Greetings all, and welcome to chapter 8 of Star Wars: Twilight Blade! How's everyone doing?

Creativity: I imagine as best anyone can do, given the situation

Author: Hopefully things will be starting to get back to some measure of normal by the time this comes out. We have no idea when that will be, but if you read our State of Affairs post, you probably have a rough estimate of that. But enough about that! Let's talk Star Wars!

So, as of this writing, I've finished watching TCW season 7, and can I just say that the last four episodes are easily the best of the whole series?

(whispering in the background) What do you mean I can't? (more whispering) What do you mean it's subjective? I mean it is but come on! I don't think… (more whispering) No, they were actually just that good… (whispering intensifies) You know what, I'll just break it down!

So, the Siege of Mandalore was fantastic. Seeing Ahsoka charging into battle alongside the Clones and Mandalorians was a thrill to watch, and then we get Maul. Whooooo BOY do I love Maul's journey through this show! From his rediscovery as a broken shell of himself, to his restoration, his journey for vengeance and watching him come so close to his goals time and time again, only to have the rug yanked out from under him, his fear of Sidious and his knowledge that everything is doomed to crumble and that it cannot be stopped now, the way he sees himself reflected in Ahsoka, the duels he's had… I ah… heheh… I really like animated Maul.

Then there's Rex in these last two episodes, but especially the last one. The knowledge of what's going on in his brother's heads and how he and they are powerless to do anything other than look on and watch as their bodies execute on the programming to kill the Jedi they've spent years fighting alongside… Well, it's gutwrenching.

I could go on, but I think I'll leave that to the next chapter. We haven't even gotten to the review responses yet:

And that's all the reviews! Now then, considering I've got a few thoughts on the conclusion to TCW up there, I think you all might be getting a bit impatient for the chapter proper to start, so let's do that. Creativity, password if you will.

Creativity: Right on it, sir! Here's the Discord password: xtydzBf

Author: Thank you, Creativity! And now…

Allow us to proudly present chapter 8 of Star Wars: Twilight Blade!

Just a few short days ago, Arvos had been decided that the leadup to and his participation in his trials to become worthy of the Padawan title was the most nerve-wracking time in his life. The constant training, studying, second-guessing and rechecking, all the while with what felt like an electrical charge running through every nerve in his body and a tightness in his stomach that refused to go away until the very end had been significant arguments for determining that this was the most stressed out he had ever been.

Now, he was facing a very dogged contender for that position as he marched stiffly through the corridors of the Jedi temple to the Jedi Council chamber by a male Twi'lek Knight, and he had never felt so stressed in his entire life. His heart was pounding in his chest, despite his best efforts to calm it, his gait was stiff, and to call his nerves 'twitchy' was to put it incredibly mildly. Still, he did his best to calm himself. He recited the Jedi Code in his head a few times, he reminded himself that he had nothing to worry about and he distracted himself by recalling some old philosophies of lightsaber combat from some of the Order's most legendary duelists. After all, meeting the council members while sweating buckets and twitching at so much as the movement of a hair would probably be grounds enough to rescind the council's decision to assign him to a master.

Arvos had forgone his usual wear for traditional Jedi attire. He felt it would make him more presentable to the council than his normal clothes, and the last thing he wanted was to appear sloppy before the council. He'd polished his lightsabers the previous night and made sure to wake up early so that he would have time to make sure he looked presentable to the Council, but that had done little to assuage his obvious nervousness as he had waited for the Council's Jedi escort to arrive. Still, he was relaxing now, and hopefully he would stay relaxed by the time they got to the Council chambers.

Arvos snapped back to reality when he realized that they were just a few feet away from the turbolift up to the Council chambers. He took a deep breath and centered himself as he followed Master Se into the waiting lift. As the doors hissed shut behind him, the reality of his current situation seemed to catch up with Arvos all at once.

