Private Children of Shiraya: Strike A Balance

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Sal-Soren Estate, Training Grounds, Hapes
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren


Briana stood opposite of a dark outcropping of rocks in the open-air training ring that'd been designed with the intent to create a space of calm and tranquility, practicing each intricate step of Ataru with catlike grace. The last time she'd been home she had neglected these practices, relaxing back into the comfortable lifestyle of nobility when she'd been unsure of her future with the Jedi.

A small part of her still felt uncertain if it was the right decision for her life, this path she'd once felt was forced upon her, but she knew deep down when she'd returned with Valery this last time, that there was no turning back. She couldn't fight the pull of the Force anymore than she could stop breathing or change how her heart beat. Being with the Jedi - a place she'd sworn she didn't belong - was where she now knew she was meant to be, and Briana was trying to make peace with her newly determined purpose in life.

The dull hum of her cerulean blade filled her ears as she turned it clockwise in her hand slowly. Her eyes closed, her breathing slowed and she twisted the blade around her, loosing herself in the sound it made as the light cut through the air, focusing on the movements as they came naturally to her now.

Coming to an end of the exercise, she felt Brandyn's presence at the edge of the circle behind her. Their bond had surged back into place when they'd reunited, but the connection between them felt muddier and less clear since his return from his wanderings. Briana knew little of his investigations, but knew that whatever he'd found must have affected him deeply as she'd been able to sense the changes in her younger brothers demeanor.

With a snap-hiisss, her blade was deactivated. "You're late." she admonished, turning to face him with an arched brow. "What, a few days home and you're already getting lazy?"

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren


Unsettled.

Brandyn felt unsettled.

He had become so accustomed to being on his own, fending for himself and responsible for part of an ongoing investigation, but now he was back with family. There were still discussions that were yet to happen, that he knew was coming. They had yet to address the fact that he ran away to join the Jedi. They had not addressed that the Jedi accepted a runaway - he often wondered if his mother had quietly pulled some strings. As much as he loved being back with his family, even he had to admit it was not the same, and there was a constant pull away from Hapes that nagged at him.

He had been invited to saber practice with Briana. There was a fair amount of nerves seeing his training had mostly been on the job for the past several months, and being mostly alone on the job meant he felt like he might be falling behind his sibling. She didn't need any assistance being better than him at, well, anything. At least he had a better excuse this time.

Apparently, he was late.

Glancing down at his chrono, Brandyn smirked. "Being ridiculously early does not make everyone else late, Briana," he said, pointing to this watch showing that he still had a minute. He glanced again and noted that it had just ticked over to being the time of their meeting.

Stepping into the ring, Brandyn pulled his plain looking saber hilt to hand and ignited his blade with a snap-hiss.

"Ataru, Bri?" He said as he began to circle around the platform keeping himself pointed towards his 'foe'.

"Seems pretty predictable...if I am being honest..."

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[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Sal-Soren Estate, Hapes
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren


"You know what I'm like," Briana said, giving him a 'harumph' sort of look and planting a fist against the curve of her hip, "I would have expected you of all people to anticipate I'd already be here and to have preemptively taken measures to make sure you showed up even earlier. Hence, in my book, you are late." The back and forth bickering, strangely, made Briana feel a sense of comfort - rather than her usual irritation with it. For a fleeting moment, things felt like they had when they were younger, before everything had changed so drastically. When life still seemed simple, safe. It felt like a millennia ago, the thought sending a stab of pain through her, but Briana was quick to push the lingering vestiges of her own grief behind her carefully cultivated mental shields, lifting her chin as her lips curved into a small smirk, refocusing on what they were both there for.

She perked a brow and her eyes narrowed, feeling slightly annoyed with Brandyn's barely there stab. "Predictable?" she shook her head, "Then let's get started and I'll prove you otherwise." Her hands switched their position on the handle of her blade, the dull blue igniting and setting her features aglow. Her left leg slid out in front of her, her right foot moving back to take up the neutral stance of Shii-Cho, a middle ground that went into virtually every other stance there was. In the time since Brandyn's absence, she'd gone from reluctant, to accomplished duelist.

Closing her eyes, Briana breathed in deep, waiting for him to get into position as she focused her mind and then took off in a Force aided sprint. She took the offensive, blade poised to come down on him in a vertical, disarming slash.

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

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Tag: Briana Sal-Soren


Aggravating Briana was probably not the best tactic, but it was tried and true. It always got her to attack first. As children, it was a punch at Brandyn's shoulder that meant when Brandyn fought back he was only in trouble as the retaliator and not the instigator. His parents cottoned on to this over time, of course, but not before Briana had gone to their father about it.

And here was his sister, stern as (almost) always, and charging down on him. Brandyn had not taken a stance. His training had been different, less conventional than Briana's. The irony that he, the Jedi wannabe since he could walk, would not undergo the normal Jedi training when it was offered, but rather take his course through a more vocational route as part of a unit of Jedi investigating The New Way. All the while, his sister who had always rolled her eyes and Brandyn's obsession was becoming the more traditional Jedi of them both.

