Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val didn't really think about much after Ryssa left, there wasn't a point.

The gauntlet passed through his mind once or twice, and he tried to puzzle out what the artifact could actually be for. Logic stated that it was some kind of healing device rather than tool of destruction. The cult it had been created for was some kind of healer cabal after all, and even though they had become dark and twisted...he supposed they still wanted to heal. Perhaps it was an odd sort of outlook driven by Moridin himself, a strange...

He shrugged.

The thought wasn't really there. It felt as though a part of his mind was simply stuck, as if reasoning through this particular problem was beyond him. He supposed it was because of the pain, his aching back and growling stomach making it more and more difficult for him to fully focus. In truth though he couldn't help but feel like they were missing something, like there was a piece of this puzzle that hadn't really been completed.

Perhaps the murals in the temple didn't tell the entire story.

Why had Moridin abandoned the Cult? Had the Gauntlet not worked? If so why had it still be worshiped? Why hadn't he killed the cultists? Val didn't know, and part of him didn't really want to know, but puzzling it all was just about the only thing he could do.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

I really should have come to the bloody mine on a speeder. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. In this case, it made Ryssa confirm that she would always have a mobile method of leaving a site.

Huffing and puffing as she ran towards the village, the Clawdite was on high alert for any sign of the cultists. She was also worried about Val and how he was doing. Even fifteen minutes would seem like an eternity when having to deal with that kind of pain.

As the lights of the village came in to view, Ryssa slowed to catch her breath. She had a small suite she rented out. First stop there. Then to find something for Val to eat.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val sat quietly, and surprisingly patiently within the cave.

Eventually his thoughts left him, concentrating the puzzle becoming far too difficult. As he grew hungrier and hungrier he found it more and more difficult not to think about anything else but. There was nothing else to say about it really, nothing else to do. All that he had was this damn hunger and the pain from his back.

Not for the first time he cursed his own physiology.

He cursed the mystery that he was, he cursed his unknown father, the man who had assigned him this fate. The idea of his mother being at fault never touched him of course, she had died giving him life, there was no blame there, no misdeed, but his father...his father was a different story.

As his stomach roared, Val slowly laid down on his side.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

As Ryssa had expected, there were already plenty of villagers stirring from their beds and getting ready to leave for work. Early risers were workers for the mines, the local grocery, and other small shops and businesses.

Flipping her visor back onto the crown of her head, the Clawdite sped down along one of the most minor roads. She had rented a room not far from the cantina. There she had the bulk of her belongings along with a change of clothes.

Wanting to keep a low profile, Ryssa took the edge of her cloak's hood and flicked it over her head. Alright, so gather what I can from my room and then perhaps swing over to the mess hall.

Since her room came with provisions, an early morning set up was in place in a small dining area. That was connected close to the kitchen for easy access. If she worked quickly... maybe she'll be able to sneak in for something more to Val's taste.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val simply lay on the floor.

He stopped thinking.

He stopped groaning.

He stopped doing everything except for fighting the pain.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Well since all Val could do is sit on the floor being hungry and miserable, time didn't really matter for the Morellian halfbreed. It all bled in together as the shadows of the wall drifted with the morning sun.

It was a total of thirty-seven minutes before the low hum of a speeder would be a tell-tale sign of another's approach. By then who knew if Val had passed out. Likely so. Either way, there was a very limited amount of time and abilities that Ryssa Rourke had at her disposal.

Bringing the speeder to a halt, the woman shut off the engine and swung one leg off to land on the ground.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val wasn't unconscious yet, though anyone who found him in his current position was more than likely to think so. He was laying on the floor, facing away from the cave, his face right beside the edge of the healing pool. He slowly breathed in the steam from the pool, his chest rising and falling.

It helped some.

The steam itself wasn't healing of course, but the scent was...calming. Val couldn't have explained it properly if he'd tried, but as he lay there and took in shallow breaths of air he couldn't help but feel a bit more...calm, sustained. It was silly to think that the pool was somehow sustaining him, but to Val it certainly felt that way. So he simply lay there, taking in shallow breaths with his eyes closed. His figure didn't move at all, simply stayed...calm.

He looked peaceful.

Nearly dead, but peaceful.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

For a moment Ryssa thought he was dead. He'd been so still that it sent her heart pounding in alarm. The sound of scrambled pebbles and rocks scattering as she rushed forward echoed in the small cavern.

"Val?" her voice rose an octave, eyes wide and nearly bulging. "Val!" coming to a stop beside him, she went to her knees. She sat her bag to her right, moving to lean in over to press her fingers along his throat. There was still a pulse -- and he was still breathing.

Looking at his face one would wonder if he was merely asleep. There was such serenity there that it made Ryssa wonder. Shaking her head, she decided that she'd have to do what she could while he was unconscious.

