Ask Kro Var: Lighting the Way

[Dash Pavan]

JEDI TEMPLE, KRO VAR, UNKNOWN REGIONS
​

The frozen sphere rolled in the air, turning this way and that in defiance of gravity. A dusting of snow fell in a steady stream as it swirled, gathering on the mirrored, frozen floor.

Dash stood beneath his creation in a scant training robe, blue eyes gazing up as he gently moved his outstretched hands, manipulating the sphere. It was only a warm up, but it still took concentration to keep aloft and spinning.

Ezra should be here soon. His man would find the Kro Var temple a far cry from the hollow mountain he had last visited. Dash and his team had now been working on the place for several months, carving out a network of corridors and chambers deep inside the peak. Machinery and hard labour had moved much of the earth, but the Rhinnalian’s talents had proved uniquely suited to working ice and rock.

Dash was particularly proud of this chamber, set beneath all the others, on the site of the sealed nexus. He intended it to be the heart of the temple and had given it special attention, pouring his heart and soul into the emerging archways and vaulted ice ceiling.

The untapped energy that had once swirled beneath the stone seal was now contained beneath a transparent frozen floor. Strange light glinted in the darkness below. It was the Force in its purest form, just what the Jedi needed to meditate, channel their powers and hold the darkness at bay.

But it was tainted still. Twisted by Jadis’ influence. The more time Dash spent in the vicinity, the more he could almost visualise the malaise that afflicted it, like oil floating atop water. It needed purifying. Only then could it truly fuel the temple with the Light and ensure this place was a lasting bastion for the Jedi.

Dash thought he knew how, but he would need help. Ezra had the skill and power, that was for sure.

They could skip past the fact he hated this place, surely?

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra showed up looking like an oversized marshmallow. He habitually failed to dress appropriately for this stupid planet - either he wore too many layers or too few. Now that it had turned into an arctic tundra, he wore multiple layers and furs till you could barely make out his face. Ezra plodded along with his thick, fur lined boots as he grumpily walked over to meet Dash.

His initial grump eased away when he took note of the temple that was constructed. The Thorne stared with wide eyes at the tall pillars, the vaulted chambers and arches that looked nothing like the abandoned mountain they first discovered. Ezra glanced over when he heard movement, spotting Dash in the distance. Of course he wasn’t bothered by the cold and dressed in something he could wear to a hot day on the beach. Ezra certainly didn’t mind seeing the toned arms and shoulders on display though.

“Your last few ideas for dates have been terrible,” He stated curtly as he closed the distance. They had only met for missions thus far, not that Ezra was any better on that front. His silver gaze was icy as usual, though his unkempt beard was finally trimmed back to a stylish stubble, “You’ve really made something of this place,” He noted as he looked around them, “It’s amazing.”

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash had the sphere just perfect when he saw Ezra. Or at least, a walking mound of coats that half resembled Ezra.

The Rhinnalian let his arms fall, skipping to embrace his man even as the icy sphere fell and shattered behind him. “This is true” Dash acknowledged, planting a kiss on Ezra’s lips “but I’ll make it up to you I promise”. Kro Var did not lend itself to dates Ezra would enjoy, but Dash would still try when they got chance.

“Thanks, glad you like it”. He practically beamed at Ezra’s praise. His man had been here when the mountain was nothing; if he thought the Rhinnalian was making progress, then maybe it was really all worth it. “So this is where it’s all gonna happen” he explained, taking Ezra’s hands and walking him excitedly around the chamber. “This place is going to be perfect for channeling the Light, when it’s ready”.

They arrived at the broad centre of the frozen floor. “I know you’re not the biggest fan of this place” he ventured, half gritting his teeth at the understatement “but I can’t finish this without you. You see how things connect, where they’re weak and how to make them strong”. He gestured at the twinkling light beneath the frozen floor. ”Do you think we can take this one together?”.

He shamelessly threw every ounce of cuteness he still had into his pleading face.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra’s ears twitched as the perfectly crafted sphere shattered without a second thought. Dash ran over and embraced him and Ezra returned it, though it was tough with all the layers he wore. He hunched down to kiss the other man and so Dash didn’t have to go on tip-toes to close the distance. The Thorne’s gaze flicked over to the shattered bits of ice on the floor, thinking through how most Knights couldn’t craft anything remotely that perfect with the Force.

He scoffed when Dash outlined how much Ezra disliked the planet. While he enjoyed the time he spent with Dash on it, there was no denying the endless bouts of terrible luck that befell them every time. Ezra remained silent, glancing down to look where the Rhinnalian gestured. He glanced up right in time to catch the adorable expression on his man’s face. Silver eyes narrowed at once, “You know that stops being effective if you overuse it, right?”

