The Valley of the Shadow of Death (Tionne)

[Akasha Khan]

Continued from Parasitosis (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21743)

Sometime during the night, Akasha had been moved from the emergency bay to an intensive care unit. A tree of IV fluids fed her through both arms while a respirator mask kept her breathing strong and steady, and the sucking wound on her chest had been covered over by bacta patches and bandages. Her vital monitors indicated she was weak but stable, and that her body chemistry was slowly returning to normal after being ravaged by the orbalisk's venom. As far as medical science could determine, the young Orryxian was on the mend.

For her part, Akasha wasn't so certain.

The black-furred feline had begun to drift in and out of consciousness so frequently she was losing the ability to tell the difference. In sleep, she was tormented by twisted and disturbing dreams that made her writhe against her restraints; when awake she lay listlessly with her dilated eyes roaming the ceiling and walls, unable to focus on anything in her feverish haze.

She was as weak and helpless as a kitten. And never had she been more afraid.

[Rev Solomon]

"Merciful Father in heaven, have pity on your child. Give her peace. Give her strength. Do not let the forces of darkness overtake her. Guide the hands of your servants, that we may know best how to minister to her. For thine and thine alone is the victory over the power of evil and the source of the breath of life. Amen."

Solomon slowly opened his eyes and saw that Akasha had stopped struggling against her restraints and was no longer fighting the respirator mask. She still wasn't sleeping peacefully, judging from the rocking of her head and the soft whimper every now and then, but he'd given her what relief he could. For his part, he was exhausted. He knew it was only a matter of time before Magda came in and threw him out, just as she'd forced Chaz and Kala to turn in an hour ago under threat of racking them up beside Akasha. But he was waiting for someone - someone he had to see before he left the girl's bedside.

The preacher slumped back into the chair at the foot of the Orryxian's bed. "Rest now, Akasha," he said wearily. "Your master's on her way."

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The news of Akasha's mishap traveled the universe faster than any ship could, reaching the outskirts of the Outer Rim where Tionne traveled to acquire supplies and seal a few deal ensuring continuity of shipments of spare parts to both Jedi and the Alliance. Alien worlds, oppressed for decades under the mighty scepter of the Empire, were easily won over by a simple promise of freedom. She had even fallen in favor of the Hutts, who long remembered her assistance in the waning years of the Republic. In the near future, Tionne was planning to use their extensive network and resources against the Empire. But nothing was more important than her student, be it peculiar alliances or restoration of the Jedi Order. Inwardly, the redhead was sorry she left the Orryxian behind, foolishly thinking she would be safer with the Jedi.

Guilt plagued her as she wondered through the corridors in search of Akasha, until she was directed into the intensive care unit. A few steps away from the door, the Jedi stood and placed a hand on the cold durasteel wall, inhaling deeply. Her Force signature with all the underlying emotions that betrayed her humanity were contained, leaving the ginger-haired woman calm, cool and collected. She then strode inside, heavy buckle boots clinging against the floor. Black leather wrapped her lithe body like a glove, high tail giving her fair features newly found austerity.

Plump lips thinned as she approached the bed, grey eyes solely on Akasha. Solomon's presence was noted by a subtle nod, before the Coruscanti finally spoke -
"Well, she's looks alive. That's good." remarked the Jedi woman, before shifting her attention to the reverend - "How the hell did this happen?"

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon heaved up out of his seat when Tionne arrived. The Jedi investigator was, in accordance with her reputation, quick to get to the point, and the preacher couldn't rightly blame her where the safety of her padawan was concerned. But he wasn't in a fit state of body to match her spiritedness.

"We landed a party on Lethe to pick up supplies," he said. "Akasha and another padawan, Kala'ndryl Ryj, went off alone and found themselves in a shop owned by a Dark Side Force adept. The shop's owner lured Akasha into the back and revealed she was infested with orbalisks. Then she set one of them on Akasha."

He gestured toward the sleeping girl's chest, where a large, reddened bandage lifted the front of her medical smock. "Anbira arrived shortly thereafter and killed the Dark adept. He brought Akasha back to my shuttle, and Kala and I rushed her here for treatment."

[Tionne Thanewulf]

A tinge of worry furrowed Tionne's ginger brow at the mention of Anbira. Was he hurt as well? A fleeting look through the med-bay showed no sign of the hermit, suggesting he was unharmed. Thanewulf allowed for a brief sigh of relief while her eyes rested on the dormant feline before her. Something was brewing inside Akasha, the Shadow's well attuned senses could tell, yet it was still undefined, like fresh clay in the hands of an inept artist. The orbalisk was drawn to a source, as every parasite was, and fell to fertile ground within the vortex of emotions and contradictions that was Akasha Khan.

