Get up the Ranks!

Ty woke up to find a scroll in his letter box. It was his usual way of receiving missions and so this was nothing new. What was peculiar was the list of assignments. He would be working alongside a relatively new genin of the village by the name Ryumi. He never really liked meeting new people, but it was part of the job. He just hoped she wouldn't be put off by his illness. He knew it could be worrying to people who aren't aware of his condition.

An even more unusual part of his mission lineup was the first one. He would be getting some practice in as a medic by seeing a patient in the hospital clinic. It was an odd thing to see to say the least. The hospital staff was often just civilians doing their best with conventional medicine. In urgent cases shinobi could be called in to assist, but the general population of Hoshi was still wary of seeing a ninja for health problems. Ty wondered who he would be treating. He couldnt imagine they would be too thrilled to see their doctor is sicker than them. The irony of a perpetually ill doctor was not lost on him, but still he wanted to try and lean into that particular niche. Working with Team Winter he had come to the conclusion that having a dedicated medic in a squad was invaluable. In the team that role clearly landed on Typhon's shoulders. He had a talent for it, even he could admit that. So there was no point in trying to pull away from the characterization.

Ty would fill his dad in on the odd mission requests as he prepared breakfast for the two of them. The genin didn't have much time and so he was making a quick pot of rice with some sugar. It was a meal that the family had grown very accustomed to during their years of being poor. Now that they had enough money to get by, this dish was just a holdout of worse times. They could easily afford to eat better, but after years of eating something, it can be hard to change. Ty considered how much had changed in his life in the past couple years. He had gone from working in a stone polishing shop, to a ninja, and now he'd begin working towards becoming a doctor. If someone had asked him 5 years earlier if he'd ever see himself in this situation, Ty would have laughed. Now he was starting to become comfortable in his job as a soldier.

Once he had finished his meager meal and made sure his father was situated Ty would get dressed and head out towards the hospital. He wore a black button down shirt and his white gloves. He strapped on his gas mask as he was walking down the street. It wasn't that far away to the clinic, part of the perks of living near the center of the village. The sun was coming up and he could feel the desert rays starting their days work of roasting the village. Stepping into the hospital he was grateful for the cool blast of air. Having spent basically no time in this hospital before, Ty was a little confused. He looked around for someone to talk to and noticed a petite woman sitting behind a counter. He figured she was the person to ask for directions and showed her the mission summons.

The woman pointed Ty towards a clinic office and told him his patient would arrive shortly. She also handed him a white coat to wear while he worked. Ty threw on the coat and stepped into the room. He wasn't sure what to expect from the whole experience, but just hoped he wouldn't screw it up. On top of that he couldn't help but wonder where his mission partner was. Maybe this first job was only for him and she would be joining him later? He wasn't sure, but as he paced around the small examination office he would begin to fiddle around with the various medical odds and ends laying around. He hoped this checkup wouldn't require him to use a scalpel, but there was one on the counter anyways, wrapped in paper that signified the blade was sterile. Next to it sat some individually wrapped cotton swabs and a spool of wire. An odd combination of things that he couldn't imagine a scenario in which he'd need them all.

He didn't have much time to think about the odd assortment of tools left around the office for him. A loud and frantic sounding voice in the hall had caught his attention. The young Canopic poked his head out the door to see who it could be and to his surprise his saw a muscular girl begging for a doctor to examine her, claiming it was for a mission. HD couldn't be sure but he had an idea of who this young woman might be.

Stepping out of the examination room he would calmly say, "You must be Ryumi. I can help you right in here." He'd try to sound as professional as possible. If he was going to give a medical exam then he'd need to give off a good impression.

(WC 884)

His intuition had been correct and Ty found himself in the exam room with Ryumi, his partner for the day and also apparently his patient. At a glance all he had noticed was how ridiculously muscular she was, but now up close he was taken aback. She was openly bleeding through bandages that should have been changed a long time ago. Her face and hands were covered in scrapes and scars. It was obvious that she had earned her physique the hard way.

"Uhh..." He wasn't sure what he should be saying in the moment. He would turn his head and cough over his shoulder. "I'm Typhon. I'm not really a doctor, I'm a ninja actually, but I'll be doing your checkup today." He'd put on a big smile despite it mostly being covered by his mask.

