Private Facing the Mirror | Trial of Spirit

[Valery Noble]

Voss

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

The shuttle settled onto a patch of stone, its hull humming softly as the engines powered down. Outside, the forests of Voss stretched in every direction, ancient and unmoved by the passage of time. In the distance, monolithic stones marked with Voss runes stood like sentinels, guarding the path into the Nightmare lands. An ancient place of mystery that Valery had visited many times. First, as a Padawan to complete her trials, then as a Knight and Master, guiding her own students into understanding themselves.

Valery stood at the edge of the ramp, her arms loosely crossed as she took in the view. The air here felt different. It was calm, but she still felt a tension in the air. Voss had always been a place of spiritual weight, and today, that feeling pressed just a little heavier on her chest. Her gaze shifted back toward Everest. "This is where it begins," she said, her voice calm. "The Trial of Spirit is meant to strip away every defense you have. Not against enemies, but against yourself."

She turned fully to face her, "It doesn't test your strength in battle. It tests the person underneath. The one you don't always show the rest of the world." Valery stepped down onto the forest floor and gestured ahead. A narrow path wound between the trees and deeper into the mystical lands of Voss.

"I'll walk with you, but the trial itself… you'll face that alone."

The wind moved softly through the trees as she began down the path.

"Ready?"

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Tag: Valery Noble

The ramp hissed open, and the first breath of Voss struck her with a weight that was not quite physical. The forest stretched in every direction, old and knowing, its silence broken only by the wind threading through branches and the distant hum of unseen life. She stepped down onto the stone, boots meeting ground that felt… different, as if every root and stone carried ancient memory.

For a moment, she simply stood there.

Two years. From Eshan to Coruscant and Tython, from Woostri to Ilum and Zeffo. Every scar — seen and unseen — had been carved into the person she was now. Fear, grief, helplessness… she had been forced to face them all. And she had endured. It had shaped her, from a helpless farm girl to a fierce, compassionate warrior.

The Force here was heavy. Not suffocating, but deep, like standing at the edge of a vast ocean. Eve let it press against her, testing her balance, and found herself unshaken, for now.

She turned when Valery spoke, listening to every word. The lesson was simple, but it was one she had been walking toward her whole life.

Her single silver eye met her Master’s gaze. There was no trembling now. No doubt. Her weapons and equipment was all held by Valery. There would be no supplementary attuning, no additional help from Force imbuement jewelery, nothing to keep her balanced other than her own heart.

"I’m ready," she said, voice even, steady as stone.

And for the first time, she truly was.

 

[Valery Noble]

Voss

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery nodded at Everest's response and turned to begin walking. The path before them wound through the trees, lined with moss-covered roots and shaded by colorful leaves above. For a time, the only sound was the rustle of leaves in the wind and the soft crunch of their boots against the earth.

"The place we're going is called the Nightmare Lands," she said, her voice even but quieted by the presence of the forest. "It's unlike any other part of Voss. The Force twists there. It's darker, more chaotic. You'll feel it the moment we cross into it." She glanced toward Everest but didn't stop walking. "Most avoid it for a reason. It's not just the wildlife or the dangers of getting lost. It's what the Force does to your mind when you're inside."

They stepped past a worn arch of stone, faintly marked with old Voss runes, the first sign they were approaching something older. Her eyes lingered on the markings before she continued, leading them deeper into the forest's embrace.

"At the heart of the Nightmare Lands, there's a Nexus. It centers around a tablet, carved long before either of us were born. The Voss Mystics never agreed on what exactly it shows, only that when you stand before it, something is revealed. Not a prophecy, not a message. Just… truth. Your truth."

Valery exhaled slowly, her gaze forward again. "Some see memories. Others see choices they haven't made yet. Whatever form it takes, it will find the piece of you that's still unsettled. And it won't let you look away." The forest was beginning to darken. The trees thickened, and a chill rode the wind.

"You've come far, Everest. But this will be your trial. You walk in with your own questions. You walk out with your answers… or not at all." Her tone didn't carry judgment, only experience. "I'll remain near the outer edge. You'll go in alone when the time comes."

She paused then and looked toward her student again, one last glance before they left the last of the light behind.

"Let's keep going."

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Tag: Valery Noble

Eve walked in silence. The forest deepened around them, leaf-filtered light slowly yielding to shade, until the greens and golds dulled to hues of grey. Each step forward felt like one taken not just through the trees, but through layers of time, history, and the Force itself.

She listened as Valery spoke, about the Nightmare Lands, the tablet, the truth it would reveal. Every word settled into her like a stone dropped into water. She didn’t answer, but she listened closely.

She focused inward, felt the world shift around her. The air grew denser, not just with mist or cold, but with a heavy presence that couldn't be denied. It pushed gently against her skin, against her chest, as if the Force itself were holding its breath.

She could feel it now. The Nexus.
Close.
Waiting.

Roots curled up from the earth like skeletal fingers. The path narrowed, barely more than a trace between the trees. Somewhere in the distance, the wind moved again, but it carried no sound this time. Only a strange weight.

Still, she said nothing.

She had come through fire. Through fear and grief and pain. Through battle and healing and the loss of one eye to see more clearly with the one that remained.

This wasn’t the beginning, nor the end, but rather a moment between.

And she would walk into it without flinching.

 

[Valery Noble]

Voss

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

The twisted forest opened gradually, the heavy press of branches giving way to a stillness that felt even older than the path behind them. The air shifted, carrying the scent of water and stone. Ahead, the trees broke entirely, revealing a shallow lake bathed in the muted glow of the overcast sky. Its surface was smooth, disturbed only by the faint ripples of their approach.

