A Suggestion from a Friend

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

Training was one thing but meeting up with an unknown friend suggested by Zexva? Murae didn't like it, but it was what she needed. Murae had come to the decision long ago that she wanted training from as many people as possible to learn all styles of fighting and force skills. So her decision seemed to have led her to Dantooine. 


She was coming up upon the open land to land her ship when she started having second thoughts. Second thoughts? She never had second thoughts. Quickly pushing the thought out of her head quickly, she continued and finished the landing sequence. She looked at the map on her cockpit dashboard to see if she was where she was. From what Zexva had said this was the spot so she trusted his word. 


Murae stood up from her seat going into her quarters to get her training gear. Switching into her armourweave suit that she uses to move quickly and flexibly, her captains blaster, and the steel sword she had taken from the armoury to use. It infuriated her that she still was not tasked with making her own saber yet. Countless training sessions and punishments that only made her hate more monstrous before still did not prove her worthy. But it was to be expected.


Once she equipped herself she put her long crimson brown hair into a tail so it wouldn't be in the way and headed about her way out of the ship. Stepping outside the large slave ship she was once a slave on and now owner of, she looked around the grasslands ready for anything; never letting her guard down.



This was the beginning of a new branch of her training.  

[Rugs]

Dantooine was an exceedingly dull place. Mille upon mile upon mile of rolling hills and farmland, broken up by the occasional forest or settlement. Perfect place for a Jedi. Nieraan snorted as the greenlands rolled, unbroken, beneath his landing craft. The Nyoka hung in orbit above, awaiting his return from the surface. No wonder they had an enclave here.

He normally wouldn’t have come within spitting distance of Dantooine, let alone land on it—even if a resurgent rebellion threatened to bring a bit of life to the backwater agriworld. Yet, here he was, not for official business, but for an errand. A favor for his student, even if it irritated him to think of it that way.

The shuttle shook as the landing struts descended from its belly. Nieraan could see the girl’s ship off in the distance.

Murae Vatuorius. An acolyte, recently apprenticed to Syrin Elar. Nieraan reviewed her files before agreeing to the trip. She was fairly middle-of-the-pack. Weaker than Zexva, to be sure, but she had potential. Perhaps.

“We’ll find out,” he muttered to himself as his shuttle came down near her craft, sending a bit dust and dirt into the air. He emerged from the ramp a few moments later, jacket and kama blowing in the wind as he weighed the Sith before him.

Zeltron. That, perhaps, explained some things as to Zexva’s request, and his dalliances — Nieraan hadn’t particularly sought to find out about that, but rumors were hard to avoid in the Temple.

She was moderate height, and slender in build. She held a sword, of all things, and a blaster. “Where is your saber?” Nieraan asked flatly as he stepped from the metal ramp and onto the soft earth. The three sabers at his waist jingled in rhythm to his stride as he approached the girl. “Or do you plan on swinging that thing around?”

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

Murae watched as the ship landed in front of her not far from her own ship The Bloodwasp. Murae scoffed at the question when the man stepped off his ship and responded with,

"Master Elar wants me to wait on a saber apparently by her words. So I have this."

Her tone was that she wasn't too pleased with her situation. Clearly she'd rather a saber. Though she did take quite a formal bow (not a curtsy) and introduced herself.

"Murae Vatuorious. Though I assume you already know my name given that you and our mutual friend have more than likely spoken."

She examined the man after the bow and was quite pleased with her trainer on the inside but while her expression seemed emotionless she could tell this could go one of two ways. One, a really good training session. Or two, someone that could easily hate her. 

Neither mattered to her but she would deal with either.

[Rugs]

“I see,” Nieraan said. He raised his brow a bit at the notion. “Strange, that Elar would limit your advancement, but,” he smirked and shrugged a bit, “that’s not my problem.”

Murae hardly seemed thrilled about her own limitations. Perhaps she should take that up with Syrin. Or take initiative and craft or otherwise obtain her own saber.

Again, neither of these were Nieraan’s concerns.

