Private The Dancer's Reprise

[Lief]

Surrounded by the upper scions of society, with lilting orchestic music drifting through the theater, Eliphas Dune could almost make himself believe that he was back home on Empress Teta, among his noble family once more. In the fantasy it bubbled up around him, as he watched the dancers gracefully move about the stage, he'd never met Kal and he'd never discovered his Sensitivity. He'd continued on with his frankly unfulfilling existence, surrounded by trappings and hedonism.​

​

Even as it wormed its way through his mind though, he couldn't really connect with the idea. Simply put, it really just wasn't who he was. It had been nice to never have to want for anything, sure, and he did love his family dearly, but knowing the state of the Galaxy beyond the safety of their home had put it all into perspective for him. He couldn't live in ignorance.​

​

What he could do was enjoy the performance. He may have come here, chasing the tour, in search of Val Drutin for more than just a view of his act, but that didn't mean he couldn't support him in the process. Besides, he'd always rather enjoyed such fine things...​

​

Starlin Rand​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Val could usually be found between one of two seasonal jobs: as a dancer on Coruscant, or as a pilot-for-hire traveling the galaxy. In this particular case, the ballet company had gone on tour, which meant traveling the galaxy as a dancer.

Making their way through Alliance territory, they had roughly two performances per planet before moving on. Tonight it was the Bardottan stage—a planet with a great appreciation for the arts, and a slightly less than standard gravity. They were performing The White Queen, and it was quite a good production. Val made for a rather short Anakin, but then their Padme was a purple-skinned Twi’lek, so historical accuracy wasn’t of much concern. Tamara would’ve been an excellent alternative, but the company hated the idea of having a droid as their prima ballerina.

Instead, she was in the audience. Dressed just as well as the other patrons, Tamara blended right in with the crowds. Only a Force User, capable of detecting signs of life that a droid simply did not have, could tell what she was beneath the gossamer gown and diamond jewelry. She applauded during the curtain call, her clockwork heart buoyed by it all. Her programming allowed her to be happy with her lot, even if some part of her would always wish she could be the one on the stage.

After the show, while everyone else was filing out to the lobby, she headed backstage to find Val...

Lief​

 

[Lief]

When the night came to a close, and people began to file out of the theater, Eliphas scanned for a way backstage. The chances of him actually being allowed where the performers were unwinding were slim to none, no doubt he'd just be seen as just another audience member hoping to curry favour or meet with their favourite dancers. He imagined security was pretty tight in places such as these.​

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So instead he drew his mind to the lessons of his Master and rubbed together his hands. Hey, no time like the present to try out a new spell right? Speak clearly and with conviction, envision what it was he was hoping for, that usually made it work in some capacity.​

​

"So that this problem I might rectify, Ashla hide me from the Outer Eye..."​

​

Nothing happened. At least, he didn't feel any different, didn't look any different, no shimmer, no shift in the Force. Eliphas frowned, maybe he'd been too focused on not being overheard.​

​

He drew in a breath, focused through the Force which he swirled around himself, and then spoke it again.​

​

Okay, now he felt weird. When he glanced down he could barely make out an impression of himself. Was this how it looked for Starlin too, or had he just messed it up some? Well, only one way to really find out...​

​

Eliphas made his way toward the door backstage.​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Ah, the Spell of Invisibility! Just be careful not to bump into anything or anyone. Not exactly an easy task in the backstage area, which was filled with props and machinery that allowed illusions to supplement the performance onstage. Not to mention all the people running about cleaning and packing up or attending to the exhausted performers.

Tamara was an easy enough figure to spot, at least. She headed down a narrow passageway to a hallway lined with doors. Upon reaching one in particular, she knocked upon it in a particular way—three knocks, then a pause, followed by two more. The door opened at once to reveal a dressing room cluttered with elegantly dressed elites bearing gifts. Still in costume, Val pushed his way through the throng of admirers to reach her.

