Log:Jedi Order: What Was Lost Finale
The trek through the ruins on Ossus reveals something mysterious and tests the Jedi at their core...
OOC Date: May 4, 2022
Location: Ossus
Participants: Vhe Tenara herself/GM, Nora Frayus, Finn, Jax Greystorm, Rune, Ban Iskender, Qutha Buvu Pah, Vega, Zandra naMuriel, Rey Skywalker, Yuun
Ossus has been a maze of trials and surprises and now they cross the threshold into another room within the ruins.
The sound of footsteps become more in the vast void that expands out before the senses. Thunk, thunk, th thunk, thunk.....
What were a set of steps approaching becomes more the further into the unknown they go. The weight of it like some heavy presence waiting to make itself known. The terrain beneath steps changes and the rocky ground, made so by years of dirt and pressure of the very earth upon a portion of the walls gives way to a crunching sound that echos. With the change of the very sounds fill the air, made so by the footfalls a dim light begins to flicker, though it seems to halt in places where the very room that is now being outlined in undefined lines by incomplete light.
As eyes adjust and senses unfurl a few brighter instances of illumination shed truth upon the story unfolding.
Each group has reached the same room by different means, brought here by pathways chosen. From one direction Rey, Zandra, Vhe, Yuun, Jax, Finn and the other direction Rune, Vega, Qutha, Nora, Ban emerge standing opposite each other with the central room divided by a stone dais. Empty.
But there is more...and a very strange feeling begins to wash over the group.
The room is ringed in mirrors and where they are not broken they create an unending scene that continues into infinity - reflecting in upon itself and in turn reflecting the images of all within the room. A portion of the room has already collapsed, broken by a cave in that leaves the earth that has pushed in exposed, roots having grown in with such persistence it has broken the very stone floor which in turn is covered in the shattered remnants of a mirror destroyed before their arrival by the slow decay of the structure they stand in.
There is a low rumble and creak of the very foundation and walls that litters a showering of dust down upon their heads, scattering across the floor into the grey illumination that gutters and nearly goes out....and that is when the recess in the dais begins to glow.
The ominous distant rumble of the structure carries as distant portions are straining under the weight of ages, dirt, and stone. Its histories buried and broken, but somehow still surviving despite the passage of time.
Nora Frayus' gloved fingertips slide across the stone walls of the corridor she passes through. There's a certain uneasiness that passes through her when she feels how the stone itself, as ancient as the planet (or so it seems), gives way beneath such a delicate touch. She turns her palm towards her face and delicately rubs her fingers together, pebble-sand and bits of dust she'd just smudged off crumbling to the floor beneath her boot-covered feet. "I shall be well pleased to be back in the sunlight. I suspect the same of you, Mister Pah?" she says to Qutha who, bless his chlorophyll heart, has probably been blind for at least the past day or so.
When the group emerges into the central chamber, Nora's eyes are drawn first to the mirrors that line the rim of the room. Her eyes are chasing movement, and its movement not of just her and her party, but of the other Jedi who are converging at this central chamber. "Ah. It is good to see some friendly faces," she calls out, her left hand on the grip of her sword just above her left hip. The other hand rests on her right hip, just above the poppy-red sash tied around her slight waist.
"A... chamber made to be disorienting, hmmm? Or perhaps some form of divination? I have heard of meditations that use mirrors at fixed angles," she posits, more to fill the quiet than anything else. "A... dizzying effect, to be sure."
Ossus.
What a hell hole.
The unknown. The adjustment of the senses. An echo that rattles the mind kept rattling like a snake's tail. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Each step unfurled the mind. A strange feeling. From one direction Finn comes with his group. He didn't like any of this. He rarely did. They look forward. Mirror upon mirror upon mirror making an infinite cascade.
"I feel strange. I have a bad feeling about this."
Words that can't be overstated. Finn brushes his hair, fingers smacking additionally at the ribbon cloth around his head. "Place looks old. Surprised it's not rubble by now." Finn was making an assumption rather than fact. He looks at some of the other Jedi who converge.
"People I trust! 'Lo there."
Jax comes to stand before one of the mirrors admiring not himself, or the infinite Jaxi, in the mirror but the mirror itself. "Curious. This is the second time in the last little bit, that I have encountered or told of a tale of the force and a mirror." He turns his head to the side for a moment and listening to the noise, "That is disconcerting."
The tales of his home world just keep unfolding. Though he had known of some of the history of the planet from before, what lies beneath was nothing like he could have imagined.... maybe if he had paid attention more to the elders when they spoke of the past and lore, his imagination wouldn't have had such a hard time of it. Suppose that's another lesson to be learned.
In the here and now, Rune simply gawks at the shift of rooms, the corridor they had hurried through feeding into this room of mirrors and mysteries... and with it the other Jedi. The younger Ysannan lifts a hand to greet the group across the way, a flash of a smile slipping across his lips before the sense of foreboding begins to settle on the lot of them.
The hilt clutched in his hand is replaced on his belt as he turns to the wall of mirrors. One eyebrow crests and he looks into the depths of the reflection, the thousands of Jedi and Runes looking back at the curious native. Rune reaches out to the Force, attempting to call something forth, a sense of what happened here or what this room was used for. Instead, he simply feels more unease, his lips pulling into a thin line as he turns to the empty dias.
Ban Iskender had walked steady and unhurried among the others, green eyes occasionally turned warily overhead as one creaking groan or another threatened to add them all to the history already buried here. Upon emerging onto the chamber of mirrors, his eyes close for a long moment. As Nora speaks of disorientation, he voices aloud in his measured baritone, "It was a place of learning. Of trials. A great many have passed through this place, never in solitude. And heavy with dread." As the light flares up within the chamber, the dragoon adds, "I daresay it remains a place of trial, still. Unto what end, I cannot say."
