Group Therapy {Miri, Anackis, Ziggy, Veygo}

[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. Leading her multiple followers from the entrance, with explicit instructions to be aware of their surroundings, they had set off into the depths of the rocks to investigate useful areas. 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 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 Mirian and her two padawans, who each needed their own sabers. Mirian was now a close companion of Val, following their first unintentional duel which had otherwise been incredibly invaluable to each of them. The Miraluka was older than her by a few years, but still retained a youth that was deceptive to Val and made her wonder about the accuracy of her claim of age. Her padawans - a little blind girl named Veygo, and a young boy named Tem who had sight problems. In fact, between the 5 of them, Val had the only truly working eyes.

This would be a training session for the two Knights, and a lightsaber building session for the Padawans who would eventually be joining them in learning alternative forms and lightsaber styles. And then? And then they'd be off to do missions together. Spread peace and justice, and do combat with the Dark Jedi of the galaxy, assuming they were ready for such a meeting. 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.

[Miri Mojito]

Mirian had not been initially happy with her choice to come to Ilum, despite the optimisim she had during the initial trip. All of it had faded now as she tredged through the snow of this baren iceball of a planet. The weather as always was well below freezing, like it always was, and like it always would be. The cold winds seemed to cut through her body stealing what little warmth she had saved, and replacing it with icy chills that sent shiver up her spine. It was certainly cold, cold enough to break a persons will, or forge it into steel. Aside from the large deposit of crystals, that was the reason the Jedi built a temple out here, to make them stronger, more capable, more tolerable. In truth this was nothing more than a forge to make stronger Jedi. While not a bad idea, in fact it had been proven to work, it was not a good idea either.

Mirian looked over her group through the force. She was towards the back of the pack, right in front of Val. In front of her several smaller figures also trudged on through the snow and wind, they were of course that padawans. Mirian wondered how they were doing, though she assumed they were doing alright as none of them had fallen back at all. They had also managed to climb a peticularily hazerdous cliff face, and Mirian was certainly proud of how well the padawans had done. Now however they were not far from the cave entrances at all, they could even see them just ahead of where they were. Mirian let out a loud sigh of relief, though in these winds no one would have heard it, as they were finally going to find some shelter. She had never been here before, having found crystals from other systems to make her own sabers. This was however an important trial for yung jedi, and it was one that she believed her padawans could handle.

Inside the caves proved to be much different than being outside. Here the wind could not touch them, and as a result the snow no longer whipped their faces. It was also warmer in these caves, no doubt the energy from the crystal deposits radiated some heat into the well insulated caverns. A smile rossed the Miraluka's lips now as she lowered her fur lined hood, exposing her cherry red hair and pale skin. It also exposed the, once black but now covered in white frost, cloth that covered where here eyes would have been. She still smiled now as she turned her head from side to side, allowing her self to fully see everything it had to offer. Even though they were just inside the mouth of the cave, Mirian could still see several smaller crystal deposits that had already formed. She could also feel the energy of the force flowing through these caves, like nothing she had ever felt before.

"Tem, Veygo... I want you to reamian aware of what you are feeling while we are here. This is a sacred place untouched by the taints of the darkside. Here the force is pure, and good... Feel how it flows like a river, with its own currents..." Her voice was small but firm, like a mother instructing her children. Mirian also took a moment now to brush away some of the frost that had collected on the fabric over her eyes, as well as to brush some of the snow off the front of her heavy cloak. The cloak itself was made out of a specially treated leather, to leave it water proff, and fully wind proof. Inside it was lined with thick Bantha fur so as to provide insulation and keep the Miraluka warm. The bottom was made of several strips of more durable leather, as it dragged on the ground to preven the wind from being able to blow up under it. Underneath said cloak Mirian wore her normal garb, though her boots were full fotted now so as to keep her toes free from frost bite.

