Starring:
Date: September 27, 2010
Summary:
Shortly after the 'attack' on Datura, Mune arrives to answer the rogue Yamanaka's call for a healer for Okumo Ra. Kanami's suspicions about what is really going on with Datura grow, and Mune finds out that Ra's injuries are much more life-threatening than they look.
Poster's note: Profanity filtered in obvious places.
"Infection - The Mangled Spider"
Fuuma Alley, Datura's apartments
It was the nearing night again, with the sun beginning to set over the western horizon once more. The previous day's events have gone all but unmentioned by the lady of the house, though she refused to be alone since Kanami had arrived and found her in such a frightened state. Ever since she'd stuck close to the wisp of a woman, glancing over her shoulder every so often, or unknowingly casting her gaze tredpidatiously into a mirror, window, or other reflective surface. There seemed to be no repeats of the incident, though. Whenever Kanami had to step out of sight, it was Okumo Ra Datura demanded stay with her in the interim.
The broken glass had been cleaned away by the two women, and two new mirrors had been delivered, but not yet installed. Datura never let any of the staff into her room, and they never questioned her motives, simply considering that she was likely a private person. And yet her room seemed to be where Datura preferred to spend her time, despite it being the scene of 'the incident'.
Her room, much like the rest of the apartment, was still decorated in what could only be described as 'gloomy pep', a mixture of gothic furniture, deep black and dark violet shades, and pink. Almost everything had at least a pink stripe, dot, or tint to it. But the most unique feature of her room were the spiders. Every so often, one would come across a tiny arachnid, ranging from pinhead-sized, to the length of a finger. They weren't swarming about the room, but they could be found every dozen feet or so: one on the ceiling, another hiding between a lamp and a paperweight on the desk, one clinging to the bed's drapes. One corner of her room had been taken completely over by a column of webbing so thick it was practically it's own wall, tens of thousands of tiny strands of spidersilk forming a maze that light failed to penetrate, with a hole about the size of a human head leading into the darkness from about halfway up. Every now and then, glimpses of the 'daddy', or maybe 'mommy', of all these arachnids could be seen near the edge of the hole, glaring out. A little bigger than a grown man's hand, it was thick, tarantual-like, covered in coarse green-and-black fur.
For now, Datura sat on the edge of her bed, clad in a deep red sleeping kimono, having scarcely said a word in the past few hours, unusual for the normally-boisterous young woman, and seemed to be perpetually wearing a worried frown. Across her forehead, from right temple to just above her nose, intersecting near their respective ends to almost form an arrow, are a pair of barely-healed thin cuts. A violet-and-blue speckled arachnid crawls across her knuckle, prompting the young woman to raise her hand and examine the tiny insect as it slowly makes it's way across the top, and then bottom, of her hand, searching for a way off of it's suddenly-suspended perch. After a moment, it begins to drop to the floor, an invisible stand of silk lowering it from the outcast Yamanaka's hand.
Kanami has not gone much further than the bathroom for the last 24 hours. Whatever caused Datura's 'accident', it was not really an accident. Likewise, she can tell that Datura is still concerned about a repeat of the event. If she had simply fallen and hit her head, she would not still be so pensive, and darting glances around at reflective surfaces. Maybe the blonde woman does not wish to say what is really going on here, but Kanami can wait. She has the patience of a reptile, lying in wait. She can stay here as long as necessary.
At the moment she is just emerging from the bathroom in a borrowed bathrobe. She ordinarily would not even bother covering up, but that spidery fellow is an unknown… And she would rather have something between herself and potential spider attacks, regardless of if it is full-coverage or not. Pale flesh chilling quickly now that she is out of the hot water, Kanami detects the sudden movement of air behind her on the backs of her bare legs and the back of her neck. She turns swiftly, just in time to see the door slamming shut, seemingly on its own. But she had opened the small window in the bathroom, up near the ceiling, to let the steam out, so she is not too concerned.
