Private Angry Boys Make Some Noise

[Arlo Renard]

With a loud thud, Kai hit the top of Tribunal Station's gardens. His hands and feet stuck to the surface, he was able to crawl across the ceiling without falling, the holograms coloring his body sky blue.

The love of flying through the air, propelled only by his flesh-born grapple, had not left him. In the absence of buildings to swing from, he'd had to resort to trees. Right now he was feeling the limits of the gardens, the claustrophobia inherent to all space vessels, even enormous stations like this one.

With nothing else left to explore, he had taken to the skies—only to discover they were as limited as the false projections of an endless horizon. Oh well. Didn't mean he couldn't crawl on them. Maybe he could jump down and freak somebody out...

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

They hadn't been on this strange Station long, and for the majority of it young Ideon had remained firmly within his bunk. He'd wallowed beneath his blankets, refusing to talk or eat or even really sleep, he'd just relayed it all over in his mind. Over, and over, and over.​

​

Never should have left. Never should have left. Never should have left.​

​

But they had. They'd left, and now everything was different, and nothing was the same, and Master Shif was gone. Dead and gone. Rhia hadn't used those words exactly, but the boy wasn't an idiot. He'd felt it, even when the girl had blocked the viewing port. Felt it deep within the very depths of his core. He'd screamed, he'd lashed out, and eventually he'd fallen asleep in her lap.​

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Sleep had not come so readily since that time.​

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Now though, when most of the vessel was in fact asleep, the boy took his leave of isolation and crept out into the greater station. His eyes shifted this way and that like a creature who knew that it was being stalked, and in one hand he gripped the hilt of a small, curved dagger. It was comforting, to hold it; Shif had made it for him.​

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Into the gardens he finally came. It looked as though he was alone... So why did it feel as though he wasn't?​

​

Either way, it wasn't long before Ideon found himself running through some of the drills. The ones which had once been used to force the rage up and out of him. The ones which had helped before... Though the boy was so often quiet, this time each slash he made at the air was punctuated with a loud grunt or cry of frustration.​

​

Air did not make a very satisfying target.​

​

Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

He was no longer alone.

Someone had entered the gardens, a presence he was unfamiliar with. Not that he knew everyone on the station, but this was somebody new. A stranger like him, perhaps? Or just another Je'daii coming home to roost.

Either way, they were now a target on Kai's prank list. The doppelganger lowered himself into the branches of a nearby tree, observing from above.

It was a kid. A boy with a dagger. He was running through drills, swinging it around, grunting and squeaking like a puppy throwing a tantrum. It was hard to get a reading on people he'd never met before, but it looked like he was mad about something.

Welp, time to make him madder. Or cheer him up. It depends.

Dropping down to the lower branches, Kai hung upside down, still presumably unnoticed by the other boy. He crossed his arms over his chest, and spoke into his mind.

<What are you fighting?>

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

It didn't take long for the more measured and tempered drills to dissolve into a series of wild hacks and slashes at the air. His cheeks were flushed red, and the garden around him was utterly drowned out. The ship, too. It was just Ideon and his unseen target.​

​

Even the boy didn't much know what it was he was fending off.​

​

So when the voice encroached upon his mind, forced him to hear it, it was suffice to say he was caught off guard. His frustration spiked.​

​

Previously extended arm lowered, and he turned to glare in the direction of... Nothing. Nobody was there. Vero Shif had not raised a fool, however, so he delved beyond what could readily be seen and reached out... Then turned that glare toward a tree. Now he knew where to look it was easy to see the older boy hanging upside down from a branch.​

​

Out, out, out the boy demanded of the other, willing him to leave his mind alone. Even in his mind, Ideon wasn't much for speaking.​

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Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai turned his body around and dropped to the ground with a sigh. Great, he was dealing with another Jem Fossk , pissy about his reliance on telepathy.

<It's how I prefer to talk,> he said as he walked into the clearing, but left it at that. The kid didn't seem to be much in the mood for talking. Only fighting.

He wondered what he would do if he had an opponent that could strike back.

In a flash, Kai was before the boy, catching his arm and stopping the downward swipe of the dagger. Kai's expression was neutral; he radiated no outward malice. It was more of a friendly challenge, really. <Want to see if you can hold your own against me?>

Arlo Renard​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

Wait, this was how he communicated?​

​

Though the boy seemed dubious, he also seemed to accept that for what it was. It wasn't his favourite thing in the world, being spoken to telepathically, but then again when did he like being spoken to in general? Exactly. He didn't.​

​

In the silence between them, Ideon turned slightly and resumed his drills. Upward swipe, downward swipe--- His wrist was snatched midair. Somehow the other boy had made it all the way to him from the tree, and was now standing in front of him. Ideon glowered, eyes narrowing and lip curling back into something of a feral growl.​

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But then a challenge was set... Did he rise to it?​

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Well, what he did do was snatch back his wrist, pulling it free against the other boy's thumb the way Shif had always taught him to. Then he took a step back.​

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Okay... he retorted, though he didn't seem all that pleased about it. Still, a live target was better than an invisible one.​

​

Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai could've kept his grip, but he let the boy go free. The challenge was set.

