Bonded By Blood

[Kiber_Thaxton]

"We share a bond. We do everything together. We have a piece of strong, invisible thread connecting us. It's indestructible - it can never be broken. The thread is the key item that links us together. We understand each other."​

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~​

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Kiber sat up and blinked several times; there was a figure sitting on the end of his bed and watching him silently. The light from the moon shone in the room and he could see the outfit - knee high boots, trousers, a tunic, gauntlets and a hooded cape, with each piece of the ensemble being a deep red colour. Inching closer, he could see the figure's features - pale white skin, red lips and lekku curled around their neck, the deep red tips twitching in some kind of secret communication.

"I told you I would be back; I missed my big brother very much..." replied the mysterious female, as she removed the hood from her head and revealed herself to him - Sinya, his younger Twi'lek sister, had made good on her promise to see him again.

"Where have you been off to this time? Jumping around the Outer Rim?" Kiber chuckled; being a Shadow Gray Jedi, Sinya had been from one side of the galaxy to the other, tracking down slavers to either imprison or kill, and their "property" to free.

"Not this time. I've been on Kidiet Olgo," Sinya said with a smirk, recalling her raids on the slave auctions and the satisfaction drawn from killing slaver couple Plestt and Uticic Omyazi, while undercover as a wealthy slave trader at their annual royal ball.

"I heard about that during a HoloNet News broadcast while on Coruscant. It seems they died from their glasses being coated with Brucine and then they died from apparent heart attacks..." he was surprised his younger sister had taken such an action, but Kiber had done the same, when he infiltrated a slavery outfit and killed the leader and his right hand man at a ball, where they were showing off their latest posessions - female Twi'lek and Togruta slaves - before pretending to administer first aid to the dying slavers. In the commotion that followed, he somehow managed to get out of there with the slaves and escape.

"But I'm not here to catch up on life, big brother. I sensed your Force powers are growing and you have been learning a new set of skills, of which I am very impressed. I'm here to tell you that I want to train you in both Light and Dark techniques, so you will be able to expand your knowledge and experience. Also, I think we need to brush up on our lightsaber duels, don't you?" Sinya laughed and remembered the last time they had sparred together - it ended up with Kiber losing as usual, and having to spend a few weeks in hospital, due to the burns he received from her blade during their training session.

"So will we be training here on Azure, or will we be heading somewhere else?" he asked, wondering if he would be able to take her to his Spellweaver, Cathul Thuku, and introduce them to one another; Sinya had other plans in mind for him.

"We will be going somewhere else. Someplace where I can really test you big brother, and help you then see how well you do in the field, by having you accompany me back to Kidiet on a mission. Now get dressed, I don't like wasting time..." Kiber nodded and then he had a quick wash, before getting attired in his well-known black and silver armour and collecting his weapons.

"You haven't felt the need to replace it at all?" Sinya chuckled, as she glanced over the battered chest plate, the scratches on the shoulder, arm and wrist guards and the dents in his helmet.

"Not yet anyway. It is still good enough to get the job done, thank you sister..." Kiber stated matter-of-factly; this set of armour had been with him since he was 15 and had seen him through some pretty rough, and downright horrifying times, and he was not ready to part with it just yet; but if the time came to finally dispose of it, he would cherish the memories each piece held.

"Now, take a hold of my hands," Sinya said, holding her hands out in front of her, palms up; it was a customary Twi'lek greeting on Ryloth. Kiber placed his hands on top and Sinya gripped them tightly. He felt the force flowing through both of them and all of a sudden, there was a brilliant flash of light and they were being teleported somewhere far away.

 

[Kiber_Thaxton]

Kiber blinked under the harsh sun and saw that Sinya had brought them to a gladiator arena on Kidiet Olgo; there were humanoid training bots dotted all around, and each one was equipped with a training lightsaber. Kiber sighed and gave a slight smile; Sinya had given him a gladiator outfit to wear and she was wearing one too.

