Closed [Quay] Moonlight and Dead Dragonflies (Pulren)

[Shai]

Timestamp: 84th of Fall, 514 AV

The night was young, and as the Autumn was want to cause had come early. There were several bells yet until Leth’s apex. The little spider perched on the Quay dock, on one supporting timber. Her barefeet gripping the grain with racial ease. The waves lapped gentle on the dock, threatening but never reaching her but more than a spray or splash. Inhuman, her pupils dilated to make efficient use of the waning moon. A Handful of Fall bugs still snickered and hissing around the waterside. Though she wore her black pants and shirt, with no evidence of her armor in sight, Shai was not unarmed. In her right hand rested the bone hilt of her ancestral weapon, the Symenstra Lash.

The thief held as still as a living body would allow, or so she believed. Waiting for the next large insect to flitter by. When it did she struck out with the lash, missing. The whip cracked harmlessly in the air.

Drawing the leather and razor metal back up into a coil, and securing it with her right hand she waited again for her next chance. There was no one foolish enough to practice with her whip and it’s razor, so the spider had started to get creative. Thus far nothing had all had fallen prey to the whip, but perhaps someday it would. Then when bugs had reason to fear the Quay docks, she would invest in a training dummy. Until then though, she worked on understanding the way the weapon moved, the fluidity and abrupt rigidity were unlike any weapon Shai had set hands on.

At her breast, Chell rested nestled in the silver necklace mount Shai had purchased for him years ago. Though he appeared as nothing more than a pale crystal, a mage would know him rapidly. Any such outing of of the thief, required outing oneself as a mage. There was simply no other way to divine the Irylid’s presence unless he wanted it. Or she did, Shai had never tried to force the familiar into an action at least not through sheer strength of will. Part of her suspected it was possible, since they shared their essence as one.

The Quay seemed oddly quiet tonight, like a deep breath before a racking cough. She had no idea why, but it suited her purposes so the question wasn’t dwelt upon. Only a handful of the residents of the Quay knew who she was, for the most part the owner of the new building liked it that way. The fewer that knew her, the fewer that walked around her awkwardly. Humans always seemed to think she was constantly malicious. It must have been the strangeness they felt about her foreign heritage, whether conscious or not. The Symenestra shrugged, the humans always seemed blocky and rotund to her. Only in Sunberth were the poor ones the appropriate size.

Her toes curled and the Spider struck again, lashing out with her whip. Crack, and the dragonfly buzzed away to live another day.

[Pulren Marsh]

The night air, crisp and complete, met Pulren's face as he stepped out into the open expanse of the Quay courtyard. The darkness was becoming his friend in the last few days, calling to a part of him that he might have never known existed had he not chosen to reach out and take part in the dance. It was as if when light left his face that some other face appeared in the absence of the light. A face Pulren could only feel, though it felt like a truer face than the young man had ever seen in any reflection.

His footfalls along the courtyard were not as obtuse and sloppy as they once had been. Becoming part of the night required an indomitable attention to details. Each step from the meeting of heel to earth to the departure of toe from earth required attention. Without the ability to see in the dark, one had to allow the natural night vision that humans possessed to take hold, which also required time and patience. His fingers sought out the cool stone of the ten foot perimeter wall that surrounded the complex and gave him security, as much as one could dare grasp in Sunberth anyway.

The night slowly began to become palpable, a living substance of shadow that beckoned to Pulren to join it and become one with it. He could only smile and endure the chill of night and agree to the union, somehow sweeter even than that of hot flesh. As the dock approached, the sound of the lapping water soothed his ears, an essential accompaniment to the silence of shadow. He wanted to visit his prize rowboat.It had cost him a great deal of coin, but he felt obligated to provide something since his room and board was being taken care of by Bitzer and Web.

A crack in the air drew Pulren's attention to a shadow, however. It was a clear and present sound, something that did not fit with the natural sounds of night that he had been aurally observing. Someone was crouched down against the timber of the dock, though he couldn't tell what or whom. After his run in with the flying beast, he took no chances. He also did not allow fear to grasp him tightly in its claws as he had with the previous occasion. This was not the same creature. It was just another visitor in the night.

With little reason to speak above a whisper, Pulren stood with his thumbs nestled in the waist of his leather pants. "Another traveler in the shadows." If it was foe instead of friend, at least it couldn't claim surprise against him. Pulren felt much more natural cloaked in darkness, however. Much more than any night previous.

