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Vex

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Mockingjay
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Vex had not seen Varyn since the incident on Ziost. She wasn't even sure he would accept her invitation to Belsvais to train together. The sight of his ship dropping out of the atmosphere towards the steppe where she had chosen to meet him was a welcome surprise, but she was certain it didn't signal that he had put Ziost behind him. Hindsight had shown her how shaken he was in those final moments, so she had chosen an activity that involved no magic. One that he was actually quite good at, and she needed to get better with.

Lightsabers.

She wore the necklace she had made with Lady Andruil, the former Empress. Its magic dyed her dark skin a dark shade of green and gave her the facial tattoos of a Mirialun woman. After having tested the amulet a few times, she realized the need for a consistent disguise before settling on this one. She had even gone to great lengths to acquire dress and garb culturally appropriate for Mirialun women with her pharohic headwear and long purple robes, worn beneath a chest piece and gauntlets. The only features that were truly her own were her eyes, which burned scarlet. Varyn would be the first to see this disguise, and it would also be the first time he saw her "unmasked."

"I wasn't sure I would see you again," she said when he was again before her. There was an accusatory note in her voice that hid the fact that she was glad to see him alive and well. That the way they had parted last time had stung her. "I do not like it when unspoken things hang between allies. So, if you have something to say to me, say it now. Unfiltered. I will listen."

Vex wondered if he would speak plainly to her. Some small part of her thought maybe they would understand each other better once they crossed blades and began their training, but she couldn't wait until then to address it. If he wanted to wait, she would wait. But she would give him this chance to clear the air if he wished. @Phoenix
 

Varyn Atrix

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Varyn felt exhausted before he made his way to Belsavis. The recent days had been more draining on his spirit between Dantooine and his father. He was just... empty. He had nothing more to give to anyone, and his fuse was short.

His ship set down and he made his way out, suited up in his armor, and was... surprised to see she was not. He had yet to see her out of the equipment, but here she was. He wondered why she had chosen to do that today? Had she decided to use her real face as the warden?

And here I am, he said sharply. He didn't miss the accusatory tone in her voice. The memory of Ziost wasn't as fresh in his mind anymore, but it still wasn't forgotten.

I don't have anything to say about it. You made your choice and I made mine. I'm not going to apologize, and I doubt you are either, he said point blank. There was an almost unusual calm in his tone as he said it, and he also waited to see how she would respond. Whether they would move past this or linger.
 

Vex

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Vex sensed it. The anger in him. In the past, he had done so well to suppress his emotions that she had genuinely believed he had none. It was an unusual feeling for a Sith. But now he couldn't hide it as well. His emotions were barely restrained. And she would see him let go.

The Sith Master nodded sharply. The truth was, Varyn was right. He had nothing to apologize for, and she was not about to apologize for what she had done. She could respect that. More importantly, she suspected it was all she was going to get from him. At least, this way. She reached for her lightsaber and pulled it free of her waist. With a flick of her thumb, one of its red blades spat out the emitter and cast the steppe in bloodshine light. "Very well," she said. "I invited you here to train. Recent events suggest the war will be ramping up soon. We both need to stay sharp."

All lies.

She had brought him here to learn from him, to see what this 'Form X' was all about, and to see where she stood as a lightsaber duelist. He was one of the better duelists she knew. If there was anyone who was going to reveal to her both her strengths and her weaknesses, Varyn was the best candidate. But now she saw that she stood to gain something more valuable from this encounter. She could let him vent, and perhaps help him relieve this anger building in him, and learn a little bit about what was causing it in exchange.

She made her lips a thin line. "But I can see you're not much in the mood for words right now," she continued. "So, let's see what your blade has to say instead." Another button on the pommel of her weapon reduced the intensity of the blade to a safe training mode. Then, she smirked at him, goading him to attack. "Let's see what you've got." @Phoenix
 

Varyn Atrix

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She grabbed the saber from her belt, and a jolt of adrenaline shot through him. She wasn't darting forward to attack him, but he was assuming this meant that she'd found out who he was. Or she hadn't and this was just Sith being Sith. Silencing him to keep him from discussing what had happened at Ziost.

