Drawn Together

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth was enjoying some downtime on Korriban after the numerous Sith missions that he had recently completed. Their outcomes were never really in doubt but he had taken some knocks and bruises along the way as he was still learning how best to fight skilled opponents. Fortunately, there was no real threat of those disappearing as the Sith Empire continued to grow and expand its ranks with force users by the day. He hadn't yet killed a force user in battle but he would continue to prepare himself and train with anyone willing in the hopes that when that day did come, he would be ready.

Under the mid-morning sunlight, he relaxed on the side of a lesser traveled path with the coarse sands of Korriban twirling in between his fingers. He had invited a recent companion of his that he had worked with on Lothal under Darth Evandrus to come and join him for a friendly spar but first he hoped to learn more about her before they began hammering it out. She had seemed so quiet and collected but often distracted by her charge of Eisa. He hoped that alone he could learn more about the Sith that she was when she wasn't busy keeping the other from blowing somebody up.

@TheBrokenMadMan

Spoiler: edit

Death/maim disabled

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Abigail had never seen much in the way of battle before. Sure, she had been in a few fights, but those never really felt like, well, fights. It always felt like something was off, they lacked that sense of presence, of mortal danger, they lacked the things that actually made it a fight. After Lothal, she had gotten to thinking a lot about the what ifs, what if she got in a real fight? What if she was alone? What if she couldn't defend herself and got captured, or worse? The thoughts had filled her mind with a pressing urgency that she felt she had to address. With that in mind, here she was on Korriban, the new homeworld of the Sith, literally looking to start a fight.

She had received a communique from one of her Lothal compatriots not too long ago, Xornoth Sk'ar, asking for a sparring round. She didn't really know him all that much from then, he seemed pretty quiet when they were all together, maybe he was one of the strong and silent types. She entered the training grounds silently, the only sound indicating her presence being her coat billowing in the wind. She only bore her Vibrosword, and her wits, hopefully they would be enough. She could feel his signature from here, resting nearby. It took her a fair way into the temple, until she reached a room open to the elements, the sand of Korriban having thinly coated the floor. She cocked her head in curiosity as she studied him up and down, pursing her lips slightly.
"Remind you of home? From what I read, the Canyons of Kalee are supposed to be a feast for the eyes," She asked softly, making her presence known to him.

At the same time, her hand came to rest on the sheathe of her sword, waiting for the moment the match would begin.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth sat looking over the horizon when she arrived, hesitantly. The last time that Abigail had seen him he had been with his mask on and full of confidence and vigor but since the last duel ended so terribly, his face now bore in full view for all to see. Sometimes it's the simple things like the security of being safe behind a mask that allows one to come out into the world with the courage to do anything, and with the courage suddenly shattered in your face, it seldom leaves you where you once thought you were. He held the sharp end of his Vibrospear, gently running his fingers along its edge while looking up to her to catch those sharp eyes once more and a smile was found at her mention of his homeworld.

"Yes, although Kalee does have a little bit more green to it." his gaze pushed through hers for a moment as he relived his childhood temporarily. "Perhaps someday I can take you there to see it yourself."

There he stood up with his spear and stood in front of her with both hands on the weapon, and itself crossing in front of him pointing to his left.

He would let her strike first.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Abigail observed Xornoth closely as he spoke, watching all the little emotions his body was betraying. It was true, she didn't get much of a chance to watch him when they were fighting together on Lothal, but something seemed much different back then. He seemed more self assured, confident, more eager to jump into things. Here, he seemed a bit more...nervous. She couldn't quite place her finger on things, but he definitely seemed less than confident here. Might have something to do with his Mask being absent, he never took the thing off. Still, he seemed well enough to carry a onversation at least, talking about his homeworld with some affection, that was good, showed he hadn't closed up.

Ok, Abigail was here for a reason, and she would be remiss to dismiss it. She drew her sword and took a Soresu stance, moving to within 6m of the Kaleesh and sending a weak Force Push his way. She wasn't trying to throw him off immediately, this was more to see what he would do, how he would fight etc. She had learned the tactic from Serie, perhaps it would be of benefit to her.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Abigail's weak force push struck him directly as she intended sending him back several feet but otherwise fine. The quick force attack struck him as something similar he had experienced with his recent spar with Master Serie but he quickly put that to rest to focus on the task at hand.

He immediately moved forward to within melee striking distance and with both hands near the center of the vibrospear, half a meter apart he swung the left orientated weapon with the intent of landing a blow on her left shoulder with the lower half of the spear which would only bruise if connecting. As he was leading with his right foot forward, he would be ready to defend a counter attack.

@TheBrokenMadMan

Spoiler: OOC

I believe I was level 1 and you were level 2 when this thread started.

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Abigail wasn't much of a swordswoman, but she tried.

