Inheritance (Flashback)

[Wit]

Ronin grinned widely, as he often did after one of his "duels" with Val. Though this had been the first time they had dueled with actual sabers, it was not the first time they had taken part in little contests of their own. Sprints, pitting their control of the Force against each other, or even sparring with small sticks, they had been going on like this for a long time.

And just as he was used to being bested by his friend in physical contests, he also knew her well enough to know what that look on her face meant. That mischievous grin had been the forerunner of a great deal of trouble for the two of them on a number of occasions.

"You're gonna get us in trouble again aren't you?" A grin spreading on his face, Ronin tossed the training saber back to Val. Though he knew they might end up getting in trouble, he couldn't help himself, these little adventures of their's were too much fun to just walk away from. "I guess you already have an idea, don't you?"

 

[Sreeya]

"Why yes I do."

She suddenly went into serious mode, opening her bag and pulling out a small box. She kept it closed for now, but put it up near Ronin's nose.

"Have a sniff. This, my friend, contains some of the foulest smelling stink bombs in the galaxy. My plan is that we set them off inside the temples. With any luck, we'll get a council member and hilarity will ensue. Normally I wouldn't involve you cuz..no offense, but you're usually a snail. But! Since you learned that Force Speed technique, we'll be able to make a quick getaway."

Val slung the bag over her shoulders, looking around with a serious gaze on her face.

"All right, we need to coordinate the operation with great care. Failure is not an option. The main entrance is too risky, so we have to sneak in through a side door. You can keep watch while I set them off. Oh and Ronnie..for the love of god, PLEASE don't stop to have a snack in the middle of it. No pies or cakes or whatever else you can get your hands on. This is important. Got it?!"

She felt like a military general at this rate, but the glint in her eyes retained that notorious gaze it always had before she executed one of these 'missions'.

 

[Wit]

Taking a sniff of the contents of the box, Ronin immediately pulled back, the horrendously foul smell bringing him close to barfing out the contents of his recently finished snack. "That is just disgusting. Where in the world did you manage to get those? Actually never mind, I'm better off not knowing."

As Val began etching out her plans for how to pull off the prank, Ronin couldn't help but smile at her serious expression and the official manner in which she spoke. As she finished he almost burst out laughing but managed to contain his laughter. Standing at attention he gave her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am."

 

[Sreeya]

Val grinned as he nodded obediently. She opened the box and gave him two eggs that had holes poked through them that had time to bake in the sun. The reek was horrendous, but nothing compared to when they would be cracked. As for her, she had some small bottles with household ammonia in it. She bade him to follow her, sneaking around the temple. The entrances were bustling with activity, which meant climbing in from a window was the only option. Val quickly broke into a run, jumping up onto a higher ledge with her acrobatic abilities alone. She glanced down at Ronin.

"Come on! Use Force Jump!"

He was skilled with the Force, and she knew it would take him no time to get it down. In the meantime, Val had to keep glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one saw them. This was a risky procedure that was very un-Jedi-like behavior, and one she knew could get them in trouble. As she watched Ronin, she felt a pang of guilt for dragging him into her rebellious activities all the time. On second thought, he always volunteered to come, so maybe it wasn't that bad after all...right?

 

[Wit]

Holding the eggs as far away form him as possible, Ronin began making his way forward. Careful not to break them he placed them carefully in a pocket in his robes before looking up to see Val jumping gracefully up to the ledge. A little envious of her physical abilities, he got ready to jump up to the edge himself. She had always been way better than him in such things, better than most padawans and younglings their age actually. He had always been more inclined towards Force skills, always been good at them. At least now he could use them to keep up with her.

Bending his knees a little he gathered the Force around his knees, strengthening them, enveloping them in it's power. As he launched himself off the ground, he used the Force to make himself go higher than he would normally have, the Force aiding his ascent.

Landing next to Val he tunred to face her with a grin, "So, where do we begin?"

 

[Sreeya]

Val bristled with envy as he effortlessly matched her skills by applying the Force. She always wondered why she never had such a connection to it. Although she had made up for what she lacked, she couldn't help but be a little jealous of his abilities. However, Val was too hyped up to ponder on such things. As he asked what they would be doing, she grinned widely. She placed an arm around his shoulder.

