Different streets, same troubles[Minerva]

[Ssafirsotibones]

56 Summer 512 Bones seemed to be just a magnet for trouble. No matter were he went, he attracted people that wanted to smash his face in. Zeltiva seemed to be a nice town, but Bones knew it was only a matter of time till he got jumped. Part of it was his lack of sense of direction inside of a city... Out in the wilds he could navigate okay, he had a knack for ending up in the right place. But perhaps Alvadas shifting nature, had spoiled any sense of city navigating he had. So that was why on his way back to bed, he had ended up in the seedy part of town... Probably not to far from the cheap housing were students rented rooms... In the middle of the night... Just him and his gladius on his back for company... He smiled at a lady who was walking some kids home, maybe they were her kids? A boy and a girl... They seemed to know were they were going, and they soon pulled ahead of Bones, who was more meandering along.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Crime wasn't a huge problem in Zeltiva. At least, Tock didn't tend to see it day by day. Sure, there were occasional muggings, like in any city. There was probably a murder or two here and there, though word of it never reached Tock's ears. It was quite different from being back home (was it even 'home' anymore?) in Sunberth. Back there, you couldn't go a day without hearing about a murder or something worse. Tock had simply gotten used to it, as a little girl, when she would walk down the street to pick up her Da's hooch and have to be stepping around a body or something. Lots of times it could have just been a drunkard lying facedown in the gutter, but she had never been fool enough to stop and find out. For a long time, her Sunberth upbringing had led her to mind her own business and not get involved in other people's trouble. She still believed that it was best to leave everyone else alone, and have them leave her alone. At least, she told herself that was what she believed. Her actions to date were starting to contradict that view. Such as how much time she had been spending at the infirmary lately. Mostly she was there visiting Mikey, her 'little wizard.' She had met him a few weeks ago, when she was putting on a puppet show. She hated kids. She really hated kids. She never wanted to get knocked up and spew one out. But despite this, she kept going back to see the little monster. It was probably because he was so damn evil. Every time she left, he looked up at her with these big brown eyes and this quivering lip and asked her, "When are you gonna come see me again?" She swore he had to be using some kind of hypnotism on her, because it never failed to bring this horrible tightness to her chest and make her promise to come back again real soon. If the nurses there were right, she wouldn't be visiting him much longer. Which for some reason only made her keep coming back more often. Tonight, she had stopped by to see the manipulative little bastard, and brought Bitey along to show him. Mikey was fascinated with her magic, and kept making her promise that she would teach him magic as soon as he got better. It was a promise she truly wanted to keep, but she knew she wouldn't get to. So instead she was trying to fill his life with as much magic as possible. She'd snuck Bitey into the infirmary in her backpack, since she doubted the nurses would be pleased with her bringing the eighteen inch long wooden spider in there. They made a fuss when she brought her magic puppets, as if they could hurt anyone (okay, they could, but no one needed to know that). "Is he gonna bite me?" Mikey asked, eagerly yet fearfully reaching out to pet the adorable abomination of nature. "Not if'n yer gentle," she assured him. She had learned in her studies of spiders, before she made Bitey, that they rarely bit anyone unless provoked. Bitey himself never bit anyone unless he felt threatened. She let the sick little tyke play with Bitey a bit longer, until she could tell he was getting too tired. Automatons never got tired. That was part of why she preferred them. "Gotta get goin'," she told Mikey. "I done gots work in the mornin', an' I's bloody tired..." She faked a yawn. Whenever she tried to tell Mikey that HE needed to rest, he tried to act brave and pretend he felt fine. The little lie of claiming she was the tired one made it easier. "When are you--?" he asked. "Tomorrow," she promised, cutting him off before he could finish the evil guilt trip routine. "Awright?" He nodded, and Tock scooped Bitey up and slid him into her backpack. He struggled a bit, until she made shushing noises to soothe him and calm him down. She turned to leave, and then heard Mikey's strained voice behind her ask, "Tock?" She stopped, her back to him, and closed her eyes. She knew that tone. He was going to ask her to do something she didn't want to do, and she was going to say yes anyway, because that was how the evil little twerp worked. When she didn't answer after a moment, he asked again, "Tock?" "Aye," she replied, reluctantly turning around. "Can you maybe bring my Uncle to see me?" he asked, giving her those damned big eyes. She frowned and asked, "Ain't 'e been ta see ya?" In the past few weeks she'd learned that Mikey's parents were dead, and his Uncle had been raising him. "Not for awhile," he replied. "He works a lot... And I think he was getting