As Xor came forward and tried to strike her shoulder, Abigail thrust her sword down, catching the spear's shaft and slicing through it as she began to twirl her sword in an orbit around her body in case he went for a counter attack. With how fast she swung, and where her sword went, it would be fairly difficult to catch an opening as far as she knew. She didn't want to attack yet, she wanted to see how he fought. As she twirled her sword, she shuffled back a little to keep some distance between them, watching carefully for another attack, and only stopped moving her sword when she had moved a meter back, now pointing the tip of her sword forward toward his chest.
"You seem a little off balance, if you don't mind me saying," She said softly, huffing and puffing slightly.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xor smiled briefly as her strike easily blocked the initial strike before starting to twirl her sword around herself. His return attacks would need to be strong and direct as her movements made her position a strong defensive one. Taking advantage of her swords orbit on its backswing he would swing the left pointy end of his spear to attack her right thigh expecting her orbit to easily catch it however in doing so he would also shift the weight of his weapon towards her left side and be lifting the tip higher than the pole. This movement would be intended to draw her blade down the length of the spear toward the bottom on his right.

This movement would be intended to continue with Xornoth spinning within reach of her and therefore launching an elbow jab towards her shoulder height.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Abigail had been hoping that her defense would be strong, and perhaps that was true, but at the same time, she had also forgotten one of the prime rules of combat: no defense is ever fullproof. Her sword easily caught Xor'noth's spearhead, but he was quick to thrust up and to her left, wrenching her defense wide open and leaving her exposed. Still, Abigail always tried to find a strength in a weakness (and a weakness in a strength, likewise), and she had a feeling that she had one down pat here. Xor'noth didn't seem to pull his spear away as he spun, and as Abigail saw it, she had two options here: either bring her foot up and down on his knee as he spun, striking it from it's side and caving it in, or use the block for leverage.

She wanted to prolong the battle a little (this was meant to test her swordplay after all), and so, she pulled on the spear, using her sword as a slight leveraging point, and sidestepped left to the elbow, barely dodging it. As she stepped, she simultaneously found her sword able to maneuver slightly better around the Spear's shaft, so she bent the tip of her sword a little further down around the shaft to avoid the spear just dropping and skewering her, and dragged it back across the shaft as fast as she could, hoping to nip Xor'noth's fingers.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xor spun quickly but not entirely fast enough to escape the sharp edge of her sword move up the shaft of his spear just bearly striking across his fingers, creating a superficial but mentally important first blood against the Kaleesh.

Turning to face her, his open arm now extended after the elbow strike, force pushed toward Abigail in an effort to press her back while his weapon hand would swing around to join him. Taking both hands on the shaft with it resting on his right hip, he held the tip out toward her horizontally - aligned with her right hip and moved forward to thrust. The nearly seven-foot-long spear gave plenty of reach against a standard sword and even if she blocked it, she wouldn't necessarily be within reach of him to counter-attack.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Abigail had to admit, she was getting something of a taste for this. This was actually quite exhilarating, being in a sword fight, even if it was just a sparring match. Despite the excitement though, a part of her wondered if a true sword battle would feel this way at all, or if the way this one fought was different to how others fought. Either way, now wasn't the time to debate it in her mind, she had to focus. The Force push was unexpected, but defensible, with Abigail unable to block due to the speed of it's use, but still able to keep herself from hitting the ground by planting herself in the ground firmly, instead just skidding back a few feet, a feat aided by the sand scattered around the area.

Xornoth was quick to try and push the offensive, thrusting his spear with the intent of piercing her hip. Abigail couldn't allow that though, she pivoted toward her right shoulder and straightened up as she did so, significantly reducing her area of exposure in the process, allowing the spear to sail past her leg and hit air. Immediately afterward, she switched her sword to her left hand and thrust her right arm forward in a display of brief force enhanced speed, grabbed the shaft of the spear, just below the spearhead, and attempted to yank Xornoth off his feet and toward her. If successful, she would follow up with a clothesline strike across his face or chest, whichever was closer or had more prominence, with her right arm as he flew toward her.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xor was fast but Abi was swifter as she effortlessly twists to avoid his attack and pulled tautly on his outstretched spear in an effort to close the distance. With his feet firmly on the ground and both hands attached to the spear, Xor could have attempted to hold his ground and contest the pull however instead he literally and figuratively leap for the chance to close the distance while using the force to retrieve his lightsaber to his right hand that was on her left side of the spear.

As he landed Abigail's clothesline slammed heavily into his chest, likely leaving a hefty bruise and knocking the breath out of his lungs. Her strike instantly cut his momentum at the chest height but not his lower half thus tipping him backward and knocking him to the ground at her feet. Looking down she would see his non-ignited lightsaber aimed directly at her chest within range to pierce, and his finger on the switch with the Kaleesh panting for air.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

With Abigail having put all of her focus into the clothesline, she failed to notice until it was too late. She was about to pounce on Xornoth and pin him down as she felt something cold pressing down against her chest. Looking down, she saw the saber, before her eyes wandered back to Xornoth, thoughts grinding away at the cogs in her head. At this range, she probably wouldn't be fast enough to disarm him or redirect the saber before it impaled her, even if it were somewhere non-fatal. She probably could dodge, but then he would simply follow her...unless...

