The Cheetah and the Sailor (Urrezko & Daske)

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

Timestamp: 43 Spring 512 City of Syliras OOC : Continued from The Main Gates. Now that he was inside the city proper, Daske could see that it was not the same city he had visited previously. Signs of physical damage from the storm were everywhere. As were signs of emotional damage. Where he would have expected a happy and thriving populous, he saw hungry and suffering people. Some looked homeless. There were not many smiles. It was not a happy city. It was not a place Daske wanted to stay in any longer than he had to. His first stop was a shop called An Elegant Weave. The clothes he was wearing were dirty, bloody and torn. No wonder the guard at the gates had looked him over suspiciously. He purchased several shirts, pants, socks and under clothes. He pretty much went for the cheapest things he could find. He wasn't dressing for a party. He was dressing for hard sailing. His second stop was All Things Leather. His boots had gotten pretty badly ripped up after the Djed storm. He purchased an inexpensive but serviceable pair, and then added a pair of cotton shoes to wear in the evenings below deck. His third stop was a much-needed bath. He asked around and was directed to the Soothing Waters Bath and Massage. It turned out to be a surprisingly difficult place to find and he had to ask directions from strangers several times. Eventually he found himself in the Soothing Waters' reception area where he paid for a bath, soap and towels, and was directed to the men's locker room. Here he stripped off his old clothes and shoved them into one of the lockers. He put his new purchases in a separate locker. Then he made his way to a large, open room that contained a large pool of water. There were only a few other bathers in the pool. Nobody seemed the least bit bothered by the group nakedness, so Daske decided he wouldn't be bothered by it either. He soaped himself up thoroughly and rinsed himself off. Then he repeated the operation two more times. It had been a long time since he had had a real bath. Feeling clean for the first time in a long time, he settled back against the edge of the pool and let himself soak. His left arm, which was still healing from the fight with the Yukmen, seemed to especially appreciate the warm water. It was good to be able to let his guard down and simply relax. He let himself drift off into his own private daydreams. Daske's Boat : You can see the Black Lady here. OOC : Moderators: Rather than try to add up all the purchases, I'm going to go with 5 gm to cover all my purchases, including a hatchet, ink and paper Daske will purchase a little later.

[Urrezko]

Urrezko slowly trudge towards the setting sun. She could smell the salt from the sea, and she noticed that there were fewer people on the streets. She smiled gratefully, because she had grown tired of the constant noise of the beggers and homeless. But them again Urrezko was homeless herself. After a while of walking, the sun finally retreated and Urrezko began to look for a place to hunker down for the night. As she looked she noticed two men coming out from an ally-way just behind her, drunk and laughing loudly. Urrezko crossed the street quickly, she really didn't want to meet them. After a while Urrezko noticed that the men had grown silent. She glanced behind her to see them on her side of the road, silently whispering to each other and drinking out of their bottles. Urrezko crossed the road again and started to walk faster. So did the men. Panicking Urrezko turned into a ally trying to loose them, figuring she could cut across to another road and they wouldn't be able to find her. Urrezko turned another corner in the ally to find the back of a building. Unfortunately for her, this part of the building had stood throughout the storm. Damn. Urrezko thought turning around to see if the men had actually followed her. She suddenly felt very weak and exposed in her human form. "There she is" One of the men turned the corner, followed by the other. "Yeah, I'm right here, but I have to get through." She said as if she was talking to sober people who didn't have bad intentions in store for her. As the men started to advance, Urrezko glanced to her side and saw that half to wall was gone, and just past that was was a clear sight of the docks. "Nah you don't, you'll stay righ' here lil' missy." One man slurred, taking out a small fold-able knife. If I get just get through this hole, I could get on a boat to hide maybe. She thought, inching away from the hole. One of the men though she was trying to make a run for it that way and moved over, exposing the half-gone wall. Quickly Urrezko darted for the hole, jumping over a couple fallen bricks. She was a fast runner for a human, but not as fast as she knew she could be. Urrezko cursed herself again silently for not being in her cheetah form. She slowed as soon as she was in the open, on the wood of the docks, looking behind her to see if the men had managed to make it through. Before she could turn all the way around, her hair was yanked back, forcing her to let out a shriek of pain. He held onto her hair, pulling her down, and she thrashed her arms behind her blindly trying to dislodge him. It wasn't long before the other man grabbed hold of her legs, keeping her down. Urrezko started to hiss and spit as she tried to twist out of their arms, them she started screaming for help in all the languages she knew. I am most definitely was not going down without a fight. Which was her last thought before an elbow collided with the back of her head, sending her world into blackness.

