Chapter 1: Past Present and Future

The purple Twi'lek stood amidst her peers, finding herself at Zafe's side, as almost always. Her arms are weakly crossed, and she doesn't quite look at their Master, her uninterested eyes darting between the creepers in the cave. It's not as if she wasn't paying any attention: She always was. Rather, she had grown cold to Master Selak... Not looking at him was a small sign of rebellion. Yes, a sign that may not matter - Contrary to her best friend, the old Nautolan was cold as ice. Yet, had she done nothing at all, wouldn't that mean that she had accepted her Master's decision? Concerning Taryn?

She can't help but glance at her sweetheart. She was not allowed to share space alone with him anymore. Absurd! Unconsciously, Avi pouts, and that's when her Master's words hit her.

Her first experience Force? Of course, she remembers it! That's when she realized how useful the Force could actually be. At least, the potential it had. At the time, she even thought to be special.

Her mother was such an incredible woman. Young, too. Too young. She remembers how poor she was, back in Ryloth. Her father, he wasn't around. Mother said he wasn't one of them, whatever that may have meant. And that's too bad because a poor free woman in Ryloth might as well be a slave.

She worked for single numbers in credits per hour, and never quite made enough money, but at least they scrapped by. Then, one day, Avi got sick. Her mother was desperate, and she took a loan - A mistake that would save Avi's life. Had she only not cared, maybe her mother would still be around.

She remembers the day. It was night, and her mother hadn't paid the monthly loan for the third time. They were eating soup when it happened. A bunch of Twi'lek, all men, suddenly entered the house, grabbed her mother and took her away. Avi tried to stop them and was almost beaten to death. Then... She was eating soup again, with her mother.

Avi remembers being confused. Crying, telling her mom that they had to go away. Her mother didn't understand. Of course, she didn't - This isn't a fairy tale with a happy ending. The men eventually came. They took her mother. They almost beat little Avi to death.

Why didn't her mother listen to her? Why couldn't Avi do anything? Why those memories, from a past long gone, hurt her so much?

She just now realizes her first is curled, a few tears sliding down her frowned face. Tutting to herself in annoyance, she cleans her tears. "Yep. Could never forget it." Says Avi, her eyes finally focusing on Master Selak.

The devaronian blinks.

He could still see his home planet on the back of his eyelids. Or at least he thought he could... It was very much like this one, he knew. But sometimes he wondered if he actually remembered anything from Devaron, or if its reality had simply been supplanted by the sights, sounds, and smells of here.

Anyway, Force sensitives were not uncommon among devaronians. Indeed, it was on a regular screening of the children of his village that he was discovered. That was the first time someone asked him if he'd ever felt such a mystical call... he thought they even used those very same words.

Just as it was then, the words didn't resonate with Zepharo much at all now. He'd never felt a presence, never had the metaphorical call to nor from the Force.

Instead he thought of his next hunt. He could feel himself moving across the ground with alacrity, passing along the game trails, reading their sign, moving in unison with his prey. His heart quickened, and he found himself going into the meditative breathing exercise.

And as his eyelids rise up, he looks on Master Selak and nods vacantly.

Zafe musters up enough willpower not to grin at the prospect. Padawan, it sounded very special, like she was maturing from the title alone. She tries to sneak peaks at the others, to gauge their reaction, but doesn't risk looking too obvious, it would be foolish to embarrass herself during this commemoration. "Yes." She says briefly.

First time... That takes Zafe back, when things were normal and carefree. It wasn't something she liked to brag about, Zafe had a suspicion some of her fellow padawans would resent her if she drew attention to her relatively normal life. She was only a child, playing with her friends. It was tag, or maybe a race? It didn't matter really, until the game changed to pretend fighting, with rather large sticks. She wasn't one to back away from some rough and tumble fun, her fearlessness was not misplaced, she was a natural: others might have upwards of 10 welts while she would only sport two.

She and her friends got an excellent idea, brilliant even: challenge the other kids in a "duel", winner gets credits. Needless to say the operation went well, too well some of the kids thought. Naturally responsible adults were involved thanks to the upset snitches. Fearing a scorning Zafe chose not to return home until much later, and when she did there was strange man talking with her parents. Somehow he knew she was there, telling her to come forward.

He challenged her to a duel, Zafe was a terrified, but she figured it was this or a stern grounding. Giving her a proper dueling sword they fought for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been longer then a few minutes. Zafe knew he was going easy on her, she was inexperienced and predictable, blocking her every strike with ease. Throughout the duel she could hear him speak under his breath: "Interesting." "Good." and so forth.

Of course she remembers what came next quite fondly: the excitement from her parents as the man believed she was gifted with the force, leaving her home world, and being stuck in the caves for the last 12 years.

Chest filled with pride, crossed arms, standing as tall as he could... Piodas has been waiting for this since a long time. He really wanted to look at the mirror and say that he is looking to a full fledged Jedi, and he wanted others to perceive that and be encouraged, strengthened and protected when feeling that a Jedi was with them... it was what the way the Order was perceived prior to what happened 12 years ago.

Piodas quickly did a recap in his mind... it was curious for him to be honest because he didn't remember a moment when he actually felt the Force when he was younger with his family... he always heard his dad brag about how the young Piodas "pushed" a group of bullies when they got him angry, but he didn't recall that. When the Jedi caregiver came due to his potential to become a Jedi, his parents where actually overjoyed that his son could become a Jedi, and his father actually felt that he knew such feat was worthy of legend... or so he said across the small settlement they lived.

