By the Flagpole at 3 (Azalyn)

[Aithne Charr]

The Flagpole at 3, After School.​

(Thought I wouldn't take advantage of the idea?)​

​

​

Solan yawned as he sat at the top of a building in Tahv, his eyes looking up at the sky with his head against the metal flagpole behind him. It had been another boring day of actually doing his job as a king and about an hour ago he had decided he needed a break. Of course he never really planned to stay out in the city for long, as he still had the very same job he was avoiding at the moment to do, but everyone needed a break. Hell, he had even stopped and gotten some food from a vendor before making his way up to where he sat now.​

​

None the less though, his eyes shot to the sky and watched the clear sky and how very few clouds found their place in it. It had been a nice last few days with only a shower two ago, leaving the rooftops dry and clean. The air was also nice and clear, carrying that spring wind that hit you in the face and made you simply relax. Nothing could ruin this day, not a single thing in the world.​

 

[NightSister]

It was impossible not to smile as Azalyn reached the flagpole, even though it was concealed beneath the black fabric pulled across the bottom half of her face. The flagpole - it was every teenager's go-to location for a duel of any sort, and it seemed ridiculous, though amusing, that at twenty-seven years she was coming here for a duel.

She'd come armed with twin swords as well as knives lining her jacket and several throwing stars, but she'd placed rubber over the point of the blades because it was a friendly duel and Azalyn had no intention of spilling blood - she was not on mission, she was having fun. This way the weapons would cause pain upon contact, and her opponent would probably walk away with a few cuts, but today no lives would be lost. Besides, her hand-to-hand combat was her real talent when it came to these things.

Standing beside the flagpole, she drew her twin swords.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

He saw her far before even needing to know that her swords had been drawn. Hell he even smiled when they were larger than they should be, giving him an understanding that she had put a rubber point on them. The sight made him crack an eye open to look with a smile. He had faced so many before in duels, many of which had taken no such courtesy before in protection. Especially the one he wanted to settle a score with the most and prove to the little whelp how weak they truly were. Yet there remained one fact above all.

This was going to be fun indeed.

"Do grant a dead man one last wish." He smiled as he made his voice into that of an injured dying man to an assassin. "Strike before their eyes open the next time."

He would leave the smile for a moment before his hand finally let the saber roll into his hand from his sleeve, igniting the lessened sapphire blue blade and holding it out as he began to stand. The blade itself would be set so as to not harm Azalyn, but it would still give a painful jolt if it touched her. It was still a lightsaber, lessened in power or not.

"Bad joke, i know. Shall we begin?"

 

[NightSister]

Grinning, Azalyn twirled her swords. The sunlight reflected on the perfectly polished blades.

"Of course."

She kept both swords spinning as she closed the distance, then brought one up across her body as a shield and lunged forwards with the other. The twirling blade was almost more effective than a proper shield because it was distracting, and nothing guaranteed victory more surely than distracting your opponent. That was something she'd learnt early on in her training - the hard way. She could almost feel the pain all over again and her hand almost went up to the long scar on her shoulder before she realised what was happening. Azalyn wouldn't be distracted again - she had a reputation to live up to now.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

Solan's eyes watched the woman for a few long seconds, staring at the two blades carefully before letting his saber lick the air between them. He himself moved to make the target he presented much smaller, turning to face her with the side of his body holding his saber. It was a small bit of extra effort but there was something else as he put his other hand behind his back. Casually he started to wave his hand a bit as it rested behind him, using the appearance of a relaxed and loose fighter over what he was actually doing. What he was doing instead was gathering the force like his hand was a cone in a cotton candy machine, drawing it in around the hand and then using it in what ever way he could.

He wouldn't be so cheap as to turn this reserve into an offensive form of power. A Push would knock her off and fire could cause her permanent harm. No this was mostly to be used for physical augmentation if he needed it, and if he decided to use it in the first place. He knew he could not rely on the force forever so this was a if he absolutely needed it for some reason sort of scenario. With that thought out of the way though he smiled and would begin to probe her defenses as he moved forward to make a quick lunge at her.

 

[NightSister]

As she knocked the sabers out of the way with both swords, Azalyn turned slightly and stepped to the side, dodging the lunge. She didn't know enough about the Force to tell when it was being used, but she knew that she was dueling with a Master and she could never be too safe, so as she brought one sword swinging towards his neck and the other jabbing into his stomach, she kept taking small steps, trying to dodge any Force energy being sent her way.

