Ask Ajan Kloss I Believe I Can Fly

[Rhea Nadal]

The sun had begun to set on the humid jungle moon of Ajan Kloss, long shadows cast upon the Jedi temple by the wild woodlands surrounding it. Just outside of the complex itself stood a lone padawan upon a large, tiled stone slab, a droid a full head larger then herself laying at her feet. She looked down at it, before closing her eyes with a sigh. "Program Nadal, difficulty setting four." The young padawan twirled a long vibrosword in her hand, as her words gave life to three other droids of similar build at the edges of the platform, the machines steadily approaching towards her. She heard the hum of their stun batons coming to life, the loud 'clack' against the stone with each new step. And she waited.

She counted out their paces until they stopped, and suddenly, she was gone; as the pacifying weapons were brought down upon her, she leapt high into the air, body spinning and hair whirling like a flaming dervish. Landing behind two of the the droids, she quickly dropped and spun out her leg, tripping it up and causing it to fall to the floor. These bots were not the comical clunkers of ages long past, however, especially at this difficulty setting; though one of their brethren was down for the moment, the other two swiftly rounded upon Rhea, one lashing out at her with it's own baton while the other flanked her left side. They were trying to corner her. She rolled clear of the blow, the stun stick passing so closely that she could almost swear she smelt the ionization in the air.

No sooner had she gotten to her feet then they had advanced on her again, the third droid already recovering behind the pair and moving to join them. She danced and hopped backwards, her vibrosword moving at all times in swift, wide movements, just enough to give them some slight pause in their chase. When the foremost droid moved to lunge at her again, she made her move; reaching out through the Force, she pulled him forward, his own momentum causing him to stumble as she did so. Seizing the opportunity, she made a small hop onto his back and leapt from it like a springboard, propelling herself towards the second droid. It raised it's weapon to defend itself, but just too late - with a clean slice of her sword, the droids head fell from it's shoulders and it tumbled to the ground.

Rhea had little time to feel pleased with herself, however, as the third loomed over her and struck down with brutal force, the padawan raising her blade to block the blow with nary a second to spare. She grit her teeth, muscles tensing from the weight of it's strikes, and she was once more forced to give ground. So enraptured was she with her training that she wouldn't hear the sound of footfalls approaching...

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash wasn't having the best of days. Ajan Kloss was humid and hot, covered in bugs and loud. The other Jedi were clambering all over him to take on more responsibility now that he was here. Was it not enough to be training one Padawan? Apparently not. He shouldn't have come back here, he thought to himself sullenly. This isn't his place, or his purpose. He can't just sit and train and contemplate the meaning of life. He needed to be out, to be helping someone and staying on this accursed jungle moon prevented him from doing just that. No one needed help here, so what was the point.

There was a benefit to being back however, and it wasn't the chores or the meditations on life. The training ground was robust, filled with everything you could want. It was a fantastic place to work off your frustrations and hone your skill at the same time. That was where he was headed to right now, letting the sunset wash over him.

The sounds of clanking droids, grunts and sword strikes could be heard as he approached, which was odd considering most folks didn't train this late. Ash only doing so because he had just finished his other chores. He continued walking, stopping only to watch as a younger girl did battle with some droids. He recognized her, both from the gardens and from conversations he has been having with the masters. About time to take an apprentice they said, not that he agreed with them. And she was one of the faces they put in front of him as options.

She seemed to be using some form of Ataru, which he had unkind thoughts about. All jumps and flair with none of the usefulness of the other forms. Or so he thought, having never actually fought someone using the acrobatic form before. She seemed skilled, and she would most certainly become even more deadly once she acquired her lightsaber, but Ash still looked down on her style. If it wasn't Makashi, what was the point? The only thing you needed to add to it was a bit of Soresu for defense and you were almost unbeatable.

With a casual gesture, he picked up a small stone about half the size of his palm with the force. "Hey!" He called out, before he flung the stone right for the girls forehead. Not enough to injure, but if it connected it might cause a bruise. Hopefully she could dodge it, because if she couldn't than she would never last against blaster fire.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Parry, counter, roll, parry, strike. Somehow she managed to find some degree of rhythm in the droid's movements, so that even when it's attacks increased in intensity, she was able to keep her defense going strong. But Ataru was not a form for defense, not for the most part; she would need to act, need to find some opening. And that opening came from a most unexpected place.

