Chapter 18: Lava, Haze, and Hollows
The Rogue Shadow was about thirty minutes away from Ilum. It was just a matter of getting everyone's supplies together at this point.
Ryder had on gray ninja pants with tape wrapped around his ankles up to his shins. He had on a dark gray long-sleeve shirt with light gray gauntlets around his fore arms. Around his chest, Ryder had a light gray flak jacket to match the gauntlets. Around his waist was the handy utility belt.
Ryder had packed food and nutrient pills into his utility belt. Clipped to the right side of his belt was his training lightsaber. He had some extra nutrient supplements just in case something happened to one of the other's supplies. Nothing else was required since the Rogue Shadow would be close by at every moment until they would go down beneath the ground. Ryder grabbed his empty back pack and walked into the main hold.
Ryder gathered the crew to have their last meeting before land on the ice planet's surface.
Everyone, but Nero who was piloting the ship, was accounted for around the table, so Ryder opened up and said, "Okay, first things first: the people who will be going down to surface with me and Ben. Murdoch, Luca, and Liz to come with us. Everyone else will be in the Rogue Shadow. I want Nero to be the pilot while I'm gone. Weston, you'll be in charge of the guns onboard, and Katie, you'll need to be on here just in case something goes wrong with the ship."
Ryder stopped and pointed at Nero. "You're going to be the captain while I'm gone, so everyone make sure to listen to Nero when he gives out orders. And please make sure I come back to this ship with it in one piece."
"What?!" said Katie in pure shock. "You're gonna put Nero in charge? He's liable to somehow blow up the ship with one string!" Her jaw dropped so far that it was about to hit the ground.
"Yes, Katie. He is my right hand and he has a lot of experience with flying," said Ryder.
Katie didn't argue anymore. She just folded her arms and pouted.
"So, back to the mission. Me, Ben, Liz, Luca, and Murdoch are going to go down on the surface and look for the right tunnel to take while everyone else stays on board and watches out for hostiles and maps out the planet. The whole trip down there shouldn't take more than ten hours at the most."
"We're coming into the atmosphere right now, captain," said Nero from the cockpit.
"Okay. Ben, Murdoch, Luca, and Liz, make sure you have everything that you'll need down there. I want us to be off the ship and gone within five minutes of landing," explained Ryder.
"Sounds good, boss. Everyone here has their supplies packed and ready to go," said Liz back to Ryder. She picked up her backpack and stood awaiting orders with the others.
"Good," replied Ryder . He turned to Ben and said, "Follow me real quick."
Ben nodded as he followed his master out of the room. First, they left the main and walked down a hallway that was on the opposite as the hallway that led to the bedrooms. They turned right and continued to the back of the ship. Within a few yards, the two turned left into the engine room. To the back left of the engine room was another door; it led to the tech room.
The tech room had the sensory and cloaking systems. It had more detailed maps, and screens that showed the condition of every part of the ship and engine.
Ryder stood next to a table that had scraps of metal laying across it.
"Ben," said Ryder. "When we find our crystals, we're going to construct our lightsabers down there. Just in case we run into trouble on the way out."
He looked at the scrap metal on the table. "We need to collect some parts for our lightsaber as well. So," Ryder said grabbing a box that looked like a military ammunition box. "We are going to put the parts in this box and take them with us."
Ryder gave the now opened box to Ben. He then reached down and picked up a small piece that looked like a knob. "This is the power cell of the lightsaber. We'll need two of these."
He gave them to Ben, who put them in the box. Ryder passed him all the components needed to assemble a lightsaber along with some scrap metal in case they wanted to add anything.
"Alright, here's a fusing pen for welding pieces together." Ryder handed Ben a metal stick about a foot long. One end had three prongs that came together at the tips. Extending to those tips was a small rod that was used to deliver an electrical current that was used to weld.
"That's it," Ryder said to Ben who closed the box. "Put it in the backpack. You're in charge of it, so make sure nothing happens to that backpack."
Ben put the box in the backpack then strapped it around his shoulder. "Good to go," he said.
"Okay, let's head back to the others. Are you excited," Ryder asked as he led Ben back to the main hold.
"Oh yeah! I didn't think that I'd be able to build a lightsaber this quick," Ben said.
"Yeah, it's pretty exciting. What color do you think your blade will be," asked Ryder?
"I hope green. That's my favorite color, and it's the same as Master Yoda's lightsaber. What about you?"
"That would be really cool. I'm not too sure. Maybe, blue? I'd actually like a color that's rare to come by," explained Ryder as the two reached the main hold.
"We're descending, Ryder," said Nero from the cockpit.
The Rogue Shadow began to descend to the ground as the group gathered their bags and headed to the landing platform. A green light flashed above the door right before it opened, and a walkway extended to the ground.
Ryder grabbed his dark gray parka that had white fur around the hood. The squad followed him down the ramp and onto the frozen ground.
The ground was covered in snow and ice due to the natural low temperature of the planet. Mountain ranges and valleys surrounded them in every direction. The air bit as each breeze whistled by them
"I hope everyone brought enough warm clothes because it is freezing right now," complained Murdoch.
"Stop gripping, soul freak," Liz said as she snapped back at him.
"How about you come at me, four eyes!" rebutted Murdoch as Liz pushed up her glasses and got ready to hit him.
"Can you two cut it out just for a few minutes?" yelled Ryder at the two that were arguing. A few veins were popping out of his neck, so the others knew he was being serious.
"Okay, we're done. Go ahead with whatever you were doing," said Murdoch gruffly.
Ryder looked back at the top of the ramp where everyone else was ready to say bye to them. In the front was Nero. He was standing there leaning against the side of the ship with his arms supporting him.
"Don't get too reckless out there," he yelled out. "I know how you can get sometimes."
Ryder grinned softly and said, "I'll do my best. See y'all soon. Make sure you wait for my signal before coming back down." Ryder turned around and began walking away from the ship.
A voice came from behind him, and it yelled out, "Be careful out there!"
Ryder turned around to see that it was Katie who had just yelled that. He lowered his head a little and smiled. He threw up his hand and waved goodbye as he turned back around and went the opposite direction of the ship.
