Ask The Elements

[Leon Baudelaire]

RESEARCH OUTPOST
Christophsis || Crystal Forest

Leon’s fingers drummed irritably on his knee as he listened to the Knight assigned to watch over their little group drone on and on about the importance of safety and sticking together. The knight was wrong by no means, but he was anxious to get out of this cramped research facility and catch up with his buddy Dash.

It’d been weeks since he’d seen any of the others, and after his harrowing experience on Dxun, he was due a little R&R with a buddy, wasn’t he?

“I’m sorry, Padawan, am I boring you?” Leon wasn’t even paying attention, but the venom that dripped off the word "Padawan," was enough to make him tune in. A surprised, "Are you talking to me?" expression stampeded directly into an "Oh shit, I’m in trouble!" face, which crumbled into a defeated, "Why me?" before he said, “No, sir, I-uh, just gotta poop.”

What was wrong with him? Why was he like this? Protocol droids, on average, were fluent in over six million forms of communication, and he was fluent in exactly none, but as luck would have it the knight seemed to sympathize with his imaginary impending bowel movement, by dropping the whole thing and finishing up his lecture promptly. Leon played the fool and scurried out of the room as if the dams were ready to burst, dropping the act once he got outside and heading for the hangar bay instead of the refresher.

Leon had been on Christophsis for about a month. The research team he'd been assigned to was making progress at a snail's pace, but on the bright side he’d managed to get in a fair amount of tutaminis training. Was he proficient? Nope, but he could make it work more often than not. He took a seat on some cargo boxes and watched the main bay. He loved sitting here and watching the ships come in and out. The lab was located on the side of a mountain and the main bay was protected by a plasma shield. From this height, the view was incredible and the howl of the wind was like a long-forgotten lullaby.

The shadow of an incoming ship pulled him from his trance-like state, and a smile spread across his lips. Now he just needed to see if he could convince Dash to go on a little adventure.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash was looking forward to seeing Leon. Together with Zathria, Andros and Ezra, they made a small band who had experienced a pretty unique 48 hours together. It was not that long ago, but Dash was already starting to forget the worst bits and just remember the good.

Of course, something particularly good had been born out of Kashyyyk for Dash, in the form of Ezra Thorne. Fresh from their sailing date on Thyferra, Dash was feeling pretty smitten with his special silver-eyed friend. But he was not going to go on about him today. He wasn't!

The ship swept into the hangar and Dash disembarked. This was a pretty cold world, so he had wrapped up warm in a padded buckle jacket from back home. Still no cloak though, he seemed to feel the cold even less these days.

He saw Leon immediately, kicking around the hangar and looking mischievous. "Hey buddy" he said, doing the one-shoulder hug he'd seen all the cool Padawans do "how you keeping?".

He looked around the landing deck, watching as a couple of speeders leapt through the shield, out onto the snow. "My kind of place. Tell me its nice and friendly and we're just gonna have a quiet few days?".

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“You better get that cool kid crap outta here with me!” laughed Leon as he threw his arms around Dash. He let the other Padawan go then shrugged responding, “I’ve had worse assignments. The only thing I’m going to die from out here is boredom.”

Leon admired the doublet Dash was wearing. “This is nice man, one day you’ll have to teach me your ways.”

Dash asked, well probably more pleaded, for their time to be chill, but Leon’s mischievous little smirk would be a clear indication that peace would probably be fleeting on this trip. He was already outfitted in his mission attire. He couldn’t bring himself to wear robes, they slowed him down. Fashion wasn’t his forte, but luckily pragmatism was. He wore both his blaster and his blastsword clipped to his utility belt. He’d given up the training saber he’d been given. The thing just felt wrong to him. Which was all the more reason why he was glad to be here.

Christophsis was known for having large Kyber deposits. During his time stuck doing research, he’d discovered an outcropping that exhibited unique characteristics, they weren’t too far from the base, but far enough they’d need to ditch the normal research run.

“Okay, don’t get mad, but I was kinda hoping you’d go kyber crystal hunting with me?”


