Sidewalk Miracles

Tyro nodded absently, watching as Gavyn walked off. So that was it then. Whatever kind of strange thing the force had just thrown him through in the past two days, tempting him back to the life of a knight. He had wanted it. He had wanted it so bad, more than anything else. It had been what his entire life had been devoted to, when he wasn't practicing, he read stories, histories, of the knights of old, defending the galaxy, from the sith and other evil. He could have just told the Jedi yes the other day and he could have it all back, except no, he knew that wasn't true at all, just like the fairy tales. He couldn't go back. It wouldn't be...right after everything that had happened. But he couldn't say why either. And as this morning had shown, he couldn't even meditate long enough to sort through why.

There were things more valuable. The force had led him to understand that. It had been more important that he stop his former master. And right now it was more important that he fulfill his duty here, live out his life, follow what the force wanted.

Tyro let out the breath he had been holding, looking to it now for it's guidance. Like this morning, it had nothing for him. Just the hum of the market, slightly stirred up after the events that had just transpired, and Gavyn, whatever that guy's deal was, sticking out like a beacon.

Perhaps, Tyro considered already walking in the right direction, he should at least offer to see the guy off the planet. It was probably what was appropriate. His errands could wait a few more minutes, Tyro reasoned, as he picked up his pace. In no time at all he had caught up to the man, but he didn't dare go any closer. They had already said their goodbyes, and the guy was clearly busy. Instead he simply took a seat on a stack of nearby empty barrels, watching from a distance.


Gavyn did not get too far in the direction of the spaceport before a voice in the crowd called out as Gavyn passed by "Jedi!" He turned, looking for the source. They must be calling him, since Tyro was not around, and was not dressed much like a jedi regardless. "Jedi, I need your help." And Gavyn spotted a small group huddled around a shopkeeper. Gavyn hurried over, immediately sensing a disturbance in the Living Force. She was injured.

"Where are you hurt?" He asked, kneeling next to the woman.

"I think… I think my arm is broken." She hissed out, through gritted teeth.

Gavyn placed a roughened hand on her arm. He could feel the distress clearly. "You're going to be fine." He reassured reflexively as he reached out with the Force to strengthen her, and to ease some of her pain. Gavyn lost himself in meditation, and when his eyes flickered back open, he could have sworn the sun changed. He could lose a lot of time healing another if the injury was severe enough.

In the time he was meditating a queue had gathered as well. As the woman stood up and flexed her arm, her family hugging her and grinning, Gavyn's eyes trailed towards a row of people, clutching injuries and bruises from the earlier attack. They all seemed to expect at least his attention and expertise. This was why he avoided working outside of the Republic Medbays. Just a little bit of violence could create a huge mess of pain to clean up.

Gavyn glanced around the crowd. Maybe someone was a doctor or at least a nurse. "Is there anyone here who can lend a hand?" He asked.

Tyro looked around at Gavyn's request. He knew some of the people here, but no one that he knew to be medically trained. No one seemed to be volunteering either. Quietly, Tyro stepped forward. He had been watching silently as Gavyn helped the woman and the crowd formed around him. The man was different from what he had expected, from both the rumors and his limited interaction with him on the train. As soon as he approached the Jedi Master though he regretted it. The man had already said his goodbye. Tyro couldn't let that stand in the way of him helping the people of this planet though.

"Respectfully," Tyro started, looking down. He wasn't a doctor or a healer or anything. He wasn't useful, but he wanted to be. Anything was better than being helpless. "I'm not...I can't...do that or anything, but if I can help some other way…"

A relieved smile passed briefly over Gavyn's face. It seemed that every which way he turned on this planet, Tyro was there, lending a hand. It was becoming more and more difficult to ignore, and Gavyn couldn't shake the feeling that the Force was throwing them together, trying to make this apprenticeship stick. He would bring it up again after they dealt with the injured civilians.

