Despite being on the first level of the Citadel, the massive courtyard remains hidden behind towering walls of stone and sediment. An elongated central patch of neatly trimmed grass stretches out for almost fifty-meters while maintaining a twenty-meter width. At the center of the grass is a large, ovular fountain in the shape of the Arcona emblem, with water running from the tips of each pointed edge. Vegetation grows along some of the walls, and an archaic clock-face is carved into the face of one of the entryways. A small group of rotating sharpshooters are scattered across the walls as the courtyard is supposed to serve as a safe place for Arconans to enjoy some quiet time, or to meet with visitors. It has served as the venue for multiple honor duels over time and there is a significant crater off to the side of the grass left behind as a result of a contest between Marick Arconae and Wuntila Arconae. The duel had taken place prior to either Arconae serving as Shadow Lords and in a quieter time before all Arcona knew was warfare.

Towards the back of the courtyard, closer to the base of the cliff that the Citadel is constructed upon, a tall tree shoots up from the stone, its shade guarding an entrance into the Citadel proper.

"Master, are you sure this is necessary? I've been learning a lot from you. I don't think an "audition" is necessary." a young Miraluka man said as we walked the stone steps towards the crown jewel of Arconan architecture. The Citadel was a towering structure where the centralized going ons of the Clan happened. His trainer, a battle-hardened human named Satsi, led the way before sharply turning to face him.

"First off, enough of that Master crap, I hate it. Secondly, you're too soft, kid. Until you learn to fight like a man, you'll never be ready to defend yourself or others out in the big karken galaxy. Now. shut it and walk."

Satsi turned back around and led her pupil to the courtyard. The area had been the location of many a great duel. Some she had been present for and some even a part of. And now she had set up a sparring match for her student and another Arconan with little battle experience. Or without much will to really fight.

"Now listen here frak-head, you're gonna fight. And I mean fight. Pull your punches, and I'll tell Skar you made Sammy cry." Satsi smiled as she approached her contact for the match. "Well, Alaisy, time for our boys to frak each other up, wouldn't you say?"

"Of course, dear Satsi, but let's not forget. Non-lethals only." the leather-clad alchemist of Arcona purred as her student, Aru Law, entered the courtyard. He was ready to do as his mistress commanded, but the pacifist in him wasn't thrilled about it.

…...

The two students stepped into the middle of the courtyard as their teachers watched while standing by some nearby pillars. Eleceos was nervous, but he knew he needed this. He needed to prove himself. Not just to Satsi, or his cousin, or even the Clan. But he needed to prove this to himself.

"I wish you luck in this duel, Aru."

"Good luck to you as well." the Human responded as he took up a fighting stance.

Eleceos clenched his fists, the leather material of his gloves creaking as he did so. He thought back to his training. There were rules he was given, and rule number one was at the forefront of his mind.

"Study your enemy's body. Watch his movements and learn to predict his next attack." Satsi's voice rang in his ear. While it was true that a Miraluka had no eyes to see, the bot could see the blurred blue outline of Aru through the Force.

The man was balanced. His body was twisted forty-five degrees towards him, and his open palms were ready to strike. The form was textbook, but inexperienced. He was locked up and tense.

"Offense is the best defense. Don't allow your enemy the first blow. Demoralize him and then crush him completely."

Eleceos moved, his fists firmly protecting his face. He rushed Aru, keeping his knees bent and through his strength into the first punch. The Human reacted evenly. His body flowed with the punch, turning slightly to avid the blow before retaliating aggressively. Open palms struck Eleceos in the ribs and knocked the boy back slightly. The hit hadn't landed hard, but it still hurt the young Arconan.

Satsi shook her head as she watched, unimpressed by her apprentice so far. Eleceos regretted his failure and used that emotion to strike back. He threw three pouches, the first two acting as a distraction for the third, hitting the Human clean across the face. Aru could feel the boys knuckles through his gloves, and they attempted to tear across his cheek.

The fight continued as such, each pacifist working to overcome their enemies defenses and fighting to impress their watcher. Eleceos was biding his time, waiting for the right chance to pull out an ace in the hole. Aru made his mistake by trying to end the fight early with a haymaker thrown at his opponents head, Eleceos ducked out of the way and activated his gloves. The gloves sparked and lit up before the Miraluka dealt another three-hit combo to the Humans chest.

The attack surprised Aru as the light electrical shocks were enough to lightly stun him. Eleceos took advantage of his disability and launched an uppercut into the Humans jaw, knocking him off his feet. As his back hit the ground, Aru moaned in pain. Eleceos was fighting hard, and it was time for him to step up. He would not disappoint his mistress. Not now. Not ever.

…...

"Satsi, my dear. That was a cheap shot if I have ever seen one." Alaisy chided, clearly annoyed at the move by the kid.

"Good, then he is finally learning what it takes to survive after all." the former Consul answered, actually impressed by Eleceos's attack pattern. He was genuinely listening to her. Respect was given, and now respect had been earned. "Perhaps I'll keep him around for a while longer."

