Once More Into The Fray

[Ferre]

Once More Into The Fray
Ilum Temple
Midday

@Ferre @Elijah Brockway
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"How about we don't"

His voice was only a mutter, the padawan lying face down on the icy floor of the Ilum temple.

His nose pressed into the ground, perhaps it would get stuck there, icy floors and all. That was a price he was willing to pay. The other option would be to go with his fellow comrade back into the caves of Ilum to get a lightsaber crystal. 'But didn't he already have one?' you might ask. Well, yes. Like any other 16 year old padawan, he had gone a certain degree of years with a lightsaber in tow. A faithful companion that he seldom used. A brilliant cold-blue blade that had yet to fulfill it's sacred mission of cutting enemies of the Jedi.

And would never get the chance to.

A week prior it had, quite literally, fallen into a volcano. Gobbled up by the cruel sea of lava. Never to be seen again.

He didn't want to talk about it.

Likewise he didn't want to get up and get a new crystal now.

He remembered the trials from long ago. The task of getting his first crystal in those distant cold caverns. For a creature born onto an ice-world, a younger Bast had climbed out of those very caves looking irrevocably damaged from the experience. He remembered how he emerged last time, his face slightly scratched, the white of his hair luckily concealing the multitude of snow pieces that had intertwined and concealed themselves within the messy short strands, and worst of all, the mass of inflicted bruises, the abuse of the temple -or more rightfully Bast’s inability to scale a wall- hidden beneath his initiate robes.

No. He wasn't going to go through that again. It was the only time he considered the option of quitting the Jedi order. Right now, he could feel the effort it would take before he even started. Nope. Fire him here and now. The cold floor was fine.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Kalaar stood nearby, his arms crossed while Bast decided to lay around and pout like a spoiled child. While he had agreed that he would join Bau Zo's army of Knights and the like and try to help out with all the younger Jedi (which meant the entirety of said army, to him) so that they'd be ready for the Sith, he didn't expect for one of Bau's generals (a man by the name of Sihkar, he thought) to send him off with a bratty Arkanian to get the kid a new lightsaber crystal. Now that he had gone along, though, he knew why they'd sent him. It'd only take somebody who was equally stubborn to get this Padawan to actually work.

"Bast R'aef, I did not hop onto a ship and get flown all the way out here, alongside you, only for you to lay on the ground and decide that freezing of sanity and manhood you had was better than ensuring your ability to fulfill your duty as a Jedi," Kalaar growled. He was rather lightly garbed for where he was, even with the freezing winds about him - he had always enjoyed the temple on Ilum. It was like New Holstice in terms of how quiet it was, but the howling winds and sub-zero temperatures served to help toughen up various Jedi rather well. There were still too many people there, though.

"Now, I want you to get up by the time I count to three. If you don't, then I will make you get up. Understood?" He waited a small moment to let Bast give the noncommittal grunt that Kalaar expected. "One."

 

[Ferre]

"Now, I want you to get up by the time I count to three. If you don't, then I will make you get up. Understood?"

Did this padawan just threaten him? It wouldn't be visible since Bast's face remained face down, but he raised a brow in silent intrigue. Huh.

"Two"

Bast listened as his companion listed out a second number. He was really going for this wasn't he? For a moment, Bast considered getting up. Not necessarily to comply, just to appreciate this youth who seemed to bring some humor to Bast's bleak day. Of course, his companion was bluffing. What was he gonna do, use the force to enter Bast's mind and complete the task for him? Bast furrowed his brows, was that even possible with the force? Probably, he concluded with a flippant thought. Probably something Knights know how to do. In fact, Bast became so distracted in his thoughts regarding Force Possession that he quite forgot there was an angry Jedi standing over him counting down to his demise.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Kalaar gave Bast one more moment to comply, but the other Padawan seemed quite unwilling to do so. Thankfully, nobody told Kalaar that he couldn't play babysitter in his own way with this recalcitrant whelp. Finally he decided he was done waiting; within seconds, the Force suffused his entire being. "Three," he growled, an animalistic sort of tone building upon his normally gruff bass voice. He reached out a hand, and the Force flowed from it, wrapping around Bast and lifting him into the air. He turned Bast around with the Force, hoping to meet an indignant expression - who knows, the insult might get Bast moving of his own accord. When he saw no such thing - the Arkanian's expression was rather blank - he shrugged to himself.

"Time to go exploring, child." He lazily swiped his hand in the direction of the cave entrance, releasing his hold on Bast as he did so, and sent the Padawan tumbling down the dark tunnel. Rather lazily, Kalaar followed along behind him.

 

[Ferre]

Wha-

As his face ripped free from the ground, his nose came rather unwillingly. Like ripping a bandage off the skin in one quick swoop, Bast furrowed his brows briefly in the quick uncomfortable pain. His nose red according to his reflection, and in need attention, but the padawan felt that he couldn't move his hands.

Bast was twirled into the air, he felt the gentle rush of wind wrap around his body. Well, this certainly was a start. Bast looked down and then at his feet and hands. His limbs were being pulled like a marionette, and the padawan became more amused by the second; completely forgetting the throbbing of his nose.

As the padawan was tossed, it wasn't quite until he hit a pillar of hard snow that Bast was no longer enjoying this fun twirl through the air. Collapsing in a heap, the impact against the pillar causing a pile of snow to fall on top of him, Bast found himself in the same predicament as earlier. This was okay. A blanket of snow.

He heard the soft footsteps of the fellow padawan entering the cavern. Perhaps he couldn't see Bast, the Arkanian camouflaged by his natural looks. Well, his Jedi robes probably negated that, he thought with dismay. Oh well. Time to sleep forever in an ice cavern.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Kalaar saw Bast tumble into the pillar of snow, which promptly collapsed all over him, leaving the Arkanians' hands, feet, and head sticking out. If it were anybody other than Kalaar, they might have laughed at the sight, because it was rather comical and would be embarassing for Bast, if he were the type to care about such a thing. As it was, however, Kalaar maintained his stern glare as he walked over to the Padawan. Once he reached him, he leaned down next to the Padawan's face.

"Bast, why are you such a recalcitrant and unmotivated child?"

 

[Ferre]

Upon hearing a voice and wanting to hear it better, not through the mound of snow that muffled all sound around him, Bast shifted his head until he broke free from his icy tomb. This came in the form of a tiny Arkanian face popping free from the snow with a slight slake of his head to free the minute snowflakes.

"I wouldn't say recalcitrant..." the padawan made an odd face, spitting out a bit of snow that inhibited his speech. Considering he woke up at dawn every day to fix every electronic droid, ship, and cybernetic attachment asked of himself with only mild complaining. "Have you seen these caves? The way of getting to the crystals is absolutely unnecessary."

With that, the padawans face fell, his discussion leading to quite unhappy memories. He was fine with most tasks the Jedi gave him. In a way, it was much easier than the life on Arkania. Clock in, clock out. Go on a mission, complete it, return home and sleep. Often, the missions were simple. They had Bast fix basic technology. Just this past week they woke him up for the sole purpose of rebuilding a Knight's cybernetic face and leg. When that was all that was expected of him, how could Bast not comply? Especially when the alternative was being sent back to Arkania. Where he would have to do boring research. 24/7 and pleasant jobs that most in the galaxy would vomit at the sight of.

Not to mention they always said they were waiting to take him back. Oh no. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

However, the caves unnerved him as well as his family. Like they were rude on purpose, trying to develop the hardest way to get a crystal...and then of all the crystals in the cavern, congratulations...you have to get that one.