A Man's Pride [Maria]

by **Miralyn** on May 18th, 2017, 2:29 am

Miralyn
”Kontinese" | ”Common Tongue" | ”Fratava"

41st day of Spring 517AV

It was evening at the Blue Bull but the young Konti had finished her shift for the night. The patrons were probably well into their drink by now and it wasn’t the best environment for her here. But her stomach growled aggressively at her as she stood slumped over one of the kitchen counters, sweat on her brow and grease and oil on her clothes. She took her white apron off and hung it up on the nail that jutted out from the wooden door frame leading around to the bar and front counter where Janii stood. The Young Drykas was nice enough, she always said hello and goodbye to her when she entered and left the building, and had proclaimed herself to be the Konti’s friend, even though neither of them knew much about one another. If she weren’t so infatuated in the 8 foot giant who ran this joint, the konti might have had a little thing for her. Not that she would ever say anything whilst Janii was involved with another person.

Ann was serving people at the bar, they’d be here till late tonight it seemed. Ann was by far her favorite woman at this unruly little bar. She was so sweet and kind, and she talked to everyone indiscriminately. The Konti missed the days when she was like that. She used to be so confident. Now days it was all bravado and putting on a fake show to avoid people seeing the broken in her. “Hey Ann, I want to pay for this meal” The Konti said, holding g up the plate of freshly caught and wood fried fish and squid rings that she’d made for herself. The fisherman had come in with a HUGE net full of them last night so she’d immidiatly changed the house special to accommodate. Ann just laughed and shook her head “Look, if Kevlar wants money for it I’ll tell him to take it out of MY pay. Go sit down love.” The Konti nodded and thanked her. She didn’t like taking handouts, it made her more uncomfortable than flattered. But she did appreciate the gesture, and she didn’t want to be rude to Ann, who had never been rude to her a day in her life.

The Konti took a spare seat. There were a few other women eating on the tables around her by now most of them were on the dance floor with a man, or with their friends. She wasn’t bad at cooking fish, it was something that came naturally to her since her diet back home had been mostly seafood made by her mother. She ate quietly and quickly, barely looking up from her plate. She got a fright when a man decided to sit across from her. “Hello sweety, you look exotic, Far from home?” The Konti had never had that before. The young man was human, or at least humanoid and very attracted. He was probably used to picking up women easily. “Sorry, just wanted to get your attention” He told her, ‘subtly sliding into the seat next to her. She already felt the panic rising in her chest. Kevlar wasn’t here, and she did not want either of the girls to have to come and rescue her.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to eat, I gotta get going soon...” She tried to shoot him hints that she was not interested and that he should go the hell away, but the man didn’t care. “I have seen you here a lot.” He mentioned, casually placing his hand on the table and ‘Accidentally brushing it against her arm, which prickled at the touch. She was suddenly VERY aware of the dagger she kept in her bag which was by her feet. “Yes, I expect you must have. I am the cook here.” She said, tight lipped and clearly uncomfortable. She was trying her best to breath normally but she was on the verge of hyperventilation. As he spoke next he moved his hand towards her leg “What’s a pretty girl like you doing working behind the scen-“

“What!? Do you expect I should work at the brothel instead!?” She snapped, moving herself and the whole chair away from him “Calm down, pretty lady.” He said to her, changing tact and going for her shoulder instead. She was physically shaking now “Don’t touch me.” She said, still not wanting to cause a scene of get her colleges involved. “You’re so tense, I’ve been told I give good massages. What’s your name honey?” He wasn’t listing to her at all, and he was so close now she could feel his breath. She couldn’t handle this anymore. She turned towards him and gave him a great big shove. She managed to unbalanced him and the chair tipped backwards sending him clattering to the ground. A lot of the big men had noticed, ad were laughing at him, calling him names. The Konti was shaking.

