Private Of Horns and Wings

[Varin Mortifer]

Naamino Zuukamano

Your weapon is your greatest ally, for it always obeys without question.

An itch, that no matter the effort, it couldn’t be scratched. Even meditating in his chambers he couldn’t help his heart pounding, longing, aching. He was anxious. Not in a nervous way but more of an excitement. Varin grunted to himself as he stood up from his meditative pose and paced the room. The shadows surrounding the young sith climbed upwards along the walls. His hands kept doing a nervous twitch. He needed to do something to occupy himself, deep within his chest he could feel a drive to combat. His desire to fight was not born out of boredom, or rebellion, or even the want for attention. It was a drive to keep himself from growing weaker and withering away. The more he sits idle the more he can feel his body break down. His time at the gym and practicing his form was going extremely well and it showed, but just practicing motions on inanimate objects or training drones was not enough. He needed something, someone who would fight back just as hard if not even harder than him. Test him, strain him, build him. A single name came to mind as his fists clenched.

“.....Naamino Zuukamano….”

The Zabrak student he met in one of his earlier escapades in the academy, the one who caught him sneaking in class. He had the confidence to hold himself up, hopefully he could back it up as well. Clearly he was the muscle of his trio, and he left quite the impression on Varin, though Naamino knew more about Varin than Varin knew of Naamino. Varin stared out into the desert from his balcony as the sun began to set.

So you have found a combat interest? Ignati’s voice echoed into Varin’s head.

“A practice partner with extremely high potential. I’m sure he would love a sparring partner that he won’t have to hold back on.” He spoke quietly to himself as Ignati listened.

Then find him, sitting here wasting away does nothing for us. Take him to our temple.

Varin was quiet for a moment as he debated the suggestion. “....Very well.”

Varin swiftly grabbed his cloak and scabbarded sword as he left his dorm. He had a feeling he knew where Naamino’s dorm would be as he traveled down the halls quietly, silently running the whole conversation through his head and how it may play out. It wouldn’t be long before Varin stopped just outside of Naamino’s door, that he took a deep breath and gave a fair knock.

“Naamino, you home?”

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

Having retired early that evening, the zabrak in question was seated at his desk proofreading an essay on ground and air tactics. Naami was seriously pursuing a student officer role and he needed his academics to reflect the mind behind the muscle.

A quick edit on sentence structure here, a missed typo corrected there. The teen paused, ice blue eyes scanning the citations to ensure they all looked perfect. A sudden knock at his door gave him pause though, so he saved the progress he'd made and pushed away from the desk.

Palming the panel beside his dorm door, the entryway opened with a hiss and Naami suddenly stood face to face with his peer.

"Varin," he said in a measured tone, eyes scanning the hallway to either side of him.

He'd yet to spend time with his classmate one on one. Now that the teen was properly enrolled, they shared a class or two, but the zabrak had only ever been around him with his own friends present. It wasn't that Naami was worried to socialize with him per se, but the odd boy had a kind of intensity about him that certainly kept the horned teen on guard.

"How can I help you?"

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Naamino Zuukamano

The door hissed open and just on the other side was the zabrak Naami. He seemed a bit cautious as he scanned both ways down the hallway, and Varin couldn’t blame him. Come to think of it, it does seem a bit odd to just out of the blue end up in front of his door. After the realization the young apprentice took a deep breath to calm himself, he certainly didn’t want to get worked up on just asking a question, but for some reason this interaction made him, antsy, to say the least.

“Apologies, I hope I'm not intruding on anything too important.” A bit unconventional for a sith to apologize, but at this moment, Varin didn’t see Naamino as just “some sith”, but as a potential ally. Dare he say, a possible friend. He won’t know though until he has tested both of their mettle against one another.

He stopped fidgeting his fingers while his arms were at his sides after noticing they were slightly twitching and looked Naamino in the eye, one fighter to another.

“I wish to issue you a challenge.”

He paused for a moment for Naamino to speak before continuing, letting the challenge hang in the air for a bit.

“This is not some mundane challenge though, I need to be tested. And I know you seek to be tested too.” His voice was somewhat strained, as if to hold back some sort of excitement that was disguised as frustration. He fell quiet to compose himself, taking a couple of deep breaths.

“I have a place where we can do that. Train unhindered by most prying eyes. A relic of sorts, somewhere where the only place that can hear our cries of combat are the echoing walls. But I have to be honest with you, you have to promise that the only time you will hold back is for a killing blow. Other than that, it's no holds barred. Any consequences we take, it's a learning experience. My other option, since we haven’t sparred before, is just a simple duel to test the waters. Something of lower stakes. I leave that decision to you though, whichever it is I will honor it without any gripe or complaint. For growth is growth.”

He slowly held out his hand, in an agreeance, an oath to what he had requested.

“What say you?”

After realising the mouthful he just spewed out, he finally fell quiet. Not wanting to take all of the conversation and give his possible sparring partner a chance to speak.

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

Dark brows raised in surprise at not only Varin's nervous demeanor but also his manners. Naami's confusion deepened as his peer issued him a challenge.

"Alright…" he answered slowly.