Time passed, his caregivers gave him to Master Selak, and he took all the younglings to their current place of residence. He did his best to learn as much as he could and at first; he tried to become the Jedi his father bragged about... but as time passed by, he learned that he had to be the Jedi for selfless reasons and on behalf of others than just his family... and thus, he tried to backtrack in his learning.

It wasn't until the time when he took his first training saber, when he ignited that artificial blade that he felt for the first time the warm and relaxing touch... when he could understand the calmness... the connection towards his surroundings... with his target... the first time they were expected to spar and feel how a training saber would feel, what would do to someone who came in contact with the blade and understand not just how to wield it, but to go deeper in it's connection... it was then when Master Selak instructed Piodas in how his connection to the Force was at the moment linked to his feelings in battle, in a conflict against someone else... and how he had to learn to expand that to something more since battle was not the Jedi way... at least not always.

The young man has come a long way since understanding that point, and he felt now the Force in different levels, but he would be lying if he said that his connection didn't feel stronger when wielding his training saber, and he just hoped that when the time comes, a real lightsaber in his hand would make him feel even closests to the Force.

After the lessons and different tasks, including that time he went with Evelynn to the Pool, he had reshaped himself and Master Selak knew this... otherwise he wouldn't be here... for that reason, when his time came, he just nodded with strong confidence and just waited there patiently for the next instructions their Master had.

Taryn has been on edge since he woke up. Something was about to change. The last time he had felt like this was the day the Jedi came to take him away from home.
He lets his eyes wander around the meditation chamber, holding Avi's glance for a moment. His sense of foreboding lifts just from being in the same room.
And finds his thoughts drifting into the past as he listens to the Master's words...

Not all colonies are successful. Sykar was supposed to be a new beginning for a group of Alderaanians who had grown disgruntled with the increasingly corrupt Republic. Instead it had become a safe haven for pirates and other scum. The Jedi didn't protect them, they'd all gone off to fight their war, or so his mother told him. And then the war came to Sykar, and things got so much worse.
His family was gone now, lost to a Separatist bombardment, but he had already found a new one, mostly made up off other war orphans like himself. And he did his part to keep them safe and fed. He had an uncanny knack for picking easy marks, and today was no exception. The doohickey he pick pocketed should keep them fed for at least a week. He wasn't worried about the enraged Trandoshan pursuing him. He wondered how something with legs that long could be that slow.
And that's when he got overconfident and ran straight into the blind alley.

With seconds to act, he hid under the burnt out carcass of a battle droid.
'Please don't find me...please don't find me...please don't find me...' his soundless mantra went. And then his cover was torn away with a loud snarl. And then... nothing. As the Trandoshan looked right at him he felt a strange connection between them, that had always been there, he just hadn't noticed it before. He felt his fear vanish, replaced with a calm confidence. Looking up, he stared into his would-be eviscerator's eyes as they glazed over with confusion. The thug growled in frustration as he looked through the refuge piled up against the walls, unable to find his prey. After a few minutes he gave up and left, leaving a bewildered Taryn behind.

Turned out his haul was worth more than he had expected, the money they got lasted for almost a month.
Looking back on that period, for what little he remembers of it, it now doesn't feel like it had been such a bad time.

It was about a year after that that the Jedi finally did come to Sykar, to take him away. Another family lost, another one gained.

He turns toward Master Selak and nods slightly.

So... Padawan. At last. He wonders what will change now for them.

Zepharo chuckles mirthlessly, inwardly to himself at the oddly apropos symbolism, as kneels before the master and receives only some ritualistic motions, as he has no hair to braid. Just another way in which he doesn't see himself as being able to meet the expectations of a Padawan.

After they've all returned to their positions and the Master finishes his words, his eyes flick from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of the reactions of his brothers and sisters. Unsure of what is to come next - the Master is speaking as if he's just going to bestow power upon them, is that possible? And as the oldest amongst his siblings ooc: I think that's true at 24(?), he resolves to try to be a leader for once.

This must be some sort of test..., he thinks.

He steps slightly forward, " Master, I am at peace with the Force, I am one with the Force. I ask of nothing of it, but I accept what it provides...", he steps back.

His nerves jangling, he closes his eyes just a moment again and goes into the slow meditative breathing, and again his mind goes to the hunt. To the chase. To the maneuvering. To the only place where he really finds peace here.

When it's her turn, I unceremonially walk to my master and offers him an overly forced smile.

I suppose, in a way, my master was right. I had felt it before, how my emotions affected my connection to the force. Made it more volatile. But I guess I always was emotional - Maybe the most emotional between all my peers. Master Selak says he can also love. Feel fear. Feel anger. He claims that this mastery is serenity. Wasn't this kind of serenity, of coldness, that caused us the need to hide away in a cave for so many years? One thing is to be able to control your own emotions. But to be able to shut them down so easily, or worse, mask them away as if they were a bruise that you can hide with your sleeves... That's scary.

Independently of Master Selak either just looking at me as I sit there because I have no hair to braid, or if he puts some weird beads over my head, I'll slowly get up and get back to the group.

I shoot Zafe a look, interested in gauging her reaction to all of this. With all of this talk about learning to do more stuff with the Force, I'm sure she's somewhat cheerful. As for myself, I don't know. Is anything really going to change after today? What does it matter if some of us can lift some rocks if we're probably going to die of old age in this cave?

The Force has always come to me. It has granted me visions, here and there. By knowing what's going to happen... I could gain control over my own life. It seems the natural option to learn to wield.