Turning back to face the rest of the room, Kanami wanders over to where Datura sits on the edge of the bed and settles herself lightly next to her. She eyes the brightly-colored arachnid. Attempting to engage Datura in conversation, mostly to keep her from withdrawing too far inwards, Kanami asks, "Is spider collecting a new hobby of yours? Or simply one I have not yet been exposed to?"
Okumo Ra, First of the Okumo, once a mighty warrior and hunter even in his old age, has been crippled. He has been suffering from his injuries ever since they were inflicted, trying to save Datura's life. He succeeded, but was maimed in the process. Spiders are not well-known for medical skills, and thus were unable to do much for him.
Here, in the world of the bright and of the humans, Ra has been told he will find someone that can cure him of his pain. Unlike normal humans, Ra keeps quiet about the agony he is in on a daily basis. He suffers in silence, and speaks only when he feels a need for such. He is, infact, even >more< quiet now than he was when he was healthy. Perhaps he is distracted by the pain. Either way, it is unlikely anyone in the room knows quite how bad off he is.
Ra is wearing his normal clothing -- loose, brown, undecorated. It looks dirty at first glance, but a close inspection reveals it is just a bit tattered, and is actually freshly washed. Such an inspection would also show that Ra's spiders, normally an ever-present collection upon his person, are rarely visible. Their population has been sharply reduced.
Kanami is looked at for a moment out of a couple of Ra's multiple eyes, but he does not move his head to follow her as she crosses the room and seats herself next to Datura. Instead, he is watching his reflection in a mirror across the room, that has yet to be installed. What's so fascinating about his reflection? Someone would probably have to ask to find out. And no one seems inclined to speak to Ra on the personal level.
A knock on the bedroom door to announce someone's presence, and then the door opens. In comes a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair, and a doctor's 'operation clothes' worn -- disposable, paper-like or plastic, dull-white and light-blue, and sterile. She has a breathing mask over her mouth and nose, presumably to keep out potentially infectious agents. In one hand is a black bag that contains medical equipment. Around her waist, a bit out of place for a doctor, is a belt with a double-sized ninja tool pouch in back. But this one is for Medic-Nin tools, not conventional ninja equipment.
Kishi Mune looks around the room, openly startled by the decor and the mass of webbing in one corner. She recognizes Datura and Kanami, and nods to each, but the man with eight eyes and the aged features is unfamiliar… "Good evening," she offers. A pause. "I assume this gentleman is my patient?"
Mune is also not an angle where she can see Datura's forehead at the moment, otherwise she would have commented and gone to check her over first.
The blonde-haired diva jumps at the sound the door makes, her eyes squeezing shut as if afraid to see whatever had caused the noise, an audible swallow following. The blue orbs only reopen once she hears the brunette's voice next to her, about the same time that the eight-legged insect has reached the ground, where it begins to scurry under the bed. Datura's gaze leaves it as it seeks shelter beneath the sleeping platform, letting a moment of silence hang as she stares blankly forward.
"I'm attracted to beautiful things." Her eyes turn to take in the Nogakujin, her voice more listless than normal, flat, near-emotionless. "And they're attracted to me. I didn't gather them, they came to me." She doesn't explain any more than that for now, lapsing into another silence as she drops her gaze, and her frown, down to the older woman's lap. To say more would be to invite questions, and questions would lead invariably back to the cause of her current predicament. And her current predicament put her at too much of a weakness if she judged Kanami wrong.
Okumo Ra draws the runaway Yamanaka's stare briefly, before moving on to more mundane things. She realized she was technically in his debt for saving her life, even more since he'd been managled in that service, but she didn't seem inclined to point out the fact that she owed him. After all, she WAS looking to find him medical attention, if for no other reason than she intended to use him once again for another task. But she could wait to tell him that until he was healed.
A knock on the door once again causes the young woman's eyes to shift, this time towards the portal. She doesn't react immediately to either the med-nin's presence, or her words. It was almost as if it took a long moment for either to register in her brain, as if her thoughts were moving in slow motion. Rising from the bed, she nods absently, slow, soft steps carrying her towards the dark-skinned woman as her arms band about her own torso, crossing over her stomach. A few feet away, she pauses, and softly clears her throat, reaching up to brush her bangs to the side and reveal the twin lines of scabbing across her forehead.
