One Loth-Wolf, Two Padawan, Three Jedi, Four Younglings (( note ^^ indicates translated into Standard))

"It wasn't that long ago, really, but it was quite far from here." The local Twi'lek pointed his shovel upwards, to the mountain in the distance. "It's farther than it looks, and bigger too."

Mochifa Ne nodded and thanked him, and nudged her padawan into looking that direction with her. Dari was, apparently, slightly more interested in looking at the younger farm hand nearby, but remembered their task here and stood closer to the tall Cerean. The mountain in the distance was where some exotic event had occurred, no one could really say what it was - as reports varied across the town let alone the sector. But anyone with a shred of Force sensitivity had felt 'something', and the closer they got, the more visible the effects had been. Mochifa decided to head back to their ship, where the others were waiting. It would be easier to move the ship than walk some several hundred kilometers on foot, after all.

A low cruise over the canyons and foot-hills later, they realized that the 'couple hundred kilometers' was indeed quite deceptive. The mountain that this event seemed to be centered upon was truly massive, and the land around it was broken by many millennia of upheavals and hollowing collapses. Almost like the mountain was moving away from the inhabited area...

The Purrgil herd was the first indication that they were on the right track, and Ivah'dasa was positive that they knew more than they'd shared with her during her meditation on their ship. High above, barely visible in the daylit sky over this rugged world, they actually circled now. Normally they might descend to the atmosphere of a gas giant, but this world was terrestrial, and though they could obviously 'breathe' the oxygenated air here, they weren't here to refuel on their interstellar journey. They were here for the same reason this group of Jedi and Padawan were: this event had alerted them, too.

Eagerly the younglings watched their descent from the broad window of their ship's observation deck. The ship was small enough to find a reasonable landing spot, but too large to head into the rocky crevasses that wound their way up to the peak. And of course, the peak was where the most Force activity was centered. So it would be a climb. Nothing that a few of them weren't prepared for, obviously, but the younglings would need a few moments rest here and there. Master Kuwwippuy would lift the Rodians onto his shoulders, easily laughing off their weight, and inspiring the young Wookiee Raycholokli to offer aid to their smallest member, Ivah'dasa. Together they all ascended the rough terrain, and together they all discussed the Force that drew them upwards.

"It's so strong," Eshnur commented, idly letting his tentacles 'sniff' the air. "I can all but smell the Force up there... along with some other things. I've... never smelled or sensed them."

Master Mochifa once more nodded deeply, "indeed," she said, "there are things there I have not experienced either." The others pondered this, very-slightly worried, since she was their anchor, their highest ranking member.

As the leader of the expedition, Mochifa had brought her two former padawan and now masters in their own right, Syruk Lis and Kuwwippuy, and their own padawan, along with several younglings who were nearly of age to begin their own padawan journeys. Though she was younger than the Wookiee, Mochifa had climbed the ranks of Jedi mastery, and was much better suited to leading such a group, than their large Wookiee companion. But each brought something to the group, and Mochifa was determined to have them all learn from it, regardless of what was up there on that now-nearer peak.

"It's almost like there is a presence," Ivah'dasa said, quietly, "not a bad one, but... a presence. Calling us?"

^^It calls loudly,^^ Raycholokli agreed, ^^I wonder... it is a creature, not a person? Or - is it?^^

"It could be both," Syruk confirmed, a rare grin on his red lips. "We will see soon. Should we continue on, or take a break? The sky is growing dark."

Ciizla was obviously ready for a rest, even with the boost earlier in their hike. So rather than push their luck and be exhausted by the time they reached their destination, Mochifa instructed where to put their gear, Kuwwippuy stood guard for a while and was replaced by Eshnur later, and most of the group slept soundly until dawn.

Most of them but not all. Ciizla, first asleep but also first to wake with an odd sensation startling her, sat and looked at the others. Eshnur obviously noted her waking up, but gave a little wave of his tentacles: he was on watch, she was safe to sleep further. Then Raycholokli too, overlapping the Rodian's wakefulness by just a few minutes. The young Wookiee gave gentle calls, as she drifted back into slumber. They were both sensitive in the same manner as he was, Eshnur's strength was in his Force use, rather than his combat techniques. So he wondered, perhaps, would one of them become his own padawan some day?

Eventually as the night sky gave way to the soft yellows and pinks of dawn, the group roused and gathered their gear, ate a little from their stock of nutrient bars, and got their bearings once more.

