Rising Up

[Adriana Fortemps]

Heeled boots tapped against the metal floor of the Bastion Academy, the rhythmic clicking beginning to pick up as Jorryn rounded the corner down the hall. She began to fiddle with her lightsaber with anticipation as she drew nearer and nearer to the sparring room she had spent so much of her time in, excited for the duel that she was about to take part in. The Echani had ran into [member="Vaylin"] a few times before and was interested in comparing their martial ability, the two had come close before but never had the chance to properly fight.

She happily slid the hilt of her lightsaber back alongside her hip as she entered the combat room, many other Sith hopefuls and acolytes testing their hand-to-hand combat and lightsaber prowess against each other and droids. The sight of some students butchering the art of lightsaber combat was a sight that Jorryn had gotten used to since she had entered the academy, many were beginners before coming to beg the Lords of the Sith to teach them what they were lacking.

The prospective fight that was about to come helped alleviate Jorryn's annoyance just a little, trying to block out the embarrassments to the Sith struggling behind her as she lifted the datapad up to reread the Zabrak's message.

This should be fun. She thought to herself as she gave the message a quick re-reading.

Vaylin had accepted Jorryn's earlier offer of a duel, requesting to meet with her in the sparring hall. It was an encounter to look forward to, Jorryn had little experience fighting Zabraks and was interested to see what type of strength the people had. They were a physically gifted people, similar to Jorryn's own people the Echani. As such she was more than eager to prove her people's physical superiority and test her skills against someone of similar martial strength.

Setting the datapad aside Jorryn began to warm up for her duel, something she normally avoided doing in order to appear more intimidating. She didn't assume that this would be an easy fight however, and so she began to stretch to help ready herself for the duel about to begin. Pulling her arms over her head in order to stretch the shoulders and stretching her legs out to quicken her footwork, she readied her mind more than anything as she kept her eyes on the door waiting for the Zabrak to step through.

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin had encountered Jorryn a number of times in the past, the more recent and frankly more interesting one was where the Echani had offered to duel her not too long ago. Unfortunately that hadn't come about that day, due to other matters that had come up that had forced it to be postponed. But in the same time, the Zabrak had watched how Jorryn had fought, how she held herself went fighting an opponent.

She had something about her that made Vaylin ponder whether she would be a good fit for the Valkyries.

But that would require testing her first hand, and as such Vaylin went about making it happen. She had sent Jorryn a message, requesting her to meet so they could finally have their duel. That, would be the true test of whether the young woman would work well as one of them.

Vaylin had set the usual sparring room as their meeting point, one both women had used repeatedly.

She could already feel the excitement, the prospect of fighting an Echani was something she was looking forward too. It would hopefully be a true challenge for the Zabrak, one that had been sorely missing the past few months - well, at least in terms of opponents in the Academy.

The door Jorryn was watching slid open, and Vaylin strode through the doorway. She wasn't wearing her armour like last time, instead she was wearing significantly less. Dressed in the typical 'sparring clothes' that simply consisted of boots, belt; where her lightsabers were attached, trousers and a sleeveless shirt. The latter provided an ample view of her muscles, trained and defined over years of training.

Even without speaking a word, Vaylin was showing of her physical superiority.

"Jorryn, you certainly got here earlier than I thought." There was a level of amusement in her tone as she spoke.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]​

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

A small smile made it's way across Jorryn's face as the Zabrak entered the room, ceasing her warm-ups to give her full attention to her sparring partner. She made her way towards the girl, meeting her gaze respectfully as they neared each other.

"I haven't had a proper sparring match in some time and I though I might need to prepare myself." She expressed warmly, rolling her right shoulder exaggeratedly as she spoke.

Her amber eyes surveyed the body of the woman in front of her, a mixture of admiration and nervousness as she observed the well-toned muscles of the Zabrak. Despite the small height difference between the pair, it was obvious at a glance that the raven haired woman was the stronger specimen.

That didn't leave Jorryn without anything to show off of her own, a similar outfit to Vaylin's revealing her toned arms and abdomen. Despite Jorryn being physically the smaller of the two, her muscles had been specifically developed in order to perform the Echani martial arts. Trading strength for speed for speed and precision, a necessity for the Echani.

"I can't say I'm unimpressed so far." The grin on her face grew as she placed a hand on her hip, Jorryn's golden eyes raising to meet that of the Zabrak's.

"So then, would you prefer to spar with a lightsaber or see why the Echani are so famed at hand-to-hand combat." The silver haired acolyte's voice rising as the pride in her heritage became clear.

Jorryn was content with whichever choice that her opponent chose, both options being second nature to the Echani. She gave the choice do to her experience in the academy, combat masters seeing her beautiful silver hair and revelling in the opportunity to try their hand at defeating an Echani at their own sport.

None had succeeded. But a simple gaze at the woman Jorryn would face, could tell someone that there might be a first for everything.

[member="Vaylin"]​

 

[Vaylin]

The Zabrak chuckled at Jorryn's words, tilting her head slightly in response - very much a 'fair point' gesture. Vaylin knew well enough the importance of stretching before any bout of exercising. Or in this instance, before a duel. It was one of the very few things she was glad about when it came to her childhood. The constant early morning drills that she went through, pushed to the utmost limit before the day's activities even began.

As the Echani's eyes lingered across her body, Vaylin mirrored it as she took in her form. There was no denying the flicker of interest in the Zabrak's eyes, noting Jorryn's defined muscles.

If Vaylin hadn't already known of what blood flowed through her veins, this would've given a pretty big clue. Echani's; at least to her knowledge, prided themselves on training their body to be in peak shape.

"Same here." Vaylin matched the grin, certainly glad she had taken Jorryn up on her offer to duel.

