[Medbay]
Rylan walks in the medlab and pauses just inside the door as it closes behind him, casting a disbelieving eye around the room. It was definitely not the standard medlab. D'Tarik had obviously been a busy man. Spying Sprink's 'cage' -- Elements, you couldn't miss it as it took up most of the center of the room! -- Rylan walks closer to the Tribble. D'Tarik is attending to a patient on the other side of the medlab, and as Rylan nears Sprink's pen, he could hear the Doctor ask, "So what seems to be the problem?"
Rylan grins down at the Tribble, acting like he had really come here all along to scold the creature, he frowns and says sternly, "Au should be ashamed of ninte-self, Sprink." He paused and looked over towards D'Tarik, really addressing his words to the shorter Rihan, "Au frightened that poor girl."
The Erien sitting on the edge of the biobed casts a glance at Rylan, then back at D'Tarik. "Ummm...I just have a headache. Do au have anything for it?" Rylan continues to walk closer towards the biobed, watching D'Tarik very closely. The Erien's eyes kept moving from one to the other of the officers, growing slightly more nervous.
"Ie!" D'Tarik agreed. Turning towards a table he picks up a small red tablet, "Lay down and take this." he instructs.
"But it's only a headache..." the Erien tries to protest.
"Just take it and trust me." D'Tarik insists. With a slight shrug, the Erien on the bed swallowed the pill and laid down. Within moments he was sound asleep. "Now..." D'Tarik exclaimed gleefully, "to help him with that headache...." he picked up the hypo with the experimental black goo, and moved to inject the prone soldier on the biobed. Rylan's hand snakes out, and snatches hold of D'Tarik's wrist, moving the smaller Romulan's arm away from the Erein.
"Oh!" D'Tarik exclaimed, only realizing that the taller boy was in the room when he had been suddenly grabbed, "Jolan'tru Rylan!... I didn't see au.....this will help his headache." he explains innocently enough.
Rylan's eyes slowly move from the prone Erein, to the hypo, then drift back to the medic, "What's in it, D'Tarik?"
"It's the remains of a dead insect which I turned in to goo." the boy explains proudly, "And I figured that it may have healing properties." he pauses, then asks in an almost hurt tone, "Have I ever hurt someone with one of my medicines before Rylan?"
"Uh....well..na...." looks a tad uncertain about it, "But....au have been under some stress lately... and I know how much au like to try new things out...." he hesitantly explained, not really liking the look in D'Tarik's eyes, "so why don't au just use the regular cure, and let this one here get back to work?" Rylan finishes with a half-felt grin.
"Because..." he started to explain, then grew insulted instead, "It's me Rylan! Do I ever just give the "normal" cure?"
Rylan's friendly grin dies and looks very serious, 'I think au better start trying the normal cure now." Then thinks immediately to himself -- 'I'm na about to let au get me kicked off this ship as well as out of my House..'
"It won't hurt him!" he protests again, "I have proven it non-toxic!"
So far, Rylan was still holding firmly to D'Tarik's wrist, "Really?" His brow rose slightly, and he pauses considering. With an idea forming, he suddenly declared, "Then inject ninte self with it D'Tarik." Rylan suddenly lets go of the smaller boy's wrist, and said defiantly, "Better yet...just
inject me with it then!" D'Tarik stands there, looking at Rylan as if he suddenly sprouted wings or something. Rylan takes this as a sign that he's finally getting through to the smaller Rihan, and holds out his arm towards him in a show of trust, "Go on then. If au trust in that...'medicine' so much." he waits for D'Tarik to put the hypo away, but when he doesn't Rylan sarcastically adds, "It won't hurt me, right."
To Rylan's utter disbelief, D'Tarik agrees with that last, "Au'rh right!" and before Rylan could react, the hypo slammed into his arm, and the goo was injected.
A horrified look replaced the disbelief on Rylan's face, then suddenly Rylan's features twisted in pain. He grasped his arm close to himself and sank to his knees. He had time once more to look up at D'Tarik, who's own face now registered shock as the boy leaned down next to his friend. "It's na supposed to work that way...." D'Tarik tried to explain apologetically before Rylan groaned and suddenly doubled over, hitting the floor face-first; unconscious.
[Medlab]
Twenty minutes after he passed out, Rylan's eyes slowly opened and tried to focus on the room around him. Funny....but he had the strangest sensation of 'seeing' the room, before he had actually opened his eyes.... "What the Areinnye....?" he groaned, then tried to sit up. But found that he couldn't.
His struggles for freedom were suddenly halted by D'Tarik's calm explanation.
