Session 1

[Charity Luckless]

Voss - Silver Jedi Campus Sparring Facility​

​

The room was spacious, round and deep with a domed ceiling. It was a sterile environment, walls paneled in an off-white matte; the floor a scuffed plane of white that still had a reflective sheen with sparse, red lines marking zones in the fashion of a playing court for sports.

Charity stood motionless near the center of the room where the "x" lay marked on the floor, head bowed just slightly as she awaited the arrival of her partner. Her brown cloak caressed the floor, hiding the remainder of her traditional robes underneath. It had been a while since she had truly practiced at the art of dueling. And while she was not typically inclined to combative behavior, it was a necessity to her status and perfecting her form would make her feel more at ease in more unruly environments. It was the Jedi way, and she did not resist that fact. If she did not believe in fighting, then she would have left the Order long ago.

Time to loosen up a little and clash some sabers. Remote droids can only take you so far.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Eri'anya had to remind herself not to run as she approached her destination, her pace wavering on the edge of a jog as she entered the sparring facility. The Jedi Knight appreciated all the smiles, bows and friendly faces day after day, but she was just about ready to jump out of her skin. She was a woman of action, it had been entirely too long since a good session had gotten her blood pumping.

Rounding the final corner, Eri'anya took a moment to appraise the woman inhabiting the room's center. She's early... or am I late? Charity stood motionless, as she always seemed to be, cutting the figure of some elegant Jedi statue with her height and poise. The quintessential Jedi image, as far as Eri was concerned, stoic and centered. It would be interesting to see the woman fight.

"Sorry I'm late!" She was willing to assume her tardiness, the unofficial nature of their bout causing it to be little more than a minor embarrassment. Rolling her shoulders as she softly padded across the floor, Eri got to work loosening up before the fight began. She exercised religiously every morning, but it never hurt to get herself just a little more limber. Finding a lined off zone a few meters from the center of the room, she finished her stretches with an easy reach that put both palms on the floor between her feet.

Once she was finished, she returned to a bouncy, upright position, flashing an eager smile at her opponent. "You ready?" It took some small effort not to bounce on her toes, keeping her feet relatively planted as she stared down the other Jedi.

 

[Charity Luckless]

Charity serenely raised her head upon Eri'anya's arrival. The shorter woman exhibited this uncharacteristic energy for a Jedi that she found personally unobtainable. There was nothing wrong with it. It just didn't fit the mold. And perhaps that was a good thing. She could certainly appreciate Eri'anya's hair. The purple tint was a welcome sight, and made her grow a little more confident in her own style. Not that she had ever let anyone talk her out of it in the first place, but she was usually the only Jedi in the room sporting such a playful vibrancy in her hair. It just wasn't traditional, she supposed.

The tall woman simply smiled softly. Maybe she was a little late, but she hadn't kept her waiting too long. It wasn't exactly unpleasant for her to have a little solitary quiet time. And now she could observe Eri'anya's warmup routine. You never know how deep of a glimpse you can get into another's personality until you see them in a more natural environment. Tranquil offices and council chambers were not the best place to "be yourself". But here Charity could tell more about the unwound and bouncy young woman she would have the pleasure of working with.

In response to Eri'anya's inquiry, Charity casually reached her left hand underneath the folds of her cloak and unclipped the hilt of her lightsaber from her belt, then brought it to her side and ignited the sunny yellow blade of her training weapon.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Eri'anya gave a shallow nod, the corners of her mouth tugging just a bit wider at Charity's ready stance. The smaller Jedi had quickly grown out of her initial discomfort with the other woman's silence, coming to appreciate the uniquely calming presence she brought with her. As much as she enjoyed a hearty conversation, their was something personal and honest about just quietly sharing the room. Besides, there were other ways the two women could talk to one another, ways that didn't require tact or discomfort.

With just the barest hint of a flourish, Eri'anya produced a training saber from her belt, leaving the other to dangle from her waist as the weapon hissed to life. Taking slow, deliberate strides, the smaller of the two Jedi rounded on her opponent in a wide circle, her thin frame turned sideways as she held her left-handed saber towards her opponent. Using the weapon as a sort of measuring stick, she kept her distance while gradually flirting with the effective range of her target. There was no other way to be sure with a larger opponent, and many of them would be larger.

Releasing a breath, Eri'anya extended her empty hand behind her, a counter to the shifting weight as she lunged forward for an opening jab. It was a nonsense move, more of an inviting prod than anything else as she batted against that raised, defensive weapon. It would pay to find out what she was dealing with, after all.