"We begin now. HAVE AT IT!"

With a wink, she simply fell backwards in through the window. Halfway through the fall, she expertly pivoted and landed like a cat on the ground. She was on the move immediately, busting out the tiny bottles. Val snuck past padawans and masters, tossing a bottle at the end of the hallway. Upon collision, the putrid stench immediately exploded into the air. She continued down the hall, tossing one into a training room. For good measure, she whipped out a bag of disgusting rotten sea food containing crab, octopus and other assortments of leftovers clumped into a juicy mess. She unleashed the contents into the training room as well. Val wasn't done just yet, heading straight for the council halls in the temple. She didn't check to see if anyone was there, throwing two bottles in before turning tail and running in the opposite direction. She had to keep from laughing out loud as groans of disgust began to ring out throughout the temple.

 

[Will]

Master Huang Karasu stood over the child as she went trough the stances of the fifth Kata of Juyo. She held the training sabre well, flowing through the motions.

She was the council member's latest student, and, at the moment, he was disappointed. She had potential...but was not reaching it. He would make her reach it though. There was a reason he was one of the top trainers here.

She was almost exhausted. She had been running through the first five kata for nearly five hours, each time told where to improve. When she reached the edge, Huang would duel her. She would learn to operate even at the brink of collapse.

As she moved, Huang's mind wandered to his last padawan, Hector, who had petulantly refused the blade, focussing wholly on the force. Maybe that's why he started this one on the blade rather than simple force techniques.

''Again, Padawan. You don't flow enough. Feel the blade, let it become an extension of your ver-''

With a sickening squelch, Huang's robes, face and hair were plastered with rotten seafood. His head snapped to the door as he threw off his outer robe, shedding down to only his vest and trousers. His nose wrinkled as the scent assailed his nostrils as he wiped the juices off his face. His padawan stopped, shocked, almost laughing. She did well to keep her composure.

He pulled tentacles from his hair, flicking them against the wall, as he rushed out the door, espying one of the new batch of padawans running down the hall, away from the council chambers.

''Padawan!'' He called out, no anger in his voice, for, as ever, his voice was void of telling emotion, giving chase, eating the distance on his long legs. He was catching, but not as quickly as he thought he would have been.

 

[Wit]

After seeing Val run off in one direction, Ronin had jumped down to the floor and headed in the other direction. Running quickly to the edge of the vast corridor, he had started moving forward until he noticed a pair of large doors on either side of the corridor some distance in front of him. Upon reaching then he realized that they led to a pair of training chambers, currently full of people hard at work.

Noticing the number of people within and suddenly realizing how much trouble they could get into, Ronin started to question whether he should do this or not. But then he remembered that Val had already started doing her part and her enthusiasm reminded him of his own and he realized that he could not back out now. With that thought he moved to stand in front of the doors and bringing forth the eggs launched one into each room, throwing them with all his might and using a little help from the Force to guide them to the center of each room.

Not waiting to see if the eggs had exploded or how people were reacting to it, he turned around and ran off to find Val. As he moved he could just hear the shouts of disgust coming from behind him. Overcome by excitement once more, all signs of fear and doubt gone, he began running faster, making use of the Force to increase his speed.

But in his excitement he didn't notice Val as she rounded a corner and suddenly appeared right in front of him. He hadn't been keeping an eye in front of him, concentrating more on laughing and keeping an eye out for any followers. So he was too late in his attempt to try and stop himself and crashed right into Val.

As the two of them fell to the floor in a heap, Ronin banged his head against something hard which turned out to be Val's shoulder. Pushing himself off the ground the two of them began to disentangle themselves, Ronin rubbing the side of his head. "Ow! My head." But in the next instance all thoughts of the pain in his head vanished as he noticed a shadow fall over them.

Looking up he saw a tall man looking down at the two of them. Recognizing him at once as Master Huang Karasu, Ronin froze in apprehension and fear. Looking once at Val he turned to face the Jedi Master once more, eyes full of fear and dreading what might happen to them, "G..Good Morning Master."

