Private Safety First

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma coughed, waving smoke from her face. Her eyes watered, obscuring her vision—at least, she hoped that was why everything looked blurry.

The shuttle's engine had malfunctioned. Everything had happened fast. She wasn't sure where they had crashed, but sunlight was filtering through a breach in the hull.

Once the ringing in her ears died down, the shrieks and shouts of the other passengers reached her. Other Padawans, trainees, and even a few younglings had been aboard the shuttle with her and…

"Master Kahlil!" she called out, unbuckling her safety harness. Coughing, she started to unfasten the boy sitting next to her. She needed to get out of the smoke, but not before everyone else was out…

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Things always had a habit of going from bad to worse.

Kahlil's eyes opened as he looked about the shuttle. The crash. The systems? His head throbbed with pain as he tried to remember what exactly happened, but all of it was a blur. Something about a system failure, but why did the shuttle fail? It wouldn't have crashed like this. .. Right? He took a breath before looking around, letting his eyes settle into focus. Right. The Padawans. The younglings.

"Master Kahlil!"

Thelma. He was out of his seat in an instant, pulling through the Force to rip open the side door.

"Out, go!"

Smoke. He smelled it now. Coughed as his blurry eyes started to make sense of it. A wave of his hand unbuckled all those still strapped in as he started to lift them all one by one into his arms. It was dangerous to move someone in a crash, sure. More dangerous to stay inside the smoking shuttle.

"Those who can, help those who can't."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma’s fumbling efforts to unbuckle the other students manually were rendered no longer necessary by a simple wave of Kahlil’s hand. She grabbed a student with a broken leg, helping him out of the shuttle, then went back for more.

In no time at all, they had evacuated everyone from the shuttle. A gaggle of roughly a dozen other students sat on the grass of an empty field, with injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to a few broken bones. But nobody had died, either in the crash or from smoke inhalation.

Breathing hard and coughing, Thelma nonetheless kept going. She retrieved a medkit from the crashed vessel, and began to tend to the wounds of other passengers.

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil let out a breath of relief once everyone was out. And whole. Injured, but whole. He crouched by one of the younger folk, gently tracing a rune over one of their cuts. It'd seal. Not heal, not completely. But it was enough to keep them from bleeding. He did end up glancing towards Thelma. She was breathing, yeah. But barely. Smoke inhilation. He stepped over to her, gently setting a hand on her shoulder before taking the medkit from her hands.

"Sit and relax. I've got this. Mostly." He flashed a kind, calm smile.

"Focus on breathing for now."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

As Thelma paused to cough into her elbow, a hand touched her shoulder. Another took the medkit from her. She knew it was Master Kahlil.

"Sit and relax. I've got this. Mostly. Focus on breathing for now."

She nodded wordlessly. Adrenaline had dulled the aches and pains of the crash, but now it was starting to catch up to her. "I think I broke my arm," she said, laying back on the ground and closing her eyes. Master Kahlil was going around healing the others, but she didn’t need his help. "Save your strength and concentrate on the ones who need it. I just need to get some sleep, and I'll heal on my own…"

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil frowned a little at that, watching her. Then glanced to the others. There were still others hurt. That was the only reason he seemed to agree. Mostly. He went around, bandaging wounds and applying some bacta where it was needed, but then he was back to her. Whether she needed his help or not didn't matter. He sat beside her, the calm expression on his face as he went through the supplies.

"A splint, good. Give me your arm." Did it matter that he was still wounded? No. He'd at least stopped the bleeding. He would wrap up the wound on his arm later. First came the well being of his Padawan, just like all the others.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma’s eyes opened at the sound of Master Kahlil’s voice. “You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I just need a few minutes to rest, and it will heal. Save the splint for someone who needs it.”

Her tone was firm, and she held her broken arm away from him so he couldn’t attach the splint. “You’re bleeding,” she said, spotting the wound on his arm. “You should take care of that.”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"I was bleeding. Already took care of it."

The binding was something he could do later. Then just sighed and moved on. He wasn't going to argue with her if she didn't want it.

"Just because you heal fast doesn't mean you should ignore your wounds."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Just because you heal fast doesn't mean you should ignore your wounds."

"It does mean I should give all the supplies and medical attention to the people who actually need it," Thelma replied. At least he wasn't being stubborn and insisting that she take the splint.

Once everyone else was in relatively stable condition, she rested for a bit. Sure enough, her arm healed rapidly, leaving behind only a dull ache where the bone had broken. She opened her eyes, half-hoping it would all turn out to be a bad dream. But the wreckage was still visible, smoke rising against a dusky sky.

"Do we have an emergency beacon?" she asked, her voice raspy. "Are comms working?"

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"No, that was lost in the fire. But we're not completely out of luck. Master Valery already knows what happened." And more importantly, that he was alright. He paused briefly, just to reasure her through their bond. He was alright, and the Padawans were safe. Just, didn't know where exactly he was.

"We'll just have to relax and wait. All things considered, we're pretty alright for now."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"But how long will it take for her to find us?" Thelma asked, sitting up. "Long enough that we'll need to find shelter and food besides the rations?"

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Don't know. If we can find a town or a city, it'll take not even a day I imagine. But otherwise, could be days, weeks."

Kahlil lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug.

"We'll worry about food and shelter later. Right now, rest. Everyone here needs rest."

Thelma Goth