Timestamp: 67th of Fall
Shai was up to her old tricks again. She had a rock in hand and was perched on the side of a wall obscured by shadows. Her location actually wasn’t all that far from her night’s destination the Pig’s Foot. But she just couldn’t see giving up a chance for a few mizas before spending some. And so the little spider sat on the wall waiting for some idiot to bumble through. First was a prostitute but it was too early in the night for her to have any good coins so Shai let her pass. Then a pair of young men, two was one more rock than she had so they also had to go by. Eventually, after a handful of chimes, she got her wish when a lone man ambled into the alley way. He was a large man and probably a thug in his own right, but an unconscious man was an unconscious man no matter his size. As soon as the target passed by Shai’s hiding spot the Symenestra pounced. Leading with her rock she shoved all of her force against the back of his head, effectively downing the man. Releasing the rock as she struck him Shai tumbled to the ground to avoid any injury in her landing.
Standing up from her tumble Shai walked over to the unconscious lump of a man, after a nudge with her barefoot she judged him unresponsive. Quickly rifling through his possession she pocketed a small handful of mizas and what seemed like an old boot knife. Meager spoils but it would be enough to let the small woman buy some drink.
After securing her black cloak around her, Shai headed out of the alley and sauntered down the last few blocks to the tavern. The thief stopped to pull on her boots which she kept tied together and over her neck while climbing. A woman didn’t walk into a tavern without shoes that was simply uncivil. She nudged open the door with her now shoed foot and walked in, keeping her hands beneath her cloak and out of sight as much as possible. It was a busy night andconsequently there weren’t any completely free tables, so instead the Symenestra stole a seat at the bar in between two men. One man looked eerily like a rat who had encountered a smell that perpetually irritated him, but the biggest perk for Shai was that he was small and small men usually didn’t mess with her. Alternatively the man on the other side of Shai might have had parent who was part geological feature because the man was enormous. Shai wasn’t large by anyone’s definition but she’d never come across anyone who dwarfed her like this figure. Regardless, she wasn’t here for the company the thief was here for the booze and the chance that some moron might get a bit too sauced and try to walk home along. Shai felt it was professional courtesy to make sure he made it back several mizas lighter.
When she felt the telltale sign of warmth fondle her rear end, Shai realized she wasn’t just going to be able to sit and observe. There was one thing she never understood about denizens of Sunberth, didn’t the big black cloak give enough of a warning sign to not petch with her? Apparently not, or maybe they really needed to get petched because she didn’t have a whore’s ass, she barely had any ass at all. So the fact that men liked to grab a chunk perpetually confused her. Well she couldn’t very well let it slide so first she ascertained it wasn’t the living mountain on left; she could see both of his hands. That left ratsy on the right.
Shai wrapped her own right fist behind her and met the stranger’s hand still on her body. Keeping the actual damage dealers, her claws, hidden behind her hand she jabbed her middle and index claws into the top of his hand and her thumb claw into the soft palm. She hadn’t caused any irreparable damage but it was enough to hurt and bleed. The man jerked back laying his gently bleeding hand on the bar and looked at her. He had a look of confusion not because she done it, such a reaction wasn’t all that ridiculous, but how she’d done it. It was exactly the reaction she needed to confirm it was him doing the groping. Shai didn’t give him a chance to ponder, the rogue twisted her ankle under his stool at an angle and pulled. The stool acceded to her pressure and leverage and tipped sending the man off the back of his stool and onto the floor. Shai never let the stool itself fall and righted it back to where it belonged.
Keeping her eyes forward she never looked straight at the man but she did speak. “Use a few more precious moments to think it over before you try to grab a piece of another woman. They might not be so nice.” This left a lovely empty space besides Shai which was precisely twice as good as when it’d been occupied. Humans smell atrociously and the breath of fresh air was a lovely change of pace.
