The light was beginning to dim as the three initiates left the main chamber behind them. They were moving through a passageway carved into the stone, still some distance from the labyrinth of ice caves.

  Des was trying to listen to the Force, reaching out with his senses in the hope of receiving guidance. He had not felt anything calling to him within Ilums tangled network of connections, but there was only one path to walk, so it was not a problem for now.

  With the Force silent, or as quiet as it could be given the depth of the planets connection, Des’s thoughts drifted to the two men accompanying him. They still looked mostly alike to him, but he had noticed that one had a slightly more angular face, while the others was more rounded. Even in the Force they felt alike, equal in strength and both gave Des a guarded feeling.

  His attention must have been noticed because both men turned their focus onto him. For a moment both parties observed each other, then the nearest man broke the silence. “Sorry about earlier kid. My friend here tends to get a bit carried away with whatever he’s doing, we didn’t mean to cut you out like that”.

  Des considered his words. He understood how it felt to get caught up in whatever you were doing, he was guilty of that fault himself, so he shrugged. “We’re through the doors, No harm done”.

  The man smiled, “I’m Kor by the way, and this is Seb”, he pointed a thumb back at his compatriot.

  “Sebastian”, interjected the man with the angular features, a look of mild annoyance on his face. “Sebastian Elgin, and he is Koris Elgin but before you ask, no, we are not related”.

  “Huh, Desmond Cain, or Des for short”, he said. “Odd that you two have the same name”.

  “Not really”, replied Koris. “It’s a common name on our homeworld”.

  “Where are you two from”?

  “Nowhere interesting, just a nothing planet on the edge of the midrim, you wouldn’t have heard of it. What does interest me though, is what was it like growing up in the temple, surrounded by Jedi”?

  Des shrugged, “Hard to say. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, the temple is all I’ve ever known” he lied.

  “Okay, but what was it like kid? Did you spend all day meditating, did you grow up with a lightsaber in both hands, and What’s the temple like on the inside? I've seen the holos, but they only show it from the outside, and then there’s the Jedi. you must have stories”.

  Des was unsure which question to answer. While he paused to consider, Sebastian spoke. “Do not bombard the child with questions Koris”.

  For the second time that day Des was annoyed, but he recognised the trap in front of him. If he protested he was not a child, it would only confirm it. What struck him as odd was the momentary wince he thought he saw from the man, it seemed to be directed at his own words.

  Deciding competence was the only way out of the trap, Des started answering Koris’s questions. He began with his meditation routine, then moved onto lightsaber training. Occasionally the other Initiate would ask questions and Des answered where he could.

  He was in the middle of explaining a particularly nasty meditation chamber that could overload your senses, when he felt it. The Force was pulling on him.

  To Des it felt like there was a weak rubber band attached to his chest, gently pulling him forward. Reflexively he moved his hand up to feel the spot, but there was nothing physical to perceive.

  “You sense something”, asked Sabastian.

  Des nodded, “I do”.

  “We must be close to the caves then, I suggest we pick up the pace”.

  “Daylight’s burning”, agreed Koris.

  “Okay, let's go”.

  The three began to jog, steadily eating up the ground as they traveled the remainder of the carved out passageway. It did not take them long to reach the threshold, coming to a halt as they crossed through into the famed ice caves.

  In his mind Des had been pictureing tunnels of ice, not dissimilar from the passageway they had just come through. What he found instead was aptly named, it was a cave. The space was large and followed a natural order imposed by geology itself. There were stalactites and stalagmites of both ice and rock, and the sound of running water echoed throughout the space.

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  There was no visible exit leading further into the cave system, but there was a worn path they could follow, and the Force was pulling him in that direction. He looked to the others, both were stood still with their eyes closed and the Force flowing through them. It was clear to Des they were searching for their own guidance, so he waited.

  Sebastian was the first to open his eyes, his expression showed nothing, but his words made his success clear. “I can feel it. It calls to me”.

  Des got the impression the man was about to run off to collect his crystal immediately, so he pointed to the last of them still searching within the Force. The older Initiate followed his gesture, then nodded in understanding. He took up a stance facing down the path, clearly still eager to get moving.

  They did not have to wait long, Koris opening his eyes moments later. His face showed uncertainty, so Des asked, “Did you succeed”?

  “I think so kid”, he pointed forward along the path. “I can feel, something”.

  “Then let us get going”, Sebastian added without looking away from the path ahead.

  Despite the bluntness, Des agreed with him. The three resumed their journey, following the worn path and the Forces guidance. They made their way along a third of the caves length before passing through an opening that led into a second cave, this one much narrower and curving off to the right.

  They walked most of its length before they found a passage leading into the next cave in the network. Their journey continued much like that, sometimes they would have to climb up or over obstacles and sometimes they would have to squeeze sideways through narrow cracks.

