Private What's Yours, is Now Mine

[Ansisa]

The fires had long since been extinguished, the ashes, carpeted the crop fields beyond the main village, settled on rooftops like black snow. even the spaceport saw its dusting of ash, kicked up by the landing struts of her ship. Vazz had been true to his word in organising a ship for her and she had been true to hers returning to the academy. The initial attack had been brutal as expected, though the swelling in her face had gone down considerably she still bore the purplish green tinge of bruising. She stayed for two days, it was enough for the wounds to knit just enough and she swiped as much bacta as she could carry onto the ship, taking care to keep the bandages clean. After that she'd managed to avoid other attacks, heeding the Defel's words.

"Focus on that feeling, of wanting to fade away. Maybe you will."

Thus far, she'd succeeded only in low light levels. In broad daylight or under the harsh glare of artificial lights she at most became slightly transparent. Still, she used it to her advantage, escaping to the ship at night, landing at the spaceport at night. Ansisa had swapped her sith robes out for drifters clothes. She was looking for a Jedi but she didn't exactly want them to spot her. she pulled the hood of her jacket off, more to hide the bruises than her face. her logic had been simple, go where she knew there had been Jedi. though she'd not been at this skirmish she knew of it and there would always be some form of relief effort following a battle, especially where Sith were concerned. They cared so little for bystanders that there was always collateral.

She set off into the cool night, heading for the main town.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

Jalen was very tired.

War seemed constant these days. Sith, Mandalorian... it hardly mattered. It gave him a job to do, but that came with a cost. As a healer and a field medic respectively, Jalen only ever had work when other people were amidst suffering. How very unfair to only ever get to see a world at its lowest, burned to cinders in the face of an evil that simply did not care.

That was why it was best for Jalen to be here. He could not see the carnage. The young man could feel the pain, sure, but he did not have to see it. Perhaps that made it easier for him to process. Perhaps not. It certainly helped him push forward regardless. These people needed healing and he was the best person to do so. Not that he actually believed this, but it helped him get in the mindset of working in such bleak conditions.

"Will I ever walk again?"

He and a small team were working with an elderly fellow who had been injured in the battle. The Sith loved targeting civilians. The will to protect was the Jedi's greatest weakness after all. Jalen could only really hate that it worked...

It would work on him after all.

"Yes, sir," Jalen sighed, giving a faint smile. "The spinal implant will take a few days to sync up the spinal cord and get your brain communicating to the rest of your body. You'll be up again in a few days."

Joy radiated from the man. It was a gratifying sensation at least, especially after the multiple people he had to report in as dead today. Jalen would have dreaded being the one to call their families. He was so bad at talking. Still, he was tired. The healer needed a break. His mask came off, and the young man made his way to the outskirts of the makeshift healing facility they had pitched in the center of the village. All he could do was let himself be lost in thought and think. That dream he had on Lothal... "It awaits you, beyond your world. Where the stars of your cosmic understanding are unable to shine." What did that mean?

Usually he was very observant of his surroundings, but Jalen was not feeling himself.

Not right now.

 

[Ansisa]

Even with the village shrouded in the darkside from the vents that had occurred, Ansisa could sense the sickly sweet sensation that Jedi always came with. It made her face twist in disgust, and hatred boiled in her stomach. Slipping between broken houses and along darkened alleys she drew closer to the sensation, finding its source in a human leaving the makeshift medical centre. He wasn't much to look at taller than her, of slender build and with scarring across his eyes that had a milky hue in the low lights.

Blind?

Maybe. He also seemed utterly oblivious to her presence. It was far too easy. Concealing herself from sight she stepped out of the ally, treading lightly towards him. The artificial lights she passed under highlight her as a ghost, nothing more than a blur in the corner of someones eye. But her presence on the force? That, she had not yet learned to conceal, and her hatred meant she was positively pulsing with darkness as she drew up behind him.

She moved to seize his head, intent on snapping his neck, her force cloak dropping as she did. "Jedi scum." she hissed.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

"Jedi scum."

Jalen's reflexes kicked in.

He had a natural sense for danger, of course, but invisibility didn't quite mask one's aura. Even those who dampened their presence with the Force left a void, a pocket where something should be that Jalen could utilize. She had not, of course, but it was an option, if not one that required a good deal of observation. The young man was very quick to reach up his hand and catch her wrist, the frown on his face deepening.

"I knew you were there," he sighed. "Look, can we do this some other time? I'm kind of busy."

Jalen was ready for combat though. His lightsaber was at his waist, of course, and already he was preparing his mind for a telekinetic battle. It was, after all, one of his greater strengths. He had taken a hypocratic oath to not kill and to preserve life, but that didn't mean he couldn't throw hands.