"Force, I am about to meet with the Jedi Council, and I AM NOT READY FOR THIS AT ALL!" His brain treacherously shrieked, causing a new wave of nervousness and panic to surge through Arvos, along with a frustration at his momentary lapse in composure, even if it hadn't manifested outwardly so far as he knew. Deep breaths, Jedi Code, happy place of lightsaber lore. It took a few repetitions of this cycle of exercises to calm himself down again, but he once again was calm, and with only a couple of minutes remaining until they reached their final stop.

"It's understandable to be a little on edge when you're being brought before the Council for the first time, but I assure you that you have nothing to worry about." The knight told him. Arvos flinched a bit but relaxed quickly enough. He trusted the Jedi Knight and if he said there was nothing to worry about, then Arvos thought he should take that to heart. He composed himself for the umpteenth time and managed to stay that way for the remainder of the turbolift ride up to the council chambers. As he and Master Se stepped out of the turbolift, Arvos could see the council members all assembled and seated in the gray and red chairs. Arvos had never been in the chamber before and felt a sense of awe, even though it was rather spartan in décor. Really, the only notable things about it were the view and chairs.

Arvos continued to walk down the hallway, though he noted that Master Se wasn't following. Arvos wanted to pause and look back, but he fought down that instinct and kept walking towards the council. Master Se was only here to make sure he got to the council. So far as Arvos was aware of, he had no involvement with this meeting.

Arvos came to a stop in the center of the room and bowed respectfully to the Council The Council watched silently as Arvos straightened up and waited for them to address him. Naturally, there were a few absent members of the Council, namely Masters Obi Wan Kenobi, Shaak Ti, Plo Koon and Ki-Adi Mundi. That was understandable. After all, the couldn't all just immediately withdraw from whatever battle they were engaged in simply to speak to a single padawan.

Master Yoda was the first to speak.

"Youngling Moro… Know why you stand before us, do you?" Master Yoda asked Arvos, who shook his head a little.

"I can hazard a few guesses, Master. However, I feel it would be presumptuous to assume they are correct." Arvos replied. It was true. He'd taken more time to think about what the Council would want to speak to him for, and he had come up with a few likely ideas, but he didn't want to put too much stock into them, lest he be completely wrong. Master Yoda looked like he was holding back a smile, but Arvos couldn't tell.

"Arvos Moro, initiate of the Jedi Order, kneel." Master Windu ordered. Arvos sank to one knee and bowed his head.

"Initiate, you have been tested. You have been challenged. And, you have been found worthy to take the next step. Master Corvis, step forward." Master Windu continued. Arvos' eyes widened but he didn't budge, even as he heard footsteps coming from the same corridor he'd entered the Council chambers from.

"Master Marahl Corvis, it is with the Council's blessing that you do take initiate Arvos Moro as your padawan learner. Do you accept this charge?" Master Windu questioned.

"I accept this charge, Masters." The voice of Master Corvis answered from just behind Arvos and off to the side a little bit.

"Then by the right of the Council, but the will of the Force, I hereby confer the rank of Jedi Padawan to Arvos Moro and assign him to Jedi Master Marahl Corvis. Master Corvis, if you would complete the rite..." Windu instructed. Arvos felt a pair of hands begin to fiddling with his hair for a few moment or two before they moved away. Arvos could feel something different and he knew exactly what it was. He wanted to reach up and feel it, but he restrained himself. Now wasn't the time.

"Rise, Padawan of the Jedi Order." Master Windu ordered. Arvos did just that, doing his absolute best to not start freaking out all over again. However, it wasn't actually that hard to restrain himself since he was possibly in shock.

"Teach well, Master Corvis. Learn well, Padawan Moro." Master Yoda said in farewell. The new student and teacher both bowed to the Council and departed from the chamber. As they stepped into the turbolift, Arvos felt his entire body relax and he suddenly slumped forward while exhaling a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Master Marahl snickered a little bit as Arvos immediately felt embarrassed and quickly composed himself.

"I felt the same way when I was a Padawan, and so has every other Padawan that I've trained to knighthood." Master Marahl shared as she also composed herself. Arvos glanced up at her with an odd look in his eye.

"You knew about this yesterday, didn't you…" Arvos questioned as the turbolift descended.