Ugh. Look at those two, humoring our Master. I sigh, trying not to be conflictive - What? We're talking about controlling emotions. "If we're picking what kind of uses we'd like to give the Force, then I would like to know what the future has in store." She says with a serious, nonchalantly expression.

Piodas understood a bit about why his Master always seemed stoic, since that is a trait he tried to adopt for a few years... and thus he has been able to control his desire to jump in based on emotion all the time... but keeping control of all the other emotions seemed something that require further training.

Still, the young man took a sit and waited his turn patiently... he heard the words Master Selak had to say about moving over to the next step towards being a real Jedi as they were meant to be.

His time came and passed... all in silence as he contemplated about how he would help others...how the Force could aid his abilities and how he could defend others properly.

Enhance his own body, leap distances... they seemed something that would aid him greatly... but for some reason they didn't resonate into a deeper level with him... but it was then when it struck him... how he felt and how he would be in a better position to help others with the assistance of the Force.

Piodas smiled briefly and looked at his Master dead in the eye "It is no surprise that I have tried to control my... let's say impulses... I am ready to allow the Force to guide me into deeper roads and through further paths... I would like to sense how it interacts with others and how it affects those around all of us"

With that said, Piodas just waited to hear what the rest had to say.

Kit stepped forward eagerly. Waiting for this day was the one thing that kept him going through years of isolation.

"Resolution without violence, with both sides full and willing participants, that is the path to peace. That is the path that I strive to follow. I ask the Force to help show me the emotions and feelings of others, that I might better help bring about this peace."

Zafe's feelings of happiness swell when it is her turn, repeatedly she tries to keep her master's words in mind. Be happy, but don't show it. Conceal, but be thankful.

Naturally she has trouble maintaining this state of mind, especially as he braids her "hair", but Zafe figures its the thought that counts, until she can practice it at least.

Looking at Avi's braid she senses confliction in her eyes, even now her defiance can't help but reveal itself. Zafe makes a note to spend some time with her afterwards.

"I hope the force can grant me the power to protect those who are in need, to go beyond what my physical body is capable of."

Taryn feels a reluctant respect for his master.
It's not just the overt display of his mastery of the Force, but the theatrics and the forethought put into it. This garden has been here for... ages, it was one of the first rooms that was made habitable, and that boulder has always been there, right in the middle, drawing attention to itself.
This entire speech, or rather performance... he must have had most of it ready for over a decade.
Now that, that is a lot more impressive than a good poker face.

Maybe he's letting his thoughts over the recent events between them influence his feelings, but the Master doesn't seem all that serene to him, just cold and hard.

He walks up, eyes downcast, and takes his place to have his hair braided, wondering if some ancient Jedi maybe came up with this tradition as a practical joke.

"I seek knowledge and wisdom, to minimise the suffering we will have to inflict on our enemies."

He's not really sure why he said that. It's not what he was going to say, the words just came to him at the last moment.

Zepharo kneels, sitting gently back on his heels, placing his palms downward on his knee-caps, and meditates in this ready posture.

As is always the case, he feels no call, and possesses no means by which he can reach out. And so he meditates, reflecting inward, as he always does, in the normal meditative fashion. He finds his place of quiet rapidly as he usually does, and dwells in that place, examining himself, until the stirring of others at the conclusion of their group meditation brings him out.

His head is clear, and he is at peace. But as his mind re-emerges into active thought, he hopes the Master doesn't confront him directly about this crystal business... he hopes he could just be left to his own devices on the matter. Perhaps he could follow one of his siblings and find something there, or just disappear into the jungle until he could think of what to say upon returning empty-handed?

Soon enough, we're all back to the meditation chamber. I take a quick look at my brothers and sisters, and a small, relaxed smile creeps in. No matter what, we have each other.

I perk up when I hear what Master Selak is talking about and unconsciously put my hand on my nape. Meditating again. I understand the point of the exercise, but sometimes I can't help but feel like we're wasting time. But... It's not like we have anywhere to be.

"Right. Will do." Avi wanted to catch up with a few of her siblings, to know what their test was about, but it seems that the ordeal wasn't yet over. She distances herself from the group, sitting on the floor and crossing her legs. Her eyes slowly close as she starts to try to find a kyber crystal - Her kyber crystal.

We've learned that everything is connected. What Avi has picked up is that these connections, these threads, they can be manipulated on their own. She has learned to read them, in some way, and that's probably why I have a tendency towards forseeing. Yet, to follow them shouldn't be too difficult, right? So I start to feel them, thread to thread, connection to connection, in the hopes of finding, well, something. I don't quite know what I'm searching for, but whatever I'm doing is bound to lead me to something, right? And that something will, hopefully, lead me to her crys - Avi eyes suddenly cloud themselves as she sees something. A patch of poisonous mushrooms. She has been there before. The centermost part of the patch is incredibly dense. It is underneath it that lies her crystal.

She opens her eyes and gets up shooting a rapid but tender stare at Taryn, as she approaches her master. "Hey. So, I found it. It's on..." She leans into her Master's ears and whispers to him. "Where you, uh, caught me and Taryn. By the shroom patch."

Sitting down with crisscrossed legs Zafe closes her eyes and breathes deep, just as she was taught. But she is far from calm, for how could she be? Her mind races with the possibilities of where to find this crystal, or how the process even works. Master Selak hasn't been wrong yet, so she'll just have to trust his instructions, considering the countless spots left unexplored on this planet.

