Shou Zheng
Hana Yun
Valeriya Zhukova
With a tired sigh, Shou raised a clenched fist and rapped his knuckles against the closed door. He could only hope that Hana did not take exception at being woken up right after curfew had ended. Just because Egoists could function on less sleep than regular folk - degree varying from individual to individual - didn’t mean that none of them appreciated their beauty sleep.
He stepped back from the door afterwards and slowly crouched a few times while he awaited a response. Not only to test just how strained his left leg was, but also so he could swipe a finger through the droplets of blood on the ground. The color was dulled and it had almost dried by now, but if Shou breathed deep regardless of how his lungs protested the action, he could just barely catch the burnt smell of hair and flesh. Such an acrid scent lingered in the still air, and he could only wonder if Jeanne had gotten involved in another incident.
No matter. Nerves still buzzing and limbs creaking a bit as he stood, Shou stepped forward to knock on Hana’s door again.
The door opened before Shou could strike it, and a hastily dressed Hana greeted him. His call was, clearly, unexpected.
“Good morning. I wasn’t expecting any visitors at this hour…” She trailed off as she took in the situation in the hallway. Shou, clearly quite injured himself. Blood out in the hallway.
“Oh my, what happened to you? Do come in.” She stepped aside to let her friend into the apartment. There would be time enough for questions later.
For a moment his raised hand hung in place before Shou just let it drop.
"Might have been a bit too enthusiastic with my training," he answered with a strained chuckle before he bowed his head towards Hana.
"That blood isn't mine though," he added with a slight nod over his shoulder at the blood trail that had also caught her eyes.
Unfortunately he had no shoes to slip off as he trudged past Hana, so he'd be making somewhat of a mess wherever he went.
"Sorry about imposing, but I'd rather not deal with the staff. Is there somewhere I should sit or lay down for you to help me deal with this?" Hana shrugged.
“Anywhere that’s easy to clean. The blood in the hallway not being yours gives me more questions than it answers, but it’s good to know.” This was hardly the start to her morning she had planned, but she could manage.
“I don’t have a big stockpile of elixirs yet, but you know the sort of thing I have available already. I’m guessing you’ll need something to help you heal, and maybe something for the pain?”“Just healing’s fine. The pain will let me know if something is going wrong,” Shou answered as he looked around Hana’s room and whistled. It was about comparable in size to his own given his was shared, but it was furnished more nicely. Thankfully the bathroom was almost immediately after entering the room, so he stepped right in and avoided tracking any of his mess over the fancy rug. With a grimace, he finally grabbed hold of his tattered shirt and tore it off him. Even without an Egoist’s strength, the singed fabric would have torn easily. As it was, a few strands that had practically fused to him thanks to the lightning remained. What a pain to clean up…
With the worst of his injuries exposed, Shou finally took a seat on the cool tiles so Hana wouldn’t have to reach or look up to deal with any of them.
“As for that blood, fire was involved. Smell was faint, but burnt flesh is hard to mistake,” he elaborated as he started to stretch, but stopped as he felt skin crack.
While Shou got himself situated, Hana crossed over to a cabinet she’d stocked with what supplies she did have on hand. At least she could stockpile her various drugs, so she didn’t need to administer them on the fly all the time. Carefully, she ran her fingers across the vials, until she found the right ones, picked one up, and collected some bandages and other more traditional medical supplies.
When she entered the bathroom, Hana raised an eyebrow.
“Training, huh? Must have been pretty extreme.” She handed over the vial.
“That should help with things. Past that, all I’ve got are the more traditional bandages and antiseptics. And an actual bath, I suppose.” “Well, there’s something in the water that warrants an electrified killzone,” Shou explained as he took the vial from Hana without batting an eye.
“It probably would have fried me if I lingered, but…” He trailed off as he uncorked the vial, sniffed it, and then drank it with a shrug before he finished,
“gradual exposure should get me used to it. Curious as to what they’re trying to keep out.” “Not all of this was something I went looking for though. I don’t know if there’s a Dynamicist out there manipulating the mist, but I was almost strangled once I stopped electrocuting myself and made it back on shore. So, uh, if you’ve got any business after curfew, be careful Hana-yang,” he warned as he finally felt her concoction settle.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Whatever would necessitate that sort of defense around the island is certainly troubling.” It sounded outrageous, but the alternative is, what? A fight with someone using electricity? That was equally outrageous, with the treaty ban on electric dynamism. If someone was using the mists, or they were otherwise dangerous, that would also, certainly, explain the curfew.
