Whole Lot of Trouble

[Vash Tembra]

Night would soon be arriving in the little village on Nanth'ri. On a usual day, there wouldn't be much to see here: just a few houses, a small market, and a pretty little river, that, at this moment, was glistening in the last rays of the sun. It was a bucolic, but unremarkable place by galactic standarts.

This was not a usual day, however, and instead of the calm, serene atmosphere, the main street was packed full of villagers, all rushing with activity as they brought pieces of cloth, buckets of water, and any other kinds of materials that were required. Well, at least the villagers that could stand were doing that. Many others were simply laying down inside the little hospital, while their neighbours brought the necessary equipment to try and alleviate their suffering.

Vash, the Echani Padawan, and a few others from the GA, had volunteered to aid the people in this place. Partially out of the kindness of their hearts, and partially because whoever had poisoned their well had also stolen weapons and other tech from the Rebels, and now they had to investigate where they had run off to.

Why they'd want to attack these people, I may never know, Vash thought, as he finished extending his hand towards one of the villagers, an old lady with her eyes closed. From the Echani's palm, a pale blue light was engulfing the woman, healing her ailments with the power of the Force. This wasn't Vash's greatest strength, but he was proficient enough in the arts to at least stall the poison, and buy these people enough time until a real medic could find a cure. One would be arriving soon to take it from here. Hopefully.

@GlobeTrotty

 

[Aesop Blair]

Nanth’ri resembled Aesop’s home, in a sense. The towns were small in community, and the people who lived there were usually poor. The exception was that, on Tatooine, many died every day if only due to the sheer hostility of others. In comparison, if he could have lived on Tatooine or Nanth’ri, he wouldn’t have hesitated to pick the small, peaceful villages.


Well, that was what he had been told about the village, for now, you could nearly feel the chaos before you even entered the little community. Aesop had volunteered under the fact that he had a low chance of dying, physically, that is. What he saw as he followed the meager group of fellow rebels could have killed him from the inside, instead; villagers rushing around, children crying as they witnessed their bedridden families suffer, and there was even a tiny patch of stones sticking out from the ground close to the edge of the town.

Who poisons the water supply of a village so small? Aesop wondered, approaching a worn makeshift tent housing an ill couple. Their eyes were shut, their breathing coming in short bursts, and their skin was a pale, almost gray color.

They had to discover what poison this was, otherwise, these innocent people would die. Not only was he a medic, now he had to play detective.

“‘Ey, Tembra!” Aesop called as he felt the skin of the ill-fated. “These people who poisoned these folk, how big and powerful are they?”

If he wanted a lead on the poison, Aesop would need to know whether or not those who had poisoned them had access to more lethal poisons.

 

[Vash Tembra]

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Vash returned from his deep trance when he heard his name being called. What was the medic's name again? Aesop? There had been many new faces in such a short amount of time that Vash could get lost with so much more information to remember. He was asking about the people who'd poisoned the villagers, which seemed odd, until the Echani remembered not everyone had been allowed access to all the details of this case.

After patting the old lady on her shoulder, and inducing her to sleep with a slight nudge from the Force, Vash turned his attention to the man who'd asked the question.

"Not too big, as far as we know," he awnsered. "Just some local thugs, really."

Of course, the elephant in the room was the why. Just why attack such a remote village? Nothing seemed to add up- they weren't hiding any significant wealth, nor was the village some kind of strategic position. It was all one big mystery.

"We think the poison is local, probably manufactured after the glands of some kind of animal from this area. Or maybe it's plant based, but it's probably from around here," the Echani explained, rubbing his sore neck.

"Want to look around in the woods? There should be enough light to recognize something, and I can keep you safe while you do your job"

Normally, this last remark would have been made as a sarcastic tease, but Vash was too tired to tease others, so he kept his tone neutral. Besides, there was also the fact that he didn't want Aesop to feel uncomfortable, because in a fight, Vash would probably need to ensure the medic's safety... which was fair enough, as the Echani couldn't even hope to match the man when it came to treating others.

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop nodded vaguely in response, his gaze trained on the fallen couple. “I was hoping such. If it were a large group, they’d have access to more lethal poisons.” He tore his eyes away to look back at Vash, his expression blank and nonchalant, optics glowing dangerously in comparison to the rest of his face. “This looks like the work of a simple liquidized pesticide. It’ll be a bit of a disgusting sight, but the only thing these people need is to . . . rid it from their bodies, if you catch my drift.”

