Braving the cold of Rhen Var [The Republic]

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus felt bad that she’d interrupted his practice. Even so, his tone was more abrupt than she would have expected. In fact it annoyed her slightly. Was this the VlPER she’d flow out of the warzone on his home planet – when he’d been shot?

The same VlPER who’d sparred daily for what seemed like forever? He needed to get over himself!

She was also surprised at his formality but put it down to the caves, to the act of crafting his saber. Her mood softened as quickly as it had flared.

“Padawan VlPER.” She smiled and bowed in return. She was aware that he was gazing at the new saber that was clipped to her belt. "Yes, me too." She smiled again. “I need to go to Corellia. Now. I can explain on the way.”

She turned to leave, clearly expecting him to fall into step.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

It seemed there were a few things that needed to be explained. For his actions had nothing to do with what had been said or done between them in the past, but everything to do with a vision she didn't know he had. He could see her tense up at first as well, and it gave him pause, wondering what would happen next. When she softened again to her old self, he was confused. How did this vision affect her, and him? Her last smile finally moved him to loosen up. Deactivating his sabers, he put them on his belt. When she mentioned going to Corellia, his eyes widened.

"Whoa! Hold the comm....erm...why are you going to Corellia? And wait...you can explain on the way? Now I'm going to Corellia!? For what?" He had followed her a few paces, but then stopped in the middle of the pool of water a few feet behind her.

"Corvus. We need to talk. And I'd rather do it here and now. Especially since my Master would probably be pretty upset that I just left without informing her....again..." He said, averting his eyes for a moment. "Now what's going on?" His toned had softened quite a bit, and was more what she was used to. He didn't want to be mad at Corvus after all. He at least wanted to be friends. But after that vision, she made him nervous. He wanted to avoid the outcome of it, almost at all cost. As such, he simply needed more information.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus slowed and then stopped. He did deserve an explanation – but then she remembered how he’d just run off to save his home planet at the drop of a hat – and he’d banned her from coming along. She could feel her temper rising but realised that she needed him and so had to keep calm.

“OK. Just as I finished the lightsaber, I had a vision. I told you before that my Master died on Corellia – but I never really said how.”

“I was in an underwater cave – fetching my first saber crystal. When I was down there I sensed great danger for him and rushed to get out. When I found him I saw the after-effects of an electrical storm and his body. He’d been hit and was dead. I took it badly. Wandered the planet for a couple of years. Then I decided to go to Ossus and a year or so later found my way there.”

“My vision was Farseeing, I know it. It’s relatively common at these times. It wasn’t an electrical storm that killed my Master. It was Force Lightning. One of the Corellian Jedi is a Sith. I need to find out who and…well, I need to get there is all.”

She was calm again and her voice was almost pleading with VlPER. “Please take me there.”

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

Viper had a strong sense of duty. Although he had finally begun to rectify her not wanting to be anything more than friends, even if he hadn't, it wouldn't affect his answer now. "Corvus..." he paused not exactly sure how to continue. "I didn't stop you just now, because of a lack of desire to help you. I want to help you. I do. You are a friend, and I want to be there for you. It's just that I also had a vision. It was about you.... You were on Corellia."

He stopped again, allowing his eyes to drop down to her newly made saber. "You had that saber. You executed a defenseless kneeling opponent in cold blood....Then you tried to kill me."

He halted telling the story of his own vision to let what he had already said, sink in. At the same time, his eyes returned to hers. He also stopped because he didn't want to finish telling the vision. "I will take you there. But you have to promise me we'll work together on this. You have to keep me in the loop on what is going on, and who is who, ok?"

Presently, he didn't care if she found his concern annoying. He wanted to make sure they all lived through this. And if that meant pissing her off now. Then so be it.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

A look of puzzlement came over her face? It was hard to say her vision was real and his was just…well, a vision.

“The future is always fluctuating. Master Yoda said this. But the past is the past. Let’s deal with the Sith and then worry about the rest. You know me – I would never kill a defenceless opponent.”

