"Ha!" The voice shouted, proclaiming victory for the fifth time. The pair of blue-colored lightsabers deactivated with a simultaneous snap-hiss, but the air was still somehow resonating the grunts and clashes of blades that had stopped a minute prior. "Beat you again."

Humility was never his strong point, mused the recipient of the words spoken. His twin brother often spoke his mind without regard to the effect of the emotions of anyone else. Oh well, he thought, At least it wasn't a real battle.

It was true, the pair had only been sparring. In the aft of their small ship, the Dual Warrior, with the few crates of cargo and storage containers pushed to the walls, there was space enough for the twin brothers to train, often with each other. In the lightsaber duels, the stronger of the twins, his brother Elias, usually won out. Physically stronger, at least. The same, he mused again, could hardly be said for his intelligence. The more mentally-attuned of the twins, Jerek smirked inwardly, then brushed away his sarcastic thoughts. On the surface, his brother appeared to be much less intelligent than he, but Jerek knew his brother's strengths lay in other forms of intelligence than simple academics.

Rubbing the arm where his brother had made contact with his lower-powered lightsaber, Jerek reviewed the sparring match. He was breathing heavily, a sign of a good workout, but a glance at Elias produced a frown from his mouth. His brother seemed to show few signs of tiring, despite having dueled heartily for the past hour or so. It just went to show how well the Knights had trained him and improved Elias' stamina. Likewise, they had improved Jerek's own mental prowess and taught him numerous Force abilities that he had practiced during the course of the match.

He sighed, drawing the attention of his brother. "You don't seem tired at all. How do you do it?"

"How do you spend twenty minutes just thinking?" his twin shot back. It wasn't hostile, just a friendly poke between the two, like others they exchanged often.

"Maybe if you spent more time thinking, you wouldn't have left your right side open so often."

"So? I still covered it in time. And I beat you, so what's the problem?"

Jerek opened his mouth to return a comment, but closed it, shaking his head instead. It was no use arguing, Elias wouldn't see the fault. Hopefully his instructors would catch it the next time they were in training, real training, again. He spoke again, but not in the same conversation as before. "I'm gonna go take a shower, Eli. Wanna come?"

"Naw, I'll just keep practicing."

The boy shrugged and turned away from his twin. Hanging his saber in the storage cabinet fixed to the wall by the entrance, he exited the small bay and into the rest of the ship. The temperature was undoubtedly cooler, having had an absence of warm bodies spinning, dodging and running around each other. Jerek brought a hand up to his forehead and wiped away the beads of sweat that had gathered across his brow. 

Passing the small sleep/recreation cabin and the hygiene pod and food storage area, Jerek made his way to the front of the ship. Without taking a seat in one of the two chairs arranged in an elaborate system that allowed the pilot to be seated directly in front of the gunner, the boy crouched as he passed the folded-up gunner station. Looking over the panel, he spotted the display that indicated their remaining hyperspace time. Just over an hour to go. Good, he thought. Turning around, he headed back for the main cabin.

Reaching the sleep/rec area, the twin opened the storage locker he had slid out from under his bunk, which was converted in the waking hours to a sort of couch, with cushions on the back of the upper bunk. It was usually kept in that position, though, as there were two sets of bunks, one on either side of the ship. Focusing his attention back to the storage locker, the boy began to peel off his clothes. They clung to his skin and it took several minutes to remove them completely. Standing naked in the cabin, Jerek closed the locker and entered the small hygiene pod.

The door behind him slid shut, and the boy manipulated the controls next to the door. The humidity increased and the temperature rose again, making conditions comfortable for a shower. Another control turned the water on, and the room began to fill with the steam that the hot water gave off. Turning towards the shower, Jerek pressed his back against the wall, leaning forwards slightly on first contact with the cool metal surface, the wall having yet to warm up to the room's temperature. The next contact was better, and he leaned against the wall for a few moments, letting the water run, soaking up the steam and warmth. Finally the twin strode forward, opening the door to the small enclosure that circled the shower area, and stepped inside.

