.2

There was a chorus of clapping hands and the center of Jedi Padwan Ikeeriot grew just a bit colder and flimsier. He was by choice in this tournament, but he was beginning to regret the warm reception to his master's invitation to participate in the dueling tournament. These padawans were all strong with their lightsaber skills and dueling stances. I like to take it as it comes, Ikeeriot though, brushing back a small flank of hair that had drooped down in front of his eyes. He had the strangest feeling that this was another test from his Master, Alec Uban, and that soon Master Uban was going to let him go through the Trials of becoming a Jedi Knight. Ikeeriot, atop the farthest bleacher seat upward shook his head slightly. I don't know if I'm ready. He felt a jolt of exhilaration and confidence nearby and knew instantly who it was rather then what. His good friend from before being an Apprentice---Anduil Siron, jogged up the bleachers and greeted Ikeeriot cheerfully, "Hello, Ikeeriot!" He bowed before his friend and without the young man's dark blue cloak over his Siron's tunic, Ikeeriot thought his friend looked ridiculous doing such a gesture. "Sit down buddy," Ikeeriot said, propping his back against the wall. Anduil nodded and did, not before rolling his eyes of course. "I've seen a nerfherder happier then you on a regular day," Anduil commented. Ikeeriot felt vaguely aware of the friendly prod and thought, if I was a nerfherder, at least then I wouldn't be having to duel these padawans . . .what are they putting in the temple's water these days anyway? It was true enough---Ikeeriot was tall but by no means a severely physical threat. The other padawans were well toned and physically fit from their field missions with their masters. I shouldn't be jealous, he thought. Master Uban is beyond the best master I could have been an apprentice to. "One more duel and then I'm going in," Ikeeriot said. He eyed the dueling ring below, an orange plastic mat set out on the drab gray floor of the newly constructed Temple training room. "I don't know why they need two temples, one here and one on Dantooine," Anduil started dreamily, keeping his main attention on the duel which was getting under way. His brown eyes probed the small circle below him and Ikeeriot beneath a pair of hanging blondish bangs. There was also a small scar on his cheek, an affect of a dueling tournament just like one of these. He'd never been blaster-shy afterward though. He'd just earned another scar on his chin from his last mission with his own master, Orsin when they'd fallen into a trap laid by two craft bounty hunters with vibro-axes. "This is more of an auxillary temple though, wouldn't you say?" "I don't think padawans should be speaking of such a matter," Ikeeriot returned sarcastically. Anduil gave him a smile but Ikeeriot didn't return the glance. "Look, it's starting," he nodded down toward the dueling circle. They both looked on, but Ikeeriot focused on the taller padawan with the buzz cut. He was younger but also the favorite of the tournament. Ikeeriot was sixteen and strong in the force, but that was what his Master told him, and although he meant no disrespect, Ikeeriot didn't put too much faith in others words. The tall padawan in the circle was fifteen, maybe a little younger by a few months. The other padawan in the circle with the taller opponent was a shorter Bith. This was partly why the taller, Human padawan was favored for at least this fight, Ikeeriot reasoned. A Bith are ruled by rules and regulations, he'll be too easy to read if and when he stays inside the parameters of the usual lightsaber stances. "You shouldn't be so transparent yourself," Anduil warned Ikeeriot, sensing a little of his friend's overconfidence in species classifications. "I might say Humans are prone to freezing up when they're afraid," he prodded at his friend once more. This drew Ikeeriot glance, a small lip curl evident on his face. "You might just worry about yourself then, my little kowakian monkey lizard." Ikeeriot returned. Anduil laughed and sat back against the wall. "Good one." Ikeeriot nodded silently and watched the circle intently. The familiar snap-hiss of the padawan's dialed down lightsabers occupied the air and suddenly the room was a lot more quiet. Padawans and teachers alike were watching intently, from the stands and from right outside the dueling ring. "Go." A small droid voice said. At once the Bith padawan took the upper hand---he probed the human's defenses time and again, slashing horizontally and downward toward his opponent too. The human looked a bit worried, to Ikeeriot, he even seemed to be sending out a few ripples of anxiety through the Force. For just a moment, Ikeeriot doubted his jedi instincts and thought that the Bith might win . . After