Ilum

[Dashel Illioni]

Armiena's Ping provided a beacon on her location for Dashel to find her. It also tore a barrier apart that he had had no idea had existed in his own mind.

 

From behind the barrier, a series of images flooded forth consisting of all the darkest longings of his race. He percieved them through his force sense, seeing them take shape in front of him. Jedi training took control, and he examined each fear, tearing them apart simply by accepting them. Dashel found that by accepting each fear, be it the predator that was at his people's core or an instinctive fear of the Force he gained a small measure of additional strength.

 

When he was finished facing his fears, he felt cleaner someout. Dashel also realized his force sight was more sharply defined than it had been before. He figured he could now see out to fifty meters or so. Color was still denied to him within that limitation, but he knew now that the skill was progressing and would be useful someday.

 

Reluctantly, Dashel stepped out of the flow of the force and began his journey downward into the cavern where he had sensed Master Armiena. The caverns during this journey were simply beautiful if slightly dangerous places instead of being haunted with reflections of his own inner darkness.

 

The journey downward tired him greatly, but when he saw the final turn emerge before him, he stopped and decided on what he would say. A rotten grin came to his face and as he stepped around the corner, he extended his hand and said, "Master Armiena I presume?"

[Darex Trevelian]

Time passed rather quickly for the Jedi Knight. He had made lightsabers in the past before, and so was familiar with the process. Finally, he came out of his trance and fitted the casing together. The weapon was complete, and all he had left to do was test it to see what had been created.

 

But before he could activate it, he saw Shy again, this time, coming around the corner and standing before him. Once again, the vision was from his memory...

A tangle of convulsive thoughts knotted up in Shy's mind. She closed her eyes as she struggled to master the onslaught of emotions. It only took a moment or two...but it had felt like forever before she had quelled the inner storm. Her stare grew stoney as she watched and listened to Darex sleeping. Her greatest desire since being ripped away ...was to be near to him again. To be lost in his brilliant eyes. To bask in the sweetness of his smile. To reaffirm the bond that she missed so desperately. But now that she was there in his presence...she wasn't so sure that he'd welcome her back.

 

How would he react to seeing her there? Would his eyes light up and warm her to the soul like they used to? Or would he turn away, withdraw and leave her fractured and forsaken? A thousand thoughts collided together in the midst of her sanity. She slipped her right hand into her cloak, and when it reappeared, a shoddy looking lightsaber hilt gleamed wickedly in her trembling grip. She steadied her shaking hands and shuddering heart. She looked lovingly down to the man who had been her master. "There lies truth...sweet and strong. He shall deem...right or wrong...this slit heart," Shy whispered, her voice barely audible. She held her weapon out to the side and ignited it...a thin sheen of blood red light splashed across the room as the saber blade leapt to life. The resounding hiss and hum would wake the Jedi. What dream or nightmare would follow?

 

*snap hiss*

 

The sound of the lightsaber igniting was one all too familiar to the sleeping Jedi Knight, and his mind reacted, waking him instantly.

 

For a moment, Darex could only see the glowing red blade--a weapon that even after all he had been through could still manage to strike a sense of fear into him. But he pushed it away immediately. He would face whoever this was with the peace of the Jedi.

 

He was about to speak, and ask the Sith what they wanted, when he felt something vaguely familiar. He sat up and peered closer at the cloaked figure standing at the foot of his bed. His eyes fully adjusted to the light, and he could see a woman who was very familiar to him.

 

"Shy?" he gasped.

 

She had changed, that was certain. But it wasn't only her outward appearance that had changed, but her whole manner. She was sad, and pained, and Darex saw a haunted look in her eyes. It broke his heart. She had been so innocent, so kind and gentle.

 

"Shy...how...how did you find me? I've...searched so long..." he was having trouble getting words out. Though her lightsaber was still lit, Darex knew she wouldn't kill him. He knew there was still good in her...she wasn't too far gone. There was a way for her to be redeemed; to be saved from this life that seemed to pain her so much.

 

Overcome by these thoughts and emotions, Darex fell silent, unable to speak.

 

When Darex stirred, an overwhelming urge to flee into the sympathetic embrace of shadow shook through Shy. She was suddenly flooded with fear...and shame. But she soon choked that sensation away and steeled her nerves. She would not run. Not now. Not after everything she had to suffer through just to find her way back to Darex again.

 

And when she heard his voice say her name...Shy was speechless. She'd been through Hell unlike any other. And she would suffer it all over again, without a second thought, just for that one moment...just to hear him say her name. All words shattered and fell away. She could say nothing. She could think nothing. She moved, almost as if guided by some secretly scemeing force, around the bed and to stand before Darex. Her face became like stone, cold and emotionless. Her hand, chill and frail, reached out towards him. She waited...silent, stoney, still. Waited to feel his warm hand enwrap hers. Waited for him to accept...or to reject.

 

He didn't realize she affected him so much. As she moved around to the side of the bed, Darex was still in shock. Part of him disbelieved that she was actually here, standing in front of him. But the larger part of him knew it had to be true. It had to be. He could see her, there, as clear as day.

