A Day at a Time

[s'Il]

Six months following the events in this thread (http://75.126.43.122/forum/showthread.php?t=16643)



"Whatever comes of this, high or low, I promise to teach you everything I know."

Words spoken in the aftermath of something that none could imagine possible. Comrades butchered by a monster, a friend fallen to the Dark and driven by desperate regret to fall upon his own blade. If their travels and all they'd endured since leaving the Temple had been a series of seemingly endless bad dreams, than what had transpired on Rumigaar had been the terrible culmination of those experiences, pulled into one nightmarish crescendo that neither Loklorien s'Ilancy nor her master, Zem Vymes, could have been prepared for.

In six month's time since their flight, Zem had remained true to his word. He'd taken them to a planet far removed from the Core and the presence of the Empire, allowing the both of them to be at temporary peace. There was always the constant worry that whatever had found them on Rumigaar would find them, but the days stratched into weeks, and soon enough the weeks into months. And still no sign of that black monster.

Their guard never waned, but as time passed they seemed to settle well enough in the solitary mountains of the planet that had become their refuge. During the sunlight hours Zem tirelessly drove her, and during the quiet evenings she continued to share with him the stories and history of the Lupines. His Bast'yr was much improved, which filled s'Il with a sense of satisfaction, pride, and closeness whenever he injected a word or two into their normal daily conversations.



Now, with the rising sun, s'Il sat patiently atop a rocky outcropping. A new morning was upon them. Zem's lesson from the previous day was still fresh in her mind, and the Lupine waited quietly for him to begin anew.

[Zem-El Vymes]

The scrabble of hands and feet over rock face could be heard in the still of the morning air.

I continued up the bluff, a sheen of sweat just starting to appear as I reached the end of my journey. There was a strange convergence of peace and war to rock climbing, and it was as much a test of patience as a ritual battle against death.

I reached the top, mindful to avoid Lok's perch as I climbed to tenable ground. Reaching the outcropping, I at last removed the piece of fruit I'd held clenched in my teeth.

[s'Il]

She'd heard his approach a fair amount of time before his arrival. Giving him a hawkish look, she watched him take the fruit from his mouth.

Blinking, the Lupine turned away to look out at the view afforded.

"It's a lovely morning."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Morning already?"

I winced at her as I looked back to the rising sun.

"It was just dark when I was down there."

I took a bite from the piece of fruit I worked for the past hour to get, laying back onto the grass as I did.

"I suppose that means we should start again soon. Have you eaten anything?"

[s'Il]

An animal sounding hurff which, coming from a human mouth sounded more than a bit odd, escaped her lips.

At his mention of food, s'Il lofted a single eyebrow before lifting an arm. Previously out of his line of sight, she held up by a fluff-covered tail, the rest of the body a half-eaten carcass of one of the more plentiful indiginous animals roaming about.

"They taste better when the adreneline is still fresh."

An uncouth and more than graphic answer perhaps, but the longer they were together the more primal aspects of her nature he was seeing.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Or it's just better to work for your breakfast sometimes."

I regarded the fruit I was eating for emphasis, took another bite to finish, and lobbed the rind back down the bluff.

"Okay, no more procrastinating. Empty your mind."

I ran a hand gently down her face, encouraging her to calm herself and close her eyes.

"What do you sense?"

[s'Il]

Everything no matter great or small seemed to simply drain away. Any thoughts she had previously emptied themselves of their own accord it seemed, and s'Il pulled in a long breath, holding it before letting it out slowly.

And in the quiet of her mind, she began to see colors. They mingled with one another in a tranquil dance.

"I see the Force."

[Zem-El Vymes]

With her eyes closed, I drew my tunic belt and tied it firmly around her face.

"Explore."

I stepped away, pacing out of her path before leaping a larger distance from her.

[s'Il]

The Lupine drew in another breath through her nose, watching with her mind's eye as the colors of the Force began to swirl and pulsate with a growing vibrancy.

Moving into a crouch, s'Il inclined her head, testing the air around her before moving. And when she did, it was a deliberate movement. The colors she saw painted a hazy picture at best, but what she was seeing was recognizeable still.

While the belt was a hindrance, she understood why Zem had blocked off her vision.

She jumped from her perch to land on a boulder that rested higher up, and pausing for a few more moments, she bounded upwards again, this time anchoring herself in the roots of one of the numerous hardy mountain trees.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I reached into a nearby pack, plucking one of the fruits that I had taken under the cover of darkness down in the valley. From this distance, I was far enough from her so that she wouldn't be able to hear me. I palmed a fruit, and gave it a healthy throw, sending it sailing about 50 meters away from me, on a lazy path to land on her head.

[s'Il]

She paused, and behind the blindfold her brow forruwed. The colors were moving differently than before, and her back straightened, grip tightening on the branches she held.

Neck craning, s'Il tried to pinpoint the source, but what she was seeing was still too convoluted and hard to translate.

She lifted her nose to the sky, hoping that she could possibly divine something from smell, but it seemed even that was no help.

And then, without warning, something hit the back of her head with enough force to ellicit a surprised yelp. Scrambling, the Lupine pulled herself closer to the tree to use as a shield. She could hear now the sound of whatever it was Zem had thrown bouncing down the rocks.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I tried again, this time with a fruit that was a little more ripe...

[s'Il]

Again, the colors she saw grew more active, and s'Il took that as a positive enough sign that it would be beneficial to move.

Her whole body sprang upwards, and she scrabbled higher. She had a well enough idea about what he was throwing at her. Having gone up what she estimated to be a safe enough distance, s'Il turned to face the direction that the last fruit had come from...

... and felt a sudden wet impact on her chest.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Are you having trouble seeing where to go?"

