Better off Jedha

[Day'lai'Fara]

Day'lai'Fara was having a pretty good day. She woke up in her temple cell and thought she was blind before remembering to open her eyes. Shrugging it off she swiftly moved through her daily routine which involved consumption of food and drink to maintain her energy coupled with exercise to burn said energy before returning to a comatose state to awaken from which may or may not cause blindness.

Something was different about today though. Something seemed special. The Chiss saw in her reflection not a horrifying clone attempting to break into her universe and steal her life, but a confident young woman about to embark on a journey of self discovery and growth. That mirror was a window and that young woman was showering. She screamed, Day'lai'Fara ran, she tripped. It was a whole thing.

Next up was breakfast. A growing Chiss needed food, but Fara had stopped growing last year so skipping breakfast, she decided to go outside for a walk. Wind swept over the sand creating a scent that reminded the Chiss of her crippling sand allergy. Falling over and clutching herself as she itched all over she cursed sand. It was rough, irritating, and it got everywhere.

Getting up eventually as the winds died, Fara decided to train. As she meditated at half the rate of other knight's and physically trained at a quarter of the speed of others, Fara found she had to meditate while practicing with her lightsaber. Shifting about the yard eyes closed she slashed around recklessly. While closing ones eyes attuned one to the force, the Chiss wasn't doing that and it showed as she sliced a load bearing column right in half. Watching it tumble down a hill, Fara realized she had broken her meditation and swiftly closed her eyes while continuing to watch the column, it looked like the back of her eyelids.

Sheathing her lightsaber, the young, but not so young it was endearing, knight sighed. This Jedi stuff was harder than it looked, and that was with her eyes closed.

 

[Ekaj]

Ekaj sat in the couryt yard his eyes closed as he felt the force arround him. Ekaj all ways liked the peace that cam from meditation, tge tranquility cleared his mind. so when a massive crash occured and he was jolted awak Ekaj was not that happy.


opening his eyes he spoted the culprit. A blue skinned near human. A Pantoran if he remembered from his studies. standing up Ekaj walked over to the lady. keeping his dustsncd though since she had just successfully attacked the temple.



"Mam are you all right" Though Ekaj could see her and knew she was physically all right Ekaj all so knew she attacked the trmple so she may be spiritually or mentally ill.

 

[Shryke]

Shryke stood on a rock, overlooking the training area that Fara had chosen to train in. He smiled - not enough Jedi went off on their own volition to go and practice. More needed to if they ever hoped to stand a chance against the Exile thread. Patting his healing but still injured leg and the crutch that he was leaning on, Shryke reminded himself of just how dangerous the Jedi's opponents were.

"Ho there young Jedi! I admire your devotion and spirit but perhaps your technique could use some work? I could give you some tips if you'd be willing." Shryke said. He had stayed on Jedha for far too long already and it looked like he might stay a bit longer, still. He was only supposed to be here to rebuild his saber but in the time he'd been on Jedha, he'd been increasingly finding himself helping his fellow Jedi out. He was a Crusader - he was supposed to be out in the galaxy hunting Exiles - but here he was and once again he found himself trying to mentor a young Jedi on Jedha. Then, noticing that Ekaj had wandered into view, Shryke nodded to the young human, remembering him from the balcony from the other day.

"Feel free to join in my young friend! Mayhaps we could spar?"

 

[Sheranee Saya]

Jedha was a beautiful world. Of all the myriad planets Sheranee had set her boots down on Jedha was perhaps the most like her home, and yet the most intriguingly different. Climatologically and geographically, Jedha was almost identical to equatorial Sahmina, a world of towering bluffs, striking plateaus, golden sands, and breathtaking vistas. Jedha also had such a wonderful warmth to it, and unlike those glorified bogs on Onderon and Teth, this heat was comfortably dry, with strong yet soothing winds. The only thing she hated more than biting cold was a muggy, soggy, humid heat. Culturally the people of Jedha seemed to be, for lack of a better term, vigorously and thoroughly alive. They sang, they danced, they marched up and down the streets in a gloriously cacophonic parade of merchants, monks, and martial artists all bustling from this store to that tea house in a scramble that felt neither hectic nor hostile. It was life in all its splendor, and she adored it so, declaring Jedha as sort of a home-away-from-home. Of course, the Jedi presence on the planet had benefits as well. On most worlds strutting around in robes and engaging in strange activities got you deported, assaulted, or shot, but on Jedha she could proudly and openly wear her Sahminan garb, and whether she was a pilgrim, and Jedi, or just a fan of casual clothing didn't matter.