“So what are you waiting for?” The familiar spring was back in her step as she headed back to where VlPER had left his ship.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

Vipers eyes narrowed in annoyance after she hopped off toward the exit and his ship like nothing was the matter. "What is with this girl? It's like she's got a split personality all the sudden. One moment mad as hell, the next, happy as if she was prancing through a meadow filled with rainbows and butterflies everywhere." He looked up to the top of the cave, as if the answer was there. When finding nothing, he simply shook his head. "Women." Sighing wearily, he then jogged after her to the ship. "God my master is going to kill me..."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Jsc]

Mars was exploring a side cavern when she felt a few curtains ruffle. Grayson had arrived stage right whilst Corvus and Viper were making their exit stage left. Or was it, cavern left? ...Interesting.

The woman's visor continued to browse the strange dark formations on the walls with some peculiar interest too. Though, and sadly, nothing took her fancy. She decided it would be best at this time to be a little more social than usual. Well, more social than her usual battlefield routine anyway. It was the helm and the disruptor that scared away most people. Oh well.

Mars returned to the broader caverns and approached [member="Meeristali Peradun"] ,

"Hello there. Jerry Mars. ...Mind if I join you?"

She removed her helm and unpinned her hair. Oh, and was that ever a mistake. It was down right uncomfortable on this freezing planet. Thank goodness her cheeks couldn't get any more scarlet than her usual Zeltron red. Good grief.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

"the Crystal is the heart of the Blade.
the Heart is the crystal of the Jedi.
the Jedi is the crystal of the Force.
the Force is the blade of the Heart.
ALL are intertwined,
the Crystal, the Blade, the Jedi...
We are One."

Johnny kept uttering the mantra of the crystal quietly, almost a whisper at this point. The cave itself began to melt away as he saw the pale blues and violets of Force Sight fill his mind's eye. He saw Kiskla enter the cave, he saw Kana looking at him quizzically, he saw crystals that were almost darkness, others so bright they could blind him. Yet, in that moment, Johnny began to delve into talents he still did not recognize. He could feel the cool breeze, taste the moisture in the air, smell the damp rock all around him. And int hat moment, something truly wondrous happened...


He felt as if he were floating, and he could see himself within the cave. The vision of his body moved to stand, and made it's way towards one particular crystal formation. It's head canted, and he saw his own hand reach in, plucking a crystal from it. It was then that the ice and rock of the cave began to melt away, as he saw himself once again, looking much older than he was now, standing side by side with Kana Truden, Kiskla Grayson, VIPER, and Corvus Raaf. They had their backs to one another, sabers ignited and at the ready on a world he recognized as Coruscant. They stood within the ruins of the Jedi Temple, with countless red-hued sabers coming at them from all sides. And then he saw the vision of himself ignite a lightsaber, it's cyan-hued blade shimmering like ice. They began to fight off all comers, as if they were in tune with one another. One by one, Sith fell to their blades...

...and in the middle of the epic battle he saw, the vision melted, only to show him more...a vision of himself, a grown man, sitting among 12 others, in a semi circle. It looked like the Hall of the Council, and he heard a voice call out...

"Master Diamonds, what do you think of this situation?"

And then, just like that, his eyes snapped open, and he let out a shocking cry of happiness and pure joy. He was sweating profusely at this point, his t-shirt drenched as if he'd been swimming under water. He looked to Kana, then to Kiskla, and he grinned as wide as one could, uttering something very cryptic.

"In the days of struggle, when all hope is seemingly lost...we shall overcome. As long as the Jedi remain true to the Force, we shall send the darkness from the black void whence it came..."

In that moment, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell over, a splash of water sputtering forth from the puddle under his now prone body.



[member="VlPER"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Jerry Mars"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

At the sight of movement, the singing, which had turned into somewhat spirited humming petered out, coming to a complete stop. From that moment he silently watched the approaching form, noting feminine line, despite the helm that utterly obscured the face… that is, until the helm was removed, revealing a woman of Zeltros, with long, blonde hair as it was unpinned. A Zeltron with rouged skin, and no less beautiful than many of the other women he had encountered since joining the Order. And yet…

…yet, it fed into an observation he had made several months prior on the matter of just how many blondes there were in the Order. It seemed almost like a statistical impossibility, unless there was some dyeing going on. A small smile curled the corners of his lips, and those thoughts receded, back to the depths of his psyche from whence they had come.

“By all means. I was…” he glanced over his shoulder, looking towards their destination, where others had already been, then back to her, citric eyes taking a better look, better than most were afforded in the low light. “…waiting for you. You're another padawan, I’m guessing?”