"I take it Anbira is alright..." the redhead commented briefly and tugged Solomon by the sleeve to draw him away from the bed - "But she isn't."
Tionne lowered her voice further to make sure there was no chance of somebody overhearing their conversation.
"We've both been through the Purge and survived it, one way or the other. We watched our friends turn and be eaten inside out by the Dark Side. I am interested to hear your assessment of the situation...and then I will tell you why I took her on as a student. What you feel now, I've felt from day one..."

[Rev Solomon]

It was hard to think of Tionne, a young woman who looked not far removed from her Padawan years, as a fellow survivor of the Purge. And then she'd say something like that, answering Solomon's misgivings before he'd even given them, displaying a sensitivity and foresight that belied her physical age. If calendars trumped carbon freeze, she was older than he was.

His face was grim as his thoughts returned to Akasha. "You're the xenobiologist. I'm sure you know the orbalisk better than I do. To most organisms, the orbalisk is a lethal parasite, but to a user of the Dark Side... it can enter a symbiotic relationship, pain for power, blood for protection."

The preacher looked down on the unconscious Orryxian. "While we were treating Akasha, there was a moment when she stopped fighting the orbalisk, and she started to draw power from it. It was... it was raw, unfocused; it was obviously a moment of fear and desperation. But it was the Dark Side. And I don't think it was her first taste of it."

Solomon watched the shallow rhythm of Akasha's breath and then turned his eyes back onto Tionne. "You say you've sensed this before?"

[Tionne Thanewulf]

"The orbalisk is an ancient creature, dwelling in the darkness long before stars lit the universe. I've only seen them in books and scripts and the Jedi of my age - of our age - regarded them as nothing more than a legend. Once again, myths turned into reality and our nightmares came to life." asserted the redhaired Jedi rather poetically, then elevated her stone-colored gaze to peer into the distance. She seemed unfocused, but the trademark clairvoyance was there.

"Isn't it peculiar how history tends to repeat itself in cycles, reverend? The Purge was not the first time the Jedi were almost hunted down to extinction. The illusion of prosperity has made the Order lax, abundant in teachers, scarce in fighters. In our meticulous study of the Force we have detached ourselves from our surroundings, from the very world we live in. It had morphed before our very eyes and we were blind to see. Again. Sometimes I think we didn't deserve to survive - the Republic had fallen due to our shortsightedness." she said and observed Solomon from the corner of her eye, waiting for his reaction to this rather unorthodox view.

"Perhaps I hoped Akasha would be like me, with darkness always at her heels but never quite reaching her. There is no doubt in my mind she tasted the Dark Side before. But she resisted it and I am quite certain she could do it again. Tell me, how much time and effort do we spend in keeping our young out of Dark Side's reach? Have you seen the galaxy we live in, Solomon? Where my own skin and your own skin ends, darkness begins! They must face it, confront it, overcome it. If not..."

Thanewulf broke off, letting a few silent moments pass. Her face was expressionless, the weight of the words to be spoken clotting her larynx like molten lead -
"You know I can end it in one blow. Even her, if her choice threatens others. It would be a pity though. She has such potential."

[Rev Solomon]

"God forbid it should come to that."

Solomon regarded Tionne appraisingly. Though he hadn't yet come to know her very well, he'd heard other Jedi call her a maverick, an iconoclast. He wasn't exactly a traditional Jedi himself anymore, and he could identify with her distrust of the pomp and traditions that had failed the Republic, but it wasn't enough to completely set him at ease.

"I've had my own experiences with the Dark, and it doesn't always come from the outside. I agree, the Dark Side must be confronted, inside and out. She needs to know what happened, Tionne. She must be made to face it. It'll either be a reckoning now or a reckoning later."

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Thanewulf let her gaze fall on her student, laying ever so peacefully on the narrow hospital bed. Her chest dilated in a regular rhythm, still every breath she took was greatly aided by the respirator. Akasha appeared weak, perishable like first messengers of spring; there was nothing Tionne would rather do then sit by her side, hold hands, cup her cheek and whisper all will be well. With last of willpower the Knight restrained herself, for it would be more difficult to draw the blade if need arose.

"My hands are already stained by the fallen, Solomon. I have learned how to live with such a burden. The others... I'm not so certain." retorted the gingerhead solemnly. Subtly, her hand was placed on the electrum hilt of her saber as an unspoken sign of readiness.

