking her lightsabers out of her hands with the Force before gently setting her down.