“Defense, Karis! Hold your ground!” instructed Adala Sati as she watched her padawan jab at her opponent with her saber. Karis Par, ignoring her master, swung her lightsaber down and started inching it closer towards her opponent Lada Taul’s face. Adala could see her gritting her teeth.

“Karis, this is a defensive exercise. You need to practice both offense and defense,” said Adala, tsking her tongue. Karis turned around.

“But Master, the best defense is a good offense,” she whined. Adala sighed. Arguing with Karis was the same as trying to convince someone the color yellow doesn’t exist.

“Jedi are peacekeepers. We don’t need to be offensive all the time. Isn’t that right, Lada?” asked Adala, looking at her fellow knight Vori Yara’s padawan. Lada shyly pushed Karis’s training sabre away.

“Balance. Jedi are balanced,” said Lada, awaiting praise from Adala. Karis narrowed her eyes.

“Defense is for the weak that can’t keep up with the fight,” Karis said bluntly. Adala cocked her head.

“I would have thought you were one to learn from experience,” said Adala, holding her head up high. Karis glared at her. Perhaps Adala took it too far. She had to get the point across though. Adala sighed. Having suffered an almost lethal lightsaber injury, Karis wasn’t picking up as quickly since her recovery. Lack of effort and embarrassment from being grouped with the younger padawans held her back, and it was taking a toll on her training.

“Begin sparring,” said Adala, halfheartedly. She watched as Karis lunged at the young Mirialan, knocking her off guard. She held her sabre over her head and smashed it down, but was blocked by Lada’s horizontally positioned sabre. Lada pushed her off and stood back up, poised in a bird like position. She quickly maneuvered herself around Karis and struck her from behind, but was blocked but Karis’s quick reflexes. Lada threw swing after swing at Karis as Karis hastily backed up, but soon ran out of room. She attempted to counter swing, but Lada was slowly besting her.

“You’ve been training for two years more and you still can’t fight defensively?” asked Lada in an innocent manner. Karis felt adrenaline surge through her as she raised her arm.

“I’ll show you defense,” she gritted as Lada began to freeze.

“Karis no!” yelled Adala, rushing over. Lada’s face began to pucker. “Let her down.” Karis sighed angrily. She held on to her force hold for a few seconds before releasing Lada back onto the ground.

“Class dismissed,” said Adala hastily as she rushed Lada out of the training room. “What was that?” Karis hung her head.

“You’re letting your emotions guide your actions. You cannot let them take control,” reprimanded Adala. “Lada never-”

“Why don’t you make Lada a jedi knight?” said Karis sarcastically. Adala placed her hands on her hips.

“I’m not here to train Lada. I’m here to train you. Because I see potential in you. But unless you can take control of your feelings, you won’t become a Jedi.” said Adala. Karis glared at her.

“You always say the same thing. You never mean it,” said Karis angrily.

“If I didn’t mean it, you would be back on Earth right now,” Adala sighed. She knew she wasn’t making much progress with Karis. The girl had seen too much of the Dark Side at a young age, and she was at a high risk of being taken over. However Adala believed that Karis was the Chosen One. Her midichlorian levels were off the chart. Just kidding. Those prophecies never actually worked. But Karis did have power, although it would take a lot of work for her to channel it correctly.