"Hey!"

The sound broke her concentration, causing her to turn on her heel. As the rock hummed towards her forehead, she raised her blade in one fluid motion, placing her palm against it's blade, and used it to ricochet the stone away into the droid's 'face'. The movement was so fast and fluid, it looked like something she had practiced a thousand times over. In reality, the entire thing was almost entirely subconscious reflex; when she realized what had happened, she stopped and stared at the scarred man before her. "What in --", she started to ask, before being cut off mid-sentence.

Thing about droids is, they really didn't much care about being hit by rocks; and he let her know it by slamming his stun baton into her now very-open side. "GHHK!" She grit her teeth in an effort to not bite her tongue as the amps flowed through her body, her muscles seizing violently as she dropped to the floor, mind struggling to fight off the dark unconsciousness that threatened to take hold of her. The droid loomed over her, about to strike again, when she managed to garble out, "N-Nadal ... Omega..."

It fell silent in a near instant. The other droid, which had been approaching to join in the beating, did as well. The young padawan let out a frustrated growl as she sloppily tried to climb to her hands and knees, body shaking, a deep blue eye peeking up at Ash from beneath a messy wave of red hair. "Moof-milking...son of a..." She continued to grumble, though whatever other insults she might have had for one who was her superior, she at least had enough presence of mind to say them under her breath.

It took nearly a full minute for her to shakily rise to her feet, sheathing her blade and placing her arms behind her back. "Master... Valentine, right? Is there something I can do to help you?" It was certainly a more polite response, though a cursory glance of her thoughts would reveal that she was mentally replacing 'Master' with a few colorful expletives.

 

[Ash Valentine]

Well at least she wouldn't have a problem with blaster bolts. She seemed capable of allowing the force to move her when it was required, she just needed to remember to not put her hands on her lightsaber when she acquires it. Or he supposed he spoke too soon, considering the 'shocking' actions of the droid that just jabbed her in the side.

Knowing that the shock wasn't dangerous, at least not permanently, Ash almost doubled over laughing. Though he managed to keep himself from just that so he could safe the girls pride. He stood a respectful distance away as the girl recovered as he knew people tended to have negative reactions to those who cause them pain, no matter how indirect it was. And the girl was holding a vibro-sword, so he figured staying out of reach of that was just a prudent decision.

He didn't need to look into the force to see the girl was upset with him, not that he particularly cared. If a lesson like this saved her life someday, let her dislike him. He kept a smirk on his face as the girl addressed him, though for those that didn't know him or couldn't decipher his scars, it looked more like a malicious sneer. He was open in the force however, so she should hopefully note that he didn't feel anything truly negative towards her.

"Rhea Nadal, you have skill and can obviously listen to the force when it tries to save you from danger. However you can't allow yourself to be distracted. If what I had fired at you was a blaster bolt, and the droid was a thug with a knife, you would be dying." He allowed a few moments for that to sink in. "Why are you training so late anyway?"

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

If the Knight's ruined visage disturbed her in any way, it didn't show on Rhea's face; she looked the older man directly in the eye, rather then gawking at him like one might at a swoop wreck. "If it was a blaster bolt, the clankers head would've blown off..." she mumbled under her breath, though she bowed to him regardless. "...I will keep that in mind, Master Valentine." She did at least sound sincere about accepting the criticism; whatever gripes she made about it, he wasn't wrong.

When he asked about the time of day, the young woman looked up, as if uncertain what he meant. Only now did it seem to register that the sun had almost set, the sounds of myriad insects coming alive out in the dark boughs of the jungle world. "Oh, well... it's not that unusual, at least not for me. I'm the type who learns best by doing, so I try to use my free time to drill the movements into my head. To make it second nature."

