Public Finding a Rock. Can't be that Hard Can It?

[Ssalei]

Location: The Wasteland that is Ilum​

Finally, after these many months of meditation and patience, he had finally felt its call... Kyber. Desperately trudging through the three feet snow, Ssalei would look up towards the towering mountain peak capped in snow and ice and wonder just how close he was. Most would have succumbed to the cold by now, but the force kept him alive, allowing Ssalei to direct it into creating heat within his core and limbs and even a spike in front of him to help melt away the snow he was trudging on. This skill, the creation of heat, was something that Ssalei had been practicing since he had found himself on this rocky hellscape, and had found it to be something he had mastered quickly.. it was, after all, a rather simple application of the force.

Soon he would find himself pulled to the mouth of a nearby cave. Staring into the dark, Ssalei would uncertainly take a step onto the cold, damp, stony floor. It was warm? The cave must dive deep enough to feed into a subterranean lava river? Or perhaps a few lakes filled with the geysers he had heard so much about? A mystery, one he would soon uncover. Yet he would find himself frozen still, was this really it? Finally able to get the crystal to complete his saber? Or was this one last test, one he would fail and end up with broken legs at the bottom of some chasm he had accidentally fallen into? Fear.. fear is the mind-killer. He would take a second to breathe in and dispell his thoughts, waiting for the force to guide him.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Ilum. Tiland was never fond of the world, even when he was younger and it was in better shape. Snow and ice crunched beneath his boots with each step and he beset lost his balance, save for the staff he stabbed through to the more solid ground before taking another step.

He wasn’t cold, per se. Anzati lacked the circulation system necessary to really feel cold. But still, this was a world that had suffered. Once sacred to the Jedi, then exploited by the Empire for its supply of crystals.

The Jedi Monk paused and leaned forward, scraping gloved fingers along the surface. Someone else was here, and fairly recently. Tiland rose and shaded his eyes with his hands, searching the horizon. He couldn’t see anything, but now he was more aware of it, he could just sense another person’s presence.

Tiland picked up the pace, this time following the tracks left behind. This was no place to be alone, certainly not in this worsening weather. He had tea specially prepared for this occasion that he had yet to share with someone. And if tea hadn’t been shared, was it really any good?

Ssalei

 

[Ssalei]

Ssalei would breath out, letting the fog of his breath drift upwards lazily before closing his eyes. The massive weighted prayer beads hung about his shoulders would slowly rise, circling like planets orbiting his head as it would slide off and hang itself off a nearby rock. He took no chances, whatever was in this cave could be dangerous... but could be nothing at all.

As if noticing a blip on an invisible radar, Ssalei could notice another's presence within the force. It was difficult to tell from where, who, or even what their intent was but they were there none the less. Deciding to wait, Ssalei would lean against the craggy cold stone from where he hung the prayer beads. Staring into the distance he couldn't help but think about how far he had come, what he had accomplished. It wasn't much, mostly just surviving with little idea how. Yet here he was, waiting for a stranger on a frozen world.

Tiland Kortun

 

[Draconis Caesar]

Draconis stood within the confines of the cramped vessel hall with three other Sun Guard. Ilum was a cold world in stark contrast to the Thyrsian homeworld Thyrsus. Where Thyrsus was filled with tiny grains of sand, Ilum was full of large clumps of snowflakes. Where Thyrsus was orbited by two sister suns, Ilum was orbited by a distant sun and several brother moons. Thyrsus while barren supported a hardy race of warriors, while Ilum bore no life at all. Draconis and two other initiates whom all were overseen by a Stellar Legionnaire had been tasked with accompanying a Jedi padawan as she traversed the treacherous snowscape that made up the planet.

The room the four of them sat in was actually a hall that was conjoined by five doors. Two doors on left and two on the right and one at the bottom. The hall ended in a ladder that led to the cockpit. It was a bleak metallic grey and soft blue florescents illuminated it, shinning a dull green upon the Sun Guard's yelow armor. Faint wisp of dust flew about the air and Draconis had spent most of his time aboard the ship counting as many floating squiggly lines as he could. He rolled his arms in his power armor and felt the fur that had been added to the armors innards for increased warmth gently caress his skin. The other two intiates sat along the wall in the small hall. The Legionnaire stood with his back against the wall right next to the ladder.

