When blades clash and sparks fly (PM to join unless tagged)

[Andorreth Vikar]

It hadn't escaped my attention that another young woman had showed up alongside the training mat I was working in. I continued through my forms of combat feeling her eyes on me the entire time. Speaking in her direction as I moved I said "See something you like Miss....?" I heard her chuckle softly before sinking to the opposite side of the mat I was working on, "Perhaps I do at that young man. Though it remains to be seen how promising you truly are. I'd recommend you continue working though, Celiana is not known for suffering people who don't give the training everything they have."

With that she finished taking a seat on the opposite end of the mat in a lotus position. I noted the sword belt around her slim waist as well as a combat harness with multiple places for different blades....Intriguing, I wondered who she was but decided to continue working through the forms. Blending the Corellian martial arts into the smoother, yet lightning fast movements of Echani then switching into a mix of brutal Mandalorian and lightning fast Echani. As I moved I saw this mystery woman practicing a duelist' finishing draw. She repeated this movement again and again, as I turned away I heard her footstep and a dash of movement towards me.

My eye caught the glint of steel in both her hands. A short sword and a curved knife the same as Celiana was training Jae with. "Fierfeck'la Osik!" I swore openly as I drew my blade and deflected the sword. I didn't have to deflect the knife, I simply brought my elbow down hard on her forearm. The knife went airborne as did I, catching the knife I noted the runes along the blade...Honor. Turning the blade as I came back down I noted the other side had Justice etched in it. "You move well young man, I've not seen any other than Celiana blend different martial styles so easily. Would you care to spar blade against blade? Or rather in the unarmed way you were practicing? I can do both if you want to challenge yourself."

Looking at her I said "Miss I'm not even sure who you are. Let alone why you want to spar against me..." I saw her smirk slightly before pulling back her hood. Her eyes were covered with cloth and my first though was Miraluka, though she could just as easily be a blind student with dueling skills. "All you need to know lad is that I'm one of the chief instructors here at this dojo. That and my evaluation of your skills is something Celiana will in fact base a good deal of your training off of. Now, shall we begin?" Glancing over at both Jae and Celiana I looked back to the blind woman and nodded my head saying "Aye, m'lady I'm ready to begin." With that she bowed slightly which I returned and we began yet another duel.

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Celiana"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

Jae was continuing to duel with Celiana and felt as though she was doing quite a decent job, not celebrating too much over the small victories, she continued to stay focused and kept all attention on her opponent, watching her moves and as Celiana had said earlier, tried to copy them, slow at first and gradually increasing her speed the next time round.

She was about to move in for another strike much like the last one she'd performed before she heard the soft mutter of voices nearby. She glanced over to her right where Andorreth was, training in his martial styles and forms on the mats a little bit away. She noticed him appearing to have a conversation with someone, either that or he was talking to himself. She was paying too much attention on Andorreth and what was going on over there rather than paying attention to what was going on in front of her.

She saw Celiana dash up towards her from the corner of her eye and was too slow to react, gaining a slash against her upper arm as Celiana moved in around Jae and towards the back. She winced only slightly as the wood grazed against her skin, though no real injury was sustained. Shortly afterwards before Jae could regain her bearings and get her head back in the duel, Celiana had swept her leg down, under and around, tripping Jae up and knocking her off her feet. Falling back and hitting her head slightly she groaned as both weapons fell from her hands and she held her head, trying to stop it from throbbing.

As the pain subsided, she propped herself up on her elbows before sitting up, propping her leg up and resting her arm on her knee. Looking over towards Andorreth again, she noticed he was in a duel of some sort though it was still unclear with who, though now with all the movement it was evident someone else was over there. Looking up to Celiana she said, "Were you expecting guests?" Wondering if Celiana had any more clue than she currently had about the situation.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Smirking as Jae asked if I'd been expecting guests I sank to the floor beside her and said "Well guests are something of an oddity here. However the woman sparring against Andorreth is hardly a guest, her name is Akira Soriano she's been both my friend and also my master here at this Dojo. In fact she is the head instructor and chief master of this Dojo, odds are she's testing Andorreth to see if she thinks he shows Force potential and to see if he'd be able to beat me."

Moving over a tad closer to Jae I set the training blades aside and reached my hands up to her temples and began gently rubbing the sides of her head. "My apologies Jae, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable but I know how bad your head will hurt after hitting the mat hard. I can stop if you wish...though you should know you did very well against me today. You're quite the fast learner, although I'll admit that seeing someone you care about in trouble has the tendency to break the concentration of most."