sick, too. Last time he was here..." he trailed off, but the look on his face said it all. Tock knew that look. She'd worn it herself when her Granddad got sick, right before she herself had gotten ill and slipped into a coma. She'd never seen her Granddad again... With a deep, aching sigh she said, "Aye, I'll get 'im. Where's 'e live...?" * * * Some time later, she was pounding her fist on the door of a house in the poorer part of town. No one was answering, and it had just started to rain. "Oy, ain't nobody 'ome, o' what?" she shouted through the door. "C'mon, open 'er up! It's gettin' cold out 'ere!" The day had been hot, but the rainy night was starting to bring a chill. "I'll warm ya up, Red..." a voice said from behind her. Tock turned around, wearing a glare and putting a hand on her dagger. She recognized the tone the stranger was using. She'd heard many such things in Sunberth, over the years. This was the first time she'd had this kind of encounter in Zeltiva, though. There were four men. All bigger than her, and quite dangerous looking. They'd have fit in quite well in the streets of Sunberth. One of them was even missing an ear. "What's wrong, Red," the big, earless man asked. "Don't recognize me?" Her eyes narrowed. She recognized that voice, and not just because of the crude tone. But it couldn't be. Four years later... though Sunberth wasn't that far from Zeltiva. Tock had taken a roundabout route to get here, spending time in Mura, Syliras, and Ravok before finally coming here. But surely people came straight from Sunberth to Zeltiva all the time... "Petch off, Corwin," she told him,, pulling Grippy from his holster. "Ya don't know who yer messin' wit' now..." She wasn't the same scared little girl she'd been four years ago. "Now 'at's no way ta treat an old friend, Min," he said with a sneer. Tock scowled at his use of her old name. Almost no one here in Zeltiva knew it. She didn't care that there were four of them. She didn't care what they wanted from her (though the leering stares gave her a good idea what they had in mind). She didn't care what Corwin was doing in Zeltiva after all these years. She just pulled her dagger out. And the four men pulled out blades and axes. Corwin sneered at her and said, "If ya don't fight, Min, I promise it won't 'urt as much. But I's takin' 'at kiss ya owes me..." He grabbed himself lewdly, indicating which part if himself he intended to 'kiss' her with.

[Ssafirsotibones]

As Bones walked along, more or less minding his own business, he simply took in the sights. Certainly the slums area of any place was not the nicest thing to look at, and Zeltiva was no different. At least it was not like Syliras, were they kicked anyone out below a certain income. That place was a bit ridiculous, in its goal for perfection... But as he walked along, he started to hear voices... Someone talking... Though to be honest, he was having a bit of trouble understanding them... He had always had a bit of trouble understanding common, when it was spoken clearly and fluently. But these people were not even doing that... As he came nearer, they entered his vision, and he saw, one woman who appeared backed into a corner... She recalled him of the sight of a cat, that had been attacked by dogs... It had hissed and hitched up its back, and jumped, clawing out the eyes of two of the dogs before running off. The men then, the four of them, must be the dogs... Though he was not sure if things would work out as well in this case... Already Bones had made a decision... What was it with him saving woman in distress? This one had better at least be able to defend herself a bit, or at least should try to. That was even more annoying, the ones that had just expected him as a man to come to there honor, and defend them. Bah, that was ridiculous... Though not so much so that he would abandon a woman in need... Perhaps it fell back to his dhani heritage, in which doing so to a female dhani would have been the utmost of unacceptable. Bones walked up behind him, and drew out his gladius hard, making the slicking sound of leather on steel. Then he drew up to his full height, holding his weapon at the ready, before speaking, and calling there attention to him... "Could you sssay ssat once more a bit ssslower... I had a bit of trouble underssstanding you... I ssink you sssaid sssomessing about wanting me to beat your ugly facesss in, but I couldn't really get it... You sssound like you are talking ssrough a mouthful of old leather..." Saying this, Bones would slowly walk forward, getting closer to the two sides. A odd smile on his lips, which looked more like a grimace of a beast, and a joyous look in his eyes, as he could almost taste on the air the blood of his foes, and the combat to come... He would make a quick nod to the only woman present, before returning his eyes to the men, who now were having to decide whether to face the girl who seemed less of a threat, than Bones, who was coming behind them, and holding a honed gladius in his one handed grip. Though they should fear his empty hand nearly as much, since he could easily stave in a few ribs with a single punch at full force, or knock there teeth down there throat.