The Training Never Ends (Val, Anackis)

[Keilara]

Ilum...

Keilara rubbed her arms briskly to ward off the lingering chill from the climb to the cave. It was warmer in the cave than outside it but not by much. The young Miraluka appeared to be shivering. Shrugging out of her extra cloak, Kei draped it over her shoulders and went to see if she could find Val.

It was an odd situation she pondered as she climbed over some rocks blocking a part of the tunnel Val had disappeared down. Less Master and Padawan, more Master and companion or equal as both girls were nearly the same age and Kei was merely missing her trials before being able to take a Padawan of her own.

She'd built her lightsaber, not that she enjoyed even turning it on, survived the loss of her first master, forced abandonment by her second, and now she was with someone her own age just to get through the last trial.

A sigh escaped her, the Trial of Skill... she was not in any way looking forward to having to complete her final task. Slipping her hand down, she rested it briefly on the lightsaber that her second master, Master Vreem, had guided her in completing. It contained Master Oona's crystals and the memories of the Jedi who had so kindly and for so short a time guided her through her grief and kept her on the right path. She still had hope that she could convince Val and Rein to join the blades.... convince them that Vreem was right in his decision to move to counter the Sith.

Kei had been unorthodox in her beliefs from the time she had been selected as Master Oona's padawan. It was her firm belief, she thought as she ducked beneath an outcropping of rock and into an open chamber, that it wasn't the action that made something evil but the thought behind it. So many of the Jedi teachings were focused on act and feeling, but even a feeling could be the right feeling as long as the thought behind it was right and good. There was such a thing as righteous anger...

Hmmm, that's odd... I could have sworn I saw Val disappear down that tunnel... Kei's thoughts cut off and she began searching for her new companion. Very weird...

Shrugging the thought aside Kei wandered over to a frosted over control panel and began dusting the frost and dirt from it.

I wonder...

It looked like an old simulator control panel. Pushing a button, the air around her flickered and she could hear the soft humming of gears and processors. The spine tingling cackle of a stereotypical dark jedi hologram resonated throughout the chamber and Kei smiled. While she may not like turning her lightsaber on, she did enjoy using the force... even when forced into combat. And no simulation was going to choose not to fight her.

The force was in everything and Kei had discovered during her time with Vreem how much at peace she felt simply immersing herself in it. While far from proficient in lightsaber skills, she had begun training herself in meditation while fighting. It had been a solo endeavor, one she engaged in late at night when the temple was still and quiet and it was easier to bring her mind into a peaceful state.

It took a few minutes for the old processors to pull up the image of the sith and it still flickered before forming a solid mass that Kei could see... and she was ugly. Kei stifled a smile and relaxed her body, her hand dropping down to grasp her lightsaber, freeing it and flipping it on. The steady hum gave her a focus point and letting her eyes fall partially closed, Kei began to stretch out with her senses. The holograph stirred the air, particles of dust flickering up and around.

"So who are you?"

The image desolidified and flickered as the sith laughed. "My name is unimportant... you'll be dead soon..."

Kei could nearly see the rivers of the force running through the room, could feel them creeping through her and around her. She could see small animals in the walls and sense the bugs that had adapted to the cold crawling on the floor, their shapes shimmering as the force flowed around and through them as well.

She waited for the hologram to shift closer, attempting to expand her vision of the force to the walls, trying to see it run over rocks and pebbles. Sighing when she couldn't get her view of the force to expand more, Kei took a step forward her frustration blinding her to the smooth round pebble sitting in a small puddle of ice.

"Oh hell.."

She rocked and wobbled and finally pitched forward, lightsaber still ignited, stabbing the hologram through the chest and falling hard onto the stone floor.

"Figures..."

Her ankle was throbbing and she sat up painfully, the hologram's body flickering out. "Stupid rock..."

It was frustrating how much she failed at combat. Flicking her lightsaber off, she carefully pulled her legs together, leaning forward and checking her ankle. Thankful it appeared to only be sprained, she decided that since it was once again peaceful and quiet she would meditate. If Val or Rein needed her they would be able to find her easily.

She set the offending rock in front of her and let her eyes fall closed, drawing once again on the force and tracing the currents of it as it flowed through the room. There. There was the little rock. Focusing just on the force around the rock, she placed it on a small platform of current, like a water fountain. Once certain that the rock was stable, she expanded her vision and picked up another pebble a few inches away, doing the same.

Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out

Her body relaxed and her mind sought out another... and another... Soon most the pebbles around her were floating, a small waterfountain of rocks as they swooped and dropped in time with the image she was focusing on in her mind.