The man was clearly embarrassed. He stood up, towering over her, and grabbed her wrist hard enough for it to hurt. She couldn’t reach her weapon now. “Let go!” The man wasn’t listening. He was trying to lead her away “Come dance with me.” He commanded. He’d dropped the nice act already and was trying to pick up his pride. “No.” She couldn’t get out of his grip. “I’m not going to hurt you just dance with me.” He said that a bit quieter as he led her across the building towards the dance floor. What a nightmare. Now she had to dance with him because HIS friends were watching? “You better let go or I WILL” She told him, to which he laughed, so she bit so hard into his hand that she started to cause him to bleed. It did the trick and he let go of her with a yell, but now he was angry, and the Konti was pretty much defenceless as she backed away from him. The place was so busy, most probably wouldn’t even know what was going on. If she pulled a dagger on him... would she end up losing her job? Or her life?

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by **Maria Talwa** on May 18th, 2017, 3:48 am

Seated at one of the many tables inside the Blue Bull Tavern, Maria's opinion of the place was already improving. The crowds here were a lot rougher which was what the woman liked, all the 'civilized' folk had been getting on her nerves in recent times and it was nice to be around a group of people that could let their hair down, be it physically or metaphorically. At the moment Maria was plowing her way through a double helping of sliced meat and two sides of vegetables. She ate with the grace and manners of a starving animals, and the utensils clacked against the plate in a steady rhythm. About the only table manners Maria had was chewing mouth closed. The meat was lightly salted and without a doubt one of her favorite foods. Following a gulp from a mug of ale it was empty.

“Refill!” Maria said, speaking loudly as she held the mug up. In short order a serving girl brought a fresh mug, and was promptly given a smack across the rear end and another 4 copper for the drink. The girl only smiled at Maria a little and went back about her duties. Before long the meal was history as was most of the third mug. Now full and quite content, Maria was also lightly buzzed from all the alcohol. Barely over five feet tall and with a light frame, three mugs of ale in quick succession were taking effect. While able to hold her liquor, it was still a consider amount for such a short period of time.

Not too far away there were three male Akalaks quite drunk and singing so off-key, it was likely they didn't know what a key was. Maria, still in something of a feisty mood, took a single copper miza, then flicked it, smacking one of them in the head. The singing immediately stopped as the other two looked at their friend, then the coin. The third Akalak in turn picked it up and looked at Maria, not sure what to make this.

“For singing lessons, you suck!” Maria said. The other two busted out laughing while the third made a rude hand gesture, but it was all in good fun, Maria laughed and the singing resumed. The tavern was a nice place despite the rowdy crowd, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. There were people singing, dancing, eating, carousing, and having a good time. For her part, Maria was checking out the rather lovely ladies, going to far as to snap at one who walked by, startling her slightly. Then she heard a commotion on the other side of the room and focused on a young man and woman. The man seemed to be trying to drag the woman onto the dance floor and she wasn't having any of it. Maria almost laughed when he got bitten on the hand, but it soon became obvious this wasn't good fun.

The man became angry and the woman was obviously scared and upset. While Maria had been many things in the past, thief, liar, con artist, even killer, she'd never forced herself on someone who said no. For a moment the two were still and she wasn't sure how the situation would evolve, then the man took a step forward and his demeanor was anything but gentle. By the second step Maria had her plate in hand, and it was soon flying through the air. The makeshift wooden discus smacked the man in the side of the head, causing both minor injury and surprise as he looked in the direction it came from.

“The lady said no dip shit, I suggest you take no for an answer,” Maria said, walking toward him in the process. The man didn't even get a word out, as she walked up his mouth moved as a finger poked her in the chest. Maria grabbed his wrist with one hand and twisted, then used the other to grab and handful of hair and smash his face into a nearby table. As he started to fall she added insult to injury with a left hook to the face and left him drooling on the floor.

