Bonk On The Head

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Aela looked at her sister for a moment.

"I'm your sister." She prefaced what she was about to say. "I'll always be nice to you."

They had teased her as a child, but that's what kids did. Aela didn't hold any real grudges against her siblings. Her and Micah had come to strife once or twice before, but they were grown up now, adults. They each had their own responsibilities and paths in life. She was a Marshall of the Jedi Order, she wasn't going to beat up her sister just because she happened to steal her favorite toy once or twice, that was just silly. A smile pulled on her lips for half a second, though it slowly faded away.

"But the people who might hurt you won't be. I'm going to do my best to teach you, Maleah, and that means eventually I'll have to try my hardest." That was for the better, So Maleah would learn more and wouldn't get hurt. Aela just wanted to make sure that her sister would be safe, that she would know what to do.

"We'll start out easy though." Aela said, her smile returning. "So don't worry."

She wanted her sister to learn, and she wanted her to be safe. In order to do that she would eventually have to be mean. Sith, pirates, criminals all didn't fight fair. Aela had personally experienced that, she knew what some people would do just to win. Undoubtedly Maleah would encounter the same things she had, undoubtedly those were the types of people she would end up having to fight. Aela had to prepare her, but at the very least she could be nice about it.

 

[Louise]

Uh oh, there was definitely a but coming there.

Technically it wasn't her that stole Aela's favourite toy, I mean, it was stolen in a collaborated effort and well, it was Micah's hand that had fed the stuffed drexl to Toofless. Although, surprise surprise when their parents were eventually told, it was her that had to stand by her nexu and wait for the toy to come out of the other end.

'He's your responsibility, Maleah.'

Although, in all fairness the young woman could understand where her older sister was coming from. There was no point in training if it was going to be easy, learning in a safe environment gave no real reward because it presented no real risk and risk was what she needed to be familiar with. Aela was completely right, the Sith weren't just going to come out and play practice fights.

Nodding, she looked down at her bare feet, briefly wriggling her toes as she stared. A child of natures Maleah very much preferred to pad around barefoot.

“Should probably put boots on,” the young woman commented, “and amp up, maybe stretch out, meditate you know?” This was a lie, she was planning on taking a late afternoon nap with Toofless, but Aela didn't have to know that.

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

They had a few hours until dusk still, and meditation didn't sound like a bad idea at all.

Aela still had some work she needed to do, a few odds and ends that she could take care of here from home. Being a Marshall was something that took up a lot of time, and the responsibilities that she held were important enough to her that she had to complete them before anything else. Of course, by the time dusk rolled around she would be ready to teach her sister a thing or two about fighting, that would be the easy part. She shifted slightly and placed the dirty bowl in the sink.

"Let's meet in the courtyard." Aela said as she looked at the wall clock. "Around six."

The sun would actually still be up then, but it would begin to set. The tree line would block most of the harmful rays from touching Maleahs skin and that was really all they needed.

Briefly Aela wondered if Micah or her father might be able to make an amulet or something to protect Maleah's skin, now that they had both become stronger within that particular trait. She frowned for a moment, then shifted slightly to look at her sister. "Okay?"

 

[Louise]

“Okay,” Maleah confirmed with a small nod, wondering that if her sister truly believed that she was going to meditate.

Well, why wouldn't she? It made her sound as if she was taking it all seriously, not that she wasn't, she just….well, didn't know what to expect. The young woman was sure that later on she would regret her decision, but well, hey, you live and you learn, right?

Slipping out of the kitchen she signalled for Toofless, who was flopped onto the floor, basking in a spot of sunlight (which all felines were prone to do) to come upstairs with her. Which he did, happily. At least in his time spent at home the nexu hadn't become ill-disciplined, that was always a plus. Maleah could live with a chunky companion, not so much an unruly one.

Reaching her room, and setting an alarm for just before six, Maleah then practically leaped onto her bed, Toofless following her all the way down to the playful vault onto the bed. Thankfully, the mattress held. Her own bed was formerly the only exception to the furniture rule, which apparently was a thing of the past now.

