Why did I get a job here again? [solo]

by **Elhaym** on October 23rd, 2010, 9:13 am

12th Day of Fall, 510 AV

The chime of the 8th Bell is heard throughout Syliras...

Pain was late. Her hair was messy, lopsided from sleep and greasy from too many days unwashed. She plodded down the increasingly busy streets of Syliras towards the Tooth and Claw, her dog and companion Tanny keeping stride and tethered by a leash. It wasn't like her really, but accidents happen. She would normally be up hours before, exercising and making sure she had a full stomach for the day's work ahead. Instead, it had only been Tanny's wet nose incessantly prodding her face that woke her. And now, she was late. Lirelle was sure to be pissed.

She stumbled through the doors, bending to free Tanny from his leash. He wasted no time, scampering to a mat near the front counter of the warehouse and falling over on his side. His little chest heaved up and down, and his tongue hung out. Pain bit her lower lip, silently asking forgiveness for making the old dog run for so long. As she rose, the bite increased in pressure to the point of causing blood to flow. Lirelle stared at her from across the open room, and turned towards her. She looked quite unhappy.

"Aw shyke." Pain thought, straightening up and walking to meet Lirelle half way. She'd never been late before, so she wasn't quite sure how her employer was going to react.

"You're late." Pure ice. Yup, this wasn't going to be a fun day. "You have a lot to do, I suggest you cancel any plans you had today." Lirelle said, producing a list from her pocket and shoving it towards Pain. Pain took the note, flipping it over and scanning it's contents. "Aw petch." pain thought, increasing her mental profanity as the situation grew even more dire. Easily three times the amount of work as usual, and errands. She would be hustling all over Syliras. As her eyes finished skimming over the list, she lowered it to find Lirelle already walking away.

Pain looked at the list, then over at Tanny at the counter. He smiled back at her. She hated it when he did that, like he thought it was funny. "Ha ha, thats what you get for making me run you witch!" he was probably thinking. She couldn't blame him, after all. She would be pretty pissed off if he somehow made her lay around and sleep all day, and pee on trees or on some poor vendor's stall. Actually, peeing on someones stall might be kind of amusing, save the whole socially unacceptable part and probably being thrown into the tank by the Knights for acting like an idiot. Still, kind of amusing.

Pain crumbled the list and stuffed it into the waistband of her pants. At least she was dressed comfortably; billowy black pants that some remarked to be imitations of the ones Inarta women wear, a simple black linen shirt, and her leather sandals. First order of business... clean the bird enclosure. Gods, Pain was positive that Lirelle had included that simply because she knew Pain hated birds, bird shyke, the sound of birds, feathers, stupid bird faces... yeah, she hated birds. Reluctantly, she set course towards her small closet that contained her tools of the trade. Brooms, mops, assorted tools for small repairs, and of course, the buckets. One last glance at Tanny, same damn dog smile. "Ha ha, go clean up the bird shyke!".

It was agonizingly hot to Pain inside, and she couldn't put her finger on why. It wasn't warm at all outside. Must be the damn birds, blowing out all that hot air every time they chirped, squealed, cooed and fluttered. Disgusting, nasty, filthy, stupid, ugly birds. That was her mantra as she scrubbed a particularly nasty buildup of bird excrement on the ground. Much to Pain's dismay but not to her surprise, she ended up having to get down on her hands and knees and use a rough sponge to knock loss the final bits. She near gagged as she did so, contorting her face as if she had swallowed a gallon of lemon juice. She paused for a moment, leaning back and sinking her butt to the ground. Her face was sweaty, and her clothes clung to her as if trying to retreat from the smell. The squawks were oppressive. The sound of feathers flapping and the sight of them falling to the ground was pushing Pain to near hysteria.

"SHUTUP!" Pain screamed, shaking her fist in the air as if a bird would give a shyke about the cleaning lady. Oh, wait, no... that big one over there actually did give a shyke. Oh, he gave quite a shyke indeed, as it was freshly splattered all over the ground beneath it. "Ahhhh COME ON!!!" Pain yelled, cursing and spitting like a sailor as she got to her feet.

