The Times and Trials of Sean Ailin

[Tanith Alde]

There are a few reasons why a noble family sent one of their number to join the Army. Most frequently it was so that they could come back a hero, raising the family's status.

Sadly, in Sean'scase, it was the exact opposite.

He'd never been good at the political game. He'd been captured by scum twice by the age of ten, and according to his father, he just didn't "get" it. After the third time, his father threatened to not pay the ransom next time. That was enough to keep him at home from then on. No, he was sent to the army in hopes that he'd die. Maybe a glorious death, maybe one that would leave his family proud. But they just hoped he died quietly. That would be enough.

 

[Tanith Alde]

So far, he'd failed them in that, too. He'd been accident prone as a child -- he'd grown tall, and that height had left him awkward for many years. He'd spent a lot of time with the family's chirugen, and had picked up a lot. Now, he served as a field medic. While, true, he served in the field, so far he'd been spared front-line combat for the most part.

Most of the time. This wasn't one of those times.

"Sean! Where in the Forces's name are you?"

"On m-my way!" He fell into a sprint, shrapnel kicking up dust that stung the eyes. He paused behind the cover of a tree, firing off a couple of shots at the imperial scum. Needed to clear his path. Needed to get to the wounded. He needed... A glance revealed an enemy tank drawing bead on his location. Sean wasn't sure if he should be honored or insulted that they felt to use that much overkill on him. Either way, he needed to move. It didn't take much to convince him to sprint again.

 

[Tanith Alde]

The tree exploded, throwing him off his feet. For a long time, there was only a high-pitched whine and a throbbing inside Sean' head. Distantly, he became aware of a pain in his bicep. A shard of wood. Without thinking, he pulled it out. That's when he really noticed the pain. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Sean, if you don't get your ass over here RIGHT NOW, I swear I'll send you to hell myself!"

Finally, he found the two soldiers in question. Their cover wasn't good, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that one of them was lying on the ground. Sean fell to his knees next to the soldier. He'd taken shrapnel to the face -- the man could be saved, but the eye couldn't. Better to take it out and get the guy shooting again than to drag him back out.

 

[Tanith Alde]

He'd just worked the biggest shard of shrapnel free when the cover started to get peppered. Sean snatched up his T-998 C and glanced. A group of them were making a charge. Damn Imperials . With the sudden odd high-pitched whine in the air, he could barely think. Gritting his teeth, he took aim and fired...

Only for the trooper to be cut in half. Sean blinked and looked down at his lasrifle. That... shouldn't have caused that...

It was then that SHE landed. Right next to him. She looked down at him, one of her ice blue eyes hidden behind her white hair. A quick look to the injured conscript, and she returned her attention to the advancing imperials, her saber blazing into life again.

 

[Tanith Alde]

Sean didn't need any more of an order. He spared one more shot downrange, only scoring a glancing blow, before returning his attention to getting the soldier back up and firing.

It was an hour later before the battle was done. Sean limped back across the battlefield, clutching his arm. Every step sent fire up his leg and into his back. He'd twisted his ankle at some point -- at least, he hoped that he'd twisted it. He was afraid to check. He shouldered his rifle and bent down to pick up his helmet. He wasn't going to get flogged for losing it. Again. It wasn't until he pushed himself back up, grimacing the entire way, that he realized that one of the Jedi was standing in front of him.

 

[Tanith Alde]

He pushed his eyes slowly up to her face. Ice blue eyes. White hair. Now he could see the fleur-de-lis on her cheek. He tried not to grimace as he saluted, fist to his chest-- his arm might have been bandaged, but it still hurt like hell. "Th-thank you, M-M-Ma'am, for your assistance in ensuring that justice... be done this day." There was a long moment before she nodded once, letting him drop his arms.

You are bleeding," she said softly.

 

[Tanith Alde]

"Oh?" Was he? It took a moment before he remembered his arm. "Oh, this? I-I-I... It's nothing. It shouldn't be... um... infected or anything. I've t-treated it and made sure to-"

"Not that," she said, sounding a touch amused. A gauntlet pointed down at his leg.

And the piece of steel jutting out of it. That made him wonder -- was it the ankle that was causing him all the pain, or the shrapnel. His face began to feel as if a thousand pins were prickling it. "Oh, fiddle-dee-dee," he said, his voice breaking. "That will require a Tetanus shot."

