Author's Note: Alright I am starting to add in more of the actual Fire Ferret characters and other pro-bending characters. I am still floored that people are actually following this story. As for the Tahno fans, I am sorry ... I am a fan of him also, but I do see him as being a bit manipulative and sneaky.
Additional Note: Wow, I re-read this chapter when I got back from vacation and I tweaked it a little bit.
Early morning rays streamed through the windows of the gym as the Fire Ferrets made the most out of the horrible time slot given to them. Hasook was barely bending which was irking Mako off to no end. The water bender seemed to be putting no effort into this practice at all which was not good because they had their first match tomorrow night. "Hasook! Come on now, I know you hate mornings but this is the slot they gave us. We have this practice and tomorrow's to get into shape for our first match," boomed Mako. Hasook just grumbled, got into his stance and tried to pretend he cared, or enough to make Mako shut up.
Bolin, trying to ease the mood a bit chimed in, "we have to show everyone tomorrow night in our debut to not underestimate the Fire Ferrets. Also I might have bragged to Kisa that she would not have to heal any of us because we are just that awesome." His last sentence was said in a more innocent whisper, hoping that Hasook or Mako were not paying that much attention. The fire bender did overhear and just lightly smirked, still hoping that this Kisa girl was not the typical medical team assistant that just used the job to get annoyingly close to the pro-benders. Hasook just rolled his eyes to Bolin's statement while moving into a more offensive team position. They continued to work as hard as they could, even if only two of them were giving it their best effort. All through out practice Mako wondered if Hasook would work out this season, unfortunately it was their only option at this point.
Meanwhile, Kisa yawned while walking down a hallway with a checklist in her hand. The seminar was short and mainly covered expected daily duties besides being on standby during matches. She was wearing the uniform of the medical staff, a beige colored, slightly oversized scrub-like outfit. It sadly did nothing for her figure, but the uniform was free so there would be no complaints from the healer at all. For the rest of her shift they were checking medical supplies in all of the first-aid kits. Her footsteps were getting close to where she needed to be, the main practice gym. At the door she could hear some movement inside so she knocked on the door and announced herself, "Medical staff, we are here to check supplies in the first aid kit."
Mako heard the introduction and replied back, "come on in, just be careful OK." He then seen a cute girl bow and enter into the practice gym, her brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail swished and almost bounced a bit with each step the healer took. Kisa quickly made it toward the first aid kit and started checking things over and checking off a list. Her blue eyes then scanned over the rest of the team and noticed that it was the Fire Ferrets. She did not know what to do, she did not want to interrupt practice at all so she just stayed silent for now. Besides, Mako just gave her the vibe of 'please don't interrupt us'.
Just as Kisa was checking the complete lack of medical gauze in the first aid kit, she jumped almost ten feet when Bolin finally noticed that she was in the room and happily spoke, "KISA! What are you doing here? … Miss me already?"
After the healer slightly calmed down a bit she finally responded, "well you guys were practicing so I did not want to interrupt. I am here checking medical supplies in the first aid kit, and this one is practically empty. So I'll be back in a few I am going to get everything that is needed here." She really didn't want to interrupt things so she waived goodbye to the Fire Ferrets and took off to go get the medical supplies.
As soon as Kisa was outside of the room Hasook slightly nudged Bolin and slyly asked, "wow, she is cute, Bolin, nice catch. Soooo … she got any friends with those nurse cuties?"
Bolin quickly responded, "I don't think so, Hasook, in fact Kisa just moved from the South Pole a few weeks ago because of this position. And given that some of the medical assistants were making fun of her yesterday … I would go with negative on the second question."
Mako quickly chimed in, "Hassok, from what I hear the medical assistants just chase after players from the hot teams to get their 15 minutes of fame with them. Please try and avoid that drama." He was almost happy to hear that this Kisa girl did not get along with the medical assistants, but it was a bittersweet moment. Mako pondered for a second why the rest of the medical staff might hate her but it was a fleeting thought when he realized that they were wasting time and snapped the team back into attention.
After exiting the practice gym, Kisa walked down the hallway while mentally going over the checklist of supplies she needed to bring back. Thankfully, she looked up just in time to almost not run into a group of a few people. She looked up to see some people in some very nice outfits and a few of the medic assistants mixed in. Immediately one of the girls in a medical assistant outfit glared, snapped and made a comment of, "Look where you are going girlie, this team is the former Champions, The Wolfbats, if you hurt them you would have been sooooo fired. Right, Tahno."
Kisa bowed and said, "I am sorry I was … I got distracted by restocking list in the practice gym and I am sorry." Upon hearing Tahno's name though she wanted to cringe, he was the reason the girl's earlier were being cruel. However, now was not the time to start a fight with him or any pro-bender for that matter. Tahno then looked over the timid girl and just smirked a bit. He had to admit for a medic, she had an innocent sweetness charm that made him want to play around with this girl a little bit. It would not be right now, but the gears in his mind were spinning up with ideas on how to make Kisa a This girl was no where near fawning over him, so maybe she needed to be educated a bit or even better he would make it a game. 'Wait a second that new team was practicing in there maybe I could use this,' Tahno thought and a light curl took over his lips.
