Hitting the Mats

[Kara Avoyos]

A humming noise filled one of the royal palace’s smaller training rooms. Kara Avoyos, heir to the throne of Kirima, was moving through her lightsaber katas with determined effort. Today had been long, and filled with visiting dignitaries who had never seemed to stop talking. While there had been some important conversations, most of the talk had involved generic pleasantries and self-important boasting.

It wasn’t that she hated her duties, she just got tired of them occasionally. Part of her missed being free to explored the galaxy on a whim or go on high risk missions for a noble cause. That cause had eroded over time, but in the moment, the missions had been exhilarating. Most of all, however, she missed being able to learn about the force.

Her training hadn’t completely stopped since leaving Roon, but it had certainly become more piecemeal. If someone crossed her path that was willing to teach, then Kara was willing to learn. Not all of her teachers had been good people, but it was hard to be picky. Most of them had come to Kirima for official reasons, like business or diplomacy, so it would have been against their interests to hurt her training.

The blonde kept her breathing steady as she shifted into another form, movingly slowly and precisely. It had taken dedication to keep her skills from eroding from lack of application. Mother was loath to let her leave the planet too much now that Kara had officially returned to her duties. The occasional adventure in the name of the crown was all the excitement she could usually manage these days. The loss of freedom chaffed, but home had been the only appealing destination back when she’d broken ties with her old order.

@Enigma

 

[Onrai]

[member="Kara Avoyos"]

"So." A voice would perk up, relatively silent in the background. "Getting ready for a fight, I see." The form of Vanessa Kuhn smiled as she stepped forward, raising an eyebrow and giving a pondering look. "Then again, you don't seem like the sort who participates in front-line combat. More... more graceful sort of things, I assume?" She smirked. "I'm Vanessa Kuhn. Nice to meet you."

She held a hand out. Hopefully it would be taken with friendship.

 

[Kara Avoyos]

Kara paused her movements when she heard a female voice behind her. Decided that it would be best to be polite, she deactivated her lightsaber and turned towards the stranger. The woman was perhaps a little shorted than her, with blonde hair and blue-green eyes. Pretty, but somehow cold. It was probably the skin tone. It made Kara’s look rosy in comparison.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the thick of things.” Kara admitted, remembering the times she’d gone blade to blade with the enemy during her time with the Templars. There had been zombies once; that had been nightmarish. Full on battle was something she did not miss much. The adrenaline rush was far outweighed by the horrible death tolls they inevitably incurred.

“Kara Avoyos” She said, taking Vanessa’s outstretched hand. It was always awkward to introduce herself around the palace. Most people who visited probably knew the heir to the throne by sight, but it still seemed presumptive to just assume they knew her name. The use of the title was also tricky, as it could make conversation seem overly formal. She avoided using it unless someone else used their title first. “The pleasure is mine. What brings you to our small corner of the galaxy?”

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Kara Avoyos"]

"Well..." She smiled. "I heard someone needed a certain special type of training. All things considered, I couldn't help but try and take this opportunity. I do have an eclectic cocktail of knowledge regarding such matters - even those regarding exotic weapons, or even rare artifacts scarcely seen. Such belongs in my repertoire."

All was true - though her alignment did remain hidden.

 

[Kara Avoyos]

[member="Enigma"]

Kara gave a genuine smile when Vanessa mentioned force training. The woman was not the first adept accept an invitation to teach her, but it didn’t happen as often as she would like. Despite being located on an active trade route, they were still considered to be a small planet. This teacher seemed younger than most, but it would be foolish to turn away the opportunity to learn.

This was also why she didn’t ask about the stranger’s allegiances. The Templars had been a neutral organization, and its members had ranged widely across the spectrum. Light, dark, grey. All that had mattered back then was loyalty to the order. Eventually, Kara hadn’t been able to maintain that loyalty, but she still remembered having friends of the darker persuasion. That wasn’t even bringing her half-brother into account.

“I look forward to learning.” The princess said with a formal bow. Proper manners had been pounded into her head since birth. If Vanessa was here as her teacher, then she deserved Kara’s respect. Said manners had gotten about bit rusty during her travels, after all it would be suspicious for a spacer to be too polished. However, since returning home, she had taken them back up again. “What did you have in mind?”

 

[Onrai]

[member="Kara Avoyos"]

"Well... Work-wise, I traditionally work with mental and obscurative powers of a relatively exotic sort. You know, the sort of things few people do." She of course chose not to mention how she used to be a SIth Lord, in control of a complete third of the Sith Empire itself. She being somewhat maddening, and potentially insane, could also be considered something unlikable.

Then again, she wasn't technically Circe, was she?

 

[Kara Avoyos]

Well that sounded interesting, if a little vague. That happened with force users sometimes. Commanding the mystical force that bound the universe together made some people dramatic. Kara was used to dramatic so she wasn’t all that irritated by the woman’s non-answer. Vanessa was the teacher here, so demanding a plain answer would only ruin the chance to gain a new ability.

“That sounds very different from what I’ve learned before.” Kara said, her training in the past had been very much grounded in the physical. She could move objects, and to some extent even manipulate energy. Her mental abilities didn’t extend beyond telepathy. “Shall we begin?”

The blond nodded towards the training mats. Even if the training didn’t involve physical activity, the cushioned area was the most comfortable place to sit in the room. The obscurative powers Vanessa mentioned might involve moving around, so it was best to remain here for now.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Kara Avoyos"]

"Indeed." She smiled. "The first thing we'll be focusing on is the ancient art of Obscurata. Illusions and the like. You know how that sort of thing goes." A grin continued to cross her face. "You must focus on yourself. Focus on your appearance, how you are viewed to others. I reco-" She cut herself off. "Do you have a mirror? It'll make things a lot easier."

At least, she hoped it would.

 

[Kara Avoyos]

"I think . . . hold on one moment." Kara hurried to a small bag she'd stashed in a corner and dug around in it for a few seconds. Eventually she pulled out a small yellow bag that contained an ornate palm sized mirror. It was rarely used, which was why it had fallen to the bottom of the bag. With the item in hand she returned to Vanessa. "Will this this do? I know it's small."

The skills the other woman had listed sounded useful, if entirely different than anything Kara had learned before. She was eager to learn, but a little nervous about not being able to catch on quickly enough.

[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"I suppose it will work, so long as you can see your face. We're not going to get ahead of ourselves, after all. Now, what I want you to do is look in the mirror and focus on yourself. Focus on what you'd like to see. Focus on how you wish people would see you. Then take that focus and apply it to your very flesh. Let what you project as an individual be you how you wish to be seen, not how you are."

This seemed to be the simplest means of doing things, though Circe did admittedly believe it wouldn't be the most efficient when the training grew more advanced.

[member="Kara Avoyos"]