Private Another Flame

[Irina Jesart]

The air trembled with the heat that filled the training room that had long driven out other members of the second legion. The floor was dominated by the two pyromancers, scorch marks marred the floor and walls where attacks had gone wide or been redirected. Each clash of their saber was a short sharp bark as they tested defences, pressed their advantage and relented to give way.

Irina wasn’t sure how long they had been at it, only that it had become a natural beat. When she’d found out Varin Mortifer could also wield fire Irina had insisted they train together. It hadn’t been a polite request, it had been a demand from the apprentice of the Dread Wolf. She’d never met another pyromancer and was keen to learn.

Their lightsabers locked, Rin pushed them down and out, forcing his guard open and snapping a flame wreathed fist for his jaw.

On the surface, she was focused, her jaw set, eyes tracking movement of muscles, looking for tension before movement, keeping her feet in line with his. But Rin’s mind was busy, it had been busy ever since Gerwald Lechner had forced his memory upon her, ever since Aerik had attacked her.

Nothing was simple or easy, every footfall had to be measured like she was on the battlefield. It was exhausting. But this? This was exactly what she needed.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

His saber burned hotter than most. A crimson blade breathed in flame from the Erinar Diamond inside. He thought it fitting for the event to come. A fight with another pyro user, it was a very welcome request from her, and a very welcome demand from Lord Lechner. Varin had only briefly been with the Second Legion thus far and had worked with Irina a couple of times, but they never officially met.

He was unarmored this time, forcing him to move and think before striking and on blocking. The training spar had gone on for a bit of time, enough for the heat of the room to become unbearable to most. To Varin, it did not make him sweat. The spar however, was what made him sweat. She was agile and quick. He played more on the defensive until she would make a mistake.

They clashed their blades, the hissing and sparks flew into the air as they locked up for a moment, before she pushed the blades down hurling a flaming fist towards his face.

She was not shy about getting in close to someone larger than her. It was bold. As his saber flung downwards he moved with the momentum flourishing his heavy hilt into a reverse grip, as his jaw took the flaming punch, he drove his pommel towards her gut attempting to drive the air from her lungs.

As her fist impacted with his jaw his head moved to the side with the impact, a dull pain radiating through his jaw. A pain he welcomed and fed.

He flexed his jaw slightly, placing his free hand over his chin, the fire not even leaving a red spot.

“Nice. But, always pay attention when fighting someone larger than you. A full frontal assault can lead to dire consequences if not executed with some form of a defense.”

He twirled his hilt again in a fluid and slow motion bringing it back up to a half guard, waiting patiently, smoke beginning to trail down his back.

Irina Jesart​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina grunted with the sharp impact of his hilt in her gut, anger flaring, adding a pulse of heat to the already sweltering room. She wasn't angry at him, but at herself. Irina did not like losing, so she learned from her mistakes quickly, she took every chance she could to test herself outside of the training room, in battle with her Master or in the hunts he gave her. Failure was not an option.

She disengaged, rubbing the spot where he'd hit her saber spinning in her hand. "Don't patronise me, I'm not a student." she snapped irritably. The hit had been lesson enough. Suddenly she realised how much she had grown accustomed to Gerwald's teaching methods. She let out a sigh and shook her head, turning once more to set her feet when she noticed the smoke trailing behind him.

Rin tilted her head, pointing with the saber.

"I think you might be on fire."

Varin Mortifer Aerik Lechner

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He could feel the anger flare within her. His stance widened, his arms loosely at his sides as he towered over her, his shadow looming. He fed off of the anger and frustration. His gaze glared in her direction, the heat in the room only rose further, heat waves dancing off the walls and the floor as the temperature climbed more.

Her words rang in his ears.

“In a room full of superiors, you will always be a student.”

The phrase came out quietly, but his voice carried to her as she readied her saber. His eyes flicked to the tip of her blade pointed at him as she looked at him with a sudden curiosity.

When she told him he might be on fire he did not think literally, he was used to it at this point and normally worn specialized clothes to resist burning away, these training shirts were not as adequate as his normal attire. A detail that slipped his mind.

“You are not doing too bad yourself.”

He came in suddenly on the offensive, side stepping her blade using his momentum to swing his blade low then over into a circular arch. The smoke on his back began to billow a bit more as the edges started to burn away over his shoulders.

Irina Jesart​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina's dark eyes flared at his quiet words, her anger snapped like a cord, shifting from mild irritability to controlled fury. The sheer arrogance of him. Rin had a solution to arrogant men who believed themselves superior, she normally burned them alive, but that solution would not offer the results she wanted in the moment. And then he responded to her comment about being on fie with that.

She was certain then, that the men her age were all just incredibly fething stupid.