Ezra looked back at the light beneath the floor, “What are we doing and tell me it doesn’t involve messing with anything close to where Jadis was trapped,” He stated flatly. They had almost died putting her back where she was, and Ezra was still not convinced she was gone for good.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash cocked his head playfully, still maintaining his pleading expression. "You sure?".

He had not had chance to try his charms on Ez for a while, but there were other angles that might pique his interest too. "The floor keeps the nexus from running wild" Dash explained "and we can still reach through it with our senses to tap into the energy". His own meditations had already felt enhanced when he undertook them in the chamber.

"But it's a blunt instrument, keeping all the nexus contained unless we reach for it. We need something to channel a steady continuous flow between below and above, and siphon only the Light". The Rhinnalian was sure Ezra would easily follow his meaning. His man was a consummate Jedi and had a technical brain too. What they needed was akin to the crystal in a lightsaber, but on a grand scale.

"I think I can create something, build a focus out of ice that will channel the flow". It would have felt arrogant to say around anyone else, but Ezra had complimented Dash's ice skills many times. The Rhinnalian also had the beginnings of it in his mind's eye, even if he didn't know how it would turn out until he started.

"But this is big, Ez. The nexus will probably try to surge through before I'm finished. I need someone to work with me, balance the flow and contain it until the focus is ready".

He saw the stony look on his man's face. "She's gone, baby. She was just trapped last time, this time she's dead. We can forget her". Dash had seen Jadis' heart pierced with his own eyes, she was not coming back.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra wasn’t entirely convinced that Jadis was truly gone, but he wouldn’t waste time arguing. As Dash laid out the plan, it sounded like a lot of risk. He gazed down at the swirling vortex below, briefly envisioning everything blasting up at once to collapse the entire chamber and bury them. It made Ezra uneasy, but he looked back into those blue eyes, the ones that placed so much trust and faith in his abilities even from the first day they met. He thought back to the times he dealt with nexuses on the Core Worlds following engaging with the Raze abominations.

“Okay,” He said calmly, shrugging off two of his layers. He walked over and took a seat on the icy ground, knowing he had to tap into the plane of the Force, “Build it. I will be able to see it through the Force,” He said confidently. It was very different from the tone of Padawan Ezra who constantly doubted his abilities.

The Thorne closed his eyes and began to focus. Within moments, the entire chamber around him appeared before him. This time, he gazed down through the floor below, seeing things clearer. He could make out streaks of white buried beneath lumps of black. He would have to carefully navigate and apply finesse to extract only what he sought without disturbing the rest. Even in this realm, Ezra felt the pressure and it manifested in his face in the physical realm where Dash could see.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash steeled himself over to the opposite side of the room. It was a relief that Ez was onboard, but now the gravity of what the Rhinnalian was about to attempt was starting to bear down on him. For all Dash’s innate talent and everything he had learned, creating a lasting focus for an ancient nexus like this would stretch him to his limit.

The Rhinnalian took up position directly opposite Ezra, staying on his feet. He planted his feet on the ice, limbering up. Dash had spent long hours meditating in readiness for this and now he closed his eyes, drawing on that stored energy.

He reached out with his hands, hesitating before reaching down with his senses. Then he remembered he had the best person in the world watching his back and he finally let go.

Reaching down through the ice, Dash felt the touch of the nexus immediately, swirling and eager to be free of it bounds. He offered himself as a conduit and felt the Force flow through him, drawn upward through the ice. A rough frozen pillar began to rise in the centre of the room, jagged and misshapen.

Dash concentrated, focusing on the new structure and manipulating it by gesture and force of will. Hard edges became smoothed curves, and as the pillar extended upwards, it began to grow below too. The Rhinnalian saw what was needed now; a crystal tree, with deep roots to siphon the nexus and wide boughs to channel the Light throughout the temple.

Already Dash could feel the strain, the sudden pivot of too much energy seeking to surge through. He gritted his teeth and held his nerve, even as the first branches and roots began to take shape.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was comfortable with this only because of his journey into the mortis planes and when he had rescued Ferrin from when he was locked within his mind. When it came to manipulating the Force, the space within the mind was his domain. He could see the structure Dash constructed as it rose through the air. Ezra worked in concert with that, careful to pull the Light from below like threading a needle. Every movement had to be precise and focused or it risked sending a massive pulse.

“Keep it steady, babe,” He said without opening his eyes in the physical plain. The effort was draining him, but the first of the Light sight energy entered the base of the structure Dash built. Almost immediately it burst up and began to expand throughout the branches and pulse into the temple. It was the beginning of how Jedi temples were constructed - and exactly what made it so no abomination could set foot into one.