 

He saw the desparation in her eyes as she reached out her pale hand. Filled with joy, Darex reached out and grasped it in his own, his warm hand closing over her cold one.

 

He then stood and wrapped his arms around her. "Shy...it's so good to see you again. I've missed you..."

 

She smiled slightly and held tight to Darex with one hand...and in her other hand the lightsaber still hummed ominously. At first she could say nothing. She was afraid that her words might serve only to damn herself all the more. After a few minutes of near complete silence...she finally pulled away and spoke.

 

"You didn't fail me." she said quietly. "No matter what anyone else may tell you...this thing that I've become...it isn't your fault."

 

Shy looked over her shoulder cautiously...as if paranoid that someone was watching or listening to her. She continued. "I was severely faulted to begin with Darex. But you looked past that and focused on other things. The lighter things that I didn't even know were there. If not for you...I would have fallen more fiercely than I did."

 

A smile warmed her porceline like face. There was so much more she had intended to say...but could not. Not now. Intrusion lingered like a storm on the horizon. "I have to go." She deactivated the lightsaber and the room was cast into shadow again. "Time was never on our side...was it?" she asked in a deadened voice.

 

Barely able to, Shy turned her eyes from Darex. She slipped the hood over her head again to hide away her pained features...then turned from him. "I...." her voice had grown shaken,..."I...will miss you terribly." It was not what she had intended to say but she decided it was wiser to spare the both of them any further anguish. She quickly retreated to the darker shadows and was instantly enveloped back into them. Her form fell apart into ribbons of dark and faded lazily away...leaving Darex alone...again.

 

"Shy! Wait!" Darex called out to her, but she vanished into a swirling mist of darkness.

 

He slumped back down on his bed. He had wanted so badly to comfort her, to let her know that it didn't have to be this way. There was still hope...hope for redemption. He knew her destiny did not lie with the Sith.

 

The vision faded, and Darex felt a hint of the same despair he had felt then. But time had passed, and the wound had almost fully healed. He had blamed himself unfairly; ultimately, she had decided. And now, he wondered if she was happy with her decision.

 

He looked up to see Darla slinking around the corner. At first, he wondered at the intrusion, then realized that this, too, was a vision. "You are not a failure, my friend," Darla's image said."Shy chose her own path. Whatever happened to her, it's not your fault. You'll make an amazing Jedi Master and you are so close to becoming one."

 

She gave him a look that lifted his spirits. "I believe in you, Darex."

 

She vanished slowly, like mist fading away. Darex smiled, silently thanking the Force and her for the encouragement. Before he left, there was one last thing he needed to do. He forced himself to remember the Shy-Ree he knew. The innocent girl with a thirst for knowledge, the girl who had never left his side when he was sick, who pursued life with a passion, and never gave up. The woman who had, he forced himself to admit, at one time, possibly loved him as more than just her master. Perhaps now, that woman would live on in her twin babies. Darex hoped that would be true. He thought back then on Ulos, and the strength and passion the man had for defending justice throughout the galaxy, and then on Seraphim, who brimmed with promise as a Jedi healer.

 

He thought back on his training under Skye, and the crazy times they had had together. He remembered with chagrin the foolish infatuation he had for her when he had first met her. He remembered Camsie and Ish, Armiena and Darla. He thought back on his old friends, and current ones, and looked forward to making new friends and allies in the future.

 

He let a smile creep over his face. "No longer," he said aloud."No longer will the memories of my past haunt me. I have learned from them." His voice sounded loud in the stillness of the caves, but somehow the crystals seemed to muffle it a bit. Drawing himself to his full height, he spread his legs into a standard defense position and triumphantly ignited his lightsaber.

 

The blade glowed an intense, cobalt blue. He tapped into the Force, and as he had hoped, felt the navy crystal in his lightsaber intensify the Force's current. He was also astonished in how the weapon felt...calm. He knew it had to be the influence of the white pearl-like crystal. It would help him keep his focus in battle and his emotions down and out of the way. He shut down the blade and clipped it to his belt, then headed back out the way he came.

 

Several minutes later, he arrived back at the shuttle, cold, yet invigorated. He threw back his hood and grinned at Darla. "Your turn."

_________________

Edited April 13, 2012 by Guest

[SithAcolyte]

Darla threw her arms around Darex.

 

"You had me worried for a minute there. I felt a lot of turmoil from you, but I realised that it was something that you needed to go through." She gave her friend a gentle knowing smile.

 

After wrapping Darex in a blanket and getting him a hot drink Darla wrapped herself up warm, ready to face the icy planes of Ilum. Just before she left something spiked her senses. She felt someone in pain, cold, bleeding and not too far away. It seemed real, there in the now and not a vision of the future. Turning on her heel Darla picked up a medikit and another blanket, stuffing it into a bag with her cutting tools.

 

"After I've cut a crystal I'll bring it back here and assemble the parts in the warm. It shouldn't take me too long... It's not the first time I've done this." Darla grinned to herself thinking of the amount of lightsabers she had lost along her journeys.