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She nodded her head slowly as Celiana explained who the person sparring against Andorreth was. As she'd already guessed, Celiana knew much about the other person. She was also reminded about the fact that Andorreth was force sensitive, considering his limited use of it, at least while in her presence, it tended to escape her mind at times. Though she also had to remind herself that using the force didn't appear to be something of ease. She had next to no knowledge on the force, but she'd gathered that it wasn't something you master in a day.

She laughed lightly at her compliment of fairing well throughout the duel and being a fast learner. "Thanks." She flinched only a little when she began to rub her temples, not from discomfort simply from the pain of her throbbing head. She sighed a little at Celianas mention of how bad her head will hurt from that impact, and she guessed it wasn't going to pass quickly. After Celianas last comment, she glanced up at her before looking to the side. "I was just...curious.. as to what was goin' on." She wasn't entirely sure why she was acting so awkwardly about the situation but before she could think the words had already left her lips.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

As soon as I'd said I was ready she rolled to close the gap. I back-flipped and as I landed my hand closed around the shaft of a staff as This woman closed the distance I rolled forward and feinted as though to try sweeping her legs. She dodged the feint and caught the tip of the staff in her ribs, as she fell I twitched my hand and caught her feet sending her into a face plant on the mat. Tossing the staff to the other side of the mat where she'd hear it hit I drew the curved Karambit knife and moved in tandem with my draw. I'd closed the distance and now I could tell she had her guard up more. As I slashed with the knife she drew a length of wire trapping my hand holding the blade.

Smirking I sent a right inner round-kick her way before twisting at the last second catching her in the upper thigh. Using her leg where I'd hit as a base for my next move I simply tossed my weight back. Since she was holding onto the wire on my hands she was catapulted further and I ended up stripping the wires from her grip. "M'lady you fight well I'll give you that, but I'm not going to give up easily." Having spoken I saw two knives flick my way. Rather than deflecting them I dodged, closing the distance again I glanced down at several strips of cloth around her wrists and ankles. Grabbing the one on her right wrist I twisted while keeping my feet over the strands of cloth on her legs. She was forced back as I wrapped the ribbon on her left hand around my right hand holding the knife.

As I pulled on one side I could see the blade inching closer to her throat. She began to thrash about but my weight wouldn't budge, as the knife inched closer I said simply "M'lady please, yield. I know that if you cared to you would have beaten me soundly, you only wanted to see my skills. Now you know, yield M'lady I don't wish your blade to hurt you." I heard her sigh before saying "I yield Mr. Vikar, though it's not my blade but yours now. T'was a gift, one duelist to another. When you are ready to see what I might be able to teach you take a walk out towards the lakes and wait there in meditation, I'll find you there lad."

With that the duel was ended and I ended it formally by bowing to her. She returned the gesture before grabbing her things and exiting through the door Celiana had shown us in through. Well, at least it'd been a full day. I very much wanted to simply take a shower though and fall asleep with Jae. Odds were we'd all be up early the next day...

[member="Celiana"] - @Jae Jordan

 

[Jae Jordan]

Jae watched as the individual she now knew as Akira began to approach herself and Celiana, heading towards the doors and exiting. She couldn't help but follow her with her eyes, watching her until she left. She sighed, coming to the conclusion she'd have to deal with this extreme headache for a while until it subsided. Despite the throbbing having died down a little bit since the initial impact there was still a lingering pain in the back of her head.

She smiled towards Celiana and rose to her feet, perhaps a little too quickly than she should have as she was instantly washed over with a wave of dizziness. "...woah" She mumbled, almost inaudibly to herself. She found the world around her spinning in different directions causing her to fall to her knees, losing her balance. She reached out to grab something to steady herself but found nothing in close proximity. She ended back on the ground, kneeling as her hands held her head, the throbbing seemed to intensify as she fell to the ground and slowly died down to a subtle ache.