"Well, I should hope so. I did put my name in to be your assigned master, after all." Master Marahl replied with an amused grin that had Arvos' eyes widening even more.

"So… What happens now?" Arvos asked. Master Marahl's smile faded a little bit.

"Well, I was hoping I'd be able to arrange for a few weeks in the Temple to begin your training properly, but that is sadly not possible. Master Secura requires aid in the Felucia campaign and I've been assigned to the task by Council. I was only permitted to stay this long because I was considering taking on a new apprentice." Master Marahl explained. Arvos frowned. He was afraid of that. While this was a big step on his path to becoming a full-fledged member of the Order, becoming a Padawan meant you were going to find yourself on the front lines of the Clone Wars, alongside your master and a Clone unit. Even though Chancellor Palpatine was insistent that the War was going to come to an end soon, the people were losing hope that this was indeed the truth. They were losing faith in the Senate and the Jedi Order, which left the Chancellor as the only person the public was placing trust in.

"When do we leave, Master?" Arvos asked, trying to keep the apprehension and sullenness out of his voice.

"Two days time. I imagine you don't have very much packing to do, so we can begin your training properly tomorrow. I imagine you also want to bid farewell to your clan before you leave. It could be a long time before you see them again." Master Marahl suggested as the new master and apprentice departed the turbolift. Arvos would have agreed, though he'd only be saying goodbye to was Tala. She'd been assigned to Jedi Master Evor Se and had been off-world for one day on Coruscant.

Master Marahl turned to face Arvos and stared down at him. Her entire attitude had changed to one that Arvos had seen in several other Jedi during his long time living in the Temple. Master Marahl was now acting as a teacher.

"Padawan, if you would join me down in the sparring halls, we may begin the first steps in your training." Master Marahl instructed before she began to stride off towards the aforementioned sparring halls. Arvos hurried after her as they continued through the temple.

"Now then, you've taken on quite the workload as a duelist, if I'm not mistaken. Twin sabers with an interlock system to form a saberstaff, correct?" Master Marahl questioned as they continued towards the sparring halls.

"Yes Master, that's right." Arvos confirmed. Master Marahl stroke her chin as they descended a flight of stairs.

"A bit much to tackle for a youngling, even one such as yourself." Master Marahl noted as they turned a corner and found the sparring halls right in front of them.

"I know, Master. I believe that I have risen to the challenge and have sparring victories to attest to that, but I also know that my choice in weapon is unusual and can leave an unprepared opponent floundering. It's possible that the majority of my sparring victories are owed more to those who were unprepared for battle against dual blades or a saberstaff, and less to my own skill." Arvos replied. Master Marahl nodded.

"Definitely a possibility, but we'll soon find out." She declared as they stepped onto a sparring field. Master Marahl shrugged her shoulders and cast off the dark brown cloak she wore in the Jedi temple. Underneath she wore very a very dark gray sleeveless tunic with synth leather on the shoulders, each of which had the symbol of the Jedi Order embossed in silver on them. On her forearms were very shiny metal bracers that had some sort of exotic flower engraved on them. Around her waist she wore a belt as well as a chain-armored, segmented kama that was a dark chrome in color with silver fleur de lis laid into it. Her pants were the same as any other Jedi's, save for the dark, silvery gray color and jet-black synth leather boots.

Belted at her side was an elegant lightsaber. It was about an inch longer than the standard lightsaber and it was clearly designed with Master Marahl's apparent aesthetic in mind. It was silver with black synth leather wrapped around it in an intricate pattern, with the black emitter sleeve having twin silver claws that were elegantly sculpted to hug close to the blade when ignited. At the bottom was a black metal ring that was obviously used for clipping the saber to one's belt. Master Marahl extended her hand out to the side and summoned the weapon to her grasp before sparking it to life. The vivid green blade let out a high-pitched hum as she flourished it a few times before holding it up in a salute.

"Prepare to defend yourself, Padawan!" Master Marahl declared as she eyed him with a steely gaze. Arvos a brief surge of nervousness run through his body, but he pushed that sensation away. This wasn't a situation to be afraid of defeat. He was going up against a master of the Order. He obviously didn't stand a chance. This wasn't about victory or defeat. This was a test.

