17 hours ago, Rabobankrider said:

As Gaze moves forward, the chanting would continue, no longer a whisper, but ringing load and true, echoing off the walls, surrounding the boy. Before too long, he could see the end of the tunnel, a tall archway framed inky blackness before him. The voices would change as the arch comes into sight though. They would become less ordered, shifting from chanting to shouting, screaming. It was like being in the middle of a battle, and then there were new voices. Voices Gaze recognized, people from his village. He heard them cry for help, pleading for their lives. It sounded so real, it would be difficult to ignore. Within the darkness of the archway, a single speck of blue light would appear in the centre of the blackness. Perhaps the boys crystal? He would have to press on to be sure.

Gaze would close his mind to the sounds, knowing them for a trick of the mind, a manifestation of the Force to misdirect him. He continues forward, focusing on the light ahead of him and ignoring the dark alcoves. He shakes from the restrained emotions, controlling them is not the same as not feeling them. Inwardly wincing at the sounds of his family and friends' voices, he grits his teeth and continues onward, reciting medical treatments for respiratory ailments in Ithorians.

As the ice melts impossibly fast when Gunda presses his right foot against it he can feel his heart rate rising again. As if the Force is trying to tell him something, the process stops and the ice stops melting. Gunda might be many things, but he isn't dull-witted. Once he realizes what is happening, he works to keep calm and keep his emotions in check. As he does, the ice starts melting faster again.

The Dug closes his eyes, shutting out anything other than the Force around him. After less than a minute the warmth from his hand appears to have melted a hole almost half a meter deep and he can feel something hard in the palm of his foot. As his toes close around the kyber crystal, he feels as if he were holding a part of himself, a part that had been missing until now.

Gunda opens his eyes again as he withdraws his foot from the hole in the ice. Lying in the palm of his foot a ice-blue crystal rests in a small puddle of water from the melted ice. "Then I am meant to be a Jedi after all," he says, a warmth running through his body despite the freezing cold air and the water from the melted ice.

The ice . Gunda suddenly remembers the frozen waterfall that is slowly closing off the caves. He closes his toes over the precious crystal and sprints towards the exit.

Matt starts to feel fear. This is what happened in his vision. doing dark is not the only thing I saw matt masters his fear and grabs his crystal and runs back to master voon. He must get there before the ice freezes again

"Perig! NO!"

Still not fast enough to save his friend. The cat is back in front of Svae with Perig's tiny body between them.

Svae can feel the anger billowing just beneath his skin. Turning to rage.

"PERIG WAS MY FRIEND!" He yells out telepathically at the cat. "Was that necessary! WHY!"

Svae then hears Master Gra Ki Muund voice in his head. Life isn't lost. It just goes somewhere else. We don't really lose them. Feel through the force the life all around you, everything is in various stages of life, but this physical form eventually dies and becomes part of the force.

Svae sits down and crosses his legs. His anger subsided. He reaches out with the force.

Speaking partly to the cat and partly to himself, "I'm sorry for my anger. I lost sight of what I was after in here. I was too busy chasing Perig. I need to feel through the force to find my crystal. No one else can find it for me." Svae meditates.

The cat would seem to turn it's nose up at Svae before slinking away into the darkness once more. As the young boy reaches out through the force, he does not feel his crystal, but he does feel something coming from Perig. I tiny flicker of life, barely there, but unmistakable. His friend was most certainly alive.

As Gaze continues towards the speck of light, he would enter the darkness of the archway. The corridor behind him disappeared, as did the sound. Then there was a single voice, coming from the speck. It circled the youngling slowly, pulsating as it spoke. It spoke with the voice of a child, younger than Gaze judging by the sound of it 'Why did you ignore what you heard? Did you not want to help them? Did you not want to do something? Anything?' It did not sound like it was taunting the young one, merely curious as to what the answer was.

Meanwhile the Mandalorians had shifted to circle Tiberius. They all spoke as one now, their voices aging to little more than croaks and hisses. 'You will kill this man, or we will kill you'. As they spoke, black smoke began to leak from their visors, from the gaps of their armour. Soon the boy and the injured man were circled by this sinister smog. As set of thin red eyes would appear in the blackness, staring at the youngling. 'Kill him, do it! Give in to your instincts, your cruelty! Kill or be killed!'

