Sara looked on as they reached the first checkpoint. Leila was remarkably astute for a seven-year-old. The hidden microphones sent everything they were saying, and from Sara's cloaked view, she could watch everything from overhead.
Live wasn't the most headstrong of Jedi, not in problem solving or street smarts. He was very intelligent, and could figure most things out, given enough time. He was a strange contradiction, that one. He couldn't solve problems very well, but he can make out how's and why's in a situation. He couldn't find the solution, but he solves everything he came across, whether by accident or intentionally didn't matter, he got through things. Perhaps such infernal luck that boy had just allowed him to skim by. She didn't understand how he did it. The boy had dubious luck, even though her own philosophy condemned the very thought of somebody making it through life on luck, it was preposterous. He must have been brighter than his exterior revealed.
Leila on the other hand was dangerous. The girl was an aggressive student, hardened to the core. Her own past had clouded her judgment, and she had a hard time trusting other people. Sara was surprised that she had even developed a minimal trust to her, and her trust in Live was the only one that seemed to truly exist. She would often go days only talking to Live, and she would clench her jaws shut stubbornly every time Sara came to counsel her. It was incredible to see such a distrusting girl of that age. They usually couldn't wait to make new friends, but Leila, after 3 years had never recovered from the horror in her early childhood that had completely destroyed her trust in sentients. There would be no cure for the trauma that destroyed her mind, she would probably not trust anybody that she didn't have to in her entire life. Sara was sure that Leila only trusted her because she had no choice. However, her trust in Live wasn't necessary for her own future… unless the girl had some other use that she was saving just for him. Sara shook her head, her apprentice was only 4 when she somehow developed that trust. She couldn't have been planning anything. There was simply no way she would plan that far ahead, even a girl as astute as she was.
Live continued to feel around the door, attempting to find a switch or something. There could have been one on the other side of the door. They had been searching in the area for about 15 minutes, and they still hadn't made it past the first obstacle.
Leila was searching near the other door behind him. She suddenly bent over, and looked at something on the floor. Live could feel her motions in the back of his head, being that he held the force.
"Live, I've found something." She said, and he turned around to face her.
"What is it? What did you find?" He asked her eagerly.
"Just scan the area right in front of me, it's some kind of inscription that you have to use the force to see." Leila instructed.
Live complied and began to scan the ground in front of her, he saw nothing, and he told Leila this.
"You don't know the ability?" She asked.
"I can use sense." He told her.
"No," Leila began, "You have to use scan, don't you know it?"
Live shook his head.
Sighing, Leila told him what he needed to do to use the scan ability. It took a while, about 10 minutes were lost. Live knew that their time wasn't limited, and he began to rush things.
"Live, just scan the ground right here." She told him, pointing.
He scanned the ground, and some visible lines seemed to appear in front of him. They seemed to have no color, and there was no actual shape, but he could identify shape, and see a color he was not familiar with.
What he was a bright circle on the ground, an elaborate design of triangles pointing outward from the center. The circle was connected to an equally bright line, that went a little further away, down the hall. Too far away to actually touch with the force.
"I see it… it looks like a button." He said.
"Yeah, I tried to push it, but I think there's another one down the hall, and I can't reach it. We have to push them at the same time."
"I see, I'll find it."
Finding the other button wasn't hard at all. He just had to follow the bright line down the hall. He saw one that had a slightly different design. Triangles pointing inwards toward the center.
"I've got it, I'll push it now."
Live pushed with the force, and the button sank into the ground. Incredibly, the floor was still in tact the button was beneath the surface.
"It didn't work." Leila shouted down the hall.
Live thought for a moment… the symbols were clues. His was a push, and hers was a pull.
"Try using pull on it." He said, as he own button slid back into place.
Pushing down on it again, this time Leila's shout indicated that it worked.
Live ran back to the door to find both had opened. Another door had opened that simply revealed a sign in the wall.
It read, "Any path taken will lead to life's ultimate destination. There are no wrong choices, only different consequences for your actions. To the left is an easy trail with great perils to cross, the right is a difficult path with little hazards. Once a decision is made, the doors will close, and you are committed to the chosen path. Both must choose the same path, and move onward together., the maze truly does begin. Choose wisely."
"What do you think?" Live asked.
"I think that we could take any perils thrown in our direction." She said defiantly.
"Left than?"
"Sith yeah." She said with a smile.
They turned to the left, the easy path with perils, and as they both walked through, the door snapped shut behind them. The door in front opened. So now the challenge begins.
The mazes materials were different in this stretch of the maze. There were gray stone bricks in the floor. The walls were also set in thick gray stone; it was as if they had set foot in one of those ancient temples they had read about. There was even a stone ceiling, and there were torches in the walls for light.
"This is the easier path?" Live said skeptically.
Leila snorted, "Are you that naïve? The other path was probably designed like a forest, and would be impossibly hard to navigate." Live would always judge right away without anything to back up his opinion.