Within the forest? Possibly, but surely someone would've seen them by now. Mountain peak? Too dangerous, plus it could be buried under the snow. Zafe feels a tingle of frustration, she never was much for sensing, how could she find what she hasn't yet seen? Although the race did introduce her to new sensations, the force physically moving through her body. It was different from when she swung a saber, or perhaps she had simply gotten used to the feeling.

Regardless she focused on that aspect, letting her mind wander until she picked up the prior feelings. Now she was getting somewhere, as if her body was being whisked away in the darkness, guiding her towards a bright light. And then it all becomes clear: a cave much like the one she is seated in, a glint of something shiny from the darkness within. But she feels the cold of snow, and the harsh wind against her body. "I see...on the mountain, there is a cave." Opening her eyes the vision fades, but she understands her destination.

Back at the meditation chamber... the young man couldn't take his eyes away from the hilt that was given to him... especially since he was now with a greater amount of light.

Piodas raised his head as he noticed the other fellows coming back from training one by one... and as soon as they were all gathered, he just stored his hilt in his robes and then proceeded to listen to Master Selak.

It didn't take long for the Master to explain to his students the missing piece they all needed: a focusing crystal atuned with them... one that would allow them to create their very own lightsaber... only at that moment is when they would be called Jedi... Padawans... but Jedi nevertheless.

Following his instructions... Piodas took once again a seat in the ground in a lotus position... and with his newfound ability to sense his surroundings and his fellows... the warm feelings and strong sense of clarity provided by the nexus of Force Sensitive beings was clear for him... clearer than ever before... he was quite glad to be part of this bunch of people...

However, as he reached further and further in search for his crystal... his mind slowly trailed back to a known path... one that he has taken quite long ago... Master Selak was wise and his instructions in order to get training were congruent with previous teachings... or it might have been a coincidence, but there is no chance or coincidence when talking about the Will of the Force.

As he pinpointed the location with the help of the Force... and a lone crystal calling out to him in a cold place... he could feel the distinctive warmness similar to that touch of the Force when he reached to his teammates... but felt personal, closer... alive and at the same time... it wasn't.

"I hear it..." he whispered as he opened his eyes "...it is deep in the caves. In a known path I have taken before... it's like it has always been there waiting for me and the right time"

Taryn shared a brief look with Avi as they entered the chamber. He wished he'd had the chance to talk with her about their newly learned abilities. He'd often found her more intuitive approach to the Force helpful.

So... their very own Kyber crystals. He knew some of the others had practically been obsessing over this for ages, but he didn't really care that much. It's not as if he'd ever shown the slightest talent for the Lightsaber, despite many, many hours and days of intensive practice.
The Master often told him it would come to him when the moment was there, but then he's always saying stuff like that about everything.

Kneeling down, he closes his eyes. The serene calm state of deep meditation comes easier and easier to him. So maybe there is something to be said for practice.

Not really knowing what else to do, he concentrates on the only Kyber crystal he knows, the one right here in this chamber, in his master's Lightsaber. It takes a while, but after a while he becomes aware of... something there. A minute presence, somehow intrinsically intertwined with that of Master Selak. Letting go of that image, he widens his perception beyond this chamber.
He stops trying to look, and instead lets the Force guide his vision. He becomes slowly aware of tiny little... presences, like lights, warm, soothing. Dozens or even hundreds of them, all around them, scattered throughout the caves. He I sure he wouldn't be able to feel even a single one of them if he were actively looking for one. He thinks he feels some of them connecting to his siblings. None of them call out to him though.

No, that's not right. There is something, similar, but different. Hard to pinpoint, both weaker and more distant. He tries to isolate the 'signal', slowly and meticulously blotting out everything else in his vision.
There it is. It's... cold. Harsh. Too bright to look at. Not so much calling out as screaming in pain and rage. He tries to reach out, to touch it with his mind. And intense cold floods his soul when he connects to it. It feels painful in his mind. In a way, it feels very similar to his own old pains. It feels like an orphan.

He pushes down the emotions he's feeling. Trying to analyse the thing itself. It's definitely a Kyber crystal of some sort. To the north. Deep into the caves, far deeper than they have explored, as far as he knows. Three, maybe four days travel...

After their talk, Ian seems mostly focused on actually following along with Master Selak's lesson and -not- trying to mentally disrupt the other students. He goes to smoothly sit in what appears to be a proper meditative pose. He is towards the back of the room, hiding himself in the shadows because it would ruin his reputation among the others to see him taking things seriously. Slowing his breathing he closes his eyes and lets go . . .

Dark shadows, dim light and the sound of whispering wind greet him. A cold chill works through the air of wherever he is. The icy blue light that barely illuminates the area around him pulses, flickers and grows a little brighter. A sense of dread comes over him as he hears bootsteps approaching. Around the corner comes a trio of black-clad figures, their clothes making the quiet creak of leather. As they approach Ian makes out what looks like three humanoids wearing a armored uniform of some sort. They pass through him, as though he were a ghost, leaving the momentary memory of their insides for him to ponder. The last one is a tall, beastly male of indeterminate species and as they pass, Ian turns to watch them, his long braid trailing behind him, confused and lost as to how this has anything to do with a crystal.

As soon as the thought of one forms in his mind he can feel the thrum of the Force, like a low rumble. His hand comes up instinctively as if reaching for something. From the large man's belt flies a cylinder that Ian catches it by instinct, his thumb rising to where the ignition switch on a lightsaber would be. A blood red blade forms with a snap-hiss, casting a crimson light upon all four of them. The three armored figures turn, startled and shocked, looking Ian up and down before they go to draw their own lightsabers, each one holding a red blade.

