Picking Your Brain (Anija)

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief with the weapon at last put away. Even if he might have concerned her for a fraction of a second. "Of course." She said softly with a bow of her head. Not too unlike Anija, she had a heachache from the intense emotion that had been floating about. Coryth had gotten good at blocking regular emotions with her empathic gifts but such close proximity to such intense emotions, always left her with a headache. And at least it was just that, knowing too well things hadn't always been that way.

Her eyes drifted to Draco, giving a slight nod in return to his whispered thank you. It was enough for her. The weapon was put away. Things seemed to slowly, slowly be cooling off. And now with the men stepping outside, Coryth turned her attention to Anija. Though she didn't have to physically touch her to feel the pain radiating from her, or count the actual injuries, not when she had a good idea from force alone. "It's okay, nothing to apologize for. Can't say I'd have had quite the same reaction, or not at least tossed him into a wall if it had been my significant other in your place." She said with a shrug.

At this point she pocketed that simple crystal and pulled a chair over beside the bed. "My healing gift, it's ... different. I'm limited in what I can do. After all, not all wounds respond to the Force, but I'll do what I can. And what is left behind I'll treat with traditional medicine." She sighed softly, "As long as you have no objections, or questions, just try and relax for me, and I'll do the very best I can to ease your pains."

[member="Anija Betna"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna listened quietly, his arms crossed over his chest as he absorbed the information. Dots were connecting and parallels were easily seen to him, but where they led he wasn't sure. Not yet. Not quite.

"When did all this start?" he asked bluntly. Normally, he'd have taken the man aside and shared a pint of beer, maybe tried to get Draco to relax a little. As it was, Betna could only muster so much compassion despite his efforts.

"I don't mean your wife's death. You shouted before speaking to me just a second or two ago. You told someone or something 'no' and it wasn't me. It wasn't directed at me or anyone in the room. I could tell that much," he took a deep breath and sighed slightly, meeting Draco's eyes with his own. "How long have the voices been there?"

It wasn't that much of a stretch to assume they were there. Ordo had been possessed by the Dark Lord of the Sith. Betna had been there to see what had happened to his father in law during such a time. It had brought pain and suffering to his family and tragedy to the Mandalorian people. While it wasn't the same case here, it was similar enough that Betna felt the parallels were too close to bypass. Something or someone had touched Draco's mind to some extent. How badly was Betna's concern at this point.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Anija Betna"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I let him talk. I wasn't exactly aware I had said that out loud, which probably didn't bode well. It took a moment of thinking about it, but I could remember when it started. "Wayland. They started just after Wayland." There was more. Much more. How much could I tell him? How much did he need to know? Most of it I decided after a few seconds of contemplation. The identity of my wife he didn't need to know or worry about. She and I had been fairly discrete for each other's protection, mainly her being protective of me as it turned out. There had never been a threat against her because of her relationship with me. "There is more than one." I said, looking down at the ground. I could tell he was still angry. "Until now, I just had holes in my memory. Then, the barriers broke when..." I trailed off for a second, trying to come up with the proper words. "Earlier today."

That experience had led me emotionally drained, and the memories I had shut out, or had been crafted or imagined by the other voices I heard were all coming back to me. "One is her voice. But she doesn't speak like she would. Its always cruel, reminding me I wasn't good enough for her, or strong enough to protect her. The other one is the one I heard today, right before..." I trailed off again. There wasn't a good way to say 'right before I beat the living hell out of your wife' so I pondered the words for a second. "Right before I lost control. It's full of rage and wants to lash out. Until today I was certain it was just me lashing out at myself for my mistakes, but this was the first time I lost control and injured an ally." That was about all I knew this early on. The realization I had been spiraling out of control had only struck me earlier today, and I hadn't had a lot of time to reflect on my thoughts or my state of mind. <Waste of Time.> The anger I felt deep down shifted. No longer just angry, angry about sitting here, wasting time talking when there were more important things to be done. It was deep down, but I could still feel it.

[member="Arrbi Betna"] [member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Anija Betna"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Coryth Elaris"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Arrbi Betna"]


"Oh, I wanted to... badly...And I'm sure Arrbi does as well," she admitted after a moment as she tried to sit up a bit straighter. it still hurt to breathe. "I've learned a lot of restraint over the years..." she said softly, thinking of the lecture she'd gotten from Mia after what had happened with Ordo all those years ago. That thought caused her to frown for a moment before she re-focused on Coryth. she smiled sightly at the other woman, and after a moment, reached out to grip her hand for a moment. "I've said what I needed to, I think..." she reoplied quietly before she laid back and nodded that Coryth could continue. As stubborn as she was, she knew better than to fight with the healer who was trying to make her better. And the woman seemed quite pleasant and grounded.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"Of that I have no doubt. Just as long as he or you don't kill him, all will be well." She said softly. After all, killing was an absolute last resort for her. Her saber had been seldom drawn in battle. To her recollection twice, ever. It was not her thing. That and her tiny size certainly paid her no favors in that department anyway. The blade at her hip, these days was nothing more than decoration and a reminder of where she came from, and how far she yet had to go from that naive teenager from ages ago.

Reaching out, she took the woman's hand for a moment before releasing her. "Of course, I understand." Coryth spoke quietly, not wanting to intrude further. It was far from her place. With a hand she pushed back the sleeves of her shirt, revealing an intricate pattern of scars, deeply crisscrossing her forearms. Marks of torture for certain that clearly extended beyond the visible. These days more faded than that had been in recents years.