Ben, Murdoch, Luca, and Liz followed closely behind Ryder as they began their journey into the frozen tundra of Ilum. On their left and right were caves on the outer parts of a mountain that looked like black holes that led to nothing. There was a constant wind on Ilum. A freezing chill that's cold enough to freeze living creatures in the matter of hours.
After walking for about thirty minutes, Ryder spoke up and said, "Okay, we're gonna take a break. Ben and I need to meditate for a few minutes to see where the cave we want to go in is located."
Murdoch released a big sigh of relief as he threw his bag on the ground and sat up against it. "Let's not stay out here for too long, Ryder. I don't feel like freezing to death today."
Ryder didn't respond. He was already sitting down with his eyes closed, listening to his surroundings. Liz was the one that chimed in and said, "Do you think that there are any animals here we need to worry about?"
Ryder closed off the noise of Murdoch and Liz talking, and instead, he focused on the Force.
It's pulled on him, and he felt how Ben was reacting to the pull of all the kyber crystals on this planet. They were calling out to the two of them in hopes that they would soon have a master to serve.
After listening to the sound of the crystals buzzing for about thirty minutes, Ryder found a faint hum that was masked behind the louder ones. The soft hum gradually became more distinct his head, and he couldn't shake it away. Ryder focused on the sound and tried to find its source. It wasn't that far away. Matter of fact, it sounded like it was only a few hundred yards away and on the right.
Ryder opened his eyes and turned towards Ben. His eyes were already open as well, and they were looking in the same direction that Ryder had heard the humming sound.
"Okay, time to get going again," he said as he stood up and put his backpack over his shoulder.
"The place that we are going to is around three thousand yards away and on the right," Ryder told the squad.
The grouped walked for about an hour in the direction of which Ryder was leading. Everyone once in a while, one of them would stop to warm themselves by rubbing their arms or other parts of the body. They would then run back up to the rest of the group that did not stop.
About a hundred yards away was an isolated cave at the base of a mountain. "I was feeling the greatest pull from the Force at that spot. What do you think, Ben?" He pointed to the dark cave.
"I agree. That's where I feel a pull too," he responded. Ben was eager to start searching the cave for his kyber crystal so that he can finally build his own lightsaber. He's wanted to since the day he first saw them on the Slipknot during his first training.
"Alright, I guess we're going into that cave," said Murdoch beginning to walk to the cave. "So, what can we expect in there, Ryder?"
"I'm not really sure. Just be prepared for anything," he replied.
As the group started to walk to the cave, Ryder kept listening to his surrounding with the Force. Not that far away, he could hear the rush of oil running. With that sound was the noise of mechanics moving. Finally, Ryder heard a familiar sound.
*beep zip bop*
Ryder turned to left and saw a familiar white and red astromech droid. He let out a sigh and told the group, "Hold up. We've got company."
Murdoch quickly turned with his Zanpakuto in hand. "Why the hell is R2 here," he asked as he recognized the false threat.
"I have no idea," said Ryder taking out his communicator.
"Hey, Nero," he said into the link.
A few seconds passed before a voice returned. "What is it, boss?"
"Is there a crew member missing?"
The link went silent again.
"Yes. R2 has been missing since your group departed," replied Nero.
"Yeah, we noticed. He just rolled up on us."
"Sorry about that, Ryder. We were currently searching for him. We didn't want to bother the mission. We're on our way to location to pick him up."
"Don't worry about it. I don't think he'll be any trouble. His fusion welder will come in handy if our fusion pen doesn't do well. Just try not to lose anyone else," Ryder finished with a laugh.
"No need to worry. Won't happen again," said Nero.
Ryder put the communicator back in his utility belt.
"Okay. Let's head into the cave," said Ryder turning to the mouth of the dark cave. It looked like the darkness wouldn't end, but Ryder kept walking deeper and deeper into it.
Luckily, R2 had a flashlight that illuminated the tunnel for them. About two minutes into the tunnel. Torches began to appear on the walls.
As if someone magically flipped a light switch, all the torches were lit. They showed detailed illustrations and designs. Ryder walked over to a picture covered in dust. He brushed the dust off and noticed a familiar purple triangle with a silver "X" in the middle.
It looked like the same holocron that Darth Bane talked about in his own holocron. Ryder continued down into the cave. About two-hundred yards into the cave, it split into three tunnels.
All three of the tunnel openings had an inscription above their entrance. Ryder began to read them from left to right.
"When red turns to black, you can't go back."Ryder looked at the middle door.
"When the light glows purple, beware of the reversal."Ryder moved to the final tunnel entrance and held a torch in front of the final inscription.
"They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals,"Ryder read.
Murdoch immediately spoke up and said, "Well I say we don't choose the tunnel on the right."
*Beep loop boop*
"What was that, trash can?" replied Murdoch.
"He said that you're a wuss and for me to trust the Force," responded Ryder.
Ryder extended his hand and reached out with the Force. He pointed his palm to the first tunnel. He listened.
A whisper came from the first cave. It said, "No, you have never faced my kind before…" It paused for a few seconds and then started again, "Fear. Fear attracts the fearful… the strong… the weak… the innocent… the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally."
Ryder turned and focused on the middle tunnel, extending his hand over that one now. Another whisper came from this tunnel. "I will make you ash. You will fly into the sun."
'That one was strange,' Ryder thought. 'Well, time for the last one.'
He outstretched his hand over the last tunnel and focused on the words above the entrance. He heard a dominant voice come deep from inside.
"The weak will always be victims. That is the way of the universe. The strong take what they want, and the weak suffer at their hands. That is their fate; it is inevitable. Only the strong survive, because only the strong deserve to." This voice sent a chill down his spine.
"We're splitting up. In order to make it to the crystal, all three tunnels must be passed through," explained Ryder.
"We can't just go through one and then come back," complained Luca.
"No," replied Ryder. "This is the only way."
Ryder turned to the group and said, "We'll need to split up into groups."
"Wait a minute," said Liz. "I actually agree with Murdoch. I think you're jumping to this conclusion too quickly."
"Look, I know you don't like this decision, but I didn't pick you all to come on this mission without a reason. All of you are very strong with your power, and I know that you can defeat whatever trial that you will face. Especially since all of you will be partnered with someone," said Ryder firmly.
