THE DUEL

The Jedi walked forward, planning to fake to the right, and then to the left, and come from above.

His eyes took in everything, though his mind did not.

He saw the gray walls, the blood stained floor, the Sith's evil glare, everything.

The Sith ignited his double-bladed lightsaber, it's red twin energy swords cutting through the air.

The Jedi toggled the power switch to his own lightsaber.

The purple blade shot forward, ready to fight.

It had been well used in the past few hours, but it was ready for more.

This was the final showdown. The two survivors, of different orders, doing battle to the death.

He pretended to attack to the right, did the same thing to the left, and slashed downward at the Sith from above.

The Sith deflected the blow easily. Too easily.

He would have to do better.

He flipped over the Sith, chopping through the Sith's gut.

But the Sith was not there. "What in the galaxy?" the Jedi muttered, confused. He looked all around, but could not see the Sith.

He looked up... into the Sith's boot slamming into his face.

With a grunt, he hit the hard durasteel floor.

He instantly jumped back up, getting into a defensive position.

The Sith cartwheeled over him slashing at his lightsaber.

The Jedi dodged, but the Sith's shaft of energy tore his cloak, leaving it tattered.

The Jedi did not stop to shed it off. He had no time.

The Sith was on top of him in a second, his crimson blades a blur of motion.

The Jedi leapt upwards, grabbing onto a pipe on the ceiling, holding on tight.

The Sith jumped up after him, slashing open the pipe, spilling out carbonite gas.

The ceiling started to freeze.

Realizing this, the dueling pair dropped to the floor.

Grunting some more, they hit, rolled, and sprang up, already moving to fight again.

The Sith made the first move, dropping to one knee, and attempting to stab the Jedi in a move known a Stabbing Sarlacc.

The Jedi sucked his stomach back just enough to only slightly burn his tunic. That was too close...

The Sith snarled at him, his eyes filled with evil that the Jedi could feel radiating from the Sith's body.

The Sith was also extremely agile, able to twist his body in angles the Jedi hadn't even dreamed of.

All this added up to a near-impossible opponent.

The Jedi crouched down, kicking with his leg in a failed attempt to trip the Sith.

The Sith ran up the wall five or six steps, then flipped off, coming to land beside the Jedi.

Already the Jedi attacked the Sith, attempting to gut him.

The Sith jumped up, barely avoiding the blow.

He started to taunt the Jedi. "I have killed your master, and now it is your turn to die, young Jedi!"

Reminded of his slain master, the Jedi felt the pure rage boiling in his heart.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he screamed, attacking the Sith furiously.

This time it was the Jedi growling, as he hit the Sith's lightsaber so hard it send shock waves up the Sith's arm.

The Jedi tried to behead the Sith, but his anger made him clumsy, and the Sith had time to duck underneath the blow, stabbing the Jedi in the left leg, his lightsaber blade tip appearing at the other side.

The Sith smelled the scent of burning flesh, heard the scream of the Jedi, and felt pleasure.

The Jedi grew even more angry. He flipped backwards, through a door, and landed on his leg with a howl.

He used the force to close the door in the Sith's face.

While the Sith cut through the door, the Jedi had time to tend to his wound. Not only did the wound heal more, he was not as angry.

The force calmed him down. Rage was not the path to take.

Peace. Calm.

He remembered the section of the Jedi Code he never understood.

There is no death; there is the force.

Up until that moment he had never understood that phrase.

His master had drilled it into him. He knew it by heart.

But he never understood it, too proud to ask his master, he had lived in blindness for years.

Now he knew...

The Sith managed to cut through the door.

The Jedi stood up, ready to defeat the Sith.

He could do it, with the force. The force was everything.

Without it, he was as good as dead. One of the sayings of Jedi Wisdom went something like this:

Better than experience and training, the force is.

That was another thing he had never understood.

How could you use the force without experience and training?

Now he knew.

The Sith ran at him, attacking hard, from both sides, vertically and horizontally.

The Jedi had thought he could win. He could have, if his leg had not slowed him down.

He realized it was hopeless.

The least he could do was destroy the Sith along with himself.

He let the Sith stab him in the stomach, and, while the Sith's blade was still in his gut, threw his lightsaber at the Sith's heart.

The Sith died immediately, leaving the Jedi to suffer, slowly dying.

The Jedi's last moment came sooner than he'd expected.

His last thoughts were of his master, and how proud he would have been.

There is no death; there is the force.