Healing the Healers - Kashyyyk, Silver Rest

[Auteme]

Part of Auteme was mildly excited about being at the Halls of Healing today. The other part of her was mildly disgusted that she could be happy about this sort of thing.

Danuta was far from the Silver Jedi's home, but the wounded still streamed into Kashyyyk. Auteme wasn't about to avoid helping those in need, so she arrived at the Halls of Healing early that morning to help. Three shifts of healing, power nap, then by the evening she was back again. By the time the sun had set all of the more seriously wounded had been tended to, and the teenager was making the rounds of the less injured.

It was around then that she came across a mostly-conscious girl that looked about her age. Her complexion gave her away as a Zeltron. Auteme had met a few in her travels, but not as many since she'd joined the Jedi. Funny how she didn't know many padawans...

"Where are you wounded?" She asked the other teenager, finding herself a seat on a stool beside the cot the Zeltron laid on.

[member="Nida Perl"]

 

[Nida Perl]

Danuta had been a successful operation. They managed to subdue the Mandalorians long enough to extract civilian hostages from the mining facility, though not without casualties. As the primary healer of the group, Nida’s task was to provide support and tend to the wounded, acting as a medic. Which she had done, right up until she’d foolishly put herself in the line of fire.

Normally Nida was used to hanging back, letting the better equipped Jedi and Rangers push through. This time, something compelled her to fight. Perhaps it was the presence of her grandfather—who was not a hostage, but hired by the Mandalorians—or maybe she was just tired of always being the one protected.

“Shoulder.” Using her good hand to point to the where she’d been shot, Nida squinted up at the young woman who’d come to heal her. Tan skin, dark hair in a bob with kind green eyes. Her face was familiar, but Nida couldn’t recall her name. Her speech was slightly slurred from the painkillers, but she was conscious enough to know that she sounded silly. How many times had she found herself hovering over the very same cot, asking the very same question? It was strange being on the other side for once.

She shrugged the shoulder of her robe off, cringing at the unexpected rush of pain through her shoulder. It wasn’t that bad so long as she didn’t move. Thirdas had cared for her in the field, applying a medicated salve and bandages to her injury, but it would take forever to heal without a Jedi’s touch. He had insisted she go to the Halls of Healing to have her wound properly examined. The memory of him carrying her off the battlefield surged though her mind for a moment, causing her to blush.

“I was shot by a Mandalorian.” She frowned, this time trying to discern Auteme’s facial features through the haze of medication in her bloodstream. “Do I know you? You look familiar.” The drugs made her a little less reserved than usual.

[member="Auteme Denko-Durren"]

 

[Auteme]

Auteme understood the sentiment. So often she felt that fighting would help more than staying back, healing, being an anchor, being protected. But it was moments like these where she felt she was doing her best work. Everyone had their role, and the teenager had never felt that hers was facing down whole armies with just a laser sword.

With the pink girl's direction, Auteme got to work. She moved over to the wound, checking that it wasn't infected and that it had been cleaned. Blaster wounds made it more difficult to discern what was and wasn't collected grime that might cause infection. Uncivilized weapons. After quickly determining that she'd already been tended to, she went right into the healing. Her hands found their places on the other teenager's shoulder, and after a deep breath they began to glow a quiet green. The skin and flesh seemed to return from the blackened blaster mark, layer after layer. "You're lucky," she muttered. "Any lower and the shot would've burned your lungs." Perhaps the Force was on their side -- not many had come back with serious injuries.

The green glow subsided soon enough, and Auteme pulled back, checking her work. The skin and flesh was still a bit pale and raw, but it was repaired for the most part. The teenager let out a tired sigh. Then... perhaps the patient was a bit delirious. She gave a friendly smile, shaking her head slightly. "I'm sure I would remember you if we'd met. Maybe you've seen me around, I've been here for a few months now." She shrugged. They hadn't met as far as she could recall. Auteme felt the need to introduce herself -- not too many her age around the temple. Her green eyes studied the girl for another moment. "Are you alright? You're looking a bit red," she said, waving at her own face.

