Private Alone Together

[Miri Nimdok]

Miri could tell she was being lifted up with the Force. It was accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness that turned her stomach, though she maintained control until her hands found purchase amid the branches of the tree. She most definitely did not look down.

Up and up they went, until the crack of a branch signaled danger. Running on adrenaline, Miri’s hand lunged forward and snatched at Ara, but she only succeeded in grabbing the back of her shirt at nearly the cost of losing her grip on the tree. Fabric tore, and the Zabrak kept falling.

Come on! Miri reached out with the Force in a panic, willing for it to work, just this once. Just this once…

By some miracle, Miri’s telekinesis succeeded in slowing Ara’s fall. She’d still hit the ground, but it was more of a gentle thud than a bone-breaking impact. Granted, with her injuries, it would definitely hurt, but she was, you know, alive.

I rolled an 11 Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara's mind raced as she fell, jerking for a quick second as Miri grabbed her top, only for it to tear as she fell further towards the ground far below. She was losing time to figure things out quickly and calming her mind was a rather tricky endeavour in the moment.

But right before she could take a literal dirt nap, she felt herself slow in her descent until she dropped to the ground with a significantly more gentle touch. A grunt escaped Ara as pain rocked through her chest... but she was alive. That was all that mattered. She remained still for a moment as she caught her breath and calmed herself, until finally she got back up and looked to Miri high above her. "I'm okay!" She called out, holding a hand up.

There was no doubt about it, though. Miri saved her life. She was going to have to thank her once they were both back on solid ground. After a few more minutes of recovery, Ara began her ascent once again along the branches until she caught up with Miri. "You holding up good?" She asked, making sure that Miri was holding up with the height. "Let's move." With a more cautious approach, Ara lifted Miri up and followed after. Slow movements and careful landings, combined with long pauses to help her body catch up.

After what felt like an eternity, the top of the tree was only at arm's length above them. "Get that signal sorted, I'll hold you steady." She moved in on Miri and wrapped an arm around her to hold her stable against the wind, though Ara clearly had a lot on her mind.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Almost as soon as Ara was safe, Miri whimpered and turned her head away. Cleaving to the tree for dear life, she squeezed her eyes shut. Looking down at the ground was enough to send a cold knife of terror through her abdomen, a muscle spasm in her guts that felt like her innards were going to fall out of her body. Assuming she didn’t just plummet to the ground altogether…

She heard Ara shouting down below that she was okay, but Miri didn’t—couldn’t respond. Her breathing was coming in uneven gasps. She knew that if she didn’t control her fear, she’d wind up passing out, and then she’d be in serious trouble. So she concentrated on regulating her breathing while Ara made her way back up the tree.

"You holding up good?"

Miri was clinging to the branches, her grip white-knuckled. Dark slanted eyes slowly opened, and she peered at Ara for a moment as if she had gone so far into her own mind that she had forgotten where she was. Then awareness returned, and she grew more alert.

“Fine,” she said, voice only a little bit shaky. “I’m holding up just fine.”

Though their progress was slower, they continued their ascent, reaching almost to the top of the tree. Miri carefully pulled out her datapad. She could feel Ara’s hand on her arm, but for once she didn’t try to jerk away from her.

“I’m getting a signal,” she said, relieved. “Distress call… Two in need of rescue and medical attention…”

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Finally at the top of the tree, Ara held onto Miri as she waited for her to establish some sort of signal with her datapad. A bright grin formed at Miri's words, relief setting in as the message was sent. "Kark yes..." Ara muttered, looking around them for a moment.

Despite the situation at hand... the view was literally and figuratively to die for. "Holy smokes, this view slaps." She looked at Miri again with a lingering smile. "You got a direction to town for us? Or are we gonna hang out up here 'til someone arrives?" She asked her, sitting back against the branch. A raspy breath escaped Ara, who was feeling like she was having far too much fun just sitting there. She was in no rush as she looked over the treeline around them.

A couple of creatures flee overhead, circling around to inspect the curious beings in the tree. Ara watched them for a moment before giving Miri a tap against her arm. "We should probably get down. I ain't feelin' like dodging wackjob birds until someone gets here." With a grunt, Ara slipped down and carefully crouched down on a lower branch. "Okay... we'll take it slow. Keep looking up. Or at me. Whichever looks more easy on the eyes." She joked wuth a faint laugh, hoping to keep Miri relaxed. "I'll help you down. Same as before. Just grab on when you get close and I'll catch up." She continued with a deep breath.

Hopefully their rescue wasn't too far out. Her breathing was becoming increasingly difficult the more she did it. At least the way down was a lot quicker than up, no matter if it was the long route or the shortcut.

