Lightning Become my Blade... (Training Thread)

[Takeshi]

Alma was glad she had packed a scarf and thick robe. Too, she loved snow, even if she had only seen it a few times on offworld family outings. With a smile, she returned her attention to her datapad, but likewise ducked into the vessel.

 

[Malon]

Siri took her seat in the cockpit, punched in the ignition and eased on the throttle, allowing the small craft to ease out of the hanger and into the skies of Coruscant. Within moments they were in orbit above the city planet. Siri hit the button to send the ship into hyperspace and soon they had left Coruscant behind without a trace. Siri punched in the auto-pilot command and then turned to her apprentice.

"Ilum has been a Jedi world for thousands of years. Only we Jedi know where it is and only Force sensitives can find it. Like I promised you the other day, you will face the dark side here. The caves of Ilum are meant to test you beyond what you could ever imagine. That's why most Jedi don't come here until their training is almost complete."

As she finished, they dropped out of hyperspace and into the Ilum system; Ilum's icy form hanging in the viewport. Siri guided the ship through Ilum's atmosphere and landed just outside one of the caves.

"Go on out and have a look around while I get everything we need ready for our stay here."

 

[Takeshi]

Wrapping her scarf around her neck, Alma pocketed her datapad and made to exit. Stepping out into the frostbitten snow world, she felt the wind race against her face. It was cold, but there was an eeries peace to place.

 

[Malon]

Siri didn't take long. She came down the ramp of the ship and into the snow, having changed into a warmer tunic and a longer Jedi robe. Along with that, she also brought a small box down the ramp with her and handed it to Alma.

"You will be going into the caves alone. The crystals here are only blue and green, but that isn't the point. While you're in there, you are to use the Force to guide you to select the focusing crystals you will need. Then, you will meditate while creating your lightsaber. Only when this is done can you come out of those caverns. However, like I said earlier, the Force will test you here. More specifically, the dark side will test you here. Whatever you face in there, you are not alone. The Force will be with you...always."

"Do not be surprised if it takes you several days to come out of there."

She then paused for a moment.

"Also, remember that you are not just making a weapon in there. A Jedi's lightsaber is an extension of themselves. I built my lightsaber as a declaration of my will to become a blade master, as well as to be a symbol of my commitment to the Jedi and freedom."

With that, Siri shooed her apprentice away, motioning for the caves where the test would begin.

((Have her walk through the caves searching for crystals through the Force. I will NPC any Dark side apparitions, so you will not have control over them.))

 

[Takeshi]

Alma bowed before heading off; blocking the wind with her arm as she tredged on. She hummed to herself to help pass the time, and soon the caves she had been directed towards came into view.

As she made her in, she pulled down her hood, and opened herself up fully to the Force. She flowed with it; going this way and that, trying to find what she felt.

 

[Malon]

The Force was thick in the cavern; as thick as fog. It stirred upon Alma's arrival and soon....its dark side awakened. It took no time manifesting as a darker, more evil looking version of Alma. This Dark Alma had gray skin, decayed by immersion in the dark side of the Force. Her eyes were yellow with red outlines, and her hair had begun to gray. She was wearing black robes, the robes of a Dark Jedi, and was carrying a lightsaber similar to Alma's training saber.

"Why are you so weak...?" the projection said. "Why do you dabble in the pathetic teachings of the Jedi? You could be so much more if only you'd accept the power of the dark side."

 

[Takeshi]

Alma was silent as she looked at her reflection; she didn't need to answer it, didn't want to answer it. She brought her blade to her hands with the Force; allowing herself to be washed into its flow. She brought her blade to a ready position, and gave no ground.

 

[Malon]

The Dark Alma only seemed to be angered by Alma's lack of words. The dark side of the Force began to surge around it as it brought its lightsaber up to mimic Alma's pose; igniting the crimson blade. Without any hesitation, the apparition leaped at Alma, viciously slashing at her shoulder.

"Your weakness will be the end of you! You are a slave to the Jedi and you will always be if you don't embrace the dark side!" it shouted.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma parried the blade and swept them upwards as they connected; as her foe's arms came up, she turned to try and swipe off her foe's blade hand. Focus...

 

[Malon]

The Dark Alma parried the next strike, but her next action would be a surprise. Using her free hand, she unleashed a powerful wave of Force lightning, far more intense that Alma's had been the day before and full of hate and rage.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma dove out of the way; rolling to quickly recover. She grimaced, her copy seemed stronger than her. Plan, plan, need a plan... Quickly she grasped the outer layer of the cave's wall with the Force; giving it a sharp tug and causing it to come off and go flying at the Dark Alma.

 

[Malon]

Dark Alma gathered the dark side around her and sent a powerful repulse wave of the Force out from her body, sending the falling cave rock to be thrown away from her. She then let out an evil chuckle.

"You're kidding, right? You're nothing compared to me. What has your Jedi Master taught you? To be at peace? To protect the weak? Your master is just as useless as any other Jedi, but you're worse. You're worse because you listened to your master!"

With that, the apparition put her lightsaber away and, with one hateful scream, unleashed a mighty barrage of Force lightning on the young Jedi Padawan with great intent to kill.

