So I took influence for this from the Clone Wars episodes, but added a few liberties here and there, such as the crystal-adorned entry hall, and the conversation about the colours. Keep in mind, these events are taking place around 90 BBY, so a good 70 years before the era we know and love.
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"Jedi don't carry red."
She wanted to argue, point out the red crystals she saw in the entry, but the venom in his words made her feel too anxious to speak up. Instead, she bowed her head in mute acceptance of his statement.
“When the sun rises,” Q'taran began anew, “It will shine through the crystal up there, which will focus the light onto the smaller crystal, which will redirect it to the top of the ice sheet covering the archway, breaking it. Once the ice is broken, you'll only have a few hours to find your crystal, before the door is frozen over again. Once the door is frozen over, there won't be anything anyone can do for you for a whole rotation.”
Katyra wanted to point out that the door was only made of ice, which could be broken with enough strength – but she had already decided she had spoken up one too many times on this journey. Best to just keep her thoughts to herself, she decided, lest she alienate the others.
“The sun! Look!”
Kendra's cry made them all look up at the great crystal hanging from the ceiling, which was beginning to turn within the mechanism it was mounted in. They watched as it moved, catching the sun's light and focusing it into a single, narrow beam. The smaller crystal mounted on another mechanism that orbited the main one, crossed into the path of the light beam, reflecting it back towards a point at the top of the door.
Exactly as Q'taran had told them, the ice began to crack, before completely shattering. Shards of ice rained down, swept along in the water that had been trapped within the ice, cascading down the flight of stairs that led up to it and into the shallow drainage trenches at the base of the steps.
“Go on,” Q'taran told them with a grin and a grand, sweeping gesture, “Your personal journey awaits!”
Traxos was the first to charge forward into the opening, closely followed by Cjarxin. Katyra glanced at the others, before grabbing Kendra's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze – Kendra looked just as nervous as Katyra felt.
“We stick together, right?” She asked, and Kendra nodded, starting forward.
They were only a few metres into the cave before the darkness seemed to surround them almost completely. Katyra felt Kendra's hand tighten around hers, and she squeezed back reassuringly. Drawing on the Force, she began to reach out, using the energies of everything to paint her a better picture of their surroundings.
“There's light up ahead,” she told Kendra softly, leading her onwards, “The others have stopped there.”
“How do you know? I can't see a thing,” Kendra stated. Katyra smiled.
“A pathway to many abilities, the Force is,” she stated in her best impression of Master Yoda, “Seeing without light, only one of them.”
Kendra giggled, before hushing Katyra. “You shouldn't make fun of Master Yoda like that! But you are very good at mimicking him.”
“It was Master Yoda who told me that,” Katyra replied, doing her best to sound wounded, “I wasn't making fun of him. He's a very wise Master, and if not for his wisdom, I would still be on Taros!”
They continued forward, stepping into a small circular space. Almost immediately, the transition from darkness to light was noticeable, and Katyra looked at Traxos and Cjarxin.
“Are we going to stick together?” Kendra asked the two boys. They could hear footsteps behind them, and the other two of their group ed them.
“He did say that it's meant to be a personal journey,” Traxos stated, “So it's probably better if we do split up – then we don't have to wait for each other. We can maximise our time on our own tasks.”
“He makes a fair point,” Ruadri stated with a nod, “Okay, so we all split up and meet up back in the temple. Sound okay?”
“What if we get lost?” Kendra asked. Traxos was already starting off on his own, following one of the many caves away from them. He turned back to them, shrugging.
“Use the Force,” he told them, “You can find your way, no problem! I'm gonna go this way – nobody follow me!”
Katyra frowned slightly at his comment, but shrugged it off – why would anybody want to follow him? She looked at Kendra, who was chewing on her lip.
“It'll be dark,” she stated, “And this place is so big – we might get lost.”
“All the answers to your problems lay in the Force,” Cjarxin shrugged. “So, I guess we split up and find our crystals, and I'll see you guys back out in the temple,”
Katyra felt the pit of her stomach drop as she realised the others were nodding. If they split up, it meant she would have to be alone. She grabbed for Kendra's hand as the others began to move off down other caves, following their instincts.
“We can stick together,” she offered, relying on Kendra's own nervousness to be the reason the other girl chose to stay close. She was disappointed, however, when Kendra straightened up, throwing her shoulders back.
“No, they're right,” she stated, “We don't have much time, and I don't want you to miss out entirely. We should split up – but if we find our crystals, call out and we can try to help each other. Does that sound okay?”
Katyra nodded numbly, feeling her nervousness seem to fill her completely. Kendra was abandoning her, too, but she felt like she was unable to voice this fear, because she couldn't possibly use her own fear to deny her only friend's wish.
“Okay. And if we don't hear from each other,” she stated, “We just... meet back with the others.”
“Yeah,” Kendra nodded, before laying a hand on Katyra's shoulder. “It'll be okay. You're strong, Katyra. You'll do great.”
“You, too,” Katyra said, almost automatically. She nodded slowly, “You're gifted, and you're braver than you think you are. Don't let your fears get to you.”
Kendra smiled at her, before turning and departing down another tunnel. Katyra watched her go, before sighing heavily.
She was alone.
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