Dancing with the Devil

[Kenrath]

Vengeance made his way back towards the shuttle port. His trip to Lothal had not even come close to going as he had envisioned it. While his purpose for coming had been noble he had run into some trouble he had not expected. It reminded him of Ord Mirit and proved what he had expected all along. Not all Jedi were created equal. It would a very long time before he intentionally set foot on a Jedi controlled world. Or at least an inhibited one since he imagined if Corvus was going to be found it would be on a Jedi world far away from prying eyes.

Lost in his thoughts Vengeance didn't even see the woman until he ran right into her. The gig had been long up so not only did he not have his hood pulled over his head but he made no attempt to hide his dark side presence.



[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza figured it would be a good idea to visit more of the planets protected by the Galactic Alliance, and so she had made her way to Lothal. She was always eager to get off of Sullust, finding pretty much any non-extreme environment far more comforting. Breathing in the fresh air as she stepped off of the shuttle, she found the atmosphere of Lothal far more pleasant.

She meandered her way through the crowds at the station, not really having any particular direction. Exploring was part of the fun, and finally she settled on heading into the city. Once there, she’d hopefully be able to glean more information about the planet herself. The archives only told her so much, and she’d rather experience how the planet worked for herself.

A dark side presence began to leak into her senses and she immediately looked around, trying to pinpoint who it belonged to but failing. There were too many people around and she was too inexperienced to find its source instantly, until she had literally bumped into it.

Joza’s first inclination was to apologize for bumping into the man, but the words caught in her throat when her eyes landed on him. She immediately took a step back, eyes narrowing as her right hand reached down to her side to find the lightsaber hilt clipped there. She’d never encountered a Sith in Alliance territory, and she’d at least been with other, stronger Jedi then. Point blank, she wasn’t sure what she should do.

“What are you doing here?” She growled, low in her throat at a loss of what to do. The crowds had thinned now as the initial rush of people exiting the shuttle port had dispersed.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance looked at [member="Joza Perl"] and laughed.

"Well hello to you to gorgeous..........where you been all my life?"

He smirked at her reaction looking at her hand on her saber and hearing her question.

"You gonna pull that thing or just caress it?" "And I go where I please?" "Who's gonna stop me you?"

He stepped closer to her a grin on his face as his eyes roamed taking in her form. A hand would reach out to gently brush against her cheek with a smile. He enjoyed her attempt at sounding confident. It was amusing.

"Maybe if you weren't shaking in your shoes I mite be worried." "Or perhaps you are waiting on me to make the first move?" "To take control......................"

His smirk widened as he said take control leaving it hanging in the air for a moment.

"Oh don't be afraid little morsel.....Jedi are supposed to be strong and fearless............ready to take on anything."

Vengeance made and exaggerated sniffing motion his eyes boring deep into hers.

"All I smell is fear and hesitation." "Are you a coward a little morsel?" "Do I frighten you?"

 

[Joza Perl]

Green eyes narrowed as his hand ghosted against her cheek, her face hardening to stone. Though she could put on a good stoic face, Joza already knew that it meant little in the way of a Force user. Still, she refused to step back even as he moved closer, intent on holding her ground. She already figured that this wasn’t going to end well, but she knew how Sith liked to taunt their opponents. The question was, just how strong was this guy? And was he all bark, or would he bite?

He’s trying to use fear against you. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Though she could tell from the look on his face, he was probably already pretty damn satisfied. Did this situation make her nervous? Of course it did. But she’d been in tight spots before and made it out with her life intact. Just…never alone.

She met his eyes with an intense gaze of her own, unwilling to be put off by his attitude. Oh please. You already know the answer to that. You just want to hear me say it. Her fear would become that much more real then.

“What business do you have on Lothal?” Her voice was cold and demanding, though she knew he’d probably end up mocking her for it.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smirked shooting out lightening speed attempting to get a hold of her hair and pull back her head. He would lean in to whisper into her ear.

"Even if your weren't a Zeltron the fear radiates off of you like a tidal wave." "It blinds and handicaps you."

He pulled back just a hair looking into her eyes.

"As far as what business I have here....................more than I thought." "You want your shot little morsel?" "You want a change to prove you can be as strong as you are trying to convince yourself you are?"


