Taking in a stray

[Akasha Khan]

The shuttle's hydraulic vents spat jets of water vapor as the landing gear settled. Akasha made a face and waved the wet cloud away from her nose as she padded down the gangplank - hardly a dignified way to make her first footfall on the deck of the Whaladon, the heart of the surviving Jedi order in the known galaxy.

The young Orryxian girl was covered head to toe in lustrous black fur, most of it hidden beneath a faded red jumpsuit that had been cut for humanoid proportions and bunched and sagged vexingly on her feline frame. On her left hip was a short, metallic cylinder too featureless to be a lightsaber, and she carried a loosely-slung shoulder bag just large enough to hold a few meager possessions. Her bare, padded feet made no sound at all on the deckplates as she stepped into the vast expanse of the Whaladon's hangar bay. Aside from a scattering of cargo barrels and a few small craft tethered by power umbilicals, the bay was empty.

"Hello?" she said, hesitantly.

A sharp hiss startled her, and she whirled to see the gangplank retracting and the shuttle lurching up off the deck on its repulsorlifts. She squinted in the backwash as the craft turned in mid-air and blasted through the containment field and into the silent, starry blackness beyond, leaving her very much alone.

[Abarai Loki]

A second hiss sounded from across the hangar bay where a pair of doors parted, fresh light spilled into the gloom and with it appeared two strangers. There was a young woman and an even younger boy, the latter of which was garbed in a smart black tunic and a sleeveless white haori. There was not a single utterance shared between them in their approach and when they came to a halt before the strange felinoid the silence endured. The boy regarded the alien with cool indifference.

"Who are you?"

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha spun again to face the new arrivals. It was one thing to find herself deposited on the flight deck with all the aplomb of a load of dirty laundry. She'd at least expected to be greeted by a Jedi elder who would apologize for her rude treatment at the hands of the Rebel pilots - they're only ordinary sentients after all, not graced with the power of the Force like you and I.

But what really unseated her was that, not only had she not been expected, she was being challenged by a little boy.

She managed to close her jaw before any flies got in and folded her paws behind her back, thoroughly composed except for the tail lashing around her ankles. She wasn't sure who she was supposed to address, so her eyes darted back and forth between the two robed figures.

"I am Akasha Khan, firstborn of Lord Akhira of the royal Khan thane of Orryxia," she said. Neither stranger showed even a flicker of recognition.

"I've been sent here for training," she said, a little desperately. "As a Jedi."

[Corell Capstan]

Corell was only wearing an outer robe on account of the boys insistence that looking the part would help when it came to playing the part, but they sat oddly on her shoulders and her stance was more shock-boxer than studious monk. She eyed the feline warily.

“Sent? Who by?”

[Akasha Khan]

Her ears lay back flat before she mastered herself and wrested them upright again. They hadn't been told. At all.

"By Eluna Thals of Rebel Intelligence," she said. "I thought she'd made arrangements..."

[Abarai Loki]

"Arrangements?" Loki repeated, an eyebrow arched.

"Protocol has been followed to the letter, I assure you. And given the sensitive nature of our work here, we see no need for details verging on the... mundane."

Here, he folded his arms and gave the new arrival a measured appraisal from top to bottom. He met her gaze.

"Akasha Khan, lofty titles and special arrangements have no place here. You will be known, simply, as padawan. If you're lucky."

And with that he turned and headed back towards the open doors, feeling no need to actually ask her to follow him when, clearly, it should be expected.

[Akasha Khan]

It took a moment for Akasha to realize she was gaping again. This child spoke with power and impunity while his elder simply watched with a bedeviled smirk and followed him toward the door. Was she so unimportant an arrival that an adult couldn't even speak to her?

"Wait!" Akasha hurried after them, surprised by the pace the boy set with his shorter legs. "So what do I need to do? Is there a test? A rite of passage? Whatever it is, I can do it!"

[Corell Capstan]

Corell lagged a few steps behind Loki, so that she walked almost in step with the girl. The way she was asking, she might as well have fallen to her hands and knees, thrown her paws in the air and begged to become a Jedi.

“Believe me, you don't need to ask. The kid'll give you your trial by fire, and then some.”

[Abarai Loki]

"The trial you so desperately crave, Akasha Khan, commenced the instant you boarded this vessel. In every moment, henceforth, you will be asked to prove your worth; your skills will be tested, your limits pushed, we shall assess the strength of your character and mental fortitude, your body must become a temple while your possessions a memory. Is this at all sounding familiar?"