Dimly lit and forced to wear his goggles for the moment, Qutha stumbles along at the rear of his group, breathing slowly while he adjusts the night vision equipment now strapped to his face. "So consarnit dark in here." shivering at the acknowledgement, "I jus' want sun, and a keg or two of fresh water... I'd even take a shot of sweet tea t'take the edge off, Miss Norah." adjusting his robes some and trying to fumble his way closer to those he is walking with..
"Blast'd place, nooks and crannies, prob'ly fulla stuff like them crystal bugs." another shudder, "Hope I left out 'nuff food for the little ones back on the ship."
- MEANWHILE ON THE ROCK BOTTOM ***
The Revolution is Nigh - the strongest and craftiest of the porgs bawks triumphantly in the cargo bay, the lot dancing around their adopted leader who has found where The Tree Smelling Giant had kept the Blessed Seed. Rough covers have been opened, The Blessed Seed has run forth in a river of delicious and the Feeding has begun. Begun in earnest.
The strange symbols on the side of The Great Seed Eggs make no sense, but now they know - where they see The Tree Smelling Giant's bizarre pointy corner eggs, they need only chew and receive the bounty.
Vega's trying to keep her attention on the shifting of the rooms and there's a moment she plants her feet and studies things. Her nose scrunches, "This was not made by any Sith...something doesn't add up for it being theirs." the white haired woman states. She shifts her stance and looks about again, "But the question that leaves is...who made it?" she ponders to the others as she gives a curious eye to it.
Zandra listens to the crunching sounds and all the other sounds she can hear. She squints trying to see - something, anything of use, but there's just rock, more rock and still more rock. Oh, and mirrors. Great. She looks at herself in one and makes a face at it. Then there are more people, and she too waves a hand though without adding any words to the conversation. She's still trying to digest all this and figure out what is coming next. There's a thoughtfulness to her posture and in her expression, belying her lack of words. Finally she breaks her silence to say, "A very good question, that."
With her hood up, Rey emerges behind some of the others. She feels the thuds, as much as she hears them, her brown eyed gaze going around the chamber they're gathering in now. She nods to the others who join them. "Good to see you..." She says softly before averting her eyes once more.
She listens.
"This place is quite forboding, to say the least." She softly adds as she passes behind Vega, and toward the others at the mirrors. She glances toward Ban, then to Jax, before stepping toward Finn. She smirks at him softly before reaching up to wipe some of the dust from his hair. "Messy." She says quietly.
Yuun walks along, he's quiet and observant as they move into this next area. As he sees the mirrors, he doesn't move in front of one. Yuun looks around, trying to take in the room, looking along the ceiling, and floors. Just making sure they're ok and there is nothing lurking. He does feel something like a heavy weight settle upon him. With this feeling, he takes a moment to just breath. Inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, he takes this time to listen to his fellow Jedi as he too looks at one of the mirrors, "Be here in the moment, watch out for one another." he says.
The room, once so empty has now begun to feel the resonance of their voices. Voices mixing together to create a spoken melody that has not been present in this spaces for generations. There is a softer rumble, distant, somewhere else in the still standing ruins that is feeling the press of age and dirt, giving just a little more beneath the strain.
Vhe looks to the others who begin to question the room, the mirrors broken in bits, the soft glow of light and now that dais that holds a stone pedestal and within it something rests but unreachable as the square cutout is recessed within the stone itself.
That is when it begins to come over them, a sense of unease that grows and begins to make it difficult to breathe, to focus. It's not a physical manifestation of anything but rather...the presence of emotion that gathers slowly like a fog across the senses and soon enough the group can feel the press and pull of something beyond them. An invading presence that causes them to address it...here and now.
Vhe draws a sharp breath herself, shivering as the fear winds itself up her spine. "What is going on," she says, the tension clear in her voice as her instinct is to reach for the Force, trying to clear her thoughts and wipe away the invasion that has taken root.
Nora Frayus is no stranger to fear. It is her fear and compulsion that lead to the incident aboard the ancient Star Destroyer, with the same dagger still strapped to her thigh being buried between the ribs of an old Imperial officer. So when she starts to hear it -- and it really is, for Nora, hearing -- she tips her head delicately to the side. It's the sound of skittering strings. Ancient, awful, oppressive music singing out in the back of her skull. She tries to reach out and touch the force -- to immerse herself within it, but when she does, something else happens.
It's arresting. A scorching heat in her throat. It feels like the first time Aryn found her on New Alderaan, with an explosion of symphonic resonance within her head. She staggers back and pushes her palms against her ears, letting out a shriek as her soul immerses itself into that old, ancient, terrible song. The song she's been so afraid of. The song she's been running from her whole life.
"No no no," she says, staggering back.
Rey's hand running through his hair to relieve him of dust draws a sudden laugh. "It usually is." reaching to do the same for her. Except for her hood. Because nobody wants dust on their hood. "Should've followed your lead with the hood, but I look better with the hood down. Speaking of forboding, does this place have a 'step forth and all of you will die' feeling to you?" remarks Finn.
"I...feel strange." Drifting. Drifting in endless water that comes with cold fear. He doesn't know what lies in the waters. He starts to reach for his throat like he's drowning. His body starts to shake. Knees tremble and teeth rattle in cold chatter. "I'm scared." He whispers to Rey.
He follows his training. Old training he wished he never had.
He slowly crouches to a knee. Handle it. Compartmentalize. He can't. He feels like his lungs are overflowing with freezing water.
"I can't breathe."
And the mirrors are gone and Jax remains. The jedi' nose flare as he breathes in and out. "Calm yourself!" He snaps at the others. It slips out before he can catch himself. Then closing his eyes and starts to meditate. "It's not mine. I'm at peace with my anger and I don't fear it." He spits through teeths, "It's somebody else kriffing anger." Jax exhales, "Sorry, guys I'm still working through this."
