Don't Stumble or Fall...

[Taru Cadera]

As their shuttle reached the mountains, Kao Xusros announced what the mission was to the small group of Apprentices gathered before him. "Today we go in search of crystals. Crystals to be used in lightsabers. Now, these are the natural kind, and if you wish to create your own, then that is also an option..." He looked upon the group, his eyes drifting from Felran to Khali to Demitry to Jorus. Majority of them were thinking about what they wanted, but some quickly had an answer.

As the shuttle began its descent towards a singular large mountain peak, Kao asked if they had decided or if they had any other questions.

[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
[member="Jorus Dane"]

 

[Felran Natri]

Felran was dead quiet throughout the entire flight, a lot of things had be going through his mind as the shuttle approached it's destination. It was a new group of Sith he decided to join in hopes of reaching his goals, with any luck they could actually be of use. When Kao asked what the apprentices had decided on Felran had immediately answered. "I will find a crystal. From what research I have done making one can be.....unsavory if not done correctly. I put my faith in naturally growing ones...but I must find two if I will construct my saber." Felran also knew already what saber he required, a double bladed one. If he was to follow in his ancestor's footsteps Felran needed to use the weapon he wieled as well. As a bonus he knew the double bladed saber was much like a quaterstaff, something he had much practice with as a child of Zabrak heritage.

 

[Demitry Draskovits]

Demitry was overly chatty throughout the whole flight, talking to anyone and everyone, even if they clearly didn't want to talk to him. As it approached its destination, he slid his dagger out of his sheath and began to fiddle with it, clearly nervous. "What do you mean create our own..? And also, someone give me an idea what to make in terms of my actual lightsaber." He disembarked the ship after it landed, pulling his coat tight around himself. "Kao, when I get my lightsaber, we're sparring again." He grinned, turning to Kao. "I'll win by far now, been practicing."

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali Was silent during the flight, but not impolite to conversation with [member="Demitry Draskovits"]. Her only problem was the proximity of powerful force users around her that filled her senses and she found it difficult, but not impossible, to ignore the hunger growing inside her.

She was attentive as always when [member="Kao Xusros"] spoke. Remembering how he took her from the slave pits and made her into a sith. Although she now had a new master, she still greatly respected Kao for awakening her... unique... abilities, and instructing her in how to be a slave no more but now a master.

She had some idea of what kind of weapons she wanted and knew that they would compliment her strengths perfectly, but she saw the wisdom in creating a lightsaber as well in case her chosen weapons failed. She didn't care much for any preferred color and wanted to let the force decide for her, but she wanted a lightsaber that she can draw and sheath with speed and ease, as well as activate and deactivate quickly depending on any given situation.

She raised her voice slightly to ask her question above the noise of the shuttle.
"Master Xusros. Is it permissible to bring weapons with us to defend ourselves if the time comes? Or will we be expected to protect ourselves by other means?"

She wasn't worried one way or the other, but she did want to determine if there was some tradition or rules that should be followed on this trial or if they were simply expected to complete the trial by any means necessary.

 

[Jorus Dane]

Jorus sat there being the oldest of the apprentices, he already had two orange bladed lightsabers. They were hanging from his belt as he studied the rest of the group, Jorus looked old enough to be some of these acolytes Master's. He was wearing a mask that covered his face and filtered the atmosphere to his liking and wore a white hood. All the other people around him could see was his deep emerald eyes, twinkling through the hood. The mask made a similar sound to a respirator every time he breathed in and out. This was primarily due to the masks old design and he hadn't been able to replace it with a newer model just yet. If they were able to see under the hood and mask they would have seen an older man with blonde hair, with grey streaks running through it. Although he was only 32 he looked to be in his late 40s. This was primarily due to the hostile environments he endure during his 20 years wandering the galaxy studying the mysteries of the force. He took the amulet out of his belt and studied it, he was sure he had built it perfectly. It would house a kyber crystal that would allow him to amplify his powers in the force in his times of need.

He also knew that as one of the most experienced people here of the acolytes he would have to look out for the others and make sure they didn't do anything stupid that could get him or the rest of them killed. He looked at the two men and found there overall arrogance, and cockiness slightly distasteful. The girl however, she had potential. From what Jorus had heard she was a former slave, she seemed thoughtful, although power hungry and eager to please. 'This one has extreme potential he thought to himself'.