 

[Charity Luckless]

Charity rotated in place as Eri'anya encircled her, calmly following the bright beam of her opponent's lightsaber grumbling into the air. There was no immediate action, and she was content to establish her place on the floor, the fabric of her cloak swishing gently behind her as it dragged along the floor. She eyed her sparring partner's steps, trying to gather a rhythmic pattern from each footfall and evaluate the length of each bouncy stride. It was apparent that she was utilizing a more aggressive form, enabling her to gladly sank into her preferred passive mindset.

The first lunge was quickly countered by an almost nonchalant cross of her saber, shrugging the momentum of Eri'anya's offending blade to the left and away from her offhand side as the energized weapons crackled. The less motion expended on her part, the better.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Eri'anya blinked as her blade blew straight past her target. It had been her intention to batter against Charity's saber, perhaps goading the other Jedi into some kind of retaliation, but her blow seemed almost uninterrupted in its passing. The parry had been flawless, her own swing redirected so subtly that were it not for the telltale clashing sound, she might have doubted she hit anything. Now she was left fully extended and exposed, her back turned to her foe for a brief moment that might prove fatal in different circumstances.

Score one for Charity...

Keeping herself in motion, the attacking Jedi's free hand was already down at her waist. With a spin that drew her out of critical range, her quickdrawn second saber flew out in a swift back swing toward her opponent's ankles. As the blow drew close, she pulled back into a rising arc, bringing the point of contact closer to the taller woman's right hip.

 

[Charity Luckless]

Eri'anya's second saber didn't exactly strike Charity off-guard. She was practically expecting her to use it, and was honestly surprised it hadn't been drawn initially. However, the bold slash towards her lower body was not something she was anticipating, and the violet-haired woman was removed from her concrete position as she stepped back to dodge and brought her right hand to grip the bottom of her hilt.

Charity flipped her saber downward vertically to collide with Eri'anya's second saber and propel it along harmlessly--hopefully even bending her partner's attached arm in an uncomfortable angle. Her weapon remained in this 'upside-down' position even afterwards, making sure the other Jedi was to her left side where her saber would easily be able to counter a consecutive strike.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Taking Charity's back step as a personal victory, Eri'anya moved to seize what momentum she could by allowing her arm to be knocked aside. Bending her right knee into a low stance, Eri kicked her other leg into a wide sweep, causing her body to pivot on the ball of her grounded foot. As her spin reached its end, her left saber came in a rapid slice to tangle with her opponent's guard, digging her heels back into the ground as she connected.

Not waiting for a reaction, the Jedi propelled herself up to her full height once more, blades barking against each other as light dragged against light. Pushing hard into her grapple, Eri allowed her upward momentum to lift her toes off of the floor, twisting the locked sabers so hers was pushing out. As this was happening, her right fist shot up towards the space over Charity's right shoulder, the newly reversed grip on her second saber bringing the other blade dangerously close to the crucial joint.

 

[Charity Luckless]

Eri'anya's left blade found Charity's stationary blade, impacting with a violent crack of repulsing energy and fain to twist the taller Jedi's already-overturned left wrist to a painful degree. She was now in a vulnerable position to her sparring partner's rocketing right hand, and Charity elected to carry out a more evasive solution.

She side-stepped to her right, leveraging the push from Eri'anya's first blade to follow through upwards whilst raising and angling her own lightsaber more horizontally. The intent was to poke out her opponent as soon as she landed so that she would back out towards the perimeter of Charity's longer radial arc. The other Jedi had, after all, taken a bit of a leap to close the distance and target her shoulder. The taller of the duelists had decided that, as much as she preferred to take a more firm and defensive stance, the other woman was a lot more of an unpredictable threat than previously measured.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

For a moment it seemed like the leaping move would connect, a move that would literally disarm a lesser opponent were they using real sabers. Unfortunately for Eri'anya, however, she had given up precision offensive control for striking speed when she had made her leap, leaving her unable to properly compensate when the taller Jedi sidestepped her cut. The blunder nearly cost her a hit, the smaller Knight only managing to evade that jutting yellow blade with an hasty tumble to take her out of range.

Hitting the ground shoulder-first, Eri'anya had disengage the saber in her right hand as she rolled into her landing, lest the fight end in a manner she may might never have lived down. Endeavoring to keep in motion, the woman was back on her feet in an instant, turning once more to face Charity. She was unwilling to let the other Jedi find her footing, however, igniting her right saber once more to bring both blades down in a heavy overhead strike.

