Private The Arrow that Flies by Day

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

To say that her current predicament was less than ideal would be the understatement of the century.

Overwhelmed by the scale of the artificial, mechanical world that surrounded her, Athsheva had allowed herself to become distracted. Just once. And what had she earned for her lapse in judgment? A bullet. She didn't think that infidels even used those anymore, but she had clearly been wrong in that regard. The shootout hadn't even been meant for her; she had simply been standing on the wrong street at the wrong time, finding herself in the middle of an ongoing conflict between two local gangs. She didn't even know their names... and frankly, it didn't matter. There was a more pressing issue.

The slug, thankfully, hadn't impacted any of her vital organs. Instead, it had torn through the soft flesh just above her hipbone, leaving a ragged exit wound on the other side. Under any other circumstance, the exquisite agony would have been a welcome change of pace, but the potential of an infected wound-- especially in a place as filthy as this-- was best avoided.

That was what led her to here and now. Tucked away in a narrow alleyway, she sat on the edge of a cargo crate, awkwardly trying to reach around to her back. Using her shaper hand to cinch and mold the entry wound back together had been easy enough... but the exit wound was proving more difficult. Hard to seal a wound when you couldn't see it. Her shoulders rose and fell in heavy breaths as she quietly cursed in her native language, black blood dripping down the crate and onto the durasteel grating beneath her.

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

The sound had startled Tod, but he simply returned to his drink. Typically, shootouts weren't something he liked to get involved in, and this one was a little way off. Nevertheless, the aftermath always presented an opportunity to loot corpses for money and other treasures. Even though this planet, like all others, had its fair share of gangs, Tod's goal was to avoid getting entangled in their affairs. Despite this, he reasoned the dead had no use for money or any of the living's necessities.

Finishing his drink and clipping the bottom of his mask, he got up from the stool outside the bar. The fanfare of gunfire had yet to subside, though shots sounded like they were becoming more spaced apart to Tod. He strolled toward the street with his hands in his pockets, keeping an eye out for blaster signs or slug tracers. However, by the time he reached the street, the shootout appeared to have concluded.

Approaching a man lying on his back in an alley, Tod removed his hands from his pockets and checked the man's pulse—there was none. Deciding to inspect the man's weapon, he found it to be warm but not hot. It was just a cheap junk pistol not worth much, but the man's purse held some credits. Pocketing them, Tod's attention snapped to the sound of someone speaking in a different tongue, uttered softly.

Peering into the alley, he spotted an individual working with their hands. Tod subtly slipped his right hand into his pocket, where a hole allowed easy access to his pistol. It was a concealed trick he used to catch opponents off guard. Now, he held the pistol at the ready as he strolled casually down the alley toward the person. As he drew closer, he noticed blood on the crate they were sitting on and a clawed hand.

Tod stopped when he estimated he was out of lunging distance, roughly ten feet. "Hello there, my friend," he began. "You seem to be injured. Would you like some assistance?"

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

If Athsheva hadn't been so engaged with attempting to work on herself, she would have paid better attention to her surroundings. Another lapse in judgment, it seemed; today was proving to be full of them. As it was, she remained unaware of the man's approach until he was finally standing before her.

"Hello there, my friend. You seem to be injured. Would you like some assistance?"

The sound of his voice caused her head to snap upwards, gaze tearing away from her work to instead inspect the man before her. Her upper lip wrinkled, both in residual pain from the open wound and a considerable distaste towards his apparel. Artificial. The only natural fibers seemed to be his overcoat, which he wore over his shoulders like the skin of an animal.

"Two things," she spat. While she spoke, her amphistaff slithered along the inside edge of her left sleeve. The serpent waited, its head just underneath her wrist. Athsheva did not trust the man's hand in his pocket. If he decided to do something with it, he would be in store for a nasty surprise.

"One: you are a stranger," the Yuuzhan Vong grunted, her brow furrowed with suspicion. "You have not yet earned the right to call me friend."

"And two... I shudder to think what kind of assistance you think you can provide," she continued. Her eyes flashed with barely constrained distaste. "Or what it will cost me. I have no money, infidel. Go somewhere else if you want it."

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

(Will change color of speech for visual clarity)

Tod stood there, his hand resting on his pistol as he chuckled. "People shouldn't be so picky about their friends," he began, "especially not you in your current situation." Glancing back at the street, he noticed some slight movements, which could be the gangs retrieving their fallen comrades.

"As for the nickname 'infidel,' I find it rather intriguing, given that I might be the only one who can and will help you. I'm a trained physician, probably the only one in this sector who will offer you assistance." Her admission that she had no money was disappointing, but Tod held fast to the oath he had taken, so he would honor it. "You're right, I might usually ask for compensation, but tonight, I'm feeling generous. Consider it on the house."

He stepped back, withdrawing his hand from his pistol and flipping his trench coat back to reveal his holster and a few pouches. Reaching into one of the pouches, he pulled out a bottle of pills and shook it, producing a faint rattling sound. Opening it, he fiddled with the childproof cap before eventually removing it.

