Ask Survival 101

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon sat on the railing of a wooden fence in what the locals referred to as their star port. In actuality it was a big open field with cut grass. It was weird thinking he'd been asked to teach. He thought back on his time as a padawan and remembered Zathria and Andy back on Kashyyyk. It felt weird being in their shoes, granted he'd picked a way nicer place to train, he didn't know what the fuck those two were thinking, the shadowlands was hella deadly.

Baudelaire spotted a ship on the horizon and slipped off the railing. Ellora was a planet steeped deeply in the light side of the force. There was still much of the planet Leon wanted to explore so he'd set this expedition to be in the next area on his list. 20 clicks north of the nearest village was a dense forest the locals refer to as Warau mori, or The Laughing Forest.

Rumors of strange happenings abound. Everyone he spoke to about the place had some strange story about it. Even if it was just a superstition, Leon figured it would be a fun test for a new comer to the force to discover. The transport landed and the boarding ram descended. Leon stepped forward preparing to meet the little paddie.

Baudelaire stood with his hands clasped in front of him. He was dressed in his normal mission attire, and outfitted with his usual weapons. Now that the moment was here he was starting to get excited. Leon was in his happy place on Ellora and getting to kill two birds with one stone was and added bonus.

He watched as a hand full of beings filed off the ship. He frowned, where was the padawan? He didn't see a single teenager in the group.

Huh, weird, he thought.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya was nervous to be sure. She was still very new to being affiliated with the Jedi and wanted to ensure her superiors would give commendation as she began her training. It had been over a decade since she last began a training regiment. That was back when she was preparing to join the Expansionary Defense Fleet. As sour a note as she'd left the Ascendancy, she couldn't help but long for the comfortable familiarity that kind of structure brought her. She'd found the Jedi to be much more freeform to this point. Maybe one day she could help them to be more disciplined like she was.

To quell her nerves, she'd gone into the cockpit of the ship that was transporting her along with an assorted lot of others and asked "Is it against regulation that I stand in here for the rest of our trip?" It was an odd request, one that the pilot took with a frown and uneasy response of "I don't think so..." That was all she needed and planted herself firmly against the wall of the cockpit staring off into hyperspace. The pilot certainly did mind her presence. After all no one likes when someone watches them work. She didn't pay him any mind though. She just took comfort in looking at the mass of swirling energy that was hyperspace. To her, it was the closest feeling she had to home anymore.

With the ship dropping out of hyperspace the nerves started to come back only not as strong this time. She watched the pilot maneuver them into the atmosphere of Ellora and down onto its surface. It was relatively smooth but she couldn't help but say "If you adjust your angle of entry by 5 degrees you'd save on fuel, not to mention your shields will probably have an extended lifespan of an extra year or so." The pilot simply bit his tongue and let her walk out as much, he just needed her off his ship as soon as possible.

Since she was in the cockpit she was the last one out of the ship. She was taller than average standing at 6'4" and her physical features did her no favors to blending in either. Pale blue skin and fierce red, pupil-less eyes. In her practiced gait she made her way to the man she assumed was to be her contact. He was even larger than she was, a powerful Klatooinian with broad shoulders and scars that told an interwoven history across his skin. "I am Jedi trainee Rya, a pleasure to meet you, sir." The Klatooinian gave her a confused look and said "I think you've got the wrong guy lady." Then he gave a jab of his thumb in the direction of a young man who seemed to be looking for someone.

She tentatively changed course towards him, trying to hide the skepticism she was feeling. He was young, far too young. A prodigy, perhaps? She had to trust that the Jedi would hand he training off to someone unfit for such a responsibility. So she approached him with a salute and asked in a tone she'd hoped to have avoided "You're Jedi Knight Baudelaire, sir?..."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire crossed his arms over his chest, had the padawan gotten lost? He watched a Chiss woman the same height as Ezra walk up to another massive being, then turned his gaze in another direction. Maybe he’d gotten the time wrong? He pulled back out his Nalphone and checked his calendar…

Then he heard his name, “Hm?”

Leon looked up from his phone to the big Chiss. He was thankful for his growth spurt, he was still shorter than her, but at least he wouldn’t be level with her chest the whole time. He wasn’t thrilled by the skepticism in her voice, but he couldn’t blame her either.

“I am,” he responded, adding, “I’m assuming you’re Padawan Rya?”