“You being good, Toof?”

The nexu chuffed loudly, his throat rumbling as he blew air from his nostrils as he rolled onto his back to expose a world of what she had always called floof to be petted.

“You're not giving mum and dad a hard time, are you?”

He continued his predatory purring, tail whipping around happily before Maleah finally began to give the great brute some vigorous tummy-rubs, which of course Toofless enjoyed more than fresh gooberfish, he practically vibrated so great was his enjoyment. Of course, she knew all of his favourite spot for scritchies.

It didn't take long for the young woman to get comfortable with the Nexu, using his vast tummy floof as a living pillow and after laying in contentment for a while with her childhood companion, drifted off into a lovely afternoon nap.

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Aela meanwhile, did in fact meditate.

It wasn't hard for her, and though a nap would have done her good, meditation was the best path for her. The training would be intense, that was simply the way it would go, and thus she had to wait and train her body to be ready for that. It didn't help that blue milk generally caused her stomach to gurgle a bit. Of course that would go away with time. She would wander throguh the house, noticing that her parents were still not home and noting that Micah hadn't been back in quite some time. She mused for a moment, then headed towards the roof.

The sun cast down hard onto the wooden floors, reflecting into Aela's eyes.

She wandered passed the center of the room and towards the massive windows, slowly closing the blinds half way so that only a little bit of the sun would fade in.

It was better for meditation to be in the dark, or so Aela had always found. She like the soothing quiet up here though, and even with the small rays of sun it wouldn't be too bad. She moved back towards the center of the room and in one fluid movement sat herself down. She briefly wondered what everyone back on Sullust was up to. Whether Adder was doing well on Sulon, or whether Micah was having fun on his trips. She mused for such a moment, then shifted to be more comfortable.

"Okay." She told herself. "Relax."

Aela closed her eyes, letting the force flow through her.

In a few hours she would do the same, but facing her sister.

 

[Louise]

There was no place in the entire galaxy quite like your own bed. Even if it was uncomfortable to others, or if they found that the springs poked them in the back, to you, it was heaven. Whether it was the aspect of creature comfort, the calling of home, no matter how long you had been away, your own bed always welcomed you back with comforting arms.

Having a giant cuddly nexu beside you didn't hurt either.

Sleep came almost instantly to her. There were no dreams to distract or detract, it was the most simple and innocent form of bliss. One of the few occasions where darkness brought comfort.

Funny, that.

---

A few hours later and the drill of the alarm began to pierce into her outer-layer of blissful slumber. There was a groan, both from woman and nexu almost in unison as they were so comfortable that they had no desire to move.

Maleah shifted, noting the small puddle of drool that sat upon Toofless' fur. She had always slept with her mouth open and this was a small side effect of such.

Alarm switched off, the half-awake Talith staggered to the bathroom, loosely tying up her hair as her bare feet padded through the hallways. Almost as if she was on auto-pilot Maleah stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a moment and squinted at her reflection.

A drink and a splash of water on the face later and she felt mildly more alive to the world. Mildly.

With her boots on and with Toofless decidedly staying in her bed to nap (the lazy so-and-so) the young woman trundled down the stairs, fully expecting Aela to already be outside in the courtyard, likely fully prepared both physically and mentally.

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Aela was indeed already in the courtyard.

She had prepared the space, or rather, her father had done so. Soliael had long ago prepared a large open area behind the house for the ids to play around in. It was a massive piece of lawn that seemed to stand out from the jungle around it, soft padded grass that rimmed around in a giant ring. Aela had used it in the past to practice with her uncles, fighting techniques and such things. It had always worked out in the past, so she figured that it would work out now.

"Maleah!" Aela called to her sister.

She was rather eager to get this going, and in fact she had set up several "stations" of what they would be going through. The first would be hand to hand combat of course, the second would be lightsaber combat, the third would be the force, and last would be a mix of all three. The last one would be where Aela got really dirty and shoe her sister just how Sith fought. It wouldn't be nice, but it would at the very least be necessary for when Maleah went into the galaxy.

