[open]

[letoldthingsdie]

WHO: Kylo Ren and YOU
WHAT: Day to day life; includes some training in the gallows, exploring Kirkwall and such
WHEN: Throughout the remainder of April/Cloudreach 9:44
WHERE: Gallows, Kirkwall, etc
NOTES: Nothing of note but I'll update if that changes

Gallows

With his lightsaber in hand, Kylo can be found training rigorously in various forms. He's careful to practice at a distance from anyone else, should they get too close. Starting his training, feet planted firmly and hand holding his weapon out as if to point it at an unseen target, he swings and swirls the lightsaber in his hands in fluid motions. Each time he avoids hitting the dummy directly, occasionally stopping his blade on either side of the target. The last thing he wanted to do every time he trained was to break a training dummy.

He focuses on more than just his blade work, however, practicing his breathing, the bend of his knees as he strikes, and keeping his body a firm immovable object against his opponent. Eventually he takes a break, brushing his messy shock of black hair from his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, the glowing red light withdrawn into the hilt once more.

During his point of resting, he stretches his arms, reaching down to his toes or crossing them one over the other to loosen each muscle. The rigors of training gave him something to channel his energy into, finding focus in his thoughts through the effort he expends with his blade.

Kirkwall

Having washed the sweat and grime from training away, Kylo can be found exploring the markets and other points of interest within Kirkwall. Lowtown was bustling with life as he browsed the Market District, winding streets drawing his attention now and again as he went from shop to shop. It was far from home, but it was starting to feel as such once the routine had set in.

Stopping at a food stall, Kylo turns over a piece of fruit with a careful gaze as he examines it for any flaws. Eventually he would make his way towards the the next shop, stopping to see the wares that Lowtown had to offer.

Wildcard

[ooc: Just hit me up on my journal or pm me at wishuponthenightskies if you want to come up with a different prompt for us to do!]

Comments

for Rey - Kirkwall [closed]

[letoldthingsdie]

He isn't sure how he's managed to find himself in a position such as this, Rey at his side while the two of them walked through the Market district together. It had been a blurted out suggestion over breakfast. What possessed him to do it, he doesn't know. The one thing he did know was that he wanted to see where this went, just as she'd expressed before.

With his training out of the way, he went to meet her for their visit to the Market District. He wanted to explore and see more of their strange surroundings. He'd been to this Market alone but being accompanied by Rey made it feel different. They were slowly becoming different - or perhaps it was just him.

"Where to first?" He watched her reactions to everything they saw, as if he could piece together the thoughts that went through her head when it came to him. It would be easy to see right into her mind through their connection in the Force but it ruined some of the mystery of guessing.

[provenforce]

Rey loves the market, and that's fairly evident on her face. The movement of the people, coming and going, caught up in their days. Lowtown has some of that hopeless air that Niima did, but it's not quite the same, more alive, almost. Her companion today is a little different than usual, people are used to seeing her with a large white mabari at her side, not a tall dark-haired human. Still she moves like she belongs here, giving familiar faces brief smiles.

"We'll stop in just up ahead, I like to check this place and see what she's gotten in. Sometimes it's garbage, but sometimes she has good things," she offers in response to Ben's question, looking over at him and giving him a smile.

[letoldthingsdie]

His own smile makes an appearance, though it was just a small curl in the corners of his lips. Seeing her joy put him at ease even as he felt awkward as people familiar with Rey greeted her as they went. He almost couldn't resist the urge to take her hand as they moved to where she lead him. The thought left his mind as quickly as it entered it, leaving embarrassment at his own sentimentality behind.

"What are you making this time?" He's curious, having only seen her room on a handful of occasions. He could only guess what she was piecing together.

[provenforce]

She catches that thought and bites back another smile, considering reaching out to take his hand, but they're close enough to the shop that she wouldn't have been holding it long anyway. Just the fact that he'd thought about it though, fills her with a warmth and makes her walk a little lighter.

Ducking into the shop that's filled from floor to ceiling with clutter Rey hums in response to his question, turning off to the side with a practiced motion.

"I'm still working on a few things for the Obstacle course, but I never know when I'll find something new." She's always on the look-out for things to occupy her time.

[letoldthingsdie]

Their bond worked both ways, of course. He knows that she knows and feeling her emotions lift in response only serves to make the tips of his ears flush in embarrassment. While he doesn't take her hand, he does stay close to her until they reach the shop.

