A Common 'Affliction'

[Caelag Vass]

How did Caelag always manage to find blind warriors to meet, it was almost a running theme in her life. The Iron Empire soldier sighed lightly as she stepped off the speeder she'd rented, taking a good 'look' around her. After requesting permission from the queen " [member="Lady Kay"] ", she'd traveled here to meet an individual who shared in her peculiar state. A soldier, or warrior, blind to the world around them. True, in this case they were not Miralukan, and instead were of the well known and respected Echani, but even so the situation was too, tempting to pass up.

It would hopefully offer her some chance to train with someone, assuming they could find their way to the ruins within the Twin Canyons, hell without the help of a young man who'd been so kind as to accompany her from her platoon she'd have had a harder time getting here than she'd like to admit. Maps didn't exactly do much for her.

Not sensing anyone around, the woman gave a sigh and sat on an overturned stone, her platoon-mate making sure the speeder was taken care of. Hopefully this trip wouldn't be a bust, Caelag could use the conversation outside of soldiers under her command for once.

[member="Thessela"]

 

[Aeth Deschart]

What, was this place?

She stumbled once, curious as she made her way into the ruins. She'd been told where to go, but it hadn't been easy, and she'd ultimately had to hire someone to help her get there because she just became utterly lost while trying to make her way through the mountains. There were just too many trees and rocks, and even though her senses were higher as a result of losing her eyesight, she couldn't figure out where it was that she was going. There weren't enough sounds to guide her by. It was, without a doubt, demeaning, but it was the best that she could do. Ultimately, she'd arrived, and been left with no knowledge of why she was there.

"Hello?" she called, trailing fingers along the wall as she walked. "Is anyone there?"

Her sword jangled on her back as she walked, but she paid little heed to it. It was always there, and she reveled in its comfort, but the comfort was often lost at the back of her mind. Now, all she could do was listen to her surroundings, and let the place tell her what she needed to know.

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag grabbed the stock of her rifle, for a moment, as she began to focus around her to pinpoint where the sound came from. Her required reliance on the force, natural for her species, meant that while her other senses were very well defined, at least compared to some blind individuals. Caelag lifted up her rifle, and aimed the over-sized weapon (for her) at the one doorway into the large room she'd seated herself in, and hummed quietly. The sound of the woman asking if anyone was there... outside the ruins was her private tending to the speeder.

She had to hope this was the woman she'd planned to meet. She located the faint force signature, at the edge of her awareness, and called out to her. "Are you the Echani?" She had to hear the voice, more clearly, to be certain. She only felt one person... but if she had Vong with her...

[member="Thessela"]

 

[Aeth Deschart]

The light touch of shifting metal touched her ears, the slight shift of foot and fabric. She stopped her momentum and lifted her free hand to grasp the hilt of her swore, preparing to draw it free if it became necessary. The voice, however, didn't really help her any.

"I am an Echani, yes."

She knew someone had asked her to come there, and she didn't know why, but had she been led into a trap? What was this that she'd wandered into? Certainly she knew the sound of a gun being lifted it. It made her grind her teeth in agitation. The use of such atrocious weapons were an affront to her sensibilities. Just the same as the one that had blown her apart was disgusting to her. She tolerated ships and speeders as they were a necessity for getting around, but in general she really hated technology. People forgot how to be people, locked into letting machines do everything for them. There was no honor in the use of machines.

"You can put down the gun you've got aimed at the door. I'm not entering until you do."

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Can you blame a poor little blind girl for being careful?" She set the rifle down next to her, and clicked its safety. If she could hear her picking it up, then she could hear the safety being turned on. Slowly, she stood herself up, standing on one end of the ruined room and knowing the Echani she'd contacted would be on the other. Hopefully she could be forgiving for the somewhat hostile opening.

"My name is Caelag. I'm a soldier for the Iron Empire, and a Miraluka. I have no eyes, I haven't from birth, am weak, and incapable of overpowering anyone without the use of tricks involving my vibroknives. I've fought Jedi in sparing, and Mandalorians in combat. I've always held a respect for warriors that could fight without the force, and have done all in my power to match them, especially the Echani."

"I would be honored if you would help me." She was standing at a military rest the whole while, almost by instinct.

[member="Thessela"]

 

[Aeth Deschart]

"I can, when the person you're waiting for is also blind."

When the gun was put away, she didn't move her hand. Anyone willing to quickly draw a ranged weapon could be just as willing to utilize a throwing blade to try and take her down. No, she didn't trust this person now. Anyone so willing to draw a weapon was certainly a threat to her. As such, she remained outside of the of the room in the ruin that the other woman was currently occupying. She remained there for quite a few moments, even as the other woman spoke, listening and only listening. It was the only sense she could use to her advantage at the moment, so she was going to be patient about how she approached the situation.

The woman said a great many things which caused her to grind her teeth for a moment before she finally decided to move in. Her hand remained on the hilt of her weapon, not moving. Inside, she could hear nothing but the presence of the other. Nostrils picked up the scent of only one, but stale odors of past presences, likely animal in nature.

"I don't know the Iron Empire, but I know that one who calls themselves weak is one wishing to bait a trap. Don't lie to me."

She stood, edges of the bottom of her dress flowing in the breeze.

"Why is it you want my help, and what kind of help is it you want?"

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Or they are one who has failed everyone and everything they once held dear, and knows they are not strong. On my body at the moment are two knives, my combat knife and my survival knife. I carry with me only my one blaster, an X-52 model from the long, long past cold war between the sith empire and Republic. Also in the area is a single private, my driver, but he is busy caring for the rented speeder. I assure you, if I had wanted to trap you, I would have already done so." She sighed quietly, and shook her head.

"I see through the force, I can see your body now, I could see it before you entered. Even without my sight, you stand so confidently, and have a presence I could only hope to achieve. I've failed my family, my friends, my duty.. I've failed everyone before. I don't wish to do so again.. I can't. You are blind.. from what I've been able to learn. And you are Echani, respected warriors. I want your help.."

She took a small breathe before finishing her thought. "I want your help to no longer be weak, and fail." These words held sincerity in them, they wavered naturally, as if holding back bottled emotions.

[member="Thessela"]

 

[Aeth Deschart]

"You think you would have, anyway."

No smirk on her face, just cold reality. Thessela had learned very on to never let go of the razor sharp edge of her voice when dealing with people who weren't familiar to her. If you did, you let down your guard, which ultimately could get you killed. Besides, she was confident enough in her hearing to believe that she would have picked up on the dangers of a trap if one had been laid for her. Just as she'd heard the woman lifting her gun and making ready to use it.

When the woman said she saw through the Force, she understood. This Caelag was a Miraluka, so she had an advantage that Tes did not have. She could not see through the Force. To her frustration, her connection to the Force had become severely diminished since her accident, and as a result, she could barely even feel its presence anymore. Every so often she felt a twinge of awareness, but more often than not she felt nothing but naked. Before her accident she'd been on the verge of coming to grips with her capabilities in the Force. It would have made her a great warrior. Instead, she had nothing.

She drew her blade out and flicked it softly to the side.

"If you want to learn, you must fight. If you want to fight, you must believe that you can fight. Do you believe you can fight, or is failure all that defines you?"

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

"I can fight, I have, I will. Failure isn't all that defines me, but I have failed in places I had no right to do so." She drew her combat knife, running her finger over the edge in thought. "If it means much to you, I meant no ill will beyond safety with my rifle before." She flicked the blade off her finger, and held it calmly in her right hand. She took a breath, and slowly stepped forward, knowing full well that the Echani could mistake her calm, non aggressive action to hold more malice than she intended.

"Well... Miss Echani. What would your answer be?"

[member="Thessela"]

 

[Aeth Deschart]

"No. You have never failed. Failure no longer exists. Failure is death."

She shook her head at the other woman. One thing she knew for certain was that repeatedly discussing failure meant you dwelt upon that failure. Doing so was what got you killed, and that wasn't acceptable. The day she got blown up? That wasn't failure, that was a lack of honor from her enemy. They had fought without honor and she had paid the price on it through no fault of her own. She refused to believe that such a thing was a failure on her part.

"I have never failed and I never will until the day I die. There is no such thing as failure."

With that, she moved swiftly forward, tip toeing around rubble, and bringing her blade in a quick slash that would open up the woman's torso if she didn't evade or block.

"I am Thessela. This is my blade. Learn from it."

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Then I have, in some ways." Her knife was slower to dance than [member="Thessela"]'s blade, but it caught the weapon, and for once in her life Caelag was able to fight back against the weapon with her own strength. She was by no means strong, but her strength had never been a match for her opponents. Mandalorians empowered with the force, Jedi through whom the force flowed freely, soldiers in heavy armor, at every turn she was at a disadvantage. Here though, she could struggle, and hold the blade just comfortingly away from her side.

"Many have died for my mistakes, Miss Thessela. Men who trusted my decisions." She stepped in towards where she sensed Thessela, and shot out an arm in a jab at her solar plexus. The punch itself didn't have much force, but it was aimed well. If she chose to duck there was a chance it would miss, but hit her head instead. As an Echani however, she fully expected the woman to know that. Her disadvantage now came from the Echani's quick grace... hopefully she could keep pace.

 

[Aeth Deschart]

The shift. Boot twisting on loose stone. Bits of sand sliding across ground. Her blade had been caught, and now she was being counter attacked. Instead of ducking or the such, she stepped backwards, avoiding the strike altogether. Distance was great and all, but keeping in close would keep the necessity of a blaster out of things. That was how she normally operated, anyway. This was not such a combat situation that she needed to worry about such. Instead, she needed to gauge what she was up against. How powerful of a fighter was this woman? Was she really in need of training, or was this an elaborate trap?

Her words seem to betray her.

"They failed, not you. They're the ones dead."

Yes, she honestly believed that. The one that died was ultimately responsible for their own death. Yes, they had orders, and yes, those orders could be bad, but ultimately they'd decided to follow the order, and had made the decision on how to follow the order, so it was their own fault. Instead, she stepped in with a swift downward slice, using not but her arms as her legs carried her continuously on towards the woman's side.

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag raised her weapon again to block, and this time was pushed a little further down from the strike. She'd grown confident after the first that she could counter her strength with her own, rather than relying on her speed as she always had before. It showed immediately how flawed her thinking was, as she'd already begun to buckle under the strain, within the first few motions of a fight as well. When it came to anything in melee, she was experienced but far from sound. An experienced fighter could loose 9/10 matches, after all.

Experience wasn't skill. She was able to recover and shift the blade, letting [member="Thessela"]'s slide off to the side, and leaped to her right a ways, to provide space to think. "I refuse to be blind to the mistakes and failures I've made in the past. If you wish to be technical, by some means I'm already considered dead. Many who would've cared believe my body to be a rotting, charred corpse." And maybe they ought to be right. In some respects, Caelag didn't consider herself really living a life. She upheld her duty, and nothing more.

Even this, her diversion, was aimed at providing a better life. She shifted her grip on the knife, and kicked at a stone to send it skittering across the ground, hopefully distracting her a moment as she rushed in, thrusting at the Echani's stomach. Of course, the stone only provided, at most, a momentary distraction, especially since it was a simple trick, at best.