Book Keeping

[Cassus Stoma]

​

TYTHON

Given enough time, and everything will return to it's roots. The same goes for people, but by the time it comes around they're already dead. A Holocron? It was an immortal piece of mystical technology, and it had returned home. Returned home to Tython. If anyone was to search for it the Codex of Tython, it sure to be here. There was always the chance it was elsewhere, attached to the belt of a vagabond who had no understanding of it's real worth or power. Jedi, however? They understood. And it's why Jace and Alden knew they had to find it. The Praxeum was by no means large, but it was growing. Resources were donated, but the physical could only be worth so much in the end. It was knowledge that they needed to ultimately grow, To defend, to create peace.

The rivers flowed, creating a constant trickle of water and that of roaring currents- but never anything too loud. The wildlife was sparse yet vibrant, clearly visible to any who cast a glance in their direction. It was birds mostly, though. The occasional critter on the ground scampered away once finding itself too close to the two humans for comfort. Couldn't blame it, really. Most would run away at the sight of two foreign entities. The land in which Jace and Alden stood in hadn't been touched for a long time, but somehow, that Codex found it's way back home.

Jace's strode through a stone arch-way, his hand caressing the old structure as his eyes ran wild with wonder. He wasn't exactly a history fanatic, but the history of the Jedi was always something he desired to know more of. His gaze turned to view Alden, "Do you really think it'll be here?" He asked, clearly a little concerned. His senses weren't as attuned as Alden's, and the Jedi Knight had been adamant that he felt something through the force.

​He could only hope he was right.

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Coruscant had been a mess.

Force knew if [member="Ember Farseer"] and [member="Anais Auraeli"] would recover after their ordeal with the Sith. Jace had been wounded, [member="Harper Kade"] was still on her expedition and Alden was slowly getting worried. He had been able to track down the holocron the ghost of [member="Zark"] had harassed him into finding, but... at what cost? They seemed to be pushed and prodded at all sides. What had started as a small idea between four like-minded individuals had grown exponentially and with that growth?

Came responsibility.

The kind that Alden wasn't sure he was ready to shoulder.

"I think so, yeah, I feel the same thing I felt on Coruscant..." Less muted though. Coruscant had been a scream in the Force as people died over and over again. Alden was just happy that Harper hadn't been there- he was always crap at empathy and Force sense, but she?

She wouldn't have felt good there.

"Anticipation. Like the Force is holding its breath and waiting for our next move... almost curious and fascinated." Al followed Jace through the arch-way, his hand brushing the shattered stone that mixed with grass and dirt to make for their walking space. "Close your eyes, Jace, don't try to feel. You don't need to if you are doing it right. This isn't some HoloNet game where you execute an ability. Just... close your eyes and open yourself to the world."

"Let the sensations come to you."

That last bit half-whispered between words and minds.

[member="Jace Khel"]

 

[Cassus Stoma]

Ever since Coruscant Jace had doubted himself. Whilst, yes, he held his own (arguably) it was only due to the fact that he was able to tap into his own anger. Feed on the temptation he so instinctively desired to release, and it was that temptation that resided ever since. It made him stronger, able to persevere through the harsh conditions. They alway said that being a Jedi wasn't easy, but he never expected coming to such an obstacle so early in his training.

"Right." He paused as his voice lingered in the air and his head shifted from Alden to the area ahead of him. His left hand remained on the mossy stone, lazily touching it as his finger tips tingled with something he couldn't quite explain. Jace's blue eyes became hidden by his eyelids, and his mind delved into a focus. It felt as if it taking an eternity, and for a moment it was futile. Yet, he persevered and fell further into this trance. The Padawan felt something out there, it was reaching out to him.

His eyes suddenly opened, a smile creased across his face. "I think I found it." He exclaimed, almost in disbelief. It wasn't entirely, true. He found it's direction, but that was it.

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

Alden grinned.

It had taken him a long time to figure out the tracking through the Force thing, longer than he had wanted it to, but that was the Force for you. Some things came as naturally as breathing, while... the rest was like pulling teeth. With enough energy and time you could break through it, but it was a frustrating thing regardless. When you finally figured it out though?

"Great job." Al said, clapping him on the shoulder and feeling the tug of the Codex on him. Eyes closed again to try and get a better beat on it. Difficult, muted, but he was pretty sure it felt somehow... below them?

"Try and see if you can find..."

Hrm.

A staircase? A hole? Some kind of secret tunnel through which they could descend down into the dirt to find this mythical creation? "I have no idea- too many options, but I feel like it is somewhere below us?" He looked around himself, trying to find some kind of entrance. The scattered rocks, half-broken walls and such didn't provide much in the way of that.

