2008-04-08 - A Padawan's Failure

Lovely on this orange-dirt world. Perhaps one has seen the beautiful view from the heart of the forest, or perhaps entreated the golden meadow. The sunlight is thick, and bountiful, except for the wafting of smoke from a nearby, heavily-damaged ship...
If one were to trail a path from the spaceport, it might lead here to the great oaks. Flowers of red and blue, orange and pink, nicely compliment the purple-red horizon of a setting sun and its lavished love of golden ribbons.
Though, nearer one of the famed Sullustan mirror stones lays something unmoving. Swaddled in black, the form of a gentle-being, perhaps? It lays unmoving in the grasses, a crown of peach elder-lilies inadvertantly at the place where one might surmise a head...
Still. Silent.
Having followed the plummeting shape of an injured ship down to the surface, the black Z95 of Anakin Skywalker settles down on the surface of Sullust, canopy hurriedly opening. The Jedi padawan jumps down from the fighter, landing on the ground and closing up his ship before his green gaze casts about with concern. Spotting the downed ship, he moves towards it, then notices a slight path leading away.
Anakin follows it, glancing about carefully with his comlink held in his fist, talking briefly into it. Spotting what seems like a sentient shape, Anakin moves towards it, dropping to one knee to examine it further. 
	
A gentle creature, perhaps-- for it is a waif-like figure. The robes make it look bigger than it is, perhaps that is their factor of draw for the wearer. The soft rise and fall of a back can be seen, the figure partially rolled onto its front.
One arm is outstretched and clad with a black satin glove and a rather prominent time-piece. The hand does not move. The other one, however, is tucked beneath a pale chin-- also, clad in black silk. It grips something, though...
Terribly fast. So terribly fast does this figure go from unmoving and silent to drawing out a weapon. The gleam of a force pike catches a string of sunlight as that gloved hand pulls from beneath the body, the melee weapon. It grates with a sickening hum, only a hum that force pikes have as it arcs high, swung for the pretty-boy Jedi Padawan...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker ignites his purple lightsaber and tries to parry!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker parries with his purple lightsaber.
Sense. Reflex. These are the only two things that keep the Padawan from a faceful of Force pike; down on one knee, he sees the black-clad fist wrapped around something and stiffens, only a moment before the reflecting sun warns him of an oncoming blow. Immediately his hand drops to his side, the steel cylinder of his lightsaber pulled out and the blade ignited just in time to catch the pike.
The two weapons hiss and crackle together, Anakin pushing off and jumping up to rise to both feet once again, green eyes wide with surprise as the purple blade is held level in his hand. He drops into a defensive stance, the tip of the crackling lightsaber levelled at the thing. "What are you?" He says calmly, relaxing slightly as he takes a half-step forward, swinging.
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher successfully blocks Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike.
"Well, you /have/ improved, my delicious little muffin," the figure entones with a sickly-sweet voice; if one were to listen close enough, they would be able to discern a growing smile that must be surfacing on the form's shadowy visage.
"I just want to talk, you know," it says, the force pike swung for the lightsaber-wielding hand of Anakin Skywalker. "Perhaps you will listen," it hisses as the strike arcs at the Padawan.
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker's arms with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker parries with his purple lightsaber.
The blade flicks up, catching the blade of the force pike once again, Anakin grunting with exertion as it takes all his strength to keep the blow from blasting his own blade back into him. "Interesting method of ... starting a conversation," the padawan says with a grimace, pushing back with his blade and taking a step away.
"What do you want from me? Why the trickery?" His eyes narrow, not taking very long to put two and two -- the downed ship and this surprise attack -- together. "If you want to talk, then talk. I will not fight you unless you force my hand." He relaxes slightly, blade lifting but not being retracted. "Who are you?"
As to it's identity, the figure doesn't answer. It reads the exertion on the face of Skywalker, the corners of its lips unseen, but upturning with a measure of delight. "I want the disk, Anakin," it says, simply.
The Teacher pauses a moment, the Force Pike twirled in the gloved hand as the glimmer of the time-piece catches the smooth, black weapon.
"Tell me," the robed form asks, politely. "Does a cherry, and the Pi sign, mean anything to you?" As the last words are spoken, the Force Pike is angled again and swung in a high arc, down on the Jedi.
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker tries to parry with his purple lightsaber, but The Teacher's Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike vaporizes him.
