Day 65: Sun Room

[fallenbeanpole]

His nurse had whisked him away from breakfast as soon as the intercom’s voice faded.  Surprisingly, she didn’t take him to the shower rooms, instead bringing him to the Sun Room (as she called it), explaining that since this was his first day he would be allowed to skip the showers.  Besides, it would be good to let his injuries heal a little more.

 

He’d passed through this room on the way to breakfast, but hadn’t really paid much attention to it the first time.  Now that he was standing here, the Once-ler understood why it was called the Sun Room.

 

Despite the fact that it was cloudy outside, there was still far more natural light coming in through the ceiling windows than he had seen in a long time.  The Once-ler stood still for a few moments, simply staring up.  It seemed almost like a dream, really.  The valley never got brighter than twilight, even at noon.  There was too much smog in the air to let any more light through.

 

After a few minutes, he shook his head.  Anybody who saw him just standing in the middle of the room would probably have questions about it, and he did not relish the thought of explaining himself to a stranger.  He glanced around the room itself, spotting the bulletin board Soma had talked about during breakfast.  The Once-ler decided that was a good place to start, and hobbled on over to get a closer look.

 

[For Nina, I believe?]

Comments

[awokentospring]

Having left breakfast still thoroughly convinced he was either dreaming or incarcerated by mistake, Lee thought it best to seek out someone who could return him to the war. And if that didn't work, he would just wait to wake up. His nurse, Todd, refused help, claiming in that nice and enthusiastic way of his that he would first need to be okay'd by a doctor before that would be allowed. Any subsequent requests to meet with a doctor were then denied. Apparently it was up to The Head Doctor whether "Bruce" would be permitted to have a doctor's visit, and visits didn't begin until the next day.

A little irritated by his dream's lack of cooperation, Lee pouted for a bit before just deciding to allow the illusion to run it's course. He would soon be waking up on his cot and sent out to join the front lines again! But until then he supposed he would indulge.

When Todd asked if Lee wanted to visit the arts and crafts room, the shinobi almost agreed, but then his eye caught that bulletin board he had passed earlier that morning and he asked to stop. What he read troubled him. It seemed the other patients here were suffering from sickness and odd cases of butterflies in their stomachs. If that was the case, then that surely meant they were sick! Truly, honestly sick! Even if they were just part of his dream.

Writing up an encouraging note on remembering to eat healthy and work out, Lee found himself even less inclined to just go to arts and crafts. Instead, he took himself to a corner of the Sun Room and started on a set of two hundred push-ups. Just because he was sleeping didn't mean he could fall behind in his training either! And his nurse did not object, so Lee was left to his own devices. At least, for the time being.

[For Dr. Facilier~]

[doctor_voodoo]

[From here.]

Having left the showers with no interruptions, Facilier swiftly strode his way to the Sun Room towards the bulletin board. By now he already had a series of messages planned out in his head for him to write, and he was anxious to do so as soon as possible.

Much to Facilier's relief, the usual annoying traffic clogging up the message board had begun to clear up. The tall spindly Bokor made his way to his destination and grasped for a few papers and a pen to write with. Before writing anything, he took a moment to read the already existing notes to get an idea of what was going on with the patient population.

Standing with his arms folded behind his back, Facilier's eyes darted through the notes until a new stranger came up to join him in front of the board. Frowning slightly, Facilier glanced down to find a dark head of hair which he immediately recognized as a basic bowl-cut style. The owner of the bowl-cut was a young man with big eyes and even bigger eyebrows, all of which expressed great concern as he began to write a rather earnest-looking note.

Once the odd boy moved away from the board, Facilier couldn't help his curiosity and took a look at the note he left. A hollow chuckle shook his shoulders but failed to leave past his lips. The youth had left the most cheery yet most ignorant letter about that virus some people had caught! "Silly boy..." Facilier thought to himself, "He's either that stupid or he be new here..." As he pondered this, Facilier's eyes followed the dark-haired fellow and smirked to himself as his target began a series of enthusiastic push-ups. "Yep, definitely new..."