Arvos pulled his lightsabers from his belt and linked them together before igniting one inky black blade and holding it up in front of him in a mirror of Master Marahl's own salute. The two then fell into their own ready positions and began to stare each other down. Marahl's was a classic form IV stance; blade held in both hands close to the head and with their dominant side pointed towards the opponent. Arvos opted for a less traditional stance, instead holding his lightsaber at an angle with his left arm stretched across his body to grip the blade behind his right hand. The blade was angled diagonally across his body, angled towards the floor. Master Marahl raised her eyebrow at the stance but didn't comment as she prowled forward. Arvos slowly circled, loosening the fingers in his left hand as he waited for Master Marahl to make a move. Finally, she lunged forward with an overhead strike! Arvos leaned into the strike and let the blade strike his own, using the angle of his blade to cause Master Marahl's weapon to slide a bit before he shoved back! However, Master Marahl had already disengaged and was ready for him, going for side slash this time. Arvos blocked this strike as well, his blade pointed towards the ground before he twisted it up, trying to force Master Marahl's blade along with it. She let it go for a few moments before she stopped and shoved Arvos back before lunging in with a stab! Arvos dodged this time and went for a slash at Master Marahl's legs, only to find himself blocked and forced back again.

Arvos frowned. He knew that he was getting nowhere fast, though that wasn't at all surprising. He also knew that she was trying to force him to switch to two-bladed combat, whether that be saberstaff or dual wielding. She'd left herself open to those strikes already in an attempt to bait him into switching things up. She'd undoubtedly watched his duel with Alvya and was trying to pressure him into defaulting to those tactics. Arvos knew that he was eventually going to have to switch to a dual-bladed style, but not just yet. Duelists who used dual blades often developed a dependence on having both blades and losing one would throw them off-balance. Arvos had noted this many times throughout the history of lightsabers and lightsaber dueling and he would not allow himself that weakness.

Arvos blocked a quick series of strikes from Master Marahl before he planted his foot and entered another blade lock with his master, leveraging his weapon's longer hilt to overcome his master's superior strength and height. The one problem this left him with was that he wouldn't be able to make as precise movements with his blade while he was holding his weapon like this. Arvos managed to shove Master Marahl's blade back before he lunged forward with a stab of his own. However, Master Marahl bent to the side, avoiding the strike before slipping her own blade under his and pushing it upward and over Arvos's head! Arvos's eyes widened as he realized that he was being set up to be wide open and knew he had to do something quick, else this duel would be brought to a swift end.

Arvos could see the lightsaber blade heading full force towards his chest and knew that a single blade wouldn't cut it anymore. His second blade sparked to life, flashing into existence between himself and the incoming green plasma blade. Arvos gritted his teeth and grunted as he turned the tables on Master Marahl, forcing her blade up before whirling around and going for a slash at her midsection! Master Marahl dodged gracefully before performing a twirling leap and landing with her lightsaber pointed at him. Arvos recentered himself as he slowly twirled the his saberstaff in his hand before holding it out in front of him horizontally in his right hand before extending his left hand out behind him.

This time it was Arvos who took the initiative, rushing forward and flourishing his saberstaff before he broke into a quick series of strikes that had Master Marahl dancing backwards, her blade flashing as she elegantly blocked every one of Arvos's strikes. She'd changed from form IV to form II and it was obviously her natural style, if a bit unorthodox for Makashi. The elegant movements were there, but there was something just slightly off in it and Arvos couldn't figure out what it was. Either way, it was steadily throwing him off his rhythm.

Suddenly, Master Marahl changed tactics and went on the offensive; unleashing a hailstorm of strikes that Arvos was just barely able to keep up with! He was frantically twisting and spinning his saberstaff to keep up with the onslaught from his master's emerald blade. Arvos grit his teeth in concentration as he continued to give ground. He knew what was happening now. Master Marahl was pushing him to switch his fighting style again. However, much like before he didn't want to simply switch to from saberstaff to dual wielding just because he was in something of a bind. If he constructed his fighting style around free switching between single, double and dual wielding, he'd become handicapped if he was stripped of one of those options. He needed to be able to fight without compromise with all three styles if he was to become a Jedi Knight, let alone a Jedi Master.

