Waking up took longer than she would have liked. Letting out a low groan of pain she reached up and carefully used the force to ease the ache that had settled into her very bones. As an added measure she looked over her mental shields and winced at the mess. It was like a shattered web, the cracks so large in some areas that entire chunks of her shields had crumbled to dust beneath the power of whatever had forced its way into her mind.
Smoothing over the jagged edges as much as she could she reached inward to her bonds and flinched at what she found. All but two of her strongest bonds had snapped, the edges of the others dark and frail. She shivered at the feeling of foreboding and leaned into the two that still shone with life.
There was a jolt of sharp surprise before she was flooded with a confusing mix of joy, longing, affection, and a strong sense of where are you?
Opening her eyes she took in the sky above her in confusion. The world where the Temple was located had a sky so blue it was almost unnerving. Here the sky was clogged with smoke and dark gray clouds. Sitting up she looked around at what appeared to be blasted out buildings and froze.
Where? Came the question from her remaining bonds.
I don't know. She sent back her confusion and the vague image of what she was seeing. She would recognize a war zone anywhere. Or at the very least an area that had suffered a brutal attack.
Getting to her feet she closed her eyes and let the force guide her movements.
'This way.' It seemed to say. 'This is where you are needed.'
Trusting in the force she turned toward the forest and began to walk.
It didn't take long for her to get lost in the dense foliage, though her padawan-brother would have chuckled at her and told her that no one was ever lost when they had the force. Echoing their master's words with a twinkle in his golden-green eyes.
The force around her was almost painful to look at, the pervading sense of wrong, hate, misery, and fear was so strong it almost made her want to throw up or cry. Maybe both. But she forced herself to continue, carefully patching her shields as best she could while on the move.
'Never stay still on a battlefield, padawan. Even if you believe you are safe.' The words of her former master came to mind and she had to breathe carefully through the negative and hurt feelings they conjured. She should never have been allowed on war torn worlds at that age. No child should be.
It had taken a lot of trips to the mind healers and long meditation sessions with her new master for her to understand all the inappropriate things that had gone on during her first padawanship. She was mostly healed now but some of the trauma still remained, and probably would remain with her for the majority of her life.
But she had the tools and skills to work around it now. She would not let it stop her from helping others.
A low sound of pain caught her attention and she felt a weakened life-force flickering nearby. Dashing toward the person who was injured she stopped when they cried out in fear.
"No! Get away!" The child sobbed as their thigh bled sluggishly around the large shard of metal that was protruding from it.
"It's alright." She said calmly, holding her hands palm up and away from her body. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Something about her voice, or perhaps her appearance, seemed to catch their attention as they sniffled and looked at her warily. "…you sound like big brother Obi-wan." They said hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who that is. But maybe they are also from Coruscant like I am?" She asked as she slowly came closer, trying to get a better look at the injury. "My name is Liera, I am a Jedi." She didn't think they would understand the difference between a Senior Padawan and a Knight so she just left her rank out of it.
"…m'Jaxon." They said.
"It's nice to meet you Jaxon, although I wish it had been under better circumstances." She motioned at his leg. "Would you let me help you? I have medical supplies in my bag." Shifting her arm she showed him the heavy satchel she wore, and the lightsabers on her belt.
The child looked at the bag then down at their leg before finally nodding. "Okay."
"Okay?" She asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah."
Letting out a sigh of relief she stepped closer and knelt beside the child. "I'm going to have to touch you, okay? It might hurt a little but I promise you will feel better afterward.
The child gave her a nod, their anxiety spiking for a moment before her warm hands gently touched their leg. Closing her eyes she used the force to feel the scope of the injury and numb the initial area.
"Th-the pain's gone! Is that b-bad?" The child asked, looking up at her in fright.
"No, I used the force so you wouldn't feel the pain." She said gently as she reached into her bag for some bacta bandages. "What I'm going to do next is going to seem scary." She told them honestly. "That piece of metal can't stay in your leg. So I'm going to have to pull it out." She looked the child in the eyes and sent a wave of calm energy at them.
