Ask Tython Shrouded in mystery

[Fiach Dubh]

There was, as Fiach surmised, only so much you could convey with rudimentary sign language. Whatever they were trying to tell each other about opening an entrance to an underground temple was – not unexpectedly – beyond them.

Izel was trying to convey something and Fiach followed her. When they found the symbol, Fiach was sure they were on the same wavelength. But when nothing happened, Fiach presumed she had misunderstood her fellow Padawan’s communication.

Izel did her best to convey a new message, but to Fiach, what she understood was no different to the last one. She opened her mouth and if an audible sigh was supposed to have been emitted, the desert swallowed up the sound.

Which was when Izel produced a datajournal. Simple and yet it’s use had eluded both of them until now. Fiach rolled her eyes and then read. She nodded at the words.

If the symbol activated on your spire, it must be the first. We should check to see if it is still illuminated. If so, we can try another. If not, reactivate it…and try another.

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel read Fiach's reply and nodded before turning to return to the last spire. It had stopped glowing, but reaching out with the Force yet again the Vratix was easily able to reactivate it. Simple enough so far... She thought to herself, although she had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that somehow things would become more complicated down the line.

The two Padawans would spend the next ten minutes or so moving between the spires and testing them one at a time to see which came next in the sequence. By process of elimination and a lot of moving back and forth they eventually were able to activate three of the monoliths, leaving only one remaining. Izel would stop before the last symbol, hesitant to activate it. She stopped to write in the holojournal again before showing it to Fiach.

Be prepared for anything. We don't know for certain what will happen once we activate the last spire. She would then wait for a signal from Fiach to let her know she was ready to proceed before approaching the glyph. Using the Force one last time she activated it, seeing a red glow illuminate the stone. There were a few moments where nothing happened, and then the whole area around them began to shake. Izel gripped her lightsaber tightly and surveyed their surrounding, prepared to ignite it on a moment's notice.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Given there were only two logical scenarios, Fiach was at least pleased that one of them played out. If logic was taken out of the equation, she would have floundered.

She nodded as Izel activated the glyph again.

What followed might seem tedious to some, but Fiach was used to repairing things. Which invariably involved a process of trial and error – checking which component was broken. It was often time-consuming but necessary.

Finally, they had three of the spires activated and Izel wrote again on the datapad. Reading, she nodded her agreement at both the statement and by way of saying they should proceed. Fiach was reminded of the time she crafted her saber. If she hadn’t done a good enough job, it would have exploded and most likely killed her. She trusted in the Force then, as she did now.

A few moments of anti-climax were followed by the ground shaking. Fiach closed her eyes momentarily, connecting as deeply as she could to the Force. Re-opening them, she scanned their surroundings slowly. Given she did not know what to expect, it was impossible to tell if the something that was supposed to happen was indeed happening.

But then her eyes were drawn to the sand in the very middle of the structures. The sand was falling down, as if into a hole and a few moments later, carved stone steps became apparent, leading down.

Fiach took the journal and quickly wrote.

Looks like we did it. Given this was your choice of venue, I’ll give you the honour of going first.

It was, in Fiach’s eyes, a great honour. Who knew which Jedi was last to descend these steps.

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

At first Izel was worried they may have inadvertently activated some kind of trap left behind for nosy trespassers, but as she took notice of the entranceway opening up between the spires she breathed a sigh of relief. Lowering her guard she turned to Fiach and waited patiently for her fellow Padawan to finish writing before reading the message. She was flattered by her words, being well aware of the honor being granted to her. Even though she couldn't speak to her gratitude at the moment, she still bowed deeply to convey her meaning.

Wasting no time Izel made her way for the entrance, looking on with a mixture of excitement and anxiousness swirling inside her. She and Fiach may have been the first Jedi to set foot in this sacred temple in millennia. Well, granted it was the place they believed it was. Perhaps the stories of the Je'daii were true and perhaps they weren't. But either way they were making history.