 

[Charity Luckless]

She felt safer and more confident now with her opponent out of immediate range. Her prodding move with her saber had merely been to ward the furious engagement off and reestablish a proper stance, and now she was more in her comfort zone. Eri'anya's blades had returned to a more conventional grip, and therefore a bit more effective but also more predictable.

Charity swiped her blade to her right, out of the way of the pair of avalanching golden blades. There was no point to attempt a parry, and she knew there would be an opening after the slash, so she stepped back just enough to assure that she wouldn't bite it. After the encroaching attack had fallen below her waist level, Charity reversed her blade's motion, swinging her solitary saber back towards her left with an electrically charged whine. The trio of glowing rods etched vibrant lines into the air like a painting that was always in motion.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Her mistake became apparent the moment she had made it. Never join your blades! She could hear her Master's voice in her ear. Give them two targets, or only use the one! She rapidly bent her knees, following her blades down at such a rate as to almost tumble forward. She could smell trailing ends of her hair catching her opponent's swipe, the training blade more than sufficient to singe the uncolored ends. It was nothing she couldn't fix, but it provided tangible evidence to her second lapse in good judgment.

As soon as Eri'anya reached the depth of her crouch she was up again, launching herself at an angle to try and slip in between the taller woman's arms and chest. As she ascended, the Jedi twisted on her heals, keeping her left saber tight to her body to allow her pivoting frame to strike at Charity's core. In direct contrast to the tight formation of her left side, her right hand sailed out to clash sabers with the other Jedi. Her plan was to tie up that deceptively quick saber hand, leaving her wide open.

 

[Charity Luckless]

After all the careful calculations and passive redirection of Eri'anya's attacks, she had blundered in her one truly offensive counter. Her sparring partner had unwisely exposed herself, but Charity's retort was about as ill-advised, her saber shearing the air just above the other woman due to her nimbleness and lack of height--usually an advantage Charity could abuse in these little duels. Suddenly she was back on her heels. She needed to move her feet more, but not give up so much ground like she had.

Charity released her right hand's supporting grasp on the hilt and submitted her saber to Eri'anya's clash, allowing the momentum to spin the harmful end of her weapon back downwards. It was now in a familiar upside-down position to obstruct the incoming second blade. Knowing that her opponent's other saber was free having disengaged with it, she stepped diagonally to her right as her right hand thrust out, palm open and aiming for Eri'anya's forehead in hopes of shoving her off balance before she could make another strike.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Things suddenly seemed to taking a positive turn. Eri'anya had managed to capitalize on her height, or lack there of, and Charity had once more been put on her heels. Digging her heels, the shorter Jedi lunged forward to finish the fight, bringing her dual blades together for a highly anticipated coup de grace.

...and she didn't connect. A hand appeared in the center of her vision, not impacting her face so much as shoving it back. It was such a jarring and unexpected action that for a moment the Jedi staggered back, her sabers falling to her sides as she exited her own effective range. A flush of color glowed behind her cheeks and the barest hint of a pout appeared on her lips. Oh... she did not!

She jolted forward with renewed fervor, the saber in her left hand switching back to a reversed grip. With a force assisting her leap, Eri sailed high in the air, her body turning over to face her target with her blades flared out. The yellow beams blurred as she assaulted the other Jedi from above, her body turning midair to apply strike after strike after strike.

 

[Charity Luckless]

For an indiscernible moment, one might have noticed the smallest curl of a smirk on Charity's face as she took full advantage of her physical blessing. It was nearly comical how irritated it made her sparring mate. Almost impossible for even a reserved individual like Charity to subdue a smile.

There wasn't much time to appreciate the humor about the occurrence, however. Eri'anya seemed to have gathered quite an energy boost from either frustration or pride, and she was on--rather, over--Charity's larger form in seconds, chattering blades whirring through the air as she assailed her opponent from above. Had the girl been taller, she might have been able to swipe at her legs. But there was no opening to exploit on her smaller form, and she was left with one choice that actually visibly annoyed her.

