You Asked For It. (Alea)

[Yoona]

32nd of Winter, 514 AV

"What in the world is that...?"

Coming to a stop, Yoona turned her head and tried to find what it was Ruki had noticed. They'd been skirting the Docks for the last bell or so, skillfully and quietly making their way through the Plaza of Dark Delights to avoid attracting too much attention—Yoona normally avoided the area as if it were a contagious disease—but it wasn't until now that they had a reason to stop. The building on their left wasn't too tall, and its exterior was coated in a brown paint that peeled and chipped in all sorts of places, a rust-like red peeking underneath. There was nothing of interest on the first floor, but when the Chaktawe woman looked up she noticed the small balcony jutting forth from the second. Vines crept around it, joining a number of other green plants that filled the space, and she found herself wondering if that was intentional. Perhaps the owner had a deep appreciation for greenery, in a land practically devoid of trees...or perhaps they were just incredibly lazy, and hadn't bothered to tend to their "garden" for a while. Either way, it made for quite the attention-catcher.

And then she saw it. Splayed on the edge of the balcony was some strange, hairless creature. 'That pink thing?' the Chaktawe woman mused, staring at it. 'I have the slightest idea. What in the hell happened to all of its fur?'

The thing was as naked as a newborn baby, but it didn't look at all concerned. Actually, it seemed like it was comfortable where it was, despite the height and the chill of the season's air. Then Yoona's pupil-less gaze shifted a little, and her attention fell on the sign that was hanging above the balcony. All it said was "Funel's Ink."

How annoyingly vague...

And yet, she was curious. So curious that she considered going inside and seeing just what in the world it was. Some kind of shop for craftspeople...? A place that offered lessons for something? She went over to the door, pausing to bring Ruki's focus away from the hairless thing and beckon him over, but no sooner had she placed her hand on it did someone call for her. At least, she assumed that she was being spoken to...the surrounding area was pitifully empty.

"Over here!" the person called, starting to wave their arms as they drew near. Unsurprisingly it was a man, sporting short, brown hair and the remnants of a recently-shaved beard on his chin. He was dressed decently well, and as Yoona watched him walk toward her she couldn't help but feel as though he'd looked nice, at some point in his life. That didn't mean that she wanted to be bothered with him, though; whatever the guy was approaching her for, it obviously wasn't good.

She did nothing, however, choosing to stay where she was and wait. He came within a foot or two of her, his eyes sweeping up and down her form briefly before he straightened his posture. "I don't mean to trouble you, ma'am," the man began, smiling. "But would you know where the House of Immortal Pleasures is?"

Yoona narrowed her eyes at him. No, but she was somewhat sure that she had passed it on her way out here. This was the more seedy portion of the docks. Besides, the man had eyes, didn't he? If he was sober enough to think clearly, he could find his own way to that whorehouse. And the Chaktawe woman was ready to tell him as much, but she caught him staring at her hand. More specifically, the half-sun that had been burned into it ages ago.

"...Actually, how about you come with me? We could find it together," he suggested, his smile broadening and mischief glimmering in his eyes. Then, with a cautious but daring hand, the man reached out toward one of her shoulders. Yoona stopped him before he could so much as land a finger on her skin with a vise-like grip on his wrist.

And then, without a word to him, she twisted it.

"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'

[Alea Davenport]

Alea didn't fully understand why she had to go all the way to the opposite end of the city, just to run a minor errand for the NHC. Apparently, for whatever reason, a door had been damaged, and there was only one blacksmith in the whole floating city that could make replacement hinges. And for some even dumber reason, that blacks,mith was about as far from the NHC as it could possibly be.

She was on her way back, trying to find bridges that would take her where she needed to go. She was trying to get to the center of Ravok, knowing she would be able to find her way from there, but so far the bridges were only taking her around the outermost buildings.

So naturally, she was already in a bad mood when she heard the sound of a man crying out as if in pain or fear. She rounded a corner and witnessed a tall woman twisting a man's wrist in a painful looking grip. She did not pause to think, or cry out, she just threw one of the heavy iron hinges at the scene with all her might.

She had intended to make the woman let go by hitting her in the arm, but at the last moment she doubted her aim, and tried to distract the pair with something sailing over their heads. The result was somewhere in between, as the hinge left her hand at a bizarre angle and flew straight into the back of the man's head with a sickening crack.

"Oh shyke!" Alea cried involuntarily. That was the opposite of what she meant to do. It was just one more confirmation that every time she tried to help with violence, she only ended up hurting people.

