Disclaimer: We ( zazabelle and draksisreborn) own nothing but our OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. So yeah, so much for "very soon" lol. Thus chapter took quite a while longer than expected (as you can see with the 9500 word count), but its here and that's all that matters. Please review and enjoy this latest installment.
Rating: T
Cenden was stunned. The girl next to him remained speechless as well.
The open door seemed to swirl in darkness, a void of all light.
'How? Neither of us reached out to form this. The doors just opened?'
"Cenden? Cenden?!" Soron barked, snapping the Jedi out of his daze, turning his attention from the frozen girl to his captain.
"What the hell is this?" Soron asked.
Cenden sighed, running his hand along the back of his neck.
"It's… it's a passageway deeper into the temple. But it's also where Jedi go for some of their trials."
"Trials?" BX questioned.
"The trials for ze final tests to become a Jedi knight. In all honezty, you basically go into these really dark tunnels, and the Force messes with your mind causing you to see your greatest fears or desire, you must pass through these trials alone and survive your fear in order to prove yourself worthy of ze position of Jedi." Cenden explained before turning to Vis. "Did you go in zhere? Did you pass the trials?"
The girl's freckles snapped into a sudden shock of bright blue.
"No! I mean yes, but not like 'officially'. They opened the door a few weeks before you guys got here… I… I thought I had already faced my greatest fear a long time ago, and I knew what the door was so I thought… I'd just stick my head inside the tunnel for a while to see what happened?" she laughed nervously as she crumpled in on herself a bit.
"...Vhat?" Cenden mumbled.
"Why would you do that?" Nek questioned, stepping in.
"I don't know! Think of it from my position! The Force opened the door for me, but I'm all alone here in this giant temple, no one has ever known I was here, I'd have to face this 'great danger' down there by myself too where I could just DIE with no Jedi master to be worried or concerned for me, and my guide unable to help me! Wouldn't you be a little hesitant to totally immerse yourself in some, not only creepy, but really broken tunnel trials where you know you're going to possibly die?"
Nek shrugged, "Ya she's got a point."
"You can die in there?" the crew could hear Lerti mumble to herself.
"Well it opened for a reason." Cenden pointed out.
"You got that right." Vis huffed, crossing her arms in discomfort.
A few of the crew members gave her a puzzled look.
"Did you, see anything when you stuck your head in the tunnels?" Soron inquired.
Vis looked uncomfortable as her freckles faded into a dark maroon, her face twisting into what could've been described as sickly fear.
"I didn't see anything." She sighed, "It was what I felt was what scared me."
She paced closer to the door's opening.
"I know you haven't known me for very long, but I didn't expect this door to open again because this was how I got to know you guys before you even got here… When I stuck my head inside the tunnel, it was the first time in my life I couldn't feel my guide. It was so quiet, so deathly quiet, and I had never been so alone in that one moment. I ran away from the door and later on my guide explained to me that these were the feelings and fears not only of myself, but of these people coming to the temple. The pilot, the engineer, the warrior, the strategist, the captain, and the temple guard. So it can't be that I need to take the trials, I haven't even gotten to have the whole 'student-mentor-bonding-thing' much less ready to become a Jedi. My guide wants me to go in but…"
Soron stepped up next to the girl.
"But Cenden's right, it sounds like the Force wouldn't just open this for no reason."
"Nothing is without reason." Vis mumbled almost to herself as if she was quoting something.
Lerti laughed suddenly breaking the solemn mood, "This is insane."
"I know right!? It feels like a real adventure doesn't it!?" Vis responded back. "I have to go in there! I have to prove myself."
"Prove yourself to who?" Soron asked.
She thought for a moment.
"I have to prove myself to myself. That I'll follow my guide where ever they take me. No matter what."
"Wait! Shush!" Cenden suddenly burst out.
Everyone fell silent.
"Do you hear that?"
They listened; the twittering of birds, the hum of wind on the slick and cool rocks of the temple, the rain just barely sprinkling down. Vis' face looked far off, as if she was straining her mind to pick up the sound Cenden could hear so clearly.
It was like a singing he couldn't describe. A voice saying a million words at once. It was cold and alluring. It was coming deep from the throat of the from the tunnels.
"You've got to be kidding me." He mumbled as he walked slowly over towards the mouth of the door.
Vis shivered and looked at the captain and the Jedi standing with her, staring into the darkness, then back at the darkness and the ends of her mouth twitched.
"We're going in there together aren't we?" Cenden hesitated.
Vis leaned past Soron to look at Cenden and shook her head, her hand slowly raising to point at Soron.
"He's coming too."
"What!?" Soron took a step away from the temple door.
"Ya. The Force says you, me, and the Jedi. I mean it's pulling the three of us anyway."
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Cenden repeated.
"Ok, wait let's just all step back and talk about this for a second because everything is moving very fast." Soron commanded turning to the rest of the whole crew, before snapping and pointing at Vis. "Ok, you. You're going to sit down for a second and explain what's going on, why we're here, and why you're here. You…" he barked now pointing at Cenden, "You are going to translate if that one starts not making sense." he again pointed at Vis, "And the rest of you are going to pay close attention to everything they say. Got it?"
"Got it!" Everyone responded back.
"Ok good. Now, explain." Soron urged before before backing up and leaning against the wall.
Vis gasped.
"Oh my gosh! I'll go get my journals! Wait here I'll be right back!" she squealed, zipping past the crew before anyone could protest.
