Private Study Buddy

[Iris Arani]

Iris seemed more surprised that it worked than anything. Given how Kai Bamarri talked about her punching him, she figured he'd be sturdier built. Which just meant she was seen as even weaker than she assumed. Her pout returned as she crouched beside him. She was looking over to make sure he wasn't actually hurt despite the pout at least.

<I'll keep that in mind. .. You okay though?>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

He sensed her approaching. When she crouched down beside him, he grabbed her and attempted to wrestle her to the ground. He was careful not to use too much force, but just enough that he should be able to pin her.

<I'm fine. But now you're not!> His "tone" was playful. <I told you to take advantage while I was down, but you didn't listen. Now I've taken advantage of you.>

To Kai all of this was a game, but it was a game that mimicked real life. It had rules, which he was trying to teach to Iris so that she could use that knowledge for her own defense. He was like a puppy playing with another pup, their wrestling and rough-housing serving to train them for survival.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Huh?" And just like that Iris was taken down. She'd completely let her guard down, so much that she actually voiced her confusion. Kai Bamarri pinned her down? The pout now had a glare as her eyes flicked towards him. <That's cheating!> She huffed, reaching up to try and push him off of her. Though as annoyed as she looked at first, she couldn't help but grin. In a way this was a lot of fun, the type she'd been too lost in her own world to even think about.

In her fumbling to try and push him off she reached out for something else. Really she was trying to use the fumbling as a distraction as she called over her lightsaber to press it against his abdomen as soon as she caught it. If it worked, quite the smug grin would take over.

 

[Kai Bamarri]

While Iris began to feebly struggle, Kai simply adjusted his grip. She was going to have to be cleverer than that to escape him. When he felt the hilt of her saber press against his gut, he was happy for her. She was learning.

<There you go! Now you've got me. I have no choice but to get up, or you'll run me through.> Accordingly, he leaped to his feet, seizing his lightsaber again. <And we would resume the fight, just like that.>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

He was having a lot of fun with this. She was too, but she was starting to realize just what Kai Bamarri was teaching her. To act without hesitation, to trust her instincts. The first was what stood out most. If that's how this was, then.. As Kai leapt to his feet to jump away, she followed. She didn't give him a second, instead leaping after him as he called for his saber. Her own ignited as she struck out.

This was what he was trying to teach her, so she should show him just what he she learned?

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Iris seemed to be getting the hang of it now. Kai matched her as she struck, blades crashing together, setting a staccato rhythm. She had overcome her shortcomings, namely her hesitation, and they were now well-matched.

Since he was still a student himself, he had little more to teach her than this. But no doubt her master would continue her training. Kai did not have that luxury.

<How did you become Valery's apprentice?> he asked as they practiced, swinging his blade toward her side. It was simple curiosity - he'd been assigned a master, but the arrangement didn't work out. Evidently for Iris it had, unless she had not been assigned so much as chosen.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Back and forth, on par. Was it really just her hesitation that had her so easily out matched before? A more.. Calm smile formed as she danced with Kai Bamarri , letting their blades clash as she got more and more of a feel for actual saber combat. Did he know just how much he helped?

<How did you become Valery's apprentice?>

The question came as a surprise. Her eyes widened as she looked back towards him, forgetting that they were still sparing. If not for her letting the Force take over as she had been, she wouldn't of caught the strike for her side. There was.. A sadness in her gaze. Her blade lowered. <Ah.. Accident, really.> She danced around the subject, but why? Even her saber dimmed to a shade of blue. Domxite always shared her emotional state.

<You're not the first to remind me that I shouldn't spray paint things carelessly.> Why was it so hard to tell Kai? She told perfect strangers what happened without any issue. Or was it because she wasn't as numb to what she was feeling anymore? <I was put in a slave collar and was going to be sold off. Valery saved me from that.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai's brow furrowed at her somewhat cryptic answer. So she had been a slave up for auction when Valery found her. His own (false) records also claimed he was a rescued slave - and while that was a lie, it as not too far from the truth. He was an escaped experiment, really, a child that had been taken and toyed with, subject to the twisted whims of a Sith Lord.

