[flashback]An unwanted reunion

[Giph]

58th spring 512 Giph was still quite miffed about what happened to him yesterday. A lowly kelvic of all things managed to chase and threaten him into giving back what she didn't deserve, he hoped she would get found bye a pair of decent slavers and get sold to a sadistic master who would make the rest of her short life pure hell. He quickly made his way through the crowd, looking for a mark to at least get over the setback he suffered yesterday, there was a fat person in the crowd not to far away, but he didn't enjoy stealing from them. There was only one way a person could become fat in this city and that was by being rich as hell, which usually meant they could make his life hell pretty easily with a few bribes. He passed over on the fat guy and kept on looking for a better target. His eye fell on a tall,muscular man with a blue skintone, who was animatedly talking with a few normal sized and colored humans. He smiled, a distracted target who was also a non-human? That was a decent target, as the guards would probably on his side if he got caught, he took grip of his sharpened knife and carefully approached his target, his cloak hiding the small knife from sight while he did his best to just look like part of the crowd. When he passed the large blue man his left hand shot out in a practiced motion and slit the purse strings, he caught the purse in his right hand and quickly stuffed it underneath his cloak and walked away, trying to blend into the crowd like a regular person, non-human or not, he didn't want to try and go toe to toe with that monstrous man. He looked as if he could squash him with just his hand. As he was getting away from his mark, his eye noticed a familiar and loathed person sitting at one of the stands, and his good mood of his successful catch soured immediately when he saw that thing. When he noticed her backpack was just sitting on the ground behind her chair a cruel thought made it into his mind. It wouldn't be that hard to slip the purse onto her and get that massive man to discover it. The guy wasn't that far away.

[Renalee]

Ren was sitting on a chair, strategically positioned to the side of a fruit-selling stall. She was observing the street and the crowd of people, trying to memorize as many details about the setting as possible. This trader always greeted customers loudly and jovially but his produce wasn’t too good. That old man there look suspiciously at anyone who approached his stand until purses were pulled out. The lady on the other side started long conversations with any passerby she recognized and often left her merchandise unguarded. It was a busy time of day and a lot of people, both human and non-human, were milling about the merchant stands. No one was paying any attention to Ren who had already spent the better part of two bells sitting unmoving on her chair. She had been carefully selecting a target to try and steal from and would be on the move very soon. The blonde’s hand raised to her neck where she had wrapped a few stripes of cotton fabric to cover the ugly bruises from where the iron collar had stood. They had started to fade already, but not enough for her to be able to afford walking around without covering them. She couldn’t allow to be recognized as a Kelvic again. She had only been so lucky that little thief from yesterday wasn’t more dangerous and the situation played out as it did. When she was sure the bandage was still where it was supposed to be Ren let her hand drop down and pulled on the sleeves of her tunic so they fell past her wrists. After that she settled again, hand wresting on her hip, close to her dagger. She would stay here for a few more chimes and then make it over to the very talkative woman’s stall. That smoked fish she was selling looked lovely.

[Giph]

Giph gave a crude smile as he noticed she wasn't paying any attention to her backpack. Or anywhere near herself at all. What a foolish mistake. As he closed the distance he loosened the strings that held the purse shut, when it fell it would make quite a bit of noise, or at least enough noise for the big blue man to hear it and come storming towards the kelvic. At which point he just needed to hang back and let the situation unfold and enjoy himself as the woman got her due's. As he walked past the woman he mimicked dropping something and he crouched down right next to the kelvic's unguarded backpack. With a quick but careful movement he pushed the pouch underneath the top flap of her backpack before standing back up and rejoining the crowd that was mingling in the streets. Just in time it seemed. As he gave a glance over his shoulder he saw that the giant finally found out his purse was missing. Best part, as far as he could see the man was seriously pissed about that fact.

