Seeking a Crystal

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar looked down at the orders given to him by one of the instructors from the Sith Academy. Though he no longer attended it, as he had a Master, he still found himself going on simple missions for the Academy, as it allowed him to hone his abilities when not training or traveling. This mission was a simple one. Aid a newer Acolyte, a young man named [member="Vandalaz"] retrieve a crystal for his very own lightsaber. Looking down at his own lightsaber, he decided it was time to get a new one of his own. His current lightsaber had been a gift from his adoptive parents, but since joining the Sith, it felt a little out of place. It was no different from many others wielded by the Sith, but it still felt odd, and he intended on changing that.

He turned to look over at the young Acolyte who he'd be aiding in his mission today. [member="Vandalaz"] was young, or so it seemed. When he was approached by the instructors of the Academy to aid him, he initially declined the mission, purely on principle, as he was no master or knight, and it made little sense for him to go. But now that he had some experience with training and traveling, he decided it could be helpful for both the acolyte and himself. After a moment of looking over the young man, the Sith turned back towards the controls of his ship. Looking upon them with a blind gaze, he began to lower the ship. As it descended from the skies, Vaulkhar began to speak.

"Well, we'll be landing momentarily outside of a frequently visited cave that births these crystals. There are many beasts within, some lethal, others not. Make sure you are careful, and do your best to utilize the force to keep your senses alert. I'll do my best to look after you, but I cannot guarantee your safety if you do not also look after yourself. Understood?"

 

[Vandalaz]

Vandalaz experienced an flurry of emotions upon being accepted to locate his own crystal. Among them were euphoria, fear, and excitement. He was finally getting to find his very own crystal and begin his life as a true sith, which he had been training for his whole life.
He had just settled into his seat when from the corner of his eye he saw his partner for the mission, Vaulkhar say
"Well, we'll be landing momentarily outside of a frequently visited cave that births these crystals. There are many beasts within, some lethal, others not. Make sure you are careful, and do your best to utilize the force to keep your senses alert. I'll do my best to look after you, but I cannot guarantee your safety if you do not also look after yourself. Understood?"
"Understood." Replied Vandalaz, already becoming tense to leave Korriban, as he had never left Korriban before. As they lifted off, he gradually became used to it, as he had often piloted speeders. He knew the risks, but he had always had a tool up his sleeve, and this was no exception.

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar finished the descent of the ship, landing rather awkwardly but landing nonetheless. The blind man stood up from his seat, pressing a button as he went. The ramp to his ship began to lower, allowing the two to exit the ship. Once more he looked to [member="Vandalaz"], suppressing a smile. He was glad to see a young Sith as excited as he once was, and still is to this day. Getting a lightsaber is always an amazing experience, and being able to do so on your own, without being gifted one was likely an even greater experience. He turned from the man and descended the ramp, stepping out into the clearing.

Across from his ship was the entry to the cave where they'd find all the crystals they so desired, if they were willing to look hard enough that is. Without saying anything, Vaulkhar raised his arm and pointed at the entrance to the cave. With a nod he motioned for Vandalz to follow him and set off at a quick pace.

 

[Vandalaz]

Following Vaulkhar, Vandalaz became aware of the multitude of life forms inside the cave. This would usually be normal, as many creatures made their homes in caves, but the sheer multitude and range of the life forms surprised Vandalaz. The cave was clearly bigger than he could have imagined. Vandalaz stood for a moment so he could examine his surrounds through the force for just a moment. Upon returning to reality, he noticed Vaulkhar motioning toward the cave and swiftly followed him to the cave mouth.

 

[Vaulkhar]

"As I'm sure you can likely tell, there is a multitude of creatures within. All varying in shapes and sized, but many of them can and likely will be dangerous. As I said, be careful and be alert. Do you have a weapon of any sort to aid in your defense?"

Vaulkhar slowed down and allowed [member="Vandalaz"] to catch up. He looked upon him once more as they went, while also managing to pay attention to the path they took. The two reached the cave entrance and he slowed to a stop. The blind man looked down into the cave entrance, which from already looking within, the duo could see dozens of crystals. Though it was clear not all of them were capable of being used to fashion a lightsaber. They varied in shapes and sizes, all glowing a multitude of beautiful colors.

