The caves of Illum are cold. Not the cold of a fridge. Not the cold of a freezer. Not even the cold of snow covered winter day. No, the caves of Illum are the cold of a planet far from the warm glow of its local star, buried deep into the ice of the surface, and built on the frozen core of a planet only considered alive because it has a breathable atmosphere and the kyber crystals we are looking for are apparently living crystalline lifeforms. The cold had managed to creep through the thick coat I wore and I could feel the chill in my bones.

The task before us was to identify an actual kyber crystal from the ice and the only way to do so was to find the crystal that called out to us. A test of our ability to listen to the Force and hear what it is saying. If not for the proof of such being possible, I would have laughed it off as pseudoscientific sounding religious dribble, but here I am following a path because a feeling not from myself was directing me this way.

Shit! My flashlight just went out. And now I can't see a thing. Ok, calm down. Master Yoda told us there would be trials we would have to face during this and that overcoming them and trusting in the Force were all important to successful completion.

So, look at the problem logically. I cannot see due to my light going out. The solution would be to get a new light. My materials available include a flashlight that stopped working, my clothes, a comm in case of emergencies, and the Force. There are records of Sith creating lightning out of the Force, so it is possible to manifest things out of the Force.

Carefully taking a meditative position to not get closer to the edge of the pit I had been traveling around, I begin to breathe slowly and steadily, focusing on what I need. My hands are cupped in front of me to focus my energy into trying to create a little ball of light. Slowly, as I breathe steadily and stay calm, I can see a small spark of light appear before my confidence takes over and feeds it into a brighter and brighter light.

Looking around, I can see that I had missed a few details of my surroundings with the flashlight's limited spot of illumination. These caves had a beautiful striation of blues and purples mixed within the white of the icy walls. Shaking my head to end that musing, I stood back up to continue my task. It would not do to get distracted and waste too much time when the entrance will freeze over come sundown.

Following the whisper of feeling deeper into the cave, I find myself at a rather perilous spot. I can feel the crystal I have been looking for in the middle of another pit. I can even see it from where I stand, on what looks practically like a pedestal in the middle, practically floating as it sod proud in the middle of a round area, walls smooth with no safe way down and no safe way up.

Gritting my teeth, I can feel my anger rising. This is where my crystal is? If I turn back then I will surely be cast out of the order, a penniless orphan having to make it on the streets. I have not heard of anyone being given a second chance at the Gathering and it was key to getting a major component of the badge of office they Jedi had when dealing with the outside world.

And if I go down there with no plan, then I would die of either starvation or hypothermia. A horrible death either way for its long drawn out nature. At least the train crashing into me was a swift death, even if the moment before death was dragged out by that damnable Being X.

Taking a suffering breath, I push my anger down and focus. Focusing on my breathing and lightly meditating as I thought on this, I could feel a grin begin to form on my lip.

Why would the Jedi be so focused on telekinesis and on body reinforcement when using the Force if they didn't want us to combine the two. Keeping the light going while I did this would be tricky with me having to split my focus, but I could manage.

First I wrap myself in the Force, I can feel it lightly squeezing over my entire body as I want to have a firm hold so I don't slip and can move freely. Then, carefully at first, I lift myself.

This is what I was hoping to feel on the spaceship. Weightlessly floating now to gently move me down into the pit. Careful and slow for now, I can experiment with flying later after I get to safety. With a gentle landing, I reach out and grab my prize, happy that all I needed to do now was find my way back.

Touching the crystal, the world warps around me and I hear a voice that sets the hair on my neck on edge.

—-

After Yoda sent the youngling off into the caves of Illum, he began to meditate to await their return. It always filled his heart with joy to be surrounded with beings filled with as much light as the young and innocent. Watching as they fumble into learning lessons that can only be taught with experience and the understanding slowly dawning on their faces will never get old, the simple joy of leaving ignorance behind for knowledge was a wonderfully precious thing.

The fact there was always one who would rush in and grab a random ice crystal thinking it was a kyber crystal that would work for a lightsaber was also always good for a laugh. Always one patience is the lesson needed.

Settling into meditation, Yoda reached out with his senses to feel the progress each youngling was making. Oh, it would appear some needed a lesson in working with others, a common problem for the young to focus so much on the individual and overlook the group.

Suddenly Yoda was knocked out of his meditation as a large surge in the force occurred.

"Tanya?" Yoda did not notice himself giving name to the one at the center of the surge, focusing more on what it could mean.

In nearly a thousand years of life, Yoda has not felt anything like this. Light and Dark side swirling and mixing and separating, but not fighting, instead dancing in harmony. And then it suddenly cuts out. Standing up, Yoda looks to the Padawan Learner he had brought with him. Anakin Skywalker, here helping with the Gathering while his Master was stuck in the medical center.

"Here you will wait. Investigate disturbance, I will."

Anakin nodded his head in agreement, distracted trying to understand what he had just felt in the Force.

—-

"So we meet again."

"Being X."

"There is no need to take that tone with me, for I am here to give you a boon."

"I don't want it. I want nothing to do with you."

"You seem to be under the impression you have a choice. Conflict is coming and you will be trapped in the middle of it all. If you wish to survive, you will require my help."

"So you once again ignore the wishes of others, failing to understand the nature of a transactional relationship."

"Oh no, I understand perfectly fine. To gain my power, all you will need is to have the kyber crystal I am blessing with you and ask for my help. Eventually, you will choose to pay for my power with True Faith."

"I doubt that will ever happen."

—-

Yoda came to the pit that Tanya had gone down into in record time, and was surprised when she came floating out of it, an ease to flight he had not thought capable of without a skilled pilot in a starship. An ease made clear with her being distracted while looking at the crystal she held in her hand as a little light ball bobbed up and down in front of her.

"Ok, you are?" Yoda asked as he moved closer to the young girl.

"Hm? Oh, Master Yoda. I found my crystal," Tanya answered with distracted air about her, showing him the crystal.

"Hmm, interesting," Yoda said, taking a closer look at the crystal, noting several oddities. First was the size. While kyber crystals could grow to massive sizes, the ones on Illum tended towards the smaller size due to the regular cultivation the Jedi made of them for their lightsabers. The one in Tanya's hand would work in a lightsaber, but if Yoda was any judge it would only just fit as one of the larger crystals usable for such purposes. The second thing Yoda noticed was a colored core to the lightsaber, a gold core deep within the otherwise clear crystal. The crystals of Illum all started off clear due to not being attuned to a Force presence yet. Indeed, the color a crystal turned often said something about the use of the crystal. To find one partially attuned was an interesting mystery.

Possibly one attached to Tanya's rebirth.

"Escort you out, I will," Yoda declared, leading Tanya towards the entrance of the cave.

—-

In the end, all of us near rejects ended up finding crystals and could move onto building our lightsabers. We had access to all the parts we could possibly need in a large variety of materials, a clear sign of the wealth the Jedi had as an organization to have a large variety of super specialized parts that only they could use. The instructions we got were simple and amounted to certain parts had to be used, but the goal was to create something comfortable to use.

The first thought I had was of my favorite pen from my last life, a gift from the company for five years of excellent service and a recent deal I had managed to close before I moved into my role in Human Resources where I spent the last years of my previous life. It was a sleek metal thing well balanced. Primarily it was a dark metal shined to perfection with chrome accents.

With this in mind, the parts I gathered were made from a mix of a zirconium and cobalt alloys for the main portions of the body and a ceramic/carbon fiber composite material for the grip. While I am no designer, I found I do like the aesthetics of the saber I had constructed. And with a flick of my wrist, I found it had a very satisfying spin in my hand while deactivated.