He let go of [member="Joza Perl"] and took a step back. He smirked at her before turning and heading away from the shuttle port.

"Come along little morsel.............come dance with the devil and let's see if you have the moves."

Vengeance would wait to see if she followed before moving away to a more secluded spot so they would not be interrupted.

 

[Joza Perl]

Her breath hitched in her throat as he darted out quickly and grasped her hair, jerking her head back. Joza’s teeth gritted together and she glared at him. His words served to validate her fear, but they also ignited a fire of anger inside her. She wasn’t a wild card, she wouldn’t just lash out and randomly attack someone unless she thought it was the best course of action. And she wouldn’t admit that he was getting to her, but he was.

Joza was an emotional person, but she hadn’t felt anger like this before. He was talking down to her, taunting her…and she wanted nothing more to prove him wrong, to teach him a lesson. He even had the nerve to grab her by her hair.

She shouldn’t have done it. Her mind was screaming at her to back away from him, call for backup, something smarter than what she was about to do. She was still only an apprentice, she likely couldn’t handle him. But her heart burned with anger and her eyes flared with rage as she followed him, her scalp aching dully from where he had grabbed her by her hair. A glare fixed on the man's back the entire time, a foreign mix of fear and pride welling inside her.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

As soon as they got far enough away from the center of the city Vengeance found a small clearing and turned to face [member="Joza Perl"] once again.

"Fear does you no good little Morsel and neither does hesitating." "You see your enemy and you defeat your enemy." "It is that simple." "A pretty face and a nice body will not save you from a Sith that wants you dead just for being a Jedi."

Vengeance drew his saber holding it to his side igniting it.

"My name is Vengeance little Morsel and yes I am a Sith." "However I am not like most Sith." "If you ever want to survive a Sith that wants you dead you will need to be stronger."

Vengeance raised his saber pointing the tip directly at her.

"Attack little Morsel and make it good."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza continued to follow, feeling increasingly unsure of her decision as the short amount of time passed. This…probably was the worst option. But he was a dark sider, she couldn’t just let him do as he please on an Alliance controlled planet, right? It was her duty to engage him, or so she thought.

When they arrived at a more appropriate area to continue, Joza felt herself go cold inside. Now, they were truly alone. No odd passersby like in the city. She swallowed thickly at the realization.

She drew her saber shortly after he drew his own, having kept a tight grip on the hilt this entire time. The blue blade sprung to life as he continued to speak, and she realized that oddly enough, he sounded as if he were an instructor. An instructor that was probably rougher than the ones she’d met on Sullust or Voss for sure.

She unconsciously straightened her posture when he pointed his blade at her, feeling her nerves rush back. It was the same thing before any battle she had. Letting out a heavy breath, Joza raised her blade so that it was vertical to her before rushing forward and sending a few horizontal slashes toward [member="Vengeance"]. Her Shii-Cho was solid but predictable.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance sighed rolling his eyes at [member="Joza Perl"] when she rushed forward bring his saber up into a one handed defensive posture. With the first few slashes he simply took a step back and leaned back and to the side letting the slashes pass by him. The last one however He rotated his wrist deflecting it outward. As he did he side stepped around her kicking his leg about with a sweep attempt. With his free hand him balled his fist swinging to slam it in the dead center of her chest right at her sternum. With his saber hand he rotated his wrist and swung attempting to slam the hilt into her stomach just above her belly button.

Whether all or none of the three points of attack landed Vengeance would take two steps back and taunt her.

"Come on little Morsel an infant could come up with a better strategy." "Do you want to live or die?"

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza was aware enough to know that as her weapon was parried away, something would follow in the opening that [member="Vengeance"] had created. She was narrowly able to dodge his sweeping kick with a quick adjustment of her feet, but it left her balance a little unsteady. That, and she wasn’t fast enough to try and avoid his next few hits.

A look of shock followed by a grimace crossed her face as his fist connected with her chest, and she could almost hear the sickening crack of her bones. Combined with the lightsaber hilt to her stomach, the dual blows sent her back a few feet before she crumpled to the ground. She managed to scramble to her knees before faltering as pain gripped her ribcage. Her stomach churned and she coughed up bile with bits of blood before clambering to her feet, posture hunched slightly.

