Good Morning! (drjakesnake14)

[kokash]

Deenar lazily opened his left eye and immediately closed it, as the sunshine pouring into his room mercilessly attacked his big eyeball. ´Is it morning already? I’ve slept for only like,´ he managed to open both of his eyes and looked at the clock next to his bed, ´Only for 4 hours. I should get some more sleep before going to breakfast.´ he thought and was about to close his eyes again, when he remembered some of the rumors amongst the younglings.

´Or I could get up early and have all the food for myself. I wonder what is the truth about the scrambled eggs cooked on the onion?´

He got up from his bed with a loud yawn and walked into the shower. Cool water flowed over his soft skin, washing away the sweat and making him fully awake. After the shower, the young Mon Cal put on his clothes, took his training saber and walked out of his room towards the dining hall.

Upon his arrival, he first noticed how few people were there. Mostly younglings, some padawans and maybe some Knight or two. ´So those are the persons responsible of eating all of the sausages every morning!´ the Mon Calamari boy smirked as he looked from the vast variety of food to the group of five younglings, who had their plates full of sausages. ´Well, it is time for me to join the party.´ he thought and used the Force to pull one plate into his hands.

As Deenar was about to take the remaining two sausages, he accidentaly looked to the right with his eye. There, on the table, stood his love, a chocolate cake. „You were able to escape from my stomach yesterday, but I have you now.“ he muttered and cut a big piece of the cake, putting it on his plate. Then he turned and took the sausages. ´Now, where are the scrambled eggs?´

After filling his plate with loads of food, he walked to the empty table and sat down. He didn’t see any of his friends around and didn’t want to disturb people he did not know. Soon, he noticed how more Jedi started coming into the dining hall to get some food. Maybe some of them would take a seat at his table? Maybe he would get to know some new people? But only one thing was certain. There won’t be any sausages left for them.

[Dr. Jake]

[...After A Few Quiet Words and Walkin After Midnight]

Lana Kindari set her fork down, and took a napkin to wipe her face. Not that there were any eggs left on the red lips, The action was mostly habit. She balled up the white napkin and dropped it on her empty plate.

She had woken up early to get some sparring practice, but decided to grab a bite to eat first. Even a Jedi couldn't train on an empty stomach. Or could they?

Lana had always wondered about that fact. If a Jedi was starving, would the force sustain them? If so, then for how long? She made a mental note to save the question for Master Te'Bass.

The Echani Padawan rose from her seat at the table and quickly grabbed up all of the remnants of her morning meal. She briskly walked toward the bin, and deposited the dishes and garbage in their appropriate places.

A strand of her silver hair fell out of place, frustrating the Padawan. She put the rebellious strand back into its place, and wrapped her robe around the slender figure that was hers.

Lana spun around, and proceeded to walk towards the exit when she noticed a Mon Cal sitting alone. She had several hours before her daily activities would begin, so why not talk to the loner.

He looked to be in his adolescence, maybe 13 or so. The thought occurred to her that Mon Calamari could age much differently than Echani, and the kid may not be a kid at all. Still, she approached him. Lana couldn't help but notice the plain metallic cylinder at his waist. It was ,in fact, a training saber; the weapon revealed the child as a youngling.

Lana cleared her throat quietly, but not so quietly as to be missed, and considered her words before speaking.

"Hi, do you mind if I take a seat?"

Maybe she could use her limited knowledge of the Force to answer questions the Youngling may have, or perhaps assist him with a problem.

[kokash]

As the noise grew louder and more Jedi started pouring into the dining hall, Deenar chewed the last bits of the sausages and scrambled eggs in between his teeth. ´ Mmmh, delicious.´ he thought as he swallowed the food, ´Although getting up early was an unpleasant experience, it was definately worth it. I may start doing it regularly.´

Now, there was just the piece of cake, which was begging Deenar to eat it. He sank a spoon into it’s brown dough and raised it towards his mouth. He was just about to eat the tasty bite, when he heard someone talking to him.

„Hi, do you mind if I take a seat?“

He quickly put the spoon spoon down on the plate and looked up. He saw some female standing there, either a human or near-human, which he couldn’t really tell, since they all looked almost exactly the same to him.

„No, of course not.“ he smiled at her and used the Force to pull some free chair to her. „Please.“ he waved his webbed hand towards the chair.