Mouth hanging open Ian snaps out of his meditation, finding himself back home but covered in a cold sweat. His normally cheerful complexion is pale and his breathing shakes. He tries to blink the shocked look in his eyes away, looking down at his hand as if expecting to still see the lightsaber he had taken there. The human gulps and goes to stand up, looking first around the room at the other students to see if any of them were looking at him before raising his hand. "Sir? I think I gotta problem . . ."

When Alyx obediently sits to meditate, she lets her mind drift within the Force. Constant practice allows reality to fall away, breath by breath. As if holding out an offering to the Force, she broaches the subject carefully. A crystal, to help me right the wrongs, she tells the Force, and it shudders against her. Her thoughts twist and float away from the planet, and she tries again. A crystal, to help me balance the Force, and it seems as if it is chuckling gently at her now. Suddenly, the sensation of whirling into outer space overtakes her, and she finds herself unable to move.

In space, dark and vast, she hangs: without body, without substance. Without lungs to breath, she cannot suffocate. Without sight, yet she can see the barest of glints from distant stars, strong and unglittering in the depths of space. Her thoughts slow, crawling and sputtering out. Finally, she succumbs to the Force.

Your Will. Whatever you may wish of me.

In an instant, she feels herself snapped back, and she gasps for air from her spot on the cold stone ground of the meditation hall. Blearily, she sees Ian raise his hand and hears him speak: "Sir? I think I got a problem . . ."

She watches as if through water, then shakes the buzzing out of her head, a last echoing sensation whispering to her, "Not now, Child."

ooc: Destiny roll

Taryn rolls survival, and adds a Boost for having the right gear and another one for being very familiar with the terrain type, what with having lived in these caves for almost all his life.

Edit: keeping the extra advantage for possible follow-up chacks.

Ian takes the weighty, metal object in his hands. It tingles his sense, not his Force ones, but his gut instincts. He frowns down at the cube, turning it over in his hands, his feelings display showcase a mixture of regret and anxiety about the future. Beneath that is a rigid, harsh sort of control coupled with his usual sense of humor. Looking up he regardless Master Selak stoically and nods before immediately turning to Alyx and saying cryptically, while holding the cube out, "You'll know what this is when'the time comes. Let me know."

"This place sure brings up memories, yeah?" Avi half-giggles embarrassedly, trying to gauge Taryn's reaction in a quick glance, her stare finally resting on the mushrooms that stand guarding her crystal. It's... There. Somewhere.

She lets a breath she didn't know was holding out as she finally is about to face her trial. The warmness of the cave is familiar, pressuring. Absentmindedly, she looks at Taryn again, and when she realizes what's happening she can't help but chuckle shily as her star falls on the floor. Her cute expression quickly dissolves into a worried frown, however.

"I hope Master Selak will turn out okay if Ian's vision is really to worry. But... We talked a lot, during our trial. And not about our trial." Not sure what to say next, she closes her eyes and starts to concentrate on it again. The threads of the force, the possibilities, and variations. But she's really not in a perfect state of mind whenever she's around Taryn. The threads keep slipping through her fingers no matter what. Well, whatever! If fate won't come to her, she will bring it to her. She aggressively pulls one into her direction. Finally, with it in hand, she reads it.

She sees the mushrooms. The centermost of the field. But those are... Different. They feel... Heavier, trickier. Feisty? Arduous. Unreal. She sees herself. And spores. She's talking to nothing.

Hm.

She clicks her tongue as she opens her eyes, a decisive frown on her faces as she approaches the mushrooms. "Hey, T, feel free to keep going. I... Should probably do this alone.".

Independently of what Taryn does, Avi will proceed to look around, with the hopes of finding something that may help her journey into the field: Be it a load of head-sized rocks she can use to step on the mushrooms, or even a way into the center that is not necessarily full of the poisonous fungi. There is, however, no lighter path of mushrooms. She is lucky enough to find two big rocks, though. Big enough for her to carry and throw them, big enough for her to be able to stand on them easily, and square-ish enough for her not to slip on in. She dries them as best as she can, looking at the center of the field... And sighs. This is going to take a while.

She will then proceed to let go the first rock on the field and step on it. She will step into the second, do the same thing, step into the second, grab the first, and rinse and repeat. Never actually throwing the rock off, just to make sure she doesn't have to accidentally leap between them. Especially because she'd be rockless.

Alyx rolls her eyes. "By the Force, I'm not your pack-animal," she mutters, then sighs and goes to take the cube. "Fine, but you risk me never giving it back to you!" she threatens, but her curiosity takes over, and her gaze drops to the item as she frowns at it thoughtfully. "What is it, anyway?" she wonders out loud, walking just behind Ian into the caverns.

Alyx looks at the cube and sighs, unable to figure out what the symbols mean. "I think this is a data cube," she tells Ian. "But the port doesn't look familiar. Maybe it's an antique?" She shrugs. "Seriously, you should take this, Master gave it to you for a reason." She walks faster to try and match Ian's longer stride, and waves the cube at him. "Take it!"

With a put-upon sigh, Ian throws up his arms. Letting the smaller Zabrak catch up to him he irritably takes the cube back from her. "Man . . . why me?" He mutters quietly as he turns the cube over in his hands, "Bein' this responsible is gonna give me'a rash." As the group passes by the rock outcropping where Ian had hidden two blaster rifles, while everyone else was packing survival gear, the human glances back. While hidden from view from the Master's direction, probably anybody can see them from the student's angle.

