I'm just a soul whose intentions are good...

[idontneedluck]

It wasn't required to attend mastery challenges. With so many living in the temple, that sort of rule would cause unsustainable delays in daily life. The Elders came, of course, they always did to ensure the trials were both vigorous enough to hold the standard but not unnecessarily cruel.

As Chirrut kneels, waiting, on one of the larger sparring mats, he realizes that a good majority of the temple is coming to see this one. He ignores them all, staying where he is, knees pressed to the mat, his staff laid out neatly in front of him.

He has to bite the inside of his lip to stop a smile when he hears the rustle of bodies as she pushes her way through, the soft padding of her footsteps as she walks, alone, onto the mat.

The silence that falls is almost a palpable thing as she kneels, facing him.

"I, Eiko Mesoth, do challenge Guardian Imwe to a mastery duel." Her voice rings out, strong and unafraid, true to her signature in the Force. Chirrut can't help himself - he grins as he bounced to his feet.

"Accepted."

The fight starts slowly. They almost always do - a slow build showcasing the learner's skill, highlighting their proficiency. He can sense her tension, and tries to encourage her without risking the wrath of the Elders for being too easy on her. He couldn't do that - it would be a dishonor for them both, and do her no favors in the long run.

Step by step their dance becomes more complicated, the risks of missing a block more dire. The staves rattle and snap against each other, each crash a roar of sound. They whirl like falling flowers in the Jedhan wind, staves whistling with the wind of their speed. A particularly hard block sends them both circling out of each other's orbit - Chirrut can hear the murmur of the crowd, the hiss of those who have already gained mastery at the force of the blow. He spins his staff to stretch abused muscles, can hear her doing the same.

The respite only lasts a moment.

They charge - all showmanship abandoned, they fight as if standing at the world's end. She lands the first blow inside his guard - a spinning kick that drives the air out of his lungs and lances fire up his side. He dives away from her following blow, back on guard. The injuries pile up from there - shoulders, ribs, knees, hips - he taught her to fight to win, to survive, and he doesn't shame her by giving less than everything he has. Soon they are both spitting blood with heaving breaths and running on the ragged edge of exhaustion.

Crack

Fire rages across his chest once, then twice - her momentum carried her through the follow-up blow he can no longer block, and Eiko neatly breaks both collar bones for him.

He drops his staff.

Then drops to his knees.

He's pretty sure the roar he hears is the crowd, not just the blood in his ears.


(OOC note: liberal inspiration taken from here. Enjoy!)

Comments

[iprotectyou]

Unfortunately for Chirrut, there's nothing he can kick at Baze, unless he wants to sacrifice one of his pillows... which are behind his head and unreachable for a man with not one, but two slings.

Eiko brightens even further, if that's possible. "Do you really think they'll make me a Guardian right away? I mean, I just earned my mastery!"

[idontneedluck]

"I think they'll start training you for it, right away." Chirrut corrects. "You've shown them you have the temperament and patience for it."

Right not, Chirrut has neither of those things. If Baze is going to persist in being over there, well.

He'll just have to be over there too.

Stubbornly he levers himself upright again, and begins the very cautious process of getting out of bed.

[iprotectyou]

Baze sits up straight. "Chirrut!" he barks, his voice a mixture of caution and weariness. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be getting up."

Eiko glances to Baze, alarm flooding her bruised face. "He's right, teacher. What are you getting up for?"

[idontneedluck]

"Expediency." He huffs, briefly, calling on his training to put the pain somewhere else (anywhere else, at this point, would be a blessing), and slips down the last handful of centimeters to the floor. It's freezing (someone stole his socks!) but that gives him something to focus on, that's fine.

Now, on to step two. Walking. Force help him.

[iprotectyou]

"Expediency?" Baze says, crossing to his friend with a long, powerful stride that eats up the distance between them in seconds. Baze doesn't want to actually touch Chirrut, with as many injuries as he has, so the larger man hovers around him awkwardly, his hands raised. "What the hell are you taking about? Get back in bed."

Eiko clenches the covers around her. "Teacher?"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut smiles, despite the chiding (or perhaps because of it, because now Baze is over here instead of isolated over there and it's so much better).

Then he leans into Baze's sturdy frame, contentedly.

"Yes, Eiko?"