Charity fell onto her back, dispersing the threads of her cloak all along the floor in order to keep out of reach of Eri'anya's vicious aerial assault. Deactivating her saber, she shrugged out of the sleeves and rolled to the side to rest upon her right knee, now in her rarely exposed beige wrappings and skirt.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Eri'anya landed on and hands and knees, the thin padding of her inner robes doing little to prevent the dull ache of bruises to come. She hit the floor hard, her erratic spinning doing her no favors in spite of the soft, pillow-like cushion of discarded robe beneath her. Hadn't Charity been wearing this?

Scrambling to her feet, she took just a moment to get kick the cloak out from under her. It wouldn't do to trip over herself during a sparring match, and her partner seemed to be getting serious if her shed clothes were any indication. Falling back into a wide, grounded stance, Eri extended her sabers out in front of her in a mildly defensive manner. Once she was fairly certain she was secure in her grip, the small Jedi dashed forward once more, keeping on blade crossed over her front while the other came sweeping down towards the kneeling Charity. After all, it was not often she fought an opponent at eye level, and the opportunity for powerful over-hands did not come often.

 

[Charity Luckless]

Well, this would be an interesting engagement. Charity found herself on Eri'anya's level, and it didn't appear as if that was going to make anything easier. Not that she expected to. It was better to emphasize her height, and she had been able to make more moves and threaten the little Jedi from afar. Playing her game was not going to do any favors.

So Charity decided to play her own sort of game, keeping her lightsaber deactivated until the perfect moment. She was beginning to get the hang of her partner's aggression and was judging the force expended in each strike attempted. At the last second, she ignited her plasma sword and leaned into an upward slash against Eri'anya's crossed blade, leveraging herself off of her knee to raise both hissing rods into the descending path of the third. She may not have been able to bounce around as freely as her counterpart, but she could play to her strength and out-muscle the smaller woman.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Under normal circumstances, the deactivation of the other Jedi's lightsaber might have been cause for concern. Eri'anya was on the attack, her whole body tilting forward to get a hit off in on her opponent before she managed to reactivate her saber. She told herself she had disabled her opponent's defenses, and victory seemed all but assured for the small Jedi.

As it turns out, she was unwise to lose track the exact orientation of Charity's saber hilt. In a flash of yellow, the brilliant beam came to life, already in motion to subdue her wild, one-handed strike. To make matters worse, her saber had been misaligned by the strength of her opponent, and Eri'anya found herself tangling her own blades together, all but wrapped around that of her enemy. It was a position that another Jedi might have claimed as a clear advantage, but all attempts on Eri's part to push against that defensive blade were meeting with a staunch resistance.

 

[Charity Luckless]

She had the blades locked up, neither party seeming like they were willing to budge at all as the radiant yellow sabers cackled and cried against each other. Eri'anya was certainly strong for her size. It was like she had boundless energy, whereas Charity often presented an illusion of being lethargic, and she knew exactly how to convert what may have been perceived as a height disadvantage to an advantage for her own style.

Charity decided to let her win the pushing contest. Purposefully surrendering the parry, the taller Jedi utilized the shift in her weight via ascending from her crouch to balance on her back foot. Slackening on her resistance in her arms, she powered her left leg forward towards Eri'anya's shins and let her guard collapse in hopes of tipping the shorter Jedi over her own blades head-first.

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Eri'anya gritted her teeth as she leaned more of her meager weight into the crossed sabers. Tension built in her shoulders, the locked beams sparking and cracking with energy as they strained to repel each other. The small Knight was making little headway, her athletic, but undersized frame proving insufficient in overpowering the larger woman's defenses. She persisted, however, grinding the energy weapons against each other in hopes of redirecting some of the contested force between the duelists.

It was just beginning to seem like she could turn the clash around when the electric flashing in her eyes gave way. The opposing blade slipped from her grasp, all opposition to her forward momentum removed in an instant that left the attacking Jedi unbalanced. Demonstrating the the true strategy behind the action, Charity brought a foot forward to hinder Eri's attempt at grounding herself and tilting her forward.

Acting on hasty reflex, twin yellow beams swiped across each other towards the approaching floor. She met only resistance as her strikes glanced off the floor below, the particular angle of the sweeping leg causing only the tip of of a wildly sweeping blade to tickle Charity's calf. It was a blow that might have meant something with true sabers, but at the sparring level, it would cause little more than a harmless, tickling jolt. Before she could fall totally against the taller woman, exposing her unguarded back, she dug her toes into the floor and engaged a wild, diving tackle. Tucking her head to the side, the hope was to fly towards the other woman's abdomen with her shoulder, a desperate play to weaken her enemy's footing and retake some floor control.