He'd at least give the woman a moment to probably (though most likely not) rethink her life.

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa let put a low hiss of annoyance, twisting herself free of his grasp. Thay could have gone alot better, she'd allowed her hatred and arrogance to get the better of her. Vazz 's lessons clearly had not snuffed all of it out. She would have to learn the rest the hard way.

"My deepest apologies," she said her voice drippong with sarcasm as her feet shifting into a defensive stance. "But I need this." She palmed the Jedi's chest with a force push with one hand, and tugged at the lightsaber with her other.

She didn't have to fight him...but she probably would.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

A force push came, which Jalen braced himself to take. Unfortunately the shift in concentration seemed to be the attacker's intention, as the young man felt his lightsaber drift away into her hands.

His lightsaber.

A tinge of frustration bubbled up inside of him. That was his hard work, built by his own two hands. There were very few things in the galaxy that truly belonged to him, and now this stranger saw fit to simply take it? He paused, taking a deep breath to calm himself. No, this wouldn't be reactionary. His powers could be... unpredictable. Jalen would keep his cool and keep control. The air began to heat up, telekinetic wind whipping around the young Jedi. Before long fire had appeared, swirling at his feet and licking the souls of his shoes.

"Turn it on," Jalen told her. "You're gonna need it in about five seconds."

And with that he assumed a opening stance. An unarmed one.

 

[Ansisa]

Delight spread through Ansisa as his lightsaber found it way into her palm. It wasn't her lightsaber, so it felt a little alien and out of place, but it was still a lightsaber. The shift in force energies snapped her attention back to him, she retreated a few steps as fire licked the ground around him. "Interesting. Did I detect a hint of anger there, jedi?" She smirked, thumbing the switch. she took a moment to appreciate the weapon, granted blue was not exactly her crystal colour of choice. It hissed as she twirled it, testing its balance and weight in her hand.

"Very nice. It will do me a great service. My thanks." she gave him a small bow, she shifted her feet into a defensive stance. "I'll be nice and give you a chance to take it back, hmm?" she let out a soft chuckle "Only one mind, I've places to be, after all."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

Jalen didn't humor her conversation.

The moment he heard the lightsaber ignite he sprang into action, throwing dirt up from the rubble-covered ground into the general direction of her face with telekinesis. No thoughts, no emotions, only movement. The frustration he had felt was gone by this point, leaving only his mind open to the Force.

He'd move to sweep her legs next, a quickdraw of his right leg to follow through, all while he kept his hands free ready to intercept a blow from his own blade. Certainly unforseen, but he had prepared to face lightsabers unarmed for a while now, given his hope that drawing a lightsaber would be his last resort. Now he didn't have the safety net at all. Jalen would have to gain it back from the backfoot. But then again, he was always on the backfoot.

What was a little more against him?

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa turned her head from the dirt as it kicked up, a dirty trick designed to throw her off guard and be blind to the incoming attack. Ansisa had been playing dirty tricks and fighting against dirty tricks her whole time at the academy, she'd long learned not to rely on your eyes. She pivoted on her left knee, the kick passing where she'd been.

She rewarded his miss with a small shove in the force seeking to unbalance him. The lightsaber in a cross body guard, humming in the cool night air like a taunt. She didn't strike, not yet, she wanted to see what the Jedi was capable of, if he was worth her time. Ansisa knew she shouldn't play with prey, but she couldn't help herself. A smirk crossed her features.

It was also the perfect opportunity to practice. She thumbed the lightsaber off and disappeared, not that would matter to a blind man, but maybe she could use him to train to disappear from the force all together.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

A second force push came, but this time Jalen was ready. His mental fortitude was up and he pushed back, maintaining his footing. She disengaged afterwards, seemingly trying to mask herself in the force. Not well, but a first step. Was she testing abilities on him? The woman hadn't struck at him either, even turning off the blade to vanish.

Jalen wasn't going to be toyed with.

"Stop moving."

As he spoke, the air began to swelter. Jalen lifted his hand, raising a vortex of fire around where the Sith was, or at least where he could feel her trying to remove her presence in the force. A flickering light was more than enough for him to latch onto. It was in this manner he would apply pressure, greatly increasing the force with which the flames turned around her in hopes of keeping her in place. Jalen didn't like inflicting pain onto others. He was a healer after all.

Here he could make an exception.

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa paused as the fire began to whirl around her. Pyrokinesis was not something one saw very often, she had to admit she was impressed. But fire was only truly dangerous if you held it for too long. One could snuff out a candle with the quick pinch of a finger and suffer no burn, but hold your hand over it and you'd feel pain.

