Chapter 5

When the dispute was settled with the younglings Thann turned around and greeted the Jedi Battlemaster who he sensed was standing somewhere behind him " Greetings Master Cin Drallig." to which the master replied " Greetings Knight Oteros how may I be of service to you?" To which Thann passed the data pad that had been given to him by the council guard to the battlemaster who's eyes widened at what he read and began to look from the data pad to the young man not sure if this was a joke being played on him but the truth was confirmed when he saw the Councils seal at the end of the Councils command. The Jedi Battlemaster was not sure how to proceed since he himself was not sure that one so young should learn a style that could possibly lead him to the darkside of the force yet the Council had given their approval and so he signaled the young Jedi to follow him.

Cin Drallig led Thann into his personal training room that was only accessible to himself and those that he had given permission too so he had the young jedi wait in the middle of the room while thought up of a lesson plan that would help the young jedi from falling to the darkside while obtaining his goal then remembered that the boy was a practitioner of Niman which was all about moderation and would use that same approach to how Thann would study Juyo in moderation. Cin Drallig spoke for the first time since he and Thann had entered the room " Young one you have a large task before you and so we will approach your training with moderation are you up to it?" Thann knew that something like this might happen since Juyo was dangerous he agreed with Dralligs approach.

A month had passed since Thanns promotion to knighthood and from the time he began training in Juyo along with his Niman form adapting the former into the latter which had been slow going since Cin Drallig had limited the amount of sparring practice since he did not want Thann to accidently lean on his negative emotions but things were about to change. While Thann had been hard at work his new master had finally returned to the temple finished with his deep cover mission and upon his arrival was told to go the Council to debrief once he had given his report he was told that he would be over Thann to help him along as he was just promoted at such young which many on the council thought shouldn't have happened but Yoda had the final say still he would be supervised and that responsibility was squarely placed on Vos, who at first thought that this would be a babysitting mission, until he heard that it was Thann Oteros and that piqued his interest since he'd heard what had happened on Naboo even while he was deep under cover and so he agreed without any complaint.

Thann was deep into his lightsaber practice with Master Cin Drallig that he and the battlemaster didn't notice that they were being watched by an unknown spectator who soon wasn't fine with just sitting on the sideline " Hey Cin you mind if I jump in?" the voice called out which caused the Jedi Master to turn around suddenly looking at the door that should have been closed but had been forced open just wide enough to fit in the man that had been standing there, Quinlan was so eager to see what his new trainee was up to that when he heard that Thann was with Cin Drallig he rushed all the way to the normal classrooms for lightsaber instruction but found no one there and then remembered that Drallig usually kept certain private due to the nature of what he was teaching in his private classroom that only he and the student he was teaching would have access to, so when he arrived at the closed doors and found that it was locked he couldn't help but use the force to slightly pry the door open just enough to slip through.

Vos quietly watched his new charge as he ran through saber drills that incorporated form seven and form six together which was really impressive and got the Jedi Knight wanting to test and see if Thann could use what he was creating could be used in actual combat which caused him o interrupt the training session with a sudden call out which led both men in deep practice to suddenly stop what they were doing and shift their gazes to where the noise had come from. Cin Drallig was not happy to see the uninvited guest standing there as if it was just another day and immediately went to scolding Vos" Quinlan how many times have I told you to call me by my full name with the word 'master' in front of it?" Vos knew that Cin Drallig was not going to stop with his lecture till he was good and ready so he a just sat there and took it " and another thing" the battlemaster was about to address his sudden appearance " who told you to break into my room huh? If the door was locked you should have waited outside till we were finished, didn't Tholme teach you any etiquette at all?"

That last barb struck a nerve at the mention of Vos' previous master and he knew that he if Master Tholme was there he'd be getting an even more severe reprimand never minding the fact that his apprentice was no longer an apprentice but still Vos wanted to test the young man before him and so he quickly apologized and got back to what he was really there for " Master what I did was wrong and I am deeply sorry" he said with barely any remorse " but I was just super curious to see what all the fuss was from the Council so when I got here I let my impatience get the better of me, now if it would be possible I'd like to test my new charge and see if his skills are as good as I've heard" to which Cin Drallig was a bit hesitant since he'd only been working with Thann for a month but he knew that sooner or later someone was bound to come and check on the young mans progress he just didn't think that it'd be Quinlan Vos but to his surprise the young jedi did not hesitate to accommodate the older knights request " Sure let's see what you got old man."

Both men stood across the room from each other lightsabers in hand not yet activated but both men were tense and could sense that the other was waiting for something to happen and then it did happen. Thann realized that Vos wasn't going to make the first move so he began to formulate a plan of attack and did what his master would have he used the force speed to cross the room in a single instant activating his lightsaber at the last moment which caused Quinlan to jump back and activate his own blade and bracing himself in a defensive posture right as Thann continued his rush attacking with what Quinlan recognized as form six and that wasn't what he was interested in as he broke the exchange with a force push and then began an offensive attack of his own.

The fight had lasted for a standard hour and then near the end Quinlan got what he was looking for when suddenly his knew charge's attack pattern suddenly changed and his attacks became more ferocious than they had been at the beginning but he noticed that his opponents emotions remained in check and not was not the raging storm that was usually brought on by those that used form seven but Thann was in full control and that was due to the training regimen that Cin Drallig had put him through using both moderation and allowing the force to flow through him like the form three philosophy taught. What Cin Drallig saw impressed him deeply as he saw what his student had accomplished in one months time, but knew that the young man still needed more training, still he knew that much could be accomplished on the trainee's personal time if the time and effort was put in which it seemed that Thann Oteros really excelled, his dedication to practicing till the wheels fall off which showed in the duel that was just held.

Quinlan was impressed with Thanns last display before he disarmed the kid right after he was nearly through his move set but if this had been a few months down the road he knew that things might have ended differently still he knew that taking this young man under his wing was right and he also knew that the Council had a mission set up so that he and Thann could bond together which they were supposed to go on as soon as they met up which was sudden but given the circumstances the Council wanted them to start as soon as possible. " Kid I know it's sudden but you and I have an assignment from the Council that needs attention immediately, are you up for it?" Thann couldn't believe that the Council would assign him a mission so suddenly but he knew that he'd jump at the chance if it was offered and now that the chance was presented he wasn't so sure but then he felt a nudge in the force that he should go so he gave his answer " Yeah I'm ready I just need to pack my go bag if this is going to be a prolonged trip." Quinlan was surprised that someone was just as prepared as he was but then he knew Thanns master was active in a lot of the Republics hotspots so it would have surprised him if his student wasn't trained to be just as prepared as his former master.