Private Through Fire and Frost

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Jedi Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Lightsabers

The moment Everest's fingers brushed against the light, the world around her erupted. A brilliant, blinding radiance surged forth, engulfing her in a wave of warmth so powerful it stole her breath away. The cavern vanished, the glowing kyber around her swallowed by the overwhelming brightness, until there was nothing but pure, endless white. The air itself vibrated with something vast, something ancient and knowing. For a moment, she felt weightless — adrift in the Force itself, caught between the past, the present, and the infinite unknown stretching before her.

And then — silence.

The light faded. The cave returned. The crystals around her still pulsed with their quiet, ethereal glow. But in her palm, resting against the soft skin of her trembling fingers, was something new. A single kyber crystal. Small, white and luminous. It thrummed gently, a steady heartbeat of power, alive in a way she could feel down to her very core. It wasn't just a crystal. It was hers. Bonded to her through the Force, through her journey, through every trial that had led her to this moment. It had chosen her just as much as she had chosen it.

It belonged to her.

She had faced herself dnd she had been enough. Now, somewhere, distant but certain, she could still feel her Master's presence — waiting for her beyond the cave.

Waiting for Everest to take her final steps of this journey.

Everest Vale ​

 

[Everest Vale]

The tiny crystal pulsed in her palm, its light delicate but unwavering. White, pure, and utterly alive with the energy of the Force, it hummed against her skin like a heartbeat; her heartbeat. A quiet, steady rhythm, intertwined with her own. She gazed at it for a long moment, breath uneven, chest rising and falling as the weight of what had just happened settled upon her shoulders. It had chosen her. This small, luminous fragment of the Force had waited, through time and darkness, for her. And now it was here, resting in her hand as if it had always belonged.

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she let it fall. It wasn't from sorrow, nor from pain, but from the sheer relief that coursed through her veins like liquid light. Her mind drifted across the path that had led her here. The silver fields of Eshan, the endless stars she used to marvel at as a child, the first time she felt the whispers of the Force in the rustling of the wind through the trees and the songs of the fauna of her home. She thought of her mother, of the nights spent curled in her arms as stories of great Jedi heroes filled her young mind with wonder. She thought of the girl she used to be, the one who was terrified of her own shadow, of constant failure, of stepping forward without the certainty of safety beneath her feet.

That girl had walked into this cave, trembling, uncertain, afraid that she would never be enough.

But she was not the one who would walk out.

With a final inhale, Eve curled her fingers around the crystal, pressing it close to her chest. It was warm. It was hers. And for the first time in her life, she truly felt whole. Her legs were heavy, her exhaustion pressing against every muscle like a dull weight, but she didn't falter. Step by step, she moved forward, back through the darkened passage, but the darkness no longer unnerved her. It no longer reached for her in its attempt to pull her under. She had faced it.. and won.

As she neared the exit, she felt her Master’s presence beyond the cave, steady and strong as ever, and waiting for her. This time, as Eve stepped out into the light, she did not hesitate. Though shaded with exhaustion, her silver eyes nevertheless gleamed, bright and unyielding, a fire burning behind them that had never been there before. She was still exhausted, still aching from the depths of her journey, but something within her had shifted; something fierce and resolute.

She said nothing, but her eyes said it all. She had doubted herself time and time again throughout her entire life, but she no longer would ever again, and as her gaze met Valery’s, she stood before her Master not as the scared girl who had entered the cave... but as a confident young woman; no, as the warrior she was destined to become.

Valery Noble​