As Ezra directed more of the energy, Dash would start to feel the intense pressure of keeping the focus. The ground began to tremble beneath them, but Ezra couldn’t let that distract him. He leaned over to plant his hands on the ground, pushing down through the Force against the black mass that blocked the light.

The more he worked to siphon the Light, the more he began to have glimpses. Flashes of what looked like memories began to juxtapose over the scene of the Light energy siphoning out. He began to see hints of a great battle and then suddenly the face of a little girl. He wondered if Dash could see the same. The sight was unsettling, but Ezra kept his focus despite his energy rapidly depleting.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The pillar swelled, growing into a wide trunk that expanded up and out. White threads of ice rose and bound together, forming boughs and branches in all directions, freezing crystal clear like the purest glass.

Dash directed each new offshoot in his mind, imagining its form and then making it a reality. At the same time, he fought to keep the flow steady and not absorb too much of the Force’s current, as had happened last time they trifled with the nexus.

The Rhinnalian had a strong will and a near boundless imagination, but as the crystal tree grew in size and complexity, it was near impossible to guide with thought alone. Dash began to sing almost without realising, the act of expressing some of the bound up energy as words on the air easing the pressure slightly.

”Where the north wind meets the sea, there’s a cavern full of memory…”.

Dash heard Ezra’s own words and could feel him working at the edge of his comprehension. Light was drawn up through the great tree, pulsing, beating like the white heart of the temple.

”Keep the Jedi safe and sound, for in this cavern all is found…”

Each pulse of the Light seemed to flash in Dash’s mind. Images flickered before him. A battle. A young girl.

He felt more drained with every passing moment, but found the strength to open his eyes.

The cavern and the tree were gone. Dash seemed to be standing on a barren slope, the land around them cratered and shouts and cries sounding in the distance. The sky above them roiled and flashed.

”Baby?” Ezra was there, still the same distance away but now knelt on the dusty ground. Dash wondered if they had somehow been transported somewhere, but despite what he was seeing he had a sense he not moved. The Force still churned through him, but the sensation seemed frozen somehow.

Then a horn sounded and what seemed like a thousand figures crested the ridge above and came racing down the slope. Dash saw shaven heads, robes of red and orange and burning torches held aloft.

He and Ezra were going to be crushed.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Dash's singing always had a magical effect on Ezra though he would die sooner than admitting it. It empowered his efforts and created a space that was familiar, comfortable and safe. It was such a simple gesture, and yet it reminded him of trivial moments when he was moments from sleeping and Dash would hum quietly or when the Rhinnalian sang while getting dressed or showering.

It felt like home.

Unfortunately, all of that twisted away as the very world around them changed.

Ezra had been in the Mortis realms and even that felt completely made up compared to what he experienced now. This was vivid. This was real. He could feel the blades of grass, he could smell the smoke, he could hear the shouts and war cries and drums. It was a scene out of a Holomovie from before the Old Republic. Panic began to set in as he looked around for the thread he had been pulling of the Light.

He looked over when Dash called out to him, finding his partner equally perplexed to be here. Ezra glanced to the side to see the droves of figures charging down the hill. The part Sephi’s eyes widened as he took a step back and then another, “What the fuck?” He all but sputtered as he looked around himself.

Ezra channeled the Force in an attempt to thrust up vines and plants to ensnare the group all at once. However, to his horror, the Force did not obey his commands despite being alive in him. He was powerless here and the charge drew closer and closer. Ezra’s sharp eyes focused on a few individual faces, noting that they were looking right past him and Dash.

Why? The two Jedi were standing right there out in the open.

Ezra didn’t want to risk speculation while there was an entire army barreling towards them. He grasped Dash by the hand, breaking into a run and practically dragging his man with him. Ezra effortlessly leapt over a boulder. The ground thundered and shook beneath their feet. He grasped Dash and dove to the side into a roll to slide them under a natural overhang. It was right as the charge thundered right above them, spilling around and over their heads.

Ezra stared down at Dash under him in disbelief, hoping at least his man was here and real. It all felt real. He decided to test it by pinching Dash on the cheek to see if he reacted.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash took Ezra’s hand and ran with him, pushing through the sickly feeling in his stomach. None of what they were seeing or feeling made any sense.

The Rhinnalian felt certain they were going to be crushed, before Ezra yanked him to one side and pulled them under an overhang. The charging soldiers above them - if they were soldiers - pounded the earth all around, hurtling by with arms and weapons raised.