Gases were a common occurrence of illness, especially when used on the fields in order to exterminate pests of human size. The problem with that was, of course, humans could breathe in and be affected by the poison, too. It was rather counterproductive. But a small gang could easily have had access to a pesticide.

“I think I’ll take you up on that forest exploration offer,” Aesop accepted. “If anything, there may be herbs there that they will expel on contact of ingestion, and perhaps some to ease the aftermath. If everyone else excuses our absence, of course.”

The only thing they could do now was go forward. That, or dig themselves and the people around them into an even deeper pit. They were trying to avoid that.

 

[Vash Tembra]

"Ah, they should be fine... especially since the trouble seems not that bad... just kind of disgusting," Vash added with a little wink. "Come, let's be off. The others can handle the rest, and I could use a change of scenery"

And with that, the Echani got up from his kneeling position, stretching his sore body. It had been a long, monotonous day, spent healing and talking to as many villagers as possible, trying to figure out why this tragedy had struck them. No progress had been made there, but they could at least take care of the symptoms. The people here would live, after having a really bad time, so that was good.

He walked out of the little hospital, giving the receptioninst at the entrance a bright smile. He figured she must have been exhausted as well. Most everyone in the village was, so it was a good idea to treat them with as much respect as possible. The sun would still be up for about an hour or so, Vash reckoned, as he looked at the beautiful lake right in front of the hospital. It was a good thing he was carrying a lantern, just in case. Hopefully, Aesop would be as well.

Another good thing in their favor was that he'd already already scouted the surrounding region out a bit, so he knew that the best way to wade into the forest was by following the river for a while before heading east: less surrounding vegetation to get in their way by that route, and they could still head deep inside the forest if need be.

Hopefully it won't come to that, the Echani thought as he pulled the hood from his Jedi Robes up, making his way towards the river.

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop had to admit, watching the Echani trot away towards the swarming vegetation, he had charm. Upon first glance, Vash seemed to have a fierce superiority to him. Literally not judging a book by its cover.

You judge everyone, cover or not, Aesop reminded himself critically. It’s in your Tatooine blood.

Regardless he followed after him, eager to get away from the gloom of the makeshift hospital. He’d seen enough of that in his lifetime, especially in the past weeks he’d been a part of the Galactic Alliance. The wounds soldiers would come back hosting were incredibly grotesque, not to mention painful. It had been clear that these people needed a medic of some kind, as Jedi Force only goes so far to heal people. Sure, a Jedi trained specifically in Force healing would be perfect, but it didn’t seem like the Rebels had that. Plus, the nerve of some of the younger Padawans and Rebels, acting as if he were something to be thrown around.

Aesop needed a break, even if for a few minutes. Enough said.

“Tembra—uh, Vash, is it?” His words started off shaky and confusing. “I tend to have difficulty remembering people’s names.”

 

[Vash Tembra]

Vash kept moving ahead, noticing the trees, plants, and animals, both with his eyes and the aid of the Force. There was a large amount of different kinds of flora in the forest, ranging from small bushes to large trees, with many different kinds of coloration, to boot. Many must be poisonous, he suspected, and all were beautiful in their own way. The fauna was less diverse, with only a few birds and insects on sight, but that was to be expected: animals could flee from strangers walking into their territory, after all; plants couldn't. Besides, if something big makes its presence known, we'll probably be in some trouble, Vash thought.

He hoped Aesop would be able to identify the correct specimen, be it plant or animal, that had caused such harm to the villagers, because he sure as hell couldn't. Vash had many tricks up his sleeve, most stemming from the Force, but being able to identify harmful substances with precision was not one of them. Maybe that's something I need to correct in the future, he thought, as he gently used teleknesis to pull on a vine to move it out of the way, being careful not to cause harm to the little lifeform that had made this place its home.

When he heard the medic's comment, the Padawan just had to laugh.

