[CLOSED] Tsume's Trial

[Prancing Yawn]

The council chamber was abnormally dark. The only lighting was a strangely shaped lamp, set on a pedestal in the center of the room. A blue crystal was embedded inside, which let off a dim glow, pulsating from time to time. It showed the Grandmaster's face, who sat behind it in a cross-legged position on the floor, - was he meditating or simply waiting? - eyes shut and breaths quiet, but deep, but seemingly lifeless.

The late Loremaster had told Garth about this Padawan some time ago. A special case, no doubt, and he'd been watching him in his own way for quite some time. He was a promising fighter and practitioner of the Force.. but had he overcome the most important obstacle? Today, they would find out..

Tsume would either be a Jedi Knight, or a failure.

 

[Nevermourn]

A massive, jet black canine walked uncertainly into the council chambers, clad in a simple black robe, nothing fancy. At his side, hidden beneath his long, flowing clothing was a newly made lightsaber, crafted by his own hands. The padawan that stood now in the eerie, low light of the chamber was called Tsume, a former Sith, and he had been called here to face to Grandmaster and become a knight. Or become an outcast.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, spilling over his horribly scarred muzzle and dampening his fur. Obviously, he was nervous, but who wouldn't be? To many questions ran through his head. What if he failed? Would he be exiled and shunned? The thought made him want to turn and flee from the chamber. He had worked so hard to become what he was now. It was to late to turn back.

Tsume's crimson gaze scanned the chamber and settled on Garth, sitting patiantly as if meditating. Nervously, the massive Shistavanen made his way toward who he knew to be the Grandmaster and waited to be awknowledged. Ready to begin his test, whatever it might be.

 

[Prancing Yawn]

The Grandmaster's levitating stance ceased, and he rose to his feet, turning around. His face was lit up by the blue orb - the only part of his body easily visible with the lighting.

The door zoomed shut behind Tsume with a characteristic pneumatic hiss. Garth finally spoke, words slightly echoing in the room.

"Welcome, Knight Tsume. You know why you are here."
Briefly, he paused, looking down at the orb-lamp.

"Are you prepared to begin? There will be no turning back."

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume watched as the Grandmaster turned to face him, only his face lit by the wavering blue light. Suddenly, the door zoomed shut, and it took all his might not to turn and panick. What was going on? Taking in a deep breath, he accepted the welcome with a nod and in a shaky voice, replied. "If I was not prepared, I would not be here." He stated kindly, not trying to be rude. He was much to terrified to do anything rude at the moment. What would his test be?

 

[Prancing Yawn]

Without any other response, Garth simply nodded.

In the next moment, large tendrils of sapphire energy would erupt from the orb, wrapping around Tsume's wrists and holding him down from moving, though they would be painless. Another tendril would lash out towards his head. For a split second he'd feel it wrapping around, then.. pure whiteness, for ten seconds. Only the shadow of Garth's face remained.

The Shistavenen's conscious would fade in to a completely different scene. He was standing atop the edge of a cliff. Behind him, and all around him, and below him on the cliff, was simply a hazy, smoked mist. Rising up from the cloud were wooden poles of different lengths, randomly placed about the haze. Barely visible across massive the sea of fog was the top of a cliff, similar to the one Tsume was standing on. The Grandmaster's commanding voice echoed out into the Padawan's ears.

"Your first test is of the physical. It should be no trouble for a Padawan of your physical prowess. Traverse the course, and reach the other landing.

Good luck."

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume gasped as the tendrils reached toward him, but he fought the urge to whip out his lightsaber and hack at them. He knew it would be no use. Besides, Garth wasn't trying to kill him, was he? As they wrapped around his wrists he felt no searing pain. Not even when another glowing tendril wrapped around his head. He tried not to panic as his vision faded white.

When his vision came back into focus, he was on a cliff that rose steeply from an ocean of fog. From the fog rose other objects, wooden poles, and across the cloudy sea rose another cliff. The Grandmaster's voice rang in his head as he studied his new surroundings. This should be easy.

After finding the path he would take, he stepped to the edge and resisted the urge to look down. There was probably nothing there anyway. He gathered his strength and called out for aid from the force, and lept to the first pole, the closest one. It seemed sturdy enough.

 

[Prancing Yawn]

At first, the poles would seem quite sturdy, none of them even shaking an inch with the pressure of Tsume's massive feet. As he progressed, however, the 'terrain' would gradually change. The poles would either be shorter or longer. Some would lengthen while he was standing on them, others would dangerously drop just in time for a good misplaced step. Others were completely transparent, and his furry foot would completely drop through them. He'd have to listen to the Force to tell him where to step - or sooner or later, he'd fall beneath that mist, to face whatever was there..

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume lept to the next pole, this one was smaller, but sturdy and after a probing from the force, it was proved solid. The next pole was much taller, Tsume had to use the force to grab it in his massive hands, but his weight seemed to be pulling it down. The pole was sinking into the mist.

