Sweat, blood and tears

[Lunara Azure]

There was a purity to that burn you could feel cutting deep into your muscles, the sweat plastering your hear back, the ragged draw of breath being dragged into your lungs. It was a good feeling, a sign that you'd pushed yourself to the limit and survived...or something like that. Lunara was half sure that the members of the Praetorian were having a laugh with her, pulling her leg, after all, who would want to end up like this, doubled over in the middle of the courtyard struggling for air while the members of the guard seemed like they'd hardly been affected by the run. Come to think of it they were laughing at some joke....they hadn't been affected.

The young woman forced herself up straight, one hand automatically going up to her sweat soaked white hair, singers running through the ponytail as she gave them a stony look, rewarded by indulgent smiles. She knew they didn't expect her to run with them, to keep up with them but...well she'd had a lot of titles thrust upon her, Bishop, Archon, Princess. So many titles that she didn't deserve, she'd heard the whispers in the palace, the light was a particularly cruel tool in that way, but she was determined that at least one title she'd earn, that she'd show them that she belonged...only well look at them. These were the best fighters in the Imperium, and then there was her. She barely managed to suppress the groan slipping from her lips as she sank down onto a nearby stone bench, her hand reaching out for a moment to pull a water bottle to herself before she realised what she was doing and forced herself to her feet. Using the light would have been cheating, it would have made everything she was trying to do pointless, one hand came up, brushing away an errant strand of hair as she padded towards the box of bottles, if she was going to do this she'd do it properly.

[member="Atheus"]

 

[Garza]

"Can you believe this? The little girl is trying to be like us."
"Trying? She can't even keep up!"
"Give her some credit. You ain't seen other girls do this."
"I don't know why someone of the Church such as her would do this though."
"Because you mock her."

My voice broke through the little group of soldiers that were making comments about the woman who had been thrust into a situation not her own. I knew she was one of my blood. Not directly, but one that clearly had the makings of one of my kind. For them to mock her and the state she was put into due to marriage, sickened me. I moved past them all without speaking another word to them. There was no need to, and I was not required too. In fact, you could say that they worked for me. Despite this, I walked out from where I stood. I was garbed in my armor and with a sword on my side. Held in my right hand was a strangely different kind of spear.

The young woman, I had been asked by the Royal family to aid with in her studies. Be it of the force, or of education. Considering I had taught Jedi, and Sith alike in my past, they knew I could teach both sides of the coin. I joined her side as she reached for some water. Replenishing her spent hydration.

"Lunara I assume?"

Off hand extending out to grab her forearm. Much akin to the Hellyni and their customs. I was unsure if she knew them due to her heritage, or if her half-blood would be influenced enough of her life, that she didn't have that deep a connection. Despite this, I offered anyways.

"Atheus."

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

The whispers, they got even here, the woman's cheeks flushing red with embarrassment as she kept her eyes staring straight ahead as she heard footsteps approaching behind her, another one of the runners coming for their bottle of water. The bottle in her hands was cool, drops of water beading on the surface of the bottle, running down the surface of the bottle to run against her fingers as she felt the water slipping down her throat as she closed her eyes, a pleasant sensation after the dryness left over after the run. As much as she'd thought her life had turned out like a fairytale, as much as her family and everyone beyond the palace walls had a similar view, she'd never imagined what life would be like after the curtain fell, none of the stories ever touched on that. This was perhaps one of those times that she most appreciated the fact that her heritage had led her away from telepathy, to be able to hear the thoughts of the crowd as well as the whispers might perhaps have been too much. Except they'd stopped while she'd been caught up in her thoughts, her mind racing back, replaying the words that had flowed around her mere moments ago.