 

[Vandalaz]

Vandlaz replied "I have a vibroknife, but I promised myself not to use it unless absoloutely necessary. My goal is to obtain my crystal using only the force, and with minumum bloodshed." Looking upon the crystals, Vandalaz figured very few would function for a lightsaber, and only for the right wielders anyway.

 

[Vaulkhar]

"If necessary, I will be killing whatever I have to, to make sure we both get out alive. I understand the promise you made to yourself, but the Sith is a life of blood and battle. As much peace as you may want, it'll be difficult to find walking this path." As Vaulkhar spoke, he strode further down into the caves, keeping close to the walls. Every so often, the blind man would drop a small black cube to the floor as they went. "Many of the crystals will aid in the construction of your ligthsaber, but the ones most in tune with the force are in the lower caves."

Vaulkhar motioned down a dark passageway, barely bright enough to see.

"Would you like to go deeper?"

[member="Vandalaz"]

 

[Vandalaz]

As Vandalaz followed Vaulkhar, he pondered his words. It wasn't that he wasn't comfortable with combat, he had been raised as a sith. It was that he preferred the force over any physical weapon. When Valkhar inquired about descendinf further, Vandalaz replied immediately. "I would. We haven't gone very far, and I don't sense anything dangerous for quite a distance."

[member="Vaulkhar"]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar nodded at the young man's words. As they strode further into the caves, Vaulkhar kept his concentration up. All around them he could pick up the aura of dozens of creatures, all wandering around the tunnels and caves. His use of Force Sight aided the two in avoiding a majority of creature's they came across, but as they moved deeper the caverns became larger and the creatures bigger and more dangerous. As the two came into one rather gigantic cavern, they would notice hundreds of crystals in all shapes and sizes lining the walls of the room.

"There are many in here, this should be a perfect place to pick a crystal for your first lig-"

The blind man suddenly stopped speaking and he stepped forward quickly, moving to push [member="Vandalaz"] back before jumping backwards himself. He landed several feet away, just in time to avoid a monster the size of a small cruiser. The monster looked very much like a giant lizard, with rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Spikes three meters in height lined the creature's spine, and the end of it's tail looked to be a giant bone-club. It roared loudly, challenging the two who trespassed within it's home.

Vaulkhar drew forth his lightsaber and activated it, a white saber of energy bursting forth. He swung rather weakly around, loosening his muscles.

"Find a crystal and we can flee, or we fight! Taking on this creature alone is borderline suicide!"

 

[Vandalaz]

Seeing the creature, the analytical part of Vandalaz's mind triggered before the rational part. Vandalaz immediately noticed the spines and tail. The teeth weren't much of a problem, yet. Vandalaz considered his force abilities. He only had a few that could help here. If he could find a ledge, he could force leap to it and attack safely from there. Scanning the room, he found one potential cadidate, but it was on the other side of the beast. Vandalaz then considered that Vaulkhar was blind. Silently wondering if he could identify the ledge, Vandalaz focused on the steps required to reach it. If they jumped up and grabbed a spine, then launched themselves off of it, it was a possible distance. Vandalaz considered attempting to utilize his beast control ability, but scratched that out when he realized he probably wouldn't have time. Glancing at the creature, he noticed it had a plethora of scars. Others had obviously come here and died. "Vaulkhar, can you identify the location of the ledge, and if so, can you make it there?"

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar kept his attention on the lizard-beast before him, shaking his head. As much as he wanted to look he knew taking his eyes off this creature would be the greatest mistake of this afternoon; and likely his last one. He continued to wave his lightsaber before him, warding off the creature as he began to circle around. Though the creature did not turn it's entire body, instead it just turned it's neck and slightly shifted it's legs.

"I cannot turn, if I do I am surely finished! This beast has taken the lives of quite a few young Acolytes, and I'd much rather not join them on the list of Old Scar's kills."

As he finished his sentence, the beast launched itself forward at Vaulkhar, swinging it's hand at him. The nails were sharp, sharp enough to tear through light armor. Sadly, Vaulkhar wore none at all. At the last second he managed to leap away from the creature, closer to the wall. It roared rather loudly as it missed the prey, clearly agitated the blind man escaped. Just as suddenly as it attacked, it turned around and charged at @Vandalaz.

