A Darkened Gathering - Part Four

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She turned towards one of the three remaining tunnels and started into it. For her, staying close to others had always sort of come from a “safety in numbers” sort of feeling she had always been taught by other Taurans. It was instilled in her from birth to always learn to trust others before she trusted herself. Master Ambris’s training had only enforced that somewhat, always with him defending and protecting her when she couldn't do it herself. Of course, in these caves, there was little to be afraid of – right?

The tunnel sloped steeply downward after a few metres, and seemed to curve around, almost as though it were spiralling out and down. The longer she followed it, the more Katyra began to feel her anxiety increase – what if she ended up at the very core of the planet? Well, she told herself, at least it didn't seem as though it would be too difficult to find her way back--

“Hey! I said don't follow me!”

Katyra whirled around to see Traxos scowling at her, crouched beside a small collection of rocks as though he had been hiding from her. Katyra felt herself frown in response.

“I didn't. I took a totally different tunnel to the one you took.” She tilted her head as he stood up. “Were you hiding from me?”

“No,” he said quickly, enough that it was clear he was trying to hide the truth. Katyra relaxed slightly. “Okay, maybe I was, but you didn't listen to the stories Q'taran was telling us. There's monsters in these tunnels, wild things that were once kids like us, who never left and still look for their kyber crystals.”

“It's just a story,” Katyra sighed, rolling her eyes. “He probably said it because he knew it would scare you. If you fail to find your crystal, he has to accompany you the next time you try – and that's one more trip out of Coruscant for him.”

Traxos frowned as he stood up. “You think he'd really do that? Try to sabotage us just so he gets to go off-world again?”

Katyra shrugged. “You and I have a different understanding of the Jedi.” She told him softly, folding her arms and looking away. “So, where do you want to go from here? If you wait, I'll go on my way, and you can go find your own way.”

“Actually,” Traxos grinned at her, “I sorta found a cave full of crystals back that way a bit. I didn't see any in there that were mine, though, so I didn't stick around – but maybe yours will be there?”

Katyra hesitated, wary of some sort of trap. Traxos was exactly the type to play such a prank on her – but, she reminded herself, he was somewhat afraid of the dark. Maybe he wanted the company.

“Why show me?” She asked, “You’d just be wasting time you could spend finding your own crystal.”

Traxos shrugged impatiently. “Who cares? Do you wanna see this massive cave or not?”

“Okay, show me,” Katyra replied. It seemed to be the signal he’d been waiting for, because he took off running back up the tunnel, disappearing into a narrow side crevice.

Katyra followed him, struggling to keep up with her shorter legs. “Traxos, wait! I’m not that fast!”

“Come on, Besalisk! Hurry up!”

Katyra paused, listening suddenly as his words seemed to echo around the tunnels, sound coming from every direction. How had he done that with his voice? Unless…

Katyra groaned, stopping dead in her tracks and smacking herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. Of course; Q’taran had even tried to warn them about apparitions.

“I did think he was being oddly friendly,” she itted to the darkness. Her own voice echoed back softly, much more calming to her own ears. She figured she was going to have to get used to being alone; these caves were huge, and she doubted she would “accidentally” encounter any of her classmates now.

She decided to continue following the path the phantom Traxos had started her down, pushing her way through the ever-narrowing crevice, to the point where she found herself jammed between the two walls, squeezing her way through. She could see just ahead that the fissure would widen, but she had a bit further to go before that happened.

Exhaling, Katyra tried to flatten herself as much as she could, but she found that she had reached a point where she could no longer go forward. Pinned between the two icy sheets of rock, she huffed breathlessly before trying to go back the way she’d come – only to find that she couldn’t.

She was stuck.

As if to make things worse, Katyra realised that where she had wedged herself in, there wasn’t even enough room for her to draw a full breath. She began to feel the stirrings of panic suddenly, realising that she was trapped and likely to suffocate if she was unable to get enough breath – and as the panic set in, she felt her breath shortening.

“Help!” She called out, hoping against hope that someone was nearby and would find her. The panic was making her dizzy, and being unable to draw breath only seemed to make it worse. Why’d she have to trust that light? Why didn’t she turn back when she probably should have?

She called out again, but quickly realised that she could barely draw enough breath to call out properly. The panic was almost overwhelming, and she felt hot tears welling up in her eyes as she struggled again, trying to push her way through the narrow point. The walls felt like they were crushing her, closing in ever tighter, and Katyra couldn’t help herself.

There was a sharp, pained scream, followed by the sound of ice and stone cracking. Katyra staggered sideways as the pressure was released, falling onto her side. Her head struck the ground hard, a sharp pain cutting through her skull.

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