Curiosity Unsealed the Cat

[Brent Fury Drast]

⌬ THEME ⌬
​

Taking a deep breath Brent stood at the base of his loading ramp. The temple stood carved out of the cliff face like it had been hidding within the stone all along yet had just taken someone to crack open the outer shell to reveal the structure within. He had to admit that it was an impressive sight.

Closing the ship behind him he headed towards the temple and walked through its large opening. There were a few other jedi here and there going about their business and not paying Brent any mind. He was just a simple padawan on his own and plenty of people were either training or focusing on the tasks they had prioritized. But there was one person he somewhat recognized whom he waved towards.

Teran Atrix was a fellow padawan but one that had also probably taken his training more seriously than Brent so far. Being here he was also participating in the lightsaber making that would occure later that day. The Drast was also going to participate but that would not happen for a few hours.

Stopping he looked around the large hall with arched ceilings. All of this was under ground and had a spectacular view to it. The jedi and workers that had made it all happen were no longer around but the temple and shrine had its own testament to their efforts.

As he stood still in the center of the main hall, despite all the interesting carvings and artworks Brent's head turned towards a more unassuming hallway. His brow furrowed and he cocked his head to the side. It was a strange feeling coming from that direction. It was like feeling a slight breeze but was not a physical sensation. The back of his mind had an urge to venture towards it.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran’s transition into the Jedi has been a complete whirlwind. His first days of arrival had consisted of him voraciously devouring the texts and datacrons in the Jedi libraries that had survived, and he’d managed to glean his first inclinations of the Force.

It had been only a brief few weeks that he’d had the chance to study the Force, but he realized that it was more likely than not that he would have to learn on the job rather than in the deluxe and ornate temples that others before him had been trained in. That thought was terrifying, but if he was going to be sent into battle, he knew he wanted a lightsaber for the process.

Besides, the younglings in the traditional order did it, didn’t they? How hard could it be? Even if they had more training than he did, they were children after all, weren’t they? But if it was a right of passage, he had begun to question if it wouldn’t turn out more difficult than he expected.

He poked at his datapad, reading a downloaded copy of one of the Jedi texts as he moved toward the Main Hall. He probably should have been playing closer attention, but he decided studying was probably an acceptable excuse for not paying attention. Did that go against this whole idea of Jedi mindfulness?

Moments later, he was thankful for the datapad. He was being waved down by another Jedi whose name was just narrowly slipping his mind. The large number of people he’d been meeting had necessitated keeping a typed up list of names that turned these tests from “fill in the blank” to “matching.”

Brent, that’s right. Brent. Brent. Brent, he thought to himself.

Hey! he greeted, thankful for a familiar face out at this event. How’re you? Looking forward to hunting down a Kyber crystal? he asked. By all accounts, finding Kyber crystals could be difficult and dangerous, which had Teran more on edge than he wanted to admit, but he was determined not to let it show through. Besides scraps here and there, he wasn’t really used to life threatening danger.

@Darasuum

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Opening his mouth wide the man exposed both his upper and lower molars as he yawned. He was told that meditation helped with sleep but he found that he did not get to dream of nice things when he meditated. At least, when he started thinking of those nice things he was told he was not really meditating. Instead he was some sort of master...whatsit. Whatever it was called it did not help with sleep but all the same the Drast had not been getting enough sleep.

"Oh yaknow. Everyday, storming the castle, it's not easy being awesome but we all have our sacrifices to make" He jested and then turned his attention towards the actual reason he was here. "Is that we're supposed to be doing now? I thought we were gonna go on some sort of hike or something for those." His expression was that of skepticism. Not towards the man's words but rather towards those that were training them and giving the two padawans instructions.