A soft padding sound brought her attention to the entryway of the enclosure. Tanny sat on his haunches, his head tilted and his expression known to Pain to be one of mockery. "Pick up the crap Pain, pick it up!"

"Oh you bastard." Pain said, not able to hold back a chuckle at the situation. "Oh yes, Pain the artist, Pain the fighter. How strong she is, how talented and elegant her drawings are! Oh yeah, and did you know she can clean up a shyke stain flawlessly?" She said aloud, letting pure sarcasm bleed into her voice. Another sound drew her attention, and her mouth contorted as her face went slack. Lirelle was stooped down, petting Tanny behind the ears. She looked at Pain, then the recent droppings she was cleaning, and then at Tanny. She simply shook her head, stood up, and walked away. Tanny smiled. Pain cleaned up bird crap. What a great day.

by **Elhaym** on October 26th, 2010, 5:01 am

The chime of the 10th Bell is head throughout Syliras...

Pain smelled funky. Tanny was keeping his distance, which was unusual, so she assumed that must be it. Her eyes darted around, making sure no customers or god forbid Lirelle was around before lifting up her arm and sniffing. Her face contorted into mask of pure disgust. Gods, it had been hotter than Ivak's bath in there. She was drenched in sweat, her clothes clinging to her body (thought most likely against their will). She'd gone to bathhouse only a few days before, but any cleanliness attained had surely been sullied today. She made a mental note to see about going back. The bird enclosure was finished much to Pain's delight, but she had forgotten what was next on her agenda. She reached to her waistband, pulling the now damp note free from it's constraint and folding it open.

In scribbled shorthand, she made out "feedbags in storeroom to enclosures", though it more or less looked like "fbg in sroom ---> enc" on the paper. Well, the feedbags were heavy and cumbersome, but at least it wasn't scrubbing up excrement. Pain fanned her face as she walked to the storeroom, scanning the room until she found her trusty friend. Ah, there it was. A beat up old wheelbarrow sat in the corner, pocked with rust and chipped all over. Also in the opposite corner were about a dozen bags of feed, which pain thought were probably about 60 pounds apiece. "Hey, not bad!" Pain thought, thanking the gods that this task was relatively light. She jogged to the wheelbarrow in the corner and hefted it upright, scooting it across the room to the corner with the bags. It was emitting an odd grinding noise that she hadn't noticed before, but hey, take a look at the thing and you would be surprised if it didn't make weird noises when it moved.

Pain set the wheelbarrow down, and loaded three bags into it's deep container. Though the bags were heavy, Pain had a precise method for lifting each. Lower her body, pull the bag to her chest, and raise her body up while trying to keep her bulky thighs as the primary source of power for the lift. Throwing the bags into the wheelbarrow was equally important in technique, as she had to make sure she didn't twist her body away from the directions her feet were pointing when she tossed it in. Sure, it wouldn't hurt if she did that... today. She had learned pretty quickly the proper way to lift heavy objects after only a few short days of work.

Pain hoisted the wheelbarrow into a walking position with relative ease, casually rolling it to the dog enclosure before unloading it into a neat pile. This was mindless work, but that was what Lirelle had hired Pain for. After all, someone had to get everything from point A to point B. Pain repeated the process three more times, successfully loading the different types of feed into their respective enclosures. Pain no longer cared about missing her morning workout; this was more than enough to compensate if her day continued along this way. Pain rolled the wheelbarrow back to the storeroom, finding it awkward to go such a long distance when it was empty. What a piece of crap. It kept wiggling all over the place as if it were dizzy. In fact, it was starting to make Pain dizzy.

With the wheelbarrow safely tucked in the corner, Pain bent over and placed her hands on knees, trying to catch her breath. Getting that damn thing back to the storeroom had been like an accident waiting to happen, with her zig zagging throughout the entire warehouse. After getting back upright, Pain turned towards the exit of the storeroom, but stopped in her tracks. There Lirelle stood, arms crossed, eve present frown.