"You said that all of us will be partnered with someone," said Murdoch. "There are five of us. That means you won't have a partner, right?"
"Yes," responded Ryder. He unclipped his training lightsaber. Using the Force, Ryder adjusted a knob on the inside that increased the intensity of the blade to the point where it could be used as a normal lightsaber. He clipped his lightsaber back to his belt.
"I just turned a switch in my training lightsaber that makes it act as an actual lightsaber. I read about it in a book in the archive. I am going to do the same thing to Ben's." Ben gave Ryder his training lightsaber, and Ryder flipped the switch in his too.
"Only those who are strong enough in the Force can do this," he explained. "I will be paired with R2." Ryder gave Ben's lightsaber back to him.
"Trust me. We will be fine."
"I believe you," responded Murdoch. "So, what are the groups?"
Ryder looked to Liz. "Liz, you'll be paired with Murdoch." He turned to Luca.
"Luca, you'll be paired with Ben."
Turning to the tunnels, Ryder then said, "R2 and I will take the last tunnel. Murdoch and Liz, take the middle tunnel. Luca and Ben, take the left tunnel. When I listened to them through the Force, the left one talked about fear, and the middle one talked about flying into the sun." He turned back to his crew
"Keep that in mind. I think the left tunnel will make you conquer a fear. And I think the middle tunnel will have to do with some intense heat," explained Ryder.
"What did the one on the right mention," asked Ben?
"That's not important. It will only make you worry instead of focusing on your own trial," said Ryder. "We've stayed here long enough; let's get going."
"Be careful everyone," said Liz to the rest.
"See y'all on the other side," said Luca
The three groups then disappeared into their own tunnels.
With R2 by his side holding a flash light, Ryder walked into the middle tunnel and immediately felt an eerie presence.
Ryder continued walking for what seemed like twenty minutes.
The temperature in the cave somehow kept rising as they continued down the tunnel until they came upon a small room. Out of nowhere a voice sounded.
It said, "Have you seen blood in the moonlight? It appears quite black."
Ryder looked around the tunnel. 'What the hell was that,' he thought?
A torch lit the end of the tunnel as a silhouette crossed the back wall. It was tall and had long arms that nearly stretched to the floor.
Ryder paused for a second. Then he slowly walked towards the figure.
The voice spoke out again and said, "It is his genius to dawn the mask, now in Hell, speaks in strained hisses and coughing as though he is hanging still... Scio absconditis tuis. Fatum est mors tua."
Ryder paused and his eyes widened until it seemed like he had seen a ghost. He took the hilt of his lightsaber and ignited his training blade. "Stay back, R2."
Ryder slowly walked up the shadow, and as he got about ten feet away, a torch lit up right in front of the shadow. The silhouette was shown as a large black humanoid creature that had a skull around its head.
"Its a hollow," said to himself.
Ryder spread his legs and held his lightsaber out front with both hands.
The hollow began laughing histerically as it bent over putting its hands on its knees. It slowly stood back up and said, "Corvo, vieni a morire."
Ryder's veins pulsed from his neck as he jumped towards the hollow. He slashed down on the hollow and landed trying to kick its legs out from beneath him. The hollow jumped into the air effectively dodging the attack. While in the air, the hollow threw its arms down towards Ryder, so he brought up his lightsaber to block it.
Coating his arms with Reiatsu, the lightsaber did not cut through it. Instead, Ryder was hit back into the wall. He wasn't prepared for the hollow's strength.
'Okay, its decently fast a pretty strong,' Ryder though. 'Let's try this.'
Ryder widened his stance and waited for the hollow to rush him. The hollow reared back, then launched itself towards Ryder at a high speed.
Smoothly, Ryder pivoted to the left and moved out of the way of the hollow. The hollow landed on the wall creating a small crater. It then launched itself at Ryder who was about fifteen yards away.
Prepared, Ryder held up his hand, and the hollow crashed into what seemed like to be an invisible forcefield. Ryder smiled.
He thrusted his arm forward and threw the hollow into the wall. This attack did not do much damage to it. The hollow got back up and roared.
Ryder threw his lightsaber at the hollow then ran straight for it. The hollow side stepped the lightsaber and armored it arms with Reiatsu again.
Using the Force, Ryder brought the lightsaber back to his hands and jumped at the hollow swinging the lightsaber down at it.
Predictably, the hollow crossed its forearms and blocked the attack. Ryder landed on the ground and began to slash and stab at the hollow. As if the hollow's arms were swords, it blocked Ryder's attack and even counter attacked a few times ripping Ryder's purka in the process.
After of few moments of this, mid combo, Ryder coated his lightsaber with Force lightning then spun and slashed right through on the hollow's arms.
In pain and off balance, the hollow stumbled backwards. Ryder took this opportunity to use a large and more powerful Force push to send the hollow into the wall behind it.
Upon the hollow making contact with the wall, rocks and dust flew everywhere as a larger crater was left behind the hollow.
Ryder walked up to the hollow. It didn't move. It was dead. The only sound came from Ryder's breathing and the crackles of his lightsaber. He brought his yellow blade above his head then swung it down towards the hollow's skull. Right when the lightsaber was about to touch the skull, the hollow opened and flexed its eyes and sent a forceful shockwave of spiritual energy at Ryder. It was powerful enough to throw Ryder into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
"Change of plans. It seems like a lightsaber doesn't do that much damage. So, I'll make it bend to my will," mumbled Ryder standing back up.
Ryder put his lightsaber back on his belt and slowly walked towards the hollow. Slowly, Ryder's vision started to turn red and orange. He felt power swell within him. He looked up into the eyes of the hollow and said, "Rex ego sum. Genua ante me."
The hollow roared at Ryder in return and began walking towards him.
Ryder brought his hands up to his chest then thrusted them at the hollow. The hollow paused in its steps and brought its hands up to his head. It began to thrash about. It wailed in pain with a voice so loud rocks began falling from the ceiling.
"Tui propinquos meos!" yelled out Ryder. The hollow yelled louder as its arms were stretched out like it was spread eagle. Suddenly a crack ran down the front of the hollow's skull.
