I Been Diggin

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem sat in the cockpit of the small shuttle meditating as he felt the ship drop out of hyperspace. The pilots spoke up not realizing the Jedi could sense the planets strong force presence, "We have arrived master Jedi." Tem took a deep breath before responding. "Yes." Tem said simply as he stood up and walked toward the pilots seats. "Tower, this is shuttle 2241 requesting landing clearance." <This is Ilum tower, send your transport code.> "Sending now." The pilot tapped a key and after a tone sounded, the tower control responded. <Shuttle 2241, you are cleared for landing.> "We will disembark as soon as you touch down. We may be here for awhile." Tem said to the pilot as he reached for the comlink and announced that they were touching down and asked Vance to report to the cockpit.

This would be an experience for the both of Tem and his padawan, Vance. They would be taking the first step toward Vance building his own lightsaber, which was a huge step in a Jedi's journey. Tem was thankful that his padawan would be taking this step with the Jedi Sentinel, which might help them to bond even more.

Tem remembered his own trip to Ilum when he was a padawan. It was actually his first 'mission' with his master Heldo Felnar. They traveled to Ilum when Tem was only fourteen and they climbed a cliff face to reach the cave where Tem would find the green crystal that he used to build Falchion, his first and (to date) only lightsaber aside from the blue training saber he used in the Temple. It was a difficult, but rewarding experience for the young boy. It took him all of two weeks to then build his saber, through much meditating and careful work, he crafted the saber that he would call his own. He remembered how difficult it was to find the cave, they had to hike through the cold winds and snow just to reach the 300 foot cliff face that Tem found his crystal in. Once in the cave, he found his crystal rather quickly, but then started the careful and delicate process of assembling his saber, which Heldo insisted they do in the cave before leaving. Over the next fourteen days to craft the object that would become his most prized, and only, personal possession.

Tem would grow to rely on the lightsaber in many ways, from a deterrent of violence and weapon, to a tool that both through activation and inactivation proved invaluable countless times. It even worked as a 'badge' of sorts that would denote that he a Jedi.

He returned from his thoughts as he heard someone approaching the cockpit.

[Fromikeable]

Vance had gotten little rest on the trip to Illum. As soon as Tem had asked Vance to build his own saber, the padawan had been in conflict. The days journey from Coruscant had yielded little in the way of distraction to boot, allowing him to dwell upon it.

Vance looked down and grabbed the weapon at his belt. As his hand wrapped around its hilt, he could feel the familiar odd-spots, the odd texture, and the awkward way his fingers wrapped around. He raised the lightsaber to his face; it was his masters, and it said little about him. He rotated it, observing the elegant carvings and elaborate ends of the device. It immediately reminded him of Master Shon-tul. That's the problem I suppose. Vance placed it down before him. It's not mine, and it never shall be.

Despite the terrible way it felt to the padawan, he also felt difficulty in letting it go. Shon-tul had made him pledge to never attack someone with his weapon; what did it say if he made another? He wasn't afraid to fight, but he would never want to forget the values instilled upon him by his former master. He didn't want to dwell on Shon-tul, but he didn't want to forget either.

The past and the future... Can they coexist?

Vance's train of thought derailed as the shuttle speaker crackled to life. In a slightly deteriorated voice thanks to the electronics, Tem's voice requested his padawan to relocate to the bridge. Nodding to no one, Vance uncrossed his legs from his meditation pose and placed his feet firmly on the floor. He arose, smoothed out his robes, and donned his cloak, allowing the hood to stay down for now.

Vance picked up his, or rather Shon-tul's, lightsaber again. He spun it in his hands one more time, noting the features that made him smile and the features that didn't. It would never be his saber; that was impossible...

... but maybe a part of it will be.

The shuttle lurched forward slightly as Vance could tell it began to land. The padawan sighed and reattached the saber to his belt. Somber, he made for the cockpit.

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem nodded to his padawan as he entered the cockpit. The Jedi knight wondered what was going through his padawan's mind at the moment. Tem could sense some of the padawan's feeling and with little effort the Jedi could most likely cut right through the defenses in the padwan's mind, peering into the torrent of thoughts in dancing in Vance's mind, but Tem was never one to breach trust trying to read someone's mind.

The feeling that emanated strongest from the padawan was uncertainty. This was, sadly to say, a common feeling that Tem felt from his padawan, but thankfully it was starting to wane during their training. Today however, the feelings were back with renewed fervor, but that wasn't completely unexpected. Making a saber for the first time was stressful and slightly scary, one could end up making a powerful plasma bomb if it was assembled incorrectly, but Tem had faith in his padawan.

As the ship landed, Tem stood and nodded to the pilots, who in turn activated the ships access ramp. Tem then looked at his padawan, "Are you ready my Padawan?" Tem asked solemnly, placing a hand on Vance's shoulder.

As they walked down the access ramp, Tem wrapped a scarf around his head to cover his mouth and nose. When they reached the bottom of the ramp they were greeted by a space dock worker, "Welcome to Ilum master Jedi. How long are you planning on staying?" Tem looked at his padawan for a moment. "As long as it takes." Tem looked back at the dock worker, "Alright, well...You'll have fill out this form." Tem looked down at the frosty datapad. "The pilot can handle the particulars, we must be on our way." Tem waved for Vance to follow him and walked off of the landing platform toward the east, the direction of the crystal cave.

