Lord of an Order, Long Dead (Ask)

[Green Ranger]

Tyrn Lightell and his padawan learner, Reron Andross, had spent weeks trekking across the wintery wastlands of Hoth. Elsewhere on the world, preparations were in place - the Council had made a decision. It was time for the weather to improve, so to speak. But, the Jedi Council neither was aware of why the pair were here today, nor would they approve.

Tyrn had attempted this journey with Reron once before, but things had fallen apart - the arrival of Kyle Stellar had caused the pair to quickly go into hiding, wait for a better opportunity. And, with the Jedi busy with...other duties, Reron and Tyrn had slipped away quietly into the snowy landscape, much mroe prepared than last time. The pair chose not to think of what they had been through to get this far - the freezing cold, taking cover from blizzards in snow caves, the numerous beasts of the wilderness they had had to avoid...

Tyrn opened his eyes, his mind quickly pushing the cold out of his thoughts as he stood up. The weather outside had died down, but that was of little assurance to the Jedi Master. Outside was not the issue. Tyrn and Reron had found the tomb's entrance, hidden in a small rocky cave, but there was no obvious method by regular or supernatural means to open the massive doors that blocked the pair's way.

Reron hadn't uttered a word since they had left. Tyrn suspected he was having some issue or another, but the boy was awfully pale, his usual dour expression doubled by the hardships of the journey. Tyrn himself wasn't faring much better. He was able to keep the pain and the cold out of his mind, and he could make his hands stop shaking, but he hadn't slept since they had left, relying on Jedi rejuvenation techniques to keep himself functioning. Unfortunately, it was taking its toll, and Tyrn couldn't deny the exhaustive ache in his bones was more telling than anything that he seriously needed real sleep. 'Perhaps...rest, just a short trance...'

"Ungh..."

The Jedi Master's head snapped upwards. It must have been hours since he had entered the trance - it was dark outside, but the cave was dimly illuminated, the grey stone doors to the tomb, sitting amongst the silver wind-sculpted ice, all lit up by a dim blue light. Tyrn's still fatigued mind took a moment to register, as the Jedi Master's eyes focused on his padawan. Reron seemed...different, somehow. Different in that his eyes were glowing blue. And that, for a human, is not a normal thing.

The padawan learner stood up, his eyes bathing the door in light.His maser looked on with something close to awe, watching the Jedi at work. This was no normal manifestation of Force Sight...this was completely different. It was evident in the mildest of things - the concentrated yet relaxed expression on the boy's face, the way blood vessels around his eyes seemed to light his skin from within as the young padawan drew power.

Tyrn then blinked with surprise. The Force was nearly dead in the area, it was one of the first things he had noticed upon entering the cave. 'It was as if somehow the tomb is nullifying the Force...but somehow Reron is able to tap into the Force...'

"You're thinking too loud, Master." Reron's first words to his Master in a week, and he was chiding the Council Master? Tyrn was of a mind to put the boy down a peg or two, but it was obvious that the boy's bluntness was simply a suppressed personality trait coming through in the situation. Jedi Master Lightell then smiled. For once, he had nothing to say.

 

[Jorax]

*It had been weeks since Kyle had been tracking anomalies in the Force...and frequent ones at that. It had been quite difficult to find himself to track such a thing even when he was interested in something, but this was unique. Never before had he felt such surges of raw power fueled by the Force flow through his body for quick moments. It was in these moments that he had found that he knew why any one person was attracted to such power as well as never being capable to ever harness it.

Yet, the time intervals of the surges of power were not random, yet distinguishable and seemingly, man-made. It felt as though one had tapped into a deep pool of power and unleashed it for a moment's wish, and the residue of such enormous power had left a trail of energy as it spread out in a wide radius. Kyle had almost found the source once, but was unfortunately stopped as a snow storm came and Kyle had to head back to the Station for shelter.

It was during this time in the shelter when he felt the first surge of power, and then another one, and another. He made up his mind to follow such an anomaly if it was one, and began his adventure to track the source of these events. Time flew by and many times Kyle had been led to a dead end of tracks, but this time...he was sure to find it. He could smell the energy flowing and had already found some Force Signatures that were seemingly always present when the surges occurred.