@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash laughed as they broke the hug, looking Leon up and down. "Well I'd say you are streets ahead of everyone already by also ditching the robes. You look good man". The other Padawan looked ready for action in his practical mission gear; a real adventurer, just like when they had first met. Still, Dash could probably give him a few tips when they got back to the temple.

"Crystal hunting?" Dash knew what it was of course, but was surprised by Leon's timing. It was pretty perfect. He knew he needed to find his own crystal, one better than the second-hand standard one in his saber, to ever make a proper knight. With the next round of ceremonies coming up, it had been creeping up his to do list for weeks, but he had not been sure where to start. Figuring it out together with Leon might just be the answer.

"I guess this is one of the best places for them" he said "but do you even know where to go? Are we allowed to just go nicking them?" Dash was becoming increasingly conscious of the politics of being a Jedi; Christophosis was not one of their temple worlds and he didn't want to upset any locals by rooting through their caves.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon blushed, “Please, I look like a Han Solo Cosplayer.”

The idea of crystal hunting seemed to resonate with Dash, and a little bit of his anxiety faded. Dash wasn’t as easy to trick into doing things as Ezra was. So, he gave himself a mental pat on the back for finding something with a little promise.

“That’s the neat part, we don’t have to nick them!” he replied, “According to the Archives Kyber crystals can call out to their destined users. I thought that was BS, but back on Kashyyyk, I watched Jabba experience this call.”

Leon knew this was a lot to take in suddenly, but he’d been so bored the past few weeks, he just wanted to get the talking done and then get after those crystals.

“There’s a place decent hike away called the Crystal forest. Recently, force readings have been off the chart there. I figured that’d be the best place to start,” he trailed off for a moment remembering the Knight’s safety talk this morning, then added, “We should keep our actual destination to ourselves. The knight heading this place is nice enough, but he’s a stickler for the rules.”

All they had to do now, was prepare for the trip and get permission to leave. Of course, Leon wasn’t above sneaking out if the stickler Knight wasn’t willing to let them go.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

"Well Han Solo was a total lothario wasn't he? In his younger days anyway" Dash shrugged his shoulders with a smirk.

It was good that borrowing a crystal or two was not going to bother anyone, though Dash hoped it really was as simple to know which one to choose as Leon made it sound. The mention of Jabba made him laugh. "I had almost forgot he had us calling him that for most of that trip. Thanks for using my name as bait by the way" he said, thumping Leon lightly on the arm "I got a load of grief from Ezra about giving you his number".

As far as Dash knew, once Ezra got there he had actually enjoyed his antics with the other Padawan on Ellora. Still, he had done a lot of moaning about the number. Dash had not considered how closely Ezra had to guard his privacy, but there had been no harm done giving it to Leon. He was their one good mutual friend and Dash had a feeling there would be times they would both be glad to have Adumarian.

"Just promise me this forest is going to be less trouble than the last one" Dash joked as they headed out the hangar. Dash let Leon lead the way, trusting that he knew the best way to get them out to the forest without being reprimanded.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon gestured toward the barracks, not realizing he’d not actually said where they were heading, could Jedi even have attention deficit disorder? Anyway, he led Dash to their shared room. Thankfully, their room was twice the size of the one he’d been forced the share with Ezra. It was a barebones boring bunk, but they both had a bed, nightstand, and desk. Leon’s side wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t perfectly tidy.

The Padawan looked back and Dash was standing outside almost hesitant, “Oh, this is our bunk! Sorry, my brain is in a million places! Come in, I swear I’m not a slob, I just woke up late.”

His skimboard was leaned up against the wall next to his nightstand. A couple of research holos were scattered across his bed, and his Personav was plugged into his datapad on his desk.

“Thanks for using my name as bait by the way,” Dash thumped Leon on the arm and Leon laughed. He flashed Dash a “very sincere” apologetic smile saying, “Sorry! I mean, kinda, the training was amazing," then deflecting as quickly as he could asked, "How’s he doing with the whole force thing?”