He considered increasing the difficulty of the training, but opted to adjust as needed. It would be interesting to work with someone who already had life experience in a different field.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he looked up at the sky, “We’ve got about five hours of sunlight left, then we’ll camp. Do you have everything you need? If not we’ll have to stop by Hōseki which’ll set us back about two hours.”

Leon wouldn’t mind going to the village. It was a beautiful costal town and he had friends there. He trained at the Elloran Temple as a padawan, he’d become proficient over the years with their force imbued art.

"If you're ready, we'll head down that path," he said inclining his head toward an opening over Rya's shoulder.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

She was curious how someone who appeared to be so young held such a high station, but it wasn't her place to ask his age or how he achieved his rank. It would be improper ad imply she didnt find her superior worthy of his status. Hearing her own new rank she nodded and said "Yes, sir. Jedi Padawan Rya of Csilla. It will be a pleasure to learn from you, sir."

She followed his gaze up at the sky for a moment, chuckling mentally at his mentioning of how much time they had left before sunset. "Yes, sir, I'm aware. I studied the solar system and its day night cycles before I arrived." It was the closest she could come to bragging while still trying to sound neutral. She wanted to make a good first impression, but she didn't have the self-awareness to completely understand her arrogance.

"No need for setbacks, sir. I have everything I'll need, let's stay on schedule." Rya had been a pathfinder back in the systems she called home. A navigator that operated with discretion and got their passengers to the right place on time with no questions asked. If there was one thing she held in the highest degree of importance it was punctuality.

She turned her shoulder inwards to show Baudelaire the pack that was slung behind her back. It was as standard a survival pack as one could find, provided to her by the Jedi on Brighthome. Granted she had to ask for one after learning the details of what was to be her first true training session which felt unprofessional to her but she was prepared all the same. Holding a hand out in their intended direction she said "Lead the way, sir."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon’s smile widened as the padawan introduced herself.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Rya, please, just call me Leon, I’m not the most formal Jedi you’ll meet.”

If he had to guess, he’d say she was probably three or four years his senior.

The Knight’s eyebrow cocked when Padawan Rya mentioned knowing the time. He frowned appraisingly, maybe he was going to have to make this hard.

“Great, we can get right to it then,” he said with a cheerful smile, doing his best to make her feel comfortable, but noting that she still called him “Sir” almost every chance she got.

The initial opening of the trail was pretty routine. However, once they got past the first click things would get a lot rougher. He did as she asked and took point.

After a few minutes of silence he said, “Seems like you’ve got something you wanna ask,” Leon looked back at her, “Please ask questions, this is your training after all, I can’t help without your input.”

Baudelaire was used to the powerful lightside influence on Ellora, but most weren’t. For whatever reason, this planet was mostly ignored, and he loved it for that.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya frowned albeit slightly at his mention of informality. "I understand, sir. Is this still to be a training exercise or am I misunderstanding the purpose of my being here?" It was such an alien feeling, listening to this man. In her eyes maybe even a boy.

He had such a cheery disposition and wide smile it made her question if he'd ever even seen combat. Known loss. She'd learn eventually, she presumed. So for now she kept meeting his smiles with the small politically practiced on of her own.

As they set off Rya had no problem keeping pace. What she did struggle with was keeping patience. This felt like nothing more than a literal walk in the park. It didn't make any sense. She sincerely hoped she hadn't made a mistake following this so-called Knight.

What if it was a prank? Some kind of Jedi initiation where they send the new recruits on inane sightseeing adventures. She did put forth an effort to conceal her displeasure, maybe just not her best effort.

In any case the man called Leon must have sensed something since he addressed her in such a way. Choosing her words carefully she said "I always have questions, sir. I'm simply having trouble seeing the goal of this excursion. I pass all the physical fitness tests necessary after all. So that can't be why we're taking such a long path. And with that being the case it doesn't make sense to have me land at such a distance from our intended destination. Surely it could've been arranged for us to meet in a location optimized for the day's activities. Sir."

She added the last "sir" after a moment's hesitation. She realized she hadn't asked for the permission to speak freely and was doing her best to avoid any potential ire from it by re-establishing respect.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Rya’s reaction to his notion of informality surprised Leon. He was hoping they could move past the idea of rank and focus on working together, but it appeared that wasn’t what this Padawan needed… or was it? Structure was great, but being flexible was equally important.