I continued to throw fruit at her. My hypothesis is that while she was innately gifted, she could very well be hindered by those gifts by taking them for granted. I had to take her world apart, and hand her the box with the puzzle pieces.

[s'Il]

She gave him no answer, instead ascending higher still. The vibrations in the colors she was seeing were the fruits he was throwing; it only took the first two hitting her for that to become obvious.

Breathing in deeply through her nose once again, the colors became brighter in her mind's eye, and far more defined. Now it was as though she could pick out the rocks ahead of her.

With renewed energy and a better view of the mountainside, s'Il bounded upward with more ease than before, remaining mindful to dodge as best as she could the fruits that were being thrown.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"So you can detect, but I'm not sure if you can see yet."

Reaching out with the force, I started to move the branch she was under. Slowly at first, then increasing the swaying as much as I fathomed that the tree could take.

"Would you let me chase you into a tree if you could see me with two eyes?"

[s'Il]

A ruefall grunt, and the Lupine easily scaled the tree he'd taken to shaking about. As if to thumb her nose at him, s'Il clung on doggedly as she climbed as high as she thought safe.

The colors showed another mountain tree, and taking a split second to gauge the distance, she leapt. Aided by the Force, she sailed through the air, arms outstretched to catch ahold of the closest bough. Her hands closed around the branch, and she swung crazily before gaining purchase against the trunk with her feet.

Blindly, she turned her head in the direction that the colors showed her master to be. "I would!"

[Zem-El Vymes]

With a twist of my wrist, I reached out through the force, bending the branch she held onto until I felt the breaking point.

As I began to run low and fast toward the tree, I pushed it past that point.

[s'Il]

A frown, and she fumbled for a different branch. In her frantic motions, the colors of the Force became less defined.

Too late, the Lupine felt the branch give way, and without a sound she hit the ground, lying on her back in slight daze.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I arrived a few seconds later, standing over her. She dutifully had retained the blindfold. I crouched low, resting just above her own head.

"What did you do wrong?"

It was something that I had recalled from my own training many years ago. Being told your errors gave you some answers, but discovering them yourself yielded even more.

[s'Il]

"I didn't get down in time," she grumped.

She didn't sit up just yet, as she could smell him hovering just over her. His was a scent that she was becoming fond of; their time together helping to anchor it in her subconscious as something serene and steady. It was something that she was determined to keep close to her.

A sigh, and s'Il bit her lip as she decided it best to rephrase her answer.

"I didn't keep moving... ?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

I held another fruit over her, and pressed it into the palm of her hand.

"You could detect, but you did not see."

[s'Il]

"I could see just fine," the Lupine argued mildly, "... until you started throwing things at me and trying to knock me out of trees."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"As I said, you could detect."

I stooped down to pick her up by the shoulders, and hoist her against the tree. Then, I moved the hand in which she held the fruit to her lips.

"You let the unknown get the better of you. You created phantasms from your own assumptions of what you could detect. While you no doubt had impulses and input, the meaning is lost in translation."

I took a piece of fruit of my own, and bit into it.

"Eat."

[s'Il]

Obediently, s'Il took a bite. The taste was sweet, and she chewed slowly while lifting her free hand up to gently begin pulling his belt from her eyes.

"I can see the colors though," she started after a thoughtful silence. "And I can usually see shapes, but it's always the motions that I see."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"How well can you retain your faculties in your other state?"

I took another bite of the fruit, intrigued as to her answer.

[s'Il]

Making sure that the belt was comfortable around her neck, s'Il shifted her weight to one leg. She looked off to the side for a few moments, then back to meet his eyes.

"Well I can't talk, but that's sort of obvious. I can only see black and white except for the Force. I can smell it, and depending on the person, it can be different colors.

"Like you. You have a warm blue Force aura around you."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"What I mean to ask is, how much of the person remains? If I spoke to you, would you understand?"

[s'Il]

A frown.

"Of course... well, for a while at least."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"For a while?"

I disposed of my fruit, now eaten but for the rind, and crossed my arms.

"What do you mean?

[s'Il]

Her own fruit eaten, the Lupine dropped it without a second thought as she took a step forward, brushing past Zem on her way down to the outcropping where they'd started.

"It takes a while, but if changed for too long, we start to lose higher brain function. Give or take three days; it all depends on how well we can build up our tolerance. I've read stories of Losstarot staying changed for weeks at a time."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Okay, long enough then."

I took a spot beneath the tree, and sat down, leaning back against it.

"Change."

[s'Il]

Her progress downward halted in surprise, and the Lupine furrowed her brow as she turned around to star at Zem. There he was sitting under a tree as if he was simply enjoying the day.

The only real time that he'd seen her change had been when they were in the Temple, fighting for their lives and survival. Oh, he'd seen the end result, but the process of transformation itself he'd only looked upon once. Even when they had been forced to push back the sea of wretches from the derelict freighter he'd not seen the change itself.

She stared at him, unable to divine anything beyond the words he'd spoken; the command he'd given.

Very well then.

Pulling his belt from her neck, the Lupine tossed it back to him. Without missing a beat her own belt followed, and soon enough she'd pulled off her sleeveless tunic and thrown it at him as well.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I gave my pupil her due respect, blindfolding myself with the belt she returned to me.

"On a Jedi's honor, you know."

It was one of the few things she was truly private about, and it was important to keep the sacred things at times.

"Whenever you are ready."

[s'Il]

"It doesn't matter to me," came her reply, though it was easy to tell that there was relief in her tone at his actions.

Trousers and boots followed the rest of her clothing, and for a few moments the Lupine stood bared to the world, breathing in deeply while allowing her eyes to close.