"D-do I have to l-look?" They asked, face pale.
"No. You don't have to look if you don't want to." She said firmly.
"C-can I… hold your hand." She had to strain to hear them but when she finally understood what they were asking she had to swallow down her emotions. The child sounded so scared to ask for comfort it was heartbreaking.
"Of course you can." She held out her hand with a small smile and gave them a gentle squeeze when they latched on to her. "Alright. I'm going to pull it out now. I want you to look at that bush over there," she pointed toward a small bush with pale orange flowers, "and count all the flowers you can see. Before you know it you'll be all better. Can you do that for me?"
The child nodded quickly and turned to look at the bush. "One, two, three…"
She hadn't realized they would count out loud but it would certainly help keep them distracted. Looking down at the shard she took a deep breath to settle her mind and reached out with her hand and the force. With a steady hand she slowly pulled the shard from the child's leg, filling the space left behind with healing energy to stop the bleeding. She was glad that the child had been too panicked to try and pull it out themselves as the metal had nicked the femoral artery. They would have bled out in moments if there hadn't been a proper medic around.
Setting the metal shard on the ground she pulled out some cleaning wipes and disinfected the area. Thankfully there was no sign of an infection so she cut a piece of the bacta strip and lay it over the wound. She then wrapped it carefully with a plain bandage and tied it off, just so that the bacta strip would stay in place. Children were always running around and getting into messes. This way was much safer.
"All done." She said cheerfully. "You did very well."
The child stopped mid-number and looked at her in surprise before their eyes fell on their leg. "Woah! That didn't hurt!"
She chuckled as she wound the bandages and put them back into her bag. "It will hurt later," she warned, "but that means it's trying to get better." She'd closed the worst of it with the force but she had a feeling, the kind her master had told her to listen to, that she would need her strength for later.
"Will you help the others?" The child asked, looking up at her as if she were their last hope.
"Of course I will." She didn't know who these 'others' were but she was a healer, sworn to aid and protect.
"Great!" The child said as they got to their feet, testing the leg for a moment before giving her a bright smile. "Come on!"
Following the child through the ruins of what used to be a town, by the looks of it, she noticed a pattern to their behavior that made her tense with understanding. Whenever the child hid she did too, whenever they remained low she followed, and if they stopped to listen she would reach out with the force to sense for danger.
Finally after what seemed like hours but was probably only twenty minutes or so the child stopped in front of a sewer grate. "In here." They whispered before digging their hand underneath and lifting it so she could enter.
They were both lucky she was so small compared to most near-humans. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to enter what she immediately knew was the sewers. She thanked the force that her sense of smell wasn't heightened like that of other species, and that she had experience with the scent of sweet rot and filth from working on worlds riddled with plague.
Once they were away from the entrance the child turned to look at her and gaped. "You glow?"
She bit her lip as her shoulders shook in mirth. She could feel the awe and confusion coming from the child and their face was just adorable. "Yes. My people live on a dark planet with glowing plants. So we glow too."
"Cool!" They breathed, reaching out to touch her hand curiously. After a moment they snapped out of it and looked up at her. "This way."
They walked for another five or so minutes before the child stopped. "Wait here." Then they vanished down a tunnel, leaving her.
Closing her eyes she could sense life forms around her. All of them were slightly dulled from the usual vibrant color of life and she frowned in concern. Was there a plague on this world? No, it didn't feel like a plague. The flickers of life didn't look sick to her senses, but weakened. Famine, perhaps?
"Sst." She opened her eyes to see the child she had helped. "This way."
Going down three more branching tunnels she was led into a more open area and stopped in her tracks.
Every sentient her eyes fell upon was a child. There didn't seem to be anyone above the age of fourteen no matter where she looked. He stomach dropped through the floor and she swallowed through the sudden bile in the back of her throat.
Bruises, cuts, contusions, and emaciated bodies. Shorn hair, worn clothes, and covered in grime.
"Elder!" Someone hissed in warning and a group of children pulled blasters from their belts and aimed them at her. The air was thick with fear and tension as she rooted herself to the spot and kept herself carefully still.
