Grace of An Elder

Chapter 2

"A'ytu, where are you old friend?" Tah'kath called throughout the room as he carried the human child. She was silent, but trembled; likely from the adrenaline coursing through her body. The elder looked around the large, metallic lab for the healer but he saw nothing. "A'ytu, I need you now..!" A low grumble reverberated from a secondary attachment of the laboratory and a yellow colored Yautja with orange speckles across his body stepped into the open.

He was donning partial armor as he always did, and Tah'kath wondered how the oversized male had become a healer instead of a warrior. His height dwarfed most of their kind, and he had the muscle to match. The elder noticed the child's silver eyes widen when she saw the bulky healer, and her tremors seemed to stop immediately; likely a fight or flight response, 'if I don't move, it can't see me'.

"What is it, elder? I'm busy." His masked face lowered slightly as he noticed the tiny being, and he jabbed a clawed finger in the air. "What is that?"

"It's injured, and I need you to heal it."

A'ytu shook his head in protest before backing up several steps. "That I cannot do..."

"You're a healer. You heal. Therefore you can."

"How am I supposed to heal it if I don't even know what it is?!"

"It is pyode-amedha. Now you can heal it."

The healer's head tilted to the side in curiosity as he involuntarily stepped closer to the elder. "This is pyode-amedha..? I thought they were larger than this."

Tah'kath nodded slowly, letting everything sink in for his companion. "Yes, they are. This is a young one, very young. I believe it is female, but I'm not versed in anatomical diversity when it comes to other species."

"A pup..." A'ytu reached out a hand to the child's hair and ran his fingers through it. The sensation was new to him, and he examined the youth's face. "It will need to be bathed, that's for sure. It's eyes, is that normal for their kind?"

The elder shook his head. "I've never seen one like it before. It may be a defect or simply a rare occurrence much like our kind having solid red skin." A'ytu nodded in understanding before inhaling deeply and offering out his arms to his leader.

"Hand it here, I'll take it to the exam room." The child flinched and began to squeal uncomfortably once it was in the custody of this newcomer, and A'ytu began to panic behind his mask. "No, no, no, no, no, don't do that..! Paya, what is that sound?! And why do they smell so strange?!" Tah'kath chuckled softly at the healer as he carefully trotted to the attached area and placed the small human on a gurney to get a better look at everything. He performed an in-depth scan on the child before gesturing with his hand. "It's a female, and her left leg is broken in two places: here and here. She has a lot of bruising on most of her body, some minor burns and scratches...but a few of her organs are bleeding."

"Can you fix it?" The healer laughed at Tah'kath's question before rummaging through a nearby cabinet.

"Of course I can fix it...she just isn't going to like how I do it." A'ytu prepared the green fluorescent medi-gel in a metallic bowl and lifted the blue cloth until it was draped loosely over the child's chest, before filling two large syringes with the glowing substance. "I'll need you to hold her down so I can focus on the affected areas. Her body is so small, I don't want to miss and cause more problems."

Tah'kath slowly placed his hands on the girl's arms to keep her in place as A'ytu presses his elbow carefully against her uninjured leg to keep her from kicking. The child's eyes darted around nervously as they began to well with tears once more.

"M-di h'dlak, little one...no fear." The elder's comforting words had little effect as A'ytu pushed the first syringe deep into her broken leg and injected the medi-jel between the two fractures. Neither of them were prepared for the sound that the small soft-meat would produce from this new pain. Without a second thought, A'ytu took the remaining syringe and pushed it through the skin of the girl's abdomen to inject the fluid directly into her injured organs. Her silver eyes were clenched shut but still no tears fell. Tah'kath was pleasantly surprised at this tiny being's resilience, given the situation.

Once he was done, A'ytu tossed the used syringes across the room and held up his empty hands to display he had nothing else to harm the youngling. She didn't stop screaming though. Instead, her screams of pain turned to angry war cries as she launched her fast-healing leg straight toward A'ytu's groin. The two males shared a relieved chuckle as they were suddenly grateful that he'd opted to keep his battle armor despite not being required since he'd taken up a scientific profession.

"So," the healer began as they let the child calm down and attempt to rest, "what will Daih'kea think of you bringing a pyode-amedha to the mother world?"

Tah'kath shrugged before stretching his mandibles slightly. "I'm more worried about what she'll think of me bringing it home."