They opened seconds laer, no longer their normal blue hue; instead a fierce tawny yellow shown, and she hunched forward with a grunt. A shudder ran through her whole body as joints began to dislocate. Wet popping and an indescribable fluid sound could be heard as she fell forward to land on hands and knees. Her neck strained, tendons popping outward with the exertion of her change.

A white sheen of fur sprouted first at her extremeties, then traveled over the rest of her body to cover the shifting muscle and bone while a bony tail grew long.

The change itself lasted no more than a few minutes, and when she was done the great white vornskr stood tall. She lowered her bulk to sit on her haunches before giving a soft whurffle, an indication that she had finished.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I removed my blindfold, and nodded. With my hands clasped in my lap, I tipped my head almost imperceptibly toward the Lupine.

Can you understand me?

I reached out with my feelings, testing the limits of her talents in this altered state.

[s'Il]

In answer, the Lupine lowered her body the rest of the way to the ground and scooted forward until she could rest her head in his lap, eyes cast upward.

She could feel him reaching out to her, and as if to further cement her understanding of his request, s'Il opened as many of her own mental barriers as she dared, very nearly pulling him into the memories of her people.

[Zem-El Vymes]

She was exceptional. I pulled back from my probe, respectfully declining to barge into the contents of her mind. What she'd given was enough.

"I would've settled for rolling over."

I eased her head off my lap, and placed a piece of fruit about two paces away from her outstretched paws.

"Can you move it?"

[s'Il]

She'd never done anything like he'd asked before; not in this form at least. Her ears laid back against her head and she let out a low whine.

Still though, she could not refuse, and the Lupine turned her yellow gaze upon the fruit he'd set out. It was a new thing, to use the Force to move any sort of thing. She'd only ever been able to see, not bend it to her will while in this form.

Concentrating, her lips curled back over a row of sharp teeth, and soon enough she was reward with the slightest of movements. It wasn't a particularly spectacular nudge, but it was enough to cause her bony, barb-tipped tail to wag to and fro in satisfied triumph.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Very good!"

Judging from the very plain sense of protest I'd gleaned off her, it seemed an effort that was alien to her.

"Go on, now. More."

[s'Il]

The vornskr shook her head, the shaggy white fur on her neck ruffling a bit. She let her tongue run over those teeth, and her forepaws scraped at the dirt.

Once more she lay her head on the ground, her gaze on the fruit. Another soft whurffle, and her ears perked forward as she reached out with her thoughts. Such an odd feeling, to do such a thing in the state she was presently.

And yet, she could vaguely feel the contours of the fruit, and after another minute it began to pull closer as if dragged by an invisible string. As soon as it was close enough, s'Il craned her neck forward, jaws opening and taking it in her mouth.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Good, good."

So it was possible, then. She had the ability to focus her skills while in the vornskyr state. I hesitated to pet her, on the grounds of patronization.

Rising to my feet, I left the canopy of the tree.

"Try to jump to the bough of the tree."

[s'Il]

Happily munching on the fruit, s'Il smacked her jaws oddly at the texture of the thing. She was so used to flesh and having to pull away strips of meat, not simply chew at something that would not offer the satisfaction of a chase.

She rose with Zem though, spitting out the pieces she'd tried to eat. Wet, half-chewed bits splurcked onto the ground, and she partially gagged to remove the rest.

His request was an odd one, and s'Il stared up at the branch he indicated. It was possible, but the ability to do such a thing was not going to be graceful at all.

She blinked, then set to pacing about the tree trunk, head cast upwards in search of a suitable starting point. Truth be told, there wasn't much of one, and resigned to that fact, the Lupine stopped her circling, crouched low, and leapt.

It was an odd thing, her back legs scrabbling at the trunk as her forepaws desperately tried to gain purchase of any sort on the bough he'd indicated. Clumsily she progressed, though it was an awkward sight to say the least, and when she'd finally been able to pull herself up, the Lupine stared down at her master from at best, a very precarious perch.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Well, it was a jump, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting of her. With the force behind her, she should be able to make a higher perch.

"Okay, good. Come back down again."

[s'Il]

It was no small feat to keep her footing, and the Lupine was happy of the order to come down. Of course given her perch, her descent was just as ungainly as her ascent, and the vornskr landed clumsily on the ground.

It wasn't exactly a shining moment of grace, and s'Il let out a string of disgruntled sounding gibberish directed at Zem.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Alright, you've shown me what I wanted to see for that. We can work on the fine details later."

I returned to beneath the tree, and returned my blindfold to my face.

[s'Il]

She understood his wordless cue for her to revert, but the Lupine was not ready to change back, and she waited until he'd secured the belt around his eyes.

She took a few padded steps close to him, and reached out to him with her thoughts. They were wordless images, conveying her desires.

Running wild, running free, a beast unencumbered by the trappings of a modern society and the things it brings. And beside the thing, a man just as bent on releasing pent up energy. The scents of fresh grass, the sounds of nature and their own footfalls. Animals scattering from their way...

It was a basic enough vision. She wanted to run with him, and now that he had the belt as a blindfold to obstruct his own vision, the Lupine wanted to see him do the things that he was imparting upon her.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I wasn't any good teacher if I couldn't put practicality behind my lessons, so I stood up, and moved alongside her.

[s'Il]

Without waiting, the vornskr bounded down the mountainside at a dizzying pace, her bony tail like a barbed streamer behind her.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I followed her using my skills in perception. I didn't see it in colors as she did, but rather I felt it as something tangible, like I could reach out a hand and feel the universe around me.