As Master Selak watches them go, Ian's hackles rise. A chill washes over him as he's been raised to a hyper sense of alertness by past events. As his steps plod ahead, he falls quiet, indigo eyes narrowed in thought. The others around him seem to fade away before he suddenly says, "I fergot somethin'." He turns to the others and says, "I'm goin' back fer somethin' y'all go on ahead." He takes out the scanner he had packed and starts taking readings to build a map. Checking his pockets, the long-haired human sighs, "Anybody have'a spare comlink?"

Unwelcome and distracting memories, both good and bad, come to him as he recognises where they are.

"I hope Master Selak will turn out okay if Ian's vision is really to worry."
Taryn assures her it'll be fine, but thinking about it, he realises that even though he doesn't really want Selak to die, he certainly isn't going to mourn him if the vision comes true.

"Hey, T, feel free to keep going. I... Should probably do this alone."
As if. Taryn sits down at the edge of the cave, patiently waiting for Avi to finish. She's right that she should do this alone, and he certainly isn't going to interfere, but that doesn't mean he should just leave her alone.

When he spots some kind of irregularity in the cave wall, he gets up to investigate. He shines a light on the carving.

ooc: the next people to look at it should probably team up to combine their stats or at least get a boost die...


As he shines his light on the carving, he drowns out the naturally phosphorent lichen the carver used to make his work come to life. Taryn dismisses it as too old to make out what it used to say without having an archeologist applying his trade.

With a put-upon expression, Alyx glares at Ian. "You're an idiot." When he looks back as if expecting something, she sighs and goes to double check her bag. "I don't have an extra one," she tells him as she looks inside, "nobody would bring an extra one, so I don't know why-"

She stops, then looks even more irritated, and takes something out of her bag, handing it to the older student who is now smirking at her. "I hate you," she tells him. "Don't get yourself killed by cave bats."

Hey, the crystal! There it is! Avi looks surprised when it shows up out of nowhere and just kinda drifts towards her. Slowly, she raises her arm to try to catch it. It's just a few inches away, she just has to — Uh, did it just slip away? Why is it descending? She tries to snatch it again but it's too late, for it just went, uh, through the mushrooms. And through the soil?

There's obviously something happening here. It shouldn't be able to go inside the floor like that. Thanks to Avi's vision, she'd naturally think it's an illusion. But... She can feel it. Down there.

She stares at the mushroom, doubting what she just saw, her hands naturally resting on her hips. There's... Gotta be something wrong. Maybe the place is messing with her senses? That could be it, right? Still, she should confirm that the floor is actually solid.

The smirk turns into a shit-eating grin as Ian takes the extra comlink from Alyx. Clipping it to the inside of his pocket he jogs back before they get too far in order to collect both rifles from his hiding spot. He had wanted them hidden in case they needed them on the way back but Master Selak's strange behavior as of late has changed him, at least a little. Shouldering both rifles from the blanket they're hidden under he starts the walk back, mind drifting to the nightmarish hellscape he remembered as a child.

By the time he has returned to the group, however, his trickster grin is back in place and the map on his scanner grows. He glances around seeing everyone climbing through mushroom patches and scratching at walls. Tilting his head like a confused puppy he glances among the others before saying quietly, "Whad'I miss?"

Raising his scanner, Ian frowns at it before standing in front of the mushroom wall. "Guys? There's somethin' b'hind this wall. He gestures for the others to get clear, "Stand back. I'mma try'n clear it." Waiting until everyone is clear, Ian looks down at the scanner, clarifying for himself where the passage is. Raising a hand he closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath. Reaching out with the Force he attempts to clear away the mushrooms slowly, hoping to avoid a cloud of spores.

Slowly and carefully, Ian works to shift the fungus aside, hoping to shift it just enough to expose the entrance. Still, there is a tendril of fear and caution that continue to run through him.

Zepharo pulls a thin-cloth scarf up to cover his mouth and nose, as the "breath" issues forth from the passage, and he growls some words, "The Force didn't tell you that you must do this alone, did it sister? I will go with you."

Taryn's voice sounds slightly muffled through the breather.
"I concur with Evelynn: this is probably part of Avi's trial. It's her trial, she calls the shots. We talk a lot about trusting the Force. I suggest we actually do that, and maybe put some trust in ourselves as well."

He uses his cloak to wave a thick cloud of spores away from his face.
"... and maybe in the meantime, find a less narcotic place to wait for her? This drenn wasn't as bad where we came in."

Alyx watches everything with a deep sense of dread that only worsens the more everyone speaks about the strange passageway and getting Avi's stone. Being the youngest, she doesn't speak up; she wishes, in fact, to be anywhere but here right now. Leading a meditation is one thing, but this kind of choice is one she's not comfortable making. Glad it's not MY stone . . .

She quietly slips in-between them as they discuss what to do, and takes Ian's arm. "Come on," she whispers. "I want to leave. Let's leave, okay?" Her dark blue eyes do little to hide the fear she is trying to calm.

Licking his lips nervously, Ian nods. "Yeah. Okay." It's not immediately clear who he's responding to, Alyx or Taryn, but he goes to take the Zabrak by the shoulder, attempting to lead her away from the howling tunnel and towards an area without much in the way of spores. He passes her one of the blaster rifles he'd smuggled away, keeping the other slung over his back, as he gives her a grin. "Wanna learn how ta take scans?" He holds up the scanner, giving it a little shake in her direction, prompting her to take it.