The entrance was a sort of circular indentation in the ground, the sand giving way to sheer stone walls and the ancient staircase forming a spiral downwards. Cautiously Izel made her way downwards, taking in every minute detail of the ruin around her. There were runes carved into the walls in a language she didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't Aurebesh. The floor was covered in sand, the circular entryway breaking off into four separate passages leading into different parts of the underground temple.

Izel took a moment to glance back at Fiach before choosing one of the passages at random. For the moment at least it didn't seem to make much of a difference as there was no easy way for the Padawans to distinguish them. And they'd have plenty of time to explore the other paths anyway. The tunnel led down a steady incline deeper into the cavern. The further they went, Izel started to feel her sense of hearing return to her. For the first time since stepping off the ship she heard the sound of echoing footsteps. She had grown so accustomed to the silence it took her off guard at first, causing her to jump. Then she looked down and realized the sound she'd heard had come from her own feet. With a lighthearted chuckle she turned back to Fiach again.

"It seems the legends are true." She said, and then took a moment to observe the naturally formed cavern around them. "Truly fascinating. Although I fail to see how these circumstances were supposed to help initiates meditate, complete silence like that would have driven me insane..." She held up her lightsaber pike and ignited the green blade, pointing down the quickly darkening tunnel to illuminate it somewhat. "So what do you think?" She asked her companion curiously. Her analytical mind was taking over again now. "Shall we begin cataloging our movements? Try to map out the temple?" She lowered a hand to her bag, indicating she had brought the supplies necessary if they decided to take such a course of action. "Or shall we just see where the Force takes us?"

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach returned Izel’s bow. She reserved the greeting for more formal occasions, and if this did not constitute formal, Fiach was unsure what did.

Then she relaxed her shoulders and took in as deep a breath as she could, given the swirling sand, before exhaling and feeling calm and relaxed. Then she followed Izel to what appeared to be a spiral stone staircase. Remaining two steps behind, she made sure she was listening to the Force, in case they were about to encounter a trap. The warnings were never black and white, but she tended to know when something was awry – even if the ‘what’ was undefined.

Like her fellow Padawan, she took notice of the carvings and – despite her study of ancient languages – could not identify the runes. Maybe this was the language of the Jed’aii? Or maybe the stairs pre-dated them? Or maybe the Jed’aii never existed.

As soon as they were presented with a choice of the way ahead, Fiach deferred to Izel. Fiach committed the layout to memory, it would not do to finally find this place, only to die down here because they got lost. And it wasn’t until she heard the sound of footsteps – their footsteps – that she realised they could hear again. She saw Izel jump at the noise before realising what the sounds were.

“Its existence can be in no doubt now – especially as it took the Force to gain access. But who built and who occupied the temple, that is a mystery we still have to solve. Oh, and as for our journey...” she tapped the side of her head with an index finger, “I have committed it to memory. I can draw it once we get back. So let’s allow our instincts to take us on an adventure. That feels more like the Jedi way.”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel was surprised by Fiach's supposed eidetic memory. It was an extremely rare talent in adults. But then, Force sensitivity was rarer still on the galactic scale. "It seems you were made for this in that case." The Vratix said jokingly as she continued moving deeper into the cavern, holding her lightsaber forward to serve as a makeshift torch. "Although..." She began muttering to herself as she walked. This part of the tunnel seemed generally spartan and unintriguing, baring none of the runes of the previous room. "I suppose the Force could be applied in such a way to help one recall their memories more effectively. Even in perfect detail." She glanced back at Fiach, curious for her thoughts. "If it can be used to divine the future why shouldn't it be possible to do something much more concrete like recalling past experiences?" She resolved to test the theory as they continued to explore the caves. At the conclusion of their little expedition she would try to use the Force to remember with perfect clarity everything they had seen.