Mirian took several more steps into the cave, and then gestured for her padawans to follow. They were here after all to look for lightsaber crystals, though not just any crystal, but instead to find one that reacted with them. This would be the first step to building their own unique blades. Tem already had a working saber, but Mirian had insisited that he still build another of his own, so that he understands how they work, and not just how to use them. This was after all an important aspect that all Jedi should know. Mirian was aware as well that Veygo had never used an actual saber before, her only experience was with the training sabers the temple provided. Despite that she believed her padawan capable of handling a real saber, and with time, building one as well.

As the group travelled further into the cave, Mirian was in awe as to how many saber crystals there actually were. They had entered the main cave section now, and it had opened up considerably from the corridors that they had just come through. All around them dozens of crystal formations grew from the floor, roof, and walls, from odd angles. They ceertainly glowed with the energies of the force, casting eerie blue and green lights to iluminate the cave, But Mirian could not see the light, instead she was able to see everything through the force. "Now be mindful of the force, and do not take anything that does not truly call to you. And most importantly....take your time young ones as i do not know when we may be able to return to see this again, so enjoy it."

With a quiet sigh she turned to Val, and approached the Jedi. Once she was in a close range she spoke in a small tone, almost a whisper so that the padawans would not hear. "Please... I wish to know what it looks like. the colors..." This question had stemed from her early days as a youngling, when other students used to make fun of her for not knowing the colors. It was something that she would never know, and it left her feeling robbed in a sence. Mirian knew that without eyes she was free to see through the force, and see things for what they truly are, but sometimes... sometimes she wanted to see things for how they appeared.

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem rubbed some of the frost off his goggles with his mitten, the sub arctic weather was playing havoc on his eyes, though he was determinded to not slow down because of it, he couldn’t get enough of the adrenaline rush. As he jumped from one ledge to the other, he couldn’t suppress the smile that formed as he looked back at the others, he had to admit that he was having the most fun he had in months. He reached back and held out a hand to Veygo, “Here, take my hand” he offered to the young Miralukan, he felt a certain kinship to her ever since they were introduced by Mirian, they shared a common trait, they were both half Miralukan, which was something that Tem always struggled with, never feeling like he belonged with humans or Miralukans. He took her hand and picked her up, lifting her to the next ledge as both Val and Mirian helped Rein up to the ledge, he hadn’t had much time to get to know Rein yet, but he felt odd around the boy, he just couldn’t figure out why.

Tem looked at the next ledge, it was a good four feet away, and the fall was obviously deadly, but the young boy thought nothing of it as he jumped. Throwing out the ice picks he held in each hand, he landed, albeit unsteadily on the other side. His foot slipped and he almost fell if not for the picks being lodged in the side of the ice. He regained his footing and heard a shout from both Mirian and Val, something about being reckless, but the boy continued to climb unhindered, he slammed his ice pick one over the other as he scaled the icy wall. He then looked back down to see the two Knights helping their padawans, and attached a line to one of his picks, then jumped down towards the others, taking Veygo’s hand again, lifting her his back, “Hold on.” He yelled over the winds, using the force to give him the strength to climb back up to where his pick was “We’re almost to the top.” He then jumped to the next ledge and then climbed pick over pick to the summit.

He finally reached the top and let Veygo climb off of him before pulling himself up, sat down away from the edge, “Wasn’t that fun?” he asked Veygo, he received an odd look from her sightless eyes as they waited for Rein and the two Jedi Knights. Once they arrived he took the lead again walking toward the cave. Once inside he pulled down the black hood of his coat and rubbed the frost off his goggles. The chamber was lit by only the light of the thousands of crystals. It was dim and the boy looked around for a little while, his goggles seemed to be on the fritz again. He flicked a small switch on them and they did nothing, so he closed his eyes and pulled them off, slowly opening his eyes again. He had been hoping that the light from the crystals wouldn’t be enough to hurt his eyes and his theory was proved right. He reveled the unprotected sight for a few moments before Mirian spoke up "Tem, Veygo... I want you to reamian aware of what you are feeling while we are here. This is a sacred place untouched by the taints of the darkside. Here the force is pure, and good... Feel how it flows like a river, with its own currents... Now be mindful of the force, and do not take anything that does not truly call to you. And most importantly....take your time young ones as I do not know when we may be able to return to see this again, so enjoy it." Tem did indeed enjoy the view, for it was a wonderful sight to behold and was only made sweeter by the fact he could see it with his own eyes.

