Common Courtesy

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn smirked, and sent the towel away again before shifting his stance. He turned Exar Kun's lightsaber back into a shoto, taking a classic Niman dual bladed posture, with the shoto in a guard position. "Mmm.. you're going to have to remember, you asked for this." He chuckled before flicking his lightsaber, once more beginning an assault on [member="Karren Trask"]. He swung the yellow lightsaber, set to a standard length, with violent, measured aggression, keeping his Shoto between him and her so as to act as a barrier. First he would swing at her head, only to follow through with the strike by jabbing at her with the shoto. One of two ways Jar'Kai, be it niman or not, was used was to keep a constant assault.

And he was demonstrating this well. Though he only would jab after his swings if she blocked him, if she countered it would instead be used as a defensive tool. The swift, violent assault would be quick to end, as Darlyn pushed himself back, and took a defensive stance for her inevitable counter attack. Best not to tire himself out after all, he wanted this to have quite a shockingly swift end, when the opportunity came after all.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

His strike was tricky to block.

She swung her own saber, growling as she shuffled forwards a step. It clashed with his yellow blade with a hiss and a shower of sparks. Now in a vertical guard point of her blade towards the ceiling she moved to bat the jab away. Emerald clashed again with golden yellow, as she forced his blade left, and stepped forwards again. One hand left the blade, waving a dummy flying back at him.

Counter, Step, Strike

Her own mantra for combat.

"Ungh!"

She shuffled forwards again and lunged sending her own blazing fast flurry into the fray. A triple thrust in a triangular pattern towards his torso, pressing her advantage.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn's saber arm shot to the side, sending bolts of electricity into the dummy with enough force to stop it in its tracks. It took quite a bit of effort to do so, and had he not his shoto blade, the blue comfort of Exar Kun, he would have been left momentarily defenseless. In the space of the seconds it took for him to blast the dummy, the first stab was deflected harmlessly to the left. The second strike would be sent away as well, this time only barely missing his body as he brought the shoto to the right to keep momentum.

The third stab, however, was only able to be moved so far as his shoulder, the training blade digging into the top of his shoulder and sizzling with menace and causing quite a bit of pain. This could work for him, however, as he funneled the pain into his returning arm, the blades disappearing in a flash as he made a rather desperate move. Sure he could do this with normal tactics but... this would be more fun.

He reached for [member="Karren Trask"]'s arm, to grab hold of her saber arm, to prevent it from withdrawing, and shot his other out at her head. What would happen next? His pain channeled itself into another flurry of explosive lightning, restrained of course so as not to cause severe pain or kill, but the bolts would be sent right at her, almost pressed against her face if she failed to avoid his grab. If. Even if she did escape, her body would be tracked by his hand blasting lightning at her.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

For a few moments, electrical current raced through her body, raising every hair. she screamed, arm locked in his grasp. But he had forgotten her other hand, and her rage gave her power. Mixing with the currents of calm coolness, and hurricane she channelled energy down her spine, through her limbs into her off hand.

Which developed a shimmering field, in a disc and intercepted the lightning. Teeth bared, jaw tight she absorbed the rest of the Masters lightning attack, letting the shimmering field swallow the blue fierce arcs of electricity.

And then it was her turn.

She returned them towards his chest, releasing it as a blazing spear of energy.

​

"Raaaaaghhhh!"​

Then she stomped down towards the instep of his left foot, where his shin met his foot, and yanked her blade arm back, trying to free herself of his grip....

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn pulled his arms in, covering his chest as the energy slammed into him. He projected lightning around him, in an attempt to disperse some of the energy from the blow, but he was still sent backwards several meters, barely able to stay on his feet. Granted, he wasn't in particularly dire straits, he had just taken massive blow but it was not yet a death sentence in the fight, but it did threaten his composure over his emotions. Of course, [member="Karren Trask"] wouldn't be aware just how dangerous this had become, his jovial attitude even swirling in darkness was almost gone, as he tried not to glare at her through the pain she'd inflicted. Darlyn, for all his composure most of the time, was still at risk of losing himself, especially in possession of Exar Kun's corrupting lightsaber. He had to actively fight the temptation to switch to 'lethal' mode and attempt to use Force Choke, or even attempt Force Crush on her lungs, as retribution.

Slowly he straightened up, leveling his gaze at her with a cold anger that contrasted heavily from before. Even as he was approaching his last limits he was going to take this smug... padawan down. He did it years ago on Bespin, fighting until he physically lacked the strength to crawl, he would do it again now if he had to. So once more he moved in, beginning an assault by blasting her with a wave of Lightning, followed by him igniting both blades and swinging with far more force than before. Now his cold anger was granting him strength, as he swung harder and more violently than ever at her legs, shoulders, neck, waist, anywhere he could conceivably attack with his lightsaber. He would stretch three of his fingers out every so often to blast a bolt of lightning at her between swings, or when she tried to back away, anything to keep the assault constant.