He stepped forward, holding out one large, humanoid hand to [member="Jerry Mars"] in greeting, as one would likely expect.

“Meeristali Peradun, Padawan” he said, by way of introduction, “I’ve got to ask: what happened to you? We were expecting to have encountered you by now. We weren’t without our share of living obstacles along the way, so…”

He trailed off, leaving it open for her to talk, while at the same time turning slightly towards the next sector, the area where they would find the crystals, and beckoning her to follow with a look, a tip of his dark haired head, and a flick of his long, semi-prehensile tail.

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana’s attention was grabbed by Johnny Diamonds as he left his meditative state. He said something but she was still waiting for the grandmaster to at least say something. A few moments came to pass and after not receiving said reply Kana opted to leave her to the bitter grumbling about the cold.

Looking around the cave she found that all the people she truly knew was gone. She never was one to be shy but the circumstances left her feeling lost, almost abandoned. She shook her head and tried to forget about it. The others weren’t so bad, she knew Jerry Mars and Johnny Diamonds from earlier but their interaction had been minimal to say the least.

Perhaps it was a good idea to get to know them, right? Yeah, it was.

Kana slowly approached Johnny as he lie down on the floor in a pool of what appeared to be his own sweat. She couldn’t say the smell was particularly great but nobody ever got to pick their odors, did they?

“You look like you wrestled a fish.” Kana put her pack on the floor and began rooting around for her lightsaber parts and something else. “Being all wet ain’t gonna do your body temperature no good. Here take this.”

Kana tossed a thick fuzzy pink sweater in Johnny’s face. She had originally planned on wearing it herself in case things got too cold. Actually, that was a lie. If anything she had brought it with her to trick her mind into thinking the cold was a preferable alternative to wearing that thing. Which it was, don’t get her wrong. Without saying anything else she offered the man a shrug and a smile before turning her attention to her lightsaber parts. She placed each and every single part on the floor. She had gotten the designs for it from an old holocron detailing the adventures of her favorite master of old, there simply were no doubt in her mind what her hilt would look like when she saw it.

Kana placed herself in a comfortable position and tried to think on what the others had been chanting as they built their sabers.

The Crystal is the heart of the Blade.
The Heart is the crystal of the Jedi.
The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.
The Force is the blade of the Heart.
All are intertwined,
The Crystal, The Blade, The Jedi,
We are one.

It sounded like a bad love letter but Kana could cope with it if it meant she’d have a lightsaber at the end of the day. Not that she particularly needed a lightsaber but to get this far and not be excited about it would be silly.She repeated the chant a few times internally as the lightsaber began to take form.

Soon she would be able to return Tugoro’s hilt to its rightful owner.

[member="Johnny Diamonds"]|[member="Tugoro Taidarious"]|[member="Meeristali Peradun"]|[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Kana Truden]

[AN' WE'S SEEIN' DOUBAH HEAH, MANG!]

 

[Jsc]

*tots double wat, heellz ya double wat. ninja_ninja jklulz_roflcopter*

___

...Ahem. Mars raised an eyebrow at [member="Meeristali Peradun"] comments. She didn't realize she had been... expected.

"Well. Here I am?"

She smirked and shouldered her helm underneath her arm. It was not in her experience to apologize to demi-gods. Even the exceptionally handsome ones with tails. They all seemed quite comfortable now anyway.

Mars remained quiet and took her time to examine her surroundings openly. Her body language was passive and uncompromising. There was spectacle here in these caverns, oh yes, but Zeltrons can be so fickle in their temperament. Jerry could only shrug.

"So. Have you selected a suitable crystal yet Master Padawan? I'm afraid I don't quite know how the process is supposed to work?"

It was a playful comment and open ended.

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

"No, not yet," he replied, simply and honestly. "It's been my position in this venture to bring up the rear of the group. I figured when at least some of them were done in the crystal area of the caves, I'd head in myself."

A thoughtful look crossed his face as he recalled something that had been said, likely by Corvus. She was smart, and well-read, even more well read than he was, and he thought he spent a lot of time in the archives! Well, it just went to show that when you thought you were it, there was someone that was more 'it' than you. Not that it was a bad thing. He was glad that there were others at least somewhat like him in some respects.

"I'm told, though, that the crystal chooses you... not the other way around. But we'll see, hmm?"

