Star Wars: Advent of The Hellwalker (Ahsoka x M! Reader)

Chapter XI - The Wretch

(A few years ago, Jedi Temple, Your point of view)

The training droid swung its training lightsaber over me with its right arm.

"AUGH!" I had raised my own above my head to block it, only for the droid to thrust its other arm forward, bashing its metal fist into my abdomen and nearly knocking the wind out of me. I exclaimed and fell into a half-kneeling position while holding my stomach area.

"Get up (Y/n)!" Master Chatak's soft but urgent voice called to me from the side. I looked up and gasped when the training droid brought its lightsaber over my head to plunge it down into a stab. I backed out of the way in time and raised my lightsaber to slice across the droid's top, but it raised its own and deflected hard, pushing my lightsaber up over my head. I ignited the lower blade and tried to thrust it into the droid's head while it was pointed directly at it, but the droid quickly deflected it. I kept my eye on the droid's lightsaber and used my own saberstaff to slice across its abdomen, but the droid was able to quickly catch my blade with a block, and force it down, getting us both on our knees. I watched the droid reel back its lightsaber and swing it towards my face from the side.

My heart started going into overdrive when I thought back to a few weeks ago when that same move got me a painful slash across the face. The fight or flight responses started going off in my head again. In a rush, I brought my lightsaber under his.

"Hagh!" I swiped my lightsaber up, countering the droid's and keeping it just an inch from my face as I pushed it up and above my head. A proud smile came to dominate my face and I let out a relieved chuckle. That didn't last long, I hadn't even realized the droid had stood up to be able to both push my lightsaber to the right and out of its way and at the same time, angle the butt of its lightsaber towards my face, before slamming the two together, all in the span of a couple of seconds.

"OW!" I cried as I was pushed onto my back and covered my forehead, that was when I realized I had dropped my lightsaber when the droid slammed the butt of its lightsaber into my face. I looked over to it and reached out to grab it with the force, but the droid wasn't so easy.

"Agh!" I yelped in pain. The droid stomped on my arm, I lost focus in the force from the feeling of my arm being crushed under the droid's weight as it stood over me, before pointing its lightsaber at me and preparing to bring it down on my face.

"Reset!" I exclaimed. The droid paused for a moment when its training lightsaber was mere inches from my face before the droid stepped off my arm and casually walked to the other side of the room where it got back into combat position. I held my arm as the blood started to flow through the veins properly again and went to pick up my lightsaber.

"Look at me (Y/n)." Master Bol Chatak's voice called out to me. I turned to face her, a little spooked by soft Zabrak's unusually strong tone. "Focus on the droid, not the blades." she said. I raised my eyebrow at this.

"How does that work?" I asked. "What am I supposed to be focusing on if not my opponent's weapon? Isn't the thing that's going to hurt me supposed to be the thing I need to constantly be aware of?"

"The opponent IS what is trying to hurt you." Master Chatak said. "Body language has the tendency to reveal the opponent's next move before they have even started to execute it. Just now, (Y/n), you failed to notice the droid standing back up and adjusting its arm placements to face the butt of its lightsaber towards you." I looked back at the training droid surprised as she said this before she continued. "Earlier you believed the droid to be attacking your head with its lightsaber, but you failed to pay attention to its other arm, waiting for you to open up your core so it could strike you with its fist. Padawan (L/n), this is exactly what happened to you on Khorm. If you wish to survive another ordeal like that, you must become accustomed to following the movements of the enemy..." She thought to herself for a few moments before continuing, "I believe you've had enough time playing with machines. Deactivate." The training droid ceased functions at Master Chatak's word, hunching down as it stood at the edge of the floor, and then Master Chatak turned to her side. Her dark-haired human padawan was sitting close by on the floor and watching my exercises in between chapters of a book. For a while though, she hadn't turned a single page and had kept an intense focus on my training, I don't think she had looked away for even a second throughout the duration of my last few duals with the droid. "Olee." Master Chatak said.