The Gathering [Invite Only, PM if Missed]

[Nefertari Sovint]

Nefertari was three meters up when one of the crystal formations she was using as a hand hold gave way.
"Hata hata" She said, quickly making another jump. The hardest part was not looking down.

Half way there, Nefertari could see that the crystal was pure white.

Nefertari made another jump. She was eight meters up. It was getting harder to hold on, Nef knew she wouldn't be able to reach the top.
She reached out, focusing on the Force to bring the crystal to her.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Still looking up, Gherron could sense [member="Nefertari Sovint"]'s strength failing. She seemed to be reaching for the crystal, though it was still a ways up. It glowed a brilliant white, which startled him. He'd thought his own crystal was rare, but this one made his look plain. If she could manage to grab it... "Be careful!", he called up. She looked dangerously close to slipping.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

The crystal broke free, coming into Nefertari's hand.
The last of her energy was spent, she couldn't hold on any longer. Nefertari was falling.
Next thing Nef knew, she was in [member="Gherron Vael"]'s arms. She could feel the crystal tucked into her robe.
"Thank you for catching me, Gherron" She put the crystal in with the other and hugged the man who had caught her.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron chuckled and hugged the other back, making sure she was okay. Eyeing the crystal as she pocketed it, he smirked a bit. "Nice crystal, I hope it was worth it. You alright?"

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[cowboyrepeater]

Bring her lightsaber up, Layna stopped a back-handed blow which sent her stumbling back. The shade laughed again and strode forward with casual ease. The Twi'lek braced herself, weapon at her waist and tip pointing up.

"Why even bother?," the malevolent thing said before making another back-handed attack.

This time it was one-handed, barely a flick of the wrist. Flick or not, Layna grunted as she met the slash.

"Give up, you cannot win."

Layna gritted her teeth and readied herself once again.

"No. You are wrong. I WILL win," said the Padawan.

"You're not even a full Jedi, just another apprentice who will fail."

Another casual blow met with the blue blade.

It occured to her then in that moment. This wasn't real, only a manifestation of her self-doubts. She smiled with a new determination and self-confidence. The shade's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you smiling, foolish worm," it asked "You will be unmade!"

It struck out viciously now. Layna continued to smile as she met the shadow saber, turning it aside with ease now. Her blade began to hum as she turned it in the orbits of the third Form. She knew she couldn't be defeated now.

The shade's eyes widened with surprise. Then they narrowed and it came again. Layna kept turning aside each slash and she laughed.

"YOU INSOLENT WORM, I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

The shade rushed forward with a thrust, trying to impale her. She saw it coming and side-stepped. It looked at her with wide-eyed horror as it knew it was doomed. Her blade cut with a horizontal slash, rending the black shape asunder.

Then, it simply was not there anymore. The Twi'lek Padawan blinked in surprise, panting from exertion. She lowered her lightsaber and deactivated it with a hiss.

Some time later, Layna emerged back into the main chamber. She looked to the other apprentices with a smile before walking over to her new Master.

"Master Aralyn, I have made my lightsaber."

She unhooked it from her belt and bowed with the saber in her upturned palms.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"I seem to be fine. This crystal should pair nicely with this one." Nefertari said, holding up the red crystal around her neck.
One more crystal was calling Nefertari; and it was a powerful one.
"My final crystal for this journey...this way." Nefertari ran off towards a far off part of the cave. This crystal was at least a quality Mephite like her magenta-colored crystal. Perhaps even a pontite.
Nefertari had brought one lightsaber hilt in pieces for when she found a suitable crystal to pair with the crystal she had recovered from the blade lost at Manaan. This was surely the one.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Jsc]

[member="Jack Rand"] had fallen and hurt himself. Alas, a treasure hunter's demise was never a pretty thing. So when Sam finally leaned down the ledge to get a better look, she couldn't help but shake her head. There was no danger here but what you brought with. Perhaps she had actually been wrong about that.