"A gladiator arena? You haven't hidden actual live gladiators somewhere around here have you Sin?" Kiber twirled his lightsaber hilts in his fingers, but Sinya motioned for him to put them away - it was time for some hand to hand combat, to make sure the bounty hunter still had what it took to fight without the Force.

"This is an arena that belonged to Plestt when he was amongst the living. I remember coming here when I was undercover as a slave and managing to become a five-time gladiatrix champion. And not yet brother, I want to see your skills so far," Sinya activated some of the training bots and one advanced towards the Mandalorian in a fighting stance. As the bot approached, Kiber launched into Echani and began striking the bot's arms, legs and torso. The bot launched attacks of its own, and made contact with Kiber's stomach, bringing the bounty hunter onto his knees and doubled over in pain.

"Frotz!!" Kiber exclaimed, lashing at the bot and kicking it hard in the stomach, sending it flying clean across the arena; it smashed hard into the wall and its circuits were broken, but it managed to staggered up onto its feet and launched one final attack on its opponent. Kiber stood as steady as a rock and kicked the bot - its head flew off its body and landed on the sand, its lights slowly dying out. One training bot down, only nineteen to go.

"Well done big brother. It seems you haven't lost any of your touch," Sinya grinned and she wandered over to the weapons rack and retrieved two Vibro double-blades and handed him one. "Let's go," she giggled and went into a strike stance, crouched down and holding it at her side, beckoning her brother to make the first move.

Activating the Vibro double-blade, Kiber swung it around and immediately launched an attack, aiming for her neck and jugular vein. Sinya dodged, swung the blades at him, the right blade brushing against his throat; it left a stinging sensation for three seconds and vanished - hurting her brother was the last thing on her mind.

"And you definitely haven't lost your touch either sister," Kiber said with a smirk on his face, aiming his blades at the Twi'lek's torso. Sinya dodged this attack, and then brought her weapon in hard and fast; it connected with his face and knocked him down. Putting his hand up, Kiber felt a rather large bruise beginning to form.

Sinya held out her hand and helped her brother back onto his feet. "Come on then, try harder," she winked at him and returned to a crouched position. What followed was a flurry of offensive and defensive strikes, both warriors moving across the arena - it ended up with the blades resting against each other's neck.

"Alright then, we will call it a draw brother," Sinya smirked and then she deactivated her double-blade and Kiber did the same. She took the weapon and lead him over to another rack - hung upon it were training lightsabers - this brought back plenty of memories for the Mandalorian; this was the first step towards being able to make your own lightsaber with a Kyber crystal. "I sensed that you are fully versed in Shii-Cho, but you want to learn the next form," she was very good at reading minds.

 

[Kiber_Thaxton]

"You know me too well sister," Kiber chuckled as he took the lightsabers from her hands and felt their weight; they were not too heavy and not too light. It had been sometime since he had handled lightsabers in combat or in training.

"Form II, otherwise known as Makashi, is described as elegant and focused; it is based on balance, and also footwork, to outmaneuver opponents. Fluidity, precision, and economy of motion are relied on, rather than strength," Sinya’s skills as a Gray Jedi Knight encompassed five of the seven forms of lightsaber combat, allowing her to fight almost any adversary that she came across.

Sinya showed off some basic moves, and then much more advanced ones, for Kiber to take in, and to see if he could master them during this session. If he did, it would be another step towards becoming that much more competent with the lightsaber, instead of just relying on his weapons most of the time.

"Sounds like another skill I can use when the time comes," Kiber activated the lightsabers and the blue blades emitted a low hum as he turned them over in his hands and remembered the first time that he had used them as a learner.

Sinya activated her lightsabers and got into a fighting stance, and gave a low growl; Kiber had never heard her growl like that before. He readied himself to attack and was caught off-guard by the flying white and red Twi’lek, who had a rather fiery look in her eyes and was hell-bent on showing her full power.

A flurry of dodged stabs and light cuts followed; Sinya’s full-length lekku crept up her back, and they slowly wrapped themselves around his wrists, trying to cut off their circulation, forcing him to drop the hilts and surrender to her.