As Briana's slash came at him, Brandyn leaped in the same direction as her swinging, taking him away from her arc and with a spin put him in almost the spot where Briana had started.

Now Brandyn matched her starting Shii-cho stance, and advanced slowly towards her. "Can't hit what you can't catch," he said, echoing words from their childhood.

He knew she would likely be annoyed with him for being evasive and not just doing 'the thing' the way 'the thing' was supposed to be done. He allowed a half-smile as be approached. "Ya know ya love me," he said, before bringing pushing forward, planting his foot using it as a pivot to swing right to left across towards her mid-section.

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[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location:
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren


Briana sighed and rolled her blue eyes with an expression she often unconsciously imitated from their mother, her cheeks turning a pinkish-red. In typical Brandyn fashion, he opted to play and prance around, rather than actually engage her. "Is it really that hard for you to take things seriously?" she quipped, watching a cloud of dust kick up in the natural ring around them as he kicked forward.

She was unsure how attuned Brandyn was to the Force and his ability to see through and anticipate her moves, especially since the years had seen them take different approaches and paths in their training. Adaptability would need to be the name of the game if she intended to win.

"Ya know ya love me,"

A small, lopsided Corellian grin passed over her face. "Usually." she conceded, stepping off to the right and knocking his own swing back towards his body with a powerful parry, augmenting her strength through the Force to better match his before she began her dance towards what she knew to be Brandyn's weak side - or at least what had been, when they were children - where she released a torrent of blows - meant to throw him off balance, though careful to not overwhelm and end the game too quickly, each swipe targeting specific Shii-Cho strike zones.

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

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Tag: Briana Sal-Soren


For a moment, Briana had Brandyn tiptoeing backwards with each of her heavier blows. Her first one was enough to push his blade back to the point that he needed to retreat, legs moving quickly to provide stability for the repeated hard blows his sister put towards him. Each blow was met with an increasingly resolute defense, which was a good thing because his heels were precariously close to the edge of the small arena.

Usually, he thought, you mean usually you will admit it.

With Briana's last blow to his admittedly weaker side, Brandyn jumped instead of blocking, letting her blade pass under his feet. Knees lifted, and feet pushed forward to connect with Briana's shoulders, attempting to push her back - hopefully off her feet. His maneuver was finished with a Force push off a support strut to put his landing zone back in the field of play.

"Mother says you took on board most of Dad's business ventures while he was indisposed," he said, striking up conversation but also trying to distract.

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[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Sal-Soren Estate Training Arena, Hapes
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren

Briana didn't give him much room to breath, unrelenting in her forward charge and thus far keeping him on the backfoot as she'd intended - hoping to pin him against the edge of the training circle before moving in for a victory blow. However, she'd been too eager, let her surety of success blind her, resulting in her final strike catching only wind - barely stumbling out of the way to miss his abrupt overhead attack and save her shoulders from bearing the brunt of his weight.

And just like that they'd switched roles, Briana's blade rising with barely enough time to catch his.

"Your defensive maneuvering has improved," Briana commented, burying her own feelings of frustration with herself in an attempt at being encouraging and sisterly instead, to completement what deserved being complemented. That he was able to withstand her attacks and find a way out despite her consistent onslaught, showcased both his tenacity and will of determination. Perhaps she'd underestimated him.

"Mother says you took on board most of Dad's business ventures while he was indisposed,"

"Someone had to," Briana replied, her breathing slightly heavier and feeling her mental fortitude slip at the reminder. Throughout those many long months Briana had hoped Brandyn would magically materialize and come take on the brunt of their burdens - realizing the uncomfortable truth that she would have ran away from all of it in a second if given the opportunity. Instead, the fate of their family and future had been thrust in her lap. From there, the only options had been sink or swim.

"Why are you bringing it up?" she questioned, trying not to let the talk break her concentration and fix the hole in her mental shield as each strike continued through her words. The crackling of their interlocked blades lasted only a moment as she switched direction, attempting to guide them into a position where she could take the preferred offensive stance once again as she pulled from the last parry to throw a blow at his abdomen, her feet moving into whatever little space he gave her.

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

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Tag: Briana Sal-Soren


"I'm sure dad is proud of your work," Brandyn said through gritted teeth, as their blades sparked and arced in their moment of saber-lock.

Again, Briana pushed out of the moment and went on the offensive. This was not unexpected. She had always been rather forceful in her approach to problems, beating down problems like she was swatting flies. For her to have adopted an aggressive form of saber fighting only made sense. She was good too. Brandyn wasn't sure he would be able to do much more than parry and dodge. Hence the talking as a distraction.

His saber came down, pointing more towards the ground, as Briana's blade came in for another attack. Using her momentum and his, Brandyn attempted to lift her blade up and over himself as he ducked, and then drop his blade down directly into her torso. As he did, he grunted out some words.