"Oh, lo' there boss. Got the feed done!" Pain said, thumbing towards the empty space the feed had once sat and pumping her other arm in victory. Lirelle's expression remained unchanged. She looked up, towards the a haphazardly built loft that Pain had never really noticed, then at the wheelbarrow, and then back at Pain. She simply shook her head, and walked away. Pain's head snapped towards the loft, and even from the ground saw dozens of bags of feed stacked high across it's surface. Her jaw dropped.

"Oh. My. GOD."

And there he was, sitting on his haunches at the door, smirking as he had been all day. Tanny cocked his head to the side, his tail wagging furiously. "Bring it all down Pain, bring it all down! HA!"

"Oh you bastard." Pain said, but she couldn't help herself. Tanny met her halfway, and she snuggled on him and gave him some much needed belly scratches and behind the ear rubs. "Yeah, you think this real funny, don't ya? Making momma work hard like this, it's funny to you huh little guy?"

Pain looked at the loft, and finally noticed an old ladder leading maybe fifteen feet to it's surface. It looked decrepit, just like the wheelbarrow. Geez, did Lirelle ever buy anything new? Well, that feed was pretty expensive. No sense worrying much about it, as that would change the harsh reality of finishing her next task.

Pain bounded towards the ladder, throwing caution to the wind and assuming the old ladder would be as hardy as her trusty wheelbarrow. She planted her foot on the first rung, and pushed herself up to to grab another several steps above. Perhaps scaling the ladder a little more gingerly would have been a good idea. That thought only occurred to Pain as she neared the top, and slammed her foot against the last rung before she would hoist herself into the loft. The wooden beam snapped, well, more like disintegrated when Pain's foot made contact. Her hands flailed wildly to make contact with the edge of the loft, but it's was no use. Total freefall.

Pain's instincts took over rather than panic, and her face hardened. She wasn't just a stupid day laborer by nature. Her body was well trained, and she reacted to the fall by kicking one of her legs violently and twisting her hips in the same direction. Now, at least, she was falling face first towards the ground rather than landing on her back. But was that so much better? Pain curled her knees to her chest, and extended her arms a bit while keeping them a good deal bent at the elbow. She allowed her body to relax, quite difficult in this situation but...

... when she landed, she was in all fours, and her limbs tensed and absorbed the impact of the fall with no damage aside from the horrendous sting that shot up her palms. The kind of sting that made your wists feel to weak to pick up a fork, like that. Pain stood up, shaking her arms and legs to double check for injury before narrowing her eyes and glaring at the ladder. She spat at it, as if it in all of it's inanimate glory might find some offense in her human gesture. Tanny of course, had begun trotting towards her to make sure his master was okay. Well, thats what she would have liked to think anyway.

"Tanny, did you see that!?" Pain said in a sing song voice, hoisting her body on foot and striking a ballerina pose. She gave herself a good spin, before dropping down to pet him. Pain was just like anyone else; don't we all do stupid stuff when we're alone? Now, Pain realized her only method of getting up into the loft was destroyed. How the hell had anyone managed to get that stuff up there in the first place with a crappy ladder like that anyway? Pain set to work stacking some empty wooden crates near the loft. Her plan was simple; run towards box, jump on boxes, jump from boxes, get handhold on ledge, pull self onto ledge, victory!

Pain rubbed her hands together and rubbed them on her pants, trying to disperse some of the accumulated sweat so she could acquire a better handhold. Something in the back of her mind was saying "Come on, I know this is fun, but there has to be an easier way." Noted. Filed. Ignored. Pain flung herself forward, charging the initial crate and bounding into the air. Her right leg made contact, and she pushed herself into the air with all the strength she could muster. Her arms fanned out, fingers outstretched in anticipation to grab the ledge. She got it. Pain almost lost her handhold when the momentum from the jump caused her body to swing forward, and for a moment she thought she was going to be sprawled out on some boxes on her back. But, just as quick as she had flown forward, she came back again. Heaving now with her arms, Pain lifted herself up and managed to drag an elbow onto the ledge. Twisting her waist, she managed a knee as well. Pain rolled into the storage loft onto her back, and stood up.