"I certainly hope not." the young Ossus native replies to Finn, "I have already stepped forth." There's truth to his foreshadowing as that sense of dread, the unease that blanketed them all, takes root. It drives itself deep into the mind and Rune finds a mirror on the other side of the room drawing his gaze. As he nears, the reflection takes on a life of its own, its actions and panicked motions drawing his curiosity and arresting his attention....
Inside is a Rune that is cast adrift, a paned man that lost another home, or at least a way back. In the ship he sits alone, spiraling listlessly through the expanse, the blackness of space all he knows or will ever know. He tries to control his breathing while watching the life support reading tick lower and lower, trying to pull every second of existence from the limited time he has. As the ship turns, as the stars spin, the reflection becomes the man and Rune is trapped within the grasp of the mirror's display of fear.
He pushes and fights against this sudden reality, attempting to force the image and the horror from his mind. Beads of sweat form on his brow to trickle down and drip from his chin. "This cannot be real... this cannot be real." he repeats, as if the mantra itself will free him from the terror he quickly found himself in.
Ban Iskender draws and releases a steady breath, in and out through the nose. He rests a gloved hand on the ornate swept hilt of his sword as the sense of dread in the chamber grows. Dark brows frown in consternation as he hears the varied vocalizations of his fellows, and the clear distress in some voices. His hand shifts from resting upon the pommel, to slipping fingers around the grip, preparing to draw. Sensing his people in distress, the soldier feels an intense need to act, before..
What happens to them if he fails? The mirror to his left reflects asteroids of the homeland he never knew, and the mirror to his right shows the burning towers of the homeland he lost. Ban draws his lightsaber.
Steps sliding to a halt, head tipping and breath catching in his throat, the Zelosian blinks - invisibly behind the goggles. But his hands shoot out flailing about as vertigo seeps in. One hand goes to his face, slapping it as he fumbles for his goggles and then ultimately Qutha is down on his backside.
"No..." settings are fumbled for and then they come off, eyes wide and his mouth dropping open wordlessly before he turns, falling on one side and sending his goggles skittering while he goes to his hands and knees. "Hey?" swallowing and choking whilst he fights with himself, slapping the ground with the flat of his hand.
"There's no ground..." slapping harder and curling up with bruises forming on his palms, "Is anyone still here?!" trying to keep his voice in check, failing with the shuddering break at the end of his speech. "Anyone?"
Vega's not prone to feeling loneliness...but something crashes down on her emotionally and spiritually while her eyes look from one spot to the next. Alone. Her fingers twitch, the emptiness starting to make her go a bit wild eyed. Would everyone so readily abandon her? Had they already? Gremlin brain over analyzes things and there's a finally a moment she reaches up to run a hand over her face before any errant tears might fill her eyes or escape while she's dealing with the heaviness.
No answers really as yet, but as they begin to explore the mirrored room they're in, Zan pauses, stopping with her head tilted and looking around, as if trying to sort out from where she's sensing something. "Something - " she says slowly, "is not right." She frowns, taking a step forward, and then she stops, turning to look around, and almost visibly counting people. Yup, they are all here. She can feel the fear rising inside her, and she reaches to the Force instinctively, trying to hold steady against the press of fear that is slowly rising through her senses.
Zan shudders a bit, as the fear rises still higher, the terror of ir catching her breath. "Why does it feel like someone is going to die?" she asks, catching a little perhaps of what Finn said. "Not all of us, just - too many." She shudders again, but this time it doesn't stop. Her eyes widen, as though she's seeing something that the others can't see, only Zan can. "Jax, no," she calls out. And then, "Rey!" Lost, broken, frightened - that can all be heard in her voice. "No! Finn, watch out! Vhe, duck!" A flinch, as if from a loud crashboom and dust flying everywhere, but there's nothing like that to be seen here. She turns to face a differeent direction, to not see whatever was there, and then just screams again, "Vega! Qutha!" caught entirely in the pain and loss, even as she struggles to find that calm, to deal with - "No, this can't be," she whimpers. "Rune," that name muttered more. "Nora ... " Her eyes squeeze shut as she lives decades in the blink of an eye.
"Not - Yuun too." She's breathing quickly, but she's trying - so hard - she's trying to bring her breathing under control, eyes shining with unshed tears.
One moment, Rey is showing a soft smirk to Finn, the next he's gone and she's surrounded by living shadow. Her hands clench in to fists, for a moment, before she relaxes and just takes in a breath of air. Her lips softly move as she mutters something under her breath. When her eyes open again, she can feel the presence of her companions around her.
"Remember the Jedi Code. Remember what the Darkness wants from us." Rey says, hoping others can hear her through their fears.
She spies Nora and starts to move toward her at a rush of boots on the shadowy floor.
As Yuun looks into the mirror and as he does he looks to himself. He always asked himself if he's done enough, if he was enough. The Knight had broke at one point in his life, but through the others, he was able to stand back up and push himself to recover. He felt that heavy presence settle over him and creep into his mind.
Taking a calming breath, he tries to push it off but it holds him and he quietly, "No...." he says. Not in response to Jax, as he heard the anger coming from his friend. "I'm not sure." he says as the question is asked of him. Yuun couldn't fall again, though as he listens to what is being told to him, he starts to break down again. Why is he always failing, 'Maybe I don't belong here.' he thinks to himself, but as the more he feels this dark feeling, he closes his eyes.
Lowering himself down on both knees, he places his hands onto his lap. Hurt filled him, failure filled him he tries to even access the force but it feels so far away from him, like he can't feel it. Why does horrible things happen to him? He tries his best, all the kriffing time, puts himself at risk all the time not wanting anything in return. Yuun starts to feel that this isn't his fears but why does it feel real to him, like their his....His head lowers more.
