Private Fire & Ice

[Abel Denko]

V E R U N
The Star Temple

Dawn crept through the windows.

When the Star Temple was first being erected, the Medjai Lords gave special consideration for the training rooms. Though funding was never affluent, they put every credit they could into making sure the Knighthood's education would be state-of-the-art. From repulsors being built into the walls to replicate telekinetics to training droids of various makes and models, the rooms had seemingly every tool one could imagine. Even peace of mind was a factor - for the training rooms each featured a glasteel accent wall facing the east. With this, the lighter among the order could feel the rising sun as they meditated.

And on this day, this is where the Knight found himself. Struggling.

In recent history, Abel Denko had seen relief creep into his mind. Over the last seven years, he shouldered the burden of failure and inadequacy. For, when the Unmaker assaulted Naboo, he had seemingly been able to do very little. He could barely contest the monstrosities which assaulted the Ee'everwest estate and his best only allowed for one apprentice and his friends to seemingly escape. But in the aftermath, there was silence. For weeks, he thought them all dead. That is, until Luna Evanstance resurfaced on Verun. Now, years far removed from this, his second apprentice Illyria Le Fey was confirmed to be alive and well. Fiesty as ever, but well.

The guilt of their deaths was no longer a burden, but the inadequacy yet lingered. For seven years, he had pushed himself to his absolute limits. Trained daily. Gone on mission after mission attempting to break through the wall that was before him. Yet he couldn't do it. He seemed to plateau in his prowess. Plateau in the Force. And those facts caused his teeth to grit whilst he attempted to meditate.

"Feth this." he swore under his breath, after several minutes of failing to clear the storm in his mind. His dominant hand defiantly slapped the padded floor before he shoved himself to his feet.

From across the room, he beckoned his lightsaber. Its azure blade ignited with but a flick of the finger. His gaze was transfixed upon the plasma, as if it were a living, breathing person. "Why can't I get it together?" he seethed.

He would have continued on, but he noticed that the door had opened. And he was no longer alone.​

Lunara Azure​

 

[Lunara Azure]

Once upon a time, Lunara had trained to control the force through the most primitive of techniques, levitating stones from the ground or redirecting foam balls thrown at her by her fellow acolytes. It was all they'd had when she was growing up, all they'd been able to afford. The same techniques that had been passed down through the centuries, since the founding of the church on Zernia. Why fix what was broken, why spoil the new acolytes with access to those precious technologies that were painstakingly imported or developed. She hadn't even seen a training remote until the church had realised how useful she could be to them. Until they'd had a reason to develop her talent by siphoning away some of those resources hoarded by the masters and their favourites.

It was the world she'd grown up in, the way she'd always expected the world to be. The powerful gathered the best of the resources to themselves, you weren't worthy of sharing in that bounty unless they needed you, or you were one of their followers. It was the same throughout the culture she'd grown up with, if you were a have not you got the scraps leftover from those above you in the hierarchy. Lunara's family had scrabbled and struggled to get by, even when she'd been recognised as a force-sensitive she hadn't been "worthy" of those resources till her talent had burst forth in a blaze of light that couldn't be denied.

It had blown her mind when she'd left the planet and seen that wasn't the norm across the galaxy, that there were people who actually wanted the best for their students and would spend whatever resources it took to nurture their talent. Masters who took the time to nurture the talent of those around them, would build a training centre like this for anyone to use. It was why the elfin blonde made a point of visiting the training rooms. Not for any real purpose, with any goal in mind, she just enjoyed walking in and seeing the training, seeing the students making use of resources she could only dream, of when she'd been their age.

There was a sense of excitement, of joy on their faces, rolling off them to light up the force around them.

Only, that wasn't what she was faced with today.

A single brow arched, reaching up towards her forehead as crystal blue eyes settled on the crackling azure blade, the familiar scent of ozone that spoke of the "elegant weapon" of force users throughout the galaxy.

"Forgive me, I'm no expert but that sword seems to be working just fine."

Abel Denko​