This Jedi presence did not come without risks, however, especially for her. She was Matukai, one of an ancient order of nomadic and benevolent monks that roamed the galaxy spreading wisdom and goodwill. Not that some Jedi would care, during the Hundred Years Darkness a philosophical falling out had caused the Jedi to turn on the Matukai, branding them as traitors and Exiles. The resulting purges slashed the number of Matukai in the galaxy down to almost nothing, and even if the war was over Sheranee had no desire to test some zealous young knight by revealing who, or what, she was to them. Still, even this danger could not dampen her spirits, not could the Jedi temple that loomed over the village she had traveled to. Today felt, deeply and truly, like it was going to be great.

Then a smoldering stone column came rolling down the hill from the temple. Thankfully, the thing stopped before it actually hit anyone, but it caused quite a stir in the town to watch something fall from the temple. While the townsfolk debated in a hundred languages, Sheranee was quite sure what that meant. The temple was under attack, why else would someone cut down one of their columns with a lightsaber? It was strange, however, as the young Matukai heard no sounds of carnage or battle, nor did she sense the malice of the Darkside. Perhaps it was a stealth attack? An infiltration on the cusp of going awry? It didn't matter, regardless of the Jedi's opinion on the Matukai no one deserved to be slaughters by those maniacs. She leapt over the column and raced up the steep and sandy hill in a mix of climbing and crawling, moving closer to the building atop the hill. When she reached the summit, she found herself in the midst of what appeared to be a Harch Jedi Master training a Pantoran and a human boy. A training session that her uphill charge had no doubt awkwardly interrupted.

"So...uh...did anyone up here lose a sandstone column?"

 

[Day'lai'Fara]

Opening her eyes after a bit, Day'lai'Fara looked upon a young man as confused as he was youthful. Looking over at the clean char marks upon the column she sliced and the extremely incriminating trail the rolling stone had left, the Chiss took the time to note it did not in fact collect any moss but that was besides the point. The point was Fara had forgotten to turn off her saber and it was currently burning her robes.

Making a small yip sound she leaped and thankfully sheathed her blade lest she be short a couple legs. Leaning down she swiftly patted down the flame as if complimenting it for a job well done, but instead of increasing its productivity she just smashed it until it was dead much like this simile.

The young man asked a question to contemplate. Was she all right? There were so many ways to take that question and only one acceptable way to answer it. An affirmative of varying intensity, but the young Chiss had never been acceptable and had also hardly ever been accepted so she could answer that question however she wanted,

"I could be better in like a relative sense, but I could also be worse in like a distant relative sense."

She smiled at the boy, but then turned to a man who was armed to the teeth with arms which thankfully weren't covered in teeth because that would be scary as hell. Noting his cane and his limp the Chiss used her brains ability to think and construct ideas from information gathered from her senses to determine he would look hella swagger with a top hat. Also he was talking a lot of words, but she didn't hear many of them. She maybe heard one word and jumped off that.

"I wasn't aware we had a spa"

Day'lai'Fara was way past her usual quota for socialization, but then one more showed up. The Chiss liked this ones outfit choice it made a statement and that statement was 'I wear clothes'. She asked if anyone lost a sandstone column and looking around Fara did notice a column had broken fairly recently and the burns and cracks indicated a lightsaber wielder was the culprit. It could be anyone of the people assembled had it not definitely been her.

"Would you mind bringing it to our lost and found?" the Chiss answered helpfully as she could

 

[Ekaj]

Ekaj eyes blinked repeatedly. Was this girl really a jedi. Was the order so short staffed that we any body was being let in. It was clear her anserw to his question should of been no. Thankfully Shryke was there. Ekaj would probably end up being a exile if he was a lone to long with her.


"I would love to spar with you, if only you where first healed to 100%" ignoring the foolish red eyed Pantoran Ekaj did wonder though. Where there any spa's on Jedah. A nice day of relaxation could do wonders for the mind, body and soul.