Then he tried to take a closer look at her. She was definately taller than him and had a real lightsaber, so she was probably a Padawan or a Knight?

´She has a silver hair, so she is either an old human, or…,´ he looked at her right shoulder, ´Yeah, she is a near-human Padawan.´ Deenar thought as he saw her Padawan braid. She also had quite beautiful icy blue eyes, which reminded Deenar of his homeworld. Thinking of Dac, Deenar felt a short burst of anger, which got soon replaced with a glimpse of hope. Being a Padawan, she might be fighting against the Sith Empire and have some good news about the war?

„I’m Deenar. Deenar Ica.“ the Mon Calamari said and politely bowed his head, „As you have probably already figured out by my training saber and overall look, I’m a Youngling.“

He looked at her with a curious expression on his face, „Judging by your braid you’re a Padawan, so you may know how goes the war? Who is currently winning and do you know what’s the situation on my homeworld, Dac?“

[Dr. Jake]

The Mon Calamari was surprisingly polite, pulling the chair out for her. She tipped her head in thanks, and took the seat. Her suspicions were correct, and he was indeed a youngling.

Nice to meet you Deena. I'm Lana Kindari, Padawan to Master Kaiven Te'Bass.

Some Padawans her age would probably not be spending time with Younglings, most would be out on missions with their masters, or training. Today however, Lana didn't have much to do besides work on her Shii-Cho and Soresu, and maybe check on Sirius.

Lana sensed anger within the boy, not a beneficial emotion at all. She herself had been struggling with depression and anger, so the Echani understood that it was only self destructive.

The blue-eyed woman was about to speak up when Deena spoke first. She waited for him to finish, and processed his words. No wonder he was angry, he had been brooding on the Sith occupation of his homeworld.

This forced Lana to think about Eshan. What if the Sith occupied her homeworld? She had spent only two years of her life on the planet, and didn't remember much of anything. Nevertheless, it was still her homeworld.

As for news on the Dac Occupation, Lana had little. The last she had heard was about the Sith pacification efforts, which were quite brutal. The silver-haired woman ruled it best not to tell Deena all of the details involved.

"Last I heard, the Sith were pacifying the world, doing their best to keep insurgencies and revolts down. Maybe this is a good thing, less people on both sides will die.

She paused for a second to let her rather awkward statement settle in, then continued.

"Besides, I'm sure when the Sith are defeated, or when we begin negotiations, Dac will return to Republic hands. I believe that the war in general is not so much in our favor.

Lana paused and swallowed. The Republic was her home, and she had sworn to protect it. Unsurprisingly, she was saddened by news of Republic losses.

"But, I am sure the Blades will tip the balance of war, and we can drive the Sith and Mandalorians back; retaking one planet at a time.

She hoped that that last shot of optimism would make the news less painful to the poor youngling.

[kokash]

Deenar smiled. People tended to mangle his name alot. It was no wonder, since he was a Mon Calamari, and their names were generally hard to pronounce for the other species, so he didn’t hold it against the Padawan.

„It’s always good to meet someone more experienced, Lana Kindari. But…,“ he chuckled, „It’s Deenar, not Deena. Not that it would matter much, Deena doesn’t mean anything in Mon Calamarian. Unlike when our history teacher called me Pica instead of Ica. Pica is actually a Mon Calamarian word used for swearing.“ he said and finally took a bite of the sweet cake, then patiently waited for her to tell him some news about his planet.

He didn’t like what he heard. He was expecting some pretty bad news, but to hear that the Sith Empire was still massacring people on Dac was something that made his blood boil. He felt the anger rising up inside him yet again. No, it wasn’t just anger. It was a pure hate.

„Maybe that is a good thing when the Sith are doing their best to keep revolts down, less people will die. Maybe it is a good thing when hundreds of innocent people are being executed every day.“ he growled sarcastically and slammed his fist into the table, making a few Jedi look at him.

„You know,“ he said with a slightly increased voice, „My friend Krira, who is a Quarren Padawan, used to tell me the news about our homeworld before she departed. She told me that during the first week when the Sith took control of my planet, the were executing over 100,000 people per day. Then they started executing just about 300 per day.“

He took a deep breath and continued, „They have also issued an order, which says that every person born on Dac who is working for the enemy, if captured, will be immediately executed along with his whole family.“ he closed his eyes and tried not to think about his mother.

