A Healer for every Wound

[Shia Kryze]

Shia idly wondered if the Neti knew the hand signs, if he had been here as he claimed when the Mandalorian's fought for this planet, he just might. Of course, linguistic drift over 800 years is pretty big.

No danger. A pause. Danger all around. Forest. No danger from person. Different.

"You never did read those texts on the Jedi philosophy I loaned you, did you?" Shia's tone wasn't harsh as she replied quietly, no one had time in their day for that study and everything else Yasha needed to do. "Step outside Mandalore and look at us from the outside as you listen to him."

A brief pause, he could undoubtedly hear them here in this forest, she raised her voice. "And you could do as well to look at us from the inside, as you judge. As my vod says, the truth is more complex than pride and bloody barbarianism. I have saved the Night Owl from extinction, along with thirty seven other avian species. I have helped rebuild the infrastructure across three sectors by hand. I do have a home, but it's... a tent, in basic. I took the logistics Jorus-karking-Merril so graciously gave us with arrogant words of pride about how great Corellia is and I distributed them. But yes, I also came for kyber crystals, I command a dreadnaught owned by my clan and the Empire. I have conquered planets to find what we need, I've killed at least three people I can remember the faces of, because the only people who will give it to us are the Sith, and I won't take their poison."

She raised a hand.

"Munin may have turned away the Silver Jedi, Ra may have validated that decision - we didn't know that, so I won't take the blame for acting on the knowledge I had. You yourself must believe in more than black and white if you are a Jedi of the Green - that's a Corellian order, isn't it?"

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Orn Pharr"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Pride is correct." Orn smiled quietly after the women finished their long explosions of emotion, both very unused to being questioned as such. Yasha was very verbose in her words, claiming many deeds Orn didn't know about. Most people probably didn't know about them as of yet. How could a non-Mandalorian know what had occurred on Mandalorian in closed door talks the day before? "Otherwise a simple series of questions would not have offended you so greatly. Pride is the downfall of all sentient beings. Not YOUR pride, but you know in your heart it has played a heavy role in all of your people's struggles. " There was much to be done for these two if they were to see the light, if they were to understand what the Jedi Master sought from them. Sought from Shia really.

"You assume blame, and judgement, and disdain. These are not what I seek to provide." Orn waved his hands and the jungle moved with him, every branch sweeping in the same motion. "Banish these thoughts from yourself and discover the answer to my questions without pride or the assumption I am blaming YOU."

"How much have you spent on recovering and building weapons of war compared to relief efforts? How much time have you spent fighting others compared to how much time you have spent helping your people rebuild?" Rain pelted them from above, drenching the Mother Jungle in wetness. Thunder rumbled around the trio of brown robed beings in the forest. Eyes watched them from all around as rodents, birds, and insects took shelter in the Bafforr Grove.

"Justification of one's actions is easy. Redemption is difficult." His brown eyes turned to Shia, rather than addressing them both. "You claimed you sought an ally. Now you must tell me why I should align myself with you. If I align myself with you, what will change?"

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Shia Kryze"]

 

[Shia Kryze]

"How much have we spent on war as compared to relief? I could answer that all our money is spent on relief efforts, but you would dismiss that despite where the profits of our raids go. I will instead simply say I do not have the budget figures, but: as much, almost certainly more."

Shia replies simply.

"You see the fist of the Mando'ade and assume it is our body, in this you are as mistaken as all of the galaxy. We're not here to redeem ourselves - I for one have nothing to redeem."

[member="Orn Pharr"] [member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Can you blame me? I’ve been catching up on ecological terraforming and it’s making my brain bleed…” Yasha screwed her face at [member="Shia Kryze"] as she whispered, an almost hilarious student’s frustration at scrubbers and charcoal and topsoil analysis and… things she didn’t even know.