"Mune-chan. Thank you for coming. Can… you help me with this first." Her voice is quiet, almost timid, as a finger softly touches the edge of one of the cuts. "It's… important that it not sit long enough to scar. And then Ra-kun. I don't think you've treated anyone like him before. It might be interesting for you."
Kanami acknowledges the answer with a nod and then leaves the topic alone for now. Infact, she leaves all conversation with Datura alone for now. If one person in the room does no wish to break the tedious silence with conversation, perhaps the other will! She turns her yellow-eyed gaze on Ra and asks, "Ra-san? If you do not mind telling, how did you two meet?"
Then a knock on the door a moment later. Well, perhaps that story will have to be told another time. Looking at Datura, rather than the door, Kanami puts an arm around the younger woman's shoulders for a few seconds, just to squeeze her and perhaps comfort her. Then she withdraws her arm when the 'Lady Ryoko' rises to meet Mune. "It has been a long time, Mune-san." Kanami rises form her seat in order to incline her head in greeting. Manners are important, even among friends… Or allies, when friends are not present.
Ra is probably aware that Datura is looking at him, even if only briefly. But he gives no indication it matters to him. When Kanami addresses him, breaking the long silence, he answers in low, somewhat dry voice, "I was obeying the will of the Spider Queen. She directed me to--" he keeps on talking even as the door is knocked on, "--at which point I discovered there was a >door< in my way. Then I--" Datura greets Mune and makes her request, and Ra keeps talking. "--informed Lady Spinner Ryoko of my business, and--" and Kanami greets Mune as well, and Ra finishes with, "--and then I took her to Fukaizan, where I was knocked off a bridge by a giant wasp." He seems to finally realize there is someone new in the room, because he turns his glistening black orbs on Mune and stares expressionlessly.
The interest in him seems to have abated, and so he resumes being silent and looking at the mirror across the room.
Mune looks at Datura as she approaches and greets her. "Of course, Datura-chan." She then is shown those injuries on the other blonde's forehead. "…Lascerations?" She reaches behind her back and opens her medical pouch. She withdraws a roll of pristine white bandages from within via deft finger movements, and then unrolls it part way as she nods towards Kanami. "Yes, it has." Not much else to say on that subject. She is in business-mode right now. "Datura-chan, if you could please hold your head still while I do this?" This is more of a preparatory request than because of anything Datura is doing right now.
Mune begins to wrap the bandage around Datura's head, criss-crossing her forehead multiple times. The 'bandage' looks an awful lot like a scroll, with a Jutsu Formula inscribed on its surface in the calligraphic writing that often goes on scrolls. But when Mune places one hand on the bandage's exterior and the other is held vertically in front of her own face, as though in prayer, she closes her eyes and makes the purpose of this special bandage known.
Chanting softly under her breath, the bandage begins to glow with Chakra made visible. It would only take a few seconds for the partially-healed cuts to mend and close and then vanish as though they never existed, but Mune keeps going, using the energy to replenish lost blood as well. When she finishes, she opens her eyes -- which may be noticed now to be bright blue, as opposed to the red they were last time the other women saw her -- and then withdraws her hand. "The bandage can be removed whenever you like. It is no longer necessary." She then focuses on Ra.
"…." she offers, taking in his inhuman features mixed with those of an old man. "…I see."
While she would normally be suspicious of anything that looked like seals being placed on her head, Datura manages to remain still throughout the procedure. Though she keeps her head from moving as instructed, her hands down in front of her stomach twist her fingers together nervously as she bites her lower lip and occasionally darts her blue eyes to one corner or the other, glancing as well as she could at the mirrors. She doesn't interrupt or stop the Okumo's story. After all, she'd have to explain her absence SOME day! And the spiders, too, and he was as likely to do it in an unsuspicious manner as she was.
Maybe even more so, given her unraveled state.