Ezra had a love-hate relationship with the force, at least from Leon’s perspective. There seemed to be something driving him away from it, but at the same time, the dude was curious about it. Leon felt for him. It’s tough to deny something like the force once it’s been awakened in full.

“Nah, I’ve been here for a month, not a single death,” he said feigning boredom, “Only thing we gotta watch out for are these freaky bug things,” he stepped over to his bed plucking one of the holo’s and holding it up to Dash, "This one."

Leon had seen several of the monsters during his time here, but he hadn’t seen any in action. That being said they were properly terrifying bugs.

“You ever ridden a skimboard before?” he asked tossing a pair of mag sleeves to Dash to slide over his boots. Leon’s board could easily hold two, and it’d make the hike a hell of a lot faster. He picked up his datapad and submitted the leave request. He might have fudged the local they were heading to by a click or two, but that wouldn’t hurt anything, right?

“Hey, have you made any more progress with your cryokinesis?”

There was a beep on his datapad. His request was approved. “Nice, we’re good!”

He unplugged his Personav and slipped it into it’s pouch on his utility belt. Leon trotted outside tucking his skimboard under his arm. The mag sleeves already on his boots. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d really learned on Ellora yet, but he thought Dash might be the perfect person to share the secret with. Leon threw down his board it came to life hovering above the ground, Leon jumped on and banked around stopping so Dash could hop on.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash sidled into the bunk room, hands in pockets as he surveyed Leon's lodgings. "Not bad..." he said, through half-gritted teeth "a bit frontier but I bet you don't mind that". Leon was the kind of guy who could rough it in a Tatooine slum and still remain cheery.

"It's ok" he said, waving away Leon's apology "he was ok about it afterwards. I think it's growing on him - the Force - but he's still pretty cagey about it. Like 99% of subjects". Dash laughed a little to himself. It felt weird chatting openly to someone about Ezra, the only person he had told was his mother. Still, it was nice.

What was less nice was the big image of the native bugs Leon held up. Dash had no words, having actually started to believe they might not have to risk danger at all. "Skimboard, I think I have actually - my brother tried to teach me years ago on the slopes by our house". He left out that he had no aptitude for it at all and all he and Tyto did was fall out royally.

He stood there holding the mag sleeves for a while, eventually working out what he was supposed to do with them. "Yeah, that's what the holobooks call it isn't it...." he was still not entirely comfortable with his cryokinesis at all "I guess I'm getting a bit better at it, after the snake on Kashyyyk I kinda worry less about the little things that go wrong".

When they were ready, he followed Leon outside uncertainly, even less sure about getting on the board once Leon fired it up. "This is totally safe yeah?" he asked, despite knowing he was not going to trust the answer. Why did all these boys love travelling fast?

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon’s mischievous smile would have told Dash everything he needed to know. A rush of wind tousled Leon’s hair as he held his hand to his friend. He didn’t say it, but the implication was there. Do you trust me?

Once Dash was on the board Leon would ease it into the air and let the other dude acclimate to the movement of the board before ramping up the speed. Flight brought Leon life. He’d taken to skimboarding following his trip to Ellora. There they referred to the force as the wind of life and that comparison had caused a revelation in his understanding. Feeling the force in the wind on his face affirmed the power’s presence. It was always around him, in him. He was a part of the force the same way a leaf was a part of the breeze.

Unfortunately, the trip was shorter than he’d wanted. Leon banked to the left, taking them in a slow descending circle before slowing down and coming to a stop. The Crystal Forest lived up to its name. Thick crystalline brush intertwined and spider-webbed out before them. The bases of the trees, if that was what they actually were, were milky white and the limbs culminated in shocks of color that ranged across the spectrum of the rainbow. Leon reached out with the force and stashed his skimboard in the branches of a nearby tree.

“We’ll have to go on foot from here,” he jutted his chin a the mass of tangled crystal that made up the forest. “First part of this trail is tight, but it opens up pretty quickly. According to my Nav we’re not far from the spot.”