"What disk?" Anakin asks, blinking, taking a step back. "What are you talking ab--" The next words cause a sudden silence to fall over the Padawan, eyes wide, looking stricken as something seems to almost crumple beneath the surface of his eyes. As the pike slashes towards him, his dulled response is too slow; the blade slices through his tunic and into his skin, blood following the blade's exit from him. 
Yet the pain does not deter him. Anger flashes in his gaze as he takes a step forward, voice hoarse, not even seeming to notice the blood pouring from his side, anger and adrenaline blocking out the pain. "Where is she?" he hisses, another step bringing him even closer as he swings wildly towards her legs. "What have you done with her?!"
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher successfully blocks Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike.
"What disk?" the figure asks, sarcastically before a dainty snort is offered. "Another Jedi failure. Figures," it mutters just as the Force Pike it wields is swung on a downward bend to block the humming lavender blade of hot flame from rendering The Teacher a cripple.
"Thank you for your time, you've proven quite useless," it says, a mild chortle as just for kicks-- the Teacher swings the pike at Skywalker once more with an eerie hum on it's voice.
It doesn't, however, mention anything more on Cherry Pi...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker's head with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker tries to parry with his purple lightsaber, but The Teacher's Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike shreds his head. Anakin Skywalker collapses, critically injured.
Anger courses through Anakin's veins. Perhaps it costs him, his strike not aimed well enough and deflected aside; he cannot parry the counterattack, which burns, slashing across his ribs and opens a deep gash in his side. The pain is a hot flash of fire in Anakin's eyes, voice choked by blood and pain. "I'll ... hunt you down. There is nowhere you can go that I won't follow." 
He takes a lurching step forward, falling to one knee with the bright blade still clasped in one hand, eyes closing for a moment as he doubles over in pain. "I will never stop until ..." he stiffens, anger burning in his eyes as he rises to his feet again, emerald flashing dangerously as he steps forward and swings!
FORCE: You can no longer feel your wounds!
You allow your anger to overthrow your better judgement and feel its unsettling power...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher successfully blocks Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike.
"Our hearts are singing out, just for you,
The cemetary song for summer...
And if we knew just what, we could do...
The cemetary song, we'd not sing...
I'm sittin' over, Neptune City,
I used to love it, it used to be pretty..."
The hum has turned into a full-blown song of eerie... mourning, perhaps. As the strike lands the blonde-haired Jedi, he should be dead. However, the Teacher knows much about the users who wield the Force...
"Just like Vairde," it sighs, with a shake of it's cowled head. "Don't worry, cherry pie," it says, grinning out the words. "I'll take /very/ good care of her..."
The figure begins to move, for the spaceport.
"Oh, do me a favour would you, Skywalker?" the figure says as it strolls among the wild flowers with a brief pause. "Tell the Child Knight, too, that I'll take very good care of her delicious half-sister. After all," it entones, wickedly.
"I'm not a terrible host..."
No longer deterred by his wounds as anger courses through him, Anakin breaks into a run. "No!" He roars hoarsely, pursuing her closely. "Where is she?" The blade still clenched in his hand as he chases after her, he swings towards the legs that bring her away from him. "If you don't tell me ... your death will not be slow," he practically hisses, eyes narrow, and the words do not seem empty threats...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher successfully blocks Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike.
If the Child Knight's reaction was anything to go by-- the Padawan here, is ever predictable. As he strikes for The Teacher as it walks away, the Force Pike is brought up and encounters the humming blade-- a clash that sends sparks flying.
"Back off, little boy," The Teacher hisses, waggling a gloved fingertip at Anakin.
"I'll kill her and mail you her pieces in a jigsaw puzzle if you don't... remember, the Light Side, and enhance your calm..."
A tilt of the cowled head, before it makes for the spaceport once more.
If anything would pierce through the anger and get to Anakin, it is not mentions of the Light Side, but the threat to Maddy. He stiffens, taking a step back and not pursuing her, emerald eyes instead watching her with cold fury raging beneath the surface. "If you so much as touch her ... I'll never rest until I find you and bring you to justice. Swift, cold justice."
His eyes narrow as the blade retracts into the hilt of his lightsaber. "Where is she? She doesn't have anything you want, and neither do I. Let her go!" Anakin takes a step forward but does not chase, voice lowering even more. "You're too afraid to fight me. Coward. Fight me! We can do this honorably, and if I win, you let her go!" His words seem almost pleading, but the tone is firm, calm.