"I am not here to hurt you." She said quietly. "I am going to raise my arms very slowly so you can see my hands. Is that alright?"
One of the children glowered at her. "Fine, but if you move fast I'll shoot!"
"Okay, I'm moving my arms now." Slowly, almost agonizingly, she raised her arms and let her cloak shift back to show off her belt. "My name is Liera and I am a Jedi Healer." She explained. "I will not hurt you."
The children felt uncertain in the force for a moment before a female voice called out. "Put those down! She's here to help us!"
The children hesitated for a moment before lowering their blasters. A child with short coppery hair and a fierce presence in the force strode down the tunnel, watching her carefully.
"Are you here for Obi-wan?" They asked when they finally stopped nearby, arms crossed.
"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone named Obi-wan. Are they also a Jedi?" She answered honestly.
The child scrutinized her for a moment before their eyes widened. "You have a braid too. That means you're a student, right?"
Why did those words fill her with so much dread? "I am."
"Are you actually here to help us? Or are you just going to leave like Jinn?" They asked pointedly.
"Am… what?" She shook her head. "I am here to help, as much as I can." Until her last breath.
The force rang with the truth of her words and even the child in front of her seemed to feel it as she finally began to relax.
"I'll trust you, for now. And only because you helped Jaxton." The other child waved at her from a group of other children, who were looking at their bandaged leg in awe. "You said you're a healer? You know how to treat injuries?"
"And illnesses." She glanced up at her arms then back to the child. "May I lower them now?"
The child seemed surprised. "Oh! Of course. Nobody will attack you now that I've agreed to let you in." They turned and motioned. "Come on, I'll show you where we keep the injured."
Liera let her arms drop with a sigh of relief and followed the child who seemed to be in charge of the others.
"I am Senior Padawan Liera Buraaisuh, by the way. She/her, if you please."
The child looked back at her in befuddlement for a moment. "…Cerasi, I'm a girl too."
"It's nice to meet you, Cerasi. Thank you for allowing me to help."
"Right… this way." The girl pulled back a curtain and entered the area beyond.
Liera didn't hesitate. She already knew what she would find the moment she stepped past the curtain.
Children were laid out on thin pallets, many coughing or whimpering in pain. All of them were in the same condition as those in the other tunnel. Only worse. Liera called upon the deepest parts of her serenity and unclasped her cloak. It would only get in the way, after all. Without a second thought she found the child whose life force was weakest and knelt next to them. Setting her cloak on the ground next to her she reached out with the force to get a feel of the injuries the child was suffering from.
From that moment on Liera lost track of time. She moved from patient to patient, burning out infection, cleaning wounds, and doing what she could with the supplies she had on hand. In the end she still had to rely on the force for the majority of the injuries and as she continued to work she could feel the beginnings of force exhaustion creeping up on her.
"Hey!" A hand grabbed her by the wrist suddenly and she startled in surprise. "You're shaking, are you-" The world tilted sideways as a young voice called out to her. The edges of her vision narrowed and darkened as she realized that she was about to pass out.
"I'm s-sor-" Unconsciousness rose up to meet her and the world went dark once again.
Cradled in darkness she reached along the deep teal thread that tied her to her master. She felt a sharp tap of reprimand and sent along a feeling of sheepishness in response.
Why? Came the burning question from her master.
Why would she ignore all of her lessons and let herself get so burned out that she had fallen unconscious.
The children. It wasn't actual words, more a vague impression of small bright lights that flickered with pain and suffering. But she knew her master would understand.
I will be there soon.
Liera sighed and released the thread, laying back and surveying the flickering lights around her. One in particular burned brighter than the others and as it came closer she turned to greet it.
Coppery orange the being reached out to her hesitatingly, as if worried about its welcome. She welcomed the light into her space, allowing it to view her fully in the force. She wasn't certain what they would see of her, she knew that the colors she saw were something unique to her own mind, but she hoped the light would find her presence comforting.
The light withdrew quickly and she was left alone again in that darkened inner sky filled with tiny stars.