this happened, the human darted inward to the Bith's open guard stance and nicced the Bith's pelvis lightly with the training saber. "Ah!" A yelp escaped the male Bith and he fell to his knee. The human backed away, holding for his opponent to get up. The droid's voice reentered the dueling circle, "One point to Kyl Beeoluve, three points for one successful win," and there was just a bit of clamor in the voices and the Force behind the padawans and teachers watching, but then silence prevaded again. The Bith stood, visibily shaken by the invasion of his guard. Ripples of anxiety were all but gone from Kyl, but waves of the stuff were lapping off the other students, sent by the Bith, like a beach coast receiving ocean waves. Kyl made the first move this time, probing his opponents guard extensively before almost tripping up the Bith. To the Bith's credit, and mostly to Kyl's mistake, the alien padawan slid under Kyl's outstretched legs and poked him in the small of the back, producing a yelp from Kyl and then he touched where he'd been hit with a certain tenderness that more then one of the teachers thought merited a chuckle. As the Bith student rose up and straightened his legs, Kyl went on the attack, slashing once at his opponent, was parried, but then swept the legs out from under the cautious Bith. It seemed the pale-faced, black globe-eyed Bith was more confused then hurt by this break in chivalrous fighting then anything. "The score two to one, in favor of padawan Kyl," the droid's voice said. The Bith bit out icily to the droid's voice, "We know what the score is!" The Bith's master gave his padawan an icy look that told him of reprimand after the duel. The padawan didn't need to have precognitive Force aided intuition to see that. Anduil tried to send the Bith a ray of confidence in the Force, but Anduil too received a dirty look from the Bith. Ikeeriot didn't miss the tri-play on this and chuckled, muttering something under his breath about 'not trying to help everyone'. Anduil turned to his friend and glared, but Ikeeriot stayed focused on the fight. "If they tie it'll go to a breaker. I feel it coming on." Ikeeriot said, his voice quivering a little. He did feel a prickle of the Force telling him to look for something more in this duel, but it still amazed him that he got that kind of intuition sometimes. Skepticism quickly flooded Anduil Siron's face but another padawan bent backward from his seat and asked playfully, "I'll give ya odds with you want to bet on that, Iker." Ikeeriot laughing at this openly but kept it quiet enough to not draw the attention of teachers of other padawans. "Don't let me hear that sort of talk ever again in the temple, young man," Ikeeriot chided playfully back. They all turned back to the dueling circle. Kyl tried once more to sweep the legs out from under the Bith but evidently the alien had grasped the fact that his opponent wasn't going to be playing by any rules this time. He jumped over the kick and swept his own blue blade down on Kyl's leg, evoking a cry of pain and embarrassment from Kyl. Kyl suppressed a grimace standing straight up, and that was when Ikeeriot took what he'd been watching and took it one step further. The grimace---Ikeeriot narrowed his eyes and tensed his eyesight, searching with both that and his Force attuned mind to see where the pain had come from. His eyes half closed, Ikeeriot felt the pain flowing from a small lightning strike in the cloud of nerves flowing throughout the muscles in Kyl's leg. "Which muscle cloud?" he muttered to himself, evicting a confused glance from Anduil. Twisting and swerving through the human's leg, Ikeeriot felt his eye sight replaced by thousands of fissures and hair-pin lines instead of what was going on right in front of him---the duel. He suddenly knew what he was looking at but tried to hide his quiet astonishment at what he was looking at. Plainly in front of him, there was Kyl's weakness, the small pain in his leg that he'd tried to hide a grimace from when he'd stood. It was where it was that convinced Ikeeriot that it was a weakness---right above the shin but below the knee, inside the calve muscle. Ikeeriot stretched out thorugh the Force and felt the image last just a little longer, but then the muscles writhed and constricted and turned into wavy lines in front of his eyes. Ikeeriot opened his eyes back up and found the duel commenced once more, but this time there was steam rising from grates in the floor. "Great." he said to the padawan in front of him silently. "I could have even tried for odds on the steam too," he joked. Anduil gave him a lifted eyebrow but they both turned their eyes back onto the duel. It was thick steam and soon both combatants were covered in the white stuff, drifting up and out of the opening