[Shai]

So rare was it that anyone snuck up on the Symenestra that she lacked the experience suppressed the start. The lash dropped onto the docks and Shai spun on her perch. Her crouch altered subtly, forgoing balance for tension to lunge. Still the thoughts filtered through her mind, like those marks must have thought when she secreted upon them from the shadows. If he had meant her ill, announcing himself was poor strategy. Some of it didn’t matter though, pride was sore loser.

Accent rolling and reminiscent of the deep and dark places of the world, she demanded. “Who dares?” Who was the question of the bell though. Was he one of Bitzer’s bunch, or a trespasser? After this Shai would get a list from Zandelia. Little fools couldn’t know that surprising the spider was a hazardous habit.

There was little doubt without the shroud of her cloak and given the proximity that Shai was not human. Pale as a corpse and nearly as slender, it all gave her away before anyone could see the irregular ratio in her arm length.

Some part of stone walls and associates had made the thief soft. Always before she had Chell watch their back, now she had been careless and this young man had taken advantage of that. “You gave up your advantage…” Shai thought back, perhaps if she hadn’t been so focused on the insect movement his footsteps might have been audible after all. “Place your feet when the waves crash and no one will hear you.”

Her hair bound in a severe braid trailed down over her shoulder, when Leth’s light hit it just perfect there were tiny silver tinkles. Her wrenches and lockpicks hidden where only a woman would think to search. Even her paranoia had not abated so far as to not suspect escape could be needed anywhere.


For now though, she neither aggressed nor made her escape. If this was indeed one of Bitzer’s boys she would be cordial. If he wasn’t… perhaps he ran quickly, he would need to.

[Pulren Marsh]

The creature spun around and coiled, as if to attack. Pulren stood still, as still as silence, watching it should it decide to spring and attack him. It even spoke in a deep timber, calling out , "Who dares?" It was easily the stuff of tales told by firelight. Its frame gangling and inhuman, skin of ivory and eyes of crimson. Still, the night had taken the specter of fear away. He could only gaze upon her with a morbid curiosity.

Her advice as to how to be stealthy was certainly appreciated and Pulren smiled and nodded in thanks to her observations. "Ah, thank you, strange lady. I had never imagined to step with the waves but I shall surely do so in the future." Still smiling in a pleasant manner, he walked out to the other side of the pier so that the water separated them. She could probably make the leap to him, but it would still increase the difficulty. "I apologize for startling you if I did. I live here at the Quay and had desired to come and visit this old rowboat." Kneeling down, he placed his hands on it, a if it might still be only a want than a have.

"Out of gratitude for Bitzer, I wanted to procure this for the group to use." He continued smiling. He didn't know if the thing could swim, but most things in Sunberth couldn't in Pulren's experience. If she did not answer to either of the clues he had just given, he would regard her as hostile. From there, he could only guess at what would come next. He was unarmed and unarmored. He always had the possibility of Res, but no guarantees.

[Shai]

Slender fingers grasped the hilt of her lash. Her carriage slowly straighten, to stand to her full but insignificant height. The amethyst eyed woman scrutinized the stranger, his clothing, his face, his step. He might belong, but something about his actions didn’t fit. “You should not claim to be a gang you are not. Clearly you managed to enter the Quay so you know someone, but none of Bitzer’s boys are stupid enough to sneak up on a woman. They would all understand just how deadly a woman here could be.” Not to mention paranoid. Everyone who managed to survive in the city of sin and squalor understood that paranoia was a given. If Shai had not been more controlled, she could have killed him. It was the sad truth she had killed men for less, less than even one gold-rimmed chip once.

Perhaps if it was only Bitzer that was deadly, Shai could understand, but there was Zandelia. “Is the rowboat your initiation? Perhaps you are new.” The irony was not lost on the thief. Her lips quirked into a twisted smile; half-humor half-agitation. The spider stepped towards the end of the dock, to get a look at the rowboat. “I take it, you stole this?” She wrapped the lash back into a coil and secured it through her belt. The bugs that had been so elusive earlier now seemed more than pleased to be in her face. From the hip opposite her lash, she pulled out a silver and blue fan with polished metal struts. It gave a resounding clank as she flicked it open and fanned away the flying pests.

“I am Saris, what is your moniker new man?” On the surface she was nonchalant, unless of course someone realize the fan in her hand was a weapon not just a prop.