[veygo]

[glow=red,2,300]I can't see anything![/glow]

It was an odd thing to say for a bling girl...but it was true. Even with force sight the world around her was a giant blue blur. The only thing she could make out was frog, who rested deep in her way over stuffed jacket. She had put on 3 different ones in order to keep frog safe and warm on the trip up. If not for Tem helping her she may of never made it to the cave.

SHe now stood inside the massive crystal cave with the others. Her sight was no better in here....well it was slightly better. The crystals were all a bright glowing blue, the rock a duller blue. If she had not been use to seeing things like this during her time with her mother she would have been completely blind again.

Veygo was not really listening. Way far off...she could see something. A single crystal that was different from all the others. It appeared as a bright bright pink, and it almost seemed to call out to her. Frog wiggles out from the jacket now, wearing an odd small jacket that just fit the amphibious critter, and ribbited. The sound echoed around the cave. Veygo began to head for the crystal as frog works its way to crawl up under her jackets furry hood.

Slowly Veygo moves for the crystal. She could almost swear she heard a voice...it called to her...filled her with a feeling of safety and love. She seemed to be unaware of anything else. After a twist or two she found herself standing in front of the crystal. It jutted out from the wall. It glowed brighter as she neared it. Looking at it made Veygo feel warm inside. She reaches out to touch the crystal with gloved hands. It glowed a blinding bright pink now as she placed her hand on it.

[glow=red,2,300]This one...it feels...good. [/glow]

Veygo released it for the moment and turns to see who may have followed.

[Anackis]

The climb had been almost more then his weak frame could handle, but he had refused to let it show. The chilling wind would not have been so bad if it had not braught back that ever so presant pain running down his arms. Those two scars were reminders to him, along with the one on his face. Trust was something he had little left of in people.

He tried to keep his mouth closed to stifle the coughing, but his efforts were wearing on him almost as much as the inicial climb to the cave. He let out the all to familiar hacking and acted as if nothing were wrong.

Rein resented the other two padawans and the ease in which they had scaled the cliff. He envied their strength as he watched them, still seemingly full of energy, head off at their masters command.

Crystals. They had come so far through so much for this moment. Rein would not admit his excitement or allow himself to simply run off with the others.

Run, he thought to himself and lets a small smirk creep up the side of his mouth. That was not something he enjoyed doing in the least. He let out a few more weezing coughs before looking back to his master. Mirian was approching her, now that her padawans were out of the way she could have a more private conversation her. If rein wasn't standing so far off, he was sure, she wouldn't have spoken with Val at all.

He thought of using the force, of listening in. But he decided better of it, instead occupying his time with glancing around the cave. There seemed to be a million different crystals, each giving off its own force aura, as everything did. Some seemed much brighter then others, some dim as if about to die out. Though the force was strong and pleasant, Rein felt nothing in particular calling him here at the entrance of the cave.

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

How best to describe the marvel of a crystal cave to someone who had not seen one before? How best to even describe anything to someone who has never seen? Force sight, it was not true sight, and did not offer the unique properties her own eyes did. In a way Val also wished she could see what the cave looked like through the eyes of the Miraluka, but there would not be time for that. She had asked so kindly, also, so there would be no fair reason for her not to answer her. Looking around she wondered how best to describe the beautiful greens and blues that shone like magical lights, illuminating the figures of the three little padawans running or otherwise wandering from wall to wall. Fairy lights? Stars?It was difficult, but finally she placed some ideas together within her mind and drew herself around to a flat stone on the corner of a wall to sit upon. Pushing herself flat against the cave wall, she brought her legs up against her chest and hummed softly before finally speaking to Mirian, inclining her head for the Jedi to come sit beside her and keep her company.