This was no lie, but if she were being more honest, it was also something of an escape. Her difficulties with harnessing the Force and innate ability for combat made the training something of an escape for her as well, a sort of self-reassurance that she actually belonged here. "Though, weren't you coming out here for the same thing, Master?" She looked around at the training grounds; there was really only one thing he could've come out here to do, unless he planned to just walk out into the jungle.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash nodded when she bowed, he didn't catch what she said when she mumbled, what with him still standing a few meters away and all. He began walking towards the small racks where the Jedi held the training weapons, listening to the girl speak all the while. He plucked a small training sword designed to imitate the proportions and weight of a Lightfoil. "I was. I've been slacking on actual practice for too long." He rasped in reply to her question.

He swung the rapier like weapon around for a few moments, testing it with one hand and then switching to the other. He was naturally dominant with his right hand, but thanks to his right sided blindness it was hard to wield a weapon or anything for that matter with his right hand. So he had trained to be predominantly left handed. Once satisfied with the weapon, he placed the rapier in his offhand, that being the weaker right, and picked up a regular sized lightsaber equivalent and held it in his left. He wasn't a duel wielder, but perhaps he could be.

"Would you like to have a go? Live opponents are always better than the programmed difficulty of the droids. And as I said, I could use the practice." He rasped with a light smile. He was handicapping himself by trying to fight with two blades, especially one he wasn't intimately familiar with, but even fighting normally he wasn't sure he would win. Ignoring his own bias against the flippy ataru, it was performed almost to perfection by the young woman in front of him.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Slacking on practice? Somehow she doubted that; Master Valentine had made it pretty clear just how much practice he had gotten during his outburst in the garden the other day. He could've been many things, but a slacker definitely wasn't one of them - and so when he asked her to be his training partner, she was surprised.

No matter how 'out of practice' he was, he was still a Knight many years her senior; she had serious doubts that the two-bit thugs back home and the training droids on Ajan Kloss were even remotely close to the dangers he had seen and overcome. That wasn't even to mention the fact that she'd just been hit by a stun stick, and between that and training all evening, her muscles were like useless sacks of gelatin. She stood no chance.

"Absolutely," she replied with an eager grin, drawing her blade once more, "so long as you don't go easy on me." Chance or no, the opportunity for this kind of training was rare, and she wasn't going to pass it up. The only way she could ever hope to truly excel was to push herself beyond her preconceived limits. The close stance and withdrawn form she adapted wasn't that of the wild and aggressive Ataru, however, but the more standardized Shii-Cho.

While the first form wasn't nearly as effective as any of the others, it was arguably one of the most balanced. And considering she didn't know much about her opponents combat style, other then that he was apparently dual-wielding, it would be easier to adapt to whatever he came at her with. Given that he was using two blades, and one of them was on the lighter side, he was likely either an Ataru practioner himself, or a Makashi duelist.

"Whenever you're ready, Master."

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

It was often that Ash forgot that swords themselves were unwieldy. Truly, if he was using an actual lightfoil in his offhand he wouldn't be having so much trouble. He was moving into a traditional makashi stance, placing his left hand with the regular saber equivalent in front of him pointed towards the ground on his left, while placing the rapier behind his back, accidentally grazing himself with the blade. While not dangerous, if it was an actual ignited lightfoil he would have seriously crippled himself.

No matter, he was in position now. He raised his left handed weapon to his head in a salute and then fell into a semi lunge, twisting his body to the left so as to make his profile smaller and to extend his reach with his left hand. But there, is where he stopped. He wasn't going to make the first move with his opponents attention focused entirely on the upcoming fight. H remained loose just in case he had to move, and analysed the girls stance.

Shii-Cho was an acceptable form to take when you didn't know your opponents skills, as it promoted a balanced approach to fighting and provided you an easy stance to transition into the other seven forms as the need arises. It was classic, it was boring. He would have to show her why caution isn't always the best option.