And there it was, in all it's glory. A pile of feedbags, twice the size of the one below. Pain set to work, squatting and picking each bag up with what became a signature grunt. She tossed each one to the ground, inevitably breaking a few open. Nothing to be done about that, though. The wooden foothold creaked with each step, and Pain started to think that the perch would collapse after the strain of holding the bags. As the last sack landed with a thud below, Pain sat down on the ledge. Pushing her body off, she landed on top of the crate she had vaulted from earlier. Now, where was that wheelbarrow?

"Elhaym."

"Eh? Oh, Lirelle. I got them all down, just about to bring them out, and-"

"Gods, I had that pully system installed two months ago and it cost me a fortune, and you insist on throwing the feed over the edge? What are you thinking, girl?" Lirelle said, slashing her hand like an axe towards the loft. Of course, Pain hadn't bothered to look, but she did see the underside of what looked to be a cluster of metal parts. Oh, right. So thats what that weird gizmo up top had been. She'd ignored it for the most part, save tripping over it once.

Pain sighed, and offered her apologizes before retrieving the wheelbarrow under Lirelle's close scrutiny. Pain's arms and legs ached, and she took a bit longer to load the standard three bags into the wheelbarrow. Long enough to give Lirelle time to linger in the storeroom and look around, anyhow.

"Elhaym. You do realize theres an iron ladder not six inches from this antique, right?" Lirelle said, rapping her knuckles on a very new, metal ladder that did indeed reside right next to the old ladder. Granted, it had been up against the wall and relatively hidden by it's color and the shadows, but still...

Lirelle continued her rounds in the storeroom as Pain hoisted the wheelbarrow up, and began walking it through the doors.

grindgrindgrindgrindgrindgrindgrindSNAP!

The wheelbarrow collapsed, it's front wheel coming completely unfastened and the whole structure tipping over. Pain could do nothing, she simply released her hold and jumped back. The feed spilled from it's bags upon impact, spreading across the floor. Pain's eyes were wide and frozen with fear. Of course, Lirelle had seen the entire thing. As Pain turned, her boss stood with her eyes bulged and her hands curled tightly into fists. She simply looked at the broken wheelbarrow, then at Pain, and then back at the feed spilled across the floor, and walked away. Tanny barked. Pain scooped up feed. What a great day.

by **Elhaym** on October 29th, 2010, 1:05 am

The chime of the 12th Bell can be heard throughout Syliras...

Pain stood behind the front counter of the Tooth and Claw, leaning on it's surface with her elbows and propping her head up in her palms. She hadn't minded so much when Lirelle had told her to watch the front for a bit while she went out, she was pretty tired after her early morning chores. It hadn't been fifteen minutes however, and Pain was already growing restless. A few people had wandered in, and did the usual routine. They walk in, talk a big game about adopting a pet, mill around for a bit, get a few lonely dogs hopes up... and then they leave. Petchers. At that thought, Pain leaned down and scratched her own dog behind the ears. She hadn't had him for long at all, but the bond they already shared was strong. He wasn't a terribly useful dog mind you, but he was a constant source of companionship.

Pain only rose back to the counter when she felt Tanny's ears twitch under her palms. She had been daydreaming, and turned to face whatever citizen had just entered. Surely, they wouldn't buy anything, god forbid they adopt an animal.

"Hey there, welcome to the Tooth and Claw, lemme' know if you need... any... help... oh boy." Pain started off with as cheery a voice as she could muster, but ended with an awkward silence and muttering to herself. This guy was a real jerk, she remembered him from one of her first days in the shop. He was middle aged, balding but trying to desperately to hide it. She remembered him talking a big game about being a spectacular hunter. He'd made a total ass of himself, telling Lirelle what piss poor shape her dogs were in and generally being an annoyance. Pain had thought Lirelle might lose control. After all, Lirelle was pretty much the authority on animals and animal care in Syliras, and it seemed like she could train a Python to be a vegetarian... she was just that good. Pain was about to step in herself, when the man finally selected a fine Falivan Elk Dog, a monster that could barely be described as a dog. He'd paid, and left. End of story. Now he was back, and Lirelle wasn't around. Great. The man sauntered in now, commanding his dog to stay as he approached the counter.