Finally, her sister emerged from the house.

"There you are!" Aela said. "What were you, sleeping?"

Her tone made it seem like that was preposterous.

 

[Louise]

She laughed off her sister's comment, especially given the inflection in her voice as she said it. Of course, internally Maleah was mildly panicked, not that her sister was going to beat her for taking a sleep if she knew, but she'd definitely be chided and perhaps offered a little less mercy for not taking it so seriously.

“Just preparing, you know, psyching myself up.”

Definitely not sleeping, no ma'am.

She began to limber up, engaging in a stretch routine that would have been out of place before going on the hunt. Her stomach gurgled somewhat, strange pink milk combining with greasy nerf meat inside of her stomach, as one might have expected. Regardless, she stretched out, trying to get into a more serious kind of mindset.

Maleah was always ready to run, jump, climb and hide but never really fight. It was completely different circumstance to what she was used to.

“Any tips before we start?" Maleah asked, before be sure to add in, "well, asides from don't get hit."

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Aela stretched, moving her arms and legs so that she wouldn't tear anything during their fight. "Don't try to follow me with your eyes."

That was a trap many apprentices fell into.

The truth was that sight deceived you, it tricked you into thinking you knew what was coming next. It was something that most Padawans tried to do, They tried to follow their opponent by looking at them. It didn't work usually, and a skilled opponent would use misdirects and other tricks to push the fight into their advantage. Aela didn't want Maleah to learn that lesson the hard way, mostly because she knew that Maleah had what it took not to do that.

"Instead, you have to use the force." Aela began to explain. "You have to feel its flow, let it guide how and where you move."

That was key.

Sith and Jedi both used the force to fight. They used it to enhance and speed themselves up, but they also used it to predict and shift their own movements to become more complex. It was common among masters to fight at speeds normal people couldn't even observe, not because they saw everything, but because the force guided them.

 

[Louise]

That sounded easier said than done. It was difficult to train yourself to not use one of your senses, after all, most people depended on sight for everything. She'd heard of Jedi Padawans training blindfolded, using the Force to guide them instead of their eyes and well, in this context it made sense.

She slowly craned her neck, closing her eyes and trying to psyche herself up in that moment, loosening up in a manner that usually made her feel more connected with the nature and Force.

Typically Maleah used the Force when hunting. It was more than a handy tool for tracking wild beasts, she could feel their presence, their aura. Using this gave her an idea of location and temperament, on rare occasions the young woman even found herself connected with the animals, feeling their heartbeats beat alongside her own.

Sentient beings were trickier.

They acted upon thought rather than instinct and were generally much more complex than wild creatures. Not to mention the very fact that sentients could resist, and sometimes it could actually be dangerous given mind of the person. Made it easy to be tricked, or possibly even worse.

Not that she had experienced such.

“I'll try not to,” she responded, shifting onto the balls of her feet and bobbing around slightly as if she were full of bursting energy, “might be tricky.”

It would likely be trial and error.

“Okay, I'm ready, Aels.”

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Aela nodded.

She slowly made her way to opposite where her sister was standing.

The older Talith knew that she would have to hold back a bit. Her sister wasn't used to fighting, wasn't used to combat at all, in fact, she would actually have to start from the very beginning. She shifted slightly, moving halfway towards Maleah and taking a normal fighting stance. It was one that Uncle Cameron had instructed her one, one that she used now with her light-shield gauntlet. The fighting style emphasized the use of the force to batter and break an enemy that was sure footed.

"Okay Maleah." Aela began to slowly talk. "See how I'm standing? Copy that."

They had a piece of Lorrdian in them, a bit of mimicry would come naturally to her sister, just like it did to her.

That was how it would go, at least for the first stage. Aela would instruct Maleah on simple forms, telling her how to stand, telling her how to react, and just how she would let the force flow through her. Aela went through it easily, spending more than three hours simply telling Maleah what to do when she was standing, not actually fighting. It was better that way, easier for when they would actually get into sparring. Eventually it ended with Aela holding Maleah in a headlock, her arm wrapped around her throat.

