The Beginning Path

19 BBY, Coruscant

A DARK FIGURE

turned its speeder down the street towards an alley secluded from the upper city and the lower as well. Throwing away a can of Jawa juice in the trash compartment, the figure walked into the alley and out of its pocket came out a holoprojector. She looked left and right and went deeper to record a call. A soft hum sounded as a blue projection swelled like a balloon into a figure of a hooded man.

"Master, I have found the Holocron!" the figure said soundly.

"Good, now we can proceed with our plan!" the hooded man said.

"But I still need it!" Since the figure had captured the Holocron, there had to be something that concerned it to this extent.

"What for?" the figure seemed concerned for a moment.

"She's becoming an obstacle, she's way better than I expected!" she rose her voice.

"Kill her then!"

"What? Are you crazy?" she choked, never had she thought her mission was this desperate. "No way!"

"Power comes with a heavy cost!" he explained, "are you ready to pay?"

She sighed.

"Keep it, for now. It will make way to me, regardless!"

"Yes master," she bowed her head in humility.

"Do what is must, no one must get in the way!" the holocom closed and she put down her hood revealing her face behind the disguise, the face of Jysell!

She then shook the Holocron hoping it would open, but in frustration it refused. She then set it down and closed her eyes, letting the force take over her. All of a sudden, it floated...opening! Once again it's edges slid together and came apart. Floating in request of its beholder.

"Show me, Ilum!" she uttered.

A map appeared in it's Hologram showing trajectories of hyperspace lanes and one that lead to the edge of the unknowns. "Jackpot!" she grunted. Grabbing the whole thing together and leaving at once.

-

On a beautiful early morning, the clear water shone a bright orange tone mixed with the light blue hue of the water. The training session today was to take place underwater, so Kema sat on the seafloor attempting to lift boulders with the force. All while trying to stay in place Xido brought a chair, of course, and sat on the seafloor somehow not floating and even speaking to the fish. Totally mocking Kema in the process.

"What happened at the temple Kema?" Xido spoke inside her head, but before Kema comprehended it, she let go of the rocks. "Why did you drop them?"

Trying to talk through the water she said, "master what's happening?"

"Focus, close your mouth or you will drown!" she barked. "Close your mind and let the force take over. Remembering what dark Kema said in the temple, she swam up and down to a handstand and went again. Stretching her hand the rock began to glide. Opening her eyes she was shocked.

"Drop it, let's go up for some air!" she spoke in her head. Kema dropped the rock one more time and swam up to the water surface then towards the beach.

"You are strong, stronger than I expected." Xido smiled. "But you can only be stronger when you be patient and trust in the force!" Kema had been training for a while now, she knew the basics. Proficiently an expert in Shii-Cho and a student in Ataru. Her form was...far from the best but still going well, surprisingly Xido never quit on her. However, she noticed her progress.

"I understand!" she smiled. Looking onwards she found Zena on the shores with a few clones coming in for a swim. Goldie would yell "first to the island and back gets my be," then meeting up with Zena for some splashing. Walking towards Zena she gazed upon her eyes.

"Wow, you're a diver?" Zena punched Kema. She walked from the beach towards the shore to meet Kema after a long training session. Her trousers were pulled up close to the knees revealing some flawless legs that Kema couldn't miss, but was taken out by the punch.

"Ow...apparently yes!" Kema replied. "I've never liked water, now somehow I breathe longer!" looking back at the water she felt the breeze.

"The force is unnatural!" she laughed. "I guess it has now awakened in you!" Kema gazed back at Zena taking in what she had just said.

Her comms then began beeping loudly, "Yes sir, what's the news?"

"The Jedi Council has summoned you to the Planet Cif, some of our men crashed there from a previous battle and they are in a dilemma," Bothka called in as Kema stared in curiosity.

"What is happening?" Kema asked puzzled.

"It's Cif our men are surrounded by billions of droids!" Zena looked back.

"Well what are we waiting for let's move!" she began running towards the base as hundreds of clones emerged from the water.

"No you can't come, it's dangerous,"

"I'm sorry Zena, that's my home!" she laughed, approaching anger.

"Kema, she's right! Besides we have somewhere to go ourselves," Bothka informed her as he ran towards the beach from the base.

"Master?"

"You have to leave," she smiled at her! "This is more important, trust me!"

-

Xido and Zena proceeded to base as Bothka and Kema headed to a nearby starship and prepared to leave for Ilum. Punching the counter near the door, she grunted furiously.

"Calm down Kema, anger is not the way to resolve problems now is it?" he uttered calmly.