The Force signatures recorded from this area were off the charts and seemed to emanate from a cave located within the Crystal Forest. If Leon were honest, he wasn’t sure why no one had taken the initiative to investigate. It was weird how bureaucratic the Order could be.

As Leon started heading into tightly packed crystalline foliage paused as something stirred within the force. He could feel the Force gently tugging him toward their destination. He frowned moving deeper into the woods. With each step, the urgency of the Force’s call intensified. “D-do you feel that?”

His voice sounded a million parsec’s away as he spoke, his body felt like it was moving on it’s own as he ducked, hopped, and squeezed through the tightly woven space. He tried distracting himself, “So, you gonna spill the tea on how much you’re madly in love with Jabberino, or not?” Leon flashed that impish grin of his as he slid past one more tree and then popped out of the cramped space and into a small clearing.

He took a deep breath when the image of a lightsaber flashed into his mind, startling him. He looked back and forth confused. Were they in danger? He didn’t think so, but he couldn’t be sure. The image of the lightsaber lingered at the back of his mind as he continued to push deeper into the forest.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash stepped onto the board eventually, reassuring himself there was nothing to worry about and no alterative except looking like a scared little girl. He let the mag boots do their thing, but still held onto Leon as they shot off out of the hangar.

The clear, cold Christophsis wind raced through Dash's hair and pinned his cheeks back as they flew. It was probably the fastest he had travelled through open air in a long time, but he somehow stifled the scream that rose in his throat. Leon actually seemed to know what he was doing, navigating the air currents with agility and grace. The board was so small, Dash was amazed he could keep the ride so smooth.

By the time they reached the Crystal Forest and dismounted, Dash would have agreed to do it again. The other Padawan was a safe pair of hands, or rather feet.

The forest itself was pretty. The crystalline tree tops sprouted in every colour imaginable and Dash found the effect enchanting. He followed Leon along the narrow path, finding little to fear in such a colourful environment. It was as if the canopy above was made of crystalline candy.

Dash did feel something a moment before Leon asked, though he was not sure if he was reassured or worried that it was real. "Yeah..." he said, stretching out his senses "it's almost like a beacon in the Force, a call from the way ahead". He had never come across anything like it.

Dash was still feeling for the strange pulse when Leon threw the awkward question. "I'm not madly in love" he said quickly. It was obviously preposterous, they had only taken a sailing trip together up to now. "Why? Did Ezra say something like that?" he found himself asking. So you avoided looking like a scared little girl, only to sound like a desperate teenage one. "I like him, yes" he admitted "and I know he's hard to like, but I do. But we're just feeling it out at the moment".

They emerged into a clearing and strange images flashed in Dash's mind. A saber hilt. A glowing stalagmite. A crooked tree branch. Dash stood transfixed, wobbling a little on the spot.

That was when the crystal roots on the far side of the clearing cracked apart and three of the Kyaddak bug things Leon had mentioned crawled into view. They were not as big as the picture Dash had seen - adolescents maybe - but they still stopped and swung their many heads and eyes in the Padawans direction.

Rolled 9/20 for level of danger

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Dash was crimson in the face as he popped out of the cramped quarters, but the color wasn’t from exertion. Leon held up his hands in surrender little smirk still clinging to his mouth, “It’s weird how cool he is when you get to know him, right? Don’t tell him I said that.”

Instead of quipping back, Dash looked like he was about to pass out. Leon stepped forward to steady him. When he heard the screech of a kyaddak. Suddenly, there was immense pressure on his conscious. It was staggering. Leon struggled to get out, “Careful, these… things are… force sensitive.”

The thundering TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK, of their jagged limbs on the hard-packed earth, closed in on them. Leon breathed in and pushed back as hard as he could against the pressure seeking to overwhelm him. The insect on the left faltered. Leon pulled his blaster and fired three shots. The first two bolts glanced off the carapace of the charging insect, but the third one struck home. The Kyaddak’s leg buckled and it tripped slamming into the middle bug. The third still came at them. The mental pressure that the charging insect exuded was galvanized by the pain it felt from it’s brethren. Leon felt himself let go, he felt the force wash over him and then take control. There was no fear, there was peace.