But what did Iris' past as a slave have to do with spray painting?

<Were you born a slave, or were you captured?> he asked. Then, a little sheepishly, he added, <You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to. I was just curious.>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

<No, not born a slave. Captured for painting the side of a slaver's base on a Jedi trip, actually. I've been part of the order for a couple years now, just, never paid much attention to things. Always distracted by the colors.> Now that she was talking about it, she didn't feel a reason to stop. Instead she hooked her blade on her waist, moving to sit where Kai Bamarri had before. To look out at the city.

<I wandered off from the class, got caught, and Valery found me. She rescued a couple others that were there with me and when we brought them somewhere safe she offered to take me on.> Iris smiled more warmly at that memory, her gaze falling to watch her legs swaying. <I've been very lucky.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<I'm a rescue, too,> he admitted, sheathing his weapon as Iris seemed to lose interest in their sparring for the time being. <Only not so lucky.>

He sat beside her, letting his legs dangle from the roof, unafraid of the many-stories drop below. Kai wanted to tell her his story as well, but there wasn't much that he could afford to reveal. It was simply too dangerous. Even if she did accept whatever he confided in her, that confidence could be exploited by others.

<I've never really had a master. I was rescued by a Jedi Padawan - he made me want to be a Jedi. But even when he was knighted, he didn't take me as his apprentice. He took on... somebody else.> The "somebody else" was someone he clearly held in contempt. <I've been assigned masters by the Order, but it never worked out. Either they had to go away, or they said they couldn't train me for one reason or another. Master Aeris told me I could think of her as my master, but it's not official, and she already has an apprentice anyway...>

He was communicating in a stream of consciousness, his thoughts tumbling out as if a dam had been breached. These were troubles he'd harbored for a long time now, but which he'd never spoken of to anyone else before.

<Sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you all this.> He paused, looking at Iris. <Valery seems like a good teacher.>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Not so lucky? Iris turned her gaze back to Kai Bamarri , watching him. Actually watching him. That's right. Under all the colors she saw from him, from anyone, people had their own stories and lives. Histories. It'd never occurred to her to ask about someone's past. She'd never been curious before. Now? Not just Kai. What was Valery's past like? She didn't wonder for long, though, as Kai continued.

He was hurt. Not physically, but she could see there was something truly sad in his thoughts. There was likely more to it, but he didn't seem like he wanted to say more. Iris didn't pry. Instead, she did the only thing she could think of. She got up slightly, more to her knees. When she told Valery everything she was feeling, the fear and pain of being captured, the woman hugged her.

So Iris pulled him into a warm embrace.

<You can tell me whatever you feel comfortable telling me. I'll listen.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai was quick to accept her hug, returning the embrace. He was used to this by now. Aeris had given him a hug when they first met. Everyone seemed to want to hug him, to comfort him and tell him it was okay. He appreciated their kindness and compassion.

But comfort could only get him so far. What he craved went beyond mere sympathy and pity. He wanted an end to this loneliness. Though perhaps he didn't know it, he was searching for his double - his own doppelganger - even as he copied the people around him, imitating their ways. He wanted someone who was truly like him, and understood what it meant to be this... creature that he was.

Unfortunately, that was unlikely to ever happen, and Iris, sweet and well-meaning as she was, wasn't a contender for the role.

