The Call of the Force(Open/Ask)

[Varus Shatterstar]

Ilum​

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7:37 PM​

The crying winds of Ilum were certainly unnerving at first, but it didn't take long for the sound to drown into your conscience as you trudged through snow so deep you could be consumed by it if you weren't careful of the terrain. The planet was treacherous at times and had claimed countless lives by way of it's tempermental weather alone, it's wildlife a whole different threat in and of itself. The days were long and the land was covered in blankets of white that could trick the naked eye when trying to navigate, but you were fortunate if on a journey there without the added threat of a blizzard. Varus was not fortunate on this day.

The snow up was to his knees as the wind snapped at him, tugging him backwards and forwards over and over, every moment. He was tired already, and he'd only been there for a few hours, but his mission was clear and his determination, although tested, had never failed him before. He'd be damned before he'd let Ilum beat him, and he might very well have been before it was all over.

His mission hadn't been requested of him. His master hadn't expected him to do this and no one was going to benefit from it but himself, which was really the only reason he needed. He was pushing himself every day in training with his new master Kian Karr, and the one day he'd had to himself after three weeks as a Jedi he'd chosen to come to Ilum. Why in the name of the gods would a young man do such a thing? Because he hadn't become a Jedi to take days off, and he was well aware that this was a necessary trip, at least some time in his future, whether or not his new Master might have had a different idea for obtaining what he sought.

The crystals were there. He saw the energy source resonating from his comm in his hand, but he didn't need that to feel them. Their power resonated through him in the force with a call so profound he couldn't have possibly missed it. Even as tired and physically strained by the storm as he was, he could feel the power of the force pulsating beneath him. That's when he saw the mouth of a cave only a few hundred feet away to his left. That was his way in, but in the caves he was afraid that Ilum would present him with an entirely different game he'd yet to play.

 

[Orron Thrask]

"Next time you talk me into going to a snowy planet to find a bunch of crystals, we're landing as close as we can!" Orron shoutd to Varus over the holwing wind while using his metallic arm to sheild his face.

Even with his cyber legs helping him through the snow Orron felt the weight of picking his feet up and out while the cold air blistered against his skin; the parts of him that still had skin that was to say. His Jedi robes whipped and flapped as the wind continued to beat against him and his companion as they made for th caves where the lightsaber crystals were said to be.

Orron had felt odd about the whole idea to begin with. He knew that padawans only went to get thier crystals with thier masters, usually a means to prove they were ready to wield an actual lightsaber on their own. Even before his accident when training with his father Orron had never had the chance to build his own. The main reason, however, was because the planned trip to final go was halted when the Sith had invaded. He wished he'd been able to acquire his own instead of needing to use training blades every now-and-then.

As they both progressed through the snow Orron looked up, past the sight of Varrus' back, as he could see the cave as well. His red cyber eye had been a little more clearer to see with than his normal one, it's vision not as obscured by the snow and wind battering it. He breathed heavily, his air visible from the cold, before groaning at the fact of how much father they still had to go. He kept up the pace with Varrus as they continued onward, making sure he would have his back in case he fell or was ingured or the like.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Adrian Yusanis]

Adrian had somehow managed to lose the rest of the group in the heavy snowstorm, in fact he could barely see three feet in front of himself due to the thickness of the blizzard. At this point Adrian veered off west significantly, completely removing himself from the path. Eventually he reached a cliff and continued alongside it for a few hours. His whole walk he heard this low grumbling behind him, but he saw nothing whenever he turned so he continued trudging through the snow.

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus smiled as soon as he heard his fellow Padawan's complaining, but didn't respond immediately. Instead the stopped, taking a moment to gather themselves for the time being. He didn't want to rush into anything ill prepared as it would be unwise of them both. There was no reason to rush anything like that, and with weather so tough, Varus had come to realize that it was partly the point of going out to collect your own crystals to begin with. It helped you practice patience and pressed your resolve, but the both of them were very strong young men, though Orron and his partly artificial body would certainly have him beat there.