"It just doesn't feel right, there's not enough light, it feels cramped in here."
It was true, it did feel small, and their footsteps echoed off the walls wrong, their voices rang for too long. The ceiling reflected the torchlight wrong. It was a very unsettling environment.
"I think the ceiling is a one sided hologram. Sara can still see us." She said.
"How can you be sure?"
"I don't sense a wall above us, there is no stone like there is all around us, I can sense it. Not only that but the torches flickering aren't in sync."
"How do you do that?" Live said annoyed.
"It's just my instinct. It hasn't failed me yet." She bluntly told him with a smirk.
"Yeah, well will you… Get DOWN!" Live was interrupted with simultaneous laser blasts.
Leila quickly reacted drawing her lightsaber deflecting the blasts with ease. The 4 droids that had appeared at the end of the corridor went down in a flaming fury as the deflected blasts found home.
When Leila turned around, her lightsabers blue lighting casting a soft glow about the room, she saw Live just getting up off the ground.
"Get your saber up and ready. You'll have to learn to react better than that in a real life situation." Leila told him, and he took out his own orange lightsaber, the orange tint of the lightsaber clashing with her own blue. The combination of the two colors were creating a strange blend.
The lightsabers hummed quietly, but the echoes off the walls magnified the sound to a dull roar. Leila saw the droids carried small blasters, with settings marked.
She saw Live deactivate the lightsaber and pick one of the handguns up.
"It's set to the lowest level," Live announced, "but it can be increased to a high enough setting to take down the droids easier. You can cover me, and I'll shoot."
"Do you know how to use that?" She asked him.
Live gave no answer, but merely shot into the wall 50 paces behind them, fired another shot which landed only inches away from where the first bolt hit.
Leila gave a nod of approval, "All right just stay behind me, I'll watch your ass." She smiled again, the way she always did when she was swearing.
Live sighed, but got behind her. They continued the trek down the hall, with only one lightsaber ignited, there was less light, but still sufficient enough with the aid of the torches.
They ran into several groups of droids before they came to the first obstacle. The droids quickly mowed down by rapid high-powered fire by Live's blaster.
"You shoot a pistol with the accuracy of a rifle. How do you do that?" Leila asked as they came to a stop in front of a door.
"I just use the force to steady my hand. It's quite simple." He told her. "I didn't know you could do that." She said skeptically, unable to argue with the results, however.
The next task at hand was a very interesting setup. She could see the switches that opened the door, but there must be something else, it just seemed too easy.
She pulled the switch and found the door opened rather easily. She walked in alongside Live, her lightsaber ready, just in case. The door closed with a metallic clank behind her. More torches were lit, and she could see a fifty foot gap between the floor and the next piece of floor.
The gap was immense! There was no possible way to ump it, and no visible switches to activate a bridge. She couldn't see how far it went, the bottom shrouded in shadow. Live jumped in and before Leila had a chance to grab at him with the force he landed on a floor just out of sight. His head bobbed and the rest of his body was in darkness.
"I could sense the ground, remember, this is the easy path. This was a mental test, to see if we'd look at the most obvious solution." He told her.
Leila gave an embarrassed smile and jumped in after him.
"Besides," He continued, "There is no way she could have put a real cliff in the testing arena. There was a slight incline, raising us 5 feet above normal, and that's it." He looked at her and laughed, "I can't see you, and you're below the hologram. They used that to make it look like there was a 50 foot drop."
Leila was abashed that she hadn't made the discovery first. At least Live could keep a clear head.
When they reached the end of the miniature ravine, they easily used the force to ump the required distance in the air. They landed without much difficulty to get through to the next door.
More droids armed with guns came about, and Live used the blaster to disable them all. A quick raid of energy packs and they were off. Leila supposed they had another 3 hours to get out by the time they reached the 4th obstacle. All the others had been simple enough, and this was no exception.
Immediately thereafter, they had the largest influx of droids yet. There were about thirty, and they fired more laser bolts at a faster rate than any they had yet to face.
The bolts were coming too fast for Leila to block them all, and Live quickly dropped the gun and took out his lightsaber. His help with the deflection soon took the droids down. Unfortunately, with such weak bolts hitting them, it took more than 5 bolts to take one droid down. They were soon all down, and Live had no less than three burns on his arm.
Leila took him in hand and focused on his arm.
"Leila I'm fine, we don't have time." He tried to protest.
"Just hold on one second." She told him impatiently.
She focused the force onto his arm, remembered how she had used the force to heal herself when she meditated, she put that energy into Live's arm, and it healed itself, right in front of her eyes.
"Wow," She said to herself breathlessly"
Live looked at his arm, completely free of burns. "Thanks." He said with a surprised tone.
She smiled at him, "Don't mention it." She told him.
About 5 minutes after the large influx, they saw two droids standing at the end of a long hallway. They just stood there for a moment, and two red lightsabers ignited, and they began to run forward.