Draconis was left standing, which he did not mind. He enjoyed the feel of being upright and felt that staying on your toes was more than just good as an expression, but also best practiced in reality. The Legionnaire had already debriefed them and he was undoubtedly sleeping in his own power armor. The Legionnaire along with one other initiate would stay aboard the ship as guards while two other initiates would guard the Jedi along her journey. The initiates drew straws to see who would brave the cold and Draconis and Grim had drawn the long straws. So Draconis prepared his sword while Grim sat cleaning his light rifle.

The other initiate sat fighting sleep, but was soon to join the Legionnaire in slumber. They had bunks, but it was Sun Guard to at least maintain the look of preparedness. Draconis sword and shield sat sheathed upon his back. It was common tactic for Sun Guard initiates to form phalanx of cover with sword and shield while another line of blaster wielding initiates took shelter behind them. Draconis had once again drawn the short straw and been allotted a sword and board. It was probably for the best as his own time as a padawan had sharpened his skill with a blade, but he had had to get used to the large shield. A crackling sound was heard through the ships loud speaker and their own helmet comms announcing the pilots intention to speak.

"We're approaching the mouth of the cave system now. We'll be landing in five,"

The Stellar Legionnaire pushed himself off the wall, not asleep after all and nodded to Draconis and Grim. The other initiate had truly succumb to the sand man and fallen in a deep slumber. It was not until the Legionnaire approached and kicked his resting foot that he awoke with a start. Draconis and Grim approached the padawans door at the other end of the hall and rapped upon it with gentle fist. Draconis switched his helmet audio to output and spoke.

"We're preparing to land miss, please be at the ready,"

Xian Xiao Ssalei

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Ssalei Draconis Caesar

Tiland pulled the robes a bit tighter around him as he pressed on through the snow. In the distance, he caught the faint sound of a ship, and he tilted his head. Peculiar. Ilum was a mostly uninhabitable world, almost barren, in fact. Sure it was an ancient world of the Jedi, but that didn't normally mean there were a great many people constantly coming and going on the world. If anything, it was the opposite. Usually people came alone or in small groups as a form of pilgrimage.

Perhaps there was a calendar that the Force kept to call Jedi to Ilum. It wouldn't surprise him. Most things and events did occur in cycles after all. The question then was how were the called Jedi chosen. Was it random? Was there a deeper purpose? Was it whoever was meditating at the time? He didn't think so. That didn't feel quite right.

Ahead, he could just make out the shape of a somewhat humanoid figure and Tiland walked a bit faster, protecting his eyes against the wind-whipped snow with his hand as it begin to swirl more strongly around his ankles and skim across the ground. "Feels like a storm coming!" The monk called ahead as he ducked in next to the rock. "I do suggest we find a cave to shelter in before it gets bad enough that we cannot survive."

Tiland rubbed his hands together to warm up a bit more. "Jedi Master Tiland Kortun at your service." A smile shifted through his beard. "I have hot tea ready if you want some once we're inside."

 

[Xian Xiao]

This was a journey of a lifetime for the girl. A fresh face to the Galaxy and not long off of Coruscant. In point of fact, this was going to be only about the fourth world she had been to. Like the child she was growing out of, she was impatient and excited. Looking out the viewport offered to her, she chewed on her fingernails and spit them out one at a time.

Black eyes were lit up and her breathing was light. Pointing at a few details, she would have paced but she was currently strapped into her seat.

"What is that? What is the white stuff? Why is it so cold? I can feel it all the way in here. Do you have something to keep me warm?"

And the questions would keep coming until she was told to shut up or her curiosity was sated and that was something she had an abundance of. Her innocence was clear and that was something she didn't even know she had. When her guard announced they would be landing in five, she looked up at him a little confused.

"In what five hours, minutes or seconds?"

She was practically chomping at the bit to get out of her seat and hoped it was less than five hours. That excitement spilled over and she started wiggling in her seat and swinging her legs back and forth.

Tiland Kortun Draconis Caesar Ssalei

 

[Ssalei]

The sudden appearance of Tiland Kortun would startle Ssalei, causing him to nearly fall over. How was an old man so good at sneaking upon him? Well... it certainly didn't help that he had his eyes closed. He would study the man, trying to place if he recognized him. Most who met Ssalei for the first time certainly hadn't dealt with him with such kindness. "I-" He would start before pausing, shaking his head with a grin "I'd love some tea." He'd motion to the mouth of the cave before heading within.