 

She wasn't sure if she should tell Darex about the presence she felt near by. She wasn't sure if he had felt it too. What she was sure about was that anything human wouldn't survive long outside injured on the harsh planet. Just to explain herself, not wanting to make Darex worry Darla gave a vague explanation before she left.

 

"I think I felt someone out there injured. I'll check it out on my way back. You just stay here and get yourself warm, I don't think there's any danger and if there is I'll let you know through the force."

 

With that she descended down the small craft's ramp. Darla decided that she would collect her crystal first, it was pretty straightforward, then she would see who or what it was that she could sense at the edges of her awareness. With single-minded determination she headed directly to the caves. Once there she made quick work cutting a shard of dazzling sapphire from a large multi-faceted crystal formation. Normally she would have stayed and admired the caves beauty, but there were other things on her mind. She took in a deep breath then exhaled watching the fog of oxygen that came from her mouth.

 

Where are you?

 

With her eyes closed tightly she reached out with her senses tapping into the force and seeing beyond taste and touch, sight and sound. Darla felt a sharp stinking pain in her side and biting cold despite her warm clothes. She also felt a direction, if there was any anyway to actually feel one. It was the only way she could think of to describe what she felt but every time she turned a certain direction the pains in her side intensified.

 

There you are!

 

With her body acting as a sort of living compass Darla locked onto the pain and followed it. As she got closer she pulled her senses back not wanting to be overwhelmed by the others feelings. It would do to have her collapse from the pain of the person that she was trying to rescue. It wasn't long before her eyes took over, registering the sight that confirmed her feelings.

 

A man lay on the ground his pale, naked body splattered with crimson. His own blood. His guts had been torn into by what looked like claws. He lay on the ground clutching his ruined stomach, his skin covered with a thin layer of snow. Darla couldn't begin to imagine what the planet's weather would do to a naked human.

 

She quickly rolled him onto his back and pulled out her medikit. Moving his hands away from his wound she pulled out a bottle of spray-plast. After pressing a nozzle a foam sprayed from the bottle covering his wound with a layer of anti-bacterial sealant. It would stop any more bleeding and kill any germs, although Darla was sure that the cold would have already done that.

 

Working as fast as she could Darla wrapped the man in the blanket that she had brought being careful not to do anymore damage to his injured form. Drawing the force to her muscles she lifted the man as if he weighed no more than a child and quickly began to walk back to the shuttle. She could run, but using the force to enhance her strength she made long steady strides.

 

She was soon making her way back up the ramp of her ship cradling the wounded stranger in her arms.

 

"Darex, I found this man wounded and naked. How he got here I have no idea, but I couldn't let him freeze out there. His wound she be pretty easy for me to heal, but I want to get his body temperature back up to normal and make sure he does lose any of his extremities. Could you help me carry him to one of the bunks and then we'll see if we can wake him?"

[Azrael]

The mind and the Force had always held a strong bond. Only through strength of mind and will could one hope to achieve mastery of the techniques that would make one a Master of the Force. The Force was as closely tied to the mind as the spirit was to the heart. The Force was also said to be tied to the spirit. It is what allowed a true Master of its arts to return in spirit form to those they wished to guide along the true path. It is what allowed the Sith to imprison their souls into objects until revived by their followers. The Force was plainly ties to the body. It allowed its users to perfect their bodies in many ways, as well as enhance their senses and abilities. The Force could be said was an extra piece of a person. It is what allowed them to be whole.

 

Before his body his the ground, his mind had slipped into unconsciousness. As the snow piled around his body, the Force began to bring images into the mind of Azrael. As his body lay asleep, Azrael watched in his mind as two warriors stepped from the shadows. In their hands they each held a weapon, Azrael could not fathom what damage a small metal cylinder could do to an opponent who held the same weapon. As the two warriors approached each other, they brought the weapons before them and beams of energy emitted from both. Azrael stepped back in shock as twin beams of sapphire and crimson weaved through the air.

 

The crimson armed warrior struck first, his blade smashing against the sapphire weapon of his opponent. Sparks erupted as the blade slid along each other. Crimson ducked a swipe by Sapphire. As the blue blade passed overhead, Crimson swiped his fleft foot, striking Sapphire behind the legs, bringing him down to his back. Rising to his full height, Crimson angled his blde to strike the heart of the other warrior. Rolling away from the blade, Sapphire stretched out his hand, and Azrael was amazed as the weapon flew through the air reignited in his hand. Slashing towards Crimson, Sapphire pushed with his weight, bringing Crimson to his knees. As Sapphire pushed harder, Crimson disignited his blood red blade and Sapphire fell forward. Quickly reigniting his blade, Crimson struck down towards Sapphire with one statement.

 

"Your time is over, Jedi."

 

As the blade began to fall toward the neck of the Jedi, time seemed to slow, and then darkness consumed both warriors. As Azrael began to regain consciousness, he watched as a dark-haired woman carrying him through a shuttle. He could fainlty hear her words as she spoke to another he could not "see". Struggling to speak, he lips could barely move after hours in the cold. Lips trembling he uttered only two words.

