Coming of Age

[VlPER]

It was very early in the morning on the Planet Ossus. The sun had not yet peaked over the horizon, and there was still a coolness in the air. Viper, who had by this point moved past his probationary period, had decided to take on an apprentice. And it was now time for [member="Seras Rose"] to move on from a training saber to a real lightsaber of her own. But rather than use one of the traditional stone from say Illum, Viper planned to take her to an out of the way planet called Kadril.

She did not know this however, when Viper snuck into her room, made sure the door was closed so as to not disturb anyone esle, and then ever so quietly ripped the sheets away from her. Blaring a fog horn at her sleeping form, he began yelling at her. "Get up! Get up! Move your lazy backside now!"

By this point she would more than likely have gotten used to his unusual style of training. Rather than teaching in a class room and then head to the field to apply what they had learned, he believed most passionately in learning by doing. He'd play tricks on her all the time to try and hone her skills with the force. A weak point she had brought up when they first met. From that point on, she would have to constantly be on guard against some new trick or trap that Viper would set up for her.

This would force her to improve or fail. So far, she had been a worthy student. Always rising to every challenge he threw at her. While today was to be a special day for her, he refused to ease up on rigid training regiment. After the blaring horn and yelled orders, he activated his lightsabers just a couple seconds after as brought them down toward her sleeping form.

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras was having a nice dream this morning. Dreaming about happy things, like running around and enjoying herself in flower fields, picking them, relaxing, thinking, contemplating. And then imagining herself in the sparring room. Where she was fighting. And suddenly for no apparent reason, her outer robes were pulled off! Wait no, that was Viper, and that was her bed sheet!

Seras was woken rather rudely from her wonderful night sleep, still not used to this, however the foghorn yelling combination, along with the sound of a lightsaber, made her roll out of bed, away from him. Her groggy, sleep addled mind wanted to be -away- from the dangerous sounding noises, though this resulted in her head banging slightly. Seras stood up quickly, wobbling and disoriented, her night gown ruffled up rather badly. "W-who what when where how why what!?" She said, clearly completely confused, until her eyes focused on Viper, and understanding slowly wormed its way into her brain. "....Oh." Seras said, her mind coming to a complete halt in the moment, as she tried to process to much information to quickly, the result being an amusing looking face that had 'computing error' plastered all over it.

"Training?" She asked, her head cocking to the side, the face slowly returning to a 'normal' one as her mind slowly finished processing the moment. Perhaps most amusing was that Viper could see the wheels turning in her head about the situation.

This was all assuming mind that he didn't interrupt her at any point in all this. Which was entirely possible.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

She managed to roll away from his strike, but still didn't think to grab a weapon. Instead while she sputtered on with incoherent questions, he raised an eyebrow. "You still have no weapon! ....And you said "what" twice." Before she could have another second, he send a force push into her, which would shove her into the wall if she didn't start defending herself. "Well I was thinking about a new training assignment, but now I'm not sure you are ready!"

He charged her, thrusting a lightsaber at her in a quick jab.

He was definitely an unorthodox teacher, but he hoped with these types of surprises and shock tactics, he'd be able to drill in her head to always be ready no matter what she is doing. Or at least be able to quickly recover and counter any threat.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Her mind finally clicked what was happening just about the time Viper pushed her into the wall. Which was a very good thing, considering he came at her jabbing with his lightsaber right after. As he came at her she jumped to the side, dodging and going to her desk which was right beside Seras's bed. Though given her mental state, a grazing hit or more was quite possible depending on what Viper was aiming for. On the table was her robes, and training lightsaber, and without a second thought, she threw the robes at Viper, before grabbing and activating her lightsaber, going in for an quick slash at him only a few moments after the robes were thrown.

