“Are you comfortable?” I asked. Chit was lying in her bed, freshly washed after a few hours of letting the pain die down. She was slowly chewing some food and had already guzzled a few glasses of water, her recovery seemed to be well underway.
She nodded, a show of normalcy from the very abnormal day she’d had. “I do have something else I could do,” I began. She nodded profusely, I laughed at her eagerness. “Well, give me your palm then, I’ll be gentle.”
“I know,” she said with a smile.
“Are we interrupting something?” asked Safi who had her arms crossed and watched judgmentally from the end of Chit’s bed.
“Actually, just you. Eleb is cultivating,” I said with a jokey tone. Safi looked at Eleb who had indeed begun to cultivate. “Maybe you should too,” I said. More seriously this time.
“Not a bad idea,” she agreed and moved to a more comfortable position on the bed in order to begin. I turned my attention back to Chit who was looking at me with a significantly less strained smile on her face.
I closed my eyes and sent my qi into her, once again. This time in waves, the quantity far more than before. She shuddered as my pure and powerful qi washed through her. I began to channel a healing technique that would help reinvigorate her skin, and relieve some pain.
The distinctive lack of qi on her part meant that despite the damage done, her body had been reset, a blank slate; that in time would be ready to once again be painted by a cultivation technique that this time would be far more suited to her soul root.
It was a day later when Chit shook me awake. “You have to go,” she said.
“Where?” I asked, a slight crease between my brows.
“Medical,” she simply stated. I did remember her saying that it would be open in seven days, it must have been the start of a new month.
“Are you feeling alright?” I asked as I got up to leave.
“Fine, go now. Late already,” she said as she leant back on the bed, she was looking better already. The skin was less flared and beginning to fill the cracks. I said goodbye and closed the door behind me, Eleb and Safi were both still sleeping.
“Are you here to join?” asked a frantic man who had a gaggle of confused disciples behind him.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“Stand here then,” he ushered me to join the group. It was not long before the man brought us inside. The same beds and broken people lay around me, it was a very strange atmosphere. Surprisingly not from the patients, rather from the healers, there seemed to be a tension that was almost unreadable. But the slightly rigid shoulders, the cloudy eyes were clear as day to me. The occasional glances to the curtain were too much for me to bear, I had to know what it concealed.
For the time being at least I could pretend to be interested in the rudimentary tests they were performing. As I watched most of the disciples fail, some passed, barely. Only one was like me, who seemed almost bored with the simplicity. Although I managed to get her attention after a while, she became strangely competitive. I could not help but smile at the concept of a competition with her.
“How do you know this stuff?” she finally asked, drawing the attention of some of the surrounding people.
“Study,” I replied simply. We were mixing herbs to make a salve. Until then, I was familiar with everything I had come across, we were only on the third test, though. Inevitably, I encountered a native flora that I was entirely unfamiliar with. I did have a particular way of figuring out exactly what it was but it would attract attention.
Unfortunately, I wanted the job. “Wait, what are you doing?” asked the girl as I popped the small plant into my mouth. “Why?” she asked as I looked at her with a straight face and chewed the plain-tasting plant.
As I ingested it, the effects began to show themselves, it was slightly poisonous, which meant it was a numbing agent when applied directly to the skin. I threw another of the same plant into my mortar and pestle and began to crunch it in with the other ingredients.
Before allowing any of my attention elsewhere, I made sure to cripple what little poison was inside me, it seemed to be a rather powerful one, more powerful than I was expecting in a test.
“He ate it,” said the girl next to me. I heard her frantic exclamation just as I finished neutralising the poison.
“Ate it?” came another exclamation. This time from the man that was running the tests.
“Ate it,” she confirmed as the man suddenly went to grab my shoulders. I jumped back before he could latch on.
“In my defense, I did not think it would be poisonous,” I said, which seemed too much for them to comprehend as they stood in a state of suspended disbelief. “I’ll get back to the test now,” I continued wondering what exactly had them so shocked.
Of course, the poison was strong but a very simple technique provided a solution to the problem, it was not something difficult or complicated so their reaction seemed excessive.
