Chapter Ten: Drops
"What'd'you mean she's dying!" Ryloh screamed through heavy breaths, physically exhausted but refusing a moment of respite. Removing his hand from the woman's forehead, Lorrik placed it instead to his chin where he became wrapped in thought.
"Her body seems to be shutting down," Lorrik struggled to explain. "I can't explain it."
"We have to do something," Ryloh pleaded.
"I know! I know!" Lorrik shot back, unable to assuage the hectic Twi'lek. "Damn it. We can't tend to her down here. We need to get back up somehow."
Without another word, Ryloh moved in front of Kar'ai and draped her arms over his shoulders, crossing them in front of his chest. Carefully, he lifted his companion from the wall and carried her upon his back, holding her as one might a slumbering child.
"Let's go. If we can make it to the end of the pit, we can climb back up together," Ryloh explained. With a confident nod, Lorrik turned toward their new destination and sped forward, taking greater risk with his speed along the wider ledge than he possibly could above.
As Nesk lastly stepped from the cliff-face onto the smooth terrain on the other side of the chasm, he joined the other four acolytes who stood upon the grounds overlooking the darkness below. Peering over the edge, the students saw Lorrik and Ryloh running in their direction on the shadowed path far below them. Reaching the end of the ledge, the two inquisitors and their afflicted warrior looked up see the amorphous figures staring back at them, offering nondescript articulations of inaudible words.
"You ready?" Lorrik hastily asked of the sweating Twi'lek. Ryloh offered an assured nod. The Human turned back toward the ridge above and shouted out. "We're coming up! Get ready!"
As Lorrik waved him over, the Twi'lek momentarily lowered Kar'ai and tried to stabilize her by his side. Still motionless, her eyes refused to open, her breaths grew further and further apart. One arm around Ryloh's shoulder, Lorrik took ahold of the other, wrapping it behind his neck. With a pair of mutual nods, the two inquisitors, sharing the burden of their fallen ally, placed their hands upon the cliff-face and began the slow ascent back up the steep facade they had once aggressively slid down.
Gritting their teeth, the two acolytes grasped at the stone with synchronized clenches of the hands. They climbed with caution. They climbed with haste. They climbed with worry. They climbed with determination. The others watched from above as the two slowly ascended with the burden of Kar'ai upon their backs. The onlookers thought to reach out, but couldn't afford any risks. Without utter coordination between all parties, any utilization of the Force between the two groups would only hamper the climbers' ascent. But those above stood at the ready. At the sign of first slip, at first fault, they were ready to thrust their arms and minds and clasp at the rising inquisitors with all their might.
Lorrik and Ryloh continued to climb in unison, their knees scratching against the unforgiving facade of the cliff, their sabers dangling and clanging against the rigid rock. As he reached for yet another clutch of an outward stone, Ryloh felt the telltale signs of the arm around his neck slipping. He stopped, as did Lorrik. Readjusting, Ryloh shifted Kar'ai's limb until it was secured. The Human turned his head to gaze upon his fellow inquisitor. An utter devotion lay present across every facet of the Twi'lek's being. His eyes narrowed with focus. His face tensed with determination. His body remained forever unyielding against whatever unforgiving elements Korriban would place in its path.
The Twi'lek's clothes were worse for wear since his controlled slide down the mountain. His companion's state was certainly worse off. Her robes were wholly stained by dust and dirt. The clothes had been tugged at and torn by the jagged rocks that struck out at her upon her descent. Her face was cut, bruised, and seemingly without life. But the spark within her had not yet been extinguished. Lorrik knew it. Ryloh knew it, even more assuredly.
Through perseverance and blind determinations, the pair eventually made it far enough up the cliff for the acolytes above to get a proper grip on Kar'ai. Reaching out, Arlia focused her mind as she lifted the burden from the inquisitors' backs with the Force. Jresh offered a steady outstretched hand in assistance. As the Rattataki floated past the threshold of the pit, Jresh instead focused his attention on the two climbers while the others gently set Kar'ai down upon the flat of the terrain a safe distance away.
Jresh kneeled over the edge of the pit, extended his physical hand to Lorrik a short distance away. Spending the last of his energy to remove a single hand from the treacherous cliff-face, he grasped ahold of his partner's hand and was promptly yanked to safety. The Human spent only a moment to catch his breath before tending to the prone Kar'ai. Jresh returned to the edge of the pit to offer the same hand to Ryloh. As the two met their equally deterministic gazes, they silently took each other's hand and put the abominable pit behind them once and for all. Taking no moment of respite, Ryloh immediately rushed past the Pureblood to witness the state of his companion.
"Now what? We have to do something!" Ryloh exclaimed.
"We can't do anything until we know exactly what happened," Lorrik regretfully stated as he examined the unconscious body. Her robes were in tatters. Her body was splotched in various points with blood likely suffered from the tumble down the jagged cliff-face. The Human studied her, looking for any indication for how to proceed.