Afterwards he would start calmly observing the patient's condition. "Would you mind removing the bandages for me? If it's not too painful of course."

Once he was able to see her arms properly he was even more shocked. Ryumi's arms were covered in blood that was dripping from several open wounds. His mind raced at the possibilities for these gashes, but he quickly calmed down and got to work treating the immediate issue. He would remove his gloves as his palms began to glow a warm greenish color. He needed to be extremely careful in doing this procedure. Exposing open cuts to the virus would be a recipe for disaster. The last thing this girl needed was a flesh eating disease. 

"Please hold out your arms and whatever you do, don't move." He would stress that last part.

Once she complied Ty would get right to work closing the bloody cuts. Medical ninjutsu never ceased to amaze him. He was watching gashes in flesh close up and heal in moments as he hovered his hand and focused the chakra to certain locations. As he worked a short bespectacled man poked his head in the door and asked if Typhon needed anything. He'd quickly glance at the patient's chart and asked the assistant for a bag of Ryumi's blood type and a hook to hang it. The wiry assistant would scurry off in search of what he needed.

Once they were alone again Ty would try to understand the cause of these cuts and scars. "Forgive me if it's rude but how does your skin get like this?" I've never seen someone function as well as you while losing so much blood." 

(WC 418)
(TWC 1302)

Ryumi, understandably, seemed apprehensive to remove her bloody bandages. He could guess why she would be nervous. The pain of removing them aside it must also be a little embarrassing to have to be vulnerable in front of someone that you don't know. He also had to think about how he appeared to the girl. He was a stranger wearing a gas mask in a hospital. To someone who knows nothing about the Canopic clan it would probably appear that he was just violently ill and likely should not be treating patients. He considered explaining himself but decided against it for the moment. Instead he would just focus on the task at hand.

Ty couldnt help but smile as he watched the bloody gashes in the girl's arms closed up and healed. He felt a sense of pride in his work that he wasn't used to. It made him wonder if maybe he could have a future in the medical field. Not that he wanted to stop being a shinobi just yet. He had finally started to find his footing and wasnt going to give up on all that now. Still, this gave him more reason to train his Iryojutsu skills and be ready to help his allies in the field.

He could tell Ryumi had probably never seen a technique like this before. Her eyes were wide with amusement as she witnessed her wounds heal almost magically. She mentioned that she had only ever been treated by the hospital's staff doctors. Ty shuddered at the thought of some old religious coot trying to help with a problem like these cuts. They probably barely even disinfected the wounds and just put on some new bandages. Clearly that wouldn't help the root cause of the bleeding and with wounds this deep the bandages would be soaked through in a matter of minutes. He couldn't stand the idea of people getting awful care from people too scared to use the miracle cure of chakra. Allowing people to suffer and even die because of prejudice was an absurd concept to the young man. The fact that they then had the nerve to charge money for their "treatments" was a step too far for him. 

"Luckily for you I don't charge for my services so this is on the house. Those superstitious assholes can bill me for the blood bag and bandages if they really care." he would laugh out. The young canopic was sure that the financial manager at the hospital would be pissed, but in the moment he couldn't care less.

As he finished up with closing the wounds the assistant from before brought the bag of blood that he requested. He would motion towards the exam table against the wall of the room and say, "If you would please take a seat we will get you all finished and we can get on with the rest of our missions for the day."

Once she was seated he would push a needle into a vein in her left arm and then hang the IV bag of blood. "You must have lost a ton of blood from those cuts. Gotta get you replenished and then we'll be all set." Once the flow had started he would walk back over to the counter and put his gloves back on. Ryumi had mentioned that this was the first time she had actually had her cuts healed. He wondered how long she was just putting up with the pain and dizziness from blood loss? 

"Not that I'm encouraging it, but if your arms ever get bad like this again come to me and I'll help out. Screw these expensive doctors." He would say earnestly.