[Renalee]

While Ren observed, the lady merchant rearranged some of her merchandise and looked around the crowd with a bright smile. A man was headed her way and with a wave she beckoned him over, looking as animated as Renalee had learned she always got at the prospect of gossip. In a few chimes, when they were really into the conversation she would get up and sneak over there. Her eyes were trained on the pair when a suddenly a familiar scent drifted over to her. The little thief! She had memorized all of the nuances about his smell well yesterday and there was no way she was mistaken now. Ren started scanning the crowd for a familiar head of brown hair, wondering if she’d see him attempting to rob someone else. She didn’t notice the boy anywhere, but was certain the scent was coming from somewhere close. While she was looking around she noticed that her merchant woman was probably the most distracted she had seen her today, batting her eyelashes at the man with whom she was conversing. That was it! That was her chance. Completely forgetting the little thief, Renalee stood up quickly and went to pick up her backpack. She had just swung it over her shoulder when she felt something slip through the flap. In the next moment the loud clinking noise of coins dropping and spilling against a wooden surface drew the attention of most of the people standing around the blonde. Ren paled, realizing that any chance she would have had of sneaking up to the smoked fish stand was gone now, and whirled around. It turned out what had slipped from her bag was indeed a purse full of coins, some of which now littered the ground around the chair. Ren’s hand automatically reached for her own purse and found it on her belt, exactly where she had tied it this morning. Had someone dropped their money on top of her bag and not noticed? She crouched down and hurried to collect the golden mizas.

[Giph]

The sound of the the falling purse was like music in Giph's ears as he watched from the crowd. His crooked grin grew a bit as he saw her bend over and try to collect the coins in a hurried fashion. It would be pretty unbelievable if she tried to claim the coins weren't hers now. He switched his glance towards the large blue man, who to his great delight had seen the purse, his purse. Falling from the kelvic's pack onto the ground and was angrily making his way over to her, roughly shoving people didn't get out of the way in time out of the way. It didn't take that long for the large man to cross the short distance. “You filthy thief!” He hissed out as he stomped down on his purse to keep the kelvic from snatching it away. Giph slowly made his way closer towards the crowd, making sure to keep out of sight of the woman. He doubted the man would believe her if she tried to put the blame on him. Giph began to push through the small crowd of interested or bored ravokians that was forming around the event, eager to see something interesting. “Did you think I wouldn't notice you stealing from me!” The man bellowed at the woman. Giph had an inward snicker at that. Obviously he didn't, or he would have figured out he would have done it and not the woman in front of him. The man waited a few moments for an answer, Before his temper flared up again and he grabed the woman by the back of her shirt and hoisted her on her feet. “Well!?”

[Renalee]

Ren was so focused on what she was doing she didn’t notice the angry man making his way through the crowd. What she did notice however was when a boot-clad foot stomped down hard on top of the purse, barely missing her fingers. The blonde snatched her hand away and looked up only to come face to face with a raging Akalak who was currently shouting down at her, calling her a thief. Spittle flew from his mouth, landing on her cheek. She would have wiped it off if the man hadn’t continue screaming, making the effort pointless. “Did you think I wouldn't notice you stealing from me! Well!?” Ren was just about to respond when the Akalak’s hand flew out, iron grip closing around the material of her tunic. He hoisted her up to her feet as if her weight was nothing and was glaring down at her, chest heaving. The Kelvic was completely caught off guard by the assault and for a moment just stood still, staring at the man. When she finally did manage to get to grips with what was happening she tried pushing the hand that was still holding her away. “Sir, if this is indeed your gold, you must have dropped it close to my things when you were passing by.” Ren tried making her voice cold and intimidating the way she had heard her father speak when confronted with a man whose anger was unjustified. Unfortunately, she wasn’t too sure her imitation was good. Zalek had always sounded much more impressive to her ears. “I assure you I didn’t steal your gold. Now if you would please remove your hand...” Surely he would see this was all just a big misunderstanding.

