The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Forty-Six: Training And Tribulation

AHSOKA TANO

"Your form is sloppy. You're giving me openings I shouldn't have."

"Master, I'm doing it perfectly," Kaya Ti retorted, letting the air resistance push the hilt of one lightsaber into a reverse grip as she lifted it to counter Ahsoka's.

Ahsoka knew Kaya was right, but she felt a childish impulse to keep that to herself. "You'll have to do better than perfect if you want to last against them," she said, and pushed back against Kaya's blades in hopes of gaining some more ground.

Kaya's eyes narrowed, and Ahsoka wondered what she was planning.

She didn't have to wait long to find out: it was then that, much to her surprise, Kaya twisted her blade back into the standard grip and forced Ahsoka's right out of her hand. Then she guided it back to her belt with the Force, all without lifting a finger or shifting her focus from the duel at hand.

Ahsoka was impressed, but Kaya Ti spoke before she could open her mouth to say so. "Well, then you're being a pretty poor role model. And excuse me for saying this, but you're so out of right now that the only thing keeping me from whooping your butt is that you have almost ten years' worth of experience over me."

Ahsoka considered firing back a stinging reply, but held back as a wave of unexpected tiredness washed over her. She hadn't been sleeping well, and she didn't feel like she had the energy to sustain her side of an argument.

"I just... It's just hard trying to balance teaching you what you need to know and what will keep you alive when they don't always coincide. I need more from you probably faster than you're able to give it. And... I'm going to tell you something brutally honest, okay?"

Kaya Ti nodded, her hazel eyes heavy with empathy.

Ahsoka sat down on a nearby crate and motioned for her apprentice to join her. "What happened to Janira a few weeks back scared me. We came far too close to losing her, and she wasn't even up against the worst of what the Imperial Navy has to offer. If you find yourself up against an Inquisitor you're not ready to face with no way out..."

"I'll be ready. I have you to teach me."

Maybe, but it's not like I'm the best you could have.

"Still, I wouldn't be able to live with the consequences; knowing that it was my fault you weren't ready." Ahsoka sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's not easy having a Padawan."

"It's not easy being a Padawan," Kaya Ti retorted with a laugh. "But what is it with you always thinking you're going to let people down if things don't go exactly as you planned? You can let things loosen up a little, you know – having a little wiggle room and using it isn't a crime."

"No, but in this galaxy, playing it by ear can sometimes get you the same amount of jail time," Ahsoka said, exhaling a breath through her nose that she supposed could have been considered a laugh had she put more effort into it. "Especially with our next mission."

"Yeah. You've been holding that over my head for nearly twenty-four hours now. What's the big secret?"

"There really isn't one," Ahsoka said. "I just had to do some digging to make sure the source from my listening post was legitimate. But it turns out an old acquaintance of mine has come out of hiding to do some research, and he's found some leads that could be of interest to us."

"Where is he?"

Ahsoka hit a button on her wrist comm to project the image her contact "He'll be meeting us on Valunn."

Suddenly, Kaya Ti went as white as one of Ahsoka's lightsabers. "Valunn?" she choked out, her voice hardly rising above a whisper. "We're going to Valunn?"