"Now Rylan....." the medic began in a careful tone, "Au'rh strapped down for a reason...."
Rylan's eyes lock on the smaller boy in a fierce, angry glare "Get me out of here D'Tarik!!" he demands through clenched teeth, still struggling against the restraints, "I'm going to kill au when I get out of here!"
"Now...just calm down...." D'Tarik quietly tried yet again to explain, "Au probably feel a bit uneasy...."
"Uneasy?!?!" Rylan looks flabbergasted, then quickly recovers his anger, "Au'vh *got* to be joking!!! *Get me out of here!!*" he screamed the last sentence, and tried to pull himself off the biobed. Realizing his struggles were getting him nowhere, Rylan pauses to take a gasping breath. Again, his eyes locked onto D'Tarik, "Au know....she was right, D'Tarik...." he referred to the girl who had knocked him down in the corridor, "Au *are* insane." Not knowing what else to do, Rylan turns his eyes away from him.
D'Tarik still looked at him with that same, blankly cold expression and stated flatly, "Well, Rylan...this is na going to make au any happier....but au should start to feel more...'aware'." he paused for a moment, watching Rylan as if he were under a microscope, "Do au feel anything odd?"
"Oh Ie!" Rylan hisses back sarcastically, pulling against the restraints again, "My best friend is trying to kill me! Au bet I feel odd!"
D'Tarik paused a moment, then slightly shook his head in disagreement. "I'm na trying to kill au Rylan..." He had the tone of a psychiatrist trying to calm an overwrought patient out of their paranoid delusionist fantasies.
"Au could've fooled me!" Rylan retorted in a calmer tone, but was still enraged, "Au've ruined my life so far D'Tarik....this is just the next logical step for au isn't it? Why don't au just go ahead and kill me then?!"
"This is probably bad timing...." D'Tarik casually changes subjects, "but au should....." he shakes his head, and tries again, "...au have..." he hesitates, then blurts out, "...'improved' a bit."
At that, Rylan closes his eyes and babbles off a string of curses under his breath, interjected every so often with vivid and colorful descriptions of how Rylan plans to kill the medical officer when he finally breaks free from the restraints. D'Tarik listens to all this with a slightly raised brow, then nods and says matter of factly, "Okay...now au know why I had au restrained in the first place."
Rylan's eyes fly open at that and grins almost evilly, "Sure D'Tarik!" he agrees in a false note of cheerfulness, "Ie! I see it all so clearly now.....ninte whole plan. First au get me kicked out of the academy...then my House...au first kill ninte girlfriend for practice...and now it's my turn." the grin dies and he fairly screams at the boy, "Well then just do it!"
D'Tarik's eyes lower guiltily to the ground when Rylan brought up the fact he was a murderer. The smaller of the pair sighs and then tries to explain again, "Look Rylan, au should know...au have....insect antenna."
Rylan's jaw drops open, "I have...wha...WHAT?!?!" he frantically struggles against the restraints a little more, almost moving the bed, "Get them off of me HNAH!!!"
"I can get them off..." D'Tarik nods, then pauses for a moment, "But first, *au* apologize for acting like I wanted to kill Byh'hie." then demands with a smug nod of his head, "And then promise na to kill me."
Rylan fixes his narrowed eyes on the medic, the almost-evil grin resurfacing, "Oh...ie." not meaning it in the least, "Whatever au say, D'Tarik." Rylan spits out the name as if it were poison.
"I am sorry Rylan." D'Tarik says almost forlornly, "I can fix it easily..." The medic takes out a small, cylindrical object, and waves it in front of Rylan's face. Instantly the enraged eyes close, and Rylan drifts back once more into unconsciousness.
[Medlab]
When Rylan once more wakes up, he finds himself alone in the medlab. Apparently, D'Tarik and Sprinkles had decided that, for safety reasons, they were better off not being present when he returned to consciousness. The restraints no longer held him down, and he quickly sat up -- only to suddenly freeze in his movements and cradled his aching head. Remembering what
D'Tarik had said was on him earlier, Rylan carefully runs a hand over the top of his head, and is more than relieved to find that it felt normal. "Etrehh...." Rylan grumbles angrily, then immediately winces in pain and lowers his voice, "locate D'Tarik tr'Rekkohan...."
"D'Tarik tr'Rekkohan is on holodeck three." the mechanical voice answered blandly.
Rylan's hand immediately moves to the com, then hovers over it uncertainly for a moment. With a sigh of resignation, he decides to page D'Tarik instead of security, and taps open the line, "D'Tarik...?" He stands away from the bed, awaiting a reply.