"Of course." He gestured for Tyro to come closer, so they could speak in relative privacy. "There aren't too many people here." Gavyn, of course, was speaking in relative terms. Fifteen injured in the middle of a market in broad daylight was certainly worthy of a headline, but Gavyn had been in Medbays packed with hundreds, where there were more people who were condemned in triage than there were people waiting here now. "Most probably just need a bandage and some reassurance." Gavyn handed Tyro a roll of cloth. "You start with the least injured. I'll start with the most. Get me if you have any questions or trouble." Gavyn explained with the efficiency of someone who had done this a hundred times before.

"Jedi, Sir..!" One of the distressed family members called out urgently. She was buckling under the weight of what must have been her husband. Gavyn could have sworn he was conscious a moment ago. Gavyn rushed to her side, and helped ease the man to the ground. The woman was shaking, "He hit his head when he got thrown against the wall. I didn't think it was too bad. It isn't even bleeding."

On the outside. Gavyn thought grimly. He looked back at Tyro, worried the boy might try and help him with this and ignore the other patients. "Go." It was half encouragement and half an order.

Tyro nodded, tearing his eyes away from Gavyn and the unconscious man. He couldn't help but think of the colorful bruise on his head he was now sporting, and of how little he had been able to help with the Jedi's wounds yesterday. Tyro allowed the thought for no more than a moment, then quickly pushed it from his mind. That was yesterday, this was today, and he could do something to help here. He looked over the line of injured people, not so much with his eyes, as through the force.

Gavyn's analysis was correct, for the most part he could do something to help the people here with their wounds, or at least get them some ice and stop the bleeding long enough for them to find proper treatment. But some of the other people didn't look too good, and, glancing back to Gavyn, it looked like the Jedi Master would be a while. Then he remembered the med clinic. For a moment he thought of running there himself, but looking to the bandages in his hand and thinking of what Gavyn had just told him to do, there was a better way. Quietly he turned to a man behind him who seemed to just be staring.

"There's a med clinic, six blocks down that way, one block to the right," Tyro instructed. "It's between the pastry and farming supply vendors. I need you to tell them what happened, and that we have fifteen injured and we're going to need their help. Ya got that?"

Tyro turned to the man next to him and asked him to find some ice. Looked like bruises and breaks were a common side effect of concussion guns. As soon as the men were off, Tyro began to see to the wounded as best he could. Basic first aid was familiar, if seldom used skill, and years at the temple had taught him to keep a cool head, but there were a lot of people here, and reassurances were neither practiced, nor a strong suit. His former master had done most of the talking, and while Tyro was allowed input and an opinion, something which he frequently exercised and was encouraged, someone he already knew was a lot different than shrieking family members.

"Um, I'm with the Jedi Agricorps here on this planet and we have training in this type of thing." He found himself explaining to one particularly argumentative man. "Now may I or may I not see your wound?" The guy continued to look him over, sizing him up. "Look man, there are other people here that need help. Either you can wait for whoever the med center sends over while you continue to sit here and bleed everywhere, or you can let me bandage that." Tyro liked to consider himself kind and understanding towards most beings, as long as they meant well, and he felt he was doing so now, but there was no time to sit here and placate someone being pointlessly paranoid and selfish.

Blinking, the man sobered "Yeah kid, just do it."

"Okay, now keep pressure on this to control the bleeding." With that he was on to the next person. Tyro saw to three, then six, then seven before he started to worry. These are minor injuries, I'm just working fast, he assured himself. The medcenter wasn't that far away though, why weren't they here yet? He saw to nine, and the tenth was bad enough that he needed to ask the woman's husband to to hold the wound while he went to the next person. He could keep working, but these people needed real medical attention. Growing concerned he sent another man off to the medcenter as he assured a worried brother that help was on the way soon. Trying to keep a neutral expression he looked back over to where Gavyn was, surrounded by his own small crowd, hoping that the Jedi would be able to heal the man soon.


The open street was no Medical Bay. Granted, it was no battlefield either, which Gavyn was grateful for, but it also meant that they didn't have a lot of the simple medical equipment he was used to having in the field. A bit of stims and some encouragement through the Force managed to get a lot of men from dying in a ditch to in the hands of a proper doctor.