 

[Sreeya]

Val ducked into a crook of the hallway, jumping out once all the padawans had rushed past her. She laughed out loud at the results of her ingenious plan. This was until she heard the cry of 'padawan!' ring out. Val did not glance back, but she knew she was in trouble. The young Jedi rushed down the hallway, a group of younglings blocking her way. She immediately glanced to the side, taking a running start. As she had displayed earlier, her thin frame hopped into the air, her feet lightly touching down on the adjacent wall. Val ran across the wall, clear above the heads of the padawans in front of her and landed on her feet. She looked back and grinned at the shocked gazes behind her.

She broke out into a run almost immediately after, laughing at her victory. Val kept glancing over her shoulder, though she was sure she had gotten away. One more turn and she would be able to run out of the temple without being caught. The cries and shouts erupted all around her, only reminding her that the situation had gotten out of hand. She looked around for Ronin but hadn't spotted him yet.

"Where is he..."

Val placed her hand on the wall and practically skidded into the new hall way, once again running across the wall and jumping down to avoid traffic jams. She looked over her shoulder one more time and turned back to see Ronin abruptly show up. Her eyes widened, but she had no time to avert the collision. She ran into him full force, causing her to topple over.

"Owww..Ronnie!!"

She struggled to shuffle around, having trouble getting his massive body off of her.

"Ouch Ronnie you're on my hair! Christ..get..on..a..treadmill..!"

As he meekly said 'good morning', Val stopped struggling. She glanced up at the towering Master standing above them. She recognized him because of his renown skills with the saber. He looked absolutely terrifying with his piercings, tattoos and yellow eyes. To top it off he had crab juice and bits of sea food in his hair and did not look pleased in the least. Val quickly untangled herself from Ronin and bowed her head, not having the courage to rise to her feet.

"S-Sorry...master.."

Val cast a sideways glance at Ronin, mouthing him an apology as well. She had dragged him into this mess.

 

[Will]

He had to admit the girl had some small skill in ataru, it seemed, leaping from the walls. Of course, Huang was a council member, and some said the next swordsmaster. He leapt over the younglings, sailing through the air as he span in a flip, landing soundlessly as he gave chase to the bouncing padawan.

He rushed around the corner, finding the padawan tangled with another padawan...Ronin, was his name. Trained by Talzea. The flush of guilt on his face gave him away to the young master instantly. Seems the girl had dragged him into this. As her face turned to him, he recognised her. Valena Cross, student of...Weisheng Winters.

This was what they were producing? This was the state of the Jedi now? No decorum, running around, more like animals than Jedi. He sighed slightly, pulling a tentacle and a claw from his hair. Sometimes, he despaired for the order. Hopefuls like these, not taking their lessons to heart. His eyes pierced into them, the look cold, putting them in their place.

''Come with me.'' He held up his hands, making grabbing gestures.

Using the force, he pulled on one of each of the padawan's ears, dragging them behind him as he strode back to his training room, where his padawan still stood, dumbfounded.

''You're done for the day, padawan. I shall see you tomorrow morning.''

Huang finally released them, standing over them.

''That is no way for a Jedi to behave. We are the guardians of peace, examples of the greatest good to the rest of the galaxy. We do not lower ourselves to simple practical jokes! Such things are not acceptable. Look at your masters. They do not run around, throwing...seafood at their superiors?!''

He folded his arms, regarding them. Perhaps this had been the product of their masters. Talzea and Weisheng were both rather lax with the code and tenets of the order... He would go speak to them of this.

''I should have you reprimanded, for what you have done. Perhaps, cleaning this mess, and then transcribing the code and tenents ten times? With your own commentary?'' He mused aloud. He saw the faces of the padawans fall, finding the right pitch for the punishment.

''Go. I expect your transcriptions at sunrise.''

Huang strode from the room, heading for his temporary Alderaan quarters. He needed a shower. Probably two showers.

He could forsee Ronin and Val being trouble for him in the future...

 

[Wit]

"Yes Master. We are exceedingly sorry." Bowing once more he turned around and began walking, Val soon catching up to him.