The throw itself was accurate and she didn't mess up her aim on her part. Hard to in this close of quarters, and it wasn't exactly slow. What was a bit more sloppily aimed was her slash. Her head had been lightly banged, twice now, and things were looking a bit fuzzy, ignoring the normal 'sleepy eyed' morning deal. So that was the weakest part of her attack.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

Viper of course never let his blade actually hit her. It was no training saber after all. When Seras chucked her robes at him, he smirked as he dodged the clothing, parried her slow slash and took one slash at her himself. It was not a very strong attack though as they were still in a fairly small room. When she blocked it, he gave her a nod and deactivated his sabers. Straightening up his posture, the Jedi decided to simply go right into the debriefing. She could always change later. The fact that she was only in a night gown never even came into Viper's mind as a concern.

Years of confined time aboard ship with few areas for privacy had long since driven a sense of modesty from him. Not that he'd purposely do anything obscene, it just didn't phase him anymore to see people in less than formal attire. Even despite her natural beauty, which he had to admit she had in spades. Maintaining eye contact with her though, he continued. "Ok. Now that I have your attention." He started, "I believe you are about ready for the trial of making your own lightsaber. As such, I have a bit of a surprise for you."

A smirk began to push it's way onto his face. "Instead of your more standard crystals from like Illum for instance, I'm going to take you to the planet Kadril to look for Kunda Stones. The crystal grants a light saber a wider beam to help better deflect blaster fire. This feature would go well with your center of being training if you happened to be engaged by a lightsaber wielding opponent and then a ranged one." He had grown to care for her and wanted to give her the best chance of survival in her future endeavors when she would no longer be his padawan. "And as you probably know, a lightsaber can be fitted with up to three types of crystals to give additional properties to your blade. Sound good?"

He knew she would probably look for others but the first one he wanted her to have would help keep her life safe from varying threats.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She blocked his attack indeed, letting out a held back breath of air as he turned his lightsaber off, doing the same herself and rubbing her eyes into focus a bit more. Though he might not mind, Seras did, indeed still having a sense of modesty, though the gown passed close enough for a light dress that Seras wasn't going to be yelling from embarrassment, it did make her notably uncomfortable. Though any embarrassment she had in her face went away when she was more then a bit surprised to hear what he had to say, her jaw nearly dropping.

Seras's head nodded before she quickly responded after he finished speaking, her body language and tone showing her excitement quite clearly. "Good? It sounds amazing!" She said, just holding back her excitement, looking up at him. "I figure we are leaving now yes? By the fact that you are here this early in the morning." Seras said, her body language calming down, though only slightly, walking over and picking her robes back up while he responded.

"Though.... How does it all work? Finding one?" Seras asked, as she had never really been told by her instructors when she was a youngling. They all said something along the lines of 'when you are ready for a lightsaber, you will know'. Something suitably, completely, and utterly vague. Though then again, a youngling with a real lightsaber was a bad idea, so it was most likely for the best.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

Viper could feel her sudden embarrassment about the nightgown business, and felt sorry now for keeping her standing there like that. It was only then he realized that not all people of course were as desensitized as he. A bit of relief came over him though when she seemed to forget the concern with the revelation of where they were going. "You will see." Was all he offered in response. "First, you need to get ready. I'll meet you by my ship. Don't doddle." He instructed before turning on his heels and exiting the room.

She was a good student, and she deserved it, he felt. Now it was time to see if she could apply the training they had gone through in a real world application.

As soon as she would arrive, she'd see him leaning up against the loading ramp support beam. A smile broke onto his face when she came in view, and he gave her a quick nod to come aboard. Heading to the bridge, Viper powered up the engines and soon lifted off of Ossus once everything was secured.

Once into hypersapce, he turned toward Seras. "Ok. I'll tell you a little bit about what will happen. The caves I am taking you to are essentially a labrinth of pathways leading to different crystal chambers. Throughout the caves are natural predators that will of course seek to defend their territory. Your job, is to navigate the tunnels, overcome any obstacles you find, and of course locate a suitable crystal to your liking. Beyond this, I will say no more. And you will also be more or less on your own."

He kept an eye on her expressions and feeling to sense how she would take this information.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

"Alright" She nodded, getting ready after he left the room, properly dressed and getting any supplies she might need, as well as a small, hand held mirror. Though the mirror was not for vanity's sake, putting it inside her robes safely. It had a much more practical purpose. That was the only exceptionally odd thing she got though, the rest standard, utility belt, spare clothes, ect.