„Krira told me about some Quarren mechanic who tried to secretly visit his family on Dac. Well, he got caught and after a few hours, Sith troopers dragged all the residents from the building where the Quarren’s family lived and publicly executed them.“ he took another bite from the cake, but he found the taste to be somewhat bitter.

„And the Republic, which is supposed to have the largest and strongest military in the whole Galaxy is just looking at it. The Jedi Order isn’t exactly active either, hopefully the Blades will be able to change that and defeat our enemies. But, oh no, not just barely defeating the Sith. I hope the Blades will utterly wipe the Sith out of this Galaxy. Not only the Sith Order, but the whole Empire and everyone who supports them.“ the young Mon Cal finally paused and stared at the cake quietly for a few seconds, realizing how he had let his emotions to rule over him. He repeated the whole Jedi Code in his mind.

„I am sorry.“ he spoke and sadly looked at Lana, „I know I should control my emotions better, it’s just…,“ the Mon Cal turned his gaze back to the cake, „My mother, she is still on Dac. To think she is there with those … monsters.“ his voice trailed off.

„It is said, that the most dangerous opponent is a man who has nothing to loose. Resistance on Dac is propably hiding underwater, and most of these brave people’s families propably got already executed. They have nothing to loose and can quickly change their location, and yet, I do not think they will be able to remain strong when facing such a terror.“ he looked back at Lana with a determination in his eyes, „This is why we must kill most of the persons sympathizing with the Sith. To answer terror with terror. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a revenge. I just want them to be punished and to learn that nobody can wage a war against the Republic and the Jedi Order without any consequences.“

[Dr. Jake]

(The name was a typo... sorry about that)

Lana's smile was quickly eliminated when the hate in Deenar reached a boiling point. She was even startled for a second when the Mon Calamari youngling began yelling and pounding the table with his webbed fist.

Hate wasn't a good thing. Lana knew this, so she spoke up.

Deenar, I'm sorry if I angered you but this rage is...

She was cut off by more of his ranting. For a moment, Lana was a bit irritated, but then she realized the whole of the situation. The poor boy's people were being killed. Although she doubted the statistics given, Lana could sympathize with him.

Despite Deenar's outward calmness, Lana could feel the hate radiating off the youngling. It was such a shame, he was so young, yet so angry.

After the Mon Calamari finished speaking, Lana straightened her back in order to display her complete seriousness in the matter. She then spoke, softly so that he wouldn't feel intimidated, but firmly so that the youngling would realize the urgency of the matter.

I may be just a Padawan Deenar, but I've seen murder, I've seen death. I've killed before. Trust me, there is no glory in it. No sense of power or conquest, just guilt. I can only hope to understand how you feel, but killing blindly makes us no better than the Sith.

She paused and looked the Youngling in his huge eyes. Lana wasn't sure if her message was getting through, but by the force, she was going to preach it.

Don't dwell on such things, don't bide your hate. You are still young, you can grow up to be a Jedi Knight and defend the people of the galaxy. But that can only happen if you let go of your emotion, forgive those that wrong you and move on.

She smiled a little bit to comfort the young boy. Perhaps some friendly sparring would help lighten the mood. Was it safe to spar with an opponent that was so angry?

Of course, what was the worse that could happen? He could get carried away and let his emotion take over, but Lana was confident that she could defend herself; especially against one so much younger than herself.

Lana gave her compatriot a moment to consider her words, before changing into a more cheery mood. All of this serious talk was working on her nerves, especially so early in the morning.

"So Deenar, would you care to spar, work on your Shii-Cho perhaps?

[kokash]

(Figured out it was just a typo, but I thought why not to incorporate it in)


This was so embrassing, being lectured by a mere Padawan. Deenar lowered his head down in shame as he listened to Lana quietly. He really had to learn to control his emotions better, to not let his anger get the better of him to let go his attachment to his homeworld and his mother, as every Jedi should.

It didn’t matter now, he would meditate on it later, at the bottom of the Temple pool. He sniled at the thought, water always helped him to calm town, to wash away all the anger and to embrace peace.