Ryder dashed towards the hollow and encased his hand with lightning. The hollow saw Ryder running towards itself, so it swiped left and then right. However, Ryder's speed had greatly increased. He simply dodged the lazy swipes until he was in the face of the hollow.
Ryder reared back his hand and thrusted it through the hollow's outer skill and into its head. With a burst of lightning, the white skull shattered, and the top of the hollow's head was blown back onto the ground of the room.
Purple blood leaked out from where Ryder's hand had entered the hollow's head. Small bolts of electricity crackled around the hollows head and Ryder's hand.
Ryder pulled his hand out of the hollow and backed away. Somehow, the hollow was still upright, so Ryder waved his hand. The hollow then flew to the side crashing into the wall.
His parka was ripped in a few places, so he took it off and wiped the hollow's blood off his hand with it. Ryder's hand was stained a little purple with from some of the blood that wouldn't come off. He threw the parka to the side and walked towards where the hollow had first come from.
'Screw this flak jacket,' thought Ryder. 'It barely helped. My back hurts so bad.' Ryder threw the gray flak jacket to the side. It had a large rip nearly cutting the jacket in half.
As he walked to the open hallway, his vision started to turn back to normal. He hadn't even noticed how his vision did change.
Luca and Ben were walking down their tunnel when they felt the ground shake. Ben looked at his partner and said, "We should go help!"
"Calm down, Ben," said Luca. "Ryder knew what he was doing when he split up the groups. Any group will be able to take on whatever they face. Now, let's just focus on what we might face."
Ben swallowed and slowly got back to walking forward.
"Do you feel that heat," asked Murdoch?
"Yeah," replied Liz. "It feels like we're in an oven."
Murdoch and Liz were walking down their tunnel. It looked like a normal tunnel, except the temperature was exponentially going up as they continued forward. The two had beads of sweat rolling down their face.
"I can feel heat coming more from the walls and ceiling than the ground. What the hell is going on," complained Murdoch.
Liz took off her parka and tied it around her waist. Underneath, she was wearing a black tank top that was became narrower as it reached her neck. The tight shirt defined the curves of her breasts. She looked over at Murdoch and sighed.
"Eyes forward, perv," Liz said walking forward.
"Hey – hey," Murdoch said trying to justify himself when suddenly a loud noise shook the floor. Murdoch stumbled and braced himself with his hand against the wall.
"Ouch," he yelled as the scorching hot wall burned his hands! He pushed himself off the wall and held his hands close to his chest.
"Are you okay," Liz asked?
"I'll be fine. Let's just keep going forward," Murdoch suggested.
Liz walked over to Murdoch and grabbed his hands. "You're useless is you can't hold your sword."
She focused her chakra into her hands and began to heal them with medical ninjutsu. Green chakra surrounded his and her hands.
"Thank you. That feels amazing," said Murdoch. The burns on his hands were slowly healing. However, after a few seconds, he turned his head and looked over his shoulder.
"Did you that," he asked Liz?
She shook her head and said, "Shut up and let me focus. We've been hearing things this whole time."
Murdoch slid his hands out from Liz's grip and said, "No. That sound was different." He turned his body towards the entrance of the tunnel and said, "Listen."
"Good grief," Liz said focusing on the tunnel.
After a few seconds of listening Murdoch turned to Liz quickly and said, "There it was again. It sounded like a rock falling… but, something else was with it."
Liz focused harder on the tunnel. She heard it too, and it was different than just a normal rock falling.
"No way," she mumbled to herself.
Murdoch turned to her and asked, "What is it?"
"The reason why this tunnel is so hot," she said.
Murdoch continued to stare into the dark abyss of the tunnel that led to the entrance. Slowly, a light began to appear. It got brighter and brighter.
Liz gulped. "We need to get going. We're surrounded by lava, and that's what coming down the tunnel. We've been walking slightly downhill from the beginning, so the lava can lead us to our trial I bet."
"Let's get out of here then," agreed Murdoch.
"Ben, stay still," said Luca.
Fog was seeping into their tunnel from the walls and ceiling. Luca was decent as a sensory ninja. He could sense the fog being part of a genjutsu.
"We have to run. This fog is part of a genjutsu," said Luca.
The two began to run towards the end of the tunnel. After running for a few minutes, Ben said to Luca, "There's a large room up ahead."
"Good. It's getting harder to see with this fog," said Luca.
The fog was thick enough to where everything was hazy around them. It had collected on the ground, so it looked like the fog was a layer of gray water.
"We're here," yelled Ben to Luca.
"Okay, try and find a door," responded Luca!
Ben began to search the walls of the room in hope that he could find a way out. The coughing was getting worse by the second.
He was feeling the wall with one hand while the other covered his mouth. Suddenly, Ben came upon a metal door.
"I've found a door," yelled Ben out to Luca! He searched for a control panel that would open it but there wasn't one around it.
"Ice Style: Ten Thousand Ice Petals!"
Ben swiftly turned around and saw Luca sending a multitude of ice darts towards a black figure. As many punctured the black figure, Luca encased his fists with hardened ice.
In a blur, Luca was in front of the unknown figure. He reared back his right fist and punched the figure into the nearby wall.
Ben ran up next to Luca and ignited his lightsaber. The golden blade gave off enough light for them to identify their opponent.
"What is that," asked Ben?
Pointing at the outer skull, Luca told him, "It's a hollow. You can tell because it has a white, outer skull." Luca turned towards the metal door.
"You said you found a door," asked Luca walking towards it?
"Yeah," said Ben walking beside him. "But, I couldn't find a control panel for it."
"Well, let's have another look. The fog could have been hidi – ."
Luca suddenly stopped talking. Ben turned to his left and saw a black blade through the chest of Luca.
Coughing up blood, Luca said to Ben, "Run. It's too strong."
Panicking, Ben ignited his lightsaber, but a different noise grabbed his attention. It was the sound of the door opening.
The metal door slid up, and a figure slowly emerged from the darkness within. It limped into the bigger room.
"Ryder," yelled Ben! He could sense his Force connection with Ryder.
As the light shined on Ryder, Ben noticed that half of his left arm was missing. He had cuts and gashes from his face down to his legs. Blood ran down from his head, and his eyes were barely open.