Seras arrived in quick time, heading over quickly to the loading ramp, her mind running through various interesting situations that might happen to prepare for it, which also prompted her to have several questions for Viper when they were on board. Though she waited for him to finish speaking first, nodded and listening intently to what he said.

As for how Seras took it, she seemed excited, though a bit worried, but that is what one would expect. That mix of excitement for what was to come, along with a slight nagging sense of worry. Something everyone felt at some point in their life.

"Mmmm... Alright. Sounds a bit dangerous, though this isnt supposed to be easy or so i am told." She didn't mind the challenge it seemed there was going to be. And she also knew and appreciated that this was going to be much more dangerous then anything she had done up to this point in time. "Will i get the parts i need to assemble the lightsaber when i come out of the caves, or will that be done back at the temple?" Seras asked, taking a seat.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

He smiled a gave a nod with his head toward the desk to her left. There sat a box full of lightsaber parts that she could use. "If you don't see the items that you'd like to use for your saber there, you can wait till we get back to the temple to try and find more exotic parts."

He let her walk over and take a look at the parts for a moment. Viper could feel some of her anxiety as well as her excitement, but he wasn't about to tell her everything would be alright. Part of her training after all, was to face those fears, overcome them, and be better for it. He'd be watching over her of course from the shadows. But this task was to be hers. It was something every Jedi Padawan had to undergo.

Though he himself had gone with a group when he went for his crystal, he had split off from the team to find his crystal on his own. Course the team effort part was necessary as none of their masters were able to go with them. None could be spared at the time. He preferred a more proactive approach with whoever it was he was training.

"Were there any other question Seras?" He asked with a tilted head.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She looked over at the desk as he nodded to it and spoke, and she nodded as well, walking over and starting to go through it, mentally imagining what it was going to look like as she went through. After a bit, she had a pile of all the parts she wanted, nodding to herself. "Nah, nothing exotic i belive. Put these in my pack?" Seras asked, wrapping them all up and putting them in a pouch if he said yes.

Seras proved to be adept at adapting, lightsabers, flying, and most importantly, overcoming fear. That she was exceptionally good at, to a worrying degree. She thought things through one could tell, and yet did things that didn't seem to smart regardless. Like in their first training session, when she startled Viper. Though she was able to show some discretion at times, she still needing work in that area.

She herself had figured it was going to be something like this, her hunt to get her crystal and build her lightsaber. Though how this was exactly, she still herself didn't know, but she was excited to find out.

"Hrm... Other questions... Will there be anyone else there besides you and me? People wise i mean." She asked, wondering if anyone else was headed there. "Thats all though i can think of."

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

"Nope. Not this time. Some masters allow their padawans to take other padawans with them. But the reason for that is usually the master is not able to be there themselves. As I'm right here, I'd rather you handle this task on your own." He paused for a moment, smiling at his padawan with a level of pride he hadn't felt in a while. She would make him proud, of this he was certain. It was only a question now of how proud.

The flight to the planet was uneventful but mercifully short. Stepping out on the strangely shaped planet of Kadril, the barren hilly surface was not the most inviting of places to visit in the galaxy. But it was here that Seras search for her first lightsaber crystal would be.

The cave complex itself was not far away at all, and as they walked away from Viper's ship, the seasoned Jedi stopped at the cave entrance and gave his padawan a warm smile.

Spoiler

"Time to go, Seras. Mind your training, and may the force be with you." He finished with a bow before allowing her to enter into the cave system alone.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

"Alright." Seras nodded, having figured that would be the case, stretching a bit and thinking. She raised an eyebrow at his smile, figuring it was something like a teacher thing of some description, so she didn't comment on it, relaxing and waiting. Seras was glad for the short hyperspace trip, as well as its eventfulness. Exciting things happening in hyperspace was never a good thing.

"While hyperspace is nice to look at and all, and relaxing, it is terribly dull." She commented as she got up, looking at the barren planets hilly surface, raising an eyebrow at it. "Interesting looker." Seras said in a neutral tone as she looked at it and they came in for a landing, and headed out. As they arrived at the caves entrance, she looked around and inside, taking out a small flashlight, and looking over as he spoke, grinning back at his smile.