Abigail moved to dash left, but at the last possible second, she pushed hard against her left leg and threw herself to the right. If her feint worked, she would immediately turn and use the force to enhance her leg and kick the saber out of his hands before pinning him. Either way, Abigail had enjoyed the battle, despite how seemingly short it was (though people had told her true battles were short but sweet when it came to swords).

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xor was confident that he had won their short little spar which is why stupidly, he let his guard down as Abi went for her little trickery and force kick. With two swift movements, she removed the saber from his hand as it bounced away a short distance stopping just a little out of reach. Now defenseless, Xor found himself pinned as she dropped on top of him with her thighs tightly gripping his waist and legs behind her, holding his in place.

By now Xor had mostly regained his breath and composure as they sat there looking at each other, each now having 'won' in a way. If he had a dagger or blaster in his offhand he could have made an attempt on her now but both his primary and secondary weapons were just outside his reach. Not that he could probably call them to him before her sword would be at his throat, however, he was a natural brawler and unarmed combat was just as fun.

The only thing he could think of doing in his current situation would be to immediately try and sit up to grapple onto her arms while simultaneously pushing up with his legs and hips in an effort to throw her off balance to her right. If he could knock her to one side while grappling, he would then attempt to roll over onto her and reverse the situation with her the one being pinned down beneath him.

Her legs would still be wrapped around his but if he could keep her shoulders on the ground, then it would mean he finally had her, as their eyes locked.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Getting one's opponent on the ground was always something of a double edged sword in most situations. On the one hand, you would be able to limit their movements and potentially have a better chance of knocking them out, especially if you were on top as they had even more limited space to work with. On the other side, for experienced fighters, this kinda thing would be pretty easy to reverse, which would then put you on the backfoot, plus the fact that your own movements were limited too regardless of whether or not you were top or bottom.

Still, Abigail tried to make the most of it, as soon as they were on the ground, Abigail tossed her sword aside, far enough that The Force would be required to retrieve it from her, and immediately attempted to throw a series of hooks and straight punches at Xornoth. He tried to grab her arms and sit up so he could change their position, stopping her move, but this had become more of a straight brawl, so she could simply wrench her grabbed arms back, which would pull Xornoth toward her, and throwing a strong headbutt into the bridge of the Kaleesh's nose (or what bridge there was anyway). If successful, he would be dazed slightly and his switch would be cut off, then she would attempt to wrench her arms free and resume her continuous strikes to his head, intending to continue until he yielded or was knocked out.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth's attempted grappling did not succeed as he planned but instead, he was pulled up to greet Abi's tender forehead slamming into his face as she attempted to daze him. She would be partially successful as his now unprotected face would take the brunt of the impact despite the somewhat rigid structure of his face, but at the same time, her softer head would likely take its own beating and possibly impact her the same way she tried to do to him.

Her flurry of attacks, he would attempt to parry with his own hands waiting for the chance to strike and would take a few moments to count the timings between her attacks so that he could reply in kind with his own. In a flash, he grabbed her outstruck fists consecutively and pulled outward in either direction with the intent to draw her face down towards his to plant a kiss on her cheek, depending on how she fell.

A good warrior, of course, utilized all surprises that he could use in the art of war.

@TheBrokenMadMan

 

[Abigail Nimbus]

Despite what he had thought, the headbutt would not take as big a toll as he had imagined on Abigail. Shi'ido bone structure was pliable, of course, but despite that, it was also very dense, though that could sometime limit their ability to swim. The point was that she was, at least, equal to the Kaleesh's strength, and therefore would be able to deliver a blow without overly dazing herself, just as he seemed to be relatively unfazed as well.

The kiss was somewhat unexpected, especially considering the buildup. It had seemed to her like he intended to return the favor with a headbutt of his own, but instead he decided to give her a peck on the cheek. Momentary surprise aside, she blushed slightly before smirking mischievously and delivering another firm headbutt to him. With their hands on either side of each other, there would be no defense she could think of to help him.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth howled with laughter and in pain as their heads collided further and again, gradually taking its toll on the warrior. He returned the smile as his little ruse worked momentarily causing her to blush before again striking him head-on. Only this time Xornoth was ready to use the momentum against her and his positioning to launch an attack between her legs. This was a powerful kick with its intent being to throw her over his head while pressing her arms toward her, trying to throw her off balance would hopefully allow him to roll over and quickly regain a standing position in case she attempted to resume grappling.

@TheBrokenMadMan