Private Higher Education & Hello

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

It was rare, almost strange, to see Artemis without Rivan and vice versa.

The twins were constantly attached at the hip, so much so, that their instructors had nearly needed to pry them apart for individual studies with a crowbar. They were stronger together and they knew it. It made very little sense to withdraw from what gave them a fighting chance against their peers. The outdoor training area of the Jutrand Academy was vast but with the sun slowly falling the lighting was less than ideal. Shadows danced like specters…And Lunaria was one of the last left on the field.

She had tuned out everything, everyone, so that she could focus. Several of the other students who had passed the initial testing were a little older or more physically imposing than she was. Only a hundred and twenty-eight had been selected, from the literal hundreds, thousands, that had applied with notable sponsors. Her slight frame didn’t necessarily mean that she was the weak link but she felt the need to compensate. Become faster, and more agile, so that those who looked like professional wrestlers or fighters couldn’t take her out so easily. As an Echani…It should come naturally.

Right?

She swung almost leisurely between several arranged bars with powered hands. Her upper body strength was increasing but her arms burned in protest. It hurt. More and more…But practice made perfect. Lunaria knew that she couldn’t stop, couldn’t let her guard down, but the pressure of the Jutrand Academy plus keeping her secret…Was a lot. Overwhelming. Her lithe form swung up and around the first bar before she vaulted into the second, catching herself hard in the stomach, but her form kept moving and she went over it gracefully. Spinning from one bar to the next…Until her momentum slowed.

Her legs held strong, pointed toward the sky, and she held the pose for a moment until she pushed away from a handspring into a backflip. Luna landed on her feet, breathing hard, cheeks flushed, but satisfied that she had hit the mark. She was wearing a black leotard with red piping that the Academy had provided. Her feet were bare, save, for being bound with the same tape her hands were.

Mercurial eyes drifted down toward her palms while adrenaline began to fade. They were visibly red. She had some natural calluses that kept her skin from blistering too badly with the friction but…It still burned and made her hiss a little when she picked at the binding. Luna was frustrated. Every day made her feel stronger, faster, and more attuned to the rhythms of her body and the Force…But this place?

It was like nothing she had ever known.

Training with Naneth and Haru had been grueling because they gave no quarter. But, it was different. At the end of the day, their goal had never been to harm her. It was designed to allow her to improve. This…Felt different. There was no one to trust fully but Sol.

Anyone, anyone at all could want her head on a platter for the slightest insult. Childish? Yes.

But they were, children.

Children with superpowers, hormones, attitude problems, and very little house training.

With a final nod to herself, she launched into her next sequence, and her body became a blur of motion once more. Luna…Knew that she could pass most Force application portions but the thought of dueling some of her peers pushed her harder. She had to do this, had, to nail it. One perfect move at a time.

If she slipped from the high beam wrong?

She’d crack her head open on the ground and…that would be that.

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

His nose was stuck in his book and every once in a while Matteo had to side-step.

So many were lost but still plenty apprentices remained.

He had been horrified before but now he kinda felt annoyed by their presence. It was difficult to focus on your studies when you kept having to worry about being stabbed in the back. Finally Matteo sat down and sighed, looking up... straight into the image of Lunaria doing her exercises. His eyebrows raised up fractionally.

"You know, breaks are allowed." He said dryly as she inspected her hands. It didn't take a genius to realize she had been working herself to the bone, perhaps literally even.

"If you keep pushing yourself like that you won't be of help to anyone."

Then Matteo went back to his book, with the unasked wisdom dispensed.

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

She didn't respond to the boy who sat near the high beam.

It wasn't that she couldn't hear him, nor, was she ignoring him. She had to focus. If her grasp was off just slightly there was a perfect chance that she'd face plant and very likely need a nose job. Or worse. Her wrists twisted and her body began to swing the other way. She made the same movements as before. Holding her position until she sprung away from the bar, flipped, and stuck the landing with a resounding thud. The flaxen-haired girl held her position before reaching up with the back side of her arm to brush sweat and hair out of her face. It was pulled back into a high ponytail but that didn't stop bits from escaping here or there. "I take breaks."

It wasn't defensive...But it was something. There was a lesson offered that flew so far overhead the stars wouldn't be able to catch it. Lunaria looked down at her hands again. They were getting worse every time.

"Unlike some of our class...I acknowledge that I still have a lot to learn. I can't do that sitting around. There will be duels. Exams."

Wasting time.

