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Dark Streets, Dark Thoughts

Started by Alegretto, April 16, 2014, 10:07:43 AM

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Alegretto

The darkened streets of Ketra hummed with a low buzz of activity. There certainly wasn't as much bustle as mid-afternoon,  but the darkened roadways were far from silent or empty. People moved quickly in between buildings and along the streets going about there late-night business as fast as they could. Ketra was usually safe at night but it always paid to be careful.

Unless of course you were a six-foot tall lizardman armed with two wicked-looking axes. Then people had a tendency to stay out of your way. It was worth it to be intimidating. Phintil was able to walk with a leisurely pace, quite sure that he wasn't going to be waylaid. After all, who would attack him, and why?

Thus assured, the lizardman continued his walk from one tavern to another. He hadn't found anyone hiring at the last one, but maybe his luck would change at the next. Or the one after that.

He'd find something eventually. There was always somebody who needed a bruiser to do something. Until then, he'd keep looking. What else was there to do?

As he walked by one particularly dark alley, he got his answer. The sounds of a scuffle came to him from the opening. Curses, clattering weapons, shuffling feet, Phintil recognized all the sounds. He considered. There was no good reason to go down there...

But what was the harm in investigating? Carefully, the lizardman stalked down the alleyway, unhooking his right-hand axe as he went.

Anadwen

"It's bust. I told you." Ori turned her head up at the sky. "Boss is gonna give you crap for it, you won't be able to sweep."
"It's just sprained. I'll be fine!" Enedith growled, slowly walking behind her. It was getting dark...
"He'll find out we went roof-climbing again! And ground us." she sighed.
"I'll make something up. He doesn't have to know." Enedith shrugged, and rolled his eyes over. He gripped his right wrist and tried to move it, but his face shifted into a pained grimace after that. "Damn. Maybe you're right." he muttered.

They walked forwards for a while, passing through the dark (and often dirty) alleyways, talking about this and that, till a man appeared in their way. Ori ran straight into him, deep in her daydream, and stared at him like if struck by a lightning. He appeared rough and he was stinky...

Another four appeared around them. The first one grabbed Ori by the shoulder, and pulled the scared girl up. "What do we have... Today's a lucky day. You're pretty like a little flower, eh!" he laughed, and licked his lips. Enedith growled at him, taking an attacking stance despite his injured arm, and he pierced him with a sharp look of his cold eyes.

"Let go off her!" he burst out, reaching after her.
"Because of a punk like you?" the brute returned his look, and pushed him back. Enedith avoided his punch, thrown at his face, and kicked the man into the shin. However, despite the strength of the attack, he received no reaction. Holding Ori with one hand, the man grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him up. He let out a growl of pain, and twitched, kicking into the air in a desperate attempt to get free, but his mind was clouded. Too clouded to do anything meaningful...

"Someone! Hey, someone help! Please! Help m-" Even Ori's screams were silenced by the palm of one of the men. Someone come and help...

Alegretto

Suddenly, screams emerged from the alleyway. Grimly, Phintil unhooked his other axe, arming himself completely. he stepped around a corner and came upon a disturbing scene. In the low-light, it looked as if five grown men were assaulting a pair of kids. Or teenagers, the lizardman could never tell with mammals.

Well, either way, one of the two being attacked was obviously a girl, he could tell those apart easily enough, and that grated on Phintil's nerves quite strongly. The lizardman advanced on the nearest man, and his approach elicited a shout from the man holding the kids. "What the hell is that!"

The men turned around to look at Phintil with startled curses and shouts. The four tried to draw their weapons, but the lizardman didn't give them a chance. He brained the two closest men with the flats of his axe blades and he then proceeded to body-slam the third one into the wall. The fourth actually managed to get a rusty sword out of it's sheath, but the weapon did him little good as it shattered under a single blow from Phintil's well-maintained exes.

He gave the man a huge kick which sent him sprawling before turning his attention to the man holding the two kids. The frightened thug released the boy and threw the girl at Phintil before bolting down the alleyway, his comrades groaning and laid out behind him.

The lizardman dropped his axes so he could catch the girl. He didn't bother going after the last man. Not worth it. Carefully, making sure not to scratch her with her his claws, Phintil set down his surprised charge. "You okay?" he asked her with concern.

Anadwen

Ori blinked at him with her large grey eyes, and slowly nodded. "T-thank you, mister..." she muttered, still obviously confused. "I thought they're gonna... Uh..." She blushed, and grew silent.

Enedith fell to his knees after the brute let go off him, gripping his wrist. That fist messed it even more than it was before... He could feel tears, streaming down his face, but he ignored them. Oh, the agony...

Eventually, Ori remembered, and turned towards him. "Enedith, are you alright? Did he hurt you? You don't look good..." she asked, bending above him in concern. He gave her a nod. "I'm fine." he mumbled through his clenched teeth. An obvious lie, but...