Khali Strahd

Felran Natri

Demitry Draskovits

 

[Taru Cadera]

[member="Felran Natri"] was quick to call out what he wanted, and luckily for him, they would also be creating their lightsabers when they returned to the shuttles with their crystals. In a secret compartment, he had stowed away a variety of useful lightsaber components and other tidbits which would help their sabers operate to their full capacity, with these including lignan crystals and Mestare Crystals, all to be used as focusing crystals. [member="Demitry Draskovits"] , well, he normally did not hold his tongue, and immediately asked for help on his saber/s. He would get that help later.

As they landed, and got out of the shuttle, Demitry said something about sparring once more with Kao. This gave Kao an idea, one which would teach all of them something. Well, maybe not [member="Jorus Dane"] , as he already had his lightsabers. Kao would talk with him later, as the others would be forced to fight each other with their newly made weapons. [member="Khali Strahd"] was polite and respectful, even going to the lengths of calling him "Master Xusros", as she was not his apprentice... yet.

"Yes, you may bring weapons down to where we are going. You will also need comlinks, and beacons. I need to be able to find you if you get lost or in severe danger, but if it is not important, do NOT activate your beacons. They walked around a small bend from where they had landed, and saw eight holes in the ground. "Through these holes are tunnels, with each going their own way. All should have crystals, but some have their own challenges and dangers. In order to get your crystals, reach out in the Force. Listen for it. Your crystals will call to you... But getting them is a whole different matter. Now GO! Get your crystals, and do not return unless you have something to show for it."

He then sat down on a boulder and proceeded to start meditating, not willing to answer any further questions or talk...

 

[Khali Strahd]

She nodded at his response, taking his wording as an indication that they were not being bound by specific rules besides the rules unspoken.
She tightened her tool belt and made sure she had all she needed. Comlink, Beacon, a vibro dagger, Plasma torch, and vials for her own emergencies.

When they exited the shuttle she was met by the brisk wind and the cold air. She did not turn away from it in the lightest, but faced the cold and took a deep breath in. The cold sharpened her senses and took a slight edge off of her hunger. Her hand went to the pouch holding the vials, she had to save them, she didn't know if she would get a chance to properly rejuvenate herself once the trial had begun, so she had to be careful.

They followed the mountain path around a bend to a wide plateau covered in snow. In the middle of the area were eight holes in the ground and she listened intently to the instructions given and nodded her understanding of the situation. They were to undertake the trials alone and were expected to return successful, or not at all.

She saw [member="Kao Xusros"] sit down on a nearby boulder and close his eyes in meditation. The instructions were over and no further information will be given. She closed her eyes herself and reached out with the force, ignoring the tempting smells of those around her she directed her focus to the eight holes. She then simply "asked" the force what path she was to take, almost like a prayer of clairvoyance. Then it was as if the force answered her by showing her eyes a glowing trail of the force leaking from the eighth hole.

Pulling her winter equipment tight to her body to allow better mobility, she approached the eighth hole and looked down. Her hole was about five feet wide and long and a sheer straight drop with sharp ice ringing the sides and no bottom in sight in its darkness. As she peered into the darkness she could feel the force drawing her in, telling her that this is where she was meant to go... This is where her destiny was leading her. She trusted the force implicitly, so she closed her eyes and simply trusted the force completely.

She smiled and she fell forward into the hole head first. Descending straight through the middle past the fatal edges and vanishing into the darkness below.

[member="Jorus Dane"]
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
[member="Felran Natri"]

 

[Felran Natri]

Felran gave a quick of amusement towards Demirty after they request help on their lightsaber. “You wish to challenge a sith and yet you don’t even know what lightsaber you want? Pathetic.” Felran listened carefully to what Xusros had to say about the crystals they were after. Felran remained quiet and seemed to almost study Xusros, probing for an idea of what they were like. His concentration was broken as he inevitable felt drawn towards the third hole. In it he sensed hate...malice...things Felran is was all too familiar with. The zabrak grabbed his double vibroblade, a com link, a beacon, and a plasma torch before moving towards the third hole. Felran stared down it, seeing through the layer of ice that covered it. The inside of the hole was fairly normal, with minor frost covering the sides of the hole. Felran raised his fist and smashed the ice, quickly climbing down into the hole. Whatever was down there, Felran felt ready.