He knew she was right however. By killing every single person living in the Empire, what would have become of him, of the Republic, of the Jedi Order? He would have become the same monster as those who he wanted to fight. Like those Quarrens who killed his father…

He felt his anger trying to take a hold of him, but he didn’t allow it to grow enough. ´I have had enought of it for today.´ he thought and quickly suppressed the negative emotion, feeling only calmness and peace, but his feelings towards the Sith were unchanged.

„I know. Blindly killing everybody would only make things worse. Violence breeds only more violence, especially when used against civilians. That would make us a new Sith Order instead of the Jedi Order. But I still think we should completely wipe out the Sith Order. Their beliefs consist in causing pain and suffering to innocent people. They have to be stopped at all cost.“ he took another bite of the cake and leaned back on his chair.

When she offered him a sparring, he cheered up a little bit. Surely this would be a perfect chance to focus on something different than war. Maybe he could even show Lana that he is able to control himself properly?

„Sure. I’d like to. I have been practising my Shii-Cho quite a lot lately.“ he smiled at her, „But I have only fought against fellow Younglings. Surely I won’t be able to put up a decent fight against a Padawan.“ he said and stood up, taking the rest of the cake to the bin.

After he got rid of the rest of the chocolate delicacy, he turned his left eye to look at the Padawan, „Maybe you could show me some different lightsaber combat forms? If you know some, of course.“

[Dr. Jake]

Lana felt a little better knowing that she had helped the youngling curb his hate. She was also relieved that she could agree with him on one thing. The Sith Order had to be stopped. All of its members imprisoned or something of the like.

The Padawan could still feel anger brewing in the boy, but it simmered down a bit once sparring came into the conversation.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. Let me assure you, lightsaber combat isn't my most refined skill, if you know what I mean.

Lana was sure that her skills in Shii-Cho surpassed that of Deenar's, but she also reminded herself never to underestimate an opponent. Besides, he was still young and she was almost old enough to become a knight, so any comparison would be completely unfair.

You're not the only one that's been working on Shii-Cho, I've been trying to master it for a while now. As for other forms, I know a fair amount of Form III, Soresu. Personally, it's my favorite form, since it's not inherently aggressive.

She finished speaking and looked around the cafeteria. There was an increasing number of padawans and other Jedi pouring in to bury their morning hunger. She saw an old friend of hers, a Iridonian Padawan, so the Echani waved and smiled before shifting her attention back to Deenar.

Politely, Lana waited for him to finish eating. Why would someone eat chocolate cake in the morning? The thought occurred to her as she observed the remnants of Deenar's meal. Oh well, kids, Jedi or not, would always be kids.

[kokash]

When she said that lightsaber combat wasn‘t her most refined skill, Deenar felt his chances being able to defeat her were getting bigger. She was probably going to become a Jedi Consular? That meant she would definately have an upper hand when using the Force against him, but when it would come to a lightsaber combat, their skills might be even?

However, his hopes were cut short when she told him about her trying to master Shii-Cho. Did this mean she was near mastering it? He would surely stand no chance against her with his basic skills, even though he has been practicing alot. And she also knew something about Soresu, the most defensive form.

´Blast it! She is going to beat me down so hard.´ he thought, before he realized this sparring match was meant to improve his own fighting capabilities and not to humiliate him, ´Still, I’m glad this in not going to be a real fight. I wouldn’t have survived for more than 6 minutes.´

He blinked and looked at her with both of his eyes. She waved on some Padawan before looking back at him.

„Form III, Soresu, Way of the Mynock or The Resilience Form. It is focused on strong defensive technique to wear down your opponent. Very good choice if you are going to be a Counsular. You can deflect anything your enemies throw at you while spending minimal energy, which can be then used for using the Force to push them into a wall or something.“ he said with a slight admiration in his voice and started rubbing the barbel on his chin, thinking about his future fighting style.

„I, however, would prefer something more combat oriented, while still focusing on relatively strong defence. Probably Form V, which is said to be quite effective against blaster fire, allowing me to redirect it back at the shooters and being a little bit more aggressive.“ he looked around and saw many Jedi coming in the dining hall.

„We should go now while they are eating. There should be plenty of empty training rooms now.“ he said and slowly started moving from the dining hall towards training areas.

[Dr. Jake]

Lana only nodded slightly when the Youngling explained to her what Soresu actually was, responding with a simple,

"I know."