Her stepped around her blade, striking low then sweeping high, she shifted, lightsaber snapping for the low strike as force gathered in her off hand, she shunted it forward, aiming for centre mass with a blast of telekinesis powerful enough to level a small building, the close proximity gave him no room to escape it, no while he was mid swing.

"Arrogant piece of chit." she snapped.

Varin Mortifer Aerik Lechner

 

[Varin Mortifer]

She moved quicker, using her main element she had over him. Speed. He was stronger physically, but she was much quicker and light on her feet. She swung low interrupting his flow which brought a slight smirk of appreciation to his lips, a smirk that was quickly doused as an unseen force slammed right into his sternum sending him off his feet and clamming into the wall behind him.

Breath was driven from him. She seemed keen on actually doing damage while he was just dancing around it.

Very well

He slowly stood back up and inhaled deep, pushing the dull pain down. He widened his foot stance as flames started dancing over his shoulders. His eyes opened, his dark brown color of his good eye now bled an inferno of reds and orange.

“If it’s a fight you want.”

He brought up his saber into half guard, the blade angled and pointing towards the ceiling. The flame that danced on the blade now reacted, reached and shot forth like searing chains towards her with enough speed to warrant reaction, but with enough ease to give her opportunities to avoid the searing touch.

All the while the fires that danced on his shoulders began to burn away a bit more of the cloth from his back and shoulders, slowly revealing faint orange glowing lines still hidden partially from his shirt. The markings on his chest began to glow through the shirt as well as he called upon the flames to his command.

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Irina Jesart]

There was a deep sense of satisfaction as he slammed into the wall and her anger settled back where it belonged, content with the results it had produced. A smirk tugged her lips as he got to his feet, threatening a real fight. Gerwald would not be pleased if she broke a member of the Dreadborne, no matter how much she believed in the moment he deserved it.

She made a note, to react with words rather than force. He set his stance and Irina matched it shifting on her feet as flames moved towards her, twisting out of their path her off hand rising again this time redirecting the heat up and away from her.

Flames licked up his back and Irina frowned.

"Varin, control yourself, you are burning through your attire."

Varin Mortifer Aerik Lechner

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He watched as she sent the flames upwards and away from her then her words came to him.

“Focus on yourself.”

He growled through his throat as flames rocketed from his back sending him straight for her. He swung his saber in a horizontal arch towards her blade knocking it to the side hard, the impact allowing him to flourish his blade in his grip allowing the flames to fan before her as he drove his shoulder towards her to knock her back. The force of the flames that jetted from his back revealing down his left shoulder burning runes that flared like a furnace beneath his flesh.

Smoke billowed violently from his back revealing the more violent yet intricate runes on his back, circling around themselves like a ritual circle of its own, in the center seems to be a detailed skull of a creature of a draconic nature.

After his flourish of distraction he thrusted his fist towards her sternum, using the force to impact her and drive her back as well.

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Varin Mortifer | Aerik Lechner
​

Varin shot forward with a growl and Irina realised, not for the first time, that perhaps her anger had inflamed a situation more than it needed to be. Her saber went side, Varin's shoulder slamming into her force her back, she recovered her footing, eyes tracking the fire and smoke, catching sight of the runes burning around his arms as he shirt began to crumble away.

His strike landed exactly where it meant, driving the air from her lungs and lifting her from her feet. She hit the mat hard, rolling with the momentum she came up on one knee and deactivated her saber.

"Varin," she said again, this time softer, if a little breathless from his strike. "Unless you want to embarrass yourself by burning your clothes off, I suggest we stop."

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin dashed forwards as she rolled back on her knee from the momentum, breathless. He came in with a follow up punch, his large fist encased in fire driving for her chin.

Until her next phrase made his fist stop just before her, his eyes looked at her then down to his now crumbling shirt. His eye widened as he stepped back.

“Apologies…”

He brushed his hand over his shoulder as smoldering bits of the shirt flaked off his arm, the smoke from his back dying down to nothing.

“I must have gotten carried away.”

He straightened his stance as the rune’s orange flare started to die down, the temperature around him already dropping. He extended his hand to her to help her up.

“You’re rather quick on your feet.”

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina shrugged at his apology, clipping her lightsaber back to her belt.

"Well, I did throw you into a wall. I think that's cause enough to get carried away." she said with a slight smirk, here eyes tracking the runes that coiled his arm, before lifting to his face at his compliment, the brief smugness folding back behind her mask of impassiveness.

"You strike hard, but your size makes you slow. Sometimes finesse is more effective than brute strength."

She paused, eyes flicking again to the runes.

"What are they?"