Before too long they came to a fork in the path ahead. Acting on instinct as Fiach had suggested Izel followed the right passage, as the flow of the Force felt stronger in that direction. This tunnel led them deeper and in a curling path down to an open chamber. It was pitch black save for the light from Izel's saber, though as she walked along the wall she noticed a number of empty stone sconces. Walking towards the chamber's center she found a shallow empty basin, only about a foot and a half deep. Curious as to it's purpose she crouched down and held her hand out over the basin, reaching out with the Force. She was immediately given the impression that the basin was meant to be filled with water, and that they were meant to do it. "How odd..." She muttered, tilting her head in bemusement. From what she could tell the chamber was completely barren aside from this basin, although there were more of the strange runes all around, especially on the floor surrounding this point of interest.

The Padawan reached for her canteen but stopped, deep in thought. Surely it wasn't that simple? This was the temple of the Force after all. Using the Force was what had gotten them inside, so of course they would need to use the Force to solve this puzzle as well right? What was the purpose of this place? How were Jedi, or Je'daii, or whatever past Force wielders that inhabited this place tested here? The Vratix sat down cross-legged before the basin, still holding her lightsaber pike besides her, and began trying to meditate.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach had grown up unaware of her two gifts, but in understanding them, came to realise the whole concept of balance first-hand. She was Force sensitive and blessed with a near photographic memory. Yet simple inferences were beyond her and social interaction was a foreign language she suspected she would never master. Yes, to continue the dialect metaphor, she had picked up some key phrases and could understand some basic social cues and clues, but still could neither understand nor detect most emotions in others – and lacked an appreciation of them for herself. She was not known as a cold-fish at the Academy for no reason.

So Izel’s words were taken at face value – and as such made little sense to the blonde. As usual, she merely put them aside and focused on the task in hand – and followed her fellow Padawan as they progressed deeper into the cavern.

Fiach nodded at Izel’s thought. If the Force could extract thoughts and memories from another person, why not recall your own? It was quite a logical approach.

At the fork, they followed the path to the right and the darkness enveloped them – with only Izel’s saber keeping complete blackness at bay.

Finally they reached something worthy of inspection. A shallow basin, currently empty. Clearly Izel was intrigued by its purpose and she supposed that the meditative stance was to gain clarity.

“Of course,” Fiach said, softly, “they say that if you have a hammer, every challenge looks like a nail.” It was homespun philosophy one of her fathers used to say often. “Which means that, on this occasion, just because we are Jedi, the answer does not always have to be the Force. Not that I am saying it is not, rather I am keeping an open mind.”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel glanced back at Fiach as she spoke, her antennae twitching thoughtfully as she absorbed the other Padawan's words. "Fair enough," She answered finally, and reached back to retrieve her canteen again. "I suppose there's no harm in trying. Although I personally think it's more likely this chamber is meant to test a student's abilities in the Force..."

She unstoppered the canteen and poured its contents into the basin. The water she carried with her wasn't even near enough to fill the pool though, and the added liquid seemed to have no immediate effect. Izel hummed as she thought on it more. "I assume we either need to find enough water to fill the whole thing... Or the solution is something different." She looked back at Fiach again. "Shall we start searching for more water? Or perhaps see what else is to be found in the temple?"

Izel was clearly having trouble staying focused on one thing at the moment. While she wanted to solve this puzzle she also wanted to explore the temple in it's entirety as well. Like a child let loose in a toy store she wasn't certain what to focus her attention on. If anything solving this puzzle may only open up more of the temple to exploration, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that until they had already taken an account of all the other chambers first. Fiach struck her as someone more collected, and thus she wanted her insight on the matter. Of course if her fellow Padawan so decided, she would continue trying to solve the puzzle herself why Fiach explored on her own. There were several ways they could proceed from here.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach stood patiently as Izel reflected on what was said. Fiach was the sort of person to deal with facts and preferred not to get into the realm of opinion. Facts could be disproved, but if you were diligent, you were rarely caught out. Opinions on the other hand, were fraught with danger.

And so, in the absence of data, Fiach kept an open mind – which meant that sometimes too many options remained in the realms of the possible. But she accepted that as an occupational hazard of her approach.

Trying all hypothesise was therefore essential to Fiach, despite the time it might take. And she was certainly not doubting the theory that the Force was the solution – but simply wanted to avoid jumping to any conclusions.

