Rivals

The grass beneath the feet of the two warriors fluttered in the undying breeze that blew around them. The Wanderer's blade could be heard scraping the inside of her scabbard, crackling and buzzing as she pulled it out with her lone hand.

The Wanderer then held her weapon horizontally in front of her, her reddish eye peeking over her blade as she glared at her opponent. Her empty sleeve flailed in the wind as she eyed her enemy who held onto her own weapon with both hands, gripping the long handle tightly.

Kicking up dirt behind their feet, both warriors dashed forward. Their blades then clashed, scrapping together as sparks flew between them. Though the Wanderer naturally lacked power and range, speed was her greatest weapon. Using her single hand, the Wanderer delivered an overwhelming barrage of slashes with her colorless lightsaber, alternating attacks from left and right.

Despite the Wanderer's incredible speed, Mayaana did not waver. Using the tip of her energized pike, the white and gold-wearing princess guarded every precise attack meticulously, using high-level footwork to give herself space.

Their goals were opposing each other. One wanted to get in close while the other wanted to fight at long range.

Using the pommel of her pike, Mayaana swung upward at the Wanderer, prompting the one-armed warrior to dodge backward. Using the momentum generated from the upward pommel strike, Mayaana spun her weapon in her hand, generating even more momentum before delivering a powerful, speedy slash aimed directly at the Wanderer's face.

Using her lightsaber, the Wanderer blocked the attack, her single arm's muscles bulging as she trembled under the pressure as their weapons whirred brutishly. Due to the strength of the attack, her feet started to slide backward in the dirt and the blade began inching toward her left eye.

The Wanderer's arm clenched yet again, a display of her second wind, before she kicked Mayaana in the chest, sending her sliding backward a few arm's lengths away.

For once, the Wanderer's expression showed that she was in fact exerting herself, which then compelled her opponent to laugh. "What's wrong, Wanderer? You appear to be struggling. Go ahead and do it! Let it all out!" Mayaana's smile grew large, almost giving her a demented appearance as she held tilted slightly to the side.

"Tch." The Wanderer clicked her tongue before giving the girl what she wanted, flipping her lightsaber and holding it with a reverse grip.

"How nostalgic!" Mayaana was nearly prepared to burst from excitement, her face turning red as she witnessed her rival enter her rare stance, a stance reserved only for those who'd earned the right to witness it.

Almost as if a time capsule had opened up between them, both fighters saw the other as they did years prior, a time when they were both barely considered adults. As if they transcended time itself, the past began to replay in their minds during their fight in the present.

At that point in time, the Wanderer had already lost her arm, though both of her reddish, honey-colored eyes were visible. Noticeably, she lacked those two scarlet kyber crystals that her future self would hang from her ears. "Why do you want to fight me so badly." the Wanderer asked her, holding the hilt of her unignited lightsaber with that same reverse grip.

"You're a Jedi! I've always wanted to fight a Jedi!" Mayaana spoke as if just the idea of fighting a Jedi was orgasmic to her. Her face was beet red, and her eyes were entranced with the young woman before her.

"I ain't no Jedi. Not anymore." the young Wanderer told her solemnly, her eyes looking toward the ground momentarily before glancing back up at her opponent.

Her younger self was a far cry from the present Wanderer. She was unsure of herself, unsure of who she truly was.

Despite the uncertainty of her own identity, she activated her lightsaber, showing the red color to Mayaana for the first time. As that crimson blade shone and reflected off of Mayaana's eyes, she nearly quivered in excitement. 'So she's Sith!'

Like the speeding bolt of a blaster, the Wanderer in both the present and the past dashed forward, leaving a trail of kicked-up grass behind her before once again delivering an onslaught of precise attacks at her enemy. As she did before, Mayaana was able to block all of these strikes, though this time, however, there were signs of a struggle.

Though she still smiled, though she still blushed from her excitement, the Mayaana of the past's eyes were widening as she was becoming overwhelmed. However, those eyes soon transformed into eyes of determination, which were shared between both past and present. 'I have to- I have to retaliate!' she thought to herself before parrying one of the Wanderer's attacks, breaking her guard momentarily.

"Now die!" Mayaana proclaimed her victory in both past and present before delivering a horizontal slash aimed directly at the Wanderer's face.

In the past, the young Wanderer was struck by this attack, losing her left eye in the process. However, at this moment, it was clear that Mayaana wasn't satisfied in the slightest. Both Jedi and Sith were supposed to be warriors capable of flattening entire armies, yet this young woman in front of her fell so easily.

