Aleister continued to climb the staircase, getting a sense of the history of the ruined temple watchtower, as the angry shards of stone occasionally slipped off the Icy peaks that were beginning to form on the sides of the ruined area. Every now and again, Aleister would catch note of shiny colored objects, but at this point they were too embedded into the snow for him to worry about them. Perhaps if he found some in any of the caves, he might take a few as a souvenir.

He had a feeling they might be useful someday.

He also was beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that many of the things about this planet that he cared to know, especially the whereabouts of his new Master, would lie within the center of the planet, where things may live.


However it would seem interesting that for the moment, he must climb up, to find his way back down.

He could start to see the top of the staircase now, just in the upper distance. He trudged on.

As the young prospect crested the top of the mountain's mighty staircase he could at last see across the narrow plateau atop the peak. There wasn't much to see - a ruined stone watchtower that reached up further into the sky, most of three walls of a small Jedi shrine, and absolutely no Jedi master.

If the climb up the mountain had been cold, this was unbearable. If it had been windy, this was a gale. It was unliveably harsh, requiring him to take shelter within the enclosed watchtower if only to continue considering survival. All but the bare stone had been blasted away long ago, including tracks that left no trace on the frozen rock beneath traveller's feet.

For a few moments, at least, one would have felt quite the fool to stand on the highest point around. Alone, freezing, perhaps wondering what came next. Then, the reverberous heartbeat of the mountain came trundling up from below. Like before, yet even stronger, this beat seemed to shake the foundations of the weathered ruins around Aleister. Yet it left no mark, moved no actual stone, made no contact on the actual physical plane. It was only the feeling of an earthquake, nothing more.

The sensation seemed to come pouring off of every jagged rock and jutting peak all around the mountaintop - but not only there. It also came leaking through cracks in the rough, unfinished stone that served as the ruin's floor. Upon closer examination it became clear that the mountain was not quite so solid as it might appear. A crevice existed, hard-packed with snow but clearable, that lead right back into the mountain itself.

Back towards the thunderous, inexplicable beating heart of the temple below.

Feeling his way through the blinding snow and gale force winds, even he was having trouble negotiating the mountain, he slipped into the small temple area, solely out of self preservation. Or, perhaps not.

Perhaps indeed this was the course that the Force had designed for him fromt he beginning. The inside of the temple was adorned with many of the crystals he had seen, sticking out of the walls, and Aleister put some in his coat and the bag that he carried. He had a sense that they would be useful when he met others like him, even though he wasn't sure what they would be used for.

As he moved deeper into the slightly dilapidated temple, he felt the tremors from deep inside the mountain, thumping harder, which intrigued him.

As Aleister explored the little chapel, the booming from beneath his feet grew louder - intolerably so. Yet it could not manifest in any solid way in the real world. Not one flake of snow that came tumbling in from the holes in the roof was disturbed by the cacophany that reached up from below.

Strange mountain sensations were not the only thing active on the peak, however. With every step Aleister crunched thin ice and disturbed snow drifts that had collected around ruined walls. At last in his explorations he came upon the hard-packed crevice, and with one step set in motion a fracture that ran straight into the snow.

When the rumbling began, it was far more material than the peculiar mountain heart beat - it sounded like an avalanch had been set in motion, and perhaps one had. The snow lodged in the mountain fell through, setting off a snowy chain reaction within. Peering over the crack, one could see another narrow, stony path through the dark that lead down, down, down back into the mountain.

The noisy living sensation of the mountain ceased, as did the tumbling of snow. All was at peace again.

Aleister sighed.

These parlor tricks were draining on such an ice world, but, perhaps, just perhaps they would ultimately teach him a lesson.

In fact, they already had. Don't stand around when the caves are collapsing.

He half chuckled to himself as he folded his wings around his body to keep life normal, and he squeezed into the dark and narrow path that lead down into the mountain.

Just like going home again... he thought to himself, remembering that it had only been a short week or two earlier, he'd lost track of time, so he wasn't sure, that he'd left the underbelly of Coruscant, flying up through an area much like this, though the top level of THAT particular world, was much more civilized than this icy hell.