Once she's told that it's over, the young blonde lifts a hand and pulls the bandage off of her head. Her eyes follow the direction of the med-nin's, twisting the wraps silently in her hands for a moment before nodding absently, as if she'd been asked a question. "I hope you're familiar with arachnid biology. As he says, he was injured in an attack. I think his muscles, or maybe his bones, have healed wrong."
No expert on medicine, the outcast Yamanaka leaves off from her amateur diagnosis of Ra's condition, her small feet making hardly a sound as she moves back across the carpet to take her position on the edge of the bed once more, lightly pushing aside the drapes that hung from the four-poster, upsetting the spider clinging to it slightly. After a few scrambling movements, it comes to a stop lower on the hanging. A hand reaches up to tug Kanami's sleeve back towards herself, pulling on the standing woman's arm as she frowns at the lone male's injuries. Though they were a bit hard to see, what with him being half-way across the room and covered in loose, tattered robes.
"Kana, sit." A pause. "…Please."
Kanami observes the treatment of Datura, and decides to gasp lightly as though surprised and raise a hand partway to her red lips as the glow emanates from the bandages. When Datura removes the bandages, the rogue Yamanaka's forehead is completely healed. Like there was never an injury at all. She even seems to be not quite as pale as she has been… Though still paler than usual. Perhaps Mune should have continued until Datura was completely healthy again?
Either way, once her young friend seats herself on the edge of the bed again, and tugs on her sleeve, Kanami looks briefly at Datura and then turns her gaze away rather pointedly to look at Ra. 'Arachnid biology?' she thinks. 'So he really IS some sort of spider-creature. I thought those were just surgical modifications… And they might be such still! Very interesting… To be able to alter one's body in such a manner… I wonder what benefits it provides?' She finally sits down next to Datura and absently begins stroking her long, slender fingers through the blonde's hair. A faint smile rests on her lips for some indiscernible reason, as her eyes sink part-way closed.
Ra is busy staring at the mirror when Mune pulls out the roll of seal-inscribed bandages, and begins to apply them to Datura's forehead. When the Chakra begins to be used, he turns his head again and watches. The glow temorarily creates a fluctuating 'bubble' of blue and white on the surface of each of his eight reflective black eyes. When the Chakra use ends, he blinks each eye in succession, and then remains focusing his gaze on the bandage that produced the glow.
"I…" he begins, and then he seems to tilt his head a bit as though listening to something. A quiet chittering may be barely heard. "…>We< possess arachnid physiology. But… >I< still have some human left. I was born human. I will die human. But until then, >we< are merely a servant of the Spider Queen. Species is irrelevant."
Nice speech, but that does not change the fact that his body has been altered dramatically from a normal human's, or that he can do things no normal human could ever hope of doing. Compared to other humans -- even ninja -- he must look like some kind of monster, instead of one of their own. But he seems to become distracted again as his head slowly rotates so that he is staring back into the mirror. Finally, he asks a question that may be confusing to the others, and agitating to Datura.
"Is this mirror broken? It has no reflection." A pause. "Or rather, >I< have no reflection." Another pause. "Perhaps it is thus I who is broken?"
Mune watches Ra carefully as the glow of Chakra fades from his eyes. The eyelids blinking individually are disturbing. And the chittering from some unseen source are likewise creepy. But personal comfort must sometimes be forsaken in the search for knowledge. She starts towards Ra after he has explained his nature. Being partially human still should help with treating him. But the spider-like features…
"Do you have any medical records I could examine, Ra-san?" At his question about the mirror, Mune pauses and frowns. She turns to look at the full-length mirror leaning against the wall across from the Okumo progenitor. Not seeing anything from her angle she turns and walks closer so she can lean forward and peer into the 'looking glass'…
The young blonde's frown deepens as Kanami turns abruptly away from her, seemingly to make some sort of point, blue eyes snapping away from the arachnoid male to the profile of the older woman's face. She removes her hand from the Nogakujin's sleeve, and places them both in her lap, trying not to think about how long ago it's been that she's eaten. Yet every time she considered ordering food, a queasy tingling would creep across her skin and cause her to lose all traces of an appetite.