“I know your name because it’s my business to know,” he said, giving much mind to her bow. Nieraan knew exactly how the statement might come across; though it was very much his business to know the students, as a training instructor. He allowed a hint of a smile. “But yes, Zexva has spoken of you.”

What that meant, well… That was up to her.

“At any rate, I’m not here for small talk,” he went on. “Your sword will have to suffice, for now. I hope it’s lightsaber resistant — a half-melted stub of a weapon won’t do you any good here or anywhere.”

He turned from the girl now, walking away from their ships as he surveyed the land around them. It was flat. Empty — as good a training ground as any, and the fertile ground was softer than Korriban’s rocky surface. “Tell me what you know,” he said, still walking, “and what Elar has taught you. You’re weaker than Zexva; I can feel that. But…” he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, “maybe I can teach you a thing or two.”

“No, no,” he said, suddenly, turning away from her again. “Show me what you know.”

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

His comment about Zexva speaking of her didn't phase her on the slightest. She merely returned the slight smile with one of her own that didn't seem to pleasant. More as if a smile coming from a demon; then again her skin was much darker than a normal Zeltron which gave that appearance as if she was a demon.

Murae liked to scare her enemies, looking like something she isn't is one way but not the best way. Though while it has its benefits, it also has its disabilities. She was EASILY spotted amoungst the other Zeltrons. She hadn't met any other with a skin tone like hers. Meaning she couldn't hide in plain site amoungst other Zeltrons very well because she stood out. Another thing that could also spot her amoungst others but not as often is her necklace. Unless hidden, in this case it isn't, her tribal necklace is one of a kind and she never takes it off under any circumstances.

While following Nieraan, his comment about her sword was about the most valid question about her equipment. It was in fact sabre resistant and so far has proved quite useful. While she hated being the one Acolyte without a sabre at the moment, she was able to weild it effectively. When Nieraan had told her to show him what she knows, she drew her steel sword and got in a Shi-cho (buttured that spelling) stance and made a low strike at his waist. Predictable but effective. She was more focused on speed and technique. Only when needed she used brute force.

[Rugs]

Nieraan felt the girl approaching through the Force, as much as he heard the soft ruffle of the grass beneath her feet as she approached him. He kept his back to her, staring across the verdant plains as he pondered just how rough he’d be on this acolyte. On the one hand, she was Elar’s student, not his. On the other, he outranked Elar and was likely more well-connected—not to mention surely stronger.

He held back to a degree against Zexva, and most of his students; simply beating up on them for the sake of a beating itself wasn’t the most effective training tool, and Nieraan wasn’t so insecure that he needed to beat up on Initates to boost is self esteem.

But you? he wondered as he heard the dry rasp of a sword drawing. What do you deserve?

His back still faced her. He seemed relaxed, perhaps even glibly so. Yet even as his outward focus seemed more intent on the plains before him, his senses spread outward and focused on the girl. He didn’t need to see her when he could feel her, feel the subtle rise in anticipation as she prepared to strike and then…

The Force whispered to him before the attack came, as it did to anyone with the ear to hear it. He skipped forward, out of the reach of her blade and began to turn. One of the hilts at his waist sprang to life, as he came around to face her. He gave a casual, almost lazy flourish of the viridian blade, but settled on his heels, rather than attack.

“Again,” he called with a motion for her to keep attacking. “Come at me like you want me more deader than anything you’ve wanted in your life.” They'd have to find her limits, wherever they were, and push her past them. That was how she'd grow. It was the same thing Kamirille did for him daily. Even if he didn't plan to be quite so... abrasive as that, he couldn't deny the effectivness of his mother's technique.

Nieraan smirked. It was a bit cocky, perhaps, but he had reason to be confident. “Trust me, you’ll need more than even that.”

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

As Murae watched the strike fail though he drawing one of his sabre's to life. She readied her stance again not changing her emotion. She was more focused on what was right in front of her than anything else. That's how she needed to be thinking in order to learn. 

"Again" Is what she heard from him, "Come at me like you want me deader than anything in your life." Those words rang like bells in a tower inside of her head. Murae simply nodded without emotion before gritting her teeth charging for two more quick strikes at him fiercely.

