The Bonds of Catastrophe

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua laid in silence as the Doctor assisted the unconscious Zabrak, dwelling on her words. His perpetual grimace lightened as he listened, the pain of the moment ebbing slightly. For the first time since the explosion, Ghorua took the time to take in Irajah. Dark hair, matted down by cinders and sweat. Pale skin, marred by ugly bruises, a few of which were caused by the Shark. Bright hazel eyes, which failed to lose their spark, even as they carried legions of guilt. Ghorua knew what that felt like.

Despite all of this, she had an air of empowered determination about her, brought on by promises. The Shark had never put much stock in promises, but the sheer force of character the doctor exuded was enough to earn Ghorua's respect.

A few of the survivors hovered nearby the pair, simply looking on, most likely vigilant against another outburst of rage from the large hunter. When they saw his injury, however, they gave the two a bit more space, content to leave Irajah to her work.

Ghorua felt a stab of hot coals through his body as he tried to sit up. He breathed heavily, biting back the roar of pain he would've loved to emit. He heard her ask if she could look at his arm, and glanced up, black eyes grateful. "If it isn't too much trouble for you, that would be lovely, yes."

The Herglic tried to relax however he could, reluctant to move his shoulder. Briefly, he wondered how the tiny figure of Irajah would fix his injury. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to. The thought of being crippled until their release haunted him. He would be rather useless without an arm.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

It was almost comical- the petite human and the hulking herglic. She stood on tip toe beside him, because even seated, he was taller than she was. Small hands moved carefully across his injured shoulder and upper arm, hazel eyes flickering back and forth between the injured area and his face. As she tested the range of movement very slowly and carefully, against his pain, she nodded to herself.

"It's dislocated, but then, I suspect you knew that," she said quietly. "I also suspect there is a tear in either the Teres major or minor muscle- I can't be certain without scanning equipment. It could be worse than that, but we won't know until we get you in to a med center. For now, I'd like to try to get the arm set to rights, at least, as far as possible. It's- you understand it's going to hurt worse when we do it, yes? And even after, if there's damage to the muscle, which I think is very likely, well, it'll hurt less than it does now, but you'll need to be very, very gentle with it until we get out of here. If there is damage to the muscle, this may be an injury that repeats someday- the dislocation I mean."

She breathed in deeply and looked up at him. Her tone was even, but she was clearly unhappy with what she was saying from here on out.

"Normally, it's very easy to put a dislocated shoulder to rights. But I can't even pretend that my usual technique for dealing with this is going to do *anything*. I can't fix it, not on my own. But I think that maybe we can do it together."

She nodded at one of the durasteel girders jutting out of the floor. Hopefully it was anchored as deeply as....well.... as she hoped.

"You'll need to grab that with this hand," she murmured, fingertips on the hand of his injured arm. "And pull- It's going to hurt. There's no two ways about it. When you do that, I'll be ready. I'll do my best to guide things back in to place. I've never tried to do it this way before, but I think it's our best shot. Think you can do it?"

There was a lot of trust happening here. She made no mention of what had happened in his anger earlier. But it was no secret that beings in pain sometimes lashed out. She'd be in contact with him, possibly causing more pain before the pain eased in any significant way. But she wasn't shrinking back from what needed to be done- obviously if she were considering the risk (of course she was), it was worth it to her.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua focused on the tone of the small woman before him, blinking back the pain from behind his eyes. He was a fighter in every sense of the word, big muscles, big ego, big tolerance for pain. Or so he had thought, before today.

He frowned as Irajah spelled out what may have happened to him, and what they would have to do. The fact that this may be a recurring injury upset him. Due to his genetic modifications, he did heal rather quickly and efficiently, so perhaps there was hope it would prove no challenge in the future. He doubted it, though.

Despite his doubts, Ghorua nodded once, a quick affirmative jab of the head. He glanced at the bar on the ground. "Yeah, I can do that."

Ghorua breathed in through his blowhole slowly, preparing for whatever pain laid ahead. He smelled dust, baradium residue, and... blood. Lots of it. The crashing in Ghorua's temples began again, a constant drumbeat battering his ears. He looked to Irajah, fear in his black eyes. They seemed to say I'm sorry for what I might do.

After a minute of simply preparing, Ghorua's arm began to move. Scorching pain blossomed up his arm as he moved it, almost unbearable. The beat in his head quickened, and the same pit of rage began to fill his mind. Then he had the durasteel bar in his grasp. Step one, complete.

Ghorua took a moment to rest his arm. He looked once again to the Doctor, searching for comfort. His mind drifted back to home.