The crew waited a few minutes for the small girl to return from where ever she had run off to. Lerti scanned about, thinking more intently on a history she never knew existed. Nek shuffled closer to the shelves of holocrons, examining the glowing boxes yet not quite daring to reach out and touch one. Cholmon, who had for the most part just been watching and observing, found a spot to sit down. BX had resumed sorting the holocrons, but keeping his eyes on the temple tunnels. All the while Cenden and Soron talked quietly.
"...The girl was right though. She wasn't ready to go into the trials room. The Force is strong with her, but she hasn't received any of the necessary training for the Force to believe her ready to become a Jedi." Cenden contemplated.
"Then why open it? And if we were suppose to go in with her, why open before we got here? Why do we even need to go in there? Why do I need to go in there?"
"Soron… I honestly don't know what's going on. That girl acted like we were suppose to know a lot more than we do… And the way she talks about the Force. It's like she's talking to a person."
"Yes, she seems quite prepared for us, so what are we expected to do?"
Just then, a voice erupted from further down the halls.
"HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!" Vis shouted from down the rows of shelves.
At the end of the shelves you could see a small figure hopping up and down excitedly waving her arms through the air.
"COME ON! WE'VE GOT STUFF TO SHOW YOU!" she yelled before turning and sprinting down one of the shelf halls.
The crew looked around, not quite knowing how to respond other than a shrug and a turn to follow. As the group walked cautiously down the hallways of holocrons they could hear childish laughter and the patter of footsteps echoing in every direction, it was hard to tell where it was all coming from.
In a galaxy full of oppression and despair, how does one act around someone so free of all that strife? Someone so free of all of that pain? Do they know how lucky they are? Or is it pure ignorance that keeps them happy?
This was the summary of the crew's thoughts as they walked towards where they'd last seen the child disappear.
"Oh! I almost forgot this one!" Vis' voice suddenly appeared next to them as they turned to see her swiftly grabbed one of the holocrons off the shelves.
Her arms were filled to the brim with scrolls, books, and holocrons of every shape and size. Her face was alight with pure excitement, her freckles shifting out of neons of green, and yellow, and orange.
"Come on! This way!" She elated as she powered through the group, running towards the center of the library.
As they followed, the library quickly opened up into what looked to be a large seating area. Ancient tables were almost indistinguishable from the piles of rubble and debris lying about the center of the library. Many piles looked as if they'd been pushed and shifted over, but none of them cleaned up. Over in one corner, Nek spotted a pile of blankets and makeshift pillows stacked up into what looked to be a reading nook. In the center of the reading area stood a console of some kind, it's octagonal shape seemed to have nothing more about it than a slightly cracked old screen and a few ports running along the edges.
Vis squated near the console, carefully placing down the selection of holocrons and books she'd collected on the floor before spinning to turn towards her audience.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat, looking to make sure her guests were in attention, "For the past five years, I, Vis Alacritas, have lived in this temple and have been working closely alongside the Force to record, decipher, and understand prophecies yet to occur in our time through the teaching of the holocrons, books, and scrolls left here." she paused for dramatic effect, "Now that I have this information, I've basically been waiting for something to happen. I've learned a lot, I have way more to go, but I believe the Force brought you all here to help with this mission."
"What is the mission exactly?" Nek stepped in.
Vis smiled, crossing her hands behind her back.
"To help the Force carry out its purpose of course. Ya know, warn people of impending doom, saving the galaxy, all that good stuff."
The crew was silent for a moment.
Vis' smile swiftly swept from confident to uncomfortable.
"I mean! We wouldn't probably be directly responsible for the whole 'saving the galaxy' thing. But ever since I've been here, my guide's been showing me history and prophecies given to Jedi, Sith, and just Force sensitives in general. I'm pretty sure most of the writers of these things didn't know what they were writing about, they were just given instruction and followed it. I mean…" She picked up one of the holocrons, "This one is mostly filled to the brim with proverbs and stuff, but when applied to the context in that book," she pointed at another one of her picks, "The meaning completely changes. The Force picked out these particular books, and not all of the info in them is from the Force I've noticed. But the stuff they did write that was from them seems to all sort of connect into a weird series of warnings and signs to watch out for, important events that have happened and will occur and stuff. But they all seem to be leading up to something big."
Everyone remained silent, taking in Vis' words.
Suddenly, Cholmon chimed in, chuckling a bit.
"Well Soron, you said you wanted answers to the meaning of life and all that crap. Looks like the Force answered you." By the end of his sentence he was actually laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" Vis chuckled along nervously.
"Because! I never thought in my entire life that Soron's crazy vague mission would actually amount to something! I mean, seriously! He lured that Jedi onto our crew, convinced him to help us find a holocron, followed a star map to this random moon, and now! Here we are! Soron you crazy son-of-a-nerf herder." Chol continued laughing out of pure joy, wiping a tear from his face.
Soron smiled, the crazy realization spreading across his face before in moments he was laughing along with Chol.
Vis' face lit up at their joy, "You did it! WOO!"
Vis began jumping about. Soron and Chol, still laughing, cheered her on. Nek and Lerti joined in with their shouts, like a war cry finding new vigor. Like warriors filled with a new reason to fight. To those of them who could sense it, the Force pulsed about the crew members, a strange joy could also be felt in it. It was probably one of the underlying reasons for the crew's joy, and those who could feel it could felt it.
Finally. Someone to listen, someone to act on the Force's behalf. No light side, no dark side, just the Force and all that was to come. They've taken a step, now what?
The laughter died down and Vis collapsed in a smiley pile on the floor, clutching at one of the journals she had brought in her piles of holocrons and scrolls.