"Girl. This dog isn't worth shyke. You imbeciles call yourselves animal handlers, and you don't know the first da-"

"I have a name, sir. My name is Elhaym, and i'd be quite happy to listen to your issues..." Pain began to recite the lines Lirelle had trained her to say. Lirelle hadn't had much trouble realizing that Pain was a bit awkward in a discussion, so instead of leaving handling customers up to her own poor social skills, she had essentially told Pain what to say. This time, she hadn't even managed to run through her whole spiel before she was interrupted.

"Hey, girl, I don't really give a shyke about your name. The fact is, this dog can't hunt. He's an imbecile, just like you and your boss, eh? Do you understand? He can't hunt." The customer said, anger seeping through his words and spittle flinging about as his jowls shook. All the while, the mammoth of a dog sat obediently at his side. Pain was scanning the dog, looking for signs of abuse. Aside from maybe looking a bit too skinny, she couldn't see anything obvious. Pain sighed, and stepped from behind the counter. Tanny apparently didn't seem to care to give this many any attention, which was a bit odd considering he usually greeted everyone who came into the store. Dog's are pretty good judges of character, she supposed.

Pain met the man in front of the counter, not a foot away from his face. He seemed to shrink back a bit, noticing that the 'girl' behind the counter was a bit stronger looking than he thought. More likely was that he was just used to yelling and screaming, and nobody challenging him. Pain didn't want to get fired, and she damn sure didn't want to hurt the guy... but this was a bit much.

"Alright, listen. I don't know what your problem is, but there ain't nothin' wrong with this dog." Pain said, stepping to the side and scratching the burly beast's head. It remained as still as a statue, a true display of the level of discipline that Lirelle trained her dogs to. He had been commanded to sit and stay, and so he did. "Now, I don't know what you hope to accomplish by coming here and insulting me, but I can guarantee you it won't be much. We'd be happy to help you, you know, if you want to be civil... but, I think this is what Lirelle refers to as... a handler issue." Pain snapped, trying to sound cheery but mostly coming off as sarcastic.

Yelling, cursing, ridiculous gestures... all of it came exploding out of the man all at once. He yelled at Pain, telling her what a bigshot hunter he was here in Syliras, how he knew a decent animal from a runt who wasn't fit to be sold, and on and on. Pain worked hard to let her face relax, blinking at him absently as he yelled. She didn't know what to do really. Hopefully, he would just sit here and yell until Lirelle came back. But...

The sound of a man clearing his throat broke through the noise. It wasn't loud, but it was one of those "Hey, i'm here, and you should probably turn around" sort of sounds. Pain raised herself up on her toes and looked over the customer's shoulder as he spun himself around, already beginning to yell about being interrupted while doing business. His words trailed off into nothing as the new visitor's identity and purpose became clear. There he was, gleaming silver, a longsword dangling from a sheath on his hip. A knight, who must have happened to been patrolling the area. Pain's face remained relaxed, but on the inside she was laughing. This guy was probably about to get an earful.

"Dieter, you're causing trouble again. I told you, the next time you come in this city and start harassing folk, I wasn't going to let you off easy." the knight said in a stern voice, the clanking of metal and the creak of hardened leather accompanying his every step. Those were the sounds of authority in Syliras. Now, the bastard was trapped between the Knight and Pain, with his dog companion still silently observing the empty counter as if he were a statue.

"Tell me, Dieter. When's the last time you actually brought something in that the butchers could use? Ol' Dino tells me your aim has gotten bad. You may run the shop when you're out in the wild, but here, you don't make demands. Do you understand, Dieter?" The knight spoke in the same hard voice, at the same time placing a metal clad finger in the center of the hunter's chest, who apparently was named Dieter.

Dieter grumbled, mumbling something that may or may not have been an apology before issuing the command for his dog to follow him. He walked out the door, trying to keep his head up, but Pain could see that he had been shamed. In her opinion, he was lucky. She herself had witnessed a Knight almost pull someones arm out of socket for less than that. She regarded the Knight carefully, unable to really make out his facial features due to an iron half helmet he wore. Regardless, she extended her hand to him, and spoke.