"Thanks for saving us, sir." For a moment, his glance ran up the lizardman's tall figure. Not one to mess with, to say the least.

Alegretto

Phintil grinned at the two kids broadly. "Don't mention it," he told them with false modesty. He was actually feeling quite proud of himself, but there was no need to gloat.

His grin however, turned to a frown as he stared at the two young humans. Well, maybe humans? It was too had to tell in the darkness for him to be sure. "What are you two doing out so late?" he asked them. "The streets an be dangerous," he paused to look meaningfully at the groaning men laid out in the alleyway, "especially for youngster in back alleys."

Anadwen

While helping Enedith stand up, Ori threw a confused glance at the lizardman. They looked at each other, and laughed nervously. "We... Were somewhere out... And we didn't realize it got so late so soon when we were talking... So when we finally went home... It was already late." she explained, scratching her head. He nodded. "And then I fell... And it took us another while kind of... Getting me back together." He held his hand up to prove he was speaking the truth, and leaned onto Ori.

"When we got on our way, it was dark already." she looked down sheepishly.

Alegretto

Phintil stared for a bit longer at the pair almost suspiciously, but then he laughed. Well, laughing for him actually involved opening and closing his frill rapidly, but he'd found that most mammals didn't get the gesture so he'd taken to throwing his had back in a silent imitation of human laughter. His vocal cords couldn't produce the noise, but he could visually mimic it.

"Well alright, seems like a good enough reason to me. I can think of a few times myself when I was out later than I should have been for shaky reasons."

He looked around him in the darkness. "Why don't I take you two the rest of the way. I'm not doing anything right now anyway, and I think that you folks could use an escort." He did the laughing thing again. "I do a lot of work as an escort actually. Well, escorting caravans anyway, but hey, that counts, right?"

Anadwen

"Thank you so much, mister!" Ori gave him a wide and warm smile, and hung one of Enedith's arms over her shoulders to carry him. "But I'm afraid we have to find a healer first, and only then go home."
"I'll be fine, Ori. I can fix that myself. Let's just go home..." Enedith muttered.
"No! I won't let you to be as careless as this... You have to see a healer, and I'll drag you through the street if I'll have to!" she opposed him. He just rolled his eyes over.

"Well, explain him, sir. He'll only hurt himself more if he won't let someone who understands it better than himself take care of him, won't he?" she inquired towards Phintil.

Alegretto

The girl's words had Phintil nodding. "Listen to your friend, boy. Having an amateur tend to injuries can end, well, badly." He thought back to a few times he'd seen comrades attempt field medicine on themselves. "Take my word for it. You should see a professional if you have the opportunity."

Phintil looked around the darkened streets. "I don't really know a professional healer in Ketra," he said sheepishly, "I'm not here often. I assume you two know someone that you can go to?"

Anadwen

They exchanged another nervous look. Ori nodded, and Enedith shook his head. "Well, we do, but..." she begun,
"It's not that much of a professional." he finished her sentence.
"But I guess it will do. Ene's not dying..." she attempted to joke, softly poking him into the ribs.
"I'm not that soft." he growled back.

Alegretto

Phintil looked at the pair suspiciously. Curious how interconnected they were, they must spend a lot of time together.

And what about this healer they were talking about. Not that much of a professional they had said...

Well, something was better than nothing. "Alright, well whether he's a pro or not you should see him. Why don't you two lead the way? I'll follow you close behind."

Anadwen

"Yeah... That's all we can do, I guess. Hell, it hurts." he growled, and let Ori lead him forth. She gave both him and Phintil a soft smile, and started walking.

"Mister, it's a real luck you found us! Is there anything we can... Do for you in exchange?" she asked after a while, looking back at him. Without this man, they'd  be as good as dead.

Alegretto

The young girl's question elicited a look of surprise from Phintil. Something they could do for him. He laughed uproariously. Well, as uproariously as he could considering his laugh was silent. "Don't worry about it, call it a favor that doesn't need repaying. I don't think there's anything you kids can do for me anyway, unless you want to join a mercenary company."

He spoke his last words completely in jest, and laughed again after completing his sentence.

Anadwen

"We would." Enedith burst out, almost without thinking. "We're old enough for it, and we can fight."
Ori stopped, shooting a confused glance at him. "Ene, do you really...?" she muttered.
"Yeah, totally. I'm no porcelain doll and only sweeping up like an idiot just isn't satisfying." he growled.

"You're such a jerk..." she whispered, and shook her head. "But you'll ask master. I got to think about it."

Alegretto

The boy's serious answer to his jesting question made Phintil look at the young man in surprise. He was about to reject the kid's words outright, but he said he was old enough, and it wasn't like the lizardman could make a good estimate to the kids age.