"Don't get too cocky there. Aru is far from defeated. Looks like things are about to get very interesting." the leather-bound Sith said as her apprentice stood up, lightsaber in hand.

This is going to be strange, Aru thought. His opponent being blind proved very challenging for the Human to get motivated.

“Why do I have to hit a blind man?” Aru asked, turned to his Mistress and the scary looking Satsi. It was the latter that deigned an answer.

“What I said to Eleceos goes to you too! If I see you pulling punches, slashes or whatever you fancy fighting with, I’m coming for you!”

That amused Alaisy, who was smiling under her modulator. “You did my paper very well Satsi dear. I am impressed.”

The dark-haired Jedi still felt that the fight was pointless. He had read a datapad with a bit of information on his opponent before the training session. The young Miraluka practiced Soresu, the same as Aru. What could two heavily defensive duelists possibly achieve. “This isn’t gonna be more than a parry after parry light show” Aru imagined. Still, he had to do it, or face not one, but two raging women.

The Human sighed and walked towards Eleceos. The Miraluka had also picked his saber, a green light coming out of it. Even that was the same as Aru’s saber.

“I do feel bad, hitting a blind man.”

“Oh, please don’t.” The Silver-haired Miraluka pleaded. “I can see you just fine. Not quite as you see me, but I see you in my own way.”

“Well then. You said it, not me.”

Aru prepared to fight, widened his stance and lift his saber above him, the basic Soresu stance. He used this moment to send a pulse in Eleceos direction by pushing forward with his free hand. The Miraluka graciously spun out of harm’s way and kept walking in a circular line, his saber pointed towards Aru.

The grassy ground in which they stood was fluffy, Aru noticed. The loose pebbles there proved a good test to the Miraluka’s reaction time. The Human lifted several by use of the Force and launched them rapidly towards the young Gray Jedi. Eleceos, proficient in his Soresu, spun his saber rapidly around himself twice and managed to deflect the incoming volley. But he failed to notice a loose stone that Aru had sent flying towards his opponent in a wider trajectory. The Miraluka was hit on his chest and stepped back to regain his balance. He passed his hand through the impact area and grunted with pain. Striving to reduce the distance between them, in order to cut Aru’s long-range attacks, the swift and light silver-haired boy ran towards Aru in what almost seemed to the Human like a floating dancer incoming.

Aru was caught off guard and barely managed to parry the diagonal slash that the Miraluka dealt. The sound of a thousand insects could be heard when both blades clashed and buzzed together. Eleceos was adamant on impressing his Master and dealt blow after blow with strong initiative, to which Aru parried, some better than the others.

The Human was being forced to step back, due to the agility to which his opponent could slash with his saber. Aru employed some of his martial arts techniques and used the Miraluka’s movements to force him closer to him, punching him in the stomach. The frail boy arched with pain and gasped for air.

“See Satsi? I told you things were only getting started.” Alaisy stated, proud of her apprentice’s performance so far.

“Get up boy! That was nothing!” Yelled Satsi. Eleceos shook himself straight with his master’s words and immediately re-adopted his fighting stance.

Aru wasn’t going to let his opponent recover and charged towards him. This time, he was the one dealing the blows. Eleceos was parrying them with relative ease, but the tiredness was starting to get to him. Upon having seen Aru switch from Soresu to a martial art mid-fight, the Miraluka had an idea. He parried a descendant slash and forced Aru to turn a bit to the left, leaving his right side exposed. The silver-haired Jedi activated his shock gloves and punched Aru’s right side of the chest, causing the Human to tremble in place.

After recovering from his shocking, Aru was panting quite a bit. His opponent was too, but not as much. The Human still had his blaster with him, set to stun as to not hurt his foe. He quickly grabbed it and fired a volley not towards Eleceos, but towards Satsi, his Master.

The Miraluka launched himself in air and tried to deflect the blows with his Soresu but failed to parry one bolt, which ended hitting right next to Satsi. The now eerie looking Human hadn’t even moved an inch to avoid Aru’s shot.

“I made sure it wasn’t gonna hit you, but you could’ve at least moved a bit!” the Human yelled towards the unfazed woman.

“Hmpf. Carry on.” She said, not interested in casual banter with Aru.

“I’m sorry Master.” The Miraluka said. “I should have deflected them all.”

“Yeah, you’re quite weak, aren’t you?” Aru mocked. “I mean, if you can’t even protect one person… Well, you’re blind so I can’t expect much from you. How many do you see?” Aru lifted three fingers in his attempt to taunt Eleceos. The young Miraluka wasn’t going to have this. He endured being mocked but was pissed about Aru’s dirty shot at his Master.

Having put some distance between them again, Eleceos picked his bow and prepared for the next stage of the fight.

“Finally!” Satsi remarked. “He’s fully focused now.”