The man was still dangerously close to his assailant, and now he was swooning heavily. Alea saw him touch the back of his head with his free hand, so she hadn't knocked him unconscious, but his movements were sluggish, and he was swaying like he was about to fall over. Alea ran forward, still warty of the woman, but the man being hurt was her fault, so she felt responsible. She wasn't sure what had been going on between the two, but she hoped she wouldn't have to fight the woman. As much fun as that would be, she might not be finished in time to help the man.

"Please let him go," Alea said in an even tone thick with tension. "He needs a healer." She was trying not to antagonize the woman, and she was deeply embarrassed by her abominable aim.

OOCMy, that was dramatic! I hope I didn't go to far

[Yoona]

Yoona was sure that she didn't break anything, but with how loudly the man cried out, she might as well have. The pain from the wrenched wrist seemed to spread throughout the rest of his body, and he crumpled a little, face contorting in a mixture of anger, confusion, and agony as he squeezed his eyes shut and continued to yell.

There was a sudden flicker of movement off to their side, and before the Chaktawe woman could so much as turn her head to look, the man's head jerked forward. Startled but still gripping him by the wrist, she watched as he began to sway, like a tree that couldn't decided whether or not to fall over.

What had just happened, exactly...?

Yoona narrowed her eyes, wondering if the ailing brute was having some sort of heart attack or random fainting spell, and if she'd somehow caused it. And then there were feet thumping against the wooden boards of the nearby dock. Running feet. Someone else had popped up.

With an inward groan she turned her head, fully expecting to see a Stryfe soldier sprinting toward her with shackles in one hand and a beating stick in another. It wasn't like she had the best of luck; really, Yoona wouldn't be surprised if one of the black-armored nuisances happened to have been around a moment ago, when the other man had come up to her. For all she knew, he was with the Stryfe.

It turned out to be a young girl, however, a troubled look upon her face. Yoona merely blinked as she approached her and asked for her to let the man go.

"...you throw something at him?" the Chaktawe woman asked, briefly glancing at the still-swaying man before raising an eyebrow at the girl. "No point in that. Hurt hand is enough. And why you care, anyway? This none of your business."

It really wasn't, and Yoona didn't appreciate some random person putting themselves into her affairs. She'd already handled the issue. Still, she granted the girl her wish and released the man, letting him rock unsteadily on his feet. "He bother me, so I do what I need to to make him go away," she casually explained, crossing her arms. "His own fault he hurt. And he can find own way to healer, unless you know where it is."

"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'

[Alea Davenport]

Alea's response was perhaps more prickly than necessary, with her embarrassment lending a shrill note to her voice. "Well how was I supposed to know? All I saw was you grabbing a screaming man!"

She might have said more, but the swaying man suddenly collapsed! "Shyke!" she said again. She tried to drag the man to his feet, but it was no good. He was completely unconscious. And now that she was closer, she could see a faint trickle of blood matting his hair.

Looking up at the tall woman, she pleaded, "Look, I know you have no reason to help me, or him, but it's my fault he's hurt, he might die if he doesn't get help, and I can't fix it on my own!" Her voice broke at the end, and her eyes grew slightly blurry. She really couldn't handle killing anybody, especially by accident.

Running a hand quickly over her eyes, she said in a calmer tone, "Maybe he has some coins in his pocket, and we can get a boat-man to take him." Alea did not have any money, and she was already asking enough from the woman who wanted nothing to do with her without begging for spare change. Even as she had the idea, she started rummaging in the unconscious man's pockets. At first, all she found were some papers, which turned out to be some kind of certificate of citizenship. (She put that back; he'd be in trouble if he lost it.) But she was thorough, checking both outside and inside pockets, as well as the pockets in his trousers, and soon she had a tiny pile of coins.

"If you help me get him closer to the canal and into a boat, I'll split whatever's left with you," Alea said shrewdly. It wasn't much of an offer, but Alea knew better than to think that anyone who lived in Ravok would help out of the goodness of their heart. As she waited for an answer, she picked up the hinge that had fallen to the ground and was lying nearby. Then she looked back to the tall woman, to see how hard it was going to be to get this man some help.

[Yoona]

Yoona didn't make any moves to stop the man from falling, merely glancing over when he suddenly crumpled to the ground, a disinterested look in her eyes. The young girl, on the other hand, seemed to be on the verge of panicking. Hoping to drag him up to his feet, she squatted down and started to grapple with his limp body, but it didn't work; the man looked as though he'd grown as heavy as lead, and sure as hell wasn't offering her any help. Eventually, she gave up.