“There may be some trial and error before we reach the solution. We don’t yet know what the purpose of the hollow is. It could be where they made a fire for a barbecued lunch for all we know.” She glanced at Izel, “I’m not saying it’s probable, just possible. And maybe only one person should be here at a time? So many permutations without any real clues…” Her voice trailed off as she began to catalogue all the possible scenarios.

“My point, if I have a point, is that we could spend days here and find this was nothing more significant than a place to take a drink if you were thirsty after walking through the desert. Maybe we should explore what we can, evaluate our findings and then return – in turn – to the one or ones we find most promising?”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel understood Fiach's point, they really had no data to go on and it was unwise to make any assumptions as to what functions any of these chambers served. The hypotheses she presented were very much possible, although the Vratix was quite certain of her own. The Force had imprinted on her mind the picture of the basin filled with water, she knew it had some significance. But what that was could be discovered later she supposed. Not to be wasteful though, she raised her hand and with the Force returned the water to her canteen.

As she stood up the Padawan produced a sketchbook from her bag and quickly drew a rough image of the chamber and basin, taking a few moments to mark down the runes as well for further study. "Alright." She said, snapping the book shut once she was finished and returning it to her bag before looking at Fiach again. "Let's continue exploring then. Perhaps along the way we'll find a clue to what this place is meant to be, or we'll find something else with greater promise." She ignited her lightsaber once more and prepared to leave the chamber, pausing to make sure her fellow Padawan was close by so they would not become separated.

She would then follow the winding path back to the fork in the tunnel, this time taking the left passage. The Force did not tug her as strongly in this direction, but that was all relatively speaking. This whole place seemed soaked in swirling energy, light and dark combined. Something about that unsettled Izel. She didn't exactly have a good track record when it came to facing the dark side. Still, she was more confident that with her training since her last encounter, and with the presence of another Jedi to help her, she wouldn't make the same mistakes of the past. She did wonder though what the next chamber would have in store...

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach looked over Izel’s notes, nodding her agreement at the scale of the drawing and the accurate representation of the runes. Not that her fellow Padawan was probably looking for her approval – but Fiach could not help having an opinion on such matters. At least she did not vocalise her thoughts.

“Clues have a way of presenting themselves when you least expect them,” Fiach said. “So who knows when we will encounter them, but given there are few distractions, we should be hard pressed to overlook them.”

As Izel made to move on, Fiach closed her eyes. Rather than using her eyes, she wanted to use Force Sight to check if what they saw was indeed what was there.

As they entered the next chamber, Fiach sensed something awry. It was subtle but none the less there. Then she spotted it.

“There,” she said, pointing to a spot at the back of the chamber. Opening her eyes, it looked like any other part of the rock wall. But through the Force, she saw an opening, a doorway. “Either it’s an exit that is so perfectly formed it shows no obvious seam, or it is a false image. Either way, there is definitely another way out. And given it is effectively hidden, I suggest that whatever is behind it is worthy of investigation.”

She cocked her head to one side, waiting for Izel’s response.

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel looked to the spot Fiach indicated. Reaching out with the Force she was able to identify the same hidden passageway. "I agree..." The Vratix answered her companion as she cautiously approached the wall, inspecting it closely. First she held out the blunt end of her lightsaber, trying to see if it was indeed some kind of illusory wall created through the Force. The metal end of the pike clacked against the surface like it was a normal stone wall, so next Izel pressed her palm against it. Still nothing.

Clicking thoughtfully to herself she ran her hand along the wall, but felt no seam where a door might have been. She leaned in very close, twitching antennae nearly touching the surface as she looked for any sign of a way through. Eventually her fingertips caught on an imperfection in the stone, and pressing down a small area slid inwards. There was a groan and a sudden rush of stale air, and suddenly an entire section of the wall moved inward.

The slab of stone moved away, revealing the hidden doorway and passage leading deeper into the temple. Izel chittered triumphantly as she turned to look at Fiach again. "Excellent work!" She congratulated her fellow Padawan on spotting the hidden door, Then coughed and waved her hand before her face as more of the stale air mixed with the air of the chamber they were in. "Whatever's down there must be a well guarded secret. It's been quite some time since this door was last opened I suspect..." The hall was dark and foreboding, with a powerful energy radiating out from within.