His words struck her like his heavy blows, stirring memories from previous battles. How she fought like a panicked creature for her life on Omwat. How she feared for her life every time she so much as had an inkling that the dark side was near. But she was able to handle herself around other Jedi, perhaps having other light sided presences nearby helped her get through it? But this was different. She was alone, with nothing to feed off of for strength but her own emotions. Gripping the hilt of her saber tightly, she glared at him through her now-messy hair with a sort of rage she didn’t know she could muster. “Live.”

She flew forward again, the pain momentarily forgotten thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her system. She made a straight path toward him before quickly cutting to his left side and lowering herself as soon as she was within striking distance. She arched upwards suddenly, delivering a wide vertical slash followed by an elbow aimed for his face. Her lightsaber would attempt to arc downwards horizontally and catch him across the chest. She was fighting uninhibited now, for her life.

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smirked as [member="Joza Perl"] crumbled to the ground and spit up blood. It would be the first of many lessons for the young Jedi. One he imagined she would not soon forget. He focused on her reading her body language. When she cut left Vengeance spun around the opposite direction. As he did Vengeance kicked out aiming for his shin to hit the small of her back. The Jedi was fighting on adrenaline and rage not to mention looking like a hot mess. Whether successful or not in the kick Vengeance would dash back a few feet.

"Your first attack was careless and predictable." "Now you are blindly lashing out." "Neither will do you any good."

Vengeance rotated his neck around gripping his saber in two hands his fingers loosening and then tightening back on the hilt.

"Control little Morsel." "Channel the rage, channel the frustration, control it don't let it control you."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza used the side of her free arm to intercept the kick which helped to absorb the impact, but ultimately sent her stumbling forwards. At least it hadn’t made direct contact with her torso, but she was off kilter for a moment. Thankfully he didn’t follow it up with another attack and opted to move back a few paces as she solidified her stance.

“What are you, my mentor?” She snarled, knowing that his words had validity to him but irritated by them nonetheless. Briefly she wanted to ask why he hadn’t simply slain her yet, but figured that some Sith preferred to play with their food.

“Stop calling me that.” A growl escaped her throat as she dashed forward again, flourishing her saber to the side as she did so. She rotated her wrist inward as if to strike, but never completed the motion as she aimed a sweeping kick, hoping to catch him in the side. She kept her guard up as she did so, trying to prepare for his counters. Her stomach flipped again, but she fought back the nauseous feeling.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smirked calling out.

"Make me little Morsel."

He stood his ground this time waiting to see what she would do. One hand slipped off his saber as she dashed forward. His saber sliding out slightly towards her saber hand but still in line with his body. Then he did something he figured she would not expect. Rather than move or attempt to block the kick he let it hit home wrapping his arm out and around in an attempt to pin her leg against his body with the crook of his elbow. With his other hand holding on to his saber he punched aiming squarely for her face his elbow up ready to counter her next move should he miss his mark.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza wouldn’t lie to herself, she was surprised that she had actually managed to get a hit on [member="Vengeance"]. She began to feel a bit of pride well up inside her as a smirk twitched at the corner of her lips. But it was short lived when she realized that he’d done it on purpose once his arm wrapped around her leg, pulling her toward him.

Her head jerked back violently when he landed a solid hit to her face, stars exploding behind her eyes a wave of deep pain erupted across her face. She reached up with her free hand, vision wavering for a few moments and touched her nose, undoubtedly broken and now bleeding. The anger that was simmering inside her now came to a sudden furious boil, and she swung her saber hard and fast at his neck. Joza knew that she was going to lose this battle regardless, but she’d go down fighting.

 

[Kenrath]

The grip on her leg still serving a use Vengeance leaned in his foot shooting forward and sweeping back to sweep her base leg. His body pressed against hers turning the strike at his neck effectively into a hug. If she did fall Vengeance would go to the ground with her using his body to pin her to the ground. His hands would slide out to catch each of her wrists to pin them to the ground taking advantage of the fact he was stronger than she was. He would slide up and literally sit on her hips to keep her from being able to roll or buck him off. He figured she would thrash like a wounded animal.