Ra's words are barely heard, the blonde concentrating on the feel of fingers soothing through her hair, using the feel to keep her troubled mind at ease. But the words after his comments on his physiology cause a cold chill to run up her spine. Her back stiffens as she inhales sharply, her knuckles turning white as she clenches them into shaking fists. In a blink, she's standing, then pressing her fists to the sides of her temples, eyes squeezed shut, walking quickly for the bedroom door that leads out into the common room.
"Get rid of it, get rid of it, GET RID OF THE *BLEEP*ING MIRROR!" Her voice rises with each syllable, from a murmur in the beginning, to a high screech of hysteria by the end. As she quickly passes through the portal, out of the room before Mune has even moved closer to the glass, her voice comes back from the other, larger area. "GET *BLEEP*ING RID OF IT!"
Kanami was not necessarily trying to make a point to Datura… Other than that she does not wish to obey orders. When the please was tacked on, that was when she seated herself and begin to stroke Datura's hair and massage her scalp. The sudden tensing and rigidity of her spine and so forth, combined with Ra's pronouncement of the mirror having no reflection within it, instantly set off alarm bells in the back of her head. So it's something related to the mirrors that has terrified her Datura-chan such.
Perhaps someone using a mirror-based Jutsu? That would be highly inconvenient. How does one strike against the person in the mirror? Break the mirror and he or she will simply move to another. She could attempt Genjutsu… But what if she winds up ensnaring her OWN mind instead? This is bad. An assassin or something else is not important. What is important is making themselves scarce.
"Mune-chan, please move away from the mirror. Ra-san, please guard 'Lady Ryoko' as well as you can--Infact. Mune-chan, you should go with as well. Leave this to me." She rises from the bed, the hysterical screams from Datura still ringing in her ears even after they have ended. This will be a very intriguing enemy to try to counter. A mirror plays havoc with reality merely by reflecting light. But how will that impact someone who already believes all of reality to be false? What is an illusion within an illusion but a minor detail of the first? She moves to stand right in front of Okumo Ra, facing the mirror, hands together in preparation to cast a Genjutsu on whoever or whatever is lurking within. Hopefully she can do SOMETHING… If not, then they are all in serious danger.
Okumo Ra blinks his eyes again. This time he blinks the left set, then the right. "This is not normal, then?" he asks somewhat dim-wittedly. Or perhaps it is merely his long absence from the human world that makes such things so foreign to him. After all, what do spiders need with mirrors? They probably have no mirrors in Fukaizan at all! …Or perhaps Nefura did, but she would not really >need< one. Either way, he obeys Kanami's instructions/request and rises from his seat in a chair and begins to limp out of the room, left leg dragging at an obviously unnatural angle. The foot doesn't even appear to be attached such is the degree that it flops around loosely. Eventually, he makes his way into the living room/entry room where Datura is presently freaking out. This leaves Mune and Kanami in the bedroom.
And what would Mune see in the mirror? Nothing. Nothing but her reflection, and that of the room around her. The same for Kanami. If Mune moves out of the way, Kanami would see only her own reflection in the mirror. Nothing special at all. No target for Genjutsu, no abnormal apparition, no presences of any kind other than what might be expected. Namely, Kanami and Mune. And a room. And nothing else.
Mune looks in the mirror and sees her own reflection looking back at her. Suspicious, eyebrows slanted down, mouth and nose covered by a sterile breathing mask, hair hanging down slightly thanks to the angle of her head and the impact of gravity… Nothing odd about this mirror. She can even see Ra's legs in the background. No reflection, huh?
"…The mirror works fine, Datura-chan. There's nothing broken about it. Please calm down." she calls out as she rises back to a standing position. When Kanami moves to cast some sort of Jutsu on the mirror, she just looks at the actress as though she were an utter lunatic. "…Alright, whatever," she mutters as she moves away from the mirror. She shrugs and holds up her hands helplessly, blue eyes cast towards the heavens as though asking, 'Why me?' She joins Ra and Datura in the other room after she picks up her medical supply bag. "Ra-san, please seat yourself so I can examine you. You are aggravating your injuries by moving around."