Deciding to put his notes away in his pocket for now, Facilier quietly approached the boy. Everything about the fellow set off all of Facilier's "sucker" alarms, perhaps there was something about the lad which he could make great use of?

Smiling to himself, Facilier silently approached the exercising fellow from behind, allowing his thin shadow to slowly grow over his bobbing head and down the floor before him. "Good afternoon!" Facilier greeted, "Y'all training for the Olympics or something?"

[awokentospring]

With the lack of chakra around Lee found it impossible to preempt surprise visitors, but he was not completely out of his element. The sound of footsteps indicated a presence closing in, and the cadence of the steps suggested an easy-going gait. No threat detected. When the shadow feel over him, Lee was hardly surprised and he answered the voice without stopping his push-ups.

"I am training my body for personal betterment! If people are sick, then it is best to get on top of the game and do all that I can to remain healthy!" Lee spoke with great enthusiasm ringing through every word. He was hardly winded, even while doing his exercises. "One must always be prepared for anything. Even if I am detained here for the time being, or even if this is a dream, I must not fall behind!"

[doctor_voodoo]

"Is that so?" Facilier bent down slightly, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at the lad's face. The boy may have some vacancy in his skull, but he was obviously an athlete, but for what sport?

"A very amiable attitude, if I say so myself!" he replied, taking two long-legged steps to the side to better face the youth. "But I'm afraid I may have to burst that little bubble of yours... That sickness everyone's been talking about is no average cold, and I'm afraid this ain't no dream." Smiling darkly, Facilier added in a low purr, "Do you even know where you are right now?"

[awokentospring]

Lee grinned, happy to see that someone else understood the importance of daily training. But the more the man talked, the weaker that smile became until it dissolved into a Very Serious expression.

Lee's thick eyebrows knit together in concern. "I am in the place known as 'Landel's'. That is all I know."

Then Lee went very still, paused at the apex of one of his push-ups. He turned his face sharply upward, looking the man full in the eyes for the first time. "... We are still in the Land of Hot Water, though.... Right?"

That was where they had last been stationed, if Lee recalled correctly. Though he had been on the move to join Naruto in his offensive against Tobi before he awakened here. Had he been knocked out and taken someplace different?

[doctor_voodoo]

As the boy's smile shrunk, Facilier's own sarcastic grin grew. "'Land of Hot Water'? I'm 'fraid we aren't..." he answered, contemplating the strange name for a location. A rather exotic-sounding title. This one must be from somewhere in the Far East as well.

"Y'all right 'bout this place being known as Landel's, but there's more to that too sadly," Facilier replied, bending down a little more to meet the lad's eyes. Oh dear... Time to be the bringer of bad news...! Facilier wondered just how much the youth's vain cheeriness could hold up to what he was about to learn...

"They call it Landel's Institute, for the 'mentally insane'," the Bokor gravely explained, straightening back up to tower over the dark-haired youth. "But in reality, it's more like Landel's Limbo for poor trapped souls like us. That, and we're supposedly in the state of New Jersey..."

[awokentospring]

"But I was stolen right away from the front lines!" Using his own arm strength, Lee managed to hold himself off the ground and crossed his legs before sitting back in contemplating. His lips pursed in an almost childish pout, but it was very much a serious frown.

"Mentally insane..." Lee tested the words on this tongue and found them distasteful. He shook his head slightly, disgusted. "I have been called worse things, but I must assure you, I am of a very stable mind."

The scars and bruises that coated his arms suddenly seemed very exposed without his bandages. As if to warm himself, Lee drew his fingers and palms quickly over the splotchy skin. He glanced over to the corner where his nurse was standing among some other staff members. The young man's gaze met Lee's and the ninja could detect a patronizing amount of sympathy there.

Things were starting to make more sense. Unless this was a dream, even despite Mike's rough pinch from this morning.

