12929/Calling Card

Calling Card
Date of Scene:	30 September 2022
Location:	Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Bunny meets with Saki and chooses to join up with the Foot
Cast of Characters:	Shredder, Bunny Macleod

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Shredder has posed:
    Late afternoon. It's a drizzly one at that. Rain doesn't pour down, but the mixing smell of car exhaust is muted a bit by the light precipitation. No puddles have formed yet, but the ground is damp, and gives a little nourishment to the struggling tufts of grass that try to grow in between the concrete joints of the sidewalk.

    Immortal Dragon Dojo is not remarkable. It is another store front among many in Brooklyn, right next to a deli, with a japanese red and gold dragon scrawling across the top of it. The door is clean, the sign is clean. The large front window is clean. Everything is clean and tidy. A group of students, variable in age, are taking a bow before their sensei, a short, strong looking japanese man with a fu man chu and a bald head. Their black uniforms have a red three-pronged fire on the back of them encircled.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    A late afternoon, drizzly, in New York City. Bunny had skated past this dojo a number of times, she'd even stopped at the deli next door when she was hungry on a route, but there was not much that held her interest in the dojo; she wasn't that sort of person.

    Until recently, anyway.

    She takes a deep breath, and she looks at the metal card with the Foot symbol on it, standing out in the rain with her happy yellow rubber ducky-colored umbrella.

    She quietly undid the laces on her skates, and she stepped out of each skate, and carefully into the dojo, folding her umbrella up. She was wearing sky blue leggings with clouds, a lilac skirt with sparkling stars, and a maroon sweatshirt that was a couple sizes too large for her, zipped up and the hoodie down to show her bright, bright pink hair, pulled back in a pair of ponytails.

    She literally stuck out like a sore thumb here, and it felt so friggin *awkward* for her to stand to the side, holding that metal card in her palm so hard that her hand was beginning to tingle.

Shredder has posed:
    Nobody even looks, maybe that makes it less awkward. Maybe more. The man's English is not the best, he finishes the final round of excersizes, and the students are dismissed. They return to the side of the mat, picking up their footwear before starting on their way out of the dojo. A few glance in Bunny's direction, the casual nod that people give to strangers when eye contact is made, but nothing more.

    Once they are out, the short, hard looking Japanese man gives a brown-eyed stare to Bunny. "Who are you?" he asks in a short direct question, still standing on the mat.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny, who is short, brightly colored, and awkward, gives her thousand-watt smile to the folks who are leaving as if it would make it less awkward.

    It doesn't.

    She does, however, physically jump when addressed by the stern Japanese man, and she gives a squeak out of "BUNNY!" and then tries to compose herself, and she produces the metal card Karai had given to her.

    "I-- my name's Bunny Macleod. Karai told me I should come here, and ask for Oroku Saki." she states.

    Her knees are quivering. She's definitely fighting that 'flight' instinct.

Shredder has posed:
    There is a mouthed, but not audible 'oh' that comes over his face, and he suddenly seems a bit more casual. He gives a look over Bunny, as if assessing her nervous quiver, and then turns away from her and moves to the door to the back office. He opens it, and speaks inside before turning back to her. "One moment," the man says, and then...just stands there for several seconds. How many is unclear, but soon enough a much taller Japanese man appears in the door as he opens it, wearing a black and purple gi. A scar is on his left cheek.

    "I am Oroku Saki," he says, his voice calm and certain. His English is far less accented, though a hint of Japan still lingers in his voice. "What can I do for you?" he asks. His steel colored eyes drift down to the card in her hand, and back up to her face.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny stood still a moment, as if, like her namesake, she might take off and run into the street and flee Oroku Saki as he comes out the doorway -- the other man must be Tatsu, she determines from Karai's words. She takes a deep breath, and then as she studied on a quick search of Japanese manners, she bows from the waist, and offers Karai's card with both hands to Oroku Saki.

    "Karai, Bebop and Rocksteady rescued me from possibly being captured in a lab for mutants. She told me that my skills might be useful, and if I wanted to learn how to defend myself -- and other mutants -- I should speak to You. Sir." Bunny explains, keeping her bow. She's *trying* to be respectful, her Brooklyn accent getting softer as she gets serious, her shoulders tight, all her muscles tense.

    She's afraid.

Shredder has posed:
    Saki takes the card, examining it as if there was something more to it than there is. He makes no indication of the bow being appropriate or proper, or the reverse. He hands the card back as simply.

    "You have come with a mind to learn to protect, yet you are afraid of me," he announces without ceremony. "Why is that? Have I done something to make you uncomfortable?" he asks. The question comes almost as if there is a hidden test within it.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny straightens, and she accepts the card back.

    "I've seen Karai effortlessly move around in a chaotic possible gunfight. Her allies wrecked the office, the lab, part of the parking garage-- but you guys, you're protectin' mutants. An' other people. If someone like Karai calls you 'Master', isn't that reason enough to respect and fear?" she questions, her blue eyes rising up to look to Saki's steel gray. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest. "I don't know enough to not be afraid." she states in honestly, and she gives a nervous swallow.