A hesitant answer comes a few moments later. "...Squeak?"
Rylan had been checking himself over in the mirror, pleased to note that everything was back to normal, when his brow suddenly rose in surprise. With the line still open Rylan explains grumpily, "Na au Sprink..." a slight, aggravated pause, "...D'Tarik."
"Squeak...squeak-squeak....coo!" the confused-sounding little Tribble sounds almost as if he's trying to explain something.
'Oh, come on!' rolling his eyes, Rylan pauses in thought, then almost chuckles at the unbelivability of it all. Shaking his head slightly, he once more addresses the Tribble though the comline, "Alright Sprink...." he says through a grin, "A squeak for ie...a coo for na... understand?"
"Squeak!"
"Is D'Tarik with au?"
A sad sounding "Coo..." in answer.
Rylan is taken aback by that, 'Well fvadt!' he thinks in frustration, 'Where the Areinnye...' he sighs then speaks thought the comline again, "Sprink...do au know where D'Tarik is at all?"
The Tribble answers with an even sadder sounding "Coo...." then before.
"Can au get to my location?"
An affirmative, 'Squeak!' then the familiar sound of a spring-loaded 'bo-ing' bounce comes from around the other side of a biobed on the far side of the room. Surprised at first, Rylan cracks a grin as the Tribble hops over to him, a com-badge strapped to Sprink's tentacle. "Well....au sneaky little Tribble!" Rylan almost laughs as he reaches down to pick him up, "I thought au were in the holodeck..."
Sprink growls angrily but Rylan gets the feeling that the growl was not directed at himself. Rylan pauses a moment anyway, then heads towards the medlab doors, "What'd ya' say au don't do that growling bit, okay?" then he mumbles quietly, "Brings back memories I really don't need right now...." At the quiet little 'squeak' of agreement, Rylan places the Tribble on his shoulder, and heads off down the corridor towards the holodeck.
Stepping out of the turbolift, Rylan continues his walk down the hallway to the holodeck, and sees the frightened girl from before, reading an ISD as she walks. Rylan smiles, then calls out a "Jolan'tru Lhhei..." as he approaches closer.
"Oh!" the girl suddenly looks up, a pleased expression on her soft features, "Jolan'tru rekkh...." the girl's eyes widen in surprised fear as she gets a look at Sprink and immediately runs away screaming again.
Stunned, Rylan watches the girl run away with a lift of his brow, then he casts a sideways glance to the Tribble on his shoulder as he resumes walking again, "So...." he says with a slight smirk and a shake of his head, "Au'rh the cause of all D'Tarik's problems, eh?" Rylan tries to look serious as he warns in mock anger, "Au frighten io more girl, Sprink, and I'm removing all those gizmos of ninte-a."
Sprink gives off a negative little "Coo!" as Rylan walks through the holodeck doors.
[Holodeck 3]
The moment he had walked through the holodeck doors, Rylan recognized his surroundings, and he felt himself sinking a little more in despair. "Oh...just wonderful!" he whispers sarcastically. The old fear he had once felt -- but had successfully hidden from the others -- had returned with a vengeance. He found himself trembling involuntarily for a moment before he
had once again managed to push the old fear away, firmly reminding himself that he was only in a holochamber.
It wasn't exactly the same surroundings, after all. The differences were slight, but it was enough. It was no longer the dark, and foreboding place it once was. The thick, cloying fog was gone, the familiar russet and gold leaves blew gently in a rather warm autumn breeze; and more sunlight had managed to filter through the trees, illuminating the forest in a warm and welcoming scene.
Seeing the familiar looking cabin in a clearing off in the distance, Rylan's face crumples in despair, and he casts another sideways glance to the green-furred Tribble on his shoulder. "I really don't need this right now, au know." he grumbles, as his eyes slowly survey his surroundings -- unconsciously keeping a look out for any monsters that lurked within the ch'Vania forest, "I should just leave him here in his own fantasy world."
Almost on queue, a bunch of little 'upgraded Tribbles' -- D'Tarik specials -- go by in almost a herd. Sprinkles notices them immediately, and gives off a happily surprised sounding "Squeak!"
"What the...?!" Rylan trailed off, startled by the horde of unusual Tribbles. They were everywhere! On ground, in the trees...a few even had little jet-packs strapped to their furry little bodies, and circled the air around Rylan's head with a happy chorus of 'cooo.....' in welcoming.
Rylan casts an uncertain grin at the green Tribble on his shoulder. "Au know Sprink, that squeak was an ie...." he nods his head, "Au agree with me don't au. We should just leave him here...." he trails off again, watching the horde around him.
