Greetings, and welcome back to Star Wars: Twilight Blade!
Creativity: Roll the title crawl!
Author: We can't do a title crawl, we aren't a movie studio.
Creativity: I just wanted to get into the spirit of things…
Author: Well, I applaud you for your enthusiasm.
So, before anything else, let's get to the review responses:
FallenAssassin9: Thank you for your continued reviews! Yeah, bit of a significant time jump, but I figured it was more than warranted. As for Arvos' future master, you'll just have to wait and see. I've got plans… big plans…
And that's it for the reviews for now! So, last we left Arvos and co, they were suddenly thrust into the reality of preparing for the Padawan trials to determine if they were fit to apprentice under full members of the Order and eventually become true Jedi Knights.
But, while I'm sure you are oh so eager to get to the chapter proper, I first have two things to get out of the way. Item numero unos, the story recommendation! Today's recommendation goes to The Master's Apprentice by one Hawkeyesbow; a story regarding a member of the Knights of Ren. It's in early days right now, but I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes.
Item numero dos is, of course, the Discord Server password: xtydzBf
And with that, we're finally ready to begin! Allow us to proudly present chapter 5 of Star Wars: Twilight Blade!
For as long as Arvos could remember, he'd been training or studying to become a Jedi. It had been intense, but he and the others had risen to the challenge every time.
However, never before could Arvos recall them training with the level of fervor, and certainly outside their normal instruction. Every spare moment was spent either in the training hall or in the Archives to study everything they thought they could be tested on, meditating and training with all the Force abilities that they'd been taught so far.
At the moment, Arvos was engaging in a two on one spar with Tala and Alvya using his lightsabers in their saberstaff form, since that was the most recent edition to his repertoire and that it needed the most practice of all three approaches to combat he had. He was doing alright, all things considered. He had practiced the tenets of the weapon in private already; employing blade spins to intimidate and disorient his opponents, fast and whirling motions to capitalize on the dual-bladed nature of the weapon, use of wide-sweeping strikes and several others. However, solo practice only got you so far. Hence, the current spar.
Arvos ducked underneath a swipe from Alvya before retaliating with a kick and striking at Tala with a stab, then going into a whirling series of strikes. Alvya managed to dodge or block them before they entered a saber lock, which Arvos immediately had the advantage in, due to his lightsaber providing him more leverage. However, he could hear the sound of boots rushing towards him, so he broke the lock and whirled his lightsaber around to block Alvya's incoming strike before he began blocking Alvya's followup strikes. By this point, Tala had rejoined the fray and now Arvos had his fellow trainees slowly but surely forcing him back. Eventually they were on the edge of the sparring mat and were now engaged in a two on one saber lock. Arvos gritted his teeth as he looked for a way out. Tala and Alvya were pushing with all their might, trying to force him out of bounds. Suddenly, Arvos grinned a bit. He suddenly shut off his lightsaber and went into a full backbend. The sudden absence of resistance caused Tala and Alvya to tumble forward and out of the ring, leading to Arvos cackling like a Kowakian and his friends glaring at him.
"That was a cheap trick." Tala muttered as got to her feet. Arvos shrugged.
"I think it's perfectly valid if you're backed up against the ledge of a cliff or tall building. Also, let's be real. You would have done the same thing if you'd been in my position." He replied amicably. Tala looked scandalized for a moment before she realized that Alvya was giggling a little bit.
"He's not exactly wrong, is he?" Alvya asked.
"Traitor!" Tala exclaimed, leading Arvos to burst out laughing again. Alvya's giggles had also grown to full-on laughter, much to Tala's mock horror. However, she couldn't keep the façade up for long and soon she was laughing right along with them.
However, the laughter didn't last long. After all, they were three days out from their trials, and they needed to be as prepared as possible. It had been agreed upon that the last two days should be spent in relative relaxation, as showing up to the trials while sore, stiff and exhausted (both mentally and physically) from non-stop training would do them no favors. However, there was one small damper on their preparations. Namely, that Garo had not received notice that he was scheduled to take the trials. They were all becoming concerned. Garo had become even more isolated recently. He was constantly in the Archives or checking holos on current events, spending less and less time on training and study, even spending less and less time with them. It was starting to concern them. They'd tried approaching him about it before, asking if he was okay, but he always brushed them off, insisting he was fine. Still, they were becoming more worried by the day. Regardless of what Garo said, there was something clearly wrong and they didn't know how long they could wait for him to sort it out. After all, assuming all went well at the trials, they'd be assigned to masters and they'd likely be seeing very little of each other after that. If things really were in a trajectory like that, they'd likely end up leaving him behind; a thought that left a real bitter taste in their mouths.
