The Drunken Barmaid 4

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Fall 8, 523 AV Eva showed up for work through the back entrance and went to go get ready for the day. She was already in uniform so all she needed to do was fix her hair and receive the status of the tables from her coworker. There was an interesting thing floating around the tavern that a few stray cats had been seen wandering in and conjugating in the corner of the dining floor. The cats didn't seem to be bothering anyone or begging for food like normal cats, so people assumed they were Kelvic’s. Eva was curious, but she needed to focus on her job even if there were cute little fluff balls in the tavern. However, even though she told herself that, she found herself looking for the cats that were sitting in a group in the corner. While she was cleaning tables and removing the dishes, she was looking. While she served food to the patrons, she was looking. Even while a small scuffle was occurring out on the floor and she was trying to calm the tempers, her mind was also trying to find the cats. But try as she might, she could not find any cats for a good while, that was until a woman with fiery red hair came striding in and following behind her was a large number of cats. People were stunned by her appearance as she was dressed in attire for hunting but was surrounded by a small horde of cats. She looked around the place before making a few noises towards the cats, to which they shockingly listened and made their way over to a corner table in Eva’s section. They crowded around and under the table, with some even sitting in the chairs. The woman made her way through the crowded tavern and up to the bar, where she leaned against it and started talking to Aerin. There were a few words exchanged, but Eva was too far to hear so they were unknown to her. All she could see from her brief glances was that Aerin disappeared to the back of the tavern for a bit while the woman pulled out a paper from her pocket. It took a chime or two, and Eva was tending to a table a bit closer now, but Aerin returned to the bar with Father Manowar. This time, she could hear parts of what the two were saying. The woman was a traveling hunter with her band of cats who just came into town about a week ago. She had a large catch of small wild game and birds with her and was wanting to seel them to the tavern or even to some patrons for them to take home and cook. They talked about possible pay, but around that time, Eva had to walk away and head to the back of the store with some plates. Word Count: 482

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

When Eva came back out with some plates of food, the woman seemed to have taken the table she had her cats sitting at and started laying out a large canvas looking cloth. Eva placed the food down at her table and noticed the patrons there were also watching the woman work. They glanced up at Eva when she set their food down and made a humming noise when their attention went back to the lady. “What is she doing?” He spoke with a voice of curiosity. “She has all those cats with her, wait, are those dead animals?” Eva looked at the man whose face had turned into disturbed intrigue. He looked like he wanted to get up and check out what was going on. Eva smirked and helped tease his curiosity. “I'm not sure what she is doing. But she looks to be a hunter judging by those animals. Maybe she's going to sell her catch?” She made a noise of thoughtfulness and shrugged, leaving the table to answer the call of another. However, it turned out that table was also curious about the hunter woman. “Say lil lass, what she fittin ta do with all that game der? Do ya know?” He spoke as he leaned closer to her, the scent of the sea mixed with alcohol wafting off of him. Eva just answered him the same as she did the other table, with an assumption that the woman may be selling her wares. The response from this man was different, as he seemed to just grunt and lose interest. She shrugged again, as not everyone would be interested in the idea. However, a crowd had started to form around the woman as she had begun announcing her catch was for sale and the tavern cook will prepare it for you if you pay them. “Come and get some affordable small game and birds! Two silver each, and pay the cook and additional silver to cook it for you! Freshly caught just this morning, you can’t get anything fresher.” The woman announced loudly to the tavern floor and as if on cue, the cats began to meow in some harmonious melody. Eva’s eyes glittered with a tinkle of blue and pale green as she watched the cats with awe. She didn’t pay attention when she approached, and was stopped by a soft but firm hand on her wrist as the lady gave a kind smile. “Please don’t touch the cats unless they approach you. Some of them can be a bit vicious with their personal space.” Word Count: 429