He had to wonder if she was playing dumb on purpose, or if she was really that green. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt, going with the latter, and keeping his mouth shut on the matter. It didn't take long for them to reach the crystals, which was also the brightest sector of these caves. So bright, in fact, that it utterly screwed with his night-vision, which had been otherwise advantageous in this venture. He blinked, squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head vigorously, and refocused, squinting for several moments before the change in light levels became more tolerable and the spots he was seeing began to fade.

"You know anything about lightsabers, [member="Jerry Mars"]?"

He wasn't asking for a lack of knowledge on his part... rather, he was curious as to what she might have heard, or her own particular interpretation of such knowledge. He looked about, trying to decide which way to go, while taking in the different colours of crystal embedded into the cavern's structure, all around them. But there was the matter of the crystal choosing him... but he would wait on any reply from the Zeltron woman before exploring that theory.

 

[J.Reaper]

the clone trooper was still sitting down while waiting for the jedis to be done. he was tired since the spiders attacked and he did not know why. reaper picked up his helmet and looked at it seeing a small flash of memories, seeing the memories of his dead brothers and blood.

he looked at his armor that was full of arachnid blood. the clone then looked up at the cave celling and thought "why do i have this memories still, it hurts everytime is see them, see my brothers dying for a stupid war".

he then stood up and picked up his helmet and put it back on his head then picked up his rifle and walked to the jedis. when he got to the cave they were he saw crystals everywhere and in different colors. "they do not that look that special to me" he said quiet to himself. the clone then stood at the cave entrance guarding just incase something happend.

 

[Jsc]

Mars accompanied [member="Meeristali Peradun"] with a heavy step,

"Tis a wizard's wand I'm told. A focus, a tool, and an identity. All wrapped into one complete package. ...Well. Personally I think the lore behind such things is utter nonsense. But then, swordplay eludes me as well."

She shrugged and continued her musing glances. Nothing spoke to her. Not rock nor rudiment. Which was just fine with her really.

"To what end would you use such a magnificent weapon Master Padawan? Surely you have your own thoughts to consider? A goal to pursue, perhaps?"

It was unlike Jerry to be so round-about in her questioning. The words were strange to utter but her body language remained honest and forthcoming.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Spoiler

[Hey guys, didn’t actually enter the cave yet — sorry for the confusion. I’mma blame all that on your hallucinogenic reactions to these situations lulz.]

The howling winds hollowed as she approached the mouth of the cave, darkness against the white being her immediate viewport. A frown settled, and she moved into the opening; swallowed by the chill of the inside, rather than the howling of the outside.


Unfortunately, as it was, Kiskla was unable to interfere directly with the proceedings of what spiritual run-ins went on in the caves. Protocol, you see — she was merely that clay centrepiece in the typical snow globe. There for looks. But if the cave chose to come crashing down, she could certainly do something about that. And the fact that [member="Kana Truden"] was already assembling something mechanical, she could assist with that too. But the face-down [member="Johnny Diamonds"]? Couldn't interfere. Not even a mental probe. Balefully lowered her hood and dropped the googles to around her neck, her nose immediately turning a brilliant pink at the transition of temperatures. She.hated.the.cold.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

As he lay there, Kana speaking to him and trying to offer him a pink sweater, his mind was swirling like foam in a stimcaf latte. Memories of home and his parents, of times long since passed when he and [member="Avalore Eden"] were just kids playing in the street came like a flooding torrent. His eyes flicked and fluttered under his eyelids, and suddenly they burst open as he shot straight up on his rear-end, taking in a deep, almost panicked breath. He took a few moments to compose himself, looking down at his bared upper. What in the Force happend? he thought to himself. Shaking his head a moment, he stood up, and picked up his multiple shirts and coats. He slipped the still dry ones back on, and just sighed lightly. Man, the Force packs one hell of a punch, eh? Well, ok, we'll sort this out later. For now, let's see if we can't find that crystal you saw in the vision, eh JD? Nodding lightly to himself, he made his way to the only crystal formation that looked like the one he'd seen. And it looked identical. This HAD to be it. Looking down into it's bright crystalline structure, he saw a small crystal, the perfect size for a lightsaber.

