Chapter 2: First Steps

It wasn’t long before Kayora was given her next assignment. Honestly, Nadia was more surprised that they had the couple weeks of downtime that they did before being tasked to assist with some local affairs on the planet Voss. Kayora seemed to be in constant demand, both from the Jedi Council and the Senate. Of course, this made perfect sense, given how successful she was on any given mission. She was also a model Jedi, selflessly putting the needs of others before her own and doing everything she could to avoid conflict.

Nadia was grateful for the small reprieve they had been given though, for they were able to pack in a dense schedule of training in that time. There was a lot of studying (because of course the Jedi had texts on absolutely everything you could think of) and a good amount of time was spent meditating. Nadia was getting much better at meditation: the first few times she was entirely unable to clear her mind for more than a few seconds at a time, but now she could almost go a full fifteen minutes straight. Of course they also worked on her force abilities, which meant Nadia had been moving various items up and down and around the ship using the force. Sometimes it was stacking, to work on her dexterity and precision, sometimes it was sheer volume, to work on her strength. And sometimes she had to move things as she balanced on one hand while Kayora occasionally nudged her off balance, which put her focus to the test.

Her favorite part of training, however, was the combat. Kayora was certainly strong in the force, there was no doubting that, but it was her swordsmanship that was on another level entirely. The power and grace behind her movements never failed to leave Nadia staring in wonder, which often was to the detriment of their training sessions. More times than she cared to admit, Nadia was distracted from her own movements because she was too focused on Kayora’s.

They were in the midst of another practice session, the clash of lightsabers echoing throughout the room. There wasn’t a dedicated training room on the ship, but in the main lounge area the holoterminal was able to retract into the floor, leaving a nice open space that was easily adapted for training purposes. Nadia spun her saber through the air, slashing down as Kayora narrowly side-stepped and responded with a swing of her own. Pivoting, Nadia deflected the attack and pushed out with the force, sending a wave of energy at her master, causing her to stumble backward. Pressing the advantage, Nadia brought her blade down, knocking Kayora’s wide. Flipping backward out of range, Kayora reset her stance and nodded in appreciation.

“Wonderful form, and your pairing of bladework with force usage was expertly done. Again.” Kayora leapt forward, already on the attack, but Nadia was able to fend her off and circle away, putting a little more room between them before the next clash. They had been practicing for a while now, and both of them were breathing noticeably heavier, sweat running down their faces. Nadia licked her lips, tasting the salt, and briefly imagined doing the same to her master.

Although her attention was often drawn to her master’s techniques, that was really only half of what distracted her. The other half was admiring her master’s body, and attempting to tamp down the heat that rose in her chest, and occasionally lower. Though she had seen Kayora in battle, she wore her armor and robes, so her figure was a little more obscured. When they were not on mission, Kayora wore a much more casual ensemble, and when they were dueling, she shed some of the excess layers, which left a lot more skin on display. Her form was all lean muscle under smooth green skin, occasionally decorated with scar tissue. Nadia longed to know the stories behind each and every one, but the middle of training was not the time to fantasize about that, as she found out more than once.

They were just finishing up their practice duel when the intercom beeped, signaling an incoming message from either the council or the senate. Nadia barely heard the noise, as she was splitting her focus between wielding her double bladed lightsaber and trying not to watch the sweat run down Kayora’s bare midriff. Kayora spun and landed a palm strike on Nadia’s chest before swiftly disarming her padawan, Nadia stumbling backward and landing on her butt with an outrush of breath.

“You must keep your focus about you,” Kayora chided as she held out a hand to help Nadia up. “Do not allow noises like the intercom distract you.”

Sure, it was the intercom that distracted her. Nadia grabbed Kayora’s hand and was pulled to her feet. Kayora’s grip was strong, and her hand, though sweaty, was warm in a very inviting way. Nadia let their hands linger a little longer than strictly necessary before letting go. “Well, since the intercom distracted me, let’s go see what the message is!”