Leila quickly ignited her blade, and Live, right next to her lit his, and got into his ready position.
The droids came level with them, and the fight began, Leila was on the defensive for a long time, unable to get a chance to lay in an attack. Live seemed to be trying to take an offensive swing at the droid, but all his attempts were reversed and blocked. Even he only got a chance at a swing every few strokes.
The red blade of the droids lightsaber came down right next to her head, and she dodged to the side, taking her new position to her advantage, and swung at the legs. The droids legs were knocked clear off its body, and the droid fell to the ground, and the glowing red eyes fell silent.
The battle continued on with Live and the other droid, and after Leila joined in the fight, the droid overloaded and was unable to defend against two attackers.
Live bent over the crumpled remains of the droid, pondering over something.
"We're using practice sabers, why did the droids limbs come off?" He wondered aloud.
"Maybe there are sensors that can tell when a leg or arm should come off. Just so it will simulate how it should happen in reality." She shrugged.
After a moment of observation, Live picked up the droids lightsaber and put it on his belt next to his own. He looked as if he just had a great idea. Leila had her own idea for wielding twice the blade at once. She found out it was called a lightsaber staff. Live seemed to prefer duel sabers.
Leila's own blade was nearing it's completion, all that was necessary for it's completion was the crystal that her master had told her about that she would have to find as part of her testing. She hoped that day would come soon. She so looked forward to showing her master the blade she had made.
Live yelled back at her from down the hall to have her catch up, and Leila who hadn't realized she was kneeling in front of the droid still.
She quickly got up and continued down the dark hallways of what resembled an ancient castle.
The next hour of wandering steadily grew more intense, the lightsaber wielding droids were growing in number, and some were backed up by gunners. Live's burns were growing, and Leila herself soon succumbed to a few scorches, though not as badly as Live. However, with his double lightsaber technique, he took droids down much faster, and efficiently.
Somehow, he managed to smile as she took his head in her hands and healed him. When he got back up, he brushed his own hand against hers, and she felt herself blush. After they turned another bend, she realized that they were at the end of the maze, and they had passed with hours to spare. Sara stood at the end of the hallway, standing serenely, black curls circling her eyes.
"Congratulations." She said placidly, "You have made it all the way to the end." She paused, and removed two small silver rods from a clip in her belt. "You must now take your final test." She ignited two lightsabers, their blue blades barely missing her face. "You need only prove yourself worthy, you do not have to strike me." Another set of blades activated, and the two lightsabers staves twirled dangerously in front of her, "You should have little trouble doing what I expect you to do. I wish you luck."
Sara took a dangerous step forward, the blue blades blurring in front of her into steady sapphire circles. Live was in a ready stance, the blue and red lightsabers forward for defense. Leila prepared herself as well, her single orange blade ready to defend.
Sara got even closer, narrowing their already limited sparring room. Leila knew that if she could back them into a wall she would have them right where she wanted. She could not let this happen. She didn't know how to stop her master, and Leila kept backing up, Live right beside her, nervously clutching his blue lightsaber defensively. It was like trying to stop four lightsabers at once.
She continued to back away from the whirlwind of blades, moving ever closer to her trembling saber. Leila felt a wall prevent her from moving any further. She got her stance ready, her masters face obscured by a cloud of blue light. As her master moved even closer, she sensed something strange about the ceiling that hung low overhead, she looked again at her masters twirling blades, which were moving through the ceiling, but leaving no tell tall scorch marks behind. Leila felt the force rush through her, and she jumped, sailing safely through the holographic ceiling, and safely on the other side of her master. She felt the world slow around her, and she blocked her master's strike, never having any more time for anything other than defense. Live on the other side of her, his lightsaber blending with the light of her master's staves was defending himself well; he even managed to take the occasional offensive swing. Leila was barely holding her ground, she had trouble focusing. Sara's blades were getting closer to hitting home, and Leila let a rage consume her, and the force flowed into her differently, it no longer guided her, it empowered her, filled her with essence and commanded her blades to move, faster, more aggressive, she moved on the offensive against her master, keeping her at bay, and winning. Violent slashes were sent towards Sara's torso getting dangerously closer. The force was tearing through Leila's body, draining the life out of her, slowly. A quick sideways slash brought Sara's blade into the wall, immobile, and Leila's lightsaber rested right next to Sara's neck.
Sara's face was a mixture of fear and surprise, Leila's own garbled up emotions were showing a mix of feelings. She was breathing heavily and trying to keep standing. Sara spoke first.
"Congratulations." She told them formally, "You passed the test. It is my privilege to bring you both to the counsel to be promoted to Padawan Learners." She finished, and Leila's saber flew out of her hand and into Sara's outstretched palm. She smiled at a slightly irritated look on Leila's face. "Don't forget that you still have much to learn." She beckoned for them to follow.
