Lanterns

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius breathed a heavy sigh. His head was still attached to his torso, so things went better than he had expected. It seemed this sort of thing was not unusual for Mediha. She was, after all, a Nightsister. The societal customs Darius had been raised to adhere to didn't mean much to her. He really should have kept that in mind.

"Went for a walk. Ended up being a little longer than expected." He folded his arms overs his chest. He didn't need to get into the thoughts of his mother - he'd already opened up to Mediha within the past twenty-four hours. Doing it again probably wouldn't go over well. Shaking his head, Darius forced the image of what had happened just moment prior from his mind, and set his lightsaber on the table.

"I need to shower anyway. Don't wake her. She's had it rough - we'll let her sleep in. Ship isn't ready to fly anyway." He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. Tehra would get up when she was good and ready - there was no point in rousing her when they couldn't leave anyway. "That lightsaber you have - you should get it ready. You have your magicks, but someone is going to get the jump on you eventually. You need to learn how to defend yourself with practical weapons - I won't take no for an answer."

He gave her a firm look as he made his way into the 'fresher. That gaze was held up until the moment the door slid closed. The sound of the shower coming on could be heard moments later.

 

[Mediha]

Mediha held on to her temper by a thread.

She waited until he had left the room before she turned a wrathful, snarling glare on her shoes. He pulled that stunt the night before, walked in on her this morning-- no, it did not matter that she could hardly have cared less-- and now he was delivering ultimatums? This was a conversation she did not want to have with him again; he did not tell her what to do. "I won't take no for an answer"? Mediha debated showing him that he didn't have the power to hold her to put a stop to this nonsense immediately, but common sense prevailed. Outright challenging him netted her nothing. They would end up at odds again-- not a problem-- and she would have to spend a great deal of time and energy posturing to maintain a place outside of his command structure when she should be focused on her own goals-- more of a problem.

There was also the locale factor. On Dathomir, melee combat had meant nothing because her enemies could be quelled with magick alone, and it was generally the first weapon selected. She still had no interest in learning how to use the weapon that had wound up in her hands, but now she was out in the wide galaxy. It might prove to be beneficial, even if she had little to no skill with it. Just something to give her enough breathing room to get back to the focus of her power.

It was settled, then. Let [member="Darius"] have his way; if he thought he had won the battle, it would take a minimal amount of her time and would prove to give her more freedom under his radar in the future. It might also make his Masters think she was "playing nice", which couldn't hurt.

Her fingers tapped against the bed as she stared out the window; with a decisive turn of her head, she located the lightsaber and picked it up. The blades would weigh nothing; she would have to learn to be wary of them as she learned to fight with what was essentially nothing more than two or so feet of metal.

Well, Anderit had managed. How hard could it be?

 

[Cedric Grayson]

He didn't take particularly long.

[member="Mediha"] needed to learn how to use that lightsaber, even if he didn't like the idea of doing so. It was a powerful weapon, and there would come a time when she would need to rely on it over her Magick. That was simple fact. They would no doubt have to deal with Vong and Sith warriors that could shrug off the powers of the force. Better she knew how to defend herself without the trademark Dathomiri talent than not.

His thoughts lingered on what would befall them soon. They would arrive at Zeltros, and then rejoin the alliance campaigns. Darius had a place there, and by extension, so did Mediha. Eventually she would leave; this much he knew. For now? She would need to stay by his side. Once she understood things well enough and could aptly defend herself, he would not put up an argument. There wouldn't be much to be gained for her aside from prestige from helping the alliance - perhaps that would be enough?

"Ready?" He questioned as he walked out out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Were it anyone else, he might have been self-conscious about the morbid scarring across his forearms and torso. Seeing as Mediha had given him those scars, he didn't much care. "I'm not trying to seem pushy, it's just that there are beings in the galaxy that your magick won't work on. A number of Sith can shrug off it effects, and most Vong are entirely immune to it."

He offered a thin smile as he stepped into the closet to change.

"You need something in the arsenal when you have to deal with them."

 

[Mediha]

She kept her seat on the edge of the bed, completely nonplussed as she watched him move across the room. She had never encountered someone on whom her magick didn't work, though she allowed for the possibility. There were some animals on Dathomir that were resistant, though not entirely immune, to its effects. People might be able to manifest similar qualities. In this instance, Mediha would just have to take Darius's word for it.

"Have you fought those individuals before?" she inquired as he changed out of her sight; her fingers rubbed against the hilt pinned between her hand and the bed. "And what about Tehra?" The sleeping beauty lay quiet beside them, though Mediha knew she would wake soon. She didn't want to leave her here alone and have her wake up to find them gone, not when she was still new to them and fragile beyond reason. The latter was something Mediha intended to fix with all possible alacrity, but that didn't help them now.

When [member="Darius"] reappeared, she hesitated, then stood. "Where do you propose we practice?"

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"One Vong. Two Sith." Darius answered plainly. No point in beating around the bush there. The Vong had been somewhat easy - the creature was wounded when it attacked him. The two Sith were another matter entirely; both situations in which the padawan barely managed to escape with his head still attached to his shoulders.

"We won't leave her. We'll set the lightsabers to a lower setting and move some things around," he offered the Nightsister a thin smile, "She'll be fine. Just wait a moment." Clipping his lightsaber to his belt, Darius hurried around the room. He moved the sofa next to the bed that Tehra occupied, and folded up the one [member="Mediha"] had slept on the night before. The dresser suffered a similar fate.

Whoever was to clean this place up was going to have a nasty evening afterword.

"Do you know how to hold it correctly?" He asked patiently. The tone was important. He didn't need Mediha getting all angry with him over a few words.

 

[Mediha]

Lower setting. Mediha stared at [member="Darius"] as he explained the concept and indicated she should stay where she was. His words brought to her realization of the true horror of their encounter on Dathomir. There was a way to adjust the way the blades on the lightsaber worked. Did that mean they could lower the power of the blade as well? She glanced away, adjusting to the concept and the knowledge that she had a hand in causing him undue levels of suffering.

This was what she got for trying to be nice.

Darius's actions offered her a distraction, which she allowed herself to take. They were going to use lightsabers indoors. While Tehra was sleeping. That seemed unwise, especially given that Anderit's lightsaber had two blades; it was going to be far too long to safely practice with in this space.

Only one side, then, she pointed out dryly to herself. Darius's blade was single-bladed anyway; that would likely be the style of combat he taught her.

Her eyebrows lowered as he finished his rearrangement of the room, and she cautiously stepped into the cleared space.

"Not really," she admitted. The weapon hilt felt awkward in her grip, heavy and cold. She was careful not to activate the buttons that triggered the blades, and she very pointedly did not look at the dial along the side.

She couldn't have known, of course, but that didn't mean she didn't regret not being able to spare him some pain. He had earned that right. In the future, though, she would likely just let him experience exsanguination instead.