Ilum, a planet of importance to the Jedi since its discovery thousands of years ago. A place once abandoned after the Clone Wars and the purge of the Jedi. But now, after the fall of the empire and the founding of the New Jedi Order under Luke Skywalker. Once again, Jedi will be returning to the planet to have the first class of Jedi build their first lightsabers.

Though the ancient Jedi temple was abandoned for years, and the years of ice and snow made the temple hard to access. It is built on the icy face of a mountain. A problem that was rectified by Luke and his Jedi knights and have made the place accessible and cleaned up. It was not easy, but it was done. Now waiting for the next generation of Jedi to enter its halls and collect their first lightsaber crystals from its caves. As the New Jedi Order's shuttle exited from hyperspace and descended to the planet with the new apprentices in tow. It is time for their next phase of training and closer to being Jedi Knights. Now this is where it starts their new chapter, and this one will be one with an unexpected journey.

---

The shuttle bearing some bad weather, had safely landed just outside of the temple. The first one out was Aerros, and he was greeted with cold icy air, and his mask helped to mitigate the cold air against his face, along with wearing the appropriate clothing for the planet. It had been a while since coming to Ilum with Master Luke, and it is unfortunate that he was not with them. While Aerros would have liked Luke to come, he had a pressing matter to attend to, and with his blessing. Sent them ahead now here there are. After a year of training on D'Qar, the apprentices are ready to make their first lightsabers and start the next chapter of their training with the Jedi.

So as Aerros walked out of the shuttle and gazed at the entrance to the Jedi Temple, he could see it was still visible and that the weather was clear for the moment. A good thing considering the last time he was here, the weather was worse. Either way, Aerros motioned for the others to follow him to the entrance.

It did not take long to get inside, and once inside the main chamber of the temple with its circular nature with long elegant pillars. Plus, two tall statues of Jedi and one could see if they looked up, large circular windows that lend in light from the outside. Illuminating the chamber and a large series of crystals was suspended in the chamber.

Aerros felt at peace here, and this place has its own charm. Especially after making the place ready for new Jedi to come here. Then he turned around to the apprentices to speak. "So here we are at the temple, and I figure after the long trip here from D'Qar. That you all can use some rest before we head to the caves, and you make your first lightsabers. So take the time to rest and talk among yourselves."

Aerros took this time to walk over and lean against the wall near one of the statues. Watching from afar and thinking about how Master Luke was doing. That and how his apprentices were doing. It was certainly an interesting bunch with his own and Mala's and Reni's apprentices. They had come a long way, though, and it is just nice to see that they were ready to advance their training and earned their first lightsabers. It brought a smile to his face, which was impossible to see with his mask. So Aerros stayed where he was silent, thinking about things unless someone would come to him.

The shuttle touched down on Ilum’s pristine white surface. A miniature blizzard erupted on the landing pad like a whirling snow globe as the silver craft’s thrusters whined to a stop, leaving the ancient Jedi temple as quiet as it had been for the past 20 years. Only the ping of cooling engines and wind running through eternal pines remained.

The silence was broken again as the shuttle’s hydraulics hissed, sending cautious and wide-eyed wildlife onlookers scrambling back into the protection of tall green trees. The cargo ramp opened and several figures strode forth, looking like shapeless djinn in the snowstorm or wardens of some dim sect with their flowing robes that snapped in the wind like rifle fire, sent forth to proselytize among the beasts of the land. Reni was among the first off the shuttle, ever-eager to escape the metal belly of any spacefaring craft. She carried with her a ragged satchel under one arm and thick boots in the other, her bare feet padding quickly down the metal ramp as if across hot coals before sinking into the snow of Ilum, where she paused for a moment. Her eyes closed.

It was an eccentricity Reni picked up from a man in the First Recon Battalion. Daranto, a salty, superstitious old smuggler turned rebel warfighter and covered in prison tattoos that wandered like a roadmap across his body, which Reni had always found painfully attractive. It was a grounding technique, he said, picked up from an old Jedi years ago. Every time he landed on a new planet, combat drop or not, Daranto would step onto the grass or the mud or the snow or the rock with his feet bare. It connected him to the Force unique to each planet, he explained, helped him to get a feel for the world and calm his mind before plunging into battle.

Daranto was gone now, like so many others Reni had known, but she carried a little piece of him with her onto this planet as the snow softened underfoot. She wondered with a smile whether or not Daranto had really met a Jedi, or if the “Jedi” had actually been so. Still, there was something to the ritual for Reni. It gave her a moment to pause after a long, agonizing journey and connect with the world. Feel the snow sting her skin. Hear the birds fluttering in the distance on wings that went whoop whoop whoop like a children’s toy. Attune her body to a different wavelength of the Force. Having grown up on a similarly frigid planet, Reni could withstand the cold for a few moments without any discomfort.

Daranto’s trick also gave her an opportunity to try something new.

Tapas, the dusty archives called it. The ability to regulate one’s body temperature through the Force. Reni was dressed sparsely compared to her companions, a simple tunic and trousers. Nowhere near enough to ward off the subzero winds that whipped at her exposed flesh and cut through thin fabric.

As a shiver ran through her body, Reni opened herself to the Force. She abandoned all fear, all worry, all hate. She drew in the life around her, and let it flow over her like a rare warm wind on Miral, channeling the energy throughout her body and pushing it to the very edge of her being. After a moment of concentration, the violent shiver stopped. She was… Comfortable. A smile crept across her pale green lips as Reni opened her eyes and caught up with the others, leaving steaming footprints in the snow like a burning phantom.

---

The temple hadn’t changed much, nor had Reni’s opinion on it.

It was too big, too arrogant, too unnatural. It felt like a world apart from the rest of Ilum, a safe haven from it rather than part of it. No temple to Remi, but a tomb.

Still, as she pulled on her boots and heavy winter robes, Reni couldn’t help but appreciate the age of it all, for it was ancient. Reni ran a gloved hand along the stone wall as she admired the crystalline chandelier suspended in the middle of the chamber that caught the faintest glimmer of light and sent it shining into the vestibule. She wondered how many generations of Jedi had stood where she did now, and felt an unexpected surge of emotion. Which emotion, she could not say.

Reni shook the feeling off and scanned the room to find her apprentice, Toryn, who was not hard to find. He was the only one wearing 40 kilos of Beskar steel.

Many in the Order had been skeptical of training a Mandalorian; the two factions had a long history together, and not one part of it pleasant. There were knights from before the Purge who still held old grudges, and others still who had encountered Mandalorians before and saw them as bloodthirsty mercenaries, not keepers of the peace. “A Jedi stops fighting when everyone is safe,” they would say. “That’s when a Mandalorian starts.”

Still, Reni had taken him on as her apprentice with no apprehension. A lone Mandalorian aligned with the Rebels had saved her life in the backwater swamps of Tagu, and she had seemed just as noble as any Jedi Master to Reni at the time. She’d been intimidated at first by the cold glare of Toryn’s visor and the detached manner he shared with all Mandalorians, but slowly she teased out his true self. It was an ongoing process, true, but Reni felt her apprentice had real potential. Greater than her own, if Toryn could stay on the path.

“Well, Toryn, what do you think? Is it everything you imagined? Perhaps even more?” Reni asked her apprentice. The knight stood ramrod straight, each arm slipped into the opposite sleeve and held across her torso like some kind of monastic straitjacket, head fixed straight ahead. An odd posture for the usually relaxed Mirialan to adopt, unless one noticed it was the exact pose of the massive stone statue right behind her. A small smile crept up the corner of her mouth.

Reni tried to recall her first impression of the temple those five years ago, but failed. She had been a different person then, full of anger and sorrow and grief, and trying to summon those memories from the depths was like trying to recollect a stranger’s private thoughts. Reni vaguely remembered being both awed and disappointed initially though, and wondered if her apprentice felt the same confusing jumble.

If so, Reni knew Toryn’s thoughts would change when he entered the caves.

---

The ride from D'Qar to Ilum wasn't a long one, barely lasting a week thanks to hyperspeed. Still, Sildarg couldn't help but feel nervous. Her leg bounced quietly under her Jedi robes as she recalled the last time she was in a ship that moved this fast. Even after this much time living among other Jedi apprentices, far from Korriban and Hadrig's teachings, Sildarg couldn't help but feel antsy about the idea of setting foot in a Jedi temple. Her eyes flicked to one apprentice after the other, trying to determine if they felt nervous this themselves. If they did, no one said it out loud. These people just weirded her out, some of them were former rebels, that one guy over there looked blind but didn't act like it, and no one was outwardly making digs at each other. Sildarg still didn't feel like she could trust them beyond not stabbing her while she was asleep, but every passing day slowly reinforced that it was possible.

