Private What Could Have Been

[Rhia Kesyk]

She'd felt much more confident about this whole thing upon her initial approach. When she left one training room on the ship with two wooden training blades in hand she'd been puffed up with self-certainty, a woman on a mission, but as she actually neared the other room? That same apprehension she'd felt upon first coming to the Station rose up within her something fierce. Maybe she could turn tail and run, he'd never know if she did.​

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Maybe--​

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No.​

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Rhia did not let her approach falter or slow even a little. She marched on up to Cotan's training room and after taking a shallow breath she opened the door and stepped inside. No doubt he was mid practice, a droid or two perhaps in motion, but she didn't pay it much mind. Instead she crossed the threshold, each hand grasping at the hilt of the blades, and tipped up her chin as she regarded him.​

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One arm reached out, loosing her grip on the hilt to send the blade coursing through the air toward him.​

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"Train me" she demanded, or at least it might have come across as such if not for the tiny squeak which undermined the rest of it. Great.​

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Just great.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Sure enough, when Rhia interrupted, Cotan was in the middle of training with the same trio of droids from before. Amber blade whirling back and forth, barely keeping him from getting sliced to ribbons as he waited for one of the droids to present a valuable opening for him to snake out from between the three of them and start taking them apart. Soon enough, the opportunity presented itself; he knocked aside V7's blade, kicking it in the chest and sending it flying into the wall in a deactivated heap. He swung around hard, tearing the blade from V8's grasp and punching it in the chest to send it falling all the same before it had the opportunity to try and flank him.

That left only v4. He faced the droid as it raised up its blade, ready to strike—

He whirled, catching the bokken that was thrown at him before it could smack him in the back of the head. He narrowly avoided V4's downward cut, and with no better options for the moment, sliced down in return with his own blade, severing the droid's hands. It turned to look at him with a bit of shock as he deactivated his own. "Sorry, Veefour," he said to it, grimacing at the sparking stumps he'd left on the droid. V7 and V8 got up soon, and started walking over. "Alright, you two, take Veefour to get fixed up. It looks like I have a—"

"Train me."​

"Visitor," he finished. The droids quickly left, V7 carrying V4's severed hands, and he rounded on Rhia, a confused expression on his face. A few silent blinks.

"You remember I train with these droids set to lethal settings, right?"

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

"I mean... I know now?" she said, that brazen and bold facade she'd put up quickly diminishing. Her expression was something akin to a child who was being told off, yet trying not to laugh at the same time.​

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Well, not that she was actually going to laugh of course. Lethality was no laughing matter...​

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She held his gaze a moment longer, before dropping hers to her feet.​

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"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking... I just, uh--" Didn't want to lose her nerve?​

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Yeah, fat chance she was actively going to admit that to him.​

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"Thought you looked like you could uh, use some company..." Uh-huh.​

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Great excuse, Rhia.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"You're not seriously trying to lie to me right after demanding training, are you?" He unclipped the lightsabers from his belt, tossing them over to the corner where he'd set his sword earlier. "Alright, kid, let's make up for lost time." He took a couple steps to the very center of the room, kneeling down relaxedly. The brylark-wood bokken he set off to his side, easily reached, but not even within his hands.

"You want training? You have to hit me."

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Rhia's mouth opened and shut in quick succession, then she glowered at him. Was he really going to call her out on that? Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, she watched as he moved to the center of the room and simply knelt there. Waiting. He didn't even hold the bokken, that was perhaps the worst part of it.​

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Was he looking to humiliate her for barging in here?​

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Her cheeks were flushed, though some small part of her realized that getting flustered over it certainly wasn't going to get her very far. She exhaled a huff of hot air, and then flexed her hand around the grip of the hilt.​

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Hey, at least he hadn't said no. Eluding to their lost time though? That was definitely a punch to the gut. She did her best to hide the emotions which sought to flicker into her expression, and moved until she was stood across from him.​

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Therein, she actually bowed.​

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"Okay" she replied to his terms. Not a yes, not a no, it was contingent on whether or not she could strike him.​

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That, she supposed, was fair.​

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Rhia lifted her blade, centering the point of it toward him, and held it like an extension of her right arm. Her mind whirred for a moment longer, before she shook her head ever so slightly to dismiss the imagined din. None of that. Exist in the moment... She inhaled, then immediately swiped toward his left arm.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan remained still as a statue as Rhia faced him, preparing herself to strike. Truthfully, he was curious what training she'd gotten without him around, just what stage she'd reached in the progression of her skills, and there wasn't much better way to test it than this. If anything, this specific method was a bit cruel, though it would give him just as much of an insight into her mindset in combat as to her actual level of skill.

