June 12, 2009

454. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Trychon's progress was remarkable, and after two days, he was already going along on the trips to the garden with Saffron and Raezyr.

Shortly after Trychon had awakened, Raezyr persuaded Saffron to take him somewhere more secluded, away from the village and gardens where the other monks were constantly trying to get a glimpse of the newcomers. She had taken Raezyr down to the river, a couple of kilometers upstream, to a clearing near a small section of rapids, and as soon as Brother Odilo was satisfied with Trychon's progress, Raezyr took him there.

They felt they made a sorry sight, shuffling along the wooded path. Raezyr was a bit better, and needed only a walking staff for a bit of support, while Trychon was still using the crutch that had once supported Raezyr's weight. Both of them wore robes provided by the monks, and their clothes, Raezyr's armor, and lightsabers were still tucked safely away in the cabinet in the Healer's hut. Both men felt a bit insecure without those, but they needed to wait until they had a real reason to get them out.

They sat down next to each other on a large rock embedded in the river bank and let their feet dangle over the edge, just a half meter from the fast flowing water. This place would be perfect to talk, as the noise of the rapids would drown out their voices. Raezyr explained everything he had told to the Taxl about their past. He had done his best to keep things vague, and ambiguous, while not straying too far from the truth. Trychon agreed that it was a good strategy.

They made daily trips to the river on the premise of getting exercise, and staying out of the way of prying eyes. At times Saffron accompanied them, other times they went alone, and eventually they were both able to make the trip without the assistance of crutches or walking staffs.

Finally Brother Odilo proclaimed them well enough to leave the Healer's hut. Father Monahan was there as well for their final examination and Touch of Grace. He spoke as Brother Odilo was hanging the amulet back in it's place. "Well, friends. We have a place for you to stay, until you are able to build one of your own. Brother Mathias and his wife, Sister Violet, have made good on young Mannix' offer. They have made room for you. Tomorrow, after you're settled in, we'll see about finding a trade for you.

"We wouldn't dream of forcing you to join our order, but this is the only settlement on the planet, that we know of so you're more than welcome to stay here. If you want to get off planet, we can set a beacon up, but it's not interstellar, and neither is our radio, so it may be another five or ten years before a ship comes into the system and picks the signal up," he concluded.

Trychon and Raezyr had gotten their things out of the cabinet and were loading them into bags. Trychon noticed his data pad was not among their personal affects. "Well, first thing tomorrow morning, I'd like to see if someone can take us to the wreck site. There may be things that survived that weren't retrieved," Trychon said, hoping that the data pad was still on board. He then decided to play the stranded victim. "After that, we'd like to look at your radio system, not that we don't believe you, but both of us are pretty handy with technology, and we'd just feel better with a first hand look at what you have."

Father Monahan stood up. "Absolutely. Young Mannix lead the rescue, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to take you back to the site. It is a bit of a rough hike though. After that, I'll show you the communication system myself. We don't use much tech here, but we do keep a bit stored away for emergencies."

Trychon and Raezyr shouldered their bags and headed toward the door. They shook hands with Brother Odilo, and thanked him for all his help. They tried to shake hands with Saffron as well, but she ignored their hands and hugged them instead.

No comments:

Post a Comment