The last to arrive would of stood out on some other worlds. But on Jedah his choice in clothing helped him blend in. Looking from where he came Ekaj could see how far the column had rolled. Though no one looked injured and children had all ready started to play on it. "sorry about that, the Pantoran here had a swing that went to wide" turning to look at her Ekaj shook his head has she set her own robes on fire.

 

[Shryke]

Shryke blinked all of his eyes a few times. Did this Chiss think that he said "spa?" Oh, well - he didn't let it bother him too much. The Jedi Order was in dire enough straits as it was - he couldn't judge the weirdos in it too harshly. They too were part of the Force's will. At least, that's what they told him.

"I said "spar," not "spa," young one but, come to think of it, I actually do know of a spa here on Jedha that would probably do my leg some good to soak in it. I can give you the address if you want." Shryke offered. Ekaj brought him back down to the land of the sane when he said he'd be down to spar with the Harch Jedi once he was completely healed.

"Ekaj, my good man, I am more than enough healed to be able to give you a run for your money. This crutch is only for show! So how about it?" Shryke boasted, half-truthfully. While his spirit and body were healing tremendously during his time on Jedha, his leg still hurt a bit. Nevertheless, he was still confident enough to not doubt his own combat abilities.

 

[Sheranee Saya]

Well, on the one hand Sheranee was thanking whatever cosmic force or entity controlled such events to make them less awkward, but it appeared it was on her side as the Jedi casually brushed her sudden, rather combative appearance off rather quickly. In fact, the Jedi seemed almost pleasantly surprised to have a guest at the edge of their courtyard making quips about their sudden lack of décor. But at the same time, she was a Matukai adept standing in the midst of two Jedi Knights and what appeared to be their instructor. Now, Sheranee had no qualms with the Jedi Order, she harbored no ill will toward them, but at the same time their groups did not have a warm and friendly relationship. During that little civil war within their own order, the Jedi had hunted the Matukai down no different than the Exiles, forcing them into nomadic hiding. Things had gotten slightly better nowadays, but that still didn't ease Sheranee's discomfort at being surrounded by three Jedi. But at least they seemed friendly enough, so far.

"Heh, sure, just give me the address." She joked with the Chiss initially, but when the girl accidentally set her own breeches on fire Sheranee's instincts kicked in and she leapt into action. Dashing across the courtyard she helped the blue humanoid pat out her smoldering robes, hopefully saving the woman from any sort of burn or injury. With the crisis averted, the word 'spar' caught Sheranee's ears as the Harch discussed engaging in a little training with the young human male. Oh, the chance to see Jedi in action was almost impossible to pass up, as someone that prided herself on her martial prowess seeing Jedi fighting would be a real treat. Of course, participation would be even more informative.

"Sparring, eh? Is that invitation open?"

 

[Day'lai'Fara]

The young boy seemed to have something in his eyes as he was blinking more than a ninety-eyed squid, and they had one hundred eyes. Just a bad name in general for the creature. He spoke to the many armed fellow about their spar date not being able to go forward as he didn't happen to be attracted to cripples or something she wasn't paying attention.

When she heard there was a spa here she was pretty excited. She'd never been to one, but saw a holovid where a young Twi'lek went to a spa and was murdered. How it ended wasn't very nice, but she seemed like she was having a great time up to that point. She blinked as the young man called her a Pandoran,

"Pan-what now? Do I look like I have a stash of unobtanium?"

Looking over at the Matukai she answered as seriously as possible,

"1456 Justicar Trail, Temple Square, Jedha County 2456789-0067"

Every one was pretty in to this whole spa thing, but they kept saying it with a lisp. Also they seemed to be weirdly competitive about it.

"I could join in too, but I call the one with the biggest forearms," the Chiss was of course referring to their masseuses, but as per usual had created a non sequitur that was bound to be misinterpreted. Funny joke, symbol clash, hahaha.

 

[Ekaj]

Ekaj slap his hand to face and scratched his head. Was this women really a jedi. Or was this some kind of test. At a loos for word he just stared at her. "are you sure you don't have a head injury. I mean you never know."