"I can't believe this is really happening." Vis breathed from down on the ground.
The sound of a metallic cough suddenly caught the crew's attention. They turned to see BX standing at the back of the group, pointing over his shoulder.
"I don't mean to interrupt your joy, but it seems the Jedi has wandered off."
Everyone leaned in a bit to catch a glimpse of Cenden disappearing behind one of the bookshelves…
They stared in silence with a shrug before Vis suddenly gasped and shot off the floor, sprinting towards where Cenden had turned the corner as she screamed, "SHOOT WHERE'D I LEAVE MY LIGHTSABER!?"
The remaining crew gave each other a look before the realization came over them as well and they all took off in the same direction.
Cenden was walking off in the direction of the trials room.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I ran at full speed, the Force had branched off while I wasn't paying attention. Something was happening, Cenden was going into the tunnels now and there'd be no use trying to stop him. The path was clear and strong.
I reached out my hand along one of the shelves as I ran before I realized that's where I'd left my lightsaber. Gripping the cold metal as it slid into my hand, I could hear the sound of the others not far behind.
I tried to steady my breathing as I ran, fear began to consume me as I sensed futures falling steadily into place. Sensing Cenden in my mind, it felt like the Force had consumed him. He knew that he was walking and, where, and why, but he wanted to go. Whatever was calling him, he was choosing to follow this path.
'I guess that's a good thing?' I told myself as the sound of a crash erupted behind me.
I winced at the shouts of anger that followed.
'Robot. Warrior. Engineer. All just fell. Unlikely that was an accident. And Chol doesn't look particularly fast. Soron's not going to stop, he'll catch up with me in a moment. No hesitation. You can do this.'
I rounded the corner as I watched Cenden cross over into the dark nothingness of the tunnels.
I heard Soron's running steps now close behind mine.
'Here we go.'
"CENDEN WAIT!" Soron yelled.
At the same moment Soron and I jumped in after him as the doors began to slide shut.
I squeezed my eyes shut, I whispered into the darkness, "Please don't leave me."
The doors shut. It was dark and I felt like the tendrils of the paths snapped in the mouth of the sealed door. I was alone.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Cenden blinked in a strange sudden realization of where he was as Soron pulled at his shoulder.
"Cenden, what in the world!?" Soron bellowed in the darkness.
Cenden shook his head, taking a step away from Soron's grip. Fear began to steadily overtake him, his mind, his heart, every part of him, coming to conclusions of where he was and what he'd just done. When he'd been standing there listening to the girl, he could sense the Force was with her words. The more she spoke the more he could feel a thread attached to the words she spoke. It started pulling at him, he knew where he needed to go next, and why he needed to be in here, his feelings clear… But now the thread was faint in the dark, he couldn't quite tell where it branched off to. He remembered the feeling of this sort of place though it had been so very long ago, and now here he was again.
A pit further dropped in his stomach as his surroundings became more apparent. Soron was here.
'A non-force sensitive standing in the middle one of the most dangerous Jedi trials to be faced. If the part of the trial was to show you your greatest fear and use your feel will to overcome this without the Forces help…'
"Soron where's Vis?"
The two went quiet, at the edge of Soron's range of hearing he could just barely hear panicked breaths echoing at the edges of the tunnel.
Cenden's lightsaber half blazed to life, filling the tunnel with a brilliant yellow glow. Soron and Cenden turned towards the sealed door to see Vis, back turned to the two. Her breathing looked unsteady as she was visibly trying to calm herself. The girl's fingers twitched on her hands and her freckles had turned to a purple so dark it was nearly black, but a few spots still buzzed with a bright blue hue.
She turned around slowly to face them.
"S-see?" she stuttered her eyes wide in their sockets, "The three of us are in the tunnels now. Together. Just like the Force said."
The captain and the Jedi looked at each.
"What do we do now?" Soron asked.
Cenden turned towards the tunnels, raising his lightsaber above his head to see further along. The ancient halls were… broken, to say the least. Whatever had caused the collapse of the building hand caused the even further collapse of everything underground it seemed. The cave-like stone walls were buried and smashed by what looked to be walls and floors from the rooms and buildings above, some of the branching hallways looked impossibly sealed off and it was even hard to tell where the original floor was lay the debris. Even the air hung musty and heavy with mildew in the shadows.
"This isn't right." Cenden muttering as he lowered his lightsaber, "This isn't a trial room, these are ruins behind a sealed door," he glanced at Soron, "We need to get out of here."
Cenden turned and walked towards the door that had sealed behind them.
"What are you doing?" Vis' voice on the verge of defiance.
"I'm getting us out of here, I don't know what I was thinking but this is a mistake." Cenden aimed the blade of his lightsaber at the door.
"Hey! Wait!" Soron commanded as Cenden's saber shot at the metal.
SSHHOOOM.
The three lept back in surprise as sparks exploded off the door, the saber bouncing off the metal in a bright flash. The trio was left staring at a large burn mark that had cut across the metal door.
"Whhhhoooaaaa what!?" Vis rushed to the burn mark, observing its smoking figure, "The saber should've slid right through the metal… Whatever the material of this metal is, it must be kyber crystal resistant."
She reached out her hand for a moment before quickly drawing it away from the heat before it made contact, instead suddenly pulling something out of her pocket. The sparking-green glow of her damaged lightsaber suddenly sprang to life as Vis began to take a huge swing at the door.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Nope." Cenden commanded as the switch on Vis' lightsaber suddenly switched off and she nearly tumbled over swinging through empty air, "Not doing zhat."
Vis yelled in protest as Cenden pulled the lightsaber out of her hands.