[s'Il]

Through trees and around outcroppings of boulders that sprang up from the ground, s'Il tore along. She was mindful to keep an eye on Zem though, watching as he navigated his way about without any trouble at all. It was fascinating to her, and the Lupine had to wonder how long it would be before she too was able to do such a thing with the ease he had.

They'd reached the base of the mountain, and the trees had become more dense, the forest underbrush providing healthy obstacles to overcome.

She continued to watch him as she bounded either at his side or a short distance behind. Soon enough though, the vornskr surged ahead with excitement bourne of the simple act of running, and she allowed herself to slowly overtake her master. Curiosity got the better of her as she found herself at his side though, and in a fluid motion she veered inwards to gently brush his leg. Soon enough she began to press in harder.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Without breaking my stride, I gave a surge and a mighty leap, rising high into the air. The air whipped by me as I rose, and I reached out to find my pupil, and the land all around her, finding a perch to meet the earth again with firm-footed grace. I was directly in her path of advance.

[s'Il]

Lips curling back in a grotesque smile, the vornskr sprang forward with excited energy. He was in her path, and without thinking s'Il lunged to the side. Using a moss-covered tree stump as a launching point, she opened her mind. Pulling the Force into her she channelled it back out, flinging herself high in the air. Her body sailed over Zems with a surprise that was clearly evident on her wolfish features.

She'd not expected this; to have so much power behind the jump, and twisting her body in the air, she desperately tried to right herself as the ground came up quickly. Too late, the Lupine hit the ground roughly on her side, an odd squeak escaping as she rolled a short ways before sliding to a stop on her side, panting and head laying in a pile of leaves.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I could sense the jump had come off unevenly, and I rushed to where she'd landed ungainly.

She was hurt in the fall, but I couldn't tell to what extent. I knew she had regenerative ability, but even still my sense of discretion asserted itself.

"Careful not to bite off more than you can chew, padawan. We'll need to work on control."

[s'Il]

Another string of garbled gibberish. The jump had certainly not ended as she'd thought it would; it was far more powerful than she'd expected, and her confusion was easily seen as she stood up on wobbly legs.

Her body shook to rid itself of leaves and twigs, though a few remained entangled in her fur. Sitting, the Lupine scratched behind her ear while 'speaking' again. Pausing, she flopped down to lay leisurely on the forest floor.

Her reversion was a fluid one, and soon enough she lay on her back, staring up at the treetops.

She picked another twig from a mob of wild blonde hair - it'd grown considerably long in their time here.

"I wasn't expecting it to be like that."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"I imagine there is much to defy your expectation now. To an extent, you're discovering yourself again in a wholly different way."

I extended a hand for her to stand.

"I take it there's no lasting harm?"

[s'Il]

"Oh heavens no. Just a bit of surprise."

s'Il picked another few leaves from her hair, then brushed dirt from her arms.

"... and a small bit of mess."

Which was another thing that had manifested itself more than once; her obsessive need for cleanliness.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"We've broken a threshold, and you now know you have much talent at your disposal, even in your lupine form. Take time to consider what you felt, and the general experience of it. Later we can work on refinement, endurance, and control."

[s'Il]

She nodded.

A look was sent to the sky; the sun had not even reached the point that signaled midday. There was a quiet as the two stood together, and presently s'Il ventured forth a question.

"Home, then?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Not yet. We still have work to do."

I stood up and returned my belt to my robe.

"Give me your saber."

[s'Il]

A sheepish look.

"It's up there, on the mountain with the rest of my clothes."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Then let's take a brisk walk, I suppose."

We set off after the clothes, and I drew my own saber, tinkering with it's power choke a little as we walked together.

"You studied under Master Windu, so I don't think there is much that remains for me to say in this regard. Still, someone once said to make your exercises bloodless wars so that you can make your wars into bloody exercises."

[s'Il]

Such talk only served to remind her of the countless lessons she'd had in the sparring rooms. Watching sidelong as he fiddled with his sabre, s'Il bit her lip.

She scaled one of the small foothill boulders, and lost in her own thoughts struck off ahead of her master.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I matched her pace, and we soon came to the discarded clothes.

"Change in, and hand me your saber. We're going to practice with less restraint than usual."

[s'Il]

In silent obedience the Lupine pulled on her clothes, her boots and belt coming last. She unclipped her sabre from its' normal place at her side, and held it out for him.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I took the weapon, examining it in close detail, before finding the device that controlled the choke. I adjusted it in a similar fashion to my own.

Once she had clothed herself, I nodded.

"Hold out your arm."

[s'Il]

s'Il furrowed her brow in a small bit of confusion, but did as she was told. She'd watched him do the same to her weapon as he'd done to his own, and the fingers of her other hand involuntarily clench at the fabric of her pants.

Suddenly unsure of what he intended, the Lupine pulled her arm back.

"You're not going to cut on me, are you... "

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Not exactly."

I ignited my blade with a spark, and it shimmered to life, although at what seemed to be a less bright light.

"I tightened the energy choke to reduce the thermal energy coefficient. All the structural integrity of the magnetic bottle, and a fraction of the heat. You won't lose your limbs or worse, but you'll know you've been hit."

[s'Il]

Now this was new. Satisfied that he'd no intention of marring her, the Lupine took her sabre from his hand. A new glint flashed in her eyes then, and she allowed a small grin to cross her features.

It'd been a long enough while since they had sparred, and that he was implying that this little bout was to be less restrained than their previous ones excited her.

Her grin became a crafty smirk.

"You'll know it too."

[Zem-El Vymes]

I drew back in a deep-seated stance, twirling my blade as I did so, but it was all a stratagem, as I did so, I drew a stone from behind s'Il and used it to sweep her feet from under her. The moment she drew off balance, I attacked with an overhanded cleave.