The voice that cut through the whispers wasn't one she knew, the white-haired woman twisted on one foot, blue eyes flicking back towards the man walking through the crowd of soldiers, the crowd parting around him like a field of corn. She'd seen him around before, one more face amongst the multitude, Lunara's white teeth sank into the soft flesh of her lower lip for a moment as she tried to place him. A distant relative of the Imperial family from beyond the Imperium...the man's name eluded her. Not that that was a problem, the man introducing himself with an outstretched hand, something she'd seen around the palace and in the church before. The corners of her lips curled up into the faintest ghost of a smile as she clasped his forearm, or tried to, her arm looking small next to his, the digits of her hand unable to encircle his arm, her pale skin standing out against the man's tanned flesh. Lunara tilted her head back, the faintest light of amusement dancing in the back of her eyes as she let the smile grow just that little bit stronger on her face a hint of playful teasing in her voice. "It seems like you have me at a disadvantage, you've already introduced the both of us so...you've not really left me with much to say."

[member="Atheus"]​

 

[Garza]

"If you ever find yourself in a disadvantage, learn to use your skills to tip it back in your own favor."

The woman was dainty compared to me. Secondary to that, her skin was like snow against my sun-kissed skin. Even then, Her words were true to her lineage. I had a faint smirk on my face as we met one another. She seemed confused for some part of who I was. I could tell that from her body language. Eyes scanning me as though I were prey. However, I would leave her to discover that on her own.

"Mind not the voices in the distance. They aim to steal your focus. As heir to the throne, it would be best to take their words in stride. Hear them, but do not heed them."

Just a very small tidbit that I had learned from a long life of having people speaking behind my back. Having quite the past, it tended to follow you wherever you went. With so much put upon her after her wedding to the prince, I knew she would be worried about their words and voices. How they would judge her. The thing is, Dumb people speak, Intelligent people listen, but those who rise above, imagine. Releasing her arm, as surely my hand could almost nearly reach from thumb to finger around her forearm, I took a step back and bowed my head slightly to respect her position.

"I have been asked to teach you in whatever ways I can. I am not your Master, so don't call me that. By names or teacher is good enough for me. Do you want to start now, or shall we speak more of one another?"

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

Mind not the voices in the distance. ​

It was a short phrase, no more than 6 words, but that didn't make it any less true for that brevity. It was perhaps the core of handling any situation, to not care about the whispers that echoed around the corridors of power. To develop a thick skin, and she'd tried, but ignoring the looks and the whispers was harder than she'd ever thought. She'd never had to develop those kinds of defences before, not really, there was the gossip at school but that was a small thing mostly about the physical or a habit that could be dismissed. This was about something else, this was about her very competance.

Even since graduating Lunara had never had to worry about being good enough, she knew that the Church had coddled her, but she'd been one of them, part of a team. Now though, she wasn't, she was alone and din't really belong anywhere. In the past she'd always been able to dismiss those whispers cause she knew they were wrong, but now...now she couldn't help but agree with them. She was in over her head, it was that simple. She'd soen hours at night just lying in bed listening to Marcus breathing next to her and wondering how it was she'd managed to end up so out of her head. That was when the tears would come, in the middle of hte night when no-one could see them, or at least had the good manners to pretend that the didn't know. It's what drove her out here, that deesperate urge to belong somewhere, to not feel so alone.

It was probably foolish, a small affection to weakness on her part but, at least she was doing something, taking some action in the situation. The thoughts, the reflections, passed through the young woman's head in a heartbeat, her leg takin a step back as she dropped her head into a nod, mirroring Atheus' gesture, the mark of respect between equals. "Wait really, I can't call you master," her lips curled up into a mock pout for a moment, only the twinkling of her eyes giving the lie to the look on her face. "That's a shame, I've always wondered what it was like in the rest of the galaxy." She'd heard the stories, who in the Imperial court hadn't, and Atheus knew better than most how the galaxy was set up. "Well then, I guess...I'll call you professor." It was the kind of wordplay she loved, Hellynic and Basic sharing the same word, one of those times people could never be sure if you were teasing or not. Calling the man Atheus while he was teaching seemed disrespectful, and teacher reminded her too much of being at school again. "I've always heard the best way to get to know someone is by actually doing..." and it wasn't like it was going to stop her talking in her nervousness she allowed to herself, making an effort to stop he eyes from darting to look at the guard resting in the courtyard, keeping her gaze instead focused on the man's face.