"It was either ask you about Glitterstim...or about this Aiden guy. So what's the deal? You sleeping with him?"

His strike against her was joined with the final question of his sentence.

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[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Sal-Soren Estate, Hapes
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren

"Mostly. He wasn't too happy when he learned I'd reinstated Hal Solde," and she still didn't understand why. He'd been their fathers financial manager for several years until his sudden exile in her teens. Sure, the old Corellian was gruff and often unpleasant, but was that the extent of the reason for it? "But he protested less when I showed him our margins from before and after. You can't argue results." The truth of it? She wasn't sure she would have been able to get things back on track if it hadn't been for his council and guidance.

Her blade lifted, breaking from his. He's faring worse than he's letting on, he can't keep this up. Briana thought, a small smirk forming at the corner of her lips, her own hubris swelling as both their conversation and blades clashed. Close your mind, Bri. She warned herself, having caught on to his tactic... which was much the same as when they were children. Some things just didn't change.

As he ducked, Briana pressed her feet into the ground, trying to break the continuous forward charge and regain control of the momentum.

Then...

"It was either ask you about Glitterstim...or about this Aiden guy. So what's the deal? You sleeping with him?"

Her eyes widened at the unexpected question, "Brandyn! Are you serious right now?! Why would you ask me that!" hoping her face wasn't beat red, but feeling flabbergasted, her cerulean blade lashed out without much thought as to what she was doing or where it was going - purely attempting to smack him however she could, and consequently paying for the mindless actions, finding her blade slipping through nothing but air.

The full impact of Brandyn's strike struck hard against her torso, sending her stumbling backwards with a yelp, straight into the dirt.

After a few moments of laying with her complete humiliation, she rolled from her back to sit up, giving a sturdy cough as she brushed herself off. "That doesn't count!" she grouched.

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

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Tag: Briana Sal-Soren


Stepping back from the moment of success, Brandyn swished his blade back and forth, letting the hum fill the silence he left after Briana's 'defeat'. "Where not kids anymore, Bri," he said with a shrug, "it is perfectly fine if you are doing the Talaskian Midnight Tango with the guy. Our parents didn't raise us to be prudish...just responsible."

Flashbacks of 'the talk' came to mind. His mother had been very frank with him, he had never considered that she might have been different with his sisters. "But I knew it would at the very least embarrass you...and that would give me an opening. You know its always been your weakness, Bri...it's probably mine too. You just never try it. But from my experience. Your enemies will not be so kind. You should use any advantage you can get."

He fell back into an opening Niman stance, blade in front of him, both hands on the hilt, and point the tip of the saber towards the ground and slightly to his right.

"And yes...it does...totally count."

He didn't wait for a response, but instead stepped forward, legs sped up by the Force flowing through them, and he swung upwards to again engage with her blade.

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[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: Lightsaber
Location: Sal-Soren Estate, Hapes
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren


"I don't need to run a Zeltron Shift against someone to win." She could agree that she was still too easily distracted and had the tendency to let her emotions get the better of her - it was something that Briana felt like she was endlessly working on; but, 'using any advantage you can get?'. It wasn't that she necessarily disagreed, but there was something about it coming from Brandyn that just didn't sit right with her. Briana tried to not let her concern come through in her expression or tone. "Seems like an awfully aggressive tactic, coming from you. What about 'doing things by the code'?"

She pushed herself up to stand, summoning her lightsaber that'd bounced from her hands and back into her grip, checking the positioning of her feet and allowing them to come in slightly, elbows and shoulders relaxing as she flexed her fingers around the hilt of her saber, taking the form of that in which she was most proficient and adept for this second time around - Djem So.

"And I'm not a prude," she added as a final objection, still unsure if she should feel offended or not. "I'm just not particularly compelled to share my night time activities with my brother."

As Brandyn flew towards her, Briana waited... and waited, pivoting outwards in a twirl at the very last possible moment, bringing her cerulean blade across her body and arcing it in a downwards blow from the back of his right shoulder, to hip.

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[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

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Tag: Briana Sal-Soren


This time it was Briana's turn to move out of the way, but more than dodge she was able to bring her blade into the game as well. Brandyn adjusted quickly, twisting his wrists to bring the blade into a close-to-the-body block, before letting his momentum carry him beyond her immediate reach. "Asking my sister about her love life isn't covered in the Jedi Code, Briana," he said with a smile and a shake of his head, "if you infer that goading your emotions is against the code. You might have something there...but consider the irony here...you...are a proponent of the Jedi Code. You. Briana."

It wasn't an admission that he didn't care about it, but rather a nod to the reality of their situation. Briana Sal-Soren was a Jedi. Almost officially a Knight, from all the scuttlebutt Brandyn had heard. A respected, serious Padawan at the very least.

Again, Brandyn fell into a ready stance and pushed forward to engage with her blade again.

He laughed a little at her later comments. "Sure...and you, Blaire and Breha have never gotten on my case before...ever...so it's only a one way street, I take it. A sister's prerogative."

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