Oz ate his breakfast with Beal Dorvin. If he had actually been a temple guard Oz would have been eating his breakfast with them, separate from the other Jedi. This was another reminder that he wasn't really one of them. Oz wasn't too bothered by that. Beal was one of the few friends he had. They both shared a distaste for the food served in the Jedi Temple. They had actually met after being disciplined for wasting food as younglings. It was nice catching up with him. They hadn't seen too much of each other ever since Oz was knighted. The conversation serving as a wonderful distraction from the food was a bonus.
"I heard Serra Keto beat you up last night." Beal said as he choked down his breakfast.
Oz sighed. "She didn't beat me up. She caught me off guard and pinned me down for a while because she thought I was stealing lightsabers." he said. How did Beal even find out about that so quickly? It was probably from a nosy padawan or two that were sneaking around when they should have been sleeping.
Beal smirked. "Lucky."
Oz rolled his eyes. "Yes, who wouldn't love to have Serra Keto on top of them until their limbs start going numb?" he said sarcastically before taking a sip of his milk. A padawan walking by gave him a disgusted look.
"I'm glad we see eye to eye on this." Beal said.
"You know I wasn't being serious. And I'd absolutely love to continue this conversation, believe me, but I have to get changed before I go to the dojo." Oz said.
"What, are you in a hurry to be Master Drallig's training dummy?" Beal teased.
"No, I have to let Serra Keto beat me up again." Oz answered. Beal cracked up with laughter and wished Oz good luck. With the way Master Drallig's demonstrations usually went, combined with Serra Keto's combat prowess, Oz was going to need all the help he could get.
The dojo was filled with the excited chatter of younglings as they waited for Master Drallig and Serra Keto. Well, mostly Serra. Cin Drallig's bluntness did not endear him to the younglings, or many other Jedi. There was no question about how great his skills in combat were, but it wouldn't hurt his reputation if he put even a fraction of that effort into his people skills.
Oz thanked the Force that he made it to the dojo before Drallig and Keto. If he was late, Master Drallig would probably have made Serra humiliate him more than she was already going to.
"Oz! It's me Yula!" Yula exclaimed as she ran straight to him. Oz had seen her around a few times since he'd been back, but each time he'd been on guard duty and unable to say anything to her. Sometimes he saw her staring at him, likely noticing the distinct Force around him with her ability to see auras.
"Hello again Yula. How has your training been going?" Oz asked.
"They said me and my friends can go get our crystals soon!" Yula exclaimed.
Oz tried not to let his concern show through the Force or on his face. Yula didn't seem old enough for The Gathering yet. Hopefully she was just small for her age and this wasn't another attempt by the Council to rush Jedi through their training.
"That's good to hear. Do you know when exactly you're going?" Oz asked.
"Soon!" Yula answered, her excitement not diminishing in the slightest.
A few of the other younglings found the courage to go up to Oz after seeing how comfortable Yula was speaking to him, and he soon found himself swarmed. The other knights and masters were not always receptive to the presence of the younglings. Children did not have complete control over their emotions and impulses yet, which at times caused older Jedi to find the younglings intolerable. Any Jedi that got along well with the younglings would not find it hard to enter their good graces, like Ahsoka Tano and Grandmaster Yoda.
Oz happily answered the questions the younglings asked him about being a Jedi Knight and leading an army. Sanitized, of course. They didn't need to hear about any killing. Master Drallig and Serra Keto mercifully showed up right after one of the younglings asked why Oz was helping them if he had just saved a planet from falling into the clutches of the Separatists.
Master Drallig looked down at the younglings as they all sat in front of him.
"Good morning, younglings. Today's lesson is about self-defense. To assist in the demonstrations we have Jedi Knights Keto and Krota, who have taken the time out of their busy schedules to be here with us. Please show them your gratitude by paying attention." Master Drallig said. With that, the lesson began.
Oz was pleasantly surprised that the lesson did not consist solely of Serra beating him up. They took turns. For every move Serra performed that involved using your opponent's size against them, Oz performed another that demonstrated how to take advantage of your size. Regardless, Oz was grateful that they were wearing sparring gear. He could have done without Master Drallig constantly critiquing his form, though. Master Drallig also made sure the younglings were aware that Serra was perfectly executing all of her moves.
The three adults then helped the younglings equip their own sparring gear and perform the moves on their own. It was a fairly easy task as the younglings were eager to learn new ways to hurt each other.
The lesson ended with Master Drallig stressing the importance of avoiding fights before they began. Once Master Drallig dismissed the younglings Oz braced himself for the incoming criticism and subsequent beating.
"Serra," Master Drallig began. "You, as always, exceeded my expectations." Serra bowed and Master Drallig turned to Oz. "Knight Krota, it is apparent that you require more practice to hone your combat instincts. I had hoped that sparring with the guards would have prepared you more for today. I see that I was mistaken."
Oz bowed. He knew Master Drallig was going to take it upon himself to show Oz the 'proper way' to execute the moves he demonstrated today.
"I unfortunately have a meeting with the Council soon, so I will be unable to correct your errors." Master Drallig said. Oz had to fight back a smile. "Serra, could I trouble you to help Knight Krota in my place?"