“You aren’t feeling anything strange?” asked the man, inching closer to me.
“I got rid of the poison, you don’t have to worry.”
“Got rid of it?” the man said, once again raising his shrill voice.
“Do you need me to tell you again?” I asked, beginning to question the intelligence of the two people in front of me.
“Rather than that, I would prefer you tell me how you think you got rid of it?” he asked with a dramatic frown. I was beginning to think that they were not privy to the simple solution.
“What’s in it for me?” I asked, turning my full body towards them, I was not about to let my opportunity to see behind the curtain pass me by.
“If it works, we’ll let you join the team, no more tests,” he said.
“I want to go behind the curtain,” I said as I crossed my arms which I hoped would bolster the importance of my demand.
“You want to go behind the…” The man began then scoffed and looked at the curtain I was hinting at. “Why?”
“Do we have a deal?” I asked, hesitant to tell him it was mere curiosity.
“Yes, we have a deal,” he finally said, which seemed to jolt the girl out of her confusion.
“Shouldn’t we lie him down?” she asked.
“Does he look like he needs to lie down?” asked the man sarcastically before stepping backwards. “I mean, apologies Ma’am. If you think it’s necessary I can set him on a bed.”
“No, you’re right. He doesn’t seem… Poisoned.”
“That’s because I’m not. I neutered it before it could reach the effective area,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“Neutered it, how?” he asked with incredulity. I spent the next while teaching him the method.
“Well, this is quite special and yet, devastatingly simple. You must not be from here,” he said with ponderous eyes.
“The curtain?” I asked, unwilling to be side-tracked.
“Ah yes, the curtain.” He got up and pulled me close to it. “You’re sure you want this?” he asked.
“As sure as can be,” I said and he whisked me through to the other side without drawing it at all.
“Please keep your voice down,” he said.
“What in the celestial shit is happening here?” I asked, channeling my best Teteli impression.
Casualperv Hi :) Thought I'd write another one because you guys were so nice in the comments yesterday.
“Are you comfortable?” I asked. Chit was lying in her bed, freshly washed after a few hours of letting the pain die down. She was slowly chewing some food and had already guzzled a few glasses of water, her recovery seemed to be well underway.
She nodded, a show of normalcy from the very abnormal day she’d had. “I do have something else I could do,” I began. She nodded profusely, I laughed at her eagerness. “Well, give me your palm then, I’ll be gentle.”
“I know,” she said with a smile.
“Are we interrupting something?” asked Safi who had her arms crossed and watched judgmentally from the end of Chit’s bed.
“Actually, just you. Eleb is cultivating,” I said with a jokey tone. Safi looked at Eleb who had indeed begun to cultivate. “Maybe you should too,” I said. More seriously this time.
“Not a bad idea,” she agreed and moved to a more comfortable position on the bed in order to begin. I turned my attention back to Chit who was looking at me with a significantly less strained smile on her face.
I closed my eyes and sent my qi into her, once again. This time in waves, the quantity far more than before. She shuddered as my pure and powerful qi washed through her. I began to channel a healing technique that would help reinvigorate her skin, and relieve some pain.
The distinctive lack of qi on her part meant that despite the damage done, her body had been reset, a blank slate; that in time would be ready to once again be painted by a cultivation technique that this time would be far more suited to her soul root.
It was a day later when Chit shook me awake. “You have to go,” she said.
“Where?” I asked, a slight crease between my brows.
“Medical,” she simply stated. I did remember her saying that it would be open in seven days, it must have been the start of a new month.
“Are you feeling alright?” I asked as I got up to leave.
“Fine, go now. Late already,” she said as she leant back on the bed, she was looking better already. The skin was less flared and beginning to fill the cracks. I said goodbye and closed the door behind me, Eleb and Safi were both still sleeping.
