Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or George Lucas.
Falling from the collapsing altar of the Prophets of the Dark Side, Mara lands with the underground chamber beyond. Due to having misjudged its depth, her fall leads to a fracture in her ankle.
Mara. [aside] I thought I knew pain. I fell off the lava wall at the Jedi Praxeum. I was stabbed in the arm with a poison blade on the Bridge of Unity. I even held the weight of the sky on my shoulders. But that is nothing compared to landing hard on my ankle. I immediately know I've broken it. Pain like a hot power coupling jabs its way up my leg and into my hip. My world narrows to just me, my ankle, and the agony.
As Mara begins to black out, she shakes herself out of it.
No. You can't go into shock.
Mara tries to breathe more slowly.
Part of me wants to howl at the galaxy for being so unfair. All this way, just to be stopped by something as trivial as a broken ankle?
Putting her emotions aside, Mara tries to focus.
At the Praxeum, I was trained to survive in all sorts of bad situations, including injuries like this.
Mara glances around, noticing that her vibroblade has skittered approximately a meter away. Through its light, she is able to take in the room, realizing that she must have fallen three meters.
Stupid. I lunged through that doorway, assuming there would be a level corridor or another room. It never occurred to me that I'd be tumbling into space.
Mara examines her ankle, noting three things: it is not strangely bent, she can still feel her toes, and it is not bleeding. She takes that to be a good sign.
As she reaches for a piece of lumber, she yelps with the pain that small bit of movement caused her. The piece of wood, however, crumbles in her hands.
[aloud] Okay. Think, Mara. Prioritize. [aside] I remember a silly wilderness survival course Corran taught me back at the Praxeum. At least it seemed silly at the time. First step: Scan your surroundings for immediate threats. This room doesn't seem to be in danger of collapsing. The rockslide has stopped. The walls are solid blocks of stone with no major cracks that I can see. The ceiling is not sagging. Good.
Looking ahead, Mara notes that the only exit is an arched doorway which leads into darkness. Between her and the archway is a brickwork trench from which she can see water.
If that water is drinkable, that is good too.
Searching around, Mara sees a few broken ceramic vases to one corner, and a pile of wooden crates to another.
So, no immediate danger. Unless something comes barreling out of that dark tunnel.
Mara glares at the archway, but nothing happens.
Okay. Next step: Take inventory. What can I use? I have my therma-canteen, and more water in that trench if I can reach it. I have my vibroblade. My backpack is full of colorful string, my datapad, the Star Map, some matches, and some bota for emergencies. Oh, yeah. This qualifieds as an emergency.
Mara reaches into her backpack and withdraws a cutting of bota, which she immediately consumes. The pain in her ankle subsides somewhat. She pushes past the pain and reaches for her vibroblade, managing to seize it.
What next? Corran's survival class mentioned something about staying put and waiting for rescue. But that isn't going to happen. Even if Luke somehow manages to trace my steps, the cavern of Darth Millennial has collapsed. I could try contacting someone with Baas's datapad, but I doubt I could get a signal down here. Besides, who would I call? I can't comm anyone who is close enough to help. Demigods never carry comlinks, because their signals attract too much dark side attention, and none of my friends will be sitting around checking their e-mail. A villip? I have water, but I doubt that I can make enough light for a rainbow. The only coin I have is my Jedi Credit, which doesn't make a great tribute. There the added problem with calling for help: this is supposed to be a solo quest. If I do get rescued, I'll be admitting defeat. Something tells me that the Mark of Ashla will no longer guide me. I could wander down here forever, and I'll never find the Galactic Roundel. So . . . no good staying put and waiting for help . . . which means I have to find a way to keep going on my own.
Mara opens her therma-canteen and takes a drink. Upon draining it, she subsequently refills it from the nearby water trench. She splashes water in her face and cleans up her cuts and scrapes as best she could.
Mara sits up and glares at her ankle.
You had to break. [takes a breath] I have to immobilize it in some sort of cast. That is the only way I'll be able to move. Hmm . . .
Mara raises her vibroblade for light and inspects the room again. With a better vantage view of the archway, she notes it leads into a dark silent corner, one from which she senses a disturbance in the Force.
Crawling over toward a pile of wood planks and finds two long enough to be used as a splint. Thereafter, she turns to one of the boxes, using her vibroblade to cut the nerf-hide straps binding it. She has a moment of excitement as she notices Yun-Shuno's name on the box.
I have no idea what it is doing here. But Yun-Shuno delivers all sorts of useful stuff to Je'daii, Melodies, and even Jedi. Maybe she dropped this care package here years ago to help Jedi like me with this quest.
Mara opens the box, only to find that carries only cargo netting.
Yun-Shuno!
After a moment of irritation, Mara realizes she can use the cargo netting.
Oh, that's perfect.
Mara covers her broken ankle in a cargo netting cast, which she then sets with the wood splints and ties it together with the nerf-hide leather straps. Once her cast has been set, she takes another wood plank to use as a crutch and pulls herself to her feet.
Bloah. Next time just let me fight a monster. Much easier.
The Mark of Ashla materializes into existence, hovering over the archway.
I wonder if that griffin a real sacred griffin. If so, when I survive this, I'm going to find that griffin and punch it in the face.
Mara hobbles over in the direction of the archway.
Exit all.