Ghorua was in his late teens when they first came. He was driving the family speeder on a barren Courscant street, when he heard the warning klaxons of invasion. Immediately, he had rushed to his family manor, and locked the door. He was greeted by his family, whom quickly ushered the young Herglic into their bunker. The three Herglic waited there for hours. Hours turned to days, days to weeks. Finally, his father deemed it safe to return to the outside world. The family returned to the surface, where they found nothing but chaos. Ghorua's father had said 'it's fine, this means better business for us'. Ghorua had believed Dorc Balin. He hadn't realized the consequences of the One Sith occupation.

The pain was unlike anything the Shark had ever experienced before. His entire existence was pulled from his mortal form and shredded, leaving nothing behind but tatters as he pulled on the bar. The dark presence within his mind bloomed, cascading waves of chaos in the Force, the rage so palpable, one might mistake it for a surge in the Dark Side.

Ghorua was doing his part- now all he could do was endure the pain, control himself for a moment longer, until Irajah set his arm.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

The two locked eyes for a moment and she gave him as encouraging a smile as she could. With a nod, she positioned herself and watched, eyes on his upper arm and shoulder now, rather than his face. After all, she knew what she'd see there- pain.

Her fingertips were the barest touch on his skin, feeling the way the muscles shifted beneath them, the way the joint slid painfully. It scrapped against the top of the socket it belonged in, and she clenched her teeth, only able to imagine the kind of pain that caused. As he reached the full extension of the limb, she moved swiftly. Putting all of her weight behind it, she shoved- there was no way to be gentle. Gentle wouldn't get the job done.

It only took a moment, but it was all of the strength she had. The bones shifted, the muscles protesting for a heartbeat before recognizing their proper configuration. With an audible wet thunk ​things popped back in to place.

Everything happened fast, but her movement would have sent a spike of pain through what was already a stressful and excruciating ordeal. There would be some relief now, but had he kept control in that moment?

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua couldn't think. He couldn't move. He could barely do anything as he pulled on this stupid metal bar, Irajah over him. The darkness in Ghorua grew and grew, a shadow of hate on his features. Then Irajah pushed on his shoulder, and the world exploded.

There was no way to describe the sudden, unbearable stab of torturous fire that engulfed him. It was over in a second, but not the consequences.

As his shoulder was put into place, Ghorua felt his Blood Frenzy, tantalizingly close. It would come. Ghorua was doing all he could to fight it off, to gain control, but it seemed the Frenzy would finally win. With his uninjured arm, the massive Herglic pushed Irajah away- forceful, but with no intentions to harm. More protective.

"Back up!" Ghorua's sharp bark was strained, fear tainting his words. Ghorua felt his mind slipping away from him. His pupils twittered in his eyes, fighting against themselves. His entire body strained, the injury on his shoulder protesting.

"Get away from me! Just clear out... Please?"

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Fortunately, this time, he didn't hurt her. She also wasn't about to fight him about it when he pushed her away. Honestly, she had been watching and was already starting to move when he did so he'd find no resistance there.

Irajah had no idea what was happening, specifically. She wasn't particularly familiar with Herglics in general, and only slightly with this one in particular. She had no concept of what he was fighting in that moment- beyond pain. Pain she understood and respected. She backed away from him, but didn't go too far.

Watching [member="Ghorua the Shark"], she backed up until she was just past the still unconscious Zabrak. Kneeling beside him, she absently took his pulse- more out of a need for something to do than because she expected any real change in the few minutes that had passed. She kept half of her attention on Shark however, uneasy, but not knowing exactly why.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua arched his back on the ground, desperately trying to regain a semblance of control over himself. His breath was labored, chest rising and falling quickly. The Hergic clenched his fists, fighting. "No... I can't let it win... I can't." Ghorua spoke under his breath, almost too quiet for Irajah to hear. He knew she would have no idea what he was talking about, and didn't care. He thought affirming the words out loud to himself would help, but he felt no change.

Ghorua sat, tortured, for a few more seconds, before suddenly going quiet. The Shark sat up suddenly, the pain in his shoulder seemingly forgotten. But he was different. Very different.

The Shark's pupils had widened. Dagger-like teeth jutted from his jaws, in a sadistic smile. Ghorua's blowhole flared, scattering dust around him. The hate that had begun to corrupt him spread, consuming his form. The damaged beast smiled, before releasing a growl, more beast than man. The Frenzy had won.

The Shark stood slowly, the pain still flaring in his arm, but feeling none of it. The beast seemed even more imposing now, as he rolled his shoulders, all semblance of the polite giant gone. He prepared to charge, his degraded mind ready to tear his former-acquaintance to shreds. It seemed the galaxy had other plans.