 

[Takeshi]

Alma wasn't going to break now; even if the words stung a little on the inside. Alma let her lightsaber drop, before releasing her own lightning. The attacks hit each other and began a deadly game of tug of war.

 

[Malon]

The Dark Alma laughed insanely, pushing more energy into her assault as she continued to mock and taunt Alma.

"Admit it! I'm stronger than you! I have more control over the power that has tormented you for years. Give in! You see my power yet you resist? Think of the good you could do. With this power, you could end the pathetic Jedi Order and replace it with a better Order. An Order that grants power to Force sensitives, as they should be given."

 

[Takeshi]

Alma closed her eyes, she needed to find herself. Even if she died, she wanted to at least go down with some clarity.

Oddly, her mind jumped back to her free-running.

For Alma, boredom haunted her; academically and otherwise. She was lazy when it came to boring tasks, but naps were even worse under most circumstance. Her parents wouldn't fund her enough to let her into many of the things some of her 'friends' had gotten into. Still, she found her own way to rebel against it.

Free-running was the art of getting from point A to point B as fast as possible a friend had told her. That meant going straight most of the time; even when there was a building in your way. She had tried mightly to start. She exceeded her friends in the end. Not just by the Force, but by her ability to focus.

She would draw on a single emotion, using its intensity to bring her focus. She had, admittedly, used anger for this, but she had never felt a taint in her use of the Force.

Then she realized it. She kept her emotions and her mind seperate. Rarely did they meet. That was why her antisocial moods came around; she let the rationality of her mind control how she acted around others. Her emotions weren't for others to see... normally anyways.

She compared this state of affairs to her use of lightning. She tried to draw from her mind and her emotions at once. And that was what caused the problem. Her mind was all analytical dreaming, her emotions the catalyst, and when they came together... she couldn't sum it up as anything else but explosive.

So if she wanted intense emotion with the control she calm she needed... seperate them from each other.

Not a hard task when it came down to it; it was a natural part of life for her. Slowly she composed herself; going from the center of her being outward, until she found herself in the state she wanted. She felt completely aware, calm, even serene. And now her lightning was overcoming her reflection's.

As she began to hum her tune in her head, the lightning began to increase in amount as well, but it was controlled. Until finally it engulfed her reflection for a moment. As her reflection cried out, Alma let her flow cease.

 

[Malon]

The reflection stood its ground, its hatred fueling its lightning. The Force seemed so alive in the cave as the two sides of Alma clashed. The cave was now rumbling from the intense struggle and several crystals were glowing intensely; a sign of Force activity in the cave.

The reflection seemed to decay faster the farther into the dark side it tapped. And soon, it bore no resemblance to Alma or anyone Alma had ever seen before. It was still in human form, but it was now purely a creature of darkness. A physical manifestation of the dark side itself. And when its voice came this time, it was not audible, rather Alma heard it in her mind. Its 'voice' was deep, and booming; masculine compared to the female voice it had used earlier.

"You cannot possibly defeat the dark side with sheer might! Just give up! You were trained for nothing! You are useless! Don't you see what power you could have?! Why do you remain with the Jedi?!"

 

[Takeshi]

"I have nothing more to say to you... you are beyond reason. My feelings are my own." With that, Alma brought her lightsaber to hand once more, and in an effortless desplay of sheer detached ferocity, she went into a kinetic spin that sliced right through the being's chest; unguarded in its arrogance.

 

[Malon]

The apparition was sliced across its waist and faded into the darkness of the cave. The dark side also seemed to fade from the area for the time being. Alma had succeeded.

((You may now post her sensing and finding the crystals, as well as her meditation that creates her lightsaber and her return to the mouth of the cave))

 

[Takeshi]

Alma sighed in relief, before realizing that she could 'hear' the call of some of the nearby crystals. She wandered aimlessly, with a certain tiredness to her limbs. Still, she continued onward, until she came across her first crystal; it was blue.

Quickly recalling her studies, she realized it was Mephite. She took the crystal in her hand and continued deeper into the cave. She found her second; another blue Mephite.

Alma was content, but as she continued ever deeper inward, her trial awarded her, and to her astonishment, she found a lone white crystal embedded in the wall, calling her. It was Pontite, the rarest crystal to find on Illum. She calmly walked over to it, and with the assistance of the force, pulled it from its place.

As it was embraced by her hand, the crystal cooled her skin, and her mood fell into even deeper peace as well.

Still, her time was not over, and where she stood, she fell into a meditative position. Slowly she felt her mind work over the lightsaber, and the crystals as well; empowering them with her will as she would continue for days...

---------
A few days had passed by the time Alma returned to the mouth of the cave. Though she had technically remained awake throughout the process, she felt as rested as she ever would.

 

[Malon]

When Alma emerged, Siri was sitting on top of their transport vessel, eating her breakfast. She had spent the past few days watching the events that were unfolding in the cave by meditating on the Force. Siri heard the crunch of snow under Alma's boots as the latter emerged from the cave and leaped down to meet her apprentice. A quick look down at the lightsaber on Alma's belt told Siri all she needed to know.

"You have done well, Alma. I sensed your struggle with the dark side inside the cave, but I'm proud that you learned to overcome its temptation."

She paused for a moment, as if in deep thoughts.

"Alma, if you were to be knighted, what do you plan to do as a Jedi?"