Broken Beginnings (A Star Wars: Clone Wars fanfic)

Chapter 42: The Gathering Part 2

Alexa POV

We walked into a dark cavern and looking around I could just see large crystals rising from the ground and stone statues of hooded figures baring swords that loomed above us at the edges of the cave.  What really attracted my attention however was the wall of ice at the back of the cavern that ran from the ceiling and reached the floor, something about it seemed odd.  I got the feeling that it would have something to do with the test we were about to complete.

Before I could think about it too much however, someone else caught my eye.  Master Yoda was sitting on a small platform just in front of us and he gave a warm smile as we approached.  Once we stood in front of him we bowed to Yoda as Rendal moved forward to stand at his side before the Grand Master began to speak.

"The Force made physical, a Jedi is. Comes with great responsibility that, yes? Protect others, how does a Jedi?  Hm?" Moving his cloak slightly he brought forth his lightsaber so that it hovered in front of us and activated by use of the Force, the green blade captivating the younglings. "Build your own lightsabers you shall, but first harvest your crystal, each one of you must." The others started murmuring amongst themselves, while i stayed quiet and respectful, my gaze never leaving the alien before me as he brought the sober back into his hands, deactivating it before gently tapping it's side. "The heart of a Jedi's lightsaber, it is. Focuses the Force from the Jedi, it does."

Reaching up with his hands I felt the Force move around him as we heard the sound of stones sliding against one another, causing us to turn and look to where a small panel near the roof had moved aside to allow light to shine through the gap. The light hit a large crystal that came down from the ceiling, held by a metal contraption of sorts that allowed it to rotate as the light refracted from it, turning into smaller beams with moved about the room until they shone onto smaller crystals. One such crystal, that would still have been larger than my head, concentrated a beam of light so that it hit the door on the other side of the cave. We all watched as the door lit up and the ice that had been covering it started to turn to water.

Watching the ice melt into a waterfall filled me with awe, though somewhere in the pit of my stomach I could feel dread starting to creep into my systems. Something tells me that's where we have to go.

Master Yoda turned to gesture to the door. "If Jedi you are to become, enter the crystal cave you must. Trust yourself, trust each other, and succeed you will." He turned back to look at us, trying to give us confidence.

We then walked over to the door and Rendal started to tell us the rest of the details of the mission.

"Once you have your crystal, don't stay in the cave to have a look around. Once the sun goes down the door will refreeze and any of you who are still inside will be trapped. If that happens then you will be forced to remain inside for a full rotation. No one will be able to help you."

I fought to suppress a shudder as I heard him explain what would happen if we were unable to get out in time.  Being stuck in there for a night was not something that appealed to me.  So I had to get it in and out quickly, having found a tiny crystal no bigger than my palm in a maze of caves.  Piece of cake.  Not.  But that's why we were doing the test, to prove we were worthy.

"How will we know which crystal is ours?" Caller asked, frowning.

"You will know." Was the only answer given. "You need to go now or you won't make it out, so hurry."

With a small nod I glanced back at Rendal one last time, seeing him give me a split second smile, before I headed into the cavern.

Once inside we quickly found out that it was colder inside this part of the cave than where we had been with Master Yoda and Rendal, this was definitely not a place I wanted to be stuck in for any longer than I had to be. "This place is freezing." Ayara shivered as she spoke.