A soft, calming voice lifted the blanket of sleep from my eyes. "Wake up," Soleil instructed, "We have arrived."
I rubbed the remaining sleep from my eyes, feeling well rested for the first time in weeks. Yawning, I watched Din descend the ladder, the child sitting on his shoulder and holding on tight to his helmet. The sight made me smile.
Once his feet hit the ground, Din turned to where I was still laying on the bench. Looking down at me, he said, "Are you feeling alright?"
I pushed myself up into the sitting position. "Yeah," I said truthfully, looking at his visor, "I feel really good, actually."
He nodded, content. I couldn't tell if he was about to say something else, but it wouldn't have mattered because Soleil interrupted, "You will have to remove your armor."
Din snapped his head to her, taking the child off of his shoulder and holding him in his arms. He asked coldly, "You want her to enter an unknown cave alone and without armor?"
Soleil arched a cocky brow at him. "You have your Way," She said cooly, mocking the religion of Mandalore, "And we have ours. She enters alone and without armor."
I felt Din's anger rolling off of him, so I gently grabbed his wrist and said, "It's okay. If it's what I have to do, I'll do it."
He leaned his head closer to me and said quietly, "I thought you didn't want to do this."
"I'll be okay," I reassured him with a small smile. "I promise."
My words didn't help take the edge away, but Din bit his tongue and didn't complain any further as I methodically removed the beskar from my body. I piled it neatly on the bench beside me, and to my surprise I felt quite naked without it. After seven years of living without it, it's ironic that now is when I feel stripped bare.
I stood up from my place on the bench, standing between Soleil and Din. Both of them stared at me. Soleil's gaze was warm and excited, while Din... Well, he looked how he always did. I could still feel his contempt towards Soleil, though. I highly doubted he would ever learn to trust her fully.
"Here," Soleil said, holding out a large white cloak similar to her own. "Ilum is a cold planet. You will need this."
"Thank you," I said gratefully, knowing full and well the meaning of the Jedi's cloak that was now in my possession. I hesitated only for a moment before wrapping the thick material around my body, fastening the chain around my neck and lifting the hood over my head.
I exhaled a long breath. "Alright," I breathed, glancing at the closed bay door, "Let's do this."
I focused on the door while Din placed the kid in a large satchel that was slung across his body. He pressed a few buttons, and the doors began to open. Sharp, cold air rushed into the cargo bay and I was instantly grateful for the cloak around my shoulders.
The doors hissed to a stop, revealing large pine trees covered in glistening while snow. The snow reflected the light of the full moon above, the star-filled sky turning murky grey. Which meant sunrise was approaching fast.
A slight breeze blew past and I felt my nose beginning to turn pink. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I took the first step off the ship and into the snow.
Once the three of us were outside the ship, Din pressed a button on his vambrace and the doors groaned to life again as they began to close.
I turned to Soleil and asked, "How do we get to the caves?"
She took a long, sweeping glance across the land before us. "You must lead us there."
"What? How am I supposed to do that?" I placed my hands on my hips. "I've never been here before."
Soleil tossed a knowing look in my direction and raised one of her razor sharp brows.
Groaning, I mumbled, "Do I really have to do everything?"
Soleil snorted. "You complain too much. Most of the younglings are more than accepting of their roles in The Gathering."
"Wait," I said, holding my hand in front of me. "Did you say younglings?"
"Yes," She stated matter-of-factly. "Before they can become Padawans, younglings must complete The Gathering and earn their saber. Most of them are only seven or eight years old upon receiving their crystal." She smiled slyly. "So this shouldn't be to much of a task for you, Mandalorian."
I grumbled some not so nice words in her direction, but if she or Din heard me, they didn't let on. In all honesty, Din looked extremely out of place. It was pretty obvious he didn't want to be here.
Ignoring the insult Soleil threw at me, I closed my eyes, dipping my hands into the cold river that I associated with the Force. It was getting easier now, tuning into the Force. Within a matter of seconds, I could feel the currents swirling and crashing around every animal, tree, and rock around me. The Force gently ruffled the fur on two large deer nearby, and it swirled around the sharp antlers of the larger one. I could also feel it curiously caressing Din's armor, like it didn't quite know what to think of the Mandalorian.
But what really surprised me was how it avoided Soleil completely. It was like there was a bubble -no, a vacuum- around her that the Force didn't dare penetrate.
But I ignored it all, focusing only on finding the caves. Because we were going to be in a whole lot of trouble if I couldn't even locate them.
But lucky for me, a lovely current began to flow past my ear, whispering to me that we needed to go to that way.
I pointed in front of me and slightly to the right. "It's that way," I stated confidently.
Din tossed me a sideways glance. "Are you sure?" He asked.
"Well," I said with an apologetic smile, "We're about to find out."
Taking the lead, I lead Din and Soleil away from the ship. Every so often I would spare a glance back at the Jedi. She seemed content, so I took that as I was going in the right direction.
The Force caressed my ear again. Go that way, it instructed me.
I veered our path slightly to the left now, avoiding a large patch of loose rocks and exposed dirt. We continued walking for what felt like hours. My toes and fingers were frozen and my nose was running from the chill, and the sun had begun to peak above the horizon.
Just as I was about to turn and snip at Soleil if I was just leading us in circles, we broke through the tree line and stared at a huge stone temple that was covered in snow. It was so massive I couldn't believe we couldn't see it from where we landed the Crest.