They finally touched down, and Sildarg had a feeling this day was about to get inconvenient. It was snowing. She wasn't a fan of snow. Once the door opened, Sildarg felt the frigid wind cut through every layer she had, and she was still the second to step out, eager to get indoors again. Jedi were supposed to be connected to the Force in every way. The Force flowed through all things, it was all things. It was the weave which every soul was connected to, the river of the universe. And yet, right now, Sildarg didn’t feel anything but cold. She impatiently shuffled inward towards the temple, which didn’t feel a lot warmer.

”Great, my arm’s cinching up now” Sildarg said, frustrated at how the cold make her shoulder ache. ”Seriously, whose idea was it to build this place in a frozen wastela-“

The words were taken out of her mouth when Sildarg stepped into the circular chamber where everyone had gathered. It looked ancient, but it felt… Different. The statutes of former masters, the unmoving, unfeeling atmosphere that made every footstep sound like thunder, it all felt peaceful. There was something here, something that could be neither seen nor touched, but could be felt. It was the Force, and it was strong here.

But it felt wrong.

Sildarg was used to a strong feeling of the Force, but not this one. Back on Korriban, the Force was a sinister feeling of dread that crept up the spine and leaned over the shoulder. Here on Ilum, the Force was stasis. It was empty silence, not because there was nothing there, but because the very air recognized the presence of something greater. Sildarg felt anxious in the wake of that presence, as if the statues could see into her heart and kill her on the spot. She felt like an intruder, a heretic on holy ground who failed to blend in.

Vulnerable.

Sildarg paid attention to the quick words of the masters. Master Aerros gave them a break, which was nice. Master Reni was talking to Toryn, and Airus didn’t seek to be bothering her or Mala. Sildarg considered bugging Mala, but she wasn’t confident she could mask the trepidation she felt from being in a place she had a reason to be in. But distractions helped, so she decided to approach her master.

”This place feels different,” she said, addressing Master Mala and keeping her voice down so it wouldn’t echo. ”It’s the Force, right? It’s not like D’Qar. D’Qar felt quieter.”

For the first time in her life she had been rather late to the party, though in fairness it wasn't exactly her fault. After a few months out cruising the hyperlanes trying to even find the place, she at last had discovered D'qar out in the space boonies of the southern galactic outer rim. Part of her wondered what exactly would drive the Jedi to found a temple out here so far away from the rest of the galaxy, but that was in part what all the reading was for. Matarisvan took the route on autopilot as she browsed through thousands of years of history like any proper university major trying to cram for a test, and her answer was there soon enough. It was kind of hard to reconcile this information with what she had learned in Imperial Academy, as it felt a little odd to see the so-called defenders of justice for millenia suddenly rebel against the Republic. Yet the records for that time were a little sparse, and that man called a Knight told her as much before he had departed to recruit others to his cause. Regardless, she had arrived to begin this new path and see what potential they thought she had.

As it turned out, it led to a few months of studying, meditation and only a little bit of practical skills that she had to work a little harder on since the rest of the initiates had quite a bit more time to have practiced than she did. There was something called a pilgrimage or founding, or she honestly skimmed past the actual name but it sounded really important when it was being presented to her and the others by the masters of the order. Masters or Knights? She was a little unsure of the terminology on who she was working with, other than she had been paired up with someone who was most assuredly not a Republic Ranger and a rather stern but aloof green lady called Knight Reni. No, it was just Reni. Knight was apparently just a title which seemed required only sometimes, she wasn't really sure. All she knew is that Reni wasn't a fan of meat or rations, had a tendency to wander out into the jungles and forests, and was fairly serious about the Republic. Which honestly worked well enough for her, and she didn't mind the rest of that as it didn't hold any bearing to her duty as it was.

So she took the time to catch up best she could with the others as the days turned to weeks and that big journey was closer and closer at hand. At first the whole esoteric nature of the force was a little hard to deal with, considering she had always approached things with a more analytical and scientific approach. That had been how she took a basic aging interceptor and made it a nightmare for pirates, and how she had basically completely rebuilt it from twisted metal. The force though, it was that strange sensation that lingered in the back of her head, was after-images around people in at first vague colors but intensified as she concentrated. It seemed to ebb and flow as she tried to grasp it, responding to her emotions or lack thereof in ways she at first didn't understand. And then, quite suddenly she did. It was during one of Reni's talks of nature and the natural order that she had that epiphany of sorts, questioning if the force was just another natural energy like gravity and told that in a way, it was. The force was an energy that bound all living things, and as Nova thought on that it came to her that clearly that meant there were *rules* to what the force could and could not do, how it would respond to things and so on.

That little breakthrough was enough for her to turn her analytical mind towards understanding more about her own ability and trying to mimic that of others. Telekinesis came first to her finally after being with the Jedi for almost two months, and though shaky and tentative she knew the concept of it now. Sure it wasn't an exact science and there were still principles that she didn't fully understand, but now she knew a bit more of what to look for when she was feeling out her abilities. A bit of experimentation had her momentarily drifting during meditation, and requiring an impromptu trust fall into the waiting arms of Reni, but discovery did require experimentation afterall. And as she discovered more, she could feel the excitement of something new creeping up on her just as it was coming time to anoint her and the others as proper Jedi…

---

ILUM

The shuttle ride over had been a bit uneventful for a cross-galactic journey. A few long days of her fellow initiates getting to know each other, doing their own independent study or working with their master on various things. For Nova in particular she had spent much of the time practicing with her abilities on what was called a puzzle sphere apparently pulled from within various Jedi temple ruins over the years. It was strangely impervious to physical manipulation, the silver material almost translucent but opaque enough to prevent one from observing directly the ball within. All she needed to do was to guide it from one end to the other, pull the sphere apart with the force and to do it in reverse. To say it was more difficult than it sounded was a bit of an understatement, but she still stuck with it in the spirit of honing her abilities. And when she wasn't working on practical skills, there she was with a datapad and going over various principles she had downloaded from the archives. Something called "Tapas" had been brought up a few times, and she saw it involved some kind of temperature regulating ability through the force, but it felt a bit complicated to her.

Then there were of course some more combat-oriented applications, things such as taking the basic telekinetic abilities and using them offensively. Force push, force pull, telekinetic combat and more. She figured the first two were easy enough, just direct the force in a more intense effect outwards or in a particular direction. That last one though related to the entire reason why they were traveling as a group to a rather desolate and frozen ball out on the opposite edge of the galaxy. To forge a lightsaber, or assemble one, or something like that. There were some conflicting ideas on what it involved, with a few of the others already sporting working models and prototypes that seemed just to need that critical piece. It was a strange weapon, and she only realized where she had seen one before when she felt a familiar energy from one of her fellow initiates, a rather pale woman who didn't seem too keen on associating with the rest of them. The shadowman had one of these, which only made her more curious but that would be a discussion with Reni later she was sure.

For now as the shuttle was making planetfall she was going over some drafts in her design program, leaving just enough space both physically and mathematically for the crystal she was supposed to be gathering from a cave. That was another conversation entirely, but she figured Reni or one of the others might address it. She carefully considered the energy output of her materials, having been provided enough to construct at least one full size lightsaber, but she was entertaining some other ideas. A rather simple design for now, as all prototypes tended to be, she figured she could work a bit more of a focused intensity for a more refined and delicate blade than the normal one. Something called a lightfoil as she had discovered in her reading, apparently popular among the old order's duellists. It looked close enough to be suitable to the traditional arts of her home back on Alsakan, though that would come later. At the moment she felt a pairing weapon would be suitable though it would necessitate another crystal, something she was sure wouldn't be too much of an issue… Though if she needed to attune herself properly to get the approval of one rock, she wasn't quite sure how well it would go finding another.

But all of that would be for later, as she had a firm idea of what she wanted to do and the swirling white of snow and ice from the otherside of the windows let her and the others know they were coming to a landing and there was that reassuring shift of the shuttle's weight as it came to a rest. Now there was the problem most in need of addressing, and it was one she had prepared for well enough thanks to the store-rooms of the temple on D'qar. There had been at least one comment that maybe she was over-reacting, but she had lived her entire life on starships and in stations, coming from a place literally known for their eternal summers. Then again, maybe there was something to be said for this "Tapas" thing. So right behind Reni she padded out just the same, not even thinking about her boots and keeping her datapad in hand. Reni was doing it just fine and actually seemed to be enjoying the weather, barefoot and all. So really all she needed to do was focus on not being cold. Really simple. Just don't be cold. Don't be cold. Don't be cold.