“Hot damn, that was-” From behind one of the man's friends tackled Maria before she could finish speaking. The two slammed into a third man who staggered back and hit another patron, who took offense and decked him. Soon it was a domino effect, fists were flying everywhere along with chairs, plates, and about anything else that wasn't nailed down. For her part Maria was giving as good as she got, but was caught up in a small crowd that spilled out into the street not long after.

by **Miralyn** on May 18th, 2017, 4:30 am

Miralyn
”Kontinese" | ”Common Tongue" | ”Fratava"

The human took a step towards her and the Konti bristled, her hand tightened around the blade in her pack, but suddenly an object flew past her face and smacked the aggressor in the side of the head. Miralyn’s head turned quickly to find the culprit and she noticed a butch woman, who looked rather intimidating, step in to her rescue. The lady was almost as short as her but she sure didn’t act like it. She told the man to take no for an answer and strolled towards him casually like she did this every day. Holy shyke The konti thought to herself incredulously as she backed away so that the woman was standing between her and the man. She watched the lady expertly shut him down, a feet which was quite impressive for someone of her size really. Most of the men in here were giants, and Miralyn felt scared FOR the lady who had elected to fight them for her.

Miralyn knew what was going to happen next so she quickly made her way to the outside of the ring, to stand with those not fighting and watch from afar. She just hoped no one broke a table or heads would surely roll. The fight soon spilled out onto the streets and Miralyn made herself as small as possible, dodging and ducking under fists and elbows and flying mugs. She had a feeling there would be an opportunity to heal her saviour after she’d managed to get herself out of the crowds. She used to be different than these rough people, but now she felt she was a lot more like them. She had taken a life, after all, and who knew what she’d do to avoid the situation she’d gotten herself into in the past.

The brawl was violent but Miralyn watched it all from afar with a steady un-breaking gaze. She stared at the young raven-haired human that had started the clash. She wanted to leave. No, she should leave if she had any brains but she wanted a chance to talk to her. She’d pay for her stupidity, of course, as a mug that held ale flew across the room smacking her in the face. She stumbled back a tad, but didn’t fall, in fact she grew rather red faced and tossed the damn mug back into the crowd before turning to stumble down the street again, unfortunately bleeding from a hairline cut on her scalp “What an awesome petching night.” She muttered to herself before turning a corner and sliding down one of the walls till she was sitting on the cobble stone. In her bag was a few rags she had taken home to wash before her next work shift, it was better than nothing so she pressed it to her head to make the bleeding stop, and to try and mop up some of the ale that was dripping down her face.

That girl seemed like a regular. If she didn’t break away from the fight soon, Mira was certain she’d see her again anyway. In the distance she heard one of the guys yelling “Break it up.” Someone must have broken something. Maybe the fight would dye down soon. Miralyn felt dizzy and she didn’t want to get off the floor. She wished more than anything that she could drink herself silly right now but she was afraid behaviour like that would effect the child in her stomach. Tonight she wasn’t getting much sleep, the nightmares would plague her she could already see them. She could already see his face. The world swirled around her, and she felt heavier than ever before. For some reason, she pulled out the dagger, just to look at the beautifully made hilt. She ran her finger along the flat of the blade lazily, imagining the moment she’d plunged it into her ex lovers heart. “I gotta get up...” She muttered to herself as she picked up the rag which she’d let fall to the ground and shouted it back into her bag. The wound needed proper cleaning. “Okay...” She told herself as she moved to put the blade away and then get off the cold ground.

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by **Maria Talwa** on May 18th, 2017, 11:29 pm

In a tangle of battered bodies, Maria clawed, kicked, and punched with the same fervor as anyone else. One person was kicked in the head, she was punched in the face, then drove an elbow into the gut of a nearby brawler. While some people may have been bothered by something like this, to Maria is was little more than a sport and a way to blow off steam. This was play time to the young woman and something she was all too familiar with. This brawl continued for another minute or so before someone bellowed to break it up. Dropping a handful of hair, and someone's head, she looked over to see a rather large man from inside who didn't look to be in the mood for a friendly brawl. Things likes this were usually broken up eventually.

