"Galgori! Neat! Old man Yudai used to tell me stories of them. He was a crazy old coot but he never exaggerated when it came to fighting. No wonder you're so tough. We're all equal here, Bao Yu. Things like heritage or class don't matter here. Shuo Wang's family is well off, Fat Cobra used to be a pit fighter, Rapidly Descending Eel was homeless...no one cares. We'll tease one another but we're family."

After Bao Yu claimed she could teach Tsubaki to hone her chi blocking in a day Tsubaki smirked and then grimaced because of it.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just...really hard to teach. Ask my mom, ask Yudai...okay he's dead so he can't answer, ask my trumpet teacher, ask the Bride of Nine Spiders I am really really dense."
While no one ever told Tsubaki she was an awful student it was something she always believed about herself.

When Bao Yu threw a victorious punch and exclaimed "Yes!" Tsubaki matched her enthusiasm with a raised right fist before going back to using it tu rub her sore left arm. As the more soft-spoken of the two Bao Yu's exclamation seemed special.

As her friend explained the technique of the wall jump Tsubaki tried her best to pay attention to the words and remember the action but felt impeded by her worries over the tests the two of them would have to take to advance. Her mind and spirit were hardly one when she ran to the wall and then into the wall.
It took eight attempts before she could do it once. When Tsubaki could do it three time consecutively she squealed with delight.
"One more weapon in my arsenal. Hey, Bao Yu...that makes me wonder. Have you ever thought of taking up a weapon?"

(OOC: Continued from the Golden Fan so now everyone's at the clinic. Whoo! Mei just can't let this go in her head, poor gal.)

Iluak's Clinic, Front Door

The return trip to the clinic had been short, and thankfully, free of incident. No tone deaf happy jazz songs, no collapsing onto the sidewalk (and than onto broken bottles unbeknownst to the assistant healer), and…no talking. Ling had apologized and justified her refusal, but all Mei had done was let out a long breath and purse her lips. Her sister’s weight was less than Iluak’s, but felt heavier. Words at this point escaped the older sister. Ling had offered, in jest, to punch Iluak if he insinuated Mei was wanting in ability and to that Mei-zhen’s lips stretched into a thin line. Yes, it was an obvious joke, but--

But you just fixed a broken nose. You just fixed the very injury Ling refuses to let you touch. He’d do it better, but it isn’t like you hadn’t done it less than an hour ago.

Mei swallowed as they crossed the street and she guided Ling onto the opposite sidewalk. Down the street was the familiar flickering streetlamp. Iluak would be asleep by the time they got there, groggy, gearing up for a hangover and that kind of confusion tinted with annoyance he was excellent at. Ling explaining the situation would do what, show off that that she was terrible at getting patients (and family, at that) to listen to her? Spirits, the only acquiescence that Ling had allowed was the arm there and that was from strong application of the “serious face.”

She should have used the serious face for healing. She should have insisted.

They passed the brick building where Iluak had collapsed. This time Mei was able to notice the glittering broken shards that his body hadn’t picked up. She looked forward, to the next block, to the clinic itself.

It occurred to Mei that she hadn’t even had the chance to tell Ling about the “romance,” such as it would be, with her little sister so enamored with her own lightning struck feelings. There was a lot to tell, of his collapse into the bottle, the fear of the song, of falling asleep during their tea (perhaps she would leave out the “walking in on him” part as it would be impolite to Iluak) and his approval of her work leading to…well, she was pretty sure it was a date. Or it would have been. It was hard to see a way that this situation would turn out with Mei looking competent or Iluak not surly at being disturbed at being woken up from what little sleep he got.

Overhead the familiar lantern swayed in a light breeze. Still letting Ling hang onto her for support, Mei held a hand up for the others to stop. The dark wooden door loomed in front of them, the windows of the building dead darkened sockets. Mei clenched her jaw and used her free hand to pound on the door. For her pounding still managed to be polite.