She lifted her hand and began to pull at the tape with her teeth on the right one, trying to unbind it, so she could wrap it again.

"I don't want a lower rank."

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

One leg crossed the other at the same time that one page was flicked to the next.

"The ranking... the ranking the ranking..." He murmured gently as he stared at the same sentence for several moments. "It seems to strange, does it not? To worry so much about a little score board with your name next to it. We are fighting for our lives... and yet, the ranking is not dissimilar to a holo-ball competition."

Matt had decided on that first day that he wouldn't care about the ranking.

Its purpose seemed two-fold: divide them all and give them an unreasonable amount of anxiety. Well, bully for them, because Matt had enough anxiety even without a score being kept.

"What's your name?"

A bit curious. He seemed to remember the girl, she had a brother too, he had seen them be swarmed by other apprentices coiling around them like snakes. Trying to gain some of their attention, or to gain their measure, Matt wasn't really sure which it was. The Echani, because that is what she was, didn't seem particularly special to him.

Just a girl.

But that went for all of them as far as Matt was concerned.

It would be years before any of them would be able to lay claim to any real reputation.

Lunaria Talon

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

"No."

The reply was clipped, and simple, in regards to the ranking system. It wasn't that she specifically approved of it but she wasn't ignorant to the nation they lived in. They were lucky being ranked was the only thing they had to worry about. There were worse things.

Like expulsion.

Her head jerked back a little when she finally caught the edge of the tape and managed to unravel it from one hand, then, the other. Going slowly so she wouldn't rip off layers of skin. When she picked up her water bota from the sidelines she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from wincing. Her hands were absolutely raw after so many tries. Idly she wondered if she ought to try the balance beam for a little while. The boy asked her name and she paused mid-sip to respond. "Artemis...And you?"

She found it more strange that the rankings didn't bother him at all.

"I didn't create this, I didn't decide the rules, but I did ask to play. I'm not going to give up just because it's tough."

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

"Oh, I don't know about giving up." Putting the book down and watching her curiously... at her crisp hands. Matt winced at the sight, because he might not have felt the pain, but clearly it was not a pleasant thing to experience.

"But neither do I think we should have such a fuss about it."

Part of him wondered if that was the point of the ranking system. Get them stressed out about it until they were making mistakes. Stare at one another to try and pull down those higher than you, while stomping down on those that were below you. It was a perfect system that self-regulated. The teachers didn't even have to do anything.

"Matteo."

He chewed on her name however. Artemis. She didn't look like an Artemis, but he immediately dismissed that thought. Such an odd thing to think since he didn't even know her.

"Nice to meet you, Artemis. You have a brother too? I think I saw the two of you on the first day."

Lunaria Talon

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

She held the cool bottle of water for a moment to ease the stinging. Even with powder and tape...Luna knew she was going to feel it the next day. The way he talked about the Academy was nice, in theory, but if they couldn't handle the pressures of their peers they'd never be able to stand up when it really counted. "It's all I think about. It's the reason I'm here."

To win.

She could never show her father how far they'd come but at least he'd know from a distance. Lunaria also desperately didn't want to disappoint Naneth or Haru. Soledane was much more casual about it but...Deep down? Neither one of them wanted to be a disappointment.

Hearing his name she cast a faint smile that quirked at the side. It lightened the so-serious expression she wore while training. "Matteo...Does anyone call you just Matt or Teo?"

Teo, she thought, seemed nice. When he asked about her brother her head nodded and her ponytail bobbed. "Yes....Rivan. He's...", her nose scrunched up a bit while she reached for him. "Studying. Rather, trying to find a way to study without studying at all."

"He's like that though. Learns though like...Osmosis or something."

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

The nicknames she offered made his nose scrunch up.

"No, I can't say that anyone has." With a tone that suggested he sincerely hoped nobody would start either. "And you? Art, perhaps? Mis?" A little twinkle in his eye, because there were so many teasing ways to joke if you called someone 'Art' or 'Mis'.

"Osmosis? That sounds terrifying."

It was a familiar word.

Maybe his tutors had taught it to him once. During physics? No... biology? That seemed right, but for the life of him Matt could not recollect what it referred to anymore. When you grew up among cultists the regular sciences were hardly your forte. You got a basic understanding so you could speak plainly with people without showing your arse.

But not much more than that before a Sith tome was shoved in front of your nose.

"So he learns through 'osmosis'." The quotation marks could be tasted. "And you learn through bloodying your hands?"