 

"M......my.....ey.....eyes."

[SithAcolyte]

Darla looked own at the man in her arms as he began to stir. As raspy words escaped his lips blue from the cold she noticed exactly what he was trying to tell her. Where his eyes should have been there were two crystals instead. She had never seen anything like it. In her head she quickly ran through the possible causes and came up with nothing. This phenomenon was beyond anything she had ever experienced.

 

”œLook's like he's already awake.”

[Darex Trevelian]

As Darla brought in the injured young man, Darex helped all he could. The man's eyes were eerie...what could have done this to him? It was hard to tell, but Darex felt a brush of familiarity of the man's force-signature, although he couldn't place it. Perhaps he had met the man before...but he didn't know when. And who was he and how did he end up like this? The man couldn't give any answers, and the Force certainly was keeping it's secrets too.

 

He helped Darla find a comfortable bed to put the man in, then stood ready to help her in whatever way he could. Healing was not something he was skilled in, but he did know the basics. The man would be all right, physically, anyway.

[ObliviousKnight]

"Ah, good." Both catching a glimpse of Dashel's movement by the tenuous illumination given off by a nearby crystal deposit and sensing his presence through the Force, Armiena looked up from her thoughts towards the Jedi Knight. She hefted a hiking pack onto her back and grinned at him despite the drafty chill in the caverns; after enduring a tortuous experience to craft her gauntlet, it was practically a pleasure to travel across Ilum without even a twinge of pain from her healed surgeries.

 

"Meet your instructor, Lachelle Draygo." Armiena displayed her crystal gauntlet to Dashel. "To make a very confusing explanation short, my ancient ancestor--four thousand years, approximately--offered her assistance to me. She spent most of her life--"

 

I can speak for myself, dear. A clear voice, not dissimilar to Armiena's, resonated through the chamber. I spent most of my life experimenting with crystals like these and ways to interact with machines through the Force. This particular chamber isn't where we'll be working, but Armiena thought it best that we at least set a rendevous at a relatively safe location. Now, if you'll...

 

"--Dashel, if you'll follow me..." With a slight hint of annoyance, Armiena lead her student deeper into the caves. How she knew where she was going was was unknown, but she never spoke during the journey--at least coherently--and appeared to be deep in concentration. Specifically, she was employing a fairly simple technique to enhance her recent memories to find her way throughout the mostly unlit caverns, meanwhile trying to monitor the routes of the few active predators and keep the two Jedi out of danger.

 

After long minutes of searching the darkness for Armiena's memory of the crystal deposits that she used to craft her gauntlet, Lachelle Draygo finally broke the silence with her soundless voice.

 

Home sweet home.

 

Armiena's lips cracked open in the toothy grin that she was so quick to display in triumph, then her boots skidded on a damp stone as she rounded a jagged corner.

 

Even if Dashel required light to perform the delicate work of crafting the Ilum crystals in a usable form, he certainly wasn't going to lack it in this particular chamber. Luminescent outcroppings lined the walls of this particular chamber, filling it with eerie light in a dazzling array of colors. Many of the crystal formations were enormous, razor-sharp deposits that reached to the ceiling and dwarfed the beholding Jedi. It was a spectacular sight, one that few sentient beings were fortunate enough to view in their life.

 

"I believe," Armiena commented with a sly tone. "That you won't lack for materials."

[Azrael]

Kindness was something very rare in the galaxy. Most people under the reign of the Empire would have left a man a naked man to die in the streets of Coruscant, even more so in an extreme condition such as a blizzard on Ilum. And the officers of the Empire and its servants could not be counted on to keep someone such as Azrael from wandering into the tempermental climates of Hoth, Ilum, Mustufar, Tattooine, and the depths of Kashyyk. The fact that governments were supposed to provide safety for citizens in these times meant nothing to the rulers of the Empire.

 

These people had show him the only kindness he had known in life. The simple fact that his memory of life consisted of only 30 conscious minutes meant nothing. They had taken him in and kept him alive in his time of greatest need. The young man felt warmth gliding around him like a glove as blankets were piled around him. Her words rang like bells in his ears. To him her voice was that of an angels, if only he conscious enough to actually look at her face. Stuttering as he attempted to answer her questions, his consciousness began to fade again, only being kept awake by the warmth around him.

 

"I'm........angel."

 

These were the only words able to be heard above the shattering of his teeth. These were also the only words that registered in his mind. As he pulled the balnkets tighter his mind wandered. Angel, is my name Angel?

[SithAcolyte]

The cold, the wound, the strange crystals that had taken his eyes, it must have been too much for the young man to comprehend. He was delirious. Either his name was actually angel or he was calling Darla an angel for saving him. If he didn't even know what had happened himself there was no point Darla trying to rouse him again and ask him more questions.

 

She needed to put the pieces of lightsaber together, but this was more important. The sealant she had put over his wound was temporary at best.

 

"He's been hurt pretty badly." She told Darex. "Could you get me some water and some clean towels please, I'm going to heal his wound but there's a lot blood."