“Iluak!” she called. “Sorry to wake you. It’s Mei. I…er, we…my sister needs healing. Well, her and others.”

Her feet became fascinating, the only thing in the world worth looking at for the moment. The dirt splattered spats stared up at her, dull and scuffed. She hadn’t worn her better shoes that night. These were built for work and comfort.

“It might take him a minute. His nose had been broken, he’d had some lacerations on his ribcage, and he had been going for over a day without sleep,” she added, her tone distracted and distant.

There was just enough spiritual peace residing in Iluak Chu to form a blade of cold water blade for shaving but not enough to prevent cutting himself when he heard Mei knocking on his door. In exchange for a freshly shaved face Iluak now had a bleeding slash from his left ear to his jawline.

He placed his hand in the water containing his whiskers and shaving cream and gathered it around his left hand to heal himself while he answered his door at such an ungodly hour.
"What the hell? This had better be something apocalypse related." He grunted and looked over Ling.
"You look terrible. Come on inside."
Iluak bended the water healing his face into the sink in the other room and stared at Ling for a moment then locked the others including Mei outside to maintain privacy.

Silently, he leaned Ling back and set about drenching a towel in his kitchenette sink. The silence remained until the towel was wrapped around her eyes and covered everything above.
"People sometimes get chatty during a long healing session. This will be one of those. I don't half-ass it when it comes to potential brain damage. Feel free to tell me about yourself or whatever. I probably won't listen, people just like hearing themselves talk when they're bored. I guess since they are bored they think I should share their fate."

After ten minutes of keeping the towel on Ling's head Iluak produced and filled a blue folding tub some people used to bathe toddlers or dogs. A full grown person would have to squeeze to get inside.
"Are you feeling dizzy? If you feel up to it strip and get in the tub. Your other options are going in with all of your clothes or me stripping you. Either way you're getting into that damn tub."

While the wet towel worked wonders for large headaches and fevers if a concussion was involved Iluak decided to err on the side of caution and bring out his big guns. Hardly a night went by when he didn't wish he could dip his flask into the spirit oasis back home.
Iluak sat by the tub holding a half empty bottle of liquid pain killer. He'd previously drank the other half to ease a less physical pain. He dangled his hand over the edge of the tub and into the water with his eyes closed. He had seen many naked women before but they weren't sisters to a woman he was fond of.

“But, if you want to show me something, I would be more than willing to learn it.”
Tsubaki sat leaning against the corner trying to catch her breath.
"Hmm...mostly I use edged weapons but maybe you'll find something you like and I can teach you. My mom liked projectile weapons...kunai, shuriken, that sort of thing. They're not deadly unless you have super duper accuracy but they make good distractions if you need an extra second to beat the chi out of a guy." She threw a mock punch into the air.

"Well....to be perfectly honest..." she said while weaveing side to side "I just want someone to talk weapons with. Wait, wait, wait. I know what you're going to say. 'Why don't you join the weaons division...and also your hair looks nice.' First, thanks. I got my dad's hair unfortunately. Second, I can't use a weapon I didn't earn or isn't special to me in some way. We have some cool weapons, but they don't come with a story. Like my new head-cutting kusari-gama thing. When people ask about it I'll tell them I met a good friend of mine, ate way too much ramen and got into a really fun fight that night when I took it off some guy."

The motor-mouthed Equalist pushed herself against the wall and stood fully refreshed. Many people joked that Tsubaki regained her stamina via rapid fire chatter. She didn't disagree.
She almost took a fighting stance but abandoned it.
"I like you, Bao Yu. I hope you survive your test."

((So, I think we’ve got this all sorted out almost. I passed my first test, and few are still to come. When they actually come, who knows.))



The young Equalist giggled at her friend’s explanation. Yes, Tsubaki did have wonderful hair. Only that wasn’t quite what she was planning on saying. That silly woman. And honestly, she didn’t even know that they had a weapons guild. For some reason, it sounded a bit cool. Still, she wasn’t opposed to weapons, they just weren’t her thing. She liked chi blocking, and she was good at it, so why wouldn’t she use it?