It wasn't hard to do, since the purrgil had now begun descending a bit, still circling the peak, visible through thin clouds. The space whales were mainly smaller than the ship the Jedi had arrived in, but it was very clear that some - far above the atmosphere but still circling with the rest - were vastly bigger. A worried population in the town where they'd visited had brought attention to them, hoping that no other 'interested' parties would arrive and cause them harm. While this planet was certainly on the purrgil's migration route, they were hardly ever seen this close to the atmosphere let alone the surface.

"It looks like a meteor shower too," Dari commented, "is there no end to the oddities here?"

As the group made their initial ascent, choosing what looked to be already-existing trails, it then became apparent that those trails were mainly used by the lumbering animals nearby - grazers, but ones which seemed all but oblivious to the group's passing. Their legs were the size of tree trunks, what did they have to fear from these little bipeds? There weren't many obvious signs of life beyond those, but where they walked, the ground was more even and dusty from their strange shovel-like beaks that scraped grasses and moss from the stone and soil.

When one of those great beasts raised its head and bellowed, the others joined in, half a dozen of them all calling, deafening the group in moments. If any of the team had stronger telepathy they might have commented on it, but as it was, all nine travelers had their hands over their ears or 'whatever passed for hearing', equally distressed and amused. Using simple hand gestures, Raycholokli indicated that they were not panicked, nor angry, just claiming territory or greeting others across the hillside. Only the Wookiees would have been able to bellow loud enough over them to be heard!

The mountain seemed to hum, but it was only after the ringing in their ears died down that any of them noticed it. The masters made note of how the younglings as well as padawan kept looking around, fiddling with their ears still, or casting confused looks at the very ground.

"It is louder, the farther up we go," Mochifa suggested, confirming their collective thought. "Remember that whatever we may find here, we are Jedi, and we seek the peaceful resolution, rather than jumping to conclusions or conflict."

The chuff that Kuwwippuy gave was a joke to this group, but to any non-Jedi it would be assumed that he would have, in fact, jumped into conflict eagerly.

The sun had gone to its highest point by the time they reached what looked to be an entrance to a large dark cavern. Compelling, alluring almost, this spot would be the last place they'd be able to look down upon the landscape below - the rugged hills, low scrub plants, and the town with its three spires and a landing pad far off in the distance. They didn't know it would be the last place that they would see here, for a very long while.

**

The cavern seemed to wind upon itself in a long, casual spiral upwards. While there were definitely larger and narrower passages, for the most part it was a single unbroken trek with the outer wall to their right side, heading counterclockwise. Water and plant life, as well as obvious signs of animal habitation were everywhere, along with glittering bioluminescent fungi and vines. Crystals glimmered as well, and Ciizla likened them to a "mix between a kyber crystal and a firefly". It seemed that many of the softly blue or green glowing plants and crystals caught her attention, and when she touched one of them, the entire batch nearby seemed to ripple with brighter light.

"Is it all right to take samples of these?" Ciizla asked, carefully opening her satchel, "I'd love to study these later."

The other Rodian seemed hopeful that it would be all right, too, as he seemed to think that they would have navigation or electronic applications. Mochifa gave her traditional slow nod, and it wasn't just the two Rodians that set about gathering just the right specimens. Each of them seemed to be attracted to one or another of the items growing on or poking out from the walls, as well as Eshnur's brief dive into a shallow but brilliantly glowing blue pond. He announced that he had seen similar plants on his homeworld, ones with medicinal properties.

The blue glow was new, though, or at least its intensity. As they continued upward, the waterfalls and little streamlets gave off more than enough light to clearly see, and it wasn't that there were small luminescent creatures in it, or even moss that had the feature. It was the liquid itself, but they all felt like it was 'safe'. Particularly after Raycholokli slipped into one of the streams, and came out with a surprised look.

^^Remember I twisted my ankle back there?^^ She growled, ^^I can't feel the pain any more, it's healed...?^^

So they did take long drinks of this water - and all of them felt truly energized, refreshed, in ways that they could hardly describe. Normally quiet, Jargra the Rodian commented, "I wonder if this water would refresh droid power cells or batteries too?" As it seemed to him that he too had felt this power 'somewhere else', though whether that was because he'd zapped himself on exposed wiring, or stood out during a lightning storm, no one knew.

The trip did not end at those blue pools, however, as they all continued to feel a strong pull upwards. It wouldn't be the very top, not exactly the peak of the mountain, but somewhere below it.