Sprink seems to shake his furry little body -- in effect, trying to shake his head in the negative, "Coo...!"
In shock, Rylan's widened eyes follow the path of a rather large red Tribble as it haughtily walks in front of the Rihan on long, black bird-like legs for a moment before he addresses the Tribble on his shoulder again, "Well...fvadt Sprink!" he exclaims, overwhelmed by all the Tribbles, "I don't think I can talk to him." He pauses to wave away a black Tribble with bat-wings that
circled his head annoyingly, and glares at Sprinkles, "He tried to kill me, au know!"
"Coo-oo..."
Rylan's brow rose in surprise at Sprink's answer, but he starts towards the cabin nonetheless, "What do au mean na?" he argues, "I had antenna for Elements sake!" he stomps off, but still carefully trying to prevent stepping on holotribbles, and grumbles "And now I'm talking to au!" he shakes his head in disbelief, "I'm as crazy as D'Tarik...." Rylan's protests finally trails off.
As Rylan nears the porch, he sees a younger Romulan female that he didn't recognize sitting on the porch, quietly reading from an ISD she held in her lap. Her long, black hair fanned over one of her shoulders. The calm and peaceful expression she wore made her that much more attractive, and brought a smile to Rylan's face. He ascends the porch steps slowly, and bows his head to the pretty girl, "Jolan'tru, lhhei..." As the girl looks up from her ISD, Rylan pauses to remind himself that she was only a hologram after all, no need to try and impress her, and finishes with a more casual air "I'm looking for D'Tarik." he smirks, and points to Sprink perched on his shoulder, "I'm returning his pet."
"Oh!" the girl casts a wide and almost fake-looking smile at the male, "Au'rh looking for my bother...how I love him so!" She pauses with a slight tilt of her head, but still with that smile plastered to her face, "Wait.....aren't au already in the cabin?" then she shakes her head as if it
didn't matter and points off towards the forest, "But if au want D'Tarik, he went for a walk."
"I'm already in the cabin...?" Rylan pauses uncertainly, "I don't understand."
She nods, the smile never wavering, "Au were sitting by the fire...with that girl...?"
Rylan is getting creeped out by the eerie, fake smile. "Ie..." he answers her, then mutters quietly to Sprink as they cross the porch to the front door, "Play along with me here, Sprink. Etrehh... remove holoSprinkles and holoRylan from the program." Rylan waits a half-minute, then opens the door.
But he wasn't expecting to see Llunih sitting alone by the fireplace, seemingly waiting for him to come back. She turns her head to see who entered the cabin, and smiled softly at him, glad that he was here. Llunih stands, and silently crosses the room, her lips silently saying his name.
Rylan almost answers her, then looks away instead, "Fvadt..." he whispered quietly, his features etched in distress, "I really don't need this..." The girl approaches closer, and Rylan tries to end the vision, "Etrehh...remove holo...." but he can't make himself say her name. All he really wanted, was to have her back....
Llunih reached out, encircling her arms around his waist and gently pulled him closer to her. Rylan didn't want to say it, but he forces himself to as the girl's face leaned closer to his own, "...Remove holoLlunih!" he says firmly, and closes his eyes as the girl disappears. "I can't do this Sprink..." he explains quietly and rubs angrily at his eyes, trying to get himself under control, "D'Tarik needs a kheinsa.....I'm na a kheinsa...."
The door to the cabin suddenly opens and D'Tarik enters, happily smiling and holding hands with Byh'hie. Rylan, who looks like he had been on the verge of tears, turns away from the pair quickly and crosses to the far side of the room. D'Tarik's happy expression is replaced by one of confusion when he sees that Rylan is na acting like he programmed him too. He started eyeing the taller boy with suspicion.
Rylan finally gets himself under control, then turns back to face the pair with a resigned sigh. His eyes first look sadly at Byh'hie, then at D'Tarik. After an awkward, silent moment, he shakes his head, "I can't help au..." he pauses to cast another disapproving glance at Byh'hie, then takes a step closer, and addresses his lost friend again. "Au can either stay here with the shadows of what never was....or au can come back with me." Rylan says firmly, looking almost frightened that D'Tarik will say no. But the smaller boy doesn't say anything, only stares back at him in silence. Rylan shakes his head again, not knowing if he was reaching through to D'Tarik or not. "Byh'hie ...." he explains slowly, "the *real* Byh'hie....wouldn't have wanted au to do this, D'Tarik. Au are dishonoring her....." Rylan kept his voice level, a carefully controlled neutral tone, "Au'rh preventing her from reaching vor'ta'vor."