"Now to get out of this, it's best to either use the force to push the other person away, or bash your head up and against their nose....but don't do the latter if they're wearing a helmet." She herself had done that...once.

 

[Louise]

Thankfully it started off slow, with the focus being laid upon various combat stances and positioning with Aela going over the correct way to stand in many differing scenarios. She could imagine Padawans growing quickly tired of this kind of training and wanting to go straight to bashing things with sticks but the young woman imagined that this was equally important.

Even if it wasn't exciting.

So she went through the motions, being careful to study her sister's form as she went through them, trying to write to memory which situation was apt for which stance and what their purpose was, whether to defend, attack, disarm or other.

Hours later and there they were, with Aela holding Maleah in a headlock.

She wrote down to memory that smashing her head into her opponent (non-helmeted opponent) was a viable option but the young woman opted to attempt the former escape manoeuvre suggested by her sister.

“…..gotcha,” Maleah replied awkwardly, after all, she was in a headlock.

Moving her hand, the twin faced the flat of her palm towards her sister's body but before letting loose a moderate Force push, tangled a leg behind one of her Aela's, hoping to trip her over with the Force Push rather than pushing her away.

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

Oh.

She hadn't expected that.

Aela knew that her sister was smart, but she had never thought that Maleah had a knack for fighting. Out of all of them Maleah had always been...well not the most innocent but the one with the most wanderlust. Training in the force had never much interested her unless it was regarding the taming of animals and basic skills required for that. So when her sister jutted her leg between her own then pressed backward towards Aela with the force the Young Marshall found herself more than a little surprised.

The press at her stomach happened almost immediately, and with a powerful rush the eldest Talith went flailing to the ground.

Her arm half unhooked form from her sisters neck, her other hand reaching up to try and grasp at Maleah, hopefully saving herself in time to keep herself from falling back. The mistake on her part was instant, the realization hitting her that she should have simply allowed the fall to happen and then re-stabilize herself on her feet. She let out a small curse, shifting slightly as she crashed against the ground with a loud thump.

"Ow." Aela said quietly, rubbing her head. "That was good, Maleah."

Really good.

 

[Louise]

Maleah almost joined her older sister on the ground as a grasping hand caught her shoulder, pulling her off balance, and she likely would have been upon the floor were it not for her lucky boots. Instead she managed to stay upon her feet, staggering a few yards in the direction that she was pulled.

She was already fleet footed, spending a lot of her time wandering wilderness really required such a trait. There were no man-made roads and paths to walk down most of the time, and steady but tricky feet were sometimes required to traverse any further. In caves and up cliffs in particular. Her boots simply amplified this effect, giving her a certain amount of pure luck alongside natural ability.

A grin appeared upon her face, happy that she had received a compliment from her sister in this respect. Happy that she wasn't so helpless that she could not think out of the box either.

“Thanks, Aels,” the twin chirped, offering her older sister a hand in getting back to her feet, “just kinda, in the moment.”

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

She smiled up at her sister, knowing that Maleah was now beaming with pride.

Aela snatched her sisters, palm, grasping it and using it to pull herself up and off the ground. It was more of a hop than anything else, a slight jump that landed her back up on her feet. She smiled at Maleah, patting her on the side of the shoulder with a sisterly amount of glee. "That was your instincts!"

Aela sounded a tad too excited.

"You didn't think about it, right?" That was the important part. "You just did it. That's what the force does, it influences and guides you, and drives your instincts to take over."

For Aela, it was important that Maleah understood that. Thinking too much during a fight would lead to death. It was of course important to try and out think your opponent, but getting too lost in idea of what to do next and what would come at you in the future got someone killed. Fighting was all about what one had to do in that moment, that was why Jedi and Sith were generally lauded as better combatants. They could both predict what was going to happen, and react to what was happening at that moment.

It was complex, but easy enough to figure out.