The water felt soothing against his skin, and he stood there for several minutes, enjoying the sensation. He had no rush, no time to worry about, and his brother had turned down his offer to shower as well, so he felt no obligation to begin washing. It seemed as though time had slowed down, and the only thing that mattered was the feeling of the warm water falling on his skin. The boy closed his eyes and let his thoughts leave his body, meditating as he stood in the shower with the warm water flowing over him. Peaceful, a disembodied thought entered his head, and the boy smiled in response. Peaceful, he agreed.

The boy shook his head as he watched his twin brother exit their makeshift training room. Elias could never understand why Jerek couldn't focus on his training, preferring to read or relax instead, or even work on things like Force powers. Oh, they're alright, he thought, but I can always rely on my lightsaber skills, I can't always rely on the Force. It was true, in a sense. The small amount of studying that he had done had revealed that some species were resistant or even immune to the effects of the Force, even when wielded by a skilled user.

That's why he had made it his focus to hone his saber skills to the best he could be. The quip Jerek had made earlier about leaving his side open came back to him, and nagged at him. Could it be true? Was he letting down his defenses? His form itself was a memorizing display of footwork, elegance and flow, an exposed weakness not only meant certain death to a skills opponent, but it was a flaw of his own skill with his lightsaber form. If his brother's assessment was correct, it was a grave mistake made on Elias' fault and needed correction as soon as possible.

Turning to face the fore of the ship, he took several strides that brought him near to the wall. Spinning around, his back to the ship's main cabin, Elias went through his moves. His feet danced as his hands, wrists and arms worked his lightsaber blade. Over, under, around, he dodged and lunged, parried and thrust. Finishing with a sweep of his arm through the air before him at about waist level, he imagined the waist of an enemy being cut cleanly in two. Bringing his arms down, he deactivated his blade at the same time, his breathing short and controlled. Having been aware of his motions throughout his practice seemed to reveal nothing to him. He sighed in a grim manner, disappointed at his inability to find his weakness.

At least they were headed back to the Dragoon Knights headquarters now. The twin brothers had been to Corulag to visit their parents, an event that occurred every year or so. It was a good experience, but it was always a relief to get back to the life of a Dragoon Knight. Structure and routine were comforting to Elias, though he knew his brother despised them. He shrugged, That's Jer for ya, he thought.

Placing his saber in the same storage cabinet his brother had set his, the twin headed back into the main cabin. He too felt the temperature change, though it was less noticeable as he had been the only person in the training room for the past half hour. Listening carefully, he could hear the water dripping from the hygiene pod, his brother must be finished with his shower. Instead of disrobing for his own, Elias sprawled out on his bunk, looking towards the front of the ship. From his position, he could catch periodic glimpses of stars streaming past the cockpit window, indicating that the ship was still in hyperspace.

A door hissed open, and Elias looked up. From the hygiene pod emerged his brother, Jerek. He was naked, without even a towel or bathrobe wrapped around him. He started towards the back of the ship until he saw his brother and froze. Jerek stared into his twin's eyes and a silent question was issued between them.

"What? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before," Elias chuckled, although it was comical to see his brother with no clothes, standing frozen in place with water dripping off his body. His twin brother always seemed a bit uncomfortable with being naked around anyone, even his brother. Though they always shed their clothes when they went swimming or took communal showers, Jerek seemed to require a short period of time to get comfortable. Whether it was the lack of clothes or the ability of others to see his body, Elias didn't know, but he knew that Jerek had some kind of fear or discomfort that took time to get over every time he was naked around someone.

"So have I," the naked twin retorted. He shrugged and water sprayed from his lightly tanned shoulder. Jerek's normally blond hair was colored brown by the saturation of water in his hair. He didn't dry off well, Elias thought, though that may have been the point. He knew Jerek liked to set the environmental settings warm and humid when he took a shower, drying might remove the opportunity he had to feel the coolness of water evaporating naturally from his skin. Whatever the reason, Elias was not too concerned about it. He lay back on his bunk again and stared at the ceiling of the cabin.