"Yeah, that's Vash- and you are Aesop, right? I'm not that great with names, either... glad I'm not the only one," he admitted. "By the way, if you want to check an animal, and not a plant, just let me know and I'll make the beasts cooperate"

The Force was a really useful tool not just for pulling on things, but also as a means to influence the minds of others, and both these things were activities Vash excelled at. With both his abilities and the medic's, they would get this done in no time, he suspected- especially because Aesop (if that was really his name) seemed quite dedicated: he had been quick to accept the Padawan's suggestion to head into the woods, and before that, was making questions to figure out what had gone wrong with the villagers. That was really a good sign- if the medic kept it up, Vash might end up respecting him.

 

[Aesop Blair]

“Ah, yeah, I believe I forgot to introduce myself. But, you know more about me now than a lot of people do,” Aesop joked, despite the fact that it was true. Many people either just didn’t know or refused to acknowledge him when he talked to them. Hopefully it would change in time, but he couldn’t blame them—people out in the Galaxy during war, especially from Tatooine, they couldn’t be trusted. He knew he wouldn’t have either. “Just—don’t touch anything brightly colored, right? That’s usually nature’s way of saying ‘Screw off or I’ll kill you’.”

The forest was peaceful. Aesop hasn’t seen many in his lifetime, courtesy of his desert home. He considered them near mythical places, holding secrets you could walk right past without a notion. The colors that blended with the shine of the day, the life that made their homes within the maze of bushes and trees, the noises stirred even by a slight gust of wind. He was fascinated by forests.

He met an unfamiliar patch of grass, and realized why.

Ahead of them, deeper into the forest, hundreds of the bushes and ferns had been trampled, creating a crude pathway. The various colors of berry juices painted the stretch of land, the bushes near picked clean, and in the brush, off to the side, was a dark shape laying still on the ground that Aesop soon realized was—

“A person.” He picked his way through the mild destruction towards the body, standing over it, a cold, icy feeling cutting into his chest. The poor man’s skin was covered in an odd sweat, skin pale, like the village residents. Almost subconsciously, two of his fingers found their way to the vein beneath the young man’s jaw. He was only met with rigidity. “Dead. Do you have gloves on?”

 

[Vash Tembra]

If Vash knew more about Aesop than most people did, that was kind of worrying, given the fact he barely knew the poor guy's name. It was especially bad since the medic seemed like a nice guy- at least at first glance- and he was pretty funny, too, if his comment on the bright plants was anything to go by. Vash had the Force to tell him more or less what kind of lifeforms he should avoid, but he still appreciated the warning nonetheless.

"Duly noted," he said cheerfully. "Oh, and remind me to buy you a drink when this is over- you look like you need one"

Maybe getting the man drunk would prove useful to his self esteem. Not all problems could be solved with alchohol, but he felt sitting down for a few minutes and relaxing would do Aesop some good.

Imagining the medic getting completely hammered brought a little smile to Vash's face... but it quickly dwindled when he saw what his fellow Rebel had seen just a moment ago: a corpse, who had a skin coloration very much similar to the villagers'. Aesop had been remarkably quick on his feet, checking the man's vitals before Vash could even blink. All he could do was nod when the question came, and kneel beside his companion.

"What do you need me to do?", the Padawan asked, looking at Aesop expectantly. He hadn't mentioned the obvious fact that the villagers may well be on their way to suffering the same fate as the poor man they'd just found. One problem at a time- find out what killed him first, then worry about the villagers, Vash told himself, focusing on the task ahead.

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop inspected the damage. No lesions of any sort, just pale, clammy skin. No sign of ingestion, either, peering into his throat showed. The only tell-tale sign was that the man wasn’t wearing gloves. A common mistake by an amateur.

“Touch nothing,” he stated, his tone authoritative. “This poor sod hasn’t foamed at the mouth or tried to cough up anything, so he didn’t ingest what killed him. The only thing that could have happened—“ Aesop promptly held up the corpse’s wrist—“was physical contact. What an idiot.”

Worry twisted coldly in his chest, mind blanking for a moment. These people had drank the water this morning, and showed the same signs as the scrap there. Had the gang poisoned the water with the herb they found?

“The good thing is, their water source was poisoned by whatever he touched, which means it’s native to Nanth’ri, and the people here may have treated it before,” Aesop informed, straightening up and dusting himself off. “The bad thing? It’s obviously lethal. If we don’t get a cure soon, all of those people back there, they’ll—they’ll die, Vash.”