He lifted his blaster and fired three more times. He wasn’t lucky enough to wound this one, but he’d managed to get it’s attention. He shot off toward the tightly packed crystal foliage away from Dash and created an opening for an attack while the other two insects were still fighting one another to get up.

“Don’t leave me hanging, bro!” Leon called over his shoulder excited smile spread wide across his face. What was an adventure without a little combat practice?

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

"I would never" Dash replied. On one level he was pleased someone else had a glimpse of the real Ezra too, but equally you had to be careful how much you inflated the Thorne's ego. It was pretty big already.

When events shifted and the three Kyaddak were coming at them, they both had to react fast. Leon was there straight away, firing his blaster and knocking one of them off them feet, sending it crashing into a second. Dash tried to ready himself, but the insects were radiating energy through the Force like blasts of a foghorn. It was difficult to keep his head.

Gritting his teeth, Dash reached out to the Force himself, his own particular affinity connecting with the crystalline ground beneath them. It had much in common with ice and almost called to him just as strongly. He wrapped his mental grip around the earth and pulled, yanking several crystal shards from the ground and throwing them at the insects like a hail of knives.

"I got you" Dash replied, pleased to see at least one of the creatures go down for good, a jagged shard spearing through its carapace. "though I thought you said the only thing to worry about out here was boredom!"

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“That was awesome!” Leon crowed in victory as the bug behind him got squashed. Well impaled but whatever. Aghast he protested, ”Hey, I told you about these!”

The sudden loss of their comrade seemed to rattle the other two bugs. The mental force they were exuding weakened and Leon moved in to capitalize. He slid to a stop about six meters from the intertwined insects. Fear intermingled with their fury. Leon stretched both hands out, closed his eyes, and reached out to the insects with the force. As his consciousness brushed against theirs they lashed out against him. Their instinctive animalistic power within the force was intense, but these two adolescent Kyaddak were nothing compared to the presence of an Anakkona.

Leon pressed inwardly on them, driving a mental spike into each of their minds. One of them gave under his pressure and went slack. The other’s fear managed to repel Leon’s attack. It staggered to its feet and bellowed shaking all of its heads as it reared back and charged. He pulled his blastsword and stood at the ready, as the beast closed in he dove to the left swiping out with his blade. He felt the tip connect and he pulled the trigger. A burst of plasma exploded from the connection point. The Kyaddak roared as it lost a few steps. Leon moved behind it placing the insect between Dash and himself.

“See, this wasn’t so bad!” he called over to Dash. Leon was ready, this bug was done for.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Being in a crisis with Leon was never as bad as it would otherwise be. Dash always had the sense he could be hanging off a cliff edge with the Adumarian and he would mention that the drop could be a lot worse.

One Kyaddak remained, scuttling between them, but Leon had half killed it already. Dash drew his saber, igniting the blue blade and feinting to the left. The creature naturally tried to hurry to the right, but the Rhinnalian was already there, slashing at it finally, resignation on his face as the blade connected.

"Why did they have to attack us?" Dash said, a hint of sorrow in his voice. So much of the galaxy's wildlife was far too precious for its own good. He had never liked killing stuff, but mindless hostility like these three Kyaddak had left them no choice. "Are you ok?" Again, it was entirely possible Leon had lost a leg and not though to complain, but Dash wanted to know his buddy was unhurt.

Moving past the dead insects, the far side of the clearing seemed to open into a cave of sorts, though formed by the interwoven joining of the crystalline trees rather than any rock formation. Nonetheless, the crystals drooped from above and rose from below, in much the same way and stalactites and stalacmites.

"Guessing this is where all those exciting readings came from?" Dash said, flashing a glance at Leon. This had to be the heart of the forest.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon’s mischievous grin spread into a smile. As Dash broke out his stang LIGHTSABER?!?! Since when? Why wasn’t that the first thing he’d shown him? What was he waiting for the right moment to show it off? Oh, that’s exactly what he was doing!