 

[Jorus Dane]

Jorus ignored the squabbling between the two young Sith apprentices as he stepped off the transport, he listened to Kao and looked at the tunnels in front of him. He felt uneasy something didn't feel quite right, there had to be some form of catch here. He looked at Kao through his mask unable to gauge whether he should trust what this Sith Lord was telling him. Unable to gather anything Jorus decided to place his trust in the force, and let it guide him. He slowly walked forward, just as he noticed one of the apprentices dived into the tunnel. It was the girl he was studying earlier, he snorted to himself, 'she seems confident' he thought.

Jorus stood over one of the tunnels that was at the centre of the eight. The cold air and wind billowed against his cloak, 'I'll do anything to get out of this weather' he thought to himself. He ignited one of his lightsabers to provide heat and light, he aimed it into the tunnel to see how far down he could see. Not being able to see the bottom he sheathed his lightsaber. He tightened the unfilled amulet around his neck, and jumped down into the tunnel waiting bracing his legs before he hit the bottom, whenever it came.

[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Kao Xusros"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali kept her eyes closed as she fell a few miles into the ice covered mountain. She could feel the sides of the tunnel swooshing past her as she fell in a controlled freefall. She was reaching out with her senses, so she was prepared when the bottom of the tunnel came up to meet her at breakneck speed. Tucking her body in the small tunnel she turned in midair within the brief second it took for her to reach the ground. She fell out of the deep tunnel into an open cavern and landed on her feet. While she was prepared, she still couldn't get used to it completely as she landed with nearly zero impact on her legs, touching the floor quietly as she dropped from the straight tunnel, hardly even disturbing the air.

She had left the light of day far above her, and no light reached down this far. However, she had no problem seeing as her eyes quickly adjusted to natural night vision. She looked at her surroundings and saw she was in a deep subterranean ice cave. Now that she was away from the others she felt it safe to use her senses to track down what she needed. She took a deep breath, sniffing the air, listening, tasting, looking, feeling. These were her natural senses which she extended out, trying to smell the force, taste it, track it down.

Soon she found something she can track, a smell that was not blood, though she could detect plenty of living creatures big and small all throughout the maze of tunnels around her. But that one smell she focused on, the one the promised her the completion of her trials. She looked with her eyes and could see the smell itself, like a red wisp of steam coming from a tunnel to her left. ignoring the smells of the living creatures she tracked this one, following it into the tunnel and to the unknown.

[member="Jorus Dane"]
[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Kao Xusros"]

 

[Felran Natri]

It took Felran a minute of careful climbing to actually reach the bottom of the cavern. When he reached the bottom, the anger Felran felt was almost overwhelming. It echoed across the cavern, making it difficult to properly locate. Felran waited a few seconds before moving on forward, hoping he could better locate the crystals if he went further into the caverns. Finding the crystals wasn't what Felran was thinking about though, instead he remembered what Xusros said by saying the caverns had their own danger. Kao had been through these caverns before, Felran was certain of that. But what is it that he was hiding from the apprentices? Felran knew he would find out eventually.

[member="Kao Xusros"]
[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Jorus Dane"]

 

[Demitry Draskovits]

Demitry caught up with the group, sighing. He'd turn to [member="Felran Natri"] "Sure I'd spar a sith, training is training. If I lose, I learn how he fights better and can prepare appropriately." He'd shrug, pulling his cloak around him before dropping down into the tunnel. His fall was graceful up into the landing, where he tripped, falling face first into the wall. "Ow." He muttered idly, peering around for any signs of, well, anything interesting. He set off down a route, drawing his dagger and beginning to fiddle with it, clearly nervous of what was up ahead. "Hello..?" He shouted down into the tunnel, slowing his approach down it.

 

[Jorus Dane]

Jorus hit the bottom, immediately rolled and fell on his face, his mask now covered in dirt and grime.