With that, his world went black.

 

[Tanith Alde]

In retrospect, it was kind of funny that pain wasn't the first thing he noticed. Not that there wasn't a lot of it. Instead, it was the incense. But his eyes didn't want to open. The cot was warm. His body felt like lead. Lead and pain, but lead none the less. Nothing wanted to move. Nothing wanted to work.

But the incense made him force his eyes open. The Army didn't burn incense. Nor did army medical tents have that kind of roof, really. He forced his eyes down only to see... a statue. Some Jedi....... he couldn't remember her name offhand. A warrior and healer. Yes, he knew her. That, as well as sheets finer than anything he'd ever had as a soldier, told him that he wasn't with Army right now.

 

[Tanith Alde]

Sean pushed aside the sheets, looking down at himself. Bruising, yes. To be expected. But it had already started healing nicely. His leg and arm were bandaged, as well as his ankle. From the looks of it, even the minor lacerations had been attended to. He... wasn't going to argue. With a wince, he quietly made his way out of the cot, kneeling before the statue. If this Jedi had watched over him while he was unconscious, then the least that he could do was give her proper thanks.

 

[Tanith Alde]

"You are awake."

The voice made him jump, turning quickly to look at the source. Bad idea -- it made him woozy, seeing double. No, not double. There was only one of everything in the room, save for the two Jedi before him. Two pairs of ice eyes stared down at him. Almost completely identical, save for a small scar on one's cheek.

"Careful," said the one. "You have been unconscious for some time. You lost quite a bit of blood. "

 

[Tanith Alde]

Well, it looked like he'd failed his family again. Shame tinged his cheeks, even as he tried to deny that small point of pride deep inside.

The one who spoke turned to the other. "Tell Master Sateris." The other nodded and left the grand tent. It all felt so surreal.

But there were things that needed addressed. Looking up from his position on the ground, he forced words to his lips. "H-h-how b-bad was it?"

"Three days. Bethany was forced to hand feed you. When the fever came, she tended to that as well. We would like to keep you for a few more days." The air was heavy with unsaid words. She looked away from him, back to the statue. "Your commander has demanded we return you to him as soon as you awoke. He was not pleased when I brought you here, but there was little that he could do. Keeping you here, however..."

 

[Tanith Alde]

Sean found himself blushing as he looked away. "I th-thank you for your divine kindness, as well as your d-divine wrath against the Imperial Scum."

"You may regret those words." He looked back up to her. Her face was hard. " Bethany will escort you back to your regiment. I believe your commander seeks to put you directly back into harm's way." She must have seen his wince. "This, most certainly, will kill you. However, Master Sateris has informed me that all of the transports are either in use or in need of repairs. I'm afraid that it will be a long trip."

Sean was never good at politics, but even he could see what was going on. The commander had found a way to force their hand. Who knew how, but they were were disobeying by complying. By following the letter of the orders, they had bought him time to help recuperate. His ears felt warm.

 

[Tanith Alde]

Which left when the tent opened, letting in another blast of cool air. The other Jedi, Bethany he supposed, had returned, carrying his gear. His pack looked so very empty. With even, graceful movements, she placed it on his cot. A moment later, she made her exit again. To don her armor, he supposed.

"I expect to see my sister returned after she presents you," the more talkative sister declared.

That threat was read loud and clear. From his kneeling position, he made saluted her. "The Force's will b-be done."

The two of them stayed there for several long moments, neither moving. She expected him to stand. There was no way that he was going to do that with her there. Perhaps she sensed his discomfort, perhaps she grew tired of waiting, but regardless, she bowed her head to him and left him to change.

 

[Tanith Alde]

Not for the first time in his life, and he doubted it would be the last, Sean silently cursed his body.

He took his time getting changed, out of pain. By the time he left the tent, the Jedi was standing outside awaiting him in her armor, her saber carried at ease. "J-Jedi Knight Bethany?" She nodded to him, her eyes closing slightly. Okay, this was kind of awkward. "I was t-told that you would... You would be escorting me?"

As if to answer, she retrieved a crutch, offering it to him. Great. They were walking. To Force only knew where. This might take a while...

