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Post by Rugs on Nov 26, 2018 17:40:20 GMT -5
 Character Name Full Name • Tsubasa Arus Nickname • Tsu/Tsu-Witch Race • Epicanthix Birthplace • Fondor Age • 38 Gender • Male Sexuality • Bisexual Faction • Fringe Concept • Rank 3 - Matukai Adept/general merc-for-hire Languages • Basic, Epicant, Huttese (moderate), Binary (moderate understanding) Assets • x1 Wan-Shen (a guan dao/lightsaber resistant); x1 custom jian (cortosis weave); x1 short vibrosword (cortosis weave); phrik guantlets; personal ship the Vagabond; Project Familiar REA #10 - Ifrit; wooden flute; other equipment may vary based on mission/needs. Appearance Face Claim • Tony Jaa Height & Weight • 5'9" 155 lbs Overall Looks • Tsubasa is slender and is quite short for an Epicanthix. Perhaps to compensate for this, he spends a significant amount of time training. As such, his body has been conditioned as a blade in the forge, and he is very lean, with a strong, healthy build. Hs body's very impressively defined, with clear muscle tone from a lifetime that revolves around rigorous physical training. His love of training has left him very light on his feet, and he moves with the grace of an accomplished fighter. He has a scar across his chest from his days dueling in an arena on Nar Shaddaa. While he's not old, the extended lifespan of his species, with his healthy living and close connection to the Force have given Tsubasa a face that's younger than his years. His hair is dark, and while he wore it long in his younger days, he prefers it short to medium length now. His dress is often simple, wearing the tradition green and white of his order. He's also known to change his attire to something that better fits in with the expectations of a wandering spacer from time to time. He has a pair of matching tattoos that form thin lines from above his eyes and diagonally down onto his cheeks. He received them from his Matukai teacher when he rose to the rank of Adept. They were applied with the Force, and signify his completion of training as an Apprentice and that he is a Matukai Adept. He also wears a necklace that holds a small, azure crystal. It's often underneath his clothes so that it is against his skin. The necklace was a parting gift from his parents, given as he departed his home to begin training. Personality Profile Tsubasa has a cocky streak, though it's been tempered somewhat with age. Still, he believes himself to be great at many things, especially, especially in terms of combat. This is not without reason, of course; he is a very accomplished fighter and not one to trifle with. He won't hesitate to get into a fight and has often been known to instigate them. As such, he's hard for some to get along with, though he's a good friend for those that can look his rough edges. Once you get through the arrogant outer layer, he's not at all a bad person. He can be friendly enough to people he knows and has a soft heart beneath his meatheaded tendencies. He's usually a bit withdrawn from strangers. He has a taste for flair, and the dramatic, which shows up when he fights; has a habit of adding flourishes when opportunity allows. And, despite his avid love of all things battle-related, he loves the arts, especially paintings and orchestrated music -- tastes that are a lasting impression from his teacher. He also loves nature, mountains in particular; also a lasting effect of the time with his teacher. As far as fighting goes, Tsubasa generally fights to embarrass or hurt his opponent. When he fights, he moves with grace, using his agility to dance around his opponent. Though he loves a good fight, and will readily take steps to defend himself when needed -- it's rare that he fights to kill. Life is sacred, in Tsubasa's eyes, and unless pushed to a position where lethality is required, he will seek to avoid taking it. Perhaps Tsubasa's most prized possession, other than his weapons, is a wooden flute that he received from his Matukai teacher, shortly before the man's death. Tsubasa has made it a point to practice on the thing regularly, and in the years since he got it, he's grown to be very good at playing it. Background Father • Akito, 65, shipwright Mother • Fumiko, 64, merchant Siblings • N/A Other Important Connections • Barsavi, 63, mentor, deceased Overall History • Childhood Years 0-7 Beginnings Years 0-5 Tsubasa was born to Akito and Fumiko Arus. They were a family of Epicanthix, and had immigrated from the Epicanthix homeworld of Panatha to Fondor. Akito, his father was a worker in the fabled shipyards of Fondor, and spent a lot of time away from his family working in orbit. Fumiko was a small-time merchant, and ran a clothing store in the small town they lived in. The family was a normal one, and both of his parents loved their son very much, and even though Akito couldn't be home as much as he would have liked to, he stayed in close contact with Fumiko and made every effort to offer whatever help he could whenever it was needed. For the most part, all was well for Tsubasa's family. They weren't rich, but they made enough to support themselves and their child while still maintaining a degree of comfortable living. And as Tsubasa progressed through these early years of his life, he was the image of a normal young boy. He learned to walk, and started to