Stopping, Varus glanced down at his datapad and pulled up the map he'd lined out for their journey. As he did, he finally responded to Orron as he pinpointed their location and calculated the distance. "We landed so far away because the surface in this area isn't nearly as stable! Had we landed here, the surface area could have shifted and thrown the ship off balance, damaging it or even allowing it to sink into the snow!", he called back with added force in his voice to make sure that he could hear him. "Besides! If it wasn't tough then what would be the point!?", he yelled the question at him through the howling wind and stinging snow with a big, white smile on his face.

With that, he started off towards the cave, leading the way and making good time in the next few minutes, covering the last bit of distance with relative ease. Once they made it inside the cave, they warmed up a great deal just being out of the wind. Stopping in the mouth of the cave, Varus pulled off his pack and set it down, looking up at Orron as he unzipped his over layered jacket. He had a number of layers beneath it, including a lighter, leather flight jacket, but he left those on. "Alright.", he said with a bit of a smirk as he picked his back back up and threw it and his thick jacket over his shoulder, holding them both in the same jacket. "Now it get's interesting.", he said, turning and leading the way into the caves, the winding path leading them back and forth a hundred or so feet down a path that brought them just below the surface of the planet. Even just beneath the surface, the atmosphere was much warmer, though the cave walls for a ways were lined with ice. After a while, however, the ice thinned out until there was nothing but black rock and hardened Ilum soil all around them.

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

Hearing Varus' response Orron rolled his eye while fighting through onward towards the cave. He kept one hand up to sheild his face as he felt the wind picking up, the other extended out in front of him towards his friend's back as both a means to keep him going and as to not get sperarated in the snowy storm. The snow was starting to get to his joints, making Orron feel a little more human for a moment in knowing that even he had the potential to freeze. Despite this he druged foward with Varus until finally reaching the cave.

A huge air of relief was felt by Orron upon entering. The warmer air helped Orron as he took a moment to flex out his metal limbs. After a few minutes of checking to make sure everything didn't ice over he looked around while Varus undid all the layers he wore. Orron had only worn his Jedi robes, his cyborg inplanets having an insolated inner system that at least kept him from feeling cold. However that didn't help with the still human parts of his face and arms being exposed. Even when they entered the cave he'd taken a moment to wipe his face, making sure nothing had been effected by frostbite while feeling the wet flecks of snow slowly melt.

After Varus gave his eager little reaction Orron gave a small smirk while saying "Just lead the way, Varus. I'll keep doing what I've been doing, watching your back."

As they progressed through the cave and it became darker the one main source of light turned out to be Orron's cyber eye. The red glint of it reflected lightly against the walls and the back of Varus. Seeing this himself Orron didn't know if he should be thankful or more displeased with his cyber implant making him less human. Either way he didn't say anything about it.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

As they walked along through the still cool, but humid cave, Varus was very careful with each step, and as the light faded with each step further they took, he took care to feel the in the force, rather than rely on his eyes. He could have felt his way through those tunnels with the force, but if they ran into a wild creature that was native to the planet, he had a feeling they'd need their eyes and not just the force to reveal for them their enemies.

Reaching back, Varus pulled a long, clear, cylinder that hung at one end by a metallic cord that Varus looped over his wrist. As they walk, Varus toyed with the device for a minute before it finally came on, taking almost a minute to heat up after being put through the vicious weather there on Ilum along with Varus. When it did come on, though, it was a bit weak at first, emitting only a little light, though it didn't break their strides down into the caves. Varus was all business, and he wasn't about to turn back because he couldn't see but about three feet in front of him. He could feel the planet and the creatures emitting the force around him, and besides parasites and insects, Orron was the only he was picking up for almost a mile.

"Do you feel that?", Varus asked, all of a sudden after the pair had been walking along in silence for the past few minutes. As he asked, the lamp like device that Varus had brought seemed to perk up, it's light growing in intensity and shedding light to it's full potential as it's core had finally heated properly. It shed it's bright light for about twenty feet in front and behind them as they walked along, the walls and floor of the cave coming into clear view now.

"Can you sense the crystals?", Varus asked again a moment later.