"Would you like to take the honor this time?" Izel asked, wanting to return the favor for Fiach's last courtesy of letting her enter the temple first.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach always saw her open-mindedness as a double-edged sword. Welcoming all possibilities meant it was difficult to overlook a solution but on the other hand, it meant it was quite conceivable to be overwhelmed by the options. Sometimes assuming seemed a sensible option – but one that Fiach invariably rejected. Yes, this might be a Jed’aii temple, but that did not mean they necessarily created it. And therefore the Force was not always the answer to the puzzles they might find.

Yes, it had taken the Force to reveal the hidden doorway, but Izel had identified a way in that required more mundane skills – namely patience and a keen eye for detail.

Did this make this a problem set by someone without Force sensitivity, or by someone that wanted seekers to use more than the gift they’d been blessed with? These were the sort of questions that puzzled Fiach as Izel opened the doorway and the musty smell of ancient air hit them.

Fiach lifted the crook of her arm to her face and did her best to avoid breathing in the stale air. “A very, very old secret no doubt. As long as it isn’t their pantry, we’ll be fine.” Fiach was doing her best with humour, but it was definitely hit and miss still.

The thing with Force Sight, especially for a Padawan like Fiach, was that it required focus. Now she dropped the connection, her sense of the Force became broader and more all-encompassing. Which is when the feeling overcame her.

She shivered, involuntarily. “I’ve felt like this before,” she said to Izel, by way of explanation, “On Dxun. It’s like…it’s like the Force is tainted somehow. Oily…” It was possibly an odd description, but it felt the most appropriate to Fiach. “But we’ve come this far.” Breathing deeply, she took a long step through the doorway and towards who knew what.

“Any ideas what might be down here? And anything positive to add to the thought I’m having that the door might not have been keeping us out, but something in?”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel's mood visibly changed when Fiach made the connection between the tunnel and Dxun. She was instantly on edge, her confidence wavering as she recalled her own mission on the jungle moon. Reflexively she looked down and raised a hand to brush over her forearm, the physical scars of her encounter with the maalraas hidden beneath the fabric of her tunic. She couldn't deny the similarity. There was a darkness here just as there had been on Dxun and Ifrane. The Vratix knew the feeling Fiach was describing all too well.

She was quiet for a long time, a heavy silence building between the two Padawans as Izel contemplated Fiach's words. "We've come this far." She let out a ragged sigh, shivering as she tried to steel herself.

"Yes." She said finally, turning her gaze back to her companion. "We've come too far to turn back. Dark Side or no, I want to know what this place is..." She looked down the tunnel again, considering what Fiach had said about the purpose of the door.

"You could be right," She conceded. "But I think if it was meant to keep something in there would be more defending it then a simple hidden door. More likely there would be traps and defenses, at the very least a better lock. I believe what we're looking at may be some kind of trial chamber, meant to test people. Whoever those people were." She gripped her lightsaber tightly, strengthening her resolve. "I'm ready for a test. Are you?" It was clear Izel's mind was wandering to other places rather than offering a proper answer to Fiach's question. The Vratix still felt she had been lacking as a Jedi. Despite the encouragement from Master Zapan she had felt her encounter with the dark side on Ifrane was a failure. And she had barely survived the maalraas on Dxun. It was becoming an obsession. She needed to prove she was worthy of the Jedi name, to herself more than anyone else.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach lacked empathy. But she was adept at learning strategies to overcome this failing and was even beginning to develop her Force Sense to help her understand people’s feelings. But it was the silence that stretched between them that told her something was amiss.

Finally, Izel spoke, and the words suggested she was not necessarily committed to progressing but perhaps saw it as a sense of duty. It was not that Fiach was keen to move forward, the dark-side had been something she’d encountered when finding her saber crystals and it exposed her fear of fear itself. But she had recognised it and, as the old Jedi saying had it, once you could name your fear, you could banish it. Well…maybe banish was a little optimistic right now – but Fiach could at least face it.