[Fromikeable]

Vance smiled a little as Tem nodded to him. The padawan's new master had helped him insurmountably in the past few weeks alone, and despite having not spent too much time with him yet, Vance could honestly say he was beginning to bond with the goggle-wearing Jedi. The fact that seemed so adept at combat when Vance could use so much improvement sometimes discouraged the padawan, but ultimately Tem's kindness and understanding made life better a little each day.

"Are you ready my Padawan?"

That's a great question. Vance nodded solemnly. He truly wasn't sure yet.

The two Jedi stepped off the shuttle as soon as gently settled on to the landing pad. Stepping into the wind of frost prompted Vance to flip up his hood, only to have to pull it down a bit farther than he would of liked to keep the wind from usurping it. As such he watched Tem's feet, wondering how he had made his saber. In truth, Vance regretted never studying it more; you could usually tell a lot about a Jedi by looking at the weapon they wielded. Vance was sure that not only could he learn about building his own saber, but also learn a bit about his master.

Tem stopped, and Vance, watching his feet, did the same. Pulling back his hood a bit, the padawan watched his master discuss the specifics of their landing with the space dock worker. After handing him an icy pad, the older Jedi mentioned to his younger counterpart to follow, and headed east. Vance followed, keeping his hood back slightly to see where he was going. The snow began to crunch under his feet, and the wind slowly blowed, causing the frozen water to fall at an angle.

Vance took a deep sigh, breathing in chilly air. "This is going to be very important, isn't it Master?"

[Charlie Sharper]

The icy air was far from inviting, but Tem didn't let it deter him as he walked toward the exit of the docking port. "This is going to be very important, isn't it Master?" The tall padawan asked. Tem thought for a moment before answering, the process of building a lightsaber was an important one to be sure, but he didn't want his padawan to over think the process. He finally spoke as he turned to Vance, "Like many things in life Vance, it will be what you make it. Do not take it too lightly, it will be the weapon you will defend your life and the lives of others with, but keep things in prospective, it is only an object, it will never be greater then the person that wields it."

Tem turned back toward the mountains and motioned for Vance to follow. The rest of the trip would be arduous journey, but his padawan was strong and Tem was sure that Vance would be able to meet the challenges of the climb.

As they grew closer, Tem thought about his padawan, it was still odd for the Jedi to think himself a teacher, but he decided to embrace it. Tem enjoyed the thought despite how foreign it felt.

Tem looked into the snowy horizon and saw the mountainside growing closer and closer as they walked, but the weather was getting more and more treacherous by the minute. Tem wiped the snow from his goggles, which started to flicker slightly. He knew that his goggles weren't exactly the pinnacle of technology and they were feeling the effects of the cold weather. Tem knew the flickering wasn't exactly an indicator that his goggles were soon to fail, but if they started to dim, then he would have a problem on his hands.

The Jedi looked back at his padawan, who was trudging through the snow, "One more mile, and we'll make camp." Tem yelled back over the howling wind.

After roughly thirty minutes, Tem signaled for Vance to stop. "We'll make camp here." Tem set down his bag and started making camp. After they had assembled the shelter and fastened it to the ground, Tem stepped into the small hut and placed a portable warming unit in the center of the hut, and once he turned it on, it began to warm the modest dwelling.

[Fromikeable]

The two Jedi trekked on for hours, crossing icy plains and bounding about slippery slopes, all the while embracing the cold's harsh sting. Vance had always liked the cold, but after drenching his cloak in the constant barrage of snow, he was definitely reconsidering his preference. Even still, he'd rather freeze to death than die of dehydration.

A few hours in, the mountains began to loom ominously on the horizon. As time passed and steps were taken, the gargantuan bodies of rock hung ever closer in the sky, a stark challenging to the otherwise white sky. The mountains spanned on for as far as Vance could see, and between the buffeting precipitation and setting sun, the padawan couldn't predict their height.

Tem turned around and proclaimed that they'd soon set up camp. Vance had no idea how he would measure out a mile, but after another 30 minutes of trudging through the landscape, the elder Jedi dropped their pack and began setting up the shelter. Vance assisted by driving in the pegs, which proved to be quite the challenge thanks to the ice layer everything seemed to be covered by, and before he could say "Frostbite" the structure was up and the heater was on.

Vance settled down near the heater, taking off his dampened cloak and spreading it out nearby. He warmed his hands, glad to be rid of the day's constant companion. That was all before his stomach growled and he realized that he was starving. Plunging his hand into the same bag the habitat had come in, Vance obtained two packs of rations, one of which he tossed to his master. The padawan proceeded to eat in silence, half out of utter desire to eat, and half out of uncertainty of what to discuss. Quite frankly, he had been focusing on the cold to keep his mind from wandering.

Unfortunately for him, with an idle mind well fed, many ideas are bred. Vance began to consider what the caves would look like. Would they be filled with crystals jutting out in giant spiky pods of glowing light? Or would they hidden by other minerals, demanding to be unearthed and recovered? These questions brought the padawan's attention to his master.

"Master? What are the caves like?"