[s'Il]

Taken a little by surprise, the Lupine regained her footing just as Zem's sabre came down, and bringing her own blade up she blocked the strike while pushing it to the side.

Both blades sparked along the ground harmlessly, and s'Il slid her weapon up along the length of his toward his hand. She drove inward at the same time, hoping to bring them close enough to avoid any retliation on his part.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I I threw my weak shoulder towards her, cutting off her drive and using the higher leverage I had on the blades to exact pressure. I took a quick hop back, severing the lockup as I swiped upwards at her head on the withdrawal.

[s'Il]

He'd said less restraint, and s'Il took those words to heart. Her whole body flowed in a smooth series of motions. Again she raised her blade to block his, pushing down as he sought to bring it up, and in the same movement she pressed in yet again with her left elbow extended toward his chest.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I pivoted at the hip, taking her thrusted elbow on the fleshy edge of my shoulder. With a head feint, I withdrew a hand from my saber and blasted her off her feet with a surge of the force.

I wouldn't have long to use the gap between us, and I charged ahead, sweeping at her backpedaling feet with my blade.

[s'Il]

A few nimble hops back, and s'Il kept up her retreat from his sabre. She watched his movements though, cautious of them while at the same time studious. Guaging the best opening, the Lupine lunged forward into a backswing. Her blade swiping at his own, she used the momentum to push it away before bringing hers across in a slash aimed across his chest.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I continued forward, instead of contesting the swipe I dove beneath it, swinging out with my legs to sweep hers out from under her. I brought my blade back to square my centerline in case she brought an attack downward while I was in low.

[s'Il]

Caught off balance, s'Il stumbled back a few steps, grabbing a hold of a low branch to steady herself.

Her master was crouched low, his blade ready to block, and s'Il did the same, her stance low and her blade held horizontal in front of her in a one-handed grip.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Another force blast, this time kicking dust and debris into the air. I advanced. Another, and another, and another. I drove a swarm of obfuscation in front of me, denying her the right to vision.

[s'Il]

Disoriented at first, s'Il backed off as he continued forward. Trying to pick through the debris he was throwing up was impossible, and she ducked her head while backpedaling from the onslaught.

Her eyes closed then, and she steeled herself. Muscles bunching as she tensed her body, she sprang forward. Using the Force she let go with a continued push, sending what he'd thrown up to either side. Eyes still closed, the Lupine brought her blade around in an arc that would meet his.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Except I wasn't there at all.

The path she'd driven through the debris revealed nothing but open ground.

And that is when I landed atop her.

[s'Il]

With a yelp she went down, caught unawares. Her sabre left her hand to skitter a short way down the mountainside, shutting itself off in the process.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Not content to let her concede with a few words and a proverb, I explained the situation to her with a sharp chop at her midsection with my blade.

[s'Il]

"Ow!"

She winced at this sudden, painful lesson he'd given, the shock of it causing her to lash out with the Force and try to push him off.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"The dead can't resist!"

I explained that one to her as well.

WRR-KRRRSH!!!

[s'Il]

Another jab of his blade, and she cried out again.

Gasping, the Lupine did her best to pull herself out from beneath him.

"Well since I'm dead, I give up then!"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Nor can they surrender!"

WRR-KRRRSH!!!

[s'Il]

The blade scored along her ribcage, and s'Il grit her teeth against another painful yelp. If she wasn't the one recieving the blows, the Lupine would have laughed; as it was, she was the unfortunate recipient.

"Than stop your needless butchering!"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT!"

I pulled back for an extra hard chop, coming down and bringing the blade to a rest mere inches from her face.

[s'Il]

For a few seconds her eye went wide at his raised voice, the tone he held, and the words themselves. Soon enough though her blue gaze narrowed. With a wretched pull the Lupine yanked his blade from his grasp using the Force.

It flipped in the air, landing in her own outstretched palm. Fingers closing around the hilt, s'Il let a snarl twist her lips as she swiped the blade through his legs just below his knees.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I dropped to the ground in pain, having my balance taken from me.

"If only your ghost can harness such frustration, you can give your killer a terriffic haunting."

[s'Il]

s'Il disengaged the sabre, angrily throwing it at him before staggering to her feet.

<"My ghost would be too good for something such as that,"> she snapped back, inadvertantly switching to Bast'yr.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Then have your ghost knit a sweater, anything less than fighting spirit in combat is useless!"

My Bast'yr was probably not even syntactically correct but I wasn't going to let her sulk away from this. She had to learn that it was bitter and terrible to lose, because neither her nor I could afford to do it.

[s'Il]

<"Well maybe I will!!">

Her hands balled into white knuckled fists as she stared down at him. And with mounting anger the Lupine called her fallen sabre to her, igniting the blade and driving into her master with a new rage bourne of frustration, hurt, and a creeping rage that licked at the edges of her senses.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I could sense trouble in my pupil, and as she began her onslaught fresh, I worked in frenzied pace to keep her at bay.

"Feel what is driving you...that is poison you fool!"

I closed the distance and nearly tackled her, pressing against her with all of my leverage.

"See! Learn to see!"

[s'Il]

A new fire seemed to burn within her, and true to her previous training, she threw up heavy barriers against the emotions that nagged at the peripherals of her being.

<"It's only poison if I drink of it.">

Her motions didn't cease however, and the long hours with Master Windu began to show themselves. She broke away from his pressing lock, dancing away in a tight circle that brought her around to his back. Her sabre-tip flicked in to catch him across his side, and without drawing back the Lupine ducked in again, this time bringing the glowing amethyst blade across the back of his shoulders.

[Zem-El Vymes]

More of that Form VII blasphemy...