Lunaria Talon

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

She laughed at his response.

The sound was light, full of air, and entirely inappropriate for the grounds of Jutrand Academy. It wasn't as if they were forbidden from smiling but it was difficult to do when there were gargoyles taller than she was on every rooftop. There were rumors that they came alive past the stroke of the witching hour and ate students who misbehaved. Lunaria had never stayed out of her dorm that long, that late, to find out. "Arty...", she responded, briefly, but that smile didn't stay long. She didn't have enough friends to make it stick.

"Teo doesn't sound bad at all...", she changed the subject, noting his reluctance.

He wasn't sure about the term "osmosis" it seemed but she shook her head. "It's...a biology nerd joke. Think really, really easy absorption."

That was extremely diluted but it carried her point across. His incredulous response to her training wasn't lost on her but her eyes turned away anyway. A little embarrassed at being called out. "Repition. My hands will heal. I'll get some nice calluses and that won't happen so often anymore."

"A lot of us are on even footing. I figure...Duels will really separate us...And those are never just Force fights. They get ugly."

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

He smiled at his victory.

Yes! It was a biology term, he had known it all along and guessed correctly.

This didn't last for long however when she said the dreadful 'Teo'. It was only the mention of 'Arty' that kept him from flushing into a tomato at the hint of his own nickname.

"Teo makes me sound like I am eight years old." He said finally while puffing his chest in a way only a teenager could. "I am fifteen! I have earned being called by my full name." And it were only children that believed any of it really mattered, but Matt was too invested in the self-image he had to think too hard about that.

That would come later.

"Mm... yeah, I haven't had a regular education. Biology was... an afterthought. But I have dueled before, often even." His fingers briefly stroked his wrist through his clothes.

"Not all that fun... but if you want to learn how to stay alive, I guess it was a good exercise. Have you had many duels in your lessons?"

Lunaria Talon

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

He fluffed up like a bird.

Lunaria grinned just a little, hiding it, with another sip from her water bottle. He was easier to rile up than Soldane, though, her twin often knew when she was plotting against him. "Are you sure?"

"That tantrum sounds about eight Tea-yo…", she stretched out the syllables in a sing song voice on purpose while barely holding in another laugh. He was perhaps the first one in the Academy that she'd run into that wasn't bent on posturing to the moon. The dichotomy of their education wasn't lost on her no matter her teasing. They'd been brought up to love…Everything. All forms of knowledge. Chemistry, Physics, and Biology were all important precursors to Alchemy. "That will help you though…"

Experience, being forced to stay alive.

She turned her water bottle and dumped a little water on both hands before pressing a towel to the sore spots. Cooling them down. She took a seat on the low bench and set the tape down beside her. She'd need to get started again before true darkness fell. "Fighting is…Different for me. I do think it's fun…"

"We dueled a lot. Rivan and I…With each other and with our teachers. But that's different…"

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

"Hey, I am not-" And his finger even rose to make the point until he saw her facial expression. "Ah, I see. You are teasing me!" He smiled there and shook his head. "That's so cruel, Arty, I will have to come up with a way to get back at you."

Nodding slowly.

"Yeah, it's good practice, but it's different as you say."

After all, when you were training you weren't actually trying to kill each other. You knew that at the end of the day your dueling partner was trying to make you better than you were.

"This might be an academy but... this isn't practice." Matt said quietly as he thought back to the Maze. The bones of their fellow students would still be there now. He knew it was how it was supposed to be. His parents had prepared him for it. Explained that to be Sith meant to be the strongest and that meant identifying who was weakest.

He knew this was true... and it disturbed him regardless.

"Have you been able to make any friends here yet?"

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

She smiled a little at the use of the nickname and nodded her head in agreement. "You're welcome to try…", Luna encouraged, though, she wouldn't be letting go of his new moniker anytime soon. He'd reacted too much to her teasing for it not to cement in her mind.

"But don't blame me if it doesn't go as planned Tea-yo."

She blew on her sore palms for a long moment. Letting the condensation from the water bottle make it feel even cooler. The pale girl-child could feel ridges forming in the top of her palm, just above the meat, to create necessary calluses. No one would expect her to have hands that were tried and tested from training both with endurance and a sword. It was one of the first things she had ever learned.

How to hold a weapon with respect and regard it with the dignity it deserved.