This was definitely going to be fun.

As she though on the question, Vaylin did a few small stretches herself.

Ultimately, no matter what she chose her objective here was to judge Jorryn's skills. But, there was also the personal desire to see if she could take down an Echani at their own game. Bother of their species were known for their combat prowess. The Echani with their mastery of the martial arts, and the Zabrak with their sheer determination and focus.

Then again...there was something in the saying of leaving the best to last.

"Let's start it with the lightsaber I say." Vaylin reached and grabbed one of her lightsabers. She generally opted for a single one most of the time, as it left her opponent questioning. Did she have the second as backup? If it got knocked out of reach, or lost? Was she even proficient wielding both at the same time?

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]​

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

She watched as the Zabrak began her own set of warmups, a grin coming across her face as she watched the woman begin to stretch. As much as Jorryn delighted in the woman's appearance, she was far more elated by her intention of not going into battle unprepared. Many Sith in the academy would attempt to show their superiority by not readying for a fight, only to lose because they hadn't properly readied themselves for a fight.

The Echani smiled as the woman mentioned beginning with lightsabers, the unspoken suggestion that Jorryn could show Vaylin what her people were so famous for after the first bout.

The Zabrak pulled only one of her lightsabers from where it rested at her side, the other left dangling alongside her hips. It was curious to Jorryn that she hadn't started with both blades, though it would make it more manageable with her Makashi fighting style to deal with a single weapon. Though the silver haired Sith couldn't help but wonder why the second blade was left unused, perhaps as a backup or to take her by surprise?

Either way Jorryn refused to let it out of her sight.

"No training sabers today?" The rhetorical question came out in a light and humorous tone, knowing the other acolyte's disinterest in using anything less than combat ready in training.

The Echani smirked as she pulled her own lightsaber from where it carefully laid on a table nearby, her hand deftly pulling it away into her grip with a slight nudge of the force. Her amber eyes stayed glaring with anticipation into her opponent's as she sauntered over to the sparring circle, igniting the blade with a flamboyant motion.

She lifted the blade in front of her face, the red glow emanating against Jorryn's pale features. Her free hand slid it's way into the waistband of her pants, using the material to hold the right hand back for convenience with her fighting style. Keeping the off-hand folded behind her back provided the girl with balance, allowing her to properly motion herself around without having to worry about what her free arm was doing.

Keeping the hand seemingly out of the fight would also hopefully give her an advantage akin to the woman's extra saber, hoping to draw attention away from worrying about the right arm so if she decided to swap dominant hands it would throw off the Zabrak.

Holding the blade in front of her face, she stood smirking as she waited for [member="Vaylin"] to throw the initial strike against her. In their multiple encounters, Jorryn hadn't seen enough of the girl's fighting in order to understand the form she used. Taking a defensive stance was risky if she started with hard-hitting attacks, though it was necessary in order for the white haired acolyte to judge what form or style her opponent was using.

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin smirked at the comment about training lightsabers, remembering her comments about the weapon back during the little 'acolyte and knight gathering' that had happened not too long ago. The Zabrak was very much in support of just using actual lightsabers when training, they were a dangerous weapon to wield and if you were going to be taught to use one, it should be with the genuine article right away.

Then again...she had also seen the state of the would-be acolytes training with the training blades. So maybe it was a good thing they weren't using them, otherwise Force knows they'd have most of the trainees die before they even got any further.

She pushed those thoughts aside, focusing on the duel instead. Vaylin noted how Jorryn's eyes lingered on her second lightsaber, if only for a moment. But it was enough to realize it was on the Echani's mind now. It was a lesson [member="Aria Vale"] had taught her, one of the more subtle things. That when you use one of your two weapons; or in Aria's case only one blade, then it puts a lingering through in your opponent.

Why are they not using it too? What are they planning?

It kept them on edge even before the first blows were dealt.

Vaylin quirked an eyebrow as Jorryn placed her free hand behind her, out of the Zabrak's view. A small smirk appeared across her lips, recognizing the even playing field that had been set out. She slid into a stance, legs shifting into place and body angled and coiled to strike. Vaylin ignited her blade, bringing it up to her face mimicking the Echani.

But rather than entering a specific lightsaber form, Vaylin lurched forwards slashing towards Jorryn's waist.

Only to feint out of it and bring it up higher to the Echani's shoulder.

[member="Jorryn Fordyce"]​

 

[Adriana Fortemps]

Her stance loosened from it's initial footing where she had taken to, the hand beginning to float instead of stay sturdy in front of Jorryn's face. She was hoping that her partner would throw the first strike, but the worry of a second blade had her ready a more fluid form instead of what she was traditionally used to. Most of the trainees at the academy made their advantages clear and easy to counter, but being unable to tell when the Zabrak would draw the blade left her at a disadvantage.

The Echani returned her opponent's smirk with a playful grin of her own as she watched the woman copy her pose, amused by the mirroring of her form.

Jorryn waited for Vaylin to throw her first strike, the crimson blade falling a bit forwards in order to allow her to properly defend any strike that would be thrown at her. She didn't want to be caught poorly by the first strike thrown in the fight after propping herself up as a experienced duelist.

Her right foot drew back as her opponent's blade made its way towards the Echani's hip, her hand pointing downwards as it raised to her collarbone. The blade she held followed her hand as it aimed downwards to deflect the initial strike that Vaylin had thrown, but it hadn't counted for the feint that came after.

The foot managed to cease it's drifting as Jorryn quickly planted it in the floor again, forcing her body downwards to the right in order to avoid the blade as she brought her own saber upwards to throw it away.

Her other hand stayed patiently resting against her back as she was forced into an awkward position, though hopefully knocking the girl's blade would let her regain proper footing.

[member="Vaylin"]​