Private Basics

[Aeric Kaze]

​

Ziost.
Sith Temple
Training Rooms

As an acolyte, there was little to do when not serving as a direct underling to a Knight, Lord, or Master.

Beyond menial and laborious tasks, there were only a handful of things to be doing, he found. Training and sparring. Or catching up on the irrelevant history of centuries past. The latter was of little interest to him. History beyond the years of the Gulag Plague didn’t concern or matter to him.

Famous Imperials, Jedi, and Sith? They had all of that today. Though he knew very few of any. The bastard child of two Sith, the only history he truly cared about was how he came to be, and what his parents did.

That’s the essence of Sith teachings, isn’t it?

In the simplest form, those that came before were meant to be overthrown by those that came after. It was a simplistic way to cull those that were weak, but efficient. Whether it was utter destruction through the Force, or bisecting with a beam of plasma… The Sith taught to win, and there was no glory or renown for losers.

For Kaze?

Single combat was the way to go.

To see that recognition of defeat in an opponent’s eyes. It was a feeling that he had felt before. It had filled his entire being. And it was a feeling he never wanted to know again.

So he continuously trained.

Today would be no different as he finished his journey from the dormitories to the sparring room, his tasks for the day completed.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The freedom to learn was an empty gesture for the young Acolyte. After the brief time in the wars, facing Sith and Jedi alike, that's all she wanted to do. Learn. Understand. Get stronger. No matter her efforts though Alina just couldn't get stronger, not in the Force. All the reading, holocrons, ancient tablets. They were useless for her. She could never do what was described. It filled her with anger. Hate. How many times had she almost been killed?

Worse, there was no way to process it. Her fellow acolytes could take this rage out and get stronger for it. Learn new powers. Master their skills. Alina stood in one of the sparring rooms in her usual work out attire. The room was empty, and the only sound was her fists slamming into a punching bag. The more she punched, the angrier she got. She'd seen it, Sith who could increase their strength. Break these bags. She couldn't even do that.

Drenched in sweat she had no idea how much time she'd spent here just trying to be able to do.. Something. Anything. But nothing. Frustration boiled over into a scream as she brought her hand into the bag one last time. And just like the other times, nothing happened. Alina dropped to her knees then, gasping for her breath. This was pointless. She was struggling so much just to survive. She'd never get ahead.

The young Acolyte pressed her forehead into the mat, slamming her hands down uselessly against it. "Kark this all! Damnit!"

 

[Aeric Kaze]

​

Ziost.
Sith Temple
Training Rooms

Before he even walked into the room sparring room, he could hear the sounds of abuse a punching bag suffered through.

Crash after crash.

When he stepped through that doorway to see the source of the built up aggression, he watched. To see how she moved, the patterns that were subconsciously built into her muscle memory.

Kaze then moved, thumbs hooked through his belt as he casually looked about.

No one else around.

Help, or patronize?

There was a chance that the former resulted in the same end.

"For me, it feels better to have a weapon in hand. Or... Something that hits back."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The voice caught her completely off guard. With her troubled connection with the Force she couldn't even sense the approach of others around her. Another thing that just made her so full of hate. Alina took a breath where she was before pushing herself up to her feet. Whomever this was had already seen her in a moment of weakness, and she certainly didn't want to look any weaker.

Her yellow gaze fell on Aeric Kaze , near glaring at him before she calmed that, too. A more blank expression took over after a moment. "I'm sure it does, but unless you're offering, I don't have much choice." Alina inhaled sharply as she undid the wrappings on her hands. She'd been going for too long, by how much her knuckles were bruised.

She turned her back to the other acolyte as she gathered up a towel to wipe away some of the sweat that had formed.

 

[Aeric Kaze]

Walking across the room, he moved to the dueling ring, closer to the centre of the room.

He was an adept duelist, the son of an adept Makashi and Djem So practitioner, he had plenty of time to learn and train within the sanctity of his own house, thanks to his mother. Often he had purposely suffered defeats, in order to distance himself from a father that had left them. He sported the scars underneath those robes and the long sleeves that he wore.