He wanted to push her limits and she knew it good and well by his words. Though while he wanted her to continue on the offensive, he however was merely blocking. Leading her to believe two things could happen.

One, he could surprise her at any moment and start to beat her. Or two, he could work with her swiftly like hes doing now and push her to her limits to train her. Either of which she has experienced to some extent but with different trainers.

After the two strikes she would charge at him again once more as now she delivered three savage strikes at him. Murae knew that she would have to give it her all here to keep up and learn anything from Nieraan.

[Rugs]

The girl advanced. She launched a hurried pair of strikes, one licking out at Nieraan’s shoulder and another following down toward his stomach. He batted the first stroke away and redirected the second harmlessly down. The vibroblade’s faint buzz as it whirred by reminded him, ironically, of the heightened stakes he faced in sparring with this girl.

A lightsaber could be powered down to a setting that merely hurt instead of maimed. He’d done that with his own green saber. Vibroblades, though… Even without the blade whirring, they hurt.

Just a little incentive to keep from falling asleep at the wheel.

Murae set herself and charged again. Nieraan saw the opening for attack, but opted to let her resume her offensive to see what she could muster. The first strike lashed at his leg. He dropped his blade low to stop her attack before she launched into a thrust at his chest. A parry diverted the danger.

The last attack, though, came as a vicious chop at his head. Nieraan chose to avoid this altogether and ducked low. He flicked his blade forward and made his first attack of the day, slashing at her chest as he rose.

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

Murae had watched his movements to make sure of her next move. She was so sure of herself; she thought to herself. Though despite her overhead swing with her durasteel sword he dodged it again. When his attack came up to her chest she gave out a loud grunt of pain staggering back. His attack clearly had caught her by surprise.

Staggering back, she positioned herself going in again. This time once again making sure of his movements. Murae thought to herself how she couldn't allow him to counterattack her. While thinking she charged once again taking a swing in a downwards motion to his neck/shoulder. 

After the the first attack she launched another. A short, quick, jab at his stomach. Though that wasn't enough for her. He told her to continue to attacking and she did just that. After a moment for him to recover from his response to her two attacks she charged one last time though instead of a swing like she seemed she was going to do. She threw a side kick down at his leg to try and drop him to one knee then after if successful swing at his side.

During all of this Murae silently thought to herself with anger how she would prove herself..

[Rugs]

"Dead," Nieraan said simply as his saber raked across the girl's stomach and chest. She wasn't dead, of course - with the saber set to training strength it'd do little more than give her a sharp sting as it touched her. But the blow wasn't a gentle one; had they been fighting for real, Murae would have been in serious trouble.

Still, the strike seemed to get the point across.

The Zeltron girl launched herself at him again with a renewed vigor. She swung at his neck. He lifted his blade to block it, leaning slightly to his side. She came again with a jab of her blade at his stomach. To this, he simply swiped to the side, letting the momentum of her strike carry her blade harmlessly forward through the air, instead of his gut.

An opening presented itself, but Nieraan retreated this time, rather than exploit it. Though a shout of "Sloppy!" as he did should have been enough to let the girl know he know of the error. For now, he was more interested allowing her to keep attacking than to keep putting her on her rear end.

She came again, this time leading with a kick at the side of his leg. Nieraan smirked. He could have stopped it, moved out of the way, or even caught it and thrown her. Instead, he lashed out with his saber, sending the green fire to meet her unprotected flesh.

[Marcie's ℳℰℳℰS]

"Dead." Is what she heard first which infuriated her but her anger was cut off by pain as his saved raked itself through her stomach and chest. As she launched her attacks her rage was once again sparked by a "Sloppy!" From Nieraan. Her anger was taking control of her focus though she did not sense it. She only continuously swung her attacks.

But right as she went for the kick she found herself next on her own knees gasping for air as his sabre met her unprotected portion of her body. Murae grunted putting her hand on the ground to support her body, she looked up grunting giving another push to attack. She brought her steel sword from her side on the ground to jab upwards at his side.

Merely a final push while kneeling on the ground.