Walking through a swampy and barren land before reaching a rugged terrain filled with snow and mountains, Kyle started his trek up a mountain to make it to the top to find his location before choosing which direction to head next.*

 

[Green Ranger]

'Come on.'

'Hmm..?' Tyrn looked up. Reron was leaning over him, looking down on his Master, hunched on a small wind-sculpted rock as he was. 'His eyes aren't doing that glow thing anymore,' the Jedi Master noted, then smiled as he looked past his padawan, to the looming open doors. Whatever the younger Jedi had done, it had opened the tomb. And that would be no mean feat, considering whose tomb this was. Brutalidon, Mancer Lord and founder of the Mancer Academy of old.

The reputed power and knowledge of this ancient master of the Hidden Art had perhaps grown in time...or perhaps it remained true. Considering what the Art was capable of, the reputation of Brutalidon could have been well merited. The only real way to find out was to venture to the site of his burial. The quality of the Mancer's burial would determine just how well regarded and feared he was by his peers and followers. Tyrn expected the existance of something else, though he did not utter a word as to what his hopes lead him to...

Tyrn smiled, then grasped the hand of his padawan learner, hoisting himself up with a grunt. He lowered his hood slowly, facing the tomb's entrance, as if out of respect. Reron, however, left his hood raised, as if shying away from the influence of the structure. But, they did not enter. Both lingered in the doorway, though for what reason, none but the pair of Jedi themselves could understand.

 

[Jorax]

*Kyle had made it halfway up the mountain before stopping his trek in a cave filled with Force Energy. Usually, caves did not emit such a powerful Force Signature, but it intrigued and lured Kyle more than everything else, and curiosity overpowered Kyle's will to keep moving, so Kyle started to venture into the cave.

Using the Force, he quickly found how big the cave was, as well as where to venture. With Force Sense and Force Sight, Kyle could see pretty much everything in the cave, and something caught his eye. There was a powerful core energy source within the cave, and he also felt those Force Signatures that were present when the other power surges of the Force happened out. Hopefully, he would be able to find the reason of these anamolies.

It was also helpful to work on a new Force Power...or more like elemental power to say at the least. It had to do with vibrations of each step he made as well as use those vibrations to feel where things were in the ground. The power would help a lot in dark places like these where he couldn't use his eyes, and the vibrations would help him locate things.

The windy cave started to get colder as he neared the energy source which was odd...and it didn't seem as though he was being followed, but he was following someone else. There were fresh tracks in the cave, and someone was here. But who?*

 

[Dexington]

A whisper could be heard in the air as the two Jedi stood in the doorway of the great tomb. It was speaking a strange language, one that nobody had ever heard, though it may have sounded strangely familiar. After what seemed like a long speech by the whisper, an enormous gust of wind blew out throw the door, enough to force the two Jedi backwards away from the door. Then in plain basic, the voice spoke again.

"Prove your worth and you may pass. Dangers await inside."

Just like that, the door slammed shut with more force than the gust of wind before. A huge crash sounded, easily able to surprise anyone within a one hundred metre radius of the cave.

 

[Green Ranger]

'Well, that was unexpected,' Tyrn muttered, hiding his surprise beneath Jedi emotion training, trying to shake the ringing from his ears. The fact that there was a presence, an aware presence guarding the tomb, was not one Tyrn had expected. A bit of Jedi naivete had suggested to him that the hardest part would be trekking all the way out into the wastelands to find the tomb. Obviously that wasn't the case, and Tyrn silently rebuked himself for thining in such a manner. This tomb belonged to the founder of the old schools of the Art, and reputedly had a lot more information than strange superstitions and trial and error to develop their powers. Furthermore, without the knowledge developed by people like Brutalidon and the deified Grandfather, the current wave of Grandchildren could not exist at all. So, in many ways, Brutalidon was responsible for the creation of the entire new wave of Hidden Art Sensitives.