“Are you here to join?” asked a frantic man who had a gaggle of confused disciples behind him.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“Stand here then,” he ushered me to join the group. It was not long before the man brought us inside. The same beds and broken people lay around me, it was a very strange atmosphere. Surprisingly not from the patients, rather from the healers, there seemed to be a tension that was almost unreadable. But the slightly rigid shoulders, the cloudy eyes were clear as day to me. The occasional glances to the curtain were too much for me to bear, I had to know what it concealed.
For the time being at least I could pretend to be interested in the rudimentary tests they were performing. As I watched most of the disciples fail, some passed, barely. Only one was like me, who seemed almost bored with the simplicity. Although I managed to get her attention after a while, she became strangely competitive. I could not help but smile at the concept of a competition with her.
“How do you know this stuff?” she finally asked, drawing the attention of some of the surrounding people.
“Study,” I replied simply. We were mixing herbs to make a salve. Until then, I was familiar with everything I had come across, we were only on the third test, though. Inevitably, I encountered a native flora that I was entirely unfamiliar with. I did have a particular way of figuring out exactly what it was but it would attract attention.
Unfortunately, I wanted the job. “Wait, what are you doing?” asked the girl as I popped the small plant into my mouth. “Why?” she asked as I looked at her with a straight face and chewed the plain-tasting plant.
As I ingested it, the effects began to show themselves, it was slightly poisonous, which meant it was a numbing agent when applied directly to the skin. I threw another of the same plant into my mortar and pestle and began to crunch it in with the other ingredients.
Before allowing any of my attention elsewhere, I made sure to cripple what little poison was inside me, it seemed to be a rather powerful one, more powerful than I was expecting in a test.
“He ate it,” said the girl next to me. I heard her frantic exclamation just as I finished neutralising the poison.
“Ate it?” came another exclamation. This time from the man that was running the tests.
“Ate it,” she confirmed as the man suddenly went to grab my shoulders. I jumped back before he could latch on.
“In my defense, I did not think it would be poisonous,” I said, which seemed too much for them to comprehend as they stood in a state of suspended disbelief. “I’ll get back to the test now,” I continued wondering what exactly had them so shocked.
Of course, the poison was strong but a very simple technique provided a solution to the problem, it was not something difficult or complicated so their reaction seemed excessive.
“You aren’t feeling anything strange?” asked the man, inching closer to me.
“I got rid of the poison, you don’t have to worry.”
“Got rid of it?” the man said, once again raising his shrill voice.
“Do you need me to tell you again?” I asked, beginning to question the intelligence of the two people in front of me.
“Rather than that, I would prefer you tell me how you think you got rid of it?” he asked with a dramatic frown. I was beginning to think that they were not privy to the simple solution.
“What’s in it for me?” I asked, turning my full body towards them, I was not about to let my opportunity to see behind the curtain pass me by.
“If it works, we’ll let you join the team, no more tests,” he said.
“I want to go behind the curtain,” I said as I crossed my arms which I hoped would bolster the importance of my demand.
“You want to go behind the…” The man began then scoffed and looked at the curtain I was hinting at. “Why?”
“Do we have a deal?” I asked, hesitant to tell him it was mere curiosity.
“Yes, we have a deal,” he finally said, which seemed to jolt the girl out of her confusion.
“Shouldn’t we lie him down?” she asked.
“Does he look like he needs to lie down?” asked the man sarcastically before stepping backwards. “I mean, apologies Ma’am. If you think it’s necessary I can set him on a bed.”
“No, you’re right. He doesn’t seem… Poisoned.”
“That’s because I’m not. I neutered it before it could reach the effective area,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“Neutered it, how?” he asked with incredulity. I spent the next while teaching him the method.
“Well, this is quite special and yet, devastatingly simple. You must not be from here,” he said with ponderous eyes.
“The curtain?” I asked, unwilling to be side-tracked.
“Ah yes, the curtain.” He got up and pulled me close to it. “You’re sure you want this?” he asked.
“As sure as can be,” I said and he whisked me through to the other side without drawing it at all.
“Please keep your voice down,” he said.
“What in the celestial shit is happening here?” I asked, channeling my best Teteli impression.
Casualperv Hi :) Thought I'd write another one because you guys were so nice in the comments yesterday.