“It is, and you might have.” he responded flatly to her question.

This was a survival course, did she think they were on a camping trip? Poor lady. She was in for a rude awakening. Ellora was beautiful, and no doubt the lightside of the force was strong here, but that didn’t make it safe. There were plenty of predators they’d be contending with along the way. Honestly, he was kinda excited for that part. He’d nearly shit himself the first time he’d come upon a Saurian.

He stopped as Rya began to vent her concerns. Interestingly enough that wasn’t what he’d asked of her at all. He was trying to get a feel for her strengths and weaknesses, but she was so focused on the purpose of what they were doing, she couldn’t even answer a simple request. Leon turned to look at her, small smirk on his lips.

“We’ve only begun and you’ve already run out of patience?” he cupped his chin in his palm brow furrowed in thought.

It was clear she didn’t respect him. That was fine Baudelaire didn’t care, he’d only taken this job so he could justify staying here for a week or two after the training ended. He needed to spend a little time updating Doc. The medical droid needed a little TLC. Back to the point, he wasn’t really sure what to do. He’d expected grumbling, but they’d only been hiking for like ten minutes. If this was an indication of her proficiency he’d be doing a LOT of the work on this trip.

“I’m curious, what did you believe a course titled: Survival Training would be like?” was his only response. He didn’t explain himself, he didn’t elaborate on what they were doing, he just asked his two questions then went back to hiking. Her questions would be answered in time, he just hoped he found out her capabilities before they ran into something with fangs.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya couldn't help but bow her head a little in shame. It's what she deserved for disrespecting him. She was still very new to all this and had to remind herself to roll with the punches a little more.

As much as she wanted to be back on Csilla it was clear in more ways than one she was far from her days in the Ascendancy. It was a bittersweet feeling, that longing for a place that didn't want her back. It was like breaking up with an entire planet in a sense. All that mattered now is they won't use her, but the Jedi will.

Speaking now in a more subdued tone she responded "My apologies, sir. My disrespect was uncalled for. I'll report it to the Order myself if you'd like, once we're finished." She was relieved to be back on the move, partly because her internal clock never stopped ticking no matter what she said but mostly because it meant she hadn't messed up too bad. Yet.

She answered his new question with more pause "I imagined drills of some sort. Emergency first aid. Timed shelter setups. Breath control exercises and the like."

As they walked she decided to try and win back some favor by showing some weakness and continued "In truth I know little of the Jedi. I know they handle the Great Presence with an expertise unrivaled in the galaxy. The strongest soldiers an army can have. That also means I know little of what's involved in their training of any kind." She had started out imagining it operated like any other military, but the more interactions she had with its members the more that was being casted into doubt.

Curious now if they'd even sent him her file (she had to have one, right?) she wanted to know just how cavalier this whole affair was meant to be. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how much have they told you of me before today? Where I come from? My background?"

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon saw her deflate a little and felt a pang of guilt. He wasn’t trying to shame the woman, just make sure she understood what she was getting into. This training wasn’t safe. The danger would be real, and she needed to be ready.

The knight turned to face her a look of bewilderment prominent in his expression, “I can assure you there’s no need.”

Uh-oh, she’s a straight edge, he thought. This might be the greatest challenge he’d ever faced.

He wasn’t surprised by what she said next, “How would training exercises prepare you for survival?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his tone. He wasn’t being a little shit, he just looked like he was.

Rya revealed what he expected, “I see,” he replied, brow furrowed in thought. Before he could say more she asked if he'd been sent a file on her, and Leon shook his head. “This training in particular is most effective with total strangers,” he didn’t explain why, that would be up to her to deduce. Then he chuckled, “Why did you find my switter or something?”

“Why don’t you fill me in on your experience with the force? You already mentioned you passed your physicals, so no need to worry about that.”

Being the boss was hard. The trail was starting to get dense. The brush was overgrown and the trail was dissipating to little more than a game trail. Leon’s pace continued at the same clip, not fast, but not slow. He moved with purpose and wasn’t slowed by the increasingly difficult terrain.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

She did her best to relax as the conversation continued, even if the whole exchange felt unnatural to her. "Training exercises are the essentials to survival. One can not prepare for every possible danger, but can train to be as versatile and adaptable to endure a wide array of circumstances." Reflecting on how often she'd felt the need to improvise in dire situations before she added "Or at the very least live long enough to figure out how to deal with the problem."