"Do you guys think we should talk to someone about this? I mean, someone other than Garo. I really hate to say it, but I don't think he's going to talk to us about whatever's bugging him right now." Alvya asked Tala and Arvos, who both frowned, slightly guilty looks on their faces. Not that they'd actually done anything, but mainly due to the intrusiveness of the actions they were considering. Still, the potential guilt was far outweighed by their concern for their friend. Still, going to one of their instructors still left a knot of guilt in there stomachs all the same.
"Maybe we should try talking to him one last time. Or, maybe just one of us. It has been multiple people approaching him so far. If just one of us approaches him, maybe he'll tell us what's going on." Tala suggested. There was another round of frowning. None of them really had much faith in the idea, but it was all they had at the moment.
"Guys, it's probably best if we just tell an instructor and be done with it. Us dancing around it and Garo's stubbornness aren't helping him." Arvos suggested tiredly. He didn't like the words coming out of his mouth, but they were probably the best direct course of action. Probably.
"By the Force, why is this so complicated…?" Tala complained. It was a sentiment shared by Alvya and Arvos, but one that they had no answers for.
"Let's think about this later. I need to review some of old texts for the trials." Arvos suggested. The others quickly nodded in the affirmative and they went their separate ways. However, Arvos couldn't get the situation out of his head. The more he thought about it, the more tangled and confused his thoughts became. He couldn't think of what would be causing Garo this sort of… imbalance. Sure, he'd had a real rough patch after the Temple Bombing, but that had been a tragic event for all Jedi. The pointless death that it had, the framing of one Padawan by one she considered a friend, it had shaken the order down to its foundations, in more ways than one.
Still, the more Arvos thought about it, the more it seemed that Garo's current state traced back to the bombing. Arvos shuddered as he recalled it. He'd been in one of the practice halls, training with his only lightsaber at the time when a loud BOOM suddenly shook the air and the entire temple quaked beneath his boots from the force of the blast. He remembered the panic as the Coruscant Police and Firefighters descended upon the Temple. The healers were working overtime to tend to the wounded, Garo included. Arvos remembered when they'd gotten word about Garo's condition. When Arvos had managed to get to his feet once the ground stopped shaking, he'd immediately began running through the Temple, trying to find Tala, Alvya or Garo. He'd found Tala first, who'd been in the temple foyer when the bomb went off and had been trying desperately to figure out what had happened and find her friends. When they found one another, they immediately tried running towards the Archives, hoping to find Alvya there. They lucked out and she wasn't too far away from the Archives. However, during their search, they were told by a Jedi Master to head to one of the specified training halls and wait there until they received further instruction. They'd protested, obviously. They needed to find Garo and make sure he was okay! But, the master assured them that the moment they got word of Garo, they'd send someone to inform them.
When they arrived at the training hall, it was already filled with younglings of varying age. They were all clustered together and whispering to each other in fear and uncertainty. It took about an hour before someone arrived; that someone being one master Marahl Corvis; a Theelin female with emerald green skin, purple hair and piercing blue eyes. She immediately picked out the group and strode over to them. The look on her face did not bode well. Arvos couldn't forget the way his ears started to ring or the way his heart started to pound in his chest as he, Tala and Alvya ran as fast as they could down to the medical center, despite Master Corvis' protests. They ran, ducked and weaving around everyone between them and the medical center until they burst through the door and began frantically looking around. They eventually found Garo lying on one of the hospital beds. His arm was inside a bacta tank and wrapped in bandages to staunch the bleeding. That didn't change the fact that there was some red swirling about in the tank from the soaked bandages.
The healers managed to gently remove the three from Garo's bedside, explaining that, despite the grisly wounds, he wasn't in any danger of bleeding out. However, the bacta unfortunately wouldn't prevent scarring.
It was a few days later that Garo was discharged from the medical center, but it was plain as day that he'd left something behind when he passed through those doors. At first they thought it was him still coming to grips with what had happened, but now…
"Are you alright, youngling? You seem distracted."
Arvos suddenly looked up, not realizing that he was standing in front of the entrance to the Archives already. The voice in question that had snapped him out of his recollection was actually Master Luminara Unduli.
"I'm sorry, master. It's probably just that my padawan trials are just around the corner." Arvos answered. It didn't look like Master Luminara was buying it, but she let it go and kept on her way. Arvos was somewhat surprised by her presence. Last Arvos had heard, Master Unduli was supposed to be out on the front lines of the Clone Wars, but then he remembered that the trial of Barriss Offee regarding her confession to the bombing of the Jedi Temple was scheduled for some time in the very near future. Arvos felt a knot form in his stomach. As padawan Offee's master, he couldn't imagine what was going through Luminara's head when she got word of her padawan's actions. She was likely being called as a witness to the trial, or was simply here to observe it, be it at her own behest or the council's.