Taking a deep breath he let it out to center himself. Yet again his head turned towards the same corridor as before. "Are we supposed to be...I don't know. Feeling out these crystals or something?" Relying on the force was a concept that was new to Brent. It was not something he was against but rather something he was not used to. His instincts told him that there was no logical reason to be attracted towards the hallway that had thus far garnered his mental attention. Yet for some reason he was drawn to it and that only further spiked red flags in the back of his mind. Nothing normal would do such a thing. Then again he was Drast and a force sensitive. There was nothing 'normal' about him.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Uh... I thought so? Maybe not? he said, glancing around as he was asked if he was sure they were to go looking for a Kyber crystal. As far as he was aware, that was their next stop, and he pulled out his datapad to consult his calendar.

Yeah... Kyber crystals, he said, watching Brent begin to calm his breathing. Teran slowed his own breath as well, reaching down into a crouch and touching the ground. He had rather unintentionally noticed that it helped him when locating things, and he tried to draw in the Force from the ground. It was flowing strongly here, and he almost immediately began to hear whispers in his mind.

His eyes shot open, and he stepped back in alarm. Most of this was still very new to the Padawan, and hearing voices was something he definitely wasn't used to yet. Did you hear that? he asked, but it was evident that he hadn't. Brent's crystal was speaking to him in a different way, but Teran felt himself pulled deeper into the tunnel ahead.

I think... we need to go that way, he pointed, not even realizing that Brent had felt the same. Almost without thinking, Teran set off toward the hall, grabbing a small light to guide his way through the darkness of the cave. Ever brash and impulsive, once Teran had made up his mind there was no turning back, and he didn't even think to stop and check that his partner was coming along behind him.

Into the darkness, he went. The hallway seemed more stifling the deeper he went, and it dumped them out into a roughly hewn cave deeper on. The Force is with me, he whispered quietly to calm himself. The room seemed unnaturally dark, and although they were alone, he didn't feel like they were. As if the Force itself could take form down here.

He plodded on making his way to a small ledge with a of close to 30 feet. He knew Jedi could use the Force to cushion themselves, but he'd never really... tried it before.

I think we need to go down there, he said, wondering if his partner had ever done something like this before.

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

As Teran reached out into the force Brent did not pay him much mind. "Hear what?" He responded with the minimum amount of attention required. His eyes peered into the shadows of the tunnel until he found himself stepping towards it slowly. The jedi padawan with him passed him continuing down the hall.

Blinking Brent looked around to see if anyone had seen his consumed expression. Clearing his throat he followed after the dark haired man. "I think you're right."

As they moved further his head tilted upwards and around. Carvings and art work hung sparsely along the walls. The tiled floor was clearly not often traveled. It was clean, but did not have the same wear on it that had polished and smoothed the tiles elsewhere in the temple.

This gradually changed to smooth tunneling and carving of the stone but lacked the architecture common in the central parts of the Ellora temple. The electric lights were phased out to some and replaced with some standalone glow globes not on any power grid. The artwork stopped and no longer existed likely due to a lack of lighting. They afforded enough light to not trip over the ground but otherwise forced Brent to pull out his flashlight with a click.

The man nearly bumped into Teran as he had been looking at the ceiling tunnels at the time. Brent kicked a small chipped tile over the edge and heard it clatter at the ground beneath them. Pointing the flashlight down he saw the sudden drop off point.

"We're not on Corellia any more Toto." He said to himself referencing a pop culture movie. "Well we can jump or...." He pulled out a NX-13 grapple pistol in offer.

Either way he would come to the base of the drop off and look around. It was even darker down there. The outline of the edge of rock above them was lit up but none of the glow globes reflected light this deep. Further down he did see something glinting back. The Drast's eyes squinted in the darkness and swept the flashlight over it though it did nothing to reflect the light.

