Rose Petals and Chestnuts!

[Denzein]

Explosionexplosionexplosionexplosionexplosion...

Planet after planet after planet bursting into dust as if dehydrated beyond reason and sanity. The galaxy was folding in on itself, rent and torn into a score of ribbons, each containing a trillion screaming souls.

The center of the universe had been the first to disappear, to become Nothing. Obliterated utterly, just one being remained there. At the point of all beginnings there stood a saviour, battling both Order and Chaos to form bliss from hell. He was succeeding. His heaven was blossoming from where there was once matter, eclipsing all else with its simple dirge.

Nothing is Nothing is Nothing is Nothing is Nothing is Nothing is Nothing...



Wake up.



Morning. Eleanor had been sleeping deeply, she'd had such a good nights sleep she felt as if anything was possible today. She practically leapt from her bed, showering and pulling on her tunic with little fuss or sleepy stumbling.

Within minutes she was ready to train for the day. She felt... invigorated somehow. She couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about, but she knew it had felt right. It had felt good. Her force signature was strong and unwavering, a shining beacon of innocent purity and hope as she devoured the galaxy inside her bowl, licking the spoon clean of oats and honey before putting the bowl on the washing up tray and leaving the canteen, heading for Aden.

She had spent a considerable amount of time with him yesterday, and she had made sure to remember what he tasted of through the force. It was an electric sensation, tingling all over her body as she sought him out, hunting his signature through the myriad others in the Enclave.

She found him in a training hall, large and open plan. The various pieces of equipment used to train with were all stacked around the edges neatly. She smiled, knowing why. Today was the day she learned how to be as good as Daddy with a sword, the day she began down the path of Ataru. It was an acrobatic form, aggressive and swift. She surmised that the space would be needed.

She beamed at Aden as she approached. She had not forgotten the promise of an expert teacher.

"Good morning! Breakfast is good here, isn't it? I had the oats. Where's your friend?"

 

[Wit]

Deep within the confines of the Monastery was a vast chamber of pristine white. A vast amphitheater where many a Jedi had learnt how to master the blade, to become one with it. The main training chamber was normally brimming with activity, one could always find someone training here, using the various training aids present here to further hone their skills. But at this early hour it was more or less empty, its only occupant sitting cross legged on one of the many mats spread over the floor near the wall.

Sitting perfectly still, Aden waited for Eleanor. He had fond memories of this place, time spent training with his uncle. He had spent so many hours here that the image of the chamber was imprinted onto his mind. The white walls, the main training area in the center of the chamber, the weapons lockers located to one side of the wall, even without using the Force he could almost see it in front of him. He had memories of the various training equipment that was at times used in here, balance beams, swings, and so much more, used both for training or as distractions for duelers. As he sat there he could soon sense a presence approaching the chamber. Reaching out he identified it to be Eleanor, her distinct presence in the Force, innocent, pure and one he had started to get accustomed to, easy to identify for him.

As she walked into the chamber he looked up and through the Force saw her smile at him, "Good morning! Breakfast is good here, isn't it? I had the oats. Where's your friend?" she asked. Aden smiled back warmly in response and got up from the floor, "Good morning to you too. I'm sure the chefs would be glad to hear that you liked your food." Reaching out with the Force he began searching for Syal, she had said she would be here by now. "My friend, she ought to he..." Stopping mid sentence he turned towards the entrance before smiling and continuing, "She ought to be here right about now."

As if on cue, a young woman walked into the chamber. Blue eyed with black hair tied in two short braids on either side of her face, she was dressed in Alderaanian clothes; a sleeveless top, full trousers, and pieces of armor on her arms and legs, a longer than normal lightsaber hanging from her waist. Briskly walking in, she gave a glance to Eleanor before turning towards Aden, "Alright, lets get this over with."