[member="Atheus"]​

 

[Garza]

She seemed lost for a mere heartbeat before coming back. Bowing to me back out of respect. The quips from this woman surprised me for a moment. As a woman of the Church, I would have expected her to be all up tight and strict. I was incorrect to assume so. However, I only took it in stride. Even the comment of how she couldn't experience her teachings like everyone else in the Galaxy. This quip was likely coming from a darker place of thought, or she naturally was filled to the brim with wit. I had to think it may have been a little of both.

"Call me professor, and I may have to give you homework."

With a small smirk at my own retort, as well as handing her this peculiar spear, I went ahead and got right into it. She spoke of learning through the training, and not talking. I still had a feeling she wanted to prove herself to me. Which was fine. She wanted to prove she was worth being taught. However, those the truly needed lessons to become better, were the people who lacked any skill at all. No, more so, I was beginning to believe, that she was going to use these lessons and teachings as a way to better herself not just on the field, but in the courts themselves.

"I was told you have a thing for longarms. Spear, Bo, Quarterstaff, and the like. Called a friend of mine to make a special one for you."

Handing her the spear, The bright golden tone of the weapon was quite unusual for a weapon of war. More so, in this context alone, it was good that the weapon was golden in hue. In fact, this would help her fight those that were against "The Light" as they called it. She fought Dark Sided Force users. At least, that is what she was trained to do from the church. Little did she know, I too, was a part of it.

"Let me see what you can do."

Reaching behind my back, around my hip, was a sheath. Pulled from there was a Kopis. A sword design that was used as the main offhand weapon for many Hellyni forces. Well, that was before they got a knack for Lightsabers. The recurved sword of mine faintly glowed. Merely holding this weapon made my blood rush through my system. I could almost feel the adrenaline starting to move through my veins. My right hand shaking ever so little from the sudden fluxuation of energy. I rolled the metallic shoulder of mine before taking a number of steps back.

"If you want to learn of me, you will need to hit me."

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

"If you want to learn of me, you will need to hit me." ​

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Oh, is that all I need to do? Well then that’s nothing, I thought you were going to make this a challenge.” Lunara took a few steps back, clearing a sizable distance between the two of them, far enough away that she wasn’t worried that he was going to be on her right away with that sword of his…well not too worried, she corrected herself. That glow on the weapon couldn’t be a good sign, the woman might not have been in that many physical fights herself, but she knew enough to say that when a weapon was glowing then there was probably something more going on than just a light show. As focused on the weapon as she was, it was impossible not to notice the man’s hand shaking, the woman taking a step back before she managed to stop herself, her hands tightening around the shaft of her spear. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The spear itself was different from any weapon she’d ever seen before, the shaft smooth, the workings on the weapon golden, ornate, the kind of weapon you only saw in the most ancient of families armouries.“Oh…um..thank you…it’s an amazing gift. Especially for someone you’ve never met, must be some favour your friend owed you.” Lunara couldn’t stop herself from running her fingers over the smooth shaft of the weapon, admiring the build, the balance of the weapon. There was something about it, a tingle to her skin as she settled the weapon in her hands, spinning it on its axis. “You know, if getting homework means I get toys like this then maybe I wouldn’t totally be averse to that. I’ve been wondering about getting a dog, homework might be just the push I need.” She let the blade of the sphere dance into a figure eight, fighting the urge to twirl the spear like a baton. “Well, a spear’s nice cause it gives me a little room to breathe, and you know, its,” the blade of the spear danced out towards Atheus, her body swinging around to stand shoulder on to him as she put her body's momentum into the strike, “easy to surprise people.” She didn’t expect to actually be able to hit the man right now but…you never knew your luck. More than one warrior had fallen to a small slip, a moment of bad luck, at least that’s what the stories she used to read would lead her to believe, and you could always trust what you heard in stories...right? And if not, making the first probe would at least move the momentum of the fight into her favour, at least that's what her trainers had always said, especially when using a longer reaching weapon. Besides, if the warrior had been asked to train her, she didn't want to start the whole thing off by not giving it her best shot. Especially after he had [/SIZE]already stood up to the guard without even knowing her.

