Rage, rage against the dying of the light

[imported_Akrabbim]

The illusion knight stands alone in the woods, lost in thought. His blade arcs around him slowly as he practices his movements. His body flows almost without conscious thought, each strike flowing into the next. He is preparing, as ever. The war against the Dark Side never ends. He must be ever vigilant, ever ready, always prepared to prevent the dying of the Light.

[Tyreal Dalarsco]

*Walking in the woods, to where visions had brought him, Tryeal came to spy on a warrior with a strong pressense of light.
Yes, this is the one I was sent here to find. He may be able to help in my quest.
*He steps intop view of the warrior.*
Hello, Stranger, what brings you here?

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim pauses in his practice and turns to regard the newcomer. His sword, however, remains in his hands.

I am here to train. What is it that brings you here?

[Tyreal Dalarsco]

Just wandering.
I like the woods.
I come to this world when I don't have anything to do.
The names Tyreal, Tyreal Dalarsco, Bounty and Relic Hunter.
Whats yours?

[Inu]

The Jackel sat in a tree, watching the Jedi practice. He could learn from anyone, even an enemy. He committed the Jedi's attacks to memory, storing the moves for later use. Akrabbim was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of another, and Inu's lips curled into a sneer as Akrabbim questions the man. Had it been him instead, that man's head would be on the ground, not on his shoulders.

[imported_Akrabbim]

OOC: Tyreal, I'm looking for a fight, not a convo... sorry, should have been more clear in the thread title.

IC: My name is Akrabbim Melch--

He stops mid sentence as a new, darker Force presence appears in the area. He turns toward the general direction of the disturbance, scanning the area for the Dark Sider.

You had better leave, Tyreal. I'll take care of whoever this is.

[Inu]

Take care...right...

"Take care of me, Jedi? That I doubt!"

The Jackel burst from the trees, drawing his katana and slashing at Akrabbim in the same stroke.

[imported_Akrabbim]

It is fortunate, indeed, that Akrabbim did not sheathe his katana earlier. He hops and turns in mid air as the Dark Sider slashes at him. His left hand comes up with his katana to block the incoming strike, while his right elbow catches his assailant in the shoulder.

Appearances are decieving, Dark Sider. I am nothing if not... suprising.

[Inu]

Inu landed on his feet, off balanced somewhat by Akrabbim's elbow strike.

"Nothing? Sounds like a fitting description!"

He took a lowstance, feet parallel and facing forward, torso bolt upright, sword held before him with the tip of it at eye level. He moved with a rapid shuffling of feet, maintaining his center of balance. He recalled Akrabbim's technique, keeping it in mind as he struck at the Jedi's shoulder.

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim watches the man running in a straight line toward him. He creates an illusion of himself, and then makes the his real self invisible as he steps about two feet to the right. Hopefully, this small movement will not be detected. He braces his sword on his hip, point forward, and awaits his enemy's rush.

[Inu]

The Jackel's ears twitched and he halted his forward movement. He'd heard something...and the smell of the man had shifted. But the Jedi was standing right in front of him! What in all the hells...?

[imported_Akrabbim]

That was odd... he had sensed something was amiss. He didn't see through the illusion... his eyes are still fixed on the false Akrabbim. That only left sound. Smells wouldn't travel that fast... sound would. That, too, could be remedied.

He drops his illusion and stands straight, arm outstretched.

Be thou blind, O child of man.

He concentrates, and sends a strong blast of Force Blindness into the man, flooding his senses with an overpowering vision of pure white. Now that sight is gone for the moment...

Akrabbim draws two shuriken from his gi and flings them quietly, guiding them with the Force. They land a foot to either side of the man, landing in the foliage. Akrabbim remains very quiet to gague his reaction.

[Inu]

Inu's vision faded into white, and he put an arm over his eyes, trying to clear them, but without success. He stood still and listened. Nothing but the sound of their spectator. Then the sound of foliage rustling. His stance turned sideways, and his head looked to the noise. Without his sight to gauge his attacks, he dug in his defense, ready as he could be for Akrabbim's next move.

[imported_Akrabbim]

As soon as he turns, Akrabbim sends him a second false sensation. He makes him hear a sound like a twig snapping behind him, on the opposite side of where Akrabbim really is. He waits for a split-second, and then leaps, knees and elbows extended in front of him.

[Inu]

Inu faked toward the sound, then fell face first as he was hit from behind.

"You coward!"

The Jackel spun onto his back and lashed out blindly, disoreinted from the fall.