talk, and his parents started to give him some basic education-the kind that would be fitting for a very young boy. As he grew older, he was a bit mischievous, but that was to be expected. Growing Pains Years 6-7 As Tsubasa grew older, some problems started to arise. He started to become a bit arrogant, at least as much as a young boy can be arrogant. He was fast, even as a boy, and would often race with the other boys around the town, and won more oft than not. This of course led to much bragging on his part, which led to the other boys getting angry at him, which led to quite a few scuffles; more scuffles than would be normal for kids to get in. Now, Tsubasa didn't win every fight he got in, of course, but he won a good share, and to the dismay of his parents, seemed to like getting into fights with other kids. At least, they assumed he did, because as time went by he started to instigate fights more and more, despite their best efforts to stop it. But the boy was headstrong, and didn't seem to listen to anyone, something he still has a bit of a problem with to this day. And, as time progressed, one thing started to become apparent. Tsubasa would, more than likely be small. Now, small for an Epicanthix is an entirely different thing than small for a human, since the average height for an Epicanthix is a fair deal taller than the average height for a human; Tsubasa would still be around the average height for a human male, or perhaps just a tad below. Of course, it would be entirely possible for him to hit a growth spurt during his teen years, but his parents remained skeptical. But time rolled on, and, other than his ego and fighting problems, Tsubasa was a good kid. In spite of all of the stress that came with his headstrong nature, they loved him, as any parents should. Tsubasa's seventh birthday came, and on the day after, his life would change. The Wandering Matukai Year 7 A visitor stopped at the Arus family's house the day after Tsubasa's seventh birthday. It was one of the few times his father had been able to come down from the shipyards, and the family was enjoying a night together when the stranger knocked on the door. His father answered, and was greeted by a Cerean male in his mid forties that went by the name of Barsavi, and said to be a Matukai Master Adept. Barsavi had a request, and asked if he could speak to Akito and Fumiko. The Aruses were a kind family, so the man was welcomed into their home, and they heard him out. Barsavi was a Matukai, and spent his days wandering the galaxy. He had stopped on Fondor to see an old friend that lived in the town-down the street from the Aruses, in fact. Barsavi had been in town for a few days, and during that time he and seen Tsubasa's antics on more than one occasion. He said that Tsubasa had the spirit of a fighter in him, and he believed that without some hand to guide him, that fiery spirit could lead the boy into trouble one day. He also told them that Tsubasa had some ability to use the Force in him. Barsavi could touch it himself, and while he said that Tsubasa's resonance was weak, the training of the Matukai could fan it into something much greater. So he was offering to take Tsubasa away, and to train him in the ways of the Matukai. His parents thought long and hard, and end the end, they asked to have a bit more time to consider what had been set before them. Barsavi told them that he would be in town until the end of the week, and that he would be staying at his old friend's home a few houses down the street. After a few days of thinking, they went to Tsubasa. They had come to the conclusion that it would more than likely be best for him to take instruction from Barsavi, but before committing to it, they wanted to know if it was something Tsubasa wanted to do. They sat him down in the living room of their house, and told him everything that Barsavi had said. They told him that they believed it would be best for him, and asked him if he wanted to do it. Tsubasa asked if he would ever get to see them again, and they told him they didn't know. After a long while, Tsubasa said he would do it. The Arus family spent the rest of the night together, knowing that it may have been their last chance to do so. The next day, Barsavi stopped by before heading out. Akito and Fumiko told him that Tsubasa would train under him, and they asked him to take care of him. Barsavi told them that he would not take his duties lightly, and promised to raise the boy well. Tsubasa made his farewells, and his father told him to devote all that he was to his training. His mother gave him a necklace to remember them by. It was a small crystal that hung from the end of a leather cord. Akito had found it years ago, and the two had kept it, and decided to make a necklace out of it for Tsubasa to keep. Once the farewells were done, Tsubasa followed Barsavi to his ship, and the two were off. Tsubasa would never see his parents again. Early Apprenticeship Years 7-15 New Things to Learn Years 7-11 Barsavi took Tsubasa to Cerea to begin his training. On the way, he explained that while the Matukai were an organization, they had no fixed headquarters, and were mostly wanderers. Then, the Cerean asked Tsubasa why he liked to fight so much. Tsubasa was stumped for a bit-it was something he had never really put much thought into. He explained, in