Every single one of them infected. The stones laid out near the makeshift hospitals would grow in numbers, spreading like wildfire. It reminded him of the sickness outbreaks on Tatooine that ravaged towns, killed hundreds in only weeks.

Took his sister.

He never wanted that to happen to anyone else again.

“We have to go.” Aesop began making his way back, forcing down the hot panic cooling inside him.

 

[Vash Tembra]

Vash nodded to Aesop's instructions, watching the man work. He'd been quick to assess the situation, examining the cause of death within seconds, and the Echani couldn't help but be a bit impressed. Of course, that was the only good news: the bad one was that the villagers were all in a much bigger danger than they'd anticipated... and not only that, but it was getting darker: they might have to make their way in the forest with their flashlights. Least we didn't stray far, Vash thought. Getting lost out here, in the dark would have been a death sentence.

He didn't like the idea of going back to the village, not without a solid plan, but maybe someone there would recognize the poor man? He had a feeling whoever had decided to poison the village had done so out of personal reasons, perhaps vengance. It was the only explanation that made sense, given the remote, unimportant location they were in.

"Walk ahead of me," the Echani said, as he carefully took the corpse and hung it over his shoulder, making sure not to get in direct contact with the man's skin. He'd have preferred to simply levitate the corpse and avoid any risk, but Vash had to save his Force energy to sense the forest for danger. He had a bad feeling about all this.

Unfortunately for the pair, Vash's intuition had proven to be correct in the end: they had just made their way back to the riverbank, with the last rays of the sun warming their back, when the Padawan sensed it: a creature, running towards them at great speed. His usual response would have been to avoid conflict altogether, but it was too late for running or using clever tactics: there wouldn't be time for much of anything, save for throwing the corpse to the ground and igniting his silver bladed lightsaber. It was coming fast, so whatever that creature was, it would certaily be very agile. He had to take that advantage away from it somehow.

"Get down, and take out your weapons!", he instructed Aesop, while taking a deep breath and looking ahead. He wouldn't be able to use the Force to calm the creature- that'd take too long- but Vash could use the Force to influcence it to come after him instead of the medic.

It worked, and the creature appeared out of the deep, green foliage a moment later, leaping towards the Echani at great speed. All he could do was roll to the side, avoiding the attack that would have crushed him if he hadn't been careful and scanned the area with his powers. Rather than being mauled to death by the animal that he now recognized as a Nexu, Vash had evaded it, and used the Force to discreetly pull on its front legs, causing the kitty to momentarily lose its balance and fall flat on the floor.

It wouldn't be there in this helpless state long, but it would stay there long enough for Aesop to shoot it. At least that was Vash's hope.

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop heard the cat’s ragged breathing and thundering steps just before it leapt from the brush. His only regret was that instead of doing what Vash told him, he had the nerve to ask. “What? Why?”

He had forgotten that nexus were forest cats, taking advantage of the dark shadows in the trees and striking down their unsuspecting prey. This nexu was no different.

As the big cat fumbled and crashed to the ground without the balance of its forelimbs, Aesop struggled to reach his pistol. He got a couple of shots in before the big cat was on its feet, screaming from the pain. It’s four red, enraged eyes locked on him, and it charged with a roar.

Aesop swore loudly, stumbling back and rolling out of the way. A long claw caught his shoulder instead of his chest, bring Aesop to the dirt with a yelp. Thankfully, it wasn’t to the shooting arm, and he fired in retaliation, the lasers burning deep into one of the nexus many eyes and chest.

 

[Vash Tembra]

Dammit, was all Vash had time to think of when he saw the Nexu hurling itself towards Aesop, injuring the medic on the shoulder. It was a good thing he at least managed to shoot the little kitty in its eyes and chest. That, coupled with a slight nudging with the Force from Vash, was enough to have the beast run off into the woods once more, howling in pain.

The Echani was quick to get on his knees close to Aesop, and extend a hand towards his injury, letting the pale blue light emerge from his palm and engulf the injured arm. He had to keep his strength, so rather than focusing every bit of his power to cause the wound to instantly close, Vash simply increased the man's natural healing, causing the wound to close considerably, but not completely.

"The rest should close in a few minutes," the Padawan told him, offering a hand up. "Next time, you just get down when I tell you... I have some good hunches, don't you know?", he asked with a little wink.