 

[Denzein]

Looking over as the woman entered, Eleanor grinned. From the few words the person had said she could tell that the woman was not pleased to be here, and was probably teaching her as a favour to Aden. Eleanor didn't care, so long as she knew how to fight when the woman was done with her she would be content. Friendship was a luxury that was not attainable through effort, either it blossomed or it wilted. Eleanor knew to not press too hard.

She turned to the woman, sizing her up. Father had warned her that the Jedi enjoy surprise tactics when teaching combat, the spring into duels or force battles with little or no warning. Although she didn't look it, she was already preparing for the sudden action. Her frame tightened, coiling into a spring ready to leap away from an attack, or call upon the force to protect her. She knew it was coming, she could tell.

Outwardly, she showed no signs of readiness, as befitted her Anzat substance. Although she looked slim and beautiful she was in truth a finely honed athletic individual, faster stronger and tougher than most just by dint of her species and tough upbringing. She smiled at the woman again, not caring if it merely prompted a brush off.

"What do we start with? I'm Eleanor.""

 

[Wit]

On Syal's arrival Aden could sense her readiness in her mind, though her body remained perfectly calm. Nodding in response to Syal's statement, Aden was about to introduce Eleanor when she spoke up on her own, introducing herself. In response Syal turned once to face the girl and gave her a curt nod before turning back to face him. "Stop nodding like a fool, get off your ass and get the training sabers from the locker." Though some might have taken offense at such a tirade, Aden only smiled and began walking to the lockers to get the training sabers. He knew Syal well enough to know that her words were not meant to be derogatory or hurtful, she was just that frank.

As Aden walked off to fetch the training sabers Syal turned to face Eleanor, "Eleanor, right? The only reason I am here is because Aden asked me to, I could be somewhere else, doing something much more productive. So don't end up wasting my time. Aden has told me of your level of proficiency with the Form, so I don't have to waste any time doing that now." Taking the sabers from a returning Aden, Syal tossed one in Eleanor's direction. Moving to the main sparring area in the center of the room, Syal ignited her blade, and beckoned Eleanor forward, "Come, attack me."

 

[Denzein]

Time slowed as the saber spun towards her, not waiting for the woman to tell her what she knew she had to do before starting to pump the force through her veins, invigorating herself beyond the normal capacity. She caught the blade and activated it in one deft movement, sprinting across the room in a heartbeat and beginning her attack just as the final syllable left the woman's lips.

She ran head-on, as an arrogant knight might expect of a padawan, but this was a ruse. She had observed the height of the chamber, and knew exactly what was possible. Once she was about three paces away from her opponent she leapt upwards, rotating her body with the aid of the force so that her feet kissed the ceiling as she passed.

She was counting on the probable chance that this Knight had not been expecting such a move from an apparently green padawan, if she had been warned to expect more than the usual, Eleanor was probably going to regret this. She shoved her misgivings from her mind, re-focussing on the task at hand.

As she would be passing over the knight's head, she kicked off of the ceiling, accelerating herself downwards faster than if she had just allowed herself to fall. Again, she was counting on the Jedi having guessed that she would have just let gravity bring her down. As she descended she rotated once more, lashing out with the training saber as she did so, aiming for the Knight's face. She didn't see if she hit.

She landed, bending her knees and placing her unarmed hand on the floor to retain her balance. Not two seconds had passed since the saber had hit her palm. She looked up at the Jedi, ready for retaliation.

 

[Wit]

Syal had just tossed the training saber to the padawan and even as Syal finished speaking she rushed in for the attack. A headlong attack, straight in. If this was the best the girl was capable of then Syal was going to be disappointed, she had been expecting more from her upon hearing Aden's description of her abilities. Igniting her own blade she got ready to bat away any attempted attack by the girl as she came in and jumped into the air. Her movements were graceful enough, her control over the Force in executing the jump impressive, but nothing new, a straightforward application of Ataru. But then Syal noticed the difference in her decent, she was coming down faster than expected.