“Dude! You built your saber!? Ugh, that’s awesome!” Dash was playing it cool, checking on him, but Leon waved him off, “What? Yeahyeahyeah, I’m fine!” he said before going right back to admiring Dash’s saber, “The blue is so cool, it’s like you convinced plasma to look like ice!”

Man, he couldn’t believe how cool it was to see his buddy get a lightsaber. Having a Master really had it’s benefits. “When did you build this? Was it hard? Sorry, I’m being obnoxious,” he said as he realized he was railroading the conversation as usual.

He noticed Dash’s line of sight shift and he turned around to see the opening of a cave nested in crystal brambles along the clearing’s edge. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before, but the force was particularly thick within the clearing. It made him wonder if the anomaly had caused the bugs to go a little nuts. He put his thinking cap to the side and decided the best course of action was to investigate.

A few minutes later, he and Dash were standing at the mouth of the cave. Dash mentioned the readings and Leon nodded confirming his buddy’s suspicions. “Yeah, I can feel it slowly flowing from deeper within. It’s like a refreshing breeze on a sunny day.”

Which was weird because they were standing at the mouth of a scary cave. He closed his eyes and opened himself to the power. In the middle of the cave mouth stood a massive stalagmite that emanate a soft emerald light. In the center of the crystal was an opening. To the naked eye it was a neat little natural path through the obelisk, but to someone looking with the force… it was a pathway.

“Do you see that?” said, Leon already moving forward. The draw of the force returning with vigor as he found he wasn’t casually strolling toward the stalagmite, he was running like his life depended on it.

As he reached the crystal obelisk he slid to a stop and began sliding into the opening. If Dash hadn’t caught on to what was happening it would appear as if Leon had just stepped into a tunnel he could see the end of, but Baudelaire was nowhere to be found.

Leon felt the press of the crystal slip away as he passed through the illusion and into the hidden room. The room looked like an ancient research facility. It had a cot and a couple of consoles. To his surprise, the main source of light within the room was actually the green glow of the old screens. They were still operational. Suddenly, Leon was blinded. A bright light shined in his eyes and he yelped like a girl when he heard the soft metallic scrap of droid feet on stone.

Through his fingers, he could just make out the visage of a little droid. He'd never seen the make before. He dropped to a crouch and gingerly reached out for the little guy, "Easy, I'm not gonna hurt you... W-Wait!"

The little droid revealed the room he was in was actually just an entryway as it scuttled down a corridor to his left. He pulled his flashlight from his utility belt and clipped it to his blastvest before turning it on. They'd just discovered a hidden research lab that was old, like reeeeeeeeeeally old.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

"You think I'd build this?" Dash said, smirking and holding up the pretty standard saber hilt. It was so boring it hurt Dash's eyes. "It's just a hand-me-down I got issued way back, not my own. I didn't even choose the blue!". The blade colour was at least in his favourite palette, but still not quite right. "I was kinda hoping to build my own when I get a crystal" he explained, clapping Leon on the arm "so you're not behind just yet Mr".

They made their way into the cave that opened up on the far side of the clearing. Dash felt the draw Leon was talking about, but was still scanning their surroundings when the Adumarian ran full pelt at the huge stalagmite in the centre. "Woah, just wait up-" but suddenly Leon was gone.

Dash found himself following his steps to try and understand it. When he slid through the opening and emerged into the hidden room, he was totally dumfounded. What the hell was this place? "I think those bugs really messed with my mind" he said, taking in the antiquated screens and curious surroundings.

The sudden light from the little droid had Dash readying an attack, but Leon was unperturbed, crouching down to talk to the little thing like it was an amiable puppy. He relaxed his hands as the droid suddenly darted off, seemingly from terror or overexcitement. The Rhinnalian kept his saber hilt in his hand though, treading carefully behind Leon and keeping his blue eyes peeled.