With the fun over and done, Maria stood up, dusted herself off, and walked away like nothing happened. Those that were conscious did the same and as quickly as the mass melee began, it ended. Now with a full belly, lightly buzzed head, and a good fight, Maria was in a fairly good mood for a change. The small gathering of people that had formed to watch the brawl was dispersing, and she walked down the street carefully stretching muscles. There would no doubt be soreness the following day, but this would help to prevent excessive knots and cramps. Some distance down the road she noticed the young woman from earlier sitting in an alley with a rather nasty looking cut on the head. Without saying anything Maria stopped and took a good look first, what stuck out in her mind was the frizzy hair. While it made most people look tacky and unkempt, the woman seemed to pull it off well enough. Her skin was light, even lighter than Maria's, and they were both slight of frame.

At first she was going to approach and say something, then remembered what gave the excuse to start the brawl in the tavern. Instead of walking straight up, Maria made sure to approach within her field of vision, in a slow and non-threatening manner. Squatting down a few outside of touching distance, she offered a little smile.

“Hi there, name's Maria,” Maria said. “You gonna be okay?” This was, without doubt, the friendliest greeting Maria had started with in a long time. Normally she'd just ask someone what they wanted, with the grace and tact of someone being beaten with a cactus. The truth was that she found the young woman to be attractive and wanted to get to know her a better. Although in light of getting cracked in the head by a mug, Maria wasn't sure what type of mood she would be in. It was obvious this person wasn't a fighter given the situation with the man earlier. The few unwelcome people in the past who'd tried that approach with Maria usually ended up with broken bones and twisted joints.

by **Miralyn** on May 23rd, 2017, 4:33 am

Miralyn
”Kontinese" | ”Common Tongue" | ”Fratava"

She had just gotten her head clear enough to force herself to stand when she heard someone approach, leaving her in an awkward half sitting have squatting position. The person came in to fous and Miralyn recongnised her as the young lady who had allowed her to get away by starting a brawl, whch from the sounds was just clearing up now. The young woman was harder to see out here in the darkness of the alleyway, but she approached in a deliberately non-threatening way and gave Miralyn a friendly smile. She said her name was Maria and asked if she was okay.

"Apart from smelling like ale and bleeding from my head, I think I'll live." She said back, and stood all the way up as if to prove this point. This woman had helped her out, maybe she should thank her. She knew she should but she didn't know what to say that wouldn't make her seem like a little weakling (Which she undoubtedly was). She sighed to herself and held pressure on the bleeding again while she looked at the woman in front of her "Thank-you for what you did" She told her "That was..." She began chewing on her lip a little "I don't have the... best experience with men, is all..." Clearing her throat she decided it'd be wise to change the subject. "Oh I didn't tell you my name. I'm Miralyn. I'm sure glad I met you... I might have pulled my dagger on him" she admitted, playing with the curls atop her head of white hair.

She felt a little ill and she wanted to get home to feed her cat but at the same time she wanted to talk to this young lady a little longer. Miralyn had been dying for some company that wasn't her family or pet since coming here and she was a little interested to know more about this woman. Plus, there was a strange attraction there, something she'd never felt for a woman before, only men. She had a rough beauty to her, and her eyes were very intense as if they could bore right through her. This type of person would have scared her before her days at sea, she realised. This type of person would have made her extremely nervous to be around. Yet, somehow she felt at ease.

"If you are hurt at all, I would be happy to patch you up or clean your wounds, I have some medical skill, I used to study it before I came to Riverfall." She said. It was impossible to tell how injured she was in the dark but Miralyn thought it'd be kind to offer.” "My house isn't much of a walk from here."

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by **Maria Talwa** on May 26th, 2017, 11:24 am

"Apart from smelling like ale and bleeding from my head, I think I'll live,” Miralyn said.