Realizing what the girl had done Syal reacted instinctively, letting her upper body fall backwards to see the saber just pass over her face, slicing through the space her head had occupied but a fraction of a second ago. She fell backwards till her hands fell to the floor, her body arched back in a flattened inverted U. But she did not kill her motion, instead kicking off with her feet to execute a reverse cartwheel. Coming up on her feet once more facing Eleanor, she darted forward with her blade weilding right arm folded so that her hand was near her left shoulder, ready to execute a reverse slash. Moving in with Force assisted speed she let loose with the simple slash, aiming it a little above Eleanor's head to force her to duck. Letting her body rotate with the slash she lowered her entire body in the process and stretched out a leg to deliver a rotating kick towards Eleanor's feet.

 

[Denzein]

Eleanor could feel the Knight's movements through the force before they came. She was making no effort to hide them as she had come to expect from Father, who was all but unreadable when duelling. It was just something about his... Aura. It made you feel as if you would be damned if you touched it, thumbed through the corrupted pages of his soul to discover what he as going to do next. By that time he had already killed you.

The slash came, painfully slow in her heightened state. She could feel that the knight was about to move her leg. To step back? forward? To kick? She decided upon the latter, it made sense to trip an opponent after they had been forced to duck. Looks like...

Wait, she hadn't been forced to duck. There was one tiny rapidly closing window that was only open in the first place thanks to her bent legs, providing her with substantial potential for a jump of some description. She did, jumping towards the blade with the force's aid, spinning in the air, arms close to her sides, saber parallel to her body.

The Knight's blade buzzed overhead, closely followed by the sweeping low kick which passed beneath Eleanor's spinning form. She landed moments later and immediately took advantage of the situation, force pulling the knight towards her with one arm and stabbing with her blade with the other...

 

[Wit]

As Syal saw the padawan leap into the air she began turning back as Eleanor landed behind her. While still in the process of completing her sweeping kick, she prepared herself for the counterattack that she was sure the padawan would launch. But he route taken by her was not one Syal had been expecting. As soon as she had landed Eleanor had started pulling Syal in telekinetically, her blade ready to impale her. An excellent strategy, but Syal noticed one flaw in the plan, one that she could turn to her advantage. Despite the girl's skills and strength in the Force, they could not compare with the control over the Force possessed by a seasoned Knight like Syal.

Not making any attempt to resist the pull of the girl's Force exertion she let herself move in but using the Force diverted her own body to the right and the girl's hands ever so slightly to the left. The subtle changes were enough to divert the blade so that instead of coming in towards her heart it went to the side and slipped through the gap between Syal's torso and left hand. Immediately pressing down with her arm she locked Eleanor's arm below her own armpit and brought her free right hand up to hold her ignited blade at the girl's throat. "Good, ready to go once more?"

Aden, standing near the walls of the chamber, used the Force to observe the sparring session and nodded appreciatively at Eleanor's innovativeness and quick thinking. But at the same time he could sense that Syal herself was becoming much more interested in the duel, becmoing more interested in Eleanor. This might be useful to both of them, he thought as the two came to a temporary standoff.

 

[Denzein]

Defeated. The saber at her throat gave off no heat, she understood that they only did that when they were embedded in something. She hadn't actually been struck, then. There was no way out of the hold, however, not with the knowledge and power she currently possessed. She admitted defeat, nodding to the Knight respectfully.

She shut off her blade and extricated herself from the grip of the Jedi, taking the Ataru starting stance about two metres from the Knight and gesturing. There wasn't much small-talk to be had between duelists, if the Knight had anything to say to her she would say it, Eleanor felt sure. Father had.

She wanted to try her hand at defence, to see just how hard it was against a trained opponent. She had taken the Ataru stance to put her enemy at the disadvantage; she fully intended to use Shii-sho as it was more suited to defence. That said, she wasn't afraid of throwing in a move or two of the form she was learning for variety. Unpredictability won fights, she knew because she'd never once outwitted her Daddy.

"Attack."

