Young and Naïve (open)

[Kathrine]

Kate sat in her room, going over a list of of things to do today in her head. Hmm...I need to go wash my clothes, pick up somethings to try and make this room look like it has been lived in, practice my acrobatics and martial arts training...let's see I think I should put in atleast an hour going over the telekinesis...ahh what am I thinking? I'll be getting enough practice through out today, moving around some of the stuff in here and washing these clothes.

While she thought about this, she had a pen and paper floating in front of her, using her talents to write out the list while she laid back on her bed listening to music. It had been only a few days since her first training lesson and already Kathrine had mastered moving around small objects with moderate concentration. It wasn't the best she could have done, but for her and her way of thinking, it was the best anyone could have done.

He pen and paper floated over to her nightstand as she swung her legs over her bed to get up.

Prehaps I should get something to eat before doing all those chores though, she thought to herself as he went out her door to go to the mess hall.

[Lucianus Adair]

For once, as it seemed a rare and unusual occasion, Mars had been sleeping. It was surely wondered whether the sith apprentice, at a chronological age of 15 ever slept. Apparently so... but he was never caught at the activity, or lack of activity, it seems.

And when he awoke, Phoenix Mars Whyte, at a height of 6'5" and an accompanying healthy weight, was always hungry. So sitting up from the sleeping mat which replaced the standard bed, he rolled up the mat and slipped into some casual wear. Then Mars vanished from his room, and out the door, almost running into an unfamiliar face. A female face.

Now before he had made the mistake of looking upon any unfamiliar personnage as an intruder first, until proven otherwise. To this day he wondered why nothing had been said to him about it.

"MMph.." She had knocked right into him.. "I apologize, miss. I was not aware of your presence."

Tsk, tsk. Mars... Slipping up, are we?

His stomach grumbled. Mars frowned.

[Kathrine]

Kate looked over her shoulder, shrugging off the guys apology. "Then pay more attention next time."

She turned around continuing for the mess hall. Hoping to get there before anyone else got there as it was getting to be around dinner time.

[Lucianus Adair]

The frown deepened into a scowl.

Rude.

He shook his head, and caught up to her, then slipping past and nearly vanishing out of sight. He'd almost knocked her over on the way...on purpose.

Hey, Mars was hungry, and never short on vengeance.

[Kathrine]

Kate's face twisted into a gimace. Who does that guy think he is pushin me like that? I'll show him.

She raised her hand and pushed his foot from under him with the Force.

[Je'gan Olra'en]

A figure, not terribly older than either of the Apprentices, appeared in front of them. Black eyes focused on the foremost, Whyte, who was in the process of tripping.

"Phoenix, don't 'bump into' ladies half your weight no matter how rude they are. And Kathrine, practise of telekinetic strikes is best performed in the Training Grounds. I'd appreciate it if you refrained from practicing on one of my Apprentices. Whyte here might dismantle you if you keep it up. I might let him."

[Kathrine]

Kate jumped up from the groun, almost snarling at Je'gan. "Yeah well, I don't know who you are, but he started it. I was just trying to get to the mess hall and eat, but if he wants to fight then fine. He doesn't look so tough and neither do you for that matter."

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix stopped himself by lunging forward on to the tripped foot, then stood to his full height, which made him look like a monster for his age.

Mars turned around, crossed his arms across his broad and well-toned chest, and narrowed his now faintly glowish red eyes at Katherine, scrutinizing her, but doing nothing further. His master had intervened, and rightly so. Phoenix knew not how to deal with females. And even less, children.

And when she snarled at his master, Mars was displeased. Only furthered by insult to his own self.

"Miss... " He said, beginning to growl. .."...I will not have you speak of my master, one of our elders, and much less myself in that tone. I have trained with tireless dedication to acquire my skills, and would hate to have to unleash them on something that would not even present a remote challenge."

Mars said this not out of overzealous pride and overconfidence, but to restrain himself from acting.

[Kathrine]

"Yeah I am sure you would think yourself to big and bad to someone who hasn't been taught as much as you, but I ain't afraid. Give me ime and I'm sure I'll have no problem being your superior," she said with a slight smirk.

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix grunted, keeping his arms crossed, refusing to lash out on Katherine for the insults.

"If you wish to 'have your way with me' as it were, or at least make the meager attempt, I suggest you schedule a spar with me."

Mars' now mid-red eyes bored down on the girl. "Otherwise, you are wasting my time, my master's time, and your...." He said this with a slight smirk ... "...precious breath."

[Je'gan Olra'en]

"Well, now that we're all civil again..." the Knight said sarcastically.

"But really, Kathrine, your assumptions are incorrect. Whyte here is one of the most dedicated, promising sorcerers I've ever trained. You, on the other hand...well, you've almost mastered basic telekinesis. Whyte could freeze your spinal cord into a series of ice cubes.