"Will do. I will be back soon. Or late... Not sure how long this will take really." Seras said, before breathing in and out, and heading inside, light on and aiming it down at the floor as she went inside the cave.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

As Seras entered the musty cave, she would notice things start to get quiet. Instead of the breeze blowing, she'd hear the dripping of water as it fell from the ceiling. The occasional scurrying along of cave dwelling animals or insects as they fled the light of her flashlight. The deeper she went, the darker it got until finally the only visible light was that which she brought with her.

When she had gone out of sight, Viper meanwhile cloaked himself in the force and followed her in from a fair distance. Shielding his presence, he'd watch how she'd handle the challenges of the cave without her knowing he was anywhere close.

Deeper into the cave she would start to feel a stronger presence in the force, as well as a feeling of being watched....

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

'I dont like caves... And this is why.' She thought, looking around a bit, now wishing she had night vision goggles or the like. Regardless, she stayed in the middle of the cave, looking slowly around and keeping her ears peeled, trusting more to the force now then her normal five senses. Though she was notably on edge, not liking cramped, dark places like caves, and the feeling of being watched was -not- helping.

In an attempt to find out what it was, she stretched her senses and feelings in the force to all around her, slowly expanding in an attempt to feel where it was. Despite wanting to instinctively curl up and leave, she forced herself into a continual, forward walking pace, not moving faster, and keeping her breathing calm. Though how calm she would be if something actually started happening was yet to be seen, she tended to be calmer when under more direct pressure. Waiting for something to happen kept her on edge more then the actual attack and fight.

Seras's right hand kept on her lightsaber, keeping it in hand, despite it being just a training lightsaber. Something is always better then nothing as they say.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2-U2UeEMFw

The farther she went the more sounds would come to Seras. It seemed this cave had a water system going through it. Weather it was a lake, a river, or something else could not yet be determined. It was still a ways off. What would probably start to work on her nerves was the sudden unidentifiable sounds that would ring through the cave periodically, and then just as quickly disappear. Returning to the eerie quiet save for the constant sound of droplets falling.

What was it? A predator stalking it's prey? Or simply a rock falling to the floor. The ghostly moans that occasionally moved through the cave however soon confirmed that there was something in there with her that was bigger than a small pest. Time would seem to pass slowly for the padawan as nothing would yet reveal itself. Yet all the while, the feeling of being watched was ever present, and ever growing. If she were to look on the floor, she could see footprints of many types. Both sentient and not. What she was probably find disturbing was the size of the tracks not belonging to sentients were nearly as big.

The cramped tunnel eventually wound its way to the water source she had heard earlier, as well as to a large chamber.

Spoiler

The first natural light she'd seen since delving into the depth of this planet cam not from crystals, but rather a phosphorescent type of algae. Further investigation into the room would reveal a seeming pathway deeper underground.

Spoiler

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While she might be marveling in the sights, upon crossing the "bridge", that feeling of being watched returned. Up till now she had been unable to sense where exactly where was feeling this presence from. Amongst the drip, drip, dripping sound of the caves and new sound would come to her ear. It almost bore the sound of rope being stretched or pulled on. The sound was coming from above....

Spoiler

Where she to look up, this is what she would see! With a couple of them (roughly the size of large dogs) already repelling down from the ceiling toward her that second!

Spoiler

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[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She was initially quite jumpy at the sounds, but slowly got used to the dripping, and random sounds coming out. They wore on her nerves but she was slowly getting used to it, Seras still keeping a very sharp eye out. The sounds that came and went so quickly worried her, as she felt it in conjunction with the watched feeling. But she pressed on bravely, with a stoic looking face to hype herself up as she went forward.

Though despite that, she was still inside, creeped out, and more then a bit scared, but she managed to control it and go forward. That was perhaps her strongest suit, and why she was able to bravely go forward now.