To that Maria gave a big grin and stood at the same time, “Smelling like ale and bleeding from the head, that's usually a good night for me.” By this point there were no doubt a few small bruises forming on Maria's face were the blood was slowly pooling under the skin, though it was a fairly familiar feeling. As Miralyn began to explain the problems she'd been having with both men, and nearly having to pull a dagger, Maria only arched a brow slightly, mostly out of curiosity, then her head tilted to the side. There was a lot to pick up from the way a person spoke and acted. This was not only something Maria learned in Sunberth, but something she'd started to apply in recent times. Maria had always had a nose for trouble or odd people. By watching and listening to the woman, her disposition and speech, it was obvious that Miralyn was a nervous person, but why remained a mystery.

"If you are hurt at all, I would be happy to patch you up or clean your wounds, I have some medical skill, I used to study it before I came to Riverfall," Miralyn said. "My house isn't much of a walk from here." To Maria that was an interesting offer for more than one reason. Not only did it seem as though she might make a friend, medical treatment that didn't cost anything was also appealing. Aside from the bruises and busted lip, Maria also had a few scratches that were bleeding. It was nothing serious, but enough for infection to set in if they weren't tended to.

“Free medical?” Maria said. “Sounds good to me. I was just gonna go home and dump some alcohol on them. By all means, lead the way.” While walking down the street, Maria thought about what Miralyn had said earlier in regards to dealing with men. She'd not fared much better in the past either, and as several memories drifted to the surface of her thoughts, a visibly sour expression appeared. It only stayed for a moment as Maria shoved the thoughts aside and smiled at her new potential friend.

“Yeah, I think I should come clean about something,” Maria said. “I'm not exactly the world's best at small talk, so don't take it personally if I don't chatter a lot. I mean what the hell am I suppose to talk about anyway? Hi, my name's Maria, I grew up in Sunberth, and my specialties are working as a jeweler and hacking up idiots with my swords. Something like that?” As they approached Miralyn's residence, Maria also proved she wasn't very shy. Since most of the injuries sustained in the bar fight were to the upper body, her shirt came off in one clean motion before even going inside. Under the shirt Maria wore a simple black undergarment to cover her chest, not that she had much to show off in the first place. Although now one could see upon closer inspection that not all the rings Maria wore were in her ears.

The other thing that became immediately apparent was what kind of life the young woman had lived up to this point. Maria had quite a few scars, some faded with age, others seemed newer. There was a slash and stab scar on her left arm, two slashes and what appeared to be an old arrow wound on the right. She'd also been stabbed in the stomach three times and sliced across the sternum, a large slice across the back, and another arrow wound to the left side that looked as though it missed a kidney by a finger's width. It also likely explained why she long sleeved shirts. Maria had a fit build with a light amount of muscular definition which came from constant physical activity rather than any sort of active body building.

by **Miralyn** on May 27th, 2017, 5:20 am

Miralyn
”Kontinese" | ”Common Tongue" | ”Fratava"

Maria’s response to her head injury made her chuckle “Really, I never would have guessed?” She responded laying on the sarcasm “In my state, I try to avoid nights like this” She replied patting her stomach softly. She was smiling, but she was still rather panicked, and there was a big uncomfortable knot in her throat and tightness in her chest that would probably stick with her for a little while yet. All the same she was used to this feeling and she knew how to hide it. Ungraciously Maria accepted the offer which secretly pleased the young Konti. She had a yearning to just let her guard down, but there was always a wall that was blocking that from happening completely.

Maria said lead the way and lead the way she did. The two traveled in a sort of comfortable silence as they both collected their thoughts. The konti couldn’t help but to think about the past, but for some reason the only thing that came to mind was her recent trip to where she was now. She thought about how shit scared she had been to get on a boat with strangers again, and how... good they had turned out to be. She thought this mostly because the Lia of that vessel had reminded her a lot of Maria. Gruff, passionate, violent, but her heart in a good place. Up until then she had assumed all people from bad places were bad people, but it wasn’t true. Good hearts persisted. Unfortunately for her, her heart hadn’t saved her from losing everything.