"Thanks... er, Thanks Ser. I didn't really know what to do there, he's been a bit of a problem here in the past."

"It's no trouble Elhaym, actually... i'm glad you decided not to get involved physically." He said, speaking Pain's birth name and alluding to her tendency to fight without offering up any explanation as how he would know such things.

Pain's eyes widened and she began to blink rapidly, at one point shaking her head back and forth in rapid succession, as if a fly had landed on her nose. What was going on? She knew that the Knights could pull up the records from the housing authority as well as the employment center to find her real name, but no one really knew it on the streets. What was this about?

by **Elhaym** on October 29th, 2010, 1:05 am

The chime of the 13th Bell can be heard throughout Syliras...

The Knight removed his helmet, revealing friendly brown eyes and a gentlemen's haircut. He looked to be a few years older than her, maybe approaching thirty. He had a small scar that ran along the left side of his mouth, somehow adding to the charm. It wasn't a terribly threatening looking scar, more one of character. His expression was at complete odds with the stern voice she had heard when he had spoken to the hunter. Amidst Pain's stuttering and stammering, he began to speak over her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as he spoke.

"Just relax, citizen. Now, I know who you are. I actually came here to speak to you. It's come to our attention that some... events transpired out in the wilderness past the city gates a few weeks ago. It was... quite grizzly. Do you know what i'm referring to, Elhaym?"

The same easy tone, his voice padded with comfort. They knew about the three mercenaries, they had too. Pain had been involved in a whole mess late last summer, ultimately leading to her killing three men who had intended to do the same to her. She hadn't acted alone, but at this point, she knew better than to start laying blame. She did the only thing she could do in good conscious. She nodded.

"Good, i'm glad we're on the same page." He said, looking over his shoulder and around the shop. No one else was around. "I'm Syliran Knight Daniel Ward, 2nd Wing, Black Company, 3rd Regiment, Silver Quadron." Pain winced as he stated his name and rank, expecting to hear "... and you are under arrest for the murder of..."

But it never came. What he said came as somewhat of a shock to Pain.

"You know, Elhaym... this is a glorious city. We do our best, we keep it safe... but sometimes, things happen that slip through our fingers. You know, it happens sometimes." He said, feebly wiggling his fingers from within his gauntlets, as if to make a joke. Pain couldn't help but smile faintly, despite the topic of conversation. "However, eventually, we do find out about these things. This time, it wasn't until we discovered three bodies and identified them that we were able to go back, investigate, and discover an entire series of events that had eluded us until now. I think you know what I am referring to. The fact is, Elhaym, that we do not tolerate murder in Syliras..." He said, letting his statement linger for a moment. "Nor do we allow our citizens to be brutally attacked, and harassed with threats upon their life. It seems to me, that you were victimized by some quite... unwholesome characters. We spoke a former employer of yours, he told us quite a bit about what happened. So, essentially, we know everything. What I want you to know... no, what all of the Syliran Knights need you to know, is that if you have a problem such as this, you come to us. You acted on your own accord, out of self defense. We're aware of that, and the investigation is over. My superiors have decided not to arrest you, rather, they sent me here to have a little chat with you. We can't have our citizens handling issues such as this on their own, Elhaym. That's what we are here for, to protect you. And so... in the future, should you come across a situation where you feel you are in danger, do not do as you did before. We have granted a rare exception to the rule in your case, because our investigation revealed that you are of good character and are normally a law abiding citizen. It also occurred to me as I watched you handle Dieter that you are not a volatile person, as we know for a fact that you have a certain level of skill in a fight." He paused to take a breath, removing his hand from Pain's shoulder and placing it at the sheath on his hip. Force of habit, most likely.

"Not much slips by us, Elhaym. We've observed you practicing, and noted your habits. Again, after a brief surveillance we were able to get an idea of your character. Cute dog, by the way." Daniel said, giving a warm smile as he pointed his thumb towards the counter. Tanny slept peacefully, occasionally twitched amidst his doggy dreams.

Pain simply stood and watched. She couldn't figure this out. Her eyes were about to bulge out of her head, and though the Knight was surprisingly gentle in voice and manner, Pain was frightened. They had discovered what had happened, and even had been watching her for who knows how long.