"I have been betrayed."

Almost immediately as soon as she stepped into the snow and ice there was a chill that ran up her spine and nearly lifted her from the ground. Without even a word in passing she turned abruptly and went back into the shuttle, throwing on layer after layer of cold-weather clothing and squeezing herself into two pairs of boots just for added protection. By the time she had finished she took those tentative steps again, heavily bundled up this time and moving with all the grace and alacrity of a disabled tauntaun. But now she felt warm, and with those violet eyes peeking out from beneath the eight rounds of a wool scarf, she trudged up behind the rest of the group.

Airus stepped out from the ship, moving down the ramp he pulled his robes tighter around himself the tall Jedi keeping his hood up as he felt the world around him. Expanding out his senses as he, from his time in the Rebellion he'd gotten used to operating on many different worlds from searing to heat to bitter cold one didn't complain if, especially if they did not want comrades to make jokes about weak constitution. The former rebel had taken to heart the work and training of a Jedi, he'd heard tales that the Vel Aath's his father's lineage were a proud family from the Core worlds who had served in Jedi and Republic for thousands of years. Perhaps he might learn more of that history but for now, he felt thrum of the force in a way he had not since he had last been home.

"The temperature reminds me of Hoth... And the feeling from Ashla here... It's like being back home, it's a wellspring of force energy." He turned lowering the hood as stepped up next to Sildarg lowering the hood. "It's incredible feeling to bath in the energies of the force. I feel as though I could move mountains." He spoke as leaned on his wooden staff, rarely had he been seen without it. Burn marks and scars along it told the tale it was not some cane but a weapon for Miraluka. The staff had carvings along it... And if one knew their materials might realize it was from a Wroshyr tree's wood. No doubt a gift from his Alliance days.

Of course as cold as it was, this was no Hoth as much as he hoped to never set foot on that planet again he missed the tauntauns fun little creatures they were. It had been cold their even next to heaters, he remembered some troopers complained the chill still hadn't left them a year later. Airus didn't care for the cold or the heat but he understood the need for both like Ashla and Bogan the world needed one to the other. But it did make him wonder why a world so cold and quiet would have such a wellspring of energy upon it, what could have created this natural light side wellspring? Varina would no be telling him off for spending more time worrying about the why's and how's than basking in the wonderful feeling of the moment. Only in his mind would he ever admit he missed that crazy sister of his.

Airus thought back to before he left and the long lecture's she'd been giving him on the meaning of lightsabers and how special it was. The woman was working to become a Jedi artisan she'd been advising him what materials would suit him for his own sabers creation. He wondered how long the artist had spent here trying to put together her own badge of office, perfectionist she was he could only imagine hours and hours spent adjusting and tinkering at it. Like when she had taken up painting, only after making her brushes, he could remember having to drag her inside. Nurse her back to health in winter a few times after she spent all day trying to capture the look of sunrise on Hoth. Of course, similarly she had been one to bring him food when he forgot eat spending days reading through old war documentation or after action reports. They had been connected nearly all their lives only in recent years had they spent so much time so far apart without the free time to visit one another that it seemed they didn't always know what the other was thinking about.

Snapping back to reality Airus shook his head a moment running a hand through his red hair. "So when do we get started? Varina got me all excited for this trip."

She was a Jedi Knight again.

That . . . that was something she was still getting used to, if she was being entirely honest with herself. She liked that she now had a more firm purpose in life, some guidelines to follow that didn't make her want to turn to the Dark side when the whole galaxy seemed against her. But it was something utterly alien from what she had known at the Academy on Coruscant. Something with less supervision, less rules and much more at stake should she manage to kriff it up. Not to mention she now had two Padawans of her own to look after now too, which wasn’t something she had ever envisioned for herself.

It almost felt weird to leave Dqar and not have someone or something trying to kill her . . .

Mala was roused from her reveries by the shuttle entering Ilum’s atmosphere and quickly encountering turbulence. The weather had been terrible too when she’d visited Ilum all those years ago. She could feel the force energy emanating from the planet as they drew closer and closer to the Temple.

Mala sat with her back to the wall of the shuttle. Her gloved hand went reflexively to her deeply scarred face, and she massaged it slowly, thumbs digging into the scar tissue. She could feel the maze of scar tissue itching through her gloves, rubbing against her hands through the black fabric. The aging Jedi let her head fall back against the rough metal of the bulkhead.

For years she had felt ashamed by her disfigurement and felt that it marked her, but in the end she’d accepted who she was now. In many ways it even helped with her new occupation. Where once she’d served as a General under the Old Republic, now Mala served as a teacher and mentor. Something she’d never imagined for herself again after losing her first apprentice, and the Order being hunted to near extinction.

The shuttle touched down just then, she braced so as to avoid bonking her cranium against the bulkhead as they made another happy landing. Mala stood and walked towards the exit. As the shuttle door lowered, Mala smoothed out her uniform and pulled her gloves tighter over her hands. With the door lowered, Mala stepped from the shuttle ready to usher in a new era for the Jedi.

Mala had conversed with Reni on the Shuttle, and had shared her excitement to return to the sacred place. To Mala’s surprise, Reni didn’t share the same excitement. In fact, Reni held quite the opposite opinion on the Ilum Temple, loathing it as an arrogant relic of a bygone era. Mala had reminded Reni that the planet was one with the force, its core was formed of living kyber crystal. The Force had guided the hands of their forebears when crafting the Temple millenia ago. As children of the Force they had built the Temple using the planet’s topography and unique materials to create a place where the force-sensitive could truly be at one with the Force. Whether Reni believed Mala’s interpretation was a matter of debate, but a different perspective could never hurt.

Mala stepped out into the deep snow, ready for what lay ahead. ”This place feels different,” Mala heard her Apprentice observe.

”It’s the Force, right? It’s not like D’Qar. D’Qar felt quieter.”

Mala smiled approvingly. “Indeed my Padawan, this place is alive with the Force. This planet is a Force nexus, and a sacred location for the Jedi going back Millenia.”

"So when do we get started? Varina got me all excited for this trip," Airus piped up.

“Come along Padawans and stay close, the Gorgodons love to make a meal of stray Jedi.” Mala grinned maliciously as she trudged forward towards the Temple entrance.

---

---

"Y'know, Kid... the point is to hit the target. Not to start a bush-fire."

At the tone of those words, the boy's head and shoulders slumped a little for a few seconds in quiet shame. Though that abated rather swiftly as the lad abruptly took up his weapon once more in a admittedly slightly shaky grip, holding it there for a few good seconds before firing again... The resultant amber bolt going high this time, missing the steel cut-out of a Stormtrooper bolted to the side of a broad old-growth tree entirely and smacking some particularly unfortunate bird roughly the size of a melon in it's fat, surprised face as it was flying by. Blowing the poor thing apart like a balloon filled with steaming, chunky pasta sauce.

"...Well, at least we'll have chum to bait some fish later." The older Mando spoke up again, sounding actually a bit amused now. "Try again."

Another blast and another decisive lack of shooting straight followed.

"Again." This command was accompanied by a slight clinking of beskar and the crushing of grass, barely heard over the bolt summoned by it. Predictably, going wide again.

The kid bit down on his lip and adjusted his stance, extremely aware of the man's closing proximity now, but still obediently doing as he was told... Kicking up a whole mess of dirt as he struck low this time. Letting out a low shaky exhale from both frustration and fatigue, he lowered his arm and head again. Very much aware that his elder was standing right behind him now.

Though whatever scolding the boy was expecting, it probably didn't include the sight of a bronze-coloured helmet thumping down to the ground by his feet.

The boy didn't really have time to ponder that, however, as he heard some more shuffling of armourweave and clanking of beskar behind him, hinting that his companion was now crouching down behind him. Followed by a slight weight on his shoulder, and the sensation of a hand much larger than his own coming to rest against that which clutched the old, heavy pistol. Gently pushing it upward into a firing position again, while another rested against his other hand, softly maneuvering his fingers and adjusting his junior's grip. Making the boy's eyes to start to wander a bit to the side in curiosity.

"Eyes down the barrel, Vaar'ika." The elder of the two instructed before their eyes could meet. His words sharp and direct, though spoken with an almost gentle patience one rarely expected from a Mandalorian.

The little Mando, of course, obeyed. Eliciting a quiet grunt of approval and maybe just a smidgen of a smirk he just barely caught in his peripheral vision from the armoured man.

"You've already felt the recoil before, so don't let it frighten you. Simply accept and prepare for it." He continued, the hand that had been fine-tuning the lad's grip on the weapon retreating to rest instead on his little shoulder. "Now. Breathe out. Calmly, and with purpose, and squeeze the trigger as your lungs empty."