"I got your food -" she said, taking her bag and rufffling with the strings.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"Good." He said quietly.

His voice sounded hoarse, broken, like he was parched for water. The water, or rather the steam, had done him some good mentally, but in reality it hadn't done much at all to make him better or heal him in anyway. That was of course, pretty par for the course, but he did seem at least like he was still alive.

"Took you forever." He whispered in that same rasp. "I could've done it in half the time."

There was no bite to his words of course, he was simply trying to make light of the situation still. He was near death, that much was at the very least clear, and if she didn't get that food in him soon there was no telling what would happen.

He reached over and slowly made grabby hands towards Ryssa.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

A big snort was his first reply. "Yeah, right Humpty." humor. Ryssa could appreciate sassy remarks and humor at a time like this. Stepping right into it allowed her to try and make light of a somber situation.

Hands brought out a cooked Nerf steak wrapped in a frantic bundle of napkins. It had been on a buffet platter and Ryssa didn't have any time to try and grab some sort of container.

"Sorry. Grilled." she handed it over to him. "But better than nothing for now I suppose." at medium-rare, it was as good as he would get.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

It wasn't perfect.

Wasn't even close, but it was something.

At this point he would have considered eating a shoe, as long as it was made of leather. He took the steak and immediately began to scarf it down. He ate it so fast that one might have thought that he would choke on his food. The Entire thing was gone in a matter of moments, as though he were little more than a hungry beast. Val might have felt a bit self-conscious in that moment if he'd had a care in the world, but in truth, he was simply happy to finally be fed.

His stomach as well began to sing. "You have no idea."

Val began.

"How hungry I was." He let out a strained yelp of pain. With his hunger gone, the pain of his back finally seemed to return in a sudden wave of agony. He really couldn't win today.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The quickness and well - savagery - of how fast Val scarfed that down gave Ryssa pause. She stared at him dumbstruck, not quite sure what to make of it. However, she could immediately see a difference. Where his face had seemed gaunt, the skin around his skull had relaxed and become a bit more pliable. There was a bit more vibrancy to his cheeks -- at least until the pain caught him by surprise again.

Blinking rapidly, the woman turned back to her bag. She had one more steak that she could give him. Plucking the napkin wrapped meat, she withdrew it and handed it over to Val.

"I.. think I can figure it out for myself." once he took it Ryssa returned to her satchel to bring out the med-kit.

"Pretty basic, but I have some pretty handy pain stims here." she wouldn't be kidding. They were almost prescription strength, used to knock off severe pain. Not your typical over the counter buy ins for sure.

"Here." snapping the med-kit open with a pop, the Clawdite pulled out the dispenser and slipped in one of the vials. Pain stim on steroids and anti droozy to boot. That was important for Ryssa. She couldn't take pain killers that would knock her out and reveal her true form.

"Give me your arm."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He perked an eyebrow, before giving over his arm he ate the other steak, though this time he was notably more...humane about it, taking slow nibbles instead of huge chunks out of the meat. Still, the meal was finished quickly, and again he looked quite a bit better even immediately after the stomach hit his food. Part of him wanted more, in fact...all of him wanted more, but at the very least he wouldn't be standing on deaths door due to hunger anytime soon.

"Where did you go to medical school?" Val said as he offered her his arm, his tone completely genuine as though it were an actual question.

He knew of course that Ryssa had not gone to medical school, but now that he was just back to only being in pain instead of also starving to death his mood had somewhat returned to his general demeanor. He wasn't quite back to his old self, but it was clear that the food really had worked a sort of wonder.

"Just asking." Val said quietly as the needle slipped into his arm. "I only ask because the only people I allow to work on me graduated from Thyferra University."

He paused and then continued quietly. "Or they need to have very large breasts."

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Yeah yeah, wise guy." Ryssa shot him a flat stare, rolling her eyes thereafter as she injected the needle in his skin. The stim would hit quickly as intended. It was a PharmaTech formula for quick delivery and a lack of drowsiness. It also had some rather interesting side-effects. A slight tingling sensation at the fingertips was one. Numb tongue was another. Here's to hoping he didn't get any of the severe ones.

"I heard that." she shot him a glare, taking the injector and removing the empty vial. "And here I was about to say that you'd be short pressed to find many doctors who graduate from Thyferra University to begin with." she gave him a forced cheeky smile and narrowed her eyes in mock affront. "Guess you are just stuck with me."

A small swivel of a blue finger prompted the man to turn around and show him her back. "I can remove the larger bits, but I don't trust myself with anything smaller. " the honest to stars truth. "I'm not a medic. But I can at least do what I can before I take you back to the village for the larger stuff."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

”Get the largest pieces.” Val said quietly, the effects of the stim already biting into him.