It was Kuwwippuy who grunted, ^^For all the rubble and rough land outside, all of these caves seem very stable, don't they?^^

Mochifa Ne gave thought to that, and for a Cerean that wasn't hard - but didn't come to any further conclusion. "We must see the truth for ourselves, but you are correct my friend, it is odd that the interior of a place surrounded by such upheaval seems quite serene."

For whatever reason, none of the others thought that it was 'wrong' or 'bad', just slightly strange. It didn't give off any form of cloying danger, and all of them, even their youngest Ciizla felt more curious and intrigued than wary. The thought that this could all be some kind of trap had crossed most of their minds, but as most Jedi were, they were more confident and curious than afraid. If something was capable of setting a 'trap' up here that would attract an entire purrgil herd on its migration, that would be visible to non-Force users in the area, it would obviously be for the best that a well trained group like this be there to investigate!

There was a very dark chamber, unlit as the others had been by the clinging plants and delicate moss. This did put some on edge, reliant as they were on their eyesight having gotten used to the dim interiors earlier. But since many of them had keener senses, Eshnur and Ivah'dasa and the Rodians took the lead. Carefully they made their way through what those explorers deemed 'a tunnel' - not a natural feature.

When Ciizla nudged Jargra and they took out those glowing crystals or plants they'd collected, the walls of this tunnel became both evident and alive with new colors. To their varied eyes of course, some were dimmer than others. The long sweeping lines and angles were very-faintly familiar to those who had visited ancient Jedi temple locations: Lothal, Ahch-To, Tython, Ashas Ree. Creatures walked on the lines, four legged ones, and those which all of them easily recognized as the purrgil, outlined behind them. That would make sense to have painted the gigantic hyperspace-traveling purrgil here, many locations which they passed by on their migratory routes had such artwork - though not necessarily in such an inaccessable location nor in such an odd media...

But as they continued to move through this smooth-walled area, there were also what looked like abstracted figures, a mixture of creature and person shapes, lines and angles, spatters that at first looked like haphazard paint drops, but to Jargra...

"This is a map and marker," he breathed, "this marks a place that I don't recognize!"

"And these, these people," Dari said, having approached one of the murals quite closely, "who are they? I don't know this outline, it's of no culture I've studied."

Indeed, the figures drawn on this wall had a mixture of features, clearly bipedal but beyond that they had jagged shapes for legs, ending in solid looking triangles, they had three arms, and their heads were decorated with exaggerated eyes. But they were otherwise portrayed in postures that were common to the group: one was hunting, another commanding what appeared to be insect-like creatures from behind bearing a round object in its hand; another grouping showed three of them together, that was where Jargra continued to look intently at this mural.

"Look here," he said, pointing with his gloved finger, "each of these portions of the artwork, they show the same sky, but from different angles."

^^You can read that? It's a star chart?^^ Kuwwippuy asked, leaning down a little, most of this was only up to his chest after all.

"It is a star chart!" Jargra confirmed, "look - there's the same big and small star cluster, and here is another triangle of them." He pointed several other similarities out, as each of the three portions of that mural spread from the three individual figures. He took a long breath, his cup-like ears moving a bit, "it's them triangulating their locations!"

"But who are they?" Syruk asked, still with his white-marked brow a bit furrowed, looking at several other portions and growing a little concerned. They showed larger creatures, also insectoid, they showed fighting, but what appeared to be triumph in another panel later. "And where are they? I've never seen such a people, it's not just your studies," he looked at Dari. "But I still feel compelled, perhaps this will all be solved when we get to the center of this place."

The artwork on the tunnel walls seemed to bear this out, when they passed into a larger dome and took a long look around.

As the Rodians both moved closer to the walls, their respective shiny items of a big-topped mushroom and a long smooth crystal caused the walls to light up in waves. But the artwork ... flickered, at one ripple it was of their familiar purrgil style, in another it changed to the more angular and triple-feature oriented style. Ciizla gave a strange shudder, and at that same moment, Ivah'dasa also made a weak mewling noise. Holding her feathered head gently, she seemed almost embarrassed to be having 'an issue'.

Eshnur stood close behind Ivah'dasa and placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. It was when he did so that the entire room lit up more brightly - perhaps it was only to his eyes? The others didn't seem to notice? No, Syruk did. He too came closer to the youngling and the padawan, and what he felt when he nudged the Nautolan made him give off a startled gasp.

Obviously that then brought attention to the trio. Mochifa held her hand up gently and the others paused, quiet. "What do you see?" She asked.

"Everything," all three of them responded as one.

Their exploration halted for the moment, the group of Jedi watched as the Master, Padawan, and Youngling stared as if enwrapt by something no others could detect. But all of them could easily feel a strong wave of Force energy begin to collect there.