All of it ruin.

Alden hoped they wouldn't need to start digging.

 

[Cassus Stoma]

Jace turned over his shoulder with a grin as he felt the clap touch his own. Positive reinforcement was always a winner, really. Kept your spirits high and Jace's began to move back up after the incident on Coruscant. He didn't know what secrets lied within the Codex, but that was half the adventure. Journey into the unknown? Now that's excitement.

​"Hmm." He began, uhming and arhing in an attempt to find an entrance. The Palawan's eyes scanned high and low in their search, but ultimately he decided to draw back on the force itself. Closing his eyes, falling into a trance. "I think..." He mumbled, reaching out with his right arm his feet shuffled through the dirt. "... I got it." He continued in the same voice, but then prying away at some foliage that appeared to cover a hole in the decrepit stone structure. It wasn't well polished, dirtied and ruined. Akin to a cave entrance with it's rough edges, jagged walls and cold stream of air.

His eyes opened, turning over again. It seemed as if Jace was on a roll, but then again, maybe Alden was just letting him hone his skills. Might prove a bit annoying, all this waiting, but it might just be worth it in the end. "I found something." Jace mentioned before delving into the entrance, his footsteps echoing with each step he took on the jagged stairs. It was rather dark, and soon he might just need to turn to that glowstick on his hip.

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

Part of it was letting Jace train, because this wasn't a life-or-death situation.

They could afford taking their time with it.

Part of it was also... that Alden wasn't actually that good at the Force. He was decent, but he was better at the more practical aspects of the Force. Increasing his strength, speed, tinkering with engineering and making connections he wouldn't have made without the Force. Things like that. They made sense to him. Like little cogs fitting just right and then some. The whole flighty feely stuff wasn't beyond him, but it was far more difficult than it had any right to be.

It had taken him a week to replicate the tracking he had done during the murder investigation.

And it always left him tired, migraine beating behind his brow, not pleasant whatsoever. "On a roll, Jace, I like it. Keep that going and you will be a Knight in no time." Alden said with a smile as he stepped up next to him and studied the cavern entrance.

The stone was rough and hadn't seen use in... a long time, no? Except that the dust hadn't yet have time to gather up in those same qualities which suggested things.

"Here, took those from the ship before we left." Alden shared one of the portable light projectors- brighter than a regular flashlight and more compact. "No sense in waving a plasma stick around when we got better options here, eh?" Almost as if Al had read his mind, of course it was just an educated guess. The Jedi often... had that feeling like they needed to use the Lightsaber for everything. Portable lighter, portable welder, portable cutting machine, portable everything.

But for Alden the lightsaber was symbol and best not drawn all too often, before it became easy to do so.

The easier it became, the more often it did and then the same mistakes were repeated over and over again.

 

[Cassus Stoma]

A grin tugged at the edge of Jace's lips, knowing that once he got to Knighthood he could truly call himself a Jedi. It was all he ever wanted, at least right now. That was likely to be a bad thing, though. Wishing for a title and the increased power that came with it rather than the success of their mission to aid the galaxy, no? It might the case, but Jace's intentions certainly weren't malicious. However, it didn't matter in the end- the results was all the same, and that was the only truth Jace could be certain of.

The Padawan reached out to grab a hold of one of the portable light projectors, allowing it to illuminate the area around him with a more neutral colour than his Lightsaber ought to of.

Jace and Alden had different perspectives on what it meant to draw their Lightsabers. Jace viewed it as a weapon, yes, but it was a tool- a tool with many functions. Perhaps his view was skewed due to his own naivety, but it ultimately represented much who he was. A Lightsaber, to Jace, was the ultimate weapon to combat the Darkside. Whilst many can conjure the force, a Jedi's Lightsaber is what defends the people from the Sith, and those that wished to cause harm. One's mind may be considered that to some, although, perhaps there was a reason that Jace was destined to be a Guardian. If his view was wrong? Then the correct views were surely to be thrust at him throughout the duration of his training.

The illuminated underground ruins were soon to reveal a dead-end, but not in the typical fashion. A sheer wall is what stood before the two Jedi, unclean in it's edges but that may be due to gradual decay of time. The Padawan never bothered to turn of his head over his shoulder, thinking aloud, "Climbing, huh." That may not be the case, though. It may be a trial, one with steps you retract from a wall, or sense an alternative path.

It'd seem not only Jace was getting some training in.

[member="Alden Belmont"]