Through the Fire and the Flames (Mustafar)

[Darth Ophidia]

Ophidia was not so foolish as to think she had won, nor that her master had actually dropped his sabre due to her impeccable timing like a fool. Fools did not lead the Council of the Four Aspects; fools did not become the Shadow of the Dark Lord. No, he was far more competent than so, and she was right.

When Darth Ferus' sabre came to life and initiated its attack, she lifted her foot to avoid losing it, and thrust her sabre next to the spinning hilt. Using the Force to keep it from coming closer, she made tiny circular motions with the tip of her blade to keep the blade spinning. Through this, she diverted the blade's trajectory around her and towards [member="Darth Ferus"] while stepping back and away, into the area formerly occupied by the lightsabre death-blender that was the golden sabre. All of which done in a fluent swiftness that made it all look infuriatingly effortless despite the complexity and amount of concentration the combination demanded. As Ferus threw his fist towards her, he would find his own sabre intercepting the way like a shield. The Force energy used to keep the blade from advancing up her blade then burst towards Ferus to throw the sabre at him and release Ophidia's blade.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Ferus did not stop moving his fist, even for his own lightsaber. One would think this would result in an arm loss, but the reality was different. The Force within his fist was channeled in such a way that it not only created an explosive result with met with another object, but it was lightsaber resistant. Immune. Though, this wasn't too too good for him, as when his hand met the blade, there was still a blast.

The golden blade blasted off into the distance, too far to be retrieved at this current moment. The Sith Lord however was still moving through the air, and his other hand came around for another such punch for [member="Darth Ophidia"] 's face. He wasn't done yet!

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The blast almost toppled Darth Ophidia's balance, but she remained on her feet. Her own blade was thrown back by the blast, but she kept it in her hand. While she was a competent martial artist, she preferred to keep her blade in her hand rather than on the floor where it was under threat of joining the lava-stream down below. She had to commend her master's ability to augment his body with the Force. She had seen him funnel the sheer power of the Force into his blade and knock Jedi away like a batting a ball. However, she had never before seen him do so with his bare fists and resist a lightsabre. Now, she was more wary of his fists. [member="Darth Ferus"] had done something akin once before, when Ophidia was a mere acolyte. He had thrown punches through the Force which she had to block while maintaining her form. It was not a practice she had ceased in training. Everything he had taught her that day, and all other days, had taken her to this point.

When he threw his second fist, Ophidia swayed her head out of the way by mere centimetres. Then, following up on Ferus' momentum, she placed her left hand on his elbow and guiding it on in the direction of his punch in an attempt to make him overextend. That was when the point of her sabre returned for a swift stab against Ferus' exposed ribcage. If her strike hit true, then it would pierce through the bottom of her master's heart and stop it instantly. Such killing blows were second nature to her now

 

[Darth Ferus]

Stopping a lightsaber with his hands was a draining experience for the Sith Lord. A man who had sought to master endurance was still drained by such a feat. Prolonged contact was always going to be an issue. A slight grimace formed however as [member="Darth Ophidia"] pulled his arm forward, his center of balance thrown off. A grim expression formed on his face as he felt the heat of the plasma come for his side, knowing full well it was a killing blow.

His free hand, which was tucked by his chest, came around just in time to stop the blade from going in too deep. Though, the sent of burnt flesh filled the air. Between the pain in his side and the draining feeling as he tried to keep the plasma from burning through his hand, things weren't looking to good.

So, he did the simplest thing he could do.

He yelled.

Through the Force he bellowed, releasing a pure blast of energy meant to knock his former apprentice away from him. Give him a moment to recollect himself. It wasn't dangerous, less she fell into the lava, but it was all he could do at the given moment.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

A grimace of strain carved itself in Ophidia's face as she tried to press her plasma blade through her master. For a moment, it was a game of pressure and she believed she could win as she funneled the Force into her muscles for extra power. Ferus had taught her how to make speed, and through his teachings she had been able to bolster her strength significantly. However, just like speed it was tiring in the long run and she only employed it in necessity. Right now was a necessity.

But everything changed when the Iridonian in Epicanthix skin turned his head and shouted. Ophidia could go nowhere as her pressure was completely focused on the tight spot in which she had her Master. As such, the shout hit her full-frontal and she was thrown back. She was not even able to make a last minute adjustment to catch her balance, but was sent crashing into the railing and tumbling back. Inside her, she felt a sickening crunch as one of her ribs, formerly weakened by the slash of her master's sabre, broke. Despite all, she was able to stop her tumble and rise to one knee eventually. Her sabre had extinguished itself as she was thrown, but was now it ignited once more and pointed at her master. A sneer was on her lips, but her eyes glowed with joy and passion.

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Finally, a moments rest. As [member="Darth Ophidia"] flew back the man took this moment to retrieve his saber. Reaching out with the same hand that had been over extended before, he would call back the hilt of his most precious possession. As the smooth metal hilt came into contact with his flesh and the familiar span hiss of his blade coming to life, he felt far more at ease. His side however was still burning. Her blade bit deep enough to be seen, and if not for the blade burning as it cut, he'd have most likely had to retreat. There would be no wat for him to lift his arm too far up now though. It hurt, but not something he wasn't use to, but the wound simply wouldn't let him bring his arm up without threatening to tear open the small amount of skin that remained.