"So how long until we reach Coruscant again? Elias asked. His brother was obsessed with knowing the time and being able to judge how much time he would need for this or that task so he could schedule it accordingly. Contradictory to this, though, was the fact that Jerek was sometimes lazy and would perform tasks at the last minute instead of planning it out. Unlike Elias, who would, without over scheduling his time, be able to work on a large project little by little until it was done. Well, he thought, Even twins have their differences.

"It was just over an hour when I looked last. That was when I left the training room," the boy stated.

There was something in his brother's eye as he stared at Jerek. He wasn't quite sure, it could be a deeper interest in him or just brotherly love. Maybe it was something about him that impressed his brother, making him look in awe at him. Whatever the case, it was starting to get awkward standing naked before his brother, even if he was a twin. Turning around, Jerek walked back to the two small lockers, one on either side of the ship, set just inside the main cabin. Opening the locker on the left side facing the cockpit, that was his, he stepped inside the tiny room.

He hadn't brought along all of his clothes, just enough for the trip, and a few days to spare. On the ship he didn't need to dress in the uniform or armor of the Dragoon Knights, and so the boy moved past those items. Deeper into the locker, against the back wall, hung a few shirts and pants. Below that was a drawer containing the rest of his clothes, like underwear and socks. A few pairs of shoes and boots, to accompany his uniform and armor, lined the wall to his right. Opening a drawer, Jerek pulled out a pair of underwear and started to get dressed. A blue shirt and brown pants soon followed. Rarely wearing socks onboard the ship, he skipped over that phase of his dressing routine. As dressed as he would be for the rest of the day, minus footwear, the boy reentered the main cabin.

A glance at his twin told the boy that Elias hadn't showered yet. He probably still wouldn't, at least until they got back to Coruscant and finished unloading. Jerek knew his brother liked to impress the female students at the Encampment, the Dragoon Knights' headquarters, and took the long way back from a training session on more than one occasion to show off his sweaty body and matted hair. Jerek, too, liked to show off, but in a different manner. He preferred to impress by his intellect or Force abilities instead of physical endurance.

A few months ago, a new initiate had come to the Knights. She couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen, but Jerek had taken an instant liking to her at first sight. There was something about her eyes, her hair, the way she moved that captivated his thoughts and refused to release them. On her first day at the Encampment, Jerek had noticed her in the meal area, and offered to it with her. She agreed, but before he could sit down, someone bumped into him from behind, launching his tray into the air towards her. It was only a quick reaction and his level of comfort with telekinesis that prevented his lunch from showering the girl. Realizing the opportunity at hand, he returned the items to his tray, turned it back over and set it down on the table without any contact at all, simply using the Force. She seemed impressed, and the two had talked for a while. He had walked her back to her room and skipped the rest of the way down the hallways to his own.

If only she were here right now, he thought. The smell of her hair, the way she smiled when she talked to him or waved in the hall on her way to classes. It made Jerek feel as if he was in heaven. His entire body was filled with some sort of ecstasy that lingered even after she was gone. Even if they didn't have time to talk, just seeing her in the halls or waving at a distance filled his body with happiness that stayed with him for an hour or two. Without having much to do for the next half hour to an hour, the boy deeply wished that she would appear. It was not to be so, however. Nothing Jerek could do or say or thought, no matter how hard he tried, could bring him to see her any faster than the ship could fly. He very much doubted even the Force had the ability to bring her to him.

Dismayed, the boy flopped down on the bed/couch opposite his twin brother. He turned his head to look at his twin for a moment, then turned back to stare straight ahead. He didn't feel tired in the least, so he couldn't sleep. All he could do was lie there in silence, thinking about her, and wishing the ship would fly faster.

He's doing that again, the boy thought. It was terribly annoying when he did, as it made Elias unsure of what to do himself. His thoughts continued, He's just lying there, thinking. That's all he's doing, just thinking. The air was filled with silence, which made him uneasy. He wished to be doing something, or talking, not just thinking.