"So, to make a long story short... don't pull anything like that again. If you do, you will be dealt with harshly. You have been granted reprieve... this time. If I were you, I would keep this whole mess under wraps, as we have. We are not perfect Elhaym, but we do our best. Next time, trust us. We will not let you down, citizen." Daniel said, still holding his helmet to his side in one hand and tapping his sheath with the other.

"I... i'm sorry, Ser. I... er... I just, well... I won't." Pain said, unloading as eloquent a response as she could in the situation. Her heart was beating as if she were a hummingbird, and she felt woozy. Thank the gods, she was not being arrested or executed. Daniel simply nodded, and placed his helmet back on his head. The warmness seemed to fade from him. He was once again the authoritative Knight who had silenced the noisy hunter. Without another word, he stepped out of the warehouse and continued his rounds. Pain sank to the floor, relieved that probably one of the most terrifying and uncomfortable conversations she had ever had was over.

Only then did Lirelle return, carrying a sack of what was most likely lunch. She was still angry at Pain for being late, but she was not so cold as to make her work hungry. Pain lept to her feet, brushing off her behind. Something wet. Something mushy. What was that smell? Pain twisted her body, and looked at the ground she had just been sitting on. There sat a throughly smashed pile of fresh dog excrement. She hadn't noticed the smell before, far too absorbed in her previous state of terror. It was massive, and now it was not only on her clothes, but on her hand... that damn hunter's dog. Maybe he wasn't as well trained as Pain had thought.

Lirelle started to call out to Pain, tilting her head when her assistant turned to her. She simply looked at Pain's sullied hand, then at dog's "present", and then back at the sack of food she was holding, and walked away. Tanny woke up. Pain had to change clothes. What a great day.

by **Elhaym** on October 30th, 2010, 6:09 am

The chime of the 15th Bell can be heard throughout Syliras...

Pain had returned from her apartment within Traveler's Row freshly changed, along with a semi-bath. All in all, she'd felt a lot better, though she was still shaken up from both the physical activity of the morning and the unsettling conversation with the Daniel Ward, a Syliran Knight. She hadn't been able to help herself, and on the way back she had looked over her shoulder and found herself paranoid of being followed. "A little late to be worried, idiot." she had finally consented, and just walked back to the Tooth and Claw with her head hung low.

"Ah, you're back. Got all of that nastiness taken care of, I see." Lirelle barked upon her return, not able to hold back a smirk at Pain's earlier plight.

"Er... yeah, ready to finish up here. Thanks for the food, by the way... it was, uh, delicious." Yeah, venison shishkabobs, delicious. Why was everyone so damn set on eating meat every meal of the day, it always made Pain feel sluggish if she ate too much in one sitting. Luckily, she'd grabbed a couple of raw radishes and a few Tal'uma rice cakes and eaten them on the way back.

Lirelle beamed, apparently content to have helped out her best (read: only) employee. Pain had told her about the run in with Dieter, though with a slightly different ending as she didn't much care to talk about her discussion with the Knight. In the end, Lirelle had offered her one alternative chore instead of finishing the rest of the grunt work on the list. Now that Pain was back, Lirelle gave her a small coin bag and and verbal instructions. Apparently, she was to deliver an order of special food for the animals from the butcher back to the Tooth and Claw. Since her wheelbarrow had bit the dust earlier, that meant she'd be carrying it by hand, but hey, it was just one bag.

Pain took the coinbag with a nod, tying it into the waistband of her shorts. She was dressed more or less the same, with knee length linen shorts dyed black and a short sleeved shirt of the same material and color, along with her black sandals. With nothing else left to say, Pain departed.

Pain wasn't one to waste the opportunity to exercise, so eh started off with a jog to get her muscles loosened up. She flashed back to when she was younger and growing, and her brother making fun of the awkward way she ran. Ah, pleasant memory. Pain snapped back to the present, leaning her body forward to try to look at her running form and nearly stumbling forward in the process. "Well, that was kind of stupid." Pain said to no one in particular, slowing down as she got her baring. Her legs pumped up and down, running in place as she decided her route.