When Rey arrives to find Nora and attempt to wake her from the fear that grips her, she'll find the Jedi Initiate's eyes wide and flowing with tears. The makeup that she'd dutifully-applied, concerned for how she might look in front of the relative strangers within the Jedi Order, has begun to streak down her soft, peachy-white cheeks. "M-mistake, it's a mistake," she says to Rey, whose words and presence seems to center her. Nora's right hand is on the dagger at her thigh, and her left still grasping the grip of her sword, but the steel isn't drawn. Instead, she reaches to take Rey's hands and clasp her fingers around them. Trembling and afraid, terrible thoughts flooding her mind, she lifts Rey's hands up towards her center and closes her eyes. She reaches out and tries... she tries -so- hard to center herself. To regain that focus and to wrap her head around it. Rey's face is a reminder that this thing -- this new, terrifying thing, is nothing she should be afraid of. It's a gift, if she can just... control it.
If she can just make sense of it.
She inhales and exhales, and starts to push that doubt from her mind. To make sense of the noise in her head and the sound of that awful music in her skull. Old and ancient, the song of the galaxy. The universe.
But she doesn't make it all the way out. Not yet.
Finn's breath catches in the core of his chest. He feels like he's choking. Like he's dying. Like he's drowning in the weight of his fears. Finn starts to gasp, like he's searching for air. "It's everywhere. I have no way out. I can't get out. I need to get out." Finn's hands reach for the ground.
He hyperventilates. He's starting to sweat. He feels like he's going to die.
How can he not? How is he still alive? He doesn't know. He's terrified. He's scared. Like the room is closing in on him and the water is up to his neck. "Help...I need help."
Jax begins to find his center press against the fear of anger that belongs to somebody else. He sinks to the floor and sits crossed legged as he manages his own anger as it bubbles up from time to time. Then his center found. He rises with a smile on his face. Then seeing Rey helping Nora, he heads over to Finn, who looks distressed. Jax calls out, "Finn, old buddy. Focus on my voice. There is no ignorance...
The lights in the cabin dimmed for just a moment before they flickered and blinked off, sinking the hapless pilot into a world of near absolute darkness. Rune's only light was the countdown to his demise, the glow from the system warning bathing his body in a blood red hue. Try as he might, he can't control his breath, his emotions, his fear. The wayward Jedi begins thrashing at his surroundings, screaming out to the Force, to the Galaxy, pleading for salvation, for some miracle to save him from this fate away from those he's come to care about.
In reality, Rune's body collapses to the floor, dust and dirt, that haven't been disturbed in the Force knows how long, puffing up about him as he flails uselessly in his trapped nightmare. His cries reverberate off the many reflections that showcase what is true, the lot of the Jedi locked in their minds, their bodies all reacting to the perception of a changed reality... save Rey who works to free Nora.
Back in Rune's mind he is experiencing one of the cruelest fates he can imagine. As a boy, ripped from his childhood home to, decades later, find a place among those of his kind. And then, at the end, left alone in the farthest reaches of space, adrift and hopeless as his dying ship spins into infinity...
Ban Iskender holds his lightsaber, a studious frown on his face as the gentleman's green eyes pass around the chamber, either looking toward the other Jedi, or at whichever phantasms of the mind he imagines. Another slow, deep breath drawn in through flared nostrils, edged with hard tension.
A stumbling attempt to stand, hands not catching properly and dumping the man on his face, spilling green from a split lip, Qutha chokes again, breath coming in sharp, to quickly. "It's..." swallowing again and pressing a palm to his forehead, unable to find his balance and simply slumping over again.
"No light... No more light." that's wrong. That's wrong. He's not here. Not there either. Qutha swallows and curls into himself again, forcing an inhalation. Attempting to slow his breath and unaware if his eyes are closed or if they're bulged open, trying to see, shifting as if he were tumbling uncontrollably and doing his best not to flail further.
Vega doesn't get better, she gets worse. Somewhere, Saga had a sudden moment of angst wash through him. Twins are weird. There's a lizard brain reaction from the tiniest Echani and thankfully she doesn't reach for her lightsaber, the vet pushes out with the Force, looking to shield herself from the onset of emotions that are battering her. "You think I've never been alone before?!" she shouts out angrily as she starts to crouch low, moving much like the Gremlin that she is nicknamed after. "I've been alone most of my life." she hisses out through clenched teeth. Would she bite someone if they came close? We're going to find out!
Zandra naMuriel
Gone.
All gone. There's a theme here. Zandra's tears start to flow and she hunches up, miserable and alone. But there's something deep within her, as she fights for calm, a lucky breath perhaps or a sliver of strength that she can cling too. "There is no death, there is the Force." It's not immediate, not quick, but she finds slowly that her breathing evens out, that she can push the invading emotions just far enough away that she can see the invading emotions. "Not mine." A breath, and now she can /see/ the others in the room, see them reflected in the mirrors. "Not real." That realization helps her to push away the emotions a little bit more, and then she stands up, shoulders square. Breathing back to normal, she doesn't bother to wipe her tears, letting them decorate her face, as she realizes there are others still under the effects of this - whatever this is. "Not nice," is her next comment, with a brief scowl at - well, at the ceiling really. Then the young knight sees Rey and Jax ahead of her, helping others, and she heads towards Vega, hearing the padawan shouting.
Rey accepts Nora's hands and offers them a firm squeeze in return. "Nora." She says softly, her voice as soothing as she can make it. "You're fine. You're still with us. You're being influenced by a dark presence. It has no real power over you, if you do not allow it to." She tries to help as much as she's able to. "Listen to my voice. Breathe calmly." She eyes that knife too, knowing far too well what has been done with it previously. Her eyes dart over to the others in need of help, but she has to stick to the one she worries about the most in the moment.