"I guess that means we'll have to find another way out of here. Let's move." Soron instructed with a wave. Pulling his blaster off his back he turned the light on and started down the tunnels.
Vis looked from Cenden to Soron before shrugging and running after him. Cenden watched the two walk down the tunnel for a moment, glancing back at the burn mark left on the sealed door behind them. Clutching at his lightsaber, he took a breath and started down the only path left. The only path the Force had made for them to follow, stuck without any other option…
'Just love pushing us around down you?' Cenden thought to himself as the clouded feeling of the tunnel began to dampen at reality.
From here, you could hardly trust yourself, let alone two other people. One of those people being heavily armed and virtually no way to disarm him, peacefully that is. And who knew what the girl was capable of.
He caught up to them in a few well placed steps. The sound of water droplets echoed around the caverns, resonating off what looked to be broken casings of the "veins" Vis had caused to glow in the temple above. Working their way down one of the piles of rubble, they came to what seemed to be the first hallway of the trials room, a good 10 feet below where the original hallway had lay. In front of them stood…
"Three doorways." Vis' voice suddenly reverberated down each one.
"Think we're each suppose to go down one? Because this one," Soron shown the light on the third doorway piled under debris, "Looks pretty blocked to me."
"We're not supposed to do anything. We need to get out of here and fast." Cenden argued, walking up to one of the doorways. "We'll just pick one and go."
"Wait. Can you still hear that sound? The singing or whatever?" Vis asked.
"How'd you know it was sing-…?"
"Lucky guess."
Cenden sighed, "It's… coming from the middle door I think."
"You think?"
"I know."
"Perfect! Then we'll go down that one!" Vis started down the hall before Cenden stuck his arm out to block her path.
"The deeper we go into the temple, the more this place is going to mess with our heads. Seeing what happened to the crew in the forest is enough to convince me that whatever happened to Soron and the crew before will probably happen again. And I'm not one for following what the Force tell me to do anymore if I want to live."
Vis blinked a few times, "...Did you ever follow it before?"
"FOR THE LOVE OF-!" Cenden yelled with fury, taking a step towards Vis.
Then, he froze.
They all did.
"...Oh no." Vis whispered.
She could hear it, a whispering of emptiness in her head leaking out of her ears. Cenden felt the panic, the fear pooling slowly into his mind, drip by drip. Soron… Couldn't… Move.
In the fog pouring out of their minds, shapes began to take form. No matter how they blinked or squeezed their eyes shut, the images remained in front of them. Ghosts of the past bounding towards them without a care in the world.
"NO. We are NOT doing zhis now!" Cenden's lightsaber erupted into the darkness.
"rrrrRRRRRHHHHH."
Growling vibrated around the cavern.
Cenden and Soron tried to break from the spell, flashing their lights down the tunnels open. Vis sucked in a scream. Down the middle tunnel, shadows with fangs stood waist high on two legs, in a pack crowded and hungry ready to advance. Their eyes reflected the light off in an eerie red gleam.
"Can I have my lightsaber back now?" Vis spoke.
The creatures howled and began a frenzied run down the tunnel.
"CAN YOU GUYS SEE THESE THINGS TOO!?" Soron yelled above the firing of his blaster.
The creatures made their way out of the tunnel, one leaping without warning at Cenden. His saber burst through the side of it.
"THESE AREN'T THE NIGHTMARES." Cenden tossed the body aside, "These are real."
Through the cloud on his mind, Cenden pulled at the Force. Vis' lightsaber flew from his holster straight at the girl.
A thump was heard in the cacophony of blaster fire, "OW! Sorry, was supposed to catch that right?!"
The green-sparks flew into the fog. Cenden watched in horror as Vis sliced through the air at the creatures as if she was a primitive poking at the danger with a fiery torch. And still out of the corner of every eye, the figures of fear in the fog still stood, waiting to talk. Nightmares observing the massacre.
"How are we supposed to tell what's real and WHAT'S NOT!?" Soron's blaster fired again.
"IF IT'S ATTACKING YOU IT'S PROBABLY REAL!" Vis called from across the cavern with a yelled, "AW MAN. I think I just blinded one of these things! I'm sorry!"
"Don't apologize to it!" Cenden called back as he sliced through two more creatures.
"Sorry!"
"Why are you apologizing to ME now!?"
"Both of you, shut it!" Soron yelled as he shot another of the beasts with his rifle. "We need to move or we'll be overrun!"
Amidst the fight, dust began to tumble splits in the cave walls.
"Well what would you suggest?" Cenden yelled, stabbing another creature before shoving its body back. "We don't exactly have any options!"
No sooner had Cenden spoke than the cave floor began to crack and splinter underneath Vis. Her eyes flew to Cenden as she tensed to jump before the ground gave way.
"VIS!" Soron yelled as he dived to catch her, "NO!"
His hand missed her's by inches and she disappeared into the black abyss.
Cenden pulled at the Force like claws attempting desperately to grip and snag any piece of her he could manage but the fog pushed him away from her.
The ground cracked away even further.
"Soron! Get away from the edge!" Cenden called as more of the floor collapsed, taking some of the creatures with it. Soron began to stand but then fell to one knee, his breathing becoming quick and panicked.
"Not again." He spat, hands gripping his head. "Get out of my head!" He howled.
"Soron, it's just the Force messing with you. You can fight it out." Cenden said.