  It was at the third fork in the road that something changed, the Force was pulling Des deeper into the cave, past the opening that the two older Initiates were heading towards. He cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “It looks like this is where we part ways”.

  Both looked beyond him, deeper into the cave before turning back. It was Sabastian who spoke first. “Then I wish you luck Initiate Cain, and I sh-”, he paused, a short look of discomfort crossing his face. “And may the Force be with you”, he turned and walked off, leaving Des alone with Korvis.

  “Don’t mind him kid, and good luck with your crystal hunt. We’ll see you soon”. He walked off, joining his friend and resuming their journey.

  Alone, Des began walking towards the back of the cave. He was half way there when he thought he heard a high pitched screech. Then, he most definitely heard some very loud crashing sounds, that sounded a lot like a tunnel of ice collapsing.

  Des turned back, rushing to the entrance the others had taken. He was almost there when the two men in question popped out of the opening, coughing and spluttering with plumes of dust and ice particles following in their wake.

  They looked fine to Des, if a little disheveled. He gave them time to recover before he asked, “What happened”?

  “One of those little rodent creatures they warned us about”, answered Koris. “Turned a corner and there it was. Soon as it saw us, it screeched, then the ice started to fall”.

  Des winced. When they were warned about the creatures native to Ilum, he had been more concerned with the panthers. If those rodents could cause cave-ins with a screech however, Then they just climbed the threat meter in his mind.

  “You’re both alright though”?

  “Yes, we are fine Initiate cain, thank you for your concern. You may return to your own search”.

  “You don’t want a hand”, Des asked, a little surprised.

  “Nah, he’s right kid. You go on with your hunt, we’ve got this”, Koris added.

  The two did not wait for Des’s agreement, both reaching out with the Force and beginning the task of pulling apart the collapsed ice. Undeterred, Des reached out himself, sending his awareness down the blockage to gauge its depth. By his estimation, about seven meters of the narrow passage was now filled with ice. At the rate they were dismantling it, it would take them hours.

  Des could walk away, they had told him to do just that. He however had not agreed. He sat on the cold ground and closed his eyes, almost immediately achieving a depth of connection with the Force even a Jedi Knight might envy.

  From within his state of peace he reached out, The Force and him working together to break down the ice and guide it out of the passage.

  In a meditative state, it was harder to judge the passage of time. To Des it felt like only minutes, him and the others working their way metre by meter through the ice. As the last of the blockage was swept away, something changed.

  The weak pulling sensation at his chest that was guiding him to his crystal faded. In its place Des began to feel something calling him, like someone was shouting his name somewhere off in the distance. Only now it was coming from the passage he had just helped to clear.

  Opening his eyes, he looked to the other two, ready to tell them he would be joining them after all. Both men however were looking out in the direction Des had been previously headed, deeper into the cave.

  He did not have to ask, based on the confusion on their faces, coupled with his own change in direction. The same thing had happened to them.

  Standing up from the ground he spoke out, “looks like we’re trading paths”.

  The two men looked at him in further confusion for a moment before it clicked. “You as well”, asked Sebastian.

  Des nodded, he had no idea why it had happened, but they would still be going their separate ways. Wanting to get moving Des bid them goodbye, wishing both a ‘May the Force be with you’, before making his exit through the cleared passageway. Something about the change in the Forces call had Des making haste.

  He moved through the next series of caves with a growing sense of urgency, the call he could feel growing louder and more insistent. Despite the sense of urgency he maintained his awareness through the Force. The earlier cave-in was not something he wished to repeat.

  Cave by cave the call grew louder, he was getting close. ‘Next cave for sure’ he thought as he squeezed through a crack in the wall, the passage beyond illuminated by a soft white light. The call that had guided him here had reached almost deafening levels when he had squeezed through that crack. With every step beyond it however, it dimmed, fading bit by bit into silence just as he entered a large circular space.

  The cave was unusually uniform for something carved by nature, but Des did not notice. His attention was firmly on the gray haired old man sitting cross legged at its center, seemingly lost in meditation. Through the Force Des could tell he was aware of him, but he could sense no hostility being directed his way.

  What he did sense from the man was a jumbled mix of emotions that fluctuated too fast for Des to get much of a reading.

  Realising he was just standing there staring, coupled with the lack of hostility was enough to drive Des’s feet forward. As he approached the old man the Force had led him to, he could not shake the feeling that he recognised him. He racked his brain trying to attach a name to the face, but nothing came.

  As he stepped within earshot he had one question he wanted answered.

  “Who are you”?

  The old man opened his eyes and smiled up at him, “You don’t recognise me Desmond”?

  “Should I”?

  “Yes, I rather think you should”.

  The old man rose, standing slowly to face him.

  “Very well, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you Desmond Cain. I believe you refer to me as Vegetable Des”.