Her eyes go back to Nora. "The Force is your ally, Nora. If you rely upon it, you will always find your way back from the fear. You need nothing else but your connection to the Force." She speaks at just over a whisper's level in pitch and tone now.
"You're stronger than the Darkness."
No....Why?....Though this time, he begins to slow his breathing, he hears the others, he wants to go to them. He wants to help them, but something tries to pull him down more, he can't. He's not worthy of their trust. He broke before and he would do so again, why was he here? Why didn't he belong? Yuun's head lowers more and he starts to doubt himself even more, more then even the others may know. Maybe that was the reason when Leia was with them that she didn't want to train him, because he just didn't belong. Maybe......."Stop....." is all that is whispered as he feels himself coming back. Was that his voice, he starts to take a deep breath, but why do these feelings hurt so much?
Vhe continues to struggle with the feelings that plague her, leaving the Ysanna struggling to breathe. Her eyes focus for a moment on the others, having put a great deal of space between them and her. She looks down at her saber, down at her hands and she feels the heat of tears trail down her cheeks.
Her hands flex as she backs herself up into one of the mirrors, the wild colored scarf about her head reflected more than a dozen times over as she tries nearly to push the Force away, nearly rejecting it.
As each fights through she is left in a cold sweat. "I do not want to kill any of you....I can't..." she begs softly and turns her bac to them, slowly her head lifting to stare at the cracking mirror before her, to see the distorted version of herself.
You are stronger than the darkness.
Those words seem to calm Nora more than anything else. Somehow, perhaps through intuition or blind luck, Rey has tapped into a part of Nora Frayus that not many know. The girl behind the facade of smiles and quipped one liners. Of silly antics and self deprecation. The girl that's afraid of failure and, even more than that, the girl that is afraid that she became the thing her father trained her to be. The thing her father hurt her to be, and hardened her heart to be. A weapon.
She exhales and opens her pale blue eyes, looking at Rey just before releasing the woman's fingers.
"Thank you, Lady Rey," she murmurs, wasting no time to move into action. Ban's lightsaber has been drawn, and she is no stranger to wielding a weapon in the face of danger. What can hurt you when you have steel in your hands?
"Lord Iskender," comes Lady Nora's voice. "Ban. You must listen to me. Your mind... it is not your own. You are safe here -- among allies," she says, tentative on her approach. Hands up. Defenseless.
If Jax didn't come up to him, Finn would be in dire straits. Finn looked like he might have a heart attack. He looked like he might collapse from the stress on his body. "I'm drowning...I'm drowning..." Finn hears Jax's voice. "Focus. Can't focus, too much, too much..." Focus Finn. Focus on Jax.
'There is no Ignorance..'
"There is knowledge."
"That's it. Stick to what you know, don't go chasing those cliffs. Focus on the Oath." Then Jax adds, "There is no passion, there is serenity." He was trying to help the former storm trooper find his way back. Finn starts to recite the Jedi Code to himself. Trying to calm. It's working!
He's not ready to die, not yet. So soon into the galaxy, finding new adventures, new loves, new purposes, and after spending most of his life simply fighting for the right to live. As such, tears begin to slip down his cheek, mingling with the sweat that arrived before, the fear finding its core in his gut.
-Life Support at 3]- Rune looks through the transparisteel cockpit window, trying to find calm within the spinning stars.
-Life Support at 2]- The screaming and pleading has turned into quiet sobs that shake his chest, his hands slipping down to clasp in his lap.
-Life Support at 1]- Pained eyes search hopelessly in the black for any sign of anything, a glimpse of something to announce a rescue. Though even if there was a glimmer of hope, it's doubtful they'd reach him in time because...
-Life Support Depleted....- Rune takes one last deep breath, instinct causing him to hold the air as the cockpit becomes devoid of oxygen. Outside of the mirror, his physical form mimics his nightmare state, clutching the last breath of air while he prays for a miracle... until that time is up and the breath is reluctantly given up.
But he breathes again... and again... and again. In the grasp of fear, something isn't right, the system readout has gone silent giving it's last fateful warning, the cabin should be absent of air but he is still drawing breath. The edge of reality sits so near, his mind coming to terms that what he is possessed by is nothing but illusion, some dark power that overwhlemed his thoughts. Rune's body slowly untenses and he lifts his head, the two versions of reality overlapping and warring with his consciousness.
Ban Iskender exhales again, in a long, level rumble. His boots have shifted slightly, the left toe advanced a half step forward, in line with his right heel, behind. The cold lightsaber is drawn slowly up in salute. Head held high, shoulders turned in profile. Were the sword lit, he would be ready to begin a duel. Green eyes stare harshly Nora-ward, it is not immediately clear whether he truly sees her. His thumb rests on the activator button.
"No."
Breathing and sure now at last his eyes are closed, swallowing and breathing. Remember to breathe. No breath, no life. Body shaking again, adrenaline, fear combating calm and peace. "I am one with the Force." the darkness tries to seep in back in, cloud his vision swallow him up in the velvet shadow.
"And the Force is with me."
The only mantra he's adhered to since he was found on that traders moon, picked up from the mad ugnaught priest.
"I am one with The Force and The Force is with me." deep breaths and Qutha pulls himself up to a kneel, eyes open and adjusting to the gloom - the sight of the cavern, the mirrors, the broken stone and glass with roots running rampant. Swallowing, standing slowly with green bruises forming on his hands and face he turns and looks to Finn where had been 'drowning' and begins to stumble his way.
