Duelist's Dance: Heracles vs. Quils

[FallenKeeper]

Quils stood patiently in one of the many training rooms of Tython's Jedi temple. The layout was very simple and free of obstructions as all the training equipment had been put away prior to the duel. Entering the tournament was a whimsical decision for the padawan but afterwards he found that it would be a great learning experience. He could find where his weaknesses were as well as gain insights towards possible advantages from his opponenet.

As the time neared for the duel begin Quils crouched and hung his arms over his knees. His eyes shut and all thought melted from his mind. He would meditate until Heracles arrived and the fight started. He would rely on the Force and his lightsaber, which had been set to very low power levels the hour prior.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles walked into the training room. Entering this tournament was something he did against his better judgment. At least when he saw who he was facing, it was a padawan like him. He was dressed in the traditional robes of a jedi, various shades of tans and browns. His robe wrapped around him tightly which he would remove when the duel started.

"Hello." He said when he saw his opponent kneeling in the room. He figured that this was his opponent, so he wanted to make his presence known. He had meditated in his chambers shortly before leaving, he was still calm and ready for the duel. He waited for his opponent to acknowledge his presence before doing anything else.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils waited a few seconds after his opponent entered the room to respond. He had heard the sound of heavy footsteps, in comparison to his own, and knew that the duel would soon commence. With one last moment in meditation complete he rose to his modest height, flipping his hair up and back behind his head. "Greetings," he responded in kind and went about pulling his hair up and securing it with the thin band on his wrist.

By now there probably have been a moment of pause on Heracles' end. Seeing what could have been a woman speaking in a man's voice. Quils took a few steps forward, the leathers of his outfit stretching quietly as he moved. Holding his hand out to the side he telekinetically drew his lightsaber from its place on his hip and bowed politely to Heracles.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles inclined his head in respect to his new opponent. He shrugged out of his robe and kicked it aside. He had never seen an actual Hapan before now, but he had read a bit about the race. He tried to recall the information as he drew his lightsaber. He instantly analyzed the room as he always did before battle, looking for vantage points that could be used. This duel was going to be difficult for him, seeing no vantage point.

He grimaced as he turned down the power on his lightsaber and ignited the blade, waiting for the Hapan to make the first move.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils studied his opponent carefully, looking for any tell-tale sign of his opening move. The Hapan's thumb pressed down on the switch of his lightsaber. The weapon sprang to life with a familiar snap-hiss, thrumming quietly in his hand. A blue glow cast itself on the floor and on Quils' side and flickered as he twirled the weapon patiently by rotating his wrist. "Your move," he invited politely with a warm smile.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles nodded, moving into the basic Jedi ready stance and quickly analyzed where he would choose to strike first.

He decided to start easy, get a feel of his opponent's technique, try to find flaws that he could work to his advantage. His short blade required him to move in close to he began off with a charge that ended in a combination of strikes. First he was make a basic cut to his right arm, then follow up with a slash to Quils' legs, and finish the combination with another cut to the side.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils reacted to the charge, waiting for that moment when Heracles would slow down to make an attack, and hopped back lightly to avoid the first strike. Though a bit further he was still within range of the shoto-style lightsaber so he swept his own weapon across, holding the blade vertically towards the ground, to meet and deflect the attack at his legs. In the same motion as the deflection he flicked his wrist, rotating the blade swiftly and aiming for Heracles' wrist to preempt the third strike.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Taking a step back, moving his wrist away from the blade. He took another step away. Heracles took a moment to observe his opponent. Then he took a few steps forward again and began another combination. This time he aimed a slice to the shoulder, following it up with strike to his opponent's free hand.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils once again hopped back lightly to avoid the range of his opponent's shoto, but this time he brought his lightsaber up to meet Heracle's opening strike. Unlike before, however, the Padawan counter-attacked as he noted the aim of the second strike angled his posture to avoid the hit. In return he began a series of quick slashes aimed from the left and right, it would be a series of attacks that he would relentlessly deliver. At the same time he would prepare himself to again stay out of Heracles' range either through acrobatic means or simple spacing and maneuvering.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles dodged, weaved, blocked and did anything he could to get away from the Hapan's blade. Eventually, Heracles became aware that the wall was nearing him. He took advantage of one of the strikes and rolled to the side, narrowly missing the blade. He stood and moved so that he was facing the Hapan's back. He brought his blade up and tried to bring it down into his opponent's spine.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils was a master of turning on a dime. He had to become one in order to perfect his walk on the runway when he was a model. And now the skill would come into play during this duel. In response to Heracles' evasion Quils shifted his weight and lowered his stance, following his opponent with one dogged and swift lightsaber. He spun around to face Heracles at the same time as he swung the blade across like a glowing tilt-a-whirl of ouch. The strike could most certainly hit Heracles' exposed torso. But that wasn't a guarantee, and Quils knew it. He prepared to dive-roll to the side as soon as his oppenent seemed to bring the lightsaber down.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles was shocked when the Hapan turned suddenly and aimed his lightsaber for his torso. Idiot... He told himself, never leave yourself exposed like that. He jumped back, avoiding the tip of the blade so narrowly that the tip still caught the loose fabric of his tunic and burned a long hole in the front. He still felt the heat of the blade on his skin, feeling a slight burn appear.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself from the near defeat, he began to think about the Hapan race in general, what he had learned about them. But while he was searching through his memory, he was also in the fight. He took another step forward, this time being more careful in order to not expose himself like he had a moment ago. He aimed a slash to his opponents arm, already prepared for whatever counter-attack that would come next.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils sprang forward from his crouch, throwing his left arm in the way of Heracles' blade to deflect it with the prosthetic. Granted the artificial limb would suffer severe damage from the power-reduced weapon, Quils still chose to pursue the course of action. At the same time he brought his own lightsaber down and across towards Heracles' torso once more.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Heracles was again in shock. An artificial arm...how did I not see that? Heracles did not linger on the arm for long, he fell flat on his back, taking in pain from the metallic floor rather than facing a duel ending strike to his mid-section. He forced himself not to let his opponent know about his sudden discomfort. He rolled backward to his feet again, reignited his lightsaber which he had extinguished.

