Log:Coruscant Fires: Sebek vs Elrych: The Rematch!
Elrych now hunts Sebek.
OOC Date: December 17, 2020
Location: Coruscant
Participants: Jedi Order: Elrych Cometburn vs Knights of Ren: Sebek
Silence is what kills the most. Elrych Cometburn had felt the pain of Vhe's fall as if it had reverberated through his entire body. He was with Pyretta at the time tending to some of the denizens they had managed to rescue from that burning building. If it weren't for his training and hardened constitution he might have collapsed into unconsciousness himself as flashes of Vhe falling into the fire plagued his mind.
His sister sensed it too, though secondary through their own natural force bond and went immediately to his aid. "Is she?"
"I don't know..." A flash of the Falleen and his wicked cackling smile... Vhe's ornate blade in his hand as he fell away from the maniacal Knight of Ren. "Bone-snapper..." Elrych growled lowly, grinding his teeth hard enough to press metal. He felt the anger and anxiety surface. threatening to take him over but he quelled it with a deep breath. "We have to go..."
Pyretta and he hopped into a speeder and took to the skyways. Elrych closed his eyes and honed in on the images that had flashed through his mind, a specter of terror and unwelcoming feelings. HE waded through it before finding a landmark he could use. Adrenaline coursed through him and he shared it with Pyretta. "That way!"
Pyretta piloted them to the roof top where the battle between Sebek and Vhe had occurred. He hopped out of the Speeder, jumped from the cab un-aided by the Force. "Wait!" Pyretta shouted, reaching out for him but caught only the barest bit of robes. Fluttering cloak flapped about until it stopped with a rather graceful landing on the roof top. He took a look around quickly before look back up at the speeder above. "Check the lower level!" He shouted. Pyretta only hesitated a moment before moving on and down the rest of the building to search for Vhe.
Elrych pulled his darkstar and angleshine hilt from his belt, keeping it in his right hand, and started to slowly search the immediate area. "Vhe!" He shouted with held back desperation and caution.
Deep within the building an ancient evil stirred. It hadn't been long since the fall of She Who Dances, in fact, the entire night had likely only taken a few hours. A figure cloaked in darkness of both physical and metaphorical was kneeling in the middle of one of the larger rooms, humming with a power beyond mortal understanding and steeped in a darkness so deep, so foul, it almost stank with evil. He wore no armour, having cast off his raiment in a prior battle, and the folds of his cassock were wrinkled from exertion and punctured by a beam of bright blue. Wounds underneath burned, cauterized, and fueled the being's pain and rage at the same time as he bound them together.
The being's skin was deep green but his eyes, behold the eyes of a master of darkness. Behold the glowing gold, set in a ring of fire.
Behold, Sebek of the Desert, Flagbearer of Coret, Conqueror of the Sixteenth Deck, Consumer of Hounds, Wielder of Tei Tenga, He Who Hunts.
For this was the third of bouts tonight, in the fiery doom of the undercity. Fallen had he against the Cometburn, and his revenge had been taken out against him. Now, the tables turned. The battleground was of his choosing and where better than the monument to his glory? Speaking of glory, sitting in front of him sat two inert tubes. One longer, with a flanged pommel and menacing intent, was Tei Tenga. The other, shorter and bronze, with the cord connecting it to the trophy of a kirruk tooth, was the weapon of She Who Dances. And now it was a trophy of He Who Hunts.
Yes. This would be glorious.
The darkness did not scare Elrych. He'd almost been swallowed whole by a black hole, but none of the was equal to the fear and the spinning sickening vile lurching pit that was growing in his stomach. THe darkness dwelled bellow and he could feel how palpable it was. Taking a deep breath he navaged the remains of Vhe's escape. He was careful, shutting off his essence in the force... seemingly a small void in the force. Yet he let the current flow through him and render him calm in the face of adversity.
He came upon Sebek kneeling before the hilts, one he recognized as Tei Tenga... the other he knew well. Vhe's. He swallowed, wanting to scream out in anger and attack, but something stayed him. HE did not feel her slip into the force... she couldn't be gone. He would have been sure.
Not necessarily hidden, Elrych croaked from the shadows, "What did you do, Bone-snapper?" His words drip with disappointment and sorrow. Slipping behind a felled wall, he ignites his blade, the snap hiss heard echoing through the claustrophobic building yet quieting to a whisper.
The blue glow was visible, faintly, only vaguely gesturing to The Cometburn's location. The Falleen gripped the Force and demanded from it the true location of the Jeedai he hunted, and fumed as the Force basically shrugged at him. Very well, it was time to play like mortals.