Artemis was quiet while listening to Matteo speak. In truth—She was imitating her mother. There was much wisdom to be found in the word of others. Even, if it was prompted by something they hadn't said. When her hands felt sufficiently cooled and ached a little less she began to wrap them anew. There was almost a ritual to it while her eyes followed the horizon. It didn't matter that it hurt. It didn't matter that the other students were bigger, stronger, than she was.

She had to win cleanly.

Which meant she had to put in the effort. Every minute, every day.

No. The Academy was not Cularin. It was not the Malsheem. It was not home. Jutrand should have been her pearl to do with as she pleased, her toy, her playground. The galaxy could never know that she was essentially royalty but…Every so often she wondered what it might be like. To have any sort of control over their lives. To be powerful, so they didn't have to stay under the cupboard anymore.

The Academy was the first decision, ever, where she felt like she had any say. And even that…

Haru and Naneth had decided first.

Luna snapped out of her reverie at the final question. Slowly, wrapping her hands. Checking the wraps on her feet. Had she made any friends? "I'm not…Really sure. I don't think we're supposed to make friends here."

How could they? Anything, could be a trick. Just like Udren Zeln said.

Anything could be a trap.

Even just Matteo talking to her could be a ruse…

"You?"

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

He sighed at the continued use of the nickname, but Matteo supposed that he had only himself to thank for it. If he hadn't reacted the way he had maybe she would have dropped it quickly.

Now he seemed to be stuck with it.

She bounced the question back to him and Matteo didn't respond immediately. Instead his expression got a thoughtful quality to it as he thought back to Rosalia and Soah.

"Maybe." Were the polite and feral girls friends of his? It was hard to say in an environment like this.

"How do you know the difference between a friend here and a viper waiting to bite you when you least expect it?"

Without realizing it echoing the exact concerns that Luna had as well.

He put the book down and watched her with curiousity.

"Echani? I have never met one of you but I have heard of your people. What is it like being so far away from your home?"

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

She finished the bindings on here hands and feet and stood up. Rather than return to the triple set of high bars she jumped up onto a low beam. It was thin but her body seemed to naturally know what to do. It bent and she used a touch of momentum to perform a slow, controlled cartwheel, that sped up as she went. Dropping in to sideways rotational movement in a straight line…It would be reminiscent of the spokes turning in a wheel of a cart. Hence, the name.

"You don't."

When Artemis responded to Matteo she was upside down, though, she didn't give any indication that it was difficult. Her hands merely changed position and she kept the routine going. The white-haired youth seemed to consider the question a little more. She didn't have a lot of friends in the first place to put through any sort of looking glass…But she did have Soldane. He was her friend. Her best friend. "I suppose…It's something you work up to. When you find someone you would trust to hold a sword to your heart…"

She flipped again, this time, standing upright. Walking slowly on the length of the wood…Arms out to keep her balance. "When you know they'd do anything for you and ask for nothing in return…"

"That's a real friend. The rest are just…Acquaintances."

It was a severe line of thought from someone so young but it wouldn't have surprised those who knew her. She could be a little driven, a little selfish, but it was the product of being raised by powerful people without peer. When he asked about her ethnicity, she nodded her head in the affirmative.

"For some reason...There are a lot of us here."

The rest…She didn't know how to respond to.

"I wouldn't know. I've never been to Eshan."

Her words were…Sad. Guarded, but sad all the same.

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

Matteo wanted to point out that was a pretty high bar for friendship. How many people would he trust not to stab him if it was beneficial to him?

Even his parents easily threw him to the lions the moment it was convenient. Matt was skeptical they wouldn't stab him through his heart if it was expected from them.

"Sounds like a tough bar to have friends." Saying it anyway because Luna seemed alright so far.

A bit weird but nothing bad.

"You can't have that many friends in general then." He stood up and came a bit closer but not so much that she'd kick him in the face while she was doing her exercises.

"An Echani who didn't grow up on Eshan? That's interesting." His arms folding behind his back as he considered it.

"Would you like to be friends?"

Perhaps surprising them both.

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

"It is. It should be."

Sith couldn't afford to make relationships that were fair-weather. It had been drilled into her head time and time again that trust was a rare commodity and that it had to be earned. Even family could not be completely afforded the privilege of faith without proof. Her own father…

She couldn't even be around her own father.

Artemis flipped down again and kept walking on her hands. Building strength in her arms, but also, challenging her body to stay alert when being stressed. It was harder to focus when blood rushed to her head and she felt a little dizzy. "I don't…Just one."