"You're still holding back! Why!?" the young version of Mayaana shouted, pointing her weapon at the Wanderer, just a few inches from her face.

There were both mental and physical reasons why her performance was unsatisfactory, and being a novice when it came to fighting with exclusively her off-hand was one of them. "I don't sense any intent to kill within you. Maybe I should ask you the same thing." the Wanderer spoke plainly, glaring up at the young woman in front of her as Mayaana's pike remained inches from her face.

None of what she was saying made sense to Mayaana. Sith were supposed to be cruel, heartless warriors. Yet this mysterious young girl in front of her seemingly hadn't even a single ounce of a fighter's spirit within her, nor anything evil.

Unbeknownst to her, the Wanderer was on a journey of self-discovery. She too was looking for answers.

Mayaana scoffed, deactivating her pike before turning around and storming off, her white and gold cape flowing behind her. She was dissatisfied with the duel. She wanted to fight a Jedi or Sith who was going all out, and the Wanderer did not give that to her. "You seem to be neither Sith, nor Jedi, but something else entirely. We shall face each other again one day, and when that time comes, neither of us will hold back. When that day comes, you will show me who you really are."

'Who I really am?' the Wanderer thought to herself, watching the woman walk away through a single eye. She was prepared to die on that day, in fact, she was hoping for it...

She thought simply returning to her home planet would have helped her discover what was missing within her, yet it was resulting in nothing. However, it was the words of a woman she ran into via fate alone that cracked the door to discovery open for her, all she then needed to do was open it.

The visions of the past ceased, bringing both fighters back to the present.

As the Mayaana of the present aimed that same attack at the Wanderer, the same attack that took her eye, the Wanderer used the momentum gained from having her own attack deflected, spinning low to the ground before aiming an upward slash toward Mayaana's chest.

Mayaana, seeing this, looked on with her eyes enlarged, quivering with excitement. 'Astonishing...' she thought, though she would not let this incredible display discourage her from continuing to fight.

Despite her being in the middle of a horizontal swing, Mayaana swiftly change the trajectory of her attack and blocked the Wanderer's upward slash.

Using her strength, she then pushed the Wanderer's blade toward the ground, impaling the dirt and grass beneath their feet with both of their weapons.

Hastily, Mayaana used this opportunity to try and impaled the Wanderer through her chest with her pike, only for the Wanderer to turn her own body to the side and avoid the attack.

Mayaana had gone all in with this attack, leaving herself vulnerable as she overextended herself. Taking this easy opportunity, the Wanderer slashed Mayaana's pike in half and both pieces fell to the grass beneath their feet.

She then slashed Mayanna in the chest, leaving a long, burning streak across her armor. Shocked, Mayaana stood in place for a moment before falling to the ground and laying on her side.

Her body started to feel cold, as the life began leaving her eyes. Though the lightsaber did not cut all the way through her body, it did enough damage to her organs for her body to begin shutting down.

The Wanderer, placing her weapon back in its scabbard, knelt down beside her, and looked her in the eyes. "You satisfied now?" the Wanderer asked her.

"Did you hold back?" Mayaana asked her, hoping that her single wish would be fulfilled upon her death.

"I did not." the Wanderer lied. If she had truly gone all out, the fight would have only lasted mere seconds. She wasn't the same young girl as she had been upon their first meeting.

"Then I am quite satisfied..." Mayaana told her, staring at the Wanderer blankly.

The Wanderer, with a slight grin on her face, nodded her head. "Good. Thank you, Mayaana, for showing me who I am."

However, the Wanderer's gratitude would not be acknowledged as Mayaana had already passed on. Perhaps it was better that way, as the Wanderer wasn't the type to open up. She didn't even tell people her name, a name that hadn't been spoken to her in so many years, even she almost forgot it.

With a solemn face, the Wanderer then stood back up on her feet, reaching into her pocket before pulling out the slip of paper that the Bounty Hunters' Guild leader gave to her just moments prior.

Her eyebrows furrowed upon reading, it was addressed directly to her and it came from one of the wealthiest families on the planet, even wealthier than Mayaana's. She was being summoned for what they claimed to have been important matters that needed to be discussed in person.

Her reward for completing whatever task they had in store for her would be one million credits, an offer only a fool would pass up. However, not wanting to be a fool herself, the Wandererer remained wary, in case this in itself was a trap sprung just for her.