[member="Atheus"]​

 

[Garza]

Oh I could feel her eyes playing against me. Her look of suspension towards the sword that glowed softly in my hand. Very little did the hand shake, but so too, did the rush of emotions I could feel. It felt liberating. The Wonder that the woman felt. The suspicion of my prowess. The confidence in herself. Even more so, I found that the sword itself emitted Anticipation, Fear, Agony, and Valor. It felt so refreshing to hold in my hands once more. However, I stood there silently as she spoke.

Mentioning the favor must have been a great one to be able to make a weapon of such design. I shrugged my shoulders lightly at her comment. Even as I could feel the desire to fight swell suddenly within her, I smiled. The point of the spear swinging around from the distance. Merely lifting my left hand, A loud clash of metal, and the closing of my fist around the blade made quite the impression to her, that this would be no easy feat for her. My metallic hand could easily hold the blade as I stood there and answered.

"Some people, sure. And the weapon is of no consequence. Trust me, you will need it more than you think."

I slowly released the spearhead and pushed it away from me. I shrugged my shoulder a little, and took my right hand, still holding the sword, and wrapped it around my back. Placing the blade flush with my spine.

"No. A spear only give you breathing room, if you know how to keep your foe at bay. Either by offense, using the terrain and environment to your advantage, or defensive tactics such as kiting. A simple swipe, will do naught against someone who knows better."

A nod, to indicate for her to try again.

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

Well, this wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped it would be then was it? Try as she might Lunara hadn’t been able to pull the spear free from Atheus’ grasp as he held the weapon still as if it were frozen in the air. The metal blade was only freed when the dark-haired man chose, easily pushing the spear blade back as the woman took a step backwards, her lips compressing into a thin line of frustration as a pair of bright blue eyes stared at him.

Sure, she wasn’t the best fighter, that much had been made blindingly obvious to her back when she had first taken combat lessons at the Campus. Back then, in fact throughout the course of her life that hadn’t proved to be a major problem to her, after all, she’d always had the light to fall back on, her more esoteric powers a crutch for her lack of physical ability. Oh, she’d trained hard as any student, still did, a regimen that was easily the match for most legionnaire’s in the Imperium, but against a real fighter, well she’d never been fast or strong enough, she’d always lacked that spark of ruthlessness. Even now she could sense the light, a vast sea of energy that surrounded them, tempting her to just reach out, see if Atheus would be able to handle a touch of fire, or a sliver of ice so easily. She almost gave in, her mind reaching out to that familiar energy for a moment, feeling it surround her as if she’d dived into a warm pool. The young woman held the energy for a long heartbeat before she forced it away, letting out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in a sigh as she resettled her shoulders, tightening her grip on the spear.

"You know, that’s a pretty nice party trick there, I bet you’re a real hit at festivals and galas,” a smile touched Lunara’s lips as she started to circle Atheus slowly working her way towards the stone bench she’d been settled on mere minutes earlier. The professor had admonished her to use the terrain to her advantage but the piece of garden furniture was perhaps the best obstacle she could find at the moment. “I bet it really impresses the ladies if you can catch a sword or knife that easily.” The ease with which the man had caught hold of the spear had been impressive…not that she’d ever admit it to him of course, she still wanted to pull off an upset and beat him. “You never know how good your opponent is unless you test him, throw something basic at him to see how he reacts right?” As she walked the woman’s hip brushed the shaft of her spear, knocking the blade out of line with the man. A grimace touched her face as she swung the blade back into line, the gold ornaments glinting as they caught the sunlight. The grimace morphed into a small grin as she span her body into the motion, the spear moving faster as she let the head of the weapon drop, using the cutting edge of the blade to slash at his legs.

[member="Atheus"]​

 

[Garza]

Oh was this woman tempting me. She used her words to seep into my skin. She wanted me to react and talk to her with such open abandon, that I may just spill. A smirk quickly found it's way upon my face as she began to kite me. Using what she could to get any kind of advantage as she spoke. Namely about how the basic forms of strikes was to test me, and that I must have been a hoot at some parties.