“Tamara, help!” he exclaimed dramatically. “I’m being eaten alive!”

She took hold of his extended arms and pulled him the rest of the way out. To be fair, she did encounter some resistance—nothing her HRD strength couldn’t handle, however. The pair promptly ran down the corridor, Val grabbing a long cloak from a costume rack along the way and sweeping it around his shoulders before escaping through a backdoor into the Bardottan night. His confused and incensed admirers attempted to follow, but were caught in a well-mannered crush in the doorway, their cries of “excuse me, pardon me” ringing out through the hallway beyond.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Though he'd only met her the once, as the crowds dwindled some and he approached the hallway which would bring him back to where the dancers were Eliphas became aware of Tamara's presence, or lack thereof. As he wound his way through the various individuals, navigating around props and stage pieces and busy hands, he kept her within his view and followed her out into a narrow passageway.​

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When she paused to knock upon one of the many doors which lined it, Eliphas hung back and observed from a few feet away. On the other side came an overwhelmed Val, surrounded by precisely what the boy was hoping not to come across as. With Tamara removing him from the room they soon picked up their pace, and Eliphas once once again set into motion to avoid losing them. He was glad he had the foresight to remain fairly close, and to set off when he did, because soon a stampede formed at his back, hindered only by the slender doorframe.​

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He followed the pair out into the warm night, the door opening and closing a second time as he did so. Then he shook off the Force, dissipating the illusion which had fallen over him, as he approached them. "I don't mean to be a bother," he breathed, voice soft and unassuming, "I had hoped to catch you before the show; I'd have called ahead, but I lost your frequency..."​

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Damn pitstop, gobbling up all of his gear.​

​

In the heat of the moment, Eliphas didn't even realize he hadn't stated the reason he was pestering them.​

​

Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"I don't mean to be a bother. I had hoped to catch you before the show; I'd have called ahead, but I lost your frequency..."

"Ahhh!"

Even though Eli was speaking quietly, Val still jumped and shrieked. Tamara just blinked at the sight of the Jedi Padawan, then smiled. "Hello Mr. Dune!"

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Val sputtered. Before he could get any answers, however, he heard his adoring fans approaching. "Quick! The speeder!"

He pointed to a vehicle even as he ran towards it, leaping into the driver's seat. Tamara followed, and presumably Eli as well, as they rose into the air to escape the crowds.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Hey Tamara" the boy responded as he tried to stifle a quiet chuckle at Val's unexpected outburst. Poor guy, seemed to be having a rough night of it with so many adoring fans. When he turned an accusatory set of questions his way though Eliphas paled. ​

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No room for him to respond, he found himself quickly ushered toward an air speeder, and well far be it for him to ignore the man he hurried into it alongside the others.​

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In their haste to evade the crowds, he had quite forgotten to reply and even those initial few moments safe in the air he sat there silently dumbfounded in the backseat.​

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Then he tore his eyes away from the remnants of the theater, and peeked sheepishly toward man and droid.​

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"I was looking for lessons" he squeaked, quite literally, as his hands sort of tangled together nervously in his lap. He'd quite forgotten how fleeting and unruly the man's emotions could be. "When I couldn't find you on Coruscant, I did a little bit of research and---"​

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The whole thing was stupid, wasn't it? He'd followed the poor man half way across the Core and for what? Lightsaber lessons? Now that he was here and saw just how flustered Val was it seemed like a foolish endeavour. "I really did mean to call ahead... I'm sorry, Sir."​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Oh! Okay." Val seemed to calm down considerably upon learning that Eli was only interested in lessons. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

Tamara looked concerned. "Val, you were supposed to—"

The speeder barreled down the airways at breakneck speed, sliding through a hairpin turn.

"That's Sir Knight to you. I didn't kill my master and fulfill the Rule of Two for nothing," Val said cheerfully. "I'd be happy to teach you some more. I should warn you though, I have my own style. I call it 'ballet fencing'..."

