She stepped out into the dripping light of the Dromund Kaas sky. She could smell the swamp, even inside the small, sheltered city. At least today had managed to be warm. She rubbed her brow and rolled her shoulders back, attempting to get comfortable in her armor. She let her hand fall to the single saber at her side and let its company calm her. It wasn’t exactly obvious when another Sith would decide to attack her.

“Are you ready, Jade?”

Jade’s eyes flickered up and met the orange-tinted pair. She arched a brow.

“Let’s get this thing over.” Jade stepped down, looking at Kotrana darkly from underneath her short red hair that moved in front of her eyes with movement. She brushed it away carelessly, feeling the three scars touching the tips of her fingers. The scars traveled from her forehead, across her left eye, and to her chin. She frowned at its touch and stepped outside the bounds of the Kaas city. Kotrana turned to her, opening her arms wide.

“Pick your arena, scarface.”

“Never heard that creative name before,” Jade chimed, looking around.

“And how about we make this interesting?”

Jade’s green eyes flickered back to her with mild interest. Keria smirked darkly.

“How about…oh, I don’t know, we don’t use the Force?”

Jade’s eyes narrowed. She knew this game. She knew what Kotrana was trying to goad her into giving up. The single advantage Jade had over Kotrana was her mastery of the Force. In strength, no other female could match Kotrana. She practically looked like a man with her muscled arms and tall figure. But Jade also knew that if she refused, it would show her own weakness. She’d have to go about this carefully, skilled and crafted words to confuse the hulking rancor of a girl.

“Maybe.” Or just stiffly say a single word. Jade figured that’d have to do for now as she gestured to a small hill to their right. “Down the hill there’s a rather flat place. We could fight there.”

“Without the Force?”

“What? Can’t you use the Force? Are you scared of me defeating you without even getting in arm’s length?”

Kotrana scowled. “Of course not.”

Gently, Jade smirked at the Sith, having to almost look up to her due to her daunting height. “Then I wouldn’t think that’d be a problem. You can just use your brute force to run right on through my Force, eh?”

“A battle of strength.”

“Oh, I’m plenty strong, gizak. How about you?”

“If you’re strong, then fight me with no Force to aid you.”

“Tempting.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It certainly isn’t a ‘no’.”

Kotrana grinned then headed down the hill. Jade’s smirk grew smug at her crafty word play. She strode behind Kotrana and the two stepped off the beaten path and wandered down the hill a little way further. Eventually, they paused in some land that was relatively dry and turned to face one another.

“I’m going to be her apprentice, Jade.” Kotrana hissed as she fell into her fighting stance, Shien Form, ready to use her strength and offensive abilities to bring an end to her opponent. Jade simply shrugged and chuckled softly.

“We’ll see, I suppose.” Her stance fell into the aggressive Ataru stance, focusing on agility in offense rather than strength. Her lightsaber hummed to life and she moved the tip towards Kotrana.

“Ready to die, you annoying little acolyte?”

“Not quite.”

Kotrana snarled and charged forward, slamming her single lightsaber into Jade’s. The strength that followed the blow made Jade stagger before she dived to the side, her opponent’s saber slicing the ground swiftly before she turned on her heel to attack once more. She leapt into the air, coming down directly. Jade ducked under her, turning to land a back kick to Kotrana’s spine. She simply grunted and turned around with a grin. Jade blinked and quickly leapt back to avoid Kotrana’s swing. Right, so, brute force clearly isn’t going to work on brute force. Jade scowled. She had wanted to see if she could beat Kotrana without the Force even before Kotrana mentioned it. She was now realizing that was easier said than done. How could she have forgotten how strong this moron was?

Kotrana jumped forward, Jade quickly lifting her lightsaber to block the attack. The force sent Jade flying backwards, slamming into a tree with a bitter grimace. She cursed bitterly before pushing away from it. Kotrana came with a heavy swing, slicing just above Jade’s head as she ducked skillfully under it. Jade jabbed forward with her lightsaber, stabbing at Kotrana’s stomach. The gizak moved to the side, the humming blade just slicing the edge of Kotrana’s skin. Kotrana scowled and came down with a heavy elbow to Jade’s shoulder. Jade could feel Kotrana draw from the Force, pulling at it with her anger and hatred. She ground her teeth together with the pain and jumped away before her opponent could bring her lightsaber to follow the attack up. Kotrana clucked her tongue and looked to Jade who fell in the more defensive Soresu stance.

“I’m just getting warmed up.”

Jade wiped her brow, grinning wildly back at the Sith. “Yeah? I haven’t even started doing that yet.”