There were gaps of course, her Makashi knowledge could be enough to slip through his offensive if she could parry him sufficiently with both blades, but with each blade following the next he clearly would do his best to deny her that opportunity. Still, she could do it, if she could time her parry in the practiced, rhythmic assault.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

Blasts of lighting struck her, sizzling her skin and raising wisps of smoke. Karren roared, falling back a few steps, beset upon by all sides. She felt Daryln turning in the force, a sickening sheen of red tainting what was once a lanced pond. It was all she could do to parry the assault as he moved in. A flick of her blade here, a parry there, and then a backhand slash that redirected sparkling forks of blue into a nearby light fixture.

"You're losing it." She said, between gasps of breath.

She might have used her Makashi, but at this rate the attack was too broad, so she switched to a defensive posture and growled.

"Yarrgh!"​

Karren pressed back, understanding that initiative was most of the battle. Fire with fire.

She stepped back, created a small opening with a hasty force barrier and began to et her blade in motion. It weaved an emerald cage about her frame, covering her in a green sheen, an infinite pattern repeating. the thrum of the blade drowned out the rage from Darlyn and she stepped back into the fray, pressing her defensive matrix against his own assault.

"Calm yourself!" The statement was laden with a surge of cool energy, a memory of a child swimming in shimmering water floated toward his mind.....

 

[Darlyn Excron]

[member="Karren Trask"]


Even the calming energy sent by Karren seemed to have only a small modicum of effect, as Darlyn's rage-filled strikes continued to hound her defenses, unable to find traction in taking her out but finding no reason to cease the assault. He would burn out, eventually, for a while if she could maintain the defense just a while longer, the yellow and blue sparking with each clash against her green blade. Left, right, right, left, each taking its turn to impact the effective wall that Karren's blade became in a constant rhythm. How long it stayed like this, he wouldn't be able to tell, as each strike left just a bit of his rage and anger to burn out.

Strike, clash, lightning coursing into walls and light fixtures, even already Darlyn could feel it beginning to wear down. He wasn't truly angry at Karren, after all, she was just the subject he was directing it at for the time being. If Karren tried to push more energy into calming him, though it might work she would feel the raging winds inside his mind, like an unrelenting blizzard, cold, harsh. Still, even if she didn't she was having some effect, making the pace of his strikes at her fluctuate as the bottled rage and anger fought against the more calming sensation she was trying to induce.

He reached back, grabbing a dummy with the Force, crushing it into a thick ball before hurling it at her, in an attempt to break her concentration.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

Her concentration was a fickle thing. As the dummy approached she had to make a snap decision. she pressed on, harder than before. Instead of paying attention to the dummy, she focused harder on her matrix, and her calming assault on the crazed man. She felt a small nudge towards calmness, which encouraged her even more.

The cage of green light intensified, her blade moving faster than even she had thought possible. Now only rh force was guiding her as her mind poured warmth onto Darlyn, exposing the darkness within.

​

The taste of good beer, the feeling of a woman's touch, the feeling of taking off your socks after a long day. The feeling of a hot shower on a cold day. And lastly, what a good chocolate cake tasted like.​

She pressed harder, sliding forwards an inch at a time, teeth gritted and eyes narrow. Who would falter first?

She prayed it wasn't her.

The dummy disintegrated, cut to pieces by her matrix. One piece hit, distracting her for a mere second. A second he might take advantage of, but for the most part, she was focused hard on her defensive assault.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Why did everyone think he was a womanizer? Man hadn't felt a woman in his life, at least beyond the 'I'm taking you down violently and/or saving your life' type of way. Was he really so rudely characterized for a reason? Well, he didn't have time to think on it, or the clarity of thought required, and instead continued his single minded devotion to fight onwards. Some of her more directed efforts helped, particularly anything that involved a good stiff drink, and up to the dummy piece hitting her he was returning more to himself.

Enough to realize a moment of weakness. Still, calmer than before, he was able to push himself back, turn off his lightsabers, and release a constant stream of lightning from his hands, more focused and direct than when he was enraged, aiming to capitalize on the opening. Whether it struck or not, this was ultimately going to be it, and he was becoming calmed by the ability to focus on controlling the stream of electricity dancing between them. He held the attack for a good, long while, before flicking his hands away and returning them to his sides.

Would he apologize? Perhaps not, but there was a look of apology on his face as he clipped his lightsabers to his belt slowly. It had been a long while since he got mad in a fight, and all the self control he had was in conflict with himself and Exar Kun's lightsaber both. It wasn't an easy fight. ".. I believe that is a sufficient lesson...?"

[member="Karren Trask"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

The burst of lightning was enough of an unexpected move that it did find its way through her matrix. Her left arm took the brunt, skin crackling before she was able to get her blade in a static vertical guard. It soaked up most of it and deflected the rest, glowing bright emerald, sending blue forks into the ceiling.

When at last he was done, she deactivate her saber, arm still smarting and grinned.

They had both learned a little something about themselves today. She was happy with the outcome and a better understanding of the classical Niman form.

"Very much. I'm impressed and grateful."

In a gesture from the old Jedi Order, she bowed and then returned upright.

"Should you ever require an ally in your time of need, you can find me in the Alliance Registry."