Private I Don't Cheat

[Maran]

Sparring. That was a normal thing Jedi did here in the NJO, right? Maran hummed a little as she glanced around the room. It was clean, organized. Barely seen any use, probably. Right. The new and rebuilt temple. How great. She took up her saber. Training saber. She didn't have a real one, not yet. Not ready for it, or something. Just a stun baton looking like a Lightsaber. She frowned. What was the point of being a Jedi if she didn't have a real lightsaber?

Whatever. Right now, wait. Wait for her opponent to show up so she could beat them up and prove to the higher ups she was ready for a real one. Yeah, that was a good plan.

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn's opportunities for lightsaber sparring were surprisingly few and far between. Sure there was individual practice or training with one of the masters, but he always found that there was more merit to a proper duel with someone of comparable skill. It was the best way to get a feel for his progress, so for as much as he preferred to play the wallflower, he would jump on the chance for a session.

Stepping into the room, Tenn immediately studied the girl that arrived first. Maybe a little younger than himself. Green, not a species he saw much of in his years on Ando Prime or in the Coruscant sublevels. His curiosity was struck, but he was most interested in seeing how she fought, not how she looked. "...Hey," He finally offered, "You uh, down for a few rounds?"

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"Oh my god yes I'm soooo bored."

Did she have an opponent already scheduled? Absolutely. But Maran was just bored of waiting. She flashed Tenn a brief smile before flicking her blade up, pointing it at him. She knew how to fight, right? No. No she didn't, but she knew how to fake it real well. "Have at thee, I guess?"

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

The mirialan's abrupt admission made Tenn scoff amusedly, "Same," He drew his saber, flicking it around in his grasp before igniting the golden beam. "I'm uh, Tenn, by the way," He added, before taking up a stance.

Her gesture earned a raised brow from the boy, "Is that what they say?" Maybe it actually was. He didn't know. But it served well enough. After a pregnant pause, Tenn rushed towards her, and at the last second, lurched to the side, thrusting his blade out at her flank.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"Maran." She nodded her head with her name, flashed a grin. And then.. Just stood there. Waiting. The reality was she actually had no idea how to fight. Properly, anyway. Sure she could swing a blade, but.. Well, Tenn was about to find out. She rapidly started to swing the blade towards him as he rushed, unfocused and just wild to batter aside his blade and just keep swinging. No form, no style, no focus.

Just a girl swinging a stick.

"Who knows!?"

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

In a roundabout way, Maran's random flailing had almost worked. Tenn was caught off guard, anticipating a more traditional opening, only to be met with a flurry. He struck out, but the blade was repelled by her own, forcing him to lurch back and avoid her counter attacks. The boy raised an eyebrow curiously, but made no judgement call yet. For all he knew, it was an actual lightsaber style, just one that he was unfamiliar with. As unlikely as that seemed…

"What uh, what form is that?" He asked, regaining his footing and jumping in for a few quick strikes. For his part, Tenn was most familiar with the Ataru form, lending his attacks a quick, acrobatic flair.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"It's the uh- Y'know!"

He didn't. Cause she didn't. Not that she was going to admit tha- oh and he was jumping. She yelped in surprise as he actually started to strike at her. The mad waving of her blade left little chance she could actually defend herself. In fact, one solid smack from his strike as he cartwheeled sent her blade across and away. She fell back, scrambling a distance. Panting.

Chit.

She glared at him. No, she was an actually good duelist! Him flipping around wasn't actual skill! So she reached out with the one trick she could do. Imbalance, dizziness, vertigo. She used the Force to try and overwhelm him with those feelings as she scrambled back towards her blade.

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"U-uh huh," Tenn said confusedly, mid-attack. Knocking away her weapon was surprisingly easy. Maybe he was getting good at this after all? Or she really had no idea what she was doing, which seemed increasingly likely. After landing from his combo of attacks, the padawan recomposed his stance, and watched her scramble. Tenn raised his blade to prepare a strike, and then-

"W-woah," He shook his head, then gripped it with his free hand as if to steady his wavering vision. No avail. Was he passing out? Tenn stumbled back, fighting against the intense dizzying effect that was building up. Wasn't the Force supposed to make his equilibrium untouchable? "What the hell is-?" He fell onto his knees, waving the saber randomly to keep his opponent at bay. The Force power wasn't one he was at all familiar with. As far as he could tell, it was something wrong with him biologically.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

It worked! She got up her blade, holding it aloft towards him with an all too triumphant grin. "Guess flipping around messed with ya, huh?" She knew it wasn't, of course. But she wasn't going to admit it. She certainly wasn't cheating, or had anything to be ashamed of. Maran ran forward then, bringing her blade down in a quick overhead chop. "I've got you now!"