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

Orron had been looking around at the icy cavern he found himself in with Varus as they continued onward. He kept looking around, expecting to see the saber crystals in the wall as they were rumored to be. Apparenlty not so easy as he thought as they kept progressing further and further in. His red eye had kept the path vaugly lite before Varus had produced the little lamp-like device that illumintaed everything far better.

"Much better." Orron had commented as they walked on, now more content on not needing to rely on his eye for light now.

The cave, while warmer than outside, was still a little chilly. Orron didn't mind it so much, given his outer plating, but he could still feel the cold air hang about in the cave. Ilum was cold and nothing else. He figured no matter where you'd be on this planet there be nothing but cold air to greet you; much like Hoth.

He stopped when Varus had spoken about feeling something, Orron looking around in thinking he might have meant something living. When he saw nothing he waited until Varus spoke again, saying it was the crystals he felt. Orron closed his eyes and reached out with the force to try and feel them as Varus had. It had taken a few moment before he felt something equivilent to a beat in the walls. A smal pulse coming through the ice.

"Yeah..." he said, opening his eyes in suprise. "I can feel them. It's hard to tell where they are though. Everything in this place looks all icy and shiny."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus smiled ad he heard Orron respond. He was happy to hear that his companion for this trek was no slouch in the force. He could feel the energy the crystals were emitting, which was almost intoxicating to a man like Varus who'd been so close to the force for so long. It had always been there, and whether or not he acknowledged the force, he could always feel it resonating through him

"The soil of Ilum, although frigid cold on the surface due to horrible planetary, surface weather conditions, is rich with the energies of the force.", Varus said as they walked together through the cold caverns, his blue eyes soon noticing speckles of bright rocks in the walls around them. "The soil of Ilum is so fertile and ripe with the force, in fact, that if the conditions weren't so rough on this planet, plant life would flourish wildly and untamed."

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

Orron had looked towards the wall to see the small specks of light as Varus had. It was hard to tell which were natually formed and which weren't just illusions in his sight due to Varus' light. Despite this Orron could still feel the force all around in the caverns as Varus had while listening to him describe the conditions of both the planet and the abundant force present.

After he'd finished Orron said "Too bad you can't find good crystals someplace a little warmer than here. Bet you more Jedi would find it better on a place like Alderaan over a place like Hoth." After that he looked foward, towards the rest of the cavern they still had yet to go, before asking "How much further is it? Don't want to end up getting lost in this place."

Having said those words at this point Orron had realized the faint echo eminating throughout the cavern. Clealry there was a lot of space between where they stood and the amount of cave they'd explored from the entrance onward. Looking back Orron had realized they were so far in that the light from the entrace itself was gone as well. Clealry this was something of a makeshift halfway point.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"We're almost half way there.", Varus said, glancing over to Orron and shrugging his shoulders with a truly sympathetic look on his face. He was well aware that Orron wasn't a fan of all the work they were having to do there, but neither was he really. The cold was stifling and the air was thin. It had been hard to breathe anyway without the wind snapping at your face and falling flecks of ice cutting at whatever skin you left exposed. They were inside the caverns now, though, so the only thing that would be tough would be the long walk to where they were going, and the trek back.

As they walked along, Varus pulled his datapad from his pocket with his free hand, still walking along and holding the lantern up with his other hand as he checked the map. They were about another hundred or so yards from where Varus wanted to be, which was a long walk ahead, but they'd already come so far as well. There was certainly no point in turning back. Not when Varus had such an appealing reward laying in wait for Orron.

"The reason I chose this specific formation is because of it's location on the surface." Varus finally admitted, shutting off the datapad and sliding it back into his pocket as they walked along. "The planet has a molten core made up of Carbonite... or was it Songsteel?", he asked, stopping for a moment before dismissing the thought from his mind and starting to walk again, continuing to explain. "Anyway, the molten core fuels the planet's life source, which is the soil and minerals that make up the planet. These minerals, along with the planet's rich, yet misunderstood connection to the force has allowed it to produce incredible crystals over the years, considering the planet has the perfect weather conditions for it to do so.", he said, explaining everything that he knew to Orron, though realizing that such things might bore him. He took a breath and glanced over at him, smiling at the larger man as they walked along to make sure that he hadn't lost his attention.