 

[Wit]

Syal took a step back before taking the Ataru stance herself. Smiling slightly at the padawan's confidence, she prepared herself once more, this time to take up the offensive. She stood perfectly stood for almost a minute, observing Eleanor, trying to get a sense of the padawan's emotional state. Suddenly she rushed forward, moving straight in. But when she was a meter or so from Eleanor she struck out with her blade once before spinning around, slashing out once more, this time at Eleanor's hips. She then let her momentum guide her forwards, moving onwards to end up a few feet behind Eleanor.

 

[Denzein]

The knight came at Eleanor quickly, but she had been ready for half of the minute her opponent had waited. The first slash was met by Eleanor's clashing blade, and when the Knight span in for a hip slash Eleanor had already darted away, dodging the second attack by swaying slightly and sidestepping.

As her opponent stepped in behind her Eleanor reversed the grip on her saber and made a small, stinging jab at the Knight's face before sidestepping again, up close to the woman. She drove in with her knee, aiming for her opponent's lower thigh, to cripple her in the short term.


(Sorry for the long time you had to wait, internet is down at home so I can only post when I can wrest it from other sources.)

 

[Wit]

Syal was impressed by Eleanor's ability to avoid both attacks, that feeling only further amplified by ELeanor's quick reply in the form of attacks of her own. As her blade came in towards Syal's face, she pushed off from the ground, launching herself into the air. As she began to rise up the blade came in towards her, faster than she had anticipated. Reaching out with a palm she pushed the blade downwards, using the Force to absorb the energy of the glowing blade almost harmlessly and channeled it away to prevent her arm from getting burnt. The push also provided her with extra momentum going up so that by the time Eleanor's knee came up to strike Syal was flying through the air above her head. Landing in a crouch behind the padawan, Syal quickly stretched out a leg to once more execute a sweeping kick aimed at Eleanor's feet.

 

[Denzein]

This time the kick connected, taking Eleanor's feet from under her before she could so much as cuss her displeasure. As she was falling, though, her naturally quick mind provided her with a course of action, aided as it was by the force burning its way through her veins.

Her face was going to hit the floor first from the angle of her fall. She deactivated her saber and brought her hands up, pressing them to the floor as it rushed up to meet her. She tucked her legs in, using the small amount of forward momentum she had from the attempted knee-ing to roll forwards and away from the Jedi. Once her feet were touching the ground again she sprang up, flicking her saber back on and spinning to meet her opponent once more, her blade at a defensive angle, anticipating the attack that someone who really wanted to kill her would have followed up the tripping movement with.

Her face was set, mind focussed. She wasn't going to throw another spar away. Aden wouldn't have to watch her lose again...

 

[Wit]

Syal carried on with her spin, executing the rotation once more after having swept through Eleanor's feet. On the second rotation she began rising once more so that by the time she finished the second rotation she was standing once more. At the same time her sword arm came in swinging with her rotation, aiming to finish the fight in the next strike, only to find Eleanor's blade blocking its way. Smiling, she nodded her appreciation of the padawan's skills before pulling back her blade to strike again, only to have it blocked once more. But this time it was a hand that grasped her wrist and held it in place. Turning her head, she looked at the smiling face of the man standing next to her, narrowing her eyes questioningly.

Aden smiled warmly at Eleanor, pleased with how she had held herself against the much more experienced knight, "Nice job, but I think that is enough for now." Letting go of of Syal's hand he turned to face her again, "Don't you think?"

Syal dropped her hand, switching off the blade and tossing it into the air towards Aden, "If you say so." Turning towards Eleanor she gave the girl a curt nod before turning around and walking away. But before she had taken but a few steps she slowed down, before stopping and turning her head around to face Eleanor, "You are a skilled fighter, smart and resourceful. Keep working hard and you can become a great Jedi someday." Ending with a tentative smile she turned around once more, this time walking briskly out of the chamber.