Her voice remained calm and experienced in times of trial,

"Commander? It's Sam. I'm right above you and I can help you. But first I need you show me how good of a Boy Scout you can be. Can you describe to me the severity of your injuries? Is there anything on your supply belt that might better your situation? Do you still have my lightsaber in your possession? ...I can't see you very well. So you are going to have to talk me through it."

She knelled down and tried to get a better look. Just how far away had Jack fallen? Was [member="Sabena Shai"] nearby?

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

"Lead the way." 'Three crystals in one go?' Shrugging lightly, Gherron followed the other Jedi deeper into the caves, looking around at the masses of crystals. Maybe he'd even find another one for himself. He was at two now, the one that powered his current lightsaber, and the dark purple he'd found moments earlier. As far as he knew, there wasn't really a limit on the amount of crystals one could have. However, he didn't feel any others calling to him at the moment.

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

 

[Ayden Quell]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OxgNyRRqn0

Ayden was trapped within the confines of a swirl of memory. Like snowflakes in the sky, they fell with relentless haste, gentle and soft. It was oddly pleasant, almost sweet and eternal, like a lover's kiss. The snowflakes touched the skin of his arm, melted under the heat of his body's warmth, and faded into obscurity. For each one that melted, four more descended anew. The blizzard was bitterly persistant.

Once the flood gates were open, it was a wonder how the doors of perception ever got shut again.

The young Padawan faced many memories now. Even the most insigificant ones came back to life, like that time he scraped his knee at the church playground, or that time he spilled Blue milk on his mother's favorite dress. Oh, his mother. There were many memories of her. They were all happy, festive, and joyous -- and there was never a dull moment to be had. Her dark eyes and smile, as well as her little pointed chin... Ayden Quell even dreamed of his father, and blissfully so.

It was a trip down Memory Lane and every house was his. This magical dream land was more real now than it had ever been. Each vision was so vivid, so life-like. Ayden reveled in the beauty of it all. His heart swelled.

This was his mind fighting back. This was his body's assault. This was his rage against the gentle night. This was the light fighting the darkness.

This was hope and it burned.

 

[Sabena Shai]

Sitting at the crossroads, Sabena waited for a sign of someone coming near. No one arrived. Sabena gave a shrug to herself. She turned her attention back to choosing one of the three paths to take.

An apparent sigh of the wind came from the left-most path. Sabena’s attention turned toward it. Of the three paths, it was the darkest. She stared at the abyssal corridor for almost a minute.

Then, Sabena heard a yelp from that particular path. Her head jerked up at that instant. She took only a couple more seconds to process her thoughts. She then took the left-most path and began to make her way - hoping to find the source of the scream.

Not even that far into the corridor, the light became too dark for one to normally see via simple visual means. Sabena closed her eyes for a moment. She stood still as her eyes remained closed. The Force freely flowed through her.

After several seconds, Sabena reopened her eyes and continued traveling down the dark path. She mostly kept a straight walk. Yet when unseen rocks would have posed a tripping hazard to the Jedi Padawan, she would always briefly divert her path.

No more than a minute of walking passed before Sabena turned a corner. [member="Jack Rand"], who had fallen from a ledge that [member="Sam Jhovna"] now looked down from, was fooling with a plasma torch when Sabena happened upon him.

Light was still in short supply. Still, Sabena kept her face in Jack’s direction. She spoke out to the man and asked him, “Are you okay?”

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP6xyspEqwU

A opening revealed a bridge of ice leading to a snow-covered stone platform surrounded by a pit filled with stalagmites. Nefertari only knew it was there because of the Force, but there was definitely a crystal on top of a looming spire. Climbing the Spire, she snatched the top clean off. The crystal was a very light cyan, and was cooling. A pontite.
"No...this was far too easy..something is up." she thought
As Nef went towards the entrance to the clearing, the bridge collapsed, and Lommite crystal spikes barred the entrance; sealing [member="Gherron Vael"] outside. If Nef could craft a lightsaber here, she could create another bridge from the spire which previously held the crystal and get the door open if Gherron hadn't by then.