“Yeah, it’s always helpful to have someone to talk with.” Began the young black-haired woman. Of course it was nice to talk with people. Duh, that was a given. Either way, the young lady hoped that the short, nervous chuckle that escaped her mouth was enough to make Tsubaki not worry about her friend’s brain.

“Now, weapons-wise. I’m pretty good with the bolas most Chi blockers use,” began the young woman. And then continued with, “Yeah, you know,” all the while she made the motion of spinning those wire held metal balls around her body. She was getting quite into it, too. She feigned the spinning exactly as it was done and even added the over the head spinning and some flare to spice it up.

The young Equalist then paused her motions at the sight of Fat Cobra approaching or was it Big Cobra? Oh, well, it was something large Cabra.

“Does he ever smile or anything? I mean, he has that sort of sour look, just about all the time.” She would have added more, but the more she added the more likely it would have been that that man would have heard her. Still, something must have been up for him to come marching all of this way after heading off to the opposite end of the training room.

Cautiously, Bao Yu took a few steps backwards and behind her friend. Whatever it was, it was probably something to do with Tsubaki, and that meant that it was official Chi blocker stuff.

“I wouldn’t hide behind her if I were you.” Began Fat Cobra with a cocky smile as he turned his direction to Tsubaki. “We can’t get a bike until tomorrow, and I’ve been here long enough to know that she’ll probably not have any problems with agility and stealth so you can test her on those whenever you’d like. As for the bender,” he paused as he pulled out a small photograph of a flat faced, high cheekbones, yellow-eyed and pale man. “He’s a firebender that has been causing our speakers problems on the North side of the city.”

It was then that he moved his thumb from under the photograph to reveal that was holding two pieces of paper there, a photo a map. “He likes to cause us a ruckus there, and we know he lives in an apartment around the corner. Also, he likes to party at Jing Jing’s Gentlemen’s club on Thursdays. We want this guy apprehended, I heard Amon is going to do something to him not sure what, but that’s what Jun told me before he gave me the assignment to give to you. Tsubaki, it’s up to you as to when you want to handle this, but remember to tell a driver.” He paused at Bao Yu sudden confusion, “You know someone who drives the goods away. So, tell the driver where and when to come and pick him up. Bo Shi is your driver here, so make sure she knows where to go. You’re free to go after that, Bo Shi know where to take him. Got it?”

"It's a lot better after the towel though, thanks."
Iluak grunted something a dozen linguists after a century of study could only assume was close to "You're welcome."

The healer felt along his floor, up the leg of the portable bath and dipped his hand into the water, activating the healing process.
"Grow up. You're a healer, and I'm a patient. And Mei's body is much different."
If the Yao sisters had something in common it was that they both reached to the core of Iluak Chu. While Mei was like a stiletto to long repressed feelings he could not name Ling was a course stone grinding away at his cool detachment and scraping every nerve it came across.
"My alcohol level is just enough to be chivalrous. Shut up and enjoy it. And I should hope that Mei's body IS much different...for her sake."

For the sake of being thorough Iluak had to open his eyes and examine. It was a young woman's body all right. It reminded him of young men joking about being a healer just for the sake of such occasions. That always made Iluak laugh. He gave up long ago trying to describe how examining nude people would soon become a pain in the ass like all jobs.

I appreciate you treating me this late. Please don't think that my sister is incompetent. I'm just trying not to involve her in anything. I got into some bad stuff a few years back, and I'm trying to go straight. I'm not looking for your approval, but please understand that I refused Mei's help not based on her skill, but based on her involvement. She's a damn good healer."
"She treated me earlier and I don't let just anyone assist me. I think she may care too much, though. In my opinion this profession could use a little more caring people and fewer cold cynics."

"We're — I'm — going legit, after tonight. She won't be put into any danger she doesn't willingly go in. I know you don't care about what I'm saying about me, but you care about her, at least a little, right? I love my sister, more than anything. I haven't been great about not hurting her, but after tonight that's going to change."

