NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2303932" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 230: Short ReunionIt was one thing to land on a leg with a deep cut from the back of the ankle up to the knee. It was something completely different to attempt to fight on the same injury. Standing was one thing, moving quickly to avoid a metal weapon that was aimed at doing far worse than a simple cut was most definitely something else. Jyren couldn’t help but think it was his destiny to be caught in situation after situation just like this one. Honestly, he could have really used a break from it just this once...but apparently that was far too much to ask.    And so half of his thoughts were on the aching pain in his left leg. Which meant that Jyren attempted to avoid Ket Halpak’s charging thrust with a sidestep to his right to avoid putting any extra weight on his left leg. It would have worked if Ket hadn’t been paying enough attention to see where the trail of blue blood across the platform led to...and the way that Jyren was avoiding putting weight on the leg. Instead, Jyren stepped right where Ket had been expecting, and though his metal blade was avoided by the younger Alraxian, Ket was now right next to Jyren.    Just as he came to a stop, Ket lashed out with his left arm, an elbow crashing right into Jyren’s face with a very loud crack. Jyren yelped and stumbled to his right, but then made the mistake of attempting to steady himself. The only way of doing that was by putting weight back onto his injured leg. Without thinking, Jyren did that anyway and was rewarded with a sharp tear of pain running up through his leg. This got a louder yelp out of him, more from surprise than anything, but he also lost his footing and once again hit the landing platform face first.    Ket wasn’t about to let this advantage slip away. He quickly turned and reversed the grip on his small blade. In one swift motion, he drove the weapon down to the back of the young Alraxian’s neck. A warning in the Force just as sharp as the pain in his leg shot through Jyren’s mind, and he could do nothing but react. He rolled to the right and away again, the blade missing his neck but instead slicing across his left shoulder. It didn’t dig in, but it did leave another good sized cut across his left side.    Gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain, Jyren found himself on his back, looking up to Ket who was moving in for another jab with the short blade. With his lightsaber still in his right hand, it only took a fraction of a second to thumb on the activation switch. The snap-hiss of the blade exploding from its hilt was cut off by a loud, metallic slice and a shower of sparks that rained down on Jyren. When the flash had faded, Jyren was still on his back, lightsaber across his torso and thrumming strongly. How Ket had gotten back out of the reach of the weapon and avoided the fate of his short blade, which had been cut into two very clean pieces, Jyren had no idea.    Ket tossed the useless hilt of his ruined blade off to the side, but surprised Jyren by not diving in for another kill. Halpak was trained in unarmed combat just as Shadow was, and wouldn’t ever need any kinds of weapons to deal with his targets. More than once, Shadow had beaten Jyren in their sparring matches while remaining unarmed and allowing him to use his lightsaber. There was no reason to believe that Ket wasn’t capable of the same, or even more considering how little Jyren knew of him. And when Jyren saw the other Alraxian wasn’t moving in to attack directly again, he knew to worry and became hyper alert.    Through the Force, Jyren suddenly picked up on what was happening. He had a quick warning as usual, which was just enough time to glance to his side and see the other half of Ket’s metal weapon shooting straight at Jyren. It may have been only half of the blade...but it was the sharp point, and it was diving right at Jyren like a missile, but directed with the accuracy of the Force. It was an awkward motion to bring his lightsaber around to catch the attack, but Jyren managed to do so with only centimeters to spare.    And by the time he heard the same metal noise of the blade being destroyed by the lightsaber, the Force was already sending him another wild jolt of a warning. Ket wasn’t waiting to see if his attack had worked. Jyren couldn’t keep this up. He couldn’t fight like this. Beat up, bleeding, and already exhausted by the time Ket had showed up. And it was obvious Ket was not playing around.    Dropping his lightsaber arm to the ground, Jyren reached across his body with his left, trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder that moving the arm caused. Ket got within a step before a violent and strong wave of the Force slammed into him, sending him flying up and across the platform. But Jyren didn’t hear a thud that should have been there from hitting the landing platform. He blinked, then let his eyes scan the immediate area. Nothing. Nothing?!    He was completely expecting a panicked warning through the Force, but recieved none. Jyren deactivated his lightsaber as he sat up, realizing just how narrow this section of the platform was. If he’d attempt even one more evasion of Ket’s strikes by going to the right, he’d have fallen off...slowly, realization dawned on him. The strength of Jyren’s attack had thrown Ket off the platform! So maybe there were some breaks every few hundred years!    But this wasn’t one to waste. Ket would be able to catch up in no time. Once again, Jyren tried to ignore the pain in his leg while he got to his feet. He used the Force to attempt to at least dampen the pain in both his shoulder and leg, while focusing on the link to find Shadow. It was strong now. Very strong...despite the fact that there was still a dulled numbness on her end, it was strongly dulled numbness. Not that it made any sense, but it was the best way that Jyren could explain it to himself.    So, limping as fast he could manage without falling over again, Jyren followed the feelings and strength of the link through the familiar corridors of the gigantic building. It took a three minutes of winding through sharp turn after sharp turn before finding the door that felt right. Ket had yet to appear...and Jyren had run into no one else. He hoped that meant the droids were all scouring the city, fortifying the border, and guarding other ‘important’ locations instead of waiting for him to step into the room in front of him.    But what other choice did he have?    Gripping his lightsaber tightly in one hand, Jyren gritted his teeth as he reached out with his left arm to press a small switch that had been put in next to the door...no doubt because the building itself was dead and the doors weren’t working ‘normally’. The door opened much more slowly that normally, obviously being pulled open instead of the natural movement it usually made. It was almost painful to watch, actually. But it opened up to a small, nondescript room that was devoid of any furniture...except for two distinctly Alraxian chair’s. That was easy to tell due to the design which allowed for tails to sit through the back more comfortably than in, say, an X-Wing’s seat. And sitting in one of them, looking at least a little worse than she had on the holo, was Shadow, with that sickly coloured visor still over her face and keeping her still and inactive.    Jyren immediately moved over to her, kneeling down as best as he could with his leg still cut(which was awkward, to say the least). After attaching the lightsaber back onto his belt, Jyren reached up to the side of Shadow’s face and pressed the small switch on the visor there. It quickly retracted, leaving only the small portion around her head which he then took off and tossed to the side. In a flash, the link was suddenly a flurry of activity again, and it felt amazingly good to have it back.    Shadow’s eyes opened slowly, and then widened suddenly at seeing Jyren so close. After she blinked a couple of times, the link calmed and she said in her usual tone, “You’re late...and you look terrible.”    He couldn’t help but grin slightly, noting that she was covered in scratches, bruises, and what looked like burn marks, “I figured we should match.”    Shadow rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to make another comment, but Jyren cut her off with a sudden kiss. Cliched? Yes, but he wasn’t complaining. And she didn’t either...though, for some reason, it seemed to have about the same mind-numbing effect that the visor did. The visor. They were on the Capital. Ket was near. Nine had to be, too.    The moment caught up with them and the reunion was quickly brought to a halt. Though there was still a faintly happy expression on Shadow’s face, her voice was serious, “Where’s Ket? And are you alright?”    “I don’t know, and mostly,” Jyren answered both questions quickly, then glanced back to the still open doorway, “How about we get out of here and then figure things out?”</blockquote>

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