As before, Ara focused the Force around Miri and carefully lowered her towards a solid branch, before hopping down and slowing her fall. Ara's body protested with each maneuver or jump, but she sucked it up for the moment. She had to hold on until they reached the ground. "Hey Miri! You think we're gonna stick around here for a bit? Or should we branch out rather once we plant ourselves on solid ground again?" Ara called out with a careful laugh. The least she could do was keep throwing bad jokes for the moment.

It gave her time to think on how to speak her mind once they got down.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Due to her fear of heights, Miri didn’t much care to take in the view from this high up. She was busily focused on her datapad anyway. “It looks like the closest settlement is… to the southeast. We could stay here and get picked up by search and rescue.” Miri was concerned about Ara’s ribs, as well as her own injuries. Trying to hike all the way there probably wasn’t a good idea.

Ara ultimately decided to climb down, if only to avoid the birds. “If I look up, I’ll give myself vertigo,” Miri muttered. She stared straight ahead, whether at the trunk of the tree or the branches surrounding them—of course, it seemed as if she were looking at Ara as they descended to the forest floor.

She heard Ara’s labored breathing, and took note of her slower, more strained movements. The terrible puns were likely a coping mechanism for the pain.

“I don’t know,” she replied, playing along in her dry deadpan tone. “It probably depends on whether we can deal with the root of our problems...”

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Whether it was the pain in her chest, or Miri's pun-laden comment, Ara wasn't sure what brought her to a standstill among the branches. She paused with heavy breaths for a few long moments as she stared off in deep thought. "Well... gotta plant some seeds at least." She continued with laboured breaths, though her tone was a lot less casual.

Wordlessly she jumped off a branch again and touched down on another before helping Miri down, except she guided Miri to her own branch instead as she sat back for a few seconds. "Just gimme a sec." She muttered, letting out a heavy cough. She ignored the droplets of blood on her hand as she wiped them off and looked around them. "Listen... I've been thinkin' about it for a longass time now. Why do I hate her guts? Why do I wanna see her fail?" She finally looked at Miri with pained eyes. "Simple answer is it ain't you. At first it was jealousy. Obviously. But after comin' back and stuff... I got nothing. I guess that jealousy never really got beat out hard enough." She coughed again, a lot harsher this time. Once again she wiped her hand off against her pants.

"Either way... you didn't do anything wrong. You ain't the spineless schutta. And I can't just keep hangin' on to what happened. What was outta my control. So... I guess... what I wanna say is..." She looked up again at Miri as a gentle smile took hold... only to disappear as her eyes went wide.

"There's a bigass karkin' thing behind you." She spoke quietly, her lightsaber snapping to her palm at the sight of the beast in the trees.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Silence. Had her pun really been that bad?

No, Ara was thinking. Uh oh.

The Zabrak muttered something, then coughed. Miri didn’t see the blood on her hand, but she did raise an eyebrow at what the other girl said next.

Miri had figured it was jealousy. She was no stranger to those feelings, though she didn’t usually resort to bashing heads against bar counters because she was envious. Or shooting her ex-boyfriend with a stun blaster.

More coughing. This time Miri did see the blood wiped on her pants, a dark and vivid red stain. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ara kept talking. Was she about to apologize? Would an apology be enough?

Whatever she was about to say, it was cut off by the arrival of a strange flying creature. Acid dripped from the thing’s mouth flaps, burning the foliage below. Miri whipped out her slugthrower pistol and immediately started shooting at it.

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Miri did exactly what Ara expected she would do. The loud cracks of her slugthrower broke through the air as she popped a few caps into the odd creature... except it didn't go down. Ara's spine ran cold and a feeling of danger rocked her core even in her battered state. The cherry on top was the glimmer she spotted in the creature's maw as it shrieked and squealed from the pain.

Without wasting a second, Ara grabbed hold of Miri and flung off the branch towards the ground below. Above them, hellfire engulfed the branch where they were sitting barely a second ago. The ground was coming in fast. Ara held one arm around Miri to keep her close while the other reached out, slowing their descent dramatically towards the surface of the planet, only it wouldn't be enough. The impact would still be excessive.

In a last ditch effort, Ara flipped around and hugged Miri close, putting herself between the ground and the woman she hated for far too long. She felt her back hit the ground, and several snaps echoed in her ears as raw pain shot through the entirety of her chest. A bloody grunt drove through her mouth as her eyes went wide. Her body went limp as she laid on the ground, unable to move. Whether it was simply pain or a broken spine, she wasn't sure. But the sight from above was enough to get her to at least try to do something.