He grabbed the saber off his own belt and lit it without hesitation. This was not how he had expected things to go.

And then she actually spoke, and it became more clear. He wasn't quite relaxed, but it at least put him slightly more at ease.

The war's been pretty active for a while now, he quipped, adjusting his saber's power as she did. Perhaps a good sparring was exactly what he needed. Or maybe he just needed to get out of the Sith. He'd been isolated without any real, substantive contact from the Jedi. The fact that no one seemed to care about him had certainly made him question his loyalty.

He let his saber fall to his right side, tip pointing toward the ground in a makashi-style opening stance. His left hand flexed at his other side and his left foot slid back ever so slightly.

I could use a good spar, he said, raising his left hand and making a "come get me" motion.
 

Vex

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Oh, I am quite aware, Vex thought.

Because she hadn't exactly been hiding in this hole since she built it. Ansion. New Alderaan. Her recent campaign in the Rishi Maze. Vex knew the war was on, but she could not escape the sensation that it was about to grow more heated. The Jedi Grand Master seemed increasingly... bitter in her very public holo 'blogs' to the HoloNet in recent months. Vex couldn't shake the feeling that the Grand Master might do something stupid in the days to come. But maybe that was just her paranoia speaking more loudly than it should.

Vex took note of his stance. It screamed of Makashi. Form II. The Sith Master knew better than to get bogged down in the intricacies of combat forms, and yet she had to admit, his stance was impeccable. Her own favored style was Djem So, which she demonstrated by raising her blade above her head and jutting it back at a forty-five degree angle. Both styles were fit for lightsaber combat; but she couldn't help but think his Makashi style might be a feign. There was only one way to find out.

"As could I," she replied.

And then she steeped forward, closing the gap between them, and swung down in a 'Falling Avalanche' characteristic of her form—aiming to strike his blade arm. Or, more accurately, to force him to reposition so she could get a better shot. "You feel troubled," she grunted as she made the move. Aiming to unnerve the opponent mentally was another characteristic of Djem So, which sometimes required taunting. "Unbalanced. It's unlike you. Where is your focus? Where is your rage?"

She had a feeling if she kept prodding, she might get to see it. @Phoenix
 

Varyn Atrix

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There was something satisfying about having a saber in his hand and fighting a Sith. He had spent all this time training, and never actually fought a Sith properly in combat. Yet he'd trained against them repeatedly. Odd.

Her downward strike was met with a step backwards, the saber passing by where he had been a moment ago and his own blade slapping outward to the side to bat it away. He made no follow-up attack of his own, and he didn't really know why not. Maybe he just wanted to piss her off, and he didn't even know why. Maybe it was what she was saying, maybe it was that he felt like he was drowning, maybe it was that his convictions had begun to crumble.

I've got plenty of focus, he said. And besides, shouldn't you be worried about yourself? he asked.

Finally, his blade flicked out again, once more from the wrist and this time at her extended wrists where her blade had just come down.

After all, you're overextending, he said.

@Mockingjay
 

Vex

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Bah.

Varyn was right.

An oversight on her part. And one she only didn't pay for because he had chosen not to immediately counterattack, giving her enough time to recover. Still, she hadn't entirely missed the mark. Despite his protests, he was hiding something. Vex could feel the conflict within him. She wondered if he even knew it was that obvious. Well, the only way he would ever know was to tell him.

But first, she stepped to her right (his left) out of the way of his strike. Then, she stabbed towards his ribs on his exposed left side. A probing jab, testing his defenses. "I can sense the conflict in you, Varyn," she went on, ignoring his admonishment, at least out loud. "Your thoughts are embroiled in storm clouds. The Force is at war around you."