"Venom…" Nesk knowingly supplied. Lorrik looked up for more details to see the Trandoshan make a quick jabbing and retracted motion with two of his claws. "From bug."
"What are you talking about?" Ryloh insistently asked.
"Ryloh, calm yourself," Jresh stoically advised. "Yelling isn't helping anyone. You should take this time to tend to your own wounds."
"I'm perfectly fine," Ryloh muttered. Without another word, Jresh simply demonstrated his point by softly tapping his own right shoulder. Turning his head, Ryloh saw a sizable blood stain on his robes. He puzzled for a moment, not feeling any wound, before coming to a realization.
"Lorrik! Check her right arm," Ryloh hastily advised. Complying, Lorrik removed her right glove and pushed back the sleeves of her dirtied garments. Near her elbow, there was a puncture wound on her forearm around which a virulent blackness and swelling had taken over, distinguishing itself from the Rattataki's numerous tattoos that occupied the area.
"Okay, so we know she was poisoned, what good does that do?" Isorr coldly stated.
"If we know what caused it, we might know how to counter it," Ryloh suggested.
"With what? Bandages and a couple vials of kolto aren't going to help. The only way to 'counter it' out here is to suffer through it," Isorr declared.
"We have to do something! Maybe if we know what stung or bit her, we can know what to expect," Ryloh said, growing quieter with each passing word.
"If you're expecting anything other than death, you're fooling yourself," Isorr concluded.
"Shut up! Shutup shutup shutup!" Ryloh exclaimed.
Lorrik attempted to drown out the shouting and focus on the task at hand.
"Nesk, did you see this bug?" Lorrik asked. The Trandoshan offered an affirming nod. "Can you describe it?"
"Small but large. Fit in palm. Black. Carapaced. Furred around joints," Nesk carefully explained.
"Damn," Lorrik muttered. "I don't need to consult the datacards for this."
"You know what did this?" Jresh asked.
"I think so," Lorrik stated, solemn in his admission. "Because of the way Korriban ecology usual pans out, small creatures are typically the most dangerous given what they have to do to survive. If what I think did this, she's in for more trouble than mere paralysis."
"What do you mean?" Ryloh asked, tearing his attention away from Isorr.
"She'll survive the numbness, it's what follows that will end her," Lorrik lowly explained. "The venom first numbs the victim, eventually making them lose consciousness. Then comes pain. Pure and unbridled. For hours. For days."
"How do you know?" Ryloh worryingly asked.
"I've read about it. Sith sometimes harvest the stingers and venoms from Korriban's creatures to use on students as punishment for failure," Lorrik detailed. "Some bugs produce barbs that overload the victim's nervous system, wracking their bodies in pain. This was one of them, or an offshoot, or some alchemical deviation. Her body is so busy fighting the first stage that it won't have the strength to resist the second."
"Even if she can't resist it, can she push through it? Survive?" Ryloh hesitantly asked.
"Unlikely," Lorrik hesitantly answered. "I can… I can attempt to heal her."
"Really?" Ryloh exclaimed with an exuberance unshared by the Human.
Jresh leaned his close to his partner, speaking at a whisper. "Lorrik… you've only mended simple flesh wounds before. Are you sure you are able to do this? There could be complications. You're already exhausted. The process could do just as much harm to both of you as good."
"I think the greater question is, since when were you able to heal people?" Arlia spoke up.
"It would explain how they've managed to keep an advantage in the recent trials," Isorr added.
"Look, the reason I didn't jump at the prospect I because all I can do is accelerate the body's natural processes," Lorrik reasoned. "Responses to illnesses included. I'd be accelerating her recovery, but exasperating the side-effects."
"Meaning she'd still be subjected to the pain the venom would normally cause," Jresh stated.
"Yes, only condensed into minutes instead of hours or days. It would literally burn out her body," Lorrik explained. "I can try to repair any damage as it is happens, but I can't do much about the pain. There's enough of a connection between bodies during the process that I might be able to absorb some of the pain into myself, but with my energy levels waning, it would only break my concentration, leaving everyone worse off than when we started."
"Then use me instead," Ryloh suggested.
Lorrik offered the soft arch of his brow. "Pardon?"
"Let me share her pain. I can take it," Ryloh admitted.
"Can you?" Isorr pointedly asked.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right. You do have the mental connection necessary to facilitate the bond, but this will likely be the most excruciating pain you've felt in your entire life," Lorrik explained.
"I don't care. If there's a chance that it will save Kar'ai, I will put my life on the line," Ryloh declared.
"Whoa, wait a minute," Arlia intruded. "I don't want to lose a member of our group, but I really don't want to lose a second, let alone a third. There's a chance all three of you don't come back from this."
"I won't force you to succumb to my selfish wants, Lorrik," Ryloh stated. "We'll only do it if you're comfortable."