She snapped out of her train of thought when Maria spoke again. ‘Yeah I think I should come clean about something’, she began, and Miralyn looked at her with no idea what she was going to say next. She talked about how she wasn’t great at small talk – maybe the silence between them hadn’t been as comfortable for her. In her little speech she learnt a few things, her place of birth, her occupation and some more about her personality. It wasn’t hard to guess the life she’d had. It sounded harder that Miralyn’s. “Exactly things like that, traditionally.” Miralyn responded with a chuckle “ I’ve heard of sunberth, and known a few people who’ve lived there.” She said but left it as that because her companion was now taking off her shirt before even entering her home.

Stifling her surprise at the abruptness of this, the konti opened the door for her “Okay, drunkard, inside before you start undressing please.” She scolded jokingly. The konti felt almost drunk herself, though she definitely couldn’t have been. It must have been the Adrenaline. Her fat Tabby cat was sitting on her bed looking at her angrily. “Hold on I’ll just feed him” She said as she placed the salted meat she had stored into his bowl on the floor. Before turning back to the now topless woman in her house rather unsure where too look. She had many rather brutal scars all over her body. She dreaded brushing against one – not only would it be an invasion of privacy knowing what had happened to cause them but it’d also probably be hard to hide the pain she’d feel from just touching one. She’d gotten fairly good at dealing with pain after being with her ex for so long, but these were another level. Miralyn didn’t say anything about the scars, instead she looked over her new cuts and bruises. She turned and poured rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth and began to softly dab at the new wounds with them “Might sting a little” she muttered just before dabbing out of habit mostly.

There were a few new ones on her arms and her lip was split and swollen and she had a lot of bruises. She went for the open cuts that were nowhere near old scars first but soon enough she made her first contact with a wound on her right arm. The dizzying pain came first, she was being sliced by an unknown man, and she was just a child again. At first there was extreme fear then searing anger as she managed to overpower the attacker and brutally stab him to death.

The vision subsided and the Konti stumbled back a little. Treating this patient would be harder than she thought. She'd felt that same anger, done that same thing as well. it was almost like reliving a moment from her recent past through they eyes of another. The shock must of read on her face long enough for her companion to see it, so quickly she turned around, clearing her throat and searching in her bag for the next thing she needed. Picking up a small vial of ointment she said "Um this should heal up those cuts pretty well and prevent any infection." She said as she put a little on her finger and very carefully began to dab at the wounds making sure that she didn't touch another scar.

Ledger :

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by **Maria Talwa** on May 31st, 2017, 7:47 pm

The pain from having wounds treated was nothing new and something that Maria was quite used to. Alcohol burned quite a bit when applied to an open wound, but it also kept them clean. The ointment was new and not something that Maria had used very often. The initial sting caused by the treatment only brought a tiny muscle twitch at first, then once the pain was known, it was simply ignored as other wounds were treated. While Miralyn tended the wounds, Maria watched her curiously. There was nothing said on her part, instead she just watched, calmly.

As Miralyn touched one of the scars, there appeared to be some sort of reaction, though exactly what kind she wasn't sure. It was rather curious to watch the young woman, and Maria leaned forward slightly, furrowing her brow out of curiosity. There was a lot running through her head right now as to what might be going on, but wild speculation rarely served any real purpose in situations like this.

“Um this should heal up those cuts pretty well and prevent any infection,” Miralyn said. There were many things that she was capable of, but in most cases, subtlety wasn't one of them. Most of the time Maria was about as blunt as they came in asking questions, and right now was mos of the time.

“What was that all about?” Maria said. “You alright?”

Closed A Man's Pride [Maria]