 

Darla pulled back the blankets, being careful to conserve the wounded stranger's modesty. His body was splattered with blood and a jagged wound across his stomach was held shut with the emergency sealants from the medipack Darla had taken.

 

"If we were aboard Serenity this would be so much easier, but we'll just have to rely on the force. I've fixed worse with less...But I've never had a patient suffering from this kind extreme weather."

 

Thinking back Darla remembered the times that she had saved Kakuto Ryu, the grievous wound he had suffered in battle. She took a deep breath. Although her current patient looked bad, it was nothing that she couldn't handle.

 

"I guess I'll just do my best." she told her friend smiling up at him from her position crouched over the bunk.

 

Darla placed her hands against the man's skin and let the force take over. Her eyes rolled closed and she became calm and still. The forces healing energies swirled around her unseen, filling her and flowing through her following her directions. First she filled the young man with warmth, extending it throughout his body, to every finger, every toe. His icy skin soon turned to a more natural colour as his blood began to circulate properly.

 

That was the hard part. But Darla's theory worked. The gentle heat of the force increased his blood flow and raised his body temperature. He wouldn't be loosing any limbs to frost bit on this day. After that closing up the wound was easier. She had healed so many battle wounds, it was simply a matter of guiding the forces renewing energies to the damaged are and encouraging what happened normally.

 

Darla felt a little drained afterwards and had to take a seat but the worst of the damage was healed.

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex stood by, doing everything Darla asked him to do, and catching the look on her face as memories came and went in her mind. He lent her strength via the Force during the healing process, then helped her sit after the whole ordeal was over. "Good job," he told her softly. "You are one amazing woman."

 

He had the highest respect for healers. Not only did they have fine control over an area of the Force that he had little skill in, but healing was the ultimate way of saving someone.

 

He leaned over the man, trying to figure out who he was, what he was doing on Ilum, and how he had been injured. "Darla...those marks on his chest and stomach...they looked like wounds left by claws or teeth. Do you think he got attacked by animals?"

[Azrael]

As Azrael lay in the bed, he could feel his body returning to its normal temperature. The shock of his attack was beginning to wear off and he could feel his body healing, it seemed as if the skin was stretching and sealing itself on its own. But he knew the woman was doing it, he could feel a supernatural warmth spreading from her hands into his body. It was healing him, bringing him back from the verge of death.

 

As he was about to speak, his mind relapsed and he entered a white room. His normal eyes had returned and so had average sight. As he looked around he walls were pure white and there was no door. Wondering how he had emerged from the small ship on the snow planet, and entered a warm room with no door. As he turned around, he saw a woman in a pure white robe moving towards him. Her golden hair fell down to the small of her back and her crystal blue eyes pierced into his own.

 

"You are an angel. But that is not your name. Your name is of no consequence to you anymore. You have been reborn to become greater than all the Jedi. But you will remember none of this. Your memory was erased for a reason, a reason that will be revealed to you in time. No go, my child. Be my arm."

 

Rising from his prone position on the bed, Azrael pulled the blanket around his waist, being modest around the two Jedi. Turning to "look" them both in the eyes, he spoke steadily for the first time.

 

"Where am I? And who are you?"

[SithAcolyte]

As she caught her breath she was flattered by Darex's compliment. She was just doing what felt right, she didn't think she was amazing. At the end of the day they all had Skye to thank. Skye had shown her a way out of her own darkness and a way to use her talents for good. Darla blushed a little.

 

"Thank you."

 

Darla thought about Darex's question for a second before she replied.

 

"You're right. They are most definitely claw wounds...But I wasn't aware that any animals lived on Ilum. I've never gone any further than the caves so I just assumed that nothing could live on such a planet. But there are wampas on Hoth and it's just as cold there..." Darla thought a little more. " The only other thing that it could have been is some kind of clawed glove or a sentient alien with talons...A Barabel or a Trandoshan. But Id go with an animal at the moment."

 

It was a shock when Darla's patient rose and began to speak. She thought that he would remain unconscious a little while longer, but whatever she had done had obviously worked. A little better than she had expected.

 

"My name is Darla and this is my friend Darex Trevelian. We're Jedi knight on a mission. You're on the planet Ilum...Well you're actually onboard my ship, but we're all on Ilum. Do you know this planet? Do you know how you got here and what happened to you? You were wounded and freezing to death when I found you."

[Azrael]

"I have no clue how I arrived here. I merely awoke, and the beast attacked me. It cornered me, and I had no choice but to fight back. But this creature had a thick hide and I was not able to harm it. It slashed me across the stomach leaving the wounds you saw. I was able to get out of the cave and ran into the storm.And you know the rest."

 

Azrael began to once again "look" around, his "eyes" fell upon Darex. The reborn warrior felt familiarity towards the man, but as far as he knew, this was the first time they had met.

[SithAcolyte]

It was very surprising that the man knew little more then she did. He had wound up on a remote planet in a pretty awful state and he had know idea how he had ended up there. The only thing that he knew was that a beast wounded him, which was something Darla had expected anyway. She wondered if he even knew who he was.