OOC: Sorry for the delay.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

Solan was not so cruel to end their little duel with force energy being used offensively. His eyes stared at her and watched her as she moved in to strike at him and his own hands shifted their grips in order to turn the blades. On remained right side up, connecting with the blade that had been venturing for his neck and letting out a small grunt, the air leaving his lungs and causing him to focus on the other blade jabbing for his chest. That second saber he himself held, hidden in that second sleeve dropped into his hand and cut across his own midsection to knock the second sword away as it ventured close to his own torso. "You are good, already making me draw this second one..."

His feet pushed him away from her blades before pushing right back into the fray with a cut upwards in a V like shape. It wasn't meant to do anything more than destablize her, to knock her back and force her onto a defensive footing. He was a man that needed to keep to his own strengths, and that was to push his strength and power into each of his strikes. He wanted to deal with her swords quickly and keep her from striking him.

 

[NightSister]

Combat, surprisingly, was not the most important part of a duel, the way Azalyn had been taught. You had to learn to read a person from their posture, their choice of words, their fighting style. Firstly, to get a sense of their skill - if you can see that they're comfortable, you might need to worry; if they're obviously unhinged, then you will likely make it out alive. Secondly because nearly every fighting technique and style will be based on a different, more common style, and every form of combat has an exploitable weakness. The trick in any fight is to hold your own long enough to find that weakness.

Now, she was taking everything in and analysing it in her brain. He hadn't wanted to draw the second saber so soon, that much was obvious even if he hadn't said so out loud. That was good, just as long as he didn't have a third hidden somewhere. It was also clear to Azalyn that he preferred to take the defense rather than the offense, to harm just enough but no more. That was not unlike her, as unless her employers had specifically instructed her to make the kill slow, the desire to escape from a scene uncaught far outweighed whatever bloodlust or adrenaline she might be after. There wasn't much she could think of to turn that into a weakness, but an opportunity could present itself.

She shuffled one foot further backwards, spreading her weight out further as the strike came. That move was one she recognised - an opponent's strength, skill or whatever other advantages they have quickly becomes useless if they've lost their balance. She crouched slightly, swaying backwards just the tiniest bit but quickly regaining her posture. She took advantage of her position to send both swords swinging at his ankles, one aimed about a foot higher than the other, and she was poised ready in case he jumped.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

He smiled as he knew full well that she was studying him and normally he would simply return the favor but today he wanted to clear the rust on his skills as much as he could and it was that fact that he let the force he had built up seep out alittle bit. He could have let this all break down in a duel without the force, but this woman was one he was confident could handle the small amount of trickery that he would come to employ.

It was a small trick of the eye and the mind he tried to push onto her, letting her see his feet take the strike as he tried to bring his sabers down at her chest but not quite making it. She would see (Assuming it worked) his body go down and hit the roof as her blades knocked out his footing. To give her a bit more reason to continue her attack at that, he made sure that when the illusion hit the ground, his saber left his hand and rolled away, leaving him with a single saber for defense.

But his real body did jump, his feet pushing up and off the ground as the strike came and attempting to push himself over her. He knew that if she was not quite as effected by the illusion as he wanted, then she would be more than able to follow the movement and strike immediately. It was a matter of testing her abilities and how well she can guard against the unexpected, or even more if she can guard against his illusions.

 

[NightSister]

She frowned - duelling with Force-wielders often meant seeing one thing and experiencing another. What she could see was his body swaying off the edge as the swords hit him. What was actually happening was hard to comprehend, but she knew that the angle of the swords meant that had they hit their target, she'd have sliced his feet off. Only clubs or wooden swords would have actually pushed him backwards. So, he was definitely masking himself, which ruled out one sense to use to locate him. Luckily enough, the human race was blessed with four other such senses, three of which could be used when sight failed you.

First, she concentrated on what she could hear. Besides a rather pleasant breeze, she could make out nothing but a small whooshing noise. He could have moved upwards or to the side - the only thing it ruled out was directly in front of her. She sliced her swords through the air for good measure. However, she could certainly feel something coming in her direction. Focusing on what she could feel, she made out that it was coming from above. Only moving her head a fraction, she brought both blades in a cross above her head, praying that she hadn't made a mistake.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

Where her mind ran the seconds to figure out what was real, his was figuring out how he would defend himself if she caught on his little trick. He had no way of leaving his place in the air as he had started his jump, granted he had put some pretty decent air between himself and the ground. The end remained the same though and as his body moved through the air he could catch the movement of her muscles, the change in her stance and most of all the movement of her very blades. She had figured it out and that meant he was about to become a solan-kebab if he didn't think fast.