The situation was quit humorous indeed. Deenar, a Youngling, was instructing her, a padawan, on her favorite lightsaber form. Perhaps the boy was just trying to impress her with his knowledge.

When he started going on about Form V, and how much he preferred it, Lana was all but offended. She was nice enough to help the boy improve his own skills, and he was going on about completely different form.

Lana realized that she wasn't really angry, just slightly irritated.

"Well, I'm afraid either Shii-Cho or Soresu will have to be sufficient, because I don't know much about the other forms.

Her irritation was hidden by the neutral words.

Once Deenar rose from his chair, Lana did the same. She couldn't help but notice that he had left his dishes on the table.

Children, what could you do?

She thought to herself and shook her head slightly.

More Jedi were poring into the room by the second, so she was quick to take the Mon Calamari's suggestion. Taking a few long strides, Lana caught up to the Youngling and walked beside him out of the cafeteria. The halls had a few Jedi, but not a great number.

The pair made their way to the training area in silence. They were probably an odd two to be seen together. Most would note that she was a bit young to take on a Padawan. However, most Jedi would wave it off as being a kind Padawan, perhaps a young Knight, giving some instruction to a Youngling.

Once they reached the training room, Lana glanced at Deenar before opening the door with the press of a button. She proceeded into the room set her robe down on a chair. Lana noticed several swords and training sabers on the wall and a large mat in the center of the room.

She fixed her ponytail, to ensure that the silvery locks wouldn't come lose during the session, and took the lightsaber off of her utility belt. Manipulating a button on the hilt, the Echani engaged the training settings for the saber. Dismembered appendages were never fun.

Now where should we start, Shii-Cho, you think?

As she said this, Lana stretched her legs, which was made awkward due to the lightsaber's presence in her right hand. After she was quite finished, the young woman stepped onto the mat and awaited Deenar's reply.

[kokash]

Deenar followed Lana into the room and silently watched as she took her robe off. His brown cloak was still resting in his room, since Deenar never liked it because he always felt enormously hot when wearing it on some occasions.

He decided to stretch his muscles a little bit for the upcoming fight. He stood opposite of a wall, leaned against it, placed his left foot behind his right foot, and slowly bent his right leg forward, keeping his left heel on the floor. He stayed like this for a while, then he switched his legs and repeated the whole process.

After stretching his legs, it was time for his arms and shoulders. He brought his left arm across his body to the right and held it with his right arm above the elbow. When he was about to switch his arms, he heard Lana asking him where should they start their practice.

„Yes, definitely Shii-Cho.“ he replied, finished his excercise and turned around, only to see her already waiting on the mat with a lightsaber in her hand.

´I hope she lowered it’s power, I would hate to loose my head during a training match.´ he thought and walked to the mat.

„We should start slowly and then speed up, so I could see your moves and learn those I don’t know.“ he said to Lana. He was a little bit afraid, not of loosing, more like of not even being able to put up a good fight.

Deenar bowed, and quickly reaching to his belt, he took the dull training lightsaber into his hand and pressed the trigger. Energy beam of blue light rose from the hilt. Deenar placed his right foot back and held his saber in both of his hands in front of him, a typical Shii-Cho opening stance.

He waited for Lana to do the same, he took a deep breath, and then he lunged at her, swinging his lightsaber towards her left shoulder in a little bit clumsy, yet elegant move. It was obviously a strike only meant to help them warm up a little bit, not a serious attack to hit her.

[Dr. Jake]

Lana was by no means a saber master. Her skills were barely average with Shii-Cho, though she did have some skill in Soresu. Regardless, any instruction she gave would be helpful to the young, obviously head-strong Deenar.

She sensed (sense was after all, one of her best skills) uncertainty within her opponent. This would make it easier for her to achieve victory. But, victory wasn't her primary goal. Her goal was to help Deenar grow and improve. Lana could really get used to this whole Master-Apprentice package.

Very well, let us begin.

Lana replied to the youngling, but her last words seemed to be unnecessary. A quick press of a button brought a brilliant cyan blade into existence. She took a similar stance as Deenar, that of Shii-Cho. The boy still seemed uncertain, even as he began to attack his opponent.

Lana easily parried the obviously half-hearted attack. She distinctly remembered there being specific areas to strike while using Shii-Cho, and the left shoulder wasn't one of them.