'Not the landing I was hoping for...' He thought to himself, he could barely see a thing darkness was all around him clouding his vision. He felt a brutal and intense anger as he reached out with the force. He unclipped one of the lightsabers from his belt and ignited it. 'Kishuuuuu' the sound echoed around the room the orange blade humming in front of him. He then slowly began to walk forward not sure what Kao had planned for them. He also wasn't sure if he would see all of the Sith apprentices alive after they were through with this trial.

Jorus felt confident that he would get out of this alive, he had been in many situations like this before during his days wandering to distant planets. Exploring there most ancient locations, and encountering creatures that many believed were extinct, or simply didn't think they existed.

[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Kao Xusros"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali stalked through the maze of ice tunnels, tracking the scent of the crystals through the force. From the smells she was getting from other creatures stalking the tunnels, she could tell that the other creatures knew she was here and would eventually come out of hiding to confront her once the animals had sniffed out their possibilities.

The tunnel she was in was going in every direction, sloping up and down, twisting and turning, areas she had to climb up, and areas she had to slide down, and the whole way passing connecting tunnels left and right, up and down. But she always followed the smell of those crystals that called out to her senses. She couldn't see what the tunnels ahead looked like though, and with all the twists and turns everything looked the same. But the tunnels were getting gradually narrower and shorter. Eventually she rounded a bend in the tunnel and found she had to duck her head and had less than two feet of room on either side of her.

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and silently praying that the tunnels improved up ahead. She kept moving forward for a few more minutes until she found her shoulders bumping the sides of the tunnel and she was bent over almost double. She turned sideways to the tunnel and tried not to think about it, trying to focus on the scent and how close it was... But soon all she could think about was how close the walls were...

She stopped several times again to close her eyes and take deep breaths, but soon even this didn't help as she was sideways in a straight passage with her back against one wall and barely four inches of clearance in front of her. Her breath was growing rapid as she felt panic welling up inside her, she couldn't fight it back and soon couldn't even think clearly. She felt a sever panic attack coming on as her claustrophobia began to strangle her. She froze in place and couldn't move out of fear, her breath coming in quick gasps as she began to hyperventilate and her breathing quickly turned into gasping sobs of panic.

She closed her eyes and screamed, her voice carrying throughout her whole tunnel system and even faintly to the entrance she came through.

Then the predators around her knew it was time to move in for the kill.

In the narrow passage in which she was frozen, something was coming for her, slithering through the tunnels on soft white fur, its tongue flicking in and out, tasting her fear in the air. As its pray continued to scream and cry it came up to her undetected. It opened its wide mouth and struck quick as lightning, sinking its fangs into her calf and pulling back, quickly jerking her off her feet where she landed hard. The fur covered serpent then began dragging her deeper into the narrow tunnel almost as quickly as it had struck.

She could not focus even on her natural senses to stop this threat. At first there was pain in her leg, then numbness, the pain was almost enough to bring her back to her senses, but when she was pulled off her feet her head struck the floor hard and then she felt herself being pulled further in, and she could feel the walls closing around her. Her heart was in her throat, her lungs wouldn't work properly. She could only remember a few times when she had felt this helpless, and it was while she was a slave in solitary confinement. She couldn't have fought back, even though she wanted to desperately fight for her life... Nothing worked, her arms and legs were frozen in fear, and soon, everything went black.

[member="Jorus Dane"]
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Kao Xusros"]

 

[Taru Cadera]

Every one of the apprentices had gone down one of the eight holes. None of them had asked him anymore questions, which was good, but they also did not scour the surface for too long. To tell the truth, they only needed to walk past where Kao Xusros sat, and look down from the cliff-end where they stood, to see a massive cave entrance. But it was too late for that entrance.

Each had taken their separate path, as had been required. Their beacons were still on them, and their comlinks were connected. Based upon their depth and which way they were going at which speed, Kao was able to formulate where each apprentice was. [member="Khali Strahd"] , for instance, had fallen the longest, and chosen the hole to the ice caves. The ice could melt with enough heat or break ensuring her demise. [member="Jorus Dane"] had gotten into the dark "hallway", which would eventually lead to a big room. That being if he went perfectly straight, as any side path could end in his death. Well, all of the paths could. [member="Demitry Draskovits"] would probably be walking between pits and waterfalls of rock. [member="Felran Natri"] , was in a normal cave system, which held its ups and downs, literally. None of them had taken the seventh hole, so no one would have fallen directly into a Krayt Dragon Nest. Only the Canyon variety, but a dragon nest nonetheless...

