Door Hunting

Jarrid made his way down the makeshift pathway to town. It was makeshift because it was just slightly worn down from Jarrid traveling it for the past few weeks. He traveled along quickly enough, but also slow enough that he could subconsciously take in the sounds and smells of the forest. If something was wrong, he'd likely feel it without knowing why.


He'd already done the hard work earlier in the week of loading up all of the major supplies. As he neared the stores, he fingered the bag of gold he'd brought along. He was one of very few that most storekeepers would trust with a credit account. He seldom went longer than a few days without paying, he just preferred to not be carrying sums of money at the same time he would be carrying lots of supplies, so he isolated the trips. This time, he didn't have a choice so he tried to bring just enough gold for the lumber.


As he walked into town, he saw two men it took him a moment to recognize. They were the two bystanders from the previous night. They were both of slightly above average height... but the one on the right had about 120 pounds on his counterpart. They were probably brothers. Jarrid nodded to them on his way by, but they didn't acknowledge him. Customers lost... damn.


He went from store to store and spoke briefly with the store keepers and a few of the patrons. They all laughed with him for a few minutes and excused him because he said he had business to attend to. They knew he was more than your standard merchant, but they loved being on his good side. He was the type of 'non standard merchant' that could really help them out in a pinch... if they could find him. Still, they kept a close eye on him out of curiosity... but he had told the truth and really was just there to pick up some lumber.



As he walked up to the store, he saw a pile of lumber out front. It seemed just about perfect. He walked in and asked the store manager how much for the same pile out front. When he was told that particular pile was already paid for, he inquired about any other lumber.


The store manager smiled. "You don't understand, Jarrid. It was bought for you. Your lady friend, it seemed? Anyway... she just came in here and said to get a pile of lumber. As I started to turn to look at my stores, she said you would be by to pick it up... and possibly something additional. She tossed me a gold back to cover twice what's out front. Interesting lady. Didn't smile much. Anyway... take what you like... you have a bit extra credit now."


Jarrid stood there for just a moment. "She's not my 'Lady Friend, good man."

As he walked out the door, he mumbled more to himself... "I'm not sure what she is."

Pariah Morning

Jarrid got up the following morning feeling less than fully rested. He was not sore, and thankful for that... but he had other worries on his mind. He loathed having 'guests' on his boat whose intentions he couldn't read entirely. It was a situation he would have to remedy one way or another.


He sat up on his mattress and took a minute to center himself.



He was up early, so he took care to be quiet as he gathered his necessary belongings for the day. Actually, he always took care to be quiet in the morning. As he slipped out the door and slowly down the hall, he paused at the first guest room, which is surely where Ralgo would have sent the woman. He held in his breath for a short count and couldn't hear her stirring yet. To be fair, she probably needed the rest badly.



He relaxed a little and walked into the Tavern. The morning's early light was starting to creep in through the unwilling window he'd recently acquired. He could smell the fresh air and dew, but there were no other signs of interesting occurrences since he took his leave. Ralgo usually wouldn't be up for another half an hour or so, so Jarrid walked the rest of the ship and took a mental inventory. Wasn't much he was needing... other than a door, that is.



To his surprise, Ralgo was actually wiping down the counter when Jarrid came around.


"Ah! Ralgo! I'm going to go ahead and make my way to the town and gather up some more lumber to fix our door. I think we've got about half what we'll need in the spare room in back. When you're done setting up for the day, do you think you could round it up and start to bring it together? You should be able to get that done before I get back, I think. Also, make sure and pay close attention to Akire when she comes out. I'm still not sure of her."


Ralgo looked at Jarrid. "She's gone. Finished her drink, glared at me and left through the... door. It's for the best, of course. We knew nothing of her other than her prowess when it comes to throwing men, and that we can't trust anyone while there's a price on your head."


Jarrid grabbed his cloak and headed for the door. "You're right of course. Stranger people have probably come through without instance before. Lets get what we need and get going. I'll be back this afternoon."

Jarrid's deal

There was an awkward silence for another minute or two. Jarrid kept staring at the woman waiting for some sign of humor behind her last statement. He never got it. Her steely gaze was as perfected as he'd known in his time on the Pariah.

Finally he closed his mouth and took another sip of his drink. He tried to calculate the next direction of the conversation carefully. He still wasn't sure she wasn't playing him. Finally, he spoke.

"Miss... I don't know exactly what you're getting at asking me about my intentions. I've invited you back here to offer some sort of explanation as to why there's a distinguished draft in my tavern! Instead, you think I should explain myself to you?!"

For a second, he thought he saw the corner of her lip twinge upwards a millimeter on one side... but then again, maybe not.

"Obviously, at this point you already have decided that I'm not truly at fault for what happened earlier, or I wouldn't be sitting here with you... one way or another. Other than that, I'm not feeling rather like disclosing much about myself at the moment. I've done nothing wrong. I ask again, what is your deal here? You rent your rooms out, correct?"

Again, she took him by surprise, and Jarrid couldn't help but laugh this time. He'd had half a mug thus far, but it wasn't enough to make him delusional or blur his comedic sense. She really must be lost in herself.


"Alright. Akire. I don't rent rooms randomly, nor do I openly invite danger into my home. Here's the deal. I don't have the patience tonight to play mind games with you for hours on end. You're free to stay tonight but beyond that I promise nothing and it is not a matter of gold.
Tomorrow, I go out to replace my door. You can come with me or you can leave."

With that, he downed the rest of his drink and looked at her for one last moment. She still didn't waver. As he got up from the table, she took a small sip of her drink. He walked up to the bar and gave Ralgo his mug. Ralgo looked him in the eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. As Jarrid left for his room, he saw her watching out of the corner of her eye.

What really happened

He kept a good 4 paces between them as they silently moved back into Pariah. They were both still a mystery to the other, and neither felt much like disrespecting the other by offering the courtesy of trust. It just wasn't going to happen.

As they entered the ship, Jarrid stopped to look at what was once his door. It would need full repair. He grimmaced to nobody in particular and then returned his focus to this 'Akire'. She continued with her slow grace as she approached the counter. The two men left in the lounge had pretty much fallen silent, although Jarrid was fairly sure of where their attention lied at the time.

She stopped at the bar counter and stared Ralgo eye to eye. Actually, she had to look upwards quite a bit, as she was not that large and well... Ralgo was. Still, her gaze was unwavering. Jarrid interrupted their stare down to tell Ralgo to pour two drinks for he and his guest.

Ralgo turned just enough to look at Jarrid and gauge his seriousness. After just a moment he poured the drinks and just as the femme extended her hands to accept them, he set them down on the counter and returned to wiping down the glasses.

With a sound that seemed similar to a snicker, Akire picked up the drinks and turned to walk to a booth where Jarrid had seated. She set the drinks down much less firmly than Ralgo had before her, and while keeping a fairly constant eye on her new drinking companion, slowly slid into the seat opposite him.

They both took a few sips of the drinks and watched each other for a number of moments. Finally she came forward and spoke first.

"So what's your deal anyway?"

Obviously, this wasn't the words that Jarrid had been expecting. It was obvious because it was written all over his expression. His reply was a moment coming.



"My deal? MY deal?"

"Yeah."

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.