Don't forget the body target zones: both sides and arms, the head, the back, and both legs. Pick one and make a committed attack towards it.

The Echani didn't know all of this because of some kind of great skill, but due to her studious nature and logical thought processes.

Lana's lecturing reminded her of Gervar's early lessons, bringing a wave of sadness over her. She sorely missed her old master. Lana stopped herself before the emotion became to strong. Emotions during combat were never good for a Jedi, never. This he knew all to well.

[kokash]

Deenar chuckled when she deflected his initial strike with ease and started telling him where to attack next. Although he had never fought someone as experienced as her, he remembered the most basic moves in Shii-Cho. Did she really think he wanted to hit her with that? His skill wasn't this terrible, she was probably underestimating him a little bit. One of the most important lessons he had been taught by a various instructors was to never underestimate your opponent.

The young Mon Cal shook his head in shame as he realized she only wanted to help him to get better in dueling, thus increasing his future chance to survive against a real enemy.

„As you wish.“ Deenar muttered and took a step back.

For a split second, he felt some negative emotion coming from Lana. It was either anger or sadness. Maybe both, he couldn’t really tell as it disappeared before he had time to recognize it with his senses. He hoped it wasn't directed on him.

´This is it,´ he thought, taking a deep breath and looking at her, ´My first fight against someone much stronger and better than me. May the Force guide my movements.´

Standing back in Shii-Cho stance, he allowed the Force to flow through him, giving him faster reflexes. It wasn’t much due to his fairly limited knowledge of that power, making him only little bit faster, stronger and giving him more time to examine Padawan’s movements. Nonetheless, the Force was still a powerful ally, even with his lack of skill.

„Get ready.“ he told Lana.

He was quite sure she would deflect his next attack again, even without any warning, but still felt it was neccessary to tell her, as he had been taught from training lessons with his fellow Younglings.

Then, the Mon Calamari spinned his blade twice just to calm down, and after that he rapidly brought his saber right in a horizontal slash, aiming at Lana’s head.

[Dr. Jake]

When the Youngling chuckled, Lana was a bit confused. She didn't find anything humorous about the situation. The Echani was reviewing the basics of Ideal Form with the boy, nothing more, nothing less.

Lana only nodded as the Mon Calamari told her to prepare. It was unnecessary, she could sense his intentions well enough. The cyan blade was again brought up to her left side. The blue of her opponent's saber struck against it, making a perpendicular crossing of blades.

"Very good form Deenar, your skills seem to be better than mine were as a Youngling. Do your best to keep it up."

This time, Lana decided she would pick up the pace a bit. She deflected the attack and beat it backward with a single movement, ending the locking of the blades. Then, without announcing it to Deenar, Lana made a horizontal strike low, level with his right knee. The swing was wide and heavy, staying true to the style of Shii-Cho's Ideal form.

[kokash]

´Blast it, she is good!´

Most of the Younglings had problems defending themselves against this strike combined with Force-enhanced speed, even when Deenar warned them, so it surprised him how easily she deflected his second blow, locking their blades. But then again, she was a Padawan, not a Youngling.

Lana acknowledged his skill before pushing his saber back from the lock and tried to chop his legs. If he wouldn’t have had faster reflexes, she might have quite possibly succeeded, instead he was barely able to bring his saber down an parry her blow with a vertical block, so his lightsaber was now upside down.

„Thank you,“ he said, doing his best to keep their blades locked, „You are a great fighter, even though you are going easy on me. You will surely be a great Jedi Knight, your Master must be proud of you Lana.“ He hoped she would realize his words were honest as they were meant to be, not some kind of exaggerated flattery.

„So, how many Sith have you killed so far?“ he asked with a curious voice, while thinking about his next move.

Since Lana was stronger than him, there was no point in trying to push her attack back. Instead, Deenar jumped, allowing her cyan lightsaber to pass harmlessly under him.

Before his feet touched the mat again, he went for another slash at Padawan’s head, this time sacrificing strength for greater speed, hoping she wouldn’t expect the exactly same, though faster, attack as before.

[Dr. Jake]

"Why thank you Deenar, I'm sure that you will grow into a great knight as well. Actually, Master Te'Bass and I have been working on by saber skills, as they could use substantial improvement."

Lana could sense the sincerity within the Youngling, something she appreciated. She could also sense Deenar's resolve building, his determination growing.