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn pinched between his eyes, "Eugh," He could parse that Maran was back up, and heading his way. Whatever was going on, she wasn't interested in calling a draw for the boy's sake. That meant it was back on the offensive. Tenn was struggling, but he wasn't helpless. His grip on his saber tightened, and he rolled back away from her chop.

He barely got back onto his feet, stumbling and lurching to the side, "Not yet!" Tenn then rushed the figure of his opponent with a stabbing motion, albeit an awkwardly angled one.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

Huh?

She blinked in surprise as he fumbled through it. This trick never didn't work. As her blade missed, she followed, fully intending on just pushing him till he keeled over. And yet, he stabbed out. Maran only froze as she felt his blade tap her chest. The sting that came with it had her stumble back and away, gripping at the lingering pain. "What the- Chit! You're not supposed to be able to move!"

She huffed in annoyance, throwing her blade on the floor.

"You cheated!"

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

To even Tenn's surprise, his blade made contact, giving her a mild shock, and him the win. The effect seemed to fade away, and the boy shook his head to clear the lingering dizziness. It was only after a second that he realized what Maran was saying.

"Wha-? Wait- You did that?" Tenn huffed, "You cheated!"

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"I- What? No. No! I don't cheat!" And like that her whole demeanor changed. She huffed, shut off her saber. Crossed her arms as she looked away as if that helped to hide the obvious guilt written across her features.

"Winning not enough? Gotta start sayin' lies too?"

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn had never seen anyone more guilty of something in his life. And he literally lived with a gang of street urchins that regularly stole from people. The half-hearted attempt at deceit was written all over her face, “Whatever. I know you’re lying. You did some chit with the Force, didn’t you?”

“...What was it?”

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"I don't lie! ..much." She let out another annoyed huff before shrugging. Always on the defensive, she seemed to be. Especially now that her little secret trick had been exposed. Did she tell him? Did she keep denying it? He wasn't buying it in the slightest, so did that mean if she didn't he'd tell the Masters? No no if he told the masters she'd get in trouble! She'd get in a lot of trouble.

"It's just a stupid trick! I can make people dizzy. With the Force. That's it."

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn rolled his eyes, and blew a stray lock of hair out of his face. He was tempted to call her out and drag her to one of the masters, but what would that really do for either of them? Street life taught him to be more tight-lipped than that. When she explained the power she had used, he actually seemed to soften up a bit.

"It's a Force power? How do you… do it?" He asked, revealing a bit of cautious interest.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"I dunno, I just kinda focus on someone and they get dizzy and fall over and loose. But you didn't. So you cheated, obviously." No, she wasn't at fault. Asides, it was a Force power. Clearly that was fine, right?

"How'd you do it? Not fall over yourself."

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn grimaced at her again before letting the expression fall. She was awfully quick to throw around accusations. Which only made her seem even more guilty herself. But he was already moving past it, more interested in the ability itself, "You just… do it? Weird."

He shrugged, "I dunno. I… had good balance?" Tenn nearly had fallen over, it was only as a last ditch effort that he made a final lunging attack- One that evidently paid off.

Maran​

 

[Maran]

"Good balance.. Pff." That's all it was? Fine, whatever. She lost, he won. Because of good balance. Yeah that apparently just annoyed her more as she plopped down and sulked that much more.

"Whatever. I'll win next time."

Tenn Kalos

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn stared at her with silent skepticism for a few long moments, before bluntly pointing out, "You're kind of a sore loser." He shrugged, and grew a bit of a smirk.

"Let's go again, then. Right now." If she was going to win, she could prove it. He quickly pointed at her, "No Force powers this time."

Maran​