Then the serious teen went on to explain and the zabrak felt a bit more clear on what was happening. Crossed arms fell to his side, he noticeably relaxed, and there was even a nod from his horned head forthcoming. Though his curiosity was piqued, Naami maintained his calm cool demeanor.

Waving Varin into his dorm, the zabrak began to make preparations to leave. Packing up his sabers, a medpak, and lacing up his trusty boots, Naami spoke over his shoulder.

"Let's go all out, test eachother truly. I will swear upon whatever you wish— no killing blows, but all else is fair game."

Piercing blue eyes found the darker gaze of his companion. A kind of understanding passed between them, a warrior's understanding. The zabrak straightened up.

"Take me there," come the self assured near command of the one offered a challenge he intended to face.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Naamino Zuukamano

Varins heart accelerated with excitement upon hearing Naami’s agreeance. The nervous shaking started turning into near excitement.

He offered Naami a smirk and a nod. “Very well, It’s a bit of a walk so I hope you like sand.”

The walk to the temple was relatively uneventful, not much conversation was made from the combination of Varins social awkwardness and his excitement for battle, for the life of him he tried to think of small talk but the only subject matter he could think of was more of a personal hobby. A hobby he very much liked to keep to himself for the time being.

The night sky hung high in the sky when they reached the steps of the temple of the Ashlan Jedi. Though the closer they got to the top of the stairs the sense of something dark and ancient became more evident. Varin stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Naamino with a serious face.

“You may notice something different about this temple, you may even see something lurking in the dark. Pay no mind to Him. He is just simply observing for further studies on technique. I would also prefer that not a single word is breathed of this place, not yet at least. It’s my little project.”

After Naamino gave him his answer Varin led him into the quiet temple, echoes of their steps and breathing reverberated off the walls, unsettling dust that had piled up since his last visit. The first room seemed to be like a meditation chamber, a sand pit surrounded by smaller sand pit circles. Surrounding the circles were old ruined statues of faces long forgotten to time and weather. The sandy winds that wisped through the halls had done its fair share of weathering on the statues, and with the combination of no caretakers it made the temple seem older than it really was.

Varin walked into the center sand pit and unsheathed his sword, driving the blade into the center and looking at his opponent. From this point until the end of the duel, he knew no Naamino Zukamano. He only knew of his opponent and his possibilities. The young apprentice placed his palms over the pommel of his sword and closed his eyes breathing deep listening to his heart. The thrum of the drums that signaled the start of a dance of blades and weapons. Opening his eyes Naamino would see Varins eyes glow a maroon red as he spoke to him.

“Do your battle preparations warrior, when you are ready we can start.”

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

Grunting in acknowledgement, it didn't seem the zabrak was worried about sand.

"I like walking," he answered simply.

And indeed, the teen felt a kind of blessed relaxation wash over him even as they trudged through the desert. Unlike Varin Mortifer , Naami was perfectly at ease with silence and actually felt some small gratitude that his fellow student was willing to travel in contemplative quiet. He was none the wiser about Varin's nerves or excitement, and merely spent the time mentally preparing to spar while he enjoyed the night air.

The zabrak showed no small amount of awe and reverence as they approached the temple, and his bearing grew even more stern than usual. A zing of warning ran along the center ridge of his horns as his companion offered less a vague and less than reassuring description of an "observer" the zabrak might notice during their time there.

Naami grew more tense and wary, though he wasn't contemplating backing down. That growing sense of caution did make him wonder if he had perhaps been foolish not to tell anyone where he was going. Taking a steadying breath, Naami mused silently that if Varin were attempting to off him then here was a good a place as any to make him pay dearly for trying.

But nothing so sinister seemed to be taking place, and the zabrak watched as a subtle transformation overtook his peer. Setting down his pack well away from the ring, Naami shrugged out of his over-cloak and reached for the moon blue hand wraps he nearly always wore. Deftly, he wrapped his hands in mere moments and straightened up, adjusting Weal & Woe on on his hip a bit as he considered his opponent.

"I'll start with one, like you. If you earn my second saber... well, I'll consider that a good fight."

His voice was cool, and though the words themselves were cocky- it was clear the zabrak was bantering a bit before they left the realm of words and all the mattered was the clash of their weapons.

Naamino stepped into the sand pit across from Varin and took hold of the hilt for Woe, not yet igniting the blade. He merely waited in a semi-ready stance, knees slightly bent and arms looking loose at his sides even though he was ready to spring into action.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

Naamino Zuukamano

He watched as his new opponent readied himself, wrapping his hands, grabbing his weapons. He waited silently, not blinking, studying, looking through him. As if reading his very muscle structure, just to predict what his style COULD be. His hands tightened on the hilt of his blade.

Reaching into his bag he pulled out a short leather sheath and wrapped it around the very base of his blade.

"Then you too will have to earn my best."

His voice was quiet, direct, challenging and calculated. Grasping the leather sheath he ripped out his sword flinging sand towards him darting forward to thrust the hilt towards his sternum.

Blood boiled in his veins as his heart pounded with exileration. Showing a smile he had never showed to anyone else since he landed. He truly enjoyed being tested and to test others.

A shadow slithered in the dark as its dim coal like eyes watched on from a deep pit of darkness in the corner. Just barely noticeable as the battle commenced.