Not long after, another fiery amber bolt escaped the weapon with a thundering crack. Still high and to the left, but at least he was actually hitting the target now.

"Not good enough. Again." Another crack. Still slightly to the left, but closer to center mass. "Again."

Bullseye. The tree actually swayed at that.

"That's better. Two more."

Twice right on the money, if the boy wasn't so dialed-in to his task, he might've actually noticed that smirk he'd seen in his peripheral earlier widen just a teensy bit.

The tree, for it's part, let out a groan of protest as bits of bark launched themselves off it's far side.

"Now, Keldabe Drill. Just like I taught you."

Two bolts to the target's 'chest', and one just left of the head. Provoking a loud 'crunch!' from the tree and a little snarl of "Shabuir!" from the child's lungs that actually caught his elder a little off-guard as he quickly readjusted his stance all on his own and fired again.

Two in the chest, one in the head. A grouping so nice he then did it twice.

And then a third and forth time, progressively faster and tighter as he went, until the old tree finally gave up the ghost and keeled over with a thunderous crash, roots and all before he had the chance to give it a fifth helping of the good stuff. Finally allowing the boy to lower the hefty weapon in his hands and catch a much-needed breath.

"...Not bad, Toryn." The older of the two said, after giving the lad a moment or two to suck in all the air he wanted into his tired little body. "We just might make a warrior of you yet."

At that, the boy cocked a brow between ragged breaths and cast a quizzical glance towards the man, whose face— an aged and weathered reflection of his own; with those bright green eyes he'd inherited over a twice-broken nose and under a short cut of greying brown hair— simply met him with a cheeky half-smile. And a pair of raised hands.

Immediately, Toryn's eyes snapped back down to the weapon in his grip, and then back again. Realizing finally that he'd been holding the damned thing completely unassisted for some time now and trying to rack his brain to remember exactly when that happened.

His grandpa, for his part, merely snorted at the display.

"...Well, once you learn to pay attention, that is."

---

"Grah...FUH-!" Toryn let out with all the grace of a constipated tauntaun as the compression and kickback of the shuttle's landing struts jostled him awake... specifically by the loud 'clang!' of his armoured head against the bulkhead next to him from where he sat, semi-sprawled and previously passed out in the back corner of the ship. Growling under his breath; "...Alright, I'm up, I'm up..."

Rising with a chorus a cracks, snaps and pops from joints and vertebra that always seemed to have a negative opinion to share these days, our Mando cast a quick glance over his surroundings. The gaze of his visor very calmly drifting to each corner of the room— an old habit that hadn't gone away since his time on Taris and wasn't looking to be leaving any time soon— before he was even fully on his feet. Seeming to ease a bit when he saw a lowered loading ramp, the backs of the rest of the Knights and his fellow Apprentices and probably more importantly, a distinct absence of anything that could be immediately trying to kill him.

'Well, guess the party's started.'

Toryn thought, giving his back and shoulders one last stretch before tucking the rolled up poncho he'd been using as a pillow under his arm and stepping forward and casting a glance around at the others, gauging their body language like he'd learned through his youth and ever-so-slightly broadening his senses through the Force like Reni had taught him to not really intrude upon their thoughts so much as to just perceive what they were radiating freely, trying to get a bead on how they were handling the 'big day' so far.

The Dathomirian, Sildarg? He didn't know enough about her to make an accurate call, but he could tell she was at least a little bit nervous. Which, to be fair, they were about to casually waltz into an ancient ruin on a desolate planet at the very edge of known space; there was an entire genre of holo-cinema about how bad of an idea that usually was. Hell; him, Kada and Nova had watched at least three of those flicks on the way here just to pass the time. So that was perfectly reasonable. Airus? Quite the opposite. Full-on Gung-ho-Joe, that guy; talking about The Force and how bloody great it was to be here, how powerful this place made him feel—

Toryn had to reel back from the Force real quick, that level of sheer, undiluted sunshine was starting to hurt a little.

Mala, from what he could tell, seemed almost nostalgic to be here. Which made sense, her being one of the few Jedi of the Old Order left, though Toryn made a point of not digging much further than that. Being very aware of what the Knights of old thought of his people and not particularly wanting to accidentally provoke a confrontation. On the opposite end of that spectrum, there was Reni; a pacifist, a technophobe, an open book— pretty much Toryn's exact opposite in every conceivable way... which is probably why the got along as well as they did. So much so that it'd almost become an unspoken game between them; every time the Mirialan got the normally-reserved Mando to crack, laugh or be more open? That was a point to her, just as any time he could catch her off guard by just being himself— or better yet, make her burst out laughing with a precise application of the laconic Mandalorian wit she was supposed to hate— that was a point to him.

It was... strange comparing Reni to the stories of Jedi he'd heard as a boy. 'Ori'buyce, kih'kovid.' his grandpa would say about them; 'All helmet, no head.'. An order so convinced of their own righteousness and authority that they believed any who would dare oppose or even disagree with them by definition must be evil and in need of 'Excision'. A word that held a very particular kind of venom amongst his people; a kind that could only be birthed when a foe attacks unprovoked, devastates your worlds, kills three quarters of the population and then doesn't even have the nerve to call it a war. Merely an operation, like the removal of a tumor or an unsightly wart.

Reni... Wasn't like that. And learning from and working with her these past few months had... altered... his perception of what was meant to be his people's oldest adversary.

And he could almost be certain that his grandpa— wherever he was in the stars, amongst the Fallen Kings— would probably approve if he's watching... Even if his Mirialan Master occasionally did weird stuff like stepping out into the middle of a snowstorm in her bare feet while looking damned happy about it.

...Actually, scratch that, Gramps was probably laughing his ass off right now.

A warm little almost-chuckle escaped him at the thought as he shook his head. Which distracted juuuust long enough that he only noticed Nova's attempt to emulate their master too late to try and stop her. And from the way she shot up half-way into orbit and bolted back inside almost the exact second her toes hit the powder, he really didn't need the Force to figure out what was going on in her head.

A snort escaped him— Reni's first point for the day— as he unfurled and slipped on his poncho; his armour by itself was warm enough, being rated for the void in space and all, but it tended to get starkly less so if the armourweave got soaked in the snow or his beskar began to ice up. Taking his time to adjust it to his comfort, run a gloved hand against the soft fabric and admire the old Taung patterns his mum had woven into the garment while he waited for the little blonde terror to finish tearing apart the lockers in the back of the shuttle in search of warmer clothes.

...And to be perfectly honest, Reni very nearly scored another point in absentia when Nova came half-trundling, half-waddling past him in hell knows how many layers. Pressing on into the Ilum with a fiery (if clumsy) determination that would have made her faceplant into the white stuff had Toryn not immediately started following behind and been there to give her a firm yank back upward he wasn't sure she even felt through all her insulation.

"Too many layers, Kiddo. Makes you work harder to move, which makes you sweat." Came the semi-electronic crack of Toryn's voice through his helmet. His advice sharp and direct, though spoken with an almost gentle patience one rarely expected from a Mandalorian. "And when that happens, you'll really start to feel cold."

For good measure, he kept his grip on the back of her jacket, whether she was aware of it or not for the rest of the way into the temple. The sooner the kid got outta the wind, preferably with the least amount of slips, trips and falls possible the better.

It also helped Toryn keep his mind off the growing pressure in the back of his brain, one that only grew with every step he took to the entrance of this place.

---

Entering the temple after a few more near-misses on the way from the shuttle, Toryn finally released his grip on the back of the young pilot's jacket and gave her a quick brushing off; The would-be Mando Jedi surmising that his junior might not have the mobility in her arms right now before grabbing hold of his own poncho and giving it a quick shaking out. Throwing the now snow-free garment over his shoulder as an ad-hoc cape when he was done as his visor once again calmly scanned about the main chamber as he had done in the shuttle earlier— as he did whenever he entered any room, in fact— the Mandalorian making a quick mental note of all the information that popped up in the slight orange tinge of his HUD as it adjusted to the lower levels of light; the composition and density of the stone, crevices that could be hidden in, potential angles of attack and calculations for firing solutions that would optimally respond to each... that kind of thing.

This place was... old. Toryn didn't need his scanner to know that, he could outright feel it in his bones; That 'pressure' he felt in his head earlier on the way in having migrated down and spread through the rest of his body. It didn't fill him with trepidation or anything like dread, mind you, but it did force him to stretch out his senses and pay closer attention to his surroundings.

He knew this feeling, because he'd been in places like this before; Albeit, without realizing why he'd felt it at the time... But all that aside, if his experience was anything to go by, Toryn knew that his day was likely to get very complicated, very soon.