Aerik Lechner Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He slowly withdrew his hand as the runes pulsed slightly across his chest and shoulders as she looked at the runes the first time. A slow withdrawal as he stepped back some.

“I will keep that in mind.”

He watched as her gaze fell back to his runic brands once more, this time watching as the flaring orange light beneath the flesh dulled to their normal skin like hue.

He blinked after she asked her question then gently wrapped a hand around his shoulder, rubbing slightly as a hiss from a bead of sweat dripped onto his still hot skin.

“It’s…complicated.”

He spoke hesitantly and quietly as he started to walk back to his equipment to gather some of his things. He clipped his saber hilt to his belt as he stood there looking into his pack at nothing. Almost as if he were contemplating really explaining what they were.

“I've had them since I was really small.”

He rotated his shoulder a bit and an audible pop echoed from the walls and a grunt left his throat.

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Aerik Lechner Varin Mortifer
​

Irina let him go, giving him a moment to contemplate for clearly her question had landed somewhere it was not intended. She followed after a beat, quiet eyes tracking and reading, attempting to place their origin, to translate them. Varin had gone from a useful training partner to something to study.

Like a puzzle to piece together.

Her distance was still respectable, her face still carefully blank save for the glitter of curiosity in her eyes.

Then he rolled his shoulder and the pop of it made her flinch, triggering a memory that she shoved aside hard. She hated that noise, it made her gut twist into knots. She breathed slowly, letting the tension roll away.

"I see." she said quietly in response. For a beat there was silence and then, "May I look at them properly?"

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin's head lifted slightly at her request, a look of curiosity over his eye before he stood up straight, better aligning his back and shoulders. Who was he to deny another Sith the pursuit of knowledge and the possibility of translating the ancient runes burned upon his flesh.

“Feel free. But no prodding, it’s…uncomfortable when people stare and poke.”

His voice was quiet as he spoke the last part, almost as if speaking to himself.

He took a steady breath to calm his nerves a bit more before she started her inspection, bracing his body for any slight touch.

The first slight touch she introduced would cause a slight twitch down his back as she traced along the jagged patterned scars, a rippled flex involuntarily stiffened the muscles on his back.

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Irina Jesart]

Aerik Lechner Varin Mortifer​

When he straightened and granted permission she stepped closer hands lifting to his back, gently tracing them. She stopped when his muscle twitched a smille tugging her lips.

"Sorry." She said softly before continuing.

They were old, some symbols were similar to high sith, but the dialect was off, the patterns not quite aligned. Perhaps it was rooted in high sith?

She moved to his arm, trailing the bicep before going back to the ones on his back, eyes alight with fascination, her forehead creased with focus before she moved to the ones on his chest.

"This," she said tapping one just over his heart "is like imdtonizi in high sith, but here," she traced one part "and here" her finger trailed up "is wrong. And this one," her hand moved again. "This one is repeated...like Mirji?...bound or to bind. Its repeated." She looked up at him utterly oblivious to how close she was standing, excitement clear in her face.

"Have you ever translated them?"

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He traced her movements along his arms and chest until she translated a few sections. His head tilted to the side as he listened to her explanations.

“You speak High Sith?”

He smirked a bit a slight flare of excitement came to his eye as he realised he may be able to converse with another apprentice of the ancient tongue.

“I was able to translate some, but not a lot.”

He pointed to the section across his shoulder, finger tracing along the slightly pulsing runes as he read.

“Born of Sun and flame.”

Then he traced down his other bicep.

“Jaws of Eclipse.”

He straightened back up as he looked down to her, but not down on her.

“It speaks of an ancient entity known as The Eater of Suns.”

He looked down at the fresh shirt he pulled from his pack in his hands as he paused for a moment.

“It was a ritual I went through when I was eight.”

He shrugged slightly, as if to play it down some of the traumatic experience he was forced through.

“Father said I was dying, and this ritual saved my life, though barely and agonizingly.”

His eyes remained on her, a low intensity of the violent background of his childhood.

Irina Jesart | Aerik Lechner​

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Irina Jesart | Varin Mortifer​

Aerik had not announced his arrival.

The corridors felt quieter than he remembered, or perhaps he simply carried less noise within him now. After Brosi, after the long nights spent relearning where the edges of himself lay, he had come without escort or message because the visit was meant to be simple.

It rarely was with Irina.

He felt her presence before he saw her, a steady thread in the Force that had become as familiar as breath. It guided him to the doorway, where he slowed just enough to take in what lay beyond.

Irina stood close to a man he did not recognize, her hands moving across bare skin marked with old scars and darker runes. Her focus was absolute as she traced their lines with careful interest.