[imported_Akrabbim]

As he lands, Akrabbim's balance moves forward, placing all the weight on his forward leg. As The Jackel's blade swipes out wildly, it catches Akrabbim in a glancing blow on the right arm. Nothing debilitating, but it is painful.

He dives over the fallen man once the sword finishes its arc. He rolls, coming back to his feet quickly, and advances on the prone man, sword pointed at him the entire time.

[Inu]

Inu stood to his feet shakily. There was nothing Akrabbim could do to hide the noise he made in his fall; Inu knew roughly where he was and was now facing Akrabbim's direction. He sneered, anger building in his heart. He quelled it as best he could; this battle would require a clear mind. He sighed and focused his senses. A light breeze brought the Jedi's scent to him, and he lunged at Akrabbim's approximate location.

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim goes into a more defensive posture, parrying and blocking Inu's blows. He suddenly parries hard, knocking the man's blade out wide. He rushes into the opening and latches onto Inu, locking his arms around him in order to lock up his sword arm.

[Inu]

Inu staggered as Akrabbim grappled with him. His arms were pinned, and he struggled to break free.

"What manner...of fighter...ARE you?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

He almost chuckles as he replies.

I, sir, am a Jedi. An illusionist, by trade. Have a taste.

The blindness should have worn off by now... something new is in order. Akrabbim concentrates and sends a blast of Force Confusion into Inu. He floods the man's mind with a myriad of images, ranging from complex scenes to random colors, all in an attempt to disorient the man.

[Inu]

"Apparently so! Only a Jedi trickster would be so cowardly!"

The insult would have continued, but Inu found himself overwhelmed with images.

"What...IS this?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

Coward? It was not I who jumped from a tree to attack blind. The battle is joined... there will be no quarter.

Once the Force Confusion has set in, Akrabbim shoves away from the man to gain a bit of space. He punches hard into the side of the man's throat as he backs away.

It is the power of the Light, Dark Sider... know it and fear it.

[Inu]

Inu gagged as Akrabbim struck his throat.

"Fear it? I fear NOTHING!"

He couldn't focus, couldn't think straight. What to do? His vision came back into focus, and he saw Akrabbim standing before him. There was the focus of his rage...The two stars Akrabbim had thrown came flying back to their owner, directed by the Sith's anger.

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim raises his hand as the shuriken near him. They stop in mid air.

These are my weapons, Dark Sider. They will not obey you.

The shuriken slowly pull in as he closes his hand around them.

You fear nothing, do you? I find that hard to believe. The Dark Side is the epitome of fear... we shall see.

Akrabbim flings the two shuriken forth once more, but he casts an illusion with them. Instead of two shuriken, hundreds appear to be hurltling toward the man. Most are harmless illusions. But two are not.

[Inu]

Inu's eyes widened with surprise. A hundred shurikens?

"Impossible, he can't throw that many..."

The confusion was subsiding, he could think logically again. But that still didn't settle the matter of which two were real. He focused and listened as the hail of shurikens flew at him, listening for the whistle of the real ones...He struck left, a lucky block, but the other pierced his shoulder. Pulling it out, he threw it down and glared.

"Your parlor tricks disgust me, Jedi!'

[Tyreal Dalarsco]

*Tyreal is able to slip out in the confusion, and goes back to his ship.*
Well, I came to the right place, the right person, but the wrong time. We, shall meet again, Akrabbim Melch, warrior of the light.

[imported_Akrabbim]

I'm not here to play fair. I will fight you, and you will lose.

He calls forth an Illusion, blurring his body. He is still visible, but nothing is distinct. It is as if he is being viewed through a smoked glass. He rushes toward the Dark Sider, sword raised, ready to strike.

[Inu]

A blur? The effectiveness of the move was surprising. Akrabbim's body became one mass, and Inu couldn't distinguish one part of him from another. Unsure of what attack Akrabbim was launching and dodged, rolling aside as the sword scarred the ground where he'd been.

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim presses his attack forward, weaving his blade in tight, fast patterns, attempting to cut his opponent.

[Inu]

Duck, sidestep, block...Inu was keeping up well, considering that Akrabbim was still blurred to the point of being unrecognizable. This was the type of fighting he excelled at, but Akrabbim's illusion gave him a slight advantage in the straight fight. The Jedi's sword cut him across the chest. Inu returned the favor with a hard punch at his opponent.

[imported_Akrabbim]

The punch lands squarely on Akrabbim's chest as his sword is momentarily off to one side. He stumbles back and drops the blur illusion, concentrating instead on regaining his balance. Once his feet are under him, he steps back several times, maintaining his distance.