She groaned a little before looking around herself again, attempting to get up to her feet once again, this time a little slower. Perhaps not the best course of action though Jae was hardly one to back down from a simple headache, no matter how painful the throb was. She slowly made her way to the side where she'd tossed her jacket.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

I saw the woman leave then flicking my gaze to Jae I saw her curling up into a ball. Looking at Celiana I slowly said "I thought you said you'd go easy Celiana..." She flicked her gaze to me and said "I did Andorreth, though her concern for your well-being may have momentarily blinded her. I did pull my strike though, otherwise she'd be unconscious. If I might make a recommendation there is a hot-spring in the lower levels of the dojo with several curative properties it would be my suggestion that you allow Jae to soak there. Your accommodations are on the lower levels as well complete with some spare clothing and necessities. There's an elevator outside the door the woman you sparred against left through to the immediate right inside the elevator there will be a button labeled apprentice quarters that's where you'll head."

Celiana leaned in against me as Jae began drifting and said "My other recommendation is that you meet the woman you sparred against as soon as you can. It'd be beneficial to you to do so I will have my personal bodyguard droids watch after Jae and a medical droid to keep tabs on her. You did well today though Andorreth, you should take pride in that fact." With that Celiana left through the door she'd mentioned. I bent down to pick Jae up and began making my way to the elevator with her in my arms.

I'd make sure Jae was conscious at least before allowing her to soak. Though Celiana also said she'd have her personal bodyguard droids and a medical droid look after her. I did have the feeling that I should go and meet the mystery woman Celiana had mentioned, there'd been the feel of something...intimate perhaps between the two of them. Perhaps simply incredibly close friends but it'd felt like more than that to me judging by the looks from Celiana...

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Celiana"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She felt herself leave the safety of the ground and into Andorreths arms, she took the short opportunity to rest for a moment or two and let her head fall limp across his chest. She heard Andorreth and Celiana conversing about a few things though she wasn't paying enough attention to make out every word and specific detail within their speech. She could however guess that it had to do with the mysterious woman that had come and gone rather quickly. Either way, Celiana was talking to Andorreth, therefore it probably didn't concern her in the slightest, she thought, as she pushed the thought to the back of her head, not worrying about it.

She felt the sluggish feeling you get in your stomach when an elevator moves downward and comes to a stop. Resting for a few moments later she felt the duo come to a stop, waking up a little bit more now and becoming more aware of her surroundings she smiled weakly up at Andorreth before moving gently and slowly out of his arms, landing on her feet.

She felt the hot air around them from the hot-springs and let out a long sigh. "Thank you." She finally spoke, she felt insanely tired, despite the only somewhat extensive activity being sparring against Celiana, all she wanted to do was get into bed in all honesty. "What are you going to do now?" She asked curiously.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

​Having headed into the elevator I headed down to the hot-springs so Jae could soak for awhile. Smiling at Jae's inquisitiveness upon waking I said "First I'm going to make sure you don't crack your head on anything while getting into the hot-springs. Secondly I'm going to wait until the bodyguard droids and the medical droid Celiana mentioned show up. After that...I think it might be a good idea to meet up with the instructor I sparred against earlier. For now though, how about I simply help you start getting undressed while I wait for those droids?"

With that I began to gently pull off Jae's boots and socks. I'd started on helping her out of her shirt when the droids came in. The bodyguard droids marched in before coming to a halt by me, kneeling and bringing their right fists against their chests in a unanimous clang. "M'lord the lady Celiana has given us orders to watch after your woman. The medical droid will be arriving shortly, we are to guard her until either you or the Lady Celiana returns to watch over your woman." Well...these were....unexpected was perhaps putting it mildly. "Droid, I have a question as to what model you and your companions are? You look to be a mix of both Mandalorian war droids and Echani surveillance and wetwork droids."

The leader of the droid unit glanced at me crystal blue photo-receptors looking into my eyes. "That is correct sir, we are a hybrid of the two. Built per The lady Celiana's specifications, we are multi-functional and loyal in the extreme." Looking at him I said "I've no doubt of that at all..." Just then the medical droid came in and said "Per Mistress Celiana's orders I am here to monitor and help the healing process of your woman. You may leave whenever you are ready m'lord." With that I nodded and looking at Jae I said "I'll be back soon love, for now soak, rest, and relax captains' orders." I gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and winked at her before heading back to the elevator to meet with my sparring partner from earlier...

@Jae Jordan

 

[Jae Jordan]

She watched and listened as the droids spoke about their given orders, from Celiana of course. She turned her head back to Andorreth as he spoke to her once again, preparing to head off and depart for his meeting with the instructor from earlier on. She nodded in understanding and smiled lightly as he yelled the last bit about captains' orders as he was walking out of the room.