When he asked her how many Sith she had slain, Lana was taken aback. This little Youngling was quite bold indeed, as that was one thing you were never supposed to ask a Jedi. It was her least favorite part of being a Jedi. Killing.

Lana deactivated her lightsaber, and ceased her combat stance. Her back was erect, placing the Echani at her full height.

I have never killed or even faced a Sith in my life. I killed a Rodian Dark Jedi once, but I don't really want to talk about that right now.

Lana used the Force to cocoon herself, making her emotions silent to those who where listening. She did this just in time, when the wave of guilt hit her. She wasn't guilty for killing the Rodian, his death was unavoidable, but the manner in which she killed him is what bothered her the most. Lana had slain the monster through her rage, not through skill. For this reason, she refused to fight on emotion alone.

{Hey, little note here. I screwed up the timing between her talking and Deenar freeing his blade, hope you don't mind. I did it so I could get my point across more easily, but I'll change it if necessary}

Lana reactivated her lightsaber just in time, right before Deenar's attack came. She decided to veer away from ideal form, as it was only useful during sparring sessions. The live combat form was far more useful, especially in these turbulent times.

Instead of making a vertical block, Lana ducked to her knees, and aided by the force, quickly made a mock stab at Deenar's gut. She only pushed enough to barely touch his robe.

Using the force, Lana propelled her self upward, landing on her feet. She re-entered her Shii-Cho combat stance, and prepared to receive Deenar's retaliation.

"If you're fighting Dark Jedi or Sith, they will most likely not follow the rules. They will often deviate from their original form, just to throw you off. Just remember the cliche phrase, expect the unexpected."

[kokash]

Lana didn’t want to talk about her experience with killing some Dark Jedi, so Deenar decided it would probably be the best to respect it and went into another attack instead.

Before he could finish his attack however, he felt something was different. Deenar suddenly couldn’t feel even the slightest emotion coming from her at all. In a fraction of a second, Lana suddenly crouched and made a stabbing movement with her cyan lightsaber towards Deenar.

´What the frack?!´ he thought when her blade suddenly appeared in front of him.

Even though it only touched his stomach and he didn’t even feel it burning his skin, the unexpected attack completely caught him off guard, he panicked and fell down hard on the mat.

The Mon Cal quickly examined his torso. There was just a tiny burn mark on his clothes, his tunic wasn’t even pierced.

„Haha, that was a good one, Lana! I did not see that coming!“ he laughted as he jumped back to his feet and the Etachi was telling him to expect the unexpected.

„I certainly will remember that if I’ll ever become a Jedi and fight against some Sith or another scum.“ he paused for a little bit and expressinon on his face went from cheerful to sad, „Provided I will become a Padawan. It’s such a shame you are not a Knight yet. I’ll be 13 in a few months and if I will not find a Master, well, then I’ll be on my own.“

He quickly drove away the unhappy outlook to his future and got back into Shii-Cho stance and attacked her again.

The Mon Calamari couldn't think about any clever way how to hit the Etachi, so he vertically slashed his saber in his right hand against her left hand, and tried Force-pushing her through the air with his left palm.

[Dr. Jake]

Lana chuckled as Deenar fell over, and commented on the attack. It was indeed quite humorous after all. She was actually a bit impressed, not with his skill (which was not bad at all), but with his ability to accept defeat. Many younglings thought the Jedi invincible, a misconception that often lead to denial and confusion.

Lana nodded her head when the Mon Cal began speaking about masters and going on about being alone. She wanted to comfort him, but his words were somewhat true. If he didn't find a master, or if a master didn't find him rather, he would probably be allowed to leave or perhaps join the Service Corps.

The Echani remembered her days at that age. She would often worry about such things, about being shipped off to Bakura as a manual laborer. It would have been such a waste, all her skills now would have been non-existent.

She simply couldn't let that happen to Deenar. He was strong in the force, and would make a great knight once he matured. If Deenar was ever in danger of being sent to the Service Corps, Lana promised herself she would help him find a master.

"Deenar, don't worry about such things. Use your time now to refine the skills that you have, I'm sure that will catch the attention of many potential masters."

As she said this, she prepared herself for Deenar's next attack. He certainly was an aggressive combatant, perhaps he would make a good Guardian one day.