But ever since he started to be haunted by those dreams, he wanted to win.

Always.

The natural decision then was to join the Sith-Imperials turned Eternals.

And so here he was, many months later, still acolyte.

"It's why I'm here, a grin, surprisingly full of mirth splitting his neutral expression as he regarded the other Acolyte. Off his belt he unclipped the simply made hilt from its home on his belt. "Ready when you are."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"That so." Alina lowered the towel to drop it by her stuff as she looked over her shoulder towards Aeric Kaze once more. His grin caught her off guard, so she stared more suspiciously at him. Well, a spar with a saber might do her some good. She took out her own blade from the pile that was her stuff. It was intricately designed. Obviously old, but well maintained and cleaned.

Her families saber, the one given to they who would become head of the House when the time came. She took a spot across from him, igniting the blade and taking a neutral sort of stance. "Ready, then."

 

[Aeric Kaze]

"Mm."

She was already tired from her previous bout with the punching bag. She'd be weaker, slower, Kaze expected. Or maybe, she'd experience that second wind warriors often did. Either way, he was curious to see what would happen when she was pressed. He had already been exposed to her at what was potentially her weakest...

Now how do you come back from that?

His finger pressed on the ignition button of his saber, and the beam sprouted from the hilt in his left hand, and he lurched forward.

Abruptly as he closed the distance, he'd lunge the rest of the way, left leg stepping forwards as the crimson plasma beam shot up to her right armpit.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Her saber skill wasn't born through the usual use of the blade. She might of well as been a non force user with how she had to use a lightsaber. It showed in how inelegant her fight style was. Her body twisted out of the way of the strike before, just like a snake that coiled itself up, she lashed out in turn. Sprang forward. Her saber was brought down on Aeric Kaze , though not to cut him. More knock his blade aside.

Alina's real intent to strike back was with a swift headbutt. She learned early on that to make up for what she couldn't do she had to be unorthodox and unpredictable. Her frustration boiled over in a yell as she did this, the anger and hate clear in her eyes.

 

[Aeric Kaze]

He hadn't known what to expect.

When he lunged towards her, she batted his saber out of the way. Right leg sliding back up in place with his left as he straightened, he brought his saber up to block hers, just to find that it was batted to the side, and her head crashing into his own.

Rearing backwards, he raised his hand to cradle the front of his cranium, more surprised than enraged.

It was unpredictable. He'd give her that.

Shuffling closer to her slowly, he'd move to circle her for a step or two before lunging forwards again, stabbing at the side of her ribs to test her defenses.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

​

For a moment Alina let herself grin. The satisfying thud of her attack working gave her some kind of confidence, though perhaps headbutting wasn't the best idea. Her own head hurt. She gripped her blade in both hands as she watched Zane , narrowed in focus. Satisfying as it was, she wouldn't get away with it again.

Small steps kept her facing the other acolyte as he circled. He wasn't like the other acolytes who didn't know their way around a blade. Not like her. Alina twisted again to try and get away from the blade, to even try and strike back. Confidence that was foolish. She left herself completely open as she brought her blade up, only barely moving away from the saber by her ribs.

 

[Aeric Kaze]

He was trained to fight. To defend himself.

Ever since the collapse of the One Sith, his mother, a Knight of the One Sith Empire was sure to teach him the way of the blade the best way she knew how. With the entire galaxy banding together to track down and destroy the remnants of their kind, she knew it was best for him to know how to fight.

When she twisted away, his feet quickly shuffled after her, always maintaining a stable centre of gravity. She fought dirty, and he was sure to remember it.

Even if she hadn't moved away, he curved his blade off course, not intent on carving a chunk out of an ally.

"Where're you from?"

