The Needs of The Few

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 "In order to control your emotions, you must control your body first." Priestess T'Sri said as she allowed Mac'hla one last sip of water.

"Understood." Mac'hla said and looked across the massive desert.

"You will stay here for three days and three nights. No food, no water. If you are to survive, you must fall into your deepest meditation."

"And if I cannot?" Mac'hla asked.

"Then you will restart this process. It will go on for as long as it takes." she said flatly, "Go. Become one with yourself, child."

Mac'hla nodded and wandered off into the harsh desert.

It reminded her a lot of home. The scorching wind filled with sharp grains of sand that stun her skin. The harsh sun that beat down on her and burnt her face. The oppressive dryness that stole the air from Mac'hla's lungs and left her feeling breathless.

Just like home.

Mac'hla felt a smile spreading across their cheeks and they quickly dropped it.

"Your feelings about this place are irrelevant." They reminded themself, "Your emotions are illogical."

She sat down in the middle of nowhere underneath the scalding sun and closed her eyes, slipping into a powerful trance.

They could feel the emotion leaving as the sun burnt their skin. They were becoming one with logic.

The first day was ideal. Mac'hla was silent and focussed, never once leaving her trance. The world around her ceased to exist as she fell deeper and deeper into her trance.

But that night, Mac'hla encountered a problem.

They were pulled from their haze as they heard a faint sliding noise approaching them.

To anyone else, even another Vulcan, the sound would have gone unnoticed. But Netrekan' ears were different.

In the canyons of Netrek, the sound echoes wildly making it nearly impossible to pinpoint the source of the noise. Because of this, Netrekans, overtime, had adapted. Their ears became slightly larger, more prominent, and their three eardrums were 50% larger than those of other Vulcans.

Mac'hla peeked over to her side to find the source of the sound.

A long snake slid across the sand towards her and she watched its every move.

They recognized the snake as a Rutik, a highly venomous snake whose bite was known to dissolve flesh.

The logical decision would be to get up and run but Mac'hla knew from having seen these creatures before that if she moved it would attack. It could move much faster than her.

They took a deep breath and closed their eyes again as the sandy colored snake approached.

She could feel it slither up onto her crossed legs and rear up. Her heart pounded as its forked tongue flitted over her nose.

"Do not move." she thought, "If you move it will attack."

The Rutik let out an angry hiss and Mac'hla held her breath, waiting for the sting of the bite.

It shifted in their lap and slithered down towards their hands which were placed neatly on each knee.. Mac'hla realized too late that the rutik had been attracted to the movement of their hands from their tremor.

She ground her teeth as its teeth sank into her palm and pumped her full of its venom. If she moved, it may attack a more vital part of her body.

The rutik grew bored of Mac'hla now that they had grown completely still and it slithered away, disappearing into the sand off into the distance.