Ask Spar-e Time

[Laila Din]

Rap! Rap! Rap!​

Laila slammed her fist against her the doors of her brother's chambers thrice in quick succession. "TAIIIII! ARE YOU IN THERE?" When there wasn't immediately a response, she knocked thrice again — Rap! Rap! Rap! — and called out once more. "TAI C'MON! I WANNA SPAR!"

It'd been a minute since she last bothered him to spar with her. The spoiled little sister of the Din family had gotten all wrapped up in the joys and luxury of being a princess, and though she hadn't abandoned her Matukai training, it had certainly taken a backseat to the shopping and her social life. But after it had been revealed that her big brother was going to have a kid and that Laila was going to be an aunt, she was suddenly really excited to get back into training. She wanted to be just as cool in the eyes of her niece or nephew as her older siblings had always been to her.

Laila would stand there impatiently, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she pressed her ear against Altair's door, trying to listen for any signs or sounds of life.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Today was Altair’s designated lazy day. He worked tirelessly every day of the week for the past few weeks without a single break. Somehow, he scored a day with nothing to do for the first half of it. He opted to sleep in and enjoy himself. He was in bliss - snoring, probably drooling, and just out cold. One arm was slung over the side of his massive bed, and his custom pillow was nice and cozy with his horns fitting in perfectly.

He heard thundering on the door and groaned, rolling over, “I don’t wanna go feed the chickens, ma, make Lid do it…” Altair went back to snoring quietly, drifting back into sleep.

Rap rap rap!

Altair bolted upright, hearing Laila’s high pitched voice screeching on the other side. She was perhaps the only one in the galaxy that could get away with this kind of nonsense even when he had his titles. The tiefling rubbed the sleep from his eyes and practically oozed off the bed, beyond grumpy at having his one day off ruined.

He groggily opened the door, shirtless and in silky pajama pants. Altair stifled a yawn and addressed her in Meerian, “Why are you up so early?” He complained, his eyes still half closed.

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

Laila quickly backed up from the door as soon as she heard the handle turn. Her older brother stepped out looking like he'd literally just rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the door to see who was bothering him.

"I always get up this early!" she insisted, though it was mostly a lie since her early rising had only been a semi-recent development. She had to prepare, and that meant trading late nights scrolling through TokTik and GalaxyGram for earlier mornings. "I wanna spar!" she repeated, jostling the duffel bag on her shoulder that contained her gloves, Wan-Shen, and other related exercise stuff.

If Altair look hesitant at all, Laila would immediately whine, "C'moooon! You never spar with me anymore!"

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair outright scoffed when she claimed to get up early, “Yeah okay, Miss Always-Skipped-Out-On-Chores,” He rattled off. There was no shortage of mild salt from all the siblings in how much of a hallpass their littlest sister got in just about everything, “Love ya, sis, but go away,” He said cheerfully, preparing to shut the door in her face. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his nice, comfy bed.

However, before he could close the door, she did the infamous Laila pout with the words “you never ___”. It was her superpower with all the siblings - inflicting guilt with the precision strike of an ISB assassin. Altair stared at her through the crack in his door with a deep lack of amusement. After a moment, he groaned, “Fine, meet me in the gym on the third floor.”

Not too long after that, he plodded over to the massive space that had been converted into a gym and sparring facility, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. His Matukai and fitness habits needed accommodation in the palace and his people made the arrangements. Laila would notice the space conveniently overlooked a hangout spot for noble women meeting for brunch. From the way a few of them glanced over and perked up, he evidently made a show of his workout routines on a regular basis.

Of course, Altair wasn’t thrilled to potentially have Laila put him on his back. He stood across from her, getting into stance, “Have you been practicing or just starting Switter wars?”

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

Laila did a little happy dance when her older brother finally relented, then turned around and skipped off to the 'gym on the third floor.'

She threw her bag onto the floor while she waited, leaning over the balcony railing on her stomach and watching the women below as to quell her impatience. They didn't pay her much mind at all until Altair showed up, giggling between themselves and even sneaking little waves in his direction. Finding this behavior distasteful, Laila stuck out her tongue at them and used her thumb and index finger to form an 'L' on her forehead.

"UMM yeAH!" Laila protested against his quip, getting into a stance herself and bending her knees appropriately. "I got up to practice literally last week! When that weird pulse thingy happened... the one I texted the groupchat about?" Otherwise, she hadn't practiced too much recently. Like every other Din though, she'd started training as soon as she was old enough to stand up on her own. Even if she was a bit out of practice, she certainly wasn't going to forget it all in a few months.

Deciding to start out strong, Laila advanced forward a few steps, then rotated on the ball of her foot and swung her leg up to attempt to roundhouse kick her brother. Her movements were quick and eager, and though she was small, there was a surprising amount of force behind the kick. Nothing Altair couldn't easily handle, of course.