"Ah. I could probably help if you need it." It didn't seem to matter what he did. He wanted to spend time with her. Eventually, when they find themselves browsing their first stop, his hand moves to her lower back in concession to their earlier thoughts bouncing between them. It wasn't her hand but it was still intimate enough for him.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"Gracious me ... you're a Jedi!" Comes the pleased response of a mature woman in her thirties, delight lighting up her brown eyes and the dimples on her cheeks. She is carrying a basket over one arm, an elaborate staff on her back, and perhaps the world's ugliest dog on a simple lead. She's also wearing a particular kind of Griffon armor.

"I never thought I would see one of your kind again, not since Obi Wan left." She beams at the younger man, before holding out her hand in greeting, "Bethany Hawke-Darton, serah Jedi. Pleasure to meet you."

[letoldthingsdie]

He bristles internally at her comparison to Obi-Wan - specifically her confusing him for Jedi. Yet she was clearly trying to be friendly. For a moment he stares down at the offered hand, his gaze moving up to take note of her armor and then he meets her beaming face.

"Kylo Ren." He speaks and then raises a hand to take hers. "I'm not- I'm not a Jedi, though. Don't call me that. Please."

His lips are already pressed into a thin line, showing his displeasure at the word. As if he could ever be considered a Jedi. Once, he had been trained in the art, but now the memory just left him with a bitterness that caught in his throat like bile.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

She hesitates at his sharp look, but her smile stays on. She shakes his hand, firm and tight. The tight and pained expression on his face ... well, sympathy wells up. She's not sure why being called a Jedi was so painful, but she didn't want to hurt a complete stranger.

"Oh, I am sorry, Serah Ren. I shall mind my p's and q's."

[letoldthingsdie]

"No, it's fine. I just- I'm not a Jedi. Not like Obi-wan, anyway." He comes up with the hasty explanation, not wanting her to be offended. He didn't know why it mattered if she was, probably for the same reasons it mattered that he didn't want to be called a Jedi. The distinction was important to him.

"Where Obi-Wan and I are from, I'm called a Sith Apprentice." Was he technically a Master now that he had killed his own? He didn't know. It sounded wrong as he said it. He certainly didn't feel like a Master. The only thing he knew for sure was he was absolutely not a Jedi. He wanted nothing more than for both religions to die.

Gallows

[hello_there]

And, Obi-Wan watches all of this with the critical eye of a lifelong duelist. He waited, for patience too was a Jedi virtue, along with flexibility; it was somewhat dangerous to approach the boy here, without Rey to act as a buffer. But then, they could hardly avoid one another forever.

"Your teachers have done you no favors," He observes, when Kylo pauses to stretch. Sand-colored robes against sandstone pillars: Obi-Wan wasn't hiding, not really. Just hanging back, "Have they?"

[letoldthingsdie]

And Kylo squares his shoulders when he senses the Jedi's approach. He regards him, equal parts curious and on edge. It wasn't as if he was looking to fight him again but he couldn't feel truly at ease around him either.

"Considering my first Master received the majority of his instruction from an alien in a swamp, I'd say I do well enough with what teaching I was given." He's being sarcastic of course. He doesn't want to care what Obi Wan thinks. He crosses his arms almost defensively as he sizes the Jedi Master up.

"Why does it matter to you? If there was something wrong in my technique I'm open to suggestions." Not really, but he wants to hear the rest of what Obi-Wan might have to say.

[hello_there]

Obi-Wan listened, all the way through, without interrupting. With every word, his eyebrows climbed a little higher until he was receiving the last of Kylo's extraordinary speech with an expression of such concentrated blase that even when the boy had finished, it took him some moments to respond.

"I presume you are referring to Grandmaster Yoda, a Jedi of some nine-hundred years experience, and who offered their first training to tens of thousands of Jedi younglings in the creche?" To say he wasn't impressed would be an understatement. An alien in a swamp, "The way you put it, I have to wonder why you're defending what you learned from humans. Clearly, neither has actually given you what you need."

Like a good kick in the pants, maybe.

But Obi-Wan considers what he's seen. What's wrong with his technique? Aside from most of it, the truth is that Obi-Wan can hardly say. He hasn't a great deal of sympathy for Kylo Ren, but for Ben Solo? He'll try to start gently.