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

Daske picked up three more items before he left the city: a few sheets of paper, a small vial of ink and a hatchet. It was dark by the time he got back to the Black Lady. He had just climbed into the cockpit when he heard an ear-splitting shriek followed by shouting. He wheeled around to see two men trying to drag a smallish woman through a collapsed section of a wall facing on to the docks. She was putting up a fight - twisting and kicking and spitting, even hissing he thought. Daske took this to mean she was not altogether happy about the way she was being treated. He dropped his items in the cockpit, leaped off the boat and charged down the dock. They had made their way through the wall by the time he reached the spot. He cleared the rubble in three bounds and found himself in a dark, dead end alley. One of the men was trying to pull the pants off the now unconscious woman, while the other man was hopping around on one foot trying to get his own pants off. Daske stopped and took a moment to size up the situation. The two men looked unsteady on their feet but that wasn't going to stop them from raping the woman. He didn't see anyone else in the alley. Syliras is a strange city. The Syliran Knights run a tight ship and take a very dim view of violence inside the city walls. The last thing Daske needed was to get involved in a brawl. That could land him in jail. On the other hand, he couldn't just walk away and leave the poor girl to her fate. He stepped into a pool of light from a street lamp where the alley met the street, and cleared his throat with an exaggerated “Ahem!” Both men froze and turned their heads in his direction. “Best be movin' along now boys,” he said in Common in a tight, controlled voice. At six feet tall and two hundred twenty pounds, Daske is not a small man. Add the scars on his face and the scarred muscles rippling along his arms and he can be down right scary looking. Add to that the grim, determined look that currently graced his ugly face, and most men would have walked a way as quickly and quietly as they could. Unfortunately, these men were too drunk to do the smart thing. The man who was trying to get his own pants off chose this moment to lose his balance and fall on his butt. The other man abandoned the girl and came at Daske fast with a knife in his right hand. Daske stepped forward and a little to the man's left, allowing the man to charge past him with no good target for the dagger. As he went by, Daske bent his knees a little and put his weight into a solid left punch to the man's stomach. The man let out an “oof!” and dropped to the ground. Daske stepped back and kicked the man hard in the rib cage. He was pretty sure he heard ribs cracking. He kicked him again. Hard. The man shrieked in pain and crawled over to the side of a building where he lay whimpering on the ground. By this time the first man had managed to get back on his feet and was pulling his pants back up. Daske closed the distance between them in two steps and threw a hard right fist into the man's face. Blood spurted from his nose as he staggered backward and fell into a pile of trash. His pants had fallen down around his ankles again. He didn't show any interest in trying to get up again. Satisfied that they were both out of the fight for the foreseeable future, Daske turned his attention to the woman. He checked her pulse. She was still breathing but she was out cold. “Damn,” he said in Pavi. “I can't very well leave you here. But what am I going to do with you?” Never one to over-think things, he picked the girl up in his arms and carried her out of the alley, down the dock and on to his boat. She wasn't heavy, maybe 110 pounds. But it was still a bit of a trick getting her down the companion way steps and into the cabin without dropping her on her head. He laid her on one of the cushioned benches in the main cabin area and stepped back to look at her. Her pants were still down around her ankles and he had a very nice view of a very nice pair of legs disappearing into white undies. This was a view he did not often get, and he enjoyed it longer than he probably should have. He pulled her pants back up in an attempt to retain his sanity, if not his morality. Then he grabbed a blanket from the V-berth and placed it over her. He poked his head out the companion way hatch and looked around. He didn't see anyone. Apparently the entire episode had gone unnoticed. “Well,” he said to no one in particular. “So much for the much vaunted safety of the streets of Syliras.” Back in the cabin, he sat on the bench opposite the girl and smoked his pipe, wondering what he should do with her. He supposed she lived in the city. Her family or her husband might even now be looking for her. But there was no way he was going to get caught carrying an unconscious girl around in the city in the middle of the night. After a while he doused one of the two oil lamps hanging at either end of the main cabin area, and turned the other one down low so that it provided a soft orange glow that left most of the cabin in shadow. He kept the oil stove going to keep the cabin warm. He sat on his side of the cabin watching her distinctly female face. A little later he was sound asleep. OOC : Okay, I reread the post and realized I took too much liberty with your character. I should have gotten your permission first. I'll re-write it as soon as I can. Sorry about that. I guess I got into the story and got carried away (no pun intended).