"What you both need is to work off some steam. Whyte, go ahead and leave the Palace, if you pleace. Find me a Jedi - Light or Dark, doesn't matter to me - and fight them. Call it a midterm exam for Knighthood.

"Kathrine. You need action, that's obvious, but I have no power to command you. I could just make a few suggestions to my old friend Southstar...but I won't. Instead, I believe you've met my brother?" With ruthless ease, he delved into her mind and verified it. He didn't bother with subtlety; she felt the whole thing take place. "Yes, I see you have." His eyes squeezed shut for a moment...

[Baracc Olra'en]

...and I appeared, right beside him.

No mean feat, to get me to leave a meal, but my bro can do it. He doesn't bother with Force-commands, although they'd sure as heck work. He doesn't use his rank, although that'd probably work too. No, all he does is promise me some fun and I'll come running.

"Hey, Kathrine," I said, smiling at her.

"And...hello..."

"Whyte," Jeeg supplied.

"Hello, Whyte," I said, staring up - and up - and up at this guy. Huge. I might have mistaken him for one of the statues that dot this place's corridors.

[Kathrine]

"What you think ganging up on me is going to scare me? Well you're wrong. I'm a lot tougher than I look."

[Lucianus Adair]

"Very well, Master Olra'en...Katherine." He said deeply, nodding to both of them

And then Baracc appeared, staring at him. Mars returned the stare with scrutiny, uncrossing his arms, his eyes cooling to black. Then he ran one hand through his dark, unkempt hair, and laughed lightly, and grinned darkly. A handsome look on his features.

I know that stare. That... "Oh Lords that guy is huge" look.

Whyte was used to it. He just walked off, disappearing down the corridor, to hassle up something to eat before going on the suggested hunt. Which, by the way, gave a feeling of impending pleasure.

[Baracc Olra'en]

Having no idea where the promised fun was going to come from, I was somewhat nonplussed when both Whyte and Jeeg suddenly left. My confusion was exacerbated by the sudden humour of the situation: Kathrine, who had just complained of being ganged up on, had just had her verbal feet cut under her.

I stifled a chuckle, and instantly regretted it.

[Kathrine]

"And what are you laughing at?" She demanded though she could probably already guess why, but she was to stubborn to admit anything.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I leaned against the wall, patting my full stomach contentedly. Well, mostly full. That was the consequence of obeying my brother's summons: I hadn't finished my meal.

"Nothing, nothing," I responded, an uncontrollable hint of a grin still playing around my lips. I tried to hide it by wiping crumbs from the corners of my mouth with my left thumb and forefinger. The right hand, of course, stayed in a would-be-casual position, robe sleeve pointed down and arm straight. Under the black fabric, however, my wand was ready.

Just in case she tried on me what she'd tried on Whyte.

[Kathrine]

"Well if it is nothing, then you had better wipe that grin off your face unless you want me to do it for you!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

I felt my face go cold.

"Threaten people who won't strike back, sure. Neither my brother nor his student would waste their time on you.

"But watch your mouth around me."

[Kathrine]

"Oh yeah, and what's a boy like you going to do about it?" She said poking him in the shoulder to emphasize her point.

[Baracc Olra'en]

A long, thin piece of wood jammed into her solar plexus, courtesy of one very fast right hand.

"Let me introduce you to my friend, Mister Wand. Mister Wand has a special place in his cold, hard heart for arrogant Forcewielders. Mister Wand has probably chastized more Forcewielders than you've met in your entire life."

[Kathrine]

Before she even thought she grabbed Baracc's hand and attempted to twist it. "No one touches me!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

BANG!

The Force-blast lifted Kat off her feet and propelled her five metres down the hall before her feet caught the floor and stopped. Her upper body kept going; unless she rolled, or knew how to fall properly, she'd get the wind knocked out of her.

I took a couple of steps towards her, wand still levelled.

"You touched me first."

[Kathrine]

Thanks to some past martial training, she leaned back as she fell and rolled. She came up with a hand on her chest, glaring daggers at him.

"Why you little!" She yelled as she started running towards him. She pushed him with the Force, it being stronger than normal because of her anger, but still not much.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I raised my hand, tried to stop the blast - futile. I went flying. I had a little combat training, but it wasn't enough; I landed bad and felt a severe twinge in my right shoulder. That plus getting some of the breath knocked out of me.

I got up, painfully, just as the charging girl reached me. Focus evaded me; she actually made contact before another loud BANG sounded and she was thrown back.

"I'm your age, Kat," I wheezed, hyperventilating. "Stop calling me a kid."

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

[Kathrine]

Kat was thrown back against the other wall, this time hitting hard from being thrown with three bangs., but she was to stubborn to give up. "First I didn't call you a kid, so stop putting words in my mouth and secondly, if that is all you got, then you are in trouble."

She stood up slowly, and went walking towards him, her hand raised to push his wand in a different direction if he should try anything else.