As they began walking away Ronin started to relax once more. He had been expecting much more, but this much was fine, not that it was less. Transcribing the Code and the Tenants ten times? His hands were going to kill him.

Turning to face Val he tried to put on a stern expression on his face, "How is it that almost all of your little excursions end with the two of us getting into a shitload of trouble? If i had a credit for every time you get us into trouble I could buy out an entire bakery."

Shaking his head he began walking forward, trying to stay angry at Val. But he remembered the food covered visage of Master Huang and couldn't help but burst out laughing once more. He couldn't really stay pissed off at Val for long, "You owe me big time. I get all your mushrooms for the next week, no two weeks." Giving her a playful push he began walking forward with a smile on his face.

"So, the tenets. I'm pretty sure there must be something in there against using fart bombs in the Jedi temple. But wasn't the first one that a jedi must defend the weak or something?"

 

[Sreeya]

As Huang dragged them by the ear, Val grimaced.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!!!"

She caught his stern gaze and shut up immediately. Val kept her head lowered as he doled out their punishments. She had to bite back from groaning in despair. Why couldn't their punishments be to rid the galaxy of some kind of monster? Nooo, they had to sit on their butts and go over the stupid tenets. As soon as Huang walked off, Val made various faces and mockeries of him behind his back, no doubt to the amusement of Ronin. She shook her head and followed him, catching up. She was prepared for Ronin's own little lecture, but was free to tell him to shove it unlike with Huang. To her surprise, he began to laugh. Val simply gaped in shock before joining in as well, almost doubling over.

"Did you smell him?! He's going to have to take like ten showers before he can teach anyone!"

She giggled uncontrollably, the image of tentacles and crab leg in the council member's hair far too hysterical to forget. As she calmed down, Val took a deep breath, grinning as Ronin pushed her.

"Second one is to STOP EATING SO MUCH!"

Val poked him on his side, laughing again.

"Naah it says that emotions suck. Just control them and you're golden."

She scrunched up her face in concentration.

"Third...you can't get married!"

Val made mock kissy faces at Ronin, knowing it would make him uncomfortable, which only made her laugh even more.

"Fourth...um... yeah I forgot. Dammit this is gonna suck."

She finally walked into the training room where he had launched the eggs. Val had to keep from vomiting, looking at the mess.

"I'm not looking forward to cleaning this.."

 

[Wit]

Ignoring Val's gestures, his cheeks still getting warm, Ronin continued walking. "I think there was something about respecting life and listening to the Council. That makes five." Counting down the tenets one by one as they walked Ronin stopped as they reached the training room.

"The sixth is..." The words froze in his mouth, the sight of the chamber driving every other thought out of his mind.

"You know what, make it a month. I get your mushrooms AND your desert for a month." Walking to a nearby supply closet he pulled out two brooms, and passing one to Val entered the room.

 

[Sreeya]

Val scowled at him.

"Don't kid yourself, Ronnie, you get my food EVERY DAY."

She sighed as she took the broom from him, grimacing.

"I wish I could put a clip on my nose. It would make this a lot more bearable."

Val walked over to clean up the mess but quickly spotted a ball on the floor, presumably used to train the younglings that were in the room earlier. She grinned as she lifted the ball with the use of the Force. Her inferior grasp of the Force was obvious as the ball shakily rose to the air. Val glanced over at Ronin with a mischievous grin on her face.

"HEADS UP!"

She slammed the ball towards him with the end of the broom.

"It touches the ground, you lose!"

 

[Wit]

Ronin followed Val into the training chamber, his eyes scanning the vast chamber and the mess they had created. He was about to comment on the disgusting smell as well when he heard Val's warning.

Turning towards Val, the first thing he noticed was a ball hurtling in towards him. Instinctively he brought the broom up in front of him to knock away the ball. As the ball looped through the air and towards the floor he heard Val's words, "It touches the ground, you lose!" As the ball was just about to touch the ground he reached out with the Force and managed to catch hold of it just before it made contact with the ground.

Floating it over to him he took a swing with his broom and sent it soaring towards Val, "Get ready to loose!"

 

[Sreeya]

"Oh shi-!"