What should he do? He had someone on the hook, but he didn't know if he wanted the catch. The girl, Ori, said that he'd have to ask someone called "master" first. Well, that seemed like a good place to start. "Alright," he told the boy, "we'll talk to your master and see what he thinks of the idea. But first, that healer, you mentioned."

He kept walking for a few moments before pointing at the young man's wrist. "What happened there anyway?"

Anadwen

"I fell." Enedith growled. It was a plain statement, and it was apparent that he didn't want to say more. Ori gave him a nervous glance, and turned into a backstreet. "It's right here, mister..." she informed Phintil, pushing Enedith into a door, and immediately closing it after him.
"He may be twenty one already, but sometimes he behaves like he's twelve..." she chuckled nervously, raking though her hair.

The sound of her forced laughter was hollow, and left a heavy emptiness in the air. She sighed, and sled down to the ground, leaning onto the wall with her back. "I'm worried about him." she whispered.

Alegretto

He followed the pair into the shady back-alley with some suspicion. Not a professional sounded right. He watched Ori force Enedith inside, and listened to the girl when she started speaking.

So he was twenty-one. Certainly old enough then, thought Phintil. He hadn't made a good show of himself back there in the alley, but maybe his injury had hampered him...

He was so lost in his own plotting that he almost missed Ori's whispered sentence. He looked down at the young girl, considering the implications of her statement. "How long have you two known each other?" he asked her carefully.

Anadwen

Ori looked up, gazing straight up at Phintil. Her eyes were nowhere close to careless, or even happy...

"I was six, he was eight." she replied, bowing her head down. At that, a few wisps of her hair fell into her face and hid it in their shadows. "He saved me... We were living in the streets on the outskirts of Ketra. Those aren't a safe place, to say the least... Everyone who lives there is a criminal or a thief. What's the same, if you look at it like that. The good, rich people live in the center, and the poor and dirty are left... There. The adults are horrible, and the children are like stray dogs."

She made a deep sigh, and looked up into the lizardman's eyes again. "He saved me. I was running like hell from a man I had to steel a piece of meat from not to go hungry again. He was catching up, and then Ene came. Tripped him over, stomped onto his back, and dragged me along."

That was how it was. They met in dust and dirt...

"He saved my life. Not once, but twice. I owe him more than I can ever repay." she whispered.

Alegretto

The lizardman kept his gaze on the girl a little longer before looking away. He couldn't tell if Ori's concern for Ene was simply out of gratitude, or something much more...

Well, either way, it wasn't his business. "It sounds like you two had a tough time," Phintil said carefully. "I can't say I've had a similar experience," he paused here for a moment, but it seemed only fair that he open up if she did, "I grew up in a tribe of lizardmen in the plains. My childhood was a good one, I guess. Plenty of fighting and chances to learn about war, so about as much as a kid can ask for. Yeah, things were good..."

Phintil's eyes began looking at something far away, and the seemed unfocused. He was like that for a few moments before he shook his head, clearing it of thought. "But anyway, that's who I used to be, and I never place much stock in what people used to be, only what they become."

He grinned toothily, dropping the cheesy line with casual abandon.

Anadwen

"That's a nice thing you said." Ori smiled bleakly. "And I guess it's true, too... People change." she shrugged, and for a moment, remained silent. Her eyes studied Phintil's figure instead, half lost in a daydream, wondering.

"What's it like, to belong somewhere, or to have a family?" she asked eventually. "I never had any. Neither did Enedith - believe me or not, that's his full name - as we've been in the streets for as long as we remember. I guess... I guess it's nice, huh?" she smiled.

"Dirty bastard! That's how you pa-" a voice sounded from behind the door, but it was silenced by a thud - apparently, the thud of Enedith's boot on someone's face.
"Stop talking nonsense." he stopped her, accompanied by the sound of a closing door, and pretending that nothing's happened. She quickly turned over to see his figure, tying his hair up with his left hand, while his right lifelessly hung by in a sling. "We gotta get moving. You know far too well that if we arrive after ten, we're gonna get twice the crap on our heads. And twice the sweeping the morning after." he growled. He didn't look as haggard anymore - he was just angry.

She shrugged, and slowly stood up. "Alright, alright, you don't have to bite my head off for it." she groaned, scratching her head. "Geez, Ene, you can be such a jerk."
"And you don't do anything but stare! Gods, Ori, be useful for once."
"That goes for you, too! I wanna see you doing anything except for fighting. You know, kicking someone's ass won't cook you a dinner!"
"Neither will you, cause you can't cook." he shut her up, and finished tying his bright crimson hair up.

"I'm sorry for this, mister." he shrugged at Phintil, and gestured for Ori to move. "We will get going soon. And I'll let you know about that offer of yours... Though, let me ask you a question - "

He glanced over his shoulder, "You don't look like a local. Do you have a place in an inn or what? Cause if you don't, we might have a free room at master's. To repay the favor."