"Your feet, for one. The stance is too wide, it forces you to minimalize your reach-- you have enough to compensate, but it's your best strength, you should emphasize it. You never learned any formal style I'd recognize, aside from the most basic, did you? That's unsurprising."

[letoldthingsdie]

His expression when regarding Obi-wan was stern for a moment, as if he wanted to say more about exactly the type of teacher Luke had been, that it could be Yoda's doing too. He wondered how much Rey had told him, if anything. He wanted to throw it in his face, to make him hurt with the knowledge that the Jedi he loved so much were just as cruel to a young boy as any Sith. If anything, the wound hurt more given that the one who had hurt him so much was his family.

Instead of all of that, he relaxes the tension in his shoulders and looks down at his feet before adjusting them, removing his blade from his belt once more. If Obi-wan was in the mood to instruct him, he was listening. He didn't know why except for the fact that Rey had spoken of Obi-wan with such joy, as if she had found a teacher who understood her the way a student should be understood by their master.

He'd never had that with either of his masters. With Luke he had been lead to fear his own growing strength, marred by the darkness Snoke had implanted in him like a seed that grew and grew. With Snoke he had been taught to suppress the love he'd had for his family, destroying himself from the inside out until he'd destroyed the thing he loved the most: his father. Despite how disappointed he'd been by his family, he loved them still.

"What else?" His tone has none of the bite or anger that broils inside of him like a hot coal. His gaze lifts from his feet to Obi-Wan, waiting.

gallows

[tagartist]

They'd already made the plan for her to meet him so she could do more of the training that he'd talked her into before. She knew that it was a good idea and it had at least gotten her to talk to Loghain about taking him up on his offer as well, so that maybe, between the two of them, she wouldn't end up in some kind of regrettable situation like she so often did at home.

What she didn't expect to get to see was a cool light show. She'd seen a lightsaber once thanks to Rey, but she hadn't seen it in action. Just lit up and humming steadily until she'd shut off before Chloe could touch it like an idiot. So watching him swing it around, semi-impressed even though she's not sure how good lightsaber fighting is supposed to look. Regardless, it's pretty neat to watch, and she waits until he takes a break before she let's him know she's there, since it seems like the kind of thing that'd be a little dangerous to just bust in on.

"... That was awesome."

[letoldthingsdie]

He had been concentrating hard enough that he had missed Chloe's approach or that she had been watching him. He looks up at her when she speaks, surprise raising his brows. He had impressed her? The thought actually made him swell with pride. Most feared him or were uneasy by his presence. Training was how he channeled those things and his own self depreciating thoughts into something useful.

"You think so?" He finished stretching his arms and flexing his wrists, the weight of his swings wearing on him somewhat in the aftermath. He had worried he'd gotten sloppy without a constant target to fight. Clearly it was misplaced.

"Have you not seen one before?" He knows surely Rey must be well known around here, if not her then Obi-Wan. Their blue blades were far less imposing than the sizzle and crackle of his own red, unstable, weapon.

[tagartist]

"Yeah, dude, that was hella rad." She finds it funny that he'd think it anything else, but she guesses she'd be the same if someone complimented her on any of her skills. She folds her arms over her torso as she watches him finish stretching (like hell she's not appreciating those arms for a bit here, man) and arches a brow at the final question.

A quick head shake. "I saw one. Rey showed it to me. It was... different, though, and all she did was light it up. None of the..." She pauses and goes to pretend she's holding one, waving her arms around in a mocking attempt at recreating his moves - sound effects of the light particles slicing through air absolutely added. And then her hands are back to being folded over her chest like it never happened. "Stuff."

[letoldthingsdie]

He can't help but smile endearingly at her attempt to recreate his training exercises. He catches himself smiling, just the smallest curve upwards of the corners of his lips, and immediately clears his throat in an attempt to pretend it had never been there in the first place.

"She can do the same thing, obviously. Mine is built differently to hers, though." he holds it up to show her, indicating the vents at the sides that directed the flow to keep his blade from overpowering itself. "There are vents here and here that also act as a guard. They also help stabilize the current when I ignite it."

A flick of a button later and he shows her, the energy resembling a flame more up close. It wasn't a stable flow of energy the same as Rey's and Obi-wan's. Where a normal lightsaber had an even look, his looked more akin to an uncontrolled flame, the energy crackling and sizzling like a live wire.

gallows!!!

[aenseidhe]

Still doing it.