One could call what happened next the will of the Force. Another could call it luck. Ghorua didn't put much stock in luck.

The building shifted violently, and a fissure appeared under Ghorua. The added weight of the Shark had disrupted some of the duracrete under his feet, something the Beast's primitive mind couldn't comprehend. The Shark fell back, and into the hole he had just made, followed by chunks of rubble. A crashing boom followed as Ghorua hit the ground. Hard.

Ghorua blinked, realizing what had just happened. The Frenzy left him as he groaned, slowly testing his body. From what he could tell, no injuries. Yet, he felt exhausted, spent. Like a monster.

He didn't speak. He didn't yell up to Irajah, whom was a solid twenty feet above him now. He simply sat there, quiet, facing away from the crack in the sky.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Oh, it was the Force alright.

When he'd first looked up- when he'd smiled- she knew that something was deeply, intrinsically, wrong. The growl simply confirmed it. She was kneeling near the zabrak, one hand taking his pulse, the other hand on the ground to steady herself as she looked up at him.

"Sh-Shark?"

When their eyes met, she felt a stab of fear unlike anything she'd felt today. The explosion, all of it, it didn't compare to the way his eyes rested on her.

She didn't think. Just reacted. Leaning forward, she put herself between [member="Ghorua the Shark"] and the unconscious man. Taking her hand off of him, she planted both palms in the rubble. Bracing herself, her entire being was filled with nothing but the sensation of

NO

The word reverberated through her, fueled by fear and anger- anger at the situation they were in, anger at her own decision to not do everything in her power to save this man. And an older anger. Anger that, no matter how hard she tried to pretend it didn't, fueled every step of her life since the death of her planet. The calm control was a iron clad shell. But what it contained was something that mirrored the bloodlust in the Herglic's eyes. Survive. At all costs.

No. GO.

Afterward, she couldn't have told someone that she had done anything. It wasn't a conscious action. But the ground had started to shake, the fissure had opened up and suddenly, the threat was gone. She stayed still for a long moment, breathing heavily, her hands and arms shaking where they held her up. Rocking back on her heels, she frowned, reaching up to her face. Her fingertips came away from her nose, bloody. How had that happened?

Very slowly she stood up. With one or two false starts, it took her longer than she would have liked. On shaky knees, she moved cautiously over to the edge of the hole. Had she done this? Surely not. Peering down, she called out.

"Shark? Shark are you okay?"

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua's body felt like lead, his head more like mashed putty. His conscience, somewhere in-between a little raisin, and a burning spike of metal. Overall, Ghorua felt terrible.

The Shark leaned back on a hunk of rubble, nursing his jarred shoulder tentatively. He grimaced, not from the pain, but from what had happened. He hated his condition with every fiber of his body. For all of his strength, all of his smarts, even his emerging moral compass, none of it could overcome his primal urges. He was lost to himself, a lost cause, lost in the rubble. His only solace? The floor he was on had no one nearby. Either there was no one in the area... or they had all been crushed by the first explosion. Either way, that meant Ghorua couldn't hurt anyone. Not like he was in a position to, anyways.

Looking up, Ghorua saw the hole he had fallen through, piecing together parts of his memory scattered by the Blood Frenzy. What had happened? He was pondering this darkly, when he saw a face peek over the edge. Dirty, frightened, and was that... a bloody nose? Had he done that?

"I... Yeah. I'm good. Never felt..." That was as far Ghorua could make it in his humorous sentence before feeling a cold line of water run down the side of his face. Only one tear fell, splattering in the dust. Ghorua took one shuddering breath, dragged out and choppy. "Felt better."

He had truly hit rock bottom.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

"You, sir, are a horrible liar. Do you know that?"

Despite the weirdness of the last few minutes, Irajah found herself eyeing the drop. Around seven meters, give or take? Yeah, that was not happening. Even if she could get safely down there, there was no way she (let alone they) was going to get back up. And she wasn't 100% certain at the moment that going down there, even if she did have a way out, was a good idea.

While it was very obvious to her that the hulking form down there was the Herglic she had worked with for the last two hours, the creature that had stared at her and smiled- that hadn't been. She didn't really know what had happened. Absently, she wiped the blood from her face with her sleeve.

So, she did what she always did when something didn't make sense.

She asked.

Swinging her legs over the edge gingerly, she sat and rested her elbows on her knees.

"What just happened there?"

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua looked up at the Doctor, defeat and deep sadness in his eyes, with a hint of apprehension. He had never talked about the Frenzy with anyone, not even the one that accidentally gave it to him. It was his dirty little secret, his deepest insecurity. The idea that he would speak about it with a near-stranger appalled him.