Gavyn rested his hand on the man's forehead, he could feel an overwhelming pressure building up. "He's concussed." Gavyn informed his wife. He tried to concentrate, but the bruise was growing too fast for him to stabilize with the Force. He wasn't a magician, he could only use it to coax the body into repairing itself. He looked up to the wife. "I can wake him up, but you need to get him to an emergency room as quickly as possible." Gavyn warned. She paled, but nodded.

With that Gavyn returned his hand to the man's temple. It felt as though only a moment had passed, but Gavyn knew from experience it has probably been several minutes. The man's eyes shot open, and he immediately started wailing in pain. He was clutching his head, but Gavyn managed to pull him to his feet.

The Jedi Master did not have a chance to see the pair even round the corner, before the next woman caught his attention. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked, concerned now that the Jedi was not the miracle worker she had expected.

"He needs to see a Doctor." Gavyn answered calmly.

The woman hesitated. "Can you do anything for my little girl?" She asked. The girl was sitting by her feet, weeping steadily, and clutching a blanket.

Gavyn crouched so he was eye to eye with her. He hoped desperately that he could help her, because it broke his heart to see an innocent in so much pain. He could sense the problem, and slowly, folded her blanket over itself to reveal her foot twisted into a nightmarish angle.

A lump formed in Gavyn's throat as he sat next to her. What he was going to have to do was going to be painful. He looked into her teary eyes. "You are a brave girl." He told her. "And I need you to be brave for me when I fix your ankle, okay?" It didn't matter how gently Gavyn tried to move it back into place, he felt her pain like an electric shock. She dug her tiny fingers into his shoulder, strong, but also hardly notable against his massive frame. He felt the joint click back into place like a beacon through the Force.

Quickly, Gavyn wrapped his arms around her, to try and slow her sobbing. He needed to put ice on the ankle before it swelled up, but he did not dare move with her clinging tightly to his tunic. Without thinking, Gavyn fell into an old habit that he had when he travelled with his former Padawan. He called for help through the Force, and for the first time in a long time he felt like that channel was open.

This was the kind of work that Gavyn often did before the Clone Wars started. Mai, his former apprentice, was a skilled healer, and Gavyn's directive but compassionate nature made them choice candidates for humanitarian work. Gavyn would be off rallying troops to defensive positions, and organizing supply chains while Mai looked after the wounded or helped civilians rebuild. Gavyn couldn't say that he was surprised when she wanted no part of a galactic war - she always did have a strong will - but he would be lying if he said he didn't miss her. He tightened his embrace on the girl in his arms unconsciously.


Tyro looked up sharply from the man he was attending to. The injuries had gotten beyond what he could handle, he needed the Jedi's help. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he felt a surge of Gavyn's presence. There was a request- no, a need in it. He stood up quickly. Feeling the urgency he pushed back his assurances automatically, "I'm right here, I'm coming," as if he was talking to the man face to face, before he realized what he was doing. This was different than what he had felt from the Jedi before. Before the man had merely been present, undeniably so, but now it was like more of a connection. He'd heard lore about that, between Jedi, it was something he had never had with is former master, and so Tyro had dismissed as something less fantastical; any two people who fought alongside another for so long were bound to fall in sync. He trusted in the force enough to know this was not mere coincidence.

Taking some of the ice from the man who had brought it he rushed to Gavyn's side.

Gavyn caught Tyro's eye as he took the ice. He knew that the boy felt the unmistakable connection between a Master and a Padawan. They were in tune, harmonized through the force like a symphony only they could hear. The jedi master couldn't leave him at Agricorps now, he had to convince Tyro to join him on the front. He had never thought he would feel this kind of connection again after Mai, never another sure partner in the Force. It wasn't something that came around every day.

Easing himself away from the girl, he exchanged places with her mother before applying the pack of ice to her rapidly swelling ankle. "Hold this until we can get her a doctor." He told her.

Gavyn bit back the urge to bring up the connection ringing between him and Tyro. This wasn't the time… and he had learned his lesson about approaching this proposition with so much enthusiasm. "Thanks Tyro." He mentioned. It felt redundant. "Do the local hospitals know what is going on here?"