 

"Who are you?" Darla's voice showed her confusion.

 

She got a strange reading from the young man. Whoever he was he was gifted with the force she could tell that much. Perhaps he was a Jedi too.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Ilum a beautiufl ice world gifted with the crystals that many jedi placed in their lightsaber hilts.

 

Scorp smiled as hebroughthis ship in for a landing. He was doing something in a very strange order. he was allowing the padawan to make the saber first. Her first step would be to get the crystals. opening the hatch he turned to face her.

 

"This is Ilum here you will find crystals to place in the legendary lightsaber. your job here is to go find your crystal or crystals. take that vobro sword in case yo need to prtect yourself and you should start your searching for them in the nearby caves."

 

He smiled before he shooed her away. opening a book he began to read as he waited for her to come back.

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex was as surprised as Darla was when the man awoke and began asking questions. Darla certainly had done her job well. He let Darla answer the first few questions, not missing the 'look' that the man gave him. It was clear that he had noticed something familiar about Darex, too. It drove Darex crazy...he couldn't remember where he had seen the man before.

 

One thing that was clear, though, was that the Force was strong with him. He obviously had amnesia, which was disappointing. Darex had hoped they would get some answers, but the man couldn't even remember how he had gotten to Ilum. As Darla asked the all-important question, he wondered if the man would even remember his own name. He hoped so, although knowing it or not would not prevent Darex and Darla from helping him further.

 

"And do you remember anything about your life?" he added. "What do you do for a living, that sort of thing?"

[Psyche]

When she saw they were arriving on the planet, Psyche put on the warm clothes she bought on Haruun Kal. Then as Master Scorp pushed her out the hatch, she started to object, but didn't get a chance.

 

It was COLD.

 

That was her first and most lasting impression of Ilum. Since she didn't know where to go, and couldn't see very well because of the heavily falling snow, Psyche used the Force, following its nudges as directions.

 

These crystals, they're supposed to be connected to the Force, right? Psyche thought as she trudged through the snow, trying to keep blood flowing and her mind sharp. So the Force should know where they are.

 

She found a cave that the Force was practically pulsating from. Inside, she found it was like a geode, with crystals protruding from the walls, ceiling and floor. Removing her goggles, she asked the cave, "So what, I just pick them up?"

 

Somehow that seemed a bit too easy. Looking around, she used the Force more than she used her eyes, looking for crystals to make her lightsaber. Her lightsaber. The thought made her feel warm inside, not matter how freezing she was on the outside. She really was becoming a Jedi.

[Azrael]

"I know nothing of my past. My name, my job, my life, nothing. My whole memory is nothing but a giant black spot. I know nothing except that I know only two people in this entire galaxy. You."

 

Rising from the bed, Azrael look around the ship, noticing for the first time, the small confines they were in. They were all extremely close, and he was the only one without clothes.

 

"Is there perhaps some clothes I can throw on?"

[SithAcolyte]

Total amnesia. Nothing. He didn't even know his name. Darla wondered if he'd been reborn, cloned or maybe something else. There was a newborn quality to him. As far as the amnesia went, there were still things that she had trouble recalling from before her own death and rebirth.

 

But she couldn't be sure. There were no cloning facilities on Ilum as far as she new. There wasn't much at all on Ilum other than the crystal caves.

 

Darla suddenly realised how uncomfortable their guest must have felt. He was confused, naked and in a cramped cabin with two strangers.

 

"Umm...Darex, do you have any spare clothes? I doubt anything I have would be suitable." Darla pointed to her patient's wound. "There a film of sealant over your wound, but I've healed you so you don't need it any longer. There's a fresher room with a shower down the hall where you can get yourself cleaned up. Darex, I'll leave you to find him something to wear. I'll just be in the next room."

 

Just before she left Darla turned back to her patient.

 

"Think of a name...Something you'd like us to call you, something that you feel comfortable with...At least until your amnesia wears off..."

 

If your amnesia wears off... Darla thought to herself.

[Darex Trevelian]

The tension was relaxed a bit as the man rose uncomfortably. Darex escorted him towards the fresher, then dug through the small bag he had brought for a change of clothes. He had a standard Jedi-issue tunic, a green shirt, and a pair of black pants.

 

He held them up to the man. "Feel free to use these. I have a spare set of boots too. I hope they'll fit." He motioned to the fresher. "I'll leave you be now so you can get cleaned up, then we can figure out how we can help you further."

 

He was more than willing to make a stop somewhere to drop off the man, but he was also aware of the mission him and Darla were on. They didn't know Nivana's current condition...any time wasted might be critical. But he didn't let that bother him. It was clear it had been the will of the Force that the man had crossed their paths when he had crossed them, and Darex was not going to let worries about timing distract him from that.

 

He left the man alone to his shower, and headed to the room Darla was in. He didn't say anything, but gave her a look that spoke volumes.