The easiest way to handle this was the most natural way, fire. His proficiency with it had come to a point where a single thought and the destructive tool would be spread out infront of her, beckoning her hands and form away from him and leaving him to land safely, but he didn't want to depend on the force or hurt her. It was unfair and he knew it, so instead he groaned at her forcing him into this position as the sabers pushed her strike away and his body came crashing down behind her into a roll, plasma striking the ground before it could retreat into the confines of the hilts that the blades came from.

"You are better than i gave you credit for..." He smiled and spoke, out of breath for a split second as he had landed harder than he wanted too. "I am a bit rusty but even then, fighting you with as little of the force as i can is a pain.'

 

[NightSister]

"Why don't you?" she grinned in response, bringing one sword close to his throat as he lay. "I'm a big girl, I can take it. Besides, I'm bored."
Azalyn had fought Force-wielders before, and won. The trick was to telegraph their movements - if you knew what was coming your way, it went unsaid that you'd be able to block it as long as you knew the counter attacks, which she did. Her training had been free of loopholes - that was for sure. Of course, she would still be dead against a Sith, but Azalyn was far too smart to go picking fights with Sith in the first place. That was another thing her assassin mentors had been sure to enforce - you don't do things without a cause or without thinking it through, because nine times out of ten, you'll regret it.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

He shrugged and without hesitation shot his saber down towards the roof they stood on, sparking and cutting through it in a straight line. Why he did this was important though as the heat began to get hotter and he drew out a line of flames from the ground onto his arm. That serpent of fire moved around his arm and then coiled itself around his torso without touching flesh or clothing all so carefully. Only once around his torso did he smile and resume an offensive stance with both hands on his saber and the serpent splitting in two so that it may coil around his two arms respectively.

"A tip, i play dirty." He smiled and drew his hands back as he stepped towards her swiftly, aim a single strike at her torso in a downward slashing movement. As he did this though the two serpents left their place around his arms and twisted to the side and came in from each of her flanks. He toned down their heat, not wanting to harm the woman too badly if either of the serpents hit her and did its damage. It was a precaution that he took when he fought in duels like this with Pyrokinesis and shaping, he had to be careful after all with such dangerous abilities.

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

 

[NightSister]

Now we're talking. Her blades danced as she blocked the lightsaber with one and slashed through both the fiery snakes in a fluid move with the other. The flame-born serpents were not something she'd ever seen before, but after killing unpredictable targets for fourteen years your brain adapted to new things easily. She saw the snakes and thought; fire, snakes, block before they can touch you.

In wars, it was said that the ability to notice tiny details could keep you alive, but for Azalyn the best way was to define the target and finish it. The targets were currently the snakes, which could likely be extinguished in the same way as any other flame, except she didn't have a fire extiguisher to hand or the ability to quench the fire with the Force. Until she'd come up with a better solution, keeping them away from her was the main objective, and so she led her katanas in an ever-changing dance, keeping the snakes away.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

He watched as she fenced with the snakes instead of him, and so he watched that with curiosity all the more in how she would fare. It was that curiosity that kept him from moving forward with his own blades and instead let the serpents act an extension of his form. He reached out with them and let them coil over the ground and the air, one low as the other seemed to slither through the air, snaking its way for her shoulder. They would hiss as sparks drifted from their mouth, drops of 'venom' fell from their mouths, harmless once in the air yet still looking at Azalyn hungrily.

The benefit of creating serpents out of pure flame was they can be so simply stopped as one would be able to a blade, but that didn't mean there were not ways. It was especially difficult to do this sort of trick in the rain or when any form of water was a hard thing to overcome. It wasn't impossible but he had to be careful not to leave his body motionless while doing this, and his hands gripped at the air with that in mind. In an instant Azalyn would find herself faced with the quickening advance of one of the serpents, that one that was in the air. Its movement would be direct and quick, shooting at her like the strike of a blade and aiming for her chest without change in its body or direction.