At the lake's center rose a small stone platform, ancient and worn, with a tablet set at its heart. Figures in the flowing robes of Voss-Ka sat cross-legged around it, their bodies still, their presence quiet in the Force. Gold light shimmered faintly around them, yet none of them looked up as Valery and Everest stepped to the water's edge.

"They will not disturb you," Valery said, her voice low but steady. "Their meditations are their own. Yours will be yours alone." She looked out across the water to the tablet. "When you are ready, cross to it. Sit before the stone and clear your mind. Let the noise fade until only the Force remains. Then… connect with it. Do not force it, but let it find you."

Her eyes turned to Everest, studying her for a heartbeat before softening. "Whatever you see, you face it here. No one else can carry it for you." She stepped aside, leaving the path clear to the water.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Equipment: Lightsaber, Bracelet, Earrings, Seer Stone, Wayfinder's Flare, Engagement Ring
Companion: Isari
Tag: Valery Noble

The silence here was different. Not empty at all, but full. Full of breathless watching, of waiting, as though the lake itself were alive and listening. The mystics did not stir, but their presence pressed around the space like stone pillars holding up something unseen.

She felt Valery’s eyes on her and breathed in. Then out.

She gave a quiet nod.

No words.

Then she stepped forward.

The water lapped gently at her boots as she began to walk. Each step stirred faint ripples, silver and dark. The Force moved with her, silent and watching. At the centre, the stone tablet waited. It bore no inscription she could read. But it emanated something dense, almost deafening.

She knelt before it.
Sat.
Closed her eye.

And let go.

 

[Valery Noble]

???

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery remained at the edge of the water, her hands folding loosely in front of her. As Everest walked forward, the faint ripples spreading across the surface seemed to echo in the Force itself, and Valery's lips curved into a proud smile. She felt the shift in her Padawan's presence as she lowered herself before the tablet, the silence around them deepening until even the lake seemed to hold its breath.

The moment Everest closed her eye and let go, her being slipped into the current of the Force.

The world around her transformed.

The golden glow of the lake and the tablet bled into something far more dreamlike. Towering roots curled like massive pillars overhead, shadows twisting along their edges, and the air itself seemed to thrum with energy both warm and foreboding. The ground beneath her feet shimmered with strange light, as though the stone was alive and carrying the pulse of the Force through it.

Ahead, the shapes of figures began to emerge through the haze. They were not the Voss-Ka she had passed before, but luminous silhouettes, faceless yethuman in form. They stood still, watching, their golden outlines flickering like candle flames. There was no judgment in their gaze, but no welcome either. They were simply there, waiting for her to see what she was meant to see.

The Trial of Spirit had begun. She was no longer sitting at the tablet, she was standing before the mirror the Force had chosen for her.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Tag: Valery Noble

Her breath hitched, just for a moment. A flicker, like the blink of a candle in wind.

The world had changed around her without motion. She hadn't moved, and yet she was somewhere else entirely. Light and shadow stretched out infinitely in every direction, the edges of reality folding in and out like silk in water. The roots above were colossal, impossibly high, their twisting limbs both beautiful and foreboding. The air pulsed with a rhythm she felt in her very bones.

The Force was thoroughly alive here.
And it was watching her.

She felt it in her skin. In the back of her mind. In the deepest depths of her heart.

Her breath steadied.
She drew it in deep, held it, then let it go.

The golden silhouettes stood ahead, faceless and still. Not hostile. Not welcoming. But present like the truth.

Eve rose to her feet., and took a step forward.

Then another.

Through light.
Through shadow.
Through the mirror of everything the Force wished her to see.

 

[Valery Noble]

???

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

The golden light shifted again as Everest stepped forward. The silhouettes did not move, but the world around her rippled like the surface of water. The vast roots above seemed to twist closer, curling downward until they formed a cage around her. The shimmering stone beneath her feet grew brighter, and with every step it pulsed in time with her heartbeat.

Then, from among the faceless figures, one began to change. Its edges grew sharper, its outline solidifying. The glow dimmed until it was not a stranger that stood before her, but a reflection. Her height. Her build. Even the faint scars that made up the person she had become.

Her own face looked back at her.

But the mirrored Everest did not move in unison. Her double stood with her shoulders squared, her gaze steady, but her mouth curled into something between defiance and mockery. The silhouettes that still lingered around them began to fade, until only the two of them remained within the living light of the roots.

Then, a voice rang out. Hers, yet not hers.

"Who are you?"

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

Outfit: Robes
Tag: Valery Noble

She opened her mouth. The instinct was immediate. Automatic.

"Everest Vale."

But... the words did not come. They hung at the edge of her lips, unspoken.

The figure before her — the mirror of herself — stood unmoving, waiting, but not patiently. That curl of mockery in its smile seemed as though it deepened, as if it could already sense the uncertainty rising beneath her skin.

Who was she?

A Jedi?
A daughter?
A fiancé? A friend? A leader?
The girl who fled Coruscant? The one who walked into fire for love?
The one who broke on Woostri? The one who rose again on Ilum?

She didn't know. Not fully.
Not yet.

But she knew this: She had come through every moment that tried to take her. She had bled and healed, lost and found. And through it all, her heart had kept beating to the rhythm of love.

She looked at her double — this still, shining echo of herself — and said nothing.

Instead, Eve raised her hand, placed it firmly over her chest above her heart, and held a gaze that spoke louder than any words ever could.