Sparring

Sera grunted as she dragged herself off the ground and dusted herself off. Come on, Khan. Stop getting distracted by the pretty girl. She’s a pain in the ass and she’s dragging the good name of bartenders the galaxy over in the mud every time you can’t land a hit on her. Stop focussing on how good her legs look and teach her a lesson! She grabbed her practice blade out of the dirt and readied her battle stance. She does have nice legs though. Nice tits too.

“What are you smiling at?” Shan said with a scowl.

“Nothing,” Sera said with a grin. “Why? You worried?” She’s straight, remember?

“Ha! As if I’d be worried facing off against an opponent like you. You can’t even hold your own against a handful of street thugs.” Shan smiled her smug, self-satisfied smile.

I mean, it doesn’t have to be an obstacle if you don’t want it to b-- No! Bad Sera! “At least I know how to keep my weapon in my hands in a fight,” she said, quiet enough for only Shan’s ears to hear, enjoying the flash of annoyance in her sparring partner’s eyes.

Shan’s response, which looked like it would have been good given the deep lungful of air she took to deliver it, was cut off by Master Vrook clearing his throat. “Apprentice, we are not here to stand around chatting all day in between your lacklustre performances,” the old man said testily. “Assume battle positions and get to it.”

They both dropped into their stances, Shan looking a little shamefaced. Sera kept her blade pointed low and away from her opponent, still uncomfortable using a weapon against another person. Shan moved forward and she brought her sword up to parry the attack, concentrating on using her footwork to keep herself stable and out of harm’s way. She thought she was getting better but she was certain that all involved could pick up on her lack of enthusiasm for being drafted into the Jedi Order.

They circled each other, blades flicking out and being batted away, Sera’s muscles growing sore from the repetitive motion, sweat rolling down her brow. She saw an opening and lunged forward to take advantage of it, conscious of the need to pull back at the last second to avoid injuring the younger woman. Shan flinched and blocked the attack with a surprising amount of force, kicking Sera’s legs out from under her viciously, a flicker of true fear in her eyes. Sera landed on the ground with a heavy thud and just stayed there, wondering how the hell any of this was worth it. Hope they’re going to buy me a new ass after all this is done…

Vrook sighed and Sera waited to be told to get up and get on with it. But a shuffle of feet and some poorly masked whispering caught her attention instead. She glanced up, her curiosity getting the better of her. A young kid in robes was delivering a message to Master Vrook. Another Council meeting? Or did Master Vrook forget to put his tighty-whities away properly and a stray kath hound pup is parading around the courtyard with them? She noticed Shan looking at her curiously, the fear still evident in her body language but subsiding, replaced by bemusement. Sera struggled to her feet, slightly embarrassed. The floor was getting kinda hard anyway…

“Padawan, Apprentice, I have some business to attend to. Keep up your drills until I get back. Don’t wander off and don’t bother the other Apprentices.” This was said to Sera. “I’ll be back soon.”

Sera stuck the tip of her practice sword into the ground and leaned on it as she watched the Jedi Master go. Maybe she could convince Ms Goody-Two-Shoes to let her wander off to the kitchens or somewhere. Maybe find a shady spot under a tree by the river. Throw herself bodily into the water to cool off. She pulled the fabric of her tank top away from her sweaty skin, flapping it absentmindedly.

She felt someone’s gaze on her. Padawan Shan’s eyes were fixed on her exposed cleavage, tongue unconsciously darting out to lick her lips. Sera felt herself stand up a little straighter, tiredness falling off her like an old coat. She bent her head to catch Shan’s eye.

“See something you like, Padawan?” She grinned devilishly.

Shan turned blood red and Sera couldn’t stop herself from bursting out laughing. Not so straight after all! Ha-ha!

Shan looked furious. “We are supposed to be working on your fighting technique! Not…” She flailed helplessly. “Whatever the hell it was that you were doing!”

Sera gasped in mock indignation. “What I was doing? Ms Shan, I would be perfectly happy to continue our drills. If only you could keep your eyes off my tits for two seconds!”

Shan actually stamped her foot. “I did nothing of the sort!”

“Ha! Did too! I saw you!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Fine!” Shan picked up her practice sword. “When I beat you, you will admit that I did nothing untoward. Deal?”

Sera loosened her own blade from the hard ground of the practice ring. “Ha! That’s only if you beat me!”