Breathe in.... breathe out.... breathe in... breathe out

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

Cold, desolate. No, worse... freezing. Colder than any other thought or memory that could shiver into her mind, biting with its icy teeth to her bones and scathing her skin with the scorching feeling of frostbite trying to force its deadly way into her body. And not even desolate, just a pure uninhibited wasteland of snow and icy haze, preventing true view for anything more than a few feet before sight was lost to the endless blizzards. She didn't regret coming here - taking their ship from Coruscant to Metellos, and then letting the Force guide them to Ilum through the radiant energies of the crystals. Their ship was docked in the Jedi Temple and would be safe in its position whilst its occupants traversed the wilds. Ascending the cliff face against the battering winds had been a dangerous feat, and the Jedi Knight had remained at the back to provide support to those climbing ahead of her, ensuring no deaths on this ritualistic mission to the crystal caves. Tradition implored that a Jedi create their lightsaber here, and it was a custom she was fond of.

In the cave now, the only solace was the inability for the weather outside to invade the stable sanctuary. Leaving her two followers at the entrance, with explicit instructions to watch each other's backs, she had set off into the depths of the rocks to investigate usefulness. With a tiny change in temperature present from the brilliant crystals, she drew back the hood of her large, fur-lined coat which offered her considerable warmth against the cold. Her long red hair was revealed, and proved itself stiff from the climate, a hand brushed against the lines, finding ridges and troughs in the hair as the fingers passed across the top, the results from the walk. A sigh escaped her concerning the journey that had not even been that long in relation to some treks she'd underwent in the past. The rest of the dark coat remained tightly bound across her front, conserving her warmth and concealing the Jedi Knight robes underneath. Her lightsaber, however, rested on the side of her coat's belt, and as she wandered through the caves now it seemed to sing with the green and blue crystals embedded into the walls.

They were here, primarily, because of the first padawan she had undertaken. Her little Miraluka had joined her before Metellos, and she was certain he would benefit from a lightsaber of some kind to wield and provide an additional option as well as his Force powers. Ilum was the authority on saber crystals, so to speak, and as said before it was where she would take any Jedi who intended on their first saber. They were also here because of the second 'padawan' that had joined her in Coruscant. Kei was almost the same age as herself, and a single trial away from become a Knight in her own right. It would certainly be awkward working with her, especially as a supposed 'superior' in rank, despite the closeness of their abilities and training. It didn't fly well with her, and though it was indeed her that had suggested and accepted the relationship, suddenly it wasn't feeling so sturdy or feasible. She still wanted to do it, of course, and help the woman to be promoted to lead her own life and develop herself in whatever way would be most desiring to her.

There was still the Trial of Skill though, and that meant that she'd need to defeat a particularly good opponent. The Sith were offering a wonderful chance here for her to carry this out, assuming Kei was ready to do battle with a Dark side user and lock blades with them. Was she really ready to present her own side in a battle and defeat the darkness that would plague the galaxy? A darkness that would corrupt the soul? Pressing a hand to her chest she considered herself in that matter, wondering how far from the Jedi teachings she truly was at times, whether it was right or wrong that she was considering going against the Code and the Council and joining the Blades to fight. Fight or defend? Thoughts of Revan burrowed into her mind's eye when the idea of going against her upbringing and culture to wage war against the enemies of the Jedi and the Republic came up. Revan had done it with the Mandalorians, she was now doing it against Dark Jedi and the Sith Empire alike. How long before she damaged her soul and connection to the Force beyond repair?

Stepping out from what had been a corridor-like tunnel, the walls exploded away from her and developed into a wide open cavern with plenty of open space. An abundance of crystals littering her gaze in varying hues of blue and green, like a great ocean of rays of light, the cold, frozen walls lit exclusively by the small shards. Pillars were dotted around the floor, sloping from thick bases to thin columns, widening again as they spread their tops across the ceiling and embraced the rooftops of the room. Lights danced from within the towers of rock and ice, scattering yet more eerie light throughout the dry air and illuminating what appeared to be several ledges embedded into walls, and some natural walkways between pillars and ledges. Whether these walkways had been carved or were just coincidentally arranged in such a way, however, provoked wonderings in the woman as she began her exploration of the room. The floor was anything but even, but there were no jagged spikes or jutting sharp edges. It would be safe in here assuming there was no cave ins or attacks.

Content with the state of the room, her heels twisted around and led her back in the direction she had came from, where she had left the Padawans at the cave mouth. Her arms wrapped themselves around her stomach for warmth and protection against the cold that forced her breath into physical form, wisps dancing in front of her wildly. Her head suddenly tipped up, glancing as she recognised the Force signature of Kei in a room not far from her, just off to the side. With a glance in Rein's direction, she altered course to check on the older of the pair, climbing up a few frozen stone steps and arriving to the view of stones being stacked by the Force-using woman who had her back to the Knight. Stepping stealthily and silently up behind the girl, there was the immediate whip as her saber appeared in her right hand, and the green blade fired itself forward over the Padawan's shoulder, illuminating her in the green light. The dangerous edge hovered an inch away from skin as Val spoke softly.
"A Jedi should not leave herself open to attacks such as this, Kei. But I'm sure you knew that already..." The blade slowly slid back into its hilt without the arm that held it moving at all. "Come, let's get Rein and head inside. I found a good spot."