"It's huge," Din breathed in awe, the child cooing in agreement.
My eyes never left the glorious temple before me, but I could feel Soleil's approving look. "Congratulations," She said beside me, "You found the Jedi Temple. Your first task is complete."
Pride and satisfaction swelled in my chest. But it quickly faded away when I realized the entrance to the Temple was blocked by sheer block of ice. I stared wide-eyed at the massive ice block. It had to have been at least five feet thick and sixty feet tall. It completely filled the entrance and it was frozen solid.
My breathing quickened as I began to lose hope. I was so close, I could feel the crystals in the cave calling to me from inside, but from what I could sense, this was the only point of entry into the Temple.
"No," I breathed, leaping up the slippery stone steps three at a time. "There has to be another way in. There has to be."
Din and Soleil weren't far behind. Din spoke to the child quietly as he lifted him out of the satchel and tucked him in close to his body to keep him warm. Soleil stopped next to me, placing one of her hands on the unforgiving ice in the entryway.
"This is your second task," She explained. "You must find a way into the Temple."
My jaw dropped as I snapped my head to the side to look at her. "Are you serious?" I barked. "There's no way I can get us in there!"
Her yellow eyes flickered again. "Yes there is."
I scoffed. "I can't break through this ice," I stated, slapping it with my hand for added effect, "It's too thick."
"A Jedi always prevails." That was her only advice before stepping back, giving me enough room to try and figure out how to find my way through this damn block of ice.
I cursed, shaking my head as I faced the ice once more. I tilted my head back to look all the way up to the top of the doorway.
How the hell was I supposed to get through it?
All of a sudden, sharp flickering heat blasted by my face. I jumped out of the way of the stream of flames that was coming from Din's vambrace as he approached the ice wall. The flames licked their way up the ice, trying to burn their way though.
"Din," I muttered as I glanced at his determined form, "I don't think that's going to work-"
His vambrace clicked and the flames stopped. Once the smoke lifted away, it was clear the flames had no impact on the ice. There wasn't even an indentation from where the intensity of the flames was the highest.
Din sighed in frustration. "It was worth a shot," He mumbled as he backed away from the wall.
Tearing my gaze away from him, I exhaled in determination as I placed my bare hands on the ice. The frozen block wasn't even slightly warmed from the flames.
"Alright," I muttered to the ice, "Show me a way through."
I commanded the Force to melt the ice, but the current surrounding it was one of the strongest I had ever felt. No matter how strongly I willed myself, the current pushed me out every single time.
"Damnit!" I shouted, slamming my fist into the ice block.
All of a sudden, the ice cracked and fissured, expanding outwards rapidly from where I punched it. The ice groaned under its own weight now that it was splintered.
"Jeyna, watch out!" Din yelled behind me as I staggered back, afraid that it would all come crashing to the ground on top of me.
But the ice held. I glanced over my shoulder to Din and Soleil, who were both balanced and ready should the ice shatter.
I nodded my head in their direction. "You may want to step back," I cautioned them.
Both of them took a few steps back. Once I knew they were far enough away, I turned back to the ice and closed my eyes, preparing myself to hit the ice again.
I reared my fist back and slammed it into the ice with every ounce of strength I had. The ice splintered as soon as my fist touched it, tearing the skin on my knuckles to shreds. I cried out, clutching my bleeding hand with my other one, careful not to smear my blood on my white cloak. But I snapped my head up as the ice groaned and fissured again, more and more cracks streaking from the impact of my fist. It kept groaning louder, quaking as it resisted collapse until a large piece near the middle slipped, compressed by the sheer weight of the frozen water. Then the entire slab came raining down, shattering like glass as it slammed into the stone beneath it.
The ground shook, nearly knocking me on my ass as I stumbled backwards to avoid the falling ice shards of death. I whipped my head to Din, who was clutching the kid tightly. Soleil just stared at the ice as it collapsed, her mouth wide open in terror and awe.
Once the large plume of snow settled, the pitch black mouth of the Temple yawned before us. I stared into the dark, encapsulated by the feel of the Force flowing inside. It felt inviting and repulsing at the same time, a mix of the pressing darkness and the light that that threatened to shine through.
I jumped when a large gloved hand reached for my injured hand. "Hey," Din said comfortingly, "It's okay. Can I see?"
I stared into his visor as he slowly took my hand into his. As carefully as he could, he wiped away the excess blood without touching the cuts on my knuckles.
Soleil cleared her throat and Din looked over my shoulder as I turned to face her. Her eyebrows shot up as she said, "We don't have all day."
Din sighed, his helmet closer to my ear than I expected. "Right," He whispered flatly, but he squeezed my wrist in encouragement.
I quickly gave him a close lipped smile before pulling away from his warmth, my tongue flicking over my chapped bottom lip. I let out a long exhale, preparing myself for whatever was about to get thrown my way. I didn't know what was supposed to happen now, but I had a dark feeling that I was not going to like it.
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Word count: 2273
Well, here's Ilum, planet of the kyber crystals! This place gets very interesting, and the next few chapters have been some of my favorite to write (except episode 6 chapters, since episode 6 is my FAV episode). So, hope you enjoy them!!
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Ch 15 published: January 20th, 2021