A snarl caught Cenden off guard, twisting his blade through the air a second before one of the creatures nearly lunged past him as it charged towards the captain. Soron, now barely conscious gripped at his head, his eyes squeezed shut. Cenden threw his saber out, bisecting the creature before turning back to Soron. Cenden knelt by the captain, placing a hand on his back as they both stared at the endless void the young girl had disappeared into.
The cave shook. Cenden looked around them, the cave seemed to only be further destabilizing, even the creatures had fled back to wherever they came from.
They needed to get to cover now. The entrances? The hole in the ground? We don't know if Vis survived the fall let alone each of them…
Soron let out what sounded like a choked cry.
"Hey are you-" His sentence was cut off as Soron swung his arm around, knocking Cenden off his feet and back several feet. "What the-!"
"Get away from me you monster!" Soron howled, eyes filled with fury as he lunged towards the Jedi, claws extended.
Cenden quickly ducked beneath the wild swipe before pushing the Shistavanen away. Soron tumbled through the first doorway, out of sight of the Jedi.
The Jedi nearly fell to the ground as the ground beneath him convulsed. Boulders about the first doorway tumbled as Cenden threw himself backwards only to see above the gap in the floor, the rubble making up the ceiling had began their decent as well. He rolled. The ceiling crashed.
"Sithspit!" Cenden cursed before coughing violently to clear the dust from his lungs.
Cenden stood cautiously from the ground as the vapor of the debris cleared. To his left, the first doorway was completely blocked under the piles of rock that had previously been so carefully stacked into the wall of the tunnels. To his right, dunes of dirt and remains of rock had buried the third doorway even further AND the gap in existence the girl had fallen into. Behind him, he might be able to climb the piles that had stacked up around him and maybe attempt to pry the seal door open again… but in front of him lay perfectly clear the middle doorway. Through which, Cenden could still hear the slight sound of singing, high and quiet in the white noises that were quickly filling his eardrums.
He felt the pull of the Force in his chest.
Of course, it would make him make the choice.
Choices, choices, choices. Pathways. Futures.
His breathing became violent and heavy, his fist clenched tightly at his side.
"SITHPIT! SPIT! SPIT! AAHHH!" Cenden bellowed into the echoes of the tunnel, "YOU JUST LOVE TELLING ME VHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO DO DON'T YOU!? GO HERE! GO ZHERE! WELL GUESS WHAT!? I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE BECAUSE YOU LEAD US TO DEATH! WE FOLLOWED THE FORCE AND THE FUTURES AND VE'RE DEAD. ZHAT GIRL THAT SEEMED TO WORSHIP THE FORCE, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE SEEMED TO, IS PROBABLY DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU. AND ZHE CAPTAIN, WHO BELIEVED IN THE FORCE MORE THAT ANY NON-FORCE WIELDER I'VE EVER SEEN IS CRAZY! YOU SENTENCED US TO DEATH…!" His voice choked up, tears streaming down his face, "You sentenced us to death… All of us. They were all slaughtered by the hundreds… Why?"
The ringing in his ears drown out the world around him. In the blur of his tears, a shape formed in the darkness of the tunnel. A hooded figure in temple guardian attire stood before the Jedi. Cenden sucked in a breath.
"The Force didn't sentence us to death…"
"No…" Cenden took a step back.
The figure looked up from beneath the hood.
"We did that ourselves." The memory of a man reached out his dark hand towards Cenden, "I'm sorry, but there's something you need to finish."
"No… It's not real. It's not real."
The man laughed, sadness of the edge of his voice, "No old friend… Cenden? Is that what you're calling yourself now? Sadly, this is as real as it gets. But the Force didn't sentence us to death. Please there's something you need to see again, and something new."
"You're sick! Bringing him back like this! How could I follow this path any further? Look where it's lead us, and to think I almost trusted it again. Leave me alone!" Cenden scoffed, turning towards the piles of ruin behind him to begin his struggle up the dirt.
"The Force didn't bring you down here for no reason Cenden. Come see where this path ends, perhaps finishing it will bring peace."
Cenden froze in his climb.
He couldn't leave those two down here, if Vis wasn't dead and Soron not… Whatever he is at the moment, then maybe there was a chance to save him. But to think of himself as a puppet to the Force any longer…
"You're not a puppet Cenden, we are all made with choices to make."
He yelled and pounded the dirt, sending up a cloud of dust around him before and turned and slid back down the pile, trudging towards the doorway to the figure standing before it.
"Choices as long as they're the ones you want, right?" Cenden retorted before footsteps followed the ghost.
OOOOOOOOOOO
I felt as if I was falling for two years.
A tumble and jumble of limbs flapping endlessly through the air along with the rocks and dirt cascading down with me.
I hit the ground.
"OOF…! Huuuurrhhh…"
My body crumpled in on itself and every bone threatened to snap under the strain of my propelled force. But more importantly at the moment, I couldn't breathe. The air got squeezed right out of me on impact.
My body tried to squirm around to figure out where all the air went but every part of me refused to move, I could only manage to twitch. At the same time I couldn't see anything in the darkness around me, but somehow even the pitch blackness looked to be swirling in a vortex.
I suddenly gasped for air as it felt like my head was splitting in half while I rolled over onto my back.
A sense in my legs suddenly came rushing through me.
'Move.' Some force whispered… Some force?
'My guide!?' I thought suddenly before the space around me shook and above, it looked like a storm of rocks and clouds was forming through the hole in the sky. 'Uh oh!'
I pushed myself into a roll as piles of debris from the room above came careening in waterfalls into the space I had just been laying. Coughing the dust out of my mouth, I realized two things right away. One, if there had been any lick of light in here it was now twice as dark as it had been a moment ago, so I must've fallen through the floor… and now the hole I fell through was covered in landslide. Two, how had the place I had lived in for so long be so dangerous all the sudden. And three, I sensed my guide's presence again! ...Oh wait, that's three things… My head hurts.