She darted forward without warning, fighting in earnest now that something important was at stake. Shan fought back just as fiercely, determined to defend the unsullied purity of her mind. Sera got in close, not bothering with proper technique, aiming stinging blows at Shan’s shoulders and thighs to distract her long enough to grab her sword out of her hand. Shan had the same idea, slapping the flat of her blade against Sera’s weak wrist. She winced and let her sword drop, ducking as if to grab it, only to flick a handful of sand into Shan’s eye’s and tackle her round her middle. She bore the both of them to the ground, grabbing Shan’s sword by the blade, twisting it out of her grip and tossing it away.

Shan growled and kicked Sera off of her, scrabbling to her feet. “You cheated!”

Sera kept her legs coiled beneath her, ready for an attack. “It’s not cheating if I win!”

Shan pounced, swinging a fist for Sera’s head that she only just managed to dodge. They grappled in the dusty ring, neither quite managing to gain an advantage over the other. Shan had slightly more heft to Sera’s wiry build, a fact that she would make fun of Shan for if the woman wasn’t currently trying to get her into a chokehold, but Sera was more a little more experienced and quicker on her feet. She slipped out of the chokehold, reversing her grip and pinning Shan to the ground, her body buzzing with repeated contact with some of the defining features of that heftier build.

“Come on, pretty girl, admit it!” she said, her lips pressed close to Shan’s ear. “You like the sight of a ripe, womanly bosom as much as I do.”

Shan grunted in frustration, wriggling to free herself from Sera’s grip. “Never!” She sank her teeth into Sera’s arm and growled like an animal, eliciting a yelp from her captor.

They both squealed as icy water crashed over their heads. Sera looked up into the disapproving face of Master Vrook, an empty bucket in his hands. Apparently, his errand hadn’t taken him long.

~~~

“I don’t think I can adequately express how disappointed I am in you both.”

Sera shifted her leg surreptitiously where she was kneeling. Well, sitting. Sit-kneeling. She was technically on her knees next to Shan while Master Vrook paced back and forth in front of them but her legs were folded beneath her and she was sat on top of them. She shifted some more. It wasn’t very comfortable. Shan didn’t seem to be having any trouble but Sera’s left leg and hip, in particular, were aching almost to the point of distraction. Maybe I’m just getting old, the decrepit twenty-eight year old thought.

“Apprentice Khan I expected this kind of behaviour from,” he said with a hard look in Sera’s direction. “But I didn’t expect you to be baited into it so easily, Padawan Shan. Perhaps you are not as ready for the responsibilities we have given you as we all thought.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bastila’s face turning red, her eyes blinking rapidly as if to hold back tears.

“Hey!” Sera interjected, pointing her finger accusingly at the old Master. “What do you mean you expected this kind of behaviour from me?”

“Apprentice Khan, be still! I will get to you in time!”

“And then you got me sitting here on a hard ass floor after running around and jumping through hoops all day,” she said as brattily as she could muster. “And before that you make me sit on my ass reading bullshit from long-dead weirdoes who probably never even talked to a girl, like, what the fuck, man?”

“Apprentice!”

“Fuck you! You’re not my father!”

Vrook’s face turned an interesting shade of purple. “Apprentice, you are to run twenty laps around the Enclave and deliver a five-page essay reflecting on your behaviour to my office by final bell today. Dismissed!”

He stormed off, leaving them kneeling in the dust. Sera shifted her weight to her right to clamber up, only to find Bastila, already vertical, holding a hand out to help her up. Sera took it gratefully and was hauled to her feet. She was stopped from making any further comment by a light touch to her arm, followed by a warm glow flowing into her, soothing the sharp pain in her wrist and easing the bite mark.

“Thank you,” Sera said simply.

“Not a problem.” Bastila looked at her curiously as if she didn’t know what to make of Sera.

Sera just smiled back blandly.

“Well, I suppose I should let you get on with what you need to do. Master Vrook will expect you to still complete all of your duties on top of the punishment he’s given you.”

Sera laughed. “I’m not running round the Enclave like an idiot. I’m going to find a shady spot on the riverbank and relax for the rest of the day.”

Bastila looked shocked. “But your punishment!”

“Nah, fuck that. I did all that bullshit in Army camp. Besides, my leg is tired and it needs to rest. Vrook can stick that in his pipe and smoke it.”

Bastila stared at her with open mouth and wide eyes as if she couldn’t decide if she was scandalised or impressed. Probably both.

“Would you like to join me down by the river?” Sera said, deciding to take a chance.

“I’d love to.” The words, soft and warm, came out of Bastila’s mouth with surprising ease. She blinked as she realised what she just said. “Ah! Well, that is…” The younger woman scowled. “I might come by later to make sure you aren’t bothering the locals,” she said sternly. “A-and to help you with your essay later. If you need it.”

Sera felt herself smiling, heart light. “I’ll be waiting.”

*****

Just a tiny thing I wrote while I should have been working.