Aden bent in close towards Eleanor's ears and whispered, "I think she likes you." Straightening up he offered Eleanor a bottle of water, still with a slight smile on his face. "I suppose you want to know why I stopped the session? Simple, I think it's time you built your own lightsaber, become acquainted with your weapon and then face Syal once more. You might have noticed that Syal's own lightsaber was much longer than a normal lightsaber. That's because she uses a double-bladed lightsaber. We don't have training sabers like that, so she used a normal one. But once you have built your own lightsaber you can face her wielding the double-blade. Will be a good learning experience, facing a weapon like that."

 

[Denzein]

When Aden stepped in Eleanor gave him a slightly quizzical look before he explained himself. She nodded, shutting off the training weapon and looking for somewhere to put it. She saw its rack, and tossed the hilt to it, using the force to guide it to its slot. She was hungry again... The oats had not sustained her for long. She knew they wouldn't have, oats didn't contain much in the way of intellectual stimulation. The Anzati inside her would have to wait for its soup. She made a mental note to speak to Aden about it, she guessed that being found with another student's brain in her stomach would be bad for her record.

She straightened out her tunic, taking the bottle and draining it in a few gulps. She grinned at him, he thought she'd done well when she hadn't even won.

Father knew better.

Eleanor said so.

"With respect, Aden, I didn't do well at all. To do well and fail regardless means nothing: If that had been a real duel I would be dead several times over. I didn't do a nice job... I disgraced you. I would have done well if I had beaten her, and that is the only circumstance under which I would have classed my performance as a success."

She breathed slowly and closed her eyes, returning her body to its usual state. As she had no pulse this was harder to do for her than more conventional species', but she'd had much practice at the hands of her master. After a few second's rest she opened her eyes again, less out of breath, hungry but ready for whatever lay in store. She smiled.

"So... My lightsaber... How are they forged?"

 

[Wit]

Smiling in an absent-minded manner, Aden walked over to the storage rack and placed the training saber Syal had tossed to him at its intended place. "You have to understand that success and failure is nothing but a matter of perspective. You can always find some form of success in almost every failure, even if it is so minute that you can not notice it at first. You may not have defeated Syal, but you did surprise her and keep her on her toes. For a padawan facing a seasoned knight such as her, that is an achievement in itself. You cannot always look at things in absolutes, life is not so simple to be just one thing or the other. It is not all black or white, success or failure, there are other shades as well, try to look for them, those little positives." As they stepped out of the chamber Aden began walking to the higher levels, making for the mess. "You hungry? It's almost lunch time, let's eat first then talk."

After some time they were both seated at a table in the monastery mess, a plate piled full of hot food in front of each of them. "So your lightsaber. Well the main component of will be the crystal, it is what makes the blade. But most probably that will also be the last component you get your hand on. So you should start beginning gathering the remaining components first. The hilt will depend on the sort of blade you want to wield, a standard one or a double-bladed weapon or maybe something more exotic like the curved blade sabers that a few prefer. Something simple such as a speeder bike throttle can do, or if you want you can make one for yourself. The other components such as focusing lens and power cells can be found in the temple. Any idea on the type of weapon you want to wield?"

 

[Denzein]

Eleanor had smiled thinly at the mention of food, and although there were no feelings of fear or trepidation, she certainly dropped in confidence a little. Father had beaten the feelings that led to the dark side from her, but he hadn't been able to give her unlimited confidence. She wasn't relishing the prospect of telling Aden she required the liquified force energy of intellectual sentient beings to stay alive.

She toyed with the food in front her, eating a bit but knowing it wasn't going to do any good. Sooner or later she'd get the hunger pangs. After them came the withdrawal symptoms. After them came the frenzy, and the killing, and feeling of sick satisfaction. Eleanor had been told what to expect if she didn't feed at least once a month... She'd never been unfortunate - or stupid - enough to try out going cold turkey on soup.

She sighed, looking Aden in the eye. No time like the present.

"Aden... I don't know how much you know about my species, but we're... odd... When it comes to our eating habits. We can't get by on normal food. We get our sustenance from intellectual activity, without it, we die.