Looking into the bottle his head bowed a little as there were few left. Under his mask he pouted a little. "I'm actually a little light on these, will need to get more soon."

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

The man before her loved to run his mouth, as men often did. Athsheva's grimace was born from both pain and exasperation with this infidel, who seemed to have inserted himself into her affairs with a level of presumption that outweighed even the heaviest neutron star. The unbearable godsdamned gall of it all...

Beyond him, she noticed the movement. Shadows in the dim light of the setting sun. As of now, the gangsters seemed more concerned with their fallen brethren... but that could change. Could Athsheva handle them in her injured state? Almost definitely.

But why tempt fate? The little voice in her head chirped insistently, unwilling to allow the Yuuzhan Vong even a shred of peace of mind. This man may try to kill you. But those men definitely will. And there are more of them.

"You're right, I might usually ask for compensation, but tonight, I'm feeling generous. Consider it on the house."

"On the... what? Ugh! Fine," she spat, just as frustrated with herself as she was with the man. She threw her hands up in the air before crossing them over her chest. "Show me what passes as the pitiful excuse for surgery in these unholy lands, house-man."

She sneered at him, watching as he opened that dreadful, thin-pressed animal skin. Her expression did not improve at the sight of the little plastic bottle.

"I'm actually a little light on these, will need to get more soon."

"Oh, for gods' sake..." the Yuuzhan Vong murmured, rolling her eyes and resting a hand against her elegantly sloped forehead.

"If those are painkillers, keep them to yourself, infidel. I have no need. Pain is to be loved and embraced, not feared and shunned. It reminds us that we are alive."

Pearls before swine, of course. A human could never understand. Not without rigorous torture, anyways.

She waved him over with her hand. "Hurry up, house-man. Stop wasting my time!"

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

"If those are painkillers, keep them to yourself, infidel."

"Hah, you think I share my painkillers, that's a good one." Tod began, "No I tend to treat awake and under no doping, cheaper for me. These are antibiotics, which help solve a different issue." With this he started to pour one into his glove but decided against it as it would get dirty and could lead to different issues.

Upon her waving over he walked forward and put the open bottle on the ground near to where she was. "Take one right now and hold onto two for the next two days. Also I believe my colleagues call me Dr. house-man." He chuckled out.

"So what do we have to work with, simple shrapnel wound or what." He reached into his belt and pulled out some saline in a water bottle and attempts to pour it on her wound to start to clean off the wound. "So what are you? I've seen many different species but cannot say you are one of them." While washing it off he would reach into his belt and pull out some gauze and some surgical tape to get ready for the next phase of the process.

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

"No I tend to treat awake and under no doping, cheaper for me. These are antibiotics, which help solve a different issue."

Antibiotic. The very word itself was anathema, a religious absurdity wholly and entirely incompatible with her outlook on the universe. Life was not something to be denied, whittled away and suppressed. Life was violent, ever changing, breaking all possible barriers and flooding into parts unknown. Anything else was denying reality. She pointedly ignored the open bottle, turning her non-existent nose up at it.

"So what do we have to work with, simple shrapnel wound or what."

"One of you--" you being infidels, of course-- "shot me. With metal. A... slug, I think it is called," she grumbled in annoyance. The strange, lukewarm liquid ran across her bare skin, and it stung deliciously as it seeped against the ragged edge of her wound. Athsheva's eyes momentarily fluttered. The pain was a welcome distraction from the embarrassment of the situation she found herself in-- at the mercy of an infidel, one who crouched at her back and fiddled with her.

"So what are you? I've seen many different species but cannot say you are one of them."

It was no shock that he didn't recognize her kind, but it was still a disappointment. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, the barest tinge of sadness in her eyes. There was once a time in the galaxy when the Yuuzhan Vong were infamous, to be feared or hated. Now, they were nothing. This man didn't even know what she was.

She cleared her throat, setting her expression right. "I am Yuuzhan Vong," Athsheva proclaimed, the reverence in her voice unmistakable. "I am a child of the gods. If you have not seen my kind, consider yourself fortunate that you have not yet met us in battle."

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

"One of you--" "shot me. With metal. A... slug, I think it is called,"

"Well I wouldn't say I was one of them as I haven't shot anyone. Today at least." He began continuing to flush the wound with saline. "But you should take those antibiotics, an infection will kill you and that should treat it, probably will become gangrenous if you don't." The wound didn't look too bad, seemed like a typical slug wound. His experience as a field medic had acquainted him with such injuries.

"I am a child of the gods. If you have not seen my kind, consider yourself fortunate that you have not yet met us in battle."

"Which god are you a child of, there are so many that I've been told of I've stopped counting." He said while finishing up with flushing. Tod tried to have a playful tone to his voice, he was trying to ease the tensions between the two. Tod assumed she was unhappy, which would make sense as she was shot, but he didn't want that anger turned on him. While he may have an advantage due to her being wounded he was in no spot to draw his pistol quickly.

