Meeting the Legend

Posted on Fri Aug 31st, 2018 @ 6:24pm by Staff Sergeant Andromeda Dreik & Staff Sergeant Nyx'e'Trixe Valentine

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Marine Training Area

Andi had headed down to the marine training area in hopes of finding Ami. It had been a long time since she had seen the trill, and was genuinely looking forward to catching up with her, but walking into the training area it was obvious that Ami was no where to be seen, instead she found herself watching a tall, slim spitfire of a woman spinning swords as if they were made of paper.

Leaning against the bulkhead, Andi smiled, just watching with silent appreciation of the art form.

This time she was alone on the mats, working against an invisible, non-existent opponent, anticipating their own moves, bringing her swords around in defense, then attacking maneuvers, once releasing one of her blades in an upward arc right before executing a spinning slash maneuver after which she caught the sword in a reverse grip in a position intended to block a downward swing, the flat of the blade against her shoulder to support it against the notional blow. The smaller sword licked out to slash across the unprotected 'belly' of the non-opponent before Nyx felt that the training kata, if it could be called that, was over and she came up out of the crouch, flipping the reversed blade over her wrist to catch it the 'right' way, she resheathed the blades in their over-the-shoulder sheaths in a single practiced move, then closed her eyes to review what she'd just done, seeking errors.

"Impressive," Andi said with an easy smile, stepping away from the bulkhead. "You have a very natural affinity with the blades... my guess is lots of training."

Nyx gave Andi a look that could only be called appraising, then smiled slightly, "That could be called an understatement, Milady." The Tialan stepped off the mat and gave another appraising look over her, "A lifetime of training, nearly two decades. There were three mistakes I just made, but that's most likely the lack of visual opponent." She shrugged halfway, "Understandable mistakes."

Casting a discerning gaze over Nyx, Andi tipped her head slightly to one side. "So you would have started at what... five or six?" she guesstimated. "I think sometimes when attacking an imaginary opponent sometimes it's easy to second guess yourself and your positioning. You faltered ever so slightly before you went in for the gut, almost like you were trying to decide how tall you wanted the invisible man to be." Andi grinned slightly. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you're Nyx? Providing I've gotten my pronunciations right, Nyx'a'Trixie?"

Both of Nyx's eyebrows raised, out of curiosity and interest, not out of anger or even frustration, "Nyx'E'Trixie, Shelendie." She shook her head, "Milady, I mean. Called Valentine. But I do believe you are right, that's one of the troubles and I do appreciate your..Candy about it?"

"You mean candor?" Andi grinned teasingly. "Andromeda Dreik, but call me Andi. May I?" she asked, motioning toward one of the swords. "Personally I wasn't allowed to handle a proper blade until I was 8, it should have been much earlier but my mother was against it."

The hesitation was minimal, but Nyx withdrew the longer of the two, then flipped it in her hand to present it hilt first to Andi, the flat of the blade in her own hand, "It may be lighter than you are used to, Milady, the metals we use on Tial for our swords is lighter, but stronger than the ones in the Federation, I've found."

The hesitation may have been minimal but it was still easily sensed by someone who was all too familiar with the newer marine who was all too familiar with the possessive pride that came with a beloved weapon. "Thank you," Andi said quietly, her words ringing with genuine gratitude at the trust.

Taking the sword, Andi weighted it carefully in her hands before taking a few steps back and swinging it, reservedly at first. "Daaaaaamn..." she breathed appreciatively as she swung the sword upward. Her stance changed slightly as she moved the sword to one hand, turning it in her hand to see how the weight changed. "You're right, the sword is much lighter than anything I have ever handled, but the difference in feel, it's almost magical." Flipping the sword into the air, Andi caught it by the blade with ease and handed it back toward Nyx, hilt first. "I am very suitably impressed."

"It is very impressive of our armorers on Tial, Milady, I am regrettably not able to forge my own weaponry, merely make rather minor repairs to the blades, nicks, normal wear and tear." She shrugged and resheathed the weapon, "Fortunately, over the many millennia, our priests of the forge have refined their art to ensure that they are rather quite durable. This one is more than three thousand of your years old." She withdrew the second blade, significantly shorter and inscribed with what appeared to be runes. This one, she didn't make any motion to hand over, but held it out to be viewed.

The difference in the handling of the blades was quite apparent. Instead of reaching to take it, instead Andi stepped forward, leaning in to trace one fingertip ever so lightly over the inscription. "What does it say?" she asked curiously, stepping back to give the precious blade space.