"And by the way... that beast might have belonged to someone. Nexus can sometimes be domesticated. Let's hope it was just a little chance encounter and keep moving to the village. Nothing else we can do right now"

He didn't like the tought of being ambushed again, but it was a very real possibility, so the Echani decided he'd keep his guard up as they made their way back to safety. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop winced at the pain in his shoulder, blood coating his gloved hand. He suspected it would be deep, considering the length of the Nexu’s claws. He’d have to patch his duster back up when they returned to base.

If they returned to base.

“You don’t need to-“ Aesop’s words were cut short when the pain in his shoulder doubled with the premature healing. He’d have to bandage it anyway, so he just thanked Vash instead of complaining. It would just scar.

Aesop faltered slightly at the hand held out to him, his expression troubled, but accepted the hand in the end, grunting when he was pulled up. He was practically weightless, not much force needed to be helped to his feet. “I suppose I should, but I decided last minute that I wanted to see what it was like to be scratched by a Nexu.”

Aesop dusted himself off, breaths still coming in huffs as he tried to steady himself.

“Have you been hurt?” He inquired, staring worriedly up at Vash. Despite his bleeding arm, he wanted to make sure that Vash hadn’t gotten injured in the fight. He had half the brain to tell himself that he shouldn’t worry. The other half told him that he was a medic—worrying was part of his job.

 

[Vash Tembra]

The Padawan smiled a bit after hearing his comment on being scratched by a Nexu. Aesop had a sense of humor after all, and that was a good thing.

"Oh, I hope you had fun," he awnsered. "And no, not injured, but thanks for asking. Now, c'mon, let's take this fella back to the village before the sun goes down"

With that, they headed off once more, with the medic in front and the Jedi close behind, carrying a corpse over his shoulder. The trip back after the Nexu encounter was, thankfully, uneventful. So either the kitty was hungry, or it had been used as a scout of sorts by whoever had attacked the village. Vash prayed on the former.

"Right," he began, watching as night fell on the little settlement. "I'll put this corpse on the hospital, where you can analyze it. In the meanwhile, I'll check if anyone here knew the poor bastard"

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop smiled at this, his eyes crinkling at the edges. He was starting to like this Jedi. It was nice to have a friendly face in the Rebellion, especially after weeks of ignorance.

The medic was thankful when the village came into view, the lanterns illuminating the many tents resembling mini lighthouses in the dark. There was much less bustle now, many having gone to bed, leaving only a few civilians to tend to the sick. The air was cold and humid, sticking to what skin he left uncovered. It was fitting, he supposed, for the air to be burdened as well. Maybe Nanth’ri was mourning the losses, too.

“Put him in one of the tents away from the others,” Aesop ordered, pointing to a lone hospital tent lacking a yellow glow. “It May startle some to see a dead man, especially if he died the same way they did.”

He hoped the poison wouldn’t stay in the water. Perhaps it would wash away in the river, or the other Jedi could remove it.

 

[Vash Tembra]

The Echani nodded at Aesop's command, entering the empty tent and setting the body in there as gently as he could. He gave the medic a little smile and prepared to leave the tent.

"I'll have someone come help you out," he declared. "In case you need anything. While you're working, I'll be digging around, seeing if anyone knew our poor friend here"

And with that, Vash was off, quickly heading to see the receptionist in order to ask her to send aid to Aesop. And then the real work began. He'd have to look around the village for someone, and he wasn't quite sure who'd be able to help him: most officers were busy, and going from person to person asking if they could identify a corpse just felt wrong.

Eventually, he settled on going for the local law enforcement's second in command (the Chief Officer was laying in a hosptial bed, not exactly having a great time), and see if the woman could shed any light into this issue.

He found the human woman beside her two children, holding their hands while wearing gloves to prevent infection. It was a sad sight, one that the Echani wasn't too keen on interrupting, but it'd be much worse if he just let it go through.

"Umm, excuse me, Lieutenant Tisa," he began. "But I need your help with something. Could you follow me?"

The black haired woman simply turned her tear filled eyes towards him and nodded, coming along after saying her goodbyes to her children. They walked in silence, until Vash reached the tent the corpse was in.