Val had forgotten that Ronin was quick with the Force. He immediately picked up on it, shooting the ball her way. Having observed him a few times applying Force Speed, she abruptly shot forth, using the Force to aid her movements. This put her right in the way of the ball, allowing her to whack it right back towards him, but at an angle to he would have to dive for it. As she did so, she grinned, calling out.

"Sixth tenet is that you listen to the High Council and don't put rotten seafood in their hair!"

She giggled after the comment. With Ronin, she could make any situation turn into a blast. Most of the other padawans were far too uptight and overly concerned with becoming the best of the best. Outside of her brother, Ronin was easily her best friend.

 

[Wit]

Surprised by Val's sudden application of the Force technique, Ronin was slow in responding to her next throw. Diving to the right, he missed out as the ball bounced once on the floor before bouncing off his broom.

Shaking his head as Val laughed in victory, Ronin pushed himself off the floor, "OK, you get this round, One-Nil to you. But we go again, best of five."

Loosing in a manner such as this, because of his size and general tardiness was often enough to make Ronin quit, mostly because many of the other padawans took pleasure in making fun of him on such occasions. Even though he would like to try again and make an attempt to beat them, he had become tired of listening to taunts of Fatty! whenever he lost in a fight or came last in a race.

But with Val he didn't have to worry about that, she didn't really care that he was so huge; she was one of the few real friends he had, easily the closest one amongst them all. That was why instead of just giving up he was going for another round, pushing himself further when he would normally have been content with giving up.

Picking up the ball, swiping away a tendril of something wriggly from it, he launched it into the air and swinging his broom launched it towards Val once more. "The seventh tenet says a Jedi must not gather riches or something, which completely squashed my plans of ever owning a bakery some day."

 

[Sreeya]

"If you owned a bakery, you'd eat everything there and leave nothing for customers!"

She watched as the ball flew right back at her. She had tapped into the lightsaber training she had gone through. Val pretended her broom was a training saber and the ball as one of the mobile targets she was used to. With Force speed aiding her, she zoomed towards it and hit it with deadly precision, knocking it back towards him.

"Crap..the eighth...it's to consider the Force...past...future.."

Her little zoning out would cost her, as the ball came back and knocked right into her forehead. Val rubbed the spot, groaning in pain.

"Owwww! Okay fine..we're even now..."

She threw the ball in the air but bounced it at the end of her broom. Val grinned with pride, running around the room with the ball bouncing on her broom and never moving an inch off course.

"I'm not even using Force this time!"

Without warning, she batted the ball back towards him, hoping to catch him off guard.

 

[Wit]

Flush with winning the round, Ronin started bouncing the broom from one hand to the other, "The ninth says Jedi must preserve life. Fight to preserve it if need be but not for personal glory."

Seeing Val start playing around with the ball he was highly impressed by her skills and got more than a little jealous of them, "Show off!" He was about to say more when Val suddenly shot the ball towards him again. Caught off guard, he fumbled the broom he was tossing around and dropped it onto the floor, the ball passing by him and landing on the ground.

"Shit. Alright, I think its time I showed my real skills." Picking up the ball he lobbed it into the air once more before hitting it towards Val. But at the last moment, as it was just about to reach her, he reached out with the Force and gave it a gentle nudge from below to send it flying into the air and hopefully over Val's head.

 

[Sreeya]

"Cake."

Val muttered under her breath as the ball came soaring towards her. She prepared her broom, grinning wide as she noted how easy the shot would be. Val took a swing and...missed??! She watched with wide eyes as the ball flew right over her head. She scowled at Ronin.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

She hurriedly chased behind the ball, leaping into the air and hitting it with the very edge of the broom. The ball flew right towards the ground. Val attempted to reach out with the Force like he had, but with her limited grasp of it, the ball flew back and hit her in the face once again. She growled in frustration and turned back to Ronin.

"Okay you can win this stupid game! Stupid..force people...you know I'm cooler because I don't need Force to be fast!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Her annoyance dissipated immediately as she looked at the mess around them.

"Well since you're such a master of the Force, why don't you clean this place up?!"