Rebel // 38 [Accidental Voice]

[bullet_dance]

[ooc note: takes place after this log.]

[Early in the evening, Luceti will be able to hear what sounds like paper being torn and shredded followed by a brief glimpse of this face:]

Comments

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[[ooc; This thread takes place several hours after Nami's transportation to the clinic, so we please ask that taggers be limited to the Strawhats and Katara. Thank you <3]]

[Chopper has done everything within his power, and only now, with his nakama surrounding him and keeping vigil by Nami's pillow, does he allow himself to believe that she'll live. Color is returning to her skin, however slowly, and the intravenous fluid climbing through her veins does its best to keep her pulse stable.]

[And Chopper is exhausted. He's only used tentative bursts of healing magic before this, and wonders if everything is supposed to ache, and if it is, what kind of paradox would result in him trying to heal himself. Then the whole month of his memory missing thing kind of takes over and he remembers that he was kidnapped by the Malnosso. And even then, it doesn't register as important. Not nearly as important as this moment in time

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[As Chopper prepared Nami, Katara did what she could to help while mostly staying out of his way. She kept an eye on Chopper as well - he did his job efficiently, but as far as s he knew he'd just gotten back and she didn't know what the Malnosso had done to him.

And in the meantime, she found a way to talk with Brook and ask just exactly who the green-haired guy with the three swords was. She wasn't going to be talking about Nami's condition in front of just anybody.

She hated this antsy-between feeling, hated that this had happened to Nami. But now that things had finally settled down a little... it was time for her to step forward. She glances at Sanji.]

Can we boil some water?

[Action]

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro is leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed and his head down, eyes nearly shut. For all purposes he appears to be completely checked out-except for the sharp gleam of black beneath lowered lashes. His veiled gaze is wholly focused on the figures on and around the bed.

Nami would live. Even before that particular, awful strain shifted in Chopper's shoulders, Zoro knew that much. She was too stubborn, and he was too good at his job. Month-long kidnapping with the fucking Malnosso or no.

That surety didn't keep the waves of tension and fury from thrumming through him like a steady tide as he silently watched Chopper work, but it did keep them banked and contained.

Then their doctor wearily cedes the floor to the young girl who'd spoken briefly of Nami's mind-a stranger, obviously a healer of weird-and hopefully powerful-techniques, obviously a good friend of his crew. All that was clear from the moment they first let her approach and touch and do something with water to Nami on the bridge. All that, and still Zoro's

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

[There's a wordless nod from the chef, who takes relief in being able to do something, even as small a task as this. He casts a glance at the inhabitants of the room before exiting; the one aimed at the swordsman lingers a second longer because he caught that, and now Sanji can't help but wish Katara and Zoro were on semi-comfortable terms.

It's not as though he expects a confrontation to explode while he's gone - that would require Zoro to be stupid and Katara to be insensitive, which the latter never is and the former is only during occasions that don't matter. But his echoing steps pick up the pace, regardless, finding the clinic's kitchen and putting a pan-full of water on the heat. He hesitates, only briefly unwilling to leave something alone on the stove, then decides this really isn't the time.

He wants to be back in the room as soon as possible, maybe just for his own sake, and moments later slips back inside to take up position opposite of Katara.]

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Chopper watches the occupants of the room shift steadily, and takes it as his cue to back off. He removes himself from the chair by Nami's bed and finds himself wandering over to Zoro - maybe he's picking up on the ghosts of tension in the swordsman's shoulders, or maybe he just needs a rock to lean against and Zoro seems like the sturdiest right now.]

[Chopper can now see the heaviness in the stare being directed at Katara. Softly he grasps at the fabric of Zoro's pant leg, mumbling quietly. Breaking the silence seems criminal.]

Katara will help her. She'll be okay.

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[You didn't have to be the warrior Katara was to be able to sense the sense the coiling intent and edged evaluation coming from the swordsman when she stepped forward and Katara takes a moment to breathe. If it had been her, and some stranger had come to help Toph, she'd be watching them just as carefully - but she couldn't afford the distraction of his evaluation once she got to work, and she didn't care about his opinion - this was about Nami. And the sooner this was settled, the sooner she could get to work. If she had her way, she'd shoo them all out so that she could concentrate in silence, but she wants Chopper to be in there to monitor Nami's physical body while she works and she knows that getting Sanji to leave would be next to impossible - which is fine, she can work with people watching her, but not if she's going to be distracted by them, not for work like this.

