3

The Ithorian was either very confident or very stupid. He followed me into the shadows before he made any sort of move. I turned to face him, my deep hood still covering my face. He made to grab at it, and in one fluid movement, I ignited the lightsaber, swung it upwards, severing his outstretched right arm and distinctive hammer-shaped head, and hit the ignition switch again. All anyone would have seen was another flash of blue sparks because of some maintenance workers' tools. I used the Force to lift what was left of the Ithorian up onto an overhead rack, where he would not be discovered until we were safely off-planet. I then turned and strode confidently back to Fiara and Meena.

I now faced the challenge of switching lightsabers again, and this time, without my sister or master noticing. Quickly, I turned my head, as if I was looking over my shoulder, and I bumped into my sister. In the collision, I snatched my lightsaber off of her belt and dropped both weapons onto the floor. I apologized to Meena for not paying attention to where I was walking, and we each picked up our lightsabers.

Fiara looked troubled. She looked over at me and asked if I'd completed the task she had set me. I told her the Ithorian would wake up in his quarters at the school with no recollection of what had transpired during his nocturnal journey. "Are you absolutely sure?" she asked. "Yes, master," I answered. "Why?" "It's just…I felt something," she said. "Like a life had suddenly been snuffed out somewhere nearby." "Coronet City is a big place," I answered. "Lots of people dying every day of natural and not so natural causes." She gave me a quizzical look, and for a moment I thought that perhaps she suspected what had really happened. But she said nothing. She simply gestured us to board the ship. My sister and I did as our master bid.

Once aboard, we began the correct protocols necessary before takeoff. During the preparations, my sister took some time to tell me that she could give me my Padawan braid once we were on course. Fiara and I both vehemently opposed this idea. When Meena asked why, I thought that perhaps, even after all her studying and hard work, she was not as smart as she appeared. I explained to her the risk we would run if, by chance, we ran across another Jedi who noticed Fiara with two Padawans. By keeping my hair the way it was, and wearing something other than the traditional Jedi robes, I could appear as merely a companion to the Jedi and her Padawan. Besides, I like my hair the way it was, and would have refused the traditional braid anyway. Meena said she understood, but I know that deep down, she just wanted to cut and braid my hair.

Once we were on course, with the auto-pilot set, Fiara talked with us for a while. Her first concern was my lack of a real lightsaber. She had all the parts for one except a crystal, which I would need to find. Meena asked why we couldn't all do it together, and Fiara just looked at her in exasperation. "It's a test for me, Meena," I said. "I'm sure Fiara didn't find your blue crystal for you." "Actually," Meena said. "She did. She supplied me with an Adegan crystal for it." Fiara looked at the floor. Meena looked so happy as she said it, and once again, I felt sorry for her. All her studying and learning at the school, and she still couldn't pick up on subtle clues. I, however, knew that by setting me the task of finding my own crystal, Fiara was telling me that I was her favored student.

"So," I said. "Where are we going?" "Hoth," answered Fiara. "The colonies there are being plagued by Wampas." "What are Wampas?" asked Meena. "Wampas," answered Fiara. "Are large, carnivorous creatures that live in ice caves. They will eat whatever living thing wanders into their cave, and they have also been known to leave the cave in search of food."

"Hoth," whispered Meena. "I've heard tales about it. A beautiful planet, covered in snow and ice. It will be wonderful, I'm sure." I rolled my eyes. "Meena," I said. "You do realize that because the whole planet is snow and ice, it will be extremely cold and harsh?"

"Yes, Konrad, but the view will be incredible."

I shook my head in defeat. The girl may have been assigned as a Padawan before I was, but I was sure her naïve nature wouldn't keep her alive for long.

Fiara turned to me. "I have a second lightsaber you can utilize until you've found a crystal to make your own," she said. She handed me the adept-style hilt. As I turned it over in my hands and got a feel for its balance, she told me to turn it on and try it out. I stood up and thumbed the ignition switch. A violet blade sprung to live and hummed as I gave it a few practice turns and swings. I turned the blade off and sat down again. "It's an excellent weapon," I said. Fiara nodded. "It was my brother's before…" she began. "Before he died." I took the lightsaber as a heartfelt gift, and in that moment knew that I had chosen the right master. Fiara didn't care that Jedi were not supposed to show emotion. In that moment she had displayed genuine grief at the remembrance of her brother's passing, and love for her student in allowing me to wield the keepsake.