[iprotectyou]

"You kriffing idiot," Baze says, beyond exasperated. He loops his arms around Chirrut without actually touching him, simply suspending them in the air around him and lacing the fingers together somewhere in the air off his left shoulder. Baze's chest, though, Chirrut is effectively leaning into, so Baze can't do anything about that. "Get back into bed," Baze says, despite caging him with his arms.

"Nothing," Eiko says cheerfully. "You seem to have found what you wanted."

[idontneedluck]

"Wise girl." Chirrut grins, content. "See, you'll make a wonderful..."

"GUARDIAN IMWE." The head healer's voice is full of thunder, and Chirrut debates just how much trouble he'd be in if he made a break for it.

So much trouble.

He lets himself be herded back into bed. A plethora of hands descend upon him again, and he grumbles at them. Not that it seems to do much good.

The healers release Eiko and give her stern warnings about rest and food and not being seen within a hundred feet of a training mat until they say it is allowed. Chirrut shouts cheery, less helpful advise about making sure she shows off her injuries to all of the initiates of her year and how hamming up said injuries in the kitchens will definitely get her extra treats.

[iprotectyou]

Baze sees Eiko off to her rooms and returns to his friend in the infirmary. The larger man sighs, crossing from the doorway to the bedside. He wants to take Chirrut's hand, but the slings are in the way.

"You didn't have to get out of bed, you know," Baze grumbles. "I would have come over if you'd only asked."

[idontneedluck]

"I can't tell what you're feeling." Chirrut huffs, frustrated already at his body's failure to be it's usual self. "I didn't want to start a fight in front of Eiko. Not today."

[iprotectyou]

Baze settles on the edge of the bed, ready to stand again at a moment's notice. "How can you not tell? Can't you feel the Force?" he says, frowning, and considering that. If Chirrut says he can't tell, then he can't tell. "I'm worried about you, okay? You're seriously injured. And I didn't want to act like a mother hen when Eiko was in the room."

He folds his massive arms over an equally massive chest. "It wouldn't have been a fight."

[idontneedluck]

"She knows us - I doubt she would have been very surprised." Chirrut notes, his voice dry, before sighing.

"I can't focus, between the pain and whatever they've given me to not feel all of the pain. The Force is there, it's just... not talking to me right now." It's disconcerting is what it is.

[iprotectyou]

Baze wants to find a part of his friend that isn't injured to squeeze, but settles for a gentle pat on his bruised shoulder. "I'm sorry," Baze says, his voice warm and sympathetic. "That must bother you. What can I do to help?"

[idontneedluck]

"Don't wander off - I can barely tell you're in the room with all this racket." He bares is teeth, uselessly, at the various bits of medical equipment strewn about the room, all muttering to themselves in small electric voices.

[iprotectyou]

"I won't," Baze says, sighing. He lays a hand on Chirrut's shoulder, letting him know that Baze is still present, and always will be. "Unless you want me to get some tea, or something for you. You really should get some sleep, you know."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut sighs, turning his face to catch the body-heat of Baze's arm.

"I'm..." There's a word here, one he's never really willing to admit to. But the hum of drugs in his veins and the tug of exhaustion pulls it out anyway. "Scared. I can't use my hands, and if the Force won't give me a path... I don't like being useless."

He couldn't say such things in front of Eiko - his pride would never bend so far, and he wouldn't have her feel guilty for his injuries - he taught that finishing move to her himself.

[iprotectyou]

Baze rubs his wrist against Chirrut's cheek. "It's only temporary," Baze says, and he hopes his voice is soothing despite the haze of pain and drugs. "You only have the slings for a couple of weeks, and the Force will come back to you once you can focus again."

Baze pulls his hand away from Chirrut's shoulder, and cups his bruised cheeks. "The Force is with me, and I am with the Force."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut sighs, but his heart is lighter, knowing he isn't alone.

"The Force is with me, and I am with the Force." He echos, falling into rhythm as easy as breathing. The mantra steadies him with repetition, slowing his whirling thoughts and useless worry.


Slowly his words lose enunciation, sibilant consonants capturing his tongue and sliding the mantra down into incomprehensibility.

[iprotectyou]

Chirrut was repeating along with Baze, but the mantra stopped the smaller man from being frantic long enough for the day to catch up with him and wallop him between the eyes.

"The Force is with me, and I am with the Force," Baze says, one last time, closing off the chant. He pats Chirrut's cheeks and releases them, aiming to help settle his friend more completely in his bed. "Go to sleep, Chirrut. I'll be here for you when you wake up."