Shredder has posed:
    "Fear is like a dagger," Saki says directly, his posture like a statue. "When it is pointed toward your enemy, it is powerful and dangerous to them. When it is pointed toward yourself, it is powerful and dangerous to you." He touches his fingertips against each other, as if holding a ball between them.

    "Karai calls me master because I teach and lead her. But it is not because I control her." He raises the eyebrow that is touched by his scar. "I can teach you to protect, and I can teach you to fight. But most of all, you must have heart. You must teach yourself that. Those who join me must be ready to make their own decisions. I do not prize mindless servitude. You must tell me, Bunny Macleod. Are you here to be guided like a sheep? Or to be shrewd like a serpent?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Neither." Bunny states quickly, surprising even herself as she draws up to her full five-foot-one, and then looks thoughtful, and she gives a small swallow. "I'm here to become... a hawk." she states quietly, "To strike hard, from nowhere. To be able to kill the serpents, to harry the sheep. I want to be sharp, to be *fast*, and to fear no storm or man." she explains, and then she settles her arms to the side, and looks up to Oroku Saki, this tiny roller-skating girl with her bright, ridiculous colors.

Shredder has posed:
    A smile creeps across the tall master's face. "A hawk. It was not one of the options I provided. Excellent. Then quickly, take me to the ground, show me how fast you are!" He takes a step forward, powerful and planted as if he is going to strike. He doesn't, however, as if expecting her to make the first move.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny seems taken aback, and she pokes her feet a little into the ground as she gives a soft 'uh...' in panic, and as a child who has not seen very many martial arts movies, she decides to take him up on it.

    She's fast for someone who's not had any real training aside from 'on the job', and Oroku Saki is inviting an untested girl to try and take him down. She moves into his space, and tris to bring her heel, clad in a brightly colored sock, down against the back of his knee and shove her small body against his to try and put him off-balance, if not over.

Shredder has posed:
    Her strike lands, but it's like striking a rock, and his leg doesn't buckle. Her impact seems to go nowhere. He gives a quick shove at her shoulder with an open palm. It's not enough to knock down, but enough to show that it could. "Faster, harder. You do not believe you can take me down. You must believe that you can defeat your opponent in order to overtake them. Why should you be the one to fight? Why should you not leave it to those who are stronger?" he asks, the questions coming fast on the heels of her attempt.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "I'm not afraid of a fight!" Bunny growls as she stumbles backwards, but she keeps her feet about her, braces, and she throws a very inexpert -- but at least properly formed punch at Oroku Saki's shoulder.

    "I can't take you down *yet*." she states with just a little air of teenage bravado. "I can be stronger. I've *got* to get stronger. People gotta step up tot he fight, they've gotta learn that defending themselves is okay too!" she replies, her heart beating fast again.

Shredder has posed:
    The punch lands on his shoulder, Saki taking the blow, and he gives a stern face of approval. "Good!" he declares. "This world lives in a childish misdirection. They disapprove of violence, yet they expect others to protect them. They ask for heroes, but what they need is family. They crave dignity, but survive on ego. Most long for heaven, but have settled for the sky. If you wish to take this path, I will not compromise training if you find that it is too hard. I will not spare your sensibilities, and I will not grant you the second best of anything you do. Can you accept that?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Saki takes the blow, and he... approves. That's weird.

    But it does appear that with Bunny, he's struck a chord.

    They ask for heroes.

TWhat they need is family.

    Her eyebrows rise up, as if this was a moment of clarity, and her mouth forms a little 'o', lower lip hanging a moment before she looks up to Saki.

    "I can accept that." she states, drawing back her arm, and trying to hide rubbing her knuckles behind her back.

Shredder has posed:
    "Good," Saki says, returning to a more natural standing position. It still seems like one ready to fight. "You will be here to train when the time is scheduled," He declares, not yetting giving the schedule. "Do you have family?" Clearly she is not yet eighteen, though he hasn't talked about permission slips or anything of that nature, or even asked what her powers are.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "... it doesn't matter. As long as deliveries are done then they don't even notice me. They didn't notice even when Karai broke my ankle, 'cept to tell me how useless I am when I'm hurt an' how much money Dad lost when he had to pick me up." Bunny answers back. She stands at attention, though loosely as she explains.

Shredder has posed:
    There's a narrowing of the eyes. "Then the answer is no," he says. "A family does not simply seek to gain from you, but to give to you as well. "You will have family," he says. "You will give to them, and they will give to you." He gives an almost imperceptible movement that seems to trigger Tatsu to move from what had been a silent post at the side of the room. "Master Tatsu shall give you your schedule, and give you the information about where you can find the rest of our family in times of need, or when you need a place to retreat."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    ... Oroku Saki is taking this lack of family thing seriously.

    Bunny looks to Tatsu, and tries to grin -- but then quickly tries to quash it down, and she gives a small nod,a nd she takes a deep breath, and then a nod.
    "Thank you," she whispers, and seems to come out of the aggressive moment she displayed with a modicrum of grace to it. She takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.

    "THank you." she states with more conviction to it.