the best way that a seven year old boy can, that he liked the rush, the thrill of fighting, even if he lost. It was an explanation that would remain the same throughout the years, even though Barsavi wasn't too terribly fond of it. But even so, Tsubasa would be trained. He would take Tsubasa out into one of the more remote areas of Cerea because the world was known for its natural beauty. Barsavi loved nature, something that would be instilled in Tsubasa as the years rolled by, and believed that one of the best ways to train was to go out and be alone, with nothing but the Force and nature. So he put them down in a serene area near a lake by the foot of a mountain range, and there the training began. Before even attempting to teach Tsubasa to touch the Force, Barsavi taught wanted to teach him discipline, both of mind and body. The physical part consisted of a strict daily exercise routine; for the Matukai, the body was the focus of the Force, and it would have to be in good condition to handle the more rigorous training that would come down the line. Tsubasa excelled at the body part-the boy loved to train himself physically, perhaps with thoughts to make up for the fact that he knew he was small for one of his species; it didn't help that his mentor was rather tall. But he faltered a bit during the mental part of the training. The biggest problem for both him and Barsavi was trying to rein in his big head. That, unfortunately was a problem that Barsavi would struggle with all throughout his years with Tsubasa, and once Tsubasa was away from his guiding hand, it would only grow worse. But that's for the future. Let's focus on the present, shall we? In spite of the troubles, progress was made. After about a year and a half, Barsavi felt that Tsubasa was ready to try to touch the Force. To do this, he taught Tsubasa to enter a meditative state through physical exertion. It took some time, weeks that turned into months, but Barsavi was patient. And then it happened. One day, during training, Tsubasa felt it. In his excitement, he lost it, and had to work at it to regain his connection, but now that he had felt it once, it seemed easier for him to do. Then Barsavi worked on getting Tsubasa to the point where he could touch the Force normally through the physical meditation, and once he got to that point, to hold on to it. Once that was done, he started to teach Tsubasa how to touch the Force without having to go into that meditative state. Tsubasa was able to get that, though it seemed that he did better through meditation, though with time, he'd get better at both. But, now that Tsubasa could touch the Force, Barsavi could start to move into the meat of his training. The Matukai Ways Years 11-13 Now started the journey into the depths of what the Matukai ways would contain. Barsavi started to give Tsubasa some basic overviews of various forms of close quarters combat, from armed to unarmed. Tsubasa showed early promise in two of the forms of melee combat: combat with a blade, and with a wan-shen, the signature weapon of the Matukai. Barsavi had a sword of his own that was used it practice, and he let Tsubasa practice with his wan-shen as well, since Tsubasa wouldn't be able to build his own until he graduated to the rank of Adept. That part of his training moved along very nicely. Barsavi also upped Tsubasa's physical training, and noticed something. The boy was fast. Faster than normal. Or perhaps 'agile' would be a better word. Even at his young age, Tsubasa displayed a lightness on his feet that very much impressed the Cerean. Barsavi made note of it, and would later make changes to Tsubasa's training hone Tsubasa's natural agility into something much more graceful and refined. Tsubasa's training with the Force went a bit slower. He didn't grab on to some areas of the Force nearly as quickly as the others, and Barsavi wasn't too concerned about that. Though the old Cerean had been a Jedi at one point, he saw that Tsubasa naturally understood the area that would be most important for him as a Matukai: the area that had to do with using the body to channel the Force, and the Force to augment his own natural physical abilities, even though most of what Tsubasa was learning was still basic. But that's not to say Barsavi would give up on the other areas of the Force; that would be a disservice to Tsubasa. As the training continued, Barsavi began to teach Tsubasa in the more spiritual ways of the Matukai; to feel the Force as it flowed through him, and to keep himself pure and clean. He taught Tsubasa to keep the body pure through physical activity, and how to meditate through these activities. One that he started to teach Tsubasa was to stand in one stance for a very long time, and to let the Force flow through him. Tsubasa hated that at first, but with time, it would grow to be his favorite way to meditate. And as these early years together passed, teacher and student began to develop a very strong bond. As they laid out at night under the starry skies, they would talk about a whole range of things. Tsubasa would ask Barsavi numerous questions, about the Force, about the galaxy, about life in general, and Barsavi would answer all that he could as best he could. Often times, before they went to sleep, Barsavi would play a wooden flute that he had. The old Cerean loved the