Closed One for the Road (Aliara)

[Pulren Marsh]

11th of Winter, AV 514

Pulren had found the sweetest little nook on the dock of Baroque Bay, nestled in between a shed for equipment and some cargo which sat up to almost his head height. By sitting on a box from the stack, he was blocking out all but one direction of wind and could try to enjoy a little fishing. He, Noven and Bitzer would be heading out to Sahova the following day and the stress alone of such an expedition called for what relaxation fishing could bring. It was as cold as Caela's smile and he had received not as much as a nibble. Still, it felt good to throw the line and be left to his thoughts, as plentiful as they were on a cold winter's day.

There were footfalls along the pier, souls as brave or stupid as he out in the cold doing their business. Sailors should be in their cabins unless they had chores to do, the Zeltivan thought to himself. Of course, Sunberth was not full of the brightest stars in the sky and the trip to the Dead Island at least brought the promise of slightly smarter corpses. Chewing at a bit of ration jerky, he tried to guess if it was the cold or the quality of the dried meat that made it so solid and tough. He was almost left to only suckle at the gray meat and hope his mouth would warm it enough to chew. If that failed, it could become bait in a pinch. Pulren's head cocked as it was a fine idea over the half rotted grub he had found to use so far.

Standing from his hovel, he started reeling in the line, though he still pulled slowly to mimic living prey's behavior. Never could tell when a bite could come. All of a sudden, he could hear quite a bit of commotion. Pulren couldn't tell if it was just because he had stood up or maybe it had been there and his jerky quandaries had taken his mind and attention away. He could hear the whistles and jeers of men a they called out to a woman in the least flattering of ways. Their words were crass and harsh and it made the man a little annoyed. Why didn't they try actual flattery? It worked wonders in Pulren's case. Winding in his line, he placed his rod and tackle down behind the crates so they wouldn't walk off.

Since it was a casual occasion, all he had brought with him was his fists and his kukri. The damned knife had been nothing but show since he had purchased it and he hoped it would remain so, having brought it merely to cut line in case of snags. Taking a breath, he listened and surveyed the situation, preparing to step out and intervene if needed. It was the Guard in him.

[Aliara Cantrell]

A simple meal was all she wanted, to sit at her usual spot and eat some meat and maybe some bread but apparently this was not the plan Aliara had been hung over all night. Two sweaty middle age men had watched her she ate and made comments to each other. As unnerving as it was it was easy to ignore until the pair had moved closer and continued to comment. Inhaling softly Aliara muttered under her breath and closed her eyes, instead of having a nice day hanging around the markets Aliara decided that she might just have a quick walk down the docks to calm her nerves.

Grabbing her scarf Aliara quietly wrapped it around her neck and pulled her gloves on, attempting to not make a big deal of her departure so she wouldn't draw attention. Standing up slowly her chair scratched along the ground and everyone near by turned to look include the two men. They stood and weaved around the tables making their way towards Aliara.

“Do you want two big burly men to escort you?”

“No Thankyou,”

Aliara pushed past the men and tried not to show the people in the tavern how uncomfortable the men had made her, she was Aliara Cantrell strong, independent mercenary who needed no one to survive. No man would scare her… A hand clasped around her shoulder and jerked her backward, hissing softly Aliara tried to wriggle the hand off but the hand just tightened around her shoulder. It started to hurt and it sent Aliara into combat, relaxing in the grip Aliara let herself be pulled against body of who Aliara thought to be one of the men.

“Where you going so quickly girly?”

Aliara held back a remark and shifted her weight from both legs to one leg and sung her leg up. As it came back down Aliara’s foot collided with the mans nether regions. The hand holding her released Aliara with a yelp of pain as he dropped to the ground, taking the chance Aliara ran. Deciding that she need as much as a lead as she can, Aliara determined the tables would only slow her down she would have to climb over them. A vault… Jumping Aliara planted her palm on the chair and used her hand to push her momentum forward, it had worked for the most part but As she reached the end of the table her backside landed and a small pain shot up her tail bone. Wincing Aliara continued to run out into the cold air outside.

The man followed behind but Aliara was fast enough to stay ahead, not looking behind her Aliara continued to weave in and out of the people wandering the docks as the men followed and continued their jeers and taunts. Looking to the side Aliara tried to find a turn for her to take before she lost her pace and thats when she ran into someone. She fell to the ground tears streaming down her face and panting however she still fumbled her Kukri from her boot.

“I’m so… Sorry, but you’ll have to excuse me…”

Standing back up she pushed passed and continued to push past people until she came to a break in the crowd. She turned around and scanned the moving sea of people waiting to see the men. Taking a few small steps backwards she continued to watch.

......