"A-above... you..." She managed to speak somehow as bloody foam coated her lips. She tried to raise her hand, do something to stop the creature from reaching them, but her body wouldn't respond. Her lightsaber laid a few feet away, and her fingers would barely even move, let alone her arms. "Move it..." She grunted towards Miri, her green eyes focused on the massive beast flying towards them with its acidic maw wide open.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

The creature didn’t die. Its maw opened, flames billowing up from its throat.

Miri found herself being dragged from the lower branches of the tree. Ara was grabbing onto her, falling beneath her, cushioning her from the impact with her body. Something audibly crunched. An icy chill ran through Miri, and she quickly rolled off of the other girl and into the dirt.

The flying creature was coming at them again. Seeing as her slugthrowers hadn’t done much damage, and the thing was getting too close for comfort, Miri grabbed her lightsaber and ignited the purple blade. She waited until the beast was within range, then swung at its left wing, hoping to at least ground it.

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara's body screamed with pain at her, yet it also felt numb as she laid in the dirt. She could only lay there and watch as the beast came down at them. But Miri was quick to react, drawing her blade and slicing at the creature's wing. She could barely move her head to watch as the creature crashed into the ground, screeching in pain as it writhed around for a few long moments.

A faint smile tugged at her lips as she watched Miri finish it off properly. Relief washed over her as the last screams left the creature. "Solid move..." She muttered as she stared up at the enormous tree above them.

But her smile didn't last for long. She tried to move again, but that only resulted in more pain through her body. "Miri... I... I can't move." She managed to speak clearly as she stared up at her fellow padawan. "Where's my saber?" She asked, trying to look around her. She was done. Whatever broke in that last fall was simply too much to handle. All she had now was Miri.

Her vision clouded over as violent coughs yanked at her. "Miri... I don't wanna go out here. Did-did-did you get... get contact?" She muttered with wide eyes. "My back hurts... I can't... feel my legs." A shaky hand slowly rose towards the padawan, trying to grab hold of her in some way. "I'm sorry... Miri, I'm sorry..." She sputtered after several long moments. Her shallow breathing kept her voice low, but she pressed on despite the pain.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Minus one wing, the creature fell from the sky. Miri dodged the dead weight, cut it down where it lay, and finally turned back toward Ara, panting and covered in a sheen of sweat. It was difficult to tell how bad the Zabrak’s condition was just from looking at her, but if she couldn’t even move…

The distant hum of repulsor engines gave Miri hope. “Help is coming,” she assured her. “Your lightsaber is right here.” She stooped to pick up the weapon, hooking it to her own belt.

While she looked to the skies, ready to wave down their rescuers, Miri felt a hand grab her wrist. Ara sputtered an apology between bloody coughs, clinging to consciousness through what must’ve been unimaginable pain.

What if she doesn’t make it? Miri wondered. She may have hurt me, but I don’t want her to die.

“Apology accepted,” Miri said. In a slightly softer tone, she added, “You’re going to be all right, Ara.”

The roar of the engines grew louder. A shadow fell over them from above. Miri waved her arms, wincing against the soreness of her own injuries. Minutes later, they were carted up into the emergency air speeder and whisked away back to civilization.

Ara Sheridan​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Her vision fluctuated and narrowed as darkness crept in, numb pain pulsing through nearly her entire body. The sounds of repulsor engines and even Miri's voice grew increasingly distant as her green eyes stared up at the other padawan.

But she heard it. Through what sounded like a piece of string connecting two cans, Ara heard Miri's gentle words good enough to understand her. She accepted her apology. A faint smile crept up as the Zabrak leaned back, letting the pain and reassurance claim her...

---

Ara's eyes snapped open as she drew a deep breath. Heavy coughs rattled her body, though she quickly realized that she could move again. She looked around at the room. It wasn't the Jedi infirmary by any means, though it was clearly a hospital from the look of things. The most important thing for her was the wiggling of her toes. A faint, relieved smile took hold as she looked at her feet and wiggled around a little, cherishing the feeling of life flowing through her again.

Memories of what happened returned as she searched for her companion. "Miri?" She spoke up with a parched throat. It was hardly an issue for her in the moment as she looked around to find her fellow padawan.

She had to have survived, right? Her vision was still adjusting for the moment, but that didn't stop Ara from trying to sit up with a grunt through the lingering pain in her chest.

Miri Nimdok

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Granted privacy by the curtain surrounding her hospital bed, Miri was getting some much needed rest. She was curled up in surprisingly comfortable sheets, fast asleep…

"Miri?"

Stirring, Miri mumbled something incomprehensible, then tried to go back to sleep.

Ara Sheridan​