Reron, however, seemed to not understand the importance of this, and strode forward, laying his hands upon the cold stone surface of the doors. He quietly muttered something under his breath, similar, yet different to the strange dialect the spirit of the tomb uttered earlier. Though Tyrn himself could not understand it, the words seemed to emanate strange emotions, strong senses of the Hidden Art evident in the padawan learner's words. With a final word, the doors to the tomb cracked across the surface, is if made of glass and struck by a concussion grenade. However, the doors held, kept together by the powerful energies of the tomb. Reron knelt down, panting heavily, his use of the Art so quickly in succession draining the less experienced Grandchild. Tyrn, however, did nothing. He felt, despite the powers of the tomb, something else, another presence drawing closer. Thsi time, there would be no hiding. Jedi Master Kyle Stellar would be joining the pair soon.

 

[Jorax]

*Kyle felt vibrations as well as heard a loud and violent crash run in and out of his ears as the echoes carried out throughout the tunnels of the winding cave. There had been another powerful surge of energy, but it felt different than the ones he had recorded and felt when he was in the vicinity of the Force. It was unlike anything he had felt before...but it was similar to a Force Spirit...but more complex and different. This new Force surge did not bode well as he felt a cold wind run by his body and gave off a chilling feeling that ran up his spine, alerting his nerves and body that it was time to be on his toes.

Using the vibrations from his steps, he quickly made his way closer and closer to the source of immense power as his feet became his eyes as his own body seemed to be lulled to this power and took the right turns without even thinking. Maybe knowledge and intelligence were two separate entities in his mind because he didn't have to think about which way to chose to lead him closer to the Force Energy. But then his feet stopped suddenly as his eyes averted straightforward to see two figures standing next to the wall.

These figures emitted strong Force Signatures that were identical to those he had felt when the other surges had occurred and he could easily conclude that they were the reason of the Force Energy surges, yet the other he felt only minutes ago was different. Given the consequences, Kyle would have to be careful as he discerned the figures to be two humanoid males.*

"Who goes there?"

 

[Green Ranger]

'Master Stellar...you're a long way from the comfort of the Station, aren't you?' Tyrn called out, waving to the Jedi Master. Once upon a time, Kyle had been Tyrn's master, at least for a short period of time before...other things called Lightell away, and he had vanished into the unknown. Still, even Stellar knew not of Tyrn's awakening, let alone Reron's, so the pair would have to be subtle about their uses. No more shattering tomb doors, for example.

Reron, however, was not waving, smiling or calling out. Instead, he simply put on a weak smile, pushing the exhaustion from his mind as he waited for the Jedi Master to reach the pair. Stellar would have a lot of questions, that much was certain...

 

[Dexington]

Following the display of power by the boy and the shattering of the doors, a seemingly impossible feat occured. To the other two, the doors remained there, cracked and nearly falling apart. But to Reron, the opened wide, allowing him through the entrance. He could now walk through, but what the Jedi Masters would see was an apprentice walking through walls. It was sure to happen, the boy would not pass up such an opportunity.

Meanwhile, inside the tomb, preperations were beginning to be made for the entrances of the other two. The scriptures were illuminating themselves with a blue light, basking the halls in an eerie glow. The traps, as if sensing an arrival, were already readying themselves. An enormous maze awaited the trio to get to the main tomb, and it would not be an easy one to get through.

 

[Jorax]

"Yes I am Tyrn...I am. So...what brings you and your Padawan here?"

*So it was Tyrn Lightell...and his Padawan! It was odd that both of them were the Force Signatures present at the power surges. It seemed like the Force Signature of the boy was strong than Tyrn's...although it could be because Tyrn had dwindled it. Yet more questions laid with them instead of Kyle himself.

The vibrations from his feet detected both of them, and Force Sight had allowed him to conjure up a better image than using the vibrations of the Force from his feet to see, as he also found that the wall had been cracked in one particular place that branched off to many other places, and that all the other walls were not cracked. It did not seem like a very good situation for Tyrn and his Padawan for they were going to be in some serious questioning.

Tyrn had been once Kyle's Padawan for a short time before he had moved on as Kyle had been immediately called off to a mission that needed his unique abilities...and now he had met his former Padawan again for the first time in many years. How he had changed...for the better or worse Kyle could not tell...but what he could tell was that they were brewing something up, and that crack in the wall sure could be a possibility.*

"So...did you cause the sounds coming through the cave only moments earlier?"

 

[Green Ranger]

For Reron, time slowed down suddenly, as if Kyle and Tyrn were speaking in slow motion. He turned around, feeling the call from the tomb. For whatever reason, the Padawan was not in the least surprised that the tomb was open to him, and so he wandered within, without a word.

