To Catch a Grasshopper

[Zesiro]

Skaara almost appeared shiver as she spoke. Maybe it was how she said it? Zesiro made a mental note to try that again and see if it had the same effect. However, when the inquisitor spoke again, he accompanied his words with a choke to her neck which started tightening slowly.

He had hit one of her triggers unknowingly which angered her immediately and her eyes took on the yellow hue of one grabbing the Force while enraged. She did not reach up and try to break his hold, instead she attempted to return his choke with one of her own of a weaker magnitude, for this skill was not one of her strongest.

For the moment, he was not restricting her breathing or her speech. She glared at him, her anger clearly showing.

"My first master that made me who I am choked me as a method of control. It worked for him...now it just makes me mad."

With this grip on her, he had made his point. Her double skill would be useless if she was fighting another Force user that could choke her easily. In the end she relented her own choke, but was still very mad at Skaara and hoped her would release her soon.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"Then he was not your master. Only a fool uses the Force to control their student, it serves nothing other than to promote fear, and in your case, anger." Skaara breathed, having released his grip.

"Under my tutelage you will not only learn how to use such powers, but how to resist them. The trick against one who employs the Force Choke is too break his concentration, either through sudden actions or utilising your...assets...if he is a man." The Sith taught, nodding at the woman.

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

When Skaara released Zesiro, her anger died away rather quickly. He said her first master had gone about it the wrong way, but that was almost ancient history to her now and she shrugged it off. The other skills he had taught her though remained and she could still use them.

When she was getting choked the thought of using her body to distract him just wasn't there. So she would need to learn to control her gut reaction of anger and attempt to remain calm and distract the next person that tried that.

He acknowledged her body with a nod and that made her feel a little better.

"I'm glad you're on my side."

She gave a small sigh after saying that. The weaknesses she possessed, she felt he would improve so that she no longer had them. Maybe find more strengths and enhance them as well.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"Now, tell me; Have you constructed a Lightsaber yet, or are you planning on killing your enemies with looks alone?" The man questioned, pulling out his own saber from his utility belt.

Something seemed to change in his words, it was as if he dropped the all-mighty official act for more snark, prevalent through his previous remark.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

"Yes, my first master didn't let me out of his sight until I had made one."

Moving just slightly, she unclipped hers from her hip and held it out.

"Unfortunately he didn't really teach me how to use it and I only have a little training from a former master."

At the thought of Milo, her anger spiked again, but not enough to show in her eyes. Her face might though. The day would come where he would die by her hand and he would join her first master in the grave.

She noticed his tone change and knew right away she was going to get along well with him.

"What drew your attention to me?"

He had tracked her down to Nubia and saved her bacon from Cinnic, which she was thankful for, but he never told her why.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"An Imperial probe droid spotted you amongst the crowd, and as you were labeled as a Force User, I was dispatched to kill you, until I saw your situation. A terrible mistake that would've been..." The Sith Knight informed bluntly.

Truthfully, he was going to kill her, until he saw how vulnerable she was. He had sensed her potential and took advantage of it, going through a fully trained Jedi Knight to get to her.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

"As simple as that. You randomly kill force users? You are my knight in armor indeed then."

Skaara had seen her when she was at one of her weakest moments, just before and after her mind had been scrambled by that wraith with the Jedi. Another thought that upset her and Zesiro clenched onto her lightsaber harder, her knuckles white.

"That Jedi needs to die. I killed him once, but...somehow he survived me decapitating him."

Her eyes narrowed as she spoke and lost a little focus. She now looked clearly at the masked eyes in front of her.

"How could he do that?"

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"The Force is a pathway to many things, things that some would consider unnatural." Skaara uttered "I have, for instance survived numerous explosions, blaster bolts, and Lightsaber wounds. Perhaps the Jedi you faced was a clone."

The Inquisitor shifted uncomfortably at the thought of his wounds, the pain still felt so long after.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

It was a thought that had not crossed her mind, but Zesiro did not believe that Jedi on Nubia was a clone of the one she killed.

"Did you see the wraith that attacked me?"

Zesiro shivered at the memory of her own expieriance in the ally.

Skaara appeared not to like the direction the conversation was going as she saw him shifting slightly after he quietly spoke his answer.

"The Force is unnatural in many peoples eyes alone."

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"Indeed, there are many who do not understand the Force. That wraith was most likely what was guiding the clone, if that was what it was." The Sith said.

"Perhaps we should spar for a few, build your training in Lightsaber combat. If so, give me but a moment." The man said, standing up and climbing into his chamber again, before it closed behind him.

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

"Could it be keeping him alive somehow?"

Zesiro voiced the question before Skaara mentioned sparring. When he did that, she just nodded. This was where she was going to fail, she knew almost nothing about using the blasted thing.

She watched the inquisitor entered again into the strange chamber and watched as it closed around him.