[Urrezko]

OOC : Actually no its fine, I didn't actually notice. And sorry this is going to be short, I have to go to church in a minute. Urrezko slowly drifted out of her sleep, her back was cramped from laying on top of her backpack. Turning over Urrezko yanked the backpack off, throwing it on the floor. Then, snuggling up to her blanket she let the soft rocking of the boat lull her back to sleep. Soft rocking of the boat? Urrezko eyes immediately snapped open. It took her human eyes a minute to adjust in the dim light. Very slowly, Urrezko sat up, pulling the blanket off of her as if it would detonate. At first she didn't notice the man as she quickly strip of her clothes stuffing them into her leather bag. She was getting ready to transform when she realized she couldn't. Damn. She thought as the night's events came back to her. She had probably used up all her energy fighting off those guys. But how did she end up here? Just then Urrezko noticed the quiet even breathing coming from the corner of the room. Freezing Urrezko turned her head slowly towards the sound, so if the breather was awake he wouldn't notice her. As her golden eyes landed on the human-like figure, she concluded that he was sleeping. Sighing, she knew she needed to transform, and soon. The rocking of the boat, and the small room was making her head feel light. Opening her bag carefully as to not make a sound, Urrezko pulled out her clothes again. She knew from unpleasant experience, that humans did not take kindly to no clothes. Unless she was in her natural cheetah form, but then they didn't take kindly to her, they would run screaming in the opposite direction for reasons Urrezko couldn't fathom. Pulling on her shirt, Urrezko hooked the leather bag on her shoulder. Now she needed to find a way out.

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

The Black Lady was an old boat. Wooden boats can last almost indefinitely if properly cared for. And the Black Lady had been well cared for by its previous owner. Unfortunately it had suffered considerably under Daske's ownership, both because of his inexperience and because she had been through the Great Djed storm. Not to mention a few collisions with docks, other boats and so on. That's why he was in Syliras. She was in need of repairs. One of the more minor repairs she needed was to the floor boards of the cabin. They covered the bilge. During the Djed storm they had been tossed around and one of them had acquired a long crack. It was on this floor board that the woman Daske had rescued now stepped, resulting in a surprisingly loud creaking sound. “What!” Yelled Daske in Pavi, sitting up abruptly. The cabin of the Black Lady was not large, being about ten feet across at the beam. Two people sitting on opposite benches could easily touch hands. And if one of them happened to be standing, as the young woman was, that person would almost be in the other person's lap, as was the young woman. Thus it was that when Daske sat up and looked around, he found himself staring up into the young woman's face not two feet away from his. They both froze. It was hard to say which of them was the more surprised. Most likely she was the more frightened of the two. After all, she was just a wisp of a thing and posed no obvious threat. Daske on the other hand was a large man with a face that had been known to make small children cry. Ever the master of social grace, Daske said (in Common), “Uhm, hi. I'm Daske. Who are you?”

[Urrezko]

For almost a minute Urrezko lost her voice as she stood in a half crouched position staring at the blue eyes. Until eventually she found her words. "I-uh-I'm not s-supposed to be here" She stuttered, in common language as well, her voice coming out small and squeaky like a baby kitten. She really needed to change soon. Unconsciously from fear of the man's intimidating size Urrezko backed up, causing her to fall on her rump back on the bench. Her golden eyes were wide as she took in his full appearance. And Frankly it did scare her. Taking a deep breathe she closed her eyes, forcing the fear down. "I'm Urrezko" She said her voice regaining a level tone. "If you are one of the men from last night, I promise you I will rip off your hand." She threatened in a low menacing voice. She opened her eyes hoping that she looked convincing. And I would be if I was a cheetah! Urrezko mentally kicked herself again. She didn't want to even begin to imagine what this man did to her before he brought her to his home. Then again, Urrezko wasn't even sure if he was the same man. Its not like Urrezko could have been able to see the men's faces while they were ripping her clothes off or anything.