"However, this specific area is one of only a few conduit points located across the planet's surface. It's why we couldn't land the ship anywhere close to this area. Because for about a mile or so in the surrounding area the soil and rock here is much more... volatile.", he said, really getting a bit nerdy with his explanation now as he started to get a little excited about what he was sharing. "And by that I mean that it's simply more loose and gives way easier. The area we're in is actually a great deal warmer than most places on the planet because the heat from the planet's core moves more freely and easily through this area. Picture a power source within a ship or some kind of machine.", he said, reaching out both hands and holding them into up as if he were holding a round object as he tried to illustrate.

"Well, a machine with a strong enough power source needs some form of port or ventilation system so that it doesn't overheat, right? So that it can breathe and let off excess heat or energy that it either doesn't need or would cause it to become unstable.", he said Orron as he watched his reaction. "Well... we're walking through a vent right now.", he said with a big, white grin on his face.

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

As they walked on with Varus giving his huge explanation Orron had nodded while listening. While it might have been a little boring, he admitted, he knew that paying attention to the info he was giving would likely be helpful. If not for the chance that some dire incedent would come up then at least for the sake of understanding why things were as they were.

As Varus continued to elaborate Orron looked around, taking account for all the natrual shapping of the cavern as Varus had told about it. It was curious to him how the force had played such a large role in this planet's formation and creation around the surface. He knew there were places scattered about the galaxy with higher concentrations of the force over others, but to know that some entire planets had this effect amazed him. It made sense, as he realized, why the Jedi would come here for saber crystals of all places.

When Varus had finished Orron nodded and said "Oh. Now I get it.....mostly." having only caught a fair amount of what he'd said. As they pressed on orron, trying to add to the conversation, asked "Do you believe some of the rumors they say about the color of your crystal? How it determines what sort of Jedi you are? More with the force, Better with a lightsaber and all that?"

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"I believe that... to a degree.", Varus said hestiantly as they approached a large turn in the cavern which would coil around in almost a full circle and send them back the opposite direction, yet down further into the planet itself beneath the path they'd already come down. "I think that the color of your crystal is linked to your essence in the force. Your light... or your darkness.", he explained as the air got more moist and actually easier to breathe.

It wasn't as thinned as it had been, which might have puzzled him had he not done his research. He was well aware, though, that they were approaching a hot spring beneath the surface, a rarity for the planet, but in that area and in those conditions, it was perhaps the most suitable place on the entire planet to find a crystal as powerful as the one Varus was after.

"I think that your signature in the force is entirely related to the type of crystal that calls to you, which is why Sith tend to end up with darker collors, though the Jedi typically end up with more vibrant, brighter colors.", he said as the cave finally showed a certain light up ahead about fifty more yards in front of them. It was exactly what they had been searching for, and as they spotted it he finally let out a smile and a sigh of relief as he stopped for a moment.

"I say that bit about the crystals "calling to you" because of one thing that I believe to be entirely true, and that is this.", he said as he reached up and rested his hand on Orron's shoulder. "You don't find your crystal... it finds you. It calls to you. You just have to answer the call.", he said as he started walking again.

"Let's go find out what the force has lying in wait for us, Orron."

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

While still following Orron listned to his friend's belief in the idea of crystals representing the Jedi, or force user in general, instead of the other way around. As he did he nodded, understanding and agreeing with him on a number of points he'd brought up. Given how caught up he was in the conversation Orron began to lose track of how long they'd still been walking and how far they'd gone.

When the subject of Sith crystals came up Orron commented "Actually, from what I read, they don't search for thier own crystals. At least not all the time. I hear they make their artificially. Or they use the dark side and corrupt the ones they steal of of Jedi they kill. Something reallt weird like that."