Johnny reached down, and as his hand drew nearer, it seemed to grow brighter, until it was practically blinding him with it's luminessence. "Whoa..." he whispered quietly, a small smile upon his lips. He remembered what they said about crystals; you didn't choose the crystal, the crystal chose you. Seems this one had chosen him, and made damn sure he knew it. The young Padawan made his way back to where his messenger's bag lay, and found a nice dry area to sit down. Digging into the bag, he pulled out a small, black metal box.

Opening it, he took out a folded up piece of black cloth, and laid it out in front of him. Reaching into the box a fair few more times, he began to lay various pieces of tech on it. A blade emitter, a diatium power cell, emitter matrix, various casings, a blade shroud, energy channel, crystal mounts, handgrips, etc. Everything he needed to create his own lightsaber. He laid the icy blue focusing crystal down among the rest of the pieces, and then reached into the black case for the final piece. Another crystal, almost the same color, but not quite. This was a Permafrost crystal he'd acquired on Hoth as a young teenager. Seemed like a lifetime ago, but he'd held on to it for sentimental reasons. Seemed it would have a use now.

Looking the pepiecesver, he closed his eyes again, and began to lose himself into the Force, meditating upon the ebb and flow of not just the Unifying Force, but the Living Force. Allowing it to fill his consciousness and in return, leaving himself within the Force. He began to quietly repeat the mantra of the crystal over and over again...

"the Crystal is the heart of the Blade.
the Heart is the crystal of the Jedi.
the Jedi is the crystal of the Force.
the Force is the blade of the Heart.
ALL are intertwined,
the Crystal, the Blade, the Jedi...
We are One."

The pieces of the saber began to hover only a few inches above the black cloth they had been resting on, but as they did, they began coalesce, parts and pieces clicking and snapping into place, one by one. Moments seemed like minutes, and the minutes seemed like hours as the lightsaber began to take shape. Eventually, the final piece snapped into the hilt, and the construction was complete. The final act of this build required one of the purest instances of a Jedi touching the Force; using it to power up the blade itself for the first time. And so as the hilt hovered, Johnny reached out, and with the aid of the FOrce, the ice blue blade snap-hissed to life. Opening his eyes, he smiled as the lightsaber hovered there, the crystal within glowing brightly as the energy of the powercell flowed through it. Reaching out, he grasped the hilt, and tapped the activation button. Quickly, the blade de-ignited, and he held *his* lightsaber blade in his open palm, very happy with the result.

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Kana Truden]

There was a click. A simple click yet it was the most wonderful sound in the world. The saber was complete – her saber was complete. Kana opened her eyes and let the inactive hilt land in the palm of her hands. She gave it a look of wonder as she held back the urge to let out a gleeful little scream or giggle. Silence was the perfect soundtrack for this magnificent moment and Kana let the moment linger if only for a bit too long.

She carefully stood up without taking her eyes off of the hilt, not even once. To her this moment was like when you connect the final puzzle piece, no wait, it was like scratching a really bad it. No, actually the first one was more accurate. Truly Kana had no words to describe what she was feeling or thinking and she simply let the moment be. She had made her own lightsaber. Sure, it hadn’t been a part of her to-do list for the next couple of years but now that she held her very own saber in her hands she couldn’t help think of what an idiot she had been.

Carefully grasping the metal hilt with both her hands she flicked it on and squealed with delight as the green pillar of plasma illuminated the immediate area. She turned it off and looked over at the others. Was that Kiskla? But K. Gray had already arrived; Kana had talked to her only a few moments ago! She had been standing right there! Kana shook her head; maybe she had been dreaming or something. Wait, did that mean Corvus and VlPER leaving was a hallucination as well? She stood on her toes and stretched her neck to see. How strange, they were both still gone.

Kana shrugged in disappointment. It was too bad for the both of them that they missed her awesome saber coming together. With that in mind Kana began walking away from the others. Shared spaces were cool and all - and on this planet the words ‘cool’ were quite literal – but Kana needed some space. Test swings could prove fatal with these things.

Spoiler:

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OOC Notice to: [member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Jerry Mars"], [member="Meeristali Peradun"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"], [member="Johnny Diamonds"] (as well as [member="Corvus Raaf"] + [member="VLPER"])

---

I love you guys, but this thread is near death. This is me taking my leave.

---

---

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

(Tugoro already left. Even if the thread is dead, it was a good one. It was great to RP with you all.)

 

[Corvus Raaf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85_YK-La0vk

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="VlPER"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Johnny Diamonds"] | [member="Jerry Mars"]