In the moment of peace Vaulkhar turned and noticed the ledge. With a deep breath he pulled the force around himself and pushed off the cave floor. He leaped nearly a dozen feet from the floor and pressed off the wall, pushing himself the last few feet onto the ledge. He looked down to see the creature nearly upon Vandalaz. He grimaced, knowing he could not help the Acolyte now and the only way he'd survive, was to avoid this attack.

 

[Vandalaz]

As the beast drew closer, it became more and more clear that Vandalaz would have to find a way to avoid this attack. Noticing [member="Vaulkhar"]'s landing on the ledge, Vandalaz gathered his reserves of force energy, and jumped, not aming for the impossible jump that was the ledge, but for one of the beast's spines. Landing roughly, Vandalaz came back to his senses in time to hold on as the beast reared up. As the beast touched the ground, Vandalaz hurled himself around the spine, and launched himself towars the ledge, aided by the force. Grabbing the ledge, Vandalaz hauled himself up to stand panting next to [member="Vaulkhar"].
"Well, that was interesting. It has powerful legs and can probably jump up this high, let's try to find an alternate path."

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar nodded at [member="Vandalaz"], entirely surprised by the young man's skill in the force. It had taken him finding a master before he was capable of doing such feats, but the man before him seemed to be a natural. It was always heartening to see someone skilled in such ways at such an early stage of their training.

"Would you like to fight the creature or flee from it? At this point it's up to you."

He looked down to once more watch the creature, his lightsaber held before him. For now it kept the creature at bay, though it was becoming more and more clear by it's constant movement that it was becoming agitated.

 

[Vandalaz]

"Before rushing into battle against it, let's first see if there's another way out of this chamber. Maybe it has eggs or a similar weakness that we can exploit." Upon saying this, Vandalaz began to scan the room using the force.

[member="Vaulkhar"]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar noddeed in response to [member="Vandalaz"] and slowly stood. He peered around momentarily before pulling the force around him. As the creature continued to pace around the area below them in an agitated manner, Vaulkhar simply shut off his lightsaber and turned his attention to another nearby outcropping a rock. From his location he leaped towards the other outcropping, landing comfortably. The leap was likely a dozen or so feet away, enough to be a challenge but close enough to not be impossible. From there the blind man spotted another ledge of rock, but this time it led to another tunnel which appeared to lead away from the cavern they were already in. Vaulkhar pointed towards it.

"Looks like we found our way out!"

Once more Vaulkhar pulled the force around him and jumped towards the ledge. As he did so, he narrowly avoided the grasping claws of the large lizard who had followed him. It free fell back to the ground, landing with a heavy thud and a hissing noise.

 

[Vandalaz]

Following [member="Vaulkhar"], Vandalaz leapt to the second ledge. Feigning a jump, he tricked the beast into leaping up where Vandalaz woudl have been had he jumped. Vandalaz then focused and as the beast started falling, poured force lightning into it. It hit the ground with a roar, and Vandalaz jumped to the last ledge. Landing next to Vaulkhar, he took a ration packet from his belt and started snacking.

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar turned down the passageway as the Acolyte landed beside him. He began to stride down the tunnel without pause, motioning for [member="Vandalaz"] to once more follow him. At this point things hadn't been too bad. He expected to run into one of the various creature's within the caves, though that was sooner than he had expected. Rather foolish to walk into that one's territory. He cleared his throat while continuing to drop the little cubes on the floor as a path for them.

"Well, this leads deeper, so we should be able to find you a crystal wherever this goes."

 

[Vandalaz]

Reaching out with the force so as not to be taken by surprise again, Vandalaz replied to [member="Vaulkhar"] : "Alright, let's try to be more alert, so that doesn't happen again."

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar nods in response to his fellow Sith.

"We are still simply Acolytes, friend. As much as we wish to be able to see everything through the force, we won't always be able to. Just keep the vibroblade ready and we'll be fine."

Vaulkhar continues down the long tunnel until they reach another cavern. This one is entirely empty, aside from the plethora of crystals that lay scattered about the entire area. There are hundreds, all of different colors and sizes.

[member="Vandalaz"]