There was no way she'd manage to touch him.

She stepped forwards, swinging at him. He remained still until the last moment, dropping into a low bow; the blade of the bokken passed harmlessly over him, and he raised up again as Rhia completed her swing. Before she could turn it around and try for a quick swallow-tail cut, she'd find the blade shoved away by an unseen force, almost hard enough to tear it from her hands or send her stumbling along.

"Too telegraphed," he critiqued. "It's a blade, not a bat. You don't need that much of a wind-up."

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

The blade swiped harmlessly over where he'd just previously been. There was little time to actually acknowledge such before an unseen hand pushed at the bokken and in the process caused her to stumble; she turned her foot and planted her stance in response, mitigating as much of the shove as she could.​

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His words were taken onboard, though she didn't say anything in response. Take the critique, learn from it, do better next time. That was Rhia's methodology, it didn't do to dwell on things.​

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She returned to her former stance and without pause this time she raised the blade and immediately jabbed toward his chest once it reached center mass, angled down slightly to avoid his face.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Still as a statue again, until the very last moment. As her jab came close, he turned to his left, his right leg quickly spreading out to counterbalance him. The jab missed much like the first strike, voided by his quick movement; this time, his hands shot up as he grabbed the blade of the bokken, yanking it hard. Either it would leave Rhia's hands, or she'd come stumbling forwards just to trip over his outstretched leg. Either would be an acceptable result.

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Another miss. She'd expected such, though she had hoped for something more. Her mind was at odds with itself therein, a desire to prove herself balanced alongside the understanding of who it was she was facing. There wasn't any way he'd actually let her get past his defenses, and maybe that made this whole exercise moot. Maybe she'd be leaving here without the promise of further training beyond what this activity brought forth.​

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Didn't mean she'd give up though. Why throw in the towel? There was something to be learned, even from this.​

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He snatched the blade of her bokken and tugged, and Rhia released her hold on it. Rather than lament its loss however she reached out her right hand and called his from the floor and into her grasp. Fingers curled around the handle, and she aimed a short swipe toward his right shoulder.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

The wooden training blade went sailing to the back of the room. Cotan quickly brought his leg back, his foot planted firmly on the ground, as the one he'd set at his side flew into Rhia's hands. But, in doing that and so rapidly moving to strike, after having just stepped in and jabbed forwards, Rhia made a crucial mistake. She stood too close for that attack to work out for her; either she wouldn't step with the strike to generate the proper body rotation to drive the blade for a good cut, or she would be bringing herself in far too close, striking him entirely with the lower half of her blade, rather than further out at the center of percussion.

Except, she wouldn't be striking him at all. That close, Cotan wouldn't even bother dodging. He spring hard, pushing off with the foot he'd so firmly planted the moment before; as Rhia lifted her arms to strike, he dove forwards, his shoulder driving in just underneath her ribs as he bowled her over entirely. The blade she'd just moved to strike him with was ripped from her hands even as breath would be ripped from her body and the ground ripped from underneath her, only for the point to come quickly down to her throat.

"And now you're dead," he stated factually, the blade held loosely in his hand. "Don't get so caught up in the chance to bring a swift ending that you leave yourself open. Every attack should double as a defense."

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

The blade didn't even make it close to touching him. Might be it was the least effective move yet. What was worse, she'd left herself open and in the blink of an eye she found herself uprooted, disarmed, and winded on her back. The tip of the very blade she'd sought to strike him with was resting lightly against her neck, and Cotan leaned over her.​

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She lay her head back against the floor as she tried to catch her breath, his words adding further salt to her wounds. Dead, he told her. She was dead for her folly.​

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Her eyes steeled themselves, though whatever remark she might have seen fit to utter was pushed back from existence. Instead she nodded her head, and moved as much as she was able to try and prop herself up on an elbow. She'd rushed to prove herself, and might be she'd lost the opportunity to actually learn under him again.​

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That hurt more than her aching torso.​

