First Reply Choosing Color

[Raphael Gallustrade]

The world was unknown to Raphael, he didn't care. It was a place that he'd known, long ago. A place that was... Well, it was a dead world, but not in the normal way that other planets were dead. And perhaps dead was the wrong word... The planet was...inert. There was...potential here...as there had always been. The planet had needed experience, had needed form and shape... Now, Raphael had returned with it. There was presence upon the planet that waited for him.

Come

Raphael's ship landed upon the planet, a planet so far away from the galaxy at large... The land was devoid of any strength within the Force, as though it were a void. He knew where he was going, however... The cave. The cave and the place where he'd first found his crystal... The crystal... It's truest form... He felt it... This planet was much like Qi-Ko, though there was no nexus here. If there had been then there wasn't anymore.

Come...

It was time to give meaning to the planet again. The cave, it was right there and he held up his lightsaber as it slowly came apart, finally removing the crystal from it. He walked forward, into the cave system. It was down here. Where he was supposed to go. Where he was being called. Where he, and the crystal, was needed. He didn't know quite what would be down here. Nor did he know if anyone had followed him.

Come... to us...

 

[Nyla Sallaros]

​

As a stranger into a misty night. That was how her mind felt as she took each step. While she was familiar with venturing into the unknown and exploring the mysteries of the galaxy, she was not much fond of the sensation that a world such as this brought to her. It left her feeling vulnerable in a way that she could hardly describe in words and only with the involuntary shifts of her body as she pressed further and further onward behind her new apprentice. While he had acted as he likely felt accustomed as a wandering student, she reminded herself that it was not in the manner of a Jedi to deny oneself, or those they trained, the opportunity to learn and experience. She repressed her negative feelings and collected her focus.

She could feel something strange about the world but could not place it. As she sensed Raphael's movements with a singular purpose and flow she could only wonder what, perhaps, he might be hearing or feeling whilst she was rendered only to feel the sensation that the planet exuded. While the planet was not dead, nor was it waning, it was as if the planet's very pulse had been lowered to stagnate that very collapse despite the lack of evidence to prove it. Such was the strange nature of being a Force sensitive and explaining that to those who did not understand.

Continuing with their pace towards destination unknown, she felt herself growing closer and closer to her apprentice as his course took him into a curiously selected cave. The detail that stood out like a beacon of light in a dense fog, which she had not anticipated, was the aura of an attuned crystal. He had removed his crystal from his saber but she could not gather why, only that she welcomed the lure as she followed it deeper into the cavern.

Whatever his purpose here was she hoped it would reveal itself soon.

Raphael Gallustrade​

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

The sensation changed, the flow shifted, and he became aware of his master behind him. He looked back to her, a smile, warm and friendly, crossed his face. He slowed his pace so that the two were a bit closer, though not so much to make it uncomfortable in the cave. The crystal glowed brightly, lighting up the cave as they walked through, and he would turn at each new tunnel.

"I'm very glad that you decided to come with me, master." He looked over his shoulder to her. "I'm sure this is...probably confusing, but there's a lot I wanna tell you about. Cuz I have a link to this planet. I actually crashed here, long before I'd joined the Jedi Order." He took a left turn, smiling as they did. "While I was figuring out what I was going to do... I felt something calling to me, and I followed it into this cave..." He pointed to his right, pausing in front of a short cave that seemed to be costantly dripping water. "I reached into the pool and pulled out the crystal from there..."

He turned to the left tunnel and the crystal pulsed a bit with light, lighting up the cave system, for a moment. Then there was weaker sound, almost like a song that came from deeper in.

"Also..." He looked to her for a moment. "I'm sorry that I came out here..." He looked at the crystal, almost sadly, before smiling. "This is my last time going anywhere without some assignment or saying that we're going somewhere... This...however... This is important." He turned entirely to her and bowed. "I hope that you'll forgive me. I am working hard to get used to having a master. But... Having you here for this... This will be wonderful to share with you. I think we're getting close."

They'd gone quite far down and into the tunnels, when they finally opened into an enormous spherical room. There, in the center oof the room, was an small light, surrounded by a few flowers. It was here, in this place, that the Force could be clearly felt, though not very strongly. It was like an illness had settled upon the planet.

"We need to go to the center of the chamber, I think. And then return the crystal." He looked around. "I don't know quite what but somethig happened to this planet, that no one could feel it anymore."

Nyla Sallaros

 

[Nyla Sallaros]

​

It was ever fascinating how the galaxy was viewed through the lens of others far younger than herself. Not because she envied it, or any other reason that pertained to the transit of time, but rather because of her own perspective. It was refreshing to listen to and see how others viewed their surroundings as she herself had often lost touch with her own. Whether it was trauma or merely complacence she could not say, but what she knew as she followed Raphael through the tunnels of this unknown world was that there was a soothing rekindling of her senses as she felt his own wonder and eagerness flow into the Force.

In an almost serene and contemplative silence she followed him through the tunnels as he made each stop. She did not answer at first, letting him express his emotions and tell his story, wanting merely to act as a grounding presence until they reached their destination. She did not, however, go without measures of acknowledgement as he offered his interest in sharing this experience with her. She had felt strange worlds before but, as she had noted upon her arrival, this world was different from others; and his perception was rather spot on.

Coming to a stop as he halted to explain his intended destination she paused and looked around the latest chamber in which they'd found themselves. It wasn't large or even unbearably dark, but the feeling of emptiness that caused her probes with the Force to return echoes of prolonged suffering were beginning to bring an uneasy sensation in her chest.