Lorrik was unsure of how to proceed. He wanted nothing more than for all eight of them to return to the Academy in defiance of any who thought them incapable of the task set upon them. He wanted nothing more than to preserve Kar'ai's life. He knew the toll her death would take on Ryloh. But he also knew the risks involved. For Ryloh. For himself. His confidence in his own abilities waned, until he looked up to see the ever stoic countenance of his companion matching his gaze. With a silent, assured nod from Jresh, Lorrik had received all the confidence he needed.
"Let's do this," Lorrik stated. "Okay, I'm going to need everyone else to back up and give us some room. Ryloh, kneel by her side opposite me." The other acolytes complied, Ryloh with particular haste. "Take a hold of her hand."
The Twi'lek grasped the limp hand of his companion's inflicted arm. Lorrik took hold of the opposite. Meditating, Lorrik closed his eyes and directed his focus on all the energies than flowed through Kar'ai's body. Dismay haunted the internal dialogue of the Rattataki's organic systems. They were fighting the venom coursing through her veins. Fighting. Defending. Preparing for what was to come. But without intervention, it would ultimately prove folly.
With a deep breath, the Human went to work. An aura softly radiated from the inquisitor's form, invisible to all but the Force-sensitive. But the gathered acolytes felt an increase in the surrounding pressures. The air shifted around them before drawing to a calm. With each passing second, Lorrik worked toward healing Kar'ai whilst Ryloh gazed upon her visage with a hopeful stare. Emerging from her slumber, Kar'ai drew in a heavy breath, arching her back upon the warm foundation. Ryloh let out an exasperation of joy at the wonderful sight.
"Focus!" Lorrik directed, still deeply locked in his meditative trance. Ryloh tensed up, but still refused to break his gaze from his companion's now awakened face. But where he thought he might see a sign of relief, he only saw the signs of what was to come. Kar'ai was awake, but silent. No words could escape her open mouth as her mind was just beginning to process the effects of the scourge coursing through her body. She was alive. She was aware. But such was only residing within the momentary state of being between the stages of affliction.
Where once she had arched her back to draw in her first breath of cognizance, she now found herself twitching upon the ground as her body was assaulted from within, her entire nervous system systematically under fire. Her face tensed, her teeth clenched, what had long since been a steady silence was finally broken by the first cry of pain to slip past the warrior's lips. A grunt. A whine. The mere foundation of what was to come.
Ryloh finally understood that he could do his companion no good simply offering the continuous stare of his piercing gaze. The Twi'lek closed his eyes. Focused his mind. Reached out and connected with his partner. His companion. His lover. A lightning storm was brewing in her senses, lashing out as Lorrik accelerated what would have been faced over minutes into mere seconds. The process continued.
Within moments, Ryloh found himself under siege by the tumultuous pains of his companion's body as they arced across the bond between the pair. More contortions, more debased declarations of pain assaulted the eyes and ears of the gathered acolytes who continued to watch with increasing trepidation. The process continued.
Lorrik's hands began to shake as he too succumbed to the painful intrusions of Kar'ai's affliction. He steeled his focus, devoted the entirety of his mind and body to completing the task he had set out upon. Refusing failure. Denying failure. The Human found a painful intruder battering at the gates to his psyche, all the while Ryloh and Kar'ai bared a much more intense burden. And still the process continued.
The acolytes were fighting the affliction in much the same way they were expected to fight all foes. Through sheer emotion. Sheer determination, almost to a fault. Without caution. Without cause. They had become absorbed in the Sith ideals of passions and pains, coupled with the opposing forces of selflessness and sacrifice. Ryloh clenched the hand of his companion ever tighter, leaning inward as his body was overcome with new levels of pain. With both hands he clasped Kar'ai's hand, and refused to let go, clutching the hand ever closer to his chest.
There was no song of healing to be heard that day, only the passionate cries of utter sacrifice and pain. Grunts turned to whines. Whines turned to screams. Screams that haunted the other acolytes. Never had they born witness to such sustained displeasure. There was nothing to draw upon here, no relishing the misfortune of others that the Academy had so harshly tried to implant.
The air of calm that encircled the arrangement had begun to stir. No longer was it a matter of meditation, but an utter clash of force against force. Pain against pain. Just as the affliction lashed out against their bodies, their bodies lashed out against the surrounding area. Just as a storm brewed within their racked minds, a storm was beginning to manifest around their bodies. The wind picked up, swirling with a torrent matching the emotions of the three acolytes.
The onlookers covered their eyes as more and more dust was kicked up. They covered their ears as more and more screams permeated the air. The chaos grew and grew until it encompassed the entire area. Even the most stalwart of the acolytes could not fully resist the brewing calamity, crouching as the winds and cries reached their peak. The other students struggled to continue watching, until suddenly… calm. Silence.
The winds had died. The sounds had died. The three acolytes, revealed as the sand and dust settled from their airborne trajectories, each lay upon the flat of their backs, their grips on one another released, their bodied stilled and unmoving.