—

As the shuttle door opened and the ramp extended down, Nadia took in their surroundings. This was the first planet outside of her homeworld that she would step foot on, and it was definitely an unusual one. Voss was still declared neutral in the Republic-Sith war, though both sides were vying to change that. The people of Voss also had an interesting governing system, where their choices were made by individuals known as mystics, who were said to be strong with the Force and able to see the future.Whether or not that was true, it was still tempting enough that both the Republic and the Empire were desperate to sway the Voss to their side.

Kayora walked down the ramp and began making her way toward the building where they were supposed to meet their contact. Nadia quickly descended and caught up to Kayora, yearning to exude the same confidence that seemed to come so naturally to Kayora. As they walked, Nadia tried to take in everything around her without looking too much like a gawking tourist. The buildings around them were very clean and beautiful in a very calming way. There were minimal decorations, the darker grey roofs contrasting nicely with the pale beige structures. The paths were all dirt, outside of several bridges that spanned some of the gaps between areas. Nadia wasn’t sure what season it was on Voss, or whether Voss even had seasons, but the foliage all looked very similar to autumn on Sarkhai, the leaves a mixture of oranges and yellows and reds. Even the sky had a calming orange hue, casting a subtle glow on the rock formations that could be seen outside the city.

“Oof!” Nadia bumped into the back of her master, who had stopped in front of a building that looked pretty similar to all of the others. Kayora turned around and put a steadying hand on Nadia’s shoulder.

“Everything okay?” 

Nadia nodded in embarrassment as Kayora removed her hand. She apparently had not done a great job at not looking like a gawking tourist. Or she managed to not look like a gawking tourist, and instead looked like someone who just didn’t pay attention to her surroundings, which was probably worse. “Sorry, I was just looking around. It’s … my first time on a new planet.”

A smile split Kayora’s face. “Is it really? Well, this planet is certainly a good one to be your first.” She glanced around, bobbing her head slightly. “It doesn’t have much of the urban flair that some planets have, but if you’re looking for more beauty in nature and architecture, Voss has that in spades.”

Staring at Kayora, Nadia certainly agreed she was looking for beauty, or at least at beauty. Breaking her gaze away and looking out over the city again, she found herself aligned with Kayora’s assessment. And the intensity of the more heavily populated planets like Corellia or Coruscant had never held much appeal for Nadia. Voss was definitely more her speed.

“Let’s see what Ambassador Farash needs us for.” With that, Kayora walked through the doorway into the small building, Nadia following close behind.

—

The ambassador had asked them to find a Voss named Gaden-Ko, and help escort him through the area so he could complete his trials to become a mystic. Apparently, even though the Voss did not allow open conflict between the Republic and Imperial forces on the planet, outside of the cities it wasn’t uncommon for skirmishes to happen. There was also the Gormak to contend with, the other native species on Voss that for some reason or another had become a brutal and violent people, dedicated to wiping out the Voss and claiming the planet as their own.

Both of these hazards had been deemed enough of a threat to lead Ambassador Farash to request an escort for Gaden-Ko. Kayora and Nadia strolled out of the ambassador’s office, and Kayora angled toward one of the transport areas. Since many of the areas of interest on Voss were a fair distance apart from one another, the Republic had worked with the Voss to set up different travel hubs, allowing individuals to take either small shuttles or speeder bikes to another hub closer to their destination. Gaden-Ko wasn’t too far away from where they currently were, but it would definitely be a long walk.

Nadia tilted her head in question as Kayora passed right by the shuttle, then felt her eyes widen slightly as she saw that her master was heading toward the speeder bikes.

“Are we not taking a shuttle, master?”

Kayora looked slightly bemused at Nadia calling her “master.” Nadia had gotten much better at just calling her Kayora, but she was still her master, after all, and often it would slip out when she was nervous or feeling particularly studious. This was definitely a case of the former.

“It isn’t that far, so it would be quicker to take a speeder, which is also more economical. Are you comfortable piloting a speeder bike?” Kayora inquired.