Lana caught his blade with hers before it came close to her hand. However, as she was holding his blade back, she felt a force push nudging her backward. Her boots squeaked as they slid backwards on the mat. Realizing that Deenar was trying to distract her with his lightsaber, she reached out with the force and pushed toward him. The push wasn't so light as to be negated by her opponents, but not strong enough to harm him. In fact, the push was only enough to defeat the Youngling's and nudge him slightly.

She used this moment to spin her lightsaber in an arc, taking his along with it until both blades were free of the other.

"Very smart move, distracting your opponent with your lightsaber as you manipulate them with the force. Very smart. "

As she said this, a smile crept up on her lips, and then she said

"My turn."

Almost instantly after she said this, Lana force pulled Deenar's right leg toward, with quite a bit of force. This would cause the poor Youngling to fall on his back and fall out of his stance.

[kokash]

Deenar was consoled by Lana’s kind words, and surprised a moment later as she deflected his attack and used the Force to push him a little bit, but he easily shook it off while she broke away their locked lightsabers. He had to remind himself that she was not a Youngling, but a Padawan who was going to become a Knight soon.

When the Padawan smiled and made a comment about the cleverness of his strike, the Youngling expected her to do something similiar to him, so he prepared to deflect a Force push aimed either at his head or chest.

But she outsmarted him again. Instead of using the Force on his torso, the Echani used it to pull his right leg forward. He stumbled backwards and fell, landing on the mat again, though this time he was quick enough to extend his arms under him, making the thud subtler.

´The Force is surely strong with her.´ he thought to himself.

Since the Mon Cal‘s recent attack surprised her, he decided it was time to outwit his opponent instead of fighting her with strength, despite he was barely starting to break a sweat and having a lot of energy.

„I’m not done yet.“ the boy grinned and deactivating his blade, he quickly rolled to the left, just in case she would want to attack him on the ground.

„How old were you when Master Te'Bass chose you as his Padawan?“ he asked, partly out of curiosity, partly to buy himself some time to think.

If he was to score a hit and let her enjoy comfortability of the mat too, he had to overwhelm her with multiple attacks at the same time. It would work like a trap, she would deflect two of his attacks, but it would be too late for her to deflect the third.

Deenar re-ignited his training saber and tried to Force-pull Lana‘s lightsaber from her hand, while swinging his right leg to her right leg ankle, hoping to kick her legs from under her. His third and final attack was Force-throwing his lightsaber diagonally at her chest.

[Dr. Jake]

Lana became wary at the Mon Cals words. She lifted her cyan lightsaber, its silver hilt gleaming, into a defensive position, ready to meet any surprise attacks from her opponent. You could never be sure, not even with Jedi Younglings.

Whenever Deenar inquired about her Padawanship with Master Te'Bass, Lana realized that she hadn't explained it all to the boy.

Actually, that was ten days tomorrow. Before Councillor Te'Bass took me on as his apprentice, Master Gervar was my Jedi Master. He passed away a few years ago sadly.

The Echani padawan said all of this while in her combat stance, not allowing her emotional guards to come down. As she answered him, Lana felt a new initiative within the Youngling, as if taking a new approach to defeat her.

The next several seconds would appear quite comic to most onlookers, and luckily for both of the Jedi there were none.

When Deenar attempted to pull the silver cannister from her hands, Lana felt it slipping and tightened her grip around it. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to negate the force pull, she was unable to dodge Deenar's second attack. She fell on her butt, but the Echani didn't stop there. She used this to her advantage by rolling backwards once she hit the ground, causing the flying lightsaber to miss her completely.

Lana got up quickly and retrieved Deenar's lightsaber with the force, and she reactivated both his and hers (which had deactivated somehow during the rolling business). Using the force, she managed a leap towards Deenar's position. The Padawan was now brandishing both lightsabers, which she held on either side of the Mon Calamari's large head.

Panting from the exertion, Lana gathered words to say.

Never throw away your weapon, unless absolutely necessary. Now you're disarmed, and quite frankly at my mercy. The servants of the Dark Side know no mercy, and will not hesitate to end your life. However, I admire your ferocity and resolve Deenar.

Lana deactivated both sabers, and handed the training one back to Deenar before taking a step back. When both parties were in their comfort zones, she spoke once more.

Would you like to continue?