[Pulren Marsh]

Not a shocking surprise, a beautiful young woman came charging down the dock, Sunberth having them as one of their better exports. Still chewing at the jerky, Pulren looked down and past her to see a wall of hairy man coming along, no doubt equally interested, though probably lacking in finesse. That pegged them as locals for sure. He had not met a local that knew finesse or probably even how to spell it. The lady's constant vigilance over the shoulder put her in the path of another fisherman, the two colliding.

Pulren winced at the impact, easily affected by her tears. It was just how he was. Someone would likely take advantage of that fact one day, but not this day as it seemed her state of unrest was very real, her uneasiness as clear and sharp as the kukri that she pulled haphazardly from her boot. Of course, the one she ran into had no interest in being helpful, quickly shuffling away to the coward's nook. This solidified him as a local as well. It was either foolhardy and headstrong or sneaky and cowardly. Summed up the meat of the town. Another reason to happily avoid it for a few days.

The look in their eyes was troubling. There were two of them, each could be the other's sweatier and nastier brother, their hair matted and their sweat stinking of revenge and another r word that could easily spell their bloody demise in Pulren's presence. He could see their march toward her as she turned and readied herself. Pulling his own weapon, the Zeltivan decided all of a sudden to intervene. Someone had to. Sunberthians wouldn't.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I think the lady no longer requires your escort." One of the pair, carrying a noticeable limp, continued toward the young lady while the other stopped in his approach, turning to face off against Pulren. Smelling his breath from below, the Guardsman straightened up and squared off, looking the bigger man in the eye. "Now, why don't you tell me what the problem is." He was still open to negotiations, though his blade was in hand and clearly visible to the brute. "No problem. That snatch offended me and my friend and we are going to teach her how to say sorry." Pulren felt the knot in his stomach and the edges of his vision stretching. Kicking at the boards of the dock, he simply shook his head. "Wish you hadn'ta put it that way, mate...Really do for your family."

Negotiations had ceased.

[Aliara Cantrell]

It was odd, Aliara was trapped in her own mind nothing else mattered but what was happening to her, the only important thing was that she was being attacked so when a man stepped forward and began to defend her she was shocked. What she did not find surprising was the definite limp she had given one of the men, smiling widely she laughed and moved in front of the man defended her, which in turn caused the men to stop in their advance forward,

“ Excuse me, but did you just call me a snatch? To be completely honest with you i don’t know what a snatch is?”

Pointing the Kurki towards the men Aliara attempted to look brave and strong so the man behind her wouldn't risk his life for her. Aliara jumped a step back as the men just looked at her and laughed, apparently she had missed a joke, jabbing her kurki in the air as a threat Aliara ignored the laughter.

“Girly, you owe me big for what you did in the tavern, we just wanted to show you a fun time and you do that?!”

A fun time, Aliara didn't have to be a genius to know what that meant and what it meant Aliara did not want. She thought that what she had done in the the Drunken fish was completely understandable for how threatened she felt but the men just laughed and began to advance.
Aliara immediately backed up so she was inline with the guy behind her. If Aliara had had more of a choice she would much rather fight with her cutlass rather with her Kurki, she had barely any skill and no techniques, Aliara pretty much only knew how to stab and how to slice.

...

[Pulren Marsh]

If he could just keep breathing calmly, in through his nose and out through his mouth, he just might not cover the pier in blood. He had to get a handle on these rages, especially when he returned to Zeltiva and donned the armor of a Wave Guard. He had been playing at killer since arriving in Sunberth, but he didn't, scratch that, couldn't afford to take these murderous rages back with him and the city he lived to protect.

There was something, however, that really turned his key when it came to violence against women. He couldn't tell where it had come from. He had nothing like that in his family history and no traumatic events, no sisters or wives troubled by violent men. Nevertheless, here he was, feeling these feelings. The big palm of his opponent snapped him out of his introspection, a slap catching him in the side of the head. The strength behind it was fierce, even for a light grazing and it brought tears to his eyes with the sting. "Come on lass, wake up! You can be next when we're done with this one."

A shake of the head and his grip around the kukri became like iron. He focused and slashed at the beast, left to right and up and down, watching the hand come out to slap the blade away and pulling it back to avoid that very disarm. His eyes glanced to the greenish waters of the Bay as he weaved and dodged the behemoth man, his steps retreating. He hoped if he could pull the one man far enough back it would insure that only the other remained to fight the girl. he didn't know if she could fight and he was damned if he would let that vagik have her. The thought sent another bolt of angry lightning through his body.

"Come on, vagik. I'm no snatch but I might snatch your life from your lungs."

[Aliara Cantrell]

The attack had began and Aliara knew one thing for sure, she wasn't just going to stand there as one of the men attacked a kind man, meeting eyes with the other pan, he was the taller of the pair but Aliara could use that to her advantage. Charging towards the man Aliara held her Kurki tightly and focused on his every movement, if he took a step left Aliara would follow closely this would be the ultimate test in her skill.