Pressing on he kept listening to Varus talk before eventually stopping and seeing the light ahead. When his friend clasped his shoulder Orron looked down, seeing his confident look, before returning with a smile and nodding. After that he followed in onward into what he hoped was the room they were searching for, all the while anticipating what his saber color would likey be.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

It wasn't long before the pair of them found themselves in a bright, multicolored cavern with bright, vibrantly colored crystals adorning the walls around them. In the middle of the cavern, like Varus had predicted, was a large, open hotspring with steam rising off the surface of the water, bubbles gurgling up from the rocks at the base of the tiny body of naturally flowing water.

"Wow..." were the only words that Varus could even fathom saying as he strode into the broad cavern, his sapphire eyes growing wide with amazement. He glanced back and forth looking at all of the brilliant colors that presented themselves to them. Shades of green and blue, and the even more ellusive burned orange, dark yellow and violet colors that were more plentyful in that cavern specifically. "I've heard stories about how rare some of these crystals are. This yellow, these violet colors... the darker orange. Even these red ones here." He said, illustrating all the different colors as the force swelled inside of him as if the crystals were actually greeting their would be masters.

"Such rarity here, and because I did a little extra research." He said as he came to stand in the middle of the cavern, turning to Orron and facing the man as he reach out his hands and opened his palms as if presenting it all to him. "Was this not worth it?", he asked the larger Jedi with just about the biggest smile he'd ever shared with anyone stretching across his friendly face.

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

Upon reaching the crystal room, seeing the rainbow of color suddenly burst into his vision, Orron looked up around and even truned seeing as some of them were formed around the entrance, before giving a low whistle of suprise. He'd never seen so many colored crystals before, especially when considering most of the Jedi lightsabers ever seen were blue and green and yellow, in some cases. Yet now there were more colors to be seen than ever before here in this icy treasure trove.

When asked if it was worth it Orron responed "You can say that again..." still looking around at all of the colors. After taking a moment to let it all sink in he turned and said "Go on, Varus. You find yours first. It was your idea after all."

While Orron did feel his friend should be first the other reason he was letting him was because he wanted time to try and find his. He knew he would need the force to help guide his hand in chosing which of the many adorning crystals would be the one to power his lightsaber. He just needed more time while Varus would likely find his faster.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"I'm not worried one bit about going first Orron.", Varus said as he began shedding more of this clothing, his sapphire eyes turning to the steaming hotspring in the middle of the room. He then glance over his shoulder to his partner and smiled as he said, "The crystal that belongs to you won't call to me, nor mine to you. Unfortunately for me, though, mine wants me to get wet.", he said, laughing lightly as he finally had stripped down to nothing but briefs.

When he was ready, Varus waded into the waters, taking care to go slow so that he could adjust to the heat. Going from cold to hot in such conditions could cause trouble for him in the form of stroke or shock, which is why he took it slow. When he was comfortable, though, Varus reached into his discarded pants and pulled out a metal and stone cutting tool. He then slowly completely submerged under the water and allowed the force to guide his hand.

After a couple of minutes, Varus had begun to meditate, his eyes fluttering every so often, but before he knew it he found that he had moved beneath the water, unbeknownst to him. As his blue eyes opened he found that he was hovering just over a crystal node with a number of crystals glowing vibrantly springing up all over it. Carefully Varus used the cutting tool to sever the base of the stone formation, making sure not to harm any of the crystals growing on top of it. There were five different crystals large enough to be placed into blasters or saber ls growing across its surface. One of a dark orange color, one blue, two a darker violet color and one a deep, almost crimson red.

Raising the stone from the water, Varus stepped out and placed it on the waters edge, eyeing the two colored dark violet that emitted a purple hue of a glow. It was only when he cut them both free and sat down next to the stone node did he realize how transfixed he was on them. He could actually hear the soothing whisper of the force as he held them both in his palm, brothers from the same rock formation.

 

[Orron Thrask]

Orron stood and watched as Varus began his search through the water for his crystal. He was silent as to let Varus concentrate once he started meditating but in his mind he hoped that wherever his crystal would be he wouldn't have to wade through the water to get it. Risking a likely malfunction of his cyber implants along with a good chance of rusting wasn't something he wanted to deal with while trying to complete the task at hand.

