"Never out of anger," Thayla repeated. "Only strike with pure intent."

Teller stretched his arm out, mimicking her slow and deliberate motions.

"Remember to exhale as you extend."

The ship suddenly jostled and Teller was nearly thrown off of his feet. Jon, however, continued snoring in his bunk. Both he and Jamie were very much used to the jostling and shaking of the speeder.

"Quickly, get your feet into position."

Teller sighed and returned to his defensive stance, feet apart and eyes forward. His left hand held a long piece of metal out in front and his right hand was in back, raised for balance.

"Be quicker when you jump back into place. The length of time it takes for you to get into your ready position could be the difference between living and dying in a duel. Every wasted second is a chance for your enemy to stick their blade through your heart."

"And my breathing? How important is that?"

"Incredibly so. Proper breathing in an extended battle is absolutely… Are you mocking me?"

"Proper mocking is key to the extended lifestyle of a smuggler."

Thayla snatched the stick from his hand. The intense look in her eyes made Teller think she might smack him. "You are not a smuggler, anymore. You are a Jedi."

"Am I?" he asked, impatiently. "You haven't even taught me how to move objects with my mind."

"That comes later."

"But when?"

"When you are ready."

"When will that be?"

Without warning, Thayla tossed her staff to Teller. "If you can manage to beat me in a duel, you will be ready."

Teller smiled.

Perhaps if the young man had been a little older and a little wiser, he might have seen this offer for what it was, the chance for Thayla to vent some of her pent up frustration towards her incorrigible student.

Unfortunately, the idea didn't even cross his mind until just after he swung the staff like a baseball bat and just before Thayla's crescent kick collided with his temple.

At the sound of the bell, or rather Teller's skull hitting the hard metal floor, Jon's snoring stopped and he opened the privacy screen on his bunk.

"Did you have a frustrating day at work, honey?"

"He won't listen. I just need him to-"

"You don't have to explain it to me. I get it. Do whatever you have to do. You're the teacher."

Thayla suddenly began to feel very disappointed with herself for what she had done.

Meanwhile, Jon hopped out of his bunk and walked the twelve steps to the cockpit, where D0-1T had been piloting for three days. The droid let out a beep to acknowledge the presence of its master.

"Any problems, Dolt?"

The droid replied with a no, at least as far as Thayla could understand, and Jon turned back to the bunks.

"We still have another day before we get to Nordic, but Dolt can still get us most of that way. Do you want to make a stop and get some air?"

"Why do you insist on calling it that?"

"Who?"

"The droid."

Jon rolled his eyes. "First of all, don't get upset about the feelings of a droid. Second, it really is dumb for an R2 unit. That's how I got it at such a steal. Plus, do you know how long it took for me to reprogram its designation, just so I could make that joke?"

"You rewrote its mind and changed its name, just so you could call it Dolt?"

"... No."

This time, Thayla rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I didn't travel halfway across this planet to fight," Jon said, taking her into his arms and being quickly pushed away.

"You're different now. I can feel it."

Jon sighed. "Look, everyone who survived the raid on the temple probably had to do things they never expected. If you want to survive, sometimes you have to change and sacrifice."

"Teller told me you shot some kind of energy out of your hands." Jon's eyes suddenly went very very wide. "Is that what I think it was?"

"Like you said Thayla, we're different now."

"No, I said that you were different. I stayed true to the Jedi code."

"Oh really? Would the Jedi have liked to see you enslaving working-class citizens into handing over their paychecks to your little cult?"

Thayla gasped. "How can you say that? I found the goodness buried deep inside of people. I brought together those who were willing to give to the less fortunate."

"No, you found suckers who were weak-minded enough for you to trick."

"You are so cynical and judgemental, Vyrone. The Republic isn't around to fund the Jedi order anymore. In fact, the Empire wanted us dead."

"And you did what you had to do to survive? You changed?"

Suddenly, Thayla went quiet.

"I'm not saying that I'm perfect, but at least I don't lie to myself. At the end of the day, everybody is out for themselves, Thayla Creed. Let that message sink in or else it's going to bite you in the ass."