The Bridge Left Burning

[Jabonicus]

As Kai rushed over, he would find that Asheek pushed him away. Putting her hand against the pillar behind her, she didn't dare look at her belly, at the four wide gashes spanning across her midsection. Something inside hurt, something relatively deep. But that wasn't something she could address at the moment. Hopefully it was blunt force trauma, not sliced as her skin had been. Damp, warm blood covered her belly, and she groaned as she stood up. Looking to Kai, she blinked, taking her pike, holding it from one end, pointing it towards him.

"Kai? Please... Please hold this." She said. Assuming he took it, (if he hadn't, she simply placed it down), she took a deep breath, trying to ignore the burning sensation from her belly. "Kai, I'm not giving up on this. One more chance." She added. Any attempt he made to hold her down, or to stop her, she would push him out of the way, dead set on what she was planning.

The Akul had slowly gotten to its feet, and Asheek approached it, her mind pushing forward, once more clashing with the destructive mind of the beast. Kill, or be killed. It was a risk, this thing could kill her now with a single swipe. But she had a new plan, and new way to merge her mind. She felt how it hated, how it wanted to kill, so she thought the same as she gazed upon the beast in the dim light. She gazed upon its familiar scars, letting her hate, letting her emotions rise.

But they did not control her. They changed levels, as she controlled them. Her anger matched the Akuls, her bloodthirst equalized with the beast, and she saw eye to eye with the monster. And she stood, mere feet from the beast, neither of the two blinking. The only sounds were the soft breathing of the beast, and the soft, irregular pattern of blood dripping from Asheek's wound.

There was no doubt that the situation could change at any moment, is this not what the two had been doing before Asheek had shut off her lightsaber? She was at risk, what in the world was she doing?

 

[Ral]

Kai was honestly surprised to feel Asheek push against him when he ran over to her, trying to get him to back up, though he suspected it was because she didn't want him to see how bad her wound was, because if he had he would have never let her try what she did next. Taking her lightsaber pike into his off hand, he worried that she might collapse over as she inhaled. "If you don't manage to do it, we're doing it my way." He warned as he stepped back, ready to defend his friend in the event the beast continued with its charge, unhindered by the Force technique the Togruta padawan was about to try.

As Asheek started to reach out through the Force, Kai could feel it moving, interacting with the great beast before them. Oddly enough, it seemed to work, at least initially. The beast stopped and looked at her, and her at it. They stood feet away from each other, and Kai could feel the hate and anger in Asheek, but she didn't fall prey to them. She was controlling her anger, in spite of the fact that it was filling her up. It caused the master to worry some, worry that she might lose control and become violent, or that the beast would. It was a very tense situation, and as much as Kai wanted to help, even to just reach out to her in the Force, he wouldn't risk it, he couldn't risk it. So, he stood there, waiting for something to happen, anything to happen, for the beast to lash out, or for Asheek to fall unconscious from blood loss.

The young man stood there in the darkness, only the silver light of his lightsaber providing any illumination at this point. Kai was poised, ready to pull Asheek back and strike at this creature, this bloodthirsty beast with the Force. But first, he'd give Asheek a chance to calm it down, to gain control over it. He just hoped he was fast enough to pull her back in time if this went tits up.

 

[Jabonicus]

The Akul and the Togrutan continued to stare at one another, then something odd happened. As Asheek had changed her own emotions and thoughts to match the beast, she began to change both at once. Her own emotions lowered, her anger going down, her bloodthirst subsiding, and so did the Akul's. It stared at her with confused eyes, as she forced it to feel different emotions, as she forced it to think on her level. It was mentally taxing on Asheek, but she wouldn't dare slow her plan on account of her own weakness.

And as she changed its thoughts to match hers, she put something in that she did not add into herself. Loyalty. It was an amazing thing to watch, to see the Togrutan mentally challenge a killing machine of a beast, and win. She reached out, putting her hand on the bony snout of the creature, and on silent command, it went to its knees. Even on its knees, it was a huge creature, much larger than Asheek.

She turned to Kai, not taking her hand off of the Akul, a tired look in her eyes. She seemed uneasy on her feet, wiped the sweat from her brow. "Kai... You don't have any... Bacta on you, do you?"

 

[Ral]

As they stood there in those relatively quiet but utterly intense moments, Kai wondered if Asheek would actually pull it off. The Togruta female seemed to be able to hold it at bay, and now it seemed like she would be able to actually calm it down entirely. This was a rather remarkable application of the Force, one that showed Kai just how far she had come from when he first met her on Bespin all that time ago. She was almost ready to be knighted, he thought to himself, which brought a slight smirk to his face.

