Private Paint Strokes

[Iris Arani]

Therapy went well. And when therapy went well, it meant Iris could start using a lightsaber again. Or, relearn how to use one again. Physical Therapy would never bring her back to who she once was, but she could relearn how to do a lot of things. Like, her saber. She gripped the smooth hilt of her new blade in the heavily scarred hand, just staring at the metal construction. It wasn't Domxite. That's what stood out most of all. Her friend, her partner. Taken when she earned the scars that lined a good portion of her body.

No, stop thinking like that. The Padawan let out a sigh as she ignited the blade, taking the classic Makashi salute before starting into her drills. This is what she needed to focus on for now.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Ever since joining the order training had been nothing but relentless, not from the Jedi but from his own accord. Not everyone had an opportunity to be a part of something bigger, so he had to take it by the hand and go with it as far as he could. After all, he had nothing to go back to anyway.

Walking into the development area, he caught a glimpse of another Jedi beginning her drills. At first, all he did was offer a respectful nod to the fellow padawan. Silas didn't really want to interrupt what she had going on and decided to silently stretch off to the side, now and then looking up to see if he could learn anything from the girl before him.

Something seemed off about her. It certainly wasn't how she was doing in the drills, but another thing entirely unknown to him. Silas frowned slightly and hesitated for a few moments, before finally opening his mouth to ask a question in between stretching

"Everything alright, miss?"

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Everything alright, miss?"

For a moment Iris hesitated. Blinked. Her drills came to an end as Silas Westgard spoke up. That.. Huh. Was this what it was like when Iris herself went up to strangers to ask them if they were okay? She smiled faintly, pushing the thought from her mind as she turned to look at her fellow Padawan. Or at least, she assumed he was. Hopefully was. He wasn't someone she knew, at least.

"Just.. Distracted. Sorry if it's distracting you."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

"Not at all, you just seemed down"

Silas offered her a warm smile back and sat down on the mats, giving himself a minute rest before he got into drills himself. His gaze caught sight of her visibly scared hand and pondered for a few seconds. For a Jedi so young, she seemed to have been around the block a few times already. That didn't sway the newly made Padawan though. For Jedi, it was all part of the lifestyle.

"I just came in here to refine a few things with my technique, and from the looks of things you seemed to be doing the same thing"

 

[Iris Arani]

She did feel down, there was no denying that. But was it that obvious? She frowned a little, glancing to the saber in her hand. No, no. Better to focus on remembering how to use her saber than dwell on her feelings. She offered Silas Westgard a smile, nodding her head. As best she could smile with the scarring on the right side of her face. More of the same to what her hand looked like.

"Yeah, just some drills."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

On further inspection, it didn't just seem to be her hand. The other side of the girl's face seemed to show scars of the past in all its glory, a telltale of what she had been through in the past and as of late. Flashing a frown himself, he pulled himself up to his feet and gracefully swished his lightsaber from the holster, loosely letting it hang in his hand.

"Well... if you want we can do some together"

Having a partner to train and spar with always helped learn things a whole lot more than doing it himself. Furthermore, it could probably get the girl some much needed rest from the lingering thoughts in her mind.

 

[Iris Arani]

Her gaze lingered on Silas Westgard for a moment. Not on him exactly. His colors. The brief flash of an emotion she wasn't sure what to call. Her scars? Her lips pulled to a frown. Right. People always looked at her scars like that. Iris let out a sigh before nodding once. No, better to focus on the idea of the spar. Something else. Did he pick up on that at least? Maybe. Her saber ignited in her grasp as she took the simple starting stance of Makashi.

Then nodded.

"Alright."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas formed a grin in the corner of his lips when she agreed to train with him, proud that she was willing to try and take her mind elsewhere. Walking over he only stopped a short distance away when she ignited her lightsaber as an indication for a spar, preparing to do it without even a second thought. The teen took a deep breath and ignited his lightsaber, snapping himself into a starting Shii-cho stance.

"Straight into the spar, huh?" he said to Iris with a determined yet stern look on his face.

"Ready when you are..."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked.

".. Should we not? I thought- you offered?" Confusion filled the young woman's face as she stared blankly at Silas Westgard . Were they supposed to do something else first? Did she forget something important? And just like that her saber extinguished as she retreated in her mind, delving deep to find something, anything she might've forgotten. Though more likely just never noticed.

And if she never noticed, then she wouldn't have a memory?

A pout spread across her features as she delved deeper into her mind. "I can't think of anything else.."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas stood ready with his guard up, expecting her not to fall for such trickery. However, her face began to show a confused look to his comment, double guessing as to what the boy meant. Soon enough, the fellow padawan lightsaber extinguished as she fell back to deep thought. Unknowingly, she did forget something vital... one that was soon to be exploited.

Without a word he suddenly rushed forwards a few steps and thrust his lightsaber in a straight line, only stopping a short distance from her chest if she didn't pull out her saber in time.

"Keeping your guard up at all times is the thing you're looking for," he said sternly to Iris, while his arm was still straight and unmoving for now

"No matter what your opponent says be cautious. If that was a real situation, you'd probably have a hole through your chest, miss."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked slowly.