Vega's a bit feral somedays, maybe it's why she liked working on machines and building things. It was easier than people somedays. The white haired woman backs closer to a wall, her fingers running against the broken mirrors as she tries to put some distance between herself and the emptiness she's feeling. She gives a wounded sound as she tries to find some anchor point. Ewan would help...but Ewan has disappeared like everything else. So what happens when you have nothing left to keep you level and your feet on the ground? "I am one with The Force and The Force is with me."
"Vega, it's Zandra. Listen now," she calls, as she reaches the gremlin's area. She stops walking forward, not intending to corner Vega. "Remember the Jedi Code, remember what you've learned," she says. "You can't fix ships if you're stuck here, believing the darkness. Take a long deep breath - " She starts through the basic meditation steps with Vega, not moving close enough to be touched or to touch her, but within easy conversational reach, and one hand reaching out to the Echani woman, in case she wants to reach back. "We are here, Vega. We are family. Individually we are strong and together we are stronger." It's a calm relaxing voice, but with integrity and strength of belief, even if Zan's cheeks are tear stained. "Vega, work with me now. You can do this!"
When Nora releases her hands, Rey shows a light smile. She nods a single time toward the other, a confident nod. "Welcome back." She softly adds before watching the other rush to help Ban.
There's many in need of help, it is alarming to Rey. But she has to move one by one while others wake up to help and do the same.
Behind Vhe now, Rey's visage appears in the shattered mirror. "Vhe..." Rey says softly to her next, reaching a hand out to touch her elbow on her right arm. "I'm here, Vhe. You're safe. You're with us. There's a Darkness here, playing tricks with our minds. It believes we are weak..."
Rey gently shakes her head side to side once. "We're not. You're not weak. Breathe. Just breathe. Hear my voice, and center your emotions. You must control the Dark, and expell it from within."
"Your Light is brighter than its Dark.."
Yuun is still fighting, but then as he digs deeper, he turns his awareness in towards himself as he then sees all that he's been through and the people that have come into his life even a lover who he's not seen in some years now. His focuses on the Jedi Code and slowly he controls his breathing and as he does this, he slowly raises his head as he continues focusing on it.
The cruelness of what was forced on him begins to abate and as he starts to sit straighter, Yuun feels the warmth of the light spread through him. He opens his eyes as he feels all of the doubt and fear fade from him. He looks up and sees the others, and he breaths slowly as he starts to come back to himself. Shaking his head, he rises to his feet, but feels some are also fighting back and he quickly rush over to where Zan and Vega are hoping he is able to assist Vega as well.
Shaken by what is roaming her inner thoughts her eyes suddenly fixate on the reflection of Rey over her shoulder. For a moment she turns aside, eyes disengaging as she draws another deep breath. "I nearly killed him...the stormtrooper...out of anger and rage. I saw what I could have been," she says shakily. "I wanted him to pay..." She feels herself weave through the darkness, guided by another to help better navigate towards the light.
A heavy breath is exhaled as her head comes up again and a clearer gaze looks back at Rey. "My light is brighter than its Dark..." she repeats, feeling something strip away from her she lets out a sharp breath and looks to Rey.
A slow nod is given in her thanks as the ground shudders beneath her feet. As more of their group rises from the mire of their fears...or the experienced fears they soon find that they shake free completely and there is a flicker of those strange glowing lights that offer just enough light to see.
A rolling sound of thunder happens, another portion of the building is collapsing. Shaking free somewhere nto so far away.
The pedestal in the middle begins to make a stone upon stone grinding noise as the square relief in the center begins to rise and from its depths a cube.
A holocron. Old. Ancient. One of the few things that has survived in this place with a wealth of history that has been lost for generations. Vhe glances at it, fixating on the precious treasure that has risen and well within their grasp. The moment however is short lived as the ground beneath them shudders and the sound of glass under stress strains into the hearing range of those in the room.
Seconds...precious seconds...
The mirror shatters as the far wall fully caves inward, threatening to undo any structure that is holding up this end of the old Jedi grounds in quick order. The room itself is shaking, a groaning sound as the very air around them starts to fill with dust is the warning they have.
Time to leave before all is lost including them. Vhe steps forward and with purpose grasps the holocron in her hand, unwrapping her wide hair to set the thing in her vibrant scarf, dust scattering as she does so. With efficiency she wraps it up and ties it to her belt with several knots, hands shaking as another chunk of the ceiling gives way and slams into the ground with a thundering thud.
Nora takes a step closer to Ban, watching him lift his lightsaber with both of her hands held out towards him. "Lord Iskender, please, you must listen to m--," she begins to say, and flinches when she sees his lightsaber spark. Green-hued, equal parts beautiful and lethal. She turns her hip and draws her hand across her body, reaching for her stun saber in one, quick, fluid movement. And yet, Lady Frayus does not draw her blade. Instead, she exhales, and relaxes her body into that neutral posture.
And then, she takes a step forward. "Have I ever told you about the first time I met Aryn?" she asks. Her voice is warm, now. Soft in a way that it isn't often. Soft in a way that's genuine. "She was years older than me, but only -just- taller. I remember thinking she was my age," she says. Another step. And then another. "She was such a quiet girl back then. Studious, too. Always with her nose in some dusty tome," she says. Soon, Nora is near enough to Ban to place her hands on his arms, her face illuminated by that cool glow of his lightsaber. She places a gentlee, downward pressure on it. 'Ease down', that gesture says.
"Think of her, and come back to us. You have endured far worse than this, Ban. Please," she says.
The mirrors have started to shatter and the cave begins to collapse in, but Nora waits until Ban awakens from that fear before she moves.
The jedi are whisked out of the fear scenario, the holocron is grabbed, but not by Jax. They start to make their way for the exit and Jax finds himself reaching through the force and calling out. "This way. The Force is telling me this is the way out."