"I wouldn't be a very good teacher if I didn't leave my student with a choice, now wouldn't I? Akasha Khan has to decide for herself which path she wants to take. And face the consequences, of course. Let us hope my instruction was sufficient for her to make the right choice. For her own sake." the redhead finalized with certitude in her tone.

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon nodded. "I certainly hope so. I know you have her best interests at heart, and that counts for a lot."

The preacher's own weariness hit him like a rolling tide. He'd probably rack up aboard the Exodus as he'd done countless times; it was either that or find an unused bed in the medical bay.

"I should go and get some rest. May the Force be with you, Tionne."

[Akasha Khan]

Hours passed, and the medical shift changed from graveyard to morning. A nurse stepped in to check up on Akasha and, finding Tionne there, sat down with her to discuss the Padawan's medical charts, the records of the previous night's treatment, and prognosis, which was cautiously optimistic considering the small sum of medical knowledge about Orryxian physiology. The nurse offered to have breakfast sent in, then quietly slipped away to leave the knight and her padawan to their solitude.

It was about thirty minutes after that when Akasha stirred and slowly pulled her eyes open. They were weepy and unfocused, her pupils huge, but she could still recognize the familiar figure sitting in the chair at the foot of her bed.

"T... Tionne?"

Her voice was a rasping croak. Her throat felt as though she'd swallowed half the sand of Tatooine.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Thanewulf merely sat there, using the time to gather her thoughts. The Knight remained perceptive of her padawan, focusing to feel the disturbances in the Force that emanated from the Orryxian's fading signature like the subtle ripples on an otherwise serene lake. The inner upheaval Akasha experienced was easily palpable to a well-attuned individual like Tionne; it reminded of times bygone and fellow Jedi who, one by one, crumbled away into darkness. Downfall was inevitable, the redhead concluded, conjuring images and sensations of the Purge. Yes, this is how it felt. One by one, stars faded away, leaving nothing but the shimmering glow of one's lightsaber to light the way.

Nonetheless, the Knight was not afraid. Akasha Khan would either let herself be touched by darkness and resist the temptation or have the Dark Side devour her, shredding her soul into pieces. If this was her choice, so be it. The will of the Force is above all else, Thanewulf mused.

"Akasha." she retored mildly, gracing the feline with a soft smile - "You are not missing any limbs. I consider it a success."
Tionne let her cynicism drown in her apparent mildness.
"How do you feel?" she inquired, even as she pretty much knew the answer to the question.

[Akasha Khan]

"Like nine kinds of hell," Akasha rasped. She gingerly lifted her head from her pillow so she could look around at the monitors and machines that surrounded her, half of them whirring and beeping in rhythm with her vital functions, the other half slowly siphoning drugs into her system. The Orryxian curled her lip in disgust and lay back down again with a labored sigh.

"Would you..." She coughed, winced from the pain searing through her chest, and tried to swallow some moisture into her throat. "Would you believe I tripped down some stairs?"

[Tionne Thanewulf]

"No. Not really." came the sarcastic reply - "As far as I know, you don't have a boyfriend. Statistically, every fifth female trips down a flight of stairs."
The remark was followed by a sardonic smile, albeit not directed at Akasha. She merely remembered how much she mingled with misogynist folk back in the day. In the Outer Rim, women were nothing more than objects that were traded or sold at will. The Knight chased away thoughts of times bygone and refocused on her student.

"You look like you tripped down from Sith Temple on Korriban. Thankfully, Anbira was there to soften the fall." she said. All references were intentional; as she remained observant to see Akasha's reaction, the redhead added in knowing, yet mellow tone -
"Hrrm, yes. I'll have to find a way to thank him."

Tionne ran a hand down Khan's arm, gently ruffling through thick black fur.
"Besides, I always imagined you'd be the one doing the pushing, not the tripping." added the Knight with a light chuckle.

[Akasha Khan]

"I'd certainly prefer it that way," Akasha grumbled. She was only distantly aware of what her master was saying; if she'd been in a clearer state of mind she might have objected to the fur-stroking. Instead she raised her other arm to her chest and tentatively prodded the bandage wrapped there. The pressure sent a lance of pain all the way up her spine, and the Orryxian took in a hissing gasp as a few of her monitors spiked.

"Frack!" she swore, in full voice for the first time since she'd awakened. "Fracking... fracked son of a frack... I need more Corellian curses. Ugh, well, I'm awake now."

Akasha took a few more labored breaths and tried vainly to blink away the smeared detritus around her tear ducts. "Look, I'll be fine. It was just a damned bug bite. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

A horrid thought had occurred to her - that in her absence, Tionne might choose a more able-bodied Padawan and leave her in the lurch. But Jedi didn't do that. Did they?