Reaching the open doors the boy suddenly wheeled on the pair behind him, and his eyes first found Corell, their bright cyan hue somehow seemed more frosty.

"Because the same applies to you, Capstan, unless you harbor a burning desire to spend the rest of your days onboard this ship swabbing decks and preparing lunch then I suggest you learn to address your superiors in the correct manner.

My name is Abarai Loki," he said, turning his attention to the young Orryxian, "You would do well to remember it."

[Akasha Khan]

If it was this human cub's intention to flabbergast Akasha every time he opened his mouth, he was doing an extraordinary job of it. Until now, she had taken the woman to be the superior and the boy to be an overzealous student, perhaps even a rival, but there was no mistaking the iron in his eyes and in his posture for anything other than authority, and it was clear he meant to wield it over both of them.

"Then I will not forget," she replied, striking an expression somewhere between earnest and annoyed. "I ask forgiveness for my ignorance, sir... Master... do I call you by your name or rank?"

[Corell Capstan]

Instinct told Corell to mock a salute, but she managed to show enough restraint so that a tight smirk was the only sign of her bravado.

“Tradition says that you should refer to your teacher as Master. Tradition is very important, when you're a Jedi,” she added, with a little tug at the lapels of her ill-fitting robes.

[Abarai Loki]

"When you're a Jedi," Loki repeated, the edge in his voice sharp enough to cut the air in two, "Contrary to popular belief, being a Jedi is a way of life, not a career choice. Nevertheless-"

A tilt of the head as he looked from one to the other, the brash unweildly padawan and the young eager student, and after some silent contemplation, continued:

"While tradition is important, it also dictates that I am to take you immediately before the elders for a preliminary assessment, but first I want to make my own judgement."

The hangar bay doors closed behind him with the slightest of gestures.

"I want to see you fight. Both of you."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha bit down on the question of Are you serious? She was beginning to doubt the little knight possessed so much as a humerus.

And, inwardly, she felt almost giddy at the test Loki had chosen. No meditative nerfdren or stupid mystical questions with no answers - just fists, claws, and sweat. She had no idea the Jedi were so martial.

She sized up Corell once more - this time as a potential opponent. She had more mass and a better reach, and the way she carried herself seemed to be an open challenge to the galaxy at large. All things being equal, Akasha believed she could handle the human. But she'd quickly learned that the power of the Force belied all appearances.

"Shall we fight to the death, or will first blood be sufficient?" she asked, smiling at Corell like the nexu that caught the mynock.

[Corell Capstan]

Now that she knew the feline was an opponent, Corell didn't take her eyes from Akasha. She had travelled with a pair of felinoids for long enough to be able to read their expressions well enough, and at that moment she was certain the newcomer was wearing a sly smile.

“Sabers?”

[Abarai Loki]

"Fists," he answered, then looked to Akasha, "I will tell you when the fight is over."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha drew herself perfectly upright on her digitgrade feet - doing so gave her an extra five or so centimeters in height - and coolly extended a paw out past her hip. The retracted Echani fighting staff on her belt shuddered and flew into her grasp, and she laid the weapon down on the docking bay floor.

"Age before beauty," she said, eyes glittering.

[Corell Capstan]

Shrugging out of her robes, Corell yanked the cuffs of her sleeves up to her elbows. She rolled her neck and shoulders, flexed her fingertips and all the while kept a level-stare on Akasha. Back on Taris, she'd put up a good fight against Navaria Tarkin in a bar-room brawl, so surely one little furball couldn't pose too much of a challenge? Confidence buoyed by that thought, she closed the distance between them in a step and swung a vicious right hook.

[Akasha Khan]

Even as she deflected the shot, Akasha realized she'd underestimated the woman's strength. She almost missed slapping aside the follow-up jab from Corell's left, and she stumbled slightly as she gave ground and danced out of the pilot's range.

Cocky, she chided herself. Fortunately, she had a way to counter the woman's reach and upper-body strength.

She took a step to close distance again, feinted low, and turned suddenly to execute a rising, spinning kick toward Corell's jaw.