canopy window high above in the temple's tall ceiling. Hopefully people don't think this place is burning, Ikeeriot thought quickly, I'd hate to think of the expenses it took to build this place. All up to their skill in the Force now, Ikeeriot thought. What I would give for steam. He got a chill, like the return of a distant memory, but no more then that. He took the chill as a sign but didn't give it too much significance. Like most of his Force driven intuition, it wouldn't be useful until it was useful. He was brave enough to not ask about that at least. The WHUM of one of the padawans lightsabers sang out and afterward there was a familiar yelp: that of the Bith padawan. There was just a moment of tense silence, a master lifted her hand and Force shoved the rest of the billowing steam away and revealed the Bith on one of his knees and Kyl standing triumphantly, shutting down his lightsaber. "Padawan Beeoluve succeeds to the next round!" the voice of the droid related. There was a round of clapping, then a turning of heads, waiting for the next opponent to be announced, but most knew who it was. Gazes turned on Ikeeriot and he felt a little uneasy. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a warm smile from his friend. "You'll do fine, Iker." "I guess," Ikeeriot said, standing and brushing past the sitting padawans before his name could be announced by the sparring droid, who was floating out in the middle of the ring with Kyl at his right. The droid was but a glowing sphere the size of a big juice-melon and had two arms that dangled below it's hovering body. "Padawan Nory please---." "I'm here, circuit brains." Ikeeriot said. With a minute flick backwards of his shoulders he threw his cloak to the ground and revealed his drab olive but traditional Jedi tunic and the lightsaber clipped at his side. "Good, we can get on with the tournament," the droid said. Not the least bit testily either, Ikeeriot thought openly sarcastic. He nodded once to Kyl, who bowed instead. The droid left the circle and Ikeeriot bowed and unclipped his lightsaber. "Commence," the droid called. For a few moments, nothing happened. Kyl could see what he thought was Ikeeriot getting ready for the duel, and giving him the time he needed to assume his own guard position. Ikeeriot held his lightsaber tightly out to the side, but didn't ignite it. His arm stayed where it was and Ikeeriot looked at Kyl narrowly, pulling in the Force to him like sonar or radar might detect the slightest bit of blip on the screen. Kyl was obviously confused but ignited his own lightsaber. Ikeeriot stayed where he was, watching Kyl closely but still held his bladeless weapon to the side of him, his armpit and outstretched arm making a right triangle in the negative space of his body's shape. Ikeeriot could sense in shuddering waves Kyl's anxiety and confidence in the same moments, but Ikeeriot's Force senses could only help him for so long, if he went too long, he grew very tired, very quickly. Kyl took a deep breath, which none of them would have seen from the bleachers, and darted forward against Ikeeriot. Ikeeriot closed his eyes halfway and put his arms against his chest and made the briefest of steps to the side. Kyl tumbled out of the ring and fell flat on his face. There was a stunned silence, then the tentative voice of the droid once more, "No penalty for leaving the ring, no point," the droid said. Smiling at the ground, Ikeeriot took the position Kyl had occupied at the beginning of the match. Why doesn't it surprise me he fell? He could feel the growing annoyance from Kyl and heard the quick footsteps, even a few gasps from the students in the audience who didn't think Ikeeriot would block the move in time. As it happened, Ikeeriot ducked and ignited his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and ducked, jabbing upward first with the butt of his lightsaber, then sweeping the blade to nip the side of Kyl's shoulder. It sent his opponent a few more inches into the air, but then the padawan fell to the ground, coughing and sputtering, trying to regain his astonished breath. Lucky, Ikeeriot thought. Had I not heard those steps . . "Two points for Padawan Ikeeriot!" the droid cried hectically. There were murmurs and a few claps from the audience, but mostly stunned silence. It was an audacious move, even for a jedi in training to pull of in front of a room full of Jedi Masters and Knights over looking the duels. He felt more then one hot glare on the back of his neck. He watched Kyl and held out a hand to help his opponent up. Understandably, Kyl slapped it away angrily. Once he stood fully he slashed out with his own blue blade and hit Ikeeriot's forearm twice, diving under the arm after hitting it on top of the arm. Ikeeriot jerked his arm back angrily and