As he watched Orron saw Varus begin to meditate and perked with interest to see where the force would guide him. He watched as he pulled out his tool before seeing as he evntually found his own. Seeing the color Orron smirked before giving a thumbs up to Varus to indicate his find was a good one. A violet crystal was one of the less common ones to be found by a Jedi, meaning, at least to Orron, that Varus would pobably have as unique a future ahead.

With it now being his turn Orron closed his eyes and well and began to meditate. As he did he thought back to the lessons of his father about lightsabers. He told how they were a Jedi's life. A tool to secure peace and protect the innocent, not weapons of war as the Sith used them. He recalled his father's being blue and how he promised his son he would one day carry his own when the time was right.

Taking a moment to let the memories sink in while letting the force guide him Orron finally knew were to look: up. On the wall a few feet above was a crystal imbedded in the wall. Too high to jump for and too dug it to be pulled out with the force. Smiling at the prospect of a challenege Orron looked at the icy wall before flexing his robotic arms out and cracking the metal knuckles. He walked up to the wall and dug his fingers in, the metal percing through the walls and sticking in far enough for him to see it was secure. Using this he began to climb the ice, digging his robotic hands and feet in until finally coming to the spot where the crystal was.

Using his finger to pry it out with ease Orron held a blue crystal, just like his father's in the palm of his hand. He gave a small cooment of "Thanks, dad..." before hopping down and shoing it to Varus.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

(Sorry, hadn't seen you posted)

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Something about the orange crystal spoke to him as well, which was why he wasted no time in cutting it free along with the other two crystals he had gathered, but he had a feeling that it was speaking through him and to someone else. When he finally got himself up he had begun pulling his clothing back on, his teeth chattering a bit as the cold began to set back in. Slowly he began pulling his layers back on and his warmth began to return, but as he did he noticed Orron, who was now climbing the ice walls of the cavern.

He smiled as he watched him stop over a particularly pristine, blue crystal, but he hadnt caught what he had muttered before he climbed back down to show him. When Varus was dressed again he slid the three crystals he'd chosen into his pack in a cloth which he placed at the center of the rest of his clothing and equipment. He then picked up the pack and slung it over his shoulder as he approached Orron from across the room.

"Congratulations, my friend.", Varus said as he stepped up next to Orron and laid a firm hand against his back, patting him as he did. "Does it speak to you the way we talked about?", Varus then asked him, glancing from Orron to the crystal in his hand.

[member="Orron Thrask"]

 

[Orron Thrask]

"And more." Orron had answered. "I can feel like it's a part of me I've been missing for a while. Like a keepsake I'd forgotten about until now. Odd and yet...natural."

After giving his own little compliment to Varus about his crystal he looked to his friend and smirked, indcating as odd as it sounded he was still at peace with it. After that he opened a small pocket on his wait and slipped it in, making sure his crystal was secure for the trip back. Seeing Varus chattering his teeth had given Orron a bit of a shiver as well. His body shook for a moment before he managed to settle it, indicating that the cold air was starting to phase him a little as well.

"Guess we'd better start making back for the temple. No telling how long until the Masters find out where we've been."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus took a few more moments until he was completely wrapped up again, this time throwing on his heavy coat that he hadn't been wearing as well as his cloak to warm him up quicker. When he was ready he picked his back back up and turned to Orron, smiling as he said, "They won't miss us. I told them we'd be finding a quiet place away from the temple to meditate today so that we could delve deeper into the force and strengthen our connections to it.", he said, laughing lightly at his little fib as he started to walk towards the cavern opening.

"I hope you don't mind my misleading them, but I knew Kian didn't believe me for a second. He's far too intuitive for that, but he allowed us to go on and retire to our own devices none the less.", Varus explained as he lead them out of the caver and back into the tunnels, his eyes scanning as he turned his lamp back on to make sure that they were following the correct path back.

"One way or another, they know we're not off wasting our time, though I seriously considered dragging you to Zeltros or Naboo to get into some real trouble. Ha ha.", he said, laughing once more as he cast a glance over his should which he coupled with a wink.

[member="Orron Thrask"]