The sound, it was there again, vaguely like the clicking of toenails, but the sound was coming from above him this time. Qui-Gon Jinn flattened himself against the floor of the Jedi Temple's practice arena and began to crawl across the cool tiling. The familiar humming swish and the mild heat brushing above him in a near miss told the twelve year old boy that he had succeeded in again evading his attacker.

His opponent this day seemed to be no student Qui-Gon knew of. All the students had boots of some sort and none had the ability to crawl along the metal ceiling.

Using his considerable bond with the Force, the serious-minded student began to concentrate on his antagonist. Something blocked him, a mental wall, which puzzled and startled him.

"If I were you, Qui-Gon Jinn," a laughing voice whispered near his left ear, "I'd worry less about the identity of my opponent and worry more about the whereabouts of her weapon." He felt the press of heat against his throat and flushed at his mistake of letting his guard down for only a few seconds. He turned off his lightsaber and belted it at his side as a signal of surrender.

The voice tsk-tsked in response and the blindfold that covered his eyes was pulled off without warning. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light change and he found himself facing a dagger-sized lightsaber. He blinked again, this time in surprise.

He looked over to where Master Yoda had watched the practice session. Yoda's green wrinkled face did not change from it's sleepy-eyed visage as he spoke. "You approve, then, Ashanti?"

A voice, feminine and mischievous answered above Qui-Gon. It was unmistakably his opponent. "I do, but he needs his other year, Yoda." Qui-Gon looked up as the light-dagger was swept upward. He blinked again at the sight of the alien woman above him.

He recognized her as Ashanti Vende, one of the great Jedi knights. It was whispered that she rebelled often against the Jedi Council and that she was so particular about who she took as her apprentices that she had never had one.

Her form was petite, her skin a rusty brown, and her hair was a dark auburn with highlighted strands of bronze. Her eyes shimmered an deep teal color, not quite blue, but not quite green either. She wore the standard Jedi tunic top typical of Jedi knights, but her pants were bright purple. A tail, hairless with a knot of three spikes on the end, flicked to him, brushing his chin. Claws from her left hand were sunk into the steel beam directly above him and she was powering down the dagger with her long fingered right hand. Qui-Gon recognized her race as the sprite-like Titainiens and was immediately overwhelmed at having been her adversary in the practice arena.

"Why do I need another year?" he asked evenly, fighting down the disappointment of an obvious rejection. "I am ready now." This was a knight searching for an apprentice, and he had no doubts that he would be a good apprentice. His mind then registered all the words that had been spoken between the two elder Jedi. "You accept me?" he asked, flabbergasted.

The knight flipped as she tumbled to the floor. She laughed as she went to her towel and water bottle that were sitting next to Yoda's small observation chair. "Actually," she confessed, drawing a frown from Yoda at her admission, "I've been watching you for a long time, Qui-Gon Jinn, but today I felt like throwing something different at you to see how you manage."

"To the Temple she brought you as a child," Yoda added as if it were an afterthought. Ashanti wasn't fooled by the casual tone. "Understood it has been that her padawan learner you will be."

Qui-Gon's heart soared as he comprehended all the information. "You brought me to the Temple?" Qui-Gon asked, looking awestruck at the elf-like woman. He had known the circumstances of his being brought to the Temple, but had never known who had brought him here.

She looked mildly amused at his tone of amazement and Qui-Gon sensed there was more than amusement twinkling in her eyes. "I'm not as disreputable as Yoda over there would have me painted, but I do okay, whelp." Yoda harrumphed at the idea of him referring to anyone under his guidance as disreputable but refused further comment.

"But why can't I go with you now? I am ready!" protested Qui-Gon, trailing after the Jedi knight as she left the area, with Yoda following them both. He had broken his own rule against whining and he grimaced at the undignified sound. Desperate times called for desperate measures, he reassured himself.

Ashanti stopped and turned to look up at the face of the tall, lanky human boy before her. "You gave up too easily, Qui-Gon," she told him with some disapproval in her voice. "If you had quickly considered your options you would found at least two efficient ways of defeating me. Instead, you surrendered." She ruffled his closely cut hair with her long tail affectionately. "Another year to learn, another year to reach thirteen and another year of wisdom from Yoda should serve you well." With that, Ashanti nodded to Yoda and departed.

Yoda patted the bewildered boy's leg reassuringly. "Ashanti very conscious of training you. No move she make uncalculated. Impress her next time you will?" Yoda's green eyes widened, secrets and challenges glowing within their green depths.

Qui-Gon felt determination swell within him and he bowed deeply to the old master. "Yes, I will," he stated firmly and strode toward the changing room to shower and change into a fresh tunic.

Ashanti came back around the corner of the corridor and smirked at Yoda, who merely gazed at her with a small smile on his lips. "I'll be back after this mission. In the meantime, Master, keep an eye on him for me?" She turned and paused. "Teach him to make a light-dagger and fire a blaster accurately, would you? Sabers don't always work out there."

"Defense is the Jedi way," reproved Yoda sternly, disapproval seeping from him as it did whenever the subject came up of her using other weapons in conjunction with her lightsaber.

"Survival is everyone's way," countered Ashanti with equal gravity. "He will learn to live on nothing but his wits, know to use all things available to keep himself alive. Teach him." This time she did disappear.

Yoda tapped his staff against the tile in aggravation and grunted in disgust. He ruminated on the situation as he made his way through the Temple to his own personal chambers. Ashanti's natural mischievous nature often caused the Jedi Council ulcers. When she had brought the infant Qui-Gon Jinn to the Temple, all twelve members had been in an uproar.

The baby's parents had been killed from a viral infection rampant on their planet. The child's obvious connection with the Force prompted Ashanti to bring him to the Temple, and sure enough the midichlorian count was high. So within the Temple the boy was raised from infancy. While other children were brought to the Temple at the age of three, four or five, Qui-Gon had never known another home. He had never known another family outside the students, masters and tutors. Despite this, Qui-Gon managed a worldly and wise outlook, mature beyond his years and was very skilled in the Jedi arts.

When Ashanti announced two years ago she would be taking Qui-Gon as her padawan, she sent the Council into the boughs again. Several other masters had requested the honor of training the boy. Ashanti informed all politely that since she found him first, she had first call on him. One master who protested vehemently found himself dodging one of Ashanti's infamous daggers tossed casually in his direction by a long tail. Yoda considered the matter settled, knowing Ashanti had been impatiently waiting for the boy to mature these years and granted her the official approval of taking Qui-Gon as her apprentice. Long ago personal permission from him had been granted; now it was public. She had a stake in the boy's future after all; a promise to his parents to keep.

She was a rebel, a rule bender and she followed no law except the Force and her own heart. Many dagger marks were covered over in the main Council chamber from where Ashanti had tossed a dagger at someone to prove her point. You accepted her as she was or you got out of the way.

Yoda sighed as he entered his private chambers. She had been his favorite apprentice, but she was irritating as a fellow knight.