When Arvos entered the library, he deftly navigated to a section where he recalled an old manuscript which detailed the establishment of the Jedi Code was kept. It was high up on his reading list for trial preparation. It was also likely to prove a nice distraction from his inability to figure out the Garo problem.
He eventually found the manuscript and gave it a general once-over before he read it more in-depth. He lost himself in the words, eventually finishing the old manuscript and moving on to another, and another and before he knew it he was liable to be late for evening meal!
He hurriedly put away all of the manuscripts and texts before he began rushing to the refectory where the group always met for mealtimes. Luckily, he made it in time and collected a tray of the usual evening food before he managed to find the group sitting in their usual corner of the refectory. He gave them a greeting as they waved to him before sitting down and digging in.
"So, how was studying?" Tala asked. Arvos shrugged.
"It went fine. Read a good number of the manuscripts that are recommended for preparation. If I have time afterwards, I'm going to get in more practice with the saberstaff." Arvos replied before he continued attacking his meal. Tala nodded.
"Yeah, I'm probably gonna head to the Archives after I'm done here. I've got some reading I need to get out of the way myself." Tala commented before taking another bite.
"Say, Garo. You mind joining me? We haven't sparred for a while." Arvos invited. Garo looked up from his meal, confused. He probably hadn't been paying attention.
"Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. You invited to practice saber forms, right?" Garo asked for clarification. Arvos nodded.
"Along those lines, yes. You in?" Arvos asked again. Garo considered it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that. I've been having a tough time sleeping lately, so maybe so exercise before bed will help." Garo replied. Arvos smiled.
"Fantastic. So, what are you going to do, Alvya?" Arvos asked. The youngling in question paused and considered it for a moment.
"I'm not sure. I've done plenty of training and study today, so I thought I might take it easy tonight. Though, I might stop in to watch you two spar. If you both are okay with it, of course." Alvya mentioned. Arvos shrugged.
"I don't see an issue. Garo?"
Garo shrugged as well.
"No problem on my end." The twi-lek male informed them before returning his attention to his food. The rest of their evening meal was a quiet affair. No one spoke until their platters were cleaned and they delivered them back to the kitchen before they went their separate ways. True to planning, Arvos and Garo went down to one of the sparring halls to practice. There weren't many of them in use at the moment, so it wasn't that hard to track down an empty one. Once inside, Arvos linked his sabers together and bowed to Garo, who bowed in turn. The two activated their weapons and gave a flourishing salute before they took up ready positions. Arvos took up one of the more balanced stances, one blade pointed towards Garo with another blade behind. Garo himself took up a standard Form IV stance; blade held high, just to the right of the head and completely vertical. The deep blue blade thrummed in a low-medium pitch. They began slowly circling each other, blades kept in the same positions as they both waited for the other to strike.
Garo made the first move, lunging forward with a thrust. Arvos batted the blade away before swinging the other end of his blade around. Garo quickly disengaged and blocked Arvos' strike as he backpedalled. Arvos pursued, going for a thrust of his own that Garo blocked as well. Arvos immediately swung the other blade around again, this time coming close to a hit, if Garo hadn't bent out of the way and gone into a backhand spring. Arvos let Garo get some space as he regrouped himself, flourishing the saberstaff before entering a new ready position. This time, the blade was held horizontally in front of him with one hand, while his empty hand was stretched out behind him. Garo lunged forward, immediately going into a string of strikes that Arvos blocked with ease before he went for a low swipe, followed by a jab. Garo blocked both strikes and began a whirling slash, spinning the blade with his wrist in an intimidating display of swordsmanship. Arvos' eyes widened as he backpedalled, blocking the strikes. That was a form V strike; a fighting style that Arvos had never seen Garo use before, outside of mandatory practice when they were younglings. He'd complained about how he didn't like the form, preferring to use form IV.
"Just another change recently…" Arvos thought to himself before he suddenly went back on the offensive, unleashing a series of whirling slashes of his own. The dual whirling blades of the saberstaff had the desired effect of throwing Garo off, an advantage that Arvos was quick to exploit as he continued his blitz of strikes, not allowing Garo to center himself. Finally, seeing an opportunity, Arvos lunged forward and checked Garo in the chest with his saberstaff while he was off-balance, causing him to tumble to the ground. Arvos immediately had his blade leveled at Garo's chest. Victory was his.
Arvos helped Garo to his feet and smiled at him.
