Honor, Valor, Pride

[Julian Falkenberg]

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Temple ruins outside of Voss academy​

Late afternoon​

Theme​

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The heir of Heavenshield had done what he promised; Théodred took the Valkyri Shieldmaiden on a journey across the stars, to the Silver Jedi homeworld of Voss. Here she would train to ascend into a warrior of the Force, the banner of light. It was the first time Astrid left her home planet, first time she witnessed the brilliant streaks of hyperspace. Midvinter looked so peaceful from orbit, blanketed by snow and ice, surrounded by the murky waters of planet's only ocean, The Great Maw.

Nothing tied the golden haired woman to the Valkyri realm any more; she was the last in the line of Stormguards, bound to the Midvinter throne by a thousand-year oath. With death of Thrand Dawnbringer, bearing the crown of High King, and her father Eodred, ended an era of service to the royal seat. No man left to carry the Stormguard greatsword, no woman worthy to wield it. The warden was traditionally a male, the oldest son; never in the history of Midvinter was the Lord gatekeeper of Tháinbroek a daughter of Stormguard. In that sense, Astrid was free pursue the call of the Force, a quest she reluctantly accepted. With nothing more in tow but a dirty white linen tunic and a pair of leather pants and boots she arrived to Voss, into the fold of the mythical Jedi. A prick of a needle confirmed her gift in the Force was considerable, her midichlorian counts in the uppermost quintile of the distribution.

Then they let her wait, three full days, as the Jedi deliberated on how her training should progress. Astrid waited in her quarters patiently, taking only short strolls through surrounding nature, simply not to miss an incoming message once her fate was decided. Yet, instead of a name, a location was announced; ruins of a temple not far away from the compound, which she explored in detail during her first day on the planet.

The sun was already grazing the horizon once Astrid reached the vestiges of the former Jedi sanctuary, an ancient Jedi outpost probably dating to the Great Galactic War. The edifice was nothing but a set of semi-ruined walls encircling what once was an assembly hall; only the teutonic entrance arches remained, while the rest of the interior was consumed by nature; trees, shrubbery and vines.
Astrid stood at the foot of the stairs, hands clasped behind her back, feet a shoulder-length apart. Her stature spoke volumes of her ascetic upbringing and aptness in combat with cold weapons, be they melee such as broadswords or ranged, such as longbows. Whoever was to be her teacher and guide would soon taste the very essence of Valkyri culture; Honor, Valor, Pride.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

As much as he was a hardened and deep down wild leader of every moment's emotion to guide him through the battles, Jericho was naturally obliged to bow his head before those who would show him that there was one far superior than him. It was those that the great warrior of the west offered his reluctant service to, the solo half of his personality struggling to gain independence from the liege. Betrayal, backstabbing, victory or defeat, life or death. Wasn't that what this... war was all about? Even the thrilling sensation of the kill, it had to have something of a side story.

Iron Crown. The name itself made many freeze in place as their hearts inclined to skip a beat. It was said that even the dead shook in their graves in fear of the mythical kingdom, the legendary citadel of evil itself. The foolish were ignorant enough to believe that it was all just a story, a long dead tale of sorts, passed down in much exaggeration from old. Ha, exaggeration? No, the stories were but a portion of what was true. After all, any who would dare to witness the sight firsthand would never return to tell the tale.

Did it mean that they died? None would ever know to tell. Maybe they had been taken captive and been forced to serve as the slaves of the wicked. Or maybe they had been forced into submission, offering their lifelong service to the overlord upon the deal that they wouldn't be deprived of their breath... yet.

Whatever the case was, Jericho knew one thing. Whether it was the evil itself that he was dealing with, or in fact just a legend, he knew that he was not going to hold his independence for long, as the single young cavalryman rode away into the night, carrying the letter of decision towards you know what. It wouldn't be long before he himself would be consumed by the growing darkness, the rapidly increasing threat. And it was truth that willing submission was the better choice, over forced slavery to the darkness.

The warriors eyes opened lightly from his chambers within the halls of the silver sanctum. Another dream, filled with odd symbolism of dampened honor and sourced morally. The warrior lifted himself and could not help but wipe his face from the thought of his monsters steady taking hold of him. He knew it, deep down, but he let them play from time to time to quench the need to let himself flow as he did in Kaas. The warriors large frame push towards the side with his one arm and pressed a button on the wall. Compartments from walls opened with his cybernetic limbs that painfully connected back to his body. A vial came out, his last dosage of the super serum needed for permanent increase of strength and natural healing. As his darkness, his light, and this serum; it would be needed for what was to come soon.

Soon.

