Chapter 1
My heart was racing. Adrenaline was pumping in veins. I am not going to lose again. I told myself. I crouched low to the ground, scanning the forest of Myuondo. Soon enough, I was on all fours, wondering where anybody was. Then I heard the sound of a lightsaber igniting directly behind me. I rolled over; trying to grab my own lightsaber at the same time, but it was too late. An ominous looking blue lightsaber was pointed right at my throat.
"Dead," said the Trandoshan Jedi Knight. I found it very unfair to have a Jedi Knight battling Padawans like me.
"Zake," I groaned, "not fair. Do over."
"Sorry, U'tlei," Zake grinned, "not this time." Zake chuckled, lending me a hand. I grimaced as I stood. Glancing down at my sprained ankle, I noticed that it was more swollen than ever. Zake whistled.
"Ouch. When did you get that?"
"I was running from Theirra," I said, remembering how she chased me earlier, "got my foot stuck in a crag."
"Nice."
"Yes, just peachy, isn't it?" I joked. This moment was one of the very few where Zake Damaeos and I actually got along. Most of the time, the two of us would bicker until Master Kardu broke us up.
Just then, I heard a rustle from above. Out of a tree, Theirra dropped noiselessly onto the ground. She rolled to break her fall, and then jumped up with more flexibility than I thought possible for a human. She tossed back her midnight black hair, her emerald eyes gleaming with pleasure. Chestnut hair obscured my view of her. I brushed my hair out of the way, realizing that my hand was smeared with blood. Casually limping to a nearby river, I looked at my reflection warily. There was a moderately sized gash on my forehead. I bet it was only a tree branch, I thought, trying to wash away the blood.
I turned my head to the left; Theirra and Zake were waiting expectantly for me. Before I could turn my head in the other direction, a strong hand grasped my shoulder. Almost by instinct, I yelped, fell back, and found myself wet.
"Kamesh Tarminn!" I growled, "you little bug-eyed beast! Why'd you do that? You know I hate it when you do that."
The Rodian was laughing joyfully.
"Sorry," Kamesh said apologetically, "I can't help it. Stealth is my specialty."
I couldn't help but smile. Kamesh was one of my best friends, and I really couldn't take his joke seriously. We were always pulling pranks on each other, anyway.
He helped me up, and then offered me his robe. Gratefully I accepted it. I was freezing, dripping, and shivering. Night fell quickly on Myuondo; especially now, during winter.
Hobbling beside Kamesh, I approached Zake and Theirra. Zake had a satisfied look on his face; Theirra was smiling her fake smile. Kamesh and I sat down next to each other, now reflecting the day's events. I remembered back to earlier that day:
Theirra had me cornered. There was no way out except through the rocky cliffs behind me. Theirra was pacing, not keeping her eyes off me, when she suddenly began to sprint towards me. Out of instinct, I turned and ran, trying to outrun her. Jumping from rock to rock wasn't so hard, but I had to keep my eyes on the ground. As I was jumping, I looked behind me and realized that Theirra was not behind me anymore. Focusing back onto the rocks, I saw that my foot was headed for a crag, and it became lodged in it. Landing awkwardly, I twisted my ankle. Fighting back a yelp, so as to not give myself away, I bit my lip until it bled.
Nearly five minutes later, after finally releasing my foot, I tested my ankle to see if I could put my weight on it. Well, it's decent, I thought as I carefully made my way though some brush. A tiny crack above me made me alert. Before I knew what was happening, Theirra stood in front of me grinning and pointing her purple lightsaber at me. For a moment it was silent, and then she asked,
"Well, aren't you going to take out your lightsaber?"
"I would have been dead already." was my quick reply.
Instead of responding in kind, Theirra laughed heartily. Then she was off, almost as swiftly as she had come. She left me standing there, wondering why she always did that.
After I had thought about it for awhile, I told Kamesh what I had concluded about today:
I need more training.