arts, especially music, and Tsubasa loved to hear his teacher play. Despite their differences (Barsavi was tall and humble, and was not one to jump into a fight, where Tsubasa was still a bit short, still cocky, and still tended to jump at the opportunity for a good fight), the two got along very well. A Gift Years 14-15 Tsubasa's training progressed in stages, and a little while after his fourteenth birthday, Barsavi felt that he was ready to move on to the next phase. Tsubasa had shown admirable growth, and his ego was even being reined in a little bit, though Barsavi knew that Tsubasa knew that he was good at his lessons, and the boy carried a certain smugness from that. But Barsavi continued to try to work the arrogance out of Tsubasa, though he sometimes wondered if it was having any effect. Anyway, at this next phase, Barsavi once again upped Tsubasa's training. His exercise became more rigorous, and his agility became a heavy focus, though Barsavi did continue to train him to keep him strong. But as a result of this increased focus on his speed and agility, Tsubasa started to develop an almost dance-like grace to his movements. As he got older, that fluidity would be echoed in almost everything he did, regardless of if it was combat or no. Now that the basics had been laid, Barsavi began to delve into some deeper things. Tsubasa started to learn much more about combat, and the two would often have long sparring sessions, with blunted weapons that Barsavi had or with fist and foot, it made no difference. Tsubasa lived for that part of the training, and was growing to be good at it. He was good at both unarmed combat and combat with melee weapons, but showed an astounding proficiency for melee weapons, especially for his age. Barsavi would make note of that as well, and adjust his training to supplement that, though unarmed combat remained a critical part of Tsubasa's training-you can't always count on having a weapon with you, after all. The Force part of Tsubasa's training was also stepped up. The meditation sessions grew longer, and the meditation deeper. Barsavi started to teach Tsubasa to use the Force to heal, and Tsubasa sort of got it. He wasn't good at it, but he got it, and with time and more opportunities/needs to use the power, he'd grow to get become fairly decent at it. But that would only come with time. He also learned to made some progress in using the Force to sense the world and other beings around him. Once again, he wasn't too terribly good at it, but he was able to do it. During this time, Barsavi decided to try to teach Tsubasa a specialized power called Force Deflection. He had learned it from his master when he was still part of the Jedi Order, and he felt that it would be something that would be a very useful thing for Tsubasa to know, though he wasn't sure if Tsubasa would be able to grasp it at first. It was a struggle at first, as Barsavi expected, but over the years, Tsubasa would come to get it. In fact, as time passed, Tsubasa started to show some proficiency in using the Force to protect-not as much as channeling it through himself, but it would come to be one of his three strong areas. Shortly before Tsubasa's sixteenth birthday, Barsavi gave him a gift. The Cerean kept a number of weapons on board his ship, and Tsubasa would be receiving one of them. It was a wan-shen. It was simple, and without much decoration, and looked a bit like a pudao. Barsavi told Tsubasa that it was what his teacher let him use to train until he constructed his own, and it would serve the same purpose for Tsubasa. And even though it was a training weapon, the blade on the end was sharp, and was quite deadly. Tsubasa accepted it very gratefully, and Barsavi told him something else. The time had come for them to leave Cerea; Tsubasa had gotten through the first half of his training, and what was left was honing, though there was still much of that left to do. But even so, it would be good for Tsubasa to see the galaxy for himself before being left on his own, and to get used to living the life of a wanderer. So the two spent more night sleeping out under the skies of Cerea, and then they were off. But even so, that remote area of Cerea where his training started had grown to be a special place to him, and even after his training with Barsavi was complete, he'd sometimes go back to have a quiet place, when he felt he needed to be alone, or to focus on meditating, or training. Late Apprenticeship Years 16-22 New Horizons Years 16-20 And so the two were off. They would travel to a host of worlds, and they did a few odd jobs here and there, most of which involved providing security at some event, or on a ship. But even so, Tsubasa's training continued. During this time, Tsubasa started to learn about piloting, since Barsavi had a modified small freighter that the was the main method of transportation for the two. He was decent enough at it. Tsubasa also learned quite a bit a bit repairing a ship and keeping it running, because there always seemed to be something wrong with Barsavi's old freighter. Anyway, the two traveled broadly, traveling wherever the winds of fate blew them, from Tatooine to Coruscant to Alderaan to Nar Shadaa, it made no difference where they traveled. While they traveled, Tsubasa started to take up his master's love for the arts, and loved