Nefertari sat on the ground and took a linen bundle from her robe. Inside were pieces of a lightsaber. She reached for the magenta crystal on her neck and snapped the durasilk cord which held it in place. She went into meditation, the crystals glowed as they were imbued with the force. It was difficult. However, with her strong connection to the force and the force energy in the cave, it took about an hour. After that, the crystals moved into place. Next came the hilt, which lightly twirled and connected. Finally came a guard like on a sword which Nef had incorporated into the design.

As her blade neared completion, Nef didn't notice a dark cloud gathering behind her.

 

[Jack Rand]

[member="Sam Jhovna"] [member="Sabena Shai"]

Jack slid up the wall to stand, he looked at his arm after throwing away his plasma torch. It was heavily scraped and broken, but there was no opened tissue or any spots of blood. "Don't worry about me, I think I just broke my arm a little maybe a rib. It should be fine, I'm using my coat sleeve as a sling for it." Jack fumbled around in the bag, there were a few pain stims but he decided not to use them. He put the supplies away and set his arm, it stung with pain when he put it in the sleeve and he let out a little groan.

Jack looked around himself, his eyes getting used to the darkness around him allowed him to see outlines of his surroundings. He couldn't see below him, but there were a few nooks and crannies in the walls. "You should hop down here, it's not too far of a drop and the ledge seems safe enough." Jack looked at the spot that he had seen the glow, it was gone now. God he hated magical caves, his father used to say to never trust them.

It was then that Jack noticed another Jedi that he had seen in the ship earlier turn the corner. When she asked how he was feeling, Jack responded with a smile and got off of the wall. "Hello ma'am, don't worry about me, I've fallen from much further than this." Jack looked up, it was about an 8 foot drop between where Sam was and where he fell now.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Sabena Shai"] had arrived just in time. [member="Jack Rand"] had injured only his pride and perhaps disabled his arm. He was surprisingly calm for such an injury. Truly, military cut and fashioned. Sam could only shake her head.

She reached out and snapped off an ice crystal from the rock wall next to her. Cuddling it close to her chest, she began a quick prayer to awaken the Force within. Only a moment later did the ice formation begin to glow with a shimmering blue flame. Enlarging itself in brilliance and in power until it made a fine fiery radiance indeed. Enough to push back the darkness for several meters and illuminate the path before her.

"Jack. Are you two quite certain there is a way ahead, down there? I'd hate to hop down only to ascend again. Didn't you mention the glow you saw was up here anyway?"

Sam peered ahead and noted nothing of worth within shouting distance. Perhaps he was just seeing things.

"Or... Would you rather go back? It might be dubious to continue forward and risk further injury. Are you sure you wouldn't rather find a way back to the shuttle and fix that arm?"

Her spectral torch gave a clear view of her faceplate from only eight feet away. Thank goodness it had not been much further.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

The true challenge of the crystal appeared, Nefertari dropped her nearly completed lightsaber for her own safety and force grabbed [member="Gherron Vael"]'s through the crystals barring his way.

"First it was your projection, now I face you as real as possible."
Nefertari ignited the borrowed lightsaber as a red blade and the sound of mechanical breathing manifested through the fog. If Gherron knew who this apparition was of, he certainly wouldn't take it lightly. All he could do was watch.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron followed the like of sight of the Jedi, eyeing another interesting crystal. Before she could go for it though, a dark cloud had begun to swirl around them. Soon, crystals shot up between them, in which Gherron immediately began smashing against them, trying for an opening. To his surprise, [member="Nefertari Sovint"] reached out and wielded his lightsaber. It was rather odd seeing the blade he was so familiar with in the hands of another. In another few seconds though, that wouldn't matter. A slow, methodical and mechanical breathing filled the area, making him stop. What was that?