I ground my teeth at the parting shot she'd gotten in on my back and whirled around, throwing my saber blade-first into the ground.

"Master Windu taught you many things, and I respect that. But you won't patronize me."

I turned away from her, pulling my saber free as I deactivated the weapon.

"If you think you can play with fire and not get burned, you obviously know something I don't, and have no use for a Master."

[s'Il]

This took her by surprise, and the sudden halting look in her eyes showed as much.

Her weapon lowered, and deactivated as well, the look she cast on him now one of confusion.

"I wasn't trying to patronize... " she blinked, having lapsed back into Basic.

"Or am I not allowed to gain the upper hand?"

s'Il took a step back then, her jaw clenched tight. She truly did not understand this outburst of his, and it showed. She locked eyes with him for a few moments longer.

"This whole thing was your idea anyway," she finally very nearly whispered.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Take some time to rest and think about today. No training is done unless you learn. If you don't, it's only labor."

I could tell that I had upset her, and that was understandable.

"You have to understand that your enemy has neither honor, compassion, or morality. You are already at a disadvantage by virtue of what you are."

[s'Il]

Now what did he mean by that? By virtue of what she was?

Her sabre was returned to it's place on her belt then, and the Lupine approached him slowly on her way down the mountain.

They walked in silence for a short while through the growth along the mountainbase before s'Il was brave enough to speak anything above a whisper.

"I'm sorry."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Don't be."

I draped an arm over her shoulder.

"This isn't going to be easy, and it would be of no use to you if it was."

[s'Il]

He spoke true; she knew that much. But still, to hear the words he spoke had been a harsh thing upon her ears. In their time together these long months she grown far more attached to him than she was ready to admit. To him, at least.

"If it means anything," she went on sheepishly, "your Bast'yr is very good."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Maybe it's the spittle. I don't think I can speak it on a calm nerve."

I laughed at that.

"Your solution for the dust cloud was innovative, but always remember that your eyes can deceive you."

[s'Il]

If she thought she'd been able to get away with it, the Lupine would have wrapped her own arm around his waist; though, that would've no doubt been far too telling. As it was, she settled for burrowing closer to his side. His arm over her shoulder a form of contact that he only gave of once in a great while.

"I was trying to see without my eyes, like what you were trying to show me earlier this morning."

A grimace as she rubbed her stomach and lower ribcage.

"It didn't work very well."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"You were trying to see me in two different places at once. You already knew that your sight was befuddled. If it comes to an impasse like that, always trust your instincts.

That one I specifically recall my master trying on me."

[s'Il]

"Oh."

Another few moments of silence.

"How'd you fair through it?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"I did the same thing you did, actually."

I shrugged.

[s'Il]

Well. At least that was a small consolation. She sighed then. They were nearing the clearing that the yacht had been landed in, though most of their time was spent in a small hut that they'd built in the first weeks of their arrival.

She reached her arm around to blindly poke at a spot along his shoulders, curious as to whether he was as sore as she was.

"How's that feel?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Like a really bad sunburn and a deep bruise, all at once."

I winced, deciding discretion was the better form of valor, and didn't return the same to the tiger stripes I could see on her exposed skin.

"It gets the message to you though."

[s'Il]

She pulled away from him, newly mindful of not only his, but her own injuries. Though, both of them knew that she would be well healed before he would. Even now her metabolism was dutifully working to right the wrongs; though it was at the cost of her body's nourishment. With that in mind, s'Il made a face, and even though it'd not been long since she'd eaten the Lupine scratched at an unseen itch at the base of her throat.

"I need food."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"You eat more than two of me."

I stopped, looked at a cloud, and scratched the periphery of one of the saber burns at my side.

"Well I think we can put a fork in our physical routines for a while at any rate. There's salted fish in the cabin, and porridge to boot."

[s'Il]

The fish she was more than happy to tend to, and did so with barely contained decorum; a funny thing if he stopped to think of her call for civilized eating habits so long ago in that empty house.

Presently, s'Il looked at him from where she sat leaning against the side of their cabin, the pitiful few remnants of her meal now untouched.

She studied him for a few quiet moments.

"You don't like form seven, do you."

It was not a question.

[Zem-El Vymes]

I was caught at a disadvantage, and I allowed a thin smile.

"As I said, I respected Master Windu as a senior on the council, but I most certainly had my objections to some of his, er, philosophies."

[s'Il]

"Why."

Idly, s'Il found herself twirling a lock of hair around her index finger. She suspected his answer to be connected with the proximity with which such type of combat had with the Dark, but she wanted to know for sure.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"It's easy enough for a Jedi to fall to the dark side in the best of circumstances. To encourage it to dance about you like a flurry of insects is inviting a terrible disaster."

I tried to word it in a way that wouldn't offend my student's prior sensibilities.

"You are here, with this snarling thing around you, the eye of a hurricane. It gives you an uncanny window into a truly evil opponent, but what else can you see beyond?"

[s'Il]

She thought on this for a few minutes before answering. To her the answer was simple enough.

"How to destroy such a person.

"Once that is done, you let it be."

[Zem-El Vymes]

I took a drink from a water skin hanging nearby, and wiped my mouth.

"I reject that entirely. The assumption that it can even be switched on and off, in the face of the evil we've both seen, I consider to be hubris."

Regaining a little hunger, I began to measure out some porridge and a slice of sliced fish, and prepared my own ration.

"You fall, and you don't come back. It will consume you and burn at your soul until you're black inside. This isn't anything to be bedfellows with, and it's not to be fraternized with."

[s'Il]

Looking away to stare into the trees, s'Il mulled over his answer.

It was not with any sense of rebellion on her part, but mere curiosity that
fueled her next question.