Lee looked down at his hands, in particular to the line of scars that matted the left all the way down his arm like he had been scoured with sand paper. His voice was soft, petulant, like he was still fighting the truth of the matter. "... I have never even heard of an old 'Jersey' so how can that be right? Am I really..."

[doctor_voodoo]

Stolen from the front lines... The boy must have been a soldier then. It wasn't a terrible surprise to Facilier, what with all the young men who were sent off from his own home town to fight in that war. The extensive damage on the lad's hands and arms further proved this, but Facilier couldn't help but wonder just what caused all those marks. You couldn't get so many scars like that from just using firearms. Just what sort of battles did they have in the land of "Hot Steaming Water"?

Watching the stranger pout and puzzle over this little revelation, an idea popped inside Facilier's shrewd mind. If this boy was a fighter, perhaps he could be of possible service to the Bokor? Having his Shadow's power restored by his deal with Landel could only protect him so much during NS, and the more suckers he had to do the dirty work for him, the better...

"Ah! Just where are my manners?" he suddenly exclaimed. Ignoring the lad's growing distress, the Shadow Man gave a false smile and reached a boney hand down to the youth. "I am Doctor Facilier! And you are...?"

sorry I've been fail the past few days, I'll work harder! (gym)

[awokentospring]

The man didn't seem to mind Lee's own rudeness. He had completely forgotten the old rule of thumb; always introduce yourself when you talk with another. He shook himself from his thoughts and gave a shy smile, slightly embarrassed with himself.

Thankfully, the man was generous enough to forgive his own slight of etiquette. Lee clasped the doctor's hand with a firm grip. "A pleasure to meet you, Facilier-sensei! I am Rock Lee, a proud shinobi of Konoha!"

Lee jumped to his feet, giving the man a salute. "I appreciate your coming to talk with me. I am afraid it is still rather hard to believe this place could really hold me."

No worries! =)

[doctor_voodoo]

Smiling, Facilier gave the boy's hand a good shake, knowing instantly that he was dealing with a strong-willed lad just by the firmness of his grip. That smile faltered slightly with confusion at Lee's greeting. Facilier-sensei? First it was "Facilier-san" from Mr. Seishin, now it had to have a "sensei" at the end as well? What did those terms even mean? Wasn't just plain "Facilier" enough? The other word that puzzled the Shadow man was the shinobi term, that he just had to learn about...

"A shinobi? Forgive me for my ignorance, but what exactly is a shinobi?" Facilier asked with sincere curiosity, thoughtfully rubbing his chin with his boney hand. "It's not something I've ever heard of back in my hometown of New Orleans..."

Pleased by Lee's respectful salute (if only the Loa were this dutiful!) Facilier gave the boy an approving nod of his head. "Ah, I'm 'fraid this place is but an ethereal cage for even the most strongest of souls..." he grimly explained, "A lot of us were different before arriving here. Now we're all but weakened fellows who can only wistfully yearn for our stolen abilities. This 'institute' here has great power that most of us don't understand yet... Y'all should see this place when night falls!"

<333 /snugs~

[awokentospring]

It wasn't completely surprising that Facilier had never heard of shinobi. Lee was fairly certain even most ordinary civilians from the Fire country had never even heard of Konoha village, but that's why it was a "hidden" village. Generally lords and nobility came to shinobi villages for help in matters both serious and trivial. Common citizens either didn't have the coin or the knowledge of the village to ever manage a request of it.

"Yes! A shinobi is a ninja! A warrior of shadow and stealth!" Lee liked to layer on the details in an exciting manner. He had been taught well in the art of grandstanding through observation of his mentor and his methods of attracting attention. "We are trained in several skills, from chakra control and illusions to basic and advanced martial arts! Often our talents are utilized in fulfilling missions brought to us by our clients!"

Being a ninja was a very lucrative business if one managed to break past the genin level. Luckily, despite Lee's handicap when it came to ninjutsu and genjutsu, he still had manged to impress the judges at the tender age of 15 and jumped to the next rank. He was, by no means, a throwaway ninja, as had been expected of him.