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

“Oh, forgive me. I was just so fascinated by the cats that I lost myself. They are quite cute.” Eva smiled as she retracted her hand, holding it close to her as if she was keeping it under control. She then looked at the woman's catch and her eye landed on a rabbit, plump and ready for cooking. She wanted to buy it, however, she was on a tight budget and the sound of two silver seemed like a lot. Maybe she could try bartering, she needed the practice.. She looked at the lady, who went back to selling her goods, and pointed to the rabbit. “I want this one. Could I pay one silver and offer you a helping hand in return? I have many skills and information.” The lady glanced at the woman briefly before ignoring her, going back to selling to more willing patrons. “How about one silver and five copper. I have knowledge about herbal plants.” The lady clicked her tongue and looked at her with a firm glare. Eva almost flinched at the look, but clenched her hands and stood firm, watching the lady pick up the rabbit by its hind legs and point to it. “This rabbit is atleast a six pounds, and by that weight, I should be charging three to four gold for both the meat and pelt. I'm giving an extreme discount because today was a fruitful hunt and I wish to be generous. Continue to barter down my prices and I won't sell you anything.” Eva was taken by surprise and didn’t know what to say besides nodding. She got a tongue lashing from the woman, one she deserved for trying to barter, and retreated to go tend to her tables. Though most of them went to check out the hunters table, She still had a few who needed her attention and even some that needed to be cleaned. For the next bell or so, Eva was running back and forth to tables serving food and cleaning. She had this especially demanding and rude table running her ragged that she was still working on. She had just returned to them with their food when the young looking sailor started bitching. “Little miss, your ears must be defective. You brought me ale, I asked for mead!” The sailor slammed his mug down and yelled. “Can you even think properly? Huh?!” His face then contorted into disgust as he looked at the meal that was placed in front of him. “And what is this bullshit? This looks foul, you expect me to eat this?” The boy was hooting and hollering and Eva was growing tired, dying little by little inside with every word he let fly. She was about to walk away when the man threw the food at her back and huffed like he accomplished something. Instead, Eva turned around with bits of food falling off her and smiled cheekily. Word Count:489

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

“Well, sir, I believe that you’re going to have to pay for the mess you made. I believe two silver will be enough for the repercussions of not being kicked out of here.” She held out her hand, expecting payment, and waited. The man's face turned bright red with anger and his companions, whom he was looking at for backup, turned their heads or sipped their ale. This just angered him more as he stood and got in Eva’s face, cursing at her about the treatment he was receiving. Eva was unamused, as angry drunkards were becoming a thing. But this time, the guards reacted faster than what Eva was able to and told the man to sit down or get out. He stared at the guard, who stared back, before slowly sitting back down and rummaging through his pockets for the payment of the meal a second time. Now that she was covered in food on her back, Eva made her way to the back with a quick glance at the woman selling her wares. The crowd was much smaller and it looked like she was now packing up her items and reducing her area to accommodate her leftover stock. When Eva got to the back, the scents of the new foods being cooked wafted in the air. Her mouth was watering and she completely forgot to get changed as she made her way over to the cook. “That smells amazing! What are you making?” She peaked over towards the grill and saw some new meats being grilled. She couldn't tell what they were, but they definitely smelt amazing. However, the cook just grunted and shooed Eva off with a swing of his utensils. At that, Eva skittered away and went to get changed, now convinced that she needed to buy that rabbit and take it home so that Moritz and her could enjoy the savory meat. Once she was changed, she went back over to the woman, who eyed her before giving a smile. She stood and watched as Eva browsed over the animals before furrowing her brow. The rabbit wasn’t there, in fact, all that was left were wild birds. When she went to ask the woman where the rabbit went, she was actually holding it in her hand. “Now, I set this aside for you, not because of some fondness towards you, but because I took pity on you for how tha man treated you. You are too frail and innocent to be taking such hard words from an ignorant buffoon like him.” Eva didn’t understand what the woman was going for, but the fact that she had put the rabbit aside because of what just happened seemed like a stroke of good luck for her. She smiled before pulling out the two silver she got off the dead man a few days ago and went to hand her the money before she stopped. Moritz wouldn’t eat this, out of all the times they would eat together he was always eating non meat meals. She wanted to enjoy a meal with him again, so rabbit may not be the right idea. WC: 525