jobs where they could act as security for a play or performance of some sort. One job worth noting happened when Tsubasa was seventeen. He and Barsavi were working on Alderaan at an opera house during the night of the grand début of a very highly anticipated performance. Rumors had been circulating during the time leading up to the performance that one of the lead performers had a price put on their head by an executive from an old firm that they'd left. As such, the opera house hired extra security, and that's how Tsubasa and Barsavi ended up with the job. The deal was that they'd work for the opening weekend-the first three days. The first night went without a hitch, and they even got to watch the performance for free, since they were working inside the building. The same went for the second night. But on the third night, the attack came. It happened before the show, while the actor was still in his dressing room. Barsavi was elsewhere in the building and Tsubasa had been stationed outside of the dressing room, along with another guard. It turned out that the guard he was stationed with turned out to be the man sent to kill the assassin, and a battle in the hallways ensued. Before Tsubasa was able to incapacitate the man, he dropped a flashbang, and broke his way into the room. The actor ran out, just barely escaping with a in injury from the would-be assassin's off-target shot. Tsubasa stumble into the room, and the fight continued. He won in the end, though he took some light injuries from the assassin. It was when he was standing over the man, wan-shen poised to kill, that Barsavi arrived. Barsavi quickly moved in to stop Tsubasa, and told him only to kill when he absolutely had to. Since the assassin was already taken out, there was no need to kill him, and the authorities took him into custody. Barsavi's words about killing stuck with Tsubasa, and even today, though he may be quick to fight, he almost never kills unless the situation calls for it. Or unless his temper has gotten out of hand, but that doesn't happen too terribly often. Anyway, they received their pay, and left the next day to be off again. So after that, took on a few more jobs, and then Barsavi went back to focusing more on Tsubasa's training, though they still traveled the galaxy. They'd spend more time stopping in the remote areas of planets like Cerea and for Tsubasa's training, and when they needed to do a job. At this point, Tsubasa was becoming to be very good with melee weapons, and he wasn't too far behind that fighting unarmed. He was best with a wan-shen, as one would expect a Matukai to be, but he was also quite good with a sword. That may, of course have been because of all of the practice he got using the old blade that Barsavi carried, in addition to his Wan-Shen. And even Barsavi had to pay respect to Tsubasa's ability to move. His training had guided Tsubasa's natural agility into something much more refined and much more dangerous in a fight. Along with this, Tsubasa was also getting much better at channeling the Force through his body, and even started to spend long hours in meditation sometimes, without Barsavi's promptings. Barsavi also began teaching Tsubasa some of the things that the Matukai were well known for-the extreme self-awareness of their own bodies, and the ability to discern wounds and illnessses, along with the ability to slightly change their body temperature to adjust to extremely hot or extremely cold environments. They were hard to learn, of course, but Tsubasa would get them in time. Of course, Tsubasa knew that he was good at what he did, and that arrogance problem still would not go away. In fact, it seemed that as he got older and knew how good he was, it got a bit worse. But Barsavi continued to persist with trying to train it out of him, though he sometimes wondered why he bothered. But the two would not be together much longer. Tsubasa was advancing quickly, and Barsavi knew that it wouldn't be much longer before he graduated to the rank of Adept. Countdown Years 21-22 Barsavi decided to finish Tsubasa's training where it began: Cerea. They returned there, to the same patch area where the training had started fifteen years ago, and got to work. Now that Tsubasa was on the cusp of becoming an adept, the training intensified to the highest level so far. His exercise regiment was extraordinarily intense, and the sparring session with Barsavi much more intense. Tsubasa would often stand and meditate in one place for hours, usually in some pose that would be uncomfortable or straining on the body, and no matter if the weather was good or bad. It was during this time that he finally mastered Force Deflection, and he made some more strides with healing as well. But the bulk of his time training was spent on combat training, and meditating to try and keep himself pure. As these last days passed by, Tsubasa and Barsavi grew closer together. Barsavi even started to teach Tsubasa how to play the wooden flute he had. But, time stops for no one, and the time had come. About half a year after Tsubasa's 22nd birthday, Barsavi told him that their time together was coming to a close. He had taught Tsubasa all that he could, and despite the younger man's ego problems, Barsavi felt that Tsubasa was finally ready to join the ranks of the Matukai adept. Adept Years 22-30 