“You’re the one getting beaten up.” Kotrana objected almost childishly.  Jade rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“How cute. It talks.”

With annoyance and rage, Kotrana dashed forward then jerked to the side, catching Jade with a strong hook to the face. Jade staggered, frustrated her slip hadn’t worked. She wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and sighed. She uttered another curse and ducked under Kotrana’s wild swing. Kotrana, however, then followed up with a knee that clocked Jade in the nose. Jade cursed louder and landed a swift kick to Kotrana’s gut, shoving the brute back. She rubbed her nose and straightened.

Note to self: stop being an idiot when you’re fighting, Jade thought bitterly. She rolled her shoulders back then immediately regretted it. It was cut open. She forgot that. Time to get serious.

Kotrana lunged forward, slicing downward with her lightsaber. Jade sidestepped, carefully out of range of another hook or knee, before stepping forward and landing a blow with her left hook to Kotrana’s nose and jumping back once more.

Jump in and quickly jump back out. That’s how you win a fight. Don’t be open. Don’t be a bloody moron.

Kotrana scowled, using her weight to throw her saber with a giant swing towards Jade’s head. Jade leaned back, the blade’s tip narrowly missing her neck before stepping forward again and kicking at Kotrana’s knee. She heard a sickening snap but was too slow in moving out, and Kotrana came with a backhand to her chin. It was as if Jade hadn’t just blown out Kotrana’s knee.

Jade rubbed her new injury, having moved out once more. She eyed Kotrana and the amount of weight she put on the injured leg. It’s true—Kotrana hadn’t seemed to notice that terrible pain should be burning through every nerve. With a frown, Jade turned back to Kotrana.

Another note to my idiotic self: start working on your muscle mass.

Jade let her red saber fall to her side, watching Kotrana with keen eyes. The two of them circled each other, Kotrana’s knee moving in unsafe ways, frequently echoing pops and snaps. Jade let her lip curl upwards with disgust.

The blonde Sith jerked forward with a kick towards Jade’s leg. Jade successfully moved away from it just in time for Kotrana to throw herself forward with a punch to the face. Jade sucked in her breath, knowing full well it was going to hurt. She took a step further back and realized Kotrana had her lightsaber under the feint of a punch. This dawned on the Sith a moment too late, and Jade was awarded with a large gash across her gut, slicing clean through her armor. Luckily she was able to move back slightly and the armor softened the blow. Nevertheless, blood trickled out from the opened hole and Jade grabbed it with anger.

“Screw you.” she hissed. Kotrana snickered as Jade stepped back again. How was she only an acolyte, again? Did she do some serious squats and bench presses when she was three weeks old? Jade frowned at the thought. Kotrana must’ve been a gross muscle baby.

“Ready to die, little bug?”

Jade held her wound and then smirked. “Not quite yet.” She threw her hand up, the Force slamming against Kotrana and throwing her into a tree. It quickly gripped her neck and lifted her further off the ground, her back grinding against the bark of the tree. Jade straightened with a grin.

“Never said I wasn’t going to use the Force. Besides, you should’ve been able to block part of that, if you were a true Sith.”

Kotrana grabbed at her neck, her lightsaber falling to the ground as she gasped for air. Jade waited until she passed out before letting her fall to the ground. She looked at her wound and put her hand against the blood.

“Med bay. Right. We have one of those, don’t we?” she muttered as she started back to the city, grabbing Kotrana’s lightsaber in the process.

As she strode into the Academy nestled deep within the city, many apprentices and acolytes paused to witness her arrival. She felt a swell of pride and stood a little straighter, though her hand remained pressed against her bleeding gut. Whispers and murmurs filled the halls.

“I have defeated the she-rancor!” Jade cried a bit dramatically, throwing Kotrana’s saber to the ground. “She is passed out in the woods for all to see! This is her lightsaber, for any who doubt me.”

“How could you have defeated her?” objected one student, stepping forward. Jade’s cruel green eyes glinted and turned to him. He wavered in his stance.

“Simple,” she took a step closer, pulling her hand from her wound. “I just reached out,” she moved her bloodied hand to the boy’s neck, who shivered slightly and wished he hadn’t spoken. “And grabbed her neck.” Her fingers closed around his flesh when someone called her name.

“Jade!”

Jade’s bloody fingers brushed his throat as she whipped around and wrapped it back against her oozing side. Her eyes found where the voice had come from swiftly, and one brow arched.

The woman was only slightly shorter than Jade, with brown, wavy hair pulled into a bun atop her head. Intense brown eyes stared Jade down, her body small and lean. What her body seemed to lack in physical presence, her attitude and authority made up for.