“Well, Toryn, what do you think? Is it everything you imagined? Perhaps even more?”

Quickly, Toryn's visor snapped down to face the Mirialan. Finding her posed ramrod straight in direct parody of the temple around them and with a goofily-constructed, deliberately over-serious expression that even she was having trouble holding together with any semblance of control.

Immediately his shoulders relaxed slightly, and he loosed a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding in.

...Tag another point to the Green Lady.

"Of course." Came Toryn's wry reply, as he reached into one of the pouches on his belt and tossed Reni one of the fruit-bars he'd made before they left D'qar, likewise tossing another to the side Nova's way. "Because only the Jedi could ever build something so big, yet so very bland."

Giving his head a bit of a shake to rid himself of any remnant of that earlier tension, he fished a third bar for himself— sour, instead of sweet and made of a different fruit than the other two, as he still wasn't entirely confident that either of the other members of their three-string band were quite ready for the Mandalorian definition of 'sour' yet— and unwrapped it before pulling up his helmet slightly to take a bite. Offering a rare glimpse of the man beneath... Or at the very least, the pale skin and brown stubble around his jaw, and the long, often overlapping spider-line scars from shrapnel that traveled down his left cheek and intersected over the corner of his mouth on their way down to his chin.

"...Still, nothing that can't be fixed by an Alsakani with two days wages and a few cans of paint."

He added, piling on the sacrilege and heresies without skipping a beat as he took another bite of his snack. Lip noticeably curling upward in a wry grin as he chewed.

The past year spent on D’Qar was the longest Zelt had remained in one place since living on Nar Shaddaa. It was actually a pleasant experience, always going back to the same bed each night, even if the Jedi Temple beds were quite basic. But even so it was just relaxing for Zelt to be at the temple, not running around and risking death. This past year had given Zelt the chance to better figure himself out, as the Force was beginning to guide him. It was only under lectures from Master Skywalker that Velt learned to hear the Force properly, as it had quietly whispered to him since he was a child, aiding him.

Zelt could often be found sitting in the Jedi Temple garden, sitting under the massive tree in the center of the room. Apparently this tree had once been placed in the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant, before being absconded by the Empire. But Master Luke had managed to recover it and bring it to D’Qar, almost as a way of connecting with the Jedi of old. Whenever Zelt sat beneath, he swore he could feel a presence.

It was under that tree that Zelt was mentally preparing himself for the next day. Tomorrow he and several apprentices and knights were to leave for Ilum, an ancient Jedi world, where they would craft their own lightsabers. Zelt was definitely excited as when he was a child all the legends he heard of Jedi were about their signature weapon. It kind of irked him that he had been studying for a full year and was now only getting a lightsaber, but Master Skywalker had been trying to teach him to be patient.

But with that excitement also came trepidation. Apparently the crystals that were needed to build a lightsaber would call out to a Jedi, the Force directing them to the correct one. Zelt had a silent fear that he would hear no such call, finding nothing but snow and ice on Ilum. The thought sent a shiver through Zelt’s body.

That night, Zelt would avoid eating dinner, a thing he did far too often. While he realized that he no longer had to maintain a celebrity appearance, something within Zelt still commanded him to maintain a certain image. So he remained in the garden, meditating deep into the night.

Zelt would eventually go to his quarters and get some sleep. But before Zelt could even dream, his holo-clock woke him up. The music of the Max Rebo band classics caused him to become fully alert, his mind triggered by the funky tune. Shutting off the alarm and dismissing the holo-news articles that popped up, Zelt rose from bed and began to pack for the flight to Ilum as well as for the cold environment.

After doing this, Zelt would relent to hunger and head to the mess hall. Still, he kept the meal small, a basic protein bar and a glass of Bantha milk. After consuming his food, Zelt realized that he still had an hour before they were due at the shuttle pad. Wishing to gain more guidance from the Force on his fears, he would return to the garden. And yet the Force would remain silent to him as he sat under his favorite tree. Eventually Zelt would give up and head to the shuttle.

---

Even with a hyperdrive it took several days to reach Ilum. The long flight was hard on Zelt’s injured leg, as he was sitting for most of it. And yet he concealed his pain, calling on the Force to soothe it so that no one noticed it. Zelt would try and walk around when he got the chance, but there was only so many times one could pace up and down the ship.

The usually talkative Zelt was oddly quiet during the trip, focused on the thoughts in his head. The fear of not finding a crystal still bumped around in Zelt’s mind, as did the silence of the Force. As days passed and he received no guidance, Zelt felt down but tried to cheer himself up with remembering Master Skywalker’s lessons.

Trust in the Force.

And that’s what Zelt did, trying to reach out with his mind. Zelt would remain in meditation for the last day of the trip, only being brought out of it the shaking of the shuttle. Zelt’s eyes opened quickly as the Jedi vessel shook in a snow storm as it began to land on Ilum.

Prior to the shuttle landing, Zelt would head to his bunk and grab some appropriate clothing for the ice planet. After putting on a thick Jedi robe and wrapping his head in a violet scarf, Zelt would follow after his fellow Jedi.

The second Zelt stepped onto the ground, he suddenly heard the Force. He couldn’t make out what it was saying, but it was all around him, like whispers on the wind. That feeling of awe was only added to when Zelt finally looked up and down the massive Jedi Temple in front of him.

It was clearly old, but still in great shape. Zelt wondered just how old it was, but then remembered that he would know if he paid attention in the history classes provided on D’Qar. At the sight of this Jedi creation, Zelt made a note in his mind to pay attention in class.

Jedi Knight Shyth would then tell them to take a break for a few minutes before heading to the caves to look for crystals. The other Jedi would then break into groups to talk, Knight Sehl conversing with her apprentice, Sildarg engaging her master. Zelt would decide to remain by himself, trying to listen to the whispering of the Force that was all around this area.

But his trance was broken when Knight Rar said it was time to head for the caves, making a joke that Zelt didn’t hear fully. Zelt sped up to catch up with his fellow apprentices, minding his steps as he did, not wanting to make a fool of himself by slipping and falling.

“So how deep do these tunnels go?” Zelt asked to no knight in particular.

Zelt was curious as he felt something calling to him from deeper into the temple. Maybe Master Skywalker had been right and all he had to do was trust in the Force.

A pang of shame ran through Reni, sharp and swift.

She had joked with her apprentice, mocking the temple, the stern statues, and the dour atmosphere, as they often did. But here and now, she regretted it. The planet, Reni reminded herself, was practically vibrating with the Force. All she had to do was open herself to it. Her thoughts on the temple as a monument aside, it had stood for thousands of years as a sanctuary for generations of Jedi. To mock it, she decided, was to mock those that had come before her. She might not like the unnatural building, the grandiosity of it all, but those that walked this hall before deserved her respect.

Her guilt became even more stinging when she thought of Mala.

Mala, one of the few remaining Jedi from the old Order. A woman who lived through the slaughter of thousands of Jedi, and was just now seeing the order's nascent resurgence, an order to which she had dedicated her life. Surely, Reni thought, this was not a joking matter for her, but a time that called for solemnity and reflection. At the very least, Reni decided, she could keep her thoughts to herself.

Reni was drawn back into the present when a familiar fruit bar was tossed her way. A gloved hand flew from her robe and caught it before disappearing again. She smiled and nodded to Toryn in thanks, but redirected the conversation, ending their game of back-and-forth. Reni sensed some tension in her apprentice, both through the Force and what she could read in his body language. Toryn, as he frequently was, seemed like a coiled viper ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Whether this was a trait typical of all Mandalorians or just combat veterans Reni was unsure; she certainly had to fight the instinct to constantly scan for threats herself sometimes.

The war had taken a toll on many of the Jedi in the room.

“The Force is strong on this planet. Stronger than what you’re used to. Let it in, if you can,” Reni encouraged him, knowing that if he just made an effort, the young Mandalorian could find some measure of peace here as she had for the first time six years ago.

---

The temple’s stone walls warded off the worst of Ilum’s sub-zero climate, shielding them from the harsh winds that ripped through robes like a lightsaber through paper, but it was still far from comfortable for most of the Jedi. Especially, say, one who had spent most of their life onboard climate-controlled starships.

Reni smiled sympathetically at Nova, bundled in several thick layers of cloth as her fellow apprentice kept her from tottering over. “I’ll teach you that little trick soon, Nova,” she said, referring to the tapas technique. “Once I figure it out myself.” If her research in the archives was correct, Reni had only scratched the surface of the ability; warding off a little wind was nothing compared to preserving one’s body in the cold vacuum of space. It had taken her many hours just to achieve her small accomplishment, and she was still far from being able to train another. “Don’t worry, it will be warmer in the tunnels,” Reni assured her, then paused to reconsider. “Wait. No. It will be colder.”