[Pulren Marsh]

He watched himself being watched by her. The woman's senses were no doubt sharp, probably sharper than his own in whatever form she was in. When she mentioned how stupid one of Bitzer's boys wouldn't be, Pulren relaxed and his body became less rigid. Palaren could easily take over the conversation and the Zeltivan could sit back and enjoy the show. Standing slowly, he bowed before her.

"I would never claim something I cannot. I am definitely a Scar, having plucked Miss Bitzer from a watery grave for my initiation." Looking over his shoulder and pointing at his window, he continued. "I have taken up residence in the Quay at their request. I am Palaren Marshall, Zeltivan fisherman. I did not know you were here at all, so if I did sneak up on you, it is news to me. I simply wanted to inspect and cherish this boat which I bought for the group to use." For the gang to use to steal shyke didn't soothe the ears as much.

Stepping into the rowboat, he sat on its center bench, pulling the oars and looking at their line. He looked down and felt the interior surface for wet spots. He hadn't had the time to properly inspect it as Old Legs was more of a 'take it or don't, petcher' kind of salesman, so Pulren had taken it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Saris. Do you also live here? I thought I would have run into you." She wasn't an easy one to overlook, once you knew she was there, anyway.

[Shai]

Shai had played games with men of means and men of arms. Those who would stalk the shadows and those who dealt in fire. This boy might be nothing more than one more to sway under her harsh tongue. The spider would lecture and he would rebuff, they always did. Then she would coyly add secret intent hidden in threat. It was an old game and the thief had grown tired of it. Snapping the fan shut Shai regarded him, banishing her old games. “Marshall.” She stated, rolling the name off her tongue. “Mmm, no. Just Ren?” Though she asked the question it was clearly rhetorical.

“I live here but not in the Quay House.” Shai motioned with the closed fan down the seaside towards the wooden building constructed just this season. “And Ren, I am no Scar, I--” She never finished that sentence. A clamy, meaty hand gripped her ankle. Before she had time to react the hand pulled her off the docks and down into the seawater. The weapon-fan fell useless on the docks.

The water was deep and cold, but if that had been the old fight Shai would have been fine. She had no experience or ingrained reflex to gasp a breath before hitting the waves. The ocean was not her territory but it only slowed her reaction not stopped it, immediately the spider sent claws at the man’s eyes. Gouging as the salty water stung her own gaze. In the murky water she could see other figures, while the two residents of the Quay had discussed, other elements had seen marks.

Shai killed the man, his eyes useless had allowed her claws find purchase at his neck. He’d been trying to restrain her, hold her beneath the waves to drown. It would have worked had the spider not been so dexterous, twisting and trashing until the white edges of the waves turned pink. The water disseminated the blood quickly, but Shai didn’t surface.

Stuck beneath the dead man’s corpse and the base of a supporting timber. The spiders insufficient air was all but spent, and the outgoing tide held the thug’s body against her.

[Pulren Marsh]

He liked her slow and pensive way of speaking. Her look was beyond exotic. There was no way she was human, but Pulren was finding that more and more women of the world were anything but. She liked to call him Ren rather than Marshall. He nodded with a slight grin when she chose the short name. Little did she know that it was much closer to the truth her way than his. Soon his attention was following the small fan she held and its direction as it was pointed toward one of the new buildings constructed in the vicinity of the Quay. That made sense as to why he had never seen her.

He would have remembered such a presence.Her next statement was brief for all the wrong reasons as he watched a man launch himself from the water and pull her under. In an instant, Pulren's battle sense was ignited, a strong and white hot fire inside his body urging him to act. He immediately stood and surveyed the water when he felt the boat begin to move violently. Turning around and facing the stern, he saw two men gripping each side of the boat, hoping to throw him from the moving platform.

"You sorry motherpetchers, try it on a Zeltivan!" His knees bent as he lowered his center, much as he would in any boat on stormy seas. His hands shot out the oar he had recently inspected, lifting and turning it so it came free from its anchor. One of the men took notice of Pulren's action and pushed off, swimming back toward the other and Saris. His accomplice was either too dim or too busy shaking the boat to notice, that is, until the flat end of the oar made contact with the top of his head. A brief scream came from his mouth before the oar clattered in the boat and Pulren was coming knees first, his legs bent beneath him. No way was he putting the oar in the water to be used as a weapon but he would gladly fight them and test their aquatic might!