[Sayn Ta]

Far above the icy planet, a N-1 Naboo starfighter emerged from hyperspace. The pilot, a Gungan Jedi Knight, was Sayn Ta. She slowly entered the fridgid atmosphere and scanned for any forms of life. Numerous little blurbs showed up until...bam! It hit the young Gungan like a sack of smelly potatoes.

 

It was the Force. More specifically, the light side of the Force. However, she could sense that none of them were her former Master. Still, Sayn's heart thumped with anticipation as the thought of meeting other Jedi ran through her head. It has been far to long since I've seen my Force brothers and sisters.

 

Sayn, however, knew that the reunion would have to wait. She first had to find and rescue the man that had taught her so much. She landed the yellow starfighter, but kept the heater on. This could be a while. Sayn slipped back into a meditative state and waited for another Force signal from her former Master Kirlocca.

[SithAcolyte]

When Darex entered the room Darla was already sitting on the floor with the components of her new lightsaber laying in front of her. It wouldn't take her that long to put them together, she knew exactly what she was doing this time around. For her this lightsaber was to be purely practical. She needed a weapon so she was building one. It seemed pointless to toil over making something beautiful that would only get destroyed, stolen or lost. This lightsaber would be practical, straightforward. Darla guessed two hours top to construct it.

 

She looked up at her silent friend registering the look on his face.

 

"It's all pretty weird isn't it?" She didn't even need to ask. "I wonder if we'll ever know how he ended up here... Or if he will for that matter. I could sense that the force is strong with him, if he's not a Jedi he's definitely got the potential to be one."

 

Darla's brows creased together.

 

"Do you recognize him from somewhere? You've spent more time around the Jedi than I have, maybe he's the lost Padawan of someone."

[Azrael]

As he stepped from the fresher, Azrael felt loads better. The hot water against his skin helped almost as much as Darla healing abilities. Although the water only removed the aches and pains, it did add the finishing touch to his healed wounds. Although he was no Jedi, he felt the Jedi tunic was appropriate for him to wear. Doning the tunic he made his way towards the cockpit and sat in the copilots chair.

 

Resting his head against the cushion of the chair, his mind began to slip. He had been through too much for him not to to slip into the dream world.

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex nodded. "I do recognize him, vaguely. If he was an apprentice, I'm sure we never met, but maybe I was watching him at one time when I was thinking of taking an apprentice myself. I never trained him at all, in the many classes I've taught. I just don't know. And he cannot tell us if he is...was...a Jedi or not."

 

Noticing the components spread out, he offered Darla his own newly-constructed lightsaber, in case she wished to look at it. "Should we drop him off at the Academy? I think it was recently moved back to Manaan...although there are Jedi on Haruun Kal as well. Since we don't know if he's really amnesic, or a very powerful Sith Lord to hide the deception from us, perhaps the latter would be a better choice, since the Sith already know of it's location."

 

He paused. "I don't just want to drop him on Coruscant or something, with no knowledge of who he is, and Force-potential brimming in him. He'd be a ripe target for the Sith."

 

He paused again. "I guess we can just ask him." He then smiled. "But I'll leave you alone now, so you can finish your saber."

[Vladimir Faust]

On Ilum, a shuttle lands, one familiar perhaps to members of the Jedi order since it was once piloted by one of their own. The stormtrooper guiding Talon's shuttle sets into a sheltered cove amid the tall, windy mountains, relying on an Imperial intelligence report from his commanding officer, Vladimir Faust, that Jedi sometimes frequented this area. He gives the drugged Kirlocca one last withering look, giving a derisive sniff at the stink that the Wookie's heavy, hairy body gave. He next looks at Talon's R2 droid, which for some reason still gave him an uneasy feeling. Shrugging it off, the trooper activates an all purpose, cross channel beacon over the local area.

 

To all Jedi on Ilum... This is a courier from the Ryloth garrison... I have been dispatched here by General Vladimir Faust of the Imperial Army to return the Jedi Kirlocca to his friends. If you care about his life, you should hurry as he was sorely wounded in an escape attempt before his release was negotiated... Repeat, I am here to hand him over as his release is secured and to deliver a message...

[SithAcolyte]

S#%t!Faust, a general in the Imperial army??

 

A was a bit much for Darla to take in. It had been a long time since Darla had heard anything from the wretched Faust. Apparently he had been keeping himself busy. She wondered if he still carried her stolen lightsaber by his side, her first lightsaber.

 

She looked at the components on the floor. She was still a way off from finishing. Kirlocca was a good Master, she remembered the wookie fondly from her early days amongst the Jedi. There was no way that she could leave him to die. But she didn't want to walk into a trap, at least not without her lightsaber completed. Even a blaster would have been something. Darla cursed herself for not being prepared.

 

Getting up from the floor she rushed to Darex. The transmission had been ship wide, the Imperials a broadcast on an open frequency. It seemed strange that they would give up a prisoner, especially a well known Jedi Master.

 

"Faust isn't to be trusted...But we can't leave Kirlocca here to die. We have to save him, but I worried this migh be a trap." Darla was conflicted. "I don't want to run into danger without my lightsaber completed but Kirlocca will freeze to death, it's too old out there even for a wookie to survive long. If this isn't a trap, Master Kirlocca might be able to help us in dealing with our current guest."