Iluak broke with tradition and met Ling's gaze and let her touch linger. It was a strange thing to bond with a person over not being worthy of the same woman.
"I'll make you deal," he said with half a smile. "First one to disappoint Mei gets a broken leg. You're done. I'll get you a towel."

The healer tossed a light brown towel at Ling and still had enough chivalry left over to not look.
"Since you probably started this I'll have you pay for your friends as well. Fifty yuans and Mei's favorite song." Iluak stroked his chin and grunted. "The price just went up. Erratic economy. What kind of flowers does she like?"

Watching Bao-Yu imitate using bolas caused a round of snort-laughing in Tsubaki. Even if there was no one to talk weapons with at least there was someone else who liked to pantomime using them.
Merely watching her friend go through the motions had Tsubaki convinced that it would not be a problem passing that part of the test.

“Does he ever smile or anything? I mean, he has that sort of sour look, just about all the time.”
Tsubaki crinkled her eyes a she smiled and leaned closer to Bao Yu.
"We went out once. When he's really happy he has this big, open mouthed smile. Makes him look like a big kid. Before you ask, no I don't know about his...other qualities. It didn't go that far. Earn your place and you'll earn his respect...but it takes something big to make him smile and it's not always pleasant."
As if summoned by gossip Fat Cobra appeared.

Tsubaki tried to defuse the tension by punching Fat Cobra in the shoulder after his explanation.
"Cobra, you lazy bastard. Are you just dumping your work off on us?"
Fat Cobra looked stressed, not the usual look of feigned anger from his pit fighting days but actually worried. She'd known him for a while so she knew when he was worried.
"Question. Is this my test or Bao Yu's?"
"Both. Take another rookie with you. If you can get this done with two scrubs falling over each other and screwing things up even I'll take orders from you."
The Equalist in the ramen t-shirt narrowed her at her superior.
"Is this some excuse to get us to dress up like exotic dancers?"
For a brief flash Fat Cobra, the scourge of Equalist rookies smiled his wide-mouthed smile.
"Tsubaki, if it was my call there'd be an all female nude division."

When Fat Cobra left to bring gloom to more recruits and rookies Tsubaki nudged Bao Yu with her elbow. "Gods help us if Fat Cobra is ever promoted." After overly emphasized "hmmmm" Tsubaki crinkled her nose and pursed her lips as if in deep concentration. "Who else should we put on this team, Bao Yu? Someone who hasn't passed their test yet. Maybe someone who could use some help in the chi blocking area. Someone who would look good in a uniform...can you think of anyone?" Tsubaki then cleared her throat in a way that suspiciously sounded like "Shuo Wang".

"I've got some extra yuans if you need them; can you take her someplace really nice? There's a swanky restaurant that I hear has a dress code."

Iluak bristled at the sad truth about to come forth.
"Actually...I have a person who will insist upon dealing with such things. A Date Planner, if you will. My hands are full enough with finding something nice to wear and practicing not humiliating myself. My last date was...some time ago. Therefore anything that happens around this date is her responsibility. She plays the trumpet. I trust her to be able to play Mei's song by tomorrow night. Sounds like something from a badly written romance novel. Lonely healer gets his friend to help woo his love."
Friend. Love. Those two words gave Iluak pause. He wasn' t sure either epithet fit either person.

As much as he wanted to claim his next words as a joke, he couldn't even manage a dry delivery to make it sound like one.
"Does Mei inspire everyone to be better or just us?"
He wished he could have chuckled and punched Ling in the arm.

Once he was certain Ling could move under her own power Iluak unlocked his door.
"Get some rest. Don't get punched or kicked in the head...or anywhere else, really. Lay off the alcohol for a day or two. Come back if you feel anything out of the ordinary. No charge."