"Concede defeat little Morsel." "If I wanted you dead you would be." "Concede defeat and I will show you how to make sure today never happens again."


[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza grunted as she was knocked off balance again, her face twisting into a mix of a scowl and a pained expression as she hit the ground. She’d lost her grip on her saber, from sweat or impact or both, and it clattered to the ground a few feet away. Her head ached dully from the impact, not enough to do serious damage but there’d likely be a bump or a bruise there the next day. Finding herself pinned beneath her opponent seemed to heighten her panic and she struggled until her adrenaline-fueled fury began to run out.

The pain in her ribs and stomach came roaring back and she winced, fatigue washing over her body. But she didn’t let go of the sharp glare she pointed up at him. “Why would you help me? You’re a Sith! You should want me dead.”

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smirked at [member="Joza Perl"] as she still had not figured it out.

"I told you I am not like most Sith Little Morsel."

Vengeance leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek before pulling back before she could bite him or head butt him.

"Beside you are kinda cute and I do love a girl with some fight in her."

He smiled softly to her.

"Now I am going to let you up." "Try anything funny and the pain you have just felt will pale in comparison to what you have just been through."

Vengeance rolled to his right getting off of her holding onto her left hand to pull her to her feet. For a moment if she didn't push away he would hold her for a minute.

"Come on get steady on your feet and I will let you go."

Once he was confident she could stand on her own he let go of her and reached a hand out to pull her saber into his hand before holding it out to her.

"With some training you could be a force to be reckoned with." "The best thing about Form Two is the fact things like speed and strength mean little."

 

[Joza Perl]

A look of surprise crossed her face when he brushed his lips against her cheek, as if waiting for some sort of painful action to follow. A low growl vibrated in her throat when he pulled away and smiled at her. What was his deal? Was this his fetish or something? Having grown up on Zeltros she was pretty open to—never mind. She was sure that with her broken nose and swelling eye this was the least attractive that she had looked in her life.

She allowed him to help her up, only because she was having trouble steadying herself. This was…so strange to her. But it would be a poor decision to continue fighting him, and she didn’t want to know what would happen if she tried to run. She coughed again, specks of blood landing on her Padawan robes as she felt another wave of pain roll over her body. She grunted as it subsided, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her robes. As uncomfortable as the decision was, staying would likely be the best course of action as far as she could tell.

“Form Two…Makashi?” She hadn’t received any instruction in it, but knew of its application from her studies and how it was favored by Sith. She accepted the hilt of her saber and brushed the dirt from it while glancing up at him.

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance nodded.

"Yes Makashi a form created for the sole purpose of fighting another force User with a saber." "It is a dueling form that can be as fluid as any form out there."

Vengeance moved over standing beside [member="Joza Perl"] extending his hand out in front of him holding his saber in a single hand.

"Now that we have gotten past that layer of how big and bad you are why don't we start with your name..........or I can just keep calling you Morsel."

He turned looking at her giving her a wink and a smile as if he actually wanted to keep calling her Morsel.

"One handed or two handed...whatever is comfortable for you."

Vengeance thrust out like he was impaling an invisible enemy before he rotated his wrist in two horizontal slashes making an X in the air.

"Dueling is about creating and cutting off angles to great options." "The more options you create for yourself and the more options you remove from your opponent the higher your chance for success."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza grunted, clearing her throat in the process. “Joza. I’d much prefer it if you’d call me by my name.” She gave him a half-hearted glare in response to his wink and smile, too tired and distracted by whatever it was that was going on. She still didn’t understand why he was teaching her, or moreso why she was just letting it happen. Actually, that she did know. She was just too proud to admit that she only had a few options, and that dying here would probably be in vain.

She watched [member="Vengeance"] carefully, guard still up as he rotated his blade in a mock display. Figuring she had little left to lose, she fitted one hand around the hilt of her saber and thrust it outwards in an attempt to copy his movements in slashing the air. She winced slightly as her own movements began to anger her ribs, but was determined to not let as much weakness as she could leak through.

“Must be your favorite form then.” She arched a brow, letting the hand holder her saber drop to the side. She glanced briefly at his own blade, still unsure.