"We found a dead body in the woods," he explained. "I was hoping you might identify him- give some clue as to what's going on"

She again just nodded. By her expression and Force signature, Vash could tell the woman was not only exhausted, but angry and annoyed. Not at him, he knew, but at the situation in general. It can't be an easy thing to watch loved ones wither and not be able to do anything about it, after all.

"Yup, I know him," Tisa said, after giving the corpse a look. "Hell, I thought he'd be dead a few months ago already- shows what I know. He and some buddies got arrested a while back for trying to get into the mayor's estate. Three days later, they escaped, and we've not seen the bastards since. Guess at least one one 'ems dead now, and good riddance"

With those last words, spoken in a bitter tone, Tisa suddenly left the tent, no doubt in a hurry to see her children.

"Well, that's that," Vash told Aesop. "Have you found anything?"

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop could read the poor woman like a book. No doubt if her children died, this woman could fall into a depression—or worse. He could understand, but felt that comforting her would make matters worse, so he stayed silent until she left.

“I think I have a solution,” Aesop started, his face troubled as he stared forward. “Most plant poisons on skin must be cured by drying out the oils that spread, but that would be for plants that infect the skin. These people consumed this poison through the water. Perhaps if they consume a mixture of salt—“ Aesop began to mutter—“Perhaps vinegar, mixed with hot water. They’ll be rather dehydrated after, but it’ll dry out the oils and slow the process until the last of the oil dies on the inside.”

This could work. As long as the infected villagers took the mixture every day until they felt cured, no one else would die except for the people beyond saving, minutes from death.

Aesop straightened himself, a new sense of authority to him. “I’ll ask around if the villagers have any salt or vinegar available. Try to find a pure water source, and quickly.”

 

[Vash Tembra]

Vash had to respect Aesop's skills. The medic's knowledge was teaching him much and more about the limitations of the Force. Just using the energy Jedi could control would never have been enough to save this village from certain death.. but practical, everyday skills were saving the day. If they coupled that with a little help from the Force, the Jedi was sure they'd be able to preven many from a terrible, gruesome fate.

That was the plan, anyway, but to see if it'd work or not, the Echani would have to gather some pure water without delay. So he quickly nodded to Aesop's words and got out of the tent in a hurry. Vash already had an idea: the river was poisoned, but not all of it. If he moved upstream, and relied on the Force, he'd surely feel where the taint stopped, and fresh water could be found, particularly if he employed the help of others.

So off he went again to trouble Tisa once again, and explain the situation to her. Now that he'd presented a possible solution, the woman seemed somewhat relieved, but still wouldn't leave her children's side. Instead, she ordered two units to take Vash by way of a landspeeders to check the river. Not only were the Echani and officers going, but also another Jedi, to aid in sensing the poison, as well as many buckets of water, currently empty. They needed large quantities, and fast, so they'd have to fill up the buckets and more likely than not keep brining more and more of them.

Half an hour later, Vash and the rest were back, carrying many buckets full of fresh water to the village. Getting the water hadn't been as hard as they'd initially suspected: only a very small portion of the river had been contaminated, and as such, they spent most of the time outside simply filling the buckets as quickly as they could, before heading back.

"All done," Vash told Aesop once he found the medic. "And my friends will be bringing more buckets soon, so we should be good. How are things here?"

 

[Aesop Blair]

Aesop left the tent temporarily to post his inquiries to the villagers. Soon, a group of them set out to a trader nearby that sold salt. Many villagers had plenty of bottles of vinegar for their cooking.

There was hope now, so the inhabitants of the town were much more eager to move and work, gripping to the minuscule glimmer of a chance that their loved ones could be saved. He supposed that was what the Rebellion relied on; the feeling of hope, like the only power source left.

Aesop was thankful for Vash’s punctuality, and the villagers were, too. With water available, a cure could be made, or perhaps a medicine if the oils continued to reproduce after being dried out. Voicing that may scare the villagers, may pop their little bubble of joy driving them, and he didn’t want to do that.

“Good,” Aesop settled for, holding back his sheer appreciation. “Some of the other villagers have gone to get salt. I can go ahead and start making the solutions, we just need to boil the water.”

Aesop lifted one of the heavy canisters of water, huffing under their weight. He’d never been very strong, most likely due to the malnutrition he’d experienced as a child.