Iluak paused and pondered for a moment as he leaned against his door.
"I am loathe to admit this but I know a player in the underworld. If you get in over your head I can maybe talk to him to get you out. I would rather not see either of you as patients ever again." He hoped that the look he conveyed told Ling that her sister should not know of his connection to the world of crime.

He opened the door behind him and yelled.
Next!"

"Next!"

Raeya took this as her cue, and she swaggered--or perhaps staggered--in. She was hardly drunk enough to be unable to walk straight--she just walked with a particular stagger. perhaps it was just for effect, even. If this was the case though, it'd be hard to tell, given the small series of bruises and other markings she had. they weren't even all from this evening... but if she were getting healed... eh, it was one of those things the watebrbender preferred, but one of those things that needed to be done more than it was.

No matter, she had the coin for such services. She stepped past the door, hardly looking around her as she did. Once inside, she turned towards the healer, unsure of how he did things. it was pretty obvious that the area that required the most attention was her face, given her bloody nose and two black eyes. even then though, her cheery grin was squite the offset from all that. Raeya was still in a good mood.

"so..." she began, "where do I start, and how much will it be? I'm no expert on the subject... evne by a far stretch."
her tone was also airy for a woman who had gotten rather roughed up in the brawl, but, such was a typical event in a day in the life of Raeya Zahn.

~Raeya~

"So...where do I start, and how much will it be? I'm no expert on the subject... even by a far stretch."

Iluak bended just enough water from the large water skin on his back to cover both hands and looked over Raeya.
"Ling covered you." He gestured with his head to a glass bottle ostentatiously marked with warnings, a skull and crossbones and a list of what to do in case of taking the liquid internally. "Take a pull of that if you want. It's where I hide my liquor."

He touched the glowing water just in front of Raeya's blackened eyes.
"I have heard that women typically go to the bathroom in groups. I didn't think that extended to late night medical treatment. Is that normal?" He rolled his eyes and heaved a mock sigh. "Wait, don't tell me. Keep your feminine mystique."

Only minor scrapes and cuts remained. The kind of thing he'd sometimes skip treating to teach patient a lesson. What lesson, he didn't know, Iluak just felt that walking around with visible and painful cuts and scrapes would teach someone something at some time. With Raeya he took the extra time to satisfy his curiosity.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one to get smacked by The Golden Fan tonight. What happened?" He paused and decided that perhaps being the tiniest bit friendly might do him some good.
"I'm Iluak, by the way. If you frequent the city's bar scene perhaps you've seen me get thrown out of a dive or two," he said with not small amount of self-deprecating humor.

He began work on the minor lacerations but took his time. He needed some time to ease his worries that the people Mei surrounded herself with might be trouble.

(OOC: Sorry I didn't get to post this sooner, my prose writing mind was shot but I've gathered it back together.)

Iluak's Clinic

The door to the examining room stared at Mei. She stared at it back with eyebrows knitted and her lips stretched into a thin line. It remained locked. After a long silent moment, she tore her blue eyes away from it and back to the main office. Sighing, she wordlessly walked over to her common spot, the chair behind the desk, and slumped into it. Mei leaned her head on one of her hands, elbow propped up on the desk, while she motioned to the other chairs lined up against the wall. “You can take a seat, if you’d like. I’m certain it won’t take long.”

Katsumi turned to Mei and apologized for what she thought was her part in Ling’s injuries. Mei gave her an earnest small smile in response. “No need to apologize, Katsumi. Sometimes people get…angry and don’t know how to deal with that and drinking only puts them in a more unstable mood. Ling is a very capable person and she was just caught off guard. Don’t blame yourself.”

The door still stared at Mei from across the room, a visual representation of everything since finding Ling injured at the Fan. There were few things that Mei she was truly good at, truly meant to do in her life. No one considered appreciating music something you could be “good at” so what that really left her with was waterbending, and healing. What good was any of this if she couldn’t help her own family?

“Next!”