D'Tarik continues to stand there, silently staring at Rylan in almost contempt. Then, after a few moments, his eyes lower, and he calls out quietly, "Etrehh...end. Change program to ch'Rihan landscape re." The room dissolves and shifts around them, until only the two boys and Sprink are standing on cliff over-looking the Valley of Chulla. D'Tarik sighs, then sits down on the edge of the cliff. Sprinkles jumps down from his perch on Rylan's shoulder, and hops on D'Tarik's. The Tribble nudges the boy's cheek gently, but D'Tarik doesn't seem to notice, only stares blankly at the holo-landscape in front of him.
Rylan looks around a moment, and pushes away the memory of the trips his family had taken to the Valley. Trying not to think of his own problems for the moment, he sits down next to D'Tarik, both boys sitting on the edge of the cliff. After a few minutes passed in silence, Rylan begins quietly, "It wasn't ninte fault, D'Tarik...."
D'Tarik is silent a moment longer, then suddenly blurts out sarcastically, "Oh! I guess that was somebody else who staked her!" As Rylan lowers his head again with a sigh, the smaller boy continued more calmly, "And now...I am alone....the only io I had left in my House, was my sister."
"Byh'hie was already dead, D'Tarik. The thing au staked was a xd." Rylan looks back at him, noting that the medical officer was still staring off into space, "And at least au still have a House..." he trials off a moment then shrugs, "Even if au are the only io left, na io disowned au." Rylan pauses to look away, reflecting on his own situation, "Au'rh na alone." he continued,
looking back to the smaller boy again with a shrug, "Au have Sprink. Thought I was ninte friend to...but I guess au rather I wasn't. I can't say as I blame au." Rylan tries to smile in indifference, but can't quite do it. Hanging his head in shame he mumbles as he stands to leave, "Ri'nanov was right....I'm a failure."
That last seems to snap D'Tarik out of it, "Na au'rh na Rylan..." the boy turns his head to look up at his friend. "Au'rh na a failure. And ie," the boy shrugged, "Au are my friend, but.....it was my fault au got expelled in the first place....." he pauses a moment, then adds with a knowing nod of his head, "I am assuming that's why au were disowned."
Rylan halts a moment but then shrugs, "The reason why doesn't matter anymore. All that matters now is that I have a place on a ship...and friends beside me. " he pauses to cast a glance back at the other, "That's all that matters now: Duty."
"Duty?" D'Tarik echoes, with a slight rise of his brow, "So...just because ninte House is wrong, does that mean au can't ever have any more fun?"
"Na....!" Rylan almost smirks, "Course na." he pauses then shakes his head again, "But who the Areinnye wants to have fun when ninte friend is so depressed he's acting crazy?" another smirk appears briefly.
"Crazy?" D'Tarik looks confused by that. He obviously wasn't faking it, either. "What are au talking about?"
Rylan really grins this time and shakes his head, "Uh.....hmm..." looks around the holo image of ch'Rihan's landscape for a moment, remembering that only a moment ago the landscape had been ch'Vania, "Gee, D'Tarik...." he shrugs, "Don't know what ever gave me that idea." his face turns serious and he adds in a mock-angry tone, "And au grew antenna out of my head, D'Tarik! Au have to admit..." he shook a finger at him, "that's a pretty crazy thing to do."
"Oh, yeah...." D'Tarik rolls his eyes at that, "Like nobody has ever made that mistake before." At Rylan's obnoxious laughter, D'Tarik finally notices Sprinkles, and gently pets the Tribble, making it purr.
Rylan's laughter finally slowly died away and he exclaims with a shake of his head, "Oh....I need a drink!" he grins and holds out his hand towards the smaller boy, "Care to join me in a drink, D'Tarik?"
"Ie....why na." D'Tarik nods and accepts the hand, "Let's just drop Sprinkles off in my lab first. I don't like to let him see me drink."
"Ah, Sprink's old enough!" Rylan smirks as he helps the boy to his feet, "Why na let him have a snort?" he winked at the Tribble, "Bet au'd like to try it, eh Sprink?"
"Squeak!"
Rylan chuckles and nods his head, 'See!" he grins and gives the Tribble a friendly pat, "Sprink *wants* to try a bit! I say let him! All in favor?" Rylan holds up a hand, and Sprink raises the red tentacle and waves it in the air in front of D'Tarik's face.
D'Tarik looks uncertainly from the Tribble to Rylan, then shrugs, "Oh...why the Areinnye na? Let's go...end hologram!"
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