Graduation Year 22 The time had come. Tsubasa would have to construct a wan-shen of his own. The significance of the task was not lost on him; the wan-shen was for the Matukai what a lightsaber would be for the Jedi, and each one is unique to the wielder, as with a lightsaber. The construction of Tsubasa's wan-shen took some time. First he'd have to find the materials he was looking for. The staff part of the weapon would be made of metal, whitened to be the color of the purest snow, and divided into segments so that it could collapse in on itself for easy transport. The blade would be made of a blackened metal that would shine with the a dark gloss, and would have a slight curve to it. Along the shaft would be gold etchings, swirling around the staff until coming together where the blade was attached to the end before sprawling out once more onto the blade itself. The weapon would be about two meters long, all in all, and Tsubasa added a counterweight at the bottom, both for balance and to use to hit opponents with. The finished weapon would look like what we know as a pudao. Tsubasa paid for the parts with the money that he had earned doing the jobs with Barsavi over the years. Once he had everything he needed, he made the weapon. It took some time, about two months, and the weapon was built using the Force. That allowed Tsubasa to bond it to him, much as a Jedi bonds to a crystal for a lightsaber; this process is what also gives wan-shens their ability to resist a lightsaber. But with time, the weapon was made, finished on his twenty third birthday, and Tsubasa's final task complete. With that, Barsavi proclaimed his training complete. The old Cerean applied tattoos to Tsubasa's face, as is tradition among the Matukai. But Barsavi's tattoos were a bit different. He applied them with the force, after meditating over the dye for a very long while, to give it a calming ability, to help Tsubasa keep his head in times of trouble. Barsavi also gave Tsubasa another gift: his wooden flute. He knew how much Tsubasa loved hearing him play, and he told Tsubasa that with some more practice, he could be fairly good at it. Tsubasa refused it at first, but on Barsavi's insistence, he took it. Before they went their separate ways, Barsavi asked Tsubasa if he'd want to take on more job together. Tsubasa accepted his offer, of course. But, at the time, neither one of them knew that there this mission would be the last one that Barsavi would ever take on. Loss Year 23 The mission came from an old friend of Barsavi's, a human woman named Abelia. Abelia was a traveling merchant, and she asked the two to come along with her to a meeting where she would be making a business deal. Over the past few months, she had been harried by men hired by her chief competitor, and she was hiring some security, along with what her potential business partner would have along, to try to stop the the men if they attacked the meeting. Tsubasa and Barsavi would be part of that meeting. The meeting would take place on Nar Shadaa-not the best place, but it would have to do. The arranged place was an old apartment building where the man Abelia was meeting with lived. Security was spread throughout the building; Tsubasa was near the meeting room itself, along with some hired mercenaries, and Barsavi and another group were patrolling around on the ground floor. The meeting commenced and for a long while, all was quiet. Tsubasa even started to meditate, since there wasn't much else to do but stand around. And then he attackers arrived. There were quite a few of them, and Barsavi's group was quickly overwhelmed and forced to fall back up into the building. As they fell in, Tsubasa and most of his group went down to try to add support. But things only got worse from there. The man that had hired the mercs to kill Abelia was also rather friendly with a Hutt, and a local Hutt sent some of his own men to help in the fight. The security personnel fought valiantly, but there were simply too many attackers for them to hold off. Barsavi and Tsubasa fought well, and a number of men fell to their skill. It was the first time Tsubasa ever saw Barsavi really seem to kill without hesitation, though he supposed it was one of those times where there wasn't much alternative. And on they fought, dropping as many men as they could, but it was not enough. Eventually, they found themselves outnumbered and the only two defenders left. Barsavi lost his wan-shen in the fighting, and had resorted to using the sword he always carried, though he was just as deadly with it as he was his wan-shen. Despite the injuries they had taken during the fight, the pair continued to battle on, thinning the numbers of the hired men, and for one fleeting moment, it looked as though they might pull it off. And then disaster struck. One of the Hutt's men threw a frag grenade at Barsavi, who deflected it away with the Force. But shrapnel from both the grenade and decorations in the hallway went flying everywhere, and Barsavi was struck in the head by a piece of it. While he was still reeling from the effects of the blow, one of the men opened up on the old Cerean with a blaster rifle. Tsubasa killed the man, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Barsavi lay dying on the ground, and Tsubasa, overcome with grief went into a furor, and slew two more