He flings his sword, end over end, toward his opponent. Strangely, the blade makes no noise as it flies toward the Dark Sider. The apparently unarmed Jedi rushes in closely behind his blade.

[Inu]

Inu deflected the blade with relative ease, his sword passing through the illusion with the same ease its wielder used.

"What in all the hells?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

The Jedi does not respond verbally. He merely smirks, and drops the illusion. His sword is in his hands, as is always was. He rushes past Inu, dropping his sword sideways as he does. The blade slices his side as he runs past.

[Inu]

Inu whirled, catching Akrabbim a glancing blow across his trailing sword arm as he is cut. The two were even now, but judging from Akrabbim's illusory techniques that wouldn't last long. He needed more training, more experience with such things. Then he would return and challenge the Illusion Knight again. The Jackel sheathed his sword and leapt into the tree he'd began in. Within moments he was gone.

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim does not persue the man. There is no reason. He tends to his wounds with a bacta patch instead, wrapping it tightly.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

As Inu left the area, another presence unveiled itself, one familiar to Akrabbim, from long ago...

A tall man steped out from the treeline, clapping slowly.

"Very good, mind bender. It's nice to see that jedi are still out and about, and in force too."

Though his appearence was different, that voice was the same... no question about it. It was Tempist Opps. His aura was odd now, seeming almost colorless, but still dark. Yes, he was still a darksider, but no longer pure evil... now he was a beast of emotion.

"How have you fared, Akrabbim?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

His blade whirls quickly as he changes the sword's position. The blade points upward, dull side against the back of his left arm, hilt pointed down.

I seem to have won, Tempist. But I must ask, what brings you here?

[Tempist the Uncaring]

"Ahh, telling you now would spoil the fun... you will find out with some time, if I chose to unveil my reasons."

The former Sith Knight's guard was up, he was more than ready for anything that Akrabbim would try to throw at him, even illusions for the moment. Too many people wanted Tempist dead, he could never let his guard down anymore.

[imported_Akrabbim]

He crouches slightly, preparing to move if need be.

You don't seem to understand. I insist that you tell me.

His eyes glow brighter in an unspoken promise of consequences, should he not comply.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

"Insist all you want, it won't do you any good. The door to that knowlage is remaining locked to you right now."

Tempist didn't care what Akrabbim did. He'd gotten much, much stronger since their last confrontation. Tempist was no longer the nearly defenseless novice in the dark arts he once was, now he did whatever felt right to him, relying solely on his feelings and thoughts.

"Why are you jedi always so nosy into the business of others?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

And why is it that Dark Siders always try to pick a fight then feign innocence later? I tire of your chatter. State your business or begone. You have intruded on me, it therefore falls to you to explain why.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

Tempist tilted his head back with a sudden fit of laughter. He was no longer the darksider that many knew him as, he was somthing completely different from everything that had been seen before... he was simply a force user now.

"Just to observe. Not to provoke you or weave the illusion of false innocence, just to watch. So, how has life been treating you as of late?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

It treats me as well as can be expected.

But you have yet to answer my question. You have told me what you are doing here, but you have not explained why.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

His laughter continued as he replied.

"Such paranoia... that can prove bad for your health, O mind bender. Can a man not watch a battle simply for the entertainment value of a few people contesting eachother's might?"

[imported_Akrabbim]

Of course they can't. A Light Sider would not wish to simply watch the battle, he would aid a comrade. A Dark Sider would not watch a battle unless he were sizing up a future opponent. Since you did not aid me, I can only assume you were sizing me up.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

His laughter started to fade from his tone, but it wasn't yet completely gone. This jedi truly was paranoid, even more so than the others he'd encountered.

"Assumption is the mother of all errors, you may want to lessen that a bit as well. However, since you seem to want to fight me that bad, I will battle with you if you really want to. The first move is yours."

[imported_Akrabbim]

Akrabbim chuckles lightly and makes a mocking bow.

You misunderstand me. I don't wish to fight you. I just don't trust you. Make the first play, I insist.

[Tempist the Uncaring]

Ahh... he'd forgotten how confusing this one was.

"A game of sport then? No hard feelings or animosity for the other person at the end?"

He didn't much care for fighting anymore, it was a nice work out and a stress releaver. That's all it was to him now, he didn't need any more enemies.

[imported_Akrabbim]

So be it.

Akrabbim drops into a crouch, sword at the ready.