An amused smile crossed Nyx's face, "They are warding spells, strengthening spells, things that really make no difference." She traced the inscription on the end, "This one is the name of the blade, Milady, Reshtina, translated it means Hailstorm in Federation Standard." She smiled, "Made for a Light of the Northern Reach, the territory I am from, then passed down the Dorande line until my Mistress gave it to me... She has no children and felt I was her best choice to continue her tradition. It was frowned upon by her peers, I gathered. They were not pleased that a blade of renown was given to a Sentar."

"Sentar?" Andi asked, genuinely curious. "I understand the disapproval that comes with these kinds of situations, believe me. I just don't know the term Sentar."

Nyx flushed slightly, "My apologies, Milady, a Sentar is one like myself, dark haired." She gestured to her elaborately done hair with eight pins holding it together, "All of the other Priestesses of Bey'a'Dande, like myself, are all Korashe, or golden-haired, blondes. I am the last of an experiment the Council of Lights made, the rest are all dead."

Andi found herself slightly taken aback at the answer. "Wow... that takes blonde judgement to a whole new level," she said with a shake of her head. "I guess sometimes when customs are handed down through hundreds, if not thousands of generations sometimes it's hard to break from what they consider 'right'." She shook her head slightly. "It sounds like your Mistress was a step ahead of her time."

"She is in danger." Nyx said simply, "Because of me, my success and my survival. I have done what I can to aid her by accepting exile, but she is still who she is: The most dangerous Light on the Council, so they are forced to suffer her presence. None of her challengers has supplanted her and they won't for quite some time."

Suppressing a smile, Andi simply replied with "It sounds like she is just what an archaic structure needs to survive... challenge and evolution."

"It won't work, Milady, though I say that with regret. It is very hard for a world with well over thirty-thousand years of merely recorded and recovered history to change from the way of life that has persisted through it all, especially with the balance of power and education." Nyx shrugged again, "But that isn't important right now, it is something for Tial to deal with, not myself." She changed the subject, "What sort of training do you have with the sword?"

"Allegedly it's something of a birth right, but some would disagree. My father wanted me to learn from a very early age, he felt it an important part of my heritage but my mother was very against it from the beginning. My grandmother taught me to wield from basically as soon as I could walk but I didn't get my first sword until my 8th birthday. I still have it, though she's not for play... she will be mounted above my bed once I move into my quarters."

"Out of reach?" Nyx asked, the idea of a weapon in the room but out of reach almost unfathomable, "Milady..." She stopped herself, reminding herself that this wasn't someone from her own raising tendancies, "If not to be used, that would be a good place for a decoration. If you ever do desire to spar, by all means, I'm always available. I tend to be constantly at work with something or another, easiest way to keep ready for combat at all times."

"I have other swords in my quarters I can use more freely if I desire, but that sword, well, it's precious to me. It's something more than I can really put into words, but I am going to go out on a limb and assume that you know what I mean, at least in some way. I won't take it into battle, but being mounted above my bed, it protects me when I sleep, when I am at my most vulnerable." Andi smiled slightly. "But I would love to join you some time for some sword play, Hailey told me you were good, she wasn't half joking!"

Nyx raised a single eyebrow this time, "Milady, this wasn't anything remotely realistic, please do not judge me based on it." It was almost horrifying to Nyx that a basic training routine was being hailed as being good. It didn't really show how good someone was until they were in an actual combat situation, whether an actual combat or merely against holograms or another opponent in training, "True, I defeated a Sixth-Class Priestess, but it was because she made mistakes... She could have taken me apart if she'd set her mind to it."

"Nyxie, chill!" Andi laughed and shook her head. "All I meant was if you can swing a sword like that in practice, I can assure you, I have no desire to be on the bad side of you any time soon! I don't know what it's like for your people, wasn't it Tialan you said? But for my ancestry the true skill of swordswomanship is a dying artform. There are few of us who bother any more. That whole bipedal laziness thing, I guess phasers really just are easier when it comes to combat.|"

"On Tial, swordsmanship thrives. Some say it is a miracle that we ever made it off our world, for it doesn't invite technology to survive. We did not develop energy weaponry until we lofted ourselves into orbit with what can only be described as consecutively chained nuclear weaponry, which is still one of our viable ways off planet for when we cannot send shuttles with Federation technology to the surface. Even then, the megatonnage required is daunting. Gunpowder isn't even effective, so our wars are fought with swords and bows. Archaic, don't you think, Milady?" The last was said with a sly smile.