"hmm..I think I see something" Moving forward he did not wait. Walking down the cold stone and dirt ground he came upon a sight he was not sure how to explain it. The tunnel continued on but curved away from the smooth and flat wall before him. It was perfectly smooth and stood out against the rest of the rough tunnel. It was not like the architecture from further back towards the temple either. It had symbols and figures on it. It almost had a personal feel to it. Placing a hand against it he could instantly feel that it was not an ordinary wall. The force resided inside the wall. Looking over towards Teran he wondered if he was just imagining all of this or if his comrade also felt the same thing.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran glanced over at the offered grapple gun. You seriously expected to do mountain climbing in here or do you just carry that everywhere with you? he asked with a snicker, but took the grapple from him anyway.

He thanked his partner but declined the offered gun. Better now than in a fight, he said and paused. He needed to push himself, and it was better to try these things in a mostly-controlled environment He drew on the Force instead and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding, but he forced himself over the side. The wind whipped by as he dropped the thirty feet, using the Force to grip his lower legs and slow himself down.

The landing still wasn't too soft, and he felt it traveling up his legs and his hands slapped against the ground, but he hadn't broken anything. He let out a heavy sigh of relief and pushed himself up, brushing his hands off and walking forward.

Well... that was... "fun," he mumbled.

He moved over beside his partner to see what was so interesting about the wall, and felt something was... wrong about the wall. He couldn't put a finger on what it was, but it felt like a nagging in the back of his mind.

He nodded toward Brent to indicate that he felt "it" too, but he doubted either of them had the experience to know what exactly it was. So what's your story? How'd you wind up here? he asked as he ran his fingers over the wall. No reason not to make small talk as they tried to find their way through.

He kept perusing through the symbols and thought to what he had heard about the Jedi using "seals" on items, and wondered if they had other ways to lock doors. He placed both hands on the door and closed his eyes to focus on the door. Goosebumps rose over his arms as he felt energy flow into him from the door.

I think we need to use the Force to... activate the symbols in a certain order, he said. There were four symbols on the wall to deal with: a tree, a crystal, a man, and a snake. @Darasuum

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Everything came with practice and experience. Brent had found himself in stick situation where running was the better option and maybe that was why cushioning his fall was not an alien concept for his subconcious mind. But when the adrenaline was not flowing and he actually thought about it the prospect of falling to breaking his legs was not a good idea. He would probably get called "chiffon" or something like that after that old pop star a few centuries back. He had plenty of names as it was and did not need any more.

The door was something unfamiliar though. It resonated with the force and he could not stop touching the wall. It was definitely a portal of some kind but lacked hinges, any mechanical lock or anything a normal door would have.

"Well uh...I flew a ship here..." He joked like the question had only been asked literally and not explaining his existential position. "Didn't like the way the Sith were doing things. Left them and did odd jobs. Typical wandering man of mystery stuff for awhile. Ended up working on ships for a few rebels and ended up joining the cause. Now I'm kinda just trying to do the right thing so I figured learning from the jedi how to use the lightside of the force was the best path." Pealing his eyes away from the door he looked towards Teran. "That's the cliff notes version at least. How bout you?"

Taking a few steps back Brent looked at thee whole thing with just his naked eye. "I don't know. If you can detect some sort of pattern then you're better than me. I think its sealed tight. Might just need to blast through it." While the man was confident and sometimes borderline arrogant he knew that he was a novice when it came to the force. A dabbler in the power that bound the galaxy and everything in it together. The Drast had his doubts that the two of them would be able to 'unlock' this door especially if it had been sealed by anything more than just a competent Jedi.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Ah, yes, the old "flew here" routine. It was a nice way to alleviate the tension of where they were, though. He couldn't argue with the story. There were plenty of people who didn't like the Empire, and there was good reason for it. People had died many times over and for no reason but to secure an iron grip over the galaxy.

I thought I was going to be a doctor. I was working in a clinic when a wounded Jedi stumbled in. Eventually a Sith kill-squad tracked him down and killed him before he could teach me anything, he said. He'd barely even known the first thing about the Force then. Even now, he wasn't sure he had much of an idea what he was doing. I decided to see what it was all about. I thought I could make a difference doing this even more than I could back on Taris, he said. He still hoped he was right.