He'd circle again, like a predator toying with its food.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She fought the only way she knew how. Her family never gave lessons. They were sorcerers, and while they respected the need to at least know how to defend themselves in close combat, they weren't going to waste their efforts on a girl who couldn't even use the Force correctly. She learned on the streets with knife and sword. It's what left her open.

The failure to realize that a saber just needed a flick of the wrist to rend someone into pieces.

Alina hissed as she slid away from Aeric Kaze . There was a red mark on her exposed ribs, a burn. A lesson.

"Dromuund Kaas."

The acolyte kept her distance now, blade in both hands. "You?"

 

[Aeric Kaze]

Suddenly stopping as he circled, he glanced down at the wound in her side.

And blinked.

He felt nothing.

But he stopped nevertheless, if only to think on how close their planets had been. Both in the Stygian Caldera, but his own a planet with a little more mystery behind it, due to not being on one of the main routes.

"Thule."

He shrugs.

Dad was from Dromund Kaas, too, wasn't he?

But he kept that part to himself.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The fact he stopped moving made her tense. Was he plotting something? Once more she found herself annoyed with the fact she couldn't sense anything from him. Everything always ended up going back to that, her lack of power. Aeric Kaze responded, but he did nothing more. Which only added to her stress. She gripped her saber tighter as her eyes narrowed.

She wouldn't strike. Every bit of break she could get to catch her breath was something she'd gladly take. "Oh? Never been. Hear the weathers nice though." Yeah, small talk. That'd help stall, right?

 

[Aeric Kaze]

At her obvious ploy to get him to keep talking, she baited herself out with her final words.

He'd stop forwards again, more akin to stomping across the ground as he slashed from his left in order to bisect the woman in half.

The blade would carve up through the air, aiming to slash across her body from her right hip, up to her left shoulder as he advanced.

Maybe he didn't like the weather joke. Or maybe he had realized that she was stalling. Either way, he pressed her again, sure to not let her regain enough energy to take advantage again.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She grimaced as Aeric Kaze closed back in. She hoped her stalling would work, and even figured it wouldn't. But the reality still sucked. There were no more cheap moves from the young Acolyte as she brought her blade down to deflect the blow. Alina was strong, but she was exhausted. The initial burst of adrenaline faded as she tried to stall for time.

Now all she really could do was try to avoid getting any more burns. And maybe get some sort of response to distract him. "Not a fan of the weather then?" Even the smile she forced was more of a grimace. Just take the bate! Even a little breather would go miles! Her eyes narrowed as the thoughts traveled through her mind. Should she just surrender?

No, Sith don't surrender.

 

[Aeric Kaze]

Kaze knew he had her on the hopes.

All he had to do was execute and put an end to the fight.

"We ought to band together," he'd say suggestively. His saber bouncing off of her blade.

He was undoubtedly on the path of the Sith Warrior. Based off of her physical build and her musculature, she was likely on a similar one. It only made sense that they'd work together. "Organized. You know?" He'd say, before stabbing at her gut in the centre of her guard, specifically where she held her hilt. He was sure she'd panic.

"I could lead," he'd state confidently. Even if he was a Sith-Imperial drop out, his mind was still oriented for quick, and adaptive thinking. He had to be as a Sith.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

He wasn't taking the bate. He knew what she was trying to do. He knew, and he didn't care. Alina gritted her teeth as she did her best to keep her blade up to block his strikes. But they were wasteful movements. Unfocused, unskilled. Worse, Aeric Kaze 's words rang in her ear. Band together? Sith didn't do that, right? Her family had lead her to believe that to be the truth of the Sith.

There wasn't time to answer before he stabbed at her hand. Panic did set in. Her mind tried to figure out how to block instead of her body reacting, and that proved to be her downfall. There was a yelp as saber met the flesh on her hand. Her blade dropped from her grip as she fell backwards, holding at her hand. She glared up at him, clutching the burn closer to her chest.

"I already have a master." The words were spat out more than she'd like. Pain was aggravating her. No, his skill was. "I don't understand what you're asking."