“Again, tree being… person… Shia what do I call hi-he-i-help…” Yasha struggled with what to call [member="Orn Pharr"], did they have their own pronouns, sentient plants? “The amount I and Mandalore has spent on war is dwarfed by far to the amount we have spent on relief. You assume we care more about fighting than our Aliit. This is far from the case. Shia's right. Nobody has the complete picture. We only fight for our families. We have emptied our coffers not for battle, but for bread. The Cuir Rekr has done this. I have done this.”

The tree didn’t seem to understand, nor did it wish to. As such, Yasha looked upon him and signed to her companion. ‘Action? Desired result? Distrust. Using us.’

“Ally… what is it you’re offering the… tr-him? What is it he can do for us that we can’t do ourselves, Shi?”

 

[Shia Kryze]

"Orn Pharr, Yasha Mantis."

Shia frowns slightly.

"Sorry, I missed that introduction point, we got carried away with challenging each others thought processes. I usually call him 'him' on account of his voice. But 'Master Jedi' is always a good way to address any Jedi. The humble ones correct you if they're not a Master, the arrogant ones have their egos stroked."

Shia gestured towards Orn Pharr.

"I'll let him respond before I respond to your question."

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Orn Pharr"] - nipping in to correct the lack of introductions mistake

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"I can only see what I am shown." Orn responded quietly, raising an eyebrow and his mouth crooking up in a smile at Shia. It was a quiet jab at his own ego, but Orn didn't mind it. So long as everyone knew who was speaking to who, titles were unimportant to the Jedi Master. Few regarded him as a warrior with significant renown, most seeing only a mentor and a gardener.

"Very well, if it is your hope to restore Mandalore we must have a resolution. I am a Jedi of the Green, I have spent most of my many years healing nature. I share a special connection with this world because I spent many years healing the Mother Jungle. I want to heal Mandalore in the same manner and I seek allies to that cause. I had hoped Shia could be trusted enough smuggle myself and others to the Wound in the Force on the planet so that we could restore it over time." Many would be needed over a long period of time, Orn would likely spend a long time attempting to stabilize the planet and aiding in the growth of new life.

"What I seek from her, and now you, is proof that you can be trusted. That my efforts would not be better spent limiting the destruction and suffering you cause. And for that, words will not suffice."

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Shia Kryze"]

 

[Shia Kryze]

"Look, you've seen the reports. We're barely holding our own against the damage - and we're undergoing widespread ecological collapse across whole biomes. And... I can feel it, the planet is sick."

Shia looked away from Yasha at that, staring rather blankly at a tree.

"He's not using us - well, no. Of course he is - he seeks to restore life at any cost. If that's using us, then... I guess he is. The agenda here are pretty simple, by recent standards. We've got a sick and dying planet on our hands, handily, we've banished anyone who can tell us if there are any... extra problems. Which Master Pharr thinks there are, and given who he's been in the company off and the stain on the Slayers soul, I can't disagree. Master Pharr wants to limit any harm we will do - to ourselves, to others, to the galaxy. My agenda is that I'm driven as frantic as you are trying to heal a planet, when what a lot of our prominent people care about is vengance and war. And if the planet is sick - and I think it is - then we need him."

She sighed slightly.

"You think he's talking down to you, I suspect - if I remember how long Neti live - that he thinks we're impulsive young mammals. But you have to understand the differences - if I keep saying this, maybe one day someone will listen, I cannot be the only one to read every galactic philsophy text I can get my hands on - you have to understand the differences between the Jedi mindset that Peace is the prefered and natural state of the galaxy, and the Mando'ade one, that conflict is inevitable and ease creates decay. I'm not going to pretend to know the truth anymore - humbled there - but I do think the Mano'ade have the best approach. But we have lost our way - we're in more danger of becoming the barbarians our detractors claim with each raid. What I do know is that the balance - for the Mando'ade, not for anyone else - is between conflict and ease, and that we've got some learning to do to get back there."

She waves her hands around them.

"Ithor honours us, on his word, which means... a feth of a lot. But the truth is, this is the second conversation he and I have had. During the first one, Aryn died in a blind rage upstairs in the mine and..." She stops, cutting off abruptly. "... and a lot of us did a lot more than raid. That's what people see of Mandalore, and if - like some people say - we truly don't care, then I'll pack up and come home with you. But we do care."