 

[Tanith Alde]

For every two hours they marched, they rested for fifteen minutes. She would come and look him over critically -- probably ensuring that he wasn't about to fall over. Each time, she presented him with a little bit of food, water, and painkillers. Which was both a good thing and a bad thing. By the fourth stop, Klightus wasn't feeling any pain, but he was also feeling rather woozy.

Perhaps she sensed this. Her ice blue eyes narrowed this time as she watched him, a slight frown on her face. Wordlessly, she wrapped an arm around him and guided him over to a tree. She didn't speak, but it didn't take much urging to get him to sit and rest against it. He smiled up at her to thank her, but already Bethany was walking away, collecting twigs.

 

[Tanith Alde]

His eyes opened to find a fire going, the only thing keeping darkness from invading their small makeshift camp. He found a blanket wrapped around him. Honestly, he didn't remember falling asleep. He blinked twice, looking around. Her silver hair was the main thing that gave Bethany's position away next to the fire. With a smile, she brought him a bowl of some sort of stew. He tried to thank her again, but his throat felt thick and dry.


A few mouthfuls to ease the gnawing of his stomach gave him a little courage. "Jedi B-Bethany? I..." She tilted her head curiously, the light from the fire playing on her face. "I don't... know what I did to deserve you treating me like this, but..." He swallowed hard. "I just wanted... to say thank you. I feel like I don't... deserve hospitality such as this. I'm just-"

 

[Tanith Alde]

She crossed the short distance between them. Somehow, Klightus found himself extremely aware of just exactly how close she was to him. An even expression on her face, she took both his hands, forcing one to take a spoonful of stew and putting it into his mouth. That... pretty much said it all. Shut up and eat. Blushing, he swallowed and looked back down to the simple silver bowl. With a nod, she settled next to him against the tree.

He didn't remember falling asleep again, but he did awaken briefly during the night. His neck hurt, and his cheek felt pierced. Opening his eye, Klightus found out why -- in his sleep, his head had found its way onto her shoulder. His eyes closed again, thinking that he should move.

Thinking was as far as he got.

It was subtle motion that woke Sean up. The slight movement of the head caused by what it was resting on moving. He forced his eyes open, only to be greeted by a pair of ice blue.

Oh. Right.

 

[Tanith Alde]

He jerked his head away and found himself blushing all the way up to his ears. "Sorry, I-I..." He glanced at her and found her to be smirking ever so slightly at him. Somehow, he didn't feel insulted by it. She made her way to her feet, stretching, before she brought herself down to a kneel. Ah, right. Morning Meditation. He should have known. Heck, she'd probably been holding off on them to let him sleep. That was... awfully nice of her. Almost...


He quickly pushed the thought out of his head as he forced his own body to move. Nothing more than the after effects of drugs, he told himself. And, no matter how much he wanted to believe it might be otherwise, he couldn't. She wasn't...

Right, stop that line of thought right there. Now that his neck simply hurt instead of feeling like it was going to snap off, he settled down himself to join her meditation.

 

[Tanith Alde]

Though the tear in his pants granted him the ability to see the bandage on his leg, he couldn't check the wound. Now, however, he could. They'd done a good job of taking care of him, but they'd stitched it up fairly soon. Frowning, he pushed at the sides, watching the opaque liquid seep out between the stitches. He would have preferred to keep it open a couple of days to keep infection from setting in. Still, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

With a sigh, he washed it off with water from his canteen before re-bandaging his leg. His ankle hurt, but that was a secondary concern now. His arm, however, looked like they'd had to dig in it. That wasn't surprising, considering that wood shrapnel had caused the wound. Had to get all the pieces out. After a moment's pause, he re-bandaged it. Best not to dwell, right?

 

[Tanith Alde]

"I j-just wanted to thank you again for..." She stood in one fluid motion, holding the bowl out to him again. Right. Klightus could figure out the total meaning. Quit thanking me, she was saying. Fair enough. He could focus on food for a bit. Leftovers from the previous night's meal, but he could live with that. Especially since he was finding that they had much better rations than the Army did.

The star this planet orbited was threatening to set. Sean's leg felt like it was on fire. He wasn't sure which hurt more, the ankle or the wound. Soon, though, they'd camp. He'd put his leg up and maybe sleep some more. That was always what he prescribed when a patient had a wound like his. Elevation and sleep. He kept going over facts like this in his head, more to take his mind off the pain than the woman leading the way.