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"Got it" she said, face flushed though she was breathing a little better by then. In the heat of the moment things happened so fast that it was almost dizzying to keep up with. Truth be told, she didn't know how he did it...​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

He smirked down at her, withdrawing the tip of the bokken from her throat and holding a hand down to her to help her up. "Most fights are over in seconds, even for those of us who have the Force on our side," he explained, far more patient with her than her expression looked like she would be with herself. "But being overly aggressive is the same as being overly complacent. Neither one is tenable. Trying to strike me from that close in was reckless, and you wouldn't have made good enough contact for the strike to be worthwhile with anything but a lightsaber." He turned and walked away, sending her bokken flying back towards her with a gesture.

Winded and bruised as she might be after getting tackled, he wasn't going to let her out of it that quickly.

After putting a few paces between them he turned back around, still holding his own training weapon loosely in one hand. "Now, again, and don't rely on the pure basics this time," he commanded. "Real combat won't allow you to practice the perfect, idealized strikes you're used to, and your body mechanics won't either."

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

He helped her back to her feet, imparting further wisdom as he did, and she tried to shake off the residual haze which had fallen over her when he'd tackled her to the ground. Her back ached something fierce, her head felt more than a little rattled, and ordinarily she might have afforded herself a brief break even if only to see to it that her breathing was back in order. Maybe some water wouldn't be amiss either.​

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But even before the blade was tugged toward her Rhia knew that wasn't something she'd be doing. Even if he had seen fit to try and walk away, to put an end to it as she'd worried he might from the get go, the girl wasn't actually willing to give up without a fight.​

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Not like that.​

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"I wasn't thinking" she stated in response to what he'd said, small snippets of the frustration she'd sought to avoid - so clearly directed at herself - slipping through the cracks, "I thought you'd push the offensive; I was hoping to get there first." It was foolish though, and she knew she didn't need to beat an already dead horse, so instead she bowed her head in humility. She called the blade by her feet up into her hands, breathing still a little heavy but manageable, and when he bid her to try again she lifted her head once more.​

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Studied the space between them, the weapon in his hand and the stance he took. Then she settled back into her own, looser and more limber than she'd shown previously. The way she'd actually be if this was for real.​

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"Yes, Master," she replied without really thinking, in fact the comment seemed to pass her entirely by without recognition. As she said it she approached, loosely tracing a few steps toward the left in a circling motion in order to avoid coming straight at him. The hilt was held with both hands, much in the way her actual sword needed to be held given its weight, and as she came roughly into the circle of his reach she slowed.​

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She began to wonder whether he'd be making moves of his own or simply reacting, but that put her squarely back in the trap of being lost within her thoughts. Instead she slid to the right, bringing herself toward his center in the process, and seemed to aim toward his right arm; she arced it through with the same momentum though, dipping it toward his torso in an attempted feint.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

He was silent to her further attempt at explanation, though he did raise a somewhat-surprised eyebrow when she called him 'master.' Maybe she'd hit her head harder on the mat than he'd thought. Not enough to be concussed, though, he'd long since learned to recognize that quickly, both in others and himself. So, rather than say anything, he stood placidly as she brought her blade up, strafing around him slowly. Carefully watching, waiting, to see if he would move.

When he didn't, she moved to strike; the form on her cut was good, but out-of-measure. Trying to draw his blade out to a poor position, where she might have better leverage against him. He twitched his arm, looking like he was going to attempt to parry so far out, before she brought the arc in and thrust at his chest; then his blade raised up from its loose, low grip, catching and turning hers aside easily.

And the movement halted, just as suddenly as it had began, but now with the point of his blade aimed clearly toward her face. Well within measure to strike if he wanted to lunge for it, but instead he simply stepped forwards, forcing her to retreat if she didn't want to get poked in the forehead. "Now what will you do, Rhia?" he asked intently. "In a real fight, I wouldn't have waited, I'd have lunged at you immediately. Don't go slow just because it's training, when I want you to go slow I'll tell you."