 

Darla bit her lip gently as she thought about the many scenario's that might take place

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex nodded. "Yes, we must save him. We really have no other choice."

 

He looked at Darla, and could feel her conflict. He made up his mind. "Look Darla, there is no point in risking both of us. If this is a trap, it'd be better for just one of us to be captured than both. You don't have a lightsaber. I'll go."

 

He hooked his new saber on his belt, and pulled on his cloak. "Sometimes, the only thing you can do in a situation like this is spring the trap and deal with whatever the consequences of that are. I didn't like the phrasing of that message...'to hand him over as his release is secured and to deliver a message'...but there really is no choice."

 

He wrapped his cloak tight around him and prepared to go out in the cold. "Stay here, watch our guest, and complete your lightsaber. I should be back soon."

 

His tone said he wouldn't take no for an answer. He knew what had to be done, and having Darla go would just put her in unnecessary danger. He hoped she would understand that.

 

He opened the hatch, and slipped out into the wintery storm.

[ObliviousKnight]

((Dashel, where are ya?))

 

Faust.

 

The moment Armiena heard the beast's cursed name, her face appeared as though it could have been etched out of fleshy marble. Her deliberate lack of reaction was a clear indication that even hearing is name held some power over her, that those five letters could evoke sanguine memories that no person ever wanted to experience, much less survive and bear for a lifetime.

 

Who is this Faust character? Lachelle asked, blissfully ignorant of some of the atrocities that had swept the galaxy since during the long sleep of oblivion.

 

Someone who needs a lot of killing. More specifically, Armiena very much wanted to be the Jedi to do the killing, because she knew that she would be undoubtedly... thorough in the process. If the Jedi Master ever caught up to the beast, at least one of them would die. And Armiena would sacrfice almost anything to ensure that it would be him. Her life would be a small price to pay in order to ensure that nobody would have to fear the life-traitor again; if she had to sacrifice other pieces of her to destroy the beast... so be it.

 

"Ghost Breath." She hailed her ship's AI.

 

"Yes, Master Draygo?"

 

"Don't call me.... Meet me at the following coordinates." She mentally cringed at the sound of Aryian's voice, and promised herself yet again that she would eventually get around to reprogramming it. "Have my landspeeder ready--and my armor."

 

"Dashel," she began, turning away from the magnificent columns of millenia-old crystals to face the Jedi Knight. "My presence is unneeded here." Armiena thrust her gauntlet at him. "She will teach you everything you need to know about these crystals--you might want to find Ara-Lai Kaipi for additional training. Just be sure to return the gauntlet, in case I don't make it back once you're done!"

 

Wait... don't leave me here! For a deceased spirit of a 4000-year old Jedi Master, Lachelle Draygo did a passable job for whining. It's dark... and cold... and there are freaky bugs all over these caves.

 

"You're dead. It's time to stop being afraid of the dark."

 

It's just about the principle!!! She shouted at the Jedi Master's retreating form.... moments before a wave in the Force carried her away at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound.

 

A long silence filled the chamber before Lachelle's soundless voice made itself heard. She's much too stubborn for her own good, you know.

 

____________________________

 

Some time later, Armiena's blurred form whistled out of the Adegan caves, causing the Jedi Master to receive a powerful gust of wind directly in her face. Several kilometers in the distance, she spotted an ebony bird settle to the ground and cast flurries of snow away from its form--her ship, the Ghost Breath. It was merely a refreshing jog for a Jedi Master who had specialized in the more physical elements of the Force, and just moments later she was coasting along the snowy wastes in her dust-red landspeeder.

 

If this was a trap, anyone who wished to harm her would regret it in a single breath.

[Wookiee Jedi]

*Kirlocca pulled the force around him. The jedi master had been unable to do so for some time since his capture on Kashyyyk. All that remained of the jedi master was a broken body and his fragile mental state. Kirlocca would need to re-learn things quickly.*

 

"...Help me..."

 

*Kirlocca just lay in the snow, unaware that he was cold, and on the verge on dying in the snow.*

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex trekked through the snow, calling on the Force to lead him to the Wookiee Jedi Master. He did believe part of the Imperial's message--that Kirlocca was in a fragile state. He didn't doubt that the Jedi would have gone through innumerable horrors...that he was still alive said things not only about his resilience, but also of his captor's intentions.

 

As he walked, he pondered what the man had meant by Talon negotiating Kirlocca's release. He hoped it hadn't been a trade. There had to have been another solution...he only wondered at what cost that solution had come.

 

After trekking for a while, Darex heard a plaintative call in the Force..."Help me...." He reached out in return to the faint mind and poured the reassuring strength of the Force into the Wookiee. I'm on my way...hold on...just a little longer...

 

He doubled his pace, drawing on the Force to replenish his energy and keep the cold at bay a little longer. His face and toes were numb, but he kept pushing on. Finally he saw the cold gray of a shuttle through the blowing snow. He tightened his cloak, and strode up.