Kao decided to "ping" them over his comlink to give credit to his formulations... "Hello.., can you all hear me? Whats it like so far down there?..."

 

[Felran Natri]

Felran couldn't see very well in the cave system but for some reason Felran didn't feel like it was needed and he already knew where to go. Eventually the walk led to a dead end, with a crevice at the bottom of the wall. Felran's comlink suddenly became active, Xusros's voice echoing through the walls of the cave.

"Hello.., can you all hear me? Whats it like so far down there?..."

Felran responded quickly to his fellow zabrak "It is dark but I am being called...guided. So far everything is fine..." Felran crouched down and began to crawl through the crevice in the wall, sensing that it was where he had to go. It was an extremely tight fit for Felran but he managed to squeeze in, slowly inching towards the other end of the hole. Felran was getting ever closer to the crystals he so desired and nothing would stop him.

[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Kao Xusros"]
[member="Jorus Dane"]
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]

 

[Demitry Draskovits]

Demitry continued down his tunnel, almost falling down into one of the pits at one point. He paused when he heard [member="Kao Xusros"] voice. "Yeah, I can hear you, but confused as to where I am... Also, how long are these tunnels?" He stopped as he suddenly dropped, having to catch himself before he plummeted down the hole. He managed to pull himself up, but was clearly a little shaken up by the experience. From this point on he made sure he proceeded extremely cautiously, stepping out timidly to look for any holes.

[member="Felran Natri"]
[member="Khali Strahd"]
[member="Jorus Dane"]

 

[Jorus Dane]

Jorus continued wandering forward, what looked to be a dark hallway. His lightsaber ignited in front of him and lighting a path for him to follow. Although he used his eyes to observe the many things in front of him through his mask, he didn't trust them. Through his many wanderings around ancient Sith strongholds he had come to realize that appearances are deceiving. He instead only relied on the force trusting it to show him the way and light a pathway for him to follow.

He walked forward in a straight line guided by the force, his orange lightsaber ready and humming should anything attack him. Suddenly Jorus' comlink bleeped and he looked down, he overheard Kao through the static,

"Hello.., can you all hear me? What's it like down there? ..."

"Dark and quiet, I am in some form of hallway, I can't see a thing." Jorus responded gruffly his breathing through his respirator in his mask slightly more ragged now, than the usual breathing in and out.

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali was still unconscious as the snake dragged her through the narrow tunnels. Luckily they didn't get any smaller than the snake and her own slim frame could manage. The snake still had its fangs in her leg as it slithered backwards through the tunnels.

Khali awoke several times only to see dizziness as walls still closed about her and she passed out again and again each time she awoke. When the voice of [member="Kao Xusros"] came over her comlink the serpent had dragged her to a place where the tunnel widened a bit and some of her phobia was abated, even though she still couldn't handle it. she awoke when she heard Kao though, and so she strove with all her might to stay focused and conscious to hear his words.

"Hello.., can you all hear me? What's it like so far down there?..."

His words stabbed her heart with hope. However, when she tried to reach for her comlink to respond, her arms wouldn't move. Her whole body felt numb from the serpents poison, it was a miracle she was even conscious. To her dismay she couldn't even make her vocal cords work to call for help.

As the darkness claimed her mind again her passing thought was that... maybe... her lack of response would alert them to something wrong... if it mattered at all. Only she could have known the path she took up to where she stopped... either something will change, or she will die.
The darkness took her.

She awoke again with a gasp. Her mind was clear now and it seemed the poison had worn off, she could move her arms and legs now so she cautiously turned her head to look around. She was no longer in the narrow tunnels but in an open chamber laying on her back. there were many tunnels leading to this chamber, but there was something different about the room she was in. it was not like the normal ice caves she was in before, but the whole room seemed to glow with a strange light from deep beneath the ice.

She also noticed that she was laying in a soft nest of some kind, with piles of ice to shield the edges and shed fur for cushioning. She looked around again to look for the owner of the nest. She was thankful that there were no hatchlings, otherwise she may not have had the chance to wake up. Other than her nest, there was nothing else in the chamber.

[member="Jorus Dane"]
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
[member="Felran Natri"]