And then she was blubbering her worries to her, nearly tripping over her own tongue in the process. Not getting why she was so anxious to begin with, Yoona could only stare at her as she spoke, narrowing her eyes in question. "He probably won't die," she commented once the girl had quieted a little, sounding unconcerned. "I no break the wrist. Only twist, a little; no broken bones. Skull might be hurt by that thing you throw at him, though...what was it, anyway?"

The Chaktawe woman actually wanted to know, but was given no answer as the girl began to go digging into the man's pockets, saying something about a "boat-man." Boats...well, there were those skinny canoe-like ones that people used to get around the city. What were they called, again? Ravosalas...? Right, right...she'd been on one, before, back when she'd spent a few days over at the Nitrozian estate.

Yoona frowned at the sudden memory; she'd been trying her best to forget what had happened behind those sickeningly-lavish walls and stone pillars for a while, now, but every so often something managed to seep through the cracks of her mental barrier, like water leaking out of an aged dam.

"If you help me get him closer to the canal and into a boat, I'll split whatever's left with you," the girl said, thankfully bringing Yoona out of her thoughts. 'You really want to help this wretch, don't you?' she mused as she looked between her and the seemingly-lifeless man. 'I can't really blame you, though; trouble should be avoided at all costs, even if it's because of some mindless low-life...'

Mulling over the offer, Yoona went silent for a moment. In all honesty, she didn't care for the girl's money...she didn't feel like helping the wretch out, either. But this person was a complete and total stranger to her; who was to say that the girl wouldn't decide to rat her out to the Stryfe if she decided not to help?

"...grab legs," Yoona said when what felt like a chime had passed, gesturing lazily over to the man's motionless limbs as she went to kneel down beside his head. With a slight grunt of effort, the Chaktawe woman slipped her arms underneath his and roughly brought him to his feet, having to readjust her grip a few times as his body leaned forward. Once the other girl had gotten a grip on his legs, she began to walk.

"What story we going to give when we find help? We could say we find him like this, maybe; warn him not to tell the truth so he go along with it."

"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'

[Alea Davenport]

Alea was flustered, but no longer panicking. "I know you didn't hurt him, but that hinge I threw was heavy, and it hit him in the head. I don't want it to be my fault if he dies from a headbump or whatever." After a few moments rapid thinking, she said, "I don't think we need a story. If we just let the boat man take him there for us, then we don't ahve to explain anything to the healers, and I don't think the boatmen are used to asking questions. If he sees us trying to help this one, he should just think we're do-gooding passersby." In an understone she added, "I hope." If there were consequences to this encounter, she would have to deal with them later, but trying TOO hard to convince people of her innocence would only make them more suspicious.

She gladly followed the other woman's lead and grabbed the man's ankles. She heaved them up as high as she could get them, wobbling a bit under the weight. It had been a while since she'd done serious heavy lifting--she was far from any stables that needed mucking out--and she was already tired from carrying the hinges. She realized she would have to set them down in order to be able to carry the man. She laid them in the middle of the walkway, hoping no one would steal them or trip over them in the next few chimes.

With a grunt of effort, she lifted the man's legs once again, resting his feet on her shoulders and lifting with her legs, to carry the weight more easily. She waited for Yoona to grab her half of the man, and then began a shuffling, half backwards, half sideways walk toward the canal. Fortunately, it being Ravok, a canal was never far, but carrying the man made it seem far enough.

When she reached the side of the canal, she set the man's legs down, her muscles sore already. There was not a ravosala waiting at that exact spot, but luckily she saw one making its lazy was toward them. She waved her arms frantically in the air, trying to catch its attention. The ravosala-man...she wasn't sure what they were called, but that seemed like a reasonable guess...calmly steered his boat to a neat stop right in front of her.

"This man has been hurt," she explained quickly, panting both from exertion and anxiety. "Can you take him to the Healing Hand?" she held out a few coins, from the pile she'd taken from the unconscious man (the rest were in her pockets).

The boat pilot smiled a mysterious and possibly avaricious smile as he took the coins from Alea's hand and nodded. He even helped them lower the injured man gently into the boat; after all, it was a citizen of Ravok in need. And the two slaves, their half-sun marks clearly visible on their hands, were just doing their civic duty. At least, that's what Alea hoped he was thinking.

At last, the ravosala pushed off, and the man was as safe as he could possibly be. Alea had done all she could to remedy her mistake, at least for the man. She plopped down on the walkway and then laid down on her back, spreading her arms wide in a way she hadn't done since she was a child. That had been a very stressful event. After a moment of catching her breath, she turned her head toward the tall woman--who looked even taller now--and said with a friendly smile, "So, I'm Alea. What's your name?"

[Yoona]

W.I.P that is waaaaaaaaaaaay overdue...

"Listen to me" - 'I'm thinking'