Mei jumped at Iluak’s shout. Raeya took the opportunity and walked into the examining room with a sway that Mei attributed to injury, though there was a good chance the woman had her own particular swagger on her best day. Blinking quickly, Mei-zhen looked to her sister scrutinizing her mentor’s work. Ling’s color was the best it had been since the fight, and she carried herself with more of her normal confidence and ease. Mei nodded. That was good.

Good.

She blinked a few more times, shifting her eyes down to the desk. The upper corner of the left side of her mouth twitched up for a second, looking like a quick humorless smirk. No one had taken her up on the offer for healing. No one except her mentor.

Mei looked up again, smiling at her sister. “You look much better,” she said, her tone honest and relieved.

((Sorry about the lateness, work ))



Bao Yu smiled at the thought of Tsubaki and Fat Cobra out on a date, and then that thought took a turn for the worst and that smile became a sort of sick grimace. Yes it was mean of her to say it, but Fat Cobra was definitely not a man she would every find attractive. Maybe, like everyone, there was something different about him. Tsubaki certainly said so, but maybe he was especially different alone; much like her grandfather was. On the outside they were harsh, and overly tough, but alone they opened up like a moon flower being trust into the shade. Then again, who knew? Well, for starters the woman just in front of her did.

Patiently, and with a bit of eye candy watching, the young Galgori listened as Fat Cobra described the task. It didn’t sound too bad, but still they were dealing with a firebender. That entire element was about danger, there was a reason it was always accompanied with ferocity. That’s why it needed to be stopped. This firebender in particular needed to be stopped if all he ever did was attack their fellow Equalists unprovoked. Those kinds of people were the kinds that this organization stood against. People born with a gift, and without the heart to use it properly. At least her people used their skills to protect themselves, this firebender had nothing to fear, he was a bender after all and thusly born with a leg up in this society that fetishes the bender, like a god.

It just made her angry, whenever she heard about benders abusing their gifts.

Either way, it sounded like Bao Yu was going to be involved in a fun little excursion. Oh ho. Tsubaki and she were going to have some fun. Still, Fat Cobra advised them to bring a third, and potentially a battalion of scantily lad ladies. Yeah, that would be helpful.

With that, her direction was jolted off of the dark-haired man and back to her friend. And of course, back to that subject. Why was it so obvious? Really, she wasn’t drooling, and besides men could look at women all the time, couldn’t she do the same?

Still, Bao Yu would normally have said no, but now, she was sort of at the end of her rope. With a shrug and a sigh, she simple said, “Whatever. Bring him along.”

Then, she added, “Just remember, I don’t know how good of a fighter he is. So yeah, this is kind of your responsibility if you want to bring him.” At the end, her gaze turned back to the handsome young man, for a second she could have sworn that he was looking back at the two, and that jerked her back to her friend whereupon she added, “Also, how are we going to do this, when, and will it be a part of my exam?”

Hotaru wiped the sweat off of her forehead. Today wasn't any hotter per say than any other day. But being stuck inside a cramped stall and surrounded by fire of her own making was starting to raise the temperature in Hotaru's surrounding area. Nevertheless, she had to try her hardest to look presentable to her potential customers. It was hard enough to do so with her tatoo and piercings scaring off the more conservative citizens of the city.

She absentmindedly jingled the yuans she had already earned that day inside her apron's back pocket. It was a dismal noise, not even being able to be heard over the bustle of the city's nearby street. Hotaru leaned back on her countertop and stared at the menu display behind her.

Hotaru's Hotstand
Flaming Fire Flakes....2 yuans
Fire Cakes....5 yuans
Sizzle Crisps...3 yuans
Fire Gummies...4 yuans
Herbal Tea....5 yuans[/i]

Tea...that sounded good to her. Some nice herbal tea would help her tune out the heat and frustration of this tiny stand. Of course,that was impossible, she could not partake in any of the merchandise she was selling, it would take away from her paying customers. And doing that would mean stealing from her dream career of probending.

'Not that I'm even close to finding any partners at this point,' Hotaru thought to herself in melancholy. That tea was sounding better and better by the minute.