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock wasn't a fighter. Sure, she would swing a fist in anger now and then. She had beaten off thugs when she needed to defend her coin purse or her virginity from being taken by them. She had bitten Corwin's ear off in a moment of desperation, when he had her pinned against a wall and was ready to do whatever he pleased with her. But she wasn't a fighter. Bar room brawls whereby anywhere near the same as facing down armed men. They had swords and axes. Her Choppy was at home, so she had nothing big enough to pose a major threat against men like this. Her meager brawling skills weren't on par with thugs who clearly knew how to handle a blade. For the first time since Sunberth, Tock was faced with the possibility that she might have no choice but to submit to their demands. She briefly wondered if they would take turns, or go all at once... Then the Gods smiled on her, and a stranger came forth to help. Tock rarely ever prayed, but in that moment she said a small prayer of thanks to Leth, just because she could see him peeking through the clouds just then. Maybe her boyfriend's Daddy was looking down on her... Corwin glanced at the stranger and nodded to two of his buddies. "'Is's a private party, pal," he said, clearly underestimating the threat posed by a single man against the four of them. "Petch off!" Two men advanced on Bones, raising a rusty shortsword and a crude axe. Before Corwin could return his attention to Tock, she took advantage of his brief distraction to strike first. She aimed Grippy and shot the metal arm out, the extenders unfolding and thrusting the arm forward towards the assailant's groin. She closed the metal claw down hard, and Corwin's scream pierced the rain soaked night as she crushed the manhood he'd sought to violate her with. Tock still didn't know if she would live through the night, but at least now she knew Corwin wouldn't be the one to take anything from her.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones was certainly in his element during a fight... Though he also at times got a bit lost in it... Often, his "humanity" was pushed down so far, he could not tell friend from foe, and had trouble stopping the battle when his side had won... But he was not that far gone yet... Not that far delved into the blood of battle... He had only just stuck a toe in, had not jumped in full body, and was still in control... Only blood, death, and his own pain, would push him fully into combat... And hopefully to much of those would not be happening tonight. Bones once more smiled, his odd inhuman grin, as the two men came at him... A rusty shortsword, and a clumsy axe... Such pitiful weapons, and they thought only two of them would be enough? While he himself held a expertly forged, balanced, and honed weapon of destruction, one that made there weapons look like cheap sticks in comparison... Bones always said, a lot could said about a person, by the weapon they wielded, its condition, and how they handled it... He was not to worried... As the two man came at him, Bones slid his weapon effortlessly through the air, the blade of his gladius easily lopping off the head of the axe, leaving that man holding nothing but a handful of wood. As he stood there dumbfounded, finishing the hacking motion, the thug realized there was no sharp axehead at the end... But Bones swept on, combating the second. His first motion had taken the initiative, and he did not have time to make a second strike, and simply blocked as the rusty weapon came at him. Bones blocked it, and used the weapon to hold the man in place, and then using his free hand, punched the man in the gut. Instantly, the man released the weapon in his hand, which clattered to the ground, as he dropped to all fours, with no air in his lungs... he coughed, trying to pull in air, and spit out a mouthful of blood, before collapsing over onto his side, gasping for air... Bones turned to the first man with the bit of wood still numbly gripped in his hand, and raised his gladius, giving him an intimidating glare, filled with bloodlust... He tried to make it clear, if he did not scamper off, the next thing to be cleaved through, would be him... If he had any smarts at all, he would run off... If not, well Bones would just have to knock him out also... Then he could progress on to the last two men... One of which was letting out a high pitched scream, and holding his crotch. "Sssorry, but I have a bad habit of crassshing partiesss... Room for one more?" He spoke, that same inhuman grin on his face, as if he had not just decimated two of the thugs... Though really, as far as thugs went, they were not all that good... Really, had they just picked them up by random in a bar? Maybe these next ones would serve a better challenge...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

