Another bright day had dawned on Voss.
Eli had not been here too long; he had come with a splinter group from the Galactic Republic, during their decline, and though it had taken some time he finally saw the forested world as his home. He was free to come and go as he pleased, though rarely did he leave the safety of the Temple or its surrounding areas.
Not being much of a pilot, having only just begun his flight simulation classes, it wasn't as if he could simply jet off to different parts of the Galaxy. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to, either. Exploration was not a commodity. He still had much to learn, especially given that he tended to his own lessons. He had to seek out specific Jedi when the Archives were not adequate enough. It was tough, because he didn't always know what it was he needed to know. There wasn't an instruction manual that came with being a Jedi Apprentice.
He had left the safety of the Temple Grounds behind two days ago. An excursion through the forests, a test of his survival capabilities. He had but one light pack on his shoulder, his training saber upon the utility belt at his waist - alongside a commlink - and barely enough food to last the trip. Rations, nothing more. Anything else he wanted on top of that he would have to source independently.
Though Voss was a temperate world, the arduous days had cast a thin sheen to his skin. Sweat beaded upon his brow and at the back of his neck where the recently trimmed hairline ended. Eli was in peak physical condition, he spent much of his free time working out, training, meditating in the most taxing way possible. But out here it was different.
There were other factors he hadn't really taken into consideration. The flies which sought to bite at exposed skin, soil which gave way to thick mud that threatened to swallow him whole, temperatures that did not stay regulated.
Although he knew it to be daytime, he had reached a spot in the forest where the trees were so tightly packed, and their leaves woven overhead, that it was practically impossible to see. Cold, too. He pressed on, welcoming the unexpected trial, and heard in the distance a sound unakin to those he had heard thus far. No bird call or strong winds... But a crackling.
How odd.
He pressed on toward the sound, until the trees gave way to a clearing that remained densely canopied. No glimmer of the sky peeked through. On the edge he halted, taking in the odd sight which had greeted him.
A man sat, cloaked and hunched before a fire. The cane in his grasp spoke of age, and Eli wondered what so apparently old an individual was doing this far from civilization.
Another trial from the Force? Something else to test him on this journey of survival?
[member="Krest"]
