Topic: Pain Teaches

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-13 11:17 EST
The hum of the sabers in the air was plesant enough to his ear as he watched the girl spar with a battle droid. He had specially programed the droid to be cruel and malicious. The bruises and cuts were evident that she was not doing well.

Her instructions were that she was not to rely on the Force, but to battle the opponant without the cruch. "True warriors know how to battle under any circumstances, and rely on not one single influance or edge, rather making an edge for yourself!"

The terrain was rough, rocky at best. He had set this battle field specific. The droid had gained the upper ground quickly enough.

Of course, he didn't tell her that the droid was his own personal training unit, set to maximum. He watched as she continued to get beat on by the droid.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-13 11:57 EST
The rocks slid under her feet as Katerrina locked up with the battle droid, her purple blade humming angrily against the droid's. She had welts up and down both arms, a nasty slice across her bare midriff. Her left thigh had a scorch mark where the fabric melted. Her shoulders and calves screamed in protest from the constant barrage of attacks. Back on Ossus, she'd found this type of exercise easy. Even blindfolded, she never failed. Having to rely on her own strength, rather than the Force, proved extremely difficult.

The droid suddenly shoved her back, sending her sprawling. The mechanical arms raised the lightsaber high, ready to strike. Panting, Katerrina slashed wildly at the droid's midsection as she moved aside. The droid's strike hit where she had been, and she realized in that moment the purpose of the sleek training unitard. A robe, a loose tunic sleeve, would have cost her more than the exercise.

Before she could get back on her feet, the droid towered over her, arms again raised for a strike. Katerrina blocked with her lightsaber, the blade held before her face, angling to the left. Her arms shook. She felt the bones in her wrists give as the droid kept pushing downward. Again, Katerrina was forced to dodge away, the strike grazing down her left arm, leaving burns and welts from shoulder to elbow.

Katerrina didn't know how much longer she could last.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-13 12:12 EST
He saw that the droid had her pinned, there was now way she wasn't going to come out of this with out a good deal of pain. He stepped down over the rocks like he was walking down a path. "You seem to be in a bit of a bind, my apprentice." She shot a quick glance up to him and he smirked.

"You are on unfamliar terrain, with a stronger opponant who has the higher ground. Using the force, you could push your opponant away or remove his weapon from him. But, what if you were fighting against another Force user, or perhaps in an environment that prohibiated the Force - What would you do then? Observation must kick in, you must use that tiny little brain of yours." He poked his own temple as he walked around the two combatants.

"You are trying still to hold on to ideals of honor and fairness, but why? In the end there is a winner, and the dead. Which one are you, my dear?" He walked back around to where he was standing in the beginning to watch her.

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-13 12:43 EST
Katerrina's breath came in pants and gasps. A stitch burned in her side, making breathing even more difficult. The insult to her intelligence made her scowl, glaring at the droid, which was again moving for an overhand strike.

"You are trying still to hold on to ideals of honor and fairness, but why? In the end there is a winner, and the dead. Which one are you, my dear?"

His words pounded in her brain. Honor and fairness were part of the Code. Her old Code. The Code belonging to those who had kept her from her full potential. And they had no hold on her now.

When the droid's arms were fully extended over its head, Katerrina ducked and drove her body forward, driving her already damaged left shoulder into the metal legs, shoving hard to unbalance it. She slashed at the droid's midsection again, making sparks fly as the blade melted metal.

The droid fell forward, and Katerrina rolled, barely avoiding getting pinned under it. She could hardly feel her blade in her numb fingers. The jarring pain told her she'd probably broken her shoulder. She tried to stand, knowing the droid was coming back. It always came back.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-13 12:48 EST
She was trying at least. He could feel her fight the urge to rip the droid apart with the force. The shoulder attack was good. He saw her try to regain her energy when the droid came for her again, the thick armor around its midsection was slashed several times.

The droid had learned her attacks and was beginning to adapt - oops...did he forget to mention that?

The droid came at her, with a kick to throw her off balance and began to beat down on her again, she getting her blade into deflection stance just barely.

"Why haven't you won yet, girl? Why are you letting this piece of molten metal hound you?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-13 13:23 EST
Frustration was fast becoming full-blown anger. Once again, Katerrina was driven to her knees, barely able to keep the droid from slicing her in half. Her shoulder howled. Her wrists screamed. The taunt added fuel to the fire. Why hadn't she won yet? It wasn't like she was fighting a person. This was a droid, a machine. She refused to be beaten by a machine.

Instead of dodging right, as she had been, Katerrina leaned left, the droid's saber singeing her curls. Before it could recover, she changed direction, her purple blade cleaving into the droid's neck. Adrenalin raced through her, dulling the agony she was in. She scrambled to her feet, and hacked at the droid before it came at her again, sparks flying, smoke billowing. She didn't stop until the droid was a pile of slag.

The adrelanin ebbed, and Katerrina swayed on her feet, sagging to her knees. The anguish on her face spoke volumes of the injuries she had.

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-13 13:59 EST
There was no finese in her strikes, she was brutal and destructive as she smashed the droid with her lightsaber. He could hear her panting from where he was, the pile of slag long since destroyed, didn't stop her from beating on it a few more times. He waited until her sanity caugh up with her.

"You see, you can do it. What has this lesson taught you, my apprentice?" He asked darkly, moving in close towards her.

"Perhaps," He said, not waiting for her to respond, "even more important, what did you "feel"?"

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-13 14:27 EST
It took a long moment for Katerrina to come back to herself. She blinked when she saw the remains of the droid, like she was seeing it for the first time. Her lightsaber still hummed in her right hand.

At first, it seemed like she didn't hear him. Finally, she managed to look up at him, her voice breathy from the extreme workout.

"Strong.. At the end, I felt strong, Master."

LordTravanix

Date: 2007-11-13 15:49 EST
"Passion ignites the fire in us all. It drives our anger, our love, our vengence. You still lack control of this power, but you show great potential, my apprentice. You may yet live to take your place at my side."

He stepped down the rocks, heading towards the tower. "But you still have much to learn."

Katerrina Hess

Date: 2007-11-13 22:18 EST
"Yes Master."

Katerrina de-activated her lightsaber, the small motion shooting pain through her wrist. With effort, she hooked the hilt to her belt, and limped behind Travanix, toward the Tower. Her left arm hung at her side, her shoulder broken. Both her wrists were severely sprained. Slash and burn marks scored both bare arms and her stomach. The gash on her left thigh was deep into the muscle. It would take long hours of meditation to heal all the damage.

Yet, she felt stronger. And she knew, she would only become stronger.

If the training didn't kill her first.