And as she found the opening, she made an 'oh' sound, looking around as she walked inside the cave. Seras was very thankful for the natural light as she gazed around the room, getting a feel for what was all inside as she moved forward, keeping her senses sharp regardless. 'Amazing..' She thought in wonder as she walked forward, slowly walking up to the bridge and crossing it.

When she felt it from right above her, and heard that, the firs thought through her mind was 'oh crap'.

She wasted no time in running. And running fast, igniting her lightsaber and getting ready to react to anything coming at her, slashing up at any that would be directly in front of her as she ran. Meanwhile, in her mind, she screamed out. 'I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED A FLAME THROWER!' As for her actual voice, a distinctive "OH KARKING HELL" rang out. Though she was mentally prepared and ready for something in front of her, expecting it.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

As she ran deeper into the recesses of the room, the walls began to close in on her once more as the only way forward was through another smaller tunnel like the one she had entered into. The problem was there were more of those spiders blocking her path. And now the ones that were attempting to ambush her from above, were now on the floor and coming up behind her. If she didn't do something fast to thin out their numbers, Seras would soon be outnumbered quite heavily.

The silence of the cave had been shattered the moment she sprinted away. The spiders had all been awoken by the frenzied screams of the first three. She could now see them all unfurling their pincer arms in an attempt to box her in and attack all at once from multiple angles.

While Viper was at first amused by her mad dash, his amusement turned to looks of concern as she seemed to be panicking rather than using her head. "Control!" She would hear in her mind. "Focus!" He wasn't ready to intervene yet. To do so would mean a failure for her. So he held back, continuing to mask his presence from her hoping she would pull it together and get out of this fix.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She had initially went to flight because they were above her, and there was three of them, though surprise had a good deal to do with it as well. However as she ran, she noted mentally stalagtites on the ceiling. Her mind was a rather quick thinker in sticky situations, and as she was most certainly in one now.

The screech made her jump in surprise, not literally, but mentally, and as she saw the rest waking up, she slid to an impressively fast halt. One could almost hear the soft screech of rubber on stone. Time slowed down mentally for her, as happens when one has adrenaline running through ones mind. His words were noted, like something far away, and it made a memory resurface, the stalagtites. Looking up and raising her hand, gathering the force as they closed in, and then pulled her hand down. With her hand came the stalagtites, breaking the ones above the spiders and sending them down hard and fast onto the three spiders behind her. Immediately after that she would run and jump over them, assuming all three of them were killed or badly injured by the falling stalagtites, using the opening created to make some distance from the other spiders. The stalagtites were not exactly light, and had a good deal of force behind them, and would most likely be fatal with solid hits.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

"Well that's one way to bring down the house..." Viper said to himself with a small smirk. He remembered when he was in a cave trying to find his first crystal. As he could recall, he did the exact same attack. It was really scary how much alike he and Seras were at times.

With Seras having incapacitated or killed the spiders behind her and subsequently fallen back, she was no longer surrounded. But the death of their brothers did not sway the others to retreat. They were hungry, and now being driven into a frenzy now that Seras had spilt their blood. There were still four more spiders now charging the young padawan. Their arms extended outward to a great degree as they tried to block as much area as they could in hopes of snagging her.

Viper's eyes narrowed as he pondered her next move. "The stalagtites above were now gone...at least there. What will you do next?" He quietly thought to himself.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She kept moving for several seconds, thinking up her next plan of action as the hungry, and now frenzied spiders chased after her, front claws open. Yeah, she defiantly was buying a flamethrower after this. A wrist mounted one. However now was not the time for what ifs! So focusing back as they tried to catch her, she came up with an idea. Seras managed to keep ahead of them enough for her plan, cutting around a corner and seeing a stalagmite.

Backing up a bit, she calmed her mind,starting to pull on the large rock, slowly breaking it at the bottom with the force. Her aim was rather simple. As they came around the corner and saw her, they would likely rush forward, and as they did, the rock would break and fall onto them. Hopefully. It would likely only get one or two, but this wasn't exactly a situation where she could be picky about getting all of them at once.

Though to make sure she didn't mess the cave up, she was going to stop using such formations in case it made things want to start falling apart.

[member="VlPER"]