She looked around and began to relax in the hot springs. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gone to all the effort to take time to relax like this, it was nice. Not having a single worry in the world was great. She turned her head to the side and saw the medical droid running scans on her head. She waited patiently as the droid ran through and processed its scans, not that she minded. She was perfectly content with sitting in the hot springs and awaiting the results from the droid.

"No serious injuries were sustained." The medical droid finally spoke, "Well that's good.." She sighed out. "Disorientation and balance or coordination problems may arise over the next couple of hours or days, don't take anything too quickly and no strenuous activities for the next few days." The droid finally finished with its medical report. She smiled lightly, nodding her head slowly once, "Thank you." She didn't feel the head injury was that serious, she'd be bale to put up with the throbbing for a day or two, though with the time the ache would most definitely subside.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

I watched as Andorreth walked away to meet with Akira, smiling at the way she'd actually been hit by him with the staff I wondered what she'd show him in this meeting... Turning back to glance at Jae in the waters I began shimmying out of my clothes as well. I had on a suit just for the sake of keeping Jae comfortable but had it been Akira in the hot-springs it wouldn't have been a problem. Then again decency and all...Moving towards the waters I noticed the droids begin to snap to attention and held a finger to my lips.

They relaxed once again and I came up behind Jae, taking a seat I glanced at her and softly said "Mind if I join you Jae?" I didn't want to startle her and odds were she wouldn't be too thrilled to see me especially as I'd been the one to give her the head-ache. Plus she might see me as a threat to her relationship with Andorreth...I certainly wasn't trying to be but still, things were wonky where emotions were concerned.

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She looked to her left and then behind her, trying to find the source of the voice, finally realising it was only Celiana. She smiled at her question and nodded. "Of course you can, I don't mind at all." She replied. She had no bad blood with Celiana regarding the head-ache, it was Jae's own fault that she'd tripped up and lost focus in the match. Injuries were inevitable whether they be minor or fatal, and Jae's head-ache was nothing to be too concerned about.

She let out a sigh once again as she let her head lean back slightly, she closed her eyes before her head started to fill with a few curious questions now that Celiana was in her presence. "So how long have you known Akira?" She asked curiously, simply wanting to know a little more about the instructor from earlier on, having no knowledge of her whatsoever.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

I heard Jae wince slightly as she let her head rest against the cool stone. Then the question came of how long had I known Akira, smirking slightly I slipped into the water beside her and slowly moved closer to her. If she did fall asleep in the water I couldn't exactly let her drown. Slipping behind her I leaned back allowing her head to rest against my chest and neck, gently bringing my fingers against her head I began gently rubbing slow circles to help relax her head.

"Well Jae, I've known Akira for now six years I suppose. After I left Coruscant I came back home to Eshan, my mother insisted that due to my temperamental nature I should learn form someone even more stubborn than me. So I began training under her at the age of sixteen, the same age at which she was already a Master bladeswoman mind you." Wow, I...hadn't expected to be so open about Akira and myself. Then again I had the diffenrece from her in that I tended to be more guarded about personal friendships and relationships...though I had to say it was nice to let someone else know about Akira...

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She felt Celiana move in behind her and begin to rub circles, gently and slowly, on the sides of her head. She hummed in content as she started to relax even more, all the while still paying attention to Celiana when she began to answer her questions. It was quite hard not to fall asleep right now, given her current surroundings. She was relaxed and in a quiet and serene place and she was exhausted, put all that together and Jae was ready to knock off. Though she remained awake to have a conversation with Celiana. Given that herself and Andorreth came here with the main goal of learning and training with Celiana, Jae guessed there may not me too much of this downtime where a quiet and peaceful conversation could take place such as this.

She listened carefully to everything she said, making sure she caught her answer. "Wow, so you two have known each other for a while now." Jae added as she continued to think about the instructor from earlier. She thought a little bit more about her answer, "Sixteen...was that when you started bladework or had you been training it bladework previous to training under Akira?"

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Smirking at Jae's comment of how we'd known each other for awhile now I said "Well yes, I suppose we have known each other awhile. As for the bladework I learned a bit here and there but most of it I learned from Akira and she's the one I credit with teaching me everything about swords. How about you Jae? How long have you known Andorreth?" I noticed her starting to relax a bit more and I gently guided her head against my chest and kept massaging the sides of her head.