A fist came barreling towards her cheek but Aliara had just enough time to drop onto the dock floors, crawling the last few inches Aliara was about to rammed her body wait into his legs, that was until she was lifted up. Dangling from the burly man’s hand Alaira spat as she was raised to his eye level. Growling in a defencive manner Aliara began to struggle and the result was only the chuckling of her captor, mocking her by letting go of her shirt and catching her other large hand winding her each time, Waiting for her time Aliara let the man play with her as if she was a toy until Aliara found the right time. Her Kurki was abandoned only a few feet away so she would have to find another means to free herself.

Aliara bit her lip slightly before the moment showed itself to her, she had dropped far enough down that she had the perfect chance to jab forward, smiling widely Aliara let the man throw her up once again before her hand snapped out to punch him in the hip. The bone beneath the skin hit Aliara’s knuckles with a painful crack but it resulted in the man missing Aliara as she came back down, colliding with dock floor the wind was knocked out of her lungs, but this couldnt stop her not when he was reaching back down towards her.

Sliding on her belly across the splintering wood Aliara desperately stretched her arms out her fingertips grazing its delicate blade over and over again. An iron grip sealed around her ankle but it provided just enough surprise the Aliara could stretch far enough to grip the blade. Aliara gripped it tightly and a small trickle of blood ran down her hand. Lifted back up by the man again, the man spat directly towards Aliara’s face. As the spit splattered against her cheek Aliara span the kurki around in her hand and jabbed forward. With a sickening ease Aliara’s kurki slid into his thigh.

.....

[Pulren Marsh]

Hearing the scuffle on the other side, he knew the woman was fighting and now he would have to do the same to make sure he followed through on his good intentions. Without action, good intentions were worthless. The big man had stopped reaching, his hand up and fingers wriggling like big grubs. Something was going to happen and one of them was going to make it happen. Adrenaline pumping through the blood chose Pulren as the knight of good measure. With a growl uttered from some primal place, he stepped in and swung in and down to catch the man in the gut, though his aggression bought a surprise.

An incredibly strong grip, as strong as rope caught in a pulley caught his forearm and turned it, threatening to snap the bones inside. A wince of pain shot through Pulren which only increased the bloody rage that was building. He went from cautious fighter to kelp berserker in about one twist of the arm. His boots, as frilly and furry and shiny as they were, also had the benefit of being well constructed, the heel strong and hard. This heel drove hard with a fevered stomp into the soft top of the giant's foot, bringing a similar cry from his mouth, the grip twisting and pulling the kukri free with a clatter on the wood. "You're gonna ge--uuurrrkk!" He was probably going to tell Pulren he was going to get something, but the heel stomp moved with a straightening of the body and a direct slam of the head into the face of the beast.

The twisting and wrestling of the two combined with the attacks by Pulren added to the momentum the Zeltivan was going for, his free hand punching into the gut and side of the man as the pair of them went flying into the water with a great splash. Pulren had taken a breath as he knew he was going in, the sudden chaos causing the hairy man's grip to free up, the cold water relieving the throb of pain in Pulren's forearm. The pair kept twisting in the water and the Zeltivan, finding himself at an advantage, went for the attacks he knew to go for in his environment of choice. A similar iron grip caught the man's testicles and squeezed hard, pulling and wrenching as if to free them of the beast's body. It would cause great pain and help to evacuate the air from the lungs.

Die, vagik!

[Aliara Cantrell]

A scream of agony vibrated through Aliara and the iron grip let go of her ankle not reacting fast enough caused Aliara to slam into the docks like a dead fish. Pain found its way into Aliara’s back and neck. She would certainly not be getting up tomorrow, blinking slowly Aliara made sure to move her shoulder slightly to check she could still move. With slight pain she was successful, looking back at the man she watched as he slowly pulled the kukri out of his thigh. Gagging slightly Aliara began to crawl toward the other two men fighting.

“Oh no you dont!”

The hand wrapped around her ankle like it had numerous times before but this time a section of her leg had started to burn slightly then sting. Deciding to bite her lip against the pain Aliara evened out her hips and drew her leg to kick him. Her shoes heel grazed his side but did no damage, thats when she heard the splash. Whipping her head around Aliara watched as the pair fell into the water, she hoped they could swim. Turning her attention back to the pig that was currently readying her own weapon to slice her again all with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Aliara continued to draw her leg back and kick. She continued to miss over and over again and each time the man would just laugh and draw the knife over her skin again creating another swallow but painful cut.

“Enjoying this slut?”

Biting back her words Aliara tried her best to ignore the pain, drawing her leg back once more Aliara kicked as hard as she could. Her heel collided with the man's wrist causing the kukri to clatter to the ground. Kicking at it with her spare foot Aliara managed to get it far enough away from the man that she would have time to get up or many even time to grab the knife, However as she put weight on her leg Aliara felt pain shoot up her leg and into her thigh. Sobbing and wincing Aliara looked around for the man that was helping her before.