As they walked she kept her eyes firmly ahead of her. She wouldn't meet his eyes again and risk making a face that constituted disrespect. Like the one she wanted to make when he said they were essentially total strangers. This time though she held her reservations in, paccking her doubts down deep to ensure they wouldn't bubble up again.

"My apologies sir, what is a switter?" She had never heard the term before and worried she'd missed a vital piece of equipment or database available to the Jedi.

Rya was keeping pace with her guide for now at least. Just because she wasn't particularly a fan of the outdoors didn't mean she was a pushover either. As they pressed on she answered "My ability to call upon the Great Presence is a gift I inherited from my mother. She was what we call a Pathfinder where I'm from. Navigators."

Emotion threatened to rob her of her volume but that too she forced away, playing off the pause in speech as her needing to take a breath as the hike progressed. "She taught me to use it the same way she did, and so I navigated the Chaos with it's help. It alerts me of danger, it shows me the path. I follow it and guide others along that path."

Looking up to the sky and imagining the empty space beyond she said "Down here everything vies for your attention. In hyperspace, its impossible to ignore the call of the Great Presence." She spoke with a deep reverence, her tone even more serious than it had been to this point.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

”Let’s not forget that survival is essential for survival. This is as much a test as it is a class. Programmed exercises can’t test proficiency the way actual circumstances can.” his tone wasn’t condescending, but it wasn’t without confidence.

Leon’s training had been very hands-on. There wasn’t a single mission he’d been on where his life wasn't in mortal danger at one point. He hoped she was prepared for that… then he hoped he was prepared to step in when he needed too, not when he wanted to.

“Really?” he turned around, shock apparent on his face, but a small smile still tugging at his lips, “Wow, this is a first for me, okay, switter is… well it’s… huh, honestly, I can’t explain it. Remind me to show you when we get back to civilization.”

Rya opened up about her understanding of the force and Leon frowned. This could pose a problem. His course was only meant to be available to Padawan’s well on the way to knighthood. Surely, she was just long winded and warming up for the next part. He waited, and she didn’t continue, uh-oh.

“I see. Rya, have you had any formal training at Brighthome?” he asked.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya rolled her eyes at the redundancy of "survival is essential for survival". She should've expected that kind of 'wisdom' from a man his age.

At his mention of this excursion as a test however she definitely perked up. She was a perfectionist and tests of any kind were a huge deal for her as a result. She hated anything less than passing with flying colors. She could only hope that her results would be properly appreciated by this young man that would be grading said test.

He also managed to continue his streak of never truly answering her questions, this time with his delaying of a switter response. At this point she was resigned to the fact that she'd need to endure those kind of answers for the rest of their time together.

She couldn't help but chuckle at his last question. She did her best to contain it but to no avail. It slipped out before she could shut it down. She looked him in the eyes so that he could be sure she wasn't exaggerating in the slightest "Yes, in fact. Master Jonas Syl gave me a gardening lesson aboard the station."

She was hoping her statement and demeanor would communicate why she was feeling skeptical of her training and of him so far. It had been nothing like anything she'd experienced before and at the moment she was struggling to see how such an obtuse group of mentors could help breed such powerful masters like she'd heard of.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire could tell the time was just about right. Rya thought this whole thing was bullshit. Facing away from her his little smirk would start to spread. He could feel them now. They’d been following the Jedi since they diverged into the wilds. The Maalras. How exactly a pack of force sensitive quadrupeds had found their way to Ellora, but they were excellent for an unexpected exercise.

“Gardening?” he asked, a smile spreading across his face, hoping to the force itself she was kidding, if not, well if not he was about to have to fight a lot of near invisible cats.

“So, you don’t feel that at all right now?” he asked. Leon had been trying to get the woman to stop and smell the roses for a second, but it was clear she was a woman of action. Which was a shame, there were some beautiful and nuanced aspects of the force tucked away within the leaves that surrounded them.

Either way things had been set into motion. She could doubt him as much as she wanted, the force would be her teacher now, and it was far more fickle a mentor than he was. Leon’s smile finally spread all the way across his face, “Hope you’re ready for another gardening lesson.”

Suddenly, the brush in front of them burst with activity. The Maalraas were camouflage, but not perfectly. Their feet still made tracks, their bodies still effected the world around them, and their outline was just visible as a ripple in the air.