"You expect much of me Azure. I am but a simple man."

As she attempted to strike down at my legs, Even with the blade behind my back, I twisted to the side. Her blade barely making contact with my armored shin. I shook my head. She was fast with her spear. Slightly faster than I had anticipated. So I would have to fortify myself.

"Very well. I will spill one thing of information as promised."

I moved myself to stand facing her now, instead of the angle I was at. Bring my sword forward with my off hand hovering just beside it. Ready to strike, or defend if needed.

"I was once held captive by a warring nation on Hora. For years I was tortured, and when released, I left the planet of Hora to explore the galaxy."

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

"Many things you might be Professor Voidwalker, but I highly doubt that anyone has ever called you simple." The answering smirk on the woman's lips was only marred ever so slightly by the grimace of annoyance that flashed across her face. She'd been so sure that she'd got him with that strike, the trick, using her hip check to impart a little extra burst of speed would have been more than enough to handle most of the other graduates of the Campus she might face. Although now she thought about it, it might not really have been enough to take care of the guards who were making a great show of loitering with purpose around the courtyard. It was a slightly unsettling thought, the fact that almost anyone else present in the courtyard could probably beat her in a fight with one hand tied behind their back. That wasn't really the situation you wanted to be in when dealing with soldiers you were, nominally, supposed to share in the command of.

Still her attack had been fast enough to at least glance off [member="Atheus"]'s armour, the ringing sound of metal striking metal a small consolation to the white-haired young woman as she reset her stance, spear blade dancing in the air infront of Atheus. Dancing incront of him for a moment anyway before it dropped down, surprise blossoming on her features. Years of torture?! The woman wasn't able to stop herself, her blue eyes flicking over to the bared flesh of the man's arms, as if she could see the after effects of the torture right there. Confusion clouded her features as her gaze travelled up to his face, her voice soft, "But why? Why would anyone do that, torture someone for years?" Her own captivity had been for little more than a day, and there had been no real torture beyond the captivity and vague threats until the Acolytes had tried to posesses her. That had been nothing as compared to the man's suffering, and he was still up and living his life. If she was honest, which she invariably tried to be in the confines of her head, Lunara wasn't entirely sure that she could have walked away from that with her sanity intact. Still, it put her problems into perspective didn't it?

Taking a deep breath she brought the spear back into line, a large part of her wanted to put up her weapon, to ask if Atheus was ok, to talk about what he'd just revealled but...that wasn't the nature of the lesson or their agreement. To stop now would be a battle of dishonour, for both him and herself. Trying to steady herself the woman flicked her spear forth in a series of strikes aimed aat the hovering off-hand as her nature asserted herself. "Are you ok? I mean, of course you're ok, look at you but...I mean you left your planet after it and everything so...I guess you might not really be. But thank you for trusting me with that." It was funny, that one admission had managed to shatter her calm, forcing her to take a moment to settle herself back down but...there were more depths to the professor than she'd thought. She'd jsut have to score some more hits, get to know him better.

 

[Garza]

The revelation of what I had gone through seemed to hit Lunara fairly hard. She seemed to stop focusing on the lesson and was more worried about my wellbeing. I felt my chest hurt a bit with her actions. To know that someone I had just met felt that way about such a situation, it made me feel less like the monster that I had once been. The person who would once, have easily killed someone like her just for a quick stack of credits. I lowered my head down to my chest as she thanked me for sharing such a thing.

Shrugging my shoulders, I looked up to her. Directly into her eyes. Indicating my left arm I continued to speak. May as well tell all about it.

"I was a test subject mostly. They attempted to make truth serums and so for many years, my left arm was in pain. It was difficult to use even after I left the planet. When I had gotten into a fight with a Gen'Dai, yes you will know who those people are, I had my arm mangled and broken in nearly every bone. So to prevent my death, I removed my own arm."