Arvos grunted as he slid back, dropping to his knees and spinning, angling his saberstaff to ward off any incoming strikes before rising and swinging the rear blade around, causing Master Marahl to lightly step back before blocking the front blade. Arvos quickly swung the rear blade around again, only to have his strike blocked once more, this time faced with a counterattack. Arvos blocked it but found himself being pushed downward to a kneeling position. Now he knew he was out of options. No amount of extra leverage would help him here. Arvos disconnected the coupling and swung his left saber at Master Marahl, forcing her to disengage and prepare herself for Arvos's renewed assault. Arvos struck fast and hard, spinning a web of plasma around Master Marahl as he tried to break through her defences. However, he was disappoint (though not surprised) to find that he was making practically no headway in that regard.

Suddenly, Master Marahl locked blades with him. Arvos gritted his teeth as he pressed back against the green blade but Master Marahl would not budge. Then he noticed a smirk on Master Marahl's face before she suddenly twisted her blade and Arvos found his right-hand lightsaber suddenly skittering across the floor before his left wrist was rapped with the verdant sword, causing him to yelp in pain as he dropped his second saber. With a flick of her wrist, Master Marahl had her weapon levelled at Arvos's neck.

"Hmm… Not bad. I was expecting worse, given how much you've bitten off with your saber design, but you've got a solid grasp of the fundamentals for all three styles. Still, you are certainly rough around the edges. You were to whetted to a specific style, refusing to budge from it until you absolutely needed to. Additionally, while your first transition was better executed, your second could easily have been countered if I disengaged and went for a strike. In a battle with a full-fledged duelist you need to be able to transition fluidly from form to form, one motion into the next." Master Marahl assessed critically. Arvos nodded, ignoring the throbbing in his wrist as he used the Force to recollect his lightsabers and clipped them to his belt.

"I think I understand you a little better, young Moro. Your choice of weapon is not rooted in the superficial excitement of a youngling for their 'legendary weapon', nor is it rooted in a desire to showboat, both of which would have made you a much weaker duelist with that weapon. May I ask where this appreciation for the lightsaber came from?" Master Marahl inquired as she crossed her arms.

"I can't say I'm sure. I remember being fascinated with lightsabers for as long as I've been in the Jedi Temple. I've studied their history, ancient designs, philosophy on the weapons, everything tangentially related to them within the Archives that I can get to, I've probably gotten to multiple times." Arvos answered as he caught his breath. Despite knowing that he hadn't stood a chance to begin with, he was still frustrated with himself a bit, feeling like he hadn't shown what he was truly capable of. Or maybe that was what he was currently capable of and he'd overestimated himself. Both were equally plausible and frustrating in their own right.

"Well then, since we're here we might as well do some saber training. We'll start with only a single lightsaber to start." Master Marahl decided before she uncrossed her arms and ignited her lightsaber once again in salute. Arvos quickly did the same before both fell into ready positions.

"Now then, let us begin." Master Marahl declared before training began. It had only just started, but Arvos felt that training was quickly going to become nightmarish.

And that's where we end it for today! Arvos has become a Padawan and his first lesson begins! Initially I was going to have Arvos go back to his youngling clan and break the news, but I figured I'd save that for next time.

Creativity: So, that's two Star Wars chapters under the belt now for when we resume publishing. How we gonna do this?

Author: I'm thinking once a week, depending on how many we have by the end of this. We've got two chapters of Before: KH ready, two chapters of this, two… maybe three chapters of Resurgence, plus we published that one special chapter of Limit Breaker… Wow, we've been working, huh… That doesn't even count the plotting and work done on that KH miniseries…

Creativity: Do you think we've stretched ourselves too thin?

…

Both: NAAAAAAHHH

Author: Well, not much else to say on our end! Thank you for reading, please review, hope to see you on Discord and we'll see you next time!