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

Daske surveyed his guest. She probably came up to his shoulder. A bit on the skinny side. A bit gaunt he thought. Like she hadn't had enough to eat for a while. Shoulder-length brown hair. Fair skinned. But by far the most striking thing about her was the eyes. They were yellow, almost cat-like, and she had long dark eyelashes. “Urrezko,” he repeated her name almost to himself. “Nice sound to it.” He didn't respond to her threat. He got up and stepped over to the tiny galley and turned up the lamp to provide more light. Then he dug around in the storage bin under the small cooking counter, leaving her to stare at his butt while he continued talking. “Two drunks were givin' you a pretty bad time. I convinced 'em to leave you be. Lucky for them I didn't have my cutlass with me. I'd a killed 'em outright for what they was plannin'. Probably just as well, though, 'cuz these Syliran Knights frown on that sort of thing. Anyway, I didn't know what else to do with you so I brought you here. I figure we can get you back home in the morning. I wouldn't recommend going out again tonight though.” His head finally came back up and he had an item in each hand. “Fish or steak?” He asked. Description : Daske has been at sea for three weeks straight. The boat has a musty damp moldy smell to it and is cluttered with clothes, bamboo poles, and other miscellaneous stuff. Daske seems oblivious to the mess.

[Urrezko]

Urrezko was rendered speechless for the second time in five minutes by this guy. "Well thankyou. A lot. I'm serious." She said as he turned around to rummage through a compartment. She eyed his rear-end for a moment before glancing away with a very prominent pink added to her cheeks. "I could have fought them off myself though" She said in defense of her pride as he turned around. "Steak please, raw." She said, not too prideful to put down a free meal."B-but I don't have a home . . . anymore." She said looking down at his cluttered floor. She briefly toyed with the idea of finding a way to stay with him, but quickly shot it down. I don't even know this man! She thought nudging an abandoned under-trouser to the side with her foot.

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

Daske stood there for several moments with a two pound fish in one hand and a one pound bear steak in the other. Raw? He thought. She wants her steak raw? Why in the world would she want her steak raw? He was still trying to wrap his mind around that thought when a second, equally disturbing, one forced its way into his brain. She doesn't have a home. There's no place to take her in the morning. How am I going to get rid of her? Finally, the first thing she said got his attention. She could have fought them off by herself. While she was unconscious? How does that work? He put the fish and the bear meat down on the counter and stared at her with a frown on his face, his mind trying to find some way to put all this together into a single, coherent picture. He couldn't come up with one. Had he known the word enigmatic he would have used it just then. This is why I sail alone, he thought. People are just too damn confusing. But that wasn't entirely true. Sable had proven to be a good friend, an anchor point when he most needed one. And others had found their way past his social ineptitude. He knew he was hard to get close to. He knew he put up a pretty intimidating barrier to keep people at a distance. The last three weeks alone on the Lady had felt comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. For the first time in his life, he had felt not just alone, but lonely. As had happened to him several times before in the last few months, he found himself on the verge of some kind of breakthrough. But he still couldn't quite get hold of it. He snapped himself back into the present. One problem at a time, he thought. Deal with one problem at a time. “Okaaaay,” he said slowly to Urrezko. “You can have it raw if you really want it that way.” He brought an iron skillet out from under the counter. “But I'm going to fry up this fish anyway, so it really wouldn't be much trouble for me to fry up the steak too. Maybe medium rare? Or even rare?” He put the skillet on the stove and started to fillet the steelhead trout while the skillet warmed up. It gave him a little more time to think. Which unfortunately didn't keep him from blurting out the next thing that came into his head. “Oh,” He said. “And don't worry about a place to stay. You can stay here until you find something better.” Then realizing how that sounded he quickly added, “You can sleep in the aft berth. I use the V-berth.” Then realizing what he had just done he thought, Holy crap! Did I just invite her to move in? Now what am I going to do? Daske never was the sharpest knife in the drawer, but just now he was feeling down right dull. OOC : Just to set expectations, I don't turn posts around this fast during the work week. I just happen to be having a lazy Sunday afternoon, which allows me to reply quickly.

[Urrezko]

Urrezko was utterly astonished at his bluntness. It took him less than a minute to welcome her into his home, having only met her a few hours ago and actually talked to her for only a couple minutes. "Well . . . thankyou again." She said taking the meat. Suddenly her stomach let out a feirce growl, making her cheeks heat up again. Slightly embarrased, she took the still bloody meat, and took a chunk out of it. It didn't take long for her to finish off the rest of the meat, quickly Urrezko wipped away any remaining blood. "But you don't have to let me stay here." Urrezko, now have eaten and gained energy, stood up to prepare to get ready to finally transform back into her cheetah form. "I mean it's not uncommon to find homeless people in Sylaris anymore." She said removing her top, while Daske continued to cook the skillet. "So thank you so much for your help." Urrezko said folding her clothes and placeing them in her bag. She pulled out her small little coin purse. Counting out 100 gold mizas, Urrezko tapped on Daske shoulder to get his attention. "Here, I should give you these before I turn and loose my thumbs" Urrezko held out her hand.