Though he seemed a bit annoyed at being disrupted, there was a certain eagerness to the boy's manner, as though he had secretly wanted a target for his rage. Kai sorely doubt that this child could actually hurt him, and the regenerative properties of his physiology were such that he didn't even fear the dagger in his hand. Perhaps there was an element of masochism to his willingness to suffer injury as well, in a self-flagellating way.

Hopefully Asha wouldn't walk in on them indulging in a bit of blood games.

<Well? Are you going to strike?> he prompted. To even the playing field, he shrank himself down until they were evenly matched, boy against boy. If Ideon didn't lash out soon, or refused to strike first, Kai would go for his legs.

Arlo Renard​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

Ideon was about to make his first strike when the other boy did something all together strange and unexpected. He shrank down until he was the same height, eye to eye with him; his eyes widened in surprise.​

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"Woah," he mumbled, breaking his unintended vow of silence in the wake of what he had just witnessed. How had he done that? Was it something Deon could do, too? Could he teach him how?​

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A hundred thousand questions rose up within the forefront of his mind. Still, the boy voiced none of them.​

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Instead he blinked, and then focused back on the task at hand. As strange as it was, a promise to fight was still a promise to fight and he'd make good on his word.​

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Ideon slashed the dagger through the air toward the other boy, aiming to cut down across his torso from right shoulder to left hip. As he did so, he reached for the second dagger which hung upon his belt.​

​

One dagger was all well and good for invisible targets, but there was nothing quite like unleashing a volley of attacks on a fellow sentient.​

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Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

The kid was quick, but Kai was faster. The dagger met air rather than flesh as Kai darted to one side, evading the slash.

He struck at Ideon's wrist with the butt of his hand, trying to knock the blade from his grasp. Ideon was already bringing out a second dagger in his other hand, forcing Kai to shift his focus. Something scratched his forearm, a bit of foul-smelling black blood beading along its path before the mild wound sealed itself.

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

What the heck was this guy?​

​

Changing his height, bleeding weird blood, wounds which healed in the blink of an eye?​

​

Ideon found the whole experience dizzying. And frustrating. The latter perhaps took precedent within him, and with a grunt he held firm on the dagger the other boy had tried to knock from his grasp and pulled it back in a returning slash. With two blades now in hand, he brought the second around in a backwards grip, aiming to stab the weird being through his hand should he try and block him with it again.​

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Weapon?​

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Where was his weapon?​

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Why was he using his bare hands?​

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Was he trying to go easy on Ideon? Was he trying to prove how much of a superior fighter he was?​

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Oh, that made his blood boil.​

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Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Having blocked the slash, Kai saw the blade aiming for his palm... and took the wound. A gush of lukewarm black blood, reeking of corruption, spurted down his arm. It hurt, of course, but Kai wasn't concerned with himself.

He was concerned about Ideon. The other boy wasn't treating this like a friendly sparring match. He was going out of his way to try and maim Kai. It was dishonorable.

Then he had the nerve to ask if Kai had a weapon.

The doppelganger responded by shoving him backwards with the Force.

<How is that for a weapon?> he replied. <Or must it be a blade?>

He unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it, using his thumb to dial down the intensity. His lightsaber was massive, the size of a claymore.

<Or would you prefer to fight fair?>

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

Friendly sparring match?​

​

There'd been zero pretense about this being anything of the sort. Hold your own against me. That was the challenge, wasn't? Well then, Ideon was certainly rising to the task.​

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Of course what he wasn't expecting was that the other boy would just outright take a blow like that, a dagger right through his hand. That staggered Deon long before the push of the Force lay upon him. He stumbled backwards, landing on his butt in the grass, and then watched as a lightsaber was ignited into existence.​

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For a moment all the boy could do was stare, partially stunned by how odd this whole thing had been. Then he jumped up from the ground, landed on his feet, and seemed to plant his feet more firmly into the ground. He was lower in that moment, centering himself and bracing for what was likely to come. The boy did not verbally respond, nor mentally respond, he just glared at the other boy.​

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Funnily enough though, some of that edge was gone. A challenge had presented itself, truly presented itself, and he was looking forward to seeing where this went.​

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This time, Ideon waited for the other to make the first move.​

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Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

When the boy just stood and glared at him, as though daring him to make a move, Kai found himself disgusted by the whole affair. Maybe he'd walked into this with too much pretense, expecting the Je'daii to behave like... well, like Jedi.

This entire encounter was just weird to him.

<If I hit you with my lightsaber, it will only sting,> he explained. <You won't lose any limbs.> If the boy still didn't respond or make a move, he'd add, <Jedi don't strike first. Since you are not a Jedi, I grant the first blow to you.>

There it was. He'd just called himself a Jedi on Tribunal Station. Hopefully this kid was quiet with everyone, or else word would likely get around fast. Not that waving around a lightsaber wasn't obvious enough.