Suddenly, a red light appeared deeper into the darkness that laid past the door. Ben knew the red light was coming from a red lightsaber.
The lightsaber got closer and closer. Within a few seconds, the red lightsaber was pointed at the back of Ryder who had fallen down to his knees.
"Don't… Don't do it," Ryder mumbled.
Ben looked up at the person who was holding the red lightsaber at his master. The red lightsaber cast a light bright enough to see just the top half of the executioner's body. Ben looked at his face.
*Clink clank*
Ben's lightsaber hit the floor and rolled away from him. His hands shook as they rose and covered his mouth.
"No," he said.
'This can't be,' thought Ben. 'How can the person that's about to kill Master Ryder… Be me?!"
The red hue of the lightsaber revealed the face of the executioner to Ben. No younger. No older. It was Ben smiling.
"Don't be scared, Ben," said the executioner. "WE made this decision."
"No… No…" Ben was shaking. Anger swelled within himself. Unconsciously, Ben began drawing a large amount of the Force into him.
"You aren't me," said Ben to his doppelganger.
The evil Ben held the lightsaber up to his own face, casting more light onto it. "What are you talking about, Ben. We're the same fucking person." He looked down at his kneeling master, then thrusted the red lightsaber through Ryder's chest.
"Nooooo," yelled out Ben!
Opened his orange and yellow eyes with force and thrusted out his arms. The large amount of the Force that he built up was released with anger and rage.
Luca looked over at Ben who was yelling as he exuded large quantities of the Force. He held his forearms in front of him and leaned forward. After a few seconds, Ben stopped and fell to the ground from exhaustion.
Ben ran over to him. The fog was gone, and he didn't sense any genjutsu chakra anymore; Ben must have dispersed it with his attack.
"What the hell just happened to you, Ben," said Luca rushing to his side.
Ryder was walking down the tunnel. Suddenly, it was as if a gust of wind came through the wall of the tunnel and made all of Ryder's clothes ripple in its currents. He knew better than to think that though.
Ryder simply looked to his left and said, "Hang in there, Ben."
Murdoch and Liz were running down their tunnel. The lava was rushing behind them but was slower than the two running. The tunnel had gotten hotter now that lava was in it. Murdoch copied Liz and wrapped his white parka around his waist too revealing a black, V-neck, short-sleeve shirt.
"I think I see an opening up ahead," he said to Liz while running and wiping sweat from his forehead.
Up ahead, there was a small rectangle that resembled a door way. Past that there was a bright light that showed them the way.
Running at top speed, they were suddenly thrown against the side of the tunnel!
"What the hell just happened," yelled out Murdoch quickly moving away from the burning wall! As he finished his sentence, a small rock fell from the ceiling and hit him on his shoulder.
Noticing this and knowing what was going to come after the rock, Liz said, "We have to hurry. The lava is catching up and it's about to come from the ceiling too."
The two got up and ran to the door way as more and more rocks began to fall from the ceiling due to whatever blast they just experienced.
"Be prepared for anything when we pass through the door," Murdoch reminded Liz.
She nodded as she picked up speed passing Murdoch.
Thirty yards.
Twenty yards.
Ten yards.
Five yards.
Liz and Murdoch flew through the opening and onto a small plat form surrounded by lava. Going at such speed, Murdoch quickly drew his Zanpakuto and drove it into the ground while simultaneously grabbing onto one of Liz's hands that was behind her.
The jolt of Murdoch's momentum coming to a halt, jerked Liz away from the edge and the lava she was going to fall into and into the arm and body of Murdoch. Her hands were on his chest as she let out a big sigh of relief.
When she noticed that she was so close to Murdoch, she blushed the slipped out of his grasp. She turned to the ocean of lava and said to Murdoch facing away from him, "Stop the lava coming towards up, and I'll figure out a way for us to get out of here.
Murdoch smiled and said, "Yes ma'am," sarcastically. He took his Zanpakuto out of the ground and sheathed it.
"Bakudo number: 39," recited Murdoch with his palm stretched to the tunnel. "Enkosen!" A yellow square filled the tunnel and waited for the lava to meet it.
"This won't last forever, so make use of the time," Murdoch said back to Liz.
They were trapped at the bottom of a giant cube and the floor was lava. All the way on the other side, at the top, was another doorway. The exit. But how would one get there.
'Katie and her alchemy would've been better suited for this than me,' she thought.
As she was observing, the lava made contact with Murdoch's yellow barrier. The yellow slowly turned to orange and was on its way to red. Once it became red, it was going to break and let the lava through.
Murdoch was about three feet away from his Bakudo spell. He could feel the intense heat of the lava, but he kept focus so that Liz could find a way to get out.
'I'd put up a rock wall instead of Murdoch's shield, but I only know mud wall,' she thought. 'Cut it out, Liz. He's doing his job, now do yours.' Her brain began to toss ideas, but none of them worked. There were enough foot holes to scale the walls and nothing on the ceiling to swing across with.
'What earth jutsu do I know that will help,' she thought for a few seconds. 'That right! I'll use an attacking jutsu for footing!'
"Hurry up, Liz! By shield is about to break," yelled out Murdoch! His shield was bright red and he could feel it start to give on him.
"Earth Style: Rock Trail," yelled Liz slamming her palm into the ground.
Out in front of her, large rocks emerged from the lava and created a path to the other side. She coated her feet with chakra and jumped out onto the first and then the second rock. The chakra helped reduce the very small about of lava running off the rocks to burn her feet.
Next, she did another series of hand seals and said, "Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
Liz opened her mouth and a stream of water shot out and towards the surface of the first rock. Once that one was soaked and cooled off, she turned and did the same to the rest of the rocks. After a few seconds, she stopped and yelled back to Murdoch, "Come on!"
Murdoch had both hands up trying to buy Liz as much time as he could. The heat were slowly burning his hands more and more. He turned his head and saw the rocks he could use for footing.
Murdoch took a deep breath. He turned his body partially towards the rocks and let go of the shield with one hand while he let the other hold off the lava as much as it could. Quickly, Murdoch let go of the shield and jumped towards the first rock. Right before he moved his hand to jump, his mind lost focus of the shield, and it disappeared letting the built up lava rush the platform with tremendous force.