"But Val—" Tamara started to protest again, only to be cut off as the speeder barely pirouetted out of the way of several oncoming vehicles.

"...It's really just Makashi with jumping and kicking mixed in. Really tends to catch people off guard. Unpredictability in combat, you know—"

Bracing herself against the side of the speeder, Tamara blurted, "What about Lady Astapova?"

"Oh? Oh!"

Val slammed on the brakes and turned around, speeding off in a new direction. Little explanation was offered to the boy in the backseat as Val focused on reaching his destination as fast as possible, and Tamara tried to make sure her skirts didn't fly up over her head from the velocity. In no time at all, they reached a very expensive hotel. Val skidded into a parking space and leaped out of the speeder, already running toward the entrance. Then he stopped, turned around, and called out, "I'll be out in a few minutes! Find somewhere around here, a big open space to practice in!" He gestured broadly with his arms, then hurried inside.

Tamara smoothed her dress and rested her hands on her hips, watching him go. "Well then," she murmured. "I suppose we had better find a place, Mr. Dune."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Just like Tamara, Eliphas found himself unable to get a word in edge ways as they zipped through the skyline back and forth at a startling pace. After a few attempts he simply gave up and just waited for Val to exhaust himself or run out of things to say, a veritable whirlwind this one. One he found himself easily caught up in though.​

​

At talks of killing his Master, the boy sort of stared at the back of his head in surprise. A joke, right? That was a joke..? He had no clue what the rule of two was, he hadn't exactly gotten too far in his studies where the Sith were concerned, so he didn't entirely know what was being eluded to. Then came talks of his saber style, and the additions he'd made to it, all the while the poor HRD was trying to press him about something.​

​

When she finally said her piece the entire speeder was turned around at break-neck speed, and he had to reach out and grasp onto the door to keep from being flung about.​

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Val hopped out once they came to a screeching halt, leaving him with Tamara and instructions to find somewhere suitable to set up shop.​

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Thoroughly dizzied by the entire exchange, Eliphas slipped out of the speeder and looked at Tamara. Then at their surroundings. "Fancy place," he remarked, of the hotel, "Come on, they'll have a garden somewhere around here." They always did. Wide open spaces that weren't typically in heavy use, it was a way for the fancy folks of the Galaxy to flex their wealth. Look at all this space we have, it said, so much that we don't even know what to do with it.​

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It was one of those things that he'd found disconcerting once the rose tinted glasses had been shattered.​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“A garden?” Tamara inclined her head. “Wouldn’t somewhere with flat, even ground be a better place to fight in? Like a ballroom, or a gymnasium?” Shaking her head, she sighed. “It is your choice, Mr. Dune. I believe they have a garden up on the roof of the building.” She pointed upward.

Meanwhile, Val crept around the hotel lobby, stretching out with his senses. There—a familiar female presence entering the elevator. He darted inside just before the doors could close, grabbed the woman’s hand, and swept her into a low dip. No easy task, given that she was quite a bit taller than him in heels.

Lady Anesha Astapova gave a startled shriek, then laughed when she saw who it was. “Valentin!”

The other occupant of the lift, an elderly woman, glanced over at the two of them in confusion before hurriedly exiting at the first opportunity, muttering under her breath, “These new money weirdos…”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Oh..."​

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Eliphas frowned ever so slightly, and tried to push back the creeping blush which threatened to overtake his face. "I wasn't sure they'd want us messing around with sabers inside..." He'd thought Val wanted them to find somewhere outside, not inside.​

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Now he realized he'd probably thought wrong. After all, Tamara knew the man far better than he did. He'd only met the mad dancer once.​

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"Uh... Do you know where there might be either of those?" he inquired of her, as he made his way up the steps and into the building proper, "I've never been here before."​

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No chit.​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

On the contrary, Tamara's eyebrows rose. "That is a good point," she assented. "I must admit, Val does not think much about these matters. In his mind, whatever he does is perfectly normal and acceptable. But that is not always the case..."