"Than why did Master Windu use it... and teach it... ?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"A difference of philosophy."

I eased the kettle onto coals in the oven, ready to heat it up.

"You have to understand that the Council and the Knighthood were not a monolithic institution. There are disagreements often, and they can be irreconcilable to some degree. The convention that carried the day is that Master Windu's arts were controversial, but probably short of heretical."

I sighed, trying to frame the response a little better.

"I didn't agree with the man. I still don't. The Council, in the end, had a different opinion."

[s'Il]

Another silence, and she looked back to him. It was plainly evident that she didn't exactly agree with his assessment. Her very nature demanded victory at all costs, and even though there were no more Loveloxx to battle, the instinct carried on strongly. Perhaps that was what he meant by the virtue of what she was.

"So does that mean that I'm not to use it around you?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

Another complex question.

"You have to understand that your choice to do so does me no offense. Now, if you do so in the context of me training you, then this is something I will ask you not to do. I am not training you in Form VII. I don't believe in it, and I don't teach it."

The water steamed, and I gingerly took the kettle back, pouring the water onto the meal in my bowl to make porridge.

"Once you've learned what there is to learn from me, you'll be a Jedi Knight. The question of what to use is then something that only a Jedi Knight's wisdom can answer. Obviously my hope is that we are in agreement. If that isn't the case, it wouldn't be the first, nor the last time I agreed to disagree with a friend."

[s'Il]

"Than teach me Soresu."

The words were out of her mouth before she could even realize it.

She knew the basics of most of the different forms, but had only been taught Vapaad with earnest from Master Windu. She knew there was more to each form than the simplest of their moves. Her previous master had bypassed the normal requirement of her having to master the other forms, and had focused on Vapaad only.

Why he did such a thing the Lupine could not guess.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"It hadn't occurred to me otherwise."

I gave the porridge a quick stir, and a few breaths.

"I've been teaching it to you all this time."

[s'Il]

Furrowing her brow, s'Il stared at him. He had? How did she not realize it? A newfound respect intermingled with muted awe glinted in her eyes then.

And beneath that; something else. She watched as he stirred his soon-to-be meal with the very same look she'd given him when he'd first asked to teach her.

The Lupine broke of her stare though before he could lift his own gaze to meet hers.

"Such trickery," she murmured goodnaturedly, brushing back the normally gaurded portions of her own musings behind the carefully placed defenses in her mind.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"It's not trickery."

I smiled a bit, and took a quick bite of food.

"Soresu is more than swordplay. Like I said, you have to learn to see more than you might find yourself looking at. It's about time, opportunity, and the mechanics of things. An enemy is a problem, and what you seek is a solution to the problem, but you have to see things that maybe you do not want to look for."

[s'Il]

"It's still trickery in my book," she persisted with a small laugh. With a minor protest from popping knees, s'Il stood. She disappeared through the cabin door, but not before delivering a gentle, sweeping hand that brushed his unruly mop of hair forward and sending untrimmed bangs into his eyes.

From inside, she continued to speak.

"Seeing things that you might not wish to look for - is that a special way of saying 'compromise'?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"You tell me. Is it?"

I tucked into my porridge, and paused for a bit of salted fish before continuing.

"All I've told you is to see. What you see, much less what you do with that, is where instinct takes over."

[s'Il]

"I would say that it's dependant on the situation and the adversary you are dealing with," came the answer.

Soon enough the Lupine stepped out once more, having changed into one of the sets of clothing that she'd brought with her from the estate of House Auflendte. A relatively simple ensemble, she felt far more at ease in such trappings as opposed to a Jedi's garb.

Instead of returning to her previous spot, s'Il took up residence beside her master.

"A compromise with agreeable concessions by both parties would be ideal, but that isn't always the case. Some are as willing to avoid bloodshed as you are, but if we're to factor in Sith, than I'd imagine nothing short of a terminal ending; no matter who came out the victor."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"I see little other option in the grand scheme, of course, but this is but one very large decision, made of many smaller ones. You have to see both forest as well as tree, and you have to travel from one to the other with little bias."

[s'Il]

"Than how are you sure that your decision is the right one? Or is that simply something along the lines of your best judgement?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"You can only trust in your instincts. As long as you see the paths to take, choosing the proper one is already within you."

[s'Il]

"Oh."

With a distant look in her eyes, the Lupine stared at the porridge in his bowl.

"What if you had no choice but to turn to the Dark? To protect the ones you cared for?"

Biting her lip, s'Il tried to word her question a bit more explicitly.

"Say hypothetically, right now, if you knew your death would not garauntee the one person you care about most any safety and the only thing that would would be by going to the Dark, would you?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"One would have to believe in a no-win scenario in order to answer such a question."

[s'Il]

A soft laugh.

"Than I suppose you don't believe in such a thing."

Her thoughts turned to Tam then, and of the look in his eyes as he tried in vain to scrub at the blood upon him. They permeated the uppermost echelons of her mind to such an extent that it would be no small feat at all for Zem to know of whom she thought.

"Is that why he did it?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Tam gave into despair. I don't think that he considered it a choice at that point."

I paused, lost in thought, as I pushed aside my lunch.

"There is a danger to that. We're feeling creatures, and there's no denying our emotions. We have to, in the end, become the guardian of them. Tam did not."

[s'Il]

Feeling creatures...

The Lupine felt herself hinged upon those words.

Presently she went on.

"Would you?

"Give in, I mean."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"Who is to say?"

I shrugged.

"Emotion is a creature that runs independently of intent. You do what you can to control it in your way, but we're all subject to it in some fashion."

I gave a soft laugh to defuse the question, and took a drink from the water skin.