Soldane Talon was the only one she really knew who would always have her back. Naneth and Haru certainly wanted what was best for her, but they were old and obviously didn't count. Her brother was whom she shared her secrets with. Her fears. Wants. He protected her when the adults weren't around even when didn't need protecting. She noted that Matteo was coming closer, a little wary, but not sensing any nasty intentions.

"Not every person with a certain ethnicity gets to see their home. Sometimes…They have to stay away."

She swung her legs down and rolled so that she was sitting on the thin bar. One leg crossed neatly over her left to look at the young man that seemed at the very least…Curious about her. She couldn't help but doubt his motives in a place where they were trained to deceive to get ahead. Not to mention that he had head how high her standards were. "I don't know you."

But—It wasn't a negative. It was just the truth. They didn't know one another very well and her lips quirked lightly to the side in thought. Having a friend in the Academy felt necessary.

It was also something Luna wanted.

But…Wants were made for wishes. Wishes, for dreams. And dreams…

Weren't real.

"But…I would like to. If you would like to…Get to know me…"

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

He inclined his head because she was entirely correct. The things he knew about Luna could be counted on one hand. Her name, Artemis. Her species, Echani. She only had one friend. Her standards were incredibly high. She seemed to enjoy hurting her hands for training purposes.

That was about it.

Matt smiled when she didn't immediately blow off the idea.

"I suspect I am already getting to know you now." He responded cheekily. "But yes I'd like to. This place seems to try and drill into us that we are alone and that is the only way to become strong."

Matteo shrugged.

"I don't like that thought. Caution is good but sometimes we overcorrect I think. So what do you like to do for fun, Artemis?"

Not realizing he didn't actually know her name at all currently.

 

[Lunaria Talon]

Tag: Matteo Guo-Yian
Location: Jutrand Academy

Luna glanced down at her feet when he smiled and her shoulders crunched together for a moment. Long white platinum blonde hair moved in the light breeze…But she was paying attention. She had stopped her routine long enough to listen. "We aren't…"

"Like other kids."

She knew that on the surface they looked just like every other munchkin in the galaxy. But…It wasn't true. She had watched so many holos where family members were just…Not like the way they were. Where kids weren't taught to fight from the moment they were stable enough to hold a sword. Luna was gladdened for her training, it made her strong, but she knew she was different.

That didn't mean better. Just…Different. "I'm not sure they're wrong."

"But I'm not sure I want them to be right."

They were built to withstand loneliness and any version of mental or physical weakness. Lunaria wished that she had the same fortitude as her mother, or even, the legendary grandmother she had never met. She wasn't sure she did. Nothing could beat Naneth. Nothing and no one could hurt her. Luna wanted to be like that. Strong. But, Naneth had Ada. Was that the exception?

Matteo asked what she did for fun and her thoughts broke.

They were spiraling off to the next galaxy while he was right here.

"I train."

She knew that wasn't what he was asking but it was true. Fighting was fun for her. Combat made something in her feel steady when her nerves ought to be shot. It was warm and exhilarating. Almost more pleasing than winning—Just…To keep fighting. "I like watching holos. I'm learning to cook…"

Because every warrior needed a full belly.

"I like games and music, too."

 

[Matteo Guo-Yian]

Lunaria Talon

He more or less agreed with her.

They weren't like other kids. He had spend enough time with 'normal' ones to know that. It was probably the only thing that kept him sane instead of turned into a violent sociopath wanting to shiv every piece of competition in his path in the back. But it also meant that he felt constantly off-balance in a place like this.

Not ideal considering his parents had sacrificed so much to put him here in the first place.

"That's cool." Matt said after a moment, wondering if she'd elaborate on her own. "What sort of music do you listen to?" Picking out at least one of the things to ask about instead of flooding her with every question under the sun.

Matt wasn't sure if 'cooking' could be considered a hobby. Mostly because whenever he tried to do so, he ended up with burned everything. His mother had been exasperated with him and wondered out loud if he was going to burn down the whole kitchen next. Which was a fair concern considering the amount of times they had to put out the stove.

Then after a moment he pulled out a little datapad.

"I just got the Holo connection to work a while ago." Matt said with a mischievous grin. The Academy had direct HoloNet nodes for education purposes, but for obvious reasons they were restricted to what they were allowed to access.

Nobody wanted a Sith Acolyte to blurt out Sith secrets to a Jedi.

"We could listen to your favorite tune on it if you want?"