It was part of his unfortunate madness. The same forces that gave rise to unparalleled creativity also meant that he would never fit in and never find peace. She glanced up toward the elevator. It was transparent, like glass. Her android eyes could see the people inside with crystal clarity—she could see Val as he danced with the Lady Astapova. But there would be no happy ending to be had that night, or on any other night.

"Yes, the roof garden would be a good option. Less people around, no?" Tamara led the way to another lift and pressed the button for the top floor. "We wouldn't want to endanger anyone. It only causes more problems, as he and I have learned..."

Val joined them on the roof a few minutes later, having showered and changed his clothes, swapping out his costume for... a tailored suit? Upon laying eyes upon it, Tamara opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then she thought better of it. There was no point in questioning the decisions of a madman.

At least he looked dashing.

"Okay," Val said, clapping his hands together. "What is it you want to learn, Smelliphant? Makashi? Soresu? More Shii-Cho? Something more esoteric? Do you want to learn how to cheat?"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Rooftop garden... Cool."​

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Eliphas liked the idea of that, they could practice uninterrupted while also having a nice view of the stars. High up on top of the hotel, at this hour, he doubted they'd be met with a great many others, and that meant he'd be beholden only to the judgements of Val and Tamara when it came to his poor form and grasp of lightsabers in general.​

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They made their way to the roof and while they waited Eliphas made a point of shrugging out of any unnecessary clothes he'd been wearing to look the part in the theater. Soon he just had his slacks and shirt, no vest, no coat, and he felt all the better for it. He draped the extra pieces of clothing over some chair which lay off to one side, and then stepped toward the center of a grassy area. It was an extraordinary place, if he didn't look over the edge or know any better he'd genuinely have been convinced it was a garden on ground level.​

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Val appeared not too long after, and he turned to look at him with a smile. Where Eliphas had opted to dress down, Val had dressed up. Well, he looked dashing to say the least. The boy lowered his head into a quick bow of respect, then pondered the question posed his way. The nickname he'd been dubbed was promptly tossed aside, set atop the reject pile along with 'Baby'.​

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These men were going to be the death of him.​

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"Cheat?" he wheezed, chuckling after the fact, "No, no, I don't think I need to cheat..." The question was a good one; Makashi would make the most sense, not just because of Val's own proficiency with it, but also Eliphas' own background in fencing, but was that too obvious? Soresu wasn't something he had much knowledge about, something about it being highly defensible? And Shii-Cho... Well, Shii-Cho was the basic form right?​

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Maybe basics wasn't a bad thing though.​

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"Would you be disappointed if I said Shii-Cho?" he asked, sheepishly, "I do wish to learn more than that, but I still feel like I barely understand lightsaber combat in general." He paused, pondered it for a moment, then shrugged, "What would you most prefer to teach?" Not helpful, he knew, but Eliphas didn't know how frequently Val would want to see him for lessons.​

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Might as well get the most out of it, right?​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Your enemies will cheat,” Val replied, pointing his index finger as if he were delivering some profound insight. “Especially if they think you’re unlikely to cheat.”

Eli mentioned Shii-Cho, but then asked Val what he would prefer to teach. “I would prefer not to teach at all,” he said. “Teaching is boring.”

“Yes, but it could be made more interesting,” Tamara suggested. “Perhaps if you made a game out of it?”