So he switched hands. As a duelest one had to learn how to fight with both hands, but he always used his right for one simple reason. He was actually left handed. A light turn of the wrist, and he would point his blade at the female just as she did the same to him. His normal forms wouldn't be helpful with just one hand, so a slight pivot, and the man would look ready to jump. To those who studied the forms, Ataru. With a grin the man watched her, nodding once.

"Shall we continue again?"

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Ataru, she recognised the form. While she had not studied to learn the forms, she had studied to defeat them. Furthermore, she had also fought several practitioners of Ataru in the past. Darth Ophidia stood to her full height once more. Her broken rib ached and jabbed in her side, but she felt it was not about to puncture her lung. The pain would cripple and discourage most, but the Rattataki drew power from it. Pain fuelled her anger, and anger gave her power. She was not blind rage, but a cold and calculated malice, bold and cruel.

"Come get me, Darth Ferus."

The point of her lightsabre aimed at [member="Darth Ferus"]' forehead as she stood. She turned her side to him once more, balancing on the balls of her feet and breathing easy as her sneer turned into a wicked smile. Ophidia lowered the point of her bloodshine blade and let it face the gangway beneath them. It was one of the opening stances of Makashi She was ready.

 

[Darth Ferus]

There it was. [member="Darth Ophidia"] , his most successful pupil, was no longer just that. The burning in his side was proof enough. She was strong, strong enough to face him on equal terms unlike their first encounter. A smile spread across the Darths face. Not one of hate, or sadism. One of a man happy. Content. She was a worthy student.

But he was still the master.

A wall of the purple flame Ferus was known for erupted between the two, cutting either from view. Yet before this the man could be seen getting ready to leap. A leap through the flames, unknown if he would go over her or land in front of her. But as his form burst through the flames, it was clearly neither.

The opening stance of Ataru was a ruse. The jumping around would only rip his side open, even if he didn't use the hurt side. Precise strikes were needed, small movements and the ability to use one hand. One side. He flew through the flames across the ground, left hand raised and his golden saber pointed right for the chest of the Rattataki. It was a lunge, a quick one, signature to her own form.

Knowing so many forms left him open to those who knew how to read which he was using. So, he simply learned which forms could be shown and which forms would offer a surprise. Today's lesson, Ataru isn't Makashi.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

She really did think he was going to jump, that was, until he made a curtain of flames. While her former master was indeed a flamboyant persona, he was not so wasteful with his energy as to create a wall of fire without purpose. She had long ago forsaken the ideas that what she saw was undoubtedly true. Everything was scrutinised, especially in combat against a fellow Assassin. So when the fire blazed, she closed her eyes and saw through the Force. She had picked up Force Sight from a Miraluka in the Covenant of the Black Rose before they decided to betray the One Sith. With her Force Sight, she could differentiate between [member="Darth Ferus"] and his flames, and she could see he was not in fact travelling vertically.

Looks can be deceiving.

So when the lunge came, she was ready. It was not expected, nor unexpected. She had not gained specific clairvoyance of his tactics, but nullified his ruse. In response to the sudden lunge, Ophidia stepped forward and to the side to put herself on the outside of Ferus' lunge. Meanwhile, her own sabre knocked the tip of Ferus' blade astray to protect her from his attack before angling in to a counter-attack in the form of a quick cut at the Sith Lord's wrist. This was her form, her forté. He had put her on the path, but she had perfected it.

 

[Darth Ferus]

A smile formed over the lips of the Sith Lord as his ruse seemed to have failed. [member="Darth Ophidia"] had once again shown she was worthy of her title, more than he had expected. With the tip of his lightsaber knocked away from the form of the female and his arm outstretched, one might thing he was stuck. But Death was pushing him, forcing him to adapt. To show what he really could do. His hand fell away from his saber as the red blade came down, threatening to sever his hand. Yet the lightsaber remained in the air, still. Telekinesis kept the blade airborne. With the same hand that was dropping however, he reached out to grab one of Ophidia's legs, aiming to yank the limb from under her, put her off balance.

If this odd tactic actually worked, Ferus would turn on a heel. His free hand would (Painfully) come around, grabbing the still airborn saber in a reverse grip, and he would slash out for her chest. All in the same motion as his hand dropping to knock her off balance. Once more the force would fill the blade, as he was known by now to do, all to hopefully slam into her and send her flying, or at least add some power against her block.

The smile widened into a feral grin.

This was fun.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Letting go of the blade in the middle of combat while leaving the blade in place. That was a neat trick, and Darth Ophidia committed it to memory, but she did not allow herself to be distracted in such an important situation. Before Ferus could grab a hold of Ophidia's legs, she shifted the downwards motion of her sabre to a protective swipe to ward off his hand. The blade remained low, like a burning threat against any further shenanigans from that way.

Meanwhile, her left hand balled into a fist. Indeed Darth Ferus was known for fuelling his sabre with Force Energy. Ophidia could remember Ord Mirit, when he batted a Jedi away as if at a sporting-event. She had seen him employ the technique frequently, and practised a similar technique in secret. Her balled fist was charged up with energy from the Force. And as she swiped low with her sabre, her hand shot out in a quick punch. It was swift like the strike of a viper, but with the impact of a charging Oxibeast. She aimed for his chest, giving her more surface to aim at and more difficult for him to avoid. To most humanoids, the punch would shatter bone and send the recipient flying back. Even Ophidia's own wrist was not entirely secure, but she was willing to take the chance.

A small smile played on her lips. She was thoroughly enjoying this fight. She would prove herself to be more than worthy of her title. She was Darth Ophidia.

[member="Darth Ferus"]