Back to My Old Ways [Aya]

Drack Ixus looked up from his laptop that was linked to a weather station to see anne stagering up. he jumped up and grabed a medi-kit from his hover bike and ran to her

drack saw that the girl he was treating was severly dehydrated and in need of serious medical attention. as he bandaged an abrasion on her arm she slumped against a rock, nearly unconscience. her shirt caught on the rock, riding up to expose a pale white knotted scar for a moment before the girl moved, allowing her shirt to drop down. "c section?" wondered drack, "she came from out of the district and i need to get her medical attenton". Then addressing the girl "can you walk? at least as far as my hover bike?"

I couldn't help but watch this spectacle. It certainly wasn't everyday you saw someone wander from the woods with two teenagers trying to help. Hmm, two teenages...maybe that's the problem over there. Sorry kids, but time for the adults to come in.
I walked over to them. "Is everyone okay?"

ID? Well, this kid certainly had the cool that matched any CEO. Luckily I was too lazy today to take it out of my bag this morning, so I pulled out my ID that identified me as a chemist at his labs.

Yeesh, this kid has nerves. Normally it'd be irritating, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much it reminded me of my old friend...
We used to be like a pack of rabbid dogs, just us ganged together. We were brought together by our intelligence, our wits, our senses of humor. All the students either looked up at us as examples or absolutely loathed us for our knowledge. But we always laughed them off. Together.
Then came the time when we needed to decide our careers. While they were starting to worry about who to "go out" with I was already on a fast track to a well-paying job. I was the only one left who still stuck to the old promises we made when we were younger. I tried to tell one of them that I liked him, but he simply ignored me, like the rest of them. Slowly, and painfully, we began to drift apart, until I was so tired of trying to keep them in my grasp that I just gave up and let (no, forced) the rest of my loyal friends go.
I haven't thought about them for so long that when I first met Drack I almost swore he was related to my friend, but he's not. Maybe that's why I find myself admiring the kid every now and then: he reminds me of my lost companions.
So I don't say anything back. Drack's old enough (and definitely smart enough) to take care of himself. I'm not going to make the same mistake and loose another friend. "Oh. Then I'll leave this to you, then. Take care." I remembered that I needed to go buy some extra reeds from the music store, so I headed in that general direction.

Well, I wasn't just going to go without doing something. Should I turn back? I looked behind me and saw Drack trying to get her on his hoverbike. I can at least help there. Of course, I'd have better sense than to call the Peacekeepers. They'd just drag the poor girl off to some remote prison or something.
I turned back. "Wait. Before I go for good, let me help get her on the bike. I don't want you getting anyone's attention and having them dragging the Peacekeepers in."