Leon called the force to him like an old friend and waited, “Exercise #1 Rya, mind pruning the path for us?”

 

[Rya]

Rya looked around confused when he pointed out an apparent oversight on her part. She felt sweaty, sure. More dirt on her boots that she was accustomed to. That was about all she could sense. Her senses weren't attuned to any shifts in the wind or scents drifting on the air. In fact, she almost groaned when he said it was time for another gardening lesson.

She didn't know what to feel. Had he not believed her? Was he telling the truth? She couldn't decide which was worse.

The death creatures that emerged from the brush were kind enough to take the burden of deciding off her shoulders. They were definitely the worst option. She immediately jumped back into a crouched position, giving her suddenly shaky form some stability.

It was impossible to gauge just how large the creatures were. Sometimes the growth they disturbed was low, other times much higher than Rya would've liked to imagine. She didn't dare risk taking her eyes off their general direction to try and judge them by the size of their tracks.

She took a deep breath and unsheathed her blaster. All around her was the sense of imminent danger, a feeling she'd sensed many times when she was pushing her ship to the limit with the aid of the Great Presence. There was no telling how many creatures there were, she could be encircled entirely for all she knew.

One step at a time. She reminded herself. She scanned for the next flick of a leaf, the next shimmer of an outline, anything. There.

The breath she'd held finally let out. Then, several quick squeezes in rapid succession sent three shots at where she saw one of the creatures. If she saw the shots hit their target she'd rush in that creatures direction in order to avoid a possible flanking for the others.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon could feel the hunger emanating from the force sensitive hunters. His eyes flicked to Rya she was alert, but only because of his warning.

“Padawan, open yourself to The Great Presence!”

His gaze shifted to her weapon and he knew she was in trouble, these beasts had blaster resistant scales. Leon’s didn’t move to intervene, not yet. He needed to see what happened when she was put on the spot.

One of the Maalraas let out a low growl. Baudelaire clenched his jaw. The force swirled around him like a tornado beginning to form. His signature in the force was the only thing keeped the beasts at bay, but their hunger would eventually win against their better judgment.

“Take a deep breath and feel the light. Let it empower you, let it direct you, and put that blaster away, you’re gonna shoot your eye out.”

The Jedi were surrounded. The tension between the beast and Jedi was so thick it covered the area like a blanket.

Rya fired.

All at once the four beasts flew into motion, Leon’s lightsaber, Daybreak, sprung into his hand, igniting almost simultaneously. The pale yellow blade deflected two of the blaster bolts fired by the padawan into the ground, the third collided with the beast and ricocheted into a tree.

The Maalraas identified the padawan as the easier prey and set after her. The remaining lunged at Leon and he made short work of the animal. Reaching out with the force he yanked one of the three charging Rya back in his direction and bisected the animal as he moved forward rushing to the Padawan’s aid.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya had no time to hear Leon's first words of advice between the nerves and pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears. She watched bewildered as the Jedi seemed to defend the beasts at first, deflecting her own blaster fire.

Hearing his order to holster her weapon she was incensed and yelled quickly "Easy to say holding one of those, sir!" The more exposed she was to the utilities and privileges one received by the mere fact of owning a lightsaber the more determined she was to create one of her own as soon as possible.

No worries, she'd simply re-evaluate with the information gathered and course correct accordingly.

As the Knight dispatched of two of the beasts with ease she focused in on what was directly in front of her. It was either one big one or two close together judging by the mud being kicked up. A track which very alarmingly was heading straight for her.

She dropped to one knee again, this time bringing a hefty handful of mud in her palm with her. She hurled it in the direction of her invisible assailants before rolling to the side swiftly, hoping to dodge their initial pounce.

She came out of the roll into her stable position for a third time and using her mudmark to aid her aim got ready to fire again. Her blaster switched to stun and fired three more shots in the direction of the nearest beast.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon slid to a stop as Rya splattered the Maalraas with mud.

Smart, but she wasn’t using the force. That answered the question he’d been asking since they’d left the “Spaceport.” He called the force into his palm gathering the power there as he watched her.

She had great reaction speed. Rya had managed to mark both beasts with mud and was firing her blaster again, thankfully it was on stun this time.