Quickly, Tsume hauled himself onto the pole and used the force to scan the mist for another solid object, he had no time to look, he lept blindly to where he had felt a pole and luckily, this one seemed solid. His foot hit the top roughly and he nearly toppled over, but he managed to regain his balance through the force and probe around for another solid pole to leap on, avoiding the illusions he had just noticed around him.

 

[Prancing Yawn]

Two of the shorter poles, about twelve feet in front of Tsume, would raise out of the mist about ten feet away from each other, and turn horizontally onto it's 'side' to point directly at Tsume. Slowly they would start to rocket towards the Shistavenen, picking up speed with every milisecond.

One, then, started to spin, the rotation almost instantly matching speed of the stick's traveling towards Tsume. Then, the other would follow suit, and even after that both of the sticks would seem to completely split in half, cutting through the mist right on a trajectory for Tsume's broad neck.

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume suddenly felt movement through the force. Warning bells rang in his head and he spun around to see the two poles rushing for his neck. Thinking fast, Tsume lept onto the poles, his mind whirling as he forced himself to move forward despite his sudden dizzyness. With the help of the force, he just managed to leap away and onto the second pole, running across it the same way he had the last.

When he reached the end, he had to hesitate for just a second before leaping again. His massive body passed directly over a fake pole that was obviously and illusion. His hands slammed onto a more solid pole, his claws sinking into wood as he hauled himself up its length and up onto the top, panting as he balanced. He was close to the cliff now. Just a few more poles and he would be safe. Or atleast he hoped so.

 

[Prancing Yawn]

The cliff would now be in stepping distance of the massive Shistavenen. A mere two or three poles separated him - and the fog that had layed on top of the cliff for several minutes had now seemingly wisped away. Tsume would be able to make out figures.. they were all Jedi he recognized - Padawans he had sparred with or ate with, who he had gone to classes to, the teachers of those classes,.. his master, Ayva Starfall, was at the front of the group. All held a seemingly empty stare at Tsume. They just stood still, and most had a look of dissappointment on their face. Some stood with arms folded, judgingly; others seemed to tsk at the Padawan. Ayva simply stood there, fingers interlaced in front of her stomach, facial features hid by some sort of mask worn around her head.

The pole(s) under Tsume then whisked out of existence, as well as the ones rising up in the mist around him. He would begin to fall into the haze, in a split second being completely submerged in it. It was turning grayer as he 'dropped' through it, though it didn't feel like he was dropping. The fog did not look like rapidly passing clouds as if he were jumping out of an aircraft. They were, strangely, stationary.

Ayva's hand reached through the fog, and Tsume would only spot her fingers.. for a moment, trying to grab onto anything of his to try and pull him up. Then they disappeared. And, then, darkness. Another flash of light - those cyan tendrils of energy were crawling towards his face again. They seemed a deeper blue, cackling with electricity, and their whirring sounds seemed to echo through.. wherever he was. Another black moment. Again, his mind returned to 'reality - ' the poles were gone, as well as the density of the mist.

Standing before him now was an entrance to a cave, and he was back to standing on firm ground, albeit it felt strange and squishy under his feet. Gray rocks jutted out of the cave mouth in all directions, and inside it there yielded no light source or even a sound, except an echo or two from a droplet of water. Looking up would show Tsume another blanket of mist; this was much darker in color, and even solid if he tried to jump up. And growing, upside-down, out of that ceiling mist, were what looked to be like swamp trees. Whatever distorted gravity this place had allowed the vines hanging off of the branches to point straight up. Looking behind him, he would find more of the same trees, this time growing out of the black, soddy ground. Garth, in voice or presence, was also nowhere to be seen or felt.

The cave was the only plausible direction to move in.

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume stiffened suddenly on his pole as he scanned the figures that had emerged upon the cliff. Many seemed faintly familiar, others, such as Ayva, were more distinct and recognizable. However it was all to obvious, their expressions. None of them seemed to be happy. Tsume blinked, confused, and reached out curiously toward Ayva when suddenly, the pole beneath his feet dissapeared almost as quickly as the figures on the cliff had appeared.

Tsume fell, as there was nothing else to do. There was nothing to push off on to reach the cliff, nothing solid he could reach for. Except for a familier hand. Ayva's hand. Instinctively, Tsume reached out for it, desperate, but the form faded as he he fell, and Tsume growled annoyance and confusion before closing his eyes to shut away everything else, refusing to achnowledge any illusions that should next appear.

Suddenly, his large feet touched forcefully down upon strange feeling ground. He bent his knees asbthe impact jarred him and glanced around with a huff. Where was he? The ground beneath his feet felt like he had stepped into a marsh. He raised on foot and examined the print it had made before trying to see through the dark cave. He could make out little detail, but his night vision allowed him to see enough to be able to avoid bumping into anything.

Curious, Tsume sniffed, trying to discern a familier scent, but recognized nothing. There was only one way to go. With a deep breath, Tsume stepped into the shadowy depths of the cave and refused to stop. His path was set, he had no choice in the matter. It was simply a path he had to follow or else he would be stuck in one place, never to continue, lost.