Tyrn was about to respond to Kyle, but suddenly the space that had been filled by his Padawan was now empty. He had simply vanished into thin air. The Jedi Master sighed, then shrugged, as if that simple gesture could explain why his padawan had suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Unfortunately, I can't say we did. We've discovered a rather...odd tomb. Judging by the sudden disappearance of my padawan learner, it's either playing mindgames with us, or Reron learned a new trick. The former is far more likely, considering the circumstances.

"The place has a strong Force signature, but as far as I know, noone was ever buried on Hoth, at least no Jedi. It's too remote, and we've only had a station here for a relatively short time. Also, considering all the Sith - or at least the powerful one - were fore the most part buried on Korriban...well, you can understand why I would want to investigate.

"And now my padawan had vanished...things are going great. Any suggestions before I ask why you are here?" Tyrn grinned. He couldn't help but play the paranoia card. All this time out in the wilderness...the JEdi Master was bound to be more than happy to meet someone other than his antisocial padawan.

 

[Jorax]

*Kyle kept his calm as well as noting a bit of paranoia in Tyrn's voice. The man was a bit shaky but he couldn't exactly tell if it was paranoia or just sarcasm. Maybe it was a bit of both. And the boy that was with Tyrn had just disappeared as if he walked right through the wall. He had seen it with both of his two eyes, yet he still couldn't believe that a Padawan had access to so much power that he was able to do that. Heck, even Kyle couldn't do that.*

"I am here on investigation from the Council. It seems that there have been irregular Force Disturbances near the Station, and I have been requested to find the source. Oddly enough...you and your Padawan have been at all these Force Disturbances...so let me ask you. What have you been teaching yoiur Padawan because walking through that cracked wall isn't something a Jedi would know how to do..."

*The words from Kyle were somewhat fiery, yet also questionable at the same time. He was just dumbfounded at the fact that this cave was a tomb, and at the same time how a Padawan could just walk straight through a solid wall as if nothing were there. Maybe...nothing was there at all.*

 

[Green Ranger]

Tyrn muttered something under his breath about the Council and being left out of the loop, then turned and headed over to the tomb doors, scratching his head all the while.

"Yeah, see...I didn't teach Reron anything about walking through walls," the Jedi Master murmured, turning his head back to eye Kyle. At least Tyrn was telling the truth. He was skirting the question, giving barely a shred of an answer, and it was obvious, but even the Jedi had secrets amongst themselves. And Tyrn wasn't going to spill out the entire history, various theories and sidenotes on the Art, not even to his old master. In all honesty, Kyle would probably be unable to comrehend it all like that, and would be unlikely to believe it. Even mastered practitioners of the Force sometimes took new ideas of their art poorly - perhaps too deeply rooted in their ways, they were unable to see outside of the box? - and Tyrn decided that Stellar would have to experience the Art himself to be able to understand it.

Now, however, was neither the time, nor the place. Whatever his intentions, Kyle had sounded rather...accusatory at Tyrn for causing disturbances in the Force. Tyrn himself was surprised at the fact that the Jedi could pick up on them. Perhaps a disadvantage of the Refined field of the Art came at a cost of the difference in wavelength of the energy manipulated, thus allowing faint detection of it. Or perhaps the Art itself wasn't detected, but more the effect caused by the Art was. All of the sudden theorizing caused Tyrn a great amount of mental confusion, and so he banished the ideas from his mind for now, returning to the present and living.

"The obvious question is - how do we follow young Reron? Whatever he did, I have no idea how he did it, and now he's alone in there. I don't like that thought. If the presence of this tomb is as strong as I believe it to be...Reron may be in for a world of hurt."

 

[Jorax]

"Well Tyrn...I can't say I know how to follow Reron. I have no idea how to walk through walls. But what I can see is a crack in the wall where he walked through, and the Force seems particularly strong around that area. We could just shatter the rock wall by hitting it with a strong Force Wave, or disappate the energy around the rock so that we can just use a simpler Force Power to get through the rock. Besides those two ideas, I have no idea how to get through that rock wall. It seems impossible. There is always the last resort of contacting your Padawan through the Force."

