Puppies Can Fly

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene walked through the streets of a small village, her eyes dead ahead and fixed on something beyond sight. There was a slight sneer on her face as she stepped on heavy wooden planks designed to keep people out of the mud that now covered the street. Days of rain and storms had seen to making the ground nothing but mush, the river in the village nearly overflowed and the people were paranoid about water damage. The Queen of Rattatak of course looked upon all this rabble with disdain, and when she walked down the wooden planks she expected everyone to move away from her.

Such a thing could not always be the case of course, and as she stepped down the walkway a man inevitably ran into her. The man was of average height, taller than Nemene and generally built to be stronger, shaggy brown hair covered his head and a light beard along with glasses adorned his face. In his right hand he held the leash for a small Kath Hound, in his left a drink of some sort.

When the man so rudely ran into Nemene the drink spilled across her, the black liquid immediately falling onto her silks and staining the garment irreparably.

Her eyes shot open in anger and disdain. “How dare you!”

Nemene's voice was shrill and demanding, vicious in all respects. In an instant the man that had run into her was down on the ground, a fist having struck into his sternum and a leg having been brought up to his privates. As soon as the man was on the ground Nemene picked up the small Kath Hound, throwing back her arm and tossing the creature into the over swollen river. The Mans eyes popped open and he screamed.

“NO!”

Before he could yell anymore however Nemene's heel found itself in his face. She struck the man over and over again, beating him mercilessly. Quickly a crowd formed around them, people watching as this regal woman beat a poor innocent peasant to death.

Watching, and doing nothing.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

Nothing like a good ruthless beating in the morning to get things started. A crowd had gathered as the hapless mook was thrashed to within an inch of his life…and possibly further. People were watching a woman beat a man to insensibility and were doing nothing to stop her.

Tamara hung back. It was probably better to just keep walking. Better to let this arrogant woman sate her fury.
No. She couldn’t do that. There were some times when it was a queen to be good.

Stepping into the ring of people she held up a hand. “I think he’s sorry, Miss. I’m certain he won’t do it again. Now, how about I buy you a drink to help you calm down?” she asked.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

A loud crunch could be heard as Nemene drove he heel home one more time into the mans collar bone. The sound of cracking bones resonating in the stunned silence of the street. The beaten man on the floor began to cough up blood, crying in pain and trying to keep some semblance of his wits about him. When she heard a voice interrupting her work the Queen of Rattatak stopped mid kick to the mans face, her heeled boot clicking slightly as it touched the wooden blank again.

As she turned her victim sputtered something, words that were unintelligible through his broken teeth and probably deflated lung. She scowled at him before facing the woman that hat spoken to her, a sneer in her eyes and a look of utter disapproval coming from the rest of her face.

“No. I think I’d rather burn this pustule of the face of this world and improve the the local scenery.” She bit off the words as though each one caused bile to stir in her stomach.

This village didn't deserve to exist, these peasants, lowlifes, thieves, commoners all around did not deserve to survive. This village was a rat hole, and Nemene would see it cleansed.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

Ah, so she was that sort of woman. Either she had the Force, or she had a Star Destroyer concealed about her person. Either way, she looked serious.
“I think it’s too damp to catch fire,” Tamara said lightly. She scanned the area, looking for possible strategic areas. If this came to a fight she had to be prepared.
“I’m sure we can reach an accommodation of some sort which doesn’t involve wanton slaughter.”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“No.” Nemene said as she slowly eyed the crowd around her. The village was dry after the day of sunlight, though the mud had not gone away just yet. Most of the buildings were dry at the very least and thats what Nemene was after. She turned to one of the larger ones with a thick thatch roof, she eyed it for only the briefest second and then raised her palm.

A single powerful black spark of lightning jumped from her fingertips and onto the building, flames igniting almost instantly where the lightning struck. “We can't.”

Screams erupted from the crowd that had been watching her. Wild scrambles began as people searched for buckets, tubs, or anything that could hold water. In a village like this the fire would spread quickly, and lives would be put in danger if it was not put out fast.

Meanwhile Nemene smirked at the good seminarian, an evil taunting smirk.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]
(Dammit @mention me or I have no idea you posted. Evil woman.)

‘This summer, you will believe a puppy can fly!’
Since this writer missed it in the first post, the frantic whines of the animal in the river came to her ears. However, the animal was too far away for Tamara to get to, and using the Force would reveal her one and only trick too early.
As the poor creature piteously drowned, Tamara took a deep breath. As flames leapt up she knew there was no hope for a peaceful resolution.