Avi stares at the floor for more than a minute in quiet reflection, her eyes closing as to try to feel the crystal better. Still, the floor doesn't unmake itself for her or anything like that. What is happening? Are the mushrooms to blame?

She rises from her foot and crosses her arms, still thinking about what to do. She clearly can't dig up the floor. Maybe there's a hole around somewhere? Or... Unaware of anything that could be, well, it, Avi simply sighs. She starts moving forward once again, from rock to rock, to where the crystal originally appeared, in the very center of the room. It had drifted down toward her, after all, and that she felt it under the floor didn't really mean it was there. Even so, she was curious: Would the sensation below the earth also move with her? Or would it be stuck there?

Scoffing, Alyx wrinkles her nose at Ian. "I'm not a dog, and I KNOW how to take scans. Master taught us that." Chin up defiantly, she turns away from him. "I know I'm short but I'm not THAT young," she reminds him with a sigh as she begins to walk back towards the main sections of the cave-dwelling. "You're way older than me but you act like a baby sometimes. It's not very attractive."

Throwing his hands up in frustration he goes to follow after the Zabrak, "Hey, look. That's not what I meant. Things're turnin' weird an now I'm weird." Catching up to her, he lowers his voice a little, "I don' wanna hang 'round here neither but . . ." He glances back at the others, "I think we're needed here."

With that he reaches into his backpack and pulls out the cube he was handed, turning the scanner onto it. "I ain' havin' ma best day, truth be told."

Alyx sighs and relaxes, nodding at Ian, then glancing behind herself while he looked at the cube with his scanner. "Hey, Ian," she interrupts him, "Evelynn isn't with the group. I think she's going into that scary passageway you found. Evelynn!" She sighs as the Miraluka glides away as if in a dream, without even flinching at the sound of Alyx' voice. "Damn . . ."

"Okay." Ian raises his hand, "Nobody move 'till we get us a strategy in place. If this room could talk it'd be sayin' 'fuck you'." He goes to point at the wall surrounding the pit, "We've got two rifles, so we should get shooters up on'the ledge there." The arena seems as though it has been deserted for a thousand years but Ian is acting like its inhabitants are just laying in wait to strike at them.

Zepharo skirts the edge of the arena some, he un-shoulders the blaster rifle he took from the practice range, and scrutinizes the details of their surroundings more.

"I don't think reacting violently is a good idea," Alyx tells Ian, glancing nervously at the other students to gauge their reactions. Meeting the dark side with more darkness can't defeat it, surely . . .

She closes her eyes, and tries to ask the Force for help in healing this wound within it.

OOC: how far is it from the edge of the arena to the centre, in both meters and range bands?
OOC2: I don't think swinging the Force balance here is something even Yoda could pull off...
OOC3: Taryn uses all four Advantages to try and get some insight into what is/was going on here.

"Just go, I'll be fine..." Avi him.

"If you insist. I still think it's bad idea to split up." He gives her a short hug and gives her his comlink [ooc: well, obviously only if she doesn't have one already].

Hastily he runs after the others into the hidden tunnel.
Marvelling at the statues he makes his way. He wonders if these are natives or some other species he is unfamiliar with.

The deep sense of foreboding that washes over them as they enter the arena seems oddly familiar. It reminds him of his crystal visions. He does the best he can to push the fear he'sfeeling out of his mind."

"How has this been here all this time without any of us sensing it?" he wonders out loud. "Maybe it's just 'woken up' only recently?"

"We've got two rifles, so we should get shooters up on'the ledge there."
"I don't think reacting violently is a good idea."

"Three rifles," he says as he pulls his robes aside, showing the blaster at his belt."but I'm with Alyx on this. This doesn't seem the kind of thing you can fight. Does anybody sense anything living? Ian, can that gadget do a life scan?"

He shines his glowrod at the obelisk and starts to walk slowly towards it. "I wonder if this was an arena, or some kind of temple where they sacrificed people to that... big... rock thing there."

Sensing what Alyx and Evellyn are trying to do, he adds his spiritual strength to theirs.

OOC: Taryn is about 3 meters away from the obelisk

"This is definitely a place of ritual..." Taryn says, "Maybe the Force-sensitives of these people came here to test themselves against the Dark Side?" he wonders, "Not unlike ourselves..." he adds, his voice suddenly a lot more on edge as he realises what he just said. "We're probably just feeling an echo of something long gone..."

"YOUR SACRIFICE IS ACCEPTED. THE PACT REMAINS. WELCOME INITIATE. POWER OR DEATH SHALL BE YOURS."

"What the frell !?!" he exclaims as he instinctively jumps a few steps back.

"Hmmm. I think I get it now. These people worshipped some kind of Dark Side being, or even some Sith or fallen Jedi who set himself up here as a god, gorging himself on the fear and hate and deaths of the combatants and the blood-lust of the audience..."

He checks his rifle and sets it to stun, but doesn't draw it from the holster. "We probably should try and not feed it anything, try to keep our negative emotions in check..."

Not knowing what else to do, Zepharo shoulders his blaster rifle and shouts, "Get back!"

With a worried expression Alyx would walk along with Ian, clutching at the blaster rifle he had given her. Instead of stopping him when he reaches up to touch the obelisk, she decides to trust him, biting her lip nervously. When Evelynn stops him and summons up the loud voice by touching the black monolith she she starts to look around the arena, ready for danger.