It was Jargra who said, "they are three," and then to the others, more firmly, "we are also threes - we should gather. Three threes."

^^It seems that way,^^ Kuwwippuy confirmed, extending his large furry arm toward the youngling. Dari was nearest, even though she was technically speaking Mochifa's padawan.

"It feels right," she gave a grin to her Master.

Mochifa waved her own fingers toward Ciizla and Raycholokli, and they eagerly moved closer to their leader.

As if they all already knew what to do, these others stood slightly apart from the first team, and joined hands with one another.

**

Their vision bloomed brightly, the same shade as the Force-illuminated paint on the walls. Paint? Or was it only the Force? A white tinted with blue, easily recognized as the same colors as the brilliant water that ran inside the caverns below them. The illustrations on the dome swam as if made of that moving water, too.

They could faintly hear the purrgil's calls above, were they that high in the mountain? They must have been, right? The great creatures were circling low? But they also seemed to be detecting something none had heard before.

"Where is the chanting coming from?" Syruk asked, of no one in particular. It was a deep hum, resonant as though through large lungs and strong well-trained throats.

^^And there's something else,^^ Raycholokli said, somewhat excited, ^^do you hear the howl?^^

In this chamber, awash with the Force energy and their own strong essences, they did indeed hear a singluar howl, a cry that was both sorrowful and triumphant. Their Wookiee youngling felt the most thrilled but they all were amazed - they were connected in a way that not even their eldest Kuwwippuy had felt in his own lifespan.

^^This is a sacred place,^^ a voice said, barely audible over the sounds that enveloped the group. But still clearly understood, somehow.

They were connected, "truly, as the Force connects all living things," Mochifa said, her voice trembling with more wonder and surprise than any of their group had heard, "we are one with the Force, and the Force is one with us."

^^You have come! You have come!^^ The voice was mixed with the keening howl, coming from a large creature - a Loth Wolf!

When the group, all nine of them, all three-threes of them, blinked next, their gazes had seen such things that all of them were a bit dazed. But they couldn't blink away what they were seeing now, nor what the Force had in store for them. The group as one looked down, up, around themselves. They didn't need to be holding on to each other any longer, and for some reason they all knew it.

Ciizla still held Raycholokli's furry hand, inseparable friends anyway, they were not afraid, but they were still young. But both of them knew that this was all new to everyone here.

As a group then, they assessed this place, as well as their newest companion. The place... was something that had been glimpsed only by Kuwwippuy, as a youngling himself when he'd fallen from a great height, and should have died. He had never spoken of it, he had never told anyone that he'd seen this black place, lined with pale blue glowing edged walkways terminating in round or triangular portals surrounded by arcane symbols. Space meant nothing here, nor time, but it was all still made of the Force. He knew its strange sounds, had all but forgotten them, they came back to him as the others in their shoes or with the gentle scraping of the Lothwolf's claws on the floor.

Such as the floor was: it was black, like the depths beyond and below, only defined by the edges of those flat planes of walkways. No reflections, no shadows, only the slight rippled glowing from where their feet (or paws) rested on the 'floor'. It was both artistic and arcane, abstracted and important. As their Force-eyes got used to this place, as each looked around, they saw various things above or below the plane of the flooring. Star charts, visible through Jargra's eyes. Nebula and comets that Mochifa detected. Writing and vague figures swirling in Eshnur's vision. But all of them saw all of these things. Together.

Each of their experiences, their perspectives and history, uniquely imagined, but gently shared in a wash of the Force's unifying energy. And there before them was this long-legged slender canine. Silky white fur and long blacker legs, large ears and a black ruff, and keenly intelligent eyes under those expressive scaled brows.

"He seems... young," Ivah'dasa breathed quietly.

With that said, the Lothwolf tilted his angular face, ears akimbo, ^^Young, I am young, you are too!^^ Then those ears moved around in a shyer formation, ^^... are you lost too though?^^

Because they were all in this place together, they felt the keen and sharp sense of loss and solitude from him. Raycholokli moved toward the wolf, and they all realized just how large the breed was... He was young, and the equally young Wookiee girl - though taller than her peers already - barely came to his neck! None of them had been in the presence of a full sized adult Lothwolf, after all. But the Wookiee eagerly reached up and the Lothwolf equally eagerly pushed his long scaled nose onto her hand.

^^It is so good to see someone... anyone...^^

"What is this place?" Dari asked, "and ... you're lost, here? How?"