"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to dip into form V back there. I thought you hated that style." Arvos commented as they rested.
"I've been experimenting recently." Garo replied dismissively.
"Well, it definitely caught me off-guard. So, round two, or should we call it a night?" Arvos asked. Garo shook his head.
"I think calling it a night is best. You need all the rest you can get for that exam coming up, and I'm more tired than I thought." Garo replied. Arvos nodded to him and waved goodbye as Garo left to head back to his quarters. However, the moment he was gone, Arvos began rubbing his forehead. He had a feeling that Garo didn't want to leave because he was just tired. Plus, he'd just given up perhaps the one opportunity he was going to have in a long while to talk to Garo about what was bothering him.
"Ugh… What to do, what to do…" Arvos muttered to himself as he slumped down on one of the benches in the sparring hall.
"What to do indeed."
Arvos looked up to see a familiar face looking down at him. The emerald skin and purple hair were a dead giveaway.
"Master Corvis? What are you doing here?" Arvos asked. The Theelin tilted her head at the question.
"Well, aside from being ranked a Jedi Master and being permitted to go most anywhere within the Jedi Temple as I wish, what kind of Jedi Master would I be if I didn't take it upon myself to provide aid to a troubled youngling?" Marahl Corvis asked with a slight lilt to her tone, though there was a thread of concern laced through it. Even as he felt a little embarrassed, Arvos could tell that the master was trying to raise his spirits, if only a little.
"Now, what seems to be the trouble, young one?" The master asked as she took a seat next to him.
"Well… It's my fellow youngling, Garo. He's the one that was just sparring with me, but you probably already knew that. We're in the same clan and… something's wrong with him and he won't tell us what. He's been getting more and more distant by the day, he's been slipping in training and study… I don't know, it could be nothing, but with how much he's been avoiding us, sans meeting for meals and the occasional spar, we barely ever see him and he won't talk to us about whatever's bugging him. We're all worried about him." Arvos explained. Marahl listened patiently as Arvos explained the situation before he finished speaking. She considered what he said for a moment before she finally replied.
"I have a feeling there's a little more to this situation. Is there anything else that you want to share?" Marahl inquired. Arvos nodded.
"The main thing that's struck us as odd was that we all received summons for our trials to become padawans around the same time, but Garo didn't receive any word regarding news. It's honestly around that time that we really noticed something was wrong. We'd always believed that Garo would be the first among us to reach the rank of padawan and Knight, and now here we are mere days away from our trials and he hasn't even heard anything. He was always the most devoted of us all to becoming a Jedi and now he's lagging behind and it just doesn't make sense to me why." Arvos confided. Marahl frowned.
"I can't say I know much of your clan, or the goings on of the Temple. I'm often kept away from it for a number of reasons. You however, you know your friend quite well. Do you really believe that his recent behaviour is born of some as of yet unknown problem he's experiencing?" Marahl inquired. Arvos shook his head.
"That's the problem. I don't know." Arvos lamented. Marahl frowned as she considered it.
"It sounds to me like you know deep down that something is wrong, but you don't know how to approach it. Or perhaps you do, but you are afraid of the potential consequences you may face from it. Trust in the Force, youngling. And trust in yourself. I know not how your clanmate will respond to you offering assistance, but I do know that you will regret it for a long time if you do not act now." Marahl counselled.
"I… I know. I don't know why this is so hard for all of us to talk to him about it now. We tried before, but he brushed it off, so why would it become harder when we're more concerned?" Arvos questioned. For that, Master Corvis had no answers. However, Arvos didn't need one right now. Instead, he stood up and bowed to Master Corvis before turning to leave.
"Thank you for the advice, Master. May the Force be with you." Arvos bade farewell as he turned to leave.
"May the Force be with you, youngling." Master Corvis replied in kind before she too took her leave from the sparring hall.
As Arvos marched his way through the Temple towards the youngling's lodgings, he had some part of him still questioning what the kriff he was doing, but he ignored those thoughts. He knew that if he stopped to think about it more, he'd never get this done. At least after this, he could say he at least tried.
Soon enough, he was at the door to Garo's room. He lightly rapped his knuckles on the door before it slid open. Sure enough, there was Garo, dressed in a beige tunic and trousers.
"Arvos? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be going to bed by now." Garo muttered as he rubbed his eyes. Arvos took a deep breath.
"I don't have anything scheduled tomorrow, and we need to talk." Arvos stated firmly.
"Talk about what, and why can't it wait until tomorrow?" Garo asked drowsily. Arvos frowned.
"Garo, you know very well what." Arvos pressed, trying to keep his frustration at Garo's deflection and dismissiveness out of his voice.