Watching tensely as Asheek reached a hand out to touch the snout of the creature, he was completely surprised to see it go to its knees. Raising his eyebrows, he knew that she must have succeeded. Now that she was done, the determination started to fade and Kai could see how tired and weak she was. "You should sit down," he suggested as he pulled the small medical kit from his belt that he always kept with him. It would be a stretch to heal her stomach wound, but he could at least get started, keep her stabilized and prevent her from bleeding out until he could get more from the nearby cities. Pulling out the bacta infused gauze and a salve, Kai had Asheek move her hand so he could get to work. The wound looked bad, and Kai frowned, but didn't say anything. What she had done may have saved their lives, but it was also incredibly risky. Kai couldn't blame her for being selfless like a Jedi, though.

Applying the salve to the open wounds, he did his best to make it last for all four gashes before he began wrapping her torso in the gauze. When he was finished he stood up, he blood covered his hands, and he sighed. "We need to get you back to the village my dear."

 

[Jabonicus]

She winced as he applied the bacta. She had managed to avoid the pain for a while, simply by ignoring the existence of her wound, but now? It was all she could do to not bawl like a child. Giving a sigh, she slowly stood up once more, her midsection wrapped in newly applied gauze. The tightness around her wound did nothing to help her ignore the pain, but it was necessary if she were to heal from this. "Well, the Akul shouldn't attack Togrutans anymore. At least without reason." She said. "And next time, I'm calming it before I make a sudden movement." She gave him a grin, trying to make a joke out of the situation.

Looking towards the path that she... Well thought, that she came from, she took a step, her breath a bit raggedy. "Yeah, it's probably for the best." She replied to his comment on returning to the village. She was tired, hurt, and yet, there was still more to do. No doubt, with only a handful of tribe members left, they would have to be integrated into another tribe, and that alone would take convincing on both sides. Especially for elder and hurt members.. Beginning to walk, a bit shaky, she wouldn't refuse his help if he offered.

 

[Ral]

Nodding back at Asheek as she told him that the beast shouldn't attack Togrutans anymore without reason, he smiled and gave a little chuckle at her, acknowledging the last part she mentioned. Looking up into her golden eyes. "Good, I'm glad we got that out of the way." He paused a little as he finished up, "You did good, Asheek. I'm proud of you. You didn't let your anger control you, instead you used the Force and calmed the creature down when you had every reason to want it dead. I can't tell you how... good that makes me feel." Kai gave her a grin as he stood up after tying her bandages off so they'd hold together until they got back to the village.

Letting out a light, breathy chortle at Asheek's agreement that they should head back, he shook his head as she took a step and seemed shaky. With a bit of a sigh, Kai put a hand on Asheek's shoulder. "Stop." He said in a commanding voice, but one filled with concern and compassion for his red-skinned friend. Reaching down with one hand to her knees, Kai used the Force to gently pick Asheek up and into his arms. He didn't want to injure her any more or worsen her wounds by being too rough. "You don't get a say in this," he told her as he picked her up bridal style. "I'm not going to let you start bleeding out because you moved the wrong way." He gave her a look that said he was serious before starting back out.

 

[Jabonicus]

She simply mumbled as he picked her up, not resisting as he picked her up. "You worry too much." She replied with a tired voice. She probably wasn't in any condition to walk back to the village anyway.

Outside, the rain had lightened, making a simple mist across the fields of red and white grass. With the dark clouds above, it only threatened to get worse, and it didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon. Looking over to the grass from Kai's arms, Asheek tried to ignore the pain in her belly. "You know the way back, or should I tell you where to go?" She asked. She wouldn't expect him to have memorized the path they had taken.

Through another passageway in the caves, the Akul had left after they had, vanishing once more into the wild.

 

[Ral]

"Maybe I do," Kai shrugged as he glanced into Asheek's yellow eyes, but with a smile on his face he continued, "But it's only because I care about you."

Stepping outside in the rain, Kai felt the cool water on his face and stopped, closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment before looking to Asheek to see how she was doing and continuing on. When Asheek looked out over the grass and up at the dark storm clouds overhead, Kai glanced to her feeling her concern. Shaking his head, he give her a wry smirk, "Believe it or not, I'm not an idiot, ya know? I can find my way back!" His tone was one that clearly indicated that he was just being playfully, even if the remark was a little dry. The truth was that he only remembered the vague direction of where the village was and was relying on the Force to guide him mostly.