"I have not heard of a new Ah-Lands." Lee's attempt to mimic Facilier's pronunciation of his hometown was dismal at best. But he continued to try in earnest. "I have not heard of an old Ah-Lands, either!"

Lee was impressed by Facilier's way with words. He could appreciate the long, poetic-sounding lilt in the man's voice coupled with his use of exotic words that Lee only ever encountered in books. But what the doctor told him was troubling all the same, and he had to put away his admiration in favor of coming to terms with the situation.

"Stolen abilities you say?" Like how Kakashi-sensei copied abilities, or was this something else entirely? Lee leaned forward the slightest bit, suddenly wishing he had a pen and paper in his hands. "The building itself has great power? What is so special about this place at night?"

[doctor_voodoo]

A warrior of the shadows... Facilier truly grinned at the boy, if not almost greedily, knowing that his intuition about Lee's use was spot on. As a mere mortal, the lad would never be as good as Facilier's own Shadow entity, but a stealthy fighter with enough empty space in the skull and a good dose of naivety would make a most industrious servant for the Shadow Man! Facilier couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself at his own finding. "Ah, a ninja! I see! Most impressive indeed!"

It was then that he decided to take this one under his wing -- or more like his long lanky arm, as Facilier placed a hand upon Lee's shoulder and firmly directed him towards one of the windows. "And that would be New Or-Leens. Not Ah-Lands," he taught the shinobi with a casual wave of his hand, "The whole 'new' thing is common in my home country, it's a bit of a history lesson that you'd probably find boring. Don't worry 'bout it!"

Facilier halted upon approaching the nearest window, his hand still on Lee's shoulder. "What you should learn about is what happens once night falls," he explained, gesturing towards the setting sun outside. "Everyone is free to move about the place, but they won't be the only ones roaming the halls here..."

Taking on a serious tone and a grim mask to his face, Facilier turned to face Lee, placing both hands on his shoulders and looking him dead in the eye. "There be monsters and other prisoners controlled by Landel's spell!" he said in a lowered voice, "It be a dangerous place to be alone and helpless, if not an absolute nightmare! Most of us can barely defend ourselves no thanks to Landel's power-stealing schemes!"

Letting those dark words sink in, Facilier released Lee and withdrew his hands behind his back, slouching slightly into a convincingly downtrodden slump. "Perhaps y'all could help me out sometime? I'm just a humble doctor with only a measly costume cane to protect myself with at night..." he said in his best pleading voice, "It would help me feel much more at ease if a proud shinobi such as yourself could accompany me! In the meantime, I can help you survive this place and escape it as well..."

[awokentospring]

Lee allowed himself to be steered along, not at all aware of the gears that turned in the doctor's head. He appreciated the correction, making a mental note that Facilier's country name was not like the ones he was used to, where every one was so simply named as a 'Land of...' whatever personified the country best.

"I will be sure to remember!" Lee beamed. "Thank you for your help! And for the compliment as well!" Not too many people considered Lee impressive until after they saw his skills. It made him all that more determined to not ever be caught lacking in Dr. Facilier's eyes.

Facilier's way of speaking was attention-grabbing, to say the least. Lee was immediately drawn in, his wide eyes widening even further as he listened. Monsters? That wasn't something he was used to; at least, not in the general sense of the word. He had seen demons and he believed in ghosts, but beyond that he was at a loss. He understood that it was Not A Good Thing, however, as the doctor seemed truly bothered by it. It sounded like more elaborate genjutsu, but controlled by someone Lee had never heard of until today.

Someone needed Rock Lee's help. While he was under no obligation to help anyone that the Hokage did not specify, Lee wasn't the type to turn his nose up at an earnest plea.

"Facilier-sensei!" Lee gave a sharp salute, standing as tall as he could and offering the man his most earnest face. "I will indeed help you in any way that I can! As an honorable Konoha-nin with a Spirit of Fire, I will not let you down!" And he meant it. Lee never spoke a word he did not mean with his entire heart and being.