"You are free of your bindings," oozed Sebek of the Desert, as both lightsabers fwipped up from the ground into his hands. "Thus The Cometburn may rise to become the Jeedai he proclaims to be." Speaking of rising, the Falleen also did so, with both sabers in hands.
The next snap-hiss sounded almost holy in comparison to what was expected from Sebek, but it was not entirely without tension. The room was suddenly bathed in a cyan light, clean and crisp and pure, a stark contrast to the monster that wielded it. Behold the blade of She Who Dances! Behold the power of Sebek!
And behold the mild difficulty Sebek was experiencing even holding the thing.
There was something different about Elrych when Sebek hefted Vhe's blade. The coolness was there, his anger was in tact. Yet the power in which he sprinted forth was unnatural. The fierce movements of his saber swinging at Sebek conveyed what his emotions and feelings were in that moment. How dare he.
"/That/ is not yours, Bone-snapper." Said in a rather stern way, as if a parent was lecturing a child. "You petulant boy. Foolish angry child. You hunt her to be petty and get back at me and call yourself honorable. Coward. Un-honorable swine." His blades were countered of course, heavy swings often were but the intent was well behind them. HE was going to hack and slash until that blade fell from his hands, limb and all.
Down bellow Pyretta was searching a building nearest the flames, nothing yet but she did not give up.
Here's the thing about kyber, and in fact, the Force as a whole.
Normal kyber, the stuff one gets in the weapon of a Jedi, is not only attuned to its wielder but attuned to the light side of the Force. It is beautiful in its imperfections, capable of being at peace and harmony. The Jedi embrace this, living in union with their weapon and life around it. Now, the dark side doesn't work that way. Being obsessed with might, power, perfection, the Dark Jedi does not welcome, he /takes/. He reaches into the Force and seizes what's his, and wields it with the right of entitlement.
Normal kyber, of course, takes offense at this.
"Ah yes," oozed the cocky Falleen as the blades clashed and locked. Blue against cyan sputtered, even as the weapon threatened to slip from Sebek's hands. "The boy projects his feelings. His emotions. So determined is he to step away from anger that he falls to the trap of," and then there was a mighty SHOVE against the locked blades, and Sebek took one menacing step forward, "condescension. A tactic seen strongly in your order and the Sith of eld." His words were soft spoken and full of certainty. This was clearly true, Sebek projected, and The Cometburn must break at the hands of it.
Elrych narrows his brows as he reels back against Sebek's attacks. Sweat starts to form on his forehead, the cyan glow of Vhe's blade reflecting against his ashen skin. He hesitates now as he back peddles, against the taller and stronger Falleen. There is something there, unsureness in his skills. "It's not condescension if it's the truth." says the Jedi.
He presses forward again, several basic V-cuts aiming towards Sebek's midsection. Yet none of them reach, close, but not enough. "Just shut up and fight...." His voice waivers slightly, though the terror Sebek sought to instill in him barely reaches him. There was still resolve in him to fight.
A Dark Jedi, much like a true Jedi, pulls his power from all sorts of places depending on his or her character. Whether it be rage, pain, fury, sorrow, all were conduits to darkness and all served their purpose.
Sebek's conduit was pride.
Empowered by his absolutely overwhelming amount of hubris the Falleen served as the advancing wall. Perhaps Ataru was not his most favoured form, a realization he would likely make in the future. Perhaps adhering to his old juggernaut mentality simply worked better. "I am fighting. It is not known what you're doing," commented the deep green man who had a strange look of... peace on his face even as he worked like a weaver at a loom to instill terror in The Cometburn.
A few more probing strikes and another blade lock with pushback, and Sebek took another heavy step forward. The slowest moving freight train. Slovenly, but unstoppable. He didn't know it, but he was fighting pure Djem-So.
Elrych moves as best he can in the cramped quarters of the broken building. He could smell the mold, the creosoot, the sulfer... or maybe that was just the Falleen devil standing before him his saber bitting into him with little nicks here and there. He controlled the pain the best he could, the practices of his mastered skill doing it's best to numb away and replace any lost nerves with that of the Force... like artificual tendons. Yet he was still seemingly outmatch at this point. He eyes the longer blade in his other hand before looking to Vhe's.
Taking a deep breath he lunged forth and then twisted his wrist to get a shot it... yet his follow up was far to wide and easily avoided. "Something's changed..." He offers.
Down bellow Pyretta has finally come upon Vhe's broken body. Elrych can see this and there is visible relief on his face. His face steels and reslove sparks in his blue eyes.