I tried to roll over and stand up, but my ankle screamed in protest. I guess it didn't matter if I could stand up anyhow. As I had searched my body over with my mind, that the one moment I had been able to sense the Force before the debris fell was all they were going to give me. I was alone.
'I can't do this. I'm nothing without the Force, I'm nothing without them to tell me what to do.'
"M-my guide? Please… Help me…"
No sooner had the words whispered passed my lips, did the darkness begin to come to life.
I shut my eyes and plugged my ears, 'The trial… I'm not ready. I can't do this without you. Not alone…'
"You're not alone my darling."
I gasped, my eyes fluttered open and a cry flew from my mouth.
"Mommy...?"
There she stood, a shape in the darkness, but it was her. I jumped up from the ground and ran to her. My ankle suddenly tore but before I hit the ground, warm arms were around me holding me from the fall. I looked up to see her face just barely visible in the dark.
My breathing became labored, tears fell from my eyes in droves. I wanted it to be real. I wanted her to be there. But somehow I could smell the scent of blood and smoke still emanating off of her; I didn't care, I pulled myself into the body closer and closer, wracked with sobs.
"Mom… I'm suppose to be strong for you. I'm suppose to be strong with the Force… But I can't. I'm afraid. I'm nothing without the Force, I can't do anything without them. Please, stay with me. I don't want to be alone."
"Vis… You're not alone."
I choked on a laugh, "You already said that mom."
This time, she laughed.
"Because you didn't hear me the first time. You're not alone now and you never will be."
"But… But you're not really here. Without my guide to tell me where to go… I'm really alone. I thought I didn't need anyone or anything as long as I had the Force to guide me. I don't need friends or family or anyone besides them… but I was wrong. I'm wrong. I still- I still need you. I want you to be here with me… I need you to hold me and tell it's gonna be ok even if I know it won't. I'm stuck down here and I failed the test. I'm going to d-die down here, and I never realized I wanted someone around to be here with me for that. Mommy… I still need you. Please." I whispered the words softly in her embrace, like a secret between confidants.
This time I heard her take a sob of a breath. I looked up in surprise. The apparition of her shaking and tears streaming down her face.
"I want to be there with you too. I want to hold you and kiss you on the nose, and listen to your laughter and see you grow… I want to be there for you too…" She took a shaky breath as she combed her fingers through my hair, "But you're not alone. Your guide will never leave you; I haven't left you Vis. But this was something you had to see. You're not alone, and through the Force energy is neither created or destroyed, only transformed. You have a new family now. They will not replace the ones you had and loved, they in no way can parallel them, but they can be there for you, to help to figure out how to do things on your own, to fight for the Force and for yourself. They have sorrows and secrets of their own, and I know you can teach them what they need to know, about the Force, about me. The path is clear… Go, now. Follow the paths. There's a future to be set into place, the adventure you've been waiting for…"
"Wait! Don't go!"
"I'm not going anywhere Vis, but you are. Now, go, if you choose."
With that, she vanished and the cold floor was all that was left beneath me.
Suddenly, I felt energy rush back through me. I gasped as if the breath of life had left and returned to my body. I also felt the strings of futures, old and new weave their web back through and around my mind. But I was still crying.
Trying to calm myself I sniffled as I stood before I heard a voice not far off echoed softly throughout the dark.
"Vis."
I looked up to see a man with a crop of blonde hair standing in the dark.
Cenden.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Soron found himself no longer in the dank cave of the ancient temple. He saw the forests ringing around him; needle-like spires of stone rising even taller than the flora. His nose smelled the familiar scent of clean air, woodland, and...blood.
His eyes snapped up at the Shistavanen before him, and to the gaping wound dripping from the man's chest.
"No." He gasped, taking a step back. "Not again."
"You did this to yourself Soron." The older Shistavanen said. "You did this to them as well." He gestured to two nearby bodies.
Bodies lay strewn across the forest floor. The bodies of Soron's friends.
"You…" Soron began, fighting back hot tears. "YOU MONSTER!" He howled as he ran towards him, claws ready.
His opponent merely sidestepped and kicked Soron in the stomach, sending him tumbling forward. Soron only snarled and rushed at him again. His opponent once more sidestepped his wild charge and brought his own claws on Soron's back, cutting deep into his shoulder and back.
"You can't beat me, you know that." The older combatant mocked as he looked down on his adversary.
Soron spat on the ground, crouching low once again. "I don't care."
Cenden part:
Cenden saw four figures emerge from the darkness. Small, hooded figures clad in coarse brown robes. Cenden shook his head in confusion. The figures flipped their hoods back in unison, revealing childlike faces.
The faces of younglings.
Cenden felt a momentary feeling of relief surge through him at the comforting sight. A moment later four blue blaster bolts exploded from the darkness, tearing a hole through their chests, each crumbling to the ground.
"NOOOO!" Cenden screamed in anguish.
However, the four younglings rose to their feet, eyes glazed over yet filled with anger.
"You let us die." The rightmost youngling, a Twi'lek, said with an echoing voice.
"You let us die. You let us die." The rest continued to chant, eyes boring holes into Cenden's soul.
He turned to run, but found himself rooted in place. His finger instinctively activated his lightsaber, causing the ghostly younglings to reel back in horror. They receded into the darkness as another group took their place. This time it was several colonists, clad in only dirty rags. Behind them emerged stormtroopers, forcing them to their knees and aiming their blaster rifles at their backs.