of the men, before another grenade went off and he was knocked unconscious. He awoke in the room of one of the tenants. The man was a doctor, and had heard the fighting outside. When it had cleared, he looked out and saw Tsubasa and Barsavi out in the hall and dragged them into his room. He had a medical droid, and he had been able to treat Tsubasa's injuries, but there was nothing he could do for Barsavi-he had died before the man even got to him. Sad as he was at the loss of his master, Tsubasa gave the man his thanks for his efforts. Before he left to go, he said his goodbyes to Barsavi's body, and took the Cerean's sword, as a way to remember him. Part of him wanted to go find the Hutt that sent the men to kill Abelia and rip him apart, but he knew that would probably only end with his own death. There was nothing to do but move on. Before leaving, he asked the doctor if he heard anything about Abelia. The doctor didn't know her by name, but he had heard that a woman and a man a few floors up been killed. So the job had been a failure. The doctor told Tsubasa that there had been reports of a fire at one of the landing pads. When Tsubasa asked which one, he told him, and the number was the same one Barsavi's ship was at. Tsubasa rushed to the landing pad to find that his fears were true. Barsavi's ship had been sabotaged, and was nothing more than an burnt shell. And so Tsubasa was stuck on Nar Shadaa with no money, and no place to live. Marooned Years 24-26 The money part was easy enough to solve; Tsubasa simply went around, working whatever jobs he could find, most of which involved providing security for someone or something. The homelessness wasn't too bad either; the doctor let him stay in his apartment after he explained the situation. It was finding a way off of Nar Shadaa that proved to be the hard part. Sure, after a while, he had enough money to pay for a ride off, but then he'd be stuck in the same situation somewhere else. He'd need a vessel of his own, and he didn't know how he'd come to get one. His training fell behind a bit while he was on Nar Shadaa, since he was often too busy working or looking for work to put much thought into it; that's not to say he didn't train-he did, just not as often as he would have liked. But he did meditate at least once a day, every day, for as long as he could. Even so, he pressed on, with his jobs, saving up money as he could. Eventually, opportunity found him. He was eating in a cantina one night, when he ran into an Echani that went by the name of Krasys. Krasys had been drinking just a tad too much, and as Tsubasa was leaving, the two bumped into each other. Tsubasa muttered his apologies, but Krasys was having none of it. He screamed and hollered in a drunken furor, and Tsubasa tried to tell him that he was not a man that Krasys would want to fight. Despite his drunkenness, Krasys was able to make out the threat, and a challenge was made. Krasys was the champion of an arena run by a local Hutt. If Tsubasa could beat him in a fight, he'd let him take his ship and all of his money. Tsubasa dismissed it as drunken bolstering at first, but some others in the cantina confirmed that Krasys was, in fact, the arena champion, and the particular offer he was making Tsubasa had been made to several other people. So, thinking that there was no way he could lose, Tsubasa accepted the challenge. He would fight in the arena. The Arena Year 26 Tsubasa made his way to the arena and entered. Much to his dismay, however, he wouldn't be allowed to fight the grand champion from the get-go, he'd have to work his way up. That's not to say he'd have to battle everyone else that competed in the arena; he'd have to face four fighters, each one a higher tier than the last, before he could take on Krasys. Tsubasa had no problem with that and signed on. His fighting began the next day, and his first match was against a bottom-tier fighter-a Nautolan that had been around the arena for a few years. Even though he was a bottom-tier fighter, he was at the top that tier, and the fact that no one knew who Tsubasa was made him the favorite to win the fight. Tsubasa did so love the gasps from the crowd when he dropped the Nautolan after just barely a minute of combat. He didn't kill the Nautolan-only special matches were to the death. The second fight was a few hours later, and against a Togruta. This fight was a bit harder, though Tsubasa still came out on top without too much trouble. That would be the last fight for the next few days, but he was off to a good start; he had risen through two tiers in a day, without much effort. And rumors were starting to be whispered that he had been personally challenged by the Grand Champion. He would be one to watch, for sure. The next battle was against a Zeltros woman, the top of the third tier, and a specialist in melee combat. As was expected, this battle was more of a challenge to Tsubasa than the others, and he actually got to use some more advanced techniques to defeat her, though he didn't show all of his tricks. Still, this was the first arena battle he didn't escape unharmed-he took a nick to his arm, though the cut was light, and healed just fine. By now, his name was on many lips, and in the darkest corners it was whispered that perhaps he could do it. Perhaps he would be the one to finally defeat