Learning

Chapter 3: Injury

Barriss and Riyo delivered the hockey sticks with ease. They knew each other reasonably well so it wasn't horrendous to work with each other. While Riyo ran off to warm up with the others, Barriss turned back to see where Ahsoka was and raised her eyebrows when she saw her getting along with Mr Skywalker. Barriss knew Ahsoka wasn't romantically interested in their new teacher but there did seen to be something between them.

The pair reached the courts as the rest of the class finished their warm-up. Ahsoka couldn't help but grin as Anakin clapped his hands once again to get their attention; that appeared to be the way he learnt to communicate with them. "Okay class, get into threes with a ball between you and a stick each. We're going to practise simply passing between a group. I'll trust you all to get into sensible groups." He stopped talking as the class dispersed into trios.

Riyo looked over to where Ahsoka and Barriss were excitedly talking and approached them. "Can I join you?" They looked up from their conversation with a smile.

"Yeah sure. I'll get the equipment." Ahsoka grinned at her while Barriss went to look for any space to practise. Ahsoka walked over to the bucket where it was surrounded by her friends. Anakin noticed her stood away from the group, waiting for a gap, with a smile. Reaching into the heart of the herd, he pulled out three hockey sticks and a ball with a triumphant grin and tossed them to Ahsoka. "Thanks Sir." She mouthed at him before returning to the group.

Riyo looked over at her. "Did you get everything we need?" She nodded, twiddling one of the sticks. "That's good, should we get into a triangle?" She took a stick from Ahsoka and stood a reasonable distance from them both.

Barriss nodded and moved to the other corner before placing the ball on the ground. "Ahsoka." She nudged the ball towards her friend and watched it roll perfectly towards her stick.

"Riyo."
"Ahsoka."
"Barriss."
"Riyo."
"Barriss."
"Ahsoka."

The exercise continued in this pattern for fifteen minutes before they moved further outwards and mixed groups. While it was simple, it was fun. Anakin stopped and watched them for a few moments. "This is good girls, you're all good at communicating with one another with good power and accuracy. I'm impressed." He inclined his head towards them with a smile which they returned.

"Thanks Sir." Riyo chirped as she passed the ball back to Ahsoka.

"Okay now I feel bad splittings you three up but Barriss if you could go work with Kanan and Ahsoka you can move over to Asajj that would be a big help. Riyo you can go to Katooni's group." Anakin told them gently and was pleased to see they did what he said without any fuss.

Ahsoka walked over to where Asajj stood sullenly on the sidelines. "Hey, do you need a stick?" The girl looked disinterested and disgusted by the whole activity.

She shook her head. "No, if you pass me yours then you can go get another one for yourself." Asajj held her hand out to accept the stick which Ahsoka handed over albeit slightly cautious. "Thank you, Pet." She hissed at Ahsoka who looked shocked. Asajj merely sneered and jerked her head towards Mr Skywalker who was supervising another group.

Ahsoka knew not to let it get to her and walked over to get another stick when suddenly the ground and bucket raced up to meet her. "OW!" Ahsoka shouted as her leg got caught on the edge of the bucket, feeling it pierce the skin. Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw the ball a few meters away and Asajj holding the stick triumphantly in her direction. Ahsoka sighed for she knew not to trust Asajj with something like that.

Anakin jogged over to her and helped her stand up. "Hey Ahsoka, you okay? What happened?" Rather reluctantly she lent on him as they looked down to see her leg had a cut and was dripping blood down to her shoes.