His fingers grazed along the wall, catching pulses coming out of the wall and thinking - wrongly - that he knew what they meant.

Here, he said, letting the Force flow through his hands and into the wall. He felt a power surging out that was oddly refreshing. Like a cool breeze on a hot day or a warm flow of water in the chill of winter. It sent goosebumps over his arms again.

And then things went downhill...

Evidently he had chosen the wrong symbol first, and a spike of jagged stone shot out from the wall. It embedded into his thigh only a short way, but it hurt... like, it really hurt. Teran had been punched, kicked, and more, but he'd never actually been stabbed, and the feeling sent him to the ground for a moment, groaning in pain.

Ffffffff- gaaah, he groaned, looking down at it. He knew he shouldn't be trying to tend this here, but he didn't have many options. I don't suppose, ugh, you know anything about healing with the Force? he asked, pushing his way away from the door and its stabby-stabbies. He mentally cursed himself for his arrogance and stupidity. I think... blasting it down might have been the better option. But not very Jedi-like, he said. @Darasuum

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Brent half expected the story to turn out that Teran had single handedly kicked a death squad's butt. But that would be too fantastical and maybe even a bit cliche. "Taris...is that where they make that deep dish tomato pies or am I thinking of somewhere else?" He was only mildly aware that his subconcious mind had diverted the subject to something less serious than the death of jedi and grand quests for making the galaxy a better place.

Standing back and thinking over what could best be done about the door he heard Teran's confidence and raised an eyebrow only to have his expression change to something of concern. "I think you pissed off the wall." He added before coming to the man's side.

Taking a look at the injury Brent grimaced. He was not used to seeing a lot of bloodshed in detail. In the heat of a fight one never paid attention to the gore and torn tissue but in a calm environement his mind took in the bloody puncture wound. "Other than thinking about happy thoughts not really." There was a reason he kept a first aid kit with him. At best he had probably meditated for periods of time and his minor cuts and bruises had healed fast but that was probably also due to him not perpetuating rough behavior.

"Looks like it did not hit the artery at least." He assessed the wound and then helped patch the man up and get him to his feet. Afterwards he stowed the first aid kit away and pulled out his explosives. It was only two fragmentation grenades but maybe it would weaken it a bit. Anything more might cause a cave in.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Well, lesson learned, he supposed. Overconfidence and thinking you knew what you were doing ended up getting you stabbed in the leg. And what a difficult lesson it was to learn. Every time he moved his leg, he was reminded of it as pain coursed up his leg and his eyes started to water.

Well... that sucks, he groaned, pulling at the pant leg and looking at the injury. He'd always been fascinated by blood, injuries, and the like. It was probably why he loved medicine, but it was less fun when it was your own leg.

At least between the two of them they were getting it patched up. He knew pulling out the stone wasn't the right call, but he did it anyway, and shoved the gel-like kolto into the wound. It was cold and warm all at once and he pushed the injury together. Blood and gel oozed out of the wound as the bandage wrapped around it, but they had stopped the bleeding.

With some effort, he pushed himself up to his feet again and looked over at wall, which was still in their way and then spotted the grenades in Brent's hands. He was determined to keep moving forward, and at the moment didn't know any other great choice to them.

All right, let's do it, he said, offering to take one of the grenades so they could throw them at the same time. He'd never used a grenade before, and had to imagine in a space this enclosed it was going to be loud. We better find some cover, he said, pointing to the corner of the room where there was a stone corner hewn up that could provide total protection.

They counted down and tossed the grenades. Teran quickly reached up to plug his ears and hid behind the stone as the grenades detonated. It was louder than any gunshot, and in this enclosed space even with his ears plugged, it hurt his ears.

Wow... he said, looking up at the wall that was half-crumpled but not totally fallen. It hadn't caused a cave-in, and there were cracks showing in it now as if it was nearly ready to crumble.