"Please," a human woman begged, tears cascading down her face. "Save us."
Cenden strained with everything he had against the invisible bonds, but couldn't move. Their cries tore through the air as the red bolts tore through them. Yet like the younglings before, they rose to their feet, wounds still sizzling and stormtroopers now gone.
"You let us die!" The woman shrieked, now a banshee leading the cries of the dead. "You let us die! You let us die!"
"I'm sorry." Cenden broke down, body slumped and tears welling in his eyes. "I-I was"
"A coward." A booming voice called. "Couldn't you have saved them? Couldn't you have done more? Couldn't you have just died instead?"
Soon Cenden heard his own voice uttering the same words.
"The risks you took. The lives that were lost. And for what!?" Cenden saw himself standing in front of his own eyes, "For this husk that roams the galaxy before you now? What will you do now? Gain riches for yourself? Gain riches for others? For what purpose did you live? What use have you done with the efforts of the lost souls you've gathered in your heart?"
Cenden cried out as he fell to the ground, the beating of many hearts pressing up against his own.
"19 souls and that makes you 20. They made their choices. What choice do you have?" He heard himself say the last part loud and clear.
He took a breath and stood to face himself. He stared into the cold eyes of the man before him and saw the reflection of a much younger self in the glass, clad in guardian's robes.
"I was not a coward." The lips of the reflection moved along with his words, "There was nothing more that could've been done besides my own death, and what would that have solved now? They made their choice. Now I make mine."
In the reflection, Cenden threw off the old personality, bits of the fabric still clung to his own skin, but before him now stood the perfect mirror image of his own self. His new self. The eyes were still clouded, but no longer in them did he see a young temple guard, he saw Cenden Sondron.
The fog parted.
Cenden fell to his knees while the visions about him faded away. As he stared at the ground, a foot suddenly came into view. He looked up to see the smiling face of his old friend.
"It really was good to see you again." Cenden smiled.
The figure turned with a nod and strolled further into the darkness, "I'm sure we'll meet again soon with the path I'm taking you on, but for now you have much to learn."
With that the figure faded quickly into the distance before it vanished, and a smaller figure stood in his place.
Cenden breathed a sigh of relief.
"Vis."
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Soron stumbled back, panting as he inspected his wounds. His energy was nearly gone, and his wounds were plentiful, his opponent in a similar shape. All the while his head felt like it was going to split apart. He couldn't let the pain distract him, he had to win, he had to avenge them. It couldn't end like this, not again. Not ever again.
"This can't go on forever." The older Shistavanen taunted.
Soron's ear twitched. He had a plan this time. "Only one of us walks away from this." Soron looked up, lips peeling back from his fangs. "And I'll go down fighting." He said as he made yet another seemingly blind charge.
His opponent smirked as he prepared the same maneuver as before. But this time, Soron turned on a dime, claws smashing into his opponent's stomach as the other's blow sailed above his head. He fell to the ground, but Soron was quickly on top of him, pinning his opponent's arms under his legs as his hands gripped around his head.
"Please don't do this Soron! I was only doing-" He began to plead.
"I don't care. Your words are meaningless." Soron snarled as he began to pull.
"Please! I-" The voice was cut short as Soron twisted, a crack reverberating through the small canyon.
Soron panted as he stumbled away from the body before he fell to the ground, clutching at his head. It was too much.
He curled up into a ball on the soft forest floor, needles from the trees poking at his ears and arms. It felt almost comforting to feel those sharp objects driving into his body, like a distraction from the needles in his mind.
'If I am to die. At least I will have avenged them. At least I killed him.'
"Yes, yes. Good job you killed me. Again."
Soron let out a frantic yell as he tried to raise his head from the ground. It couldn't be. It's impossible.
"Oh but it's quite possible as most things are." His father came walking into view above him. His head lolling a bit to the side, but his face in a state of obviously disinterest.
Soron's hands pushed harder against his temples as he screamed.
"Please stop that. You're the only one making him look like this. You're the only one creating this memory. I could've tried to meeting with you anywhere, but it's easier for ones like you to be in the memory that most frequently defines one's on character. And even then…"
The pain escalated in his head like a bottle ready to pop.
"Who… Are… You…!?" Soron yelled as he spat out as many words as he could muster.
"Why is that always the first question people ask? I guess I have the answer, but questions are so much more useful. And you, my friend have a lot of questions, so let me raise a few more. Did you really not notice that the scenario that just played out already happened? Did you not notice that you thought the same thoughts as before? Did you not notice that killing your father helped nothing but yourself? Your friends are still dead, and the death of one more changed nothing. Soron… You want answers, but you have to be willing to change some things in here, you have to be able to see things from a larger perspective than this."
The ground fell away, he howled in agony as his whole homeworld came into view. Space engulfed his vision and his body dangled in the open air, he felt like he was being lifted by the threads of his brain.
"I need people to help me, it's been so long since I've had proper help. Someone who'll listen and follow my instruction. That'll question me and not take advantage of the gifts I give. I'm done for now with those who are sensitive, I want those who'll listen. Now listen. I have a plan for all of you, a destiny if you want it." His father's face began to melt away, Soron couldn't see them anymore, it was like talking to an invisible star, energy pulsating from all around.
He screamed and tried to pull away, he struggled for only a moment more before he took a breath, and clenched his teeth and watched.