*Kyle saw Tyrn's eyes unfocus and refocus for a split second, meaning that Tyrn was thinking about a lot of things. He remembered as a Padawan when Tyrn would try to focus extremely hard and his eyes would sort of loose focus for only a moment before his eyes seemed like they could pierce through everything.

This was one of the most unexpected things that Kyle could comprehend, yet it seemed like it was an ordinary feat. Kyle knew that walking through walls was nearly impossible, unless one had learned how to separate a wall on a molecular level and then put it together...but took time, focus, and most importantly, practice. If Reron was trying to attmept this power, than Kyle would have felt disturbances in the Force from Reron trying to practice these sorts of powers, but he didn't. And it didn't even seem as if Reron had done that. He just walked through the wall.

Kyle was worried for the Padawan, but at the same time, he was somewhat suspicious of Tyrn's activity. He wasn't letting on the whole deal about Reron. Kyle could tell from his tone of voice as well as having Kyle suggest ideas about following the boy. If you don't even care for your Padawan to lead the investigation about how to reach him...than something is amiss.*

 

[Dexington]

"You have done well, Reron Andross."

*The voice had not come from any person, though it rang through the padawan's head all the same. The force presence that lingered in the vast tomb was speaking, through either traps set by the architects or through the spirit of the Mancer Lord. Either way, the tomb and whatever presences it held were not going to allow people to pass easily.*

"You may continue on if you wish, though you may need your friends with you."

*The voice and the presence disappeared with those last words and left Reron all by his lonesome once again. However, behind him where the door still was, a strange cold began eminating. The tomb had begun freezing the opposite side of the door, where Tyrn and Kyle still were, until it had been frozen shut.*

 

[Green Ranger]

Tyrn sighed, then rolled his next, as if loosening his nerves, though that certainly wasn't the case. He entered what looked like a ritual of sorts, shaking out his arms, rolling his head and cracking the joints in his fingers, loosening himself up entirely. Then he walked up to the doors, looking it up and down, as if measuring it up for something. Finally, after what seemed an age, Tyrn spoke once more.

"I'm going to ask something of you, and it's not going to be easy, but we don't have time on our hands, and I have no other choice. I'd rather not do this, but...well, you know, desperate times and all the rest. What you're about to see is not to be discussed with anyone else, not even the Council, until I present it to them myself. It's important the methods used here remain...hidden, for now. Do we have an understanding...Master?"

Tyrn didn't wait for a responce. Kyle wouldn't agree to it anyway, not until he'd had a demosntration, and that was what Tyrn was about to do. Placing his hand on the door, he muttered to himself, as if trying to remember something he hadn't learned in a long time.

"To change the temperature...move it somewhere else...For a door of this size, hmm...yes, that should do it..."

Suddenly, there was a great shudder in the Force, as if an enormous mount of sotred energy was suddenly unleashed. At the same time, the gathered ice and snow on and around the tomb doors suddenly blasted off, freezing into long tendrils of ice. At the same time, the tomb door glowed red hot, huge amounts of steam instantly melting the newly formed icicles, and melting the icey floor enough to dip Tyrn ankle-deep in water.

The huge and sudden temperature changes warped the doors' stone structure heavily, causing the rock to expand and contract at a speed it was unable to keep up with and retain its' integrity. Similar, but at the same time different to Reron's own cracking of the doors, the huge stone slabs shattered as the superheated stone suddenly contracted, shattering into smaller slabs, and falling away from the door.

As the icy haze disspated, Tyrn could be seen pulling his hand out of the pool of ice, then ripping off a sleeve of his robe and wrapping it around the bright red hand. In such brutal conditions, physical contact had been a must, but it had severely burned the Jedi Master's hand. He rose slowly, and somewhat shakily, before turning around to his former master and cracking a lopsided, if weak, grin.

 

[Jorax]

"Tyrn, are you alright?!"

*Kyle rushed over to Force Heal Tyrn's hand, and it did not look very good at all. His hand had been scorched in the process of trying to heat the rock, or so what it seemed. The process was amazing at the least, and it was something unlike Kyle had ever seen before. Tyrn had somehow managed to create heat out of the Force and used it to heat the rock.