"So, where are you from Rhea?" He rasped, still holding his position, bouncing lightly on the backs of his feet. "I'm sorry you had to hear me at the garden, that was not my greatest moment." He continued, not disingenuous about his statement. He regretted that outburst immensely, however he couldn't change it now. Meanwhile, as he spoke, he remained relaxed. However anyone with enough training or skill could see that he was poised to attack. For now however, he was content to wait and see what her move would be.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Makashi, then. Though something about this seemed a bit odd; she wasn't sure if he wasn't normally a practioner or not, but he seemed to be awkward with the way he held his blades. Sadly, it was probably one of the forms she knew and practiced least. In a world without wars between lightsaber users, it just didn't seem like a terribly practical form to follow; of course, now that was coming to bite her in the ass, putting her at double the disadvantage in an already disadvantageous fight.

When he lunged, she swiftly hopped backwards, ready to meet his blow with a counter; but a second strike never came. Oh, great. He's going to make me go first, isn't he? What a gentleman. She exhaled slowly, centering herself. If he wanted her to be the one to attack, then she'd make it a hell of an attack. It caught her off-guard when he started talking to her, but she retained her focus.

"Corellia, Master Valentine. Coronet City if we're being specific." She took a deep breath at the apology, "Nothing to apologize about. Everyone has their limits, and you reached yours... all there is to it." She stated, rather matter-of-factly. She'd liked to have consoled him about how he felt as well, but that would likely cause her to unearth feelings she wanted to keep deeply buried. "'Sides, this duel is apology enough. Like I said, all I care is that you take it seriously."

And as soon as she said that, she was off. She walked one pace forward, as one might to begin a first form lunge, but instead used the force to boost herself forward on one leg. Her grip on her blade reversed itself, and she brought it into an upward arc at the knight, before reversing again to bring it down again almost immediately.

She would not wait to see his reaction, if he dodged or blocked; now she sprung upwards on both legs, spinning side-long above his head and slashing down towards him, before landing behind him and swinging twice more in quick, consecutive lateral strikes. Either she had a great deal of faith in his ability, or she was trying to kill him. It was probably the former.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash was regretting trying to use a second blade already. Why it had seemed a good idea at the time, he didn't really know. Maybe it just sounded cool in his head. He listened quietly, waiting for the moment the girls focus would slip so he could attack. He almost moved when she began speaking, but she was able to recover well enough to stop him actually making any attack.

He had honestly avoided Corellia in his travels. It had a reputation that he didn't want to experience first hand. Not that the world needed much Jedi help anyway, considering it had hardly been touched by the galactic wars that had wracked the galaxy in the last century. Hell, it had only flourished based on the demand for top of the line warships though he had heard that in recent years there had been a bit of a recession.

He nodded his head graciously as Rhea accepted his apology, and figured he would give her, her wish that he take the duel seriously. Not that he wasn't before, he just wasn't going to try anything fancy. He watched calmly as she began her attack, he considered attacking while she stepped forward but he wanted to see where this fight would go. Instead he brought his left handed blade up to block her first strike, taking a step backwards in conjunction with her own step forwards and twisting to the left to avoid the downwards coming second strike.

He jabbed forward with his main weapon just after she jumped over his head, meaning he narrowly missed striking her in the midsection as she began her ascent. With his right hand which was behind his back, though clumsy, he let the force flow through him as he directed the rapier to deflect the first attack, meanwhile he span at the same time which brought him just out of range of the second lateral strike. Once he had moved out of the way, he once again jabbed forward with his left, aiming for Rhea's left shoulder as she landed, and just after that swung with his right towards her lower back. If the rapier was a lightfoil, even though the weapon was designed for jabbing it would still cut through the girl.

Regardless of the outcome, Ash took three calm steps backwards and reset his stance, once again bending his knees into a semi lunge so that he may move quickly, and putting his right hand and weapon behind his back. "Very Good! That was impressive, though what did you gain for that attack?" He rasped out, not even out of breath. All his attacks and defenses conserved his energy, nothing wasted but everything to gain. He still held derision for Ataru and would convince the girl to switch to the better Makashi, but he was also interested to see what she would say about her decisions and attacks. "What made you choose to do as you did? Why not cut at my legs or wait for me to make the first move?"

And then, with a small smirk he said "I'm from Vardos by the way, not that you asked." It was said in good humor though he was a little reproachful about her manners.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Dodging the first counter was easy enough; as he moved to pierce her left shoulder, she dropped into a crouching position, the move missing completely. The following strike at her back was another story, as she had to swiftly move her blade to parry the blow. Her muscles screamed at her as the weapons made contact in such an awkward position, the lactate building in her arms burning like fire. She was definitely going to be feeling all this in the morning.