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

Jedi didn't strike first?​

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He paused at that. Tried to think back to Varo's teachings; he'd hinted at similar, at least in moments such as these where it ought to have just been a friendly engagement, or in moments where the fighting had not already begun. To have discipline... But Ideon was not a good image of a Je'daii, certainly not in the wake of all that had happened recently.​

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The other boy didn't seem quite so into this whole thing as he was. Why had he suggested they spar then? What was the point of all of this if he wanted nothing to do with it?​

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Confusion was wrought upon his expression, though he couldn't rightly find the words he needed to express himself. They sort of just swirled around in his mind, just out of reach.​

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Some of the anger had subsided in the meantime. His small chest rose and fell abruptly, and then he sniffled. Threw down one of the blades to the ground, and regripped the other. One blade to one blade. Master Shif would not be happy to see him like this, would he? He'd have pulled him right out of there already, made him meditate on the Ashla. Pull him back toward a state of Bendu.​

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But he wasn't here. It wasn't that simple anymore, was it? Maybe if Rhia had known he was awake, but she was asleep just like the others.​

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This time he seemed a little more rational when he approached their little spar. He bowed his head, the way he'd been taught was proper, and then carefully slid forward with his right foot leading. The first slash was slower than his usual, trying to get something of a measured idea of how the other boy would play at fighting now that he too had a weapon in his grasp.​

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Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai simply stepped to one side, aiming a grazing blow along Ideon's back.

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

The other boy stepped aside, and in response Ideon planted his foot and pivoted around so that he was facing him once more. Compared to that initial slash, he picked up his pace; dagger was brought across to deflect the saber, a steady thrum mixing with the air at the brief clash.​

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In that moment, Ideon was grateful that Vero Shif had seen fit to imbue their weapons. Not that a low intensity lightsaber was likely to rend it in two regardless.​

​

He ducked down to break the lock, and tried to swipe Kai's feet out from under him. He could have gone for a more brutal approach, he could have looked to slash at his stomach, or his legs, but he didn't. Somehow it felt wrong, in the wake of all that Kai had said and done.​

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Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai's lightsaber batted away the blow aimed at his legs, then smacked the pommel of his hilt against Ideon's wrist. Not hard, but enough to likely bruise. If he managed to evade that, however, Kai wasn't stopping there. His blade came in hot, slashing at Ideon's sides and legs, trying to catch him in a spot where he couldn't block or evade the hit.

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

Big mistake, on the part of the young Epicanthix... He'd entirely underestimated the usefulness of a blunt object. In this case, the pommel of a lightsaber hilt. The shock at being hit in so non-cushioned a spot forced him to wince and release his grip on the blade, which fell into the grass alongside the other.​

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He sank further toward the ground then, rolling just out of reach, and shook out the hand in question. Tried to loosen up the aching wrist.​

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Then he pulled for one of the blades, and it wobbled on the ground for a moment before jumping through the air into his grasp. He took it with the other hand.​

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Nice he said, with something akin to admiration in his mental voice. He pushed up from his knees, and faced Kai once more. Though the injuries he'd caused the other boy were more or less gone at this point, he frowned at the small remnants of weird black blood which lingered here and there.​

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Sorry... he finally apologized, gesturing to one of the previously bloodied spots. Lightsabers had the benefit of being training appropriate, but Ideon had never used one before.​

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Perhaps, while he was around others who did not practice with blades, he should look into learning how to wield one. That... Or request some wooden swords instead.​

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Arlo Renard ​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Black drops dotted the ground at Kai's feet, clinging to blades of grass. Ideon apologized, and ceased his attacks for the moment, seeming to realize that his weapon was ill-suited for sparring.

<I would not have offered to fight you if I were really afraid of your dagger,> Kai said, his wounds sealed. <But you should not have agreed to fight me, if you didn’t know I could heal fast, and were just looking for a target for your wrath.>

Ideon Taldrel​

 

[Ideon Taldrel]

The boy did not respond with words, no he'd already begun to feel pretty worn out where conversation was concerned, but what he did do was send forth a feeling of remorse and understanding at what the other boy had said. He was right, of course, he should not have been so quick to dive into combat like that, especially not with imbued blades in hand. It had been foolish and dangerous of him.​

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He sheathed the blade in his hand, then similarly called the one still in the grass back into his grasp. It was so easy to get caught up in the moment, but as he'd just learned it was even more so in his state of grief. Perhaps it would be best if he gave Rhia the daggers for now, so that something like this didn't happen again. It wasn't as though any danger was likely to come to the Station, after all. And if they left? Well then he'd just ask for them back.​

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That made sense, right?​

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He bowed to the other boy, then hastily fled past him and further into the garden. Something akin to shame had washed over him; he was not doing a very good job of upholding the lessons of his late Master, was he?​

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Arlo Renard ​