The planet that had been near him morphed and changed until it appeared to be a mind filled with an ocean. He looked off now into the ever expanding space, and saw more of them appearing. Some red with desert, some green with earth, some blue with rain, some yellow with sun. The minds all connected. All of them perfectly linked. 66 of them.
He screamed as his mind felt like it burst and everything went dark.
OOOOOOOOO
"CENDEN!"
I have no idea how or why I could see him so clearly in the dark, but I didn't care. My legs acted on their own, speeding across the surprisingly even floor faster than a rogue speeder bike. Tears streamed down my face as I saw him turn and start running towards me as well.
My one foot suddenly stopped moving.
"AHH!"
I screamed as I flew forward barely catching myself as I hit the floor.
I stumbled up swiveling about to see what stumbled into me before I bumped into something else from behind.
I jumped. Turning, I could see Cenden's face in the dark, plain as day.
"Cenden!" I yelled in joy as i jumped into a hug.
I don't think I remembered the last time I hugged a person that wasn't a really saddening Force illusion. Might as well be a potential Jedi Master. He coughed and patted me on the back a bit before wiggling his arms in a signal to shake me off.
I released the prisoner, smiling up at him and his angry face. Strangely enough, he looked different. I hadn't known him for very long, but the lines on his face looked a lot less creased and a lot more… Calm? I guess that would have to be the word.
"Glad to see you're ok." He observed.
"Well I mean physically I sorta hurt everywhere, and emotionally I ALSO hurt everywhere. BUT I'm not dead and that's great! Where's Soron?" As the words passed my lips, a stomach chilling thought occurred as I turned around towards the lump on the ground.
Cenden watched as I reached out into the dark, blindly feeling for where the lump had been. As I did so, I could feel something building in my mind like…
My fingers met the squish of cloth and flesh.
I screamed as everything came rushing in.
The floor, the ceiling, the life, all of it connected and breathing and swarming and and…
I took a breath as I felt the pull and push I the Force's warm smile in my mind, swimming about, looking through my head, like a bug returning to its hive.
"I missed you so much. Don't you ever leave me again." I whispered to myself as I felt the life force of Cenden and Soron connect with my own through my guide.
My mind flashed back to my mother sitting in the darkness of the cave… I guess the Force hadn't left me, had it?
Cenden walked over the kneeled next to me in the dark. I noticed his face was no longer illuminated by whatever had been making it glow.
"Oh my god, Soron." I could hear Cenden mumbling in concern as he flipped the captain over from his crumbled position on the ground.
"He's alive. But he had a lot of energy build up inside of him… He still does actually."
"I warned knows what it did to him."
I looked at Cenden.
"Let's find out?"
I placed a hand in front of his face. I let the tendrils and threads of energy flowing off his mind begin to interweave into my own. I pulled. And pushed. And pulled!
...Nothing.
"Vhat are you doing?" Cenden exasperated.
"I'm um, trying to read his mind or something? Or at least try and move some of the energy along." I sighed as the connection sagged.
"Well, zhat's not how you would try and do either of zhose things." He now placed his hand in front of Soron's face.
"Don't you have to ask Soron to read his mind first?" I questioned as I scooted closer.
He was quiet for a moment, "Thoughts are easier to hear when people are asleep, but a lot more jumbled."
I felt the Force draw in around him. I sort of tried to "keep tuned" to feel what he was feeling. I could feel the Force surround the thoughts in Soron's dormant mind as well as Cenden's own. He seemed to be, rather than pulling and pushing like most things felt, almost unwinding his mind. Or perhap drilling deeper. Then he simply waved the connection away and felt for what was underneath, it was simultaneously terrifying and beautiful. But something felt, wrong.
The thoughts came rushing out.
A geyser and we were caught in the blast.
I screamed as images and thoughts burst into my brain. Pains, scents, sounds, but most importantly, the darkness above us opened up into space itself.
I looked over at Cenden only to catch a glimpse of my mother, a dark-skinned human, and a grizzled old Shivasten standing in front of Soron's still unmoving body.
'I'm having a vision… My guide. This is a vision.'
The figures stepped closer together as the slowly faded into a light of seven different colors… Why did I know that?
The light all shown in every direction it could, mingling with the light of the stars above. They we saw it. Planets fluttering about through space like petals off a tree.. Or sparks off of a fire. I could see four great fires igniting from two eclipses, one from a moon one from a planet, but with two eclipses comes two suns. Twin suns. Twin lights. Twin voids. And two shadows. All of these still clung to a tree, whose branches were alight but nothing burned, Only its petals that departed burned for a short while before scattering to stars. The tree's roots stretched so deep that no rain water could penetrate it, only water from the deepest and longest river. And finally, I realized I'd stood and walked forward. I walked steadily among the tree's branches, yes, this was where I needed to be. Where I wanted to be. The glowing veins of the tree all so perfectly interconnected and wove in such a way that made perfect sense in that it made no sense at all. Always with second meaning, always with more to be discovered. And more to be understood. A star unfurled from a constellation. I held it in my hands for a moment before the light filled my eyes.
I walked with Cenden and Soron for a while in the light, my guide swirling in waves about us in the most serene silence.
Then there were other colors, and sounds. So many sounds.
I felt something touch me, but it felt like a shock of lightning. Blinking the blurry form of a Mandalorian came into view.
Looking back, I saw Cenden and Soron laying near the entrance of the trials room, the door still open. I also looked down to be a polished white orb shimmering in my hands.
Lerti was saying something, and Nek was reaching for something, but I was too tired. So I nodded, hoping that would look like I knew what they said as I slowly descended to the ground, curling up with the circle close to face.
Then I closed my eyes to sleep.