Something in him, remembered of going home, shed a small tear, at the passing of his parents, something that he still had yet to fully grieve for, before he had thrust himself onto this journey that seemingly would change his life.... But was it for the good, or bad.... Han wouldn't tell him much of the reason he fell to what he called the Dark Side, said it wasn't important, and that if he had the life to do over again, he would never have allowed it to happen.

Aleister pondered that, as if to wonder, if we truly were in control of our own destiny, as Han seemed to think, or whether it was the will of the Force that this thing should happen, which would put Han into a place where he could guide Aleister to this very moment.

He snapped out of his contemplative thought, being only a 16 year old street urchin, who was shunned by everyone he met, aside from Han, and the people on Yavin, and Dolash.

Perhaps, He thought, Perhaps life can get better from here after all.

Aleister moved inward to the path, hoping to spot some torches he could light to make the journey easier.

The darkness inside the mountain mounted the deeper Aleister went. The further he went from the opening to the sunlight below, the harder it was to set one foot in front of another. Just when he thought he was going to have fumble blindly in the dark the rest of the way down, Aleister felt his foot brush up against something hard and smooth.

Trying to examine it closer was difficult, owing to the dimness and that the object could not be moved. As his eyes adjusted, however, the faint traces of a reflection could be seen. Then it clicked - he was looking at a mirror. A mirror coated with dust, left perhaps for years or even decades, but still a mirror.

Feeling around the edges of the mirror revealed a groove in the rock in which it rested. As he touched the rock something seemed to give way and the mirror almost seemed to move on its own, rolling along the grooves and into place slightly further down the passage.

Here it caught the rays of the sun from above and reflected them in a tight beam towards a crystal freshly revealed by the light's rays. This huge crystal, embedded in a stalactite hanging from the roof of the cave, sent light in every direction and in doing so touched dozens of smaller crystals embedded in the stone all around him.

They provided a very dim light, but it was enough to see by - enough to see far, far down into the mountainous depths, where the passage wound its way deeper.

Aleister reached down and tugged at some of the smaller crystals, and pulled them out and into his bag. He reached his hand out and touched the larger crystal, before looking down the hole that its light projected itself into.

Han made a suggestion, and perhaps not such a bad one. He had Han's lightsaber on his belt, why not use it as a torchlight?

He pulled it out, and turned it on for the moment, before he would decide if he would head deeper into the tunnel, using the light from the saber to get a better view.

The light of the sabre illuminated Aleister and some small measure of the mountain's hollow. It also cast its light into the central crystal, and this too was reflected out into the myriad shards lying in hollows not yet touched by the young man. Colours ran along the walls as he walked down, seeking to get a better look.

It took some time to tell as the light was still quite dim, but with some squinting and moving about the lower levels slowly came in to view. The hollow was clearly mostly naturally occuring, although what had caused it was unclear. The spiral stone walkway cut along the sides, however, had most definitely been worked by the hands of sentient beings. Perhaps the first Jedi explorers, or ancient masters working to carve a worthy temple?

This spiral seemed to continue down forever into the dark, beyond the reach of any light cast by either his sabre or the crystals. The strange throbbing he had... sensed? It had faded to a barely noticeable background hum, but it was waiting for him far below.

An observant eye caught a single, burnt-out torch wick hanging in a stone bracket much further down. Perhaps others were waiting too?

The burnt out torch near the end did indeed catch his eye. Being sure to keep his balance, he used the Lightsaber as a torch to guide him, working his way, in awe of the crystalline structures around him, down the staircase, toward the torch area, in the hopes that perhaps, this was what was next. He proceeded therein with caution, enjoying the experience.

It was a long, dim way down to the torch stub. The average student would have to hug the stone walls as the passage meandered lower and lower. Eventually reaching the stone torch bracket, the used torch stub sat patiently in its holder.

Upon closer examination it was clearly somewhat fresh - it had not crumbled to dust in the least, and some of the soot came off at a touch. Perhaps it had been burned as early as a few days ago? A few hours, even?

While looking at this torch, another light became visible further down the path. There was a torch burning in a bracket. Had it been the whole time, and Aleister had simply been too far up to see it? Or had it been lit only now? Regardless, it cast a faint circle of light revealing even more passages reaching even deeper into the mountain.