The figure continues walking, softly-sung words on her lips-- terribly enchanting, if they weren't a song that bespoke death so, so mightily. The crunch of flowers beneath Anakin's foot as he makes his advance but pauses, only cause a tremble of laughter to emit-- yet, the steps continue.
But, for whatever reason, the terms of such a thing proposed by the Jedi cause the Teacher to turn just barely, and stop.
"Honour?" The word is purred out, perhaps a sentiment that can be appreciated by this ...professor. "I'll ignore your slight as to my cowardice," she replies, smoothly. "And if you lose?" the Teacher asks, her tone dripping with expectation...
"If I lose ..." Anakin's eyes narrow slightly, glancing down to the steel cylinder he holds in his hands. "If I lose, you get my lightsaber. If I win, you let Maddy go and tell me where I can get her ... and you never come after either of us again." He drops into a defensive stance, eyes narrowing. "Do you agree?" 
	
"What makes you think that I give a toss about your pretty glowstick?" she asks, snorting. "If you're interested in such a deal, these are the terms: if I win this duel, I get your lightsaber and unless anyone tries to stop me... I get /you/. I'm sure Miss Trix would love to see you," the figure remarks, brightly.
"If I lose, you get your precious little fiance. But I warn you," she says, twirling the Force Pike in her hand. "Come after me, should you win? I will get her again and rip every single strand of her hair out. Then I will have to find other things to rip out and off of her luscious body, to teach you a lesson," remarks the figure.
"Very, very high stakes, hmm?" coos the Teacher. "Do you agree to the terms, Skywalker?"
As she asks why she would want his saber, Anakin only smiles knowingly, eyes flashing. "Fine, you get me. It'll be worth it to be with her, and to keep you from getting your dirty hands on her. I agree ... but how can I trust you to let her go if I win?" He stiffens, muscles tensing as he drops into the defensive stance once again and arms himself, blade hissing out.
"On my honor, if you release her and do not come after her again, I will not quarrel with you," he says quietly, taking a step forward. The anger seems to have taken a back seat ... for now. He lifts his blade and closes his eyes for a moment, taking a calming breath. "Let us begin..." Then he smiles politely and leaps forward, blade crackling through the air.
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker ignites his purple lightsaber.
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher tries to parry with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike, but Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber hits and maims her, destroying The Teacher's Black Robe.
"As you..."
Honour?! None of it radiates through the Jedi obviously! About to politely answer the young Jedi, the Teacher finds herself with a giant slice of purple fire-blade. It slashes a ghastly rend through her robes and down the right side of her thigh. There is something... particularly odd about this individual. The very tangible grit of teeth, almost enough to crack them, is heard through the bearing of a hiss as the lightsaber slashes her flesh.
"Honour?" seethes the Teacher through clenched teeth as she derobes-- left in the mantle of a black bodysuit with a thin red belt at the waist, boots laced tightly to her knees. It, is definately a she. "Honour does not strike when one is still bargaining the terms," she efforts, blood not pouring from the wound as the lightsaber has cauterized it. The smell of flesh is stifling, sickening-- hot.
Not another word comes from the Teacher-- her face seen now. She is unremarkable; ashen-grey eyes, and long chocolate hair in a high pony-tail. The Force Pike is swung at Anakin, aiming for a cruel strike anywhere on his person. A smile rests gently on her lips as the weapon swings downward...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker parries with his purple lightsaber.
"You ambushed me," Anakin murmurs, smiling a sickly smile of satisfaction as his blade lifts to meet the pike with a crackling hiss. The anger courses through him again, bottled up but now not controlling him; instead he funnels it into power, into energy, into a driving force behind his blows. "Without warning, and tricked me to come here for no reason ... now we're even."
"Besides," Anakin says, taking a step forward as he pulls away from her blow, "we were done with our terms... you asked me if I accepted, and I did." The smile grows slightly, but it is not shared in the green eyes that stare coldly out to the shape. He takes another step forward, striking again. 
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher successfully blocks Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike.
The incoming strike twice-over of the lightsaber is met by a sturdy weapon and a sturdy hand, besides her injury.
"Well, I shall see what parts of the terms I'll pick apart, then," the lady smirks, even if it is lopsided with pain.
The twirl of the sheen weapon is lazy, almost, before it cuts a strike through the setting sun's rays-- aimed for Anakin's lightsaber arm...
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher attacks Anakin Skywalker's arms with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker parries with his purple lightsaber. Anakin Skywalker ripostes and seriously wounds The Teacher.