Nova often confused Reni.

By all accounts, she was an excellent apprentice, on track to become an excellent Jedi. The girl possessed innate talent, was optimistic, and most importantly, Reni never sensed the slightest bit of anger from her. But that was just it.

Even the greatest Jedi faced these challenging emotions, wrestled with them as they sought their own inner peace. But Nova seemed to have already mastered this internal battle. It was how Jedi grew, by accepting these emotions but learning to let them go, not allow them to dominate their spirit. Perhaps, Reni had considered, she simply wasn’t pushing Nova hard enough, not challenging her. But Nova was keeping up with the other apprentices, growing at about the same rate one would expect. There were some issues, of course. Reni thought the young woman was reckless, willing to throw herself into unnecessary danger, and lacked patience, but these were typical of an apprentice, Master Skywalker had told her. Patience and caution could be taught.

It troubled the Jedi knight all the same.

Still, the Mirialan was proud of her apprentices, especially now, on the cusp of their first real milestone within the Order. Reni didn’t care for the Jedi’s near worship of the lightsaber, but she understood its importance in this moment as a rite of passage. Not wanting to delay any longer, Reni stood before the gathered Jedi and led them to the next chamber.

---

As she pushed open the unassuming stone door, Reni thought of Toryn’s words. "Because only the Jedi could ever build something so big, yet so very bland."

She wished she could see the look on his face as he entered the next room.

Where the initial chamber was stark and narrow, made of chiseled stone and little else, here, the immense circular cavern they entered was rough and wild. From their high vantage point at the door, they looked down upon massive incandescent crystals that blossomed from the ground like jagged and brilliant flowers, some stretching to the cave's ceiling 40 meters above them where yet more crystals hung like glowing stalactites of every imaginable color. There was a small circular window carved out in the rock roof from which both pale light and white snow fell. The snow turned to rain halfway to the cavern's floor, its journey ending at a pool filled with bright blue water in the grotto's center from which a small stream both flowed into and out of. Steam rose off the surface of the water. It was warm within this place, approaching room temperature, the heat surging from hot springs in an adjacent cavern which fed into the underground lake. The walls were studded with even more crystals of various shapes, jutting out in every direction. Birds and small furry mammals roosted in these high places, watching the Jedi with large eyes as if they had anticipated their arrival. By the light of the crystals they could make out the mouths of several tunnels that led deeper into the cave system where the apprentices would find their translucent kyber crystals, should one call out to them. Several rough paths were carved out in the damp moss, but this was the only sign the cavern had ever been encountered by sentient beings.

Maybe the old Jedi knew what they were doing. Nothing they could build would compare to this.

"No one knows," Reni answered Zelt as she took in the chamber's beauty. "Perhaps the tunnels were mapped out once, but that's long since been forgotten." She turned to Zelt with a slight smile. "My advice? Don't get lost." If anyone could tell them more, it would be Mala, who might have more knowledge from before the fall of the Jedi Order, but even then Reni was doubtful.

Reni considered launching into a speech about the importance of kyber crystals to the Jedi, the tradition, the power of the Force here on Ilum, the purpose of the Jedi, but it simply wasn't her style. Besides, Reni figured the apprentices all knew what they were here for. However, she wouldn't stop the other knights from lecturing; some of the apprentices might benefit from a reminder, after all.

All the same, Reni entered the cavern and headed towards the lake, beckoning her two apprentices to follow. "Don't worry about the Gorgodons," Reni said as they walked. "They are aggressive, but also... Dumb. And their vision is poor. If you do see one, outsmart it, don't fight it. And do not try to use a blaster on them. It has been tried, and it will not work." She made sure to lock her eyes to Toryn’s visor when referring to the blaster’s ineffectiveness. This was not the knight’s pacifistic worldview coloring her judgment; this was fact.

Reni spoke softly now as they stood by the lake, as if her words were not for the world's ears, but their ears only. "Trust yourself. Trust eachother. Trust the Force. If you let it guide you in this place, you will not lose your way. You may not believe me, but you will feel your crystal call out to you." She watched as a slate-colored mammal glided across the length of the cavern from one crevasse to another, and spoke again. Now with levity in her voice. "And that tunnel," Reni said with a ghost of a smile, nodding at the wide mouth into which the stream ran down, "will be warmer."

---

This was freaking her the fuck out.

Master Mala's confirmation that this place was a nexus of the force only put her on edge more. It would've been palpable if Sildarg wasn't good at masking her emotions. When everyone walked to the cave it felt warm but strangely hollow. At the edge of the crystal caverns, Sildarg felt the cold again. Snow fell in through a chasm overhead, and light poured from the darkness. This was a step she knew she had to take, but Sildarg dreaded it all the same. She had to wonder if a crystal even would call out to her, or that they called out to the Sith. Sildarg was never given the opportunity to build a lightsaber back on Korriban. She was just handed one after killing her fellow apprentices. Not a good memory to look back on by any stretch, but this wasn't any less foreign to her.

She dropped her hood and stepped forward. Looking back to Mala and Airus, her metal hand glittered in the dim lights. "Well- This is it. If I don't die, I guess I'll have a crystal to work with. I'm going. I'll be back- Probably."

She trudged down into the beaten paths, and was gone.

---

Seconds became minutes in the dim light of the caverns. Minutes stretched to an hour in what felt like no time at all. The only sound Sildarg could hear was the echo of her boots hitting solid rock. The only light to guide her way were the scattered crystals, and those did little to light up the caves. All Sildarg could do was use how close or distant she was to them to determine whether she was walking in a straight line or about to walk into a wall. She didn't understand what to do. The Force wasn't guiding her, it was all around here and flowed through everything like oxygen, but it felt like she was a fish in water. The Force just didn't feel like it was there. She tried to breathe and reach for it, but all she could hear was a ringing noise when she tried, and it muddled Sildarg's concentration. She shuddered, this was what she had been doing for months now. She studied the texts in agonizing detail for hours until she couldn't keep her eyes open. Sildarg spent entire days on D'Qar training to wield the force in a way that wasn't built on hate. She wasn't a scholar by any means, but she had the drive to study and learn, and Sildarg applied that without relenting.

And yet Sildarg could barely lift a stone the size of her hand on a good day. So of course she couldn't find a specific magic rock in an entire cave of them that was supposed to be her lightsaber.

"Where are you?" She whispered, and tried it again. She let the Force flow, feeling it wash over the cavern walls. And the crystals around her all hummed like nails on chalk. It almost hurt to listen to.

"You're down here. I can't just take any piece of rock down here, so let me find you..."

The humming only got louder, she could feel all the crystals around her. They all felt the same, like looking for an apple in a sea of red water. But she pressed her thoughts through, to try and will the Force to show her what she wanted to see. Nothing happened. Sildarg grumbled, and almost had to cover her ears because she sound just wouldn't stop. It was so loud that she couldn't hear the faint rumble that sang through the caverns. She was losing her patience. She didn't want to get lost down her, to starve or freeze death.

That faint rumble became stronger.

Stronger.

And stronger still.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Cracks split up and down the walls. Crystal rocked in their place, and some fell to her feet. The stone around Sildarg quaked and broke apart, dust fell from the ceiling as a fresh hole fell away. The force of the tremors almost knocked Sildarg to the ground, but when the faint haze of dirt cleared, another cavern opened itself to her. Unlike the usual, milky pale glow of the kyber crystals, Sildarg saw faint glows of something with a green and sickly tint. Something dripped loud enough that it echoed out and past her ears. Water, or perhaps melted snow. Sildarg stepped over loosened rocks and dust, into the dry, frigid air. The strange light was growing dimmer as she approached it. But it glowed brightly enough nonetheless that she could see the ground and her own hands. They were shaking, and it wasn't just from the cold.