But, to be fair, Irajah was a medical professional. Maybe doctor-patient confidentiality applied here.

His mouth felt dry. The Herglic hadn't gotten a sip of water in the entire ordeal, and had worked his body to the max. He sat up, staring down at the floor, face hidden from above, as he spoke. "Well, I've got... a sort of condition, I guess." Ghorua couldn't find the right words to describe what he had never talked about out loud before.

"I get angry sometimes. Real angry. I think it's genetic. Ah...Lets just say it's probably for the best that I'm down here. Wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Chances are, we're all dead anyways." The Shark broke down, for the first time he could remember. Tears followed the first, streaming down like a light rain. His words shook slightly as he looked back up to Irajah.

"I am so, so sorry." Ghorua wiped an arm over his face, and continued, his deep vibrato marred by sobs. "How're you all? I didn't... hurt anyone, did I?"

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

She took it all in silence, her eyes never leaving his face.

While she didn't know enough about what he was talking about to understand completely, she understood enough. Her own dark secret lurked just beneath the surface, and while he didn't say it directly, she could see the difficulty that sharing this with her was for him. That difficulty- that she understood. And appreciated his willingness to let her in.

It was also terrifying in a way. They didn't know each other. And he was clearly dangerous.

But she didn't move from her spot, and didn't turn away.

"Everyone is fine, we're okay" she assured him, as gently as she could. "No one got hurt worse than they already were by, well, all of this. This spot must have been weakened from the blast. Lucky I guess." Her tone on that last part was less sure than before. But she shook her head suddenly and plowed on.

"And not only are we all going to get out of here- but some of the people up here are better off for your help. No harm's been done. And maybe.... maybe when this is all over.... maybe I can help." She sucked in a deep breath and continued, her words hurried, as if afraid he'd blow her off without hearing her out. "If it is genetic, there may be something that can be done- if you want. I- I don't want to promise anything. But if you'll let me- I'd like to try."

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua leaned his back against the compact stone behind him, wincing as a jagged piece of concrete dug into his back. He looked up to Irajah, tears still brimming his eyes. He listened intently, giving off a relieved sigh as she relayed that he hadn't hurt anyone. He hadn't lost control like that in a long time, and never in such close proximity with so many innocents. He was lucky, it seemed, that the area he was standing in had been unstable.

The Shark suddenly perked up when Irajah mentioned wanting to help. He looked up to her, a surprised, but cautious smile in the darkness. "You... would do that?" Ghorua wiped a few stray tears with the back side of his meaty hand, and pushed off against the rubble, getting to his feet. He was hesitant to get excited. Chances were she wouldn't be able to help him. Chances were that they would both starve to death in this mall, or dehydrate, or whatever. Ghorua tone changed, becoming lighter. "Please don't get my hopes up until we get out of here." Ghorua mustered a concerned frown, massaging his shoulder.

Ghorua took the time to survey his surroundings. He drew in a quick breath, emitting a short muuah from his blowhole.

"Oh... Doc? I think I may have a way out of here."

He had fallen into a mechanic's shop.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

"Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I don't know if there's anything I can. But. It's worth trying?"

She frowned, looking down in to the crater. Mostly, she saw rubble and some mechanical stuff, but nothing jumped out at her as being obviously helpful.

"Well, I'm glad you have an idea, because I've got nothing."

Hazarding a glance back at the Zabrak over her shoulder, her frown deepened. Deliberately, she turned her attention back to [member="Ghorua the Shark"] .

"Tell me what you need from us up here and we'll do it."

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua looked around excitedly, like a child in a candy store. He yelled up, immediately standing. "Okay, one second!" The large Herglic disappeared from view as he rummaged around the mechanic's shop, digging through rubble. He found spare wire, hydrospanners, handheld scomp links, fusioncutters, everything Ghorua could ever ask for. A loud banging could be heard, along with a very deep cussing. After a few minutes of scavenging, Ghorua finally returned, carrying a small crate of supplies.

"Alright, now if I can just..." Ghorua looked up and around, for some path for him to get back up, but what he saw wasn't good. There was no way to get the half-ton Herglic back up, to display his mechanical savvy.

Ghorua dropped the box of wires and tools to the floor, thinking hard. "We may have a problem. I can fix the turbolift console, but there's no way I'm getting back up there. So..." Ghorua pondered his next move. "So one of you is going to have to do it. If there isn't a mechanic up there, it'll have to be you. Fixing that thing is going to require... medical precision. I'll talk you through it."

Ghorua hefted the box in his uninjured arm, and threw it through the hole. The crate of supplies landed hard a meter from Irajah. Ghorua felt butterflies in his stomach. The idea of potential escape was tantalizing.