"Now, now, girls, be nice. After all, if anything happens to me I would love to be in this beautiful ladies expert medical and healing care. I am Tahno, water bender for the Wolfbats, and I would like to know your name, miss healer," Tahno softly cooed while extending his hand.
Kisa was almost taken back a bit, this famous Tahno guy just stood up for her a bit. She painted maybe the wrong picture for him. She shook his hand and while warmly smiling said, "Kisa, my name is Kisa. I just started working for the medical pro-bending team this season. Nice to meet you Tahno. Oh wait a second here, can I look at something if you don't mind Tahno?" Kisa noticed while lightly shaking his hand, a tendon felt off, almost strained. Given that Tahno was a pro-bender this was not good at all, and could leave to complications down the road if left without proper treatment.
Tahno looked at Kisa weirdly and just shrugged while letting her examine his hand. He could tell that this was agitating his little flock, all the more reason to continue to enjoy this moment. Kisa was lightly touching his hand and wrist area and let a small 'ah ha!' out when she found where the strain was. She then pulled some water out and soon it was glowing while healing the tendon in his hand. She was lightly smiling while looking up to Tahno and said, "there all better, it was nothing major but a strained tendon can become a nasty issue pretty quickly." Tahno was almost taken a bit back by her ability and looked at his hand while moving it. He did not want to say anything but he could feel that it was a little easier to move it.
"Kisa, it is refreshing to see such a talented healer working for us this year. Keep it up and I just might have to personally ask you to be the Wolfbats personal medical healer this season," he complemented while lightly smiling. He could feel the eyes of all of the other females staring her down, perfect. Kisa had no clue what to say, she was flattered, but she could feel the dark vibe trying to drown her out of existence. So she took this as an opportunity to leave.
"Well talk to my supervisor if you want to, Tahno, but I have no say over my own schedule. However, right now I am sorry I have to leave and get the kits stocked for this season. It was nice meeting you Tahno," she spoke while taking her leave. She almost lightly skipped down the hallway because It was a bit of a rush, almost exhilarating, using her abilities to find an injury and heal it before it became a problem. However, her rush was mellowed out because something just did not seem right back there. The healer was unable to put her finger on it, so she dismissed those thoughts for now. Once at the supply area she got what was needed to restock the first aid kit, put the items inside a basket and left a note saying what she took. Kisa then swiftly made her way back toward the practice gym.
Outside the door, basket in hand, Kisa exhaled a bit, trying to calm down her nerves down a bit knowing that Bolin was on the other side of the door. Once inside she could hear Mako saying that is was a wrap and lecturing Hasook a bit on needing to make the most out of tomorrow's practice. She made her way toward the first-aid kit and started restocking the necessary supplies. She was lightly smiling while stocking the supplies and tried to focus on her job to prevent herself from getting overwhelmed about Bolin.
She was starting to put some bandages away when she turned to see Mako right next to her and staring. Kisa jumped a bit while startled eyes looked at the firebender's golden eyes. "I … I …. hello Mako, Mako right? I …. what do you want?" she barely got out still freaked by his sudden appearance. Mako just stared at her a bit and put a finger to his mouth, like he was silently asking the girl to calm down and keep quiet. Kisa could hear Bolin say something about hitting the showers and Mako saying he will be right there. Kisa continued to be in a bewildered state then Mako finally spoke, "yes, it is Mako, Kisa. Soooo … what do you want from him, my brother, Bolin?"
Kisa's continued to show confusion on it as she answered, "Mako, I have no clue what you are talking about."
The protective brother quickly snapped, "listen, Kisa, I care about my brother and I don't want to see him hurt. I mean … what are you hoping to get out of him? Are you just trying to use him to get closer to the other pro-benders?"
Kisa still very confused and with a blank stare on her face responded back with, "I still have no clue what you are talking about, Mako. I hung out with Bolin and I … I had a great time with him. All I want is to just enjoy living in Republic City and do great at my pro-bending medic job because I want to be a great healer and medic. I enjoy last night with Bolin because I feel like I can just be myself around him. I don't get this whole get closer to pro-bender thing you are talking about, Mako, I am a pro-bending medic so I can get more practice and get better with healing. … I am still confused why are you asking me this?"
Mako was observing Kisa the entire time and realized that maybe he could have jumped to conclusions too soon. His face relaxed a bit while responding back, "nevermind, Kisa, like I said I am protective of Bolin and I don't want to see him hurt, that is all. But you seem to be a genuine person, I will leave you alone now."
Kisa just nodded and said, "OK, ahhhh see you around, Mako," while the fire bender left. She was still confused about what had happened, and just hoped it was a one- off incident. She then went back to re-stocking the cabinet with a few more things. Once it was full she double checked the list and was about to head back and see what else needed to be done. Although she was pretty sure by now the other miscellaneous medical first aid kits have been refilled too by the other medics.