"It would be -very- dishonorable to go back on terms we did agree on... you're just making excuses for being sloppy and getting hit," Anakin says, anger rising in his voice at her suggestion. As her strike comes, he reacts quickly, blade crackling against the pike; he twists his wrist, the blade slipping down and cutting across the shape's arm. 
"Getting a little overconfident, perhaps?" He says flatly, eyes flashing as he takes another step forward, blade swinging back and forth as he prepares a strike. "Remember our terms. Where is she?" Anakin's face twists into a look of anger as he steps forward, slashing. 
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> Anakin Skywalker swings his purple lightsaber at The Teacher!
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF00>COMBAT:</FONT> The Teacher tries to parry with her Kh'rusha Exotic Forcepike, but Anakin Skywalker's purple lightsaber hits and mauls her.
	
Rather than falling down as the strike comes to maim her, the Teacher sits down on the flowers-- leaning back on her elbows as she puts the Force Pike in her belt. Stormy eyes wander Anakin as sweat beads her brow, but ever yet-- the smile still sits, planted, on her face.
"Over... confident? No... you... might have mangled me... with your lightsaber... Anakin..." A cough, and a pause.
"But you'll never see... her... again." The Teacher lays down on the ground a moment, laughter on her lips. The ground starts to stir slightly, a vibration coming from near the heart of the forest...
On the Teacher's belt? A square box. She tugs it off, pushing the solitary button and throwing it into the oak trees. A plume of smoke surfaces after a moment, and another laugh...
"No!" Anakin shouts, the lightsaber clenched in his fist. He takes a step forward, swinging wildly, but all his blade does is destroy a patch of flowers and score a burnt hole in the ground. Coughing as the smoke fills his lungs, he falls to one knee, eyes burning -- both with the stinging of the smoke and the anger coursing through him. "Remember our agreement! I beat you! I -beat you-!" He slumps brokenly, not knowing what to do, the blade retreating into the cylinder in his hand.
The vibrations coming from the direction of the forest, increase. Felt within her arms as she rests on the ground, they tingle up her spine. Already, there appears to be some healing to the first wound she endured, the Teacher giggling like a school girl...
"Yes... oh yes," she smirks, oddly... just laying there for a moment...
A powerful feeling rushes through the area: a feeling of calm, of patience, and it is preceded by a figure in brown robes who rushes along the rocks and grass. Running swiftly, it turns its head all around, looking desperately for something.. or someone.
Anakin cannot see the shape through the haze of smoke outside and the anger within; as a familiar feeling swells near him, his head snaps around, spotting the shape of Obi-Wan. He says nothing, head bowing to the ground as he shakes slightly. "Where is she?!" he demands again of the shape, though in his state of range and confusion he does not know where 'The Teacher' is. "I will not rest until I find her ..." his fists clench. 
The laughter would signal where she is, the giggle-fit that The Teacher endures as the smoke rises higher-- leaving a clear passage. The scene is an interesting one. A mangled woman on the ground with several rends in her that bespeak lightsaber-- yet not a scratch on him? "I thought the Jedi... defended? Not attacked?" she remarks, smoothly if slow.
As a calm feeling washes her, the vibrations along the ground increase still and the very beginings of a faint sound echo through the mirror glade. "You'll find her. A piece here, a piece there..." coughs the Teacher, laying her head on the ground then. "Ah, the /famed/ Obi-Wan Kenobi. Still unshaven?" the Teacher remarks, cracking open a stormy-grey eye in the direction of the running Jedi Knight.
"Well, this was pleasant. But I should be going..." Yeah, okay, how is she gonna go anywhere in /her/ condition? And still... the vibrations grow stronger from north...
Obi-Wan casts off his hood and comes before Anakin, pushing the fog out of the way. "Anakin, back away!" he commands, looking around. Frowning, he says, "Who is this woman, and what has she done? Has she captured Madison??" He looks to the north, perhaps sensing time is short, then adds, "Enough of this mockery. Tell me what has happened."
"She led me here and ambushed me ... searching for some disk ... she has Madison," Anakin says, his attention drawn to the shape by its maniacal laughter. "Don't touch her! She hasn't done anything to you, and she doesn't have your disk. Let her go. If you so much as ..." his fists clench, veins bulging out of his neck as anger rages in him.
Yet he controls it, holding it in, refusing to succumb to the fury. He takes a step back as Obi-Wan orders, eyes hard and cold with anger. 