Sildarg saw a kyber crystal growing in the wall. It was... Wrong. All across its surface, there was a rocky, yellow-green corrosion that infected it. She touched its surface, and it felt like she was holding sandpaper. When it embraced her fingers, there was no more light to be found. She was now in complete darkness, where a normal kyber crystal would have glowed like a candle. It looked ugly, but what stung even more was that it seemed broken. Kyber crystals were bright and shiny. They gave of the light of the force eternally. They were pure, they were figments of dead stars made whole through the Force. The one that called to her was dead in its own way. Sildarg balled her hands together and buried her face in them. The gesture quelled the urge to shatter this entire pit, but the Force steamed off of Sildarg in a way that she felt ashamed of. If she came back to Mala empty-handed, she would be disappointed. Sildarg could already see the look on her face, that unmet promise not to hold back, the time wasted on her. It bubbled up in Sildarg's chest like acid. She-

The broken crystal began to hum and glow again. Sildarg looked up and saw shadows dancing under its surface, flecks of darkness caught and immortalized by the passage of time. It was close to blinding, but Sildarg saw her reflection. Where her reflection was cast, the dark patches vanished. The humming noise didn't hurt her ears. It was loud, like the rest of the caves, but it didn't bring her discomfort. She felt acclimated to it. But the light died away all the same. Sildarg was confused. Something about this strange kyber crystal was aware of her. She placed both hands in front of it, and willed the Force to pass through her fingers and into the crystal. The light came forth again.

It was sensitive to her use of the Force.

The crystal grew brighter as Sildarg continued to feed it with the energy of the universe around them, like it resonated with her. The doubt and self deprecation faded, and was replaced with awe. Sildarg felt its pull in that moment. The kyber crystal wasn't dead, it was incomplete. It was a broken, unwanted thing that the light of the Force made into something else, but needed someone to guide along that path. Flawed, rough around the edges, and trying its best in spite of everything that holds it back. Just like her. All it needed was direction, and it would find the way forward one way or another. It was then that Sildarg knew why this crystal called out to her, out of all the countless thousands that could've been found. They both needed each other. There was a crystal for every Jedi to ever live, one that was perfect for them and recognized it by virtue of being connected to the Force in ways a Jedi could never aspire to. It was reassuring to think of this. Sildarg reached for the crystal again, and clasped her hands around the poor thing to loose it from the wall. It cracked and splintered as it separated, glassy flakes of the crystal littered her hand and floated around it, animated by the Force.

"They haven't given up on me yet. I won't give up on you."

---

Nearly an hour passed before Sildarg found her way back to the entrance, where the masters were waiting. Sildarg approached her master and gently showed her the strange crystal. Dark and murky, unlike what the others would surely find. "I know what it looks like, but there's more to this than what you can see." She put a hand out, and reached for the Force. The crystal began to glow in its own, unusual way. Some of the small splinters started to dance around it like tiny moons around a planet. Most kyber crystals glowed on their own, but hers just needed a push. "The crystal called out to me for a reason. I won't judge it by the way it looks."

There was something uncharacteristically calm about Sildarg right now. Neither Mala nor any of the other masters or a apprentices had seen her this at east since they met her. Normally, she was always defensive in some way, like she expected a blaster was trained on her every moment. Now, though, Korriban didn't exist in this moment. Hadris wasn't on her mind. There was only peace in her accomplishment. Sildarg had just taken one of the foundational steps, and that was enough.

---

It was too damn cold on this planet. That was the main thought bouncing around the poor Togruta's mind as she followed along the masters and other apprentices on their trip to Illum. Most of her fellow apprentices would be building their lightsabers today, though Kada had a bit of a lead on the others in that department. The Togruta felt a moment of pride from that fact, then immediately felt that pride canceled out as she reminded herself that, once again, she was back to this horrid planet. The poor girl was bundled up quite well, including a thick wrapping around her montral, to try to keep warm. Having lived on planets like Shili most of her life... the horrid temperatures of Illum were not kind to Kada. Most certainly not to the hollow bone structures atop her head. Jedi do not feel the cold. She'd once been told by Master Skywalker himself on her first trip to this world, and a sentence that was brought back to the forefront of her mind once more. One that earned a harsh thought in return from the apprentice. You try having your most sensitive organ be hollow bone structures atop your kriffin' head, Master! Kada thought harshly, following everybody else inside the temple. On her back, Sparky hung on for dear life and beep-booped out various updates on the weather and structure stability on Illum.

As much as Kada wanted to slap the mute button every time he reminded her how cold it was outside... she didn't have the heart to shut him up.

The Togruta spent the time after they'd arrived at the temple to fuss over her companion, melting off some of the ice buildup in his little joints. Berating herself mentally for not applying enough protective coating to the droid before making the journey to Illum. Kada shook her head before finally deciding that Sparky was in good enough condition that she'd not need to worry about him for the rest of the trip. Turning back towards the group, and withdrawing from her unintentional tunnel vision, Kada racked her mind to find some advice she could offer her fellows from her own experiences with finding her crystal. "Okay, time to go see our friends off, Sparky!" She said softly to the droid, then the togruta approached the gathered masters and...

Where were her fellows? It took Kada a couple of seconds before her face colored deeply as she realized. "Oh. They've already gone off to gather the crystals, didn't they?" Kada asked nobody in particular, though her embarrassment no doubt lit her up like a beacon within the force. She then immediately turned towards the droid poking its head over her shoulder and jabbed a finger towards it. "If you tell Toryn about this I will convert you into a Gonk Droid, Mister!" She threatened, only to get a series of remarkably sassy beeps and boops in return from Sparky. Kada allowed herself a little smile and shake of her head as she shrugged off the droid's response, before turning her attention towards the assembled Jedi Masters.

Oh! Right! She'd offered to set up the worktables for once the apprentices returned with their crystals! "Ah! Masters, I'll get started setting up the worktables now!" She said softly, bowing her head lightly towards the group as she moved back towards the entrance of the temple, where the repulsorsled that had been slaved to Kada's wrist-comm to follow the group. "Okay Sparks, I want you to hop on and start up the heater so these things aren't so cold while we get setup." She instructed the BD-Unit, as it hopped off to start following her orders. Kada then guided the device back into the temple, where she went about setting up each of the little worktables, and the heaters next to them to allow a bit of comfort, for lightsaber construction. She only hoped she finished before every arrived, the last thing she needed was everybody just kind of staring at her while she finished up her work!

The young Jedi Apprentice was still in awe of the temple as he and his fellow Jedis entered the main hall. The massively carved statues of Masters past and faded ceiling murals most of dated to at least the Old Republic, or at least Zelt thought so with his limited knowledge. On the other side of the hall were several tunnels, leading to darkened areas, only illuminated by the glow of the crystals that were all around the temple.

Zelt’s wondering of how deep the tunnels went was met with an ominous no one knows. According to Jedi Knight Sehl, the tunnels may have been mapped in the distant past, but such records were lost to time. She also advised him to not get lost. Zelt wondered if she was being completely serious, and if there was much danger in those tunnels. He remembered that there was some wildlife native to Ilum, but Zelt thought he could easily avoid them.

What did scare him was the thought of booby-traps. Perhaps he had watched one too many Holo-Dramas, but Zelt was familiar with the concept of the adventurer entering a lost monument of the Old Republic, only to beset by dangerous traps. Zelt’s initial thought was that the Jedi wouldn’t make such a dangerous task for Apprentices, but then again what he did know of the Jedi only came from his studying at the Jedi Temple. Prior to that it had all been conjecture and propaganda of the Empire, painting Jedi as dangerous religious fanatics. Of course Zelt no longer believed that, but he was still at unease.

Rather than making a potential fool of himself by asking about traps, Zelt instead reached out with the Force. Apparently one of these tunnels would lead to his own Kyber crystal, Zelt noticing that his fellow Apprentice Sildarg had already chosen a tunnel. Wishing to find the right one for him, Zelt closed his eyes and let the Force envelop him.

While this place was definitely strong in the Force, it was more like a storm, swirling around Zelt’s mind. There were feelings and words flying by, going so fast that Zelt couldn’t understand them. So he tried to separate the winds with his mind, pulling apart the flurry. After a few minutes of this, Zelt was able to hear what the Force was saying. It was his name, repeated softly every few seconds.

Following the voice, Zelt found himself in front of a tunnel farther to the left of where he had entered. There were a lot less of those bright crystals in this tunnel, obscuring the way ahead. And yet Zelt heard a voice in the shadows, one beckoning him. Remembering to trust in the Force, Zelt took his first step into the tunnel.

---

Zelt walked for an unknown amount of time, trying to not trip in the poorly kept tunnel. The further he walked, the less there was of the glowing crystals. With neither Nagai or Sephi blood granting night vision, Zelt soon found himself barely being able to see in front of himself.

Feeling the walls of the tunnels with his hands, Zelt maintained a slow pace, all the while trying to feel his way around with the Force. He could still hear the murmurs of the Force, though they were softer now. And yet they still seemed to be coming from deeper into the tunnel.

It was at this time that Zelt really wished he had already had a lightsaber. He knew that the weapon of a Jedi could also double as a source of light, which would be greatly appreciated in the dark depths that Zelt had been treading into. But it could be that this was a test for a Jedi Apprentice to have an internal light and not rely of physical things. Or at least Zelt swore that was a lesson imparted by Master Skywalker, they all tended to blur together after a year.