"Of course, this is all assuming the turbolift still, you know, works, but even if it doesn't, we'll still be able to potentially get the doors open. That's something, right?" Ghorua frowned again, realizing the big what if in his plan. If the lift itself was broken, they would have to devise another way of escaping. The Shark didn't want to wait for help. That meant possible death by dehydration, and that was certainly not how he wanted to go.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

"I'll find out," she said as she stood up. "I'll be right back."

It would be too easy, of course, for there to be a mechanic trapped with them. It seemed like a doctor and sheer strength were all of the luck they were going to get. In fairness, it could be worse. Before returning to the hole, she recruited one of the more capable looking folks trapped with them. Bringing the Mon Calamari over to the Zabrak, Irajah explained what she needed from her. With a nod, the other woman took over monitoring the unconscious man. A couple other people recruited to carry the crate of supplies, and Irajah was as ready as she was going to be.

"I don't know how this keeps happening, but this isn't the first time someone's had to walk me through fixing something that looks nothing like a sentient body," she called over the side as she came back to the edge. "I suspect it might be the galaxy telling me to expand my useful skill repertoire. Last time it was a ship engine. This time a turbo-lift panel. At least the things are getting smaller."

It wasn't that Irajah talked more when she was nervous. But. She was already a bit of a talker, and feeling (only slightly this time) insufficient for the task at hand didn't help.

"Okay. What do I do?"

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

"Yeah, at this rate, you'll be fixing BB units in no time." A bit of life had returned to the Shark, and it was obvious in his movements. He still moved sluggishly, but it was more energetic, and his face held a bright smirk.

"Okay, go over to the console, use the hydrospanner to open up the maintenance panel. Tell me if anything's broken. If I had to guess, the wires have probably melted. Cut those out, and replace them. Make sure to remember which wires go where." Ghorua smiled deeply as he felt a warm nostalgia. His father had let him work on the family speeder when he was a kid. The older Herglic instructed Ghorua very similarly to this.

Except, you know, they weren't in a building about to collapse.

"If you need anything else, just yell down to me!" Ghorua frowned again. If the actual computer linked to the door was broken, there was no way he could fix it. He was a mechanic, not a electrician. But he held a seed of hope.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah, with the help of a young woman she shanghaied in to the job, pried open the access panel. And stared at what was inside with dismay.

"You're right," she called over her shoulder. "The wires are melted. One of them is also.... I guess.... fused?.... to the entry point.... is that a technical term? I have no idea. Anyway. Right. Does it matter what colour that one was? Because the plastic sheathing is COMPLETELY melted."

"Um, I don't think you should touch that one, Doctor," said her nervous assistant.

"You don't have to teach a taun-taun to chit in the snow," Irajah muttered, her attention still mostly on the panel.

She rolled up her sleeves, securing them behind her elbows and pushed her hair out of her eyes before reaching gingerly in to the panel. She started with the wires she *could* identify.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua felt a bit of satisfaction that his assumption had been correct. More rattling and rambling could be heard from below, and a set of small rubber gloves sailed out of the hole, slapping the Zabrak across the face. That was accuracy at it's finest. "Use those. Safety first!" Ghorua felt his old, professional-yet-jolly voice ring out, and he was comforted by the familiarity.

"Use that fusioncutter to take out whatever your hands can't. And yeah, colors are kinda important. Erm... You may have to guess." Ghorua backtracked quickly, concerned. "Put on those gloves before you try that, please!"

Ghorua could do nothing but listen in tense anticipation, dreading what he might hear. Hopefully, shock therapy wasn't on Irajah's schedule today.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah jerked her head and her assistant went to retreive the gloves. She kept working, one eye slightly squinted and chewing at her lower lip absently. Replacing the other wires was not particularly difficult, just time consuming and detail oriented. She honestly wondered, even if he was up here, how he could have done with, his hands being as big as they were.

She paused long enough to slide the gloves on when they were brought over before going back to work. Clearing and replacing all of the wires she could identify, she leaned back. A dull ache in the middle of her spine throbbed persistently, objecting to the uncharacteristic level of hunch. Stretching, she looked at the box critically.

"Okay!" She called out. "We've got six wires. Two blue, one green, one red, one yellow and..... the mystery wire. We've got spares of all of those colours, as well as white. The rubber coating on the old one is *completely* blackened, but I don't think it was black to start with. There's also some drips here- looks like red and green. But both of those wires were a little damaged so it might have been from them?"

Irajah didn't have the requisite knowledge to make an truly educated guess here. Should there be two sets of double wires for instance? Were there never white wires in a turbo lift? She had no maw forsaken clue.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]