Merryn pressed forth, ignoring Jekin's attempts to throw her off balance. Her intensity of purpose drove an unrelenting assault upon him, excluding everything else. Their link was strengthened as if there was no one else in the room...<br/><br/>She felt something tugging at the edge of her awareness, Nory's considerable talents with the force... and a threat from behind. Jekin's willingness to resist was eroded, and she saw her opening. She ducked under his blade, twirling around and deactivating her blade.<br/><br/>The blue blade quickly shot back into the hilt, Merryn bringing it down in a wide arc towards Jekin... she stopped just short, a few inches from his face. The deactivated hilt vented a blueish steam from the emitter... He felt a familiar sensation, but it wasn't<em>his.</em>Just then a pillow hit her in the face, causing her to reflexively catch it in her hand and look over her shoulder at Kailen.<br/><br/>She smiled, her muscles relaxing. Merryn turned her attention back to Jekin, tapping his cheek twice with the cold metal of her lightsaber, "My padawans wouldn't hurt me."<br/><br/>"You should have more faith in them." She said, lowering her arms and turning back to the others. She looked down at her lightsaber with fondness, and Jekin heard a thought not intended for him to hear, 'Your saber always stops just short.'<br/><br/>'Thank you.'<br/><br/>"You want a pillow fight!?" She asked, whipping the pillow towards Kailen with a mischevious grin. She brushed her lekku behind her shoulder and moved back to the center of the room, "Not exactly what I had in mind when I thought we'd spar. Let's go again."<br/><br/>Merryn ignited her blade again...<br/><br/>An hour and a half later, the Jedi Knight stood between them again and turned off her saber. She was panting, beads of sweat upon her skin as she again brushed aside both her lekku. Merryn was the most fatigued among them, considerably exhausted. She had lost more than she won, but all Jekin could feel between them was her considerable pride. The others felt it as well, Merryn's passive connection to them remaining in place throughout the entire exercise.