When Ra moves into the room, Datura is pacing back and forth over a two-foot area of rug, practically continually turning on her heel with her hands over her face, fingers slightly split to allow her blue eyes to peek out from between them. A few agitated sobs wrack her shoulders, but most of the hysteria seems to be held at bay. Barely, becoming a little more contained with each passing moment. When she spots Ra, the outcast Yamanaka removes her hands from her face, revealing a face that had gone white with fear. She quickly closes the distance, latching onto the arm of the male tightly for protection, looking over his shoulder as though fearful of what might follow him out of the room.
"I don't care!" Datura practically wails in response to Mune's comforting call. "Get rid of it! Get rid of them! All of them!"
As it turns out to be Mune that is the first to arrive out of the room after Ra, and not an abomination from her nightmares, the young woman, looks wildly around the room, spotting a small personal mirror on a stand. She runs to it, slamming it face-down on the desk, then backs away, watching the nonreflective back of the looking glass as if it were a serpent that might rise up to strike out at her. Few other things in the room could cast a reflection, a few pictures, paintings that were under glass, and perhaps the windows, and each of these gets a fearful glance. But at least Datura has let go of the arachnoid male so that he could be further examined.
Rather than sitting herself, however, the blonde-haired diva begins to stalk back and forth over the length of one of the three couches in the common sitting area, one arm banded around her torso, the other biting her thumbnail ragged.
Kanami stares into the mirror. Mune's reflection is there. So is hers. Mune moves aside, and now it's just her. She watches the mirror steadily, but eventually her eyes begin to burn. So she uses a technique of hers, and her eyes shift to be identical to a snake's -- though proportional to her head's size, of course. Yellow sclera and horizontal black irises stare unblinkingly at the mirror. Nothing will escape her sight now. Every detail is taken in. If there is something here to see, she will see it.
And after five minutes of staring, while Datura and Mune speak in the background, Kanami has to admit… There is nothing unusual about this mirror. Has the assassin moved on already? Or is there really nothing wrong? She doesn't know, but she deactivates her Snake Eyes Technique only after making a long, careful sweep of the room, taking in everything. She even examines the other mirror that has yet to be installed. Nothing. Shaking her head, her eyes return to normal, and almost casually, she sends a snake out of each sleeve. They slam into the mirror frames with their coils, and the mirrors fall face-down. Then Kanami steps on their backs to break the glass on the other sides.
Once that is done, she enters the other room. "The mirrors are broken. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps Ra-san can describe for us what exactly he saw or did not see? Was it just your reflection that was missing? Or something more?"
Ra seats himself on a couch, and watches Datura and her agitation. As Mune prepares to treat him, he seems to be more focused on the constant back and forth movement than on what may be about to happen to him. "We saw a dark spot in the mirror. It did not move, but it stained the air somehow, and blotted out our reflection. It was as though the glass was dirty, but the markings hovered >beyond< the mirror's surface… And did not have a corresponding blot of darkness to reflect. Our--My companions did not see anything odd at all. So perhaps it was merely I that failed to perceive properly."
He then looks towards Kanami. "Have we caused this distress in Lady Spinner Ryoko? It was not our intention, and we apologize." Then he looks back to Datura, keenly interested in her pacing for some reason.
Mune mutters about people freaking out of mirrors. Then she starts examining Ra, starting with his leg. That's clearly not right for it to be all twisted like that… Not touching the leg, she instead puts one hand on Okumo Ra's chest and begins to focus her Chakra to send pulses into him. Like sonar, they 'reflect' the status of his body -- this includes nervous impulses, circulation, respiration, and so forth. Almost immediately she tenses up, her partially-closed eyes flying open. After a couple seconds of not moving or breathing… She begins cursing. Loudly and vehemently.
She gets into her medical bag quickly and starts withdrawing things with swift, precise movements, starting with various bottles of drugs and liquids. "Ra-san, do you know if normal pain killers work on you still? Anesthetics? Do you require special medications of any kind? Is there anything you know you have an allergy to, or which could harm the more 'spidery' parts of your body?"
