Scale wasn't sure what to think of Ochre Dockyard in the slightest. She had never quite been one for travelling to begin with, and honestly she was glad that Matter mostly quietly kept to herself throughout the journey. Issiq itself was- not great either. Scale had always felt oddly comforted by the weirdly moist region of L'hatzif so the dry air of Issiq was- unsettling, to say the least. The only reason she was in the dry land was because of a promise that had been made with Bloo. Some sort of trade, he had explained. He had traded the people of the Dockyard some products that didn't grow well there, and in return the physician there had offered to help teach two Xunari in his colony a thing or two about healing. It had sounded like a weird trade deal to Scale, but since it would benefit her greatly, she hadn't asked any questions about it. She urged Matter along, who had gotten distracted looking into the window of some shop. Bloo had given them strict instructions to look for Quetzalcoatl first thing after they arrived, having arrange for the elder to pick the two up from the dockyards.

She eventually spotted a Xunari who looked like the one Bloo had described, a purple-ish hornless Tsabhua who had promised to tie a red piece of cloth around her legs to be easier for Scale and Matter to spot. "Hi there." Scale approached her, and was instantly met with a kind smile. "You must be Scale?" Quetzalcoatl asked, to which scale nodded and confirmed. "And this must be Matter, then." Matter shy'd away a bit, hiding part of her long body behind Scale, before finding some courage and nodding. "That's everyone accounted for then. My name is Quetzalcoatl. I hope your journey went well." Scale hummed in vague agreement "It's weird and dry here." she stated after thinking a bit. "I don't like it much." Quetzalcoatl laughed at that "I'm sure it's very different from L'hatzif. The hospital isn't far from here, so we'll be there in no time if you just follow along." "Matter doesn't talk much," Scale started noticing the older Tsabhua glance in her friend's direction "She can, I just don't think she liked it much." Matter softly nodded at the statement. "That's alright- I was just worried I was making her uncomfortable. I'm sure your friend

appreciates you standing up for her, that's very brave of you." Scale blushed a bit, unsure what to do with the praise. "Koi says it's always good to help out others. At least, that what she said when I asked her if she could try growing some herbs in her greenhouse." she paused a bit, thinking. "I don't think they're growing very well," from the corner of her eye she saw Matter nod in agreement, "but I don't think she'd like it if I reminded her of that, so I haven't said anything." seemingly thinking about something else, Quetzalcoatl said "It's good that Koi is growing herbs though. They're very important, and many tribes and colonies forget because they think food is more important." she sighed "And I mean, it is, until you need something to fight off an infection." Scale nodded, and looked at Matter as she felt a nudge in her side. Her companion gestured at a nearby bush- which confused Scale for a moment until she realized- "Matter helps Blue out all the time cuz he gets tangled in bushes, an he's always had to walk allll the way over to a bigger colony to get the

herbs to put on it. which is why we asked Koi for the herbs." Quetzalcoatl nodded kindly "That's good! See that big building over there? That's the hospital." Scale gasped and looked over at Matter. "Race you there?" and without another word they were off. Arriving a few minutes after, not bothering to run after the two, the elder smiled down kindly at the two younger Xunari. "How about I introduce you two to today's patient?" The two nodded excitedly "Remember- it's just a small surgery, which is why you two get to watch, but they still don't feel well, so be kind." the two nodded, this time clearly trying to calm themselves down a bit. Quetzalcoatl slowly opened the doors to one of the rooms, where a young Belemoid sat nervously. Quetzalcoatl talked to him for a bit, briefly explaining the surgery and such, until gesturing to Matter and Scale. "And these will be the assistants for today. I believe I mentioned them to you before?" The purple belemoid nodded. "Well, Matter, Scale- this is Pank. He's the one coming in for the surgery today" Scale nodded seriously, "We'll take good care of you." she said, with Matter excitedly

nodding behind her.