[Giph]

The large man wasn't impressed by the cool tone in the least though it was hard to be intimidated by somebody that was smaller and quite obviously weaker then you, and it didn't seem that he believed The kelvic's words either. “That would be quite impossible woman, since I didn't pass this stand on my way. And I know no person who would 'drop' his coinpurse.” The man said as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “So your assurances ring hollow, why should I trust the words of the one who had my gold in her hands anyway. You sure where eager to gather MY gold back together and hide it you theif!” The mans voice grew louder at the end of the sentence as he glared at the shorter woman. Giph was just enjoying the spectacle from the crowd, for once in his life , the way her excuse was brushed away without any other comment, how the situation slowly got worse and worse. He slowly made his way a bit closer towards the edge of the crowds, he wanted to see what was happening, and all the larger people that where crowding the situation where making it a bit hard to see. And by rhysol, he didn't want to miss a single moment of what was happening to her. “Why don't you just admit that you stole my purse and this will all be over, you might even get away without a beating.” The man said with unconcealed rage in his voice. “How else could it have happened? Did my purse suddenly vanish and reappear in your possessions?” The man said in a mockign tone as he clenched his free hand into a fist. When the opened her mouth again for a gave her a hard punch in the stomach, enough to knock the wind out of her lungs. “No lies, admit that you stole my purse.” When giph saw the large man punch the kelvic in the stomach a real smile replaced his grin. This was what he wanted to accomplish when he planted that purse on her backpack. Her getting humiliated and beaten. Let her get her own lesson shoved down her throat.

[Renalee]

It didn’t seem like any of her well-chosen words were working. If anything, the Akalak appeared to be angrier than before. Ren who had managed to remain calm up until now was starting to quickly panic. She wasn’t meant to be drawing any attention to herself. She was meant to pass quietly and remain unnoticed at all times, just in case those slave traders she had escaped still thought she was in the city and were looking for her. This whole situation she had somehow found herself in would not be of any help with that. How was it that her luck seemed to have completely deserted her? “I wasn’t trying to hide it,” the girl tried again, hoping to prevent the man from shaking her. “I was just trying to put it all back in the purse so when I found its owner they couldn’t claim anything was missing.” And that was true. If the man just looked at her, Ren was sure he’d be able to see she wasn’t lying. But he was too focused on flinging more accusations at her than actually listening. There was something in his words however, that made her take pause and consider. If he hadn’t been anywhere around this spot then perhaps he was right and his gold had been stolen. But what kind of a thief would steal and then drop his spoils by mistake. Just as she thought that Renalee caught another whiff of the familiar scent. The boy was still here! Could he somehow... But no, even he wasn’t as bad of a thief as to lose what he had stolen. The girl started scanning the small crowd of spectators that had gathered, looking for that familiar smug face. Oh, she had no doubt he would be having a field day with all of this. If she could just... But the furious Akalak wouldn’t have her looking anywhere else but at him and as he shook her he started shouting again. Ren winced when he threatened her and then finally matched his glare with one of her own. It was one thing to shout and shake her for a little bit, but if this stranger thought he could beat her up and get away with it he had another thing coming. The Kelvic had just opened her mouth to inform him of just that when his fist connected with her stomach. Ren doubled over in pain, furiously coughing and trying to get back at least a little bit of the breath she had so suddenly lost. If you’ve never been punched by an Akalak - a very pissed off Akalak at that - you would never be able to quite understand how painful it is. Ren hung limply from the man’s hand for a while, her chest heaving. She was pretty sure there was nothing broken, but it certainly hurt like there was. When she finally managed to straighten up her hands locked around the Akalak’s arm and she tried pulling it off. If she could only get a glimpse of the blasted human boy she would be able to tell if he was somehow involved in all of this. “I told you already - I didn’t steal your purse,” she spat hatefully, all attempts to try and resolve the issue calmly long forgotten. “If I had, I certainly wouldn’t be hanging out here. And I wouldn’t be drawing attention to myself by dropping the loot!” Her glare moved on to the crowd. Where was this cursed kid. He was certainly short enough to get lost amidst the people, but he would surely be trying to get a better look - the snake that he was. “Somebody else must have stolen from you and you’re wasting time with an innocent when you could be making the real thief pay. Now let go of me!” Ren put more pressure on the arm that was holding her and tried twisting away. If she wasn’t sure that the man would beat her to death if she pulled a weapon on him, she would have already threatened him with her dagger.