Waking this time was less abrupt than before. Her body ached and she could sense that she would be unable to use the force for a while yet.
"…contact the Jedi and use her to get them here! She's got a braid like yours and she's sick! If we can get someone else maybe they'll actually help us!" Came an angry voice nearby.
"She's not sick, it's force exhaustion." Said another, this one much calmer. "We don't even know if her master is already on the planet or not."
"She's not." Liera croaked as she gingerly sat up, wincing slightly. "But she's on her way." She coughed at the dryness in her throat.
The light that she recognized as the girl, Cerasi, hurried over and helped her to stay up as a wave of nausea rolled through her. A canteen was pressed to her lips and she drank the metallic tasting water to clear her throat.
"How do you know that? You've been asleep for three days." The angry voice asked her.
"The force." She answered with a small chuckle as she focused less on the force and more on what her eyes could perceive. Looking up at a child in robes much like her own she smiled. "Obi-wan, I presume?"
The child jumped slightly before looking away. "Ah, yes, I am Obi-wan Kenobi. He/him." The boy tugged at his padawan braid, turning slightly as if to hide it.
"I am Senior Padawan Liera Buraaisuh, Healer Knight in training. She/her." She could feel a flicker of anxiousness, guilt, and sadness from the boy before he reined in his emotions and erected some frankly strong shields.
It was only his bad luck that her senses relied on far more than most Jedi and she could still see what he was trying to hide.
"Padawan Kenobi," she said lightly, "where is your lightsaber?"
The boy froze and the un-named child next to him glowered at her angrily. "Obi-wan's master," he spat, "took it with him when he left Obi-wan here."
The boy's shoulders drooped and he almost seemed to curl in on himself. "I… I should have cut the braid earlier so you wouldn't mistake me for… but… but I-"
"It's not your fault, Obi, Jinn shouldn't have left you here alone!" Cerasi said as she hugged the padawan.
"But he evicted me from the Order, I-"
"What in the stars cursed kark are you talking about?" She asked, eyes narrowed.
That seemed to startle the three children as they all turned to her, mouths agape.
"A Master cannot evict a Padawan from the Order on a whim." Rolling her body she slid her legs beneath her with a slight groan. "You're not dark so you haven't Fallen." Which was the only thing she knew of that could allow a single master to toss someone out of the order. Even then he would have been detained, not abandoned. "You're, what, twelve?"
"Thirteen." The boy corrected quickly.
"Still a minor on Coruscant. That means the Order is responsible for you until your majority, which is eighteen." Rising to her feet she tested her balance and relaxed when she could hold her own weight.
"But… I chose to leave." He whispered.
Liera calmed herself, drawing on her serenity like a cloak. "Even then. No one in their right mind would have left you on a hostile planet. Not only is that against the laws of the Republic, it is against the very Code."
The look the boy gave her made her heart clench and stomach squirm. She remembered those eyes. They used to look back at her in the mirror every day.
They were the eyes of someone who felt betrayed by those they trusted most.
"I'm sorry." She said gently, reaching out for him in the force and wrapping him in her presence. For a moment he seemed to resist before his walls broke down and all the pain he had been hiding spilled out. Without a thought she pulled him into a hug, though he wasn't much smaller than she was, and held him as he cried into her soft cream robes.
The other two children remained close, both reaching out to comfort the boy in her arms, and she could feel just how much they cared for him.
Once the boy began to calm down he stepped back and wiped at his eyes, feeling sheepish and embarrassed. "I-I'm okay now. Thank you." His voice was still thick with emotion but his force presence felt lighter than before.
"You're welcome." She said with a small smile. "Now…" She looked between the three of them and let her expression turn serious. "What is going on here?"
The three looked at one another silently for a moment before the un-named child turned to look at her. "This planet is in the middle of a civil war. And we," he motioned to Padawan Kenobi, Cerasi, and himself, "are the Young."
Liera knew, without a doubt, that anything else they said after that point would just make her dislike the situation more.
She could not have been more right if she'd tried.