Instead she suddenly, violently called on the Force to slam the aggressor backwards with the strength of a charging bantha. A calculated blow aimed at the woman’s body to knock her down and hopefully knock her out. Or into a mud puddle. One or the other.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The force of the blow knocked Nemene off of her feet. The Force struck her like a wall, tossing her off the wooden walkway and into a nearby mud pit. The puddle splashed and almost instantly Nemene was coated from head to toe in mud. Her silks were ruined and her hair was caked with dirt and wet with water. Slowly she raised a hand to her face, wiping away the stains upon it and revealing a harsh scowl.

She raised herself from the mud, feet squishing slightly as she stepped onto the wooden plank.

The rage that was inside her was akin to what she had felt when Steph Zenima had spat blood at her, not quite as harsh of course, the troll that was Steph had elicited a special kind of anger that could really only be described by a better writer, but at her current state Nemene was very much near it.

As soon as she stepped back onto the wooden walkway she let her anger be known. From her hip she drew her Saber-staff, one side of the lightsaber igniting in a
brilliant orange glow.

Before the other woman could say anything else Nemene dashed for her, aiming to sever her head in one blow.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

The woman moved quickly from her mud-bath, far quicker than Tamara had guessed possible. And...out came a sabre-staff. Well, that was troublesome.

She did not have long to consider this as the blade was sweeping at her head. It nearly succeeded too, but Tamara ducked, unexpectedly helped by the mud, which landed her flat on her ass. A bad tactical position.
In response she lashed out with the Force, a powerful blow, as heavy as last time, aiming to at least drive the attacker away long enough for her to reposition. This was not the sort of fight she liked. It was too close, there was little cover.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

This time Nemene braced herself against the assault of the force, she didn't quite go flying but instead was pushed back several meters on the wooden walkway. She landed again with a flourish of her blade and a loud thud. Her scowl did not disappear, but her gaze shifted from the woman towards the crowd of people that were now rushing through the mud to reach the spreading flames.

She decided that before breaking this good Samaritans bones, she would break her will. The other half of her lightsaber sprang to life, the orange springing into being.

Almost immediately Nemene threw the weapon, the two blades whirled about in a massive arch slicing through people in the crowd severing limbs, heads, and torso's before swinging back around to head directly towards Tamara.

As soon as the blade left her hand Nemene shot forward like a bullet catching her lightsaber just as it reached Tamara and slicing the blade towards the grounded woman.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tamara got to her feet with the aid of the Force. The seconds the enemy had spent in murder gave her a window of opportunity.
Calling on the Force she concentrated on the burning thatch of the nearest house. With a fierce tug she yanked the burning straw from its place and hurled it into the path of the charging enemy.

Her enemy was quick though, and despite this the lightsabre nearly succeeded in cutting her in half so she was forced to jump back again. Not having a weapon was something of a downside at times like this, she realised.

The murder of the people…that was regrettable, but there was nothing she could do to save them right now. Unless she won she couldn’t help them.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The blade sliced through the wooden planks as though it were nothing more than air, Nemene didn't even feel the resistance as the plasma burned and sizzled through the planks. She smiled slightly as the woman retreated slightly, then the force irked her. She looked to the side and her eyes popped open in shock. Throwing up her left hand she threw up a tiny almost indescribable shield of the force. The largest part of the roof stopped dead, but the flames continued.

Fire licked her skin and clothes, searing white hot embers touched her, yet the showed no outward show of pain. Somewhere in the distance in the galaxy her bond mate @[member="Evelynn"] would feel the stinging burns of the fire that had touched Nemene. She herself however felt nothing.

Her saving grace ironically was the mud and water that clung to her clothes. The wet silk refused to catch flame and the embers only scorched through them, leaving the smell of burning flesh in the air.

Again Nemene fixed her eyes on the woman before her, fire now raging on the planks around her.

She dashed through the flames, the heat once again licking her skin as she moved through them. This time her saber darted forward diagonally, slicing towards the woman's sternum. At the same time Nemene allowed the force to flow through her left hand, sending a jolt of black lightning towards the woman, hopefully stunning her long enough to cut her in twine.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

This was a problem. Despite being covered in burning straw the enemy kept coming. She had to be a Sith, clearly not one of the ‘back to the shadows’ types.
Lightsabre coming, and lightning. Tamara could only stop one, and in the heart stopping milliseconds as the lightsabre came closer she made her choice.
Jumping back, the lightning caught her hard in the chest and stomach. The pain was terrible, all her nerves felt on fire, and she was thrown backwards a few feet to the ground, twitching as the dark energy earthed itself through her.
Struggling, she forced herself to get up, knowing the Sith would keep coming at her relentlessly. This was not going well. It was time for desperate measures.