The largest pieces were the biggest threat, they could damage his muscles, cut arteries and veins, slice into flesh. If she could remove all the pieces bigger than an inch or so, then the rest wouldn’t be much of an issue. Val could live with a little bit of shrapnel under his skin, at least for a time. The sensation would hardly be pleasant, but it was possible, and survivable. That was what mattered most right now.

”Then use the water.” That would be the more...controversial part of this, sealing in the smaller bits of shrapnel. It would mean that the metal was then stuck in place, but it would also mean that hopefully...it stopped moving and shredding his muscles. Val had heard stories of people living with grenade fragments in them for years, a few weeks shouldn’t be an issue. ”I can find a proper surgeon in a few weeks.”

What he wanted was simple, get everything life threatening out of the way now, and the rest could be decided later.

It was a logical request, and if she was going to do some digging anyway then there wasn’t any point in arguing with him.

He shifted slightly, rolling forward so that she could have more access to his back. The scabs there had already grown hard, but she would be able to slice through them easily enough with a little bit of effort. ”Just be careful.”

Val didn’t want to end up paralyzed.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

It wasn't the type of work that Ryssa was looking forward to doing. In fact, a small grimace darted over her cerulean features, her hands faintly hovering over the med-kit as the man shifted to show his back to her.

Even knowing what she'd see, didn't brace her for the full brunt effect of the sight. Seeing the puckered, keloid scars and the amount his skin had healed. He hadn't been kidding about his body's natural ability to heal. It was rather surreal to even see it.

One slightly trembling hand rose, hovering over his back only to curl in her fingers. The Clawdite suddenly didn't feel rather confident about this.

"A lot of this has healed over." she murmured quietly, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself. Biting her lower lip, the woman diverted her attention back to the med-kit. There were small medical pliers and a small scalpel there.

Gloves, right -- I'll need gloves. Also wasn't there a disinfectant spray?

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

”Told you I heal fast.” Which of course was only made worse by the food that he had consumed only moments ago. It wasn’t really a function of his body that he could control, nor was it something that would likely change any time soon in the future. Usually it helped immensely, like when he was shot with a blaster or cut somehow, but...well now here was the downside of it.

Every minute that passed the shrapnel was buried deeper.

”Better get on with it.” Val said simply, waving her on with a small smile. ”Wouldn’t want to make it more difficult than it already is.”

The sedative had kicked in, but predictably it hadn’t had quite the same bite as it would have had with other humanoids. Val accepted that, he knew that this entire ordeal would likely be beyond painful. It was something he didn’t quite look forward to, but accepted for what it was. His fingers slowly curled into fists, his eyes closed, and slowly he took in a deep breath as he tried to calm and still himself.

He wasn’t exactly an expert in meditation, in fact he’d never even attempted the practice before, but now seemed like a really good time to try it.

Especially as he saw Ryssa lift the scalpel.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"You weren't kidding." Ryssa braced herself on her feet, spreading them about a foot apart. She stood behind Val, scalpel held aloft. The woman was nervous but knew that it had to be done.

"How's the stim working?" she cautiously inquired, as if needing to make sure it would be enough. There were bits of dirt and grit over his back, and that had to be washed off first. As of remembering, she set the scalpel back down. One could tell that Ryssa wasn't quite the medic here, but she was at least trying. Searching through her med-kit her fingers brushed back gauze, epi pens, and disinfectant spray. She found a bottle of saline solution at the bottom. Not a lot, but it would have to do.

Cautiously she turned back to Val. Carefully, she popped open the bottle and began to rise off his wounds with it.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

”About as well as expected.” Val answered truthfully.

The stim wouldn’t ever have knocked him out completely, it barely even numbed him. That was the simple truth of what he was, most drugs needed a triple dose to even begin to work on him, and even then it was sometimes a crapshoot whether or not they would effect him at all. Val had no idea why it was that way, but...well over the last century or so he had come to accept it as a simple part of himself.

Not like he needed surgery all that often anyway.

”Go on.” He urged as he felt a cold splash over his back, wincing slightly. ”Can’t be that bad.”

That was probably a lie. He knew that the shrapnel had dug deep into his skin, he could even feel some of the metal bits moving about as he shifted even the slightest bit. The sensation was not a pleasant one, in fact it was rather the opposite. He flinched again as he felt another press, though what it was he couldn’t tell.

This wouldn’t be fun.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"That isn't an answer," Ryssa replied, giving him a level look. She carefully rinsed off as much of the grit and grime from his back. Small rivulets of saline solution went trickling down Val's back, rushing over the pieces of shrapnel to wash away the caked blood. Even with the rinse, what was revealed appeared even worse. Doubt filled Ryssa, and she once again questioned if she was the best for this job.

Should have paid attention to Sie more. The Rodian had been an off and on contact who once worked as a medic with the Republic Military. Just an attache, but he helped her now and again when she came into trouble. He was one of the few whom Ryssa trusted when she was unconscious.

"Does rinsing it hurt?"