He rubbed Iris' arm as she held him. <I can't tell you everything. But I'm not like other people. Things are more complicated for me, because I don't... I can't fit into the mold of what a Jedi is, no matter how much I want to be like the rest. It doesn't matter who I blame for it, them or me. It's just the way things are.> His thumb idly traced circles against her skin. <I was born alone, and for a thousand years I will live alone. And when I die, I will become one with the Force. When that happens, I just hope it will all have some meaning.>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

<Is it because of what you really look like?> Iris tilted her head curiously as she watched Kai Bamarri in their hug. It never stood out to her, and the only reason she brought it up was curiosity. Some research in things that could change their shape to match others. <I don't think there's really a mold for being Jedi. You want to help people, right?> She gave a pretty simple, bright smile. To her, this was just that simple.

<So long as you're true to yourself, I don't think it matters if you're like other Jedi. You want to help people.> The tyrant orb being the one that stood out. Perhaps that's why she hung around him so much. She couldn't understand everything about him or anyone else for that matter, nor could she understand his reasoning to try and plead with the dark creature that in turn tried to kill him.

She would have done the same if she had been there first. Though, her gaze softened. Everything about her softened. That feeling of being alone, of wanting someone to understand. Her reasons were different, but it was something she understood. Her grip tightened as she leaned her head down towards his shoulder.

<People might not be able to understand everything, but you're not alone. So long as there are people who want to try and understand, you're not alone.> Despite what she said, it sounded more like she was talking to herself than him.

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<Is it because of what you really look like?>

<No.> He smirked a little as she brought up his "true" form. <Being a shapeshifter is the least of my problems.>

<I don't think there's really a mold for being Jedi. You want to help people, right? So long as you're true to yourself, I don't think it matters if you're like other Jedi. You want to help people.>

Kai stayed silent. She sounded a lot like Master Aeris. Like Iris, she was adamant that anyone could be a Jedi, and that there was no true standard to live up to. But Kai knew better. He had felt the jagged edges of the limits to who or what could be a true Jedi, cutting into his palms as he reached for knighthood, too weighted down by his failings to progress. At least, that was why he assumed he couldn't get a master, why the taint of corruption still clung to him no matter what he did.

Was it truly a war without end, this conflict against evil and darkness? Would he never be able to rest, knowing that he had made it to the other side?

The last thing she said, almost to herself, drew his attention. He shook his head, setting his jaw.

<I am alone, Iris.>

Reaching out, he touched the side of her head, his thumb pressing against her temple and his fingers in her hair. With that contact, and the fixed stare of his eyes upon hers, he gave her a glimpse into what he was. A Bamarri, born from lightning striking marble. Fatherless, motherless, without kin of any kind. A unique being, his existence was proof that no matter how well-explored their universe might be, it was still full of mysteries. Kai was one such unknown.

The glimpse was brief, but intense and possibly even frightening. Kai retreated, releasing his hold on her and lowering his gaze. She might sense a lingering taste of metal in her mouth, like the twang in the atmosphere during a thunderstorm.

<See?>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

She really wasn't in a place to say he wasn't alone. She didn't know what it was to be a friend, to have one. She wasn't even sure if she herself wasn't alone. Iris's gaze had lowered, her arms pulling back from Kai Bamarri . If she wasn't sure if she could say something, then she probably wasn't. Then a flash. Her eyes widened as she got.. Memories? His memories? There was no fear in her reaction to what she'd seen. If anything, she was curious.

"Pretty.."

She whispered her words before her gaze refocused on him. She wasn't sure on a lot of things, but that brief memory made one thing clear enough for her.

<I might not understand, but.. I want to. If you're alright with that, at least.> Her gaze turned away as she looked out to the city again. <I won't force anything on anyone.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

"Pretty..."

Kai's eyebrows rose, surprised by her reaction. But the shock was brief. His countenance softened, and he even smiled a little, bemused by this strange little girl who was so easily distracted by pretty colors.

She wanted to understand, and that was kind of her. She had good intentions. But good intentions were not the same as actions, and they had already discussed the impossibility of complete understanding.

Still, he would give her a chance.

<Okay.> It was clearly an invitation, an I'd like to get to know you. Perhaps they would become friends, at least, and that wasn't so bad a thing.

Iris Arani​