[Corell Capstan]

Corell weaved backwards, but not soon enough. The kick caught her in the chest and staggered her back a step, the shock of the impact more jarring than the force of the blow itself. The cat was wily, slim and agile, and the last thing she needed was to give her the room to get off any-more acrobatics like that. As Akasha landed from her spin, Corell waded in with a jack-hammer of a left that would have popped a watermelon and was aimed right for the girl's head.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha continued her spin, which, fortunately for her, was moving in the same direction as Corell's fist. It meant she didn't catch the full force of the blow, but it rocked across her cheek and made her puncture her own lip on one of her fangs as she spun down hard to the floor.

Facing away from her opponent, Akasha broke her fall on her front paws and snapped out with her thick tail to hook Corell's ankle out from under her.

[Corell Capstan]

In her first encounter with Abarai Loki, the boy had turned a hangar bay into a training circuit with plenty of hurdles – literally. Whether he was throwing crates in her path or using stray tools as projectile weaponry, Loki had made sure Corell was always on her toes. It was this fact that made her grin as she sprung over Akasha's tail and landed at the feline's left shoulder, intent on grabbing a handful of black fur from the back of the girl's neck.

[Akasha Khan]

But Akasha sensed Corell's intent and was already on her way up. Instead of standing, she braced one of her feet against Corell's and reached behind her head to grab her opponent's arm around the wrist. Leverage was strength - Akasha pushed back against Corell's plant foot to take her leverage away and pulled on her arm, flipping the human headlong over the arch of her back.

[Corell Capstan]

Corell hit the deck like a sack of potatoes, all the wind rushing out of her though leaving just enough breath for a particularly colorful Corellian oath. Furious, she threw her arms around the feline's legs in a desperate attempt to wrestle her to the ground.

[Akasha Khan]

What started as a fistfight quickly turned into a wrestling match - not at all what Akasha preferred, but she was difficult to grip and could move quickly at a moment's notice. Still, going against Corell's strength at this range was starting to feel like trying to move a brick building. The human had one of her legs folded in a compromising position, and Akasha had an arm around her head which was keeping her from seeking a better hold, and both of them, she was sure, looked thoroughly undignified.

And then an appalling thought crossed the Orryxian's mind. "Wait a moment," she said, and she relaxed her grip on Corell by a degree so she could look over her shoulder at Loki. "Are you enjoying this?"

[Abarai Loki]

"Akasha Khan, what a high opinion of yourself you must have. I assure you, there is nothing enjoyable about this... display."

While the spirit of competition burned in both combatants, and to that end the excercise was proving a success, there was still much lacking in the way of technique or finesse. Loki frowned, arms folded, and surveyed the fight dispassionately.

"The pair of you have about as much grace as a couple of drunken brawling dugs."

[Corell Capstan]

“A punch don't have to be pretty to knock you out,” Corell grunted, swinging hard for – anything! They were practically a tangle of limbs by now and the way Akasha wriggled and writhed, it was impossible to say at any one time where a lucky blow might land.

[Akasha Khan]

This? Was ridiculous. Akasha didn't even know why they were fighting, but this silly grappling match was far from the best venue to display her talents.

The black-furred felinoid rolled to face the floor - an easy opening for some kind pinning maneuver - and focused the Force through her paws to push herself upward with several times her natural strength. The result was she sprang high into the air clear of Corell's grasp and, twisting gracefully, landed on her feet on a stack of crates some meters away.

"Are we done yet?" she asked, crouching like a coiled spring. "Or are you waiting for first blood? In which case I should really be using my claws."

[Abarai Loki]

"We're done here. You may get down from those crates."

A single hand gesture and the doors from hangar bay parted. He returned his attention to the lithe felinoid and spoke again, never once allowing the air of authority to escape his tone.

"You have passed your first test. You take orders well, Akasha Khan."

Then he cast his apprentice a knowing look, and gave her a nod, "Thank you for your assistance, Corell."

[Corell Capstan]

Doing her best impression of someone falling over in reverse, Corell found her feet. She knocked a knuckle against the tip of her nose and sniffed, loudly. A little voice was telling her that she had, quite possibly, just been made a fool of – but that couldn't be right. She let her eyes wander past Akasha to Loki, matching his expression with an obnoxious smile.

“Always happy to help, master.”

[Akasha Khan]

This had been as strange an introduction as Akasha could have asked for. Eyeballing both humans with suspicion, she dropped from the crates to the deck with a muffled thump and called her Echani fighting staff back into her paw.

"You will take me before your Elders, then?" she asked, looking pointedly at Loki.