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prongsisabadger · 3 years

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The Wolf Pack Chapter 4

I was gasping for air, my hands, face and back were sleek with sweat, but my grip on the saber didn't falter, and neither did my stance. I forced myself to take deep, controlled inhales and exhales. Forced myself to focus on my opponent and not the class cheering around me. In front of me Nahdar Vebb stood firm as ever, face tense with focus and body ready to attack. He had been my sparring partner for the semester, and soon the entire class had found just how capable we were. We were always the last to finish, we were very closely matched and there was no telling who would win each time. We had become good friends, but once we stepped into the training circle, all friendship would be gone. We were similar in many ways, stubborn, ambitious, persistent. Sparring with Nahdar was like fighting myself, I had to always be one step ahead or he would win. It was healthy rivalry that kept us close, we respected each other's strength and capability, but we cherished one another as well. He was the only one within my age group who hadn't immediately been afraid of me when I arrived at the temple, and I appreciated that.

"It's been a while now, Foreas. You should yield." He taunted as we engaged once again in a blur of saber blows.

"And put an end to all the fun? Where is your sportsmanship, Nahdar?"

Outside the ring, the doors to the training room opened, and in came three masters. They all stood with their backs to the wall, clearly not wanting to interrupt. Nahdar lost his focus for a second when he saw them. I knew he'd been trying to get the Masters' attention since our graduation was only a few years away. That was his last mistake. I took the opening he gave me and turning my saber I managed to disarm him. The spar was over.

We turned our sabers off and turned to bow before the masters.

Master Kit Fisto, Master Plo Koon and Master Luminara Unduli bowed back before starting a conversation with Master Yoda, who was our instructor for the day.

"That was a good move, Foreas. I should have kept an eye out." Said Nahdar beside me.

I took his extended hand and shook it with a smile.

"I'm not gonna lie, you had me in the first half. You sure gave me a run for my money."

He chuckled and shook his head, walking to the water dispenser and handing me a cup.

"Let's hope I get you next time, you are at a tie break right now." I took the cup eagerly and thanked him.

"I'll try my best not to disappoint."

"Do you think they got an eye on someone?" He whispered, pointedly looking nowhere but his cup.

"I think they are weighing out their options. There are two classes above us. They either have their sights on someone or they are deciding if it's better to wait for a new group of graduates before they choose a Padawan."

Nahdar finished his cup and sighed.

"Then Let's give them a show, shall we, Foreas?"

"It would be my pleasure, partner."

…

"Did you hear about the new kid?" I looked up from my military history text and saw Ahsoka standing over me. "He's a few years older than you and he just got accepted into the order."

"Isn't he a little old for that?" I asked going back to my text.

The day was really nice, and the gardens were especially quiet during noon. It was a perfect spot to read.

"He's supposedly got a pretty high M-count so that might be why." She answered, sitting down beside me and stretching her limbs out. "Apparently some master vouched for him in front of the council."

I hummed in response, not very interested in the new kid. Younglings arrived at the temple pretty often so it wasn't a rare sight.

"He's from Tatooine too, you know?"

"'Soka, I really don't care."

"You know? You really are a bore sometimes, Ari." She sighed.

"Someone's got to keep you out of trouble."

"That was not what you said when I suggested we sneak into the library's restricted area last week." She teased, knowing She had a point.

"Shut up."

…

My eyes were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Blaster fire flew in all directions and behind me, enemy fighters were gaining on me. The cruiser I had to protect was holding up, for now, but the enemy was relentless. Flying had never been my forte, but I would be damned if I let the enemy win. I would not be shot down, not today. I decided to pick up the pace and as soon as I had an opening I brought the ship to a screeching halt, making the enemy fly right past me. And now, they were right where I wanted them, before my guns. Five shots is all it took, and the enemy fighters came crashing down on top of their own cruiser.

"Good shot, Red 5. Your wingman is right behind you, keep tight formation and engage the enemy cruiser." Said Red Leader over the comlink.

"Roger that Red Leader, we are on our way." I answered. "You up for another round, Vabb?"

I could hear Nahdar's smile over the radio as he answered.

"Thought you'd never ask, Foreas."

Our flight simulation went swimmingly. We had achieved all of our goals and done so in a personal time record. We hung our helmets back into place and prepared to watch the next team take their turn. One of the pilots was the new kid from Tatooine, the one Ahsoka would not shut up about. He was ten, and I don't think I'd ever seen such wild flying in my short life. It was untamed, unorthodox, and downright scary at times.

Anakin Skywalker set a new record time that day.

…

The best of our year were asked to stay after saber training, Master Yoda had something he had to tell us. We had been selected, he told us. Nahdar, myself and four other younglings would be put with the year above us. We were advancing fast, and there was little more they could teach us if we stayed with our original group. But as always, the final decision fell onto us. And as expected of children our age, we all agreed readily without thinking much about it.

That is when things started getting hard for me. I started having less time to myself, less time to meet Ahsoka outside class or when we were turning in for the day. The pressure of keeping up with our seniors started to get to me, to most of us. In my case, the reason was that I didn't want to disappoint the masters, who had trusted I could keep up with the year above; I didn't want to disappoint Chief A'Koba, I didn't want to disappoint myself. It was rough, and I could see myself improving, but it still didn't feel like enough. I was still weaker, smaller, slower than the rest. My size wasn't a valid excuse to me and neither was my age.

It all started piling up, until one day, I couldn't go on anymore.

#TWP #fanfiction #star wars #the clone wars #commander wolffe #plo koon #captain rex #ahsoka tano #obi-wan kenobi #padawan!oc

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