Ask Dojos and Dancing

[Trace]

Trace watched as she struggled with the remote, being shot initially, but managing several follow up shots with excellent precision. And then she lost a bit of focus.

There was a sequence of bolts that Trace could sense all found home. Besides the fact that she could hear Ailis's yelps of pain, she could sense the pain, hear the sizzling of skin... at this rate, Ailis wasn't going to want to ever return to the dojo again...

But they all did. They all craved victory, it was part of what made them Sith.

You have to stay focused, she said. You got distracted and overconfident. If those had been real people, you'd be dead, she said before realizing her tone had turned far too serious... far too elitist and instructorish...

Sorry, I just... you can do this, just try again, she said.

@Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis was struggling with the remote, aching from the painful but weak blasts that the training remote fired. Trace commented from the sidelines, telling her that she was distracted, that she had gotten overconfident. What she said after that really hit home. If these had been real people, she'd be dead. Every aching pinpoint was a deadly blast that would have destroyed her hip, stomach, shoulder, and chest. Every missed shot a death, in a way.

Ailis had already learned growing up that there was little room for mistakes or failure. That she had survived this long was likely a miracle, or perhaps the strange workings of the force. But among the Sith especially, there was no room for fucking up. Not anymore.

"No. You're right. You don't need to coddle me." Ailis said, her tone a little harder as she set herself into guard and the remote spun up again. She winced at her words and hoped Trace wouldn't take them the wrong way, but she meant it. If she was to get serious about being a Sith she needed to start now. No more fucking up. No more fucking off.

She pushed all those thoughts out of her head, focusing on the present, the now. The vibrant hum of Trace off to the side. The low thrum of energy that pulsed with each jet of repulsors. She tried to not focus on anything in particular. And on everything.

There.

A pulse of energy and she tried not to think about it. Tried to let the Force guide her. Her arms moved sluggishly and she took a bolt to the thigh. She danced back hopping for a minute, bringing her blade low to block a follow up shot. She could do this. Three quick blasts, three flicks of her blade and she so far remained unscathed... that first one, didn't count.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace could feel the shift inside Ailis. The determination to do better, to overcome and thrive. But that alone wasn't enough. It would take many hours, but Trace knew that Ailis had taken the first steps.

She watched as Ailis proceeded to block... most of the subsequent blasts. She was getting better each time she did it, and Trace took no offense to the words she said.

Good, she said. You've got your basis now. Keep practicing, she said. It would be many hours, days, and weeks, but eventually those skills would be honed to a fine edge.

We should head out, but you should keep coming back and practice, she said. In the meantime, your test is done, my exams are done, I feel like we need to go out and blow off some steam or something, she said.

@Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis shifted through a few more blocks, getting more used to the weight and movement of the blade as well as projecting her senses onto the training remote. Trace spoke up by then, suggesting that she had her basics down and that she should continued to practice.

Deactivating her saber, Ailis removed the training helmet and fixed her hair as the remote returned to its rack. "I will definitely be spending more time around here." Ailis said with a nod. Trace was right about one thing for sure, it definitely felt like time to blow off some steam.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked as her mind went through the list of possibilities. Her mind kept settling on somewhere they could dance though, and not the lightsaber kind of dancing. "Oh what about that Imperial club you mentioned the other day?" She asked as she put away her training gear, lingering before she hung up the saber. She might be back for it later.

Her stuff was in a backpack that she had left at the entrance of the room. A change of clothes from the practice uniform she was wearing and a few other things. They had talked about going out to do something fun after training when they had made plans, and with her tests all done and just waiting on the results now was the perfect time to let loose and live a little.

@Phoenix [/abxo3]