Aerik stopped and watched quietly, not with suspicion but with a stillness that masked the flicker of thought behind his eyes. Memory surfaced unbidden as he recalled a raised brow and a sharp word once spoken about Skadi, along with the subtle tension he had learned to recognize whenever another woman stood too close.

His gaze rested on Irina for a moment longer before he stepped forward.

“Irina.”

Her name carried evenly through the room.

There was no edge in it, though something measured lingered beneath the surface. His eyes moved briefly to the man as he noted posture, breath, and the faint tension of someone aware of being observed, then returned to her.

“I see you are occupied.”

The corner of his mouth shifted almost imperceptibly, not quite a smile and not quite anything else.

He allowed a small pause before adding, calm and unhurried, “I did not realize bare chests were part of your research methods.”

The words were dry and delivered without accusation, though the meaning was clear enough for anyone who knew him.

He stepped further into the room, his presence steady as he neither crowded nor retreated.

“Should I be jealous, or is this purely academic?”

 

[Irina Jesart]

Aerik Lechner Varin Mortifer
​

Irina nodded at his question, tracking his hand as he explained what he had managed to translate, comparing it to the others she had started to translate.

"Eater of Suns…" she repeated frowning, it wasn't a legend she was familiar with. That it was an ancient entity meant that High Sith had roots in whatever language it was.

When Varin explained about a ritual and his childhood she lowered her hands looking up at him "Oh…I'm sorry…" She suspected that she was probably supposed to ask what had happened, but she was less interestedin his trauma and more interested in the possibilityof translating ancient text. "If you are interested I'd be happy to-"

Irina.

Her head whipped round eyes wide with surprise. She'd been so absorbed she hadn't felt him coming, had noticed his approach.

"Aerik!" She exclaimed with a smile. Then the edge to his voice struck. He had called her Irina…not Rin. Her smile faded, folding away behind an impassive mask. She looked back at Varin, her eyes flicking once, pointedly to the fresh shirt in his hand before she stepped away.

Heat rose in her cheeks and her eyes flashed dangerously at the unspoken accusation. He had some nerve… she clamped down on the burst of irritation, having the foresight, at least this time, to know it wasn't going to help here. She instead chose to ignore it as she stepped towards him.

"Purely academic." She said lightly, the unspoken accusation not lost on her. "Varin and I were training, I noticed the runes and asked to see them." She left out the part where his shirt had burned away, somehow no matter how she looked at it, it seemed damning.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He could tell she had a passion for translating ancient Sith language. He stood still as she observed more of his markings, ignoring the out of place feeling of someone else's touch, even if it were still for academic purposes. He paid no mind to her response on his history with the Sith ritual, he was far too preoccupied with also understanding the markings alongside her.

“You're not the first to not know the name, nor its legends.”

He looked at her again as she was about to make some form of offer towards him only for a voice to move his gaze to the new face that now wandered in.

Irina seemed to have some form of excitement to this Aerik when he said her name. Then he noticed the tension and the change of body language.

“Bare chests are not often used for research, no. She was curious about the translations in the brands.”

His eyes followed him as he stepped inside. Varin's stance straightened a bit. A habit he seemed to have when someone brought his attention to them.

“I don't know why you would be jealous in the pursuit of knowledge and study.”

His head tilted a bit the molten eye within his socket studying his force imprint, a very peculiar imprint. Like a predator of flame seemed to walk into the room. The glow of his eye dimmed as it finished assessing.

“It started off as a training session, I had gotten carried away.”

He looked at Irina who clearly showed signs of agitation, then back at Aerik.

“It is technically my doing.”

His voice did not shy away, nor did it show signs of apology. It carried in a tone that he would use to simply inform anybody of what was going on.

Aerik Lechner | Irina Jesart​

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Irina Jesart | Varin Mortifer​

Aerik inclined his head slightly toward Irina, the gesture acknowledging both her explanation and the look she gave him. Through the quiet thread of connection that had begun to form between them he felt the edge of her irritation, along with something more restrained beneath it. He did not press against it, though he did not ignore it either.

“My comment was not meant as an accusation,” he said evenly. “The situation simply resembles one I found myself in not long ago.”

His gaze shifted briefly to Varin, the acknowledgment calm and measured.

“It seems we both have a habit of finding ourselves in circumstances that invite interpretation.”

There was no challenge in the words, only quiet observation, before his attention returned fully to Irina.

It was then that he noticed the mark.

His eyes settled on her injury, taking in the shape and texture with the instinctive awareness of someone accustomed to reading wounds. The resemblance to a bite did not escape him, and the sight drew a subtle tightening in his expression.

“Is that new?” he asked, his voice lower now, concern present without dramatics.

He took a small step closer, not invading her space but closing the distance enough to see more clearly, his attention fixed on the scar rather than the tension that had filled the room moments before.