As Corwin dropped to the ground, Tock flicked her thumb across the back of Grippy's handle, and touched her finger to the front, releasing the man's manhood and redirecting the metal arm to aim at his face. Quick flicks of her fingers commanded the Automaton, the gears spinning to extend and retract the arm in a series of rapid strikes at Corwin's face. He collapsed in a fit of coughing and groaning, bracing his hands on the ground. Fear and confusion about what he was facing had held the other man back for a moment, but now he rushed at Tock, raising am axe. Unlike Bones, Tock didn't see this as a moment of simple fun or a fight against an unworthy opponent. She saw the axe coming at her through the rain and thought she was going to die. She moved back, trying to dodge the blow, but got nicked across her chest near the shoulder, blood swelling warm against the cold damp rain water. She slashed her dagger at the man, but before she could react or try to gain control of the situation he'd smashed her again, cutting her leg. She'd need stitches at the least. He kept coming at her and she stumbled back, clumsily waving the dagger at him with no skill. He deflected it easily, and then she tripped and fell backwards, landing on her rump. She stabbed forward as the man was bringing his axe down, only to find Handy had crawled from her belt and strapped himself to her wrist without her realizing. Thank the Gods the wooden hand Automaton had a mind of his own. He grabbed the axe handle as it was coming in, and Tock's dagger grazed the man's arm in the same moment. The man pulled back and Handy released his grip, shaking a fist threateningly at the attacker. Tock aimed Grippy at him, holding the dagger in a shaky grip with her other hand. She was gasping for air, her body trembling. She didn't know how to fight like this. She knew bar room brawls and fist fights, not duels to the death under a rain soaked sky.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Lucky for the second man, who was now weaponless, he decided the best thing to do was to run off. He did not seem as confident in himself after losing his weapon, and Bones stare down made him flinch, and run. Bones did not really care. Fight... Not fight... He was not usually the one to start fights, but she sure as petch ended them. And besides, he was coming to a females aid, one who did seem a bit better at defending herself. He checked quickly on his friend formerly holding a rusty blade, but seemed to still be incapacitated, laying on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest, coughing and trying to breath properly... Maybe Bones had hit him a bit to hard. Not that he really cared or felt sympathetic to him. Regardless, the woman seemed to be putting up a fight, and had taken out one of the guys, though not with as much smoothness as Bones had... But that first guy was down, which was all that mattered. As the second and only guy left approached her, Mmm something, if he had heard right, he came at her with an axe, and she waved around a dagger... But he could tell by her useless waving she was not skilled with it, and he started heading at them, sliding his gladius back into its sheath on the way, before taking off at a run. Luckily they were close enough that he would not get winded before meeting them. Before he oculd get there, she got cut once... Twice... Then she fell... Just as the girl was starting to fight back, Bones got to him, and grabbed him from behind, scooping up from his back, sending his arms under the mans arm pits, and bringing his hand back together in a tight grip. Due to the way he had grabbed him, he could not lower his arms, and Bones picked him off the ground. He looked like some odd bird, his feet kicking but missing the ground by a few inches, and his arms flapping uselessly in the hold, unable to bring them down to attack, or to hack at the girl, or even below shoulder level. "Ssshould I finisssh him, or you?" He asked, his head poking a bit over the mans right shoulder. He would let her decide. If she decide to, he would let her. Otherwise, he would throw the man head first into the nearest wall, knocking him out likely. But it was polite to give the lady the chance to do so if she wanted to.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock let out a heaving breath, her shoulders slumping with relief as the stranger saved her life. She struggled to her feet, limping slightly, pressing a hand against the wound in her leg. She retracted and holstered Grippy and sheathed her dagger. Then she stepped up to the helpless man, and with a grunt of anger and frustration drove her fist repeatedly into his gut. As the man went limp in the stranger's grip, she stepped over to the other disabled one, who had held the rusty blade. As he was pushing back up to his hands and knees, she kicked him in the stomach, putting him back down. Then she turned to Corwin. The others she didn't know. She had no grudge against them. Letting them get off with just a beating was fine with her. Even the one that had sliced up her leg was nothing to her; the wound wasn't fatal, and at most she'd likely spend another week on her crutches once it was stitched up and needed to heal. She could deal with that. But Corwin had tormented her in her youth. He'd robbed her more than once, and repeatedly harassed her. Her last day in Sunberth he'd tried to force himself on her, and now he'd tried it again. She advanced on him, limping painfully, and put a hand back on her dagger. But just then a painful scream came from the house. Mikey's Uncle's house. She turned to look, and Corwin pushed to his feet and started to flee into the night. Tock pulled out Grippy, but her distraction had given Corwin time to get out of range. With her injured leg, she wouldn't be able to catch him in time. She let him go. But if she saw him again, she'd kill him. She turned to the door of the house and banged on it with her fist. She shouted, "Oy, Uncle..." she paused, realizing she only had his address, not his name. "Mikey's Uncle, ya in 'ere?" She got no answer, but heard hacking and coughing coming from inside...