Zoroku picked a good sized rock from the pile atop the female youngling he was trying to free, standing to his full height he chucked the Rock at the mechanism with all his might. His throw caused him to slip on the unstable pile of rock that entrapped the girl thus he missed the mechanism slowly lowering the alter with the crystal. ' Well this is unfortunate...' he thought until he saw that the pile of rocks had diminished considerably with his tripping over the pile during his attempted destruction of the mechanism. ' This could work, I may be able to free her in time to dash to the Crystal before it is swallowed by the Ice.' Zoroku redoubled his efforts at trying to save the girl, " Speak to me Girl, so I may better locate your body under this massive pile of rock and ice." Zoroku said quickly in a calm tone, he had little time to lose and his Infra-vision could only tell him there was a warmer body, the Ice did a good job of hiding her general location, he needed to dig out her head quickly before she suffocated.

3 hours ago, Rabobankrider said:

As Gaze continues towards the speck of light, he would enter the darkness of the archway. The corridor behind him disappeared, as did the sound. Then there was a single voice, coming from the speck. It circled the youngling slowly, pulsating as it spoke. It spoke with the voice of a child, younger than Gaze judging by the sound of it 'Why did you ignore what you heard? Did you not want to help them? Did you not want to do something? Anything?' It did not sound like it was taunting the young one, merely curious as to what the answer was.

Gaze watched the floating light, somewhat taken aback by the fact that it is speaking to him. After a moment he collects himself and answers. "Of course I want to help, but I don't want to fall prey to some phantom whisper. Our master warned us to not delay in finding our shard, and chasing voices into the dark, voices that I know not to be here, seemed the definition of folly." He still shivers, remembering how hard it was to ignore the voices of his family, knowing them to be false. "I mean, unless the Masters make it a habit to transport our families to remote, hostile environments just to trick us, I'm guessing my family is still at home, my father working in his clinic, and my little sister driving them both nuts. I came here to learn to be a Jedi, not to become a meat popsicle"

"No." Tiberius spoke the word in a flat voice, "I will not kill him. I have no qualms with you killing him after besting him in battle, and if defeat you I will give the man a blade before fighting him. This is a win-win-win situation for me. There is no way I don't get what I want."

'So be it, Jedi, you can die for your principles' the shadow would hiss. Moments after, it would surge forwards, hitting the boy in the chest like a hammer, knocking him to the floor. He could see nothing but blackness, perhaps he passed out. When his eyes opened, the shadow was gone, the soldier was gone. He was alone a cavern, still filled with ash. Where the man had knelt, there was a flicker of blue. Nestled atop the ash and dust was a small blue crystal, the younglings Kyber crystal. He had passed his test, and this was his reward.

The floating light flared brightly as the child's voice burst into laughter at the younglings response. 'Most people would have struggled to avoid such things, you showed restraint, restrain that a Jedi needs. You and your friends have done well'. With a low hum, the light would stop moving, lowering to the boys shoulder height. The light would dull, revealing the small crystal within. 'If you can stop yourself giving in to those emotions, you can take this' the child's voice would say cheerily, referring to the crystal.

Zoroku would find it easier going now he had dislodged the key rocks of the pile. Soon he had a clear look at the youngling trapped beneath the pile. She wasn't one he recognized, but the temple of Corouscant was admittedly a huge building. She looked in a bad way, blood was everywhere and there were definitely a few broken bones. The younger initiates may well have not been able to stomach it. She was passing in and out of consciousness, but was sound enough to look up at the boy with fear in her eyes. 'Please help, I don't think I have long, please help'. Meanwhile the crystal on the altar was at serious risk of disappearing. He had to make a final decision, the life of the youngling, or the crystal.

Despite the time Gunda spent inefficiently hammering the ice, he is not the last one out of the caves. When he comes out through the place where the waterfall is rapidly solidifying again he looks at the others with a questioning expression on his usually dour face. "Well, did you find a crystal?" he asks the others. When they have replied, he tries his best to remain modest as he shows them the blue kyber crystal he recovered from the ice.

16 minutes ago, Rabobankrider said:

The floating light flared brightly as the child's voice burst into laughter at the younglings response. 'Most people would have struggled to avoid such things, you showed restraint, restrain that a Jedi needs. You and your friends have done well'. With a low hum, the light would stop moving, lowering to the boys shoulder height. The light would dull, revealing the small crystal within. 'If you can stop yourself giving in to those emotions, you can take this' the child's voice would say cheerily, referring to the crystal.