"Yes, but that my home I have to go to!" she paced around the platform taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You will be alright, besides I think you already know this will pass. It's been taught to you before," he smiled looking back as he lifted off. Sitting down next to him, she buckled up and memory in her head lit up.

"Wait a minute, did you teach us at Dael before?"

"Yes, how did you know?" she examined his face. Quickly she noticed his fresh new trim, with little grey hairs peeking. He had a heavy moustache that he now cut, and now she had the puzzle piece fit.

"I remember you," she laughed.

"Well I'm sorry if I don't, I'm getting quite old for my age," he chuckled a wheeze, then proceeded to punch in the hyperspace coordinates and pulling the lever. Blasting into lightspeed!

It was a sight to see, for Kema it was one of those experiences she'd never felt. Her eyes kept centred at the path in front and the whirling wormhole almost hypnotized her to sleep. Quickly she blinked about a million times and came to her senses, "so have you been to Ilum?"

"Oh yea, a long time ago, about forty years ago" Kema closed in, paying attention. "We went with about seven people, you know the normal thing!"

"Master Yoda went with us and we entered the temple with our warm winter coats and nothing but the force,"

"So with his old magic somehow he cracked the freezing gate open and we all as little rats ran inside with no idea of what was going to happen!"

"So I did, what I could...went through some...trouble and ran out just in time before the gate froze over.

"Woah, what happened in there?" she grabbed her seat in excitement.

"That's none of your business!" he halted fast.

"Oh," she frowned.

"But it's a personal moment, I'm sure you'll have one!" he smiled.

"Surely not like the one back in the bay right?" she trembled.

"No, either better or worse!"

She returned to her comfy position and rubbed her arms shivering. All that she knew going into Ilum was that it was her only path to becoming a Jedi. In her honesty, she expected to be tested by the dark side, but deep down she knew she was ready. She only wanted to rush in and rush out.

"Oh don't forget, run to the cabinet over there and pick one item from each drawer!" he pointed towards a spot behind him. "Bring them to me,"

The ship jumped out of hyperspace and appeared at an egress point looking towards Ilum. The planet looked like a snowball, no sign on greenery or any oceans. There were rocky areas but it was all covered in ice. As Bothka drove the ship towards the site he last remembered he gave Kema his sabre, "twist the top and pry it open!"

Doing so a light green crystal slipped out, and rested on her palm. "That is what you're looking for!" he said as he landed the ship close to an opening near two mounds.

"Do I just pick one or?"

"Find one that catches your attention!" he said before he opened the door, bringing in the howling Ilum wind and it's dropping temperatures.

"What about this one?"

"Keep it, I might as well retire!" he escorted her out of the deck and onto the cold ground.

"Remember you will be tested! The dark side is relentless and will take anything it can grasp."

"You're an old man, and still being tugged by the dark side?" Kema laughed.

"Little one, the dark side is not even a matter of discussion!" he chuckled, "you could die, people, you love could die!" Immediately she thought of her friends and even Zena!

"I mean, that should be a problem, but be wary!"

"What do I do if I get hurt in there?" she asked loudly as she walked outside towards the entrance.

"Walk it off!" he laughed.

"I don't know if I like him," she sighed under her breath. "Hopefully I don't die, but let's see who the force thinks I am!" Running into the entrance.

As she entered the cave, she remembered her master's training. "When you go, try to feel the history there!" Placing her hand the ground, she heard voices of the past and saw ghosts of children and their master accompanying them into the cave. She determined they were here to become Jedi.

"That young huh?" she chuckled.

The entrance was small, chilly with a slight echo which opened to a little valley with a maze. She opened her holodisk to reveal where the combinations were and surveyed the room. Where there was a particular ball, there was a giant crater which would fit perfectly. To get the ball there she force pushed the ball to glide and in no time the ball locked in to reveal an opening.

The opening was a hole in the wall about four meters in the air, so her training came in handy. She ran up the wall and force jumped to catch the edge with mere fingertips. Pulling herself upward she ran all the way to a three-way door.

One was dark, one with a light at the end and one with ice protruding like sharp points. Running towards the light she came to a hall. The ceiling was held up by pillars and this reminded her of the Jedi temple back at Yossut.

"Woah that's not what I'm looking for!" at the dead centre was most likely a huge kyber crystal the size of a bantha. The light was being bounced off of it, so she again checked her holodisk to see the next checkpoint.

"Up ahead!" surprisingly the icy gate was half-open as if it had just been opened.

"Wait a minute,"