The Woman
Shuri was working on mending and improving a lot of her existing devices. Since the Blip (or Snap, depending on who you asked) things were much different and her view of the world felt marred and displaced. How strange it was to blink, and yet somehow 5 years had passed and it was time to fight in a battle for the Universe. So much had changed. More than she could comprehend. But it was time to adapt.
Shuri heard shouting begin down the hall from her lab. Rolling her eyes, she allowed it several moments to resolve itself. She had a guard detail around the clock now. Her brother was far more protective since the War. Though he had every right to be, it was still quite annoying-they were frequently disruptive.
When the shouting only grew closer, she gave a loud huff and made for the doors.
“What is going on!?” Shuri demanded. Her annoyance quickly turned to shock as she saw M’Baku being held back by two persistent guards, demanding he be released as he clutched the body of a woman in his arms. Shuri eyed the woman with curiosity-she was the whitest person Shuri had ever seen! Like an albino! "Who is that?"
M’Baku then spoke, desperate confusion in his tone, “I am not sure, but she needs help. We will make sense of things but first can you help her? Please. I made a promise to her companion.” Shuri faltered, infinitely more curious and entirely alarmed. She had never seen M’Baku like this before. Strange for him to ask her for help.
“You say that like you don’t know who I am…” Shuri said with a slight smile.
“I was being polite,” M’Baku said with a little metal in his face, rolling his shoulders as he looked pointedly at the guards. They released him and stepped back.
“If that is being polite then I would hate to know what nice is like, coming from you,” Shuri said.
A rare moment between them passed. Before the War this kind of interaction would never have happened due to the past animosity between the two tribes. “Come, bring her into the lab and set her down on the table. I'll see what I can do.”
Shuri worked as fast as she could but always with cautious and careful thought. She was not an expert in this practice. While her programs gently walked her through a procedure, she was still a scientist first - not a doctor. Her vibranium tools worked to get the blade out and cauterized some blood vessels to slow and eventually stop some internal bleeding.
Shuri noticed that her body tried to heal itself but the blade nicked the side of a heart ventricle which seemed to slow the healing process. It virtually placed the woman into a deep coma, making her appear basically dead. It was all very odd, but she could work with odd.
She eventually looked up at M’Baku. “When did you realize she was still alive?”
“When the beast that carried her here allowed me to get close. I listened to see if she was breathing...I heard a faint heartbeat.” M’Baku said.
“What kind of beast?” Shuri said with acute curiosity.
With a child-like smile M’Baku said, “I think it is a….dragon.” Shuri’s jaw dropped open, but before she could properly react the system notified them that the woman was becoming conscious.