 

[NightSister]

Clearly he was now letting the serpents do the work for him - fair enough, she reasoned, they were pretty deadly. If she could destroy them then in all likelihood she'd have the element of surprise long enough for a powerful attack, so that was the objective at the moment. One was gliding towards her shoulder, so she whacked the serpent's fiery head with the flat side of one sword and kept her feet moving. Then all of a sudden one was flying towards her heart at an unstoppable pace. She took a step backwards to give herself time to snap both arms up, raising her swords in an X across her body to block the fire-serpent in its tracks. Stepping forwards again, she attacked the serpents relentlessly.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

Solan watched the woman, using the serpents to study her before letting himself be drawn into a bout of bladework without knowing just what he was getting himself into. It was something that he was not so eager to do and it had been more than a few times where taking things quickly or without any safeguards in place had gotten him in trouble. Makeb was certainly fresh in his memory because of a different event that had happened recently. So instead he would take this slow and make sure that his handle on her was one that wars complete.

That was what made him all the more interested in finally getting to use his blades, what was causing him an itch that he couldn't dismiss. He had to admit that it was something wanted to get straight to, but he found himself controlling those serpents instead. It made him jittery and wanted to get right into. Blades passing through the formless beings as they twisted and turned in the air before Azalyn. Defensive and calculating. That was what he had to deal with, so he would give her something new.

His hand looped down, dragging from his jacket a dagger he had with him. It was dirty, but he would not cause her any harm that would impede her, instead he wanted her to show him how she dealt with distractions. So his hand flicked out and the blade soared through the air, aiming to cut her arm if possible, but not stick in the flesh itself.

 

[NightSister]

Azalyn was growing frustrated with the snakes' reluctance to expose a weakness, but even as a trained assassin her mind couldn't handle planning each move on the serpents, keeping an eye on their controller and searching for their weak links all at once. And it wasn't as if she couldn't keep the snakes off her. Once or twice she'd gone up against multiple foes, and once or twice she had won. Admittedly, both times her enemies weren't floating fire-serpents, but the principle remained the same.

Just as she was slashing her swords from underneath, with the aim of passing through both serpents twice, a dagger enter the picture as it sailed towards her shoulder. The swords flicked upwards with a movement of each wrist, spinning in a perfect circle, pushing the blade away just as it came towards her and slicing both serpents through the neck two times.

[member="Solan Charr"]

 

[Aithne Charr]

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

She was growing to be all the more interesting for him, moving like a machine and it made him smile. Her form was honed and practiced, filled with experience and that made him smile all the more as he drew the serpent's back and let the flames disappear finally. That was not the end of his tricks, though, letting his hands push him up to give her something to look at while he touched the force once more. Ever so slightly at first, while he proved himself a decoy, the vines around them would unhinge themselves from the rooftop, the plants of any near enough trees running their limbs towards the duo who were there on that roof. Solan wanted to give this girl a challenge, and he knew he was not skilled enough with a blade alone to do that.

It wasn't until he took hold of two vibro daggers that the plant life reached out and attempted to grab onto her, providing her with the dilemma of having to focus and deal with them, all while Solan decided to move into range. He had no movement that would be overly aggressive yet, the first strike aiming at knocking her blade to the side if possible so that his second hand could cut her arm. He had a feeling she was more than capable though after seeing what he had so far. If he knew her so far, he knew he would not land his strike, and instead would possibly be forced on the defensive.

 

[NightSister]

As the flames disintegrated, Azalyn allowed herself a moment of rest before letting her eyes search for whatever the serpents had been replaced with. Sure enough, as Solan started to push upwards with the Force the vines behind him unfurled and began to creep towards her. Her lips curled into a smile; that was clever, very clever, but unless whatever magic the Master used had imbued the vines with some sort of superstrength, they would be a temporary reprieve. Still, she'd never heard of flame-serpents before and so wouldn't put spontaneous plant-strengthening past him. This would require a moment of thinking.

Thankfully, a moment was just that; a moment. Ignoring the plants altogether, she flicked one katana in a boomerang throw towards the man controlling them. Force magic needed undivided attention to withstand, as scant as her knowledge of the Force was Azalyn was well aware of that. Her remaining sword slashed through the air, Azalyn to busy to check if she was actually cutting the vines as she darted from left to right, forwards to backwards, in a never-ending dance that kept the vines from being able to focus on her.

[member="Solan Charr"]