She swirled backwards, giving herself some distance from him even as he did the same to her. The padawan kept her eyes locked on him for any sign of movement, circling around him in a clockwise motion. She didn't respond as he spoke, besides giving a slight smirk to his questions. Because I didn't want to be out here all kriffing night.

Taking her saber into one hand, held up high in a reverse-grip, she raised the other towards the Knight. Rhea wasn't yet strong in the Force, and part of her feared she never would be; however, what she did know largely focused around augmenting her existing combat prowess. She made a motion to 'pull' with the force, but Ash would feel no effect Rather, the 'corpse' of the training droid now sitting behind him suddenly came to life, flying towards the back of his legs in an attempt to knock him down. At the same time, she leapt into the air in a short hop, swinging her one-handed blade down in a strong over-head strike towards a predicted jump.

"You're right, I didn't!" She retorted, with equal mirth, possibly not sensing the subtle chiding.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash started to relax into the rhythm of the fight, his shoulders were loose and he didn't move with the casual stiffness he usually walked around with. He was still some degree of a self described 'dignified angry' but he was certainly more lackadaisical. Not because he didn't consider the girl in front of him a challenge, but because he just wasn't thinking. All his thoughts and emotions were focused on this particular moment and that allowed him to relax.

He was smiling to himself as Rhea circled him, while he didn't deign to move. The most he did as the girl wasted her energy walking around, was keep his eyes locked to her torso, and his own blade vaguely in her direction. He watched as came forward and jumped into her overhead swing, just as her feet left the ground he let out a quick force push directly towards her. It shouldn't do more than knock her over and therefore preventing her connecting with her overhead, but he never got the chance to notice what exactly happened as his legs were knocked out from under him.

He fell on his back with a loud thump and a violent exhalation of air. He couldn't breath for a few moments and his chest was on fire, not that he let something like that stop him from getting up almost immediately. Being on the ground in a fight was never a good idea, and Ash had been in enough fights with him landing on his back to know how to take that kind of hit. Once he managed to regain his breath, he let out a short laugh and a pleased grin. That was exactly the kind of fighting he hated facing, yet would mean the girl survived her trials in the coming years.

"If that's the way you wanna play it girl, I'll oblige you." He rasped, still semi-gasping. There was a benefit to fighting out in the open, especially on a Jungle world. Much of the overgrowth is incredibly tedious to clean, not to mention the fallen branches and various stones that are bound to be dropped on the actual grounds of the temple. Ash didn't need all of them, just that little bit of refuse that loitered around the training area. While not as proficient in the force like some of the other knights and masters he knew, he could still do some fun things. He dropped his rapier out of his right hand and gestured grandly, lifting up branches and stones all around them. He had no fine control, but that didn't stop him throwing the improvised missiles at his sparring partner. They would leave welts should they connect, but nothing more. This was unfortunately not something he could keep up for long, maybe three or four seconds, but it would be enough.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

It was hard to describe what it was like, when the Force pushed against you; Rhea would've likened it to an incredibly stiff wind, but even that felt woefully inaccurate. It tossed her roughly a meter or two back, where she lightly bounced off the ground - eliciting considerably more complaints from her muscles in the process - before twisting slightly and rolling back onto her feet. She recovered quickly enough to see that she had at least managed to knock him over, which felt like an incredible victory in this scenario.

"It's only right to fight with everything you've got, right?" She would quickly come to regret that statement, as the various detritus around them suddenly seemed to come to life, a chaotic storm of debris which would soon begin to launch itself at her. She reacted quickly at first, deflecting some of the larger objects; large branches, small rocks, bits and bobs of droid parts. But as the assault ended, it showed some weakness in her defense, and a few objects got past her guard, eliciting small yelps whenever they made contact with her.