Looking at shryke. "you know I lived here all my live and never knew there was a spa here. But if you want we can spar instead. Though it might be rude since it will leave our two freinds here with nothing to do. Though I still.

 

[Shryke]

"How about we spar after we spa?!? I mean, let's spa after we spar, blast it!" Shryke said, a bit irritated that all this spa talk had distracted the others from talking about sparring. Or, better yet, actually sparring. He sighed - he so desperately wanted to fight somebody else on this planet, to test his mettle.

"How about if one of you youngsters can beat me then I'll treat you to a day at the spa?" Shryke offered, giving a knowing smile.

 

[Sheranee Saya]

Sheranee was starting to have legitimate trouble keeping track of this conversation, given the apparent break between wanting to go to the spa and wanting to spar. Now, personally, Sheranee wanted to spar with someone as she had a passion for martial arts, although she was not opposed to a relaxing day at the spa. Of course, being a Matukai with a penchant for ludicrously intense training Sheranee would most likely be a nightmare for any spa she went too. Her body really was just a mass of sunburns, callouses, scars, torn muscles, and other assorted skin blemishes. Even her hair was an untamable tangle of golden curls that the young Sahminan had personally given up on trying to organize years ago. Having to treat her to a spa day was a fate she would not wish on her worst enemies, so she was quite partial to a dust up if that was the plan.

"If we're all on the same page here," Sheranee began, starting to roll a crick from her right shoulder as she stepped toward the Harch. "I'd be willing to spar you for free, Master Jedi. I'm not half bad in a fight."

Sheranee was not keen on telling a Jedi that she was a member of an Order that his own had hunted down and slaughtered, after all she had no clue what this man's opinion on the Matukai might be. But at the same time this was two rare opportunities rolled into one, a chance to witness a Jedi in battle and to duel a potential equal, or better, in a sparring match. She hoped that the Harch would accept her offer, and not ask too many questions about her abilities.

 

[Day'lai'Fara]

There was much talk of spars and spas and while it was extremely confusing, it did give the Chiss a great idea for a fusion Arena/ Spa. That way people could injure themselves and work out stress then get massaged back to health. She'd call it 'Spa-r-ta' for no reason in particular and it would cost 300 credits, but would be free to Persians who entered through the secret goat paths.

Blinking and realizing she'd once again missed a bit of conversation, Fara looked to the old Harch who had challenged her to a spa for a free spar day or something like that. Smiling the red eyed Jedi produced her saber as she looked to the Matukai who offered herself up to be sparred,

"I'd be happy to beat you all for a free spa day, I hope you spar no expense when I inevitably win"

Letting out a titter, the Chiss recalled she was kicked out of the Ascendancy not just for incompetence, but also for gross punnery. She did hope the Jedi order didn't have a similar policy.

"So. To the death then?"

 

[Ekaj]

Ekaj gave a chuckle. Did she really think she could beat them. She looked like she would cut her own limbs off instead of win a duel. "We don't fight to the death unless we have to. Do you know how to switch the lightsaber be on a lower training power level?“ Ekaj wonderd if she knew, I mean she did cut pillar in half so he doubted it.


Looking at the other jedi and stranger Ekaj looked them over. "sure I will take part in a freindly spar for a spa day." flexing his arms muscles as he spoke.

 

[Shryke]

“Take me all on at once or every Jedi for themselves!?! It makes no difference to me!” Shryke boomed as he activated his saber and bade any potential opponents to come forward.

 

[Sheranee Saya]

"Dibs!" Sheranee was in front of Shryke before the others could react, leaving the young boy to fight the admittedly rather ditzy Chiss. Sheranee did feel somewhat bad, both for leaving the woman alone after she proposed to duel her, and for leaving the young Jedi to pick up the slack. But one of the great tenets of the Matukai was to find struggle in ones life to encourage growth and mastery, and looking at the blue-skinned knight Sheranee wasn't sure if she would give her a proper challenge. But the Harch, on the other hand (all six of them) was clearly a lightsaber specialist and a veteran fighter. His opening stance was not that of a novice, but of a trained and disciplined warrior, augmented by a strong physique and one of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy. If the master accepted her offer, this would prove to be an interesting bout.