Murdoch made it safely to the first rock. The lava came within inches of catching his foot, though. He looked back at the tunnel and saw lava continuously flow out into the larger lake.
With the lava slowly rising, Murdoch looked at Liz and said, "We aren't done yet. It's rising."
"I know. I know," said Liz. "I'm thinking of a jutsu that could propel us to the doorway up there." Liz pointed to a doorway at the top near the ceiling.
"You've got to be kidding me," responded Murdoch.
The lava gradually began to climb up the rocks they were standing on. "This is rising a lot faster than it should be," said Murdoch. "Have you thought of anything yet?"
"I think so," responded Liz. "I just don't know if I have enough chakra for it."
"I say do it personally. You won't know unless you try," Murdoch said looking at Liz in the eyes.
"Okay," she said. "If you pass out due to exhaustion, you better carry me."
"I'll be right here to catch you," he responded.
The lava was about a foot from the top of the rocks.
Liz clapped her hands together interlocking her fingers. "I need to build up some chakra," she said as she closed her eyes.
Murdoch could feel energy filling her and replacing what she had already used. After a few seconds of her like this, she opened her eyes.
"Rock Thorn Bed Jutsu," she yelled out then stomped her right foot on the rock she was standing on. Suddenly, rocks that looked like thorns emerged about a foot out of the rising lava.
Liz then did a series of hand seals ending with clapping her hands and interlocking her fingers again. She then slammed her palm onto the rock she was standing on and yelled, "Rock Thorn Launch Jutsu!"
The previous rock thorns began to grow and extend in every direction. They got bigger and bigger the farther away they got from the lava. There were at least fifteen that extended into the sides of the cube and into the ceiling.
Liz stood up and turned to Murdoch. "There we go. Now let's get outta –." Her eyes shut and she fell forward. Murdoch dashed and caught her from falling into the lava.
"Now, you get to rest some," he said putting her on his back. The lava was about four inches from his feet.
Murdoch jumped from rock to rock and ran up the thorns. They were in perfect alignment for him to jump from one to another, and within a minute, Murdoch landed in the doorway with Liz on his back.
"Are you serious, another tunnel," he mumbled to himself. "At least it's cooler up here."
Ryder continued walking through the tunnel while reflecting on his fight. For some reason, he was exhausted from it. It wasn't like he used too strong of attacks that he didn't even know.
'It must've been when I blacked out,' thought Ryder. 'The last thing I remember before blacking out is being thrown into a wall. Next thing I know, my hand was in the hollow's head. What happened?'
Ryder walked for a few more minutes when suddenly, Ryder heard it. It was the crystal. He was close to it. Relieved, he kept walking.
After about five minutes, Ryder came across a large room. It looked more like the center of a cave though. He looked to his left and saw two other tunnels.
At the top of the cave was a long hole that extended to the night sky. The moonlight shone down and onto a column that looked like it was half its original size in the middle of the cave. At its base, a large cluster of clear crystals surrounded the pillar. They sparkled and reflected the moonlight around the cave
Ryder let out a deep breath then slumped down against a large rock near that column. "Now, we just wait for the others to get here," he said to R2.
He closed his eyes to rest, but he continued to listen with the Force for when the other two groups would arrive.
A light appeared at the end of his tunnel.
"We're almost there, Ben," said Luca walking to the light.
Since they left the larger room, Luca had been speculating what had happened to Ben. 'Since he had never trained against genjutsu, he must've been in one before the fog had a change to get me,' thought Luca. 'It must've been terrible enough to make him send out that powerful of a Force blast. Thankfully he did though. He cleared the room of the thick fog and revealed this tunnel on the other side of the room.'
"The end of the tunnel is only a few yards away," he said to Ben.
Walking through the doorway, Luca looked around and saw light dance on the walls of this larger cave. He looked at the source and saw a group of clear crystals reflecting the moonlight that came from a hole at the top of the cave. He looked beyond the crystals and saw a body on the ground slumped against a boulder with a red and white astromech droid next to the body.
"Looks like he had his fill," said Ryder in a soft voice.
"Damn, man. Are you okay," asked Luca walking over to his friend on the ground.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired," replied Ryder. "What about Ben?"
"He passed out after breaking out of a genjutsu. I heard him yell 'no' then trust his arms out by his sides. That's when he sent a strong Force push in all directions," explained Luca.
"Ah. Force repulse," said Ryder. "He sure does have a knack for the Force."
Luca chuckled setting Ben down on the ground then sliding down next to his high school friend. "He takes after his master then."
Ryder smiled then closed his eyes again. "It's crazy to think they a few years ago, we were in high school together. Now, we have these powers and we're on a different planet on a mission."
"Damn straight it's crazy. It feels like a movie," replied Luca shutting his eyes too.
"How long have I been walking," Murdoch mumbled to himself? "It feels like it's been an hour." Just as he finished saying that, a small light appeared far in front of him.
"That better not be lava," he said.
Murdoch placed his burnt palm close to the wall and didn't feel any heat coming from it. "Good, it isn't lava. I think I would've cried."
Murdoch kept walking for another ten minutes then saw that the light was coming from a doorway.
"Yes," he yelled! He quickly covered his mouth thinking that Liz was going to hit him, but she didn't wake up.
Ryder opened his eyes and said to Luca, "Looks like Murdoch finally made it."
Luca yawned and said back, "It about time."
Ryder and Luca watched the middle tunnel as they saw Murdoch walk in with Liz on his back. "Glad y'all could make it," said Ryder. "What's wrong with Liz?"
Murdoch set Liz down next to Ben then said, "First off, fuck this cave. That tunnel was awful. Second, fuck you Ryder for sending us through that awful tunnel. And lastly, she passed out from chakra exhaustion. She use an earth jutsu to get us out of a cube that was literally lava."
He went on to tell them of everything that happened to the two of them. Luca butted in to let him know that the blast that caused the ceiling to start collapsing was Ben. This shocked Murdoch, but he kept on telling what happened.
When Murdoch finished, he asked Ryder what was in his tunnel. Ryder explained his fight with the hollow and how he blacked out during the fight, but ended us killing it anyways.
Ryder finished his story by saying, "I'm just glad everyone is alive."