A gloved hand lays itself on the ground, palm down-- a smile spreading across the woman's face.
"Indeed, I did lead him here and I did ambush him," she says, controlling her breathing. "The half-sister doesn't have the disk... the fiance doesn't have the disk... I'm assuming you don't have the disk, or do you?" she asks of Obi-Wan, rhetorically. "So... that leaves the Master Chief. She's... rather feisty... pretty girl... lovely tattoos on her back... and the one on her chest?" A grin, a broad one.
"Well, that's... simply to... /die/ for now, isn't it?" That comment, pointed at Anakin. "Gentlemen... it's been fun... but I have things to do. Let me get out of your hair; I /am/ a terrible bore when I'm conducting my anatomy lessons..."
Obi-Wan places a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I swear to you, whoever you are, that if you keep meddling you will have nor find any peace. You cannot win. And if you do not return Madison to Ryloth, in one piece, you will wish I had struck you down here, and now." He stares into the fog, then retreats behind a tree for cover.
The hand on his shoulder goes unnoticed, Anakin staring grimly through the fog. "I'll hunt you down," he whispers. "I'll never rest ... never stop ... unless you leave her unharmed." He shakes slightly with anger. 
The soft hum turns to a roar in mere seconds. Hundreds of stampeeding hooves on the ground as a colourful pack of wild Sullustan mini-horses break through the fringes of the oak forest and into the mirrored glade. They move with a shadow's speed, pink and blue and orange, red and yellow and blue! Whinnies rise up into the flower-filled meadow, as the pack speed and tear up the ground in clumps of orange dirt beneath their hooves.
The hand that remained upon the ground palm-down, quickly lifts and grabs at the mane of a passing green mini-horse-- the Teacher hefting her lithe frame atop its back! The horse startles further, bucking wildly which causes its fellow runners to do the same for a moment before spreading wildly out and running in circles, darting into and out of trees that frame this serene surround.
"Adieu!" the Teacher chimes, pulling something out of her belt and tossing it at Anakin.
A ... lock, of black hair?
Obi-Wan stays behind his tree as the little horses run past. He frowns and shakes his head as they stampede, but he appears covered well enough. One succeeds is bucking him in the touche, however, and he's knocked up against the tree. "Damn fool.." Obi-Wan mutters grumpily.
The horses seem very surreal as they charge on post Anakin, his eyes gazing unseeingly through them. He rises slowly to his feet, catching the lock of hair and closing his eyes for a few moments before he tucks it into his tunic and turns to Obi-Wan, eyes hard. "We have to find her," he says simply, voice flat and level. "I'm not strong enough ... she took me by surprise, I walked right into the trap." He avoids the Knight's gaze. 
	
"Oh, yes, /well done/," Obi-Wan replies, raising his hands. "Quick is the path to the Dark Side, and only /fools/ turn to it!" He pauses, letting his hands rest on his hips again as he leans forward, glare intensifying. Perhaps that's supposed to sink in. "She made a fool out of you, Anakin! You got carried away again, and now you have /no/ witness, /nothing/ to go on, and absolutely nothing else! Do you not yet understand!? The Dark Side, even if it /seems/ a good idea at the time, is not worth it! It never is. It never /will/ be. And look what it's brought you, hmm!? Not a /damn/ thing. Or, nothing good, anyway."
If Anakin does not enjoy this tongue-lashing, he does nothing to show it. He takes it like a man, meeting Obi-Wan's gaze for a few long moments. "I know, Master. It was only ... she threatened Maddy and I couldn't control myself. I got so angry. But I recovered. I am myself now." Anakin blinks slowly, calming himself even further. "I am ready to face whatever is in store for me, Master." He says simply. "For good or ill, I will cling to my strength in the Light Side. I will not fail again." 
Obi-Wan lets his hands drop and shakes his head. "Control, control. You /must/ learn control," Obi-Wan replies, "or you will suffer Orin's fate." He sighs again and looks to the sky, then says, "Only a fully trained Jedi Knight will succeed in stopping these.. dark warriors. You are not ready for this, Anakin, and I cannot defeat them alone." He clasps the young man's shoulder, concluding, "It is time you came with me." 
Anakin looks up to Obi-Wan and takes in a deep breath, nodding. "Yes, Master." He turns, the lightsaber replaced on his belt as he follows the Knight.
Category:April 2008 RP Logs