So she shifts towards Zoro, her stance ready and relaxed and meets his gaze evenly.]I know that you don't know me. And I only know your name, and that you're

[Action]

[threeswordsoul]

[This isn't at all how he expected to get Chopper back again. But circumstances are what they are, so when their reindeer gathers close Zoro just rests a steady hand atop the soft pink hat and breaks off to glance down briefly.]

I know. [Good work.]

[When the girl addresses him he takes in both to her words and her body language. Calm. Up-front. Zero bullshit or blustering and a fighter's confidence in her stance. Ignoring the cook's re-entry, Zoro tilts his head a fraction to the side.]

Katara, huh. [His stare bores into her for the space of several more heartbeats. When she doesn't flinch, he deliberately shifts its weight off of her and back to Nami, drawing his intensity close into himself.] ...Stop wasting time, then.

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Zoro's assurance is more comforting than the swordsman could ever know. Chopper's ears twitch briefly, and he offers a hesitant look up at Katara. Part of him doesn't even want to know, but the rest of him - a much larger part in comparison - needs to know what that bastard did to his nakama.] You said...her mind was injured?

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[Wasting time? She'd normally bristle and throw that right back at him - but she really didn't want to do exactly what he accused her of. And just like that, she flips the switch in her brain that is causing her to regard Zoro as a 'potential threat' to 'ally' and she dismisses him as she focuses on Chopper. She's never done, never felt anything like this before. She had to make him understand so that maybe he could help her help. And even if not, she needed him to understand what had happened - he was Nami's doctor.]

Do you remember the way that my healing works, with sensing chi paths? That can let me 'see' inside inside someone, and with Nami...

[How to explain...] Imagine that the chi pathways in her mind are like a cobblestone road. Each memory or thought is like the stones, and the road itself is what lets her have those memories and thoughts.

[Her calm falters for a moment and she grows intent, disturbed.] What I saw was like - a badgermole had gotten underneath the road and rooted around, overturning stones and

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

[Nice to see Zoro was as tactless as ever. Whatever, he grunts something under his breath and lets Chopper handle that angle, switching his focus to Katara. He stares at Nami while the girl speaks, expression grim but otherwise calm. He keeps his tension to himself.]

Will this effect you at all? [he doesn't say it with the intent to hold her back or hinder her decision, since at this point they have little choice regardless. But it never hurts to know the odds.]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara blinks at him, as if the thought had never occurred to her - and it hadn't. And it didn't matter.]

It shouldn't. I don't need to touch it with myself - just with my bending. It's - almost like any other infection. Just made up of something different.

[...I hope.] That's why I asked you to boil the water. In my world, the kind of water you use can make a difference. So I thought maybe using water as pure as we can make it here would give me an edge - it's worth a try.

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Chopper winces at the explanation; it sounds messy, complicated, and painful. To be honest...unfixable. But he has to trust Katara with this. She's the only one who understands what's happening, and she's fully prepared to dive into it for Nami's sake.]

[His grip on Zoro's pant leg loosens as he takes a step forward. If this can be cured, he won't be standing on the sidelines - he's a doctor, first and foremost. Fears can go eat it.] Is there anything I can do?

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[She nods.] I want you to sit on the other side and watch her. I'm going to be concentrating, and since I'm working with her chi there's a good chance I'll notice if something's wrong - but I'd feel better if you were watching too. This way you can let me know and give me enough time to pull out of it cleanly in case her body's too weak for this right now.

[And... she really has no idea what she's doing. She just knows that it needs to be done. That - whatever that was - shouldn't be allowed to stay inside Nami any longer than it already had. She's got her uncertainties clamped down, but she'll still feel better if someone's watching.] Any more questions? If not, if you think the water's boiled... we can get started.

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

It should be done now. [Her answer was enough to satisfy him, so he wastes no more time with questions. It only takes a minute to return to the room with a pail of boiled water.

After setting it next to Katara, he takes a couple of steps back, prepared to silently observe]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[While Sanji left, Katara and Chopper made themselves as comfortable as they could with Nami stretched out pale between them. And when he returns, Katara spares him a quick smile.] Thanks, Sanji.

[Then she bends the still-boiling water out of the pail. Breathing out, she instinctively freezes it into a solid chunk. Then she separates what she needs from it, and returns the remaining ice to the pan - just in case it's needed again. The water coating her hands now is cool and fresh - she glances at Chopper and starts to move to take her seat.] Ready?

[Action] 1/2

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro tenses and jerks off the wall automatically when the boiling water the girl is somehow manipulating snaps into ice, dropping an unthinking hand to a sword-logia-Aokiji-]