"Balls." Ian mutters as he goes to back up, trying to pull Evelynn with him. Raising his blaster rifle he goes to fire as soon as he backs up enough to get a clear shot. Squeezing the trigger the red bolt lances out to collide with the behemoth, burning blackening a plate on its body.

Alyx's blue eyes go wide as the creature bursts forth from the ground. Moving towards the beast she gets into Short range, grits her teeth, levels the rifle and sends a shot at the beast.

ooc: defense setback dice are always black. Also, not all Nemesiseses have the Adversary talent, just saying. Adversary doesn't upgrade everything to red. If it has Adversary 1, it upgrades difficulty once, turning PPBB into RPBB. If it has Adversary 4, it upgrades Difficulty 4 times, turning PPBB into RRRBB. Setback dice can't be upgraded or downgraded.
OOC2: what colour us everybody using for OOCs? I think I asked before once.

Taryn mutters a curse in Twi'lek and moves a few steps away from the beast.

He feels it's important not to act on fear. He tries to steady his nerves as he draws his weapon and takes aim.

[Taryn uses two maneuvers: draw his rifle and Aim.]

Zepharo, blaster rifle shouldered and staring down the sights, takes several controlled steps towards the beast. He aims and starts pulling the trigger...

As Ian watches Evelynn get slapped aside, wounded by the great beast. Anger wells up in him before it tamps down to a hard, cold edge. His aim shifts from the great beast, roaring and swinging its arms to the black obelisk. "Fuck off." He mutters before he lets the shot fly.

With calm, purposed steps, Alyx drops the rifle on the ground. She wasn't a very good shot. The clack of her boots on the floor is drowned out by the roar of the creature and the scream of blaster bolts. Her hand dropped to her training saber for a minute but it wouldn't pierce exoskeleton that could shrug off blaster bolts.

Stopping in front of Evelynn the pixie sized girl holds a hand out to touch her older 'sister'. In this place the Light is scarce but she tries to draw on it to heal her.

Regardless of whether it works she turns to face the creature, glare up at it defiantly. Her clear, blue gaze says it all: No.

Taryn's mind keeps screaming at him that what he's seeing can't be real, monsters don't just crawl up out of a spotless arena floor, especially not if this seems to be a regular occurrence in this arena. Evellyn's blood seems plenty real though.

His first instinct is to get the thing away from his friend. It seems to largely ignore the pain of blaster fire. Maybe it'll find stun bolts less to its liking. He doesn't need to damage it, just annoy it enough to draw it away.
He lets fly a barrage of inaccurate shots that seems to bounce off its hide harmleslly. He blows loudly on his fingers, which reverberates though the arena, and screams at the thing.

Taryn grins as the creature turns towards him. His smiles slips as it starts to lumber towards him... 'Didn't think this through, did you?' he thinks to himself as he backs away.

[taking 1 strain from the threat, and spend a maneuver to move to medium range - should require three maneuvers to get from medium to engaged range, unles I'm mistaken.]

Zepharo roars as Evelyn takes the heavy wound, not knowing what else to do, he pulls the blaster rifle in tighter and continues to fire, hoping that if he can continue damaging it, it might shift it's attention onto him.

"Fifty creds says darth dipshit's corpse is in there or this is some goofy antenna on top'a his tomb." He says to Evelynn as she approaches. "Too bad it can dig like that or we could just leave." He looks down at the blaster rifle in his hands. "I have'a dumb idea." With a sharp frown he calls out loudly enough so that everyone in the arena can hear him. "Taryn! Hide b'hind Alyx'n heal her with stims! Alyx, I need you ta get that thing's attention an draw it -almost- ta the obelisk!" Finally he turns to the Devraonian, "Zeph! I need yer help with this rifle!"

He doesn't explain what he needs help -with- and it's a strange request to say the least considering Ian is one of the better shots in their family. But the human's voice is insistent as he takes out his handscanner again. This time turning it towards the obelisk, trying to learn more about it. Specifically where the weakest point against an explosion would be and whether or not he was right about a body being buried in it. When Zepharo approaches he says quietly, "Remember that time I wanted ta improve that droid an I was grounded fer ten days?"The look Ian gives him is insistent but Zeph hopefully remembers the protocol droid Ian was trying to turn into a droid to play blastball with whose 'life' ended explosively and definitely outside of warranty. "I need that ta happen with'a rifle."

Drawing her lightsaber and igniting it, Alyx gives Ian a sharp nod, "Right!" Turning towards the huge creature she lets out a slow breath, widening her stance. "Okay, Taryn, I'm ready! Bring it this way!" Flexing her hands on the grip of her training saber she gives the huge creature a small, grim smile, her face bathed in blue from the blade.

The massive blow lifts him off his feet and sends him flying, crashing against the arena wall.

Checking himself, he seems to be more or less intact, even though breathing hurts. Ian is saying something about Alyx, he can't make out exactly what over the roaring of the creature and the pounding in his head.

He sees the Zabrak across the arena, behind the creature. Picking himself up, he dives between its legs and makes a run for it, his ribs screaming in protest.

Taryn takes a manoeuvre to disengage, and uses his action to take another one to run to medium range behind Alyx.

Zepharo looks to Ian with a steeply raised eyebrow, but he really doesn't have a better idea, so he takes the rifle and in a couple fluid motions disables the inhibitor and twists the capacitor-dial two or three times around, simultaneously edging his brother away with a swipe of his arm.

A red light begins blinking rapidly on the weapon and it's body begins to heat up, already burning in his hands. He takes it by the shoulder strap, swings it in a couple of wide arcs and spins it at the behemoth...

May the Force be with us...