Perhaps it was the shuddering of the room that helped draw Rune from the nightmare or simply the fact that he had continued to live despite his 'air supply' having been depleted. Whatever the cause, Rune manages to shake the fear from his mind just as the rest of the Jedi group up and begin to flee. Not wanting to be left behind, especially with the rumbling thunder that sounds all about them, the young Ysannan pushes to his feet and follows quickly.
He lags a little behind the rest of the group as they run, the Force seeming to have abandoned his call for aid in the depths of his home planet. Still he runs on, following the glimpses of the bodies as they rush down the tunnel. When the tunnel starts to fall, various bodies in the group begin lifting their hands, the larger portions of the debris being held in air while pebbles and smaller rocks plink off their heads and shoulders. "Nnh!" Rune grunts as a decently sizeable stone collides against his shoulder blade.
Nevertheless, he sprints, dirt shaking from his dark robes as he follows the crew toward what they hope is the exit. He's survived this planet once, the Padawan aims to do it again.
Ban's eyes blaze with reflected green fire as the emerald blade of his saber ignites with a screech. His expression is stony and solemn, cast in cold green light. The touch on his arm, and the lowering of the sword in concert with the words cause his stare to refocus. "Lady-" he greets. The saber is switched off. "My apologies." Thank the powers for etiquette to fall back. His returned sight snaps around as stones begin to give way. "I daresay our welcome is quite worn out." His open ha d is thrust out to turn aside a chunk of falling masonry, and the gentleman manages a dry, "Shall we?" in joining the hasty withdrawal.
Everything is going to the varied hells of the varied religions in all manner of various carry-ware. Be it basket, bucket, bag, purse, suitcase, bindle, backpack or knapsack. Qutha is leaned forward on the brink of going down on his face again in the wild, flailing, attempt to run that he's making.
His path is following the others, letting his instincts guide, reaching out and finding his palm on Rune's shoulder when trying to keep his balance - offering an out of breath nod for the other and then dipping back the other way to avoid more of the stones pelting him... only to get clocked in the forehead by one dead set on making him paint more of the ground green.
"Dat'raddit..." PLONK "Consarnit!"
WHUNK
"Ow! Bother!"
Vega's gremlin brain seems to recognize Zandra and Yuun. She gives a wide eyed look to the both of them, her throat working as he looks like she's about to scream, but she doesn't. The mirror behind her shatters, sending a shard of glass into her palm and arm, "Let's get everyone the hell out of here in one piece!" she tells them urgently as she starts to focus the force to hold the rocks up, trying to make sure that they get out with everyone. She didn't want to lose anyone, especially after the nightmare she was having. She's quietly muttering 'I'm so sorry!' to everyone on the way out.
With Vega workign through, and coming out of it, Zan grins. Then she nods her head once. "Good plan," she says as she too moves to head out. "Alright, time to leave this crazy place." She's not impressed, but her mood is somewhat better, that's for sure. Zan has definitely continued her running, treerunning and obstacle course work, as she races towards the door, helping others out as needed. if needed. They're all pretty good at this crazy escape running like fools. "Come on, come on, come on," she says, a little urgency in her voice as they head for the exit.
With the others all waking up from the blanket of Fear, Rey watches the Holocron reveal itself. She flutters her eyelashes a little as dust starts to fall from above, and her eyes are pulled off of the mystical Jedi artifact to look up toward the ceiling high above. Rocks are coming down.
At the sound of others coming to this realization, Rey watches Vhe grasp the Holocron, and she turns to move toward Finn to help him back to his feet. "Move, move." She encourages the soldier before her as she speeds quickly ahead of him, jumping to land on a large chunk of stone that crashes down on their pathway.
Rey looks upward then, her hands rising up toward the sky.
She focuses on the flow of the Force through the crumbling catacombs, and snatches many of the rocks in the sky, creating a bubble of sorts, allowing her companions to make their way out from under, along with the others doing similarly.
Rey looks back over her shoulder then as each person darts away, then drops her hands, causing all the stones to come raining down where they had been before.
Making a little jump from the large rock she was standing upon, Rey pumps her arms and legs as she runs at full speed to catch up with the others!
Moving on the other side of Vega and helping as he could. Yuun smiles as Vega comes out of it, and he gives her a bow of his head. "Welcome back Padawan Vega." he sasy to her. Though seeing the dust and hearing the urgency in Zan's voice, "Yeah we need to be going and quickly." he says as he rises to his feet. "Clear the way and let's move!" he calls out as he makes sure Vega and Zan are alright and then he begins moving quickly.
The shuddering of the walls around them and the ceilings giving away overhead keep them moving. Broken pieces of the past hurtle down towards the ground, slamming into statues, into sconces and various artifacts of the past. Jax leads them, keeping them moving after they hesitate for a second when the others find themselves lost. Combined efforts to keep them from being crushed see that any damage suffered is mild and and surface only.
A screeching give of the left portion of the roof as they near the entrance is noted and it falls at such a trajectory as to slams into a column and then another, spilling rubble and more across the ground in all directions as a massive section of the roof and followed by earth starts to cover their path out.
There before them is their exit to freedom, safety and open air. But between them and the only way out is entirety of the roof suddenly giving way.
All that was once..will be lost again and possibly them with it. Vhe keeps running and reaches her hands out, straining to use the Force in their time of need.
"I believe we have, My Lord," Nora says, turning to look back at those walls collapsing behind her. Her hand breaks away from Ban's arms, and the two begin their retreat from the cave. She follows the lead of the others, spinning rocks out of their way at first, though the further and further they run, her grasp of the force slips from deliberate to instinctual. She can no longer skip the rocks out of the way, but she can move through them, around them, and over them with haste and speed. She is fast and nimble, her natural athleticism only enhanced by her connection with the Force now.
Every rock, every stalactite, every boulder. She hears it in her mind before she sees it. It would seem, with her life on the line, that Lady Frayus' connection with the force becomes instinctually effortless. At least in the matter of bodily locomotion.