What did provide for him? Ah someday she would ask and hope to get an answer. Filing that away with her other question, she waited for him to come back out.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

The chamber opened aere two minutes later, a plume of steam exiting out of it as it did so. Most likely to her surprise, an armored Inquisitor did not leave the chamber, instead he was replaced with a red-skinned zabrak wearing dark robes with several deep gashes that had been seen earlier, one of them close enough to his eye to cause him to squint.

"The armor is just armor. I figure that since there is no threat, it would just serve to impede our spar, therefore you, and only you, may see me out of it." Skaara hissed, voice much different from the booming mechanical one he sported earlier. Unsurprisingly he still retained his tall stature, though one would notice that one of his forearms was entirely cybernetic.

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Fully expecting to see Skaara leave that chamber with his armor on, when he did exit, Zesiro's jaw likely hit the floor in surprise. Coming back to her senses, hopefully before he noticed she looked at him.

He was still nine inches taller than her, but it's difficult to fake height and make it look authentic. His skin was red and head bald. The horns of his race stood out from there. One of his arms was cybernetic and a scar was on his face which made one of his eyes squint slightly. Without a hint of seduction, she gave him a smile and nod. Since it was a natural smile, it made her face more attractive than when she faked them in her ruse of seduction.

"You use that to make people fear you. To be honest, it does its job well. I'm honored you choose to trust me. I am what you see, nothing hidden."

Her eyes never left him as she spoke, even when she mentioned herself. She did raised her arms up slightly and bring them back down to her sides.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

A fluttering feeling emanated from his stomach. One thing he disliked about being outside of his armor was other's ability to ready his emotions and thoughts by his body language and facial expressions. Unconsciously, he would look her over again as he approached her.

He noted how she was indeed more attractive with a real smile on her features, but those thoughts were somewhat surpressed once he was in front of her, still a head taller than the woman.

The Sith was still leering slightly as he spoke "There are seven classical lightsaber forms, six of which I have become adept at. I believe it would be apt for us to start with what first and most basic." He informed, gazing rather fondly.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

As Skaara approached her, Zesiro would look at him and watch is body for any tells he wasn't aware of.

His gaze took her in, but that was more something anybody would do not even thinking about. She looked up at him when he stopped and she saw in finer detail his scars. He was certainly paying attention to her physical assets as he spoke about the fact there are seven lightsaber forms.

"When you were fighting that Jedi, both you changed and did different things. Like flipping a record over or picking out new clothes and putting them on.
"What are the forms?"

This was a topic she knew little about and she wanted to indulge in her own curiosity. It also appeared it was something Skaara got into as he face took on a fond look as he finished speaking. Zesiro did not think that look was meant to mean his appreciation of her.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

"The first form, know as Shii-Cho, is the most basic Lightsaber form. It involves regular attacks, parries, and emphasises wide sweeps against groups of enemies. We will focus on it today. There are others, such as Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien, Niman, and Juyo, but I will leave those for later." The Sith said.

He spaced his feet apart from each other, lowered his arms, and made sure that his blade was facing outwards, looking at her to mirror him.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Basics were exactly what Zesiro needed and listening to Skaara as he said the names of the others just nodded before attempting to position herself as he was standing.

She was left handed though so held the saber as it was comfortable for her. Her left hand on top and her right hand at the bottom of the hilt. Placing her feet like he had his, she looked at him. Giving him a small shrug.

"I'm left handed so this way is more comfortable for holding my saber."

In the course of time, she would try to learn how to fight right handed. Any little extra advantage she could have was a bonus.

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

A small frown would appear on his features, her form looked off to him. He stood next to her and pushed her feet in slightly with his own, then would suddenly appear behind her, moving her arms until they were in the right position.

Suddenly an idea would appear in his mind, an evil one, as he leaned down slightly until his mouth was near her one of her ears "You know, that was a dangerous game you were playing earlier...perhaps I should return the favour..." He whispered, referring to her earlier attempts at making him uncomfortable through seduction, his fingertips lightly trailing on her skin up from her forearms until he moved back in front of her, resuming his battle ready position.

[Member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

Taking everything in stride and his looks with the frown at her form, she allowed him to adjust it so it was of a more proper stance. Before he moved away though, he leaned and whispered in her ear. What he said and then did sent shivers of her own up her arm. He went back to standing in front of her and probably felt pretty good superior to her at the moment.

Zesiro remained in the position Skaara had put her in, but she smiled at him. What had started off with him on the objective to kill her, had now turned into something more like a game cat and mouse. Who was the cat and who was the mouse though?

"Life is dangerous in and of itself. Is the ball back in my court or do you want to make another move?"

[member="Skaara Carlon"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

The Sith returned the smile at her, though it was more of a smirk, he knew exactly what he was doing and he enjoyed every minute of it.

"I do believe it is your turn now, I should at least give you a chance." He motioned, rather arrogantly at that.

[member="Zesiro"]