This was indeed a tough duel, he had more injuries from this than he had in most of the fights to the death that he had faced in his exile. He again tried to think about the race, there was an old saying about the Hapan race, but he couldn't seem to think of it at the moment.

He didn't bother to strike back this time, he settled into a basic defensive stance and waited for the Hapan to attack again, his mind still trying to remember that saying.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils pursued Heracles, his left arm tucked across his abdomen as sparks flew from the burnt section. Most of the damage to it was from the impact of the shoto-style blade. Doggedly he stayed on Heracles, refusing to give him a moment to think. He assailed his fellow padawan with a flurry of side swipes and and diagonal slashes, acrobatically twisting and rolling to keep himself out of his oppenent's range. He feigned a strike at Heracles' torso but shifted and directed his blade towards the man's wrist.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

A weakness...

Heracles seemed to have finally found something that would help him against this tough opponent. His false left arm was now damaged from the risky block. Herc grinned as he raised his blade to block the first of the strikes. He kept his eyes on the arm that was now sparking in the area that had struck his lightsaber. He blocked another strike and ducked to avoid another. He jumped back from the false assult on his torso, suspecting a trick of some kind. He aimed a strike for false arm, whether it struck or not he would roll to the side to avoid a counter-attack or get out of range.

He was still trying to remember that old saying, but the intense duel was keeping his mind in the duel. He was focusing on concentration and honing his reflexes to dodge the Hapan's blade. This was indeed, a close match.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Quils had had his fill of Heracles' evasive maneuvers and leapt back. He evaded the strike to his prosthetic narrowly. If the duel was going to be about whom could outmaneuver who then it was going to get mighty interesting. As he landed Quils let his left arm hang to the ground and stepped on it with his right foot. With one quick push the limb was freed and useless to anyone. All that was left on the appendage was the nub covered by wrecked framing and wiring.

He stood straight and held his lightsaber at the ready before dashing forward a bit faster than before as he was a good 15 pounds lighter now, possibly more. He drew on the force, centering it on his feet and around his body, waiting for the opportune moment to spring his plan to action.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

Well, there goes that advantage...

Heracles thought as he watched his opponent pull off his arm and throw it to the ground. Heracles stood in his ready stance and realized that the Hapan seemed to be preparing for something. He took this moment to figure out the saying.

"Hapans are beautiful..."

This was the begining of the phrase, how that would help him, he didn't know. He studied the man, he proved that portion of the phrase correct. He was quite good looking, he could possibly have been a fashion model before he joined the order. He concentrated, but in doing so, he felt the Hapan focusing the force. That wasn't good. Heracles bent down and charged at his opponent again.

If he was able to get close enough to his opponent, he would perform a series of strikes that would start with a slash to the man's abdomen, then followed that with an upward strike to the man's right armpit. He would finish with a downward slash to the man's right shoulder.

 

[FallenKeeper]

And with that, the moment the two charging opponents would meet, Quils propelled himself over Heracles in a single flip, bringing his lightsaber down and across where his oppenent's body would be to deliver a, hopefully, finishing strike to end the duel. Upon landing he would pivot swiftly like before and aim a second strike towards Heracles' legs.

 

[Heracles Whiet]

"ARGH!" Heracles shouted at a volume that he was sure the rest of temple could here it. He felt the burn form on his shoulder form. He was ready to fall to the ground in pain when the second strike came at his legs. He fell to his knees. He was defeated, he had fought a good fight, he hoped. His lightsaber extinguished as soon as it rolled from his hand, the hilt continued to roll across the metallic floor.

Slowly, Heracles got to his feet and turned to the Hapan. He was clutching his shoulder, but bowed in respect to the man he had just lost to. He rose again and spoke. "An honorable duel, you are the better. Please, tell me your name." He asked, wanting to know the name of his opponent. If the man asked, Heracles would tell him his name.

Then, almost as if his mind was teasing him, the completed phrase popped into his head.

"Hapans are beautiful, but they cannot see in the dark."

Heracles sighed, and extended his hand before he turned and left.

(Good duel, that was fun)