"Yeah, I sent someone to tell them when we first started," Tyro looked around, still unsatisfied. "They should be here by now they're not that far away."

Tyro updated Gavyn on everyone's condition, and still there was no sign of anyone from the medcenter. "Look, I'm just going to get those guys myself," Tyro excused, barely biting down the exasperation in his voice.

He hurried off, pushing his way past the crowd that had gathered around them before sprinting down the street. Any minute he was sure to run into them, heading over, but as he drew closer to the end of the six blocks he had directed the first man down, it was becoming clear that there was no help on the way. One man not finding the location, sure he could believe that, but two? Tyro slowed as he approached what was one of only a few proper buildings around the marketplace. Perhaps nothing was wrong, or perhaps he was just too fixated on everything else going on lately, but he had a bad feeling about this, even outside of the force. Instinctively he reached for his lightsaber as he stepped inside, only to remember it no longer hung at his hip.

The doors slid open and Tyro cautiously entered. It looked like...a normal medcenter. There was a light chime as he stepped inside, and a secretary watched him patiently from the front desk. "Hey," Tyro greeted casually, offering a slight wave. "Has anyone…" He hesitated. The secretary was making very deliberate eye-contact with him. While he didn't really get bad feelings about things in the future, he could often pick them up from people, and while the lady here was doing an amazing job keeping a calm demeanor, fear and warning rolled off her in waves.

Instantly Tyro spun, drawing his blaster in one smooth motion. In the same moment, six men fell in around him, and their military-grade weapons were quite the step up from the small pistol Tyro kept on his person.

"What business do you think you have here, huh?" Tyro accused sharply.

"Apparently a rather profitable one. Now hand over that weapon and come with us."

"Look, I don't know what you think you are going to get out of occupying a medcenter, but keeping them from helping the wounded won't win you any points towards your war thing." Tyro spoke firmly, calmly as Gavyn had, standing confidently, weapon raised, but as a smile swept over the man's face, he knew he did not have the bigger Jedi's presence.

"Then you are not very smart, are you?" The man he had locked eyes with countered snidely.

"No, I get it. You think that by holding them hostage you're going to get the attention you want. But you don't want the attention of the general public, you want a specific group. Well fine, you've got what you want, here I am. Take me, but you have to let them go."

The man just started laughing, and one by one the rest of the group joined in. "I don't think so boy. We are looking for a Jedi. I see no robes, no lightsaber. I do not think a ten year old is in any position to bargain with us."

"I'm fourteen you rodder!" Tyro reached out with the force, ripping the weapon from the man's hand and simultaneously somersaulting backwards to avoid the spray of blaster fire that followed. There was a scream and he saw from the corner of his eye the secretary ducking behind the desk. This was not a place to engage in a fight. He had to let these guys take him, or at least think they had him long enough that they would let whoever they were holding here go.

"Believe me now?" Tyro spoke, staring them down evenly. "You don't want to fight me. Let them go, leave this place, and I'll come willingly. Do whatever it is you want." There was no way in hell he was going to give himself over to them, but it they thought it would work, then why not try suggesting it.

"Very well, drop your weapon," the leader spoke, indicating both the pistol and the larger military blaster that had once been his.

"See, you're forgetting the part where you let them go and leave this place first." Tyro asserted.

"Oh, how forgetful of me. Thom, call everyone back. We have what we need." The leader spoke seriously, Tyro was sure he meant it. He kept a straight face, tried to look a little like someone who had just condemned himself. Now was not the time to blow this.

A few minutes later an additional six armed men appeared from the back, joining with the group already there. Moments later the first man Tyro had sent over stuck his head out the door, looking around.

"Go now," Tyro commanded him firmly. The man looked back and waved on to a team of medical personnel who hurried after him, eying the scene of heavily armed men and one teenager.

"Okay kid, now drop your weapons," the leader demanded as he watched the last of the med team leave.

"Not until all of you leave and stay out of the building."

