Beyond the Brink - A Star Wars OC tale

Chapter 1

The familiar sounds of laboured grunts woke Tzofi from her blissful slumber. She hopped out of the bed and sprinted across to the window already knowing who was on the other side of the glass. Her finger jammed the button next to the frame a little too aggressively and the shutters groaned as they slid away, revealing the sight she longed not to be true.
  Two bodies wrestled across the floor of the pillared courtyard. One dark haired the other red. Their training robes were dampened with sweat or with the morning rain, Tzofi couldn't be sure.
  Lee.
  He'd gone out early to get an additional training session with Master Rhee before the mission commenced in a few hours.
  Tzofi growled in frustration, mentally chastising herself for not thinking of it first. She couldn't let him outshine her today. She'd worked so hard to place as one of the leaders of the excursion and she wouldn't let his immature ass get in her way of becoming a padawan.
   Maybe she could squeeze in a personal discussion with Master Rhee on his way to the landing deck if she caught him in time. The thought had her scrambling to pull on her robes.
  She was fully dressed, lightsaber attached to her belt, hair plaited, across the paved courtyard and by the perimeter of the training ground within a few minutes.
  Her mother had always said she was viciously efficient when she had a goal in sight.
  And that she had.
  Lee's groan echoed through the space as Master Rhee pinned him to the ground and swiftly pulled him into a hold that he wasn't getting out of any time soon.     Reluctantly, Lee's hands were raised in surrender and Tzofi couldn't stop the small smile of triumph that touched her lips at his defeat.
  Even from her position half behind a pillar, she could see the frustration on Lee's face and it thrilled her. She tried not to look too giddy as he gathered his things and went to walk by her.
  His eyes lit up with something akin to amusement when he noticed her and a little laugh broke out of him as his eyes took in her freshly laundered attire.
  "Careful you don't strain your spine with that kind of posture." He remarked as he swept back his hair -a deeper black that usual with the moisture in it- and moved past her, disappearing into the temple.
  Tzofi felt her cheeks heat. What had he meant?
  She was simply positioned in the traditional stance a Jedi should when standing watch. Perceptive and ready to defend if necessary.
  Trying to brush off his words, she skipped down the steps into the training pit and approached her potential new master.
She only had him and three others to win the favour of, so she needed to treat every one of them as if they were her only option.
  She'd left her family for this.
  "Tzofi, you're up with the dawn too?" Master Rhee said, taking in her appearance. "And all ready for today's outing too, I see."
  "I am. And if there's anything I can do to assist in the preparations for it, I would be more than happy to do so?" She asked, trying not to sound too eager.
  He looked down at her with a look that reminded her of her father, with jovial warmth touching his eyes but also with a spot of pride at her unbridled enthusiasm.
  She could see he was trying not to smile too broadly, and a part of her, way down in the middle of abdomen, started to flutter in self conscious panic. But she knew if she didn't make an impression, she would be forgotten, like the rest of her family on that hunk of rock. Of course, she cared what he thought of her, desperately wanted to impress him, but above everything, she was doing this for her family, for her clan.
  "I do need someone else to help count heads and load gear with Chen? If that interests you?"
  Tzofi tried to master her composure as she nodded and accepted the opportunity to outshine Lee.
  Chen.
  The prestigious tracker.
  The Jedi's prodigy.
  One of the most powerful force users the galaxy had ever seen.
  And she was going to be working side by side with him?
  Tzofi almost tripped with excitement as she hastily made her way to the hanger where she'd been informed Chen would be.
  Oh, she was going to make sure working with the renowned Jedi kicked Lee's training performance straight into the nearest nebula.

  The formative and famed Jedi was not what she had expected.
  Upon meeting him, Tzofi noticed two things; Chen was only a couple years older than herself and he was a beautiful human. The kind of attractive that startled you awake.
  The young man matched her in height, had piercing almond shaped eyes that reminded her of Lee's - she wondered if they bore similar heritage - full lips, broad set nostrils and the sharpest blonde hair she'd ever seen.
  He stood out from anyone else she'd ever seen in the temple. He stood out from anyone else she'd ever seen ever..
  She'd always assumed he had to have been Master Kenobi's age- at least - to have gained such a reputation, to have other Jedi's talk about him in such high regard and fear.
  His skillset encouraged both emotions, because although his ability to track anyone in the galaxy through his innate personal connection with the force proved the perfect weapon for the Jedi, it also terrified them.
  Yes, there always seemed to be a perimeter around Chen as he worked, as though people didn't dare get too close in case his powers extended to limits he had not disclosed.
  How ridiculous Tzofi thought. She didn't distance herself like the others. It seemed silly, but she didn't want him to feel lonely. She'd experienced too much of that with her race. She never wanted others to feel it too.
  As she sneaked a glance at him loading food supplies though, he didn't seem like he could have cared less if she were there or not.
  He helped some of the apprentices move a weapons case into the cargo bay and it surprised her that Chen would be doing such menial tasks, such as loading gear onto the ship. Apparently, his illustrious title didn't affect his desire to help.
  He managed to do every one of those tasks with such vigilance and grace that he didn't even crease or disturb his uniform.
  Tzofi thought she kept her robes pristine, but Chen's were immaculate. The robes he wore were custom made. Tighter and form fitting to lay beneath the intricate armour plates that fit over him like a second skin. Both robe and armour were a white so pure she imagined it were like fresh snow.
  She had longed to see snow some day. She'd never seen anything but the dry expanse of her home planet; Mandalore, and the metal metropolis of New Republic City. Even then, she'd never been outside the temple to explore the city. It was forbidden.
  But all that would change today.
Their mission to retrieve and transport a Kyber crystal would take place on the planet of Mygeeto. Tzofi believed she might be the only person in the group of apprentices that was actually excited about travelling to the frigid, crystalline and almost barren terrain.
  She had no idea just how cold it was going to be, but as her fellow Jedi trainees began filing onto the ship, Chan handed them coats so thick with fur and insulation, that she realised this trip may not be all pleasant.
  To strengthen that thought,  Lee stepped aboard the ship, meeting her eyes as she took down names by Chen's side. Lee didn't have time to mask the surprise that flickered in his dark eyes, and Tzofi tried her best not to look smug as Master Rhee walked between them, as if on cue.
  Lee's eyes moved past her as though he hadn't even seen her. Grabbing a coat of his own from Chen, he swaggered over to some of his friends and began joking with them.
  She carried on taking names, helped less experienced students get into their seats and the whole time she tried not to think about how annoyed it made her that he hadn't reacted.