With some kind of lesson in mind, Zelt continued down the darkening tunnel. Only to slip on a broken down pillar, causing the young Jedi to face plant into the ice and stone or the temple floor. Wondering why the Force hadn’t warned him of that, Zelt pulled himself to his feet, only to discover that his nose was now bleeding. Quickly wiping away the little amount of blood, Zelt’s face turned red, embarrassment overtaking his mind.

In that brief moment, the voice of the Force stopped. Zelt whipped around, trying to see if anything had changed. But he was still in the same tunnel, just no more whispers echoed through the stone.

Again, Zelt’s fear of not finding his Kyber crystal returned. In Zelt’s mind he wondered if he truly could be a Jedi. It then took a few seconds to steel himself, before Zelt decided that he would force the issue. Even if the crystal did not call to him, he would still find it. And so he continued down the tunnel.

Zelt would walk for even longer than before, still finding that the tunnel kept going. Zelt had to wonder how long it took the ancient Jedi to carve these tunnels. However, his prevailing thought was annoyance as he thought there was no end to the tunnel. Stopping his step, Zelt his feeling of anger roll of himself, only for it to encounter the Force that remained here. The young Jedi felt his negative emotions clash with the calm of the temple, the two sides of the Force battling. Only for the battle to affect the material world, the floor falling out from underneath Zelt.

The young Jedi dropped about twenty feet, falling into a dark abyss. Quickly reaching out through the Force, Zelt slowed his landing. Still, he hit is right leg on the way down, pain racing up his already injured limb.

Now sitting on the cold stone floor of some kind of chamber, Zelt looked around only to see shadows. There were none of the glowing crystals in this chamber, leaving Zelt alone in the darkness. Zelt rose, only for something to slash his left arm, drawing blood. Recoiling, Zelt realized that it was a sharp piece of ice. Feeling around through the Force, Zelt realized that the entire room was full of these sharp ice blades.

Sitting back down, Zelt felt defeated. Not only had he lost the trace of his Kyber crystal, he had fallen into what seemed a trap room. The young Jedi wondered if any of the Knights would be able to find him, and if he could still be a Jedi if he failed this trial.

Zelt mused on these dark thoughts for a few minutes, before something started talking to him. Once more, he heard his name, this time much louder. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the chamber. Standing back up, Zelt saw that the Force hadn’t abandoned him.

Since he couldn’t see in this darkness anyways, Zelt closed his eyes and let the Force guide him. He began to walk, not feeling any of the sharp bits of ice. The Force would lead Zelt in a straight path, keeping him save from all the dangers of the chamber. Eventually, Zelt would arrive at the wall of the other side of the room.

Zelt then opened his eyes, only to see a brilliant light in front of him. The light was emanating from a small blue stone in front of him. The crystal stood out from all the others in the temple as it was much brighter, with a pale blue glow. Also Zelt could sense the Force surrounding it.

Reaching out with his hand, Zelt would pull the crystal off the wall, hearing his name one final time as he touched it. It seemed to glow even brighter while in Zelt’s hand, illuminating the secret chamber. With its light, Zelt didn’t need the Force to avoid the jagged ice. In fact it seemed to boost the Force in Zelt, allowing him to jump up the twenty feet back into the main tunnel, a new record for his use of Force jump.

Once back in the tunnel, Zelt held his Kyber crystal high, using it to see in the tunnel. With its light, Zelt traversed back down to the opening hall.

---

The trip back was much quicker, given that Zelt wasn’t stumbling in the dark anymore. Before he could even be seen or heard by the other Jedi, the light of his blue Kyber crystal was visible from the tunnel entrance.

Zelt stepped into the opening hall with confidence, grasping the crystal in his right hand. He was aware that he did look pretty beat up, with bruises on his body from falling, a torn Jedi robe, and blood around his nose and arm. Still, he felt exceptional. He had done it. He beat the tunnel and got the Kyber crystal.

He was slightly irked to discover that Sildarg had made it back before him, an unusual Kyber crystal in her hand. Sometimes Zelt still had to be reminded that it wasn’t a competition between the Apprentices, it was actually a shared journey. But years of competitiveness was hard for Zelt to overcome.

But perhaps he could still be the first to complete their lightsaber. Rushing over to Jedi Apprentice Vaa, Zelt saw that she had set up tables for actually constructing their weapons. While still an Apprentice like Zelt, Kada Vaa had built her own lightsaber some time ago. As such Zelt was looking to her for advice.

“Apprentice Vaa,” he said as he rushed over, “Where do I start?”

In the moment, Zelt felt dumb. He had been focusing so much on how he was going to find his Kyber crystal that he had neglected his studies at the temple on saber construction. While he knew the basics, Zelt was definitely out of his depth. In all likelihood, Zelt would just make a basic lightsaber. He would keep it simple and classy.

---

Airus had taken to the task like any other, whole heartedly though his force sight meant the tunnels and darkness would bother him not he still precautions. He found himself venturing off the beaten path squeezing through passageways also to small, as he kept himself bundled in the robes he wore. Though as he worked his way deeper he felt something strange, a calling of sorts pulling him downward. Working his way deeper and deeper into the caverns he tried his best to avoid disturbing the wildlife. Though as he went further he found himself beyond where Jedi had walked before. A warmth came from below, but the warmth of heat but that of home... A long forgotten to the Miraluka. They were a tight knit species... Considering all of their brother and sisters through the force, it had taken him over a year to break the habit of addressing his fellow rebels as brother or sister, some had been... Unnaturally adverse to the subject. Unlike himself, Varina had taken to life beyond Alpheridies quite well Airus had struggled to find his place for awhile. A lack of eyes... Is unnerving to some.

He felt along the cool stone walls as he came to a long abandoned cavern, here unlike the rest of the caves he saw no glitters of force energy one might note as kyber crystals. No here in this place they had long since been taken or forgotten, but the warmth grew and Airus could not help but be drawn further in. Slowly he stepped into an larger open cave a single Gorgodon slept on island of geothermal rock now exposed to the cold air. The warmth was great however, the sleeping beast posed an issue as upon the once lava cover island sat a pair of crystals... His crystals, he could feel the pulse and pull. Varina had asked him to bring back two... She wanted to make a saber for him, they were close and he knew it was important to her that he carry something from her with him.

Airus looked at the lava, certainly a single good jump would get him down to the island... But back up would be tricky, it was further down from his spot in the cavern. Not to mention the noise might awaken the sleeping Gorgodon or worse it might smell him having to get so close to the damnable creature. But not just any crystal would do... He needed to find his crystal... "Listen to the crystals Airus... It will call to you, Bogan take you Varina... Me without a damn thermal detonator..." He whispered to himself as got an idea his staff certainly wouldn't do much against a beast like that.

Yet... It could buy him time or perhaps... It was time to trust in his own gifts over his weapon of choice. Airus took a deep breath, summoning up his courage he focused on one thing calm. Dropping down onto the island as the heat washed over him finding himself sweating as he stepped up the bank. He moved towards Gorgodon as tossed in it's sleep his scent and the sounds of his approach even as quiet as he could muster disturbing the beasts restful sleep. But Airus instead of tensing relaxed pushing outwards with empathy exuding his natural calm and peace... As each step brought him closer to the beast and his twin prizes, he kept it up doing his best to share his serenity with the predatory beast watching as it slowly nestled back to sleeping he advanced carefully towards the crystals.

He snatched them, his own excitement that it was working filled him... Only for the beasts eyes to shoot open as Airus then realized his mistake, one moment of joy had allowed the beast to awaken. He backed up yet before it lunged forward trying to grab him in it's embrace he rushed towards the other edge of the island and using his staff like a pole-vault, he launched himself at a ledge. Kicking off of it, he grabbed the caverns edge. Airus scrambled up the cavern as the taller man bolted for the caves he'd come from as the Gorgodon leapt up giving a roar. Airus's sight could see more moving through the tunnels, that would explain why this area was so sparsely traveled it was full of the damn things!

Sprinting Airus worked his through the tighter passages as the creatures forced to work their way around eventually lost interest in their hunt as Airus ascended further and further till the air turned freezing once more. "Why must you be so much trouble?" Spoke the Padawan before collapse to lay on the cool ground legs numb, slowly lifting the pair of crystals to stare at them. Slowly and exhaustingly Airus made his way back, the occasional howls of the Gorgodon's following him up. As he took a seat to being construction he grunted. "By Ashla... Never doing that again." He spoke breathing heavy.