R2 whistled in agreement.
Ben's eyes slowly opened as he said beginning with a groan, "Where are we?" He sat up and looked around.
"Take it easy, Ben," said Luca. "You passed out breaking out of a genjutsu."
His memories began to flood back into his mind. He looked at Luca who didn't have a hole in his chest. Then he looked at Ryder who wasn't missing half an arm and was obviously still alive.
"Ben, what happened while you were in the genjutsu," asked Ryder?
A tear rolled down Ben's cheek as he sniffled to hold back other tears. "I had found a metal door to leave the room we were in, but it didn't have a control panel, so I couldn't open it. Then I saw a black figure with a skull around his head start fighting Luca. Luca had sent it into the wall thinking he killed it, but as we both walked to the metal door, it appeared behind you and stabbed you through the chest. Right after that happened, the metal door slid open. Ryder, you were limping into the room. Slashes all over you and half of your arm missing. Then I saw someone come out of the doorway behind you. He was holding a red lightsaber. I could see his face because of the light. It was me," he said letting the tears fall down his face. "I thrusted the lightsaber through your chest. That was the last thing I remember."
"It's okay, Ben," said Ryder hugging his apprentice. Someone he felt was like a little brother to him. "None of that happened or will it. We finally made it to the crystals. We can make our lightsabers now."
Ben wiped his tears. "But, these aren't the ones that I heard."
Shocked and confused, Ryder turned his head to the crystals and listen to them using the Force. He heard the Force vibrate within them, but the original. The hum that he and Ben had noticed was behind the back wall of the cave that they were sitting in.
"You're right," said Ryder. He stood up and walked to where he heard the hum the loudest. The wall he was at was very dusty, so Ryder used the Force to disperse that dust. As the dust flew off, writing began to glow a light blue above an outline of a door on the rock.
"What the hell," said Murdoch walking over to Ryder.
"It seems like we made it to another door." Murdoch traced the outline of the door. "Say, Ryder. Do you think that you can read it?"
"I don't know. I've only studied ancient languages of the Sith and Jedi. And then a little Spanish."
Ryder traced the letters with his finger and as if a switch flipped inside him, Ryder knew what the writing was. "This is in the language of the ancient Sith. It says, 'Those that pass, will not exit the same.'" Ryder looked over at the group with a confused look.
"Well," he paused and looked at the door. "Shall we go through?"
"We might as well. I mean, not much else that can go wrong," responded Luca.
Just then they heard a voice coming from the back of the cave. "I'm getting tired of these stupid doorways and tunnels," said Liz sitting up and rubbing her head.
"Glad to see you awake," said Ryder smiling.
Murdoch smiled and nodded agreeing with Ryder. He was happy to see that she was fine.
She stumbled to her feet and said, "Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm fine. Just a little light headed and tired."
"Well it looks like this might be the last door," said Luca.
"I hope so," responded Ryder.
Ryder walked up to the door and placed his hand on it. He felt the carvings of a strange picture on the cold, stone door. He took a deep breathe. He knew how he had to open it. Ryder focused and poured the Force into the door. As the Force was coursing throughout the door, the carved picture lit up. It showed a vast crowd of people at a base of a mountain holding their weapons above their head as if they had just achieved victory. At the top of the mountain stood one man who was holding a spear-like weapon above his head. Ryder's vision began to blur out and began to feel light headed.
Ryder opened his eyes and saw a door in front of him. Just like the one he was just in front of.
'Where am I,' he thought?
The cave was dark except for a torch that lit up the door. He walked up to it, and as if someone was lifting his arms for him, his palms were stretched out towards the door. With a sudden thrust, he used the Force to blow away the stone door, but it wouldn't budge. Ryder continued pushing and pushing; bursting through what he thought was his limit.
After a few moments of using his full strength to blow through the door, Ryder felt a surge flowing through his body. Instinctually, he pushed the surge through his hands assuming it was just the Force. A crackling noise started to become audible. In between Ryder and the wall, a light began to shine. In an instant, the crackling and the light mixed and lightning came from his hands and struck the door sending its stones back into another room.
Ryder opened his eyes and shook his head.
'What just happened,' he thought? His vision came back and as he saw the stone door begin to crumble where it once stood. Ryder stumbled forward trying to regain his strength from what just happened.
"Are you alright," Ben asked Ryder? All he and the others just saw was that Ryder pushed on it with the Force, and it crumbled to pieces.
"Yeah… I'll be fine," responded Ryder walking through the doorway.
"Wow, it looks like this place has been ransacked." After Ryder said that, he felt a tremendous pull with the Force.
"R2, shine your flashlight over there," he said pointing towards the back of the new cave. R2 turned on his flashlight and shone it in the direction that Ryder pointed.
It was there. A giant Kyber crystal that had smaller ones protruding from the bottom.
"Ben," Ryder said softly. "Here it is." He walked up to it and placed his hand on the main crystal.
"Wow," Murdoch said in astonishment. "That thing is massive."
Ben walked up next to Ryder then took the backpack off and crouched down staring at the lower crystals. "So, how does this work?" He reached at a small crystal and grabbed a hold of it. At that instant, Ben felt a strong connection with that crystal. He felt a pulse coming from it like it had its own heartbeat.
He broke it off and starred at it while it was in his hand. Suddenly, the crystal broke into two different crystals. Ryder looked down at him and said, "I think you just figured it out."
He knelt and with his hand on Ben's shoulder he said, "Now, push the Force into the crystals, try to make them shine with your essence. Your personality." Ben did as he was instructed. Everyone was staring at Ben.
He held the crystals tightly and concentrated hard on it. He sent his energy into them; every ounce that he had. Veins began to protrude from his neck and slowly the two crystals began to glow. The light shown through Ben's hands. Streams of a bright light shot through the gaps in Ben's fingers. He uncovered them, and a yellow shade filled part of the room. It was almost a golden color. Ben stopped pouring the Force into the crystals and proceeded to take deep, hard breathes. "Great job, Ben. Do you have the supplies I gave you?"
Ben pulled out the metal box from his backpack. "Good, now, R2 open the lightsaber forging book." R2 displayed a holographic version of the book for Ben to look through.