Coming down with the injured man, Pulren took a sharp and deep breath before they both were submerged. It was something the former Wave Guard had done many times in many temperatures, though the chill of the water was no joke. His hands reached out and took the man's long hair, Pulren's strong legs kicking and maneuvering him beneath the attacker. He began violently shaking the man's head by the strength of his scalp, gouts of air leaving him until he was slowing and shaking. Releasing him to sink or swim, Pulren pushed off from the bottom toward the corner of the dock where he could see the bodies of Saris and another caught up.

Swimming and kicking, he reached out and grabbed the offender's leg, surprised when it was coming and floating with no resistance having been dispatched by the spider, no doubt. Kicking up and to the surface, the Zeltivan only got a short gasp before a set of arms grabbed him from behind and wrapped around his neck, taking him back beneath the water's surface.

[Shai]

Climb! Chell yelled through her thoughts, Shai had been slowly losing the battle to remember which way was up. But Climbing that she could do. Hand over hand she pulled her body out from beneath the thug’s weight and up the dock. Hand over hand, inches of wood traveled beneath her fingers.

When she broke the surface, Shai stopped spitting up water she didn’t recall drinking. Gasping the air burned, but it took several gulps before she realized what had almost happened.Chell, you saved me…

Us. When he replied it felt like thunder, her head already beginning to throb.Shai didn’t know if it was the near drowning, or when the familiar had telepathically yelled at her. Slowly she drew herself back on to the dock. Ren was gone and so was the rowboat. Her head swiveled, disorientating like her eyes didn’t move fast enough. It felt very much like the worst morning after too many mugs of ale.

There on the shoreline was the rowboat, a man rowing away north towards Sunberth proper. Milky hands found the fan where it had fallen, slowly her eyes traveled the waves. She could only just make out something beneath the waves, but it was nothing more than a big shape. “Ren?” She called speculatively.

The haze finally removed itself from her thoughts, as she saw the figure thrash. Had there be en more men? Eye whipping back up the shore to the disappearing rowboat, they’d just been robbed. “The Quay has been robbed…” Amethyst eyes widened, “The body!”

Shai looked back at the water where she had come from, trepidation wracked her body for the barest second. She wouldn’t let it succeed, with the largest breath of air she could hold the spider crawled back down the timber. She was no skilled swimming but she scaled down against tide and buoyancy. Straddling the beam upside down she reached down and pulled up the thug she had killed. The inverted pose bothered her not at all, if anything it was the lesser weight that felt so peculiar.

Dropping to the sea floor, She grabbed the man and kicked towards the top. Beneath the water it was easy, when she hit the surface the spider began to struggle again. Free air meant the corpse weighed far more than she did. She kept kicking but made no progress, only just keeping afloat while the body dragged her out with the tide.”Ren!” She yelled, “Help with this, we need his body!” She didn’t know if the Scar heard or not, and if push came to shove she would dump the corpse and fight the tide back towards the dock,

[Pulren Marsh]

Having not taken such a great gasp of air with the second attack, Pulren tightened his lips in order to keep what little he had taken in. The arms were tightening behind him, arms moving down to no doubt squeeze the air from his chest. Kicking his legs, he waited for the transition, the loosening of the grip in order to reattach. When the opportunity came, he threw the back of his head into the other's face, repeating the motion until the hands naturally came up to guard further damage to he soft tissue. Feeling himself break free from the grip, Pulren pushed off with his legs using the attacker's chest swimming and kicking until he burst through the surface, his strokes hard and even. If he was going to have a chance at regrouping, he would need to get out of the water and survey the damage.

As he splashed and kicked his way toward relative safety, he could see the Saris' diminutive frame vaguely connected to another shape in the water, a body as he approached it. It was fortunate that she was so pale as it actually helped him tell that she was something different in the water as well as recognize her at all in the choppy madness. He wasn't sure about the other, if he was pursuing, all he knew for sure was that she was still alive and he was going to help her. As he approached, he could see that she was holding on to a body but it was actually holding her back.

"I've got this one, hold on to me and I'll get us back over.", he spluttered, his eyes still scanning the water's surface. Reaching under and around one of the corpse's shoulders, he began kicking out and drawing under with his free arm, pulling the distance between them and the dock in by feet in strokes. "Keep an eye out, I think the other guy is still out there somewhere." Fortunately the tide hadn't taken them far and he was already touching the pier by the time he said that. Keeping the body in hand, he watched as she easily returned to land's safety and he pulled himself up out of the water, shivering. Getting on his knees, he groaned and pulled the body up and out of the water. As he tried to regain his breath, he could see the shape of the boat as it was paddling away. He would have to get after it soon.

"Now, what's going on?"