(WC 618)
(TWC 1920)

Typhon was glad to see his efforts in training had not been for nothing. Training to use mystical palm was difficult and tedious, but its uses were practically limitless. He had sewn himself up from far worse than the cuts on Ryumi's arms before, but the effects were easier to observe on somebody else. With fresh bandages applied and a fresh pint of blood in her arm, Ty was ready to call this doctor visit a success. He would let the assistant know that they were wrapping up and asked him to go get the paperwork for the bill. The snively little man scuttled off quickly to fetch the receipts with a pep in his step that was lacking in all the previous tasks Ty had asked him to complete. Money really was the whole focus at this hospital. It was sickening to him thinking about all the people who couldn't afford care. His own father suffered through sub par care for years because it was all they could afford. Typhon was lucky enough to finally come into some money as a shinobi and their standard of living increased alongside his budget. He was thankful to be able to afford a better lifestyle, but remained aware that there were tons of people worse off than him.

Once the assistant was firmly out of earshot Ty would abruptly turn towards Ryumi and say, "Okay quick! Let's get out of here before he comes back." Immediately afterwards he would ditch the white coat they lent him and leap out the window of the observation room to the ground a story below. He'd turn back and look up to watch and see if his partner for the day would follow his lead and hop out the window herself. He had no intention of sticking around and forcing a fellow shinobi to pay the hospitals wild prices. The bulk of the work had been done by his technique, they just supplied some blood and bandages. Hardly worth the amount of paperwork it would require, let alone the Ryo. They would probably try to charge her for the entire roll of bandages despite barely using half. He made a mental note to try and help out more people for free. Something about it felt nice. Like he was actually doing some good with the things he learned as a ninja.

Once him and Ryumi were both outside of the hospital she would leave their next job choice up to him. Ty would fiddle with the straps that secured his mask while he thought about it. He'd been on trash duty before and it wasn't really as bad as it sounded, but still he would rather put it off for the moment. Instead he figured some physical labor would help get him loosened up. "Lets go with construction for now. I could use a good morning workout."

Luckily for the pair, the construction site was not very far from the hospital. It was apparently a new shop selling various herbs and foraged goods. They had a rustic and clearly home made sign already sat leaning against the foundations. It had a charm to it that was sorely fading away in Hoshi. Modernization and chain stores were popping up left and right, and many family owned businesses were getting pushed out by the competition. He was glad shops like this were still able to open up and he hoped it ended up successful. The person who ordered the mission was a woman who looked to be in her mid forties. She wore flowing fur robes that looked out of place in the desert village. She was obviously not from the area.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am, we're here because of the job posting you ordered." Ty would introduce the pair and handle the formalities. She was holding the blueprints for the shop, and there was already a solid frame built out. They would just need to raise the walls and fill the foundation with packed dirt. 

"Thank you for coming. This is my first time ordering shinobi help so I've got high hopes," She would say with a thick accent that Typhon didn't recognize. "My name is Irina. I need to handle some shipments and so I'll be in the area. Here are the plans. Please just shout and I'll come help with anything you need." With that she would turn on her heels and head off in the direction of a general goods store.

Ty quickly glanced at the blueprints and saw that his assumption was correct. They needed to fill in the foundation, though with concrete instead of dirt. A more expensive choice, but probably for the best. A concrete underside would ensure the building stays standing even after a terrible sandstorm. 

Shoving the blueprint into his jacket pocket he would tighten his gloves and then clap his hands together. "All right lets start with the floor and then get these walls up. As long as those muscles aren't just for show this should be easy," he'd laugh as he slung a large bag of concrete powder over his shoulder and got to work.

(WC 859)
(TWC 2779)

Escaping the hospital without so much as a murmur, or well from what she could hear as both of them would have been running away from the place without so much as a care in the world for the bill that was going to be placed on them. It just meant that she’d have to pay for it later. The disgust on Typhon’s face when he saw that the guy who had slowly gotten her blood pouch quickly raced to go and print out the bill for Ryumi. She had a similar reaction right after she slowly had Typhon remove the syringe that was connecting the blood towards her arm. She felt… Warmth again, for the first time in her life besides in battle or with Lloyd, that sudden warm feeling began to spread out from her arm to her entire body. Her bandages were now White as a feather. Like they had been freshly cleaned and designed for her to use. She could get use to this kind of feeling of strength. The amount of life she had was when Typhon had gone to try and see if she was following. She’d already be right behind him, leaping out of the window right after he had done so. Her arms would suddenly stretch, shooting them towards one of the tree’s as using it as a way to break her fall. She would help anyone that Typhon would also take care of, she owed the Medical ninja beside her that much from this new great feeling deep within her core. This fire had begun to burn deep within her after all of the blood flowed through her. The color of her skin replenished as now she looked much brighter in the sunlight.