"This planet has suffered." She began with a rather finality to her voice as she reached out to touch one of the cave walls. No sooner had her skin touched the cold stone did she retract it with a sharp breath as she turned to face Raphael with a knowing but compassionate expression upon her face. "Is it your theory that by returning this crystal that you will bring back this worlds peace?" She asked once she'd flicked her gaze to the crystal and back to his, her lack of understanding gnawing at her though she skillfully kept it at bay.

Whatever the answer was, this was clearly something he had to see through.

Raphael Gallustrade​

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

There were several things that Raphael had not expected, upon joining the Jedi. Suffice it to say that having found a master like Nyla. He'd certainly not expected him and his master to have really met in such a way, had not expected that the two would've had such a sparring session. Yet it was healing. From what litte time he'd been learning under her, he'd realized the way that it should really be, what a healthy relationshp with one's master was supposed to be. Conversation, grounding, supportive...

It had so contradicted what he'd known from Adeline. He knew that the sith wouldn't be broken up about his escape. Would she pursue? Doubtful. She would build up her power base. He only hoped that she was busy enough that she didn't really know about him or was't concerned. He was pretty sure that she wasn't.

He listened to her, turning his head to look at her a moment, before nodding. It was true. Raph himself had felt it the day that he'd crashed on the planet.

"Yeah." The crystal pulsed once, and the room seemed to respond, as the light at the center of the room let out a vibrant light. "I don't know what happened but, with any luck, this can at least alleviate a bit of this feeling." He walked slowly down and into the chamber, gingerly guarding the crystal, to keep it from falling from his grasp.

Yet as he got to the bottom of the incline, it pulsed again, and he suddenly experienced a vision. Birdlike people had begun connecting to the living ships, like Khusrasol. The two began to form a symbiotic bond. One pilot... then anoother... He was brought back in seconds and shook his head, looking around, then back to Nyla.

"Did... you see that also, master?"

Nyla Sallaros

 

[Nyla Sallaros]

​

No sooner had he answered her question did she witness a spectacle she had not been anticipating. One that felt oddly personal but then generalized as a vision of a species she was not familiar with that was filled with emotions and sensations that stood strictly contrast to the present condition of the world. Then, as quickly as it had struck her with it's vivid flourish of imagery and sensations, it vanished to once again bleed away into the cave in which they both stood. It had been enough to leave her standing somewhat flabbergasted with her mouth agape before his words drew her back to reality once more.

"Yes, yes I did." She breathed quietly through a mildly strained attempt to comprehend what she'd seen. The sensations lingered, leaving behind a trace that she now longed for, and she reached out to the wall to brace herself as she closed her eyes. "Let us delve deeper, I sense that something more awaits us when we reach our destination. This world holds a great many emotions and memories but I fear it cannot express them without the proper conduit." She continued and lowered her hand from the wall as she made to press further into the recesses of the cavern.

"What did you make of those visions, Raphael? Did you feel their emotions and feelings as vividly as I?" She asked, ultimately ceasing her motion as she turned to face him from where she stood some few paces ahead of him. Whilst it had struck her later than she knew was permissible, she knew that such a query and it's answers would be a measurable test of his ability to decipher visions without being overwhelmed by them. While she was not one to feel that visions were an inherent danger to the viewer, she reserved a modicum of caution only for those of the future.

The conundrum she faced in this moment, however, was whether or not this vision had been one of past or future.

Raphael Gallustrade​

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

He nodded, as she confired she'd seen it as well. It was good to know that he wasn't the onlly one that had experienced the vision, though it seemed as familiar as it was alien. The people had been happy, the planet was lush and green. He steadied himself, widening his stance to stay on his feet, as he recovered ad watched his master stride past him and frward into the chamber. Her breaths were quiet, however; her steps even more controlled and she seemed to glide forward into the chamber. Her serenity was not dampened, by what she'd seen.

Following only a few steps behind her he nodded. It was quite clear that there was moore to this planet than he'd thoought when he'd first crashed here and yet, so far, he'd not expected something as grandiose of an adventure.

"I'd say so... There was something famiilar about the way that it all felt... And I've seen the creatures that were in it, as well..." He paused a moment before adding, "The whale-like creatures, I mean..." He'd never seen the avians before, but he knew what Khusrasol had been. Their memories and thoughts had intertwined so often, after all... A bit of sadness exhuded from him, at the memory.

"The visions..." he said, as he refocused. "I could, master, yes. They are... chaotic. Excitement, jubilation, disappointment, despoondence... A million minds and hands..."

He carefully walked down the slope, toowards the center of the large chamber, the pulsing oof the column of light began too pick up, as did his crystal's responses. It became frantic and, in a way, heavier. Somewhere, deep inside, he'd always known that the crystal wuld want to return home. He just...didn't think it would've been so soon. Still, he kept walking, followig her, until they'd reached the center of the chamber, the pulsing had gained a sound to it, enugh that, froom where they stood, it was like the beating if a drum.

He held the crystal in the column, prepared to let it go. "Well... Let's see what this does..." There was a moment where it floated in the air, as he released it, then it slowly lowered to the ground, and landed on the soil where the light was coming from. Then, as it landed on the ground it burrowed in, slowly, before letting out a bright light, and a deep pulse.

A second vision would come to them. A pair of avian creatures stood within the chamber, squaks and clicks as ways of communication. An explosion sounded above, annd the whole cave shook, in the vision. The two cowered, for a moment. There were sounds of electricity, and fighting further in the cave system, behind them. A body hit the ground behind them, and as Raphael turned, he saw another, large, avian, enter the chamber. It's skin was graying and cracking, and it's eyes were yellow, almost sulfuricly. It pointed and roared, as others charged in from behind it.

Raphael looked back to the two, near the center of the chamber. There was fear in their eyes, before suddely channeling the Force and... The light engulfed his vision, beforee he was tossed onto his back.

Nyla Sallaros