"You felt it too... right? I don't remember if you responded?"

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair kept his gaze on her as she moved in with the roundhouse. He pivoted quickly on his feet, bringing his forearm up in a flash vertically to bat the kick away, always imbued with the Force. In turn, he swept in with his foot in an attempt to drop her while she had a leg up in the air.

“All of us did,” He said as she asked about the pulse, “I think… I think I know what it is..” Altair didn’t treat her like a child anymore, even if the rest of the family did. He knew his parents would be furious if he mentioned anything about it, but he didn’t care at this point. He had long since grown up and stepped out of the rules of his household.

"Use your tail more, girl, you know better!" He called out.

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

Laila couldn't quite move fast enough to avoid her brother's counterattack kick at her supporting leg, and the connecting swipe sent the girl falling toward the ground. She was quick enough to catch herself on the palm of her hand though, and since she fell to the side her body was turning, she could use that to pivot on her palm and try to swing her closest leg toward Altair's ankles in retaliation. In the meantime, she used her tail to try and stabilize herself, and to help her jump back up quickly afterward.

"Ma n' Pa won't tell me anything about it!" she grumbled, clearly miffed at the secrecy. "But I've seen all sorts of things about it on the HoloNet. Dunno why they think I just won't find out..." Force users across the galaxy had felt it. That had to be big! She was hoping Altair would tell her, even if she had to try and beat him in a spar first.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was both surprised and impressed at Laila’s quick recovery from the fall. Her sweep actually managed to take out one leg, but he made a calculated fall before it could take out both. It resulted in him dropping to one knee. However, his tail shot out like a whip, intending to hook around one of her legs to make her drop yet again.

“Because it’s real,” He said as he paused for a moment, “It’s…he is real,” Altair said as he jumped back to his feet, “Promise you won’t go looking for it,” He said, his face suddenly serious. There were hints of fear in his eyes, “It’s a powerful Sith…one that had the title of Dark Lord years ago. He was…an example of the very worst of Sith. When someone abuses their powers and destroys worlds in their wake,” Altair shook his head, “It’s everythin’ Ma and Pa taught us the Force never should be. And…he’s back now…stronger than ever.”

He looked at her for a moment, “I ain’t strong enough to fight something like that… “ Altair looked away and sighed. This was all too much to share with her. She should have nothing to worry about except her next social media post or what outfit to wear. This was why Ma and Pa didn’t blurt out everything. He was terrifying her. Altair shook his head, “Anyway, enough ‘bout that.”

He launched an attack this time, moving in with a standard jab and cross, expecting to adapt to her counter.

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

'Shit, tail!' She wasn't quick enough to move out of the way, but she managed to whip her own tail around to try and get in between. The force caused her to stumble to the side a bit, but she managed to stay on her feet.

"He? It?" Laila listened with wide eyes as her older brother began to describe the Sith it had come from. She was already shocked to hear it was from one person - the description Altair gave her was just the sour cherry on the top. 'So strong not even Tai could fight it?' That Sith had to be pretty damn strong then, 'cause she was pretty sure her brother was like, the strongest. That's why he was leading the Empire! That's how he kicked out the Sith!

Laila had lowered her guard, so when her brother's fists came flying toward her, she leaned back and caught them with a swipe of her hands just in time. The interaction forced her back a few steps, but that was fine, because she didn't really want to drop the subject.

"I wanna learn how to use the Force!" she blurted out, stepping forward to throw out her own jab and cross, keeping her hands up to protect her face when she pulled back in from her punches. "Like you did! In academy!"

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair caught her incoming jab, yanking her arm down and bringing a fist in swiftly within inches of her face, “What?” Her question caught him off guard, and he released her. He didn’t continue the spar, staring at her. He knew this request would come one day, and he certainly preferred it over the way Kasim handled it. However, that didn’t mean it was any easier.

“You do know how to use the Force,” He said dryly, trying to play ignorant first. One look on his sister’s face - where she surprisingly reminded him of their mother - and he knew that answer wouldn’t fly. Altair sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.

“I learned the Dark Side as a Sith,” He said, “I ain’t gonna teach you that. It is exactly what led to monsters like what you felt,” Altair raised a finger to curb the expected stream of protests, “But I can show you some things that don’t use the darker sides of the Force. Is there anything you wanna learn specifically?”

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

Laila's heart skipped a beat as Altair's fist stopped a mere inch from her face as she squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact. But the impact never came, as her brother seemed surprised by her declaration. "Yeah but I want to learn it the way you did," she added quietly after his initial rebuttal. Yeah, she did, but not the cool telekinetic stuff or the elemental jazz. Just punches and kicks.

She wasn't too upset about 'no Sith stuff.' The Sith were bad, she got that somewhat. But she wanted to be a Force user in the way her brother was, so when he offered to teach her, she immediately lit up.