....

[Pulren Marsh]

The muffled sounds of pain and violence mixed with the bubbles escaping lungs made it very chaotic in the water. For someone not accustomed to this, it would be nearly impossible to keep their bearings and their breath, much less fight. Add the inability to swim to this mix and you get the desperate clawing of a drowning man. Then there was the guy's balls, too. Needless to say, it was no problem for Pulren to swim back to the dock and pull himself free. The former beast was now a mewling thing, grasping on to the barnacle covered pier and holding on for life.

As he slogged his way out of the water and up on the dock, he looked down toward the young woman he had initially intended on helping., She wasn't down, but she had taken some lumps. The opponent still had that look in his eye, but it ha gone from rape to murder. She must have gotten some good shots in. Whatever the case, Pulren wasn't going to play around anymore. His body was already aching from the first fight and he knew that these two meant business. They intended on maiming and killing, so someone had to settle the score. Kneeling down, he pushed his hand down into his soggy boot, pulling the straight razor from it. It was no kukri, but it would do the deed most times.

Rising with the look of malice that Sunberth implanted on a person, he opened the razor and held the blade down as he walked toward the man and woman. His eyes were set on the oaf and when he reached the woman, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said in an even tone, "Get back." Without looking at her, he passed by and approached the great beast of a man. "Ye ain't takin me in the water, vagik. You are gonna get yours and then I'm gonna have that--" Probably slut or whore or some other colorful term for the woman was what he meant. His words stopped when the razor dug into the soft space between his knuckles. Pulren could feel the pressure give way as blood began to pour freely from his hand, the creature's mouth opening in pain and revulsion as the blade slid free and swung out to catch him again.

The beast had some moves, though. He jumped back, grabbing his hand instinctively as if his other hand would somehow staunch the flow of blood. It didn't. "All of this for some piece of tail? You want her that bad?" Pulren could smell something in the air. He had smelled it before. Blood dripped from his razor as he took a few steps in, ready for Dira if need be. "I don't know her. I do know you and every thug like you, though. You think your strength and size rule the world. Strength does. It's a different kind of strength, though." he kept walking the end of the pier approaching behind the other, who turned his face down in a charge, his body coming out in a flash. A great fist came at Pulren, who brought his arm up enough to deflect it but not block it. The next one would probably hurt. He would throw an attack as well, his thumb pressed against the spine of the blade as he pushed it into the man's chest. The weight of the man and the determination of the Zeltivan sent it almost inside of him as he started to pull down, the fat and muscle causing it to hang in him, the blood flowing very freely.

[Aliara Cantrell]

Her first reaction was to do exactly what he had said, stay back nurse her leg, her bumps and bruises. To begin with thats what Aliara did she slide back against the dock and looks down at her leg. There were two shallow long cuts along her leg, the blood much like that of a paper cut stained her pants enough that she would have to buy a new set but the man issue was the pain. Inhaling softly Aliara forced herself to ignore the pain as if it didnt exist. When she turned back to the fight Aliara found that they there just walking towards each other.

One blink was it all it took before the men were in a brawl and Aliara couldn't honestly tell what was happening from where she stood. Step after step Aliara snuck closer to the action, feeling her heart beat thumping loudly in her ears. Aliara needed to better herself she couldn't be the one standing behind someone as they fought to defend her. Her Kurki, if she found where that was maybe she would be able to help. Glancing towards the fight to check to see if the man was still breathing Aliara searched for any glint of metal on the wooden boards.

Aliara kept brushing the hair out of her face as she frantically looked for her small blade, but as much as she looked around her she couldn't see it. Looking back to the men Aliara saw a glint off to the left, must of been the man's weapon but its when another glint revealed itself amongst some nets that Aliara smiled. Running as much as much as her injuries Aliara scooped up both knives and returned to the fight just in time to see the most violent part.

The smaller of the two, the one who had been on Aliara’s side, had a blade of some sort in the man’s chest, blood was flowing down from the cut in a red, thick river… Blinking slowly Aliara just watched in shock. It took a chime or two for Aliara to come to terms with it, It was a fact of life people got injured like this every day, Aliara might have never seen it or done it herself but it was a fact. Her body jumping into action and a rage started to bubble inside of her chest and a lump formed into her throat. How could she let someone make her feel that way, the man grabbed his stomach in attempt to stop the bleeding meaning that he was distracted. Almost shrieking Aliara took the chance to kick the large man at the knee. This caused all the weight to fall, even him being on the ground didn't cause her stop. The blood kept flowing out of his wound but Aliara hadn't felt so helpless in her entire life, this man had taken away her confidence. She continued to kick at his ribs but her shrieks had turned into sobs.

....