--Begin Act III--
"No, stand like this...there's the stance you need! See, look at that? Wasn't so hard, was it?" Asha's straw blonde hair ruffled as he shook his head, a relieved smile crossing his face as his right leg dropped back in line with his left, careful to make sure that he didn't lose his balance and knock Wendi over...or anyone else around him. His instructor walked to the front of the expansive, square shaped training room and thrust his hand forward with an open palm, the other maintaining a steady grip on the wooden training blade.
"FORWARD!" A resounding shout came from the group as they mimicked the motion, most able to hold onto their sabers without faltering, prompting a proud grin from the Champion.
"BACK!" The arm responsible for holding the saber cocked back, elbow thrusting to eliminate an invisible attacker that would have flanked them. Again the group did fairly well.
"DOWN!" The students crouched, then jumped forward a few inches, blades slamming hard onto the padded floor.
"EXCELLENT!" A few chuckles from the students bounced off the walls, Yerbol setting his saber down before addressing the afternoon close quarters combat class:
"I know this has been difficult for most of you, but I've seen a LOT of progress. Which means...I think I'm going let you out a bit early." The youngsters cheered in approval, but were quickly silenced when he followed up with:
"But that means we advance further tomorrow. Be ready for some simulated scenarios!"
"Simulated? As in-"
"No, you won't have to worry about the dogs this time. Wildlife won't be something you'll have to deal with as often as free-thinking enemies, unfortunately. Besides, Ede, you did just fine against Taral...that one time." The Twi'lek who spoke up shuddered a bit.
"Alright, that's enough. Go get some food! We burned about a bajillion calories today." Gleefully taking their sabers and chatting, the students filtered out, leaving their instructor to lean against the wall opposite of the training room entrance and blow out a contented sigh.
"This teaching thing hasn't been so bad." He mumbled to himself, looking around the empty room with a pang of mourning. It was actually becoming...well, fun. To think that he would have been thrust into an instructional role and gotten accolades not only from the Elders, but his students was unforeseen, but a welcome purpose. Much better than cavorting around the galaxy attempting to thwart power hungry maniacs or former Sith Lords with genocidal tendencies.
Yes. Much better.
In fact, "much better" appeared to be the overriding sentiment of the past six months. The Academy was flourishing at a rate that Yerbol hadn't expected nor the Elders, which meant that they were hurting for instructors. Thankfully over the past few months more experienced Force users have found Zinuthra, their stories riddled with the familiar overtones of betrayal, sorrow and pain that Bracknell forced on the galaxy about a year(!) ago. Former Knights, Inquisitors, Lords, Consulars and every other rank imaginable made appearances on the Qyaari homeworld, most of whom were grateful for the refuge and decided to be ordained members of the Qyaari. Some, however, left after a week or two, deciding that they would find their own way through the galaxy. Others left on more vehement terms, claiming that the Qyaari would fail as an order and that those who were "smart enough" to realize the failings of the fledgling order needed to leave while they could. The last group was of particular interest to Yerbol, seeing as in the latest Council of Elders meeting he and Ari had been asked to attend Malu alluded to an "underground network of Force users" that she had encountered in her first couple of weeks scouting for other Force users. The Elder had attempted to follow up on the whispering she had heard, but was confronted with a dead end at every turn. She speculated in this meeting that Force users who were rejecting the Qyaari might be fleeing to this "network" as an alternative to formalized structure. "After all," Malu pointed out "who can blame them? We're an Order of Force users. The last time there were Orders, they were blasted into oblivion." The Council decided that Malu should continue to investigate with some assistance from a handful of recently ordained Knights that needed field experience.
Other than those speculative rumors, most of the galaxy was surprisingly quiet...well, as quiet as a new government in it's first year could make it. There were riots to quell, embassies to establish, trade agreements to consolidate, rival governments attempting to wrest power from the Alliance, but Saresh steered through all of it with a firm and steady hand. More and more, however, Saresh's edicts were coming through the Vice Chancellor, one Lisan Won, a tall reed of a man that controlled the podium with precision. Whatever that meant for the Alliance was more than likely discussed behind closed doors, but the relative prosperity of a unified galaxy was slowly actualizing. Hope was the order of the day, which was a refreshing change.
He and Aria's relationship had changed, but only for the better. They were closer on every possible level two people could be, which was hard to imagine before they were married, seeing as he felt like they knew each other on an already intimate scale. After their two week adventure of planet hopping and cutting themselves off from everyone imaginable, they returned to Zinuthra rejuvenated, which made the Council all too eager to send them into the classroom. Occasionally one or the other would be asked to accompany a training mission or act as an ambassador for the Elders when none of them were able to make it to Coruscant or Dromund Kaas. The past couple of months the duo had seen more time away from the classroom on diplomatic assignments and supervising missions. More and more Yerbol believed that the Elders were grooming them for...something. They were tight-lipped when asked, although Matt let slip that "everyone needed to train for a higher purpose", prompting a glare from Cheriss and a punch in the arm from Aliel. Nevertheless, it was nice to have structure and operate within stability for the first time in...well, in his lifetime.
Yerbol had found his way back to their quarters and was about to undress when his datapad chimed softly with a new message, which was read to him aloud by the "non-invasive VI" Manso had installed on his datapad in order to test the "validity" of putting the program on ALL the Academy datapads. It's soft and oddly seductive female voice(something Yerbol would have to address with Manso next time he saw the boy...or young man now, right?) gave him the following information:
"Meet me in the meditation grove tonight at eight. Have a job for you. M."
Malu? What did she want? And why the secrecy? Just then Aria's datapad pinged from across the room.
"So we're going behind the Council's back?" He mused aloud, their door opening after the question to reveal a certain wife he hadn't seen for most of the day...or yesterday for that matter.
"And where for Force's sake have you been?" Yerbol said with a teasing smirk, walking to his lover before planting a kiss on her lips.
"It's like my wife suddenly...vanished."
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El Taco Taco
The Elvenqueen