Mando and I have gotten into the habit of sleeping next to each other in the tent. For the past few days we've spent on Teth, we've created a nice schedule with each other. Specifically at night, we eat some supper back-to-back and then curl up in the tent. He tends to sleep curled up facing the opposite direction from me with his armor on. It's a nice change from sleeping in the ship in the dark void of space. 

Mando tends to wake up before me every day. By the time I'm awake, he's already up and at 'em doing whatever task he has for the day. Though, he's always careful not to wake me when he's leaving the tent. Today is no different.

Last night, we enjoyed a nice supper of a roasted bird Mando hunted. It was a nice to relax and have a nice meal after the shooting lesson. We chatted for a while, too. Mando has really begun opening up more. It's nice.  Once the sky went dark, we packed it up for the night and went to sleep. I must say, the tent on the sand is much comfier than the seat in the ship.

When I open my eyes, the sun is just starting to peak above the horizon across the pink lake in front of me. The air is still crisp and fresh, not yet reaching a scorching hot temperature. Like usual, Mando is  already up and out of the tent. He doesn't sleep with a blanket or anything, so I lay here alone in an empty tent.

I rub my eyes and push myself up from the ground. Now outside the tent, I see Mando's armor pieces all laid out on the big rock by the shore. He must have washed the pieces this morning. On the ground by my feet is a small brown sack. I bend down and pick it up. It's filled with a ton of nuts and berries from the forest.

He got me breakfast.

A wide smile paints itself across my cheeks. I survey the forest line for my breakfast deliverer. Far away in the same field we had our shooting lesson yesterday I see him swinging around his dark saber. Even from this far away, I can still tell he's struggling to wield the weapon. Each swing is accompanied by a stumble and some angry grumbles and curses.

We have a lot of work to do today.

*

"Alright noodle arms, let's get workin'," I call to Mando as I step into the field. I've got my saber strapped to its holster around my hips.

"Noodle arms?" he says, clearly offended. His saber deactivates and his arms fall to his sides. His chest heaves, trying to catch his breath. 

"You can barely hold the saber up, Mando," I tell him. He looks like he's already defeated. "We're gonna fix that, don't worry."

He stands in place, looking like a pouting child. He looks like he's ready to throw the saber in the lake and leave the planet.

"Drop your saber," I direct him to do, "A big part of wielding a saber correctly is knowing your own body. Sit down, criss cross."

"Sit down?" he counters, clearly confused. I nod at the grassy ground between us. He follows my commands and plops himself down in the grass with a painful groan.

"Great, now you're going to sit and meditate until I come back."

"HUH?" he nearly shouts at me. His arms raise from his sides in a what-do-you-mean kind of attitude-y way.

"Mando, you're strong. I know it and you do too. But you can't lift your saber for more than two swings," I pause, "You need to become more in touch with your body."

"No, no, this is ridiculous, Koda. Sitting in the grass isn't going to-" He starts to pick himself up off the ground, but I push his shoulders down until he's sitting again.

"Meditate. I want you to sit here and think about how your body feels. Feel each muscle, each vein, the blood coursing through them. Everything."

Mando grumbles angrily, mumbling something so quiet even the voice modulator didn't pick it up.

"Meditation is a powerful tool the Jedi have been using for hundreds of years. Just try it. I'll be back in 20 minutes." I turn on my heel and begin walking back toward the camp. He lets out the most obnoxious sigh I've ever heard. 

*

I gently toss his saber into his lap. He jumps a little with a startle and whips his head toward me.

"Alright, get up."

He pushes himself up from the ground and stands right in front of me, looking down to make eye contact with me.

"Was that necessary?" he asks.

"Gotta keep you on your toes," I counter with a devious smile. I pick up the darksaber on the ground and hand it to him this time. He grabs it and yanks it from my hand aggressively.

"So, you're probably a little more familiar with melee fighting than I was with shooting, right?"

"I suppose."

"Great, so show me how you'd stand if you were about to begin a melee battle. Keep the saber deactivated." Mando puts both of his hands on the hilt of the saber and raises it over his right side. His right shoulder pulls back, so he's essentially twisted with his left side toward me. He spreads his feet apart and bends his knees slightly. 

"Decent. We're not playing stick-ball though. You shouldn't swing the saber like it's a bat."

He lowers the saber and stands straight up again. "Well then show me how you stand," he urges. I take my saber from its holster on my thigh and grip it firmly in my right hand. I stutter for a second.

"Well, I have a few different ones," I tell him. For the first one, I flip the saber so it ejects down instead of from the top and I hold my right arm behind my back with the back of my hand flat against my lower spine. If I were to ignite it, the saber would open and shoot to the right. I lower my stance and bend my right knee so my left hand can touch the ground. My left knee stays straight.

"This one is my go-to, I guess. The forward momentum on the swing is a good start, I think." I swing my saber arm around my body and across the front of me to demonstrate. Mando just stands with his arms crossed and nods his head.

"I also like this one," I start. I grab the saber with both hands and hold it in front of my body quite low. My knees are both bent, and I'm directly facing Mando. "This one is good for defense. It's pretty neutral so you can gauge where your opponent will strike and act accordingly."

