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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2914903" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 327Jen had learned a lot in the short few months that she had been away, but one thing she couldn’t possibly become an expert on so quickly was lightsaber technique. There was a very distinct line between learning from watching and learning from experience. Jyren had the latter, and Jen the former. Sure, Jyren had been just like her at first...swinging the sword like the old holodramas used to show. Long, dramatic sweeps that did nothing at all but make the wielder look like the amateur they were. There were even a few things here and there that had probably been picked up from actually watching...but that was not practice.    It had taken Jyren many years to even be able to parry a strike, let alone learn the necessary footwork that was always ignored by those just starting or trying to ‘teach themselves’. Even now, Jyren knew that he couldn’t stand up to any of the Jedi from the Old Republic...as his only edges were the Force and his own quick speed(with, of course, the help of an Alraxian body), the Jedi had both of those and extremely rigorous training. The Holocron showed that much...and had shown Jyren just how far behind he was.    But suddenly the situation was thrown on its head. He was no fighting for his life here...every swing of his blade was not a last ditch effort to avoid losing a limb...he was not pushed back or even forced on the defensive. Jen’s swings of her orange lightsaber were so predictable that Jyren had to force himself not to deflect them and then finish the fight right there. It was so difficult, after the vicious fights he’d experienced over the years, to slow down to this.    This was a fight for Jen’s life, and he knew it.    The worst part of it all was that she was actually putting all of her strength and effort into the fight...if it could even be called that. Her high swing would be easily blocked by Jyren’s blade far away from his head(despite the near meter difference in height, she still never got close), and yet she wouldn’t pull away for a quick jab towards his unprotected torso...all the while leaving herself open one simple attack that could end everything in a second.    Jyren completed two more simplistic parries, then finally gave in and used the Force to throw Jen back a good three meters. Before she could recover her already week footing, he swung his lightsaber down and away before deactivating the blade. With only a single humming from her weapon remaining on the bridge, Jyren shook his head, “I won’t do this anymore. I will not kill you.”    Jen stood up straight again, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face and glaring up at him with her empty eyes, “You’re a coward!”    “Maybe,” he admitted with a slight nod as he clipped his lightsaber back onto his belt, “But I will not kill you...and this does not have to go on. You can stop this right here and right now. You can end all of this and come back to us.”    “After what you did to me?!” Jen growled, still actually holding her ground instead of charging at him again.    Seeing that there had to be something in the fact that she was actually talking(well...yelling), Jyren tried to push the point. He had to try. He knew he wouldn’t kill her...knew he couldn’t...and, at the same time, was fairly sure what he was going to try wouldn’t work either. But, still, he had to try...and so, keeping his voice as controlled and calm as he could, Jyren said, “The only thing I did to you was to make you put up with seeing me act like a child and never thanking you for the help you gave. You were a sister to me, Jen! A mother, even! If you honestly believe I would ever even dream of doing anything to harm you, then you really are lost.”    Jen’s eyes watched him, but he saw no hint of anything new within them. Instead, she simply shook her head and pointed her lightsaber at him accusingly, “You lied to me! You, Shadow, and Titus! You all lied to me! Your lies did this to me!”    Something there caused Jyren to snap. The control he had held before was gone in a second, and the words escaped him at a yell before he could even stop himself, “All Titus ever did was love you!”    “And you killed him!” Jen snapped back, the Force starting to reek even more of a deep rage than before.    “Yes! I killed him!” again, Jyren’s mouth let the words out before his mind could even think about them. And he wasn’t lying...in fact, for the first time, he found himself accepting the responsibility for his own actions. When this washed over him, he added just as forcefully, “But it was a mistake! A horrible mistake that I pay for every single day, Jen. But I know it was a mistake! Look at what you’re doing and tell me this is the right thing! Look at that damned monster behind you and tell me this is right!”    Jen actually glanced over her shoulder to see the Darkwing still standing in the destroyed ‘doorway’...watching and waiting, obviously ready for the simple word that it needed to be given for its attack. The word it wanted to hear...the anticipation could be felt, almost tasted, through the Force. When Jen looked back to Jyren, her eyes met his again and they held the gaze....and, for a moment at least, Jyren saw something. It wasn’t a smile...it wasn’t even the hint of one...in fact, it was barely a hint of anything...and maybe he was just imagining things, but there was...was something. Something he remembered.    And seeing that brought words to Jyren again, and he didn’t even try to hold them back anymore. He felt something through the Force from Jen, and suddenly thought he might understand exactly why she was doing all of this, “The man that did this to you is dead, Jen. I killed Ket Halpak nearly a month ago. There’s no revenge to be had past that gate anymore.”    Jen’s voice was lower now, and almost shaking slightly, when she said, “I’ll kill all of them anyway.”    “Why?” the question was simple and honest, but Jyren didn’t leave it at that, “Because of what one exile tried to do? He tried the same thing, Jen. He tried to kill all of them...you’d just be exactly like him...” he trailed off, and let that hang in the air, as it was obviously having some effect from Jen’s motionless state. When she didn’t say anything for a long time, Jyren finally added, “Please stop this. You can end all of this right now...you can end it all and come back to us. Please, Jen...”    Slowly, the human woman in front of him lowered her lightsaber. Their gazes held, and Jyren thought he could see that something in her eyes again...and even feel it through the Force. A...calming, if there was a word for it, at least. After another moment, there was a soft fizzle as her lightsaber was deactivated and then Jen let out a long sigh, looking down at the deck plates before closing her eyes.    Jyren even let out a quiet sigh of his own, feeling the tension and the Darkness slowly fading away from the room around him...the weight lifting.    And then Jen looked up and opened her eyes, a neutral expression masking her features as she seemed to look him over again. Whatever was going through her mind, Jyren couldn’t even come close to imagining. So...he just stood there and waited, still slightly worried, but allowing the calming in the Force to help to calm his own nerves in the process.    “Kill him,” Jen’s words were whispered as she stepped to the side. Jyren had only enough time for his eyes to go wide with shock before the Darkwing came at him at full speed.</blockquote>

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