“Do you want me to take a look at anything? I can still help bandage things up, or set bones, or the like.” Hana was already eyeing up Shou’s injuries, though she wouldn’t just invade his personal space unless given the ok.
“Troubling would certainly be a word for it,” Shou agreed as he took a few deep breaths and focused. Instead of calming his heart down though, his chest almost shook as his heart race suddenly spiked. A slight flush coloured his face as the increased blood flow started to ferry Hana’s work to every part of his body.
“I should wash off first.” A raised finger rubbed some of the dried salt off his skin for emphasis before Shou looked towards her.
“I’d appreciate your help bandaging up afterwards though.” He planted a hand on the ground and used it to help himself stand as he leaned forward. A grimace passed quickly as he still seemed to favor his right leg.
“Feel free to stick around and watch if you want,” he offered with a cheeky grin.
Laughing as she declined and stepped out, Shou flicked the water on and started on the rather gross task of cleaning himself off. Scorched cloth, dead skin, and messes of that sort had to be scrubbed off before the balms and bandages could be applied. He didn’t take his time with it though, and moved as quickly as his battered body would allow him to. He was already imposing on Hana quite a bit, and he planned to get out of her hair quickly.
It must have been awfully suspicious for the blonde to be confronted with Shou’s bandaged form as he stepped out of an apartment. The exact nature of his injuries were hidden by the wrappings, but the clues wouldn’t have lined up after a few moments of consideration. The trail continued further on past the dorm he had exited, and the signs were likely hours old by now. Unless his treatment had been extensive, there was no reason for him to have exited just now.
“Miss. Zhukova,” he greeted her with a polite nod as he closed the door behind him with a click. His bare feet were completely silent on the cool stone tiles and his eyes flicked down towards the trail of blood drops. He was a bit interested in who else had run into trouble yesterday night, and he turned away from the Russian to follow the trail.
Shou. Again. This Chinaman really had an aptitude for showing up just in time to interrupt anything she was doing. Then again, considering his bandages, someone else had a rough night as well. It seemed it was becoming something of a trend.
“Mister Zheng.” Valeriya returned Shou’s nod.
“I do hope we didn’t keep you up too late last night. Though from the looks of it, you’ve had quite the time yourself, yes?”“Most of it self-inflicted,” he admitted with a shrug as his keen eyes had little trouble picking out the dulled brown droplets.
“I would like to sleep in my room, so don’t make it a habit, hm?” Thankfully the halls only went so many ways inside the building, so even with a few areas scuffed out by foot traffic, it wasn’t hard to find where the trail finally ended. Granted, he couldn’t help but rub his forehead as he looked up at the room number.
“So were you looking for this to begin with or just following the trail as well?”“Would you believe it if I was here to see the Frenchwoman?” Valeriya replied dryly.
“Unironically, yes. My roommate Lucretia ran into a spot of trouble last night as well. Much like you did, I assume. And evidently, perhaps Jeanne. It’s becoming a trend.”“Huh. We’re not very good curfew breakers are we?” He mused, but it was probably more of a rhetorical question. He knocked on the door sharply and leaned his head up against it before he shook his head.
“Doesn’t sound like there’s anyone inside. The injuries must also be pretty bad considering all the signs. Maybe they actually attended one of the clinics around town.” Valeriya nodded.
“Blood and scorch marks across the pavement. Everyone I’ve questioned thus far besides you has been…less than useless.” She sighed, standing up.
“Come on, then. It looks like we have the same goal. We ought to start at the largest hospital and work our way down from there. I’ll tell you what happened with Lucretia in more detail on the way so long as you tell me what happened to you.”"I imagine they'd have gone to the closest. If they were burnt that badly, jostling them across the island wouldn't make much sense," Shou pointed out before he looked down and sighed. He hardly had a map of the island memorized by heart, so unless Valeriya did, it seemed they'd have to call an operator for some help. As for sharing exactly what had happened, he didn't really know what she could do with the information.
"Sure. Like I said, mostly my own doing…" he started as he led the way out of the apartment complex.
Izurich
Ti
Savo