"They're like children of the Force, each one of them. They surround the cave and each light is like a shining sensation. They mix with one another like ripples in a pond, and there are areas of blue, areas of green... areas where the two mix, and there are of course shadows. I think the darkness serves only to exaggerate the light. This cave... the way it looks, the way it feels... it's as though the cave is alive. Like the crystals sing through colour." She felt it incredibly unfair that she was speaking of such things to a woman who could not see, but that was what the Miraluka had asked, and so Val had offered Mirian that much. The human trusted that the Miraluka could see what the crystals were like, even if it was her own vision style and not the same as what Val was using. It was unique, with its own strengths and weaknesses, and in the case of the rest of her group, it required the loss of sight - permanently or in certain lights, and to different levels.

Val's head tilted back, eyes closing to stare at the back of her eyelids towards the ceiling. Her breath ghosted out past her lips, leaving smokey trails of wispy cloud swirling from her mouth as it passed towards the roof of the cave. Hands slipped back within sleeves, and wrapped around the knees to bring her body to a compact shape, relaxing into the cool of the surrounding rocks. Her recent thoughts suddenly made her wonder more about the crystals, but not as much as she was now thinking about Force sight. To be without seeing was one thing, but to be able to see only though the Force? Was that not some sort of punishment in itself?
"Mirian...?" She approached the subject carefully, for whatever reason, and paused quite a few times through her sentence. "Force sight... what's it like? I mean I've never experienced it before and, well... do people look different in it and stuff?"

[Miri Mojito]

((OOC: Just a note. Veygo will no longer be in this thread. Me thinks we should continue on as if she were not here at all.))

Mirian smiled as she looked back over her shoulder to better keep track of the pair of padawans, Tem and Rein. She let out a quiet sigh as she turned her ttention back towards Val, only to find the woman had wandered offf to a flat stone that she had now sat upon. She had pulled her legs u p to her chest and with a quick incline of her head had gestsured to Mirian to come and sit next to her. With another smile the Miraluka obliged and briskly walked across the cavern and pulled up a seat next to her companion. The rock ledge was cold for sure, and she wondered if ti was nothing more than a block of ice. Luckily however the coat she wore to protect her from the harsh colds of this planet, was indeed keeping her from catching a chill on her new seat.

Mirian listened now intently as Val spoke, describing the sites of the crystals to her. For her the concepts of light and shadows, and colors were nothing more than that. They were abstract ideas that she would never be able to grasp, but never the less she loved to hear about how the world looked. From how Val had discribed the caves they were absolutly beautiful and for a moment Mirian longed to see them like other do. Alas this longing faded quickly as Val had turned the question back on herself, wondering how things would look through the force.

Mirian had never leant much thought to how things appeared to her. She never saw it as even seeing but now that she thought about it it was indeed a sight unlike anything else she would ever really know. The anwser to the Jedi's question came easily to her and she did not hesitate to anwser. "To see through the force is to see without restrictions. Colors, and light no longer exist. And through it no one can hide who they are. Its like being able to see the living force inside of everyone and everything, how it moves and interacts with everyone and everything else..." Though the anwser had formed easily in her mind she suddenly realised that it had not sounded so clear when she described it. In truth the only way to truly understand force sight was in fact to experience it.