Aden, in order for me to keep on being alive I have to eat people. Intelligent, interesting people. I'm forced to... It's a compulsion, a drug that all of my species' are addicted to. I'm young, though, so it's not so bad for me. Maybe just one meal a month will see me through, but as we get older the hunger gets more intense until all we do is hunt for our next fix. I'm not proud of it... But it's biological, we're enslaved to the diet as a species."

She looked away from his eyes, slightly embarrassed. He'd been so light hearted, she hoped he'd be able to take this news with the same good nature he seemed to radiate normally.

 

[Wit]

Aden continued chewing on his food, holding his spoon in front of him, feeling its flowing surface through the Force, observing it, appreciating its simplistic symmetry through the eye of the Force. "You know, someone asked me once, how my life has changed since I lost my eyes. How has it affected me? If you had asked me this question before I would probably have poured out some high and mighty sounding reply about how a Jedi needs nothing but the Force, that it would guide me regardless of whether or not I had eyes. But it would have been a facade, lies told to impress them. In reality I would have been scared of the prospect of loosing my eyes, scared of having to live without them. But now I give people the same answer, but I mean it now." Placing the spoon back on his plate he faced Eleanor, almost as if he was looking into her eyes.

"I changed, adjusted to life without a part of me I thought I couldn't possibly survive without. I am not saying that our situations match, your dilemma is far greater than mine, but I what I want you to understand is that this is another challenge that you need to overcome, and I will help you along this path. We cannot change the way we are built, cannot change what is given to us. But we can change what we do, control what we accomplish with what is given to us. What truly matters is the kind of person you are and the things that you accomplish. The fact that you opened up to me about this and that you are not proud of having to do this means that your heart is in the right place and that is what matters most to me. I will help you try and find a way around this addiction as you called it, using the Force to satisfy your hunger or some other way. And if that does not work then we will do what must be done. Every minute there is a prisoner on death row whose life comes to an end, if everything else fails then we can explore avenue." He patted her arm once before smiling and taking another bite of his food.

 

[Denzein]

She smiled, despite the grim topic. He understood... She wasn't going to starve. She sighed a breath of relief, the main issue in her mind off her chest. He was surprisingly optimistic about it though, perhaps he didn't realise just how strong a compulsion it was for an Anzati to feed? He'd learn, in time. She hoped he was serious with the death row remark.

She pushed the plate away from her, smiling sheepishly at her teacher now that he knew why she was doing it. She waited politely on him, sipping her glass of water every now and again. There was a single lump of ice in it, and it delighted her tongue every time it nudged against her. Father liked ice in his water...

Her mind began to wander as Aden ate. She thought about what he was doing now, who he was enlightening, where he was. She felt a slight tingle ripple through her, it was as if thinking about him had given her a glimpse. Just a glimpse. It made her giggle.

She turned it into a cough, remembering where she was. She returned her gaze to Aden, seeking to distract from the abnormality.

"So what sort of sword do you think would be best for Ataru? I'd hate to give myself a needles disadvantage..."

 

[Wit]

Aden ate his food, but his mind was occupied by other thoughts. He had put up a brave front for Eleanor but he was concerned about the implications of this new development. Her being an Anzati meant that she would have to do things that would be completely against the Jedi way just to stay alive. Not due to any inherent cruelty within her, but simply because that was how her body was built. He was not sure if he could truly help her find a solution that did not involve taking someone's life, but he would try, explore every possible avenue to find a solution.

As he finished up she questioned him about her lightsaber, a change in subject that Aden was slightly glad of. "Ataru. I don't think you will need to build any special weapon to bring out the best in your swordsmanship. Some particular blades help in some of the forms, but a standard lightsaber will do perfectly fine with Ataru. It does not give rise to any weakness like some of the other blades do and is the easiest to build and maintain. Or you could build a double-bladed saber like Syal uses. The decision is yours."