With a deep breath in, Coryth steadied herself within the Force and laid a hand upon Anija's shoulder. Though she cringed slightly feeling the pain radiating from the slight dislocation, into her hand. Reaching into the infinite power of the Force, Coryth pulled upon the tangled threads of power, drawing some within herself before focusing on Anija. "This might be a little uncomfortable." The redhead said with a sigh before she started her work, gently shifting the joint back into it's proper place while doing all she could to ease and pain and discomfort within.

Without opening her eyes finding the rest of the injuries were easy enough, as she narrowed her focus down, to small and smaller degrees until working her way down to the cellular level. There it was a simple matter to encourage cell growth, accelerating the rate of healing to extraordinary speeds. The burns would quickly begin to fade into scars, after all there were limits and she could not make someone just as they were before.

Then lastly her attentions turned to the bruising in Anija's back and neck, the final thing she had left to do. Soon enough they would fade, as well as the pain that came with them as Coryth mended the damaged tissues beneath as best as the force would allow. There did come a point when they ceased to respond to her encouragement. Though by the time that Cory opened her eyes they had not faded entirely from sight. "Your shoulder might still be sore for a while. I would be careful with it if I were you, elsewise you run the risk of dislocating it further than you did this time. And as for the bruising, it quit responding to me after a while, I can't do much else for it. So, that might still be irritating but it shouldn't be too bad." She said with a soft worn smile. "I can however give you a pain killer if you'd like."

[member="Anija Betna"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna blinked slowly. It was no surprise to him that Draco was... afflicted as he was. He was dangerous, more so now than ever before. The fact that the other man could lose himself at any time, in any place, was something that could have... permanent and lethal consequences, both for himself and for those around him.

Despite that, however, Betna knew what drove Draco Vereen, in as much as the man's drive at the moment. Family. A daughter. His wife was apparently gone, but his child... Perhaps such a thing was possible to fix the damage with such a thing? Only time and action would tell.

"How old is your daughter?" he asked after a long moment. "And how long has it been since you've seen her?"

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Anija Betna"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Time was wasting now, or at least the harsh, darker part of my mind thought so. Part of me was still afraid to find bad news, but even more than that I wanted to find those responsible and tear them to shreds, leaving the shattered pieces of their mind in my wake. "She's still an infant. And its been a few weeks since they went missing and the bond broke. She had a babysitter with her, but she was with her mother when the bond snapped. My bond with the child was less developed than with my wife, so the range at which I could sense her is fairly limited." I said. My thoughts raced and already a plan was forming of what to do now that I had some sense of clarity rather than the muddy pit of despair I had been wallowing in.

"See to your wife, that's what's important to you right now. I have some hunting to do. When I get close, I'll call and you can help if you would like." I nodded to him. At this point it was a matter of leaving and I wasn't one for goodbyes. I took a deep breath and turned to walk away.

[member="Arrbi Betna"] [member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Anija Betna"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Arrbi Betna"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Anija's gasp was slightly pained as the dislocated shoulder slipped back into place. That was certainly not something she wanted to repeat again, though she knew there was a high possibility it might occur again. Her gaze fell to Cory's hands, and lingered on the woman's arms for a brief second as the Healer pushed her sleeves up. Whatever those scars were, they looked old. She knew it wasn't her place to ask, nor did she feel it was right to do so in such a setting. Shrugging mentally, she laid back against the pillows and tried to relax, breathing through the ripples of pain with emanated from the joint.

Her back protested slightly as she shifted, and after a moment, she began to feel the Force flowing into the damaged muscles there. The burns on her face and neck itched. Anija could feel Coryth beginning to heal the damaged tissues there as well. She knew well that there were limits to what the Force could do in regards to healing. But she was grateful for whatever the Healer could do in that regard. She smiled slightly, and reached over to grip Coryth's hand. "Bruises and scars I can live with. They mean I'm still here. And... I didn't give up..." she said softly. Perhaps she was also in some way referring to Coryth's own scars evident on her arms.

Her cool fingers gripped Coryth's hand as she studied the other woman's face for several moments. Anija felt... calmer than she had in a while, and she could feel her body beginning to relax. While she might not have much Healing skill of her own, she could at least focus where she needed to in that regard. She chuckled slightly at Coryth's next words. "Actually, A painkiller would be nice... and maybe something for this headache... if you have it?" her tone was hopeful. She sighed and laid back again, thought her gaze lingered on the two men in the hallway.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth smiled softly at Anija's words. "Truer words, I don't think have ever been spoken. And scars only add character, another page in the book of life that marks our body, reminding us of where we have been and how far we have come." Sitting back she sighed softly, and looked over the woman once more. Careful eyes looking for anything she might have missed the first time around.

Gently, she squeezed the woman's hand in return. Her eyes drifted to the bedside table where she had laid the medicine that she'd brought with her earlier. "Of course, I can do that. It's not a problem at all. And I know you truly could use it. So, I don't mind in the least." The redhead quickly prepared a syringe of the medication, and quickly injected it into Anija's IV. "You should start to feel a fair bit better quite soon."

It seemed her thoughts were drifting to the same place, as she glanced to the two men in the hall. Cory wondered what they had managed to work out so far. Hopefully it was better than she had thought. Still, one never knew. "Is there anything else that I may help you with?" Coryth asked softly. "Even if that is just to stay with you and talk until your husband returns, I can do that." She hardly minded. Even simple things like that were a great service to those who needed it.

[member="Anija Betna"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Arrbi Betna"]