"Do you mourn Tam Jeneel?"

[s'Il]

Quiet, s'Il looked down at the ground. There were times that she missed Tam's smiling features, his bouyant attitude and words. He'd always had a way of making her smile and laugh, even during their brief meetings at the temple.

"I do."

She bit her lip, an action that had fast become a habit that indicated nervousness.

"But I'd mourn you more."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"You shouldn't mourn him, and fortune forbid, certainly not me."

I looked up at her in her folk gown, and gave a serene smile.

"He was a Jedi, and acted as a Jedi. If you remember him, he lives. Mourning is a sickness of the heart, and Tam would want you to think only well of your time with him."

[s'Il]

"I do."

She gave a sigh.

"He is T'emu'ss'en."

It was a word that the Lupine had never used around him, and the look he gave her was expected.

"T'emu'ss'en is an old word." Idly, s'Il began to draw the symbols for both House Loveloxx and House Losstarot into the dirt with her toe. "There's no real direct translation that relates well enough."

She stared at the two designs. "Closest thing that I can think of is to describe it as a person who gives up their life to protect loved ones. It is the most honorable of sacrifices, and a state of being that demands respect. Martyrdom is close, but not close enough. A T'emu'ss'en either lives or dies for others, not a belief.

"Those that were traded between House Ranonachte and House Denkinger were the first T'emu'ss'en, for they gave up their identities, status, and their very blood to keep both bloodlines from dying of madness."

[Zem-El Vymes]

"He made a choice."

I knew she was trying to impart on me a close feeling, and I was ready to hear her.

"Yes, he was a Jedi, and had tenets, faiths, beliefs, and dogma. But to do what he did was an individual choice. At any point he could have chosen to abandon it, abandon us, and you. We can attribute this to being a Jedi, but it's equally due to one moment in time, and how a person reacts to that moment."

[s'Il]

She gave a mildly confused look, and blinked.

"Maybe I didn't explain it well enough.

"T'emu'ss'en; it's a choice that's made freely. Yes it's a high honor, but it's never one that is wanted; it is a necessity to protect those you hold dear."

[Zem-El Vymes]

I thought about her words. Tam's sacrifice was most certainly a last ditch effort, and absolutely selfless.

"I think you are now understanding at its core what it means to be a Jedi. It is a difficult choice to give of yourself, and to truly do it with a generous heart."

[s'Il]

Unsure of how to respond, s'Il stood up from where she'd been sitting beside him.

A mumbled, "Maybe so," was the only thing given as she walked away.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"That would make Tam extremely happy."

It was as little consolation as I could find, but perhaps the most appropriate at the time.

[s'Il]

She gave a hrmph; not out of any sort of disapproval, but more bourne of not knowing how to acknowledge Zem's words. For her there seemed to be no satisfactory way to shift the topic of conversation, and so she simply decided to leave him be.

Stepping into their shared hut, the Lupine busied herself with perusing through one of the books she'd brought with her. Sitting against the far wall atop the pile of blankets that served as her bed, s'Il made herself comfortable as she opened the cover.

[Zem-El Vymes]

She was back to her studies. More time for self improvement, and more reason to pass the day. I tended to the kettle, measuring out some water and stirring in a handful of dried leaves and herbs, before straining that out into another cup.

It had taken me a while to become familiar with the herbs and natural things of this place, but having done so, it was no hardship to find the right proportions to make a tea as gentle on the body and mind as it was on the tongue, and I prepared enough for each of us.

[s'Il]

From her spot against the wall, s'Il sat with the book in her lap. And yet, while her head was tilted down, it was plain to see that her eyes were not. She stared at Zem through the doorway, watching as he set about making tea. She watched the motions of his hands for a few minutes before her gaze shifted up to the side of his face.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"A recess from our daily frustrations."

I approached her from the doorway, leaning forward to extend her a steaming cup.

[s'Il]

Whether he'd noticed her silent observations or not, s'Il could only guess. She did not avert her eyes however, instead allowing her head to lift. She blinked slowly before holding up a hand and taking the offered drink.

"Thank you."

The book was set off to the side, and the Lupine blew gently at the tea. For a few moments she stared at her master, and lowering the cup to her lap, she held it with one hand while idly running the fingers of her other through the steam. It took only a small manipulation of the Force and the thin wisps began to follow the motions of her fingers, weaving delicate patterns as they rose.

"How long are we going to stay here?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

I answered her question with a question, blowing on my own tea.

"Do you think we should be leaving?"

[s'Il]

This took her a bit by surprise.

"Well, no, I suppose not."

The thought of leaving at this point in time didn't sit well with her, and it was easy to see. She continud the motions of her fingers, the steam following along the paths she absently pulled it through.

"I like it here."

[Zem-El Vymes]

I raised the tea to my lips, giving pause as it was still somewhat hot.

"Then we should stay a while."

I felt no disturbance. Nothing amiss. There was no reason to stumble through the galaxy blindly, unless there was a gentle breeze pushing us in a direction.

[s'Il]

There was a silence for a few minutes, as s'Il abandoned her hold on the steam to take a sip of her tea. It was gentle; Zem had gotten better at making something from the local fauna.

"Do you ever think about Dan and the others?"

[Zem-El Vymes]

"I do. I wonder if they're still on the path that they were considering."

Back to the mundane talk of rebellions and insurrections. It was perhaps unavoidable.

"Maybe when we leave here, our paths will cross."

Closing my eyes, I drank from my tea, now at a comfortable temperature.

[s'Il]

"And maybe you'll trim your beard," she grinned playfully before taking another drink.

[Zem-El Vymes]

"That'll be the day!"

I looked to her and smiled, a little tea dribbling down my very full beard.