Dash glanced at Ezra, perplexed, just as his man pinched his cheek. “Oi!” Dash gave Ez a shove, reeling back “what was that for?”. He felt he knew even as the words left his mouth. The pinch really stung, as if it were the only real thing he was feeling right now.

Was all of this not real?

“Well it’s definitely the real you” Dash pondered aloud “only you would test a theory on my face without even discussing it”. He rubbed his face sulkily, though a tiny smile traversed his lips.

The Rhinnalian looked back towards the legions of soldiers streaming past. Who were they even fighting? The plain ahead was empty and barren.

As if in answer, the ground ahead of the charge erupted in spurts of earth. Huge white spiders burst forth from the holes, sharp legs scuttling as they screeched and rushed to engage the attacking force. Others burst from the ground behind the soldiers, encircling them. Their pale hide almost seemed snow-covered. Dash screamed like a banshee as one of the creatures leapt out the earth right in front of them, paying them no heed as it hurried to join the fight.

Several of its legs actually seemed to pass through Dash’s own, even as scrambled back. It was like the thing was a ghost.

“What the actual fuck” he breathed, grabbing Ezra’s arm. “Is this a dream or something?”. The crystal tree seemed a long way away right now.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

It just wouldn’t be Ezra and Dash if they didn’t manage to have a mini spat in the middle of a potential life and death crisis, "I'll remember to pinch your ass next time so you don't complain," Ezra quipped dryly at his man's overreaction before focusing back on the soldiers, a faint smirk matching Dash's. He had worked out the ‘what’ in that the figures and people couldn’t interact with them, but he couldn’t figure out the ‘how’ and ‘why’.

His thoughts were interrupted with Dash screeching inches away from his face, “Babe!” Ezra hissed, “Volume!” He pointed to his slanted ears, scowling at his man for almost deafening him. Even Ezra jumped on instinct as the giant spiders all but passed through Dash even though he expected it at this point. His Sephi traits meant he didn’t have sudden and abrupt reactions too often, even though he was deeply unsettled. Fortunately, he didn't have his father's crippling anxiety around spiders.

“I think we are in a memory,” Ezra said, looking at the tree and all the landscape around them, “I think this is Kro Var from a time in the past,” He observed as he spotted patterns and familiar landmarks. Ezra slowly got to his feet, helping Dash up.

“Think, Dash,” He turned to look at him, “Between the book and the holocron - is there a moment in time that was of particular significance? Any reason we are meant to see this?” Ezra felt like a lunatic even asking such cryptic questions, but after his Mortis plane and saving Ferrin experiences, nothing was off the table.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash slowly processed the way the spider ran threw him, considering the implications of a dream or a memory. Maybe they were safer than they felt.

In any case, he found a moment to stroke one of Ezra’s perfect pointed ears. “Volume” he repeated, almost laughing. It was crazy to be sharing a moment of hilarity in the midst of all this, and yet it was the only thing that was familiar and comforting.

Dash considered Ez’s theory, watching the men and ice spiders grapple for supremacy. Could his man be right?

As if in answer, the sky flashed again, dark clouds rolling high above. As man and beast fought, a glittering film of frost began to creep down the surrounding slopes, encircling the battle.

”This is the war” Dash breathed, piecing it together. “The war against Jadis. The time when the nexus was twisted, used to freeze all of Kro Var”. The wind began to howl, though neither of them could feel the cold.

”Maybe it’s communicating with us, warning us?”. The Rhinnalian was far from sure why there were here, he had only his instincts. “Showing us how things can go wrong?”.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“She wasn’t even an adult at this point, was she?” Ezra mused aloud, wondering what could spur such an overreaction. He walked with Dash, knowing now that the enemies couldn’t exactly harm them.

“Look,” Ezra pointed at two figures standing atop a hill to the side. His keen eyes could pick out the saberhilts on their hips, “Sith?” He asked, walking closer to the two men standing there.

“Should we not help her?” The younger of the two men said.

“No,” The older one said, “No, my padawan,” The voice was solemn.

“But they are doing this just because she is different! Because she does not know how to control her powers!”

“It is not our duty to intervene with every disturbance on every planet. This girl… she is brash…she is dangerous.”

“So you’d see her butchered by the masses?!”

“We have a task of our own, padawan,” The man turned. Only then would Dash and Ezra be able to see he was holding a sleeping infant in his arm. An infant with wisps of white hair, “We must take this child away to Rhinnal. Give him a new name and a new legacy. Away from this. Let us hope this affliction the girl has does not show up in his lineage. I hope he and his legacy will find life away from all this.”

“Master… that boy…he’s the only family she has..” The Padawan’s voice was breaking.

“This is the only way. We were too late for her. We must ensure this babe is not butchered simply because he is kin."