Clipping the lightsaber to her belt, she coiled the force in her legs and dashed with a burst of force speed, through the flames. Her haircurled back at the heat, the stink of it burnt her nose as she patted out the flame that had attached to her, and ripped her jacket free to his left. Compressing herself further in the force, she put on another burst of speed to come up behind him.

"Impressive."

Another dash and she was to his right.

"Try harder."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

"I don't try."

Behind, then to his right. She was dancing around him. Avoiding attacks, but not giving off any of her own. Jalen had told her to keep the lighstaber on, but she had not. That was her loss.

Now Jalen was moving, using the force to enhance his speed greatly as he locked on to where she was in proximity to himself. First he'd reach out telekinetically, yanking at her shoulder to pull her towards him. Off balance? Simply more vulnerable to an incoming blow? It hardly mattered what. All that mattered was that he hit her. Then his free hand would be set ablaze, singing his own skin, or at least what still had nerves from the day that had made him blind. It wasn't very much. Whenever he had closed the distance a sharp right hook would be thrown...

Aimed straight for the head.

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa let out a sharp breath at the tug, annoyance flooding her. Why could she not conceal herself completely?

She didn't have time to think about it, the lightsaber snapped back from her belt to her palm. As the fire engulfed fist came for her head. She brought her arm up to block the blow, but it only served to lessen the crack against her temple. Flames and pain obscured her vision, a snarl of pain escaped her.

But he was in close quarters. Ansisa angled the emitter somewhere in the region of his stomach, and thumbed the switch.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

Time seemed to slow for a moment.

Or perhaps it was just how Jalen was percieving time. He was uncertain. Danger overwhelmed him, followed by the pain of something yet to happen. Latentcy from an incoming blow that his body anticipated for. The snap of a lighsaber flying off of the Sith's belt, the clutch of her fingers around the familiar leather grip. Jalen's free hand moved down in reflex, pushing the blade's trajectory to the side as it ignited.

It proceeded to slice through the skin above his hip, splaying tendands as it did.

It hurt like hell, of course, but it wasn't fatal internal damage to his organs. Even being a skilled healer, Jalen wasn't sure if he could manage such a wound. He could replace the skin later.

"Is that it?" Jalen exhaled with a wince. "You could have tried harder."

And with that Jalen proceeded to muster all of his strength, telekinetic energy swirlin around him before unleashing towards the Chiss. He was going to throw her with everything he had while she was disoriented from his punch.

 

[Ansisa]

It wasn't the fatal wound she'd intended, but it was still a wound, and the pain he felt brought Ansisa the briefest wave of euphoria.

And then he spoke and ruined it all. "Hmph." Still trying to blink fire from her left eye she felt the force surge around him, slamming into her and sending her flying. She hit the ground ten feet from him, rolling back over herself to come up, feet sliding across the cobbles, left palm steadying herself, the lightsaber still clutched firmly in her hand.

The vision in her left eye was coming back, but slowly, like she'd stared at the sun for too long, no doubt he'd done some level of permanent damage, but she'd live. It was, however messing with Ansisa's depth perception. She could continue to fight at a disadvantage, or she could flee. Vazz had said he didn't care how she obtained the lightsaber just that she did.

It was time to disappear. Staring at the Jedi, she focused on her need to be unseen to disappear. She allowed her fear of losing, of failing to feed her need, drawing on the darkside of the force. The lightsaber was the last thing to disappear as she thumbed it off.

Certain she was hidden in the force, she moved slowly, circling the Jedi, testing her theory.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Skermish Aftermath
Tags: Ansisa

​

"Chit..."

She had figured it out. Jalen shifted his senses, trying his best to pinpoint where her feet were stepping. It hardly mattered though. She was far enough away that the ripples were decieving, the sound interlapping over eachother and being recieved at a delay. Effectively, unless she came back in to close the distance, she was gone. Jalen was beginning to get the feeling that the Sith had half the brain to not stick around.

"Alright then," he sighed, "I guess I'll catch you later..."

He firmly tucked his hands into his pockets, turning to face away from the village.

"There will be a later," the Jedi assured.

That was a promise.

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa wrestled with her baser urges, triumph at her success made her giddy arrogance made her want to close the distance, to skewer the jedi on his own saber. She trembled with the thought, the mental image made her take half a step forward.

"Your lightsaber will not be returned to you. You will find a Jedi, and steal one from them. Whether subtly or through outright murder I don't care. The only thing that matters is you take it from a Jedi. Understood?"

A low hiss of air escaped her. She had completed her mission, the lightsaber rolled in her hand. Ansisa could not let her primal urges get the better of her, she could no longer allow herself to be ruled by arrogance.

"We shall see, Jedi."

Then she was away, back through the village towards the spaceport and her ship.

Jalen Kai'el