Andi paused for a moment, contemplating on the weight of Nyx's words. "Archaic? Perhaps? But if it works for them then it can't be wrong. You know, I've never seen it first hand, but I've been told there are actually a tribe of my ancestors that have opted to shun all modern technologies and advancements and still live as they did thousands of years ago. Who am I to say it's archaic or wrong? Look at it in a different way, how much discipline and dedication do your people have to maintain this life style? I mean, anyone can pick up a phaser, press a button and shoot, but it takes actual skill and dedication to maintain actual manual combat skills, especially with sword or bow."

"Indeed, Milady." Nyx didn't know if she'd been testing the young woman named Andi, but if she had, the test had been passed with flying colors. "Phasers have an automatic correction capability to allow most people the ability to hit their targets, but that is not skill. And it makes for too many possible errors because it does not have a pinpoint accuracy. I spend most of my waking days in training whether here, the holomat, or even the holodeck itself if available."

“But what about down time? Relaxation? A little fun on the side?” Andi shook her head slightly. “You need balance in life. A little balance makes it easier to focus when you come back to your sword. It gives you a different perspective.”

"Milady, this IS fun for me." Nyx smiled, "The desire to be the very best I can be. Religion is like that, even amongst humans, I hear. Would you say your ancestors made it a way of life? Do they worship the way they lived? That is what I do, combat is the way of worship amongst we Priestesses of Bey'a'Dande, Goddess of War, Mistress of Pain."

“I guess... I mean, I know that that can be important... Most of my true and traditional ancestors lived and died by the sword... but what about your own needs? The need for people? For companionship? Hell, the need for sex! What about basic primal needs?” Andi looked clearly incredulous at the idea that someone could be completely and utterly dedicated to nothing but the craft.

"I have food, drink, weaponry." Nyx shrugged, "What need have I of the other things, Milady?" She grew more somber, "My first true kill, Milady, was a young priest of the Second Class, shortly after my Ascension to the First Class from Initiate. He and three of his friends, all First Class Priests, came for me when I was but twelve years old, his stated intent to assault me and then to kill me to prove the inferiority of the Sentar. He was rather quite explicit about what he and his compatriots would do to me. The other three survived, he didn't."

Andi paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” she finally said quietly. “No one should ever have to deal with any situation like that, least of all a child.” She shook her head slightly. “But it isn’t all like that.”

"A child?" Nyx shook her head, "No, Milady, I was a priestess, no longer a child. On Tial you are considered 'of age' once you are sixteen or are Ascended as a priest or priestess. There are few who dared approach me after that time in any case, it would only have been a distraction."

“Exactly!” Andi exclaimed. “It’s a distraction, something to take your mind away from battle and fighting and stress and pressure and the constant need to be on point...” she sighed suddenly. “Sorry i’ll Shut up about it now. But who knows, maybe one day...”. Her expression suddenly became cheeky again and she winked.

Nyx closed her eyes and nodded very slightly, "But, Milady, I do believe you were talking about your ancestors... I would be honored if you would be willing to show me what you have learned of them? I'm always eager to learn new ways and would happily train with you and aid you if you desired."

Andi grinned. “I will never turn down a chance to play swords with someone of your caliber!” She said with a laugh. “But I don’t have my blades with me now, they’re still packed. I haven’t even actually been to my quarters yet!”

"Then I suppose you have some work to do, don't you?" The first bit of mischief crossed Nyx's face, "However, that is part of why I enjoy the holo-programs, you can have the computer scan your weaponry and create a perfect replica, weight, balance and the like. And it means you can train as you mean to fight, it can score your abilities."

“The holodeck can be quite good, in more ways than one! There is no doubt about that! I have one or two programs that you actually may enjoy, they were custom created content I had a... uhmmm... friend develop for me a few years ago. It was beneficial when I wanted to be able to train with someone of like abilities but no one was available.” Andi smiled. “Perhaps, one day of you aren’t always busy training I can share them with you?”

"Then perhaps, Milady, we could share the pieces of our own worlds with each other? At your convenience, of course." A broad smile crossed Nyx's face, "I do believe you know where you can find me."

=/\= END =/\=

Staff Sergeant Nyx'e'Trixe Valentine
Marine NCO
USS Wellington

Staff Sergeant Andromeda Dreik
Marine
USS Wellington