I think I've got this... hopefully better than last time, he said, hobbling toward the door but keeping his distance this time. He tried to focus on the Force, and despite the pain throbbing in his leg, he did his best to focus. He tried to feel that flow and ebb before letting it channel through him. A surprisingly powerful blast erupted from his outstretched hands and finished the deed, sending stones spewing across the room on the far side.

And that was when he saw it: a large, beautiful arrangement of crystals. It had chunks rising from the floor that were nearly as tall as Teran, and he limped toward the room, checking this way and that for signs of a trap.

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Taking a deep breath Brent looked at the injury that Teran hadn sustained. The man was concerned for his comrade. It was not something to be taken lightly. Perhaps he was still ignorant of some things but they were still technically in the jedi temple. His greatest worry was how was he going to get the man back up the drop they had come down. Knowing his own luck the Drast was going to have to jury-rig some sort of harness or find another exit. Worst case, he was going to have to carry him up which was just going to look far from heroic.

Teran was a tough cookie and could handle his own issues and the wound seemed to not be life threatening. At least he was not the type of guy to complain and say they should turn back to get some master's help. With his fellow Jedi's help they were able to set up a timed explosive breach of the force sealed wall.

Chunks of blasted rock and the reverb was deafening to the point that Brent was sure that the dead could hear it. Removing thhe fingers from his plugged ears Brent looked out from cover as the dust and smoke desipated.

What the man saw was awe inspiring. Piercing directly through the floating molecules of dust was a glimmer of crystal. Surrounding it was even more geodes and mineral like formations. But Brent was almost entranced and stood from where he had taken cover.

Walking forward he moved past the brutally opened entrance. Inside he saw what almost looked like a pedistal. Ontop, not fromed but laying like a waiting pearl inside a clam, was a shard of crystal. Picking it up he held it up at eye level.

He moved it up and down, around and about yet it never lost its luster or became darker nor brighter. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. That was saying something considering his promiscuous activities, but all the same he turned his head towards Teran in no small expression of amazement. He knew from that point on that this was his lightsaber crystal..

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran's leg was still killing him, but he didn't turn back when they were this close to the goal. He could see the crystal spire rising and he pressed forward, seeing pieces here and there across the entire room, but he was drawn to the center, looking at the small pieces on the ground. Tiny growths that had come from the ground, and one of them seemed to call to him. He reached out with the Force and gripped it, and it immediately snapped off. Not the type of snap of one tearing a limb away from a living tree, it was as if at the slightest touch the crystal released itself from the ground. It was drawn to Teran. It wanted to come with him.

It floated up to his hand, and he held it gently as if he might jostle it and it might break. It felt warm in his hand, and he could feel the Force flow through it and spread warmth through his hand that seemed to crawl up his entire arm.

Come on. I think this is what we came for, he said, not taking his eyes off of the crystal.

---​

The Jedi Padawan sat deep within a meditation chamber in the temple, alone and isolated. It was only he and his crystal, and that was exactly how he wanted it. The materials for a custom lightsaber had been procured by the old Jedi armories, and he had pulled together the schematics he had wanted before setting out for the crystal. Now all he needed was to become one with the kyber.

He sat in silence as minutes dragged into hours and eventually days. No food, no drink, no sleep. He had never felt so deep within the Force, and it was exhilarating. He was everywhere in the galaxy and nowhere. He could feel his mind wander as he became one with the planets, the stars, the beings... one with the living Force.

And amidst it all, he could feel his crystal.

Pieces of himself, his past, and his travels through the galaxy all came back to the kyber crystal, whose clear color had just begun to take on a faint blue. As his mind finally returned, the crystal slid into the the activation chamber and the final pieces snapped back into place with a click. Without opening his eyes, his right hand reached out and gripped the hilt. His thumb crept up and pressed the button as his eyes snapped open. A blade lit and a new Jedi was born.

//Thread