Thankfully it seemed that Ash was either unable or unwilling to simply batter her into submission, but the training and the duel were obviously beginning to take their toll on her. A once near-perfect stance had begun to slouch, and her tempered and even breathing had slowly grown more ragged and exhaustive. By now, every atom of her body was telling her to quit, and it was impossible to hide; but her eyes told a different story. They held the same razor-sharp glare they had minutes before, and at this rate it seemed like she was more liable to pass out then give up.

She briefly extended out her hand, this time pushing the Knight's discarded rapier between his legs and some distance behind him, just to make it more difficult to retrieve; she knew if she tried to take it, he'd likely just pull it back. As she did so, she immediately dashed forward, keeping the pressure up with several short, spinning strikes, meant to keep him off balance before she extended her foot out in a wide kick towards the knights solar plexus, followed by a spin-kick with the other leg towards his jaw.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash held on to the force as long as he could, sending the projectiles towards the young woman as much as he could without injuring either her or himself. He watched her closely, noting the fatigue beginning to show in her movements and posture. He felt a little bad about his little telekinetic trick as it might have been a bit overkill but it was already done, no use crying over it.

He let his arm drop limply to his side, a sudden sense of tiredness enveloping him though it was no where near what Rhea seemed to be feeling. He reassumed his stance and once again raised his blade just in time to begin the fight once again. The girl seemed to gather force for another push and Ash readied himself to contest it, but to his surprise the rapier he had left haphazardly on the ground went spinning between his legs, whacking his right ankle as it went by.

Ash let out a surprised barking curse and was unfortunately distracted when Rhea began what Ash was now determined to make her final assault. He quickly brought up his only remaining blade -thankfully his main weapon- to clumsily deflect her first and second strikes before he regained his balance and posture. After that her last remaining strikes with her weapon were easier to block. He was unfortunately not prepared for the crazy girl to try and kick the crap out of him in a sword fight. It was just uncultured.

The first kick landed, striking him firmly in the center of the chest causing him once again to loose his breath and see spots. The only thing that saved him from getting the next one in the jaw was an instinctual dodge below her second attack as he almost doubled over. In response to her uncultured, uncouth, and generally uncivilized actions, Ash did much the same as her. With a quick burst of force Speed, he launched himself forward into Rhea, hoping to knock her to the ground while he at the same time tried to grab her offending leg which had gone for his head just before she managed to re-assume her stance and put that foot on the ground.

If, he did in fact manage to catch her and put her on the ground, he would grab her leg and place it under his offhand arm and just over his knee. Meanwhile he would point the tip of his sword towards her neck in what most folks would assume to be a polite request to yield. If not, well, then he just wasn't in a very good position now was he.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Whether Ash realized it or not, she also intended for this to be the last assault; she was pouring everything she had left into each strike, each attempt to hammer him down, to hammer him back. It seemed to actually go better then she expected; the relentless, naked aggression was something that Master Valentine either hadn't expected or wasn't very good at dealing with. It made some sense, as his fighting style seemed more elegant and refined, something tailored more towards a 'proper' duel then a street fight.

As soon as he adjusted to her blows, the kicks had seemed to catch him entirely off guard... or almost so, anyway. She would've expected a great many counters; a parry, dodge, what have you. But this was something else. The young padawan had heard of this technique before, using the Force to enhance your own speed, but she hadn't seen anyone do it, and certainly hadn't used it herself. The world seemed to tumble in on itself as she was knocked down and felt her ankle get snatched out of the air, her foot never reaching it's destination.

She let out a small gasp of pain as the wind was knocked out of her, and her worn and tired leg was locked into the tight hold, opening her eyes just in time to see a long blade extended towards her neck. She was breathing heavily, covered in sweat, her long red hair a matted mess that half-covered her eyes as she stared up at the Knight. "...wanna... call it a draw?" She asked, panting, a small smirk on her face.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash was honestly surprised he had managed what he did. His reckless charge was an act of desperation before anything else, so the fact that it had borne fruit was a pleasant surprise. They both stayed in the positions for a few moments, Ash stunned that he managed such a feat and Rhea stunned from being viciously tackled to the ground by a much larger and heavier man.