Glancing back at Asheek he laughed lightly, "Of course, you're more than welcome to help, if you want."

 

[Jabonicus]

For a while, Asheek would point out the path they were to take, taking sharp turns and odd directions, explaining that a straight path wasn't exactly possibly due to ponds and other such natural marks that would impede on their path. As they neared what remained of the village, Asheek had fallen asleep in his arms. It didn't appear that she had fallen unconscious from blood loss, as all the signs coming from her led to the fact that she had fallen asleep simply from using up all her energy.

As he entered the village, a few of the survivors, probably on watch, came from various buildings, shocked looks on their faces as they approached Kai. They seemed worried of Asheek's state, none of them seemed to have expected what had occurred. The old Togrutan, the same elder from before, slowly approached Kai, wiping the sleep from his eyes, having just been woken from his slumber. "I did not expect that an Akul could lay such a mark upon her. Will she be alright?" He spoke quietly, compassion in his old voice.

 

[Ral]

Noticing that Asheek had fallen asleep on his shoulder, Kai smiled at the Togruta. He could sense through the Force she was still alive, and the relatively steady rate of breathing only reinforced the belief that she wasn't in any danger of dying at that very moment. Kai was very thankful for all the help Asheek had been in getting back to the small village, and he was rather surprised she even made it that far considering how much energy she had expended along with her rather grievous wound. When the elder approached them, Kai smiled as he looked at the sleeping female. "She'll be alright, but if you have any medicine she could use some of that. I can head to one of the nearby towns to get more bacta and medical supplies, though."

The Jedi Master carried Asheek to where the elder directed him, waiting to see if Kai needed to get something for his friend or if she would be fine with what the village had on hand after the attack by the Akul. "She took a risk, but she proved herself as a Jedi," Kai told the elder. "She managed to subdue the beast without giving into her anger and hate... I don't think you'll be seeing it again. Or at least I certainly hope not." Looking at her for a moment he smiled, "If there's anything I can do... she means a lot to me."

 

[Jabonicus]

The Elder directed Kai to one of the few intact hutts, where she was laid onto a very primitive bed. Two men sat near her, one who appeared to be on guard, and another who held several herbs, idly crushing and mixing the strange fruits and vegetation in a wooden bowl. "We'll be able to handle her for a while." The Elder spoke, until he heard the news of the Akul.

He seemed perplexed at the situation. The Akul had attacked Asheek, and yet it was no longer a threat, despite still being alive. "If what you say is true about the beast... Then we misjudged you. You managed to convince her to not be as strongheaded as she usually is, and she managed to do the unthinkable. It's been a long time since I've heard the stories of Jedi, but I see that they do hold some truth." He gives a polite nod to Kai. "The town is in that direction, they've given us supplies in the past during emergencies. Tell them Elder Maix sent you, and they'll give you the things you need without too much trouble." He pointed off to the direction that Asheek and Kai had first come from.

 

[Ral]

The young Jedi Master watched as one of the Togrutan males left in the village began to crush and mix herbs and other natural remedies in a bowel. Looking to the elder as he told the dark-haired Jedi that they would be able to take care of Asheek for a while, Kai nodded solemnly. Watching the Togruta continue to combine ingredients, Kai listened to the elder as he went on. Finally looking back to the wizened old alien, the youthful human male offered a small smile. "I simply reminded her of what it meant to be a Jedi... and what that meant, not just to her but to me. She did this on her own, I just helped her find it in herself to do it."

Inhaling deeply, Kai turned to face the direction the elder was pointing. With a thankful nod, Kai placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. "I'll set off at once. I won't return until I've gotten everything I can possibly carry back. Thank you for helping her, Elder Maix. When I say she means a lot to me, I mean it." Walking to where Asheek lied on the floor asleep, Kai bent over and kissed her red forehead tenderly before standing, and without giving a second look back set out in the direction the elder told him to go keeping his eyes on the sky and on any landmarks he could track of.

 

[Jabonicus]

The nearby town had medicine, and gave it to Kai quite easily. It took a few days, but Asheek healed up quite nicely, leaving little evidence of the wound besides four parallel scars across her belly. She remained for several more weeks on Shili, moving throughout the grasslands, talking to various tribes, telling them of the situation faced by her own.

After the weeks had passed, she had integrated her own tribe into another, spending the final few days with Kai to make sure that everything went smoothly. She seemed content, happy, even, by having completed her part in this. They left the same way they came, leaving Shili once more through public transport.

END