Chapter Two – Awake and Alive . . . Damn.
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Star Wars *sigh* I only own Nyree, her family and the random workmen from Chapter One.
Many thanks to my wonderful Beta Xaja Silversheen, and my Grammar-Nazi, Araloth the Random.
The scream echoed through the small adobe house. Inyri jolted awake, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and pulled on a robe. Quickly she hurried to the room where she had put the Zabrak when he had arrived.
He had been delirious for nearly a fortnight, during which she had managed to treat the majority of his wounds successfully. It was a miracle he had survived, but his stomach wound was not healing as well as she would have liked. She was considering this as she arrived at the door; she entered the room and gasped in horror. He had managed to shred the bandages covering his slashed stomach, and the blood was once again flowing freely, gushing over the stained white of the cloth that had bound him.
His head snapped around as she entered and he growled deep in his throat, menacingly. Inyri held up her hands as she slowly approached. He glared at her and tried to move away, biting back a scream as he did so. She quickly moved to him and took his arm.
"Please," she entreated, "don't move. You will only injure yourself more." She paused, brushing a strand of brown hair out of her face. "What is your name, sir?"
He turned and stared unblinkingly at her till she visibly flinched. "My name is mine to know, Woman," he spat.
Inyri tore her gaze from those unsettling yellow eyes. "I am sorry, sir" she replied, nervously. "I didn't mean to upset you." She helped him lie back down, talking softly all the while. "I am afraid you've done quite a lot of damage to yourself, sir. You will have to be careful for a good while, perhaps a half year and..." She trailed off, her voice caught in her throat as he fixed her with that baleful stare again.
"Who was the girl?" he asked suddenly, completely changing the subject without warning.
Inyri blinked in surprise, hesitating for a moment before responding. "Um, which girl, sir?"
He snarled and his hand darted to his side, grasping an empty space on his belt. His face turned into a mask of fury.
"Where is it?" he hissed, reaching out a shaking hand towards her throat. She hesitated, and he began to clench his fist.
She felt the air being squeezed from her throat. Her vision began to dance and she managed to croak out, "I don't know...what you are speaking of..." Less and less air...
His gaze narrowed and the pressure on her throat lessened a bit. "My lightsabre," he growled, his voice sounding deep and bestial, the light in his eyes feral. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"You are a Jedi, sir?" she gasped.
He looked confused for a moment. "Yes," he said slowly. Roughly, he released her, and she nearly reeled backwards, coughing and spluttering as oxygen filled her lungs again.
"I am sorry..." he muttered.
She looked at him in awe. It wasn't often that a common healer such as herself had the opportunity to help a Jedi Knight. Even one as strange and half-wild as this. She turned to a bench with clean bandages, a bacta pack and some herbs on it. Taking up a mug of hot water, she crushed some of the herbs into it. A bitter smell permeated the air. The man coughed, retching at the smell.
She nervously held out the cup to him. He recoiled, coughing painfully. "What is it?" he said suspiciously once he recovered.
"It will numb the pain," Inyri replied softly. "Please take it."
He glared at her again and said angrily, "What pain? I do not need your potion!"
Inyri smiled. "It's not a potion, sir. It's a simple herbal drink." She put the mug near his bed. "Take it when you feel you need it. I'll leave you now."
He grunted and closed his eyes, an obvious sign of dismissal. Inyri left the room, softly closing the door behind her. She leant heavily against the wall and sighed. The fact that her patient was a Jedi, albeit a rather odd one, was too much for her tired mind to process this late at night. Or was it early in the morning? She couldn't tell. She yawned and stumbled off to her room, the man's pain-wracked coughs following her all the way.
-o-
He watched the door close behind the woman's retreating form, coughing all the while. Moaning softly, he reached for the mug, draining it in one gulp. The bitter taste filled his mouth and he resisted the urge to regurgitate.
The burning pain was slowly being replaced with a dull, throbbing ache. He lay back carefully and closed his eyes, inwardly seething at himself. Why did he have to tell her about his 'sabre? Would they discover that he was a Sith? But how would they know? He didn't have anything on him that would alert them to the fact. He desperately wracked his mind, trying to think what had happened to him. The memories eluded him though. The foul taste left behind by the herbal drink subsided and he slowly drifted off into a troubled sleep.