The mouth of the cave was small, just a room large enough for six people to sit comfortably with a hallway descending farther into the mountain shrouded in darkness and mystery. Ssalei would stare at the passageway with some reluctance before his eyes landed on the small pile of wood sitting in the corner and the scorch marks in the center of the entryway, a fire had been lit here before. "A Jedi Master? I must warn you, some have already come to me on this world trying to convince me to join their force orders and cults. I doubt you'll have much more luck." Ssalei would begin stacking the logs from the corner in the center of the room where the previous fire had been. Crouching beside the pile of logs he would sling a small backpack from his shoulder onto the ground next to him, beginning to rumage around in it. Suddenly his head would shoot up, looking back at the Jedi Master "It is a pleasure to meet you though. I was named Ssalei, but.. you may call me what you wish." From his bag he would procure some sort of cloth, ripped and useless, maybe an old shirt. He would close his eyes and let out a deep breath as he would focus the force into the old cloth, trying to make the atoms move faster and faster as the cloth got warmer and warmer. Soon parts of it would begin to ignite, causing Ssalei to smirk and drop the now burning cloth onto the pile of logs.

It was a simple trick, one he had been practicing ever since he had learned to warm his own body in a similar way in this icy wasteland. Ssalei would sit cross-legged by the beginnings of what would hopefully be a fire, setting his backpack to his side. "What brings you here Tiland Kortun? I see no reason for a Jedi Master to come to Ilum without a class of padawans behind him.. and-" Ssalei would bend to the side, as if trying to see behind Tiland "I see no padawans." he would straighten up again, before his eyebrows would shoot up questioningly, seeking answers from the Jedi.

Draconis Caesar Xian Xiao

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Tiland's eyebrows raised as his new companion spoke. There were implications there that he was curious about, but for the moment, he followed his companion inside the cave. As Ssalei began rounding up wood to start a fire, and doing so with the Force, Tiland took a seat next to the fire and began pulling things from his satchel. It was a formal tea set, albeit not a fancy one. Tea pot, into which he poured the hot water from the thermos gourds he always carried with him. Two mugs, which he placed in front of each of them.

As the steam wafted into the chill air, Tiland turned to look back up the passageway and towards the outside. His eyes grew distant for a few moments before he set several more cups out as well. "Others are coming, but they may be some time yet."

As the fire burst to life, Tiland nodded happily and scooped out a careful ration of crushed leaves and herbs. "My own blend. Perfect for warming us up and making us comfy." As the leaves began to steep, their essence diffusing into the water, he sat back and rubbed his hands together. "Named Ssalei? And you offer to let me call you as I will?" He considered for a moment. "What name do you feel best suits you?"

As the other asked questions, the old monk chuckled as he inspected the tea progression before pouring a cup for each. "And I sense you have a mistrust of Jedi, if you suspect that my aim would be to convert you the Jedi way and nothing else. No, I am here because this is a sacred world for the Jedi. I come here every sixty years or so to wander the ice caves and meditate in this place of legacy."

He raised his own cup of tea. "But what brings you here, my friend?"

 

[Draconis Caesar]

Draconis watched as the Padawan answered the door. It was his first time actually seeing the girl and he quickly understood why she might need a escort. Her naive doe eyes made Draconis feel the hunter and herself the prey. He eyed her as a wolf eyes the sheep and he could not help but wonder about how secular a morsel she would make on the battle field. Her hair was rank of cheap hair dye and Draconis strained to filter out the smell. She was skin and bones and undoubtedly would not make it far in the cold without some sort of thermal coat.

A coat was mustered by the initiate who was staying aboard the ship. While Draconis was still observing the girl the man had sought fit to retrieve a item seemingly made of wool, but in truth made of nanotechnology and copper wiring that was built to trap heat within the frock and generate more as the user walked. It was fashionable and efficient. Befitting a mercenaries lifestyle. The man tapped Draconis's shoulder all though he needn't. Draconis's HUD had a three sixty warning display and it went off the moment the recruit began approaching his back. The barbarian turned and took the coat gingerly. He turned to face the Padawan and just as gingerly thrusted the coat towards her.

"Wear this. That is snow below and you'll be quick to freeze to death in it without the proper protection" Draconis said in a mild manner, bespeaking of his intolerance for the inept or ignorant.