"So you don't have just one correct stance?" Mando asks. 

"No. Every body is different, so every fighter will use a different stance. The stance I use might feel clunky and awkward for you." I fasten my saber back in its holster. "Your turn."

Mando lifts the saber again, but this time he keeps it held in front of him with both hands like I had just demonstrated. 

"Does that feel better than before?"

"I think so," he sounds unsure.

"There is no 'I think so', Mando. It's how it feels. It's a yes or a no."

"Yes, I feel more sturdy."

"That's the point of the meditation. You need to know how it feels in order to maximize your performance," I pause and wait for a response. He's quiet. "The saber isn't just a weapon. It's an extension of your body, your arm more specifically. You can't lift the saber because you're not letting it become a part of you."

He nods his head, staying quiet and listening intently. 

"Now hold it like it's a part of you. Activate the beam."

He nods again and lights the saber. The black saber shoots from the hilt and glows a bright white. It hums consistently with raw power. Mando raises it over his head and swings it around a little, settling in a neutral stance like before.

"Close your eyes," I command. He turns off the saber and, I guess, shuts his eyes. "No, with the saber lit."

"Are you sure-"

"Just do it." He does as I say and lights it back up. I'm assuming his eyes are shut. I take a few steps back, giving him several feet of space.

"Now, I want you to swing it as if you're attacking something. Really give it a hefty swing."

Mando raises the saber over his right side again and swings it in front of him down toward the ground on his left. He grunts as the weight of the saber drags toward his feet. 

"It just feels so heavy in my hands, I don't understand it."

"Well, stop trying to understand it. Do it again."

Mando straightens up and does the same motion again. He has the same results, complete with the same grunt as last time. 

"The saber is a part of you. Not something you're just holding. Let it swing how it's going to swing. You're trying to control it too much. Again."

He repeats the same motion again, but this time, he seems to struggle less. There less recoil in his body from trying to catch himself. 

"You're getting close to a tree. Turn around and do it again. Use the same mindset as you do in meditation to focus on feeling the saber move." 

He turns around and swings the saber the same way again. This time, even less struggle.

"Try a different motion. Strike from side to side."

Mando lets go of the saber with one hand and strikes from right to left rather effortlessly. He's still clunky with it, but he's keeping the tip of it off of the ground. 

"Keep going!" I shout to him. He gives a few more genuine swings at his invisible opponent before he comes to a halt.

"Whoa," he says, now facing me. 

"Do you understand what I mean when I say it's a part of you?"

"Yeah... it's such a strange feeling. It's not heavy anymore."

"Are you ready to fight?"

"You haven't showed me anything yet."

"I don't have to. Not yet at least. Let's just get you swinging and blocking first."

I point at some arbitrary place behind Mando and say, "We should start over there. It's a little more open." As he turns around to see what I'm pointing at, I light my saber and start charging.

He reacts with a little shriek and dodges my first jumping strike from above. I stumble on my landing, and catch myself as I turn to face him again. I run at him again, and this time he's got his saber activated. I swing mine from above again, and he uses his saber to block my attack. He gives it a little push as he blocks, and he forces me to take a few steps backwards. 

"Take it easy, Koda!" he shouts at me. To be fair, these are very simple attacks. A baby could handle these.

He's dodging and blocking them really well, so why would I stop? After several more, I mix it up and do a cheeky 360 before swinging at him. As with the others, he blocks it beautifully. 

"Koda, please!" he begs. 

"If you don't like my attacks, then stop being a PUSSY and come attack me," I say in the most provoking tone I can muster. 

I can tell he didn't like that. 

His body goes rigid in response. His head cocks to the right slightly and lifts his fingers from the hilt of the blade to tighten them around it as he places the back down one by one. If I could see his knuckles, I'm sure they'd be white from how tight he's gripping that saber. His back straightens and he plants his feet firmly beneath him in the dirt.

A small breathy chuckle escapes his mouth before he takes one intimidating step toward me. If I didn't know how mediocre he was at the saber, I'd be shitting my pants.

One step turns into another, then another, each quicker paced than the last. Soon, he's coming at me in the most menacing way possible. He lifts the saber and slashes it down toward me. I block it easily and step out of the way as nonchalant as I can.

"Nice try, noodle arms," I taunt him.

"Stop calling me thAT," he swings at me again on his last word. Again, I deflect it and move out of the way with one simple step.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that," I tease.

He swings left and right and up and down, and I miss each one easily. He's clearly getting frustrated and losing focus because each attack gets sloppier and sloppier. He can barely hold the saber anymore. 

In between one of his attempts, I swing at him and let him block it with his saber. Then, I kick the saber out of his hands, then tackle him to the ground with my own saber held to his throat. My legs straddle his torso with my left hand next to his head holding myself up.

"Never lose focus," I whisper to him with a slight smile. He groans in what sounds like pain. "Because the second you lose focus on the saber, you'll lose."

Before I could even blink, Mando knocks my saber from my hand with his wrist and flips us over. Now he's straddling me with both hands on the ground next to my head.

"And you, never do that again." He pauses and inches his helmet closer to my face. "Because I never  lose."