took a few steps back, out of the circle. The droid was saying something about the boundaries and the circle again but he was lost to the sounds. There is no emotion; There is peace. He thought over it again and again, calming himself a little more each time he heard it. A few deep breaths and he walked back into the circle. Tie-breaker, he thought. He wanted to feel the heat billow out from under his feet but nothing happened for a few seconds. Kyl and Ikeeriot exchanged heated glares and before he knew it, there was a prickle of Force intuition at the back of his neck. JUMP! He felt, it was a shockwave through the Force, more then he'd ever felt at once ever. Ikeeriot jumped accordingly, and in that second he felt his premonition from the bleachers come true. A few cracks and snaps and the ground beneath him was ice, cold mist floating out over it like ghosts over a youngling horror story. Kyl, along with the rest of the room, was completely surprised by Ikeeriot's jump and even more so when Ikeeriot hit the floor and came run-sliding across the ice, lightsaber in-hand and legs in a blur of speed. I always liked planets like Hoth or Alzoc III . .he thought as he bore his lightsaber down on Kyl's guard. Kyl was surprised, but not inexperienced. He re-gained his balance before Ikeeriot could glance him with the lightsaber but the damage had already been done. In one swift motion, Ikeeriot shut off his lightsaber, ducked to the ground and kicked Kyl's legs out from under him, aiming straight for the spot that he'd seen during Kyl's grimace. Kyl fell, sprawled on the ground, lightsaber clattering uselessly onto the ice. Ikeeriot spun easily on the ice and looked to the audience. He himself felt surprise and exhilaration flowing through him and the Force around him and he suppressed a confident smile. There was clapping, first low and then at a dull roar---only what the teachers would allow the padawans. The female Master walked onto the ice and raised her hands to calm the audience of apprentices. "The tournament is finished. Return to your Studies and wait for further notice after Lunch on today's activities. All padawans without their Masters should stay though." Ikeeriot hardly felt this very fair, Anduil and him being the only Masterless Padawans for the day. Ikeeriot's was gone on a short diplomatic mission to a newly christened Republic planet while Anduil's was gone, preparing the Knight Trials for Anduil Siron personally. Kyl was up and walking out with the rest of the padawans shortly and Anduil and Ikeeriot sat on the bottom bench of the bleachers. "I'm sorry, Master---." Ikeeriot began when the woman Master, Shi'lynn, approached him. "Don't, learner Ikeeriot. You've tested our patience as Masters once too many now." Anduil kept his head facing the ground but he was trying to urge Ikeeriot to stay silent through the Force. "I seem to have felt a little approval at my duel initiative from someone over the rank of padawan who was watching." Ikeeriot said guardedly. Shi'lynn glared icily at the padawan. A Jedi Knight dressed in a brown cloak swept his hood away, revealing his shaggy brown hair and beard that was striped with the occasional red lock. "Master Shi'lynn, the boy was faster then most in eexecuting such a move---." Shi'lynn turned her glare on this Jedi Knight through clenched teeth. She restrained herself though, calming a bit at the Knight's fearful look. "Duly noted." Shi'lynn said, turning back to Ikeeriot. "What are we going to do with you in Master Uban's stead, my young learner?" Shi'lynn asked Ikeeriot. Ikeeriot laughed nervously and looked from side to side, but found no help. I really don't like the sound of this . . "I want you to go into the meditation room and meditate on your actions here for two hours." Shi'Lynn said. "Two hours?" Ikeeriot replied hastily. "Three." Shi'lynn corrected. "Care to add helping the construction crew to your list?" She added wryly. "No, Master Shi'lynn. I will meditate, if that it what you wish." Ikeeriot returned, looking down at the ground. "Perhaps next time you will not take so easily to using such a tainted method in practice dueling." She admonished. "Yes, Master." Ikeeriot replied, embarrassed. "Go then," Shi'lynn said. Ikeeriot stood and turned from Shi'lynn and walked out of the room with his head ducking below his shoulders shamefully. Anduil stood and started to follow, but felt Shi'lynn's gentle hand on his shoulder. "Not you, Padawan Siron. You do not share your friend's punishment this time. It is time for your Trial." Anduil looked at Shi'lynn with a surprised but cautious face. "Come, it is your time, learner." Shi'lynn said thoughtfully, walking in the opposite direction from which Ikeeriot had gone. "Yes, Master Shi'lynn." Anduil said. He followed at her heels.