Down in the Dark (Esla)

[Faily]

The entrance to the site of the trial looked innocuous enough. The front seemed to be the entrance to a ruined temple, nothing immediately marking it as any different from the other ruined temples on the planet. But on second glance, the shadows within the entrance was just a little bit darker. The air was just a little bit colder. Even the smell, the taste of it was just slightly off. And the longer one studied any of these things, the more they would cause a creeping sense of dread. Of fear.

Standing at the entrance, Knight Farissa gave Esla a small nudge and a smile of encouragement.

[Esla Tor]

Despite the warm weather, Esla suddenly found herself wishing that she brought one of her heavy coats. The ominous and foreboding mood was enough to sent a chill through her spine. She hugged herself until that sensation subsided but would remain lingering nevertheless, always creeping in the background.

However, Farissa's presence was reassuring and she smiled back in return. She found courage and began making her way into the cave. From here, it'll be just her and herself.

[Faily]

A small gust of bone-chilling air breezed through the stone corridor as Esla stepped inside. Sounds of dripping water contributed to the overwhelming feelings of dampness as the darkness continued to grow with each further step.

But there was a small and weak light ahead in the darkness, but each step closer felt heavier and heavier...

[Esla Tor]

She pursed her lip at the increasing chill that was complemented by the icky sounds of dripping water. It might have been futile to try to dodge those drops when it was all around her. She raised her brows at the sight of light ahead of her. However, as she learned at the aquarium, not all light was good and pretty. She persisted nevertheless, pushing to take those heavy steps forward.

[Faily]

The steps still felt heavy as she stepped towards the light, and suddenly, she was in a room that looked very much by the Jedi temple on Coruscant. The long room was filled with mirrors on each side, with a door at the end, and in the mirrors' reflection... was herself.

But the attire was different. She now wore the brown long robes of a Jedi, and in her belt was a lightsaber. Yet they all felt so much heavier than they were supposed to be.

[Esla Tor]

Esla blinked when she suddenly found herself back on Coruscant. Was she in the past or was this in the future? It was a familiar sight and perhaps reassuring, yet it was discomforting that there seemed to be this invisible weight that was bothering her. She looked at herself in the mirror with the new look she adopted, but it didn't feel quite right. Perhaps she didn't wear the robe correctly?

Shifting her shoulders, she attempted to fix how the robe sat on her shoulders to amend that heaviness she was feeling.

[Faily]

The robes shifted under her manipulations, yet it never felt quite right. Were these robes supposed to be so heavy? And how could this lightsaber be hers, when it felt so heavy, big, and clunky in her hands.

[Esla Tor]

She sighed at the futile attempt to make things comfortable for her. However, she knew that clothes weren't always for comfort and sometimes weapons were made to be used for fighting? Yeah, that's right. With that in mind, she looked to the door at the end of the room and made her way toward it.

[Faily]

The door opened easily for her, and she stepped into what seemed like a meeting room. Other Jedi were present and they all seemed to look at her disapprovingly.

"Well, someone's late," the appearant leader said with a frown.

[Esla Tor]

Esla dipped her head meekly a few times in a wordless apology to all of the Jedi who gathered, clearly looking very guilty for holding up the meeting she was attending. She quickly walked to find her place among them.

[Faily]

A few of them somewhat unwillingly scooted to the side to give her room to sit with her.

"Now, to pick up from before we were interrupted, representatives from the world of Centa have reached out to us in need of a mediator regarding a political issue that requires someone from outside to oversee. Hopefully, someone with the experience of their protocols and culture. Any volunteers?"

[Esla Tor]

Esla felt herself jump up internally but instead, she glanced around the room to see if there were any takers...

She must have counted two beats in her thoughts before she rose up to make her willingness known. "I wish to volunteer for this position."

[Faily]

Looks of disbelief passed over the other faces as they looked to her... followed by an almost unison scoff. "Right. And let's move onto a serious volunteer." Another one of the Jedi raised his hand to volunteer. "Ah, wonderful. It's decided."

Esla was overlooked and ignored.

[Esla Tor]

Esla couldn't help but give a wide blink after she was completely overlooked on purpose and the position was given to someone else. She slowly sank back in her seat as she considered what had just happened. Perhaps it was just punishment for coming in late? That would seem petty, especially when the diplomatic relationship was on the line. How could she not be considered to be a serious volunteer? It would seem more reasonable if they thought someone else was more capable...but she wasn't even in contention. She frowned, quietly seething inside as she tried to figure where she had gone wrong.

[Faily]

The meeting seemed to continue without a care of her feelings, most not even looking at her. The few who did seemed to do so with haughty scorn. Whenever the floor was open for everyone to speak, the others seemed to always speak right before she would.

[Esla Tor]

Politeness and consideration didn't seem to do any favours for her as she tried to wait for an opening to step in to speak her mind. What was the purpose of the mission and what political issues were on the table? "Uhm...excuse me..." "If I may..." "Out of curiosity..."

Eventually, she perhaps even tried to speak out of turn during someone else's speech. "...May I ask WHAT is the issue on Centa?!"

[Faily]

Her outburst caused the others to pause and glare.

"Knight Esla," master Jaric now spoke. Of course he had been there all along. "This is not behaviour becoming of a Jedi."

[Esla Tor]

Esla was taken aback that she was rebuked by someone rather familiar with her, seemingly feeling a great wave of embarrassment hit her as her assertiveness had backfired on her completely. She ducked her head slightly and aimed her gaze to the floor. "...Right. I'm sorry, Master Jaric...I just wanted to be heard, that's all."

[Faily]

The scene seemed to stretch out to an eternity, with quiet resentment towards her.

Until Esla was actually asked to make a choice. A Sith who had faced and killed Jedi before was seeking asylum with the Jedi Order, claiming to wish to repent for his past deeds - on the other hand, he would probably be tortured and killed by the Sith for his defection.

They all looked to Esla to make the choice of what the Jedi should do.

[Esla Tor]

It was rather disorientating going from being largely ignored then to have all of that attention being centred on her so quickly. Why did they want her opinion all of a sudden?

She frowned faintly before making her decision, while having a creeping sensation that her opinions weren't going to be taken seriously. "I think we should be rather wary of the Sith, they don't believe in peace and this one has killed one of ours before. Should we be so forgiving when a crime has been grave committed against the Jedi? I don't think we should offer this one asylum so easily."