“So you came back, hm?”

“Clearly.”

“Don’t talk to me in such a manner, Jade. You are my apprentice now, you must speak to me as your Master.”

“So you’re the one we fought over.” Jade sized her up, wondering how on earth the small little woman was able to make the title of “Master.”

“I am indeed. And let me say, I am quite impressed with your performance.”

“Yeah, yeah. You, like everyone else, didn’t think I’d be coming back.”

The Master blinked. “How perceptive of you, Jade. No, I did not think you’d be coming back. If you did, I assumed maybe in a body bag. But you did, as I had been secretly hoping, and proved the lot of this Academy wrong. You are proving to be quite a Sith, Jade.”

“Thanks?”

“Kneel, now, Jade, to your new Master. Declare your allegiance.”

Jade didn’t move. “I’m not the kneeling sort.”

“Excuse me?”

“And I’m sorta bleeding. Kneeling to you? I’m not sure if that’d help all that much.”

“How dare you! Apprentice, you will—!”

“Is this acolyte bothering you, Master Vryn?”

Jade glanced to the newcomer. He stood tall, taller that Jade’s 5’9”. His face was smooth and un-cracked with the presence of the Dark Side. Raven hair was ruffled on his head, and a curled strand would occasionally fall before his green eyes. A small goatee sat under his lip, resembling the sharp teeth that sprouted from his armor along his shoulder blades. He was clad in black and his eyes bore into Jade with a smile on his lips. Jade immediately hated him.

“Nothing, Darth Thaddeous, we were simply talking.”

“Stop looking at me.” Jade growled. Thaddeous smirked and arched a brow.

“Stop looking at you? Why would I do that?”

“It’s weird. Stop.”

“Jade! That is no way to talk to a Darth.”

“It is quite all right, Master Vryn.” His eyes turned back to Jade. “And what is your name, acolyte?”

“Apprentice, actually.”

“Oh?”

Jade nodded and smiled smugly, motioning to Master Vryn. She didn’t look all that pleased with Jade, and almost looked horrified when she gestured to her so flippantly.

“Then, apprentice, what is your name?”

“Maybe I’ll give it to you when you’ve earned it, gizak.”

“Gizak?”

“Jade, we’re leaving.” Vryn said sharply, grabbing Jade’s arm and yanking her back. Jade smirked darkly.

“Yes, gizak,” she cried as she was being dragged down a hallway. “It’s that small little obnoxious lizard that eats everything and is such a pain in the—”

The door slammed shut and Vryn threw Jade inside her office. Jade stumbled, her hand catching against the table and being pushed hard against her wound. She winced and jerked away, whirling to face Vryn.

“How dare you,” her new Master hissed with bitterness and anger. “You completely humiliated me and muddied my name!”

“What?” Jade look at Vryn with shock. Sure, she acted sort of like a stuck up jerk, but hell, the ground was dirty and she wasn’t about to kneel to someone she didn’t know.

“You didn’t kneel, you spoke out against a Darth! You continued taunting him even though you’re simply an acolyte!” She jerked her finger into Jade’s face. “You scum! You’re no better than the witches from your planet! You’re no better than Republic waste! I could very well just send the execution order to your family now—”

“No.” Jade was on her knee in an instant, still holding her bleeding side and wincing as the muscles around it tensed and folded over the open wound. Her breath caught and her pride threatened to choke her out. She swallowed hard and her angry eyes glared at the ground.

“Master. Please. Have mercy.” She did her best to keep the hatred from her voice and her eyes looked up to Vryn. The hatred had vanished in a moment’s notice, sewn with fake tears and a startled look. Inwardly, Jade hated herself for playing this game, but found no way around it.

“I will be your sword, Master Vryn. I will follow you and go where you point. I pledge my allegiance to you. I will not soil your name anymore.”

Vryn arched a brow and scoffed. For a moment, Jade thought her disguise had somehow failed her.

“Very good. Stand, apprentice. We shall discuss your first mission.”

Jade nodded and stood, wiping under her eye as if worried there was a tear underneath it. She pulled her anger inward, keeping it from touching the Force and tipping off her new-found Master. With dutiful eyes hiding her chilled bitterness, she listened to Vryn’s plan with not a sarcastic word on her lips.

 

(DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Star Wars universe. Before I seek to publish Saber, I will meet the necessary requirements and contact Lucas Arts. I own Jade Cavvar’s story, do not steal. Also, if you have ideas for the titles of these chapters, I’d gladly hear them.)

Chapter 11 Excerpt —>