"Of course, master." Serra answered. Oz frowned.
Serra got into a fighting stance as soon as Master Drallig left the dojo.
"Is it too much to ask you to reconsider listening to Master Drallig? Can't you just let me go?" Oz asked. "I'd rather not end the day with more bruises than usual."
"Let's get this over with. The sooner the better." Serra replied.
"That's the thing, if we leave now, you won't waste more of your time and I won't have to hear about how I need to hit harder." Oz said. Serra narrowed her eyes at him. "Will you at least consider it?" he asked.
Serra frowned. "Have you ever considered why Master Drallig wants you to improve your forms?" She walked over to Oz and pointed at him accusingly. "He's not doing this to spite you. Surely you remember how easily I took you down last night? You didn't even try to break out of my hold on you! And today, you were holding back with every strike you made! How are you going to carry out your duties as a Jedi General if you can't defend yourself properly?"
"I'd like to think my survival up to this point shows that I'm more than capable of defending myself." Oz answered.
"But how long can you keep that up with the way you fight? Your posture was terrible earlier and your stances subpar. You're even slouching right now!" Serra said. Oz straightened himself up.
"Are you going to keep criticizing me, or are you going to beat me up already? Seems to me you can't wait!" Oz accused. If there was anything he strongly disliked (Jedi must not hate) more than surprises, it was suck ups.
Serra stepped away from him. "Oh no, you're going to beat me up." she said.
"I am not going to do anything of the sort." Oz stated.
Serra smirked at him. "Why, because you know you can't?" she asked.
Oz took a deep breath. He knew what Serra was doing. He rushed over to her anyway. Serra ducked down to avoid Oz's punch and grabbed the back of his legs, forcing Oz to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. She may have had a point when she said he couldn't beat her up.
Training with Serra was worse than training with the guards. The guards were undoubtedly great fighters, but Serra was a true prodigy. Oz stood almost a full head taller than Serra and outweighed her by at least a dozen kilos, yet she could pin him and fight off his attacks like he was nothing. And every time she knocked him down, Serra would help him up and correct him. Oz was not a terrible fighter, as a Jedi he couldn't be, but his performance was sloppy.
"I think that's enough for now. You aren't bad, you just need to apply yourself more." Serra said. She took a long drink of water and held her protective headgear on her hip.
Oz was sprawled out on the floor trying to catch his breath. "Why does Master Drallig enjoy torturing everyone like this?" he asked.
"Torture? You think this is torture?" Serra asked.
"Well, not torture torture, but you understand what I'm getting at." Oz answered.
"I'm afraid I don't. Please, elaborate." Serra commanded.
"Well, you know why they call him 'The Troll'. He always seems to find something wrong with whatever anyone does, no matter how minor the problem may be. And he doesn't just tell us the problem so we can fix it, instead he makes us practice until he decides we're done." Oz explained.
"So he's a horrible troll for making you practice until you start doing things properly? How awful." Serra said.
"It just feels like he's punishing everyone who isn't perfect." Oz said. "You were his padawan. You know what I'm talking about."
"I'll tell you what a real punishment is, Krota: dying." Serra said before squatting down to look Oz in the eye. "That's what's going to happen if you don't apply yourself while you're training. Why do you think Cin is always riding everyone so hard? He'll never admit it, but he feels responsible for every Jedi that falls in battle. Especially the ones around our age. He helped train us from the time we were old enough to walk. If we don't return from the war, he failed us, along with everyone we could have saved."
Oz tried not to let the shame he felt show on his face.
Serra continued. "You don't want to hear that, but it's true. Cin wants us to be perfect every time we do anything because we have to be if we want to protect the people of the Galaxy. If Cin didn't care, he'd just let you leave and not say anything. He and I know you don't like fighting, your hesitance to strike says as much, but you can't let that stand in the way of your responsibilities as a Jedi." she said.
"I'm-I," Oz sighed, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, be better. The Force protects us, but we have to do our part too." Serra said. She looked to be deep in thought for a moment. "You know, I saw a recording of your duel on Procopia. If you'd like, I could schedule a lightsaber training session for you later." she offered. "Well, in addition to any practice Cin's already scheduled for you."
"Maybe. And I didn't do that badly in my duel. I won, after all." Oz said, sitting up.
Serra shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared. I'll see you around, Oz." she said. Serra stood up and began walking away. Before leaving, she turned back to him. "Oh, and by the way, I recognized your speech to the Tapani fleet. Next time you're thinking about reading one of those dirty novels, you should train instead." Serra laughed and then made her exit.
Oz got up from the floor, removed his cumbersome sparring gear, and started tidying up the dojo. Serra and Master Drallig were right. No matter how much he may have disliked fighting, his personal feelings couldn't get in the way of him doing his duty. A peacekeeper couldn't refuse to fight.
A/N: Another chapter down. Let me know what you think! I know we don't get to see too much of Cin Drallig's character, but since he's supposedly a hardass I wanted to give him a reason for it. Makes sense that the guy who is teaching you how to protect yourself wants you to actually be good at it.