 

[Louise]

Seeing Aela practically ecstatic almost gave Maleah a double grin (if such was even possible). Even if it was just a moment simply training with her sister, it was a moment of merriment in a world that was often punctuated by times of dark strife, especially in Aela's world. It was moments like this that could lift spirits throughout the suffering, that were to be held close and cherished and fondly remembered in times of need.

Instincts. Just like within the beasts that she cherished, evidently it did not harm her to channel the nature of those who were so often her companion. However, there was an undeniable edge that the Force gave her, something that animals lacked. It was moments, inklings like premonition in the heat of the moment, it was hard to describe.

Peripheral vision of the mind.

“Well,” she commented still wearing her pleased-as-punch grin, “I had a great teacher.”

The moment of kind and honest sentiment was interrupted by a very loud gurgling within the pit of her stomach. Some mild physical exertion was disagreeing with her rather unhealthy choice of lunch.

“...shoulda had the cereal, huh?”

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

She smiled. "Yeah."

Truth be told Aela was getting a tad hungry too, her stomach wasn't quite at the stage of grumbling, but the hours of work on simple forms that they had done were enough to make her a bit peckish. She mused for a second, thinking about what they could do. Her instinct told her that they should just keep sparring, that it would be good to have Maleah fight when weakened, but the realization hit her that this wasn't a contest, nor was it to life and death.

She was trying to help her sister not starve her to death.

"Let's take a break." Aela said. "Get something small to eat then go back to it."

They wouldn't have to fight in the dark either. Soliael had long ago installed large floodlights in the backyard that turned on whenever there were people training there. Their father had done this for Micah, who often liked to go out at night to practice his tracking skills on the island.

They were an odd family, but a loving one.

 

[Louise]

Maleah shook her head, “Nah, Aels,” the young woman started to say, scratching the back of her head and further ruffling her loosely tied bun, “I doubt the Sith will let us grab a snack before they attack.”

There were scenarios they had to be prepared for, Aela, of course knew this but was just imparting some kindness upon her. She really was a good sister.

“'Sides, I'm not sure if I'm hungry, or if that smoked nerf is coming back to bite me in the butt.”

That was truth, the greasy, fatty but undeniably tasty meat was still there, lurking within her system like a big meaty weight, disagreeing with the physical activity that she was currently partaking in. Really, it was better this way, training through discomfort would help in real future situations. That or she carried small packets of cereal with her all the time.

“Come on,” Maleah smiled, “let's keep going, what's next?”

---

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"]

She smiled.

That was the attitude that she wanted from Maleah, though fighting while hungry was also dangerous. Either way Aela recollected herself, then wandered over to the small table at the corner of the room. She surveyed what was there for a moment then plucked her lightsaber from it's place. She twirled the blade once or twice, then put it in hand. Her steps were carefully measures as she wandered back over to stand opposite Maleah, a slow smile crossing her face.

"Lightsaber combat." Her blade erupted with a quick snap hiss and a bright searing pink.

Aela's lightsaber was of course, formerly their fathers. The blade and everything in it had been constructed by Soliael back on Exocron along with their mother, The crystal was an Angraal Crystal, a very special type of lightsaber crystal that allowed her to cut through cortosis. It was special to her for more than that though, it was an heirloom that she treasured.

The Young Marshall smirked, excitement entering her eyes.

Lightsaber combat was where she truly thrived.

 

[Louise]

Now this was upping the ante.

As Aela stood opposite her, Maleah couldn't help slightly defenceless. It wasn't likely that they were going to dive straight into it, especially given that the young woman didn't actually own a lightsaber.

Her path so far in life didn't require such a weapon to be in her arsenal. With Oma she dealt with mostly blades and arrows, weapons that were savage in nature and mostly used when on the hunt. Ranged, silent and practical. You can't skin a carcass with plasma, after all. Or maybe you could, but it would likely be messy and wasteful.

Orange eyes were drawn to the pink blade held by her sister's hand, a gleam of excitement visible within.

“But I don't even have a lightsaber, Aels...” Maleah said, looking back to her sister's grinning features, a very similar grin spreading across the twin's features slowly, “...unleeeeeess...”

---

[member="Aela Talith"]