Fiach nodded at Izel’s summation of the situation. “There are plenty of records of not necessarily Jedi-made trials, but of naturally occurring ones the Jedi used.” She was thinking of Ach-To and Dagobah as prime examples. Even the Gathering was a form of this sort of test. “If you’re right, should we go in together or separately?”

“And…” Fiach nodded at the saber in her fellow Padawan’s hands, “is it wise to be carrying that? It might not be what we expect, and I understand the logic of defending ourselves, but perhaps we might be better going in with an open mind and not with conflict as a first option?” Fiach’s right eyebrow raised a couple of centimetres before returning to its natural place. “Just saying.”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel was hesitant when Fiach asked about going alone or together. The energy of the tunnel still frightened her, but she felt that it was important they each face these trials alone. Perhaps this was why the Force had brought them here, to become better Jedi. "I think challenges like these are meant to be faced alone." She replied after giving it some thought.

She then looked at her lightsaber pike, kneading the staff nervously with her hands before finally setting it down against the wall. "I think you're right..." She paused and took a deep breath as she locked eyes with Fiach. "Well... Good luck. May the Force be with us." With that the Vratix turned and entered the tunnel, unwilling to give herself time to reconsider. To Fiach it would look as though her fellow Padawan completely disappeared the second she entered the shadow of the passageway. The human would not even be able to sense her presence any longer.

Izel walked blindly through the dark, letting the currents of the Force guide her. The power of the dark side grew, and with it her fear. She tried her best to maintain her calm, but she was losing focus. Why? She thought with frustration. Why? Why!? Why is this so hard for me? Hours spent meditating, studying every scrap of Jedi lore and history she could get her hands on. Why was it never enough? Why did she end up losing her nerve every time she faced danger?

"Because you are weak." She heard a familiar voice. There was light in the shadow. Master Reev stood before her, smiling. Despite his warm expression, there was something decidedly sinister about this illusion. "Ready to try again Izel Thral?" Izel fixed her eyes on the illusion, her hands tightening into fists. Her trial had begun.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach nodded in accord at Izel’s words. It seemed that life as a Jedi was full of more trials than she had initially expected. Not the physical kind. And not even the cognitive, learning kind. But those of self-awareness and understanding.

“Alone it is,” she echoed and then she responded with a formal bow. “May the Force be with you…always.”

Fiach waited. Sometimes these sorts of chambers ignored the rules of time and space and you could walk in with someone and be immediately alone. Other times you found you could easily bump straight into the person in front. Unsure which version this was, Fiach gave her fellow Padawan a few minutes before venturing in too.

It was darkness personified inside. It was as if the Dark-side of the Force was the darkness and it sucked not only all of the light from the chamber, but all things associated with the Light-side too. Hope and happiness seemed to be leeched from her as she walked slowly inside.

“So,” she said out loud – to nobody in particular, “will this be more of the same or a new challenge? A new fear?” The last two times it was fear of fear itself that she had encountered. And fear of not belonging.

“Why?” came a voice. It was quiet and yet filled her mind at the same time as if shouted in her ear. It was a sound like rustling leaves – dry, old and oddly disconcerting.

“Why what?” she replied, sounder braver than she currently felt.

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

The illusion was different this time. There was no jungle, no temple. Izel and the image of her Master stood in an empty black plane, extreme darkness and silence surrounding them, mimicking the sands outside. The Jedi and her wraith began circling each other, the Padawan keeping a cautious distance. When she spoke her words echoed as though they were in an enormous cavern.

"I'm stronger than I was before." She assured him, and herself.

"But not strong enough." Reev answered. "Why else would you be here?"

"I won't be seduced by simple lust for power, I'm not a savage." Izel replied, trying to suppress her anger. "The Jedi have the right of things. They understand the Force as the Sith never could. The path to true understanding of the universe lies in their teachings. Not in the hands of monsters like you."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Reev asked. Izel moved her mandibles as if to reply but then stopped. She wasn't sure. Reev took advantage of that uncertainty. "Knowledge yes?" He asked. "Knowledge and power over the Force. That is your desire. But you think the only correct way to attain that power is by following the rules, by adhering to restrictions others put on you. Why?"