Liz and Murdoch were watching with curiosity because they had no idea how to make a lightsaber. All they were seeing was a selection of some crystals and fitting a case to them. They didn't understand the complex process of picking out the proper parts with the Force. They were just watching Ben closely. He flipped through a few of the pages and found the page titled, 'Forming the Hilt.'
Meanwhile Ryder was searching the room for the crystal that was calling out to him the most. The crystal that had spoken to him while he was on the surface. He began walking around the room. The borders of the room were lined with crystals that Ryder could put in his lightsaber.
In one of the corners, hidden by a boulder and crystals, was a small slit that could be barely passed through. The bottom was wide, but the top was narrow. While the others were focused on Ben forging his lightsaber, Ryder slid through the gap and entered another room. R2 followed close behind him.
This hidden room was pitch black without any light. As if R2 and Ryder were thinking the same thing, R2 immediately turned on his light and illuminated the entire room. It was much smaller than the last and didn't have any crystals there.
Instead, there was a stone tomb in front of him that had old candle stands next to it where the wax had already been melted down to the bottom. Ryder walked up to the tomb and wiped the dirt and dust off the top.
Without the dust on it, an inscription was revealed that read in the language of the ancient Sith, "Here lies the Ruler of Two, The Bane of all Jedi." Ryder could feel a nasty energy coming from within the tomb. He had read a lot about the Sith and knew that this was a part of their Force energy that was left behind when a Sith died. R2 strolled closer to the tomb and Ryder.
Outside of that room, Murdoch, Liz, Luca, and Ben saw R2's bright light shine from the entrance. Ben was still putting together the hilt to his lightsaber but was nearly finished.
"I wouldn't worry about him. I'm sure he's just looking around in there for a crystal too." He looked back at the silver hilt that Ben was constructing. "Just keep on building this," said Luca.
Ryder pushed the cover to the coffin onto the ground, and with a thud it cast up more dust. With R2's flashlight showing the inside of the coffin, Ryder searched it. The first thing he saw were bones covered in a dark fabric that had lost much of its color due to the wear of time. The hands were crossed over the chest of the dead Sith, and on its side, was a silver hilt.
Astonished that this tomb had not been raided yet, Ryder slowly grabbed the hilt because he was worried that the coffin could be booby trapped. He pulled it out and lowered it to R2's light. It was regular in length, but the unique part of the hilt came from the three prong-like spikes that protruded from the top. He liked the design. It looked like a weapon that could strike fear into his opponents, and the length optimized the control for the blade.
*Beep zip bing*
"It feels warm in my hand. Like I was supposed to find it," he responded. Ryder pressed the ignition switch, a purple blade sprang from the hilt. The crackles of an ignited blade filled the room; Ryder just stared at it. It was light, but confident at the same time. He felt strong with it in his hand. It was like he was holding a feather that would slice a rock in half.
*Boop bop wing ding*
"Switch the crystals," Ryder questioned R2?
'But that only changes the intensity of the beam,' he thought.
Ryder closed the blade and opened the lightsaber with the Force. He had practiced this many times with his training lightsaber.
He switched the top blue crystal with the bottom red crystal. Now the red crystal was on top. He closed the lightsaber and squeezed the silver hilt tightly in his hand. He ignited the blade, and a dark crimson color busted from the hilt.
A somber aura fell upon the cave that accompanied the dark color. Ryder stood there looking into the deep red color of his new blade. He snapped back to reality and began swinging it around to feel out the weight. It was heavier than the purple blade; it felt a lot stronger.
While Ryder was testing out his new lightsaber, Ben, Murdoch, and Liz were peering in from the crack. "Wow, a lightsaber with two colors," whispered Ben. "It even looks badass. I wish I would've put those three spikes on the top."
Ryder closed the lightsaber and put the hilt on his belt. He just stood there looking lost in space until Murdoch said, "Captain, are you all set?"
Ryder angled his head to the ceiling and opened his eyes. They were reddish orange that almost looked like the flames of a wild fire. At that moment, Murdoch could feel an ominous presence and intense pressure that seemed to be coming from Ryder. It kept getting stronger and stronger. It was making his stomach nauseous.
"Ryder," he yelled out!
Ryder blinked and looked over at his squad. His eyes were back to their natural blue color that reminded people of an ocean at its calmest. He put the lightsaber on his belt and said back a little startled, "Oh! My bad, I didn't see y'all there."
Murdoch said back, "Holy shit… Was that just because you have a lightsaber now?" He was shocked at the amount of power that he felt coming from Ryder.
Ryder pointed to the open tomb in the middle of the room. "I got the crystals from that tomb. I think they were just showing their strength."
Ben looked down at his lightsaber. It looked plain, but he knew it was one of the most powerful weapons in the entire solar system.
"Anyways, let's head out," Ryder said walking to the big crack in the wall. The others cleared the entrance before he stepped through it. He put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "I like how you made your lightsaber. It's the optimal style for mobility and force. Good job!" He walked past Ben and up to Murdoch who was walking to the middle of the whole cave where there was a hole to the top.
"Up?" asked Murdoch.
"It looks like that's the best way to me," replied Ryder.
Liz made the tiger hand sign. "Hold up," she said. "I sense a line of energies coming from behind that wall." She pointed to the left of the cave. "It's one followed by another for about thirty yards. It seems like they were summoned." Ryder walked over to the wall.
"Well, seems like that coffin was a booby trap. Don't worry, we'll be leaving in just a few seconds."
Part of the wall crumbled into a doorway that led to a hallway about ten feet wide. "Ah," said Ryder. "A trap or an exit?"
Thank you everyone for reading this! It was originally half of this length, but I just wasn't content with it, so I added the whole idea of them taking separate tunnels. Originally, they all went into the middle tunnel and fought the hollow together. I like how it turned out though! Over 10,400 words; definetly the longest chapter so far (took me three days to write the rest of it), and it'll probably be the longest I write. I thought about splitting it up into two chapters, but it didn't feel right. Anyways, thanks for reading! Also, in case you couldn't translate what the foreign language was, it was either: French, Italian, or Latin. Comment to let me know what you thought of the chapter, or what you think might happen next. I might just give you a sneak peek!
See ya next time!
~Aldon
