The Edge of the Universe

XXXIV

Anakin's POV

The second trial was today and this morning we received the times to go into the 'arena'. It was the same place that we fought each other with lightsabers, there were 7 Jedi left including myself and we still had another trial after that and there was probably something we had to do after all these trials. 

The Jedi Knights left the training room to go to the arena but I didn't see them when they came back. Did that mean everyone had passed so far? Finally, at 9:00 pm I went into the small room that connected to the arena. Obi-wan was in there and he smiled at me when he saw me.

"I've been here the brief everyone," he explained sensing my silent question.

"Right, so who am I fighting?" I asked.

"Bakuuni, he was the old Battlemaster and he's quite experienced in hand to hand combat but he's not force sensitive," Obi-wan explained, "You will be allowed to let the force aid in your movements but you cannot push or pull him, if you get pinned down for 5 seconds then it's over and the same goes for him,"

"So I just need to pin him down for five seconds?" 

"Yes, it's not as easy as you think, he's had years of practice and doesn't need the force to have a strong punch or to predict what comes next," 

"I know,"

"One more thing, I need your lightsaber, just in case you're tempted to use it. I've taken all the other knights lightsabers,"

I took my lightsaber off my hilt and the force rushed through me as I held it but I placed it into Obi-wan's hand. A horn went off and I took a deep breath trying to get rid of my nerves.

"Good luck Anakin," Obi-wan called.

We both walked out the door and Obi-wan stood on the edge of the large mat as I stepped onto it, a tall muscular man stood on the other side and he was completely bald but had a full-grown beard. It was quite obvious he wasn't a Jedi but I knew from looking at him he had a lot of experience, I took another deep breath letting the force get rid of my nerves and help me focus.

Thankfully, they had a new commentator that didn't speak as much but did the introductions. The whistle blew and Bakuuni immediately rushed at me, I dodged his attacks at first but soon enough I had taken the defensive. I analyzed his fighting pattern while blocking his hits and after a few minutes I understood his technique, I went to punch him in the face but his caught my wrist and held it in a tight grip. I caught his punch and quickly jumped into the air and kicked my feet into his chest, he let go of my wrist and staggered back, I moved forward and quickly sent my own punches and kicks towards him that he had to block. I managed to land a few hits on him but they didn't seem to faze him, he caught my wrist again but I twisted around and grabbed his arm, I ducked under his other punch and kicked his legs out from underneath as I pulled his arm forward. He did a sort of frontflip and landed on his neck before the rest of his body landed on the mat, I quickly pinned him down and he desperately struggled against me. The alarm blew signalling the end of the match, I began to let go of him and stand back up but he grabbed my wrist and kicked me in the chest with both of his strong feet. I fell directly on my back and all the wind was knocked out of me, I saw Obi-wan rush onto the mat and tell Bakuuni that the match was over. I laid there for a few seconds looked up at the bright yellow lights on the ceiling catching my breath before I raised myself onto my elbows. 

All sound seemed to return to me and I could hear the crowd cheering, Obi-wan came over to me and offered a hand, I took it and he pulled me to my feet. I stumbled a little bit but after a second the dizziness disappeared. 

"Are you alright?" Obi-wan asked.

"Y-Yeah," I replied still trying to catch my breath after all the wind was knocked out of me.

Bakuuni came over and clapped me on the back, I coughed slightly but then quickly pretended to clear my throat.

"Sorry, 'oung Skywalkr', didn' 'ear the siren," Bakuuni said in his heavy Coruscanti accent which I still sometimes found hard to understand.

"It's fine," I replied.

Obi-wan had a slight Coruscanti accent since he had grown up here but his main accent was from his home planet Stewjon which I found much easier to understand. I followed Obi-wan off the training mat and into another room where 6 other Jedi were waiting, there was one person that hadn't passed this trial which was better than I had expected. The Jedi Council was already in the room and I stood with the other Jedi Knights as Windu performed his same 'good job' speech and then began talking about the final trial.

"The final trial is for Sarsee Tiin who was a Jedi Guardian and she was apart of the Temple security, so for the next trial you will be using the force to get rid of two waves of droids, it's simple and by far the easiest trial, but we will eliminate you if you are hit slightly and if you take too long,"  Windu explained.

"Is it a wave from either side or one wave and then a second on after that?" Adi Gallia asked.

"There will be one wave either side of you," he replied.

Some of the Jedi Knights exchanged looks with each other at the thought and uneasiness rose up in my chest but I brushed it away.

"The trial will be tomorrow morning and then finally the last part of this whole thing will happen and we'll have three worthy candidates to join the Council," 

We all left the room to repeat the same schedule of training for the next trial and with only 6 Jedi left everyone was training harder hoping for a chance to join the Council.