Once he had finished with the saline wash he picked up some gauze, "Well they did catch you pretty good with that round but this is nothing deadly, just painful. Do you think they'll come back?" With that he placed the gauze on the hole which may have stung, while taping it down to stop any extra bleeding.

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

She knew exactly what he was doing. Trying to get her to talk as a means of distraction from the pain. For an infidel doctor, it was entirely understandable, perhaps even commendable under their circumstances. As a Yuuzhan Vong, however, she found it an annoyance more than anything else. Athsheva rolled her eyes at the attempt in bedside manner, her hand once again falling upon her massive temple to rub at it. A true headache was beginning to set in, one that seemed to pulse in time with the syllables of his voice.

"Which god are you a child of, there are so many that I've been told of I've stopped counting."

"Yun-Yuuzhan, obviously!" she snapped at him, sharpened teeth grinding. What a stupid man-thing...

"Well they did catch you pretty good with that round but this is nothing deadly, just painful. Do you think they'll come back?"

Another stupid question. Athsheva sighed sharply, her pointed ears flicking back in exasperation. Feeling the cotton fibers shoved so suddenly against her wound actually improved her mood; she took a moment to close her eyes, savoring the discomfort and the pain, before cracking one eye open to regard her doctor.

"How can I possibly know? I do not even know what they were fighting over..." the Yuuzhan Vong grumbled. No doubt some base, earthly thing. Infidels seemed to hold no reverence for anything else. But the possibility that they would come back made a flicker of fear come to life in her eyes. "Are you sightseeing, fool? Hurry up back there!"

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

"How can I possibly know? I do not even know what they were fighting over..." "Are you sightseeing, fool? Hurry up back there!"

"I wasn't there at the firefight, so I don't know what's happening. Besides I've just finished up." Tod said this while moving away from her back and putting the equipment back into his pouch. "These things take time you know, typically I want to not cut a vital blood vessel and you bleed out."

Looking down at his gloves they were covered in blood, but that wasn't unusual. He wiped them against his trench coat, leaving stains he intended to wash out later. "Just a tip from an 'infidel' many of us don't really like being called that which may lead to more situations like... well," he motioned towards her back, "that."

What an odd creature, Tod had seen many different species but very few of them insulted the people that were helping. Though he didn't really care what he was called on the profession, patients will scream slurs of profanities while he is digging bullets out or applying compress to their injuries. Still, he found it odd but just equated it to religion.

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

"Just a tip from an 'infidel' many of us don't really like being called that which may lead to more situations like... well," he motioned towards her back, "that."

"Do I look like I particularly care what an infidel thinks?" Athsheva shot back. She stood up slowly, one hand reaching out to brace herself on the wall. It wouldn't do to undo all of the infidel's hard work. The cotton gauze felt awkward against her bare skin, and she took a moment to adjust her oozhith to cover the injury.

She huffed. At least she wasn't dripping black blood on the ground anymore. The infidel's gloved hands seemed to be soaked in her blood, a fact that made her feel strangely pleasant and tempered her edge.

Only slightly, of course.

"Your work is... acceptable," Athsheva begrudgingly admitted, her nose-pit wrinkling. "At the very least, I will not be bleeding out." She continued to pointedly ignore the bottle of antibiotics; she had her own solutions for preventing infection, all of which involved life, not these plastic things.

She stared at him for a moment. When the words finally fell from her lips, they were harsh and forced. "I... thank you."

 

[Todblaz Graker]

Tag | Athsheva Rin

"Do I look like I particularly care what an infidel thinks?"

"Probably not, but they care what you say, and last time I checked, bullets don't care who they hit." Tod chuckled at the end of this finding the complete lack of care from this individual fun. He enjoyed seeing people who were firmly rooted in their ideals. While it might not always translate well into practice, it did lead to a strong sense of confidence, which could open many doors in life.

He tapped a button on the side of his helmet and was reading something that was about his location, he still would need to get back to his ship to sleep. Anyway it appeared his work here was done.

When she thanked him he did a very mocking bow, "No problem." This was not to mock her but as a joke, well he found it funny at least.

"I guess we shall part ways. If you ever need an infidel to treat someone medically, name is Todblaz. I'm sure someone will know me, though track me down if you want." With this he started to walk back out the alley.

 

[Athsheva Rin]

Tagging: Todblaz Graker

His joke was not funny-- or, at least, Athsheva didn't see it as such. His attempt at a bow, poor form and all, was a mockery. Had he not just done her the favor of patching her up, the Yuuzhan Vong would have gutted him like a fish by now. Instead, she simply rolled her dark eyes, watching him with distrust as he slowly backed out of the alleyway like a retreating animal.

"Very well, Tod," she spat. The shortened form of his name was not meant affectionately.

He didn't turn his back on her. He was smart enough for that, at least. Only when he finally disappeared did she, too, turn to leave, moving stiffly as she clutched her side.