There were only two ways to describe this phenomenon. One was that Tyrn had used the Force Particles inside the rock and moved them quickly and violently enough to create heat, but that still didn't explain the temperature change in the rock. The other way was that he was able to control the temperature of the rock...but that seemed impossible!

Using his left hand, Kyle's hand glowed a near invisible blue as Tyrn's hand started to turn from black to a pale tan. Kyle couldn't remove all the damage given, but the burn would be gone at least. Tyrn's muscles would be sore and tired for a while, as he noted the damage on the physical rather than mental. Kyle then faced Tyrn with the most curious look. Who couldn't after that event.*

"Ok Tyrn. You have my word...although what did you exactly do as well as how in the world did you have the abilities to do that?"

*So was this what Tyrn was hiding from Kyle? If so...than it could be explained the Tyrn would want to explore his powers until he could control them and present them to the Council...but this still didn't explain the boy who could walk through walls.*

 

[Dexington]

"Well done. Now, join the worthy one."

This statement could be seen as an insult to both the Jedi Masters, as the padawan had been called more worthy than both of them. However, it was merely stating that he was worthy for entering the tomb first. This would show if their confidence did not lead to arrogance, and they would be able to accept a change of pace.

The door opened to them as well, revealing Reron still standing there with the eerie blue light shining down onto him from the walls. Scriptures began to form, telling a long tale that they were not going to be read. It could be about Brutalidon, though it could also very well be about ducks.

"Continue."

 

[Green Ranger]

Tyrn smiled wearily, waving Kyle away as he straightened up, looking at Reron through the open entrance hall, seemingly speaking volumes to the padawan, though no noticeable could be discerned from his features. However, Reron seemed to understand, a slight nodding of his head noting his acknowledgement.

"To put it simply, I used the heat from my own body and transferred it to another surface. Tightly packing together bundles of Force energy and releasing them in small combustions across the inside of the stone also helped it. It's basically a more drastic version of an exchange of heat, though it's a lot more taxing, and a lot more complex than that."

Of course, Tyrn knew that wasn't all there was to it. He had had to manipulate the stone on an atomic level, seperating useless pieces from minor fragments of more volatile components. The natural cold had recooled the doors almost isntantly, so Tyrn had only had to do half of the work. Still, that had been more than enough to exhaust the Jedi Master.

Tyrn simply ignored the prodding of the presence of the tomb, noting that Reron was in fact far more worthy than his own self for entering first. Tyrn had the knowledge - Reron had natural, raw power. Considering the history of the interred here, Tyrn was not in the least surprised that Reron had been deemed more worthy - he had more power and less control, and the Mancers of old shared those traits almost invariably.

On the other hand, Reron was not without a mind of his own. He had waited for Tyrn, knowing that only together would their combined powers allow success. Still, Tyrn was somewhat disturbed by the fact that Tyrn's eyes were still aglow - it was so...unnatural in appearance, and it was like Reron could pierce flesh and bone when he looked at you, and bare your very soul. Though Tyrn himself had nothing real to hide, it was still an uncomfortable feeling, regardless.

 

[Jorax]

*Kyle's chemistry was actually quite top notch as he just nodded and walked through the broken stone to meet Tyrn's Padawan. Kyle knew that Tyrn hadn't let Kyle know the real consequences, since his body seemed very tired. Tyrn also didn't want Kyle to know about what had happened to the rock, since only heating a rock would make it warm. There was more to it...such as cooling and heating the rock to make what Tyrn did happen. That was more interesting than anything he had ever seen a Jedi Master did...maybe this adventure would lead to more things that would unlock mysteries about these power surges.

As Kyle walked through to the other side of this mysterious cave, he saw scriptures and his mind instantly remembered them, as if he had taken a picture with his mind, which was what he did. Photographic memory always had its great uses and Kyle could study them later on his own time. History of others never bored him, although sometimes Jedi Master lectures of history were usually very close to it. The symbols looked vaguely familiar, although it could have been Kyle's mind playing tricks. The symbols were unlike any symbol he had seen before, but there were similarities with a possible Sith text that he had studied in the Archives. How odd...*

"This is amazing! I never knew there was something like this near the Station...and it is astounding. But names first. I am Kyle, Reron. And I have to ask you...how did you walk through that wall?"