Krasys. After all, no one had had such a meteoric rise through the ranks since the Grand Champion himself first arrived on the scene. But no, that couldn't be. Krasys had never lost a fight. The newcomer may have been good, but he wasn't that good, right? Tsubasa's next fight was the next day, against a human man. This man was one of the best-he was only ever beaten by Krasys, and he even made the Echani work to defeat him. The fight was long, and was actually a bit hard for Tsubasa; though he was by no means weak, the human had a brutish, almost inhuman strength to him, and was faster than he looked. Tsubasa got quite a few nicks and bruises from that battle, but once more, he emerged on top. Then, almost as soon as the fight was over, Krasys emerged into the arena. Everyone went quiet, and Tsubasa almost thought the time for their battle had come. But it had not. Krasys made a formal statement of challenge to Tsubasa, along with the terms that were mentioned earlier. The fight would be that night. But there was one more thing-the only way Tsubasa would get that fight was if it would be a fight to the death. That particular detail didn't really excite Tsubasa too much, but he accepted. If Krasys had a death wish, then far be it from Tsubasa to stop him. Night fell, and the fight got underway. Bets on the fight were split fairly evenly, with those that believed the undefeated Krasys could not fall pitted against those that hoped the newcomer would finally topple the Echani. Whoever won, it was shaping up to be one hell of a fight. And that it was. It was the hardest fight Tsubasa had ever had, outside of some of his sparring sessions with Barsavi. Krasys was an Echani, and knew the three tiers of Echani fighting. Skilled as he was, Tsubasa couldn't stand up to Krasys's unarmed assault, and for a moment, took quite the pounding. But he was able to hang on, and when he used his wan-shen, the two were on more even footing. But Krasys was still a challenge; he carried a short jagged vibroblade, and was very good with it. In fact, after some fighting, he got a nasty cut on Tsubasa's chest, though Tsubasa was just barely able to step back, to keep it from being a fatal blow, as it should have been. Even so, he collapsed to the ground, and it to all, it seemed that Krasys had won the match. But, Tsubasa called on the Force, letting in flow through him, to give him one final burst of energy. He struck while Krasys was busy gloating, stabbing the Champion's stomach with the sword of his fallen teacher. Before the Echani hit the ground, Tsubasa struck once more, driving the blade into his heart this time. It was over. Tsubasa had won the match. Before he could bask in the glory of his victory, he passed out on the arena floor. He awoke about a day later in a medical facility at the arena. His wound would heal, though he'd have a scar from it. Tsubasa was awarded the ship and the money, as was agreed to; he was also given Krasys's jagged vibroblade, as it was the tradition to give the one who defeated the Champion the Champion's weapon. After some time spent recovering, he left Nar Shadaa, and finally got to travel the galaxy on his own. Wandering Years 27-38 In the years since, Tsubasa has wandered from place to place, taking on various jobs and training. He renamed the ship he won in the arena The Vagabond, to reflect his way of living. But as it was, he was happy. He'd stop by the arena on Nar Shadaa every now and then, since it was a more or less guaranteed source of income. When he wasn't working a job, though, he was training, and would often return back to Cerea, to that same patch of land where everything started. As the years wore on, Tsubasa found himself dipping less into the arena and taking on more and more mercenary work, when he needed income. His travels took him all over the Galaxy, including a temporary stay in a jail cell where he met a strange insectoid creature who was (wrongly) convinced that Tsubasa was an "ugly lady" and a "witch." Other encounters saw him helping an ailing blind girl who'd escaped from the Sith Order, or escorting the wealthy and famous through dangerous territory. At one point, he was called to a secret research facility where he was paired with a draconic droid with a built-in flamethrower named Ifrit. Ifrit's fiery personality was of some concern initially, but the two have become steadfast friends through the years. While Tsubasa generally strived to avoid getting involved in the war between the Sith and Republic, it eventually found him when the Sith launched an assault on a space station near Bogden. Though the station ultimately fell, Tsubasa led efforts to fight off the attackers while the station evacuated. As the years wore on, more of Tsubasa's work took on an increased involvement against the Empire. It was very, very rare that he'd take active arms against Sith forces in battle, but he took jobs that indirectly hurt the Sith, or aided the Republic. Once the war wound down, Tsubasa, like so many others across the Galaxy, was happy for the reprieve. He took a break from traveling to return to Cerea, to the old stomping grounds where Barsavi trained him, and visited his family on Fondor, which ceded from the Republic. In the couple of years since, he's taken to wandering, much as he did before, wherever destiny's winds blow him. |