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

The raising of his brow was noted, though the cause for it not readily understood by the girl. Maybe he just hadn't liked her explanation, which was fair. She didn't like it either- sounded more like an excuse. Bah.​

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Either way it didn't matter, neither of them were pressing the conversation any further after all.​

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As her blade made its feign he looked poised to defend, so imagine her surprise when instead he blocked the real strike. Hers was turned, and his now lay pointed at her face once more. Rhia had to lean her head back slightly to avoid the tip of it against her forehead.​

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She slid back when he pressed forward, graceful on her feet even now. The girl didn't need him to tell her that had this been real she'd be dead, but he alluded to it all the same. Each movement he'd made thus far was precise and visibly low effort, he wasn't expending any unnecessary energy, and he was piggybacking off her own momentum by and large.​

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Harnessing the openings she provided by way of her mistakes.​

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What would she do? That was a good question. She nodded once to his words, though this time she felt a little less able to state her understanding through words. Quiet instead, taking it onboard in her own way, she tried to squash down her concerns that maybe this had been a mistake. No. No mistakes... She'd never learn if she kept backing down.​

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She brought her blade back around after sliding back a touch more, putting space between them, and brought the tip of hers against his as she centered herself and held off any further push from him. Eyes settled upon Cotan's, a slow inhale, and then she brought her blade around in a tight arc aimed toward his leading shoulder. With any luck the lack of wild flailing would allow her to raise her guard again should she need to.​

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That was the plan, at least.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

A typical Shii-cho maneuver; he certainly couldn't fault her for it, not at all, though he might have tried something different. A quick dip around the blade, claiming the center line and lunging forwards, batting it aside and making a quick sniping cut to the arm, maybe, but the first form was more dogged and direct than that. Rhia retreated a step further than he had pressed, returning to her ready position. Chūdan, balanced between offense and defense.

Then she came at him again, an attack towards his outside line. Not a feint, but probing, maybe. He stepped backwards, dropping his side-facing stance; her blade went wide, the strike voided entirely, as he raised up into a stance of his own. Form one for form one; both hands on the hilt, high overhead. Rhia might use chūdan, the most basic stance, but Cotan was willing to leave himself open to take jōdan. The most aggressive.

Even without the height difference between them, he'd have the advantage of reach, coming from a higher stance. Body mechanics decreed it to be so. But he didn't launch forth to attack; no, he was waiting to bait Rhia in to striking at him, to see if she knew how to deal with the difference in reach, to keep herself untouched while striking at him.

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

He raised his blade high, leaving his core open but also preparing for what could easily become a fairly brutal blow. ​

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Rhia didn't stop to pause or really assess once her strike had gone wide, and instead she pulled the blade up and across, from down low at his right and up in an arc toward his left side. She tightened her grip toward the end, hoping that if he rained that wooden blade down upon her she could stave it off before it lowered enough to strike her.​

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Gravity was one heck of an aid, after all, and even with training blades that was bound to leave its mark.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

As Rhia raised her blade up into a high guard, keeping the point aimed to threaten him, he didn't move. The pair stood like that, still, staring at each other wordlessly for a few moments. Would one change their guard, would one attack, would Cotan be reckless enough to try and strike when Rhia was prepared to guard against him; it turned out, in fact, he was. The barest hint of a shift in posture, a slight twisting of his hands so that the point of his blade behind him was pointed just right—Rhia's left—of center, a slight shift in his feet to put his right foot a little further back, was all the warning she'd receive about his attack.

Before he launched forwards, stepping, not straight, but slightly off-line to his right, entire torso twisting as his left foot followed to bring the bokken down at a crushing blow toward's Rhia's unprotected left side.

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

She kept her gaze leveled upon him as both held their varying stances, his in preparation to strike, hers more intended to guard, it almost seemed as though they'd reached an impasse.​

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There was but the slightest of shifts in response to her decision, something she'd almost just as easily have overlooked had she not already been stood in anticipation of what was to come - well, not what he did, but what she had thought he might do, at least. The step he took was off center, bringing him to her left, and the moment she noticed the angle he'd taken in his approach she slid back and to the right on the mat in avoidance of the pummeling blow.​

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Her guard remained raised, though it wasn't met with blade which just passed her by.​

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Cotan Sar'andor​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Rhia stepped back; he did the same, raising his blade up into the middle guard. A small smirk crossed his face. "Should've counter-attacked," he commented, before raising up into a mirror of the guard she'd just held. Point forward, hilt above his ear, guarding the high outside line. "Go ahead, make the same strike at me that I just did at you."

Rhia Kesyk