In the hallway she saw Bolin walking and the earth bender very happily headed toward Kisa and greeted her, "Hey, Kisa. Sorry we didn't get to talk to much at practice. It is just … well … my brother and we the Fire Ferrets have got to focus. Our first match is tomorrow and now is not the time to slack off."
Kisa just responded while adding, "Yeah, I can see that your brother is pretty serious, but at least he cares about you a lot. It is OK, I had a job to do as well, so it is not like you were ignoring me on purpose." The healer lightly smiled and hoped that Bolin would continue talking instead of a quick, small apology for earlier.
Bolin lightly laughed as the Mako being serious comment and added, "yeah, he is pretty serious about … well … everything, but he means well. Oh hey speaking of our first match is tomorrow night. You should come cheer us on. I'll even take you to some of the best seats in the house."
Kisa beamed a smile and responded with, "sure, I would love to watch. I am pretty sure I have the afternoon matches for medic duty, but I will check my schedule. I … I will meet you … ummmm …. where should I meet you? If I am not there just know that means I am working, but I am pretty sure I am not for the evening matches."
Bolin's smile grew happy to hear that Kisa accepted his invite. "just stay still somewhere where it is staff and pro-benders only and I will come find you, Kisa, OK."
Kisa nodded and then realized that she had been spending a while in the hallway with Bolin and needed to get back to work to make sure everything got taken care of. To top it off the healer had no time to spare because Kisa had a shift at Penguin Noodles tonight. She gave Bolin a light hug and said, "I am sorry I have to go, got work tonight at Penguin Noodles. But I can't wait for tomorrow, goodbye Bolin." Kisa then took off toward the medical room to make sure that everything had been taken care of, and wanted to double check the schedule too. She did not know though this entire time the people walking the hallways were observing the two smirking.
Once inside the medical room Kisa was still on a slight joyous high of being able to see Bolin again, and getting to watch his first match. She quickly checked the list and noticed that everything was taken care of and good to go. After checking in with the medical supervisor who told her to go home and get some rest; Kisa headed toward the locker rooms for the female medical staff. Once inside she felt cold stares glaring at herself. Finally one of the girls snarkily said, "well well if it isn't miss perfect Kisa, little miss hand healer, little miss you are now all Tahno talks about. He even put in a request to try and get you to be the medic for the Wolfbats tomorrow afternoon. We all put our time in here, so don't you dare think that we will let this slide. If you want to get to Tahno or the any of the other Wolfbats, you will have to go through us first."
"I just healed his hand because I am a healer, his tendon was strained, I noticed it when I shook his hand. I am not going to stop healing or taking care of people because of who they are," Kisa shot back. It was a bit out of character for her, but she healed Tahno's hand because it was strained no other reason. Besides, if Kisa wanted to be forced on anyone's team, it would be the Fire Ferrets not the Wolfbats. All that Wolfbat team seemed to come with was drama. "If you want to be scheduled for those matches, just talk to the person in charge of the schedules. I don't have any control over the schedules, I just follow them," she added. The girls seemed to have backed up a little bit while Kisa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Well then at least you understand the ground rules, just be sure to not break them," the girl shot back and slammed her locked door closed. Kisa just wanted to get changed and get out of there as quickly as possible. She put on her outfit for Penguin Noodles, checked her schedule which was thankfully the earlier matches so she would be able to see the Fire Ferrets debut. The downfall was that one of those matches was the Wolfbats.
Once outside Kisa inhaled a few slow breaths of air and started her walk toward Penguin Noodles. She thankfully had a bit of time to spare, so no need to dash through the streets to get to work. She started to let her mind wonder about everything that had happened recently and could not help but smile a bit. Sure there was a bit of drama with Tahno and that whole thing, but as long as she stayed out of that limelight she could avoid any unwanted attention. As she continued to walk the streets someone looked her over and handed her a sheet of paper. The guy softly whispered, "you look like you could use this," and then took off. Kisa's light blue eyes looked over the sheet of paper and was a bit taken back that it was a poster about a meeting. What type of meeting she had no clue, Kisa was mainly interested in how one looks like they could need a meeting invite. She continued to stare at the piece of paper and folded it up, knowing she would try and figure it out later, curiosity slowly getting to the healer.
Soon Kisa was outside of Penguin Noodle and ready to start her next shift, and boy did she want tonight to fly by. Mainly because her mind was now focused on her first real shift as a pro-bending medic and she was going to get to watch Bolin tomorrow and her first real pro-bending match. Yeah, it was probably going to be a long night just for that reason alone.
Author's Note: OK I know this is a short chapter and I am sorry for that. As always feel free to leave me feedback and comments and yes, that was an Equilist poster handed over to her. Sneak Preview for Chapter 4: Kisa has her first real day as a pro-bender and finally gets to see her first pro-bending match.