Gaze would smile a bit at the response, and takes the crystal in his palm. "Thanks Shardy." He says, his nerves sort of flooding out of him at that point. "You mindifIcallyouShardy?I'mcallingyouShardy.YeahShardyitisHiShardyI'mGaze." His words flowing together as he shakes off the adrenaline and other negative effects of his mental ordeal. The little thing talked to him, so he might as well give it a name. Gaze closes his fist over the small blue crystal, and turns to make his way out of the caverns before hypothermia sets in. Layers are great, but sub-zero temperatures are still sub-zero temperatures.

3 hours ago, Rabobankrider said:

Zoroku would find it easier going now he had dislodged the key rocks of the pile. Soon he had a clear look at the youngling trapped beneath the pile. She wasn't one he recognized, but the temple of Corouscant was admittedly a huge building. She looked in a bad way, blood was everywhere and there were definitely a few broken bones. The younger initiates may well have not been able to stomach it. She was passing in and out of consciousness, but was sound enough to look up at the boy with fear in her eyes. 'Please help, I don't think I have long, please help'. Meanwhile the crystal on the altar was at serious risk of disappearing. He had to make a final decision, the life of the youngling, or the crystal.

' I likely don't have time to save the girl and get the crystal...' Zoroku stared at the slowly lowering alter with a crystal sitting atop it, ' but if I return with the crystal and her blood on my hands I will likely be imprisoned or worse.' Zoroku focused his attention solely on the girl he figured he might have time to return the girl to the ship and maybe find another crystal before the waterfall would freeze over. " I will help you, stay calm I will not let you die." he stated in a calm and cold tone as only a Chiss could.

The crystals light would continue to shrink as it was held in Gaze's hand till it was no brighter than any others. It wouldn't respond to his babbling, but he would feel a strange warmth spread up his arm, as if in response. Like those before him, he had become an Padawan of the Jedi order.

Meanwhile there would be a low thud as the crystal lowered into the ground, the stone of the floor sealing above it. The crystal was gone, but the girl was still there. After a few more moments of scrabbling through the rubble, her hand was free. She would reach forward to take Zoroku's hand in a weak attempt to pull herself up. As his hand is taken, it would be as if a rope had given way. He would fall backwards, the girl having disappeared just as the alter had. Instead, he could feel something small and angular sat in the palm of his hand. Upon examination, he would find the crystal, the one from the alter. It appeared he had passed the test.

As the shadow Mandalorian prepared to strike, Tiberius left his blade pointing at the floor, he would not kill an armor bearer. "Strike me down and I win. Because, not only am I a Jedi I am first and foremost a Taung, and I will die with honor." As he finishess the shadow mandalorian strikes him down and he blacks out.

Wheb he wakes he sees the crystal sitting there and takes it, apparently it was a test. He looks around but sees no sign of either the circle of Shadow Mandalorians or the Republic soldier; as he heads out, Tiberius wonders if that was a vision of the future to come. After all relations between the Mandalorians and the Republic wee fast approaching a melting point. The thought reminded him of the rapidly refreezing ice walls and he hurriedly made his way back to the main cavern. He saw that while he was not the first, he also was not the last to return.

Meanwhile, Quell was seeing much less success than his counterparts. Every time he got near the hole in the ice, he would slide past it, bumping ino the craggy cave wall. Time and again this would happen till he had amounted a fair few bruises. He had also wasted quite a lot of time. It was impossible to tell how long he had been here, but he didn't want to overstay his welcome, not if he didn't want to be sealed up within the caves.

15 minutes ago, Rabobankrider said:

Meanwhile there would be a low thud as the crystal lowered into the ground, the stone of the floor sealing above it. The crystal was gone, but the girl was still there. After a few more moments of scrabbling through the rubble, her hand was free. She would reach forward to take Zoroku's hand in a weak attempt to pull herself up. As his hand is taken, it would be as if a rope had given way. He would fall backwards, the girl having disappeared just as the alter had. Instead, he could feel something small and angular sat in the palm of his hand. Upon examination, he would find the crystal, the one from the alter. It appeared he had passed the test.

' Curious, the blood, the girl and the alter are all gone. It all seemed to be an illusion... a vision of the force.' Zoroku was slightly confused by this it seemed all he had just experienced was a mind trick of some sort, he was told that study of the force could lead to visions of the future, or visions in general but he had never expected them to be so vivid.

He began his long walk toward the exit his crystal in his hand. He studied it closely the whole way back to the waterfall entrance. When he arrived he could see several of the other initiates had passed the test, Zoroku however went back to studying the many symbols on the wall hoping maybe his Knowledge of Sy Bisti and Basic could help him to decipher the messages on the walls of the chamber.