 

[Bubák]

The Light Side filled her body as the words reciting the Jedi Code parted with her lips. Sitting on the icy floor with the pure energy of the Light Side flowing through her body and making her feel comfortably warm, she also became aware of the Dark Side lingering within her body. And yet, it did not feel alien or unnatural as some might expect. Quite the opposite; the Dark Side presence in her heart was perfectly natural. The seeds were always there, small and tiny, waiting to be fed by anger, passion and hate. The Arkanian finally understood the Dark Side was in every being and to deny it was to ignore the possibility of those seeds blossoming. Trying to purge those seeds of the Dark Side would be foolish; one had to accept those as something natural, the greed and lust for power present in every sentient being. Staying true to the Jedi Code and upholding the principles ensured those tiny bits of darkness would remain just as tiny, never growing strong enough to take hold of her mind and heart.

Taking one last deep breath, inhaling the freezing air, the white-haired girl allowed the sensation of peace wash over her. It felt quite refreshing, to pass the trial and discover something new. In that moment, Elizie knew she walked the path of a true Jedi. Standing up, she turned on her heels and started making her way back through the labyrinth of tunnels made of ice and stone. Everything felt very silent, the Force no longer guided her towards the crystal, and she heard no whispers coming from either aspect of the Force. The only sound she heard was clapping of her boots against the ground as she strode between the walls of cold ice, returning to the Temple the same way she came from. Noticing and remembering little details such as the shape of the tunnels and patterns in the ice made the Padawan’s journey back much easier, just as her ability to see in infrared spectrum.

Her figure emerged from the entrance to the caves, long white hair making it trivial to identify her. Elizie turned stopped for a brief moment and her head turned to observe all Jedi who have already made it out of the caves. “It is done,” was all she said once her silent gaze stopped studying the others. All that remained was constructing another lightsaber. The white-haired Padawan did not have a solid idea of what kind of a lightsaber she wanted. Perhaps the second crystal could be used in her current lightsaber? Elizie vaguely remembered reading something like that, though she'd have to do some research on the subject before making a decision.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUGDp39srk0

[member="Gherron Vael"]'s lightsaber certainly wasn't what Nef was used to, but it was good that she was able to defend herself. The fog cleared, revealing an armored Sith Lord, fighting Nefertari.
"The Force is strong in me, I shall not lapse like I did in my trials. VADER!"
Nef utilized Shii-Cho against the apparition's Djem-So
As he swung down, Nefertari tried to use a disarming slash, no good. All Nef could do for now was parry and watch for an opening.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron could only sit and watch as the girl fended for herself against the dark lord. Now that the apparition had taken form, he recognized him instantly from the historic records. He would have tried to use the force, but he wasn't so sure how well that would work, considering it was mainly a spirit. Besides, though he still saw the combatant as a smoky figure, he imagined [member="Nefertari Sovint"] must have seen it clear as day. There wasn't much he could do.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azFi-WxSjNU

Nef barely dodged his lightsaber and attempted to go for the dark lord's legs. He evaded her strike like a child skipping a rope.
"Your lightsaber skill is not as strong as the Force in you."
It was then that Nef realized the she must use the force alongside her lightsaber skills. She backflipped and launched herself like a missile toward the dark lord with force speed and pointed the tip of the blade directly at her enemy.
"Sovint Thunder!" Nef shouted, she was beginning to abandon the conventional lightsaber styles and wield the lightsaber like her father wielded his sword. Many techniques used the Force to amplify them.

Vader put his left arm up to stop it from going through his chest. It worked, but he was now wielding his blade one handed.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Still watching the fight, Gherron couldn't tell much due to the smoky image, but it looked like shadow-Vader had just lost a hand. Again. Smirking, he knew [member="Nefertari Sovint"] was going to win. She wielded a saber quite well, especially one built for his preferred Soresu fighting style.