[Baracc Olra'en]

"I quote: 'Why, you little-'"

I couldn't help but snarl it, summoning another Force-blast and finding my wand deflected at the critical moment. But the wand was only a focus tool; once I got my mind around my new limitations, it didn't even need to be pointed at the target.

She levitated. Not much, but six inches was a) all I could manage, and b) sufficient to keep her from making contact with the floor.

[Kathrine]

When she began floating in the air she started screaming and thrashing wildly, throwing things all around the hall with the Force, but having no real focus. "Put me down this instance. Let me go!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

With no prior warning, I dropped her.

"About ready to stop being an idiot?"

[Kathrine]

"So I'm an idiot just because you know a few tricks I don't? Well just you wait and I'll show you!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

"So you'll get back to me on that. So terrifying."

[Kathrine]

She walked over to Baracc and slapped him across his cheek. "You'd better start being scared..."

[Baracc Olra'en]

I didn't flinch when she slapped me. I blinked, true, but this girl had a bit of muscle to her that wasn't immediately apparent.

Nevertheless, I wasn't impressed. The contrast between words and actions put her squarely in the middle of nowhere as far as I was concerned.

"How about you give me something to really fear, and then talk like that?"

[Kathrine]

"You just wait and we'll settle this one day. That is a promise.!"

[Baracc Olra'en]

I grabbed her roughly with my left hand, squeezing her lower jaw hard. I could feel a cold look cover my face as I prodded her in the gut with my wand.

"I think unless you show me why I should consider you worth my time, I'll do something you probably deserve. Right now."

[Kathrine]

OOC/ sorry about the long wait but i lost my connection for awhile.

Kathrine had already seen that physically she was capable of more than Baracc so she used that to her advantage. She brought her left hand up and grabbed it and twisted it around to his back, and pulled him close down to her. Unfortuantely she didn't notice the his want was still pointed at her stomach.

"Don't you ever touch me again."

[Baracc Olra'en]

OOC/ No prob a'tall.

IC/ BANG!

Kat went spinning away crazily just as I'd intended, but her grip on my arm wrenched me on a similar course. Good grip, I noted.

We hit the walls with varying degrees of force. I rolled to my feet a few metres from her and examined my wand, now cleanly snapped in two.

Not good.

[Kathrine]

Kathrine hit the wall with her head and for as second blacked out. When she came to, she looked up and saw Baracc and his wand was broken in two. She stood up very unsteadily and shook her head to clear her vision.

"Bet you aren't so big and bad now..."

[Baracc Olra'en]

I flicked the piece of wood away, dusted off my hands, and settled into a rusty martial-arts stance.

[Kathrine]

She looked at him, shocked at what he was doing, her vision wavering slightly. "Are you serious? You already know I'm physically stronger than you and.....soon I'll be better at whatever you were just doing...and you want to fight me?"

[Baracc Olra'en]

"Honey," I smirked, "the way you talk, anyone would."

I advanced in sweeping strides, setting my stance between each step, trusting in my limited connection to the Force to let me anticipate her moves. She was stronger, and a bit faster as well, but in the Force I had the clear advantage. I had to hope that that would be enough.

[Kathrine]

She watched him for a few more moments before raising her hands to her face and started hoping around in and old style boxing stance. She moved in close, closer than she probably should have and took a swing at Baracc with her left fist, though her vision was still blurry around the edges.

[Baracc Olra'en]

Both my forearms came up, fists almost touching, knocking Kat's fist into a trajectory that skimmed his arm and impacted the inside of his shoulder. The move had been far more out of instinct than true training, and it was a moment before my head cleared enough to hop back a bit and kick at her midsection.

[Kathrine]

Kathrine caught Baracc's leg and swept his other one from under him. She was so light headed though that it took her a few moments to regain her balance and stand up.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I landed flat on my posterior and got my legs up under me just as Kat stood. My hand extended and I yanked on her feet with the Force. Without the wand to focus on, things didn't work quite as well, but the effect turned out to be just as pronounced as I'd hoped.

[Kathrine]

Kathrine suddenly found herself on her back, with her vision now blacking instead of just blurry. She shook her head and slowly got up. Right now she was sure she had a mild concussion and should stop, but refused to. He got onto her hands and knees and tried throwing Baracc into the wall, but anyone could tell she was running out of energy now, as the attacks were getting weaker.

[Baracc Olra'en]

I did indeed hit the wall, but despite the nasty bump on the back of my head - and the beginning of stars - all I could see was that Kat looked beat. It's just me, really it is, but I find things like that terribly funny. I mean, she gets all arrogant and yells and so forth, and then she goes down hard.

So I picked myself up. I chuckled. And I walked away.

[Kathrine]

Kat looked up to see Baracc walking away.

"Where...do you think...you are going?"The words slip through her lips just before darkness over takes her and she passes out.

Sometime later she wakes up in her bed with a nasty headache. She doesn't remember how she got there, or anything, but she does remember Baracc and files his face in the back of her memory, knowing they wouold meet again.