A Dance Amongst Family

[Zaiden Dean]

Zaiden stood with folded arms against his broad chest, the wind blowing lightly through tossled hair. He had sent a call into the Force several hours prior, and knew now should be about time. So there he stood, in the fields before his Estates on Dantooine, shirtless, with loosely fitting pants and no shoes.

Beside him, on both sides, stood proudly two ancestral alchemy blades. Both were within their sheaths, blades polished to an incredible sheen, the edges of which were sharp enough to cut hair along the shaft. One held a grey wrapping made of fine leathers, the other a vibrant red of the same lush quality. Neither held more potent ability than one would expect.

Simply, they were weapons made for the Greysons, and maintained by himself.

Believing she soon arrive, Zaiden readied himself with a deep centering breath.

[member="Ashin Karrde"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zaiden James-Greyson"]

Dantooine was a long haul from her current haunts - a few days at minimum. She spent that time finishing the patchwork lightsaber she'd been building for a while now. Circuits from Sor Yusan, a yellow Adegan gem from the deserts of Halm - she'd picked up components one at a time as her work excursions permitted. The resulting weapon was no work of art and boasted no special capabilities. When she ran through practice velocities, though, it fit her well.

Her unarmed Ithorian shuttle touched down on the plains of Dantooine, at the Grayson estate where she'd given Zaiden his life back. Clipping the saber to her belt, she headed out to find him. Fortunately, he'd made himself obvious.

"Have I seen those swords before?" she said by way of greeting.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Zaiden watched as she approached, then shook his head at her words, "You mean Storm and Viper. No, those are long lost. Also they were made after i first found these. I had wanted to try my hand at crafting." He reached out to grab the red hilted scabbard, drawing it free of the dirt with the blade still housed.

Eyeing the craftsmanship, alongside the maintained shine, he murmured, "Who would know that would make me the smith i am today."

No more words were uttered. Zaiden vanished from sight. It was like returning to a lost lover. She hugged him in her ethereal removal of light, while he held her in his depths of knowledge on how to please her. It was a poetic justice. Bound to a worthless bastard, to be set free, changed, made better. Now he could be better than ever.

A lunge forward sent him toward her side, where in he landed, turning slowly as he did so, one leg bent to support the coming power slash, while the other was extended straight back to lead it. Dropping the Cloak, he drew the blade like lighting, a heavy slice aimed for her mid section.

When she saw him though, she would see the oddest twinkle to his eye. He was not attacking to kill. No, this was simply a game. One he intended to win.

[member="Ashin Karrde"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The moment [member="Zaiden James-Greyson"] vanished, Ashin watched the long grass of Dantooine fields. As he moved aggressively to her side, she turned to face him, and her lightsaber rasped to life. A low guard, blade almost vertical, caught the sword's momentum and stalled it. A heartbeat later, Ashin pivoted, turning into the block to give it more strength, and snapped out a low kick at his straight back leg's knee. The maneuver left her shoulder and back somewhat open, if he brought his other sword into the fight.

A calm, cold enjoyment filled her. Good fights had been in short supply for the last six years. Training with duellist droids just wasn't the same.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

The kick that came his way was dodged via a front flip, which simply placed him once more at her side. He could have made the back shot, or attempted, but that was not this Zaiden's means. He would face her where she could see him. Aggressively the fact that she was a tank gnawed at his mentality, making him think.

Hence when his feet touched dirt, he repeated her movements back at her. A swift, practiced, roundhouse kick came toward her mid bicep. But from between his legs would come a stab of his sword, aimed at her clavicle, in the fashion of a downward thrust.

It was then that Zaiden opened himself to the Force. Drawing on it, sucking it in like a hungry child. Simply utilizing generic stealth would likely not be a successful venture for his chances. He would need to pull out the stops, show her the works. It wasnt as if bent light Force Cloak was his only skill. So he would simply need to think, to plan.

[member="Ashin Karrde"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Zaiden James-Greyson"]

A high roundhouse telegraphed like nothing else. Ashin leaned back half a step. As Zaiden's foot snapped past, too quick for her to take it off with her lightsaber, his blade came out of nowhere. The sword's point grazed her left collarbone. A stinging cut slicked her skin with blood.

Before he could recover from his contorted maneuver, Ashin dropped low and flicked her saber at the leg that supported his weight. Assuming that he would flip over the cut, she followed it up with a quick, gestureless Force-push that might catch him if and when he left the ground.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Continuing the momentum of the spin, as how else could one stop such elegantly? Zaiden foresaw the swish of the saber coming at him, predicting a follow up should he avoid it, cause lets be honest, dodging with flips and tricks was his methodology. Ashin knew his fighting style more than any being alive or dead. Which led to his acknowledging of said factor, switching tactics immediately.

As the saber would come, Zaiden did not flip away, instead pushing down with the scabbard of the sword he still held. It caught the saber, pausing its momentum for the barest of seconds before it was sliced like a red hot blade through butter. However it was enough. His other leg touched down, and he began to jerk the aforementioned back... But not as fast he wished. The saber sliced off at least an inch and a half off the long side of his foot, and even burned the flesh to his ankle.

However it was long an ability of his, to use pain to fuel his battle. So when his damaged appendage dropped, it didnt seem to cause irritation. Instead it focused him, strengthening his resolve. Fortifying his need to best the woman, too show he was still useful.

With the backstep motion he had utilized, he had little less to offer than a piercing stab motion, all the while he reached into the Force, seeking to Force Pull her toward the thrust simultaneously.

[member="Ashin Karrde"]