I felt horrible about her head though...Force knew I'd been on the receiving end of that feeling many times...Last time hadn't been too long ago but Akira had taken care of m the same as I was doing for Jae...

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She opened her eyes again and smiled lightly at her question, "Not long at all, well at least not for an extensive period of time." She started to explain, recalling on the first day they'd met. Jae had to admit, she would have never guessed that day would have lead to all the exciting and unusual things that followed afterwards. But she didn't regret it in the slightest. "Do you remember the first time you and I met, though not formally, back on Nar Shaddaa? I'd met him on that very day." She continued. "I'd just finished a job for some local, and I was paid but the individual I'd brought in got away after I'd given him to them. Of course they got mad and blamed me, demanding their money back. Instead I took off and they gave chase, and that was when I, literally, ran into Andorreth and he helped me take care of the one chasing me."

She remembered the day so vividly, everything that had happened, everything that was said. It was as if it all happened yesterday. Though that was the day her entire life had taken a turn, for the better. Her joining a crew and having real responsibilities.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Smiling I said "Aye, I remember it. In fact half of that force that came after you all was stopped by yours truly. You only got half of what would have come after you all on Nar Shadaa. I sabotaged the rest of the gunships. Couldn't exactly let the person I'd given Serenity to die due to thugs I could take on with my eyes closed. I sense that there's something else that happened after you all left Nar Shadaa too, something....darker. Jae, what EXACTLY happened after Nar Shadaa it had an effect on you and I can clearly sense that. You ran into something....dark, evil didn't you Jae?"

Bringing her head back against my chest I started running my fingers through her hair to relax her. Odds were that it wasn't something she cared to remember either but I had the sense that she needed to let it out too...

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

 

[Jae Jordan]

She raised her brows slightly in surprise as Celiana explained how half the forces were stopped by herself and that they only received half of what they would have originally received. "Oh! Well, thanks for that...Yeh we only just made it out of that one." She recalled the many close calls they had as they were trying to outrun and escape the men that were after the three of them back on Nar Shadaa.

She shifted slightly as Celiana asked what happened after the trio had left Nar Shadaa, the memories of their first mission as a team started to flow back into her head and the images she wished she'd never have to look back upon. She looked down to the side as her brows arched slightly when Celiana mentioned noticing a change in herself. She stayed quiet for a few moments longer, unsure of where to begin. "Yeh...we ran into something." She started, her voice quiet. "We were on a mission, our first mission as a team. Gathering materials and cargo shipments off an abandoned ship." She continued to explain the mission, leaving out the specific unnecessary details. "Though, the ship wasn't abandoned. It was infested with Reavers." Although Jae didn't talk about it and did her best to hide it, the mission did affect her. It was essentially the first time she'd done anything like that, it was a huge leap from the simple jobs she'd do on planet for a few credits.

It was somewhat like a little kid watching a horror movie for the first time and having nightmares afterwards. She didn't talk about it as she didn't like to be seen as having a weakness of any sort or being scared.

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Jerking in surprise I narrowed my eyes and said slowly "Reavers? Are you absolutely sure of that Jae? Please for the love of The Force tell me you sterilized the ship they were aboard...." If they had run into Reavers Andorreth had taken a great risk, not to mention that if they'd spread to other wrecks he'd have had to somehow sterilize them as well... Plus the greatest risk was that if they'd sterilized everything then any wreckage could have spread the contagion. Oh Andorreth....please tell me you were ruthless and efficient in dealing with them...

[member="Andorreth Vikar"] - @Jae Jordan

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Coming back as Celiana was asking Jae about the Reavers I moved silently and leaned against a wall before speaking. "I did ensure all the ships were sterilized Celiana. I had probes rig the fuel on the ships we weren't aboard to circulate through the ventilation system and rigged the weapon emplacements to detonate the shells with plasma igniting and accelerating the strength of the fire. It cleansed every living thing aboard which is why we weren't on any of those ships. I sent probes after we'd re-boarded to ensure everything was cleansed, it was a hell of a fireworks show to be sure."

"As for the meeting with Akira it went well Celiana, I ended up learning some new things. Maybe you and Jae will see when we start up tomorrow...As for now you can be sure that the Reavers are not a threat there. Though I'm curious why you are so fearful of them Celiana..."

[member="Jae Jordan "]- [member="Celiana"]