Welcome to Chapter 10 of my story.

In this chapter, we will see Zilku begin her training.

As always, I only own Zilku and Nemka. Ronderu and Qymaen belong to George Lucas, Abel G. Peña, Disney and LucasArts. I also do not own Zilku's outfit, which was inspired by fanart created by kykywka. I thank this artist for helping to inspire me and I wish them the best for their future.

Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 10 of Zilku: Daughter of Grievous.

Chapter 10 – Sword lessons

Three years later…

Zilku ran through the village, her long, jet-black, half-ponytailed hair flying behind her as she raced past other Kaleesh going about their day and made her way to the training grounds of Kalee's army, the Kolkpravis. That morning, she had awoken, eager to see the soldiers, particularly her parents, training for the next battle against the Huk.

She had tried to run outside as soon as she got out of bed but Grandmama had stopped her, making her first wash and get dressed. Although Zilku had insisted that she could dress herself since she was three, Nemka still had help her now four-year-old granddaughter put her dark blue tunic on the right way and tie her grey belt on a little tighter so that it did not fall off as the only item of clothing the child managed to put on correctly was her ivory pants.

Zilku at least stayed still long enough for her grandmother to brush her hair and wrap bandages on her arms and feet to protect them from the harsh climate so they did not burn, although she barely stayed still when Nemka put her black cape on her shoulders. As soon as Nemka released her granddaughter, Zilku wolfed down her breakfast then rushed out the hut and ran straight to the training grounds, hoping that she had not missed her opportunity to watch her parents train.

Once she had reached the training grounds, Zilku jumped into a nearby tree and looked around, searching for her parents. After a while, she found them in a small sparing arena beneath her and watched with wonder as her father blocked and dodged all of her mother's swipes, stabs and slashes.

After an hour of watching, Zilku started to imitate her mother's actions, correcting herself when she made a mistake. Unbeknownst to the young girl, the branch she was perched on started to break as she 'trained'. After one particularly hard landing following a jump, the branch snapped and fell to the ground, landing between Ronderu and Qymaen and ending their sparing session abruptly.

Looking up, Qymaen saw his child falling from the same tree that the branch had fallen from and dropped his sword, running to save his daughter from injury. Running to the centre of the arena, he caught the youngling just in time.

Opening her eyes with a mixture of fright and relief on her face, Zilku slowly looked up to see the masks of her parents with a mixture of shock and confusion in their eyes. Giving a small smile and feeling a little embarrassed at being caught, Zilku simply asked, "Hello Mama, hello Papa, how are you today?" Qymaen gave a small sigh of relief and said "Fine, thank you Zilku. Why are you here?" Zilku's face fell slightly. "Am I in trouble?" she asked cautiously.

Ronderu gave a slight smirk and replied "That depends on how quickly you can explain yourself, my daughter. What are you doing here and why did you feel the need to spy on your father and I in that tree?" Zilku looked down at the sand floor of the arena, knowing that the only way out of this was to tell the truth. "I only wished to see you, Papa and the other soldiers train so that I can learn to fight and one day help all of you defeat those Huks so they never try to hurt any more of our people." she said with as much ferocity as a four-year-old child could manage.

Qymaen and Ronderu looked at each other. They had both been fighting Huks since they were just a few years older than Zilku and they had hoped that they could keep her away from the fighting until she'd come of age. Since they had discovered Zilku's gift four years ago, Nemka had insisted that she be trained but both parents, especially Ronderu, had been set against it as they were not willing to put their child in the heart of battle at such a young age. However, they now realised that while she did not need to know the ways of war just yet, she still needed to be trained. She was from a race of warriors after all and for her not to know how to fight would be an insult to her ancestors.

Knowing this, Ronderu took Qymaen's abandoned Lig sword and offered it to her daughter. Zilku looked at the sword, then at her mother, then back at the sword again. Ronderu said "Well, child. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to take this sword and fight me?" Zilku looked at her mother, unsure of what she was saying. Before she could think any further, Ronderu tripped her up and pointed one of her own swords at her daughter. "Your first mistake was leaving yourself unarmed and letting your guard down." Ronderu scolded, "Any Huk would have killed you within seconds if they found you in that state. Never ever leave yourself unprotected, my child. On Kalee, you must always ensure you are the hunter, never the hunted."

Zilku nodded understandingly. Ronderu then offered her the sword again and Zilku grasped the hilt firmly in one hand. Ronderu then walked to one end of the sparing arena while her daughter walked to the other. Qymaen stood at the edge and watched with great interest, eager to see how the young girl would handle her first training session.

For the longest time, mother and daughter stood, each waiting for the other to strike first. Then Zilku ran towards her mother and jumped up, raising the sword high above her head before bringing it down towards Ronderu who easily blocked it and shoved her away. Zilku landed on her back and had a split second to recover before she had to roll away to dodge a stab from her mother. "Second lesson you must learn is to know when to strike. Never be too eager to attack your opponent or they could easily defeat you, maybe even kill you." Ronderu cautioned.

Zilku rose from the ground and quickly moved her sword across her chest to block her mother as she lunged forward, slashing her blade upward. The two swords met with a clang as they collided with each other and the sound of metal being dragged across metal as Ronderu was held off by her daughter. With her second blade, she went to swipe at her child but Zilku quickly ducked so the sword passed safely over her head and rolled away when her mother tried to stab downwards with both blades.

Ronderu had to admit to herself, she was impressed with how quickly Zilku was learning. For any other swordsmaster, it would take days or months of training before they could successfully block an attack for the first time but this child had been able to grasp basic swordplay fairly easily. She was shaken from these thoughts as Zilku made one last effort to knock her mother down by swiping her blade upwards, which Ronderu easily blocked before raising her hand, indicating that the sparing session was now over.

"You have done well, my child, considering this is your first training session. We will continue another time. For now, we will return home. I'm sure your grandmother will be very interested to know that her granddaughter has started her training." Ronderu said, proud that her daughter had taken to the Lig sword so eagerly. "Do you and Papa promise that you will train me more, Mama?" Zilku asked, her golden eyes looking up at her mother hopefully. Ronderu and Qymaen looked at each other and smiled. Ronderu then turned to her daughter and said "Yes, child. We promise."

So little Zilku chooses to become a swordsmaster like her Mama. Will she become as skilled as Ronderu?

As stated above, I only own Zilku and Nemka. I do not own Qymaen, Ronderu or Zilku's outfit.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope to have the next chapter posted as soon as possible.