"It's what's right." Izel insisted without much confidence.

"Who decides what's right?" Reev asked. "You have a gift. How can it be right to deny that power? How can it be right to limit yourself, to allow others to surpass you, when you know you deserve more? When there are easier ways to obtain it?"

Selfish, envious thoughts swarmed in Izel's head. He knew her too well. It was shameful but it was true. Her progression was too slow for her liking. No matter how hard she tried she still felt she was being left behind by others more gifted than her. She wanted to be better. But she didn't have the patience to get better the right way.

"It's not right..." She said again, head hung low. It was the only defense she had to offer.

"The people with power decide what's right." Reev argued, standing in place and staring her down darkly. "It's time for you to start making the rules." Slowly Izel turned her gaze up to the dark illusion, a deep hunger in her eyes. She wanted what he offered. She wanted it badly...

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach encountered darkness and, as she walked forward, she found…more darkness. Maybe the test could only manage one person at a time? Or maybe she’d already faced her demon? Or maybe walking in the dark was the test? Or a metaphor? Or maybe she hadn’t reached the correct spot yet?

As she walked, she wondered – as she often did – why she was here. And why was she asked to lead the visit? And why was Izel asked to accompany her?

Was Izel the test? Was her leadership under scrutiny? Had she already been labelled a failure, and this was the final piece of the jigsaw? And why was she using mixed metaphors?

Had she simply been – as the Jedi that found her commented – been lucky? Was her time at the Order to date just one fortunate incident after another? Would someone, some-time soon, step out and show her a door? The exit.

As she continued to walk, she half expected something like that – but instead she simply kept on walking…and wondering.

Suddenly she stopped. Was this a trap? Was the test simply a way of exposing the unworthy? Those who aspired to be Jedi like her, that were not suitable would simply walk and walk, lost – until they died of exhaustion and malnutrition. OK, she accepted that dehydration would get you first – but she was being figurative.

“Why,” she said out loud. It was a word she used often it seemed – and right now it summed up what she felt about her entire life to date.

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel stared down the wraith, dark thoughts mingling in her head. "What would you ask of me?" She asked. In the back of her mind a part of her was trying to remind her of her training, to shut out this corruption creeping towards her. She couldn't help herself though. Reev smiled.

"There are dark places in this temple, unsullied by the lies of the Jedi." He explained. "Find them. Immerse yourself in the power of this place. Let it nurture you. You will become stronger and wiser in the true Force." Izel hesitated.

"And Fiach?" She asked. The illusion's smile disappeared.

"It would be best if the Jedi did not learn of this place. Tython is a dangerous planet. Anything could have happened to her on your visit here..."

"I won't harm anyone." Izel insisted. She felt anger rush over her, then took a dep breath and calmed herself. This was a pointless exercise. Why was she allowing herself to feel these things? It was beneath her. And so was the dark side. The wraith heard her thoughts and hissed.

"Weak." Reev spat at her. "You will never be the Jedi you wish to be."

"Maybe not," Izel replied. "But I will be a Jedi. The kind I can be proud to be." She was finished here. With a wave of her hand she cut through the illusion with the Force, the image of Reev smiling faintly before dissipating. When the darkness pulled back the Vratix was left alone in a dark chamber. She sighed, and turned to exit the room. This wasn't quite what she had expected, but she understood now. The path of the Jedi was long and arduous. She had made great progress, but still wasn't where she wished to be. She wanted to be the equal of her peers, and perhaps she was not. Not yet. And she just had to accept that. Letting her ambitions rule her wasn't going to accomplish anything. She had hoped coming to the planet would offer her some kind of edge in her development. It hadn't, but that was just the path she was being made to walk.

When she exited the room she retrieved her lightsaber and sat down quietly before the tunnel to meditate, waiting for Fiach to return.

@Corbeau