[Moon 8, Afternoon, Distillery] Looking for a Friend (Open)

[Isawa Junpei]

By the afternoon Junpei simply couldn't take it anymore. If he paled any further he would go completely ghost white and throwing up his guts above deck didn't seem to be helping. Headed below decks to the cargo hold, the unlucky Phoenix hoped to find something to ease his misery. Something, anything, a simple mint leaf to chew on was all he needed, just something to ease his stomach and take his mind off the motion of the waves. Stepping into the distillery he braced himself against the door frame, his other hand at his stomach. His vision a touch blurry, he looked into the garden of dried herbs, powders, and poultices. For a second he thought he could still hear the jeering of the more experienced sailors on deck, but shook his head to clear out the echos.

[Volsung]

Junpei found he wasn't alone in the distillery. A young looking eta was there as well and as the Isawa came stumbling down the stairs he watched him with obvious curiosity. The eta watched for a few moments more before standing up and grabbing one of the buckets.

"Is something the matter, Samurai-sama?" He asked, with his head bowed very low.

[Isawa Junpei]

It took effort to focus, and he only half heard what the non-person had said. Still, he had enough presence of mind to shake his head and wave the boy away. "I only need something to calm my humors." Pulling himself together he took a further step into the room, and then another, and another. Looking more closely at the remedies available, he looked for something simple. Body...I hate you sometimes.

[Volsung]

The eta didn't move away at first, merely continued to watch the samurai. But eventually he slowly moved away and sat down again, getting back to whatever it was he was doing, though he spent a great deal of time keeping one eye on the Isawa.

Junpei meanwhile wasn't having much luck finding what he needed. Maybe if the boat stopped spinning and bouncing he could focus for long enough to find it. Each remedy seemed almost more odd than the last. Ivy powder, alligator scale, juniper juice. In the midst of his searching, Junpei's body reminded him that it hated him too because he felt the now familiar stirrings in his belly again as the boat hit a slightly larger wave.

[Isawa Junpei]

Lurching forward he slammed both of his hands down on the table in front of him to keep his balance. Closing his eyes he tried to think of anything other than the ocean. He tried with all his will to keep himself together but there was no amount of mental fortitude that could make up for physical constitution. Shaking his head he motioned to the eta with some amount of urgency to come forward, preferably with the bucket.

[Volsung]

The eta almost looked like he was content to let the samurai spill his guts on the deck, before he remembered that he'd be the one who would have to clean the mess up. Hurrying over with a grace and ease that could only be even more frustrating to the sick Isawa, he offered the bucket with his head lowered once again. "Will Samurai-sama require anything else?"

[Isawa Junpei]

The shugenja's retching was little more than that, the majority of whatever his body could give up having already been sent into the sea. Taking a few moments to let his body work out its natural want to get rid of its internal organs, he once again closed his eyes, resting both his hands on his stomach as though trying to hold it still. "Hai, a towel or wet cloth and a cup of water."

[Volsung]

Luckily, the bucket was decently large and sturdily built, so as long as it didn't tip over there was little fear of anything spilling out. Still, that didn't keep the eta from eying the bucket and the samurai carefully just to make certain before he bowed and quickly scurried off to get the items Junpei had requested.

Having emptied itself for the second time Junpei's stomach settled at least for a little while. Long enough at least for him to be able to stumble to his feet and find the ingredients he was looking for. Apparently someone had already expected that those ingredients would see quite a bit of use during the trip and had thoughtfully put them somewhere where they were easy to get to.

[Isawa Junpei]

Eying them with a certain amount of caution he set the leaves and such into a mortar, grinding them with the adjacent pestle. By the time the eta would return he would have a suitable powder to add to his water after he'd had the opportunity to rinse out his mouth. He would need the remedy to correct the growing earth imbalance in his body. His aerial nature made him all the more susceptible to it in the best of times, but here it was beginning to run amok. Continuing to grind he focused on his task which thankfully took his mind off of the ship.

[Volsung]

By the time the powder was ready, the eta had returned with the towel, the cloth, and the cup of water. He knelt before the samurai and set them down before scooting backwards to be more out of the way, but not so far away that he couldn't get a good look at what was going on.

[Isawa Junpei]

Dabbing his lips with the towel, he then set the damp cloth against his cheeks and forehead, cooling his warm skin. Then, as he had planned he rinsed out his mouth before taking a few pinches of power and adding them to his remaining drink. Letting it steep as much as it could or would without heat, he drank it in a long, slow sip. Continuing to hold the cool cloth against his cheek, he began to feel a touch better.

[Volsung]

"Samurai-sama is a skilled healer." The eta mumbled jut loud enough to be heard. "Will you need anything else?"

It was hard to say how well the powder had worked just yet. Medicine always took awhile to really kick in, but so far he hadn't felt the urge to make another deposit in the bucket. That was a good sign.

[Isawa Junpei]

Whether the purge, the powder, or the sense of having done something for himself that was improving his mood (if nothing else) was up for debate. Still, he was happy for that one moment to not be overcome by the waves. Shaking his head, he let his eyes pass more fully over the pharmacy/distillery assessing the condition of their supplies. While there was no way on earth that they would possess the sheer breadth of remedies available at Kyuden Isawa or the like, he hoped for a good collection. Sadly his earlier sighting of alligator scale dashed his hopes a bit.

[Volsung]

The distillery was fully stocked, which meant the boxes and barrels actually took up quite a bit of space. While it was not the equal of a land based surgery room in terms of breadth of equipment, there looked to be a lot more than he usually saw at any given time back in Kyuden Isawa. Still, the basics were covered, splints, bandages, powders for various ailments, several tiny herbal plants sat in pots in a corner. One corner looked as though it had some rather brutal, though clean looking, surgical equipment. There were oddities to be seen as well, but they were few and far between.

[Isawa Junpei]

In medicine he was little more than a dilettante compared to other Isawa-trained shugenja, but even with his limited understanding (which was still more than most) he seemed content in the knowledge of just how much was on board. "Fortunes bless," he quipped at the eta as a small measure of thanks before turning to leave. He'd gotten what he'd come for and had the rest of the day to look forward to...theoretically.

/exit