Sheranee tugged her DG-10 dueling gloves onto her hands, making sure they were firmly situated before continuing. She pulled off her shawl and cast aside her belt, weapons and all, letting them land against a nearby pillar. Her robe was next, the bright article landing over her weapons on the nearby pile. Without her baggy outer garments, leaving her only in trousers, shoes, and a black top, her lean and athletic frame was revealed. Years of intensive training had given her a frame most mixed martial artists would have been jealous of, a musculature that was strong without being bulky. Every testing flex and stretch of her limbs as the Sahminan prepared for battle rippled with the trained, well-built strength of a true fighter. Once she was prepared, the Sahminan began to draw on the Light around her, ready for the bout to begin.

"Age before beauty." She finally said, openly waving for the Harch to strike first.

 

[Day'lai'Fara]

As Ekaj mentioned the lower training level the Chiss looked over her lightsaber curiously as she fiddled with it. She looked directly into the hilt more than a few times but luckily none of her testing fingers managed to give her an eye patch with a side of amateur lobotomy. Twisting the saber she created a blue blade with a satisfying zing and noted it seemed less intense than before. She should probably test it on something so she stuck out her tongue stopping just short when she saw a fluttering insect. Flicking quickly she saw it zap and burn a bit as it flew off in ungodly terror.

"Training mode...neato torpedo!"

As Shyrke made his ultimatum the Chiss was still lost in the mysteries that were the grand total of three buttons on her saber. Then she heard someone call dibs and immediately got cross,

"No fair I wanted dibs!"

It didn't matter what it was, if it existed Day'lai'Fara wanted dibs. However on this day there were no dibs for her, she would instead be left dibless, bereft of dibs, 'no dibs for you' would the dibs Nazi declare as the existential laugh-track clattered through her war torn mind. Oh the Chissmanity.

Watching Sheranee prepare for her duel was a delight and Fara was going to copy her moves, but she lacked gloves and similar clothing removal would be inappropriate for several reasons the Chiss would rather not disclose. So wearing the normal amount of clothing she shifted her blade back and forth mimicking the lightsaber noises with a gleeful grin. She was clearly taking this seriously.

Eventually regaining focus she turned her eyes on her fellow knight and got into a battle stance or maybe she was just weirdly squatting,

"It's time to d-d-d- cough sorry something got stuck in my throat. The time for dueling is now"

Without another word the Chiss rushed forward with a somewhat swift lateral strike

 

[Ekaj]

Ekaj blade ignited has the blade dimmed in your the less lethal but still painful training mode. He was some what upset that he was stuck with the crazy girl, he had hoped to test his skills on a real knight.

Still it is what it is. As she came in with a latrel strike Ekaj answered by jumping back and raising his blade in a upward strike on the now exposed arms of the crazy female jedi.

 

[Shryke]

Shryke wasted no time and leapt forward to attack. He feinted like he was swinging low at the woman's feet before turning the blow into a stab at Sheranee's torso. If it impacted, great and Shryke would perhaps not so humbly accept victory. However, he didn't really expect the stab to win the duel so fast - it was mainly so he could gauge his opponent's reaction time, footwork, and combat skills. After the stab, Shryke would return to a defensive position.

"Age? How old do you think I am, lass?" Shryke gave a booming chuckle.

 

[Sheranee Saya]

Even before Shryke struck, Sheranee read certain clues of the Harch's intention, the tension in his legs, the ripple of muscle in his arms, the slight ticks radiating through his lightsaber-carrying hand. Sheranee was a trained warrior, she'd been fighting since she was seven years old, she had learned to read her opponents like open books, and for all his training Shryke had not eliminated his tells. Sheranee, on the other hand, had trained her body not to give away these subtle indicators before she made a move, case and point. As Shryke delivered his low feint, Sheranee ducked even lower to the ground, lashing out with her right leg at the Harch's forward ankle as his blade rose up to strike where her chest would have been. She didn't need to make it a hard strike, focusing on speed so as to prevent the Harch from lashing out at her leg in return. She had noticed the arachnid's limp earlier, and with his multiple arms making him a dangerous opponent up top, Sheranee intended to keep this fight low to the ground.

"You want that in decades or centuries?" She quipped back.