"Not so fast Sinya," Kiber smirked and he managed to break out of her holds, and resume his attacks, but Sinya gave another low growl and struck his arm, leaving a slight burning sensation through the gladiator leather. He struck out and one of the blades touched Sinya’s right lekku, leaving a burning smell.

The Twi’lek winced at the sensation, but fought through the pain to launch a final attack, drawing on her complete mastery of Makashi to show her brother that she was undefeated thus far in combat using this form of technique, and would remain so until she encountered someone who was greater than her.

Kiber defended himself to the utmost, and launched his final offensive, using his lightsabers in the manners of a fencer, keeping Sinya from getting in close enough to deliver the final blow. She managed to avoid his strikes and raised her lightsabers high; Kiber did the only thing he could - sweeping Sinya off of her feet he crossed the lightsabers and rested them up against her neck.

"So, how did I do?" he asked with a grin, helping her back up onto her feet.

"With a bit more training, you’ll become adept at using Makashi," she replied, brushing herself off and deactivating her lightsabers. Kiber was becoming the best pupil she had taught in a while and would fight alongside him anytime.

 

[Kiber_Thaxton]

Sinya brought Kiber back into the empty arena; but he spotted another owner and slave practicing hand-to-hand and melee combat. That Togruta slave was being taught Tier II of Echani Art, but she stopped and looked over to Sinya.

She slowly approached Sinya and sat down, bowing her head lowly. She had red skin, and white markings, along with the well-known tails, coloured white and blue. She was wearing the same slave collar, but her one was much more ornate and had several large gemstones set into it, along with an inscription.

“Big brother, this is Kera Raks, one of the other Shadow Jedi Knights who is a vital part of our team,” Kiber nodded and Kera bowed respectfully to him.

“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance Kera,” he said, as her owner stepped forward. He was a male Togruta and looked like he’d been through the wars.

“And this is Tobi Kil, the other Shadow Jedi accompanying us on our mission,” Tobi held out his hand in greeting and gripped Kiber’s hand firmly in his.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’ve never met a Mandalorian before. And shall we get started?” he motioned for the four of them to begin sparring; they each had a double vibro-blade and began to attack and defend, learning how to best the opponents they might face in three days time on the opening of the Games.

“Do not hold back Tobi,” Kiber said with a wide grin, as he launched several attacks on the Togruta and slashed at Tobi’s arms and chest, but Tobi always managed to dodge those slashes and take the advantage away from Kiber.

“Believe me, I will not hold back Mandalorian,” Tobi went into a flurry of hard strikes, but Kiber managed to evade every one with twists and dodges.

“You are good Mandalorian, too good,” Kiber grinned and laughed, as the pair continued to spar. Looking over, Kiber saw Sinya and Kera fighting with much more intensity and they were performing twirls and flips to avoid any attacks.

“I have heard that females are much more adept with certain kinds of combat than us males, don’t you agree, Kiber?” Tobi said, as he deactivated, and put down, the double vibro-blade. It seemed to him that Kiber was now ready for entrance to the Games, and would make sure they were on the same team.

“Considering the fact that Sinya and Supisy have killed more slavers than me combined, I would say they are on an entirely different level,” he was the first to say that his sisters were both better by a long shot, and it also meant a lot, since Kiber was one of the more well-known bounty hunters in the galaxy.

“So you’re ready for the Games then Kiber?” Tobi asked, as he took a seat in one of the stands and then he watched as Sinya and Kera continued to spar.

“Games? If I remember correctly isn’t that where masters and slaves compete in a gladiator contest for Plestt, his council and the public?” it had been a long while since Sinya had recounted more stories from her time as a slave, where she managed to free the slaves and kill most of the masters before making an escape with Kera and Tobi, leaving Plestt; this time, she wanted to finish it.

“They start in two days time, so we should get as much practice in as we can; I’m also going to make sure we will all be on the same team together, so we can win this thing, and take down Plestt once and for all. Sound good?” Kiber nodded and they shook on it. And thus, in two days, they would become part of one of the greatest spectacles still being annually carried out in the galaxy.