⁰² Shadows at Dusk | The Acolyte

i. Rumors

"Has Master Indara given you your next assignment yet?" Their lightsabers clashed together as the Padawans dueled, long after the acceptable hours and she knocked his feet out from under him, pointing her blue lightsaber at his chest.

"No." The other Padawan said and he held up his hands in surrender, before she held out a hand to him and he accepted it, as she yanked him up onto his feet again. "I've heard a rumor about you, Alyra, that your assignment is sending you back down to the underworld of Coruscant." He stated.

"Your information from whatever the source, that would be correct." Alyra stated as she was knocking him in the shoulder as he was holding his arm. "Cheer up, would you? Maybe you will end up on Coruscant this time, instead of being sent all across the galaxy... Again." She said with a smile on her face. "Come on, Torbin. Cheer up."

At the words, a faint smile played on his face and she was nodding with her own smile spreading wider. "Hey there. There it is." Alyra stated as she was spinning her lightsaber. "Again?" She questioned and he was nodding, before he picked his own lightsaber off of the floor and he ignited it quickly.

"What is your secret?" Torbin asked after he was once again laying on his back, after she had disarmed him and she was crouching down next to him, before she shook her head.

"Knowing how to fight certainly helps... Whoa!" Torbin's hand shot out and caught her ankle, yanking hard and she was knocked off balance. Alyra grunted as she hit the floor next to him and she was shaking her head. "All right. All right, I deserved that." She agreed quietly and he was rolling over to look at her.

"But truly, what is the secret?" Torbin questioned and then she was shaking her head at the words.

"There is no secret, Torbin. I just have an excellent eye for combat and, a knack for remembering cues from any and all people, that I have fought before." Alyra explained as she looked at him. "You always shift your feet when you are about to charge and for another example, when you are about to use the Force. Your left hand twitches." She said and Torbin glanced at his hand uncertainly.

"You won't notice it, because I've told you about it." Alyra pointed out patiently and he was looking at her.

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" Torbin asked and she was looking at him, before she blinked and Torbin's eyes widened.

Alyra spotted his hand twitching in preparation, just in time. She threw herself to the side to avoid the Force push and Torbin was cutting at her with the lightsaber quickly.

"Huh." Torbin noted as he looked at her. "I still don't understand how you have got the time, to notice stuff like that." He admitted and she was getting up, before she stretched out her arms and nearly hit him in the head, when she did.

"I have to." Alyra held out a hand to him before Torbin was getting up on his own this time. "If I am going to be one of the strongest and most successful Shadows in the Order, then I have to notice all of these things. You know that." She said and Torbin nodded.

"You are already well and truly off to the races with that one." Torbin remarked and she looked at him. "As far as I know, you are the only one our age who wishes to be a Shadow. I have heard no whispers or rumors of anyone else of the Padawan age, who knew it so quickly when they joined their masters." Torbin said.

"That could be true." Alyra noted. "But for right now at least, I am much more focused on passing the trials to become a Shadow. Never mind passing the trials to become a Knight." She said and she looked up, before she was turning her head around to see that there was a familiar shadow in the doorway.

"Dregan, why are you haunting the Padawan dojo?" Torbin asked as the Jedi Knight stepped into the light and the bright silver armor flashed, reflecting the light back at them.

"Let me guess." Alyra looked over at Dregan with a slightly tilted head. "You just wanted to see how his two favorite Padawans are doing." She said.

"Torb, has she always been this annoying? I can't seem to recall." Dregan questioned the Padawan and at the words, Torbin's eyes narrowed.

"For fear of being hit by either one of you for my answer, I am going to abstain from answering." He held up his hands in surrender, once he had finished speaking and Alyra laughed.

"Finally, another Padawan learner with more than half a brain." Alyra sounded like she was very pleased with the words and Dregan stared at her.

"Hey! Well then, what am I?" The Mandalorian complained and then Alyra glanced over at him, before she was thinking about how she was going to respond.

"The knight who is now known, as the "Master Of Complaints" to everybody in the current vicinity." Alyra joked and Dregan's lightsaber lashed out, but she was stopping it in midair with the Force and then, it was crackling with energy.

"Hey Torbin, a little help?" She asked and then her voice was tight with concentration and Torbin's eyes flashed, before the yellow lightsaber went flying out of Dregan's hand and it landed in Torbin's. "Thank you." She stated and Torbin nodded his head, before she was swiftly allowing the weight to lift off of her shoulders.

Torbin deactivated the lightsaber and he held it back out to Dregan, who took it back and put it away. "Well done, you two make quite the team." Dregan noted and Alyra was shrugging at the words.

"Why are you here?" Alyra asked as she spun her own lightsaber in her hand and he glanced at it.

"Maybe I feel like making myself feel better, by taking on two young and rather impulsive Padawans. Beating you two in lightsaber combat, it should suffice." Dregan said and Alyra glanced at Torbin, who shrugged at the words and they were both igniting their lightsabers again.

"I don't think you'll win." Torbin challenged him impulsively and Dregan lifted his eyebrows at the words, before Dregan tapped his armor with his fist and Torbin glanced over at Alyra, before Dregan was suddenly aware of the armor being pulled off.

"Hey, whoa!" Dregan said and his armor was flying quickly into the corner, before the two padawans were attacking him in unison. Dregan's lightsaber ignited as all three of their blades clashed together. "Well! How is that fair?" Dregan asked, before he had no time to speak at all anymore and all three of their blades clashed together as they fought.

Dregan's lightsaber went spinning out of his hand and Alyra caught it, before all three of the lightsabers were pointed at him and Dregan held up his hands in surrender. "Since when do you two fight as a team?" He questioned.

"Since you became a knight of the Order, with us being determined to beat you." Torbin didn't even have to think about the words, before they came tumbling out of his mouth and Alyra was nodding in agreement, before Dregan's jaw hit the floor from disbelief.

"That's not funny!" Dregan protested and at the words the two padawans immediately began laughing at him. They were laughing more at the expression on his face than anything else and he took the lightsaber out of Alyra's hand again.

As they were walking out of the dojo, they were quieting down once they reached the end of the hallway.

They could hear voices, hushed ones and Alyra lifted her eyebrows and she opened her mouth to speak, before Dregan quietly shushed both of them and they were all flattening themselves against the wall to listen.