Ah, she remembered. Now, she picked up the pace as she ran towards the Butcher's shop. She worked her legs hard, though she kept her pace slow enough that she wouldn't draw the serious attention of a Knight. After all, who ran down the street aside from thieves? Indeed, on two separate occasions she slowed her run as she passed a Knight, offering a wave. The third time, she actually turned around and ran back to a Knight who had begun to yell and give chase to explain what she was doing (though, in plate armor, Pain didn't quite understand why had tried). Pain swung her arms in rhythm, keeping her movements fluid as he body churned at a good pace. Running was the most basic form of exercise, but damn, it felt good to stretch out and cut loose after being stuck in the warehouse all day.

As Pain approached the Butcher of Alban, she slowed to a halt and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. After a moment of repose, she pushed the door aside and stepped through, calling out to the proprietor. He seemed busy, calculating some numbers or something along those lines, and merely pointed at a large sack that was on the counter. Pain nodded, untying the coinbag from her waist, and dropped it onto the counter. The bag itself was a huge burlap sack, with several small packages inside wrapped in thick butcher's paper. Pain heaved it over her shoulder and waved at the butcher as she left. He merely raised an eyebrow and snatched the coinbag, wishing her well. Seemed like a cheery fellow, but he was obviously busy.

And then she realized how heavy the "package" was. It felt like it was two of the feedbags she had lifted earlier. Pain hoisted it up onto her back, holding it on the top with one hand and supporting the base with the other. She began to walk back, but her arms were already beginning to burn with strain. In fact, her whole body was starting to tire after only a few hundred yards. Damn that old piece of crap wheelbarrow for breaking! Pain had no recourse. It was going to be hell, but she decided to run back to the shop with this blasted pack of whatever the hell it was on her back. It would be tiring, but better than walking back and extending the misery.

She picked up the pace, feeling the burdened impact on her knees with every thunderous step. "Hey, this is what it'll feel like if I get fat. Yet another reason not to drink ale and eat meat all day." Pain thought, as her mouth was too busy expelling and sucking in as much air as possible. Gods, it was heavy, and if her legs were burning before... well, they were being incinerated now. Pain also became acutely away of a moist feeling on her back as she ran.

"Son of a bitch!" Pain yelled as she stopped, quickly reaching up with the hand that had supported the bottom of the bag and brushing it against her back. She drew it forward, and it was red. Some kind of meat juice, or blood... or something, whatever it was, it was disgusting. The notion that she probably should have inquired about getting a new wheelbarrow before she did this floated through her mind, but that fleeting thought had no business in her current situation. Of course, the damn bag was leaking god knows what all over her. Well, she had to do what she had to do... and so, she ran. Upon reaching the Tooth and Claw, she could feel that her entire backside was wet with goo.

Lirelle directed Pain to leave the bag in the back, where it would be distributed to some of the bigger dogs and the more exotic animals. Her eyes widened as she saw Pain turn around upon her return, and she began to call Pain's name.

"Eh!? What is it?!" Pain said, turning to face Lirelle.

"You're... all bloody."

"... Yes. Yes, I am." Pain said, biting her lower lip to keep from saying something like "Well what the petch did you think would happen!?" Lirelle began to chuckle. Pain thought Lirelle had a good idea of what she wanted to say, given her response.

"Alright, Elhaym. I think you've more than made up for your tardiness. You're free to go for the day, a little earlier than expected. Come back tomorrow. On time."

Was that a compliment? Maybe. Either way, she was relinquished from her duties for the day, and none to soon. Her body ached from the lifting, climbing, jumping, and running... so much work, and she would have to come back and do it all again tomorrow. Then again, it was a lot better than trying to peddle drawings at the bazaar and living like a street urchin! Yes, much better indeed. Pain looked at Lirelle as she left, then down at her bloodied legs, then at her little buddy Tanny as he strolled up to her. He licked her leg. Pain recoiled in disgust, then laughed. What a great day.

by **Puck** on November 14th, 2010, 5:07 am

Pain_______
Skills

Lore

Notes_______

Super neat thread! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or adoration, just sling a PM my way. Puck has been amused.