She has yet to explain what's wrong, but from the energy she is putting into this and the amount of things she's withdrawing from her bag, something is VERY wrong.
The Nogakujin's words seem to upset Datura even more, prompting the young blonde to shake her head as she paces, turn on her heel, walking the other way still shaking her head in small, agitated jerks. Finally, with her back to the group, she stops, inhaling deeply, dragging her fingers downwards over her face, before exhaling sharply. She had to get ahold of herself! She was the SOURCE of nightmares, not the victim of them! To show such weakness in front of others… And yet they couldn't see anything. Was she sick? The Spider Queen had said as much. Datura was only sure of one thing:
For one reason or another, she was starting to lose her mind.
When she hears her name from the male's lips, she turns back around to face the others with a tight, emotion-concealing frown, both of her arms folded across her torso. It was the best way she could think of to stop them from shaking. Clearly what he'd described wasn't what she'd wanted to hear. "No, Ra-kun, it is not your fault. I require your help after you're better. I'll need a service from you…"
The outcast Yamanaka trails off as VERY unladylike words begin flying out of the mouth of the normally mild-mannered doctor of their little 'family'. Her eyes watch listlessly as the various tools and concoctions come out of the bag, her thin yellow brows raising slightly. The dark-skinned woman appeared to be alarmed, and yet Ra himself seemed completely calm and rational despite the near-panic of his medical practitioner. "…It can wait until you're tended to. Kana, go tell the- um, Can you ask the wait staff for some fruit?" Terror may be great for killing appetites and losing weight, but one could only stand being so hungry for so long.
Kanami is still confused as to what exactly is the problem. Clearly what Datura has experienced and what Ra have experienced are two different things. Perhaps it is Ra's injuries that caused him to see the mirror improperly… But what of Datura? What caused this? Her yellow-eyed gaze turns to the younger woman and she watches calmly but concernedly. She does not wish for her toy to break. Datura is still useful and still fun to play with. If she is broken, she will need to be fixed. But how to go about it?
"A dark blot, you say? Something hovering in the air but not existing on this side? Would you describe it as a 'gas' of some kind?" Perhaps there is a chemical weapon that was used. But why would it only affect Datura and Ra, if so? They both seem to have an affinity for spiders… When Mune becomes upset over something, Kanami pauses and turns her attention on the Medic-Nin. The doctor's garments are not especially flattering for a woman's figure, but the dark-skinned female fills them out nicely regardless… And they also do little to hide the pulse in the side of Mune's neck, or the tension forming on her limbs. Even with her swift but steady movements, Kanami can tell she has discovered something bad about the Okumo ancestor.
Datura's request is heard and responded to in a tone of compassion and understanding, but her cold stare does not leave the motion near the couch. She is, by nature, a huntress. She hunts by movement and by signs of life. Thus, such things are very interesting to her. And here is Mune behaving in great agitation, compared to her usual calm demeanor…
But such things can wait. No reason to give Datura a reason to complain, and she IS in obviously poor health. No, it would be best to keep her fed and healthy until she is fixed. Broken toys are no fun to play with.
And neither are people one depends on to guard one's back when danger threatens. "Of couse, Dat-chan. I will be glad to acquire as much fresh fruit as you feel you can safely eat right now. I will be right back, everyone." Then she finally drags her eyes off of Mune and Ra -- the two forms contrasting severely, with one shapely and attractive, the other malformed and hideous -- and turns to walk past Datura and to the door. On her way by, she brushes her fingers lightly over the blonde's upper arm, allowing her touch to linger as she casts one last glance back. Then she proceeds to go find the staff and politely threaten them into preparing some fresh fruit for 'Lady Ryoko' so fast it was ready an hour ago.
Ra nods in response to Datura's assertions it was not his fault. He has learned that humans expect such subtle body language in response to words spoken or actions taken. He also answers verbally, "No. Not a gas per se. It looked more like a cloud of… Darkness. As though a shadow had manifested and floated without motion inside the mirror. But we believe it may be a side-effect of my losing vision in two of our eyes." He raises his ancient, claw-fingered left hand to indicate each of the 'blinded' eyes out of the eight in his face. They look normal, but apparently he cannot see out of those two.