The dreams were coming fast, blurred, disjointed. Fragments of memories…or were they just his imagination? He was too exhausted and drugged to tell. In his tormented mind his master berated him, insulted him, physically and psychologically abusing him. He had been cruelly informed that he had failed as a Sith, he had been beaten by a Padawan, a mere apprentice. He heard himself protesting, he had killed the master! He had completed his mission! His master simply smiled and reached out a hand...the light...burning pain...he could feel his life slowly fading...he could not scream though...he wanted to scream...but he had to be strong...He had to show his master...that he could survive this…
And finally, all swirled into a disturbing black that clouded his vision.
-o-
Nyree sat in the passageway later that day, listening to the man's cries. Her Mama had gone to the markets to get more medicines and food, and her brother had gone to their neighbour's house. She couldn't understand why her Mama wasn't able to help the man. Usually all her patients were healed not long after they came, but the strange man had been here for weeks and wasn't getting any better. Her Mama was tired and worried because he kept getting nightmares and hurting himself when he thrashed around. Her mind wandered as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
She was woken suddenly by a thump and a soft moan. She jumped up and ran to the man's door. She stopped there. What was she going to do? No one was there to help her, and she wasn't able to help him up on her own...maybe she could make him comfortable till her Mama or her brother got home. After grabbing a pillow and blanket from a closet, she dragged them to his room and slowly opened the door, peeking in.
-o-
He cursed under his breath. He'd had another nightmare, and this time it had resulted in him rolling off his bed. He tried to get up, but the searing pain that shot across his stomach made him moan softly in anguish. He heard footsteps running towards his door and then they turned and went away again. He inwardly groaned. The one time he would have welcomed help, was the time that it wasn't going to come. He closed his eyes, trying to release his pain into the force, when the door opened a crack. He slowly turned his head to see the girl, peeking around the door.
"What do you want, Girl?" he asked, hissing with pain as he tried to sit up.
Nyree opened the door a bit more and pulled the blanket into the room. "I-I heard you fall," she stammered nervously. "Mama and X'lor aren't here. I bringed you this so you won't get cold. I can't help you back up; you'll have to wait for Mama. " She shuffled her feet, unsure.
"Come here then," he sighed, trying to think what a Jedi would say, "I won't hurt you." He groaned and started to slowly drag himself back against the wall. Nyree dropped the blanket and ran to help him, all her fears forgotten. He stiffened momentarily when she grabbed his arm, trying to help him. She was so small, so helpless. What would she say if she knew the truth? He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "I get you the blanket." With that she ran back to the blanket and dragged it over to him. She stood still for a moment, her eyes squeezed shut, thinking. Then she tried to pull the blanket over him. He grunted as the material dragged across his stomach, and Nyree stopped, babbling at top speed.
"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you. I really didn't. Mama's gonna be so angry now. I wasn't supposed to come in here at all and now-" She broke off as he raised his hand.
"Hmmph. Why weren't you allowed to see me?" He asked, puzzled.
"Mama said she didn't want anyone to get hurt," was the quiet reply, "But why'd she say that? Why would someone get hurt?" She sat down on the floor next to him, picking at some loose threads on the rough rug that adorned the otherwise bare floor.
He watched her, surprised that she would choose to sit and talk to him rather than playing with her friends. Could she not feel or see that there was something wrong with him?
"People get hurt all the time, girl," he said, in a softer tone than he had ever remembered using for many years. "I think your mother was afraid you would hurt yourself with her things." He gestured to Inyri's table, with its collection of herbs and medical equipment. Pain shuddered through his arm and he pulled it back again.
Nyree looked a bit confused, "But I help Mama with lots of that stuff!" she replied.
"Ah, but that's when she's with you, isn't it?" he replied. "She's there looking after you and making sure you don't hurt yourself."
Inwardly he sighed. He had been training for years as the apprentice of the Sith, greatly feared by many. And here he was, lying on the floor and talking to a small child. The irony would have made him laugh, had he had the energy.
The sound of a door creaking open snapped him out of his reverie, he turned to Nyree. "You may want to leave me now, girl. You don't want your mother getting angry." He inwardly sighed again.
Nyree nodded, "I'll go now," she replied, "Can I see you again tomorrow?"
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and then started as the door swung open to reveal an irritated Inyri.
I can't actually believe I'm writing an angsty Darth Maul fic. It just seems so...wrong? If you think I'm getting too out of character with Maul, please tell me and I'll fix my mistakes ;)
Ciao, Mae.