There seemed to be a series of small rooms off the narrow tunnel, each of them covered in thick layers of dust. One in particular made Dash stop as they passed, a barely audible hum making him cock his head and investigate.

He could make out a large workbench in the torch light, littered with tools, old pads and boxes. A square box toward one edge seemed to call to him and he cautiously opened the lid.

A jagged silver-blue crystal sat preserved on a faded cushion. It seemed to twinkle with an inviting glow. Even if they had not long ago been discussing it, Dash could not have mistaken its purpose.

"Have we wandered into dreamland or what?" he breathed, carefully picking up the crystal and holding it in his palm. "We just walked through a forest of crystals out there, but this one squatting here in some dusty hideout. It's got something about it..."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon held up his hands in mock surrender smiling back at Dash in protest saying, “Hey-hey-hey! I was just being supportive! Geeze!” Dash clapped him on the shoulder and Leon rubbed it faking injury. “Oh, good. Thought I was about to have to make this a competition,” he said with a laugh.

Dash turned into a room and Leon stopped, wondering if he was going to lose the droid. But his curiosity could wait. He followed Dash into the room and gasped when he saw the crystal.

“I don’t know about dreamland, but this place is really cool,” replied Leon. He couldn’t believe what Dash had found, that was amazing. The lightsaber slid back into prominence in his mind. His gaze shifted back the way they came. An urgency was creeping up his spine. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He just needed to go. Still, it wasn’t smart to rush off in an ancient force-hidden tunnel alone…

The Little droid met them at the end of the tunnel and lead them down the path. As they rounded a corner the little droid stopped suddenly and Leon nearly crushed it. “What the—”

The passage opened up into a circular room with a small island suspended in the center hovering over a large cavernous pit. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew he had to jump out to that floating mass. He took a deep breath. Then to Dash he yelled, “Wish me luck!” before sprinting toward the edge. The force swirled around his legs sinking into the muscle fiber in preparation for what was to come. The edge drew nearer, nearer, and then… Leon was airborne. His chest slammed into the platform and he nearly lost his grip. “Ow…” he whimpered shimming up the side. He thanked the force for the Emryc Thorne Workout Routine as he rolled over the side.

The floating isle was only 2 meters wide at best. In the center of the land mass was a crystalline branch standing straight up. As he got closer he could see that the branch had been buried to stand erect. Was it a marker? He noticed a glint of metal and squatted down to examine the origin. Draped around the offshoot limbs was a thin chain necklace with a medallion hanging from it. He ran his thumb over the cool metal and could feel the light radiating from the medallion. Leon had never seen the symbols before, but in his gut, he knew it was the symbol for the Jedi. He stuck the necklace in his pocket.

Leon reached down and began to dig into the dirt. His fingers brushed something cold and metallic. His heart leaped as he recognized the item. It was the lightsaber. Carefully he pulled the saber from the ground. It was ancient. It was like looking into the past, like holding a relic he shouldn’t have been allowed to touch. The force undulated around the blade. Leon could feel it’s call, it’s desire. He ignited the blade. A blade the color of sunlight erupted from the emitter.

He looked over his shoulder to Dash, a disbelieving smile plastered on his dumb face! Then the island he was standing on started to quiver. Instinct took over and Leon ran. He didn’t have nearly the space he’d had before, but as he hit the edge he felt the force sweep him up and launch him over the pit. Leon landed on the other side gracefully, spinning around to see the island fall away.

"Oof, that was close, huh?" he chuckled. That's when the whole cave began to rumble. "Uh... I think we better go!"

The little BD unit was doing a little dance of terror beckoning them to follow, and Leon obliged.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash pocketed the crystal, still feeling a strange sense of connection to the thing. The image of the crooked tree branch flashed in his mind again, though the relevance was inexplicable. He guessed he now had no excuse not to look at building his own unique saber, but he could not quite believe a crystal had come along exactly when he needed it.