Having never piloted a speeder bike, Nadia could guarantee that she was indeed not comfortable piloting one, but she should probably know how to, and it couldn’t be that hard right? After all, she’d seen many children zipping around Sarkhai on their own bikes, though they were definitely smaller than the ones in front of her.

As if sensing Nadia’s internal dialogue, Kayora placed her pack in the side container of a speeder that had a slightly elongated seat. “We can share one. I can teach you to pilot another time if you wish, but for the moment, you can just climb on behind me.” Kayora swung her leg over the speeder, settling down on the seat as if she’d done so a thousand times. She looked at Nadia, and raised an eyebrow. “Are you coming?”

Out of all the phrases she could have picked, she had to go with that one? Of course Nadia’s mind had immediately betrayed her, imagining a very different scenario where that phrase might be uttered. Forcibly dragging her mind back out of the gutter, Nadia hurried over to the vehicle, stowed her own bag, and gingerly sat down, keeping a respectable space between her and Kayora. Unsure where to put her hands, she decided to rest them on Kayora’s shoulders. That was probably the safest place, given where her thoughts had already taken her moments before.

“Nadia.” Her name sounded so wonderful coming from Kayora that she almost missed what came next. “You’re going to fall off as soon as we get going. Wrap your arms around my waist, it’s alright.”

Little did Kayora know how alright it was. Nadia swallowed and repositioned her arms, wrapping them around Kayora’s waist and feeling the strong muscles beneath the robes. “Okay, I’m ready,” she managed to squeak out. She felt the Twi’lek nod, then suddenly they were flying across the plains. Nadia yelped and instinctively held tighter, pressing her head against Kayora’s back and squeezing her eyes closed. Now that she was pressed up close to Kayora, her senses went into overload. A vaguely sweet, but natural scent found its way into her nostrils, overpowering the smell of their surroundings. Whether it was the soap that Kayora used or just her natural smell, it was nice, reminding Nadia of a forest glade, or a clearing by a waterfall. Trying not to be obvious, she breathed deeply, letting the scent fill her mind. Fortunately, it had the dual benefit of helping distract her from the feeling of racing across the land. Each turn that they took, Nadia could feel her master’s core tighten beneath her fingers, since she was lucky enough to be holding between two of the armor plates that covered Kayora’s torso. Letting her fingers spread out slightly, she took advantage of the need to hold on tight, imagining what Kayora’s skin would feel like without her vestments in the way. 

It didn’t take long for them to settle into a constant speed, and once Nadia was used to it she chanced opening eyes. She was greeted with a sight of the landscape whizzing by, trees mere blurs as they followed one of the paths that criss-crossed across the territory like a spiderweb. It was a little terrifying, but also exhilarating, a different experience than she’d ever felt. Nadia turned her head to look over Kayora’s shoulder, letting the wind whip in her face and hair. She let out a laugh, then absent-mindedly rested her chin on Kayora’s shoulder watching the world race by. Her breath hitched when she realized how close she was to the Twi’lek’s neck, how easy it would be to just turn her head and press her lips to that long expanse of green skin …

True to her word, it didn’t take long before Kayora began easing back on the throttle, their landing area in sight. As they slowed, Nadia realized she was still holding tight to her master. Hurriedly she loosened her grip, trying to be casual about it. The speeder came to a stop, and Nadia dismounted, but caught her foot on the edge of the seat and stumbled. She caught herself before she fell, but still felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment. Thankfully, Kayora didn’t say anything as she got off the bike and grabbed both their packs, handing Nadia hers. Nadia mumbled a thank you, pretending to be occupied with checking the contents of her pack so that Kayora might not see her rosy cheeks. One of the disadvantages of having such pale skin was that any blush was visible from space.

Shouldering her own pack, Kayora began heading off in the direction they’d been told Gaden-Ko would be waiting for them. “Let’s go see how we can help this aspiring mystic.”