Round 18 pNPC Tenaka: Dreams are but windows to the Future.

[+ Talia Ohnari]

((Dominicus VI. Mines “Sickbay”.))

::If there was but a single man in the galaxy that fit the imagery of an “old kung-fu master”, then it was him. He wore his long silvered hair in a topknot with some left loose either side of his head. His long beard was silver, and bound at it’s longest point with beads. His robes were loose, flowing and various shades of brown, as were his tattered old shoes. He wore cream coloured wraps around his calves and down to his ankles, the dirt of the mine staining their lower halves brown also. He wore a black belt with a scabbard where once a blade had rested, although he had not possessed his own for the seventy years he had been here.::

Tenaka: oO Seventy years. But not much longer. Oo

::He was slight of frame and mildly hunched forwards, walking with a shuffle as he leaned upon a staff that was well beyond his own ninety-eight years. He spent most of his time in this place, the closet thing the slaves had to a sickbay. It was more like a butchers shop combined with a torture chamber, the stink of blood and bowels liquefied in fear permeating the air without pause.::

Tenaka: oO I cannot remember fresh air. Oo

::They had stopped trying to prevent him from spending his days here, tending to the spiritual well-being of those slaves and indentured workers that passed through. Every guard had tried in their turn, and every one of them had been carried limply to this very room for treatment. Some had been cast aside to rot where they lay in the tunnels. The frail and blind old man with the staff laying them low with ease, for some reason not one of them had ever dared to shoot him. He did not know why this was.

Perhaps it was the Goddess protecting him? After all, despite learning the ways of war and death as a fiery youth, he had never forsaken his vows to Her as a healer. Perhaps his recent dreams were a message?::

Tenaka: oO All of my days I pledge to Her. To seek out the sick, and the lost. The damaged and the broken. To cast light upon their shadows and lift them from suffering. All of my days I pledge to Her. Oo

::His attention had been drawn much earlier to three new arrivals. Two of them sounded like rough, military men and a fight had ensued. There had been a single heavy shot, and Tenaka recognised the sound of Bardur’s heavy slug-throwing pistol followed by a dead weight hitting the ground. The other military man had been soundly beaten and tied, the third man being bound also, despite his panicked cries and sobs.::

Bardur: Quiet! ::The heavy sound of a backhanded slap from an armoured glove.::

::Tenaka stood slowly, his sightless eyes boring into the hulking guard.::

Tenaka: You will leave the boy unharmed, Bardur. Lest I provide you another lesson in humility.

::He heard the guard alter his stance, the sound of the halberd scraping the floor as it was raised to a fighting stance. Tenaka slowly picked up his walking staff, tapping its end on the floor by his left foot. He knew the mines and its corridors and tunnels better than any of those with their sight intact and this room best of all. He swept around the nearest table, the tip of his staff at Bardur’s windpipe before the huge guard could even blink.::

Tenaka: Leave us.

::The atmosphere changed almost instantly, the guards slow nod and quick retreat a sign that there was at least a sliver of intelligence in the man’s brain. He grounded the butt of his staff once more and spoke without turning.::

Tenaka: And what is your name, young man?

Paradi: Julian. Crewman second class, USS Colum-

::Starfleet. Tenaka held a hand up. Pointing with startling accuracy between the other two new arrivals, one beaten, one dead, he offered the boy a smile as he turned.::

Tenaka: I am not your gaoler. Tell me, Julian. Who are they?

Paradi: Marines. That’s Private Lockwood in the chair. ::A sniffle:: The other was Private Selkirk.

::Tenaka nodded slowly. Yes, he would not live here much longer. Time passed, perhaps an hour or two when another slave was dragged into the room and slammed into a chair for treatment. The Marine was unconscious, battered and bleeding where he sat bound to his chair. The boy – Julien – had fallen into a fitful sleep. That was good. He would need his strength.::

Tenaka: And what may I do for you young man?

Maxwell: Tripped on mah laces an broke my hand.

Tenaka: oO That voice! Oo Then let us attend to it.

::Tenaka bound the fingers and set the broken hand as best as he could, which considering his resources was not very well at all. When the boy returned to his ship, it could be healed properly. But Tenaka could do no more for him than prevent the broken bones from setting themselves too far out of line.::

Tenaka: There. Good as new. ::A ghost of a smile played across his lips.:: Your friends will be safe here with me, Arturo Maxwell.

::He didn’t need vision to tell him of the shock and surprise on the young man’s face at the utterance of his name by a complete stranger. The boy was hauled from the seat once more by the guard – which was Rell’tharn judging by the tiny bells tied around his collar – and Tenaka grabbed the prisoners arm fiercly, leaning in to whisper in his ear.::

Tenaka: Fear not young Maxwell. She is coming for you.

Maxwell: Wha?

Tenaka: A lady of fire and flame. She comes for you. ::Pause:: For all of you.

Rell’tham: Move!

::And with that, the boy was manhandled from the room.::

Tenaka: ::Quietly to himself.:: Fear not. She comes.

---

Master Tenaka.

Healer.

Dominicus VI Mines.

Simmed by;

Lieutenant (JG) Arturo Maxwell.

Tactical Officer.

Starbase 118 Operations.

O239311AM0.