She didn't react as the saber was pointed to her chest asides from that blink. What was he- what? Confusion filled her gaze as she lowered her eyes to the blade, then back to Silas Westgard . Then frowned. Was he lecturing her? Annoyance actually flashed through her mind as she lifted her blade, igniting the blue saber. ".. Okay, fine." She stepped back, lifting the blade up in both hands, watching him.

"Let's start again."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas withdraw his saber away from her chest and returned it to the outstretched guard he had beforehand. His face was expressionless while his opponents were filled with confusion and annoyance, probably from the fact she had forgotten something so vital to their survival in combat. Watching her ignite the lightsaber, he slowly gave her a quick nod.

"As you wish, miss" he said respectfully before slowly shuffling over to her with intent. Swinging his blade forwards, he throws a mixture of heavy strikes in her direction to really test her defenses from the start.

 

[Iris Arani]

This time she was ready.

This time she was annoyed.

Iris didn't end up treating this like a friendly spar between colleagues. When Silas Westgard shuffled over, she lunged out. Deflect, parry, riposte. Quick thrusts between his strikes to push him off his footing, keep pushing forward. Slipping back when needed before lunging out again to renew her fencing strikes. No hesitation, no holding back. If he wanted to treat this like they were on the field, she'd show him just what that meant.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas slung his strikes from all angles, changing direction now and then as Iris parried and avoid his attacks. Each one he did was met with one back of her own, a backward and forwards that both padawans were keeping up with Silas keeping up with her quickness for now. Forcing the boy backward, he manages to duck a strike and jump away, creating some space between them. Throughout the exchange, there were a few times when he almost lost his balance. He wasn't used to such speed from a fast opponent like Iris.

"Not bad miss... can I ask your name?" he said curiously over to the fellow padawan, a slight smirk forming in his lips from how impressed he was by her already.

Taking another deep breath he suddenly charges forwards again, his lightsaber swinging at her with another flurry of strong swings. Towards the end, he mixes his offense with a sudden lowering of his body and a sweep of her legs. Aiming to trip the girl to the floor and break the stalemate.

 

[Iris Arani]

In the time he took to ask her name, Iris had already lunged for him again. Their exchanges had already started to show her much on how to handle Silas Westgard and his style of fighting. He wanted to use strength, so she'd turn it against him. Angling her blade to force his strikes away from her, leave him open so she could strike out with her quick slashes and thrusts.

Then, he dropped.

But Iris was ready. He swept for her legs and she jumped. Over him, thrusting her blade down for his chest.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas was slowly starting to know that Iris had figured out his selected style. The way she blocked the strikes was leaving him more open for counters, all of which was a big effort to block. Knowing he wasn't going to go anyway with his strong approach, he decided to go for the sweep that he anticipated well.

Iris jumped over his legs and swiftly came down onto his chest with a strike. His eyes widened as the saber trusted into his body, stinging him with purpose before he lay back first on the floor with a groan. For a few moments, all was silent until an impressed smile spread across the his face.

"W-well... well played" he grunted before raising his upper body and looking up to her "Your speed caught me off guard there" Silas slowly rubbed the spot where the lightsaber hit, a respectful nod going up to her in respect "Name's Silas by the way, miss. My apologies for being tricky at the start, just wanted to give you a test"

 

[Iris Arani]

She let out a sigh as it seemed the spar was over. Letting her mind settle from where it'd been. .. Was that bad? Letting herself act on her annoyance? Her saber retracted as she stood, watching Silas Westgard . Listening. For a moment she was just quiet. Then she reached out a hand to help him to his feet. ".. Iris." He had asked her name, right? Now that they weren't fighting, it was the least she could do to answer.

"Are you okay?"

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

"Thanks..." Silas said when he took the hand and got up. He made sure to turn off his saber and place it back into his holster, safely out of the way for now as they talked. He couldn't help but feel disappointed with himself for that mistake, not only did he gets his style wrong but thought it was a wise idea to go for the sweep. It was clear more training was needed if he really wanted to match the older padawans.

"I'm fine Iris, you did great." he said honestly before his hand finally fell from his chest to the side of his body "Your master has taught you well from the look of it. I haven't faced such speed from a padawan for as long as I've been here" Silas remarked, slowly putting a hand through his styled hair that looked a bit ruffled from the duel they just did.

 

[Iris Arani]

​

She did great? Iris just frowned. She didn't feel like she did great. "You annoyed me so I didn't hold back." Ah, yeah. Classic Iris honestly. She crossed her arms over her chest, still holding the hilt of her saber. There was a slight bit of mistrust now. If only in thinking that Silas Westgard was likely going to try and strike her when she let her guard down. Again. Maybe. Was she being foolish?

Honestly, she really wasn't sure.

"I'm not strong. So I have to be fast."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Iris Arani

Silas spotted her frowned and flashed one of his own. He didn't mean to make her like that, he wanted the best of her after all. Lowering his hand to the side of his body, a more concerned look was shown as he glared straight into her eyes "Iris, you must be careful with that. Drawing power from annoyance and anger can be tempting fate." The boy suggested, his head slowly nodding to the point of being fast.

"And it was a smart move, considering I went for power over speed. But please, if you are annoyed calm yourself down with some deep breaths before going into combat. Emotions like that won't do you any favors when it comes to the real thing, I'm sure your master would agree, correct?"