She turned her attention back to the two padawans for a moment, just to check on their progress and make sure they had no questions or concerns in regards to the caves. Mirian remained aware that choosing a crystal for a ligthsaber was a very personal matter, and one that she could not guide her pupil in. "Let me know if either of you need any assitance... in the Mean time master Val and myself will be rigth here." She turned now to face Val again. This time she took the womans hand gently in her own. This kind of gesture was not one uncommon among the Jedi as many masters used it in a way to better sync up with their padawans when trying to teach various methods of meditative force control. But given their current confussing relationship Mirian hoped that this would not be misconstruded as a flirtatious advance.

"Close your eyes Val... Release your emotions and feelings... Relax and focus on the sound of my voice." She knew it might be harder to focus on only the sound of her voice given the extreme colds, but being a jedi she hoped val would be able to block out some of the external stimuli. "All that should remain is the force. When you block out the living world you can better feel the force itself. This is the first step to seeing it the way i do... With time and practice we will get to a point where you to can use the force to see

[Anackis]

Rein let out an audible sigh and slowly made his way further into the cave. Dispite the shelter provided by the cave from the chilling wind, Rein couldn't help but pull his cloak tighter around himself. He felt as if he were in a constant shiver, his frail body convulsing slightly against the cold.

The crystals seemed endless in their supply. How was he supposed to choose one? Was it bigger is better? Or maybe a smaller more refined crystal was better. He had been told that finding his crystal was a personal thing, personally he didn't care. Any of them should be fine. But if he just grabbed the first one he saw Master Therin would probably be suspicious. And so he continued walking into the cave, staring at the walls and the glow of the force each crystal gave off.

This task seemed more like an excuse to get rid of him for a while. He knew he was a burden at times. Val had to loath having him around constantly. He really didn't see any real usefulness he had been, especially there on Metellos. Thought thought braught new pain to those scars on his arms. She had tried to leave him behind once. Why not again here in this frozen excuse for a planet.

He glanced back at Tem, the young padawan seemed full of energy and almost excited to be here. Tem turned his head towards him and Rein quickly continued on, unsure if the boy was looking at him or not. Reins excitement was washed away by his worries. He anticipated his first light saber, the tool of protection. Maybe things would have been different on Metellos had he had one then. Then he could have saved the padawan. Then he could have been useful.

He could not help but wonder why the council had made him a padawan instead of simply shipping him off to farm the land like many other useless hopefuls. He paused, not far from a wall of the cave. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he was not even paying attention to where he was going. He stared at the wall for a moment. It looked like the rest of the cave though a bit less populated with crystals. He shook his head and turned to find another wall to glance at, but as he did something seemed to call to him. He stood very still and pulled at the force, watching, listening. Slowly he turned around and looked back at the wall before him. High up on a small ledge he saw it. The crystal called to him, and instantly he knew it was the one.

[Charlie Sharper]

(OOC: sorry it took so long for a response)

Tem looked back at the others, the two Knights where sitting together on a slab of ice, while Rein was walking around, he then looked over at Tem, or at least Tem felt a gaze on him, only to quickly avert his gaze. Tem still felt suspicious of the other Padawan, but he pushed the thoughts away for now, he needed to be looking for a crystal, but he couldn’t really focus on anything. His excitement over not having to wear those annoying goggles was getting the most of his attention, he looked around unhindered by there artificial hues and took in every detail with his own site, the colors and shapes of the crystals intrigued him and he began touching them, feeling the connection that they held to the force.

He was walking along the walls when he heard something, something like a whisper in a fierce wind. Tem looked around for the source, but he saw nothing, except Rein walking a distance away and Mirian and Val even father away when he heard it again. He looked behind him down the cavern; he saw a slight glow that eclipsed the rest in the distance. Interested he began walking toward it.

He wondered down the cavern, drawn to the pale light like a moth to the flame. As he approached it grew brighter and brighter, and he felt a strange pull toward the source of the light. After a few minutes, Tem finally reached the source of the light, it was a green crystal that seemed to shine brighter then the others around it, he was fixated and slowly reached forward and grabbed the crystal, stowing it securely in his bag, then turning back to find what had become of the others.