She knew she was coming off abrasive, even arrogant. But that didn't mean she wasn't coming from a place of genuine concern. Sometimes, reclusive people needed to be prodded into spilling what was wrong with them. And Varyn seemed like the type to need such harsher measures. He was like she used to be. Recoiled within himself. Others had gotten through to her. Maybe she could get through to him. @Phoenix
 

Varyn Atrix

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The Shae Pivot. Varyn had heard all about it from the holocron and it was a staple move of Form X. One of the few actual, specific maneuvers that the holocron had spoken about. Much of Form X was about improvisation, but the Shae Pivot was a move that Corvo had added later on in his life.

It was precisely what Varyn practiced now. His left foot stepped back and swung the whole left side of his body out and back, rotating him away in time with her strike so that it passed by his left side.

His own blade pushed from his own right to left perpendicular to hers and shoving it away from him before he pushed off that left foot a moment later and outright shoulder checked her with the opening he had created with his saber.

Awfully prying, aren't we? What do you even care anyway? he asked, the words a bit more biting than he intended. These days it didn't seem like anyone really cared anymore. Maybe the isolation was what was killing him, only made worse by what had recently happened to his father...

Why did you really ask me here?

@Mockingjay
 

Vex

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Varyn's movements were impressive. With just a few, he had forced distance between them. Vex watched, trying to both read and memorize his movements. But she was much more the sorceress than the warrior. He was probably going to have to walk her through some of this. If he could focus enough to teach her, that was.

"I asked you here to train," she stated bluntly. "Look, I'm good with the Force, and since our visit to Ziost, my connection to it has become stronger by the day. But I'm sloppy with a lightsaber. Surely, you can see that." It wasn't like Vex to admit her weaknesses, but if you wanted the truth from someone, sometimes you had to give it in return. "I may never be as good as you with a blade, but you're the best I've seen. You need to spar to stay in condition, I need to train to get better. It's a win-win."

She pointed her blade at him like an accusatory finger. Its red hummed duller than usual thanks to the training mode it was presently in, but it still suffused her face in bloodlight. "I'm not your enemy, Varyn. Whatever you think of what I did in that tomb, it's in the past. But if you think I need to pry to sense that something's wrong with you than you clearly can't sense the vibes you're giving off in the Force." She pulled her blade back into a more defensive posture in case he suddenly decide to resume their training to shut her up. "Talk to me. Look at it as training if that's what it takes. The dark side feeds on negative emotions. Gives us strength. But feed it too much, and that relationship turns. It becomes the master, not you. Look at this as a means of taking back control."

It didn't come out the way she had it in her head. She probably could have said something more encouraging, but she didn't know how. And even if she did, how would it land? Whatever he was hiding, she was beginning to sense it was something much bigger than she had initially thought. Did he lose someone in battle? Did he have a bad fight with someone important? Vex supposed if he wanted to tell her, the floor was now his. And if he didn't, she stayed ready, because she was probably about to get a lightsaber to the face. @Phoenix
 

Varyn Atrix

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Varyn took a deep, silent breath in. She wasn't wrong about one thing: his emotions were not in check. It was un-Jedi and it wasn't in keeping with who he was. Who he wanted to be. The years he had spent in the Sith were starting to wear on him. He had lost his father, he had lost his cool in a fight against rebels on Dantooine, and he had been critical and ruthless in ordering a strike on them. Was he losing his way?

That was the question that haunted him. He hadn't spoken to another Jedi in any meaningful way in nearly 2 years. He needed that feedback of the Light in his life when he was so surrounded by darkness all the time.

I'm fine. Just need time to sort my thoughts, he said. It wasn't untrue and he certainly couldn't talk to her about it... but she was right about one thing... he should probably talk to someone.

Then let's train, he said. He'd always liked meditating in motion, and maybe this would serve a similar purpose. Or... maybe he would just end up distracting himself.

Form X may not be for you if you're not interested in dedicating yourself to learning the saber, he said. It's a dueling specialty of Form VI, though, which is popular with less saber-focused people, he said. There was a reason, though, that X had been made. It was vastly superior to VI in terms of practicality in combat. Far more precise.

The most underrated thing in any fight, the thing that Form VI won't teach you, is good footwork. If you study the dueling forms like II they're all about footwork and placement. So much saber work's footwork is just... kind of sloppy, but positioning is everything, he said.
 
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