The first Maalraas leapt out of the stun bolts, but the second took two hits to the board side of his body. It’s visage winked in and out of existence as it shook it’s body. It’s camouflage was gone, but the hide on these beasts was nothing to scoff at. The only reason he knew how to handle these predators was because he had one.

“Underbelly. Shoot'em in the tummy!” he said frantically. WHY? WHY HAD HE SAID TUMMY?

It was taking every shred of discipline he had not to swoop in and save her, but she could do this. He knew she could.

“Open yourself to the Great Presence!” he tried again.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya watched with satisfaction as she hit her target. It ended up being a very short lived feeling. Once she got her first real look at the beast in question, she realized it would've been better had she not seen the thing at all. Whatever these things were she was now even more certain that she wasn't a fan of Jedi training methods.

No glance was worth it in this moment where the beast could pounce at any moment, but boy did she want to at the Knight's direction. With such a pressing matter her first idea had to be the one she went with, so she tried to judge the animal's movement, doing her best to eyeball when it would pounce.

When it made its move, she dove directly towards it. With the beast soaring overhead she fired as many shots as she could manage in the fractioned window of opportunity it gave her at its weak spot.

The thing collapsed just a couple inches from her, stunned at least for the moment. Just as she was considering switching off stun to try and make sure it wouldn't get up she felt a sharp pain in her shoulders that sent her face first into the mud. Suddenly unable to see, scream for help or even breathe.

The remaining creature had pounced on her and was about to make quick work of her as she felt its claws sinking deeper into her shoulders with ease. She had no chance of hearing Leon's call to open herself up. Honestly, for the best. If she was going to die she didn't want the last voice she heard to be the one that lured her to her death. Jedi training sucked.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

HE WAS WRONG!!!!

Leon fell into the force and exploded forward. Just as the Maalraas dug it’s claws into Rya slid in beside her and put the animal down. His saber punched through the gut of the beast and it let out a keening whine before going limp. He shouldered it to the side, deactivated his lightsaber and knelt beside the Padawan.

“Don’t move, I need to see how bad it is.” his brow had been furrowed and his face was stone. He’d probably never looked this serious in his life and a part of him wished the Scrub Squad was here to see it. He was relieved to see there wasn’t anything severe. The wounds were deep, but they weren’t lethal.

“This is going to tingle, but try not to move,” he said, raising his hands and closing his eyes.

He could feel the force leaking from his palm and entering her wound. One at a time the punctures began to close, healing from the inside out. Once he was done he’d sit back on his heels and let go of the breath he’d kept pent up.

“There, good as new,” he said.

Why in the fuck had a Padawan with no actual force training been allowed to join this exercise? Was The Order really in such dire straits that all who were deemed Force Sensitive were being thrown into training regardless of their competency? Regardless, he knew they wouldn’t be following the path he’d originally chosen.

“Change of plans, we’ll be making for Hōseki immediately.”

This wasn’t a question. His voice was hard, but not unkind. He’d offer her a hand and added, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe you’re prepared for this, so we're going to change things up. Get some exercises going and establish a foundation.”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

She hated it. All of it. This planet. This day. This Jedi! She was already paralyzed with pain and this screeching, sorry excuse for an instructor was telling her not to move?! She was seething. Practically writing up an entire report and document for him to sign in her mind acknowledging his malpractice and her grounds for revenge. She would rest, recover, and do everything in her power to have him expelled from the Order for this.

She didn't try at all to hide her emotions when he said something bout tingling. She felt his touch and immediately yelled "Get your hands off--!" But her sentence was never completed. She experienced a sensation unlike any before. Normally a wound would slowly fade on the pain scale as the body's natural ability to heal itself took its course. This was different. For lack of a better phrasing, it was reverse pain. As if she was getting maimed but pleasantly so.

Slowly and shakily she rose to her feet. An absolute mess. From the front looking like some kind of soil monster covered head to toe in mud. From the back all kinds of damage meant her shirt was barely hanging together. Her top was essentially a backless dress at this point. She wiped the mud from her eyes so she could look into Leon's. As dignified as she could muster given the circumstances she said "Thank you."

She listened to the change of plans and did her best to maintain composure but inside it was difficult to avoid feeling disappointed in herself. "Have I failed, sir?" She asked plainly. As much as it hurt she could understand how her performance thus far could equate to such an assessment. Looking up at the sky she continued "Are you sure that's the best course of action? Given the hour it may be best to camp out and await daylight to make our way back."

@Zay