The warrior dress and put on his heavy armor that now felt like evening robes; seems like he would need to speak to Matsu Ike about some heavier and denser armor. As he walked the warrior seemed light as a feather, even despite wearing such armor as he did, his steps reflected what he felt. Light and silent as his name, the Ghost. He lightly gripped his mask and placed it over his face. The warrior's hand lightly touched the door in which the new padawan remained waiting for him. With a light push the door creaked open slowly revealing a young woman maybe only several years younger than himself. Despite him being nearly a foot taller than her, she held herself high and strong; It did not take a lorrdian eye to see that. That being said he looked her from the back of her head to boots. Telling from her hardened hands and strong shoulders she has trained for battle from her teens, maybe even in her youth. The Valkyri were a hardy race indeed, as he already knew from training young Theo.

He was but a child then and was quite strong, she most likely prove the same. It seems Jericho may or may not be teaching many of the Valkyri since his younger brother disciple was their king. There were going to be more within their ranks soon enough, if they so chose. The warrior walked next to the girl by the name of [member="Astrid Stormguard"] .Looked out to the horizon as she did, though their perspectives may or not be different. From what he understood this was her first time here and has not yet completely adjusted from the cold of her home. So the view, of the sunset or sunrise may seem different, exotic, to her. But did she care for the little details as he did? With this training he would learn.

"Did you know you were training today or do you prefer lighter gear training?" The warrior asked with his low, stern but overpowering tone of voice.

 

[Julian Falkenberg]

As she felt another presence approach her from behind, Astrid glanced sideways to the form that emerged from the darkness. Valkyri were a tall race, with the Lady of Stormguard being a fine exemplar of her species, but the man who stood by her was no smaller in stature than the finest of Midvinter's warriors. The breadth of their shoulders was sufficient to carry the weight of the world and the armor that saved life in battle. Astrid had left her handcrafted plate-mail on her home planet, together with her father's sword wrappen in silken banner with her family crest weaved into the glossy fabric. She didn't want to take anything that reminded her of past life, including the loss of her father in battle against Vinterbound. Perhaps she was mistaken?

"I always deemed armor was worn only by those who have something to lose." she voiced, her ocean-coloured irises still inspecting the horizon - "A home to come back to, family, one's kin."

The absence of her armor was thus wisely explained. She finally turned to face the masked man, her hands still clasped at the small of her back. A strange aura surrounded him, murky as the waters of Midvinter's endless sea. Cerulean eyes narrowed a notch.

"But it does not matter what I prefer, master." she retorted finally, peering up to discern any facial features from underneath his mask - "We'll do what you prefer...and I'll just have to adapt."

The tone of her voice and the way she bore herself disclosed her intent; she was on Voss to train, to fulfill her potential, not to be cut some slack on the very first lesson.

[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

The warrior stared off into the horizon, the planet of Voss was truly a beautiful spectacle from its skies ranging from the orange and pink mixture that was the horizon to the lightest of blues as if a painter used this planet to paint a peaceful canvas. While one would paint, the planet peaceful, there stood the blonde equal in lightness but where the warrior stood. There was an inner darkness to him, that was always kept in check while he was here. As the warrior scanned the lightness of the sky, he could feel as he, himself was scanned by the eyes of another. The warrior turned his head, his dark brown eyes locked on hers. The comparison was heavily different, from his point of view, her eyes were filled with life, ready to do anything down for what she believed in. Though her hands remained relaxed on her back, the woman's shoulders were tense revealing there was much on her mind. But it was her eyes, her bright blue eyes spoke volumes to him, many would not understand as he did. His Lorrdian eyes were trained to see much more than most.

"There is always something to lose." The warrior started off calmly. "As there is always something to gain." The warrior stood a few steps back and tossed her a training lightsaber having been set to only stun, as was his own. "A home to come back to, family, one's kin." The warrior repeated the woman's words. The warrior has lost those three things and left alone for a great deal of time at this point in time those that are of his blood are distant even while they train on this very planet. With another couple steps away he let this mind flow with such thoughts, letting the woman's words sink into his mind, learning everything he could about her as she would be learning from him. The warrior raised his hand and waved it to have her follow him to his personal training room, With a flow of his jedi robe and brisk turn of his heel he face the woman once again. Thought his face remained stoic and calmly, he found himself liking her and the valkyri culture. But were her words true? Would she be able to adapt to his style of training? "Then adapt, Stormguard." The warrior pressed the button, and the white blank room surged with life and took the form of the Silver's dueling arena.

Then a robotic voice called out. "Gravity shifting to 5x normal." After announcement was made the gravity grew stronger. The body would seem to grow heavier like wise with her weapon in hand. But for Jericho even with his armor and weighted robes this wasn't even a warm-up. He kept it low for now to see how the woman would react. To most it would feel as if they put on ten layers of armor, and most would fall to their face. But he knew Valkyri were a hardy race, but just how hardy? The warrior lifted his saber with ease and its white light surged out ready for battle. "We will start with basics of Shien. But first can you move?" The warrior asked, with a blink of an eye charged foreword doing a heavy handed attack aimed for her right shoulder.

[member="Astrid Stormguard"]