2 hours ago, Rabobankrider said:

Meanwhile, Quell was seeing much less success than his counterparts. Every time he got near the hole in the ice, he would slide past it, bumping ino the craggy cave wall. Time and again this would happen till he had amounted a fair few bruises. He had also wasted quite a lot of time. It was impossible to tell how long he had been here, but he didn't want to overstay his welcome, not if he didn't want to be sealed up within the caves.

Quell slammed his fists into the ice in frustration. "It's not fair!" He yelled to no one, hunched over on the slippery surface.

A voice came unbidden to Quell's mind—that of his master Jaf. Life isn't always fair, Quell, and sometimes even your best won't be good enough. But the Force is a Jedi's strength. Trust not in yourself, but in the Force.

Quell got up on the surface, wiped his tear-stained face, and walked off the ice as if it were normal ground. His shoulders sagged, but he had learned an important lesson. Sometimes, even for all your trying, you cannot help but fail when you rely only on yourself.

On Quell's sorrowful trudge back towards the entrance of the caves, there would be no sign of a crystal. On in the walls, not in the ceiling nor the floor. It seemed that he had failed his trial. It wasn't until he reached the entrance of the caves, not until he could see the master and the successful students that he would feel a slight tremor in the ground. There would be a cracking noise, and he could feel a light showering of dust on his skull, followed by a thud of something hard. Whatever it was that had clonked him on the skull would fall by chance into his hand. It was a crystal, of all things that it could have been, it was a Kyber crystal! Right in the entrance of the cave!

Meanwhile the young Chiss Jedi had made some progress with the writing within the entrance. Though it was difficult to make out much of the writing, he was able to make out some of it. The large and ornately carved script spoke of the importance of the caves, how it had been used for thousands of years for the collection of crystals, for the initiation of Jedi. It was one of the most holy sites the Jedi possessed. He even found a few much more hurriedly scratched messages. It seems that recently promoted Padawan's had left tales of their trials within the caves. There were all sorts of weird and wonderful tails of visions and trickery. It seemed that the force had a sense of humour in more than a few cases.

Quell rubbed his head and sheepishly rejoined the group. Still, he had a huge smile on his face—he had his crystal!

"It feels warm to the touch," he whispered to Gaze and Gunda, staring at the little thing.

Perig? Can you hear me? Are you alive?

Svae is reluctant to get his hopes up. He saw the cat kill him, but the force doesn't lie. Svae jumps forward and picks Perig up cradling the little bug in his hands.

2 hours ago, Rabobankrider said:

Meanwhile the young Chiss Jedi had made some progress with the writing within the entrance. Though it was difficult to make out much of the writing, he was able to make out some of it. The large and ornately carved script spoke of the importance of the caves, how it had been used for thousands of years for the collection of crystals, for the initiation of Jedi. It was one of the most holy sites the Jedi possessed. He even found a few much more hurriedly scratched messages. It seems that recently promoted Padawan's had left tales of their trials within the caves. There were all sorts of weird and wonderful tails of visions and trickery. It seemed that the force had a sense of humour in more than a few cases.

The young Chiss analyzed the markings for a good while until he was able to understand them, 'Interesting it seems most of the markings detail the history and significance of this crystal cave' after deciphering the language on the walls Zoroku, decided he would try and be more sociable, he approaches some of the Younglings who had already exited their trials. " Did any of you also have visions before you received your crystal?"

1 minute ago, Shlambate said:

The young Chiss analyzed the markings for a good while until he was able to understand them, 'Interesting it seems most of the markings detail the history and significance of this crystal cave' after deciphering the language on the walls Zoroku, decided he would try and be more sociable, he approaches some of the Younglings who had already exited their trials. " Did any of you also have visions before you received your crystal?"

"Personally, no visions for me. I did get shocked twice, though, if that's any help." Walden says to Zoroku while sitting down.

" You were shocked, strange indeed." Zoroku folded his arms in front of his chest, " I had a vision of a female Youngling trapped under a pile of rocks, my Crystal appeared when I saved her... What was most bizarre was that I was almost sure that the Crystal was on an alter across the room." The Chiss seemed to be in thought.

3 hours ago, awayputurwpn said:

"It feels warm to the touch," he whispered to Gaze and Gunda, staring at the little thing.

"And chatty!" Gaze says brightly, a grin on his face, though he offers no further elaboration on that point.

He turns at Zoroku's question and nods, waggling a hand. "Sort of? I...heard things." His previous, cheerful expression fading to a more neutral one.