Akire

He stopped, staring at her intently and instantly reverting to a somewhat less effective manner of stealth. The woman didn't seem to be fooled. She made no sudden movements, instead staring at the three bodies laying in front of her.

Three bodies... he thought he'd heard five voices. None of them sounded appropriate to the form he watched now. He must've hurried too quickly out the door to not notice that there were at least two more patrons still in his ship with Ralgo. He knew that none of the voices had been Ralgo's. He would have to try and get back into the tavern at least somewhat quickly, lest this be some form of a group trick to steal some of his belongings... or his ship itself.

He refocused on his target, though dimly aware of anything that could be going on behind him. She still faced her former opponents, but had slowly turned her head to the side so she could glare at him and be ready for his attack. She made no other movements. He could see that in her right hand she held a short blade. The moonlight reflected brightly off it, meaning that it was still clean. She had taken the knife from one of the men. This gave him pause, because there must be more going on here than he knew if she had not used the knife on these men, who were very much helpless at this point.

His thoughts returned to the fact that he'd decided to try and make this at least a little quick and took one step forward and addressed her.

"Why do you find it necessary to start fights and cause damage in my home? Why have you not killed these men?"

She did the polite thing and slowly turned towards him. He thought it would've been very rude indeed if she'd done it quickly. He did not abide rudeness, not even from current or former patrons. She continued her surprising manners by turning the blade, again- very slowly, so that it was hilt out and lying in her open palm. She then let it drop. He'd been right... there could very well be more to this situation than first appearances led, although it was possible that she knew of him or had enough of a look at him she decided more trouble would be a less-than-sage decision. He let his thoughts rest on the former. He now had a better view of her with her facing him fully. With the moon and the light from his ship behind him, he could see that her appearance was very striking, and she was at most five years his younger. The lighting also must make it difficult for her to get more than a cursory look at what it was that she faced. He could see no evidence of her carrying any form of weapon other than the blade she dropped.

"I'm fairly certain at least one of them is dead, actually. How do you know that you haven't merely interrupted me? That blade isn't so far beyond my reach... placating the newest aggressor in a fight can often work to my distinct advantage, I've found."

Though her words did not paint her as a pacifist, she had let on one detail... if he was the newest aggressor, than he had been correct and she hadn't been the cause of problems inside. He took a few steps towards her and picked up the blade she had forfeited. It was indeed one he'd seen on one of the male patrons earlier in the day. He stepped past her and watched the bodies of the men who'd been so violent only moments ago. There was no mist rising from the one on the far left. The largest one, on the far right, was breathing, but haggardly. He would probably not last long, and he didn't have the knowledge to save him. The one ten feet straight in front of him was actually snoring.

He turned and looked at her again.

"I take it the loud one back there was the one that grabbed you?"

She stared at him, making neither noise nor movement. She was breathing quickly, but rather slow for someone who'd easily dispatched enemies with a total of girth like these three had.

"Come with me... for the moment, you're still welcome on my establishment. I'll buy you a round, provided you give me a few answers and don't throw me through a nearby bulkhead."

He pointed to the ship, and although he'd already claimed possession, he was trying to put her at ease, so he continued.

"That's my home. "Pariah". You can call me Jarrid. Do you have a name, or shall I simply stick to pronouns?"

She turned and walked toward the very open entryway. As she walked nearly silently away from him, she responded only slightly louder.

"My name's Akire".


She kept walking, not breaking pace.

Looking for disturbance

He swept through the short hallway, careful to keep his pace slow enough that he wouldn't bar himself from hearing anything out of the ordinary. He paused momentarily at each hall and door, waiting for something odd. Nothing stirred as he wound his way to the tavern. Before he turned the corner, he could hear ambient noises and see the light flickering from the candles in the room beyond.

He crouched at the corner for several minutes trying to observe the room beyond, using his sense of sound only. The conversations could not be made out, but he concentrated on voices. By the sound of the voices, he discerned about five different individuals, and most all of them were calm. Most of them.

His muscles started to coil out of instinct, but before he could act he heard the sound of some of the wood on his ship giving way to a flying body.

He instantly decided to give up on stealth due to the more immediate nature of the problem. The direction of the sound seemed as though it was his main entrance door collapsing. As he started to run through the tavern, he saw that indeed his most heavily fortified doorway was in fact, missing. As he regarded what was left of it as he dashed through the room, he glanced back at his bartender.

"Ralgo! What in the blazes...."

The semi-large man behind the bar had a look of awareness on his face, but not of any sort of panic. He was of a fairly large build, with good musculature and only a fair amount of fat to go along. His eyes glared intelligence back at him, but his feelings and intent always seemed hidden beneath, even after nine months.

"Sorry, boss... small disturbance really. The lady refused the drink from the group of mercs."

His pace slowed slightly so he could get a little more information before heading into the black space outside - and into a fight between peoples unknown to him.

He glared at his compatriot. "They threw her through my door simply because she wasn't interested? They probably smelled of trough!"

The larger man's humor was obvious, even though he tried to hide it.

"Well, sir... actually, it was the girl who threw the man out. He didn't seem to be too satisfied with her response to him. She really kind of ignored him right out, actually.

Anyway, he pressed on and just while I turned to grab a glass from the wall rack, she had him entirely twisted and then threw him out the door. She had...."

He took off without any further regard to his friend. He realized that someone was probably already in some sort of serious situation. As he cleared the portal to the shore, he could hear the sounds of a struggle. Before he was able to make it to the end of the plank; the sounds were gone, with the exception of the sounds of breathing.

In the dim moonlight, he could make out the slim figure of a woman, with small clouds of breath slowly creeping upwards in the frosty air.

Intro to Shoridan

He awoke in the darkness but he did not stir. Anybody who could have observed him at all would have noticed nothing unless they could hear the sudden but slight increase in the rhythm of his heart. Something was wrong.



It was impossible for him to tell if there was any actual danger, or if he was over reacting to his stomach's disagreement with his late night meal. He laid there for a few more moments, concentrating; trying to discern if any immediate danger was in his room, or even if there was truly something wrong at all. He found that indeed, he could hear the rhythm of his heart. He slowly opened his eyes. At least, he was fairly sure he did. In the absolute pitch black of his dwellings, he couldn't tell any difference.



Moving swiftly and with the motion of someone who was accustomed to his surrounding as well as the lack of illumination, he abandoned his stillness for his cloak, and moved away from his dwelling to see if everything was as calm elsewhere.