`Get her out of there~
The slow advance halted as The Cometburn lunged for Tei Tenga, Sebek's eyes widening in rage as someone went for his arm. It spoke to his hypocrisy that he hissed, "How dare you!" in response to this. Tei Tenga, hungry and yearning, was tucked away into what looked like a holster on his leg and both of his hands gripped the twiching frame of She Who Dances' blade.
"It is not for you! You lack the conviction and the drive to wield Tei Tenga!" scolded Sebek as the sabers clashed again, and again, and again. His slow inexorable move forward had come to a halt as The Cometburn started really fighting back. "Embrace the fury bubbling in your heart! Allow it to spur you! Be true to yourself and defeat me!"
"Are you getting angry about thinking about me taking your saber? It really sucks doesn't it?" Elrych said with the sort of smarmy disapproval that any Jedi would. "Perhaps a lesson..." Despite his wounds he was starting to make up for his lack of scores in the first bout of the match. Like everything, that could change with the wind. Yet, the resolve of Pyretta having found Vhe brings his spirits up just enough to bat away and ignore what ever it is Sebek says. There was Focus now and calm.
Elrych saluted with his blade... an odd form. Makashi was never used these days, but there was one thing that those who used form II boasted... the ability to disarm your opponent was heavy. He lunched forward, his first strike an obvious feign before an upper cross slash against his had that wielded Vhe's Cyan blade. A swing meant to disarm the opponent.
A grip only goes so far, and a hand can only rotate so much. And so when both were forced beyond the breaking point the lightsaber of She Who Dances was only too happy to fly from the hand of the man who threatened to stain it inexorably with darkness. No matter, it was a message, and it had served its purpose. There was a flurry of black around the holster of Tei Tenga and red burst into life, swinging and thrusting and attempting to push back against the sudden resolve of The Cometburn.
"Canny. Excellent. Embrace your little tricks, Cometburn," oozed the very pleased Sebek. "Let them lead you to your doom."
As the brass colored hilt goes flying from Sebek's hand and elrych lunges forth with a full heave of his Lightsaber, he turns quickly to reach out with the force. The Kurrik Tooth straighten and Vhe's Lightsaber stops in mid air before flying rapidly into Elrych's other hand. The Blade ignites once more, a lighter blue than his own but not much more. The Jedi then takes the stance of Jar'kai, the two bladed technique of Niman. It is clear by the way Cometburn holds his blade, one forward, the other reverse that he's practiced the sub art.
"That's fine... see that's the thing you don't understand, Bone-snapper. You failed. And you failed miserably. Your weakness has lead you to anger and pettiness. Blinded you to the reality that there is no death. There is only the force. She is alive, and even if she was dead... I'd welcome the essence of the force and become one with her in it. I pity you, really."
He lashes out with both blades, the moderate form of Niman, limiting but comfortable with his level of Jar'kai. The two blue blades danced and crossed one another bathing the space in a flash of cyan and slightly deeper blue. He was no master of the sword. Not yet...
"And?"
There was a howl in the Force as Sebek started picking up inconsistencies in The Cometburn's form. Practiced, sure, but not a strength. Twice in between the whirling waterfall of blue the hungry growl of Tei Tenga caught both blades on its hissing form and shoved them backwards, Sebek forcing his advance forward by two steps. "Spoken like one happy to die. Alas. I value you, Cometburn, but not thus that I let you run free with your wit."
Elrych backed off a great degree, moving backwards and retreating as Sebek started to push towards him. The blades came up in a more defensive manner as if he was protecting them more so than attacking. Yet attacking did come, one blade, then the other, then back to his blade. Simple strike of Shi-cho the first form. The way of the Mynock. Had Elrych given up? IT might have seemed that way, especially with the way he was talking.
Yet there was something more tactical about the way he moved, the way he struck. Was he buying time? That was probably what anyone would have picked up on if they had the intelligence over that of a rancor or rabid beast.
Pyretta had loaded up Vhe in the speeder. She was no medic but she knew they needed to act fast. She could feel how tired Elrych was becoming, his face now drenched in sweat, caked on soot and debris. A flash of Sebek caused her to shudder and hastily start the speeder.
Elrych was starting to get that sinking feeling in his stomach. Something had changed. What was it? Did he give up too much of what he knew? What pushed the Falleen so hard as to potentially best one of the rising Jedi Knights. Bad luck? Training? IT had been hours science their last encounter. "I said HIT me..." Elrych growled in a low voice through clenched teeth. A bout of sudden self destructive brashness.