Val considered this. “I see… How about a bit of friendly competition, eh? We fight using Shii-Cho, try to defeat each other, and learn a few things along the way.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"So... I should cheat before they can?" he asked, brows furrowing as he tried to make sense of that line of thought. He supposed at the very least learning how to cheat at dueling would help him to better see when another was about to, help him learn to defend against it, right? "You're the boss, Mr Sir Knight," he added, with a shy grin, "If you say I should cheat..."​

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What would Starlin make of that?​

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Would he even care?​

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Well, Starlin had been the one urging him to come here soooo...​

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Tamara tried to help ease the situation by suggesting a game, and Val immediately thought of making it competitive. Effectively a duel, only with extra steps. He pondered it, and then finally nodded.​

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"Alright" he said, before pausing and looking at the other man pointedly. "Just make sure your saber's set to non-lethal..." He wouldn't put it past Val to completely overlook that particular aspect. The last thing he needed was to be returned back to Starlin with an arm missing - or worse.​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Absolutely.” Val nodded vigorously. “In fact, every move you make should be a dishonest one. Cheating makes life so much easier…”

At the mention of setting their lightsabers to a non-lethal setting, Val continued to nod. “Of course!” He then proceeded to turn the intensity of his lightsaber up to the maximum, effectively making it extra-lethal. “Now, where were we… Shii-Cho?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Eliphas' eyes narrowed toward the dial Val adjusted in order to 'lower' the intensity of the blade, danger senses flaring all at once. "Uh, Val," he muttered, before immediately shaking his head at himself, "I mean, Mister Sir Knight, Sir,"​

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Better?​

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Not really.​

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"The other way... Lower intensity, it's the other way..."​

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Inanna Harth ​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Huh?” Val looked up at Eli, then down at his hilt. “Oh. Whoops.”

Was that the faintest touch of a smirk curling his lips?

No, clearly you’re imagining things.

Once he had dialed his lightsaber down to the lowest intensity, he activated the violet blade. “In combat,” he began. “Shii-Cho is wild and raw. It’s easy to fall into the trap of clumsiness. A master of the form can be fluid and graceful, but highly randomized and unpredictable.”

He swept into a sudden overhead strike, followed by a series of quick blows. Some were recognizable from Eli’s previous lesson, but it was broken up by unfamiliar moves, following no set pattern. Tamara retreated to the edge of the roof, giving them plenty of space to fight in.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Okay, good... Now it was his turn, he dialed down the intensity on his own saber, ignited it off to the side and checked that everything was in working order. Then he lowered himself into a respectful bow as Val began to explain the form's unpredictable nature.​

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"Okay, so---"​

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The time for words apparently over, Eliphas raised his amber blade just in time to avoid a slash of purple to the head. Visibly caught off guard, his next few acts of defense were sloppy and weak, and he barely managed to keep from being stung. His chest rose and fell rapidly, a very sudden blast of adrenaline coursing through his veins, and he'd backpedaled several times. Suffice to say, he was on the backfoot.​

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Finally composing himself, he strengthened his stance and when the next strike came Eliphas managed to lock their blades in a bind by pressing back against Val's. He looked at the man from between the glower of amber and purple, then pushed back and disengaged in one swift motion to put some space back between them.​

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"Wild" he finished, finally taking the Shii-Cho opening stance. No doubt he wouldn't be given much time to breathe, but given the aim of the game he reckoned maybe he should be giving as much as he got. So he slid back forward, with all the grace of a fencer, and struck out with a disarming slash to Val's saber hand.​

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Val Drutin​

 

[Val Drutin]

“You’re telegraphing your moves too much,” Val said. He saw the blow coming and danced out of the way of the disarming attempt, letting his leg slide out and potentially knock Eli’s feet out from under him. A cheating move, to be sure, but an effective one if successful.

Regardless of whether Eli caught himself or fell and had to get back up again, Val waited patiently and even gave the boy another chance to strike first. But it was apparent that he was toying with Eli, finding him no challenge at all. His blocks were precise, but delivered almost lazily; his hits, always aimed high rather than low, seemed a bit bored. It had less to do with Eli’s inexperience and more to do with his lack of interest in Shii-Cho. While unpredictable, it was a simple form without any of the flashiness or showy moves he so loved to play with.

Stll, he continued on until the boy had learned it, and learned it well.

Lief​