He followed Leon down the tunnel, trying see past the taller Adumarian to where the droid was leading them. When they came to the cavern and the suspended island, Dash was once again left in the dust as Leon sprinted and leaped across the gap. The Rhinnalian's heart was in his mouth when Leon only just made the edge and he breathed a massive sigh of relief when he rolled up onto the top.

"You are actually mad aren't you!" Dash hollared across the gap, though he was just glad Leon made it. He was sure the other Padawan sometimes thought he could fly.

It looked like there was something in the centre of the small island and he thought he saw Leon pocket something tiny. Then the guy started to dig up the earth and Dash wondered if his friend really had lost it. "What is it?" he shouted, but the answer came when Leon suddenly held a hilt aloft, igniting a golden lightsaber blade that flashed in the dim light. Dash had a feeling it was something special and not just because it was buried in a hidden chamber.

Something seemed to stir in the earth beneath them and the island began to quiver. Dash readied himself to go after Leon, but the other Padawan was already leaping back, again landing safely despite the risk. "Mad" Dash repeated, shaking his head "but damn lucky. Yes, time to go I think!"

They ran back the way they came, tearing after the little droid and dodging dust and rock beginning to fall from above. Whatever force had kept this place together all these years was weakening and the ancient tunnels seemed to be losing their integrity. Dash weaved the Force as he ran, sending flurries of ice up the walls and along the ceiling to try and patch the widening cracks. If they could make it back out the big stalagmite, they should be safe.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

As Dash steadied the walls, Leon kept their path forward clear. A boulder dislodged from the wall and plummeted toward the little BD unit. Leon caught the bolder with the force and managed to slow it’s fall until they passed under it safely. He could feel his body beginning to weaken under the strain of constant connection to the force, but once again he was put in a position where he would simply succeed or die. Fun, fun, fun…

BD skittered and round a corner with Leon and Dash fast on it’s heels, the little guy hopped up onto a desk and then lept through the stalagmite vanishing in front of Leon as he dove through right after it. He burst out of the geode and onto the floor of the cave, but they weren’t safe yet. The collapse of the hidden research facility seemed to be causing the entire cave itself to give way.

They were less than a hundred meters from the cave's mouth, one final push would see them free and clear!

“Almost there!” cried Leon.

Just before they could reach the mouth of the opening it would begin to crumble and give way, Leon would strain against the crumbling rockface, but without help he’d never be able to stop it all.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

It was not easy, but somehow they made it through the tunnels, following the tiny eccentric droid back through the entry and emerging back into the cave. It occurred to Dash that the poor little thing had probably been trapped in there its whole life, but the rumbling collapse was a sure enough reason to leave.

Too late he realised the rumbling was still happening. The cave itself was going he noticed, fissures ravaging the walls and ceiling and chunks of rock breaking away. They all sprinted for the cave mouth, ducking instinctively at every shake and sound.

The arch of the cave entrance lost its integrity as they reached it, huge shards of rock falling in their path. Dash felt the Force whip past him as Leon tried to stall the collapse, a razorlike wind that momentarily held things in place.

"You go!" Dash shouted, strangely sure he could do this. Neither of them could hold up the world, but if they both stood there trying they would both die. He might be able to buttress things just long enough for Leon to get ahead.

The Rhinnalian slowed his run, concentrating hard and throwing his hands up, eyes on the key points of collapse as he called on the ice again. He did no try to patch this time, knowing rock would beat ice every time, but instead tried to brace. Three ribbons of ice lanced from his palms, solidifying taking root in the floor and ceiling and solidifying into crude columns. Like ice-hewn joists, they braced the falling rock against the sold ground, holding the larger chunks in place.

It was physics, Dash supposed, though he had no time to imagine how proud his scientist parents might be, racing on after his fellow Padawan. "That was absolutely, mental!" he panted, sliding to a halt next to the Adumarian. "Next time you think you've found some really important artefact, can we just have a team talk before you grab it and pull the whole place down?". He was kidding, but not completely. People told Dash he was a bit impulsive, but Leon was giving him a run for his money. "Come on then, let's have a look at it".

@Zay