[ Iorveth's voice pipes up from a nearby rooftop, the 6'3" elf perched with one leg tugged up to his chest, the other dangling below, having quietly watched Kylo practice up until now. Perhaps from a spot more hidden before, showing up now like he's been there for hours. ]

You plant yourself like you're doing battle with a battering ram rather than an intelligent being. [ The swordwork is fluid, but what good is it if the rest of the body isn't? like trying to dodge bullets in a tank. Iorveth should probably just mind his own business, as Kylo Ren seems content to keep to his own training, but call it the commander and teacher in him that can't stand watching without comment.

Hopping down from his perch, Iorveth paces his way over to were Kylo is stretching out the last of his training. ]

Ayd f'haeil moen Hirjeth taenverde. Can you guess what that means?

[letoldthingsdie]

It hasn't failed me yet. I'm still here.

[He had never needed to doubt his abilities before now. Most everyone else he'd faced was dead and if that wasn't proof enough that he was doing something right, he didn't know what was.]

It's a language I haven't heard before, so no. I can't imagine you're giving me a compliment if you're here to critique my foot work.

[He knew he was big, somewhat lanky, and it made him clumsy at times. It hadn't been a problem until Rey had carved open his face.]

[aenseidhe]

It means 'you fight like someone shoved a rake up your ass.'

[ Iorveth says bluntly, with a moment of stony faced silence, until a smirk cracks across his lips, clearly joking. He digresses, explaining the actual translation. ]

'Conquer with courage, rather than strength'.

[ it isn't a phrase he came up with - one he'd heard from isengrim ages ago. the scoia'tael had always been an outnumbered army, and yet they brought devastation to their enemies with the cunning they'd put into their warfare. the same goes for simple combat, as far as iorveth concerns himself. he's far from the strongest opponent, but he knows the way around a body, around weapons, and around a fight. you flow around your enemy, rather than trying to simply crush them into the ground, because you will always find someone stronger than you, but not necessarily smarter. ]

A good warrior can overpower any he meets. A great warrior doesn't need to, making the good warrior's power irrelevant. [ Like Obi-wan had done to Kylo - used the power of a charging bull against him, when Kylo clearly has more physical strength than most. ] But training with a dummy standing still won't teach you that.

[letoldthingsdie]

[He nods, understanding better now. The joke isn't lost on him, but he was never one to really make jokes of his own. His biting wit was something more sinister than silly.]

Courage is well and good, but strength is what determines who lives and who dies.

[He felt it on instinct now, parroting Snoke's teachings even after he'd killed him. He'd learned so well that it was a pity Snoke had never realized what a good student he'd had, wasting his pursuits on destroying Luke Skywalker. He may have been Snoke's tool but he'd learned to be as good a tool as he could be.]

Courage is born from sentiment. There's no courage needed in killing your enemies, only the ability to strike them before they strike you.

gallows

[almus]

Watching Kylo train with an intense kind of interest is a woman wrapped in a blue cloak. She approaches him when he stops to stretch, eyebrows arching as she stops a short distance away from him.

"You seem to be carrying a great deal of tension through your swings. Do your muscles often ache?"

[letoldthingsdie]

"I don't usually notice it." He had been carrying more tension lately, to be sure. There was more than just training for him to be tense about, too. A lot weighed on him between home and Thedas. A sound defeat by a Jedi Master was only the most recent of them.

"Why?" He didn't mean to sound like he was demanding, but if it was affecting his swings he might actually rethink just blindly losing himself to the routine of it.

[almus]

"It makes you less effective, if you're tense. It's sort of like your body is fighting itself," she's unphased by his tone, her expression mild as she unsubtly passes her eyes over his form.

"Have you tried massage therapy at all? I imagine you're carrying a great deal of discomfort and you're working through it rather than addressing it. If you did, you might be a more effective fighter." She can tell it's more than his muscles that need tending to, but she can tell just by looking at him that his physique is likely important.

[letoldthingsdie]

"Back home we had droids for that sort of thing." Here? It was a bit harder to take advantage of that sort of thing, even if he wanted to. The lack of actual droids was the larger problem for that.

"I doubt there would be anyone able to massage anything here, let alone for me." He gives her an almost curious look, resisting the urge to be sarcastic and say 'Unless you're offering?'

The idea that Rey would ever do something like that for him almost made his skin feel flush. No, he definitely wouldn't ask her even if it hurt him physically not to. He would just have to be more careful.