Aleister bowed his head low and his wings twitched a little bit.

"Master, I failed you. I encountered a spirit, who had either hidden the crystal or taken possession of it somehow. It was no longer in its perch. He and I engaged in a battle of wills, and right when I thought I had the upper hand, the ghost fled. I was able to track it, with some help, back to this chamber, but, I was unable to retrieve the crystal for you."

Aleister despised failing his Master (he hoped thats what Dolash considered himself to be anyway) though he knew that there would always be failures. Life would be full of them, and he could not live and die by one failure alone.

"My only other thought, as to my failure was that I failed to seek the heartbeat of the mountain for advice. Perhaps had i done so, finding the crystal would not have been such a task."

When Aleister was done, a thin smile spread across Dolash's face. For the first time since they had met, Dolash whispered "Good," in a low, raspy voice. "Do not be concerned about the crystal. What is important is that you recognized your limits. You recognized when you were faced with an insurmountable objective, and you took responsibility. I will no longer teach those who cannot understand their own shortcomings and be willing to address them."

The mountain pulse softened as Dolash opened both his eyes and looked around the chamber. In return for your honesty, I will tell you something of this mountain - that feeling is not, despite what it has said and I have suggested - the spirit of the mountain. That guardian spirit you encountered is but one of many that I have gathered here. They are not all, at all times, sane, and that background noise you hear is their chattering. I have attempted to shield the majority of it from you, but at times their voices may still be heard even by your unrefined ear.

Take great care should you listen, Dolash added, as he rose from the altar. Some are little more reliable than the one you have already met, and a few are a little less so. Even as he spoke, the distant presence of the mountain gradually became distinct - it was not a natural hum, but the echo of countless little voices at the edge of hearing. Even as they were noticed they faded, sulking off perhaps now that their game was up.

If you were sufficiently gifted with the Force you might be able to refine your hearing, but not here. When they meditated next, it was not in the dark shelter of the temple depths, but in the open, frigid air of the snowy fields.

Aleister looked on at his Master.

"I mean not to question your Wisdom, Sir, but, is it safe to be out here for as long as our meditation may take us?"

Where our meditation will take us, we will not care for cold.

It was a stock phrase, the sort of things that Jedi say all the time with perhaps a slight smirk or a knowing look, but there was no underlying expression on Dolash's face. He simply sat in the snow alongside Aleister, and as they listened to the howling wind for the other to speak time gently slipped away.

The cold did bite, this was true, and the wind's whistling was like a thunderstorm compared to the silence of the temple depths. The air was fresher though, and the sky above far more wondrous than shadow-cloaked stone. It was a sensory overload compared to their previous place. The fall of snowflakes tracked the passing of seconds, making time drag around them. This was no monk's trance, it was unpleasant camping.

The two remained resolute, however, not lifting an eyelid or passing a nod between them. There was no point, as each simply knew the other was still there in a way that was perhaps unfamiliar to Aleister - and, he may have wondered, perhaps to Dolash as well? Or perhaps not, if this was part of being a Jedi master. Perhaps they all simply knew, or perhaps none did.

Day passed into night, which did not immediately pass into day. Time was too slow for that right now. They were cold, but their skin showed no signs of frostbite. They were wet, but they did not shiver. There was as yet nothing to hear, but they were still listening.

When at last something happened to break this dull spell, it was Dolash saying "You may sleep now, if you wish. Or stay a time. It is your choice."

Aleister nodded to Dolash, and stayed put where he was. He was still quite energetic after all that meditation, and his internal fire kept him wanting more.
Because of this he continued his meditation, listening, attempting to understand the union of the Force, perhaps something that he might be able to glean from the extra work.

Dolash seemed to be right, for some reason the biting cold from the mountain was not affecting them the same way it had on the journey to find the previous items. This would bear some interesting research later.

Dolash didn't stay much longer. As the day wore on and darkness very quickly began to fall, he got up and lead Aleister back into the temple. Even a Jedi needs sleep, eventually, he explained. Back in the temple they took up familiar positions around the altar, but now when Aleister closed his eyes it would not be the familiar sense of theraputic trance and meditation that descended but rather the heavy sensation of illusion. With growing enlightenment came growing awareness that the mountain was inhabited by a slew of elusive spirits, and their inane chatter was much less mystical and much more annoying.

The dank little cave in which they lived had hardly felt like home before, but what little comfort it offered had evaporated. Silence became busy, noisy. Protection from the elements became stifling and enclosed. The darkness galled, and eyes refused to adjust to the low-level light after having seen sunlight once more.

No, this would not do any more. The time had come to move upwards. Aleister may have considered asking Dolash if they could move their meditations back outside, but a snore escaped from the lips of the entranced Jedi - it appeared he had a more mundane purpose to returning to the temple floor. Sleeping through the night was sufficient. Tomorrow, it would be time to move on.

Aleister too took to sleep, knowing that things would be different now that he knew the nature of the spirits. As he slept, he allowed himself to seek through the veil of the worlds to attempt to understand more of what these phantasms were really doing and what they had in store. He knew this would not be an easy task, if it were even possible.

The morning brought few answers. The ghosts and spirits that whispered during their sleep had brought only strange dreams half-remembered upon waking, no truth about their nature. The constant cold and discomfort reasserted itself, and hunger and thirst compelled both inhabitants to climb back up to the food cave.

There, on a breakfast of lichens and water, Dolash said Now you understand that you cannot go back, illusions having been stripped away. The mountain depths is no good home for any whose eyes are open. We must move upwards. From now on, we sleep aboveground, on the mountain slope.

Finishing, the two stepped back outside and looked out on the expansive snowfields that stretched off in every direction. Apart from the jagged rocks upon which they stood, there was nothing but white. It was a truly barren world. Sleeping in such elements exposed invites pain, however. We shall need a shelter. We cannot use the cave where the mosses grow, its ecosystem is too delicate to long withstand us. Go now, find somewhere else suitable for us to rest, but do not go too far from the ground. For now, we must remain bound to the snowy earth.

Aleister turned before he stood up. He shook his head, wringing out his wet hair.

"Master, Could we not use the caves where I found those crystals? It appeared to be an old Temple area... perhaps it would be suitable for us?"

Turning his eyes towards the mountain peak, Dolash was impassive a few moments more before shaking his head. No, that is much too far. It took you the better part of a day to reach those caves near the mountain top, and we still have work to be done here.

He gestured to the surrounding snow with an expansive gesture. We will need to rest close to the ground, for that is where we are right now - earth-bound, unready to ascend. After this, the grey giant sat cross-legged in the snow and began to sink into meditation. The 'warmth' of the day will wane quickly. I suggest you begin soon.