"Oh kriff, not this again…" Garo muttered as he turned around and walked back into his room.
"Garo, you can't honestly tell me, Tala or Alvya that something isn't up! You've been distant, you've been slipping in training and studies, and don't forget that you nearly fell asleep more than once a week or so ago in the sparring hall!" Arvos argued. Garo's fists balled up as he stared at the back wall of his room.
"I told you, I'm fine." Garo ground out.
"Look me in the eye and tell me that, Garo! Look me in the eye and tell me that everything is fine, because I don't believe it! Neither do Tala or Alvya!" Arvos countered. Garo whirled around; his face twisted in anger.
"I said I'm fine, now leave me alone!" He shouted, caused Arvos to take a step back, arms raised a bit. Garo noticed this, especially taking notice of how Arvos' hands were now hovering just over his lightsabers. Then Garo realized that there was a familiar weight in his hand. He looked down to see his own lightsaber in his hand. Garo's eyes widened as he suddenly dropped the weapon and took a few shaky steps away from it, the hand that had been holding the weapon now shuddering.
"I… I'm sorry, I don't… I'd never…" Garo stammered as his eyes were locked on the lightsaber laying on the floor. Arvos hands dropped away from his own weapons and he slowly walked forward, using the Force to call Garo's weapon to himself.
"Garo… what is going on?" Arvos asked again, much more hesitantly this time. Garo took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands.
"I… Listen, I can't tell you, alright? At least, not yet." Garo replied as he stared at the ground. Arvos frowned.
"Well, when can you tell us? Just sitting on it isn't good for you." Arvos pressed. Garo shook his head.
"Look, just wait until after your padawan trials, alright? I can tell you then." Garo requested. Arvos frowned but nodded.
"Alright. Alright, I can wait. Why do you want us to wait until then?" Arvos asked. Garo shook his head.
"I can't tell you that now. You'll understand when I explain it after your trials. You'll be on your way to being padawans by then" Garo answered. Arvos looked at him funnily.
"We don't know if we're going to pass the trials." Arvos pointed out, only for Garo to let out a small chuckle.
"How could you not? You all are going to pass with flying colors. I have faith in that." Garo stated before continuing.
"Look, just wait until the trials are over, then I'll come clean on everything, alright?" Garo begged. Arvos wasn't happy with it but he didn't press further. Instead, he offered back Garo's lightsaber before he turned to leave. Garo seemed hesitant to accept it; taking it gingerly, as if he worried touching it would cause it to explode in his hands. Arvos turned and left. The room, bidding Garo a half-hearted farewell before heading towards his own room. He was still shaken by Garo's hostile actions. It was all them more evidence that something was seriously wrong with Garo. Still, they'd at least gotten to the point of admittance. That was something at the very least.
However, Arvos couldn't help but feel a distinct chill in the air. He knew Garo. Even if he'd been this angry, he would never have turned his lightsaber on a friend, or even a complete stranger. Whatever was wrong with him was running really deep. Arvos had seen a real darkness in Garo in that brief moment and it scared him. It scared him a lot.
Arvos shook his head. Enough of that. They'd gotten on the right track. Garo had at least admitted there was a problem, even if he still refused to share what it was. However, there was nothing else for it now. He'd just have to wait until his trials were over until he could get answers.
"Garo, whatever's going on with you, I hope you find a way out of it." Arvos murmured to himself as he stepped into his room and set his lightsabers inside the small wooden chest where he kept his meager belongings. He at least could rest easy knowing that come the conclusion of their trials, he, Tala and Alvya would finally get some answers on what was bugging Garo.
And with that weight lifted from his mind, all that remained was the trials. And should he pass those, he would be one step closer to becoming a Jedi.
And that's chapter 5 of Twilight Blade done! For those of you who read my original version of this story (First off, let my apologize for it) may recognize Jedi Master Marahl, though now she has a last name of Corvis. Originally she was a human female, but I decided to change her to a Theelin since one issue I've had with every version of Star Wars sans TCW and Rebels is that I felt they could be using the non-humans WAY more than just as stuff to look at in the background.
So, Garo's still in a bad way and getting worse. What's wrong with him? Well, we've got that all well plotted out, but you'll have to wait and see. We've still got work on Before: KH to get out of the way.
Creativity: What about a quick reaction to the TCW season 7 trailer?
Author: I liked it. I really liked it. I especially like what they've done with Maul's saber, being made of one half of his original and the incomplete, 'unshelled' other half welded together. Can't wait for it.
Well, I think that's enough out of me. Thank you for reading, please review, hope to see you on Discord and we'll see you next time!