An Unexpected Reunion (Cronos)

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa opened her eyes, narrowing them at the moon. "Oh, I'll remain vigilant alright. When they come, the last thing they'll see is me, laughing as they BURN." She said, her voice low and menacing. This kind of action, whether it had happened or not, effected Lexa so deeply that she refused to stand aside and let it go. She would be ready for them. But they wouldn't be ready for her. She looked over at Cronos. "What should we do while we wait?" She asked.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

I was somewhat surprised by the strength of her emotions. They danced across her face and rang in her voice, echoing in the Force. There was something dangerous about the slant of her eyes and the tilt of her lips. I cringed at the thought, but there was something fiery about her... aside from the fact that she could literally turn into fire.

"What should we do while we wait?"​

​

I de-activated my lightsaber, tilting my head as I thought. There was no telling when the Sith would come. We could very well be waiting for some time.

"We have the where," I began, glancing around the courtyard. "We need to figure out the when. And we need to prepare -- our minds and our bodies."

My stomach rumbled.

"We need food."

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa cracked a grin at the sound of Cronos's stomach. "Maybe you need food," She chuckled. In truth, she never ate much. She was simply never really hungry. and even if she was before, she wasn't now. She remembered packing a couple of Nabooian oranges in her belt packet. she pulled them out and handed them to him. "Hope you like oranges," She smirked.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

I accepted the oranges, moving over to sit on a bench as I ate. It was a light meal, but it got the job done, silencing the protests of my rumbling stomach. As I finished the last orange, I felt something on the edge of my perception, something black and twisted. It was them.

"They're here," I announced, standing to my feet.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa tensed her muscles as the feeling reached her. She removed her lightsaber from her belt, igniting it's golden blade. "Then we'll have to give them a warm welcome, won't we?" She snarled, glaring with contempt. She was preparing the flames in her hands at that very moment.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Four black clad figures approached from the south, not bothering to hide their presence. They were confident, I realized, overly so. They suspected we were Jedi -- pacifists and peacekeepers.

I was neither.

"Try not to burn the city in your anger," I said, glancing at Lexa.

I turned back to the approaching Sith, once again pulling my lightsaber from my belt, squinting slightly as the bright blue beam burst to light. They were close enough now that I could see that they were armored from head to toe, faces concealed beneath helmets reminiscent of the Mandalorian fashion. And just our luck, the armor was probably cortossis, or some other lightsaber resistant material.

Excitement exploded in my gut, and my burgeoning grin turned almost maniacal. I lived for this.

"You ready?"

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa smiled devilishly. "I call the two tallest ones," She growled. She knew that they could sense her anger. she figured that they thought the could easily manipulate her to join them. But they were in for a big surprise. She glanced over at Cronos. "And have faith in my flames, dear sir. I'm ANGRY, not arrogant..." She smirked, challenge dancing in her eyes.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

"I have faith in you," I returned. "But I am wary of your flames, and I am even more wary of your anger. You are a creature of fire, Lexa... if your anger escapes you, will your flames escape you as well?"

The Sith wasted no time attacking, not even bothering to speak. I couldn't fault them -- Lexa and I were clearly prepared for battle. I let the Force fill me with its power, turning my focus and perception inward to better manage the energy flowing through my body like so many rivers. The world seemed to slow as my senses enhanced -- each breath seemed as if a lifetime, and when I moved, it was with such determination and speed that I surprised even myself.

I met one red blade with my blue blade, smacking the blade back to intercept the swipe from his partner. I ushered my two away from the others, trusting that Lexa could handle herself. Force flowing to me feet I leaped away into the gardens at the edge of the courtyard, blue beam flashing as I moved to engage the Sith once more.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa smiled as the two Sith came at her. They lunged into the attack, swinging their blades at her torso. She jumped over them, kicking their backs as she came down behind them. She ignited her hands and began throwing fireballs at them, bobbing and weaving as they struggled to hit her. She almost laughed at their sloppiness.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

They attacked in tandem, favoring broad, sweeping strikes packing considerable power. Instead of trying to block their attacks I batted them aside, redirecting their strikes with careful maneuvering. I met horizontal force with vertical force, and vice versa, relying on physics instead of pure strength to divert their attacks. Neither of them was particularly fast or quick, though they were relentlessly aggressive, and as I circled them, working to offset their teamwork by leading one in front of the other, I flashed forward with Force enhanced speed and batted aside an overhand blow, sliding my saber along the red beam to cleave hand from wrist. Immediately I ducked, locks of blond hair fluttering to the ground as a lightsaber cut through the space where my head had been.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

The two Sith were getting more impatient. Their attacks grew swifter, and they began to bare down upon Lexa. She blocked and stabbed and swung faster also, throwing a fiery fist at whatever body part she could reach. They beat her back until she reached the fence of the royal garden. Finally, one took a swipe at her arm. Their lightsaber skimmed the side of her arm. She let out a cry, and was kicked over the fence. She landed flat on her back. Her lightsaber flew out of her hands. The Sith smirked as they stood over her. "Such a waste of power," Said the one who kicked her. "You could be so much more, you know," said the other. Lexa glowered. "I will never be like you..." She ignited her hands and shot a fireball a their legs.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

One of the sith let out a howl as his hand detached from his wrist, falling to the ground with a dull thud. I summoned the lightsaber to my hand and danced away from the both of them, sabers twirling as I moved, parrying yet another attack. Robbed of both hand and saber, the one-handed sith relied on the strength of his rage to battle me; the other circled wide to my left in an obvious flanking maneuver. Why was he so far away?