"Do you have a name, young one?" Mochifa gently asked him.

His head tilted again, comically large ears finally returning to a forward-facing direction. ^^I have been here a long time. My ... family moved on. I was... distracted. I saw them running but I ran in a different way.^^ Here he paused, the sharp embarrassment returned, ^^I had not earned a name yet, for myself. But I have one now, call me Crux! I am Found!^^

**

As the group settled down a bit and carefully assessed their location, the Lothwolf also gave more information. He'd been left behind, and could not 'howl loudly enough' or with the right voice, to rejoin his pack.

"But surely they would come for you?" Asked Ciizla.

^^They would not look here for me,^^ Crux told her, ^^But they do not need to look now, you are my pack now.^^

The strange sense of pride and sureity from the Lothwolf meshed with the glee that the younglings had. He was no pet, he was no enemy or merely an animal. He was now their bold friend, one that they realized would help them find their own way through the galaxy. Or further...

"These doorways," Jargra said, examining one of them, "where do they lead? I can't read these symbols."

^^I do not know, I can't read them either, perhaps they aren't for us.^^

That seemed to make more sense to them all than the mere words might imply. But when one of those odd portals drew attention to itself, the triangular design around it lighting up brightly blue, all of them clumped up together in a somewhat guarded group. The writing was similar to that which was around those unusual mural characters earlier. The trio of more elder Jedi, Mochifa, Kuwwippuy, and Syruk, glanced at each other and took the lead looking at it. The portal that began to open was just as dark at first, as this place - but everyone was capable of seeing the huge violet and orange colored nebula beyond its edges.

The Lothwolf sniffed at the air, even though there was nothing like 'wind' here. ^^It smells odd, like half-eaten prey.^^

"Never seen anything like that either," Jargra muttered, "I'm going to have to make all new maps now..."

**

He would certainly be trying, but mapping this new area was well beyond his youthful experience as well as his physical ability. There were things defying all of their common sense as well as their practical knowledge. Pieces of land floated gently in the skies, the sky was filled with oddities - huge nebula but also what appeared to be massive spore-shaped objects, perhaps they were extremely far away, but they looked just like biological entities as seen under microscopy. The smell had pervaded all their senses too, though now it was merely 'present' and not 'slightly gross'.

Raycholokli lifted one of her feet, looking at the sole and then pushing her foot back down onto the ground. Slightly springy, porous, not 'wet' but definitely not 'dirt', nor moss or leaf litter. ^^The ground is funny,^^ she commented.

"It may be what is making that odd scent," Eshnur replied. "Where are we?"

"Those symbols earlier," Dari said, "they do match this ... this pillar thing?" She indicated a tall spire, not segmented exactly but grown as though it was a bony horn of some kind. Only, this 'horn' was towering almost twenty meters above the weird landscape. When another of them suddenly spiked upward everyone jumped back. It seemed they were at least partly mobile... Or perhaps they were a defense mechanism.

"Are we standing on a living creature?" Ivah'dasa asked quietly. She turned to Syruk, and tilted her head with the query more directly, "can you tell?"

"I cannot, but there is so much... interference? Do you feel that brightness? Force entities are near." He looked side to side, not-quite suspiciously.

Crux once more lifted his nose and sniffed, ears also moving around to catch any stray sounds. There were quite a few sounds, including those of a low voice - not speaking in a language anyone knew.

"The chanting," Ciizla breathed, "they're speaking the same tongue as that chanting we heard."

** Vortigaunt page **

Name: Crux ('found') Species: Loth-Wolf Rank: Loth-Wolf Blade: none Bond: Dagusu Sara	Name: Dari Chann Species: Twi'lek Rank: Padawan Blade: Yellow	Name: Eshnur Karvozz Species: Nautolan Rank: Padawan Blade: Blue	Name: Kuwwippuy Species: Wookiee Rank: Master Blade: Turquoise (paired) Bond: Jawmefrux	Name: Mochifa Ne Species: Cerean Rank: Master Blade: Green Bond: Dustmote
Name: Syruk Lis Species: Togruta Rank: Master Blade: Magenta	Name: Ivah'dasa Species: Caamasi Rank: Youngling Blade: White Bond: Jecluuto Bond: Shuula	Name: Ciizla Blenx Species: Rodian Rank: Youngling Blade: Indigo Blue	Name: Jargra Ztesh Species: Rodian Rank: Youngling Blade: Purple Periwinkle	Name: Raycholokli Species: Wookiee Rank: Youngling Blade: Golden Orange