In her bag was a sonic concussion grenade. It was her sole concession to being armed normally, that and a hold-out stun blaster. Fumbling it out she lobbed it at the Sith, one second timer, propelling it with the Force like a small cannonball. Hopefully it would stun the Sith, drive her back, give her time to recover.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The Grenade flew towards her and before she could react it activate. The powerful sonic blast struck Nemene almost instantly. Her eardrums began to vibrate, the shrill high pitched noise shaking her skull and reverberating it as though she were a wire. The noise cut into her, and out of pure reaction Nemene dropped her lightsaber. The blade deactivated and fell to the wooden planks as her hands shot up and clutched her ears.

Her eyes bulged open as the grenade dropped in front of her, the noise continuing and shredding her mind.

Through gritted teeth the Queen of Rattatak kicked the metal orb, sending it flying into the mud pits next to the walkway and silencing it. As soon as it was clear of her she let out heavy labored breaths, blood dripping from her ears and hair a tangled mess.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

Tamara got to her feet, seeing that the grenade had an impact. Swiftly, she held out her hand and attempted to call the Sith’s lightsabre to her own hand. The Sith was closer and might prevent this by grabbing it, or with the Force, but it would distract her regardless.

Meanwhile she pulled out her hold-out blaster. Stun only, five shot pack. Whilst contending for the lightsabre she lined up and fired a stun bolt right at the Sith.

Disorientated, the Sith might get knocked out cold and end the fight. She wasn’t sanguine about that though.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

She allowed her lightsaber to slip away, or rather the disorientation was too much for her and she didn't have the wits about her to stop the woman from grabbing the weapon. Luckily for Nemene of course she carried another weapon, a small Sith Sword so tiny it could almost be called a dagger. The blade had been a gift from her father and she had carried the weapon since it had been given to her at the age of seven.

This was the first time she had drawn it in almost five years.

With a slice of the reflective blade Nemene cut through the stun blasts one by one, stopping their nerve shattering effect. When she saw her lightsaber in the womans hands her eyes popped open in rage once again, a slight ringing in her ears as she spoke.

“Give it back, and leave. Then perhaps i'll let you live.” There was a sneer in her voice as she took up a stance, turning her Sith Sword around in her hand so the blade was held backwards in her palm.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

The lightsabre sprung into her hand and she activated the orange blade at one end. She had no experience using a sabre-staff, so would use it as a slightly more unwieldy single weapon. Interestingly, the woman had a short blade, obviously one she was confident could stop a lightsabre’s cut. A Sith blade then, or perhaps cortosis.

Tamara reached out with the Force to calm herself, holstering the small blaster. Four shots left.
“I give you the same offer. Leave this place and never return,” she said.

Chance of the Sith taking the offer…0. Neither had expected that though. This was just a prelude to the final fight. The moral justification for killing the other…not that the Sith needed that.

Tamara took stance in Form III. It had been a long time since she’d used it head on with an enemy like this, but it was like riding a speeder bike…right? She hoped so, and waited for the attack.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“I will tear your lungs out through your throat” The words were not spoken harshly, they were not even spoken threateningly, they were simply stated as a matter of fact. She meant what she said and she would make it happen. The only hint of her coming onslaught was a slight tightening of grip on her sword, then she moved.

With a single sweeping stride Nemene bounded forward, jumping into the air and coming down onto the woman in a horizontal slash with her Sith Sword, aiming to bisect her in a single move.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]

The woman was very fast, oddly specific threats notwithstanding. The thought crossed Tamara’s mind that it probably wasn’t possible to do what she said, but then it was back to defending herself.

In came the blade, lightning fast. Tamara moved to parry, but a fraction too slow, and the blade scored a shallow cut down her left arm before being deflected.

Looking down at her cut clothing and the red line on her skin which was starting to ooze a little blood, she looked up. Taking a couple of steps back she brought the lightsabre up again. Hopefully she would be quicker this time!

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Her assault was relentless, she did not allow the woman to rest or even take a second to thing about was was happening. As soon as her blade bit into the womans arm and Nemene found herself on the ground she swept forward. This time however she did not go in high.

Instead her foot shot out towards Tamara, her long alabaster leg carving a smooth arch towards Tamara's shins. She hoped to hook her foot into Tamara's calf and then pull the woman into the ground. Her blade flickered forward as well, not in assault but in defense, ready to catch her own lightsaber if it came towards her leg.
@[member="Tamara"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Nemene Talith"]
Tamara did not expect the trip, and stumbled backwards, her blade going wide over the Sith's head. It was well that the Sith had not attacked at the same time as the trip, or she might have triumphed.
Rather, Tamara stepped back, recovered herself, and recovered her stance.

Knowing she was no duellist she called on the Force again, pulling water from a muddy puddle and throwing it at the Sith woman's face. As the woman dealt with more dirtiness, Tamara moved forward and essayed a quick slash at Nemene's waist, using the longer length of her blade to keep out of counter attack range.