"Do you hold that it matters, that she lived or died?" continued the advancing form of Sebek, fighting with his words as much as his lightsaber with the sheer arrogant confidence of someone who was a hair's breadth from victory. He held for a moment, between strike and strike and strike, unable to find a way through the ferocious defense of two swirling lightsabers. Prey cornered is the most ferocious kind of prey. The most delicious. "For it does not. The importance is not that I killed her."
Sebek stepped back and whirled the blade into a Djem-So stance, legs wide, blade held straight in front of him and angled forward. A short respite. His deep green skin almost disappeared in the darkness, and that only made the glint of white sharp teeth even more menacing. "The importance is that I /can/."
And he'd already proved it tonight.
Cornered, it seemed that way. Back against the wall with window out to the burning fires bellow. The two blue blades held together, one reversed, the other up in mid guard. Knees were bent. Dark Green cloak was ripped in places from catching on loose piece of building. The darkness of the smoke from the distance blocking out any light except the glowing hues of blue and red.
Cometburn pursed his lips, his nose twitching a bit as he slid his foot into a better bit of footing. "It only matters as to whether I have to stay alive or let you kill me... because that's the only way I'm going down is on my terms." He offers the Falleen before letting out a primal shout and attacking with the two blades. First was Vhe's a v-cut before he twirled around and lashed out with his. Yet cunningly enough, Vhe's blade was lighter and more of an angle that befitted Makeshi. So with a light twists of the wrist he brought it up under his extended blade and sliced vertical from crotch to top knot. He ended in a stance that lead him crossing his arms. "And you forget, bonesnapper..." Labored breaths making it hard for him to speak in his usual fluid smooth way. "It was I who drove you to this madness by showing you /I/ could kill you."
Back! Sebek was forced to retreat to defend from the cunning onslaught! His expression was a mixture of concern for himself and pride in someone else. Yes, this is what he LIVED for! Tei Tenga whirled and clashed against the spinning blue blades again and again and again, finding no purchase, no advancement, but joy in the nature of battle. "Behold the rage of The Cometburn! Delicious in desire!" Clash! Swing! Smash! "So desperate to win, he would seek to die before his beloved! Alas," Sebek twirled Tei Tenga away and back into a ready stance for defense, "I care not for your death, and if it takes the death of her for you to grow stronger, so be it!"
In the melee Elrych caught himself as Sebek swung his blade down on him, Sebek's words Echoing in his ears; The rage of the Cometburn... so desperate to win he would seek to die before his beloved...
Was that the path he was going down?
There was a stillness, a serene calmness that came over him. It was visible on his dirt sweat shined face. The fires closed in threatening to engulf the building. Even if they fought here for eternity they'd both be consumed by the unstoppable inferno. He closed his eyes, lowering both blades to his side and straightening up in the reprieve. "That is not strength." He whispers and sight. tired, exhausted, broken, and tattered.
Winning? It didn't matter. Vhe's life and her saber mattered. He had that, he had it in his hand. He looked down at both his blades and shut Vhe's down. "That's enough of these games, Bonesnapper. I'm done playing. I will not fight you anymore." Extending a hand, Cometburn grasps some of the loose debries on the ground and flings it behind him. The window shatters and breaks. Just then Pyretta and the speeder he's in arrives and stops with a jolt. He turns, shutting his own blade down and leaps a grand distance into the speeder. Elrych looks back to Sebek once more before Pyretta punches it and the speeder zips off to parts unknown, Vhe and her lightsaber in tow.
And thus the battle was ended. Sebek was left alone in his building, his, now that he'd defeated two Jeedai and conquered it for his own. Tei Tenga thrummed angrily as the Falleen strode to the window, looking out at the retreating airspeeder. On his face was a smug smirk of satisfaction. The Cometburn had run. Was this a victory? To Sebek, whom battle was everything, and retreat was defeat, it had to be.
"Fall. Rebirth. Rise. Thus is the path of glory. Ruminate on your nature, Cometburn," he instructed, quietly, since no one was around to hear him. He was more than just elated from the battle. He was /proud/. Sebek had chosen his nemesis well. "Fall into darkness, become reborn as yourself, and rise as warrior unmatched. You will be my greatest enemy."
It was then that he buckled, twitched, and fell to one knee as pain made its presence violently. Pain shot through the three stab wounds in his torso as the darkness eased its grip on him. With no more rage and battle to sustain him, the damage had caught up rapidly. When he lifted his head again, his eyes of dull amber gazed out upon the stricken cityscape, with the airspeeder nowhere to be found.
"My greatest friend."
