Prologue: A Rival is Found

Long before the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo, before Qui-Gon Jinn's training began at the temple, before Master Yoda was a member of the Jedi Council, the Sith were at large. They roamed through the galaxy freely, and without restraint. There were not enough Jedi to fight them. This was before the "only two" rule was instilled, so there was one pair, a Master and an Apprentice, stationed on each planet in the Outer and Mid-rim, but there were also many Sith cults that followed them. Quite a few members of the cults were Force-sensitive. They were not given the traditional lightsabers, but they were taught to levitate objects and shot bolts of lethal Force-lightning. Coruscant was one of the few planets not under Sith rule, a haven to those whose home worlds had been shattered by chaos.

Yoda, his friends, Yaddle, Seralan, and Khalad, and all of the other students watched out of the windows of the Jedi Temple while the Council discussed what should be done. The other Jedi, even the teachers, had been sent out to help some of the less fortunate people of the planet, so there had been no lessons for a while. Finally, Yoda turned to his three friends and asked them, "Think you that this will never end? I do."

"I'm not sure," said Khalad, "I always thought that the Council could solve any problem."

"They've been talking about it for days," Seralan said anxiously. "It's never taken this long before, at least not that I know of."

"Worried about other things, we should be," Yaddle broke in. "Almost eligible Padawans, we are. Prepared to be chosen by Masters, we must be."

"Yaddle's right," Seralan agreed. "Let's go for a swim, it'll calm us down, then we can ask for permission to practice dueling."

They all approved of this idea, and soon, they were diving in and out of the cool, refreshing water. For the first time since the Council members had begun their debating, the foursome was completely relaxed. After almost an hour (once they were all pruny-fingered), they went to ask the only available Jedi left in the Temple, a Knight by the name of Zalmira Nu, if she would supervise their practice duels. Glad to have something to focus on, she agreed. The way they set it up was that they would take turns going against the winner of each match. Yoda and Khalad were the first to go, so they walked into the training area littered with blocks and fragments of metal so as to create an uneven flooring. It was meant to encourage students to use the Force to gather a feel of their surroundings so they wouldn't trip over things they might encounter in a normal battle. They began quickly, taking out their low-power lightsabers after putting on the blindfolds. They both stood still, waiting for the other to make the first move. Khalad reached out to sense Yoda's plan of action, as Yoda did to him. Finally, Khalad lost patience and leapt at Yoda with surprising speed. This caught Yoda off guard and he had just enough time to raise his lightsaber to block the attack.

Khalad would not give up so easily and was soon preparing for another attack, but Yoda was ready for him this time. He sidestepped the attack and spun to counter, but, in a shower of sparks, the two lightsabers met once again. With amazing strength for his rather small size, he pushed Khalad's lightsaber off of his and jumped over him, landing on one of the piles of blocks with perfect balance.

"Very good, Yoda," Zalmira complemented, "but reveal the full power of your abilities only when necessary, not to show off."

Yoda's ears drooped just a little; he had been trying to show off. He knew that he shouldn't have been, but he couldn't help it. Now Khalad was attacking again, though doing so in such a way that he was being defensive as well as offensive. Once again, Yoda blocked him. They could both sense what the other was about to do, but reacting to it was a different matter. Khalad had expected Yoda to block again in the exact same way as he had done before, so, as Yoda was turning to counterattack, Khalad brought his lightsaber to Yoda's wrist, forcing him to drop his own saber, and then up to his neck.

"Well done, well done," said Zalmira, clapping a little. "You are both very good fighters, and very in tune with the Force. With a little more practice, I could see the both of you becoming highly advanced Jedi Knights. Now, who's next?"

-------

Later, they were complementing each other on their performances.

"That was a very good match, Seralan," Khalad was saying. "Not just anyone could have beaten me like that."

"Thanks," she said, "but you and Yoda, I think, were the best. If only you could have felt the waves you two were giving off! It was actually a bit scary."

"Want to fight you in a real duel, I would not," said Yaddle. "I certainly would not."

"Thanks, you two," Khalad said, blushing. "Yoda did just as well as I did. He would have beaten me if I hadn't been ready for his countering."

"Make me feel slightly better, your complements do," said Yoda, "But wondering I am if I could have done better."

"Yoda, a more even match, there could not have been," said Yaddle.

"As always, Yoda, she's right," Seralan said. "Don't go beating yourself up over a practice match. It's not that big of a deal."

"Correct, you both are," agreed Yoda, "but help it, I cannot."

They all said goodnight, as they had reached their rooms, and got into bed. Yoda did not go to sleep right away, though. He remained awake, brooding about how he had been defeated. He did not sleep until the very early hours of the morning, when he slipped into troubling dreams.