"Telekinesis!" she hurriedly declared. "I wanna use the Force the way you do! And like the Knights do!" She'd love to be a Knight. Kasim seemed hesitant about her reasons for wanting to be like her big brother, but Laila knew how badly she wanted this. She'd looked up to her siblings all her life, and Tai was the biggest star of them all to her. Whether it was respect or fear he garnered, she wanted it too.

Wait... an idea. "Wh- what if I signed up with the Imperial Knights?" she suggested, grabbing her brother's forearm and jumping up and down excitedly. "Do ya think Ma would let me? Then I'd learn the Force just like you!"

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

“Okay okay, don’t take my arm off!” Altair said as she yanked on it and jumped up and down. He couldn’t help but smile at her antics, her goofiness always invoking fondness. Laila was always a piece of home wherever she went, the only one that could anchor all of the Dins back to what really mattered in the end. Family. His smile faded slightly as he thought of Kasim, his younger brother that was still wandering about and detached from the family. He made a point to seek him out after this.

“Huh?” He blurted, realizing that Laila was doing her usual gabbing and he completely zoned out, “Uh… yeah, you can probably sign up for Imperial Knights,” Altair shrugged, “You’d be a squire so you’d have a Knight train you. We been usin' the Force all our life so you’ll have no problem. But you need to understand what it means - it means going out in the field and making tough choices. You’ll learn it all over time, but I ain’t ever meet a more determined chick,” He said with a smile, leaning down to bump his horns against hers.

Altair was about to go into a lecture about the Force, but he spotted an opportunity for more direct application, “Ayo, I wanna get that chick’s number,” He said as he jutted his chin towards a beautiful woman sitting at the cafe reading her book, “See her hat? Try to concentrate the Force to pull that to you. Then I’ll take the hat back to her, say sorry, and work the usual,” He rattled off. It was a solid plan. No flaws. Altair finally looked at his sister.

“What? This is part of Force training!”

@lizziie

 

[Laila Din]

Laila giggled as she released her brother's arm, taking a few steps back afterward to give him some space. Blah- blah- blah- training and field and tough choices... Laila's eyes lit up when her big brother said he'd never met a 'more determined chick', and she grinned. "Determination's my middle name!" she declared, pushing her head forward to meet her brother's head in the middle. She was careful not to go too fast though - her straight, pointy horns were notoriously a hazard from time to time.

The girl tried and failed to prevent herself from rolling her eyes when Altair began his next bit, but in her current good mood, it was nothing but playful. She'd already decided earlier that she didn't like the ladies watching them down off the balcony. She couldn't help but feel that it was weird that these women flocked to be around her brother. She hadn't thought about it enough to pinpoint - or care - why it bothered her, but it did. Still, she was happy he was trying to teach her, so she shoved aside her cars for now.

The teenage girl practically skipped over to the railing. She leaned up against it, pressing her chest against the bar and reaching her hands over it and toward the women below. They noticed her almost immediately and seemed both curious and confused as to why the rosy tiefling was displaying both of her palms in their directions.

'Concentrate on the Force.' After growing up Matukai, Laila was intimately familiar with concentrating on the Force within herself and using that to augment her movement. It was just muscle memory to her. 'How different could it be?' While the girl had used the Force as telekinesis before, it wasn't something she ever did often (or on purpose). Deciding to try and work off what she knew, Laila imagined spectral arms reaching out from her arms and concentrated on channeling the force into that.

To her delight, she was far more successful than she'd suspected. She snatched a hat off one lady's head with one arm. Why not go for another? She would have giggled as she used her other 'hand' to grab another if she wasn't concentrating so hard. She wasn't sure if she could get a third lady's... "I DID IT!"

While the women below protested, Laila threw up her arms and swiftly called the three hats to her. Red hat, blue hat, yellow hat - she gleefully presented them to her brother. "Did you see that?" she asked, practically bouncing all about once more. "He he, now you can get all three of their numbers," she added mischievously.

roll for force use attempt: nat 20 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Laila did far better than either of them expected. He watched in awe as she skillfully applied the Force and, in quick succession, snatched three hats. Surprise was clear on his face, and he looked at his little sister in awe. When did this happen? When did she go from being a small infant, to a crawling baby that tried to bite his tail, to this? Altair stood in stunned silence, realizing that she wasn’t a small child anymore. She had her own hopes and dreams, her own path to walk, her own skills to hone. It was almost bittersweet, and a part of him wished he could turn back time to when she sat on his back while he stomped around pretending to be a rancor.

Without a word, he pulled her into a fierce hug, “I’m proud of you, sis,” He said with a huge smile, holding onto her for a moment before pulling back, “Forget those girls,” Altair declared, “Let’s get you ready to be a squire!”

@lizziie