Helped out of his fear, Finn awakens from the trance! "What....What was that?" He looks at Jax. "Thank you." But now was not time to hesitate, they must run!! Rey helps him back to his feet and he's starting to move!
He's got some speed to him still, recovering quickly! "You know, we always end up in these situations, almost like they follow us everywhere!"
"Surely this isn't the library! I hope not. Maybe a training ground or class room!" Jax says as he follows the force leading him out of the perilous area. The use of the force by the others keeping him safe as he trusts the force to lead him and the others back to safety.
The only pressure on Rune's shoulder that isn't a falling rock gets a steadying hand, a quick smile, and a nod... followed by a wince as Qutha takes a decent rock to the noggin. In an attempt to assist with that, the Ysannan Padawan lifts his hands and reaches for the elusive Force again, calling on the mysterious power to arrest the descent of the larger rocks to allow the harried crew to escape.
This time Rune feels the surge of power flow through him and a number of rocks slow to a stop just over their heads, the stones levitating long enough for all to pass beneath, before they come crashing to the ground. So too does the surge work on his legs, the young Jedi moving quicker over the obstacles in their path and toward the hopeful exit beyond. "Nearly there! Keep going!" He calls to those in front, as if the thunderous collapse about them wasn't enough motivation to run as quickly as they can. His encouragement is more from a place of feeling instead of knowing. As far as he can recall, they still may be leagues from safety, his direction sense in these tunnels is far from accurate. For all their sake, Rune certainly hopes the end of their sprint is nearby.
Ban Iskender dashes in and among the detritus of the crumbling corridors toward the frozen surface ahead. Though swift in both mundane and supernatural arts, he elects not to outpace the others, lending what help he may in turning aside stones, or lending a hand should any stumble. All or none.
"Oh bother..." a momentary pause when a large hunk of stone slams down before him and Qutha's initial return to steps is a little more than haphazard, "Bother and blow!" tilting like a windmill vane, arms thrust out and looking like some children's holovid comic relief hero trying to escape the spooky thing they're supposed to be investigating.
It's almost a dive directly for the ground when, once again, his feelings guide his step and he is carried on the wings of the Force to push forward, arms and legs pumping while he takes up the rear of the pack, calling out ahead of himself, "Miss Nora! Keep watch after the porgs!" huff huff huff huff.
"Don't eat them!" huff huff huff "Please no make-up!" huff huff huff. Zelosian heart hammering chlorophyl through his body and a little bit of extra speed is put into his sprint, "Bless i'tall - I'll jus' survive!" huff huff huff - hands go out, lifting over his head and forming an invisible shelter to deflect some of the stones coming down, shaking his head to clear green from his emerald colored eyes.
"I'm sorry." Vega tells Zandra. The Echani wasn't sure what the hell got a hold of her...but she wasn't going to be wanting to find it again. She tries to focus on keeping them all alive by holding the debris out of the way. She hated it here. She still didn't feel right. This was going to mess with her for days...or longer!
"It's okay, Vega. We all - felt the emotions," Zandra says. Just that. She rolls over a large stone, and uses telekinesis to push a rock out of the way. It would be fun if it wasn't so dangerous. She keeps an eye on the others. but turns back to Vega. "Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."
"It's possible that we could use a few lessons in being more careful with causing mass ammounts of destruction!" Rey shouts back to Finn over the chaos that they're surrounded by.
As the group continues their hastey retreat, Rey shouts out. "Is this the right direction? I feel like we came in the other way!"
AS she shouts, her hands reach up to grab more of the heavy stones cascading down from high above. They are slowed, deflected, and sent tumbling off to the sides of the pathway, to keep the Jedi safe from any that might cause serious injury!
"Keep going! We're almost there!" Rey adds loudly as she bounds over some of the rubble with a simple hopping leap!
Having slowed, Yuun keeps up the best he can. Though it does still take him a bit to shake things that just happened, he's stronger then this and as he reaches out with the force he physically jerks back at first losing his concentration. "I'm one with the force." he says as he starts to pick up his speed again and runs hoping they all will escape.
The traversal of the treacherous ground is covered rather quickly, some having trouble keeping up as the weight of the ceiling is held back by combined focus with the guided force. Portions of the massive piece of ceiling begin to break away, crumbling to slam against the ground here and there, making it an obstacle course for a few moments. It does not last long however as the first to break through the opening end up in a rockly plateau as they watch while the rest of the structure gives, like watching the ground itself sink in on itself. So little of the building has been left behind.
The last of the Jedi to escape into the open air can feel the rush of air as the piece finally hits the ground, especially Yuun who nearly felt it slide down his back.
Together they stand, dust covered, out of breath, nerves still a little shot with one holocron richer. Vhe lifts the colored scarf from her belt and extends the precious item towards Rey.
"I am not sure what portion of the Jedi grounds it was but its now lost...we can only hope the great library is somewhere else and reachable." The Ysanna lifts a hand to her wild dark curls, giving a shake of them to free the dust from their strands.
Nora Frayus bursts from the cave ahead of the others, but stays behind to attempt to hold that cave from collapsing in. An exercise in force manipulation, she turns and holds her hands out towards the top, biting her bottom lip and trying to clear the sound of her heartbeat and skittering music from her ears. But the alignment and understanding of it she had slips through her fingers the moment she attempts to control it. She can feel it, too. Thankfully, it slips through her fingers just as the last of the Jedi escapes that collapsing cave. Nora follows suit by collapsing backwards onto her butt with a laugh. And then onto her back with an even louder laugh. Is that a normal thing to do? Probably not.
But Lady Frayus is far from normal, isn't she?
"Haha... hahahaha.... hahahhahahaaha," she laughs, looking up at that strange and alien sky.