After running around for a good few minutes away from the hospital itself. She’d understand that now was the best time to actually go and complete the other few missions that they had in store for the day. She knew that something like helping in the construction industry would be great for her. Perhaps now Typhon could at least see why exactly this job was picked primarily for her expertise. She just knew that this certainly was going to be some amount of fun to help people around the area. Yet Ryumi was curious about Typhon and why he decided to run off with her in the first place. Purple eyes staring at the back of the mans skull like she’d somehow get information that way. A sudden shift of weight along from her right to her left as she suddenly spoke while walking with him.

“Gotta say, that was pretty ballsy to just up and leave like that, I don’t think many hospitals would employ you after that? Although you probably don’t care about that right?” She asked with a small smile as they walked across the sandy path and made their way towards the site where the construction would be held. In which the two of them came face to face with a woman who looked as though they were way outta the village. Ryumi had never even heard of that accent beforehand. Ryumi however, decided to simply go with her normal greeting, hand over one another before bowing before the women with a fur coat. Their slightly pudgy face didn’t really bother anyone it seemed. Ryumi was rather impressed that this would be the womens first time working underneath Shinobi. Yet it was the best way for the both of them to at least have some amount of fun with this assignment.

‘Don’t worry! We’ll make sure that this goes off without a hitch!” Ryumi shouted in enthusiastic glee at the prospect of helping fill in whatever the women needed. Taking a small amount of time to stretch, Ryumi knew that this was certainly going to take a bit of time. At least they could hopefully do everything that was needed in a responsible amount of time. Yet the sudden jab at her muscles potentially being for show had the Hiyu clan member give Typhon a small little chuckle.
“You’re gonna be eating those words soon-” She said before one handing three bags of concrete without so much as a spec of sweat leaving from her brow and also would begin with the process. Having a small smirk as they’d slowly pill the pit with the concrete powder. Concrete worked mainly hardening through moisture, as such they’d need some amount of water in order to mix everything together. Unless this type of concrete powder was different then regular kinds of concrete.

“Y’know! I’m sure we can get most of this done before it reaches Noon!” She blurted out with a big smile plastered on her face. Parts of her jeans and shirt had gotten some of the powder on it. Yet the Hiyu did not mind it, as she knew that these clothes were beginning to age out as time went on. She’d need to find similar clothing eventually.

“So Typhon… Do you have a team by any chance?”

WC:844
TWC:3991

Ryumi showed little hesitation in following Ty out the window and away from the hospital. She commented about how it was risky to leave without paying, but the Canopic hardly cared. He wasn't afraid of bill collectors or soft doctors that developed God complexes while their patients whither away. He held no sympathy for their cause, lining their pockets in the name of health.

"It'd cost them more to track us down than the blood and gauze we used. I wouldn't worry about it." He would laugh as they walked.

Ryumi clearly had energy, but she was polite enough with the customer of the construction job. As soon as Typhon had challenged her strength however, she would get all that spirit back and then some. She was clearly stronger than Ty, though that much was visibly obvious. With the kunoichi's help the carrying of heavy bags was so much easier. He was very thankful to not have to carry it all by himself. As the sun started to get high in the sky the foundation of the little shop would fill up bit by bit. The pair of shinobi were working well together and the job would be done in only a little while. Then they would need to move on to the next on their list.

Ryumi inquired about Typhon's team and he would happily answer, "I do have a squad. I'm a member of Team Winter. You might recognize a couple of our members. Both Yamato and Morio fought in the recent Nova exams. Now that I think of it, I still haven't congratulated Morio on his promotion." He would make a mental note to do so the next time he saw the blacksmith. He was truly impressed with the young man and knew that if any of the members of Team Winter deserved the cloak it was him.

Once they had finished filling in the foundation of the building, Ty would wipe sweat off his brow and let out a sigh of relief. He was glad to be done, and his sore muscles agreed. His breathing had started getting shallow and the heat of the day was starting to show.

"So.. " He would fall into a short coughing fit before continuing, "Where to next?"

(WC 377)
(TWC 3156)