"Come with me," she said. "Meena. I suggest you pass some time communing with the Force while I gauge your brother's skills." I followed Fiara into a medium-sized cargo hold, where she pushed some crates of supplies out toward the edges of the room. "What saber form or forms were you instructed in?" she asked. "I was taught Shii-Cho along with the rest of the younglings," I said. "But the swordmaster also taught me some of Makashi, Soresu, and Ataru." "Interesting," Fiara replied. "Show me. And tell me what form I am utilizing." "Yes, master," I answered. Fiara hit the ignition switch on her lightsaber, and a pale orange blade shimmered into life. I looked at her brother's lightsaber for a moment before igniting it. The violet blade hummed in harmony with the orange as we circled.

With both hands, I held my blade in front of me, angled downwards, while Fiara held her blade with both hands behind her head, angled up and back. "Shien," I said. "You use Shien. And probably Djem So as well." "Very good," she said. "Your stance perhaps implies a blending of what you've been taught. Which I guess means you utilize an incomplete form of Niman. But you know what they say: Jack-of-all-trades, master of none." And with that, she stepped forward, employing a powerful upwards stroke. I sidestepped it and brought my blade down to block hers with a crackle near the floor before I leapt toward her with a lateral swing. She jerked backwards and flicked her blade out in front of her before bringing it down in a short, swift stroke, which I spun away from, but she pressed her advantage, sweeping her blade horizontally slightly above floor height. I saw it in time to jump over it, employing the Force to push myself over backwards, landing on my feet in a crouch and stabbing upward. Fiara looked genuinely surprised as she stepped away from it.

And so the practice duel continued for an interminable amount of time before Fiara had me on my back foot continuously, using her form's balance of attack and defense to press every advantage while denying me one of my own. It seemed I was increasingly relying on the defensive strengths of Soresu and the Force-aided acrobatics and quickness of Ataru to bide my time before finding an opening.

After entirely too much time spent that way, I turned to a most desperate gamble. I decided to try a maneuver that few Jedi had ever mastered. I had practiced it extensively during my waiting, but had far to go before being called its master. Utilizing my Ataru, I executed a Force-strengthened backflip before flinging my blade at Fiara, using the entirety of my concentration to use the Force to keep the ignition button pressed. The second I threw it, I knew I had lost the duel. I had misjudged my jump backwards and gone too far. Fiara had ample time to see my blade hurtling at her. She stepped to her side and her free hand flashed out, grabbing my still-ignited blade by the hilt. She now had both blades, while I had nothing. "I suppose you yield," she said, her arms at her sides, and the blades still ignited. "I…" I began. Then I summoned all my willpower and Force-pushed her backwards, but she shut off her brother's sword and stopped her momentum by dropping it and reaching out to steady herself against a crate. During this time, I had been advancing on her, and when I saw the lightsaber clatter to the floor, I focused on retrieving it and continuing the fight. I doubled my speed to reach it in time, but allowed myself a glance up at Fiara. She was now advancing on the sword as well. Except her intention was to force me to yield, not deprive me of the lightsaber. I slid on the deck plating between her legs and grabbed the sword as I passed it. I sprang up to my feet when my front one hit a crate, and I ignited my blade, turning to face Fiara. What I found myself facing was the tip of an orange lightsaber blade, aimed directly at my chest. And I was in no position to defend against it. It was inside my guard. I shut off my blade. "I yield," I said. Fiara shut off her blade and came out of her coups-de-grace stance. "You fight on when you would be expected to yield," she said. "An admirable quality in any Jedi." I smiled at her and we went to join my sister in meditation.

We found her sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed and head raised. We quietly assumed much the same position, but before we began, Fiara leaned over and whispered to me. "Do you know how to contact the spirits of Jedi masters who have gone before you?" I shook my head no. "I shall teach you to do so tomorrow," she said. Then we each became immersed in our own meditation.

I always enjoyed meditating, perhaps because I seemed to make real progress when I engaged in it. I always seemed to come out having realized something to improve my current skills, and on notably rarer occasions, start down the path of beginning new ones. But this meditation was, perhaps the one that would change my life forever.