[Ssafirsotibones]

As the woman repeatedly punched the man in the stomach, he just stood there holding the man, dropping him limply to the ground once she was done. It seemed if nothing else to have helped release a bit of the woman's aggression, which Bones knew was important. He did not doubt she was mad at the futility of it, the fact that she had nearly died... Coming close to death, or whatever these men had planned for her, only to be saved by chance at the last moment... Was quite a stressful thing for a human. He liked to think a dhani would have taken it a bit more in stride, as people usually more or less tried to kill him on sight if he was not in human form. Then the woman let out a bit more agression, kicking a few times the man he had dropped with a punch. His chest was not having a good day... He likely had several broken ribs... But he did call it on himself. But then she was on the last man, and all of her focus and anger was suddenly on him... He had seen that look before... That odd mix of fear, anger, hate... And a few other things which could not be expressed in the bit of common he knew, or existed much in snake-tongue. The only thing that saved the man from her wrath, was a distraction, as a scream could be heard from nearby. A scream of pain... Oddly enough, it seemed she knew the owner of the house were the scream had come from... So he followed her along, a bit disappointed the man had escaped, but also a bit glad... One less body to clean up... Though he would not mind a bit of a snack... A fresh human corpse would have settled his hunger quite nicely... And made the clean up all the easier. But getting himself back on to a topic besides food, Bones walked up to the door with the woman he had so newly met. Clear signs of distress were coming from inside. "Do you want me to break down sse door? To get in and help?" Bones of course was not really sure what was going on, but at this point he was invested, and would not just be walking off. If the woman asked him to, he would knock the door open, or down, depending on how well it was constructed, making it so she could get inside. If she said yes.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Holding a hand against her leg wound, Tock stared up at the stranger who was offering to help. She found it hard to understand, even after all her time in Zeltiva, why people offered to help without expecting anything in return. It was contagious; she found herself doing it, helping out at the infirmary, among other things. She thought about the man's offer, then shook her head. She didn't want to destroy the door if it all turned out to be a misunderstanding, and Mikey's Uncle wasn't really hurt. "Lemme try real quick," she said. If she couldn't get the door open fast, she'd let him break it down. She grabbed Handy, and at the touch he obediently unstrapped himself from her wrist. She held him up to her face and said, "Try ta open the door, okay baby?" She gave him a good luck kiss and stepped over to the window. The shutters were closed, but loose. Not loose enough to reach her whole arm inside, but just a hand would fit. She slipped him in, and he scurried over to the door, trying the best he could with his limited intelligence to get it open. Luckily, doors was something he was familiar with. Meanwhile, she pulled out her tools and crouched by the door lock, wiping the rain from her face. She knew locks; she'd repaired and assembled them before. How hard could this be? Just turn the tumbler... She slipped her tools into the lock, trying to catch the tumbler. She didn't have anything that was really made for this purpose. She could feel the tumbler moving a bit as she fiddled with it, but she wasn't sure how to get it to turn over. She finally felt the lock turn, but it wasn't her that did it. When she opened the door, she saw Handy sitting on a little table by the door, waving at her. He'd managed to climb up and twist the lock from the inside. "Good boy!" she praised him, snatching him up and kissing him. She nodded to the stranger and said, "C'mon..." Maybe he didn't have a personal reason to come, but he had been offering to help so far, and she might need more help. She didn't know what was going on inside the house, and it would be safer to have help. She headed inside, calling out again, "Mikey's Uncle...?"