As Mune becomes very upset, Ra looks towards her. "Unless you intend to use poison or chemicals that would harm arachnids, most medicines should work fine. We do not know for certain regarding allergies. We do not understand this sudden agitation, Lady Spinner Mune-san. Is this in regard to the bleeding?" Bleeding? What bleeding? There is no trace of blood anywhere on Ra's body. Where is he bleeding?
Mune snaps a bit more harshly than intended, "Yes, it is about the bleeding! And the broken bones, and the ruptured organs, and the shredded muscles and--How the hell are you not screaming your head off by now? Do you have heightened pain tolerance or something?" She gives the impression of frowning without actually showing her mouth at all. She finally pulls out a syringe and prepares it appropriately, sucking up some clear fluid from one bottle, and then injecting it directly into Okumo Ra's left leg.
She nods vaguely as Kanami departs, and then explains to Datura, whether she cares or not. "You said before that Ra-san's 'muscles, or maybe his bones, have healed wrong'. You were misinformed if someone told you that. They have not even STARTED to heal. They remain broken and damaged. All the muscles and bones in his left leg, and most in his right arm are completely destroyed. It's like no one has made any attempt to treat him at all! Further, he has something keeping him from beginning the healing process. He has been bleeding internally for at least a MONTH. I honestly have no idea why he isn't dead already. Must be the augmentation… But even then! The level of pain I detected being transmitted to his brain from his nervous system is… Well, it would overwhelm and kill most humans. Even ninja."
She frowns as she injects a third syringe into Ra's leg, and then starts on a fourth for his right arm. "Datura-chan, who did you say treated Ra-san before today? I don't see any sign that anyone has done anything, but there has to be a reason he's not dead." She does another Diagnostic Jutsu on Ra and sees pain levels have receded somewhat… And the chemicals she has introduced should jump-start his body to begin healing. Though it will also knock him out in a few minutes. Which is fine, because she'll need him unconscious in order to operate.
"I need bed sheets. Blankets. Towels. Things to absorb the blood. Just put them down in the middle of the floor. Wherever there's open space." Mune is not asking. This might bother Datura, but considering that this spider-guy that she needs to do something is apparently dying, and Mune is trying to save him, she may wish to put her dignity aside for a moment.
An absent nod of thanks is all the visual communication Kanami's acquiescence to the request is given. Datura being polite was unusual enough, but polite AND quiet was heretofore unheard of. At the touch on her arm, the blonde's hand raises slightly from where it rested crossed at the crook of her elbow, making contact between their fingers for an instant before the Nogakujin has moved on and is out of the door to give the staff yet another female they need fear.
All of the injuries being listed off about the ancient male arachnoid takes a moment to register in the youngest member's scattered thoughts. When told that he wasn't even beginning his recovery yet, Datura shrugs her shoulders lamely and averts her eyes, like a child caught in a fib. But she was hardly a qualified medical professional, knowing even less about spider anatomy than she knew about humans! And she only knew the basics of what humans had, and most of that was from seeing what was inside them firshand on the few occasions she had to get her hands dirty.
"I don't know, Mu. I don't think they have any real doctors where he's from. Some spiders eat their wounded, so I suppose he's lucky his kin weren't hungry. Do you think it could be the wasp poison that stopped his healing?"
At the call to gather absorbant materials, the expected fuss about getting blood on her possessions isn't raised for once, despite these being the Lady Ryoko's own things, not the belongings of some hotel or inn. A glance towards the bedroom has her heading in the direction of one of the couches, instead, pulling off the dust ruffle and dropping it on the coffee table near where the medic and her patient were. The other two dust ruffles were also gathered and deposited there, and it seemed that was going to be the end of the genjutsuit's cloth-gathering chore. She would pull the drapes down from the windows before she reentered her bedroom alone. But really, how much blood could there be?
She should probably be glad her carpet is darkly-colored.