She spoke, and He laughed. Loudly in fact, throwing back his head as he let go of her leg and removing his sword from her neck. He'd offer the Rhea a hand to get up, but from the general aura of exhaustion she seemed to positively exude he settled for taking a seat of to her left. "Sure, we'll call it a draw." He rasped, grinning with the good side of his face.

He took a few moments again, catching his breath. While the physical fight with the blades may not have tired him, the use of the force was certainly another matter. It may have been nothing spectacular or otherwise simple moves, but using the force in any capacity was still draining. "That was impressive! Thank you for highlighting areas I could improve on." He spoke again, cheerily as he absently placed his hand over his solar plexus. "I'd be interested to know how you learned to fight like that, not many of the students that I've trained with fought like you did. But first I suppose I've got a question." He finished seriously, pausing for dramatic effect.

"Would you like to be my Padawan?"

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Well, he had a sense of humor, that was a plus. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he sat down next to her; indeed, she didn't bother moving, more focused on catching her breath and trying to ignore the blazing fire that crept through her muscles. She was preparing to answer his first question when he asked his second.

"Would you like to be my Padawan?"

She turned to look back up towards the heavens, Ajara now more prominent in the moon's sky, the stars beginning to peek through the jungle moons atmosphere as dusk gave way to night. How long had she been here now, seeing this same sky? Almost four years? She smiled, feeling truly accomplished for the first time in nearly as long. It didn't even warrant thinking about it. She turned her head back to look at Ash.

"Yes. Absolutely. Anything you ask of me, any training you give to me, I'd give my all to see it done. I would not disappoint you, Master." Her eyes bore that same hawkish determination they'd had moments ago, and she did her all to control her heavy breathing. Lifting her legs into the air, she rocked forward into a sitting position, extending her hand out to the older man for a deep shake.

"If you would have me."

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash smiled when Rhea stopped for a moment. His question honestly surprised himself, as he had resolved not to bend to the wish's of the council and not take a Padawan. Impulsive it may have been however, he didn't regret asking. He might have been a little concerned about the idea that one spar was enough to make him want to alter the future of both himself and someone else so drastically, but then again he had never thought ahead beyond a few days. Besides, Rhea seemed a good enough sort.

He refocused on her as she came to a decision, and smiled for the few moments the weight of responsibility wasn't crushing him. T'was one thing to be responsible for yourself, but now he both had to take care of someone else at least to the degree that they don't die on a mission, and he had to set an good example. It was an unfortunate realization to have as he shook her hand.

"Of course." He said, shaking away the sudden pressure. "I wouldn't have asked otherwise." He smirked, "Now come on, you look done for the day and I suddenly need to consider how exactly I'm going to train you." He rasped in good humor. He wasn't lying when he said that, he certainly didn't think that there was any uniform way to train your padawan, and drawing on his own experience as a younger man didn't really help because he spent so much of that time fighting self loathing.

Honesty was the best policy he would always say, so he wouldn't put up the face of being a particularly experienced teacher, but hopefully that could build up some trust so that they could learn together how to fit into their own roles. He stood up and offered Rhea a hand and gestured towards the temple, mentally preparing for the next few months.

@Lyrael

 

[Rhea Nadal]

Done was right. Physically, mentally, and now somewhat emotionally, Rhea was kriffing done for the night. Come the morning, her muscles would be doing everything in their power to make her regret this little escapade. But she wouldn't have changed a thing; for the first time in a long time, it felt as though her life had some sort of forward momentum. She would never have imagined the angry man from the garden would be the one she would call teacher, mentor and master, but somehow she was glad for it.

On some level, she felt a sort of intrinsic connection with him. His frustrations, his worries, they lined up with her own, almost frighteningly so. It was possible this could be bad, of course, but she looked at this man as someone she could potentially be honest around and share her worries with, rather then someone to feed her own negativity. She smiled when he offered his hand and clasped it tight, using some of his strength to help her to her feet.

"I'm glad to see you thought this out ahead, Master," she ribbed, though her tone was joking rather then critical, "I'm looking forward to our lessons." Jokes aside, she was dead serious about that. As they walked together towards the temple, leaving the muggy jungle night behind them, she felt a sensation she hadn't experienced in quite some time. Hope.

/END

@Shax