A few seconds later the occupants aboard were jostled about as the ship landed about fifty meters from the cave entrance. Draconis's mag boots kept him upright as they touched ground, but even so he still swayed a little with the impact. Draconis and Grim led the Padawan to the ship exit and waited patiently as the ships ramp descended in a hydraulic hiss. Great billows of steam were released as the hydraulics reached their zenith and the snow melted beneath the convection of the steams heat. Draconis opened the door as Grim took up position behind the young Padawan. They entered the snow scape and Draconis immediately sweeped the area with his pulse scanner.

Beneath the grey skies that made up Ilum's atmosphere, even beneath the tartarus like landscape, in the land beneath the earth, Draconis found something unexpected. He found life. Draconis zoomed on the cave's entrance with his helmet's macrobinocular where the two life signs appeared and studied them. The strangers appeared to be sharing tea. Draconis wiped snow from his visor thinking perhaps it was a trick of the elements, but the figures remained. This was the only entrance to the cave systems. Their was no other way around, so Draconis made a quick tactical decision and opted to simply say hi.

They were probably mad men driven insane by the endless blanket of snow, but Draconis reasoned the worse they would do was probably offer them snow tea with a side of rocks for cakes. He motioned with hand for Grim and the padawan to follow and they entered the cave...

Xian Xiao Tiland Kortun Ssalei

 

[Xian Xiao]

It seemed her guard had a great amount of patience when dealing with the teen. He answered all of her questions and didn't tell her to shut up. When she asked about something to keep her warm, a coat was handed to her to put on. Once her arms were through, they had landed and she was finally able to stand up and stretch.

Without that harness keeping her in her seat securely, she would have probably gone flying about the cabin when that happened. Maybe not flying, but certainly fallen to her knees or even been knocked down.

"I don't want to freeze to death. Thank you."

Not looking at him, she buttoned the coat and stood waiting...almost patiently for the ramp to open and let her out of the ship. The only real sign she wanted to get moving was her changing the pressure of one foot to the other, but the girl still waited for the all-clear from her companions.

"We're not alone are we? Do you know who else is here? Do they mean to harm us?"

Again with the questions...

Putting her hands in her pockets, the only thing one could now easily make out about Xian was her eyes. Her flesh was covered quite well and the coat would keep her plenty warm for the short walk into the cave mouth.

Draconis Caesar Tiland Kortun Ssalei

 

[Ssalei]

Others? His eyes would shoot to the Jedi, trying to read his features for something, anything, that would be cause for alarm. Ssalei was naturally suspicious, years of living it rough on a variety of planets far from the inner worlds had taught him that few could be trusted. Yet, the man seemed genuine enough, so he would once again drop his guard and watch hopefully as the man prepared the tea. "What name best suits me?" It was a question that he had oddly never thought to ask himself. Yet, it would only take him a few short seconds of pondering to come to a conclusion "I suppose I would call myself Curiosity. It is, I feel, my most defining trait."

Happy with this answer he would graciously and eagerly accept the tea poured for him, bringing it to his chest to let the steam waft over his face. The smell was certainly enough to cause his mouth to water and he would quickly take a sip, before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh of contentment. Such luxuries were something almost alien to him, his spartan upbringing and recent years of just trying to survive saw little opportunity for tea or sweets. During his second sip he would pause, ah, there they were. The others that the Jedi had sensed now too came into what he could only describe as his mental radar. They were steadily getting closer, and he would nervously glance towards the entrance to the cave before shaking his head and taking a third sip of tea.

"I have no qualm with the Jedi in particular, just... any organization that claims to know the truth." He would hesitantly explain before continuing "I came because I was called. The force has led me for the past few years, and very rarely led me somewhere I regretted being. I came to this cave in particular because I believe my crystal for my saber lays somewhere inside." From his pack he would procure his saber handle, a pile of parts that looked nothing like the masterfully forged sabers of old. Exposed wires, mismatched parts that seemed to have been forcefully put together, and most being of different colors or materials, it was clear that he had salvaged or bought whatever he could wherever he could. "It's not pretty, but it's mine, and I'm quite sure it will work."

Just as he would finish he would feel the others getting closer to the cave entrance, his body shifting to face whoever should step inside.

Tiland Kortun Draconis Caesar Xian Xiao