I twisted my arm around my side as though I could still feel the phantom pain of my broken limb, followed by its removal with a Lightsaber. Shaking my head, I smiled a bit.

"Lets just say I was not at the best of minds at that time. However, trust me. I am better from it. Worry not child. I still have fight for some time left in me."

Bringing my sword back up into a more defensive position, I nodded my head.

"Any more talking, will have to start with you making contact. Now, shall we?"

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

She knew that they were meant to be their cousins, their ancestors, a sister planet out there full of people just like them...well maybe not just like them, but as close as you could get in a galaxy like this. Only...that wasn't entirely true, Lunara didn't know if it had jsut been that one country, or if it was a more widespread ideal on the planet, but if she ever caught up with the people who thought that experimenting on people like that was a good idea, cousins or not, she was going to see them dealt with. It wasn't the fact that [member="Atheus"] was one of them now, it was just wrong to treat people like that, playthings to be used for your own sick and twisted experiments. The woman's left arm gave a twinge of it's own, twitching with a sympathetic pain she knew was caused by her own hyperactive imagination as she stepped to the side, sucking in a deep breath before she let it out.

"It doesn't exactly sound like you were quite ok then, but I am glad you're doing better now. Although you know I really have to question that when you're inviting me to attack you and beat you down more." She knew it was foolish, but a challenging statement like that couldn't really be met any other way now could it? A smile danced across her lips as the spear blade came up again, it's head catching the light as the woman let it drive forward at the centre of the man's chest, angling from side to side like a snake's head. "If that's the way you want to play it Professor, I hope that you're realy to spend all night buffing out the chips from your armour."

 

[Garza]

Oh the sass on this woman was quite the site to behold. Not quite the kind of person I would normally have been around in my own youth, but she was one of the few people who I found enjoyment out of in these little moments we barely knew one another. I shook my head at her statements. While she continued to call me, "Professor" I knew that the term was going to stick. Even if I didn't want it to be as such. I was already ready for her to come at me, instead, she was playing sass.

"This is no gala your highness. Words will not be what I am buffing out of my armor"

Two can play at that game. If she really wanted to go, then we can. However, she needed to train with her weapons. Not just her mouth, and voice.

"An invite to attack me, is for me to learn how much you know, and to show you how much you need to improve. At the moment...."

I made a dirty face about the lack of skill she seemed to have at the moment with her spear. Implying that she wasn't as good as her reputation made her out to be. Sure, she had shown some ability with it with some footwork, and the swipes, but nothing that would have been better than the other guards here. I am sure they would be more than able to take her on if I pulled one of them. In fact...

"If you don't start showing progress, I may have to trade you out for one of the guards."

[member="Lunara Azure"],

 

[Lunara Azure]

The white-haired woman's eyes narrowed, blue orbs staring at [member="Atheus"] through half-hooded eyes, teeth sinking into the soft flesh of her lower lip as a retort died on her lips as her hands tightened around the shaft of her spear. She had forgotten about the guards, unable to stop her eyes from dancing away from the man to the guards scattered around the courtyard in various degrees of repose, their eyes glued to the duelling pair. Unconsciously Lunara took a step backwards, the faintest hint of a blush colouring her cheeks as the spear point wavered in the air before she caught herself steadying the weapon.

She'd gotten so lost in the sparring, both the physical and mental back and forth that she'd actually forgotten where they were, and why they were here in the first place. It took her a few seconds to gather herself, sucking in a deep breath before she let it flow out of her body. "Isn't this training for a fight? Words are just as much a weapon as a spear is in a duel if they can pull your opponent off-guard. I'm just trying to give you the fullest experience." Still, he was right, and she was sure the guard would love the sight of her being dismissed in favour of one of them as a sparring partner for the Cardinal. She might not be the best fighter here, but she was going to make the Hora man eat those words before this was done. taking a quick two steps forward she let her blade thrust at the man's left shoulder as she continued her motion forward, hoping to take Atheus by surprise, foot lashing out in a snap kick at his leg as she swung the haft of her spear swing out at him, using the solid half as a club in an attempt to break past his defences with a flurry of attacks.