"Very well then," the leader agreed, motioning, "You first."

Tyro backed slowly out the doors, facing the group, thinking fast. There were twelve of them now, all better armed than him. But they didn't have the force, and there was no way they knew the market as well as he did. Once outside he could make a break for it.

He glanced over his shoulder as he heard the automatic doors slide open behind him. There was almost no one around, it was a slow day after all. This was good, it meant he could make a break for it without getting anyone else wrapped up in this.

Tyro walked down the street a bit more, getting as far away from the building as seemed reasonable. "Okay," He announced, "I'm putting the guns down." Better to inform than surprise them. Preferably this would offset their expectations enough that he would have a better chance at making a break for it.

"Very well," the leader conceded. "Hands behind your-"

Before the man could even finish his sentence, Tyro leaped, hopping to the top of the nearest tent, then using the give in the canvas to somersault backwards to the one across the street. Running across the tops of the stalls he made sure to keep in sight of the group now yelling and chasing after him. He would lose them eventually, once he had drawn them far enough away to keep everyone else safe.

Tent after tent flew by under his feet. Not as solid as the buildings of Coruscant, but they had their uses. He lost himself in the flow, feeling suddenly nostalgic at this strange similarity to the planet he had once considered home. Only then did he realize he no longer heard the sounds of the men chasing after them. Quickly he looked back, he hadn't meant to lose them this soon. The streets behind him were empty.

Tyro turned to look back ahead just in time to measure his next jump, but not soon enough to see the men on the street below. By the time he was in midair it was too late. The man below, on the other hand, had been prepared for this. He saw the blaster a split second before the stun bolt hit him squarely in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Caught by surprise, Tyro dropped his hold on the force which he had been using to aid his jump. He crashed roughly into the wooden paneling of an empty stall before landing hard on his face on the ground below.

Instinctively he tried to move as pain from the fall flared up in several places, but his muscles were frozen stiff. With his head pressed firmly into the dirt like this he couldn't see anything, though really he wished he could move just enough that he wouldn't be inhaling the dirt. Rushed footsteps surrounded him, and he heard several blasters being armed.

"Halt!" Tyro the voice of their leader cut in somewhere behind him. "Cuff him. We need him alive." Tyro wished he had the ability to grit his teeth as someone stepped on his back, painfully pulling his arms behind him and slapping on what he assumed were a pair of stun cuffs.

Easy, he reminded himself. I've gotten out of these before, I can do it again. He centered himself once more, reminding himself that he still had the force at his disposal as well. Perhaps he'd give it a few moments, let them think he was helpless, then make a break for it...somehow.

The closest man kicked him roughly over onto his back. The sun blazed into his eyes but frozen as he was, he could do nothing to block it.

"Commander, with all due respect, he's too little, Sir," one of the men staring down at Tyro spoke. "This isn't going to work."

"No, I would say he will do just fine." The leader of this group was a Commander then. Trying to win points with his General perhaps? More importantly, the guy who was probably orchestrating this entire thing. Tyro watched him leerily as the man stepped forward to loom above him.

"Jedi come in pairs when they are this little. We've got one, the other will be along soon enough." The man smiled knowingly at him. Only then did Tyro realize how big a mistake he had made.

"Dom, where's that hypospray you said you picked up at the medcenter? We're not taking any chances with this one." Even though he knew he couldn't move, Tyro still instinctively tried to squirm out of the way as the man bent down next to him, roughly grabbing his face and pushing his head back to expose his neck. At the very least, Tyro wished he could talk to let the guy know exactly what he thought of him in so many expletives. Still, he felt like he managed to shutter as he felt whatever drug they had in that thing flow into his bloodstream. He fought it as best he could, but he did not have the kind of control over his body to stop something like this and felt his thoughts slow to a snail's pace. He only hoped Gavyn wasn't going to be lured into this too. Maybe whatever that thing between them earlier had been just a coincidence, or something. Wishful thinking. When he woke up he would find a way out of this. Tyro held onto that assurance as his vision blurred before finally going black.