[member="Nida Perl"]

 

[Nida Perl]

Nida couldn’t help but smile at Auteme’s comment. Indeed, the shot could have graze the delicate tissue of her lungs and then she’d of had a real problem. Even so, she tried not to think about that and count her blessings that the wound was only to her shoulder, and that she was in relatively good health.

The application of the Force had an almost cooling effect, or so it felt as Auteme soothed the inflammation of dermis and muscle, mending the tears. Nida sighed, feeling less tense as the edges of pain became blunted.

“Huh?” She could feel the heat on her face and knew that she was blushing, which was fairly routine for Nida. “Oh, just my pigment.” The Zeltron cleared her throat. “Sometimes it looks different in the light.” And when she was thinking of a certain Valkyri, but those thoughts were left unvoiced.

Fortunately, the conversation had leverage to go in a slightly different direction. “I may have seen you around the Halls of Healing, in that case. This is mostly where I train.” Nida was no stranger to the clinic, but it was new seeing things from the patient perspective. “I’m Nida, and you?”

[member="Auteme Denko-Durren"]

 

[Auteme]

"Ah, okay," she said, giving a slight nod to the Zeltron. Unfortunately Auteme wasn't an expert on near-human pigmentation, so she could only guess that Nida had been blushing. Perhaps she should be using her Force senses to determine the truth, but the teenager wasn't one to pry.

She honestly couldn't remember seeing the other teenager before today, but perhaps Nida had seen her. Auteme had only begun her work in the Halls of Healing after she'd spoken to Celeste. The teenager was proud of how much she'd learned from actually applying theory of healing. She'd have to revise her habit of learning and not trying herself -- she was a Jedi now, she might as well try it all. "Maybe. I've been here for a bit over two months, training with Master Rigel. Kinda weird how we've never met before now, huh?" She let out a short laugh. "I'm Auteme, it's nice to meet you Nida, though I wish it wasn't in these circumstances." Hospitals and places of healing weren't exactly the best places to make friends.

[member="Nida Perl"]

 

[Nida Perl]

Nida returned Auteme’s good natured laugh with a smile. "It is a big place.” The Silver Rest was indeed expansive, and it was not unlikely that the two had missed each other while going about their duties. Nida spent much of her time on worlds protected in Silver space, helping to oversee aid operations and the like.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Auteme. I am sure we will be seeing more of each other—hopefully without one of us practically unconscious.” Nida wriggled a little, carefully sitting herself up. The action sent little jolts of pain darting into her shoulder, but it was manageable thanks to the drugs and Auteme’s healing.

“For someone with only two months of practice, you’re doing quite well.” Nida tilted her chin towards her shoulder before raising her head back to the other Padawan. “How did you come to be with the Silver Jedi, Auteme?” It was a carefully worded question, as Nida had discovered that many of her fellow Jedi had been in unfortunate circumstances before the Order.

[member="Auteme Denko-Durren"]

 

[Auteme]

Auteme had traveled a fair bit during her time with the Jedi, mostly because there were so many centres of learning away from Kashyyyk. Unlike Nida who had been overseeing aid operations in Silver Jedi space, Auteme had traveled to learn more, whether from masters or books. The galaxy was still massive -- she wasn't surprised they hadn't crossed paths before now.

"Haha. Yeah. I mean, I move around a lot here, so... I'll certainly see you around, now that I know to look for you," she said, giving a warm smile. The teenager leaned forward slightly in her seat as she saw Nida wince, but she didn't think she could do much more to heal the other girl, so she stopped herself.

The Zeltron's question caught Auteme slightly off guard -- she hadn't thought about that in a while. Looking back at the path that'd brought her here, it made perfect sense, for the most part. Honestly she was staying here on Kashyyyk in hopes that one day her mentor might return. But her life was changing and she was growing -- she'd need to choose her own path. Someday. Not today.

Conversation was the best medicine, so the padawan took a moment to answer her patient's question. "I... really just started out here because I wanted to learn. The archives are really incredible. When I came with my mentor, we spent some time staying here, and then... uh, well, here I am. I figured I could learn a lot about the Force." She smiled for a moment. "I guess I've come a long way, then, huh?" She was happy to hear that her skill in healing was up to par for other healers. Auteme must be a natural.

[member="Nida Perl"]