[Giph]

Giph really wanted to laugh at her explanations, he knew from experience that people who stole did not believe a word you said on principle and half the things she was using to shift the blame, while true, didn't sound even sound convincing in the least. People with a brain would have noticed that the story wasn't taking and would have switched to a differen't strategy. But then again, it was a kelvic, brainpower wasn't something that they where known for. “Likely story.” The akalak spat out in a sarcastic tone. “If you didn't take it, how did you manage to drop it in the first place.” He tightened his grip on the woman as she tried to push his arm of, to no avail, the stories of the akalak's legendary strength, while not entirely true, weren't unfounded in the least. At her last accusation the akalak's face darkened. “Do you really take me for a fool? What kind of thief would steal from somebody just to give it to somebody else?” The man was raising his voice again. “Not only are you a filthy thief but you also are trying to shove the blame onto somebody, unwilling to take the blame for your own mistakes.” The man growled out as he gave a death glare at the woman he was holding. As she began to struggle harder he punched her hard against the head to keep her silent. “I won't let go, so stop spouting those ridiculous lies and stop claiming you something you aren't.” The unrestrained rage was easily heard in the akalaks voice Giph frowned as he heard the kelvic mention another one stealing it. Did she manage to figure it out he was behind it? Obviously she had figured it out, but it wasn't that hard to figure out, the main thing he was nervous about was her successfully convincing the big blue guy of her innocence and even if that wasn't going very well, it was at least prudent to prepare for it. He didn't know how exactly, but not getting caught at all was probably a good idea. He slinked back into the crowd and kept away from the front row, sacrificing his view for some safety was a decent tradeoff in his mind. A few moments after he slinked behind some of the larger people he heard a harsh thud of flesh against flesh.

[Renalee]

It was obvious her words were not getting through to the Akalak. His fury wasn’t receding and by now Ren was starting to get a little bit scared. It didn’t look like she’d be convincing the man of her innocence anytime soon. What did they do with thieves in Ravok? She knew that in Sunberth anything could happen to you, if you had stolen and you had been stupid enough to get caught doing it. There was no lack of imagination or cruelty in the punishment, ranging from the loss of an arm, to that of your freedom or even your life in some cases. Nobody would speak up in her defense here, where the lack of citizenship papers or the slightly different shape of your eyes or color of your skin meant you were undeserving of any shred of compassion or humanity. No matter where she looked at it from the girl was petched. Perhaps it was time to try a different tactic. “Please, sir! Just take your money and let me go.” Ren tried making her voice as small and scared as she could, even allowing some moisture to gather in her eyes. “There is nothing I can do to convince you, but there was no harm done in the end. Please?” Weren’t the Akalaks meant to be honor-bound warriors? Would this man really hurt a rather petite girl that appeared to be no older than 19? It turned out he would. The side of his fist connected with her head, striking high over her cheekbone. Ren’s head rung painfully, vision blackening for a second as she swayed and caught on the man’s hand again, this time trying to catch her balance rather than get him to release her. As she blinked against the few real tears that had gathered in her eyes her gaze fell on a short, familiar form that was making its way through the crowd, moving away from the front where he had surely stood not too long ago. The blonde gritted her teeth and tried straightening up again. At this moment there wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that the human boy was somehow responsible for what she was going through right now. She should have maimed him when she had the chance. “Stop right there,” Renalee shouted after him and made an attempt to tear free again. She wasn’t sure if the Akalak had mistakenly thought she had been talking to him or not, but either way her exclamation hadn’t been appreciated. He struck her again, harder this time, making her head feel like it would split open. His hold on her loosened suddenly and Ren was left to crumple on the ground, unable to keep standing on her own. The girl threw her arms over her head and tried curling up in a tight ball. If he was going to beat her either way, she had to try and prevent him from causing too much damage. “Please... please!” She tried gain, sounding rather pathetic in her own ears, but pretty certain that wouldn’t appease the furious man. In her mind Ren cursed the day she had let the little thief go unpunished.