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash stood open mouthed, blue eyes wide as he processed what they were seeing and hearing.

The Rhinnalian had always known Jadis had spent time in the Jedi Order, but he had not realised she had left so early, or that the Order had let her go. Let her fall.

Dash‘s own attachment to the Jedi had been up and down, but he had always felt the most affinity with the Order when it acted like a family. He had made so many strong friendships among his fellow Jedi, even helped bring the love of his life into their ranks. If Dash was struggling, he like to think half a dozen Jedi would care enough to help.

But these Jedi had turned their back on Jadis, for no other reason that because it was hard.

“Rhinnal…” Dash actually took a step toward the pair, before he remembered he could not stop them even if he tried. He and Ezra were only observers. He grabbed his man’s arm for support as he watched the Jedi carry the child past. “They set the course of my entire family“. It was a lot. He was probably looking at his great-grandfather times ten and it made him feel a little nauseous.

Something akin to a war horn blew on the horizon and Dash thought he glimpsed a blonde haired woman crest a rise, winter winds rising behind her.

Then light seemed to shine from all directions, intensifying until the scene around them vanished entirely. All Dash could do was grab Ezra’s hand and hold tight as light pulsed around them and the scene changed.

Now they were in a cavern - inside the mountain if Dash was right - on the edge of a ferocious battle. A group of Jedi and allied Shapers were working furiously to contain a white-robed Jadis, ice, flame and Force splitting the air.

“They really did betray her” Dash said aloud, looking at Ez. “Abandoned her, took her kin and ultimately helped the locals seal her away“. He bit his lip. “You not even feeling a little sorry for her yet?”. Ezra had been wary of Dash’s unhinged ancestor since the beginning, but surely he had to admit she might have been driven to the edge.

Clearly the nexus remembered what the Jedi had done here, but what was it trying to highlight? The Jedi inaction that let Jadiss rise to power, or the swift if narrow-minded action they had taken to vanquish her?

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

As Dash had a whirlwind of emotions going through him, Ezra stood and watched in silence. His face was its usual neutral, his mind processing and parsing through an analytical lens. He was the unwavering rock Dash could collapse against when he needed. Ezra eventually wrapped an arm around his man, holding him tight and letting him process and grieve in his own way.

He heard Dash take on Jadis’ perspective, and he wasn’t entirely surprised. Ezra kept his gaze trained ahead on the scene, “Jedi make mistakes too,” He said, “But nothing justifies genocide,” He reminded Dash. Jadis had done just that - she had slaughtered thousands of people or froze them permanently. Nothing would excuse that.

The scenes changed and Ezra was witness to the Shapers attempting to contain her. There was a shrill cry from her that pulsed out in a wave. By the end of it, the Shapers were frozen in place and she erased them by shattering them to a thousand shards.

The scene changed again, and this time there were more Jedi. The Knight from earlier was dead, but his Padawan was the one that helped seal Jadis in. The Padawan was the one that, with a heavy heart, worked with other Jedi to set the exact traps Dash and Ezra traversed earlier. They vowed to seal her in and never allow this to happen again.

“Babe,” Ezra began quietly, “Why did they call it a curse?” He turned to slowly look at Dash, “These were Jedi. They wouldn’t call simply being Force sensitive a curse. Why did they say Jadis was cursed and what were they so afraid of being passed down?”

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash leaned into Ezra as the scenes unfolded. He knew his man understood the nuances here and yet he was still right. Whatever had been done to Jadis, it did not justify what she doled out in return. Dash closed his eyes briefly as they watched her adversaries frozen and shattered. Dash had wished such a thing on his own opponents, in his darkest moments. But to see it played out chilled him to the bone.

The Rhinnalian felt even worse about Ezra’s question. “I….I don’t know” he managed, holding up his hands and turning them over, studying them as if the answer might be written in his palms. “It’s not a curse” he said, with growing conviction. “It’s what we make it…”.

The scene flashed again and Dash found himself back in the mountain cavern, Ezra opposite over the far side. The crystalline tree seemed all but complete, huge thick icy boughs spanning the ceiling and the disappearing into the structure. The trunk pulsed with a beating, white light and the Rhinnalian could feel the gradual focusing of the Force, as the sudden rush left his body, dispersed by the new, perfectly crafted focus.

Dash stood panting, taking a long time to move. They had both spent great effort to create what they now had, and the Rhinnalian barely dared to move in case it was an illusion. But the tree held, the nexus was purified and Dash found himself walking up to Ezra.

”We did it baby” he gasped, looking around and scared of confronting what they had witnessed. “I can’t be cursed, can I?”

@Sreeya