[member="Orn Pharr"] [member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“You want me to turn a blind eye as a legion of Jedi descend on Mandalore to… heal it?” Yasha’s amber eyes narrowed. She remembered what [member="Gray Raxis"] said, when he coated his hand in the ash and sand from Sundari, holding it aloft in its’ gray dust.

“Manda’yaim mourns her children…”

“You could land a legion and a half of Jedi on Manda’yaim, they won’t be able to make a lick of good.” The Bral. Yasha and the Alors had begun the process of putting Bral in strategic places, to eradicate the Force upon the planet within their spheres of influence. She would never say a word, the truth was [member="Shia Kryze"] was Vod. As close to a sister as Yasha would have the rest of her life.

But Shia was made radical by the Netherworld.

Radical and dangerous.

Shia would always follow her own compass, regardless of what the Cuir Rekr or any other being wanted. Yasha’s eyes shut against the light around them, a genetic defect blinding her in something as natural as daylight. “Shia you ask too much.”

Yasha looked to Orn and back to Shia. “To get you, smuggled, as you say? Onto my planet is going to take more than ships, people will notice. The wrong person notices, the wrong step out of bounds and there will be Akaan and the full bore of angry Mandos on your heads, and Shia, I cannot protect you from that. I mean, how do we know we can trust a bunch of trees and a.. Neti? You’re forcing my hand, Shia. The second something goes wrong, or the wrong Forcer puts their foot on a sec-trap and the entire planet will know about it. I’ll have no choice…”

Yasha again shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She would have no choice but to push her hand and claim the title of Mand’alor to protect her friend from Vilaz Munin’s dogs of war. “Gray’s teaching me enough about Jedi and Sith, thank you, Shi… did it have to be Ithor? The one place Rekali told me had the power to heal what broke in my soul? Convenient location, sister.”

Running her tongue over her teeth, Yasha peered at Orn’s face. “What will suffice, Orn Pharr? How can we trust you? What ‘others’ would you be bringing? I would charge the Netherworld to drag Shia out of it, she is vod. She is family… but you ask much. You can sense nothing from me, no one can. So what would you ask of us? How would we know your offer doesn’t come with a thinly veiled sword? The last time Forcers ran rampant on Mandalore, my people were nearly wiped out.”

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"You need to learn humility. If you came seeking an ally, you should not treat them as an enemy." Orn said quietly, Shia spoke her peace and though he could not agree with everything she said and believed, he could sympathize with them well. She was wise beyond her years, less prone to brash generalization and accusation. Netherworld had taught her more than battle. She was right about a great many things, and she was right on his perception of them, though it was far more generalized. Most of the younger races had no idea how quickly they would be gone and forgotten, how few names those like him would remember of the legendary heroes they read about.

Neti lived to be thousands of years if they were not slain, and few walked the stars such as Orn. Despite his advanced age and having seen the results of many wars, Orn was a pacifist at heart. He had never slain another being in however many decades or centuries he had lived. He believed that the only reason to kill was for nourishment, and that he did not require meat, or plants for that matter, meant he never had a reason for it. Not even the smallest insect.

"I've never said legion, and you overreact. I said others." In truth he did not know how many allies he would need, but he had two that he thought to seek out. Two had been spoken of around him that he believed had the tools and knowledge to serve his purposes if he decided to heal Mandalore. The Neti desperately wanted to, but not at the risk of the lives of others. There were those that already thought him mad for having spent his time healing Mandalorians and tending to their wounded during the raid on Utapau, and they would likely not respond as well to his requests as they might others because of it.

"I've not sought you out Katlaydr, I wished to determine whether it would be worth my time and risk to help you and yours. If you truly want my help, then I know of a village on Dathomir that needs rebuilding. The three of us can see to it ourselves."

[member="Shia Kryze"] [member="Yasha Mantis"]