My answer came moments later as lightning leaped from the one-handed sith's outstretched arm. The stream was thin but wide, spreading further and further the nearer it came. I threw the sith's saber into the oncoming lightning, darting to my left to engage the other sith in one-on-one combat.

Together, the two of them had been hard pressed to match me. Alone? He'd be dead before his fellow could even begin to assist.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa had managed to tackle one of the Sith, and was savagely beating him when the other Sith picked her up by her hair. She screamed, clawing at his hand. The Sith she had attacked stood and wiped some of the blood from his nose and mouth. "You are truly blind, girl, if you thought that you could compare to our power." He smirked, punching her in the gut. Lexa coughed hard. "Obviously....You don't.....Realize how strong a.......Fire Shaper is....." She sputtered. She sent a fiery fist backward, striking the Sith holding her in the face. He staggered back, crying out and clutching his face. Lexa fell to her hands and knees, continuing to cough.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

I moved so quickly that the glowing trail of my flashing lightsaber became an entity all its own, seeming to wrap around the Sith as I danced from flank to flank, batting aside his every attack, bolstering through his every defense. The other sith's lightning shorted the saber, and the lightsaber sputtered, falling to the ground as little more than a cylinder of useless metal. He roared in rage, distracting his fellow for the briefest of moments.

It was all the time I needed.

I paused my attack and reversed direction, circling counter clockwise, the direct opposite of my previous strategy. He was ill-prepared for the switch, and with a quick swipe I cleaved him in two. As the halves of his body fell to the ground I moved to engage the other sith. Without his saber, and having used so much of his energy to generate the lightning, there was very little he could do.

I cut him down the same as the other, then moved to help Lexa, should she need it.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

The Sith that was unscathed moved for Lexa's hair again. She dove into his legs and knocked him down. She placed a pair of burning hands on his chest, melting through his clothing. He let out a howl of pain and used the Force to push her away. Lexa landed on her back once more, her head slamming into the ground. She was momentarily motionless. The wind had been knocked out of her. Then, she threw herself to her feet. Her vision blurred slightly as she moved toward the Sith with the burned chest. She staggered, but raised her hand and readied another fireball. The Sith held his fist out before her. Suddenly, she was lifted from the ground. Her throat began compressing, and she couldn't breathe. She gasped and sputtered, her hands grasping at her throat. She could hear the Sith chuckling.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

The Sith's Force choke was short-lived -- he couldn't maintain the telekinesis and evade my blade, releasing his hold of Lexa to dance away from my attack. His footwork was tight and controlled, as if he practiced Makashi, but his attacks were very deliberate, if a bit wild and erratic; almost clumsy, as if he practiced Shii-Cho. By our second exchange I concluded that he was using an aggressive form of Niman, for I found traces of all seven forms of combat in his style.

His saber flashed to and fro, matching me blow for blow. Our blades seemed not as beams, but spheres of clashing blue and red light, neither able to overpower the other. I called upon the Force to enhance my speed and strength, and he responded in kind -- I was faster, but he was extremely cautious, having realized now that he alone remained of his brethren. I could break his defenses if I summoned the effort, but I didn't need to -- I only needed to occupy him long enough for Lexa to recover and deliver the finishing blow.

Between the two of us, the Sith would fall.

@[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa landed on her knees, gulping in breaths of air as Cronos distracted the last Sith. She then rose to her feet. Her eyes began to flicker a familiar white-yellow.... With a yell, she Force-pushed the Sith backward, hurling him into a statue near the edge of the courtyard. She used the Force to sprint to him before he had a chance to recover. She picked him up by his throat and held him off of the ground. "You Sith are all alike. You can never accept the fact that there are others out there who can destroy you as easily as this......." As she spoke the last word, her arms lit up with white flames. The man managed to let loose one strangled cry before his burning remains fell to the ground, turning to ashes in minutes. Lexa breathed a huge sigh before collapsing next to the heap of ash. She used hr right arm to cradle her bruised and possibly broken rib cage, and her left arm to keep her from falling onto her face.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

The Sith went out in a literal blaze of glory, but my enjoyment of the victory was short-lived, for Lexa collapsed soon thereafter. Still 'high' on the Force, I caught her before she could hit the ground, and gently summoned her bruised and battered form to my arms. I'd felt her anger when she ended the sith, and while it was concerning, I couldn't fault her for it. I only hoped she could contain it. Control it.

"You did well," I said as I looked down at her, smiling. "There are bacta tanks at the Palace -- you'